[ The last dying embers of laughter sputter forth as Maruki takes in yet another Akechi Fun Fact! and nods along, inhaling sharply through his nose. Breathe. Focus. Get it together. ]
Well, it could still happen. You never know.
[ He grins, then, and continues on. ]
Come on. We're not far.
[ He lets silence slide comfortably over them as they make their way along the trail. Akechi's certainly earned it, after all that.
The less-traveled path has one more steep section, a series of switch-backs before leveling off to reveal a small clearing along the cliff's edge. The boughs of the trees surrounding it sag low, heavy with luminescent leaves. The effect creates a little enclave that others have clearly discovered long before Maruki ever did – a halved log is set up as a makeshift bench, small patches of glowing flowers sprouted up around it.
Maruki stretches his arms over his head with a huge sigh of exertion and contentment for having reached their destination, then gestures for Akechi to join him.
The view isn't anywhere near as expansive as it is from the summit, but it has its own charm. It faces toward the labyrinth and the great looming castle, the town mostly out of sight at this face of the cliffside. It's quiet, secluded–
And the only place where Maruki wanted to eventually have this conversation. Things with Eren just solidified the need to have it now. ]
Can I admit something to you?
[ For all the conversations they've had about Maruki walking a razor's edge if he enters the cognitive world, what follows is the truth. ]
I don't understand how you think I might get in the way of your plan badly enough to necessitate my murder.
[ He rests his forearms over his knees in front of him, clasps his hands together loosely. ]
I'd like you to explain it to me. Honestly. Please.
[This conversation wasn't supposed to occur on the dimly lit edge of a cliff.
If Maruki wanted to hear more, it should have-
Been spoken the day Akechi sunk his fingertips into flesh, pressed down tentatively, loose lips unleashing secrets he never wanted to spill. Maruki had a chance. Chose to leave it behind. Walk out. The walls absorbed the last of Akechi's words and Maruki disappeared behind them. A shield meant for one of them - he can't be sure which.
But he asks it - 'I'd like you to explain it to me. Honestly. Please.' after-
Asking his potential murderer to sit beside him. After walking beside a boy on desolate cliffsides. Someone who didn't hesitate to strangle the life out of him weeks ago.
Maruki's too complacent with his power. That's Akechi's first thought. Loki ignites in his chest - rip him to shreds in these close quarters. Azathoth is strong. Fast. Responsive.
Akechi is experienced. Tenacious. Fueled by something greater.
But Loki doesn't appear. Akechi doesn't pull out his gun. The only way Maruki is pierced is with Akechi's own gaze, equal parts baffled and-
Amused maybe.
This is a stupid goddamn game Maruki's playing and-
Akechi looks away to stare at the same view. Labyrinth. Castle. A false world.
Talking about this so openly is bizarre. Under an expansive sky, in a world that feels larger than the four walls of his empty room. It's why he remains silent for a few minutes after. Entertains the thought with his palms pressed into the bench, leaning back in a manner that might seem relaxed, if not for the way his body looks like it may spring up at any second. ]
Does it matter?
[It doesn't. Stay out of the cognitive world. Easy. That's it. Become a low priority and exist in the shadows. It's so fucking simple. ]
If you become a noticable issue, I'll be sent to deal with you.
[Neutral. Stated swiftly. They're talking about the weather and new cafe openings down the road. ]
Since you'll best me in the cognitive world, a cleaner will deal with you in reality though-
[Maruki asked for Akechi's reasoning. He knows. Doesn't care. It's his and his alone. ]
Your level of importance is minuscule. You're nothing now that he has your research, frankly.
[-Asked why Akechi would have to do it and why Akechi should do it and-]
Not many people get to learn about a way they could die. You've been afforded an opportunity and yet, you still reach for more. How unexpectedly greedy of you.
[ Akechi has a point. This really is a conversation few could have, especially with their potential killer. He really shouldn't push for more. Or push at all. He should accept it, should keep his head down–
Something he's never been particularly skilled at. ]
It isn't greed, necessarily. I just want to be prepared.
[ But it doesn't make sense. Either there's some missing piece that Maruki hasn't been able to suss out yet, or Akechi's lying. The explanation as he's given it is an incomplete picture. Maruki's mouth twists into a frown as he considers it.
He draws a breath and opens his mouth as if to speak, but nothing comes.
This is unwise.
This is beyond unwise.
Akechi could pull out the gun that's always on him and end this as soon as Maruki presses farther. He could shove him over the sheer cliff face and watch him fall down, down, down.
Azathoth would put a stop to anything he tries to do. Wouldn't it? Maruki had fought so hard to keep it suppressed when Akechi began to strangle him in his room. If he hadn't been able to throw Akechi off, if he'd been allowed to crush his throat as he wanted to, who's to say Azathoth wouldn't have overridden his wishes and appeared anyway? Will any real harm ever befall him here so long as the blind idiot god is hellbent on his survival?
It's a luxury he won't have in their true reality. He wants to know what to expect there.
It's a couple minutes before he tries again. ]
If I'm so unimportant, how could I become a noticeable issue? And if it's my actions in the cognitive world that would make me an issue, how would anyone find out but you?
[ Unless Shido has eyes in the cognitive world that aren't Akechi's own. And that feels doubtful, at this point. ]
Akechi–
[ His heart thuds in his chest, frightened, anxious, miserable. ]
I want you to succeed. No matter what I do, I won't be in your way. I'm serious about this.
One of the last thoughts on earth that are his own. The last piece of autonomy he has. A plan. A goal. The broken pieces around it Akechi will splinter again and again and again, until it's dust and dirt.
There's a degree of respect he has for the man sitting next to him. It's undeniable. A power unmatched.
Respect isn't trust. Maruki knows too much because of-
Akechi. Because of curiosity. Because of the same incessant need to learn and an impossible to ignore urge to be free. To know yourself. Another world, away from the prying eyes is society, is perfect for it. An entity born from your own soul with powers and abilities that are incomprehensible.
Maruki will seek freedom in that world. Everyone does and-
Akechi doesn't care in the slightest. Not for a second. Every muscle in his body coiled so tight that a finger twitching will shatter him.
It's his. His plan is his own. That world is his. Shido is his. The deaths from his hands are his and will only be his and-
His gloves are shit - nails wearing the inside of cheap ass leather from a stupid rural town. He needs to request more from-
Someone. Swipe a black card with no limit, purchased from a company meant for the wealthy alone.
They dig and dig and dig - fist clenched tight, nails swiping at fabric anyway. His fingers feel like they'll break. They stay clenched anyway. Maruki wants him to succeed. Akechi believes it, and doesn't. Serious. Won't be in his way and-
Maruki's already in his goddamn way because he knows. Because he's talking about it. Because they're side by side despite everything, instead of separated by the rolling hills, dense forests, expansive sparkling lights and-
He blinks - dry eyes and sparkling lights vanishing with it.
He's furious. ]
Oh?
[Tense. Bitter. Fury held back with a practiced tongue. Annoyance clear in his tone anyways.
He wants to be prepared.]
What's the goddamn point?
[Akechi doesn't take his eyes off Maruki.]
I want to kill you - is that what you're looking for? There it is. Maybe for the sheer thrill of it. Some say evil is genetic, after all.
[The phantom thieves implied it in a long forgotten chatroom. The thrill of killing - so fucking hilarious.]
Or maybe there's a long, thought out plan against you. Years in the making, perhaps. I've always had my eye on you, in your piece of shit apartment.
[A laugh - quiet and bitter.]
Maybe I like betraying people and I can't wait to see how your face looks when it happens. I'll kill you the second we return to reality, no matter what I tell you now.
[A hand thrown up in irritation. It drops like lead a second later.]
[ The rage simmering in Akechi is palpable, even with how hard he fights to hide it. Maruki knows him too well by now, has seen him in too many varied states of coming unglued. He knows he's pushing his luck.
