suppressthedark

[OH, THAT'S

Not really what he expected to hear, but with his trust in Akira? There's no way he believes that the person in front of him was actually did the crime he was convicted for.]

Someone set you up, didn't they?

[About the crime charge, he means.

Akira's getting a taste of just how doggedly loyal Ichigo can be when someone's gained his trust, and his eyes are already showing his anger at akira's situation back home.]

[. . . oh. . .]

[no one had ever assumed he was set up before. even his closest friends had all waited to hear the full story before making any judgments, before getting angry on Akira's behalf over the unjust system he had been dragged into]

[he can't help it. he laughs, pressing a hand against his face and shaking his head]

And what if I had actually been guilty? That's a dangerous assumption to make.

[When you manage to break past his spiky exterior, and show him that you're someone worth trusting in? Ichigo will believe and trust in you with all of his heart. It's both one of his greatest strengths and his greatest weaknesses, because while it allows him to greatly deepen his bonds with other people, it also leaves him vulnerable to those same people stabbing him in the back.

So even when Akira laughs, Ichigo's face remains serious, eyes focused on his friend, showing the depths of his conviction.]

So? I believe in you. If you were really guilty of something like that, you wouldn't have told me, because I don't know anything about where you come from. It would've been easier to lie about it, or just tell me that you didn't want to talk about it.

That, and I'm not the kind of scummy guy who doesn't believe in his friends.

Edited 2017-12-17 03:42 (UTC)

[whaaaaaat the fuck]

[. . . Akira's suddenly and vividly reminded of Ryuji, of all people. his best friend. the first person to reach out to him after his move to Tokyo. the bright light of aggressive caring and support that pulled him from the dark place he had been swallowed up in back then. it's. . .]

[well]

[it's a warm feeling]

[another laugh, and he ducks his head, tugging at his bangs a bit sheepishly]

You're right. [but the warmth fades as the memories return, and his expression dims] I was set up. I tried to stop a man from assaulting a woman. He was drunk. I touched his shoulder, and he tripped and injured himself.

He threatened the woman to lie to the police, and she told them I had attacked him for no reason. The police believed the two of them over me-- of course they did, because they were deep in that man's political pockets-- and arrested me.

[lifts his head again, meeting Ichigo's gaze with an even, yet peaceful, expression]

He used his political ties to have me convicted, expelled, and sent away. But-- [waves a hand] That was a long time ago. My record's since been wiped clean.

[Yeah, that? That does not sit with Ichigo well. At all. For someone who's life revolves around protecting others, hearing that he was falsely convicted for the crime of just trying to save someone -

- Well. No one's seen how angry Ichigo can get here, yet. Oh sure, there was a few flashes of it earlier, when he was so upset and angry he was punching the wall, but now? There it is in his expression, kind of terrifying in how intense it is.]

What?! How could he - that bastard!

[his hands clench into fists - and it's clear he's blaming the man Akira stopped, not the woman that was threatened, because she was a victim as well.

God. Now it all made sense how Akira knew the same feeling of being judged, because - what must he have gone through? Something definitely worse than what he'd faced, considering how people back home treated anyone with a hint of a criminal record on them.

His face flashes from that anger to understanding to the same expression he'd had on earlier - one of regret and anger at being unable to help, even if it had been in the past as something he couldn't change.]

That's...! Even if it's not on your record anymore, you still-!

[Akira still had to suffer because someone wouldn't live up to his own failings. And that's the hardest thing for Ichigo to accept.]

[that reaction is a little less surprising than Ichigo's blind faith. it's the exact same one Akira's friends at home had, so he's used to it. and his own bitterness about his arrest, and the way it had completely upended his life, is gone, anyway. because--]

I found a place to belong.

[he finishes for Ichigo, earnest and without the slighted bit of animosity. without his arrest, he never would have met Sojiro. Futaba. Morgana. Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru. . . all of them]

Yeah. It sucked. And it changed a lot of things for me, too. But I don't regret the choice I made, and I don't regret the path I traveled because of it.

[It takes Ichigo a moment to calm down, but he does - because, well...Akira sounds so earnest at that. So he'll believe, just like he believed in Akira earlier, that the path he was set on was one he's refusing to regret.

And if that's the case, then Ichigo will honor those feelings.

But at the very least, all of this is making it clear to him that he'll continue to put his faith in Akira, over and over and over again.]

...I'm glad.

[He found a place to belong, too - and he also hasn't regretted the choice he made, letting Rukia transfer her powers to him. It's netted him good friends, and the power to protect. And ultimately, he's glad Akira managed to do the same.

He lifts his head, looking at his friend - and smiles, a flash of that rare, genuine smile that very few people get to see. it practically changes his face, because he rarely lets himself smile so openly -

And then it's gone, tucked behind a smile that's much more guarded.]

