[The discovered disadvantage to being all the way up here: he can't just walk over and turn it back up again. The hubris has once more come back to bite him. He lifts his head from the screen and opens his mouth, and then she drops the book and he reluctantly follows her gaze.]
That thing? ...Under my pillow, if you can believe it. [He knows Sara will get how unsettling that is, when they're the ones with the only keys as far as they know. Good thing he'd found it while shifting bedding around for a better position and not as he was going to sleep.] Gave me a headache... I wouldn't turn it on.
[He's not a fan, but it's clear he doesn't recognize it at all.]
[ Sara pulls it off the shelf, looking it over again. It is without mistake, the same lantern from the fourth and fifth floor. Of course Sou didn't recognize it. By all rights, this should be hers. It was in her pockets, last she'd remembered. ]
This is an item from Midori's floor. [ She says flatly. She's not namedropping the guy out of any attempt to manipulate Sou for once. It's relevant to know for what comes next. ] Our memories were altered before the game. You need a partner, but this can be used to awakened forgotten memories.
[ Quite a useful gadget. She doesn't get how it works, but everyone's memories had been pretty handy in taking Midori down. ]
[Hey, it was under his pillow, so he gets first dibs okay.
...and then she explains who it belonged to and he can't help but look at it in her hands like it's a live viper, laptop on his lap and heater forgotten. You know what, on second thoughts...]
He just... left it lying around?
[You know, like a Lego at 3am? Suddenly it makes perfect sense for it to inflict psychic damage.
Our memories were altered. It's... it makes too much sense actually, why so much of that time is just... gone, holes in everything that's he's gone through over and over, stuck trying to recall things that just won't come. Midori really could steal thoughts out of his head, like it felt like, at times.]
....
S-so... you too, huh?
[She said before the game, but... that only raises more questions, with answers he doesn't like contemplating. Midori never really ever said what he did for work, where he vanished to sometimes, and Shin'd never really questioned it until he started having to pay bills himself... stupid, it was all stupid. Not just her... everyone, they all recognized the picture, and even if she didn't... Some part of him he'd thought he'd ripped out is. Upset. That it wasn't just him, and why is a tangled mess.]
It also reveals invisible ink. There was a puzzle I had to solve...and then the other functions were explained. So it was given to us.
[ In the locker room where Alice... She shakes her head looking over at Sou's panicked posture. He hadn't been this scared the last time they used the lantern together. Was he just hiding it? ]
I'm not sure. I never used it on myself. Besides...He said the game was the first time he'd met me.
[ She holds the lantern up, flipping the switch back and forth a few times idly. The purple light is exactly the same as she remembers. Easier to talk, not looking at how upset Sou looks.]
Before the game the rest of you all signed a contract with him and he...erased that memory somehow. I hadn't, so I don't think he was lying about not meeting me. And with Kai...around. I'm not sure why they waited. He was...excited to get me to sign it.
[Midori did like his games, his floor would have been full of them. He hasn't missed that the explanation came after. There's no reason to make people remember these things except to turn the screws just that little bit more, dangle knowledge in front of them.]
....
[He winces, turning his head away as she flicks it on and off. Annoying...]
Ahaha... maybe Kai was why. He did seem pretty devoted to you... as an understatement.
[How envious, to be loved? He has no idea about the stalking. His feathers are settling, but it's still bothering him a bit. He can believe that about the contract, and that's going to be something to unpack later... much later... yell into his pillow about in an empty room later. But...]
He'll say anything, Sara... but you'd know that, right? [If he was trying to get her to sign. Even with half of his memories missing, he knows that much. Midori's selfish streak... and then he'd turn around with a smile like it was your fault for believing him, and you'd believe him again.] Are you... sure there isn't anything missing?