He holds Akechi's gaze throughout the entire diatribe, all of the options presented before him. None of them ring true at all. It feels like Akechi isn't even trying to make them seem convincing. And he's certainly avoiding answering the actual questions that Maruki's asked.
He brings his arms up, rests the points of his elbows on his thighs, clasped hands coming up beneath his chin. He leans his head down onto them, briefly, as he observes Akechi from the new angle. Then sits up straight again. ]
Not really, no.
[ He knows Akechi would kill him. Likely will kill him. But there is no part of him that believes Akechi genuinely wants to kill him independent of how he feels about Shido.
The problem is that it's all a snarled, tangled, cancerous mass. Is there anything that Akechi wants, considers, dreams, loves, hates, does that isn't caught in the brambles of Masayoshi Shido? ]
I asked you why you would need to kill me when I'm staying out of your way, not why you might want to do it. There's a difference.
[ Pushing, pushing, pushing. Awfully close to a cliff's edge, too. He knows his luck is on a thin, fraying rope. ]
And if Maruki ends up on a short list, targeted, marked by a cabal taking out a loose end because he thinks he's a nobody, without recognizing he should be their number one hit and-
If they do realize he's powerful - should be taken out with swift precision, in the dead of night, while he sleeps in his bed -
Akechi can't stand it. Won't allow it.
Maruki staying out his way is irrelevant because he needs to make sure this man has a deserving end that isn't at the end of a barrel wielded by a pay by the hour nobody.
The insects almost sound like cicadas, in that moment and-
Metal presses into his palm. Unprompted. Reaction to a thought, a feeling, a realization that this bastard won't shut up and-
He isn't going to shoot. Won't. Despite the way his fingers curl into the front of Maruki's shirt to jerk him forward or how the barrel presses into spot right above his glasses, between his eyes.
This isn't the angle Akechi wanted. Maruki should be on the ground, pressed against kitchen tile and looking up at Akechi through the last streams of light on a cold, fall day.
Not nearly eye to eye on a shitty bench in a false world. Not surrounded by flickering starlight and soft lit trees. Not-]
Tell me - who would you rather see holding this gun? Some pathetic sniveling nobody pulled from the fucking sewers to kill you for a miniscule price?
[Safety's off. Finger against a small piece of metal that decides -
Life. Judgement. Maruki deserves one, not both. It's out of his hand regardless.]
Or the person who sealed your fate by giving you information you should have never learned?
dear god imagine if eren had told him they can't change their futures. IMAGINE THIS AS LABY CANON
[ A fist curled into the fabric of his shirt. Cool metal nestled up against his skin. Warm breeze through the trees overhead. Dead silence save for the insects, the very distant festival, his own breath catching in his throat, and Akechi's spitting words. ]
Akechi–
[ It suddenly feels–
More horrific than he ever anticipated.
And entirely unavoidable.
He's on a list. He will be found. Akechi doesn't want him to be found by just anyone. Yes, he's asking what Maruki wants, but that's not what this is about. He knows Akechi. If he truly didn't care, then he would have already decided to toss Maruki to the wolves and let anyone from Shido's cabal deal with him. Wouldn't be taking it into his own hands, deliberately.
His heart pounds, stutters, races – and aches.
His mouth is dry. Throat dry. Eyes dry. He thought he might cry if it ever came to this, but he doesn't have a single part of his mind left over to dedicate to it. He's only focused, present, terrified, accepting, miserable, foolish– everything, all of it.
Well. He wanted to know what to expect. Here it is.
Azathoth's energy crackles and percolates at the base of his skull, tendrils snaking through all of his thoughts and feelings and senses, desperate to come forth– Maruki doesn't let it.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he reaches a hand up to wrap around Akechi's wrist. Doesn't push it away. Doesn't force him to stay there, either. Just anchors the grip that Akechi already has on the gun, the angle that he already has it pressed against Maruki's head, thumb against his pulse. ]
I don't want you to have to be the one to do that. You don't deserve that.
I CANT I CANT OHHH THANK GOD EREN SAID WORDS OH DIRE
['You don't deserve that' repeated over and over. Each time sounds more ridiculous than the last.
A finger on his pulse, hand around his wrist, gun pressed to flesh.
Maruki is insane.
The blatant touch incredulous on its own - the lack of self-preservation a different beast.
Akechi wants him to fight. Expects it. Craves it. Maruki promised to show resolve and instead he says shit like You don't deserve it.]
Who are you to say that? It means nothing to me, like every other death by my hand. Remember, if it comes to that, you aren't first. You won't be the last.
[Other targets. Shido. Maruki is a name on a list. A number. Nothing.
Maruki's worth nothing.
A ring of fire around his wrist. A racing heart that has nothing to do with the conversation happening, the man in front of him.
[ It's immediate. So immediate Akechi hardly even finishes the qualifying statement. He will not take the gun. He won't ever hold a gun, to his own head or anyone else's. Maruki has already bent plenty of his own morals, but that will always remain his hard line.
No, he won't take the gun.
He lets Akechi's wrist go. Can still feel his racing pulse beneath his thumb. Drops his hand back down to his lap. Doesn't move away otherwise. ]
A broken home in the rural countryside, a fiancé lost forever, life's work stolen, career halted and twisted by a shadowy hand from the depths.
He'll have one more, in a few minutes. Akechi's hand doesn't fall - gun pressed to skull with enough pressure that he can see the vaguest outline of the barrel's top indented into flesh. Barely visible. Maruki speaks and his skin moves. Little red outline.
A hypothetical. How fucking stupid. Azathoth should be ripping Akechi's arm off its host . Maruki isn't soft, but he is forgiving even as brutality happens to him. Ready to forgive before an attack even happens.
[ The cool metal of the barrel digging into his skin. Maruki can hardly feel it, nerves going numb with adrenaline and terror, both for what he's experiencing and what he's about to say. ]
Say that right before you arrived in Somnius, you were on the verge of doing something massive.
[ Bones as tall as skyscrapers jutting into a blood red sky. Had Akechi seen it too? ]
It seemed like the right thing to do at the time– the only thing to do. The fulfillment of your life's dream, even.
[ The time for your unjustly persecuted ideology is now at hand. ]
But you had no idea what you were getting into. None at all. And you've been afforded the opportunity here to learn what a tremendous mistake you were about to make. You've learned from the best.
[ His eyes are locked on Akechi's. He means it so, so sincerely. Without lessons imparted upon him by Akechi, Venat, Eren, Kurogiri, Maki... He never would have come to understand the value of pain. ]
You would do anything to change the path that you were on back in your true reality, knowing what you know now. Anything.
[ He swallows, a mass in his throat hard as rock. He's so disgusted with himself, it rises up hot and angry behind his eyes, vision shaking with the tension held in his jaw. ]
And it doesn't matter. You've been told that there's nothing you can do to change what's coming. That the future you wished for is inevitable.
[ Is he even breathing anymore? Maybe Akechi's already pulled the trigger. ]
[It's inevitable. Inevitable. No changing a future.
A man with an unrealized wish learning that regrets often come too late and-
Akechi who has never regretted a moment of his life.
It always ends this way. Fate is unjust. The world is unjust. People are unjust. People are rotten.
Maruki is rotten.
A meaningless nobody in a sea of them.
Another target on a list Akechi never knows the full capacity of.]
I would stop it at its source.
[And
he
shoots.
One pull of a trigger is all it takes. No silencer on it - the sound is piercing. Ears ring and ache and-
Maruki looks the same Joker, slumped over like this.
Skull fragment and viscera. Blood and clumps of hair. It decorates the bench, the trees behind them.
It was loud and it won't matter in this false reality. Fights are the norm and-
All Akechi did was attack a monster.
The stars are buried under a sea of wishes that will never be and Akechi leans back, turns his head up, and tries to catch the sight of a single, glimmering light among the false ones.
It's not there.