[ah]

[. . .]

[. . . haha! what a colorful group of people he tends to find himself drawn towards. stubborn, determined, and most importantly fierce individuals who live their lives on the fringes of society]

[it seems he can't escape his chosen aesthetic, not even here]

Well, that's the long and short of it. I still haven't even explained the Persona part to you yet.

[you know, the part that actually involves, like. Satan]

[He notices the pause, but doesn't really think anything of it.

But oh yeah, there was something they came here to talk about - they just got pretty sidetracked there.]

Persona?

[Give him a second - OH HEY]

...Is the place you come from just based on Jung's theories, or what?

[JUST, YOU KNOW. saying.]

Ha. It is the collective unconscious, remember?

[so this is like, alllll Carl Jung]

A Persona is a mask one wears to face the hardships of society, right? In the Metaverse, that Persona can manifest as a physical being and be utilized in battle. It takes the form of a popular character from mythology or literature. The character that most represents the the very soul, the very personality of the wielder.

[. . .]

And mine just so happens to be Satanael.

[WHICH IS. ONE OF MANY. AND ALSO HE HAS REGULAR SATAN, TOO. BUT YOU KNOW]

[Is this better or worse with his series being based off of Freud? Then again, those two shared notes like crazy.

Ichigo nods at the explanation (again, comparing it to hollows in his mind, and how they used their masks to shield their true faces from the world), only giving a small chuckle when he says they're based off of media or mythology. Because why the hell not, right?]

So that's how you've got Satan in your soul...makes sense to me. Kind of like a Zanpakuto Spirit, then.

[WHY THE HELL NOT INDEED]

Exactly. When you were talking about your Zanpakuto and Hollow to me and Dazai-san, my Personas are exactly what I thought of.

[wags a finger]

Personas are Shadows, after all, only they've been tamed and turned into weapons. Persona users can't have Palaces because of that.

Tamed, huh?

[Well, they're more alike than he thought.]

That's kind of what Shinigami have to go through with their Zanpakuto, in order to obtain their Shikai and Bankai.

[First and second release, respectively.]

A zanpakuto can change form and give their wielder power, but only if the shinigami proves themselves to their Zanpakuto spirit. It was only after I really accepted my hollow as myself that I actually got my true Bankai - I'd just been using an imitation the entire time.

Mmm.

[he remembers how the Shadows of the people whose hearts they stole would always return to their "true selves" afterwards. how defeating and stealing the distortion changed that person's heart, and made them face the darker parts of themselves]

[but while that aspect may be similar to what Ichigo said about a shinigami proving themselves to a Zanpakuto, the part about awakening one's Persona definitely is not]

I see.

The initial awakening of a Persona is. . . a little different than that. They appear, and they take shape when the wielder displays a "strong will of rebellion" in the Metaverse.

Yeah, it does sound pretty different. Then again, you don't go into the Metaverse to speak to your Zanpakuto - you just dive into your own inner world, where they live.

[Because they're literally your own soul, after all.]

Mine is...weird. It's a bunch of skyscrapers and an endless blue sky...but it's sideways. And it can change depending on my mood, apparently.

[He doesn't actually live there, but he remembers the sideways Karakura, and how it had been so deeply underwater due to his despair over his actions on the dome of Las Noches.]

[INNER WORLD. . .]

[. . . again, there are similarities to the Metaverse, but. it's different enough that Akira finds it a bit boggling]

How do you get to your own inner world?

Meditation, basically. And you have to have your Zanpakuto on your lap, or be touching it in some way - the physical contact's important. But when you reach it, you won't even feel if you get bodily attacked.

[It goes pretty deep - literally communing with one's soul.]

[yikes]

So it's better to have someone guarding your body while you're there, right?

Yeah - but you'd normally only do it when you're safe, anyway.

[He pauses.]

How do you access the Metaverse? You said something about the palaces being linked to a physical location, right?

Ah-- right.

[HE DOESN'T HAVE HIS PHONE ON HIM, but]

We have something called the MetaNav app on our phones. We open the app, put in the coordinates for a Palace, and it'll take us straight to the Metaverse.

....MetaNav app? on your phone?

[SO UH

LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING

Ichigo is actually technically from the early 2000's. Smartphones weren't exactly a thing, and he's just kind of figured the shitty tablets they got were just technology the raccoons had pilfered from some other world.]

[BUDDY]

You know, like the Recyclr app on our tablets?

...Oh. I see.

[Pauses.]

...What year is it for you back home?

[JUST. With the way Akira's talking...]

[. . . ???]

2017?

[GAME TAKES PLACE IN 2016 BUT ENDGAME IS IN 2017 AND HIS CANONPOINT IS ENDGAME SO YA KNOW]

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