[ Don't be a baby its just a light. She pretty much shone this at everything that moved on that floor, checking for markings. It even paid off once. ]
He was an Asunaro agent... if they wanted him to make me sign something, he couldn't have refused. [ The implicit jealousy in his voice rankles. It's not like Sara resents Kai, knowing what she knows now. But the ceaseless devotion of someone you never really met...its frightening. In a way she feels bad about, because Kai seemed truly kind. She wished he wasn't dead, so she wasn't left with his last heartfelt words for her, devoid any ability to know what she'd meant to him. If he'd really been a member of her family, then why couldn't she have known him better? ]
[ ... ]
He said a lot of things... [ Just thinking about it makes her throat feel tight, and she rubs it unconsciously. ] Look, but it doesn't matter. I needed the wish from the contract to win anyway, so everything worked out.
[ Is she sure though. No. Of course not. They're talking about a pathological liar here. ]
I'll show you how to use it, if you're so curious. You can even do it on me, just to be sure.
[How many markings are there going to be in here?? Just turn it off. >: \ Is what he doesn't say, because he just lets his irritation build up until it hits a threshold in these circumstances.
He's remembering how the plan to get her out apparently kicked off the entire thing... Why her, though? That's always the question, isn't it? That memorandum...]
...that just makes it stranger. Guess they got unlucky... or maybe just cocky.
[Was 15.5% actually higher, when it came to the real deal? Was she always intended to reach Midori's floor? Past that, win a game secretly rigged in her favor? Or was she never supposed to sign it at all and that was all Midori's own idea? ...Was it just that he disappeared before she could? Speaking of cockiness and Midori... Shin can't help but laugh, something short and quiet.]
So that's how... that's funny.
[Sara had told him it was one of his own little games, but because of that as well... no it's some nice poetic comeuppance right there. A wish, huh... his headache is getting worse and he presses a palm to his head.]
Look, would you stop that?
[He shuts the laptop and carefully sets it aside in the corner, setting his hands on the edge of the bunk bed and leaning over, scarf dangling down.]
....surprisingly trusting of you, Sara. You don't even know what I'd learn.
[If it needs a partner... And it's something made by Midori, on her memories, without the chance he had in another timeline to see it work on Reko or Alice. This is him asking if she's sure about that, a chance to back out. Not everyone obsessively combs through their own memories and hits unexplainable gaps.]
I swear to devote myself to Asunaro in exchange for granting my wish. Does it sound familiar? It's a wish he absolutly had to fufill.
[ He probably won't be able too remember, but... he will. Later. ]
This isn't hypnosis, the subject could stop whenever they wanted. [ She's holding it quite casually without a lick of fear ] I used it on everyone...almost everyone. It's like a project, you'd have to work with me if you want to see anything.
[ She sighs and turns it off, holding it out towards him. ]
You need to see how it works, don't you? I'd rather do it with one of us and I don't want to see your memory right now. [ It comes out a bit ruder then she meant, an accidental slip of the tongue after thinking about Midori. She didn't want to see his room. She didn't want to think about him anymore. ]
Sou, if my memories have been tampered with, I want to know. I trust you.
[You shouldn't, is his automatic, kneejerk, internal reaction, a flash of panic behind his eyes. Maybe she's just saying that. Hopefully she's just saying that... doing that thing that she does. Listen, he doesn't trust himself, at this point. Trusting him almost got Kanna killed.]
...I-it was that bad, huh.
[None of the possibilities are good, really, when it comes to Midori. The thought, what did she find out, what does she know that even I don't know itches at him like a returning echo, bouncing off the contract and the fact that line does sound familiar in an aching way, and he pushes it down. Later. He lowers himself down from the bunk with some scuffling and a thump, stands in front of her, takes it, looking it over. The 'subject'... that sure is a way to put it... but he understands the urge to know well. Knowing is power - that's why it works so well as a hook's bait, if you can afford to toss it over.]
Let's go, then... [He flicks it on, eyes averted, bathing the room once more, shadows thrown up by the bunks and shelves, across their faces.] Just what are you curious to peer into, Sara?
[ He doesn't want her to trust him but she does, and he can't stop her. The gears of friendship turn, with or without him!
...Like she could just...fear him unconditionally after knowing him for so many months. She already wanted to be friends, and maybe if she's just saying it, its because she wants to believe it. She has a secret he might hate her for, but until he knows...they're friends, right?
She holds the lanturn up to him, her voice flat and serious even as she gives him a soft smile.]