A weight presses against his side - sleeve and shirt wet from blooming liquid. He doesn't look. He's happy.
Truly, he'd originally planned to get Akechi for half a day, maybe less. Quick and easy trips just to get him out of Tokyo sprang to mind: Enoshima, Kamakura, even Hakone. But when Akechi tells him that he has the entire day to himself, not a single obligation in his way, the plan shifts.
The only clue Akechi's been given about where they're going is that he'll need to prepare for a bit of a hike. Yes, in the early days of winter. Yes, it will be worth it. No, any further questions will not be answered. Yes, really.
It's a long drive – he has to wonder if Akechi's ever been in a car this long in his life. Three hours elapse before they're nearly there. Between his GPS and Akechi's ability to do a simple search with context clues for the area, he might have his surprise betrayed soon, but that's alright.
He looks over at Akechi in the passenger seat, then back toward the narrow road surrounded by forest on all sides. No snow yet, which is truly unfortunate, but the changed colors of the leaves before the bitter cold drops them altogether certainly has its own draw. ]
[No further questions answered and 30 minutes into the drive, Akechi stops trying. Pulls up Google lens to take photos of areas where Maruki slows down to discern where they were, what's nearby, tourist attractions and the like.
At a certain point, Maruki notices. Brakes on purpose on side roads, near shady gas stations that make Akechi balk -
Maruki notices, as always, so Akechi stops. Only pulls out of his phone to check GPS, texts from those wishing him well online, at work. Akechi feigned illness - headaches and dizzy spells. He responds to a few out of habit, confirms with Sae he'll be back in the morning, as normal.
As always.
They get further from Tokyo and-
Akechi breathes.
Without anyone watching him.
They get further from Tokyo and-
Akechi feels like he can breathe.
A miniscule set of barbs tugged free from his shoulders - he leans back comfortably against the seat. Watches the road narrow. Watches his reception cut out. Watches the trees crowd in around them and take the place of spiraling buildings.
He can't see Tokyo from here. Can't stop staring out the window. Blinks for the first time in an hour, it feels like, when Maruki speaks. He turns to look at him instead.]
Outside of that rural shithole we were stuck in?
[Phone back in his pocket. Every bar is gone during this subsect of forest.]
I can't recall. I've lived in some less than modern areas, but I don't believe it's ever been like this. Though if your plan was to impress me with some trees, I'm already disappointed.
[They're colorful. Eye catching. He doesn't hate them.]
"WE'RE GONNA PSL THIS YOU REALIZE" WHAT COULD GO WRONG LEXY WHAT COULD GO WRONG
[ Maruki snorts at that rhetorical question. As if even the grandest sight in Somnius could compare to where they're headed. It's better just by virtue of being in their home country; it's better just by virtue of being real.
His tone is light, gently teasing. ]
You caught me. This is the entire trip. We'll drive through trees, stop, then drive back through the same trees. I'm so sorry to disappoint you.
[ Little shit.
He checks the GPS; at the next fork in the road, they'll make it up to a more mountainous area, and then– ]
I wasn't kidding about that hike, by the way. Cars aren't allowed where we're going.
[ It's difficult to reconcile with for Maruki; he figures the same is true for Akechi, too. A place so removed from the ultra-modern city life they know that there isn't even a single vehicle. ]
[He can't imagine a permanent life in these small, desolate towns that rebuke technology for nature. Tokyo's bustling metropolis is what he's used to. It's where he'll stay. A world like this is its own reality - a place free of cars, artificial sound, towering buildings and throngs of people forcing themselves into train cars-
It's quiet.
The engine's hum all around them - there's nothing else. Trees surrounding, an empty road - if it were anyone else, he would think this was an attempt to silently kill him. Keeps the thought in mind on the off chance Maruki grew a backbone during their separation in Tokyo.
His phone doesn't buzz. Reception's out. He's not distressed about being untraceable, untouchable for only a few minutes.]
But I can see the appeal, for some. A place where you can live a simple life, free of modern society's extreme standards. I assume crime occurs to a lesser degree as well, though the darkest part of humanity will always be where people are. They can't escape, no matter how many cars they ban.
[He pushes the vent towards his own body- both at once, full blast of heat in his direction.]
Did you know nearly 3000 people this year had an accident on a mountain trail? A fair number of them died from their injuries and their bodies never found, despite a heavily used path and search efforts from others.
[Oh, it's so warm - he shrimps his body to get a blast right to the face.]
Often nature has a way of disposing intruders, quickly and efficiently. I doubt they'll ever be recovered.
[ Did you know leaves Akechi's mouth and Maruki exhales a laugh, knowing and exhausted and exasperated and fond all at once. Surely, whatever follows will be horrific – and it is, of course. What a fun fact to learn before they hike a remote mountain trail together! Maruki can't stand him, sometimes.
Will mourn every day in a world without him, too.
Would it really so bad if they were both lost out here?
Ah, what a horrible thought. He turns one of the vents back toward himself. ]
Did you ever read much about Mount Everest? It seems like something you would be into.
[ Tacitly encouraging morbid fascinations instead of trying to change Akechi, as ever.
They reach that fork, turn into an even narrower road, and Maruki keeps all his concentration on the slow, weaving climb up into the woods. Let Akechi fill the space as he navigates this for them. ]
Edited (SpongeBob began kissing Obama, massaging one of his many holes.) 2024-09-28 07:22 (UTC)
I'm often fascinated by the foolishness of people who think they can go against nature and the earth itself. Everest is one topic of many I've looked up.
[A road more narrow than he's ever been on - he looks out the window with morbid fascination at how easy it would be to cause them to fly over the edge. One slip, one wide turn and it would be over.
He almost laughs - it would be a hilarious end for the two of them after everything they've gone through.
The vents are pushed back to blow against his face again.
Wifi completely dead. Data unreachable.]
It seems I lost my chance of finding out what this is for good, as well as looking up any further facts on those found dead on trails.
[As if he was looking at all. He slips the phone back into his pocket.]
Imagine being snowed in for weeks at a time and even if you manage to leave your home, the roads would be impossible to travel. It's a far cry from Tokyo.
[ He lets Akechi chatter on, focuses on the narrowing roads. For a long while now, they've driven through nothing but nature, not a single sign of civilization present. But as they climb, signs of human life begin to spring up again: Trails dotted with hikers, small parking lots with a few cars each, little stall shops that serve as rest areas with simple homemade food, hot tea. Even a dilapidated vending machine at one; there are some bits of modern life ever present.
Maruki speaks absently as they round their final switchback; it is the last road visible on the GPS. ]
I don't think that would be so bad. So long as you were well-stocked, where else would you need to go? I imagine it's peaceful, actually. If you live here, you know how to prepare for winter and sustain yourself. I'd like an excuse to stay home with everything I need.
[ Finally, they pull into the last of those little parking lots. Maruki exhales as he turns off his car, shakes out his hands with a laugh. ]
I have to admit, that was a little nerve-wracking! It's been a while since I drove through the country.
[ Oh, Akechi can probably guess how long.
He turns to look through the rear windshield, nods to the entrance to a trail. ]
I won't back down from any challenge. You'll be the one out of breath before I am.
[But he does relish the last bit of heat from the car - straightens his gloves and gets himself ready to begin the long trek to somewhere with the slam of a door.
His phone isn't dead. It vibrates from unread messages in his pocket and-
It's ignored as he surveys the wooded area, the small lot, the snowy landscape and the-
Silence.
Absolute silence outside of the soft whispers of another group preparing for the same mountain trek they are. He doesn't hate it. Even the birds are quiet with their chattering.]
Let's begin. We don't want to be walking at night. That's when the most deaths occur.
[ Maruki snorts a quiet laugh as he locks the car up and adjusts his own gloves and scarf. ]
No one's going to die. It's a well-populated trail. [ A beat. ] Don't start telling me about tragic deaths of large groups of hikers, I don't want to hear it.
