text; un: tengennohana

[ryototsukai]

i'm already 1m yen in debt?!

i just started in debt to Tenko-hime?!

i mean i did spend a ton of money on food and drinks and lovely women and cute boys and stuff but

somehow i thought it would all work out?

how am i supposed to handle this?!?!

Comments

[ryototsukai]

don't worry, i know that's not the kind of thing you should go shouting about.

still, does it impact you in any way? that is if that's not to rude to ask!

[deadtective]

I've had people be a lot fucking ruder about it than just asking, so you don't have to worry. Not quite that oversensitive yet.

It's...it used to? But everything's kind of fucked up and weird here. I dunno if it's just me or what, but I'm not really sure where any of my fucking limits are anymore.

[ryototsukai]

i think we're all kinda dealing with new weirdness here.

i definitely don't seem to be at full strength.

[deadtective]

So it's not just me.

[interesting. she'd wondered, honestly...was it because of how far she was from Edith and the serpent? worlds away, possibly. knowing that it wasn't something unique to her situation was both relieving and strange in and of itself.]

You think it's because they can't handle us at full capacity? Or something else?

[ryototsukai]

well, i kind of thought it was part of our "fee".

the legends go that you need six mon (that's an old Japanese currency) to cross the Sanzu at minimum, but those who pay more get safer passage. maybe part us was taken in that process?

[deadtective]

Six? Shit, you only needed one coin to get across the Styx. That fucking boat better be made of gold for that price.

Not that I wouldn't believe something like that happened. I mean...it's the oldest sales tactic in the book, isn't it? Sell shit back to people and make them think they're getting a good deal.

[if parts of themselves had been taken to 'pay' for making a contract, then weren't they in effect only getting back what they already had? it made an already suspicious transaction even more dubious.]

[ryototsukai]

maybe, but the promise of the contract is definitely something i wasn't going to be able to obtain on my own. not even with all that strength.

[ ... ]

at least not anytime soon.

[deadtective]

Hey, at least you still had some kind of finish date. This is basically my only shot at ever getting what they're holding over my head right now.

[it's kind of embittering, honestly, because she's so afraid that this is going to be another cruel joke of the universe. she's not sure she can take another blow of that magnitude.]

[ryototsukai]

[ This felt... heavy. But Musashi never shied away from that kind of thing. ]

if you don't mind me asking, what is your payment going to be?

[deadtective]

[Hazel, on the other hand, certainly is. she considers directly turning Musashi down or outright hurling herself from the conversation and never replying again...but eventually she thinks, what's the harm? she's just a name on the screen that's already half-misrepresented her situation. there's no way this person (just as much a stranger to her in reality) could tag any of this to her if they ever met in person.

in a way, it feels nice to confess somewhere. to finally let some part of this pressure out of her fucking body before it crumples.]

My humanity.

[ryototsukai]

[ There was something freeing about anonymity. Musashi had taken advantage of it, herself, in the past, though she was never very good at putting on fronts for long, ever too often too much her most earnest self. But this conversation really was, basically, between passing strangers. So she got it.

And... she got that answer, too. She didn't have to ask her to define it, or clarify. Fitting it with the context of what she'd already learned she just kind of... knew. She understood. ]

in that case, i'll be sure to root for you!

[ Because striving for something like that, reaching for it... she felt like she had to. ]

[deadtective]

[it's the first time since Heather someone has told her that since being reborn. there's so much context that could easily strip this woman's belief away as easily as it came, but to Hazel that didn't matter. for just a moment, she had somebody in her corner. somewhere out in the world there was a person who believed it wasn't wrong for her to reach for the things life had stripped from her grasp.

yeah, a little honesty had been worth it this time. fucking amazing.]

Hey, no take-backs; I'm gonna hold you to that now. Buuut I'll be sure to wave a pompom or some shit your way if we ever bump into each other in person, so...guess that makes it an even trade.

[ryototsukai]

we're all going to be working hard and fighting our own fight here, so i'll take it! and i promise you'll have my support, too.

[ Musashi's own wish was probably overly sentimental in comparison, but it was also the sort of thing she knew others might call selfish. So in a way, she could use that sight unseen support, too. ]