[They won... he does think about that sometimes, that since he came back once, maybe he could again. But for now... he's dead, she killed him. They have yet to learn this is the opposite of a reassurance when it comes to Yogen.]
Haha, you don't want to start with something smaller?
[Who she is... it's hard for him to believe she doesn't know, not even in a suspicious way, just that it doesn't compute. But his bony hand takes the lantern with his own air of good cheer, and he sits down crosslegged on the floor because who knows how long this process takes, gesturing for her to do the same, setting the lantern on his knee. Friends... he hasn't realized it yet, but they really are.]
So... you're the one who knows how this works. What's the first step?
[There's that spark of curiosity, lighting up in his eyes.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
well we've got half of him so it's a passing grade so far
That thing? ...Under my pillow, if you can believe it. [He knows Sara will get how unsettling that is, when they're the ones with the only keys as far as they know. Good thing he'd found it while shifting bedding around for a better position and not as he was going to sleep.] Gave me a headache... I wouldn't turn it on.
[He's not a fan, but it's clear he doesn't recognize it at all.]
no subject
This is an item from Midori's floor. [ She says flatly. She's not namedropping the guy out of any attempt to manipulate Sou for once. It's relevant to know for what comes next. ] Our memories were altered before the game. You need a partner, but this can be used to awakened forgotten memories.
[ Quite a useful gadget. She doesn't get how it works, but everyone's memories had been pretty handy in taking Midori down. ]
no subject
...and then she explains who it belonged to and he can't help but look at it in her hands like it's a live viper, laptop on his lap and heater forgotten. You know what, on second thoughts...]
He just... left it lying around?
[You know, like a Lego at 3am? Suddenly it makes perfect sense for it to inflict psychic damage.
Our memories were altered. It's... it makes too much sense actually, why so much of that time is just... gone, holes in everything that's he's gone through over and over, stuck trying to recall things that just won't come. Midori really could steal thoughts out of his head, like it felt like, at times.]
....
S-so... you too, huh?
[She said before the game, but... that only raises more questions, with answers he doesn't like contemplating. Midori never really ever said what he did for work, where he vanished to sometimes, and Shin'd never really questioned it until he started having to pay bills himself... stupid, it was all stupid. Not just her... everyone, they all recognized the picture, and even if she didn't... Some part of him he'd thought he'd ripped out is. Upset. That it wasn't just him, and why is a tangled mess.]
no subject
[ In the locker room where Alice... She shakes her head looking over at Sou's panicked posture. He hadn't been this scared the last time they used the lantern together. Was he just hiding it? ]
I'm not sure. I never used it on myself. Besides...He said the game was the first time he'd met me.
[ She holds the lantern up, flipping the switch back and forth a few times idly. The purple light is exactly the same as she remembers. Easier to talk, not looking at how upset Sou looks.]
Before the game the rest of you all signed a contract with him and he...erased that memory somehow. I hadn't, so I don't think he was lying about not meeting me. And with Kai...around. I'm not sure why they waited. He was...excited to get me to sign it.
no subject
[Midori did like his games, his floor would have been full of them. He hasn't missed that the explanation came after. There's no reason to make people remember these things except to turn the screws just that little bit more, dangle knowledge in front of them.]
....
[He winces, turning his head away as she flicks it on and off. Annoying...]
Ahaha... maybe Kai was why. He did seem pretty devoted to you... as an understatement.
[How envious, to be loved? He has no idea about the stalking. His feathers are settling, but it's still bothering him a bit. He can believe that about the contract, and that's going to be something to unpack later... much later... yell into his pillow about in an empty room later. But...]
He'll say anything, Sara... but you'd know that, right? [If he was trying to get her to sign. Even with half of his memories missing, he knows that much. Midori's selfish streak... and then he'd turn around with a smile like it was your fault for believing him, and you'd believe him again.] Are you... sure there isn't anything missing?
no subject
He was an Asunaro agent... if they wanted him to make me sign something, he couldn't have refused. [ The implicit jealousy in his voice rankles. It's not like Sara resents Kai, knowing what she knows now. But the ceaseless devotion of someone you never really met...its frightening. In a way she feels bad about, because Kai seemed truly kind. She wished he wasn't dead, so she wasn't left with his last heartfelt words for her, devoid any ability to know what she'd meant to him. If he'd really been a member of her family, then why couldn't she have known him better? ]
[ ... ]
He said a lot of things... [ Just thinking about it makes her throat feel tight, and she rubs it unconsciously. ] Look, but it doesn't matter. I needed the wish from the contract to win anyway, so everything worked out.
