[ senri & shiki just want to be fabulous ]

[usogi]

i was gonna find a shitpost but this came up in google and i was like :'(

Comments

[usogi]

[this is such a mess. but they're going to eat a shitton of pastries and yes this was pulled directly from 85 degrees]

He's really nice. It seems like the gods have their own set of rules to follow, but he still tried to tell me things when I asked. So I think his heart's in the right place, even if I don't know what he wants the world to look like when he wins yet but...

I think enough genuine warmth and feeling can be really powerful.

How can Ambition be so rude to a cute girl like you?

[groovethreads]

[Let's get 85 soon. It also just means that Shiki's eyes are wide as she starts unboxing things.]

With a name like Sincerity I would hope that he's doing the right thing. He sounds pretty sweet. You think their rules are different than ours? I didn't think to ask.

[There's a hum before she rolls her eyes.] I think it might be because Ambition's a cute girl, too. [She's guessing, but the way that it was said...well, she's maybe biased but there's only one boy who would talk to her like that and there's no way in hell Neku would be the embodiment of ambition.]

[usogi]

One of them was that he couldn't tell me things too quickly sooo... yeah, I think so.

[but also. he furrows his brow at that]

Ambition being a cute girl who's rude to other cute girls... Yeah, they're pretty powerful.

[he's met

so many girls like that]

[groovethreads]

I wonder why not. Wouldn't it help them more if they could tell us about what's happening? [Weird.]

But if it's true, I have to leave. I don't think I can really work under another girl. [Hm.] I mean...not one who's not going to help me. I have to win, and if I can't work with my god I have to move on. Right? We only get one shot at this.

[usogi]

.....

[senri pauses at that and tilts his head - because he thinks he sort of understands? it's rare to get this level of godly intervention, but also.]

You don't have to tell me what you're playing for, Shiks... but it must be really important to you - which I mean, I guess that's why we're all here but...

We get to go home when it's done anyway, right?

[groovethreads]

...I don't know if that's true. [She distracts herself with a cake, unboxing some really chocolate-y thing they're going to share, apparently. Mr. Mew's still in her arms and maybe she'd move faster if she wasn't holding him but he's a lifeline right now.] Things were a little different for me than for most people.

But you're right. We're all here to play for something important. And...who knows? Maybe we can all help each other reach that goal.

[usogi]

... yeah, I hope so. There's a way for all of us to win, so why wouldn't we do that?

[but he'll furrow his brows as he helps her with the chocolatey thing. he brought spoons and forks too, so he'll offer one out to her, and set the box aside so it doesn't get in her way]

.... I don't wanna make you talk about it, Shiks, but you know you can rely on me if there's something on your shoulders. Just so you know you're not alone in this. I meant it when I said we can look out for each other.

[groovethreads]

[Give her a moment and she'll take those to plate up a slice of cake for each of them. She works in silence, but eventually when she hands him his piece she knows what she wants to say.]

Senri. Can I ask what you're playing for? [...] Are we friends?

[Those are two unrelated questions, but they sure sound related.]

[usogi]

[ . . . this is where senri would normally answer the question with a question. "Have you heard of Pochi the Honeybee?" but it doesn't feel right to - not right now when she asks him in such an uncertain way.]

... of course we're friends, Shiks.

[and he'll reach out to her, palm up]

... I'm playing because there's someone I want to see.

[groovethreads]

...thanks. [There's a grateful smile and maybe that's a little weird, but it really is a relief. She looks at his hand, studying it before she's promptly distracted by what he says.]

Someone important? Who are they?

[usogi]

... I don't know yet. I've never met them. But - they're someone I've wanted to know my whole life.

[ . . . . ]

Sorry, I know that's vague but... it's kinda - complicated.

[groovethreads]

[Complicated, huh? She's cutting into her piece of cake with a fork as she considers that.]

How do you know they exist?

[usogi]

They have to. There's no way they don't.

[you can't have a child without having a mother - that's just not possible

but he doesn't say that]

And I'll find them one way or another - even if it's not here, then when I go home.

[groovethreads]

[EXCUSE ME.]

But it'd be easier here with the wish...I understand. [There's a nod.] Then we both have to win. People are important, but sometimes they're hard to reach.