[ It's not a terribly long hike – ninety minutes or so, with the early winter snowfall light enough that it doesn't impede them. Despite Maruki's words, he'll listen to whatever fun facts Akechi wants to relay. He'll listen to the silence, too. The latter more than the former – surely it's a novel enough thing for two Tokyo urbanites for them to enjoy a mostly quiet hike up a winding path.
Near the top, though, as the ryokan begin to come into view through the snowy trees, Maruki glances over to grin at Akechi. ]
There's an onsen. Obviously. [ And by god, they've earned it after all of this. ] You said you'd never been to one, so.
[There was no time to indulge in nostalgia in the years spent living in Tokyo. Every waking moment spent working towards a goal, every rare second of peace between that filled with a need to keep his value - study more, do more, go to the Metaverse more, fight more, train more, research more, learn to be perfect, learn to be kind, pretend he gives a shit about anything.
Not once did anyone want to know Akechi Goro. Not a single time did anyone try to learn about him - only taught him how to mold himself because he's been imperfect since the moment he was born. Nothing survived those first few years - likes, dislikes, desires beyond a singular fixation to ruin a man's life. It didn't mean anything.
He missed baths, for whatever reason. Nostalgia. Memories. Knowing that the buzz of a cellphone can't follow him, heat from boiling hot water would turn his mind into blissful static.
They hit the top of the hill. Akechi's legs burning from the bitter cold more than the walk itself. A mouth that had long since stopped running after going through the plethora of stories he learned over the years -
He's reminded that Maruki Takuto has only ever listened. Never tried to mold or control him, never did anything but try to appease his erratic whims, accommodate rare likes.
Surprise flickers for a second -
A single second. Warmth in his chest trails after. He can't place where it comes from. Only knows it's something unique to Maruki's presence. He might be mad. Can't figure out why he would be and-]
I didn't realize one was so close to Tokyo. [A single drive away, hidden in the woods.] I'm impressed - you didn't pick a bad spot for our day trip. Here I thought you would drag me to some shithole town as a reminder of our time in Somnius.
[ Maruki snorts a laugh at that, reaches out besides him to whap Akechi lightly on one arm. ]
Even my nostalgia has its limits. No, thank you.
[ It's only the people he ever wants to remember, anyway. Not the place, not by far.
And then he soldiers on, that last stretch of the hike that will take them all the way to the entrance of the ryokan, frigid skin and aching muscles just begging to be practically boiled alive with a view of the mountains. ]
And it's my treat. I won't hear a word about paying. I had a little money set aside.
[ A light flurry begins to pick up; Maruki adjusts his scarf around his neck, walks a little faster in the hopes that it'll still be actively snowing by the time they settle into the onsen. There's nothing like it. ]
There are so many places as unbelievable as this closer to Tokyo than you think. If we had time, I'd take you to more. [ A beat. ] You're sure you can't spare another day?
[ One of his fatal flaws. He will always, always wish for more time. ]
[It occurs to him that he should take photos for his blog. The scenery would get views. He can edit parts of the photo to look more ethereal, remove people. It's not something he could post on a day he feigned illness, but it wouldn't hurt to keep on hand for a slow week.
Maruki walks faster as Akechi slows down. Every message, missed call and text swiped to the side. Maruki can't see it, but that visual was enough of an answer - there won't be another day. He doesn't respond to the question - only lets out an exhale as more popups appear while he tries to get the camera on.
He doesn't want to remember this either. Doesn't want the world to intrude on what might be the first and only trip as Akechi Goro.
It doesn't matter what he wants - so he takes a photo all the same. Deletes it. Another. Deletes it and-
He catches sight of Maruki's back in the lens, a tightly wound coat, a backpack, footsteps in the snow, a hat covering almost all of his hair save for a few strands that poke out. He doesn't delete that one, as he strides forward to match pace again.]
It's irresponsible of you to do that. What will I spend my money on otherwise? It sits in a bank and rots. You drove. I'll pay.
No way. If you try, I'll... I'll push you down the mountain!
[ And just to prove his point, he reaches over to shove Akechi's head sideways, laughing. ]
I'd prefer that you didn't look at this as a debt that needs to be repaid, but if you have to, just do something when we're back in Tokyo. Let me take today. Please.
[ It's important. No one has ever done something like this for Akechi Goro. If it can only happen once, then Maruki will be sure it happens as it should. Everything taken care of for him, and not by someone who wants or needs anything from him in return. Just as a gesture, a kindness.
He points up toward one of the ryokan scattered along the path. ]
That's our destination. Are you sure you can withstand the water? I hear it's the hottest in this area...
Fine. If you want to live off instant noodles so bad, far be it from me to stop you.
[It's stupid.
Absolutely ridiculous. There's no rhyme or reason to not rely on Akechi's seemingly endless coffers.
Maruki is being Maruki. Akechi doesn't fight it. Offers the most deadpan, exasperated look at the childish push. Fixes his slightly mussed up hair in the process.
'Of course I can' spoken under his breath as they approach the house - if he squints, he can see steam rising from beyond the roofs. His body isn't frozen, given the intensity of the walk, but he's ready to slide into liquid lava for the next ten hours.]
Are there indoor baths as well? I also heard they sometimes serve tea and snacks.
[He's kind of excited - it leaks into his voice, just a little.]
Though my preference is go to straight to the main attraction.
[ Oh, Maruki hears that slight twinge of excitement, alright.
It's more genuine positive anticipation than he's ever heard from Akechi– save for moments of bloodshed in the heat of a shared battle, anyway. He can't stop himself from doing a rapid double take, then looks away just as quickly, tucking his chin to hide his smile in his scarf. ]
There are. I figured we would have lunch and tea here too, once we've had our fill of the view.
[ Which is a rather large ask, as it turns out– because Christ, what a view.
With their day passes paid for and their things stowed away in the visitors' lockers, there's nothing to do but sink down into the boiling water outside. Maruki goes all the way down to his shoulders at once, a shock to the system as snow falls steadily on the dead trees and craggy mountains they overlook. His breath puffs out in front of him, mingles with the steam, and–
It's quiet.
With their bodies finally at rest and nothing to occupy their minds, it's finally the escape it was meant to be.
Maruki doesn't say a word. He'll let Akechi take in the silence for as long as he wants. ]
Not in the way normal baths are - it's polite to remain quiet in them, or keep conversations low. There's still noise. Water streaming from the faucet, overhead lights humming, voices and traffic from Tokyo's busy streets pouring in every time the door opens or a flap is pushed aside.
Out here-
That doesn't exist and remains a reminder of how far they are from it. How close this peace is from a city lacking it.
Akechi remains quiet for an hour. Barely moves during that time. The water is the hottest he's ever been in and his heart races within 30 minutes. Sweat beading against his forehead soon after.
It's nice. He doesn't hate it. There's a bird flying overhead and reminds him of a crow. The humor would be lost on Maruki, but Akechi finds it funny all the same. An exhale turns into a quiet, winded laugh. It breaks the silence, so he decides to keep filling it.]
It's going to be difficult to not think of this place should I go to another bath in Tokyo. This really is in a league of its own.
[ It's a protracted silence that falls between them. Ten minutes, half an hour, more. At some point, Maruki stops keeping track in his head and just relaxes, draping his arms over stones at the side of the pool to rest his chin on them and stare out over the wooded mountains, mind going pleasantly blank and fuzzy.
That exhale of a laugh catches his attention, and he turns over his shoulder to watch Akechi through his fogged glasses. ]
It's unreal, isn't it?
[ One glance back at the white-dappled treetops and then he turns to face Akechi fully, relaxing back against the side of the pool and sliding down to his shoulders again. ]
In the immediate aftermath of fighting a grotesque mound of flesh disguised as human, on a ship built to sink the two of them alone. Akechi wants Shido to suffer and he does. It's drawn out - both of them on brink of collapse, but Akechi wins. Doesn't shoot, because he won and this isn't where he claims his victory.