[ Is she sure though. No. Of course not. They're talking about a pathological liar here. ]
I'll show you how to use it, if you're so curious. You can even do it on me, just to be sure.
no subject
He's remembering how the plan to get her out apparently kicked off the entire thing... Why her, though? That's always the question, isn't it? That memorandum...]
...that just makes it stranger. Guess they got unlucky... or maybe just cocky.
[Was 15.5% actually higher, when it came to the real deal? Was she always intended to reach Midori's floor? Past that, win a game secretly rigged in her favor? Or was she never supposed to sign it at all and that was all Midori's own idea? ...Was it just that he disappeared before she could? Speaking of cockiness and Midori... Shin can't help but laugh, something short and quiet.]
So that's how... that's funny.
[Sara had told him it was one of his own little games, but because of that as well... no it's some nice poetic comeuppance right there. A wish, huh... his headache is getting worse and he presses a palm to his head.]
Look, would you stop that?
[He shuts the laptop and carefully sets it aside in the corner, setting his hands on the edge of the bunk bed and leaning over, scarf dangling down.]
....surprisingly trusting of you, Sara. You don't even know what I'd learn.
[If it needs a partner... And it's something made by Midori, on her memories, without the chance he had in another timeline to see it work on Reko or Alice. This is him asking if she's sure about that, a chance to back out. Not everyone obsessively combs through their own memories and hits unexplainable gaps.]
no subject
[ He probably won't be able too remember, but... he will. Later. ]
This isn't hypnosis, the subject could stop whenever they wanted. [ She's holding it quite casually without a lick of fear ] I used it on everyone...almost everyone. It's like a project, you'd have to work with me if you want to see anything.
[ She sighs and turns it off, holding it out towards him. ]
You need to see how it works, don't you? I'd rather do it with one of us and I don't want to see your memory right now. [ It comes out a bit ruder then she meant, an accidental slip of the tongue after thinking about Midori. She didn't want to see his room. She didn't want to think about him anymore. ]
Sou, if my memories have been tampered with, I want to know. I trust you.
no subject
...I-it was that bad, huh.
[None of the possibilities are good, really, when it comes to Midori. The thought, what did she find out, what does she know that even I don't know itches at him like a returning echo, bouncing off the contract and the fact that line does sound familiar in an aching way, and he pushes it down. Later. He lowers himself down from the bunk with some scuffling and a thump, stands in front of her, takes it, looking it over. The 'subject'... that sure is a way to put it... but he understands the urge to know well. Knowing is power - that's why it works so well as a hook's bait, if you can afford to toss it over.]
Let's go, then... [He flicks it on, eyes averted, bathing the room once more, shadows thrown up by the bunks and shelves, across their faces.] Just what are you curious to peer into, Sara?
no subject
[ He doesn't want her to trust him but she does, and he can't stop her. The gears of friendship turn, with or without him!
...Like she could just...fear him unconditionally after knowing him for so many months. She already wanted to be friends, and maybe if she's just saying it, its because she wants to believe it. She has a secret he might hate her for, but until he knows...they're friends, right?
She holds the lanturn up to him, her voice flat and serious even as she gives him a soft smile.]
Who I am, maybe?
nooo not the sara beams
Haha, you don't want to start with something smaller?
[Who she is... it's hard for him to believe she doesn't know, not even in a suspicious way, just that it doesn't compute. But his bony hand takes the lantern with his own air of good cheer, and he sits down crosslegged on the floor because who knows how long this process takes, gesturing for her to do the same, setting the lantern on his knee. Friends... he hasn't realized it yet, but they really are.]
So... you're the one who knows how this works. What's the first step?
[There's that spark of curiosity, lighting up in his eyes.]