digestif | week two, saturday, post-trial

[senri will open the door, and - honestly he's tired.

but he offers mizuki a smile]

... come in, Mizuki-san.

[and he'll step aside]

I was going to find you... if you didn't come to look for me.

[ they smile back, just as tiredly. ]

Were you? Did you have more information to give me?

[ they enter the house, glancing around. If Takaomi is here, they can't talk as much as they'd like. ]

Shishimaru's out.

[ . . . ]

I had a question, actually. Because you said before - that you couldn't tell me your god, when I didn't tell you mine.

Mine isn't a secret anymore... but I might have a guess at yours.

[ a nod. ]

Well, I hope it's a flattering guess, then.

[ lay it on them, Senri. At the time, they'd thought it was already obvious, frankly. ]

[ . . . ]

I'm still mad at him, but I'd be really happy if Beauty had someone like you on their side.

[ they clap their hands together once. ]

Bingo. Good guess, Nito-kun. Well, I thought I was pretty obvious about it last time.

[ a beat; after a moment, they let their arms drop back down to their sides. ]

You shouldn't be mad at Beauty-kun - not for today, at least. If he'd known it would be you, I'm sure he wouldn't have let me do it at all.

I didn't want to assume....

[but yeah he had a feeling

. . . and he breathes out as he processes the second part.]

I thought that too, so thanks for letting me know.

So you knew that Sasuke-kun was lying.

That's right. He must really like you if he's going that far to cover you. I was surprised, too, honestly.

[ but it gave them an out, so they let him lie. They pause, then continue; the pretense of casual friendliness drops off, and Mizuki's voice takes on a businesslike tone. ]

I'll be honest with you. My intentions were purely in the interest of gathering information. I wanted to know your allegiance, and considering both you and Beauty-kun wouldn't tell me, I thought that this would be a way to get it out of you while keeping both of us anonymous. In the context of the trial, it could be interpreted in any number of ways. No one would know who wrote it, and you wouldn't know who compelled you to share. That would have been the safest result. [ a beat; they smile rather bitterly. ] I couldn't have predicted that journal's appearance, though, or how it would prompt a handwriting comparison. I didn't anticipate you openly announcing that it was your god, either. That wasn't a wise decision on your part.

[ if it had been Mizuki in his shoes, they would have bluffed or lied about the meaning of the letter; the opportunity to say it was identifying Gau's allegiance was right there. But it's too late for that now. ]

... I don't expect you to forgive me for this. I didn't when I started, and I don't know. That was never the point. However... I thought you should know the truth, for Beauty-kun's sake.

[ . . . . senri pauses at that, tilting his head thoughtfully]

Why me? Why did it matter so much, Mizuki-san? I already told you everything that I thought was important to the game, so what did it matter if I told you the one thing that I kept to myself to try to keep myself safe?

[and he shakes his head]

I could've lied - about why I put it there. I thought about it. But there's no lie that would've held up. If it was Gau-san's allegiance, Passhi already gave that information away last trial. It wouldn't make sense. Besides... I've been lying about my allegiance to try to protect Beauty - and if he let someone do that to me, and it instead put my real god in hot water, then I didn't see a reason to keep up the lie anymore.

[senri's pretty thoughtful - but he's a teenaged boy at the end of the day. his feelings get hurt, he's a hothead, and he panics when he's scared.]

.....

You made Majima-san freak out, and had Sasuke-kun put his neck on the line. People might still believe his stupid move.

I hope you apologize to them. Maybe not right now, but by the end of the game.

[ they sigh, tucking their thumbs into their pants pockets. ]

You were living with me, weren't you? I intend to find out as much as I can about everyone here. It's reasonable to start with the people close by for my own safety. You can consider it your own bad luck, if you like.

[ there's also the fact that Senri is someone that Mizuki does not believe will retaliate; he's a safe place to start. If things had gone the way they'd planned, Mizuki doubts they'd be suspicious to him at all. Alas, they weren't so lucky... and now both of them are in danger. But that's just the way things go.

Sasuke's decision was his own; they don't feel guilt about that. They do feel some towards Majima, and it flickers on their expression for just a moment, but only that; then they're steel-strong once again. ]

... I'm prepared to make that level of sacrifice if that's what it takes to end this game. ...I was prepared before this game even started. [ a beat. ] I'll take responsibility for everything when the time comes. Right now, it's too early.

