You got it. Same day Kuko pissed off, Sasara-san called up Samatoki to do the same. No idea why and I was under the impression that he and Samatoki were just as close as Kuko and I.
[God, is he - is Ichiro stupid? Why had he insisted on blaming either of them this whole time when it was, clearly, never that simple? Nothing was ever what it seemed once the Hypnosis Mics were introduced.
There are still several holes in this conclusion but it now feels so solid of an explanation.
Ichiro slumps forward, face in his hands, over the table.] Dammit - I feel so stupid.
[Hitoya sucks in a breath. The revelation damning all by itself without needing to comment on it. In life there were always coincidences but this? In his world, the world of law, they'd call this a lead.
Following that train of thought, hadn't something similar happened to The Dirty Dawg? Unlike these turf battles that had taken place in one small ward, their subsequent rise to power and fall from grace had been recorded all within the public eye. Everyone knew how that had ended. To think it wasn't the first time Ichiro had faced these circumstances... his posture fills in any blanks left by his word.
Reaching out across the table, Hitoya clasps Ichiro on the shoulder in a way that he hopes is reassuring.]
Don't blame yourself. Someone... something has been working hard to pull these strings while keeping all of us just far enough apart that we stay in the dark.
[Frowning, he can't help thinking how and why he may have been a target as well. And for a moment he shares in Ichiro's sentiments. How easily had they preyed on that?]
You know... aside from Kuko, I've got another connection to all of this I should probably mention. Me and Shinjuku's leader go way back.
[He's not trying to make it into conversation, just add to the magnitude of what they're looking at. It leaves a rotten taste in his mouth that has nothing to do with his talents as a Death mage. Sure, he and Jakurai had ended things on terrible terms but that was their business and not for anyone else to manipulate or use to their own ends.]
So whatever you're feeling right now? You should save it up and pay it back to whichever bastards are responsible, sevenfold.
[Hitoya's hand on his shoulder does exactly as is intended. It's grounding in its weight and Ichiro can feel the tension draining from his body like a dam bursting.]
Tenfold. [He corrects. Because if whoever, or whatever, had managed to get so many people - all the people he cares about - entangled in this game of theirs, then they deserved nothing less. Years of questions and frustrations can't be compensated for so easily.
There are still so many questions that have yet to be answered, too, but Ichiro feels better about it all. Which is a relief since he'd gone into this expecting the worst. Jyushi and Tsumugi had been right --
Ichiro's head snaps up.] I need to talk to Jyushi.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
You got it. Same day Kuko pissed off, Sasara-san called up Samatoki to do the same. No idea why and I was under the impression that he and Samatoki were just as close as Kuko and I.
[God, is he - is Ichiro stupid? Why had he insisted on blaming either of them this whole time when it was, clearly, never that simple? Nothing was ever what it seemed once the Hypnosis Mics were introduced.
There are still several holes in this conclusion but it now feels so solid of an explanation.
Ichiro slumps forward, face in his hands, over the table.] Dammit - I feel so stupid.
no subject
Following that train of thought, hadn't something similar happened to The Dirty Dawg? Unlike these turf battles that had taken place in one small ward, their subsequent rise to power and fall from grace had been recorded all within the public eye. Everyone knew how that had ended. To think it wasn't the first time Ichiro had faced these circumstances... his posture fills in any blanks left by his word.
Reaching out across the table, Hitoya clasps Ichiro on the shoulder in a way that he hopes is reassuring.]
Don't blame yourself. Someone... something has been working hard to pull these strings while keeping all of us just far enough apart that we stay in the dark.
[Frowning, he can't help thinking how and why he may have been a target as well. And for a moment he shares in Ichiro's sentiments. How easily had they preyed on that?]
You know... aside from Kuko, I've got another connection to all of this I should probably mention. Me and Shinjuku's leader go way back.
[He's not trying to make it into conversation, just add to the magnitude of what they're looking at. It leaves a rotten taste in his mouth that has nothing to do with his talents as a Death mage. Sure, he and Jakurai had ended things on terrible terms but that was their business and not for anyone else to manipulate or use to their own ends.]
So whatever you're feeling right now? You should save it up and pay it back to whichever bastards are responsible, sevenfold.
no subject
Tenfold. [He corrects. Because if whoever, or whatever, had managed to get so many people - all the people he cares about - entangled in this game of theirs, then they deserved nothing less. Years of questions and frustrations can't be compensated for so easily.
There are still so many questions that have yet to be answered, too, but Ichiro feels better about it all. Which is a relief since he'd gone into this expecting the worst. Jyushi and Tsumugi had been right --
Ichiro's head snaps up.] I need to talk to Jyushi.