Doesn't shoot, so he returns to the true world, in the diet building, in an office where a man's heart never changed.
Akechi shoots and blood splatters a pristine window pane. The red ocean from his cognition almost visible through the transparent stains that leak against the glass.
And it's quiet. It's quiet. It's quiet. In those final moments, it's so quiet and in those final moments, he sees his own life flash in the darkened eyes of the one who brought him into this world.
He doesn't see his mother. Doesn't think about a childhood he barely recalls. Remembers Kurusu, for the briefest second.
Thinks about how he wants bath. Thinks about the onsen. Thinks about Maruki dragging him up that mountain for the only vacation Akechi would ever experience. And it's quiet, so he lets his body drop onto a couch he's sat on more times than he can count. And it's quiet, even as fragments of bone and flesh drop with solid, loud, too loud, it's too loud plops from a corpse in an office chair.
And it's quiet.
Not even New Years.
A day away. A day after. They had plans - he can't remember what.
He thinks to text, and doesn't. Another plop. He looks to their messages -'I'm proud of you' on the screen. Plop, and he should leave. Plop, and he deletes the texts. Reformats his phone. Watches the logo circle over and over and over and-
He wants to leave. Plop and he can't leave. Plop and any elation felt is dissipating faster and faster and faster-
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
NORMAL LANTERN FESTIVAL OCCURRENCES
[ The last dying embers of laughter sputter forth as Maruki takes in yet another Akechi Fun Fact! and nods along, inhaling sharply through his nose. Breathe. Focus. Get it together. ]
Well, it could still happen. You never know.
[ He grins, then, and continues on. ]
Come on. We're not far.
[ He lets silence slide comfortably over them as they make their way along the trail. Akechi's certainly earned it, after all that.
The less-traveled path has one more steep section, a series of switch-backs before leveling off to reveal a small clearing along the cliff's edge. The boughs of the trees surrounding it sag low, heavy with luminescent leaves. The effect creates a little enclave that others have clearly discovered long before Maruki ever did – a halved log is set up as a makeshift bench, small patches of glowing flowers sprouted up around it.
Maruki stretches his arms over his head with a huge sigh of exertion and contentment for having reached their destination, then gestures for Akechi to join him.
The view isn't anywhere near as expansive as it is from the summit, but it has its own charm. It faces toward the labyrinth and the great looming castle, the town mostly out of sight at this face of the cliffside. It's quiet, secluded–
And the only place where Maruki wanted to eventually have this conversation. Things with Eren just solidified the need to have it now. ]
Can I admit something to you?
[ For all the conversations they've had about Maruki walking a razor's edge if he enters the cognitive world, what follows is the truth. ]
I don't understand how you think I might get in the way of your plan badly enough to necessitate my murder.
[ He rests his forearms over his knees in front of him, clasps his hands together loosely. ]
I'd like you to explain it to me. Honestly. Please.
SO NORMAL!!!!!!!;
If Maruki wanted to hear more, it should have-
Been spoken the day Akechi sunk his fingertips into flesh, pressed down tentatively, loose lips unleashing secrets he never wanted to spill. Maruki had a chance. Chose to leave it behind. Walk out. The walls absorbed the last of Akechi's words and Maruki disappeared behind them. A shield meant for one of them - he can't be sure which.
But he asks it - 'I'd like you to explain it to me. Honestly. Please.' after-
Asking his potential murderer to sit beside him. After walking beside a boy on desolate cliffsides. Someone who didn't hesitate to strangle the life out of him weeks ago.
Maruki's too complacent with his power. That's Akechi's first thought. Loki ignites in his chest - rip him to shreds in these close quarters. Azathoth is strong. Fast. Responsive.
Akechi is experienced. Tenacious. Fueled by something greater.
But Loki doesn't appear. Akechi doesn't pull out his gun. The only way Maruki is pierced is with Akechi's own gaze, equal parts baffled and-
Amused maybe.
This is a stupid goddamn game Maruki's playing and-
Akechi looks away to stare at the same view. Labyrinth. Castle. A false world.
Talking about this so openly is bizarre. Under an expansive sky, in a world that feels larger than the four walls of his empty room. It's why he remains silent for a few minutes after. Entertains the thought with his palms pressed into the bench, leaning back in a manner that might seem relaxed, if not for the way his body looks like it may spring up at any second. ]
Does it matter?
[It doesn't. Stay out of the cognitive world. Easy. That's it. Become a low priority and exist in the shadows. It's so fucking simple. ]
If you become a noticable issue, I'll be sent to deal with you.
[Neutral. Stated swiftly. They're talking about the weather and new cafe openings down the road. ]
Since you'll best me in the cognitive world, a cleaner will deal with you in reality though-
[Maruki asked for Akechi's reasoning. He knows. Doesn't care. It's his and his alone. ]
Your level of importance is minuscule. You're nothing now that he has your research, frankly.
[-Asked why Akechi would have to do it and why Akechi should do it and-]
Not many people get to learn about a way they could die. You've been afforded an opportunity and yet, you still reach for more. How unexpectedly greedy of you.
: )))))))))))))))
Something he's never been particularly skilled at. ]
It isn't greed, necessarily. I just want to be prepared.
[ But it doesn't make sense. Either there's some missing piece that Maruki hasn't been able to suss out yet, or Akechi's lying. The explanation as he's given it is an incomplete picture. Maruki's mouth twists into a frown as he considers it.
He draws a breath and opens his mouth as if to speak, but nothing comes.
This is unwise.
This is beyond unwise.
Akechi could pull out the gun that's always on him and end this as soon as Maruki presses farther. He could shove him over the sheer cliff face and watch him fall down, down, down.
Azathoth would put a stop to anything he tries to do. Wouldn't it? Maruki had fought so hard to keep it suppressed when Akechi began to strangle him in his room. If he hadn't been able to throw Akechi off, if he'd been allowed to crush his throat as he wanted to, who's to say Azathoth wouldn't have overridden his wishes and appeared anyway? Will any real harm ever befall him here so long as the blind idiot god is hellbent on his survival?
It's a luxury he won't have in their true reality. He wants to know what to expect there.
It's a couple minutes before he tries again. ]
If I'm so unimportant, how could I become a noticeable issue? And if it's my actions in the cognitive world that would make me an issue, how would anyone find out but you?
[ Unless Shido has eyes in the cognitive world that aren't Akechi's own. And that feels doubtful, at this point. ]
Akechi–
[ His heart thuds in his chest, frightened, anxious, miserable. ]
I want you to succeed. No matter what I do, I won't be in your way. I'm serious about this.
no subject
One of the last thoughts on earth that are his own. The last piece of autonomy he has. A plan. A goal. The broken pieces around it Akechi will splinter again and again and again, until it's dust and dirt.
There's a degree of respect he has for the man sitting next to him. It's undeniable. A power unmatched.
Respect isn't trust. Maruki knows too much because of-
Akechi. Because of curiosity. Because of the same incessant need to learn and an impossible to ignore urge to be free. To know yourself. Another world, away from the prying eyes is society, is perfect for it. An entity born from your own soul with powers and abilities that are incomprehensible.
Maruki will seek freedom in that world. Everyone does and-
Akechi doesn't care in the slightest. Not for a second. Every muscle in his body coiled so tight that a finger twitching will shatter him.
It's his. His plan is his own. That world is his. Shido is his. The deaths from his hands are his and will only be his and-
His gloves are shit - nails wearing the inside of cheap ass leather from a stupid rural town. He needs to request more from-
Someone. Swipe a black card with no limit, purchased from a company meant for the wealthy alone.