[ . . . . . . senri frowns]

As long as you do it eventually, I'll forgive you. But until that happens, I can't do it wholeheartedly yet.

[ . . . ]

If you want to know something about someone, you can ask me directly - and I'll tell you what I know, even if I can't tell you where the information came from.

Just don't curse me again.

[ that makes them laugh a little. ]

I'm not some kind of sadist. There's no point in doing it again. [ as long as he behaves!! ] Like I said, it wasn't anything personal. I don't intend to become your enemy after this, either. It probably would've been easier if I did, but...

[ ... but they decided to tell him about this, for some reason. Mizuki notes that they still have some soft spots they probably need to harden up. ]

But, I won't be getting any more information from you unless you want to tell me. It's too risky. [ for various reasons... mostly because they assume Senri hates their guts right about now. ] What you did tell me was useful, though. I really did appreciate it.

It's okay, you can just think I'm useful for what I know.

[he's talkative - he said it in trial today. he speaks to a lot of gods, and a lot of people, and he's easy to get along with. he's good for appealing to people and spread information around.]

I was being honest when I said that I have a lot that I don't know what to do with. I don't regret telling Mizuki-san any of that and I think that you can do more with it than I can. It's the type of stuff that I want to tell more people, if I think that they can help me.

... and since you apologized to me, I don't think that you're out to hurt me, even if I don't like what happened today. So I forgive you.... ninety percent, but we have to save the last ten for Majima-san and Sasuke-kun, when you own up to what you did to me and I don't have to keep your secret.

If you're really trying to end the game in a way that ends well for more people... then I won't hold it against you.

[ they're surprised he has it in him to smile and accept all that - in fact, they don't want to believe him at first. But no, he means it. It matches up with what he'd told them earlier about not wanting to abandon any of the gods, they suppose. He's got an innocent heart. Naive, even.

Even so, the smile Mizuki returns is a little more honest. ]

Haha... You really are an unlucky little rabbit. [ they cross their arms, and their dark lashes lower slightly as they look at him, verging on concern. ] You need to be more careful, or a bigger, meaner wolf than me will eat you up.

[ trying to be friends with everyone will get him killed. ]

[ . . . . oh.

senri can't help but laugh at that - the noise clearly surprises him, and he shakes his head.]

You'll need to try harder than that to scare me now, Mizuki-san. Sasuke-kun says he'll kill me every time we hang out. I'm getting a lot better at dealing with threats - one way or another.

[ . . . . ]

I'm being as careful as I can, and trying to stay out of trouble where it might find me. That's why I can't talk to Disorder or Ruin or Cunning... but I'll tell you what I hear about them, when I do.

It's not a threat. It's just some friendly advice.

[ if they'd actually had it out for him, they could have gotten him in serious trouble really easily, they think... they are a little concerned about Sasuke's behavior, in fact. Hopefully, the part of him that wants to protect Senri is bigger than the part that threatens to kill him and leaves bruises on his wrist.

they nod just a little at his offer, unwilling to accept it entirely - still, if he's going to bring information to them, they can hardly turn it down. ]

If you were serious about shopping around for gods before, I think now would be a good time to make your decision. You might not be safe with Sincerity-san.

I think so too...

[ . . . ]

But if I don't tell you where I'm going, are you going to be mad at me....?

Hmmm. Do you think I'd be mad at you, Nito-kun?

I can't switch gods because you make me out myself every week, Mizuki-san, or I really will tell Sasuke-kun and Majima-san what you did.

[PLEASE, HE'S TIRED]

You thought wrong, then.

[ this doesn't surprise them, either... they're not sure he's a great judge of character. ]

I don't care. For the time being, at least, and as long as you're not joining a violent faction. I don't think you're a dangerous character.

Of course I'm not.... I don't know why you'd think I was.

[hrrrrmmmph]

Well, a lot of people are switching at least, so it'll just be chaotic in general...

Everyone's at least a little suspicious at first, Nito-kun.

[ mizuki seems to have relaxed somewhat ]

You're right about that, though. You'll have good cover.

week two, saturday, post-trial

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