[There's an almost-sad smile then as she curls around Mr. Mew a little.] ...I'm playing for someone, too.

[usogi]

[he can't say that surprises him too much - shiki's a kind girl, it makes sense that she wouldn't be in this all for herself. he really does think that ambition is a bad match, and decides that it'll be no time at all before he brings her to join sincerity with him]

.... can I ask who?

[groovethreads]

[Well.]

...his name's Neku. He's my partner, and...I had to leave him behind, but I have to go back for him. [She's suddenly shaking her head pretty frantically, voice raising an octave as she thinks about what, exactly, happened.] I can't leave him there! Not like that!

[usogi]

[ - senri startles a little bit before reaching out more insistently to shiki, trying to hold her hand in his.]

Hey - it's okay. You won't have to.

[maybe if he speaks with confidence, it'll become truth]

[groovethreads]

[It's sudden, but...does she trust Senri enough? She trusted Neku after a few days because her life depended on it. Then again, her life depends on it here, too.]

Senri. [...give her a moment, she's just going to unpin a black pin from somewhere on her jacket, holding it up for Senri to see. It's black with a white skull and why am I explaining this, it's the Player pin.]

Does this look familiar to you at all?

[usogi]

[ . . . um.]

... no.... Should it?

[now he feels bad was he not paying attention somewhere]

[groovethreads]

No. I was hoping you wouldn't. [That's a relief at least.] It's called a Player Pin. All of us who were a part of the game got one. It's what marked us as a Player.

[This probably sounds totally foreign, doesn't it?] It also helps us find Noise in the Game.

[usogi]

Wait - what Game...?

[he can like

sense the capital G]

[groovethreads]

[She holds the pin in her hand, looking at it with a small bit of distain.]

The Reapers' Game. [...] It's a game you can entry after you die, if you're lucky. If you play and survive for seven days, you get a chance to come back to life.

[Surprise bitch.]

[usogi]

[after you - die.

come back to - life.

senri hears the words, but in pieces. like he's unable to process them, like he doesn't hear them correctly. like he's expecting any other end to those phrases. like he's waiting to hear that there's a different end to shiki's story.

in his ears, there's a ringing. the realization that he doesn't know what to say. that there is no script he can pull from to say the right thing here, and yet the spotlight is on him to respond to her.

(what can he say? what if he makes it worse?)]

..... Shiks, I—

I didn't know. I'm sorry.

[groovethreads]

No. [An immediate shake of the head.] Don't apologize, how could you have known? [The pin is turned between her fingers.]

In the Game, you have to make a pact with another Player so that you can team up, use your psychs and fight the Noise on the field so you can complete your missions and not get Erased. Neku was my partner when we got into the game. He helped me survive, but I was the one who was offered a second chance. [A small, annoyed huff.] At first he was pretty tough to deal with. I didn't know him, he was just the first person I saw and the first person I could make a pact with. When we started he wasn't so great at working with other people and wanted to be on his own. He used to tell me to shut up and walk away from me and everything...and never let me in or would talk to me. I'm pretty sure he thought I was totally annoying.

[Despite this, she sounds very fond of her dumb hedgehog.] But...we worked together and I think we're friends now. He said we were. He protected me and I didn't want to leave without him, but there wasn't another way. The GM wouldn't let both of us go and...if I can get my wish here...I can save him.

I hope he still trusts me.

[usogi]

[hmmm, that's a lot of information.

senri parses through it piece by piece - though it gets to the point where he understands a little too well. a partner that's difficult, that walks away when they don't want to talk to you, that won't let you in and thinks you're annoying.... he wants to tell shiki that that guy isn't worth it, and she should look for someone else. maybe they can find a way to be partners instead.

... but she had better luck than he did. and even though he's happy for her, completely finds it easy to believe because shiki is sweet and endearing - there's the ever-curling jealousy of 'there's no one like that for me.'

he pushes that thought aside.]

.... why wouldn't he?

[and he offers her a smile, and hopes that his words are the right ones.]

You did your best for him - are doing your best for him. I'm hoping this guy isn't so dense that he'd be blind to that.

I want your wish to come true too, Shiks.