(no subject)

[theyregooddogs]

[tired, oh so tired:] Akira, what is your plan?

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[theyregooddogs]

[putting the hamster cage on the desk and going to shut the door before continuing]

Why don't you have one?

[purrtagonist]

Because plans don't crop up overnight.

[links his fingers together and cracks his knuckles]

All I know is that there are a lot of locked doors in this building, and I want to know what's behind them.

[theyregooddogs]

Before you go searching this place, I would suggest you search yourself. You have a sociopath that is highly attached to you, and I can't read any logic or self-preservation in your actions.

[purrtagonist]

[another long, lengthy pause. and when he next speaks, it's with caution]

You mean Akechi.

[he doesn't know how much Will knows, so. he wants to make sure, before he makes the same mistake twice]

[theyregooddogs]

I mean Akechi.

[purrtagonist]

[aha]

[leans back in his chair, arms folded, gaze affixed firmly on Will now]

How much has he told you?

[theyregooddogs]

There is a very thin line between what he's told me and what I can infer. That's the reason I haven't been talking with you.

You are his prize. If I ruin it, then I'm next on the chopping block.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . and suddenly, the brevity of each interaction makes sense. Akira inhales sharply, lets it out slowly]

I'm his friend. [he means that, earnestly] And he should know better than anyone here that I'm not the type to sit around and wait when I could be acting.

You aren't responsible for my actions. And neither is he.

[theyregooddogs]

As a former prize, I know that I have no consequence when it comes to the two of you.

And you are responsible for his actions, Akira. The fact that you don't acknowledge that is a weapon. It is the blade of the guillotine perched and waiting for the lever to slip out of its inevitable path.

[purrtagonist]

[as a former prize. Akira's brows quirk upwards, but he opts to address something else first]

. . .I know.

[that he's responsible for Akechi's actions, that is]

I've been keeping an eye on him since we got here, as one of very few people who know what he's capable of. I'm not going to let him lose the sense of stability he's managed to find.

[theyregooddogs]

He has no stability. He is scratching at the platform stability is set on right now, and he is about to give up trying to climb his way up.

I am directing him to show signs of functioning, to push himself into normality, and to talk to you. But you have to respond.

[purrtagonist]

I am responding.

[his words are forceful, chin tilted up]

You don't think I realize that if I hadn't dragged him out exploring on the last killing night, he would've been the culprit? That we would've had two victims, instead of just one? I'm not naive.

I know what he's capable of. [a breath] And I'm trying to steer him towards normality, too.

Until now. . . I thought it was working.

[theyregooddogs]

[raising his voice:] There would have only been one victim, because the longer we suffer, the more amusing we are.

[and dropping his register down to normal, if slightly lower, again]

He wants to isolate you, Akira. No one makes him feel as good as you do. No one can. He is beside himself with the need to have you look only at him because he can't realize that you amongst others is also what is alluring to him.

You need a plan.

[purrtagonist]

[holy hell, Akechi. what have you been saying to Will Graham?]

[somehow? Akira keeps his composure, but he can hear his heart thumping loudly in his ears now. it's a similar feeling to when he and the other thieves found out that Akechi intended to sell them out. to murder Akira in cold blood, and stage it as a suicide. no part of him regrets extending to Akechi a hand in friendship, but. . .]

[a soul as wild and free as Akira just simply cannot be limited in that manner]

A plan for what? For how I intend to go about exploring the school? Or. . .

For when you believe Akechi will inevitably snap?

[theyregooddogs]

For before Akechi snaps and kills someone!

[purrtagonist]

Damn it--

[he surges forward, raking his hands through his hair as he hunches his shoulders. of course.]

[he needs a moment to compose himself. but when that moment passes, he asks]

What has he told you, exactly?

[theyregooddogs]

He wants to ensure your survival. At any cost.

[purrtagonist]

Which would include taking out anyone he thought was a threat to my well being.

[leans back, cursing again as he drums his fingers against the table]

I don't think I've made any enemies. Other than Niles.

[theyregooddogs]

The people here are not the only enemies you have to worry about.

[purrtagonist]

The raccoons, too. I know.

[another curse]

But I can't just-- [he can't just sit around. he can't just do nothing]

[theyregooddogs]

You have to come to your own conclusion about that. But you should know that Akechi is going to be there, preying on your better nature, until one of you gets what you want.

[purrtagonist]

[with frustration]

I am not his prize.

[he should have said that earlier, when the time was right. but better late than never]

He's been through shit, and not a single person in the world was there to catch him when he fell. I'm willing to put aside as much of the past as I can to give him the chance to be normal that he never got before, but. . .

[Akira Kurusu can not be a prize. he cannot be a thing to be collected, a trophy to be isolated and kept from everyone else just because he makes someone happy. he's too free spirited for that]

[theyregooddogs]

He is never going to be normal. He is going to learn how to present well enough to function, or he is going to fail and take everything down with him.

Don't get involved in the nature or nurture debate. Don't be the second chance. —Don't tangle with Akechi, Akira.

[purrtagonist]

So, what? I ignore him, leave him completely alone, and just watch when he turns himself back into the monster he believes he is?

[flexes his hands into fists, before relaxing them again. that was a rhetorical question, so he asks another]

. . . are you-- are you telling me this because you've been me before?

["former prize" and all that]

[theyregooddogs]

There isn't a good ending to any of this. But there can be one where you're more or less intact if you choose it.

Yes, I have. I tried very long and very hard to do what I thought was right until I finally had to step away.