They dig and dig and dig - fist clenched tight, nails swiping at fabric anyway. His fingers feel like they'll break. They stay clenched anyway. Maruki wants him to succeed. Akechi believes it, and doesn't. Serious. Won't be in his way and-
Maruki's already in his goddamn way because he knows. Because he's talking about it. Because they're side by side despite everything, instead of separated by the rolling hills, dense forests, expansive sparkling lights and-
He blinks - dry eyes and sparkling lights vanishing with it.
He's furious. ]
Oh?
[Tense. Bitter. Fury held back with a practiced tongue. Annoyance clear in his tone anyways.
He wants to be prepared.]
What's the goddamn point?
[Akechi doesn't take his eyes off Maruki.]
I want to kill you - is that what you're looking for? There it is. Maybe for the sheer thrill of it. Some say evil is genetic, after all.
[The phantom thieves implied it in a long forgotten chatroom. The thrill of killing - so fucking hilarious.]
Or maybe there's a long, thought out plan against you. Years in the making, perhaps. I've always had my eye on you, in your piece of shit apartment.
[A laugh - quiet and bitter.]
Maybe I like betraying people and I can't wait to see how your face looks when it happens. I'll kill you the second we return to reality, no matter what I tell you now.
[A hand thrown up in irritation. It drops like lead a second later.]
Did any of that suffice?
no subject
He holds Akechi's gaze throughout the entire diatribe, all of the options presented before him. None of them ring true at all. It feels like Akechi isn't even trying to make them seem convincing. And he's certainly avoiding answering the actual questions that Maruki's asked.
He brings his arms up, rests the points of his elbows on his thighs, clasped hands coming up beneath his chin. He leans his head down onto them, briefly, as he observes Akechi from the new angle. Then sits up straight again. ]
Not really, no.
[ He knows Akechi would kill him. Likely will kill him. But there is no part of him that believes Akechi genuinely wants to kill him independent of how he feels about Shido.
The problem is that it's all a snarled, tangled, cancerous mass. Is there anything that Akechi wants, considers, dreams, loves, hates, does that isn't caught in the brambles of Masayoshi Shido? ]
I asked you why you would need to kill me when I'm staying out of your way, not why you might want to do it. There's a difference.
[ Pushing, pushing, pushing. Awfully close to a cliff's edge, too. He knows his luck is on a thin, fraying rope. ]
no subject
Maruki is his problem.
And if Maruki ends up on a short list, targeted, marked by a cabal taking out a loose end because he thinks he's a nobody, without recognizing he should be their number one hit and-
If they do realize he's powerful - should be taken out with swift precision, in the dead of night, while he sleeps in his bed -
Akechi can't stand it. Won't allow it.
Maruki staying out his way is irrelevant because he needs to make sure this man has a deserving end that isn't at the end of a barrel wielded by a pay by the hour nobody.
The insects almost sound like cicadas, in that moment and-
Metal presses into his palm. Unprompted. Reaction to a thought, a feeling, a realization that this bastard won't shut up and-
He isn't going to shoot. Won't. Despite the way his fingers curl into the front of Maruki's shirt to jerk him forward or how the barrel presses into spot right above his glasses, between his eyes.
This isn't the angle Akechi wanted. Maruki should be on the ground, pressed against kitchen tile and looking up at Akechi through the last streams of light on a cold, fall day.
Not nearly eye to eye on a shitty bench in a false world. Not surrounded by flickering starlight and soft lit trees. Not-]
Tell me - who would you rather see holding this gun? Some pathetic sniveling nobody pulled from the fucking sewers to kill you for a miniscule price?
[Safety's off. Finger against a small piece of metal that decides -
Life. Judgement. Maruki deserves one, not both. It's out of his hand regardless.]
Or the person who sealed your fate by giving you information you should have never learned?
dear god imagine if eren had told him they can't change their futures. IMAGINE THIS AS LABY CANON
Akechi–
[ It suddenly feels–
More horrific than he ever anticipated.
And entirely unavoidable.
He's on a list. He will be found. Akechi doesn't want him to be found by just anyone. Yes, he's asking what Maruki wants, but that's not what this is about. He knows Akechi. If he truly didn't care, then he would have already decided to toss Maruki to the wolves and let anyone from Shido's cabal deal with him. Wouldn't be taking it into his own hands, deliberately.
His heart pounds, stutters, races – and aches.
His mouth is dry. Throat dry. Eyes dry. He thought he might cry if it ever came to this, but he doesn't have a single part of his mind left over to dedicate to it. He's only focused, present, terrified, accepting, miserable, foolish– everything, all of it.
Well. He wanted to know what to expect. Here it is.
Azathoth's energy crackles and percolates at the base of his skull, tendrils snaking through all of his thoughts and feelings and senses, desperate to come forth– Maruki doesn't let it.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he reaches a hand up to wrap around Akechi's wrist. Doesn't push it away. Doesn't force him to stay there, either. Just anchors the grip that Akechi already has on the gun, the angle that he already has it pressed against Maruki's head, thumb against his pulse. ]
I don't want you to have to be the one to do that. You don't deserve that.
I CANT I CANT OHHH THANK GOD EREN SAID WORDS OH DIRE
A finger on his pulse, hand around his wrist, gun pressed to flesh.
Maruki is insane.
The blatant touch incredulous on its own - the lack of self-preservation a different beast.
Akechi wants him to fight. Expects it. Craves it. Maruki promised to show resolve and instead he says shit like You don't deserve it.]
Who are you to say that? It means nothing to me, like every other death by my hand. Remember, if it comes to that, you aren't first. You won't be the last.
[Other targets. Shido. Maruki is a name on a list. A number. Nothing.
Maruki's worth nothing.
A ring of fire around his wrist. A racing heart that has nothing to do with the conversation happening, the man in front of him.
The safety's on. Akechi pulls it out and-]
Take the gun. I won't stop you.
stares deeply into the void
No.
[ It's immediate. So immediate Akechi hardly even finishes the qualifying statement. He will not take the gun. He won't ever hold a gun, to his own head or anyone else's. Maruki has already bent plenty of his own morals, but that will always remain his hard line.
No, he won't take the gun.
He lets Akechi's wrist go. Can still feel his racing pulse beneath his thumb. Drops his hand back down to his lap. Doesn't move away otherwise. ]
I have a hypothetical that I want to run by you.
[ With a gun to his head?
Sure, if Akechi doesn't drop it. ]
breathesDJSOAFJO
A broken home in the rural countryside, a fiancé lost forever, life's work stolen, career halted and twisted by a shadowy hand from the depths.
He'll have one more, in a few minutes. Akechi's hand doesn't fall - gun pressed to skull with enough pressure that he can see the vaguest outline of the barrel's top indented into flesh. Barely visible. Maruki speaks and his skin moves. Little red outline.
A hypothetical. How fucking stupid. Azathoth should be ripping Akechi's arm off its host . Maruki isn't soft, but he is forgiving even as brutality happens to him. Ready to forgive before an attack even happens.
He laughs - mirthless, cruel and short lived.]
By all means.
looks AWAY from you
Say that right before you arrived in Somnius, you were on the verge of doing something massive.
[ Bones as tall as skyscrapers jutting into a blood red sky. Had Akechi seen it too? ]
It seemed like the right thing to do at the time– the only thing to do. The fulfillment of your life's dream, even.
[ The time for your unjustly persecuted ideology is now at hand. ]
But you had no idea what you were getting into. None at all. And you've been afforded the opportunity here to learn what a tremendous mistake you were about to make. You've learned from the best.
[ His eyes are locked on Akechi's. He means it so, so sincerely. Without lessons imparted upon him by Akechi, Venat, Eren, Kurogiri, Maki... He never would have come to understand the value of pain. ]
You would do anything to change the path that you were on back in your true reality, knowing what you know now. Anything.
[ He swallows, a mass in his throat hard as rock. He's so disgusted with himself, it rises up hot and angry behind his eyes, vision shaking with the tension held in his jaw. ]
And it doesn't matter. You've been told that there's nothing you can do to change what's coming. That the future you wished for is inevitable.
[ Is he even breathing anymore? Maybe Akechi's already pulled the trigger. ]
What would you do?
ah <3
A man with an unrealized wish learning that regrets often come too late and-
Akechi who has never regretted a moment of his life.
It always ends this way. Fate is unjust. The world is unjust. People are unjust. People are rotten.A meaningless nobody in a sea of them.
Another target on a list Akechi never knows the full capacity of.]
I would stop it at its source.
[And
shoots.
One pull of a trigger is all it takes. No silencer on it - the sound is piercing. Ears ring and ache and-Maruki looks the same Joker, slumped over like this.
Skull fragment and viscera. Blood and clumps of hair. It decorates the bench, the trees behind them.
It was loud and it won't matter in this false reality. Fights are the norm and-
All Akechi did was attack a monster.
The stars are buried under a sea of wishes that will never be and Akechi leans back, turns his head up, and tries to catch the sight of a single, glimmering light among the false ones.
It's not there.
A weight presses against his side - sleeve and shirt wet from blooming liquid. He doesn't look. He's happy.
This is where your wish ends, Maruki-san.
GET IN THE CAR LOSER IT'S A POST-LABY DAY TRIP
Truly, he'd originally planned to get Akechi for half a day, maybe less. Quick and easy trips just to get him out of Tokyo sprang to mind: Enoshima, Kamakura, even Hakone. But when Akechi tells him that he has the entire day to himself, not a single obligation in his way, the plan shifts.
The only clue Akechi's been given about where they're going is that he'll need to prepare for a bit of a hike. Yes, in the early days of winter. Yes, it will be worth it. No, any further questions will not be answered. Yes, really.
It's a long drive – he has to wonder if Akechi's ever been in a car this long in his life. Three hours elapse before they're nearly there. Between his GPS and Akechi's ability to do a simple search with context clues for the area, he might have his surprise betrayed soon, but that's alright.
He looks over at Akechi in the passenger seat, then back toward the narrow road surrounded by forest on all sides. No snow yet, which is truly unfortunate, but the changed colors of the leaves before the bitter cold drops them altogether certainly has its own draw. ]
Have you ever been this far out in the country?
SOBBINGNI
At a certain point, Maruki notices. Brakes on purpose on side roads, near shady gas stations that make Akechi balk -
Maruki notices, as always, so Akechi stops. Only pulls out of his phone to check GPS, texts from those wishing him well online, at work. Akechi feigned illness - headaches and dizzy spells. He responds to a few out of habit, confirms with Sae he'll be back in the morning, as normal.
As always.
They get further from Tokyo and-
Akechi breathes.
Without anyone watching him.They get further from Tokyo and-
Akechi feels like he can breathe.
A miniscule set of barbs tugged free from his shoulders - he leans back comfortably against the seat. Watches the road narrow. Watches his reception cut out. Watches the trees crowd in around them and take the place of spiraling buildings.He can't see Tokyo from here. Can't stop staring out the window. Blinks for the first time in an hour, it feels like, when Maruki speaks. He turns to look at him instead.]
Outside of that rural shithole we were stuck in?
[Phone back in his pocket. Every bar is gone during this subsect of forest.]
I can't recall. I've lived in some less than modern areas, but I don't believe it's ever been like this. Though if your plan was to impress me with some trees, I'm already disappointed.
[They're colorful. Eye catching. He doesn't hate them.]
"WE'RE GONNA PSL THIS YOU REALIZE" WHAT COULD GO WRONG LEXY WHAT COULD GO WRONG
His tone is light, gently teasing. ]
You caught me. This is the entire trip. We'll drive through trees, stop, then drive back through the same trees. I'm so sorry to disappoint you.
[ Little shit.
He checks the GPS; at the next fork in the road, they'll make it up to a more mountainous area, and then– ]
I wasn't kidding about that hike, by the way. Cars aren't allowed where we're going.
[ It's difficult to reconcile with for Maruki; he figures the same is true for Akechi, too. A place so removed from the ultra-modern city life they know that there isn't even a single vehicle. ]
Imagine, living in a place like that.
IM SO HURT OH HILLJFI
[He can't imagine a permanent life in these small, desolate towns that rebuke technology for nature. Tokyo's bustling metropolis is what he's used to. It's where he'll stay. A world like this is its own reality - a place free of cars, artificial sound, towering buildings and throngs of people forcing themselves into train cars-
It's quiet.
The engine's hum all around them - there's nothing else. Trees surrounding, an empty road - if it were anyone else, he would think this was an attempt to silently kill him. Keeps the thought in mind on the off chance Maruki grew a backbone during their separation in Tokyo.
His phone doesn't buzz. Reception's out. He's not distressed about being untraceable, untouchable for only a few minutes.]
But I can see the appeal, for some. A place where you can live a simple life, free of modern society's extreme standards. I assume crime occurs to a lesser degree as well, though the darkest part of humanity will always be where people are. They can't escape, no matter how many cars they ban.
[He pushes the vent towards his own body- both at once, full blast of heat in his direction.]
Did you know nearly 3000 people this year had an accident on a mountain trail? A fair number of them died from their injuries and their bodies never found, despite a heavily used path and search efforts from others.
[Oh, it's so warm - he shrimps his body to get a blast right to the face.]
Often nature has a way of disposing intruders, quickly and efficiently. I doubt they'll ever be recovered.
no subject
Will mourn every day in a world without him, too.
Would it really so bad if they were both lost out here?
Ah, what a horrible thought. He turns one of the vents back toward himself. ]
Did you ever read much about Mount Everest? It seems like something you would be into.
[ Tacitly encouraging morbid fascinations instead of trying to change Akechi, as ever.
They reach that fork, turn into an even narrower road, and Maruki keeps all his concentration on the slow, weaving climb up into the woods. Let Akechi fill the space as he navigates this for them. ]
no subject
[A road more narrow than he's ever been on - he looks out the window with morbid fascination at how easy it would be to cause them to fly over the edge. One slip, one wide turn and it would be over.
He almost laughs - it would be a hilarious end for the two of them after everything they've gone through.
The vents are pushed back to blow against his face again.
Wifi completely dead. Data unreachable.]
It seems I lost my chance of finding out what this is for good, as well as looking up any further facts on those found dead on trails.
[As if he was looking at all. He slips the phone back into his pocket.]
Imagine being snowed in for weeks at a time and even if you manage to leave your home, the roads would be impossible to travel. It's a far cry from Tokyo.
no subject
Maruki speaks absently as they round their final switchback; it is the last road visible on the GPS. ]
I don't think that would be so bad. So long as you were well-stocked, where else would you need to go? I imagine it's peaceful, actually. If you live here, you know how to prepare for winter and sustain yourself. I'd like an excuse to stay home with everything I need.
[ Finally, they pull into the last of those little parking lots. Maruki exhales as he turns off his car, shakes out his hands with a laugh. ]
I have to admit, that was a little nerve-wracking! It's been a while since I drove through the country.
[ Oh, Akechi can probably guess how long.
He turns to look through the rear windshield, nods to the entrance to a trail. ]
Last chance to back out of a hike, city slicker.
no subject
[But he does relish the last bit of heat from the car - straightens his gloves and gets himself ready to begin the long trek to somewhere with the slam of a door.
His phone isn't dead. It vibrates from unread messages in his pocket and-
It's ignored as he surveys the wooded area, the small lot, the snowy landscape and the-
Silence.
Absolute silence outside of the soft whispers of another group preparing for the same mountain trek they are. He doesn't hate it. Even the birds are quiet with their chattering.]
Let's begin. We don't want to be walking at night. That's when the most deaths occur.
no subject
No one's going to die. It's a well-populated trail. [ A beat. ] Don't start telling me about tragic deaths of large groups of hikers, I don't want to hear it.
[ It's not a terribly long hike – ninety minutes or so, with the early winter snowfall light enough that it doesn't impede them. Despite Maruki's words, he'll listen to whatever fun facts Akechi wants to relay. He'll listen to the silence, too. The latter more than the former – surely it's a novel enough thing for two Tokyo urbanites for them to enjoy a mostly quiet hike up a winding path.
Near the top, though, as the ryokan begin to come into view through the snowy trees, Maruki glances over to grin at Akechi. ]
There's an onsen. Obviously. [ And by god, they've earned it after all of this. ] You said you'd never been to one, so.
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Not once did anyone want to know Akechi Goro. Not a single time did anyone try to learn about him - only taught him how to mold himself because he's been imperfect since the moment he was born. Nothing survived those first few years - likes, dislikes, desires beyond a singular fixation to ruin a man's life. It didn't mean anything.
He missed baths, for whatever reason. Nostalgia. Memories. Knowing that the buzz of a cellphone can't follow him, heat from boiling hot water would turn his mind into blissful static.
They hit the top of the hill. Akechi's legs burning from the bitter cold more than the walk itself. A mouth that had long since stopped running after going through the plethora of stories he learned over the years -
He's reminded that Maruki Takuto has only ever listened. Never tried to mold or control him, never did anything but try to appease his erratic whims, accommodate rare likes.
Surprise flickers for a second -
A single second. Warmth in his chest trails after. He can't place where it comes from. Only knows it's something unique to Maruki's presence. He might be mad. Can't figure out why he would be and-]
I didn't realize one was so close to Tokyo. [A single drive away, hidden in the woods.] I'm impressed - you didn't pick a bad spot for our day trip. Here I thought you would drag me to some shithole town as a reminder of our time in Somnius.
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Even my nostalgia has its limits. No, thank you.
[ It's only the people he ever wants to remember, anyway. Not the place, not by far.
And then he soldiers on, that last stretch of the hike that will take them all the way to the entrance of the ryokan, frigid skin and aching muscles just begging to be practically boiled alive with a view of the mountains. ]
And it's my treat. I won't hear a word about paying. I had a little money set aside.
[ A light flurry begins to pick up; Maruki adjusts his scarf around his neck, walks a little faster in the hopes that it'll still be actively snowing by the time they settle into the onsen. There's nothing like it. ]
There are so many places as unbelievable as this closer to Tokyo than you think. If we had time, I'd take you to more. [ A beat. ] You're sure you can't spare another day?
[ One of his fatal flaws. He will always, always wish for more time. ]
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Maruki walks faster as Akechi slows down. Every message, missed call and text swiped to the side. Maruki can't see it, but that visual was enough of an answer - there won't be another day. He doesn't respond to the question - only lets out an exhale as more popups appear while he tries to get the camera on.
He doesn't want to remember this either. Doesn't want the world to intrude on what might be the first and only trip as Akechi Goro.
It doesn't matter what he wants - so he takes a photo all the same. Deletes it. Another. Deletes it and-
He catches sight of Maruki's back in the lens, a tightly wound coat, a backpack, footsteps in the snow, a hat covering almost all of his hair save for a few strands that poke out. He doesn't delete that one, as he strides forward to match pace again.]
It's irresponsible of you to do that. What will I spend my money on otherwise? It sits in a bank and rots. You drove. I'll pay.
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[ And just to prove his point, he reaches over to shove Akechi's head sideways, laughing. ]
I'd prefer that you didn't look at this as a debt that needs to be repaid, but if you have to, just do something when we're back in Tokyo. Let me take today. Please.
[ It's important. No one has ever done something like this for Akechi Goro. If it can only happen once, then Maruki will be sure it happens as it should. Everything taken care of for him, and not by someone who wants or needs anything from him in return. Just as a gesture, a kindness.
He points up toward one of the ryokan scattered along the path. ]
That's our destination. Are you sure you can withstand the water? I hear it's the hottest in this area...
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[It's stupid.
Absolutely ridiculous. There's no rhyme or reason to not rely on Akechi's seemingly endless coffers.
Maruki is being Maruki. Akechi doesn't fight it. Offers the most deadpan, exasperated look at the childish push. Fixes his slightly mussed up hair in the process.
'Of course I can' spoken under his breath as they approach the house - if he squints, he can see steam rising from beyond the roofs. His body isn't frozen, given the intensity of the walk, but he's ready to slide into liquid lava for the next ten hours.]
Are there indoor baths as well? I also heard they sometimes serve tea and snacks.
[He's kind of excited - it leaks into his voice, just a little.]
Though my preference is go to straight to the main attraction.
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It's more genuine positive anticipation than he's ever heard from Akechi– save for moments of bloodshed in the heat of a shared battle, anyway. He can't stop himself from doing a rapid double take, then looks away just as quickly, tucking his chin to hide his smile in his scarf. ]
There are. I figured we would have lunch and tea here too, once we've had our fill of the view.
[ Which is a rather large ask, as it turns out– because Christ, what a view.
With their day passes paid for and their things stowed away in the visitors' lockers, there's nothing to do but sink down into the boiling water outside. Maruki goes all the way down to his shoulders at once, a shock to the system as snow falls steadily on the dead trees and craggy mountains they overlook. His breath puffs out in front of him, mingles with the steam, and–
It's quiet.
With their bodies finally at rest and nothing to occupy their minds, it's finally the escape it was meant to be.
Maruki doesn't say a word. He'll let Akechi take in the silence for as long as he wants. ]
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It's silent.
Not in the way normal baths are - it's polite to remain quiet in them, or keep conversations low. There's still noise. Water streaming from the faucet, overhead lights humming, voices and traffic from Tokyo's busy streets pouring in every time the door opens or a flap is pushed aside.
Out here-
That doesn't exist and remains a reminder of how far they are from it. How close this peace is from a city lacking it.
Akechi remains quiet for an hour. Barely moves during that time. The water is the hottest he's ever been in and his heart races within 30 minutes. Sweat beading against his forehead soon after.
It's nice. He doesn't hate it. There's a bird flying overhead and reminds him of a crow. The humor would be lost on Maruki, but Akechi finds it funny all the same. An exhale turns into a quiet, winded laugh. It breaks the silence, so he decides to keep filling it.]
It's going to be difficult to not think of this place should I go to another bath in Tokyo. This really is in a league of its own.
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That exhale of a laugh catches his attention, and he turns over his shoulder to watch Akechi through his fogged glasses. ]
It's unreal, isn't it?
[ One glance back at the white-dappled treetops and then he turns to face Akechi fully, relaxing back against the side of the pool and sliding down to his shoulders again. ]
I hope you remember it for a long time.
[ However long that ends up being. ]
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And he does.
Doesn't shoot, so he returns to the true world, in the diet building, in an office where a man's heart never changed.
Akechi shoots and blood splatters a pristine window pane. The red ocean from his cognition almost visible through the transparent stains that leak against the glass.
And it's quiet. It's quiet. It's quiet. In those final moments, it's so quiet and in those final moments, he sees his own life flash in the darkened eyes of the one who brought him into this world.
He doesn't see his mother. Doesn't think about a childhood he barely recalls. Remembers Kurusu, for the briefest second.
Thinks about how he wants bath. Thinks about the onsen. Thinks about Maruki dragging him up that mountain for the only vacation Akechi would ever experience. And it's quiet, so he lets his body drop onto a couch he's sat on more times than he can count. And it's quiet, even as fragments of bone and flesh drop with solid, loud, too loud, it's too loud plops from a corpse in an office chair.
And it's quiet.
Not even New Years.
A day away. A day after. They had plans - he can't remember what.He thinks to text, and doesn't. Another plop. He looks to their messages -'I'm proud of you' on the screen. Plop, and he should leave. Plop, and he deletes the texts. Reformats his phone. Watches the logo circle over and over and over and-
He wants to leave. Plop and he can't leave. Plop and any elation felt is dissipating faster and faster and faster-
Plop, and he hears
someone
Pop and-]