IC || THE LAST CASE || VIDEO
[From the moment the video feed rolls, the audio is distorted with static and a tinny, dual-toned laughter that lacks any real warmth or cheer. No, the sound is instead cold and cruel, cutting through the tranquil silence of night like a knife, as sharp as the smile that now twists its owner’s lips. Crowing, Tohru Adachi stares straight-on at the
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Continuously, he calls out to the god, tries to reconnect to Magatsu Izanagi, but the being is silent. No, it's more than that, and he knows it. His persona has been defeated, the Fae Queen's boon, useless! He should have known! That witch, that fucking enchantress! The way she looked at him when she blessed him, that enigmatic smile she flashed him. She knew this would happen! What is he...nothing more than a pawn!?
He can hear Seta hot on his heels, driving him farther and farther away from the village, and before he knows it, he's crashing through undergrowth, feet clumsy and like lead. Eventually, soaked in perspiration, he is forced to stumble to a stop, tripping over himself in his exhaustion, pain exploding anew in his chest where Sheik cracked his ribs. Groaning, he reaches out to a tree for balance and glances over his shoulder at Seta.
Breath caught, he stills. This place. It's...]
Is it a deal?
[He starts roughly, surprised at the words that tumble from his lips, the very words that Seta spoke to him in this clearing, a year ago. Swallowing thickly, he turns around to face the boy, cradling his right hand with its broken fingers. Blood begins to flow from his nose. All traces of her magic...gone.]
Ha...so what now? You kill me?
[Of course, he only says it in jest. There's no way Seta could go through with it. He's a goodie-two-shoes. All that moral bullshit.]
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He needs to be incarcerated, he thinks. Locked up, guarded, so that this can't happen again. His eyes track the blood trickling down Adachi's face for a moment and he shakes his head. When had that happened? Did it matter?
Shock starts to ebb away, making way for the pain he knew would come. He'd been Adachi's target, and for all his friend's shielded him - they shouldn't have had to, this shouldn't have happened, my fault my fault my fault - the brunt of the damage was still done.
He doesn't know how long he can keep standing. But he does so, anyway. He stands, and faces him directly, surprising himself with how still his voice manages to be.]
I'm taking you back to the village.
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Sure you want to do that? Not a whole lot waiting back for you there, is there? Not now...that your girlfriend's dead.
[He's poised, muscles tensing, waiting, waiting! Seta might not take the bait, but if he does, if he does, that one moment of vulnerability and Adachi'll be on him. He's got enough strength in him for one last fight.]
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Adachi starts talking and he finds himself falling into a guard position anyway, as if there's an attack coming. His eyes sharp, ready, Adachi may well be pointing the gun at him.
What comes is worse than a bullet. Souji freezes, muscles all tensing at once. He feels like he's been shot, and the sudden blaze of white noise is enough to make him wonder, for a split second, if maybe he has been. Or perhaps he's just trying to distract himself.
No. He's lying. Adachi has to be lying - he's trying to unsettle him, trying to make him freak out, and Souji will not give him the satisfaction. That blood - that could have come from any time during the fight. Hell, most of it is probably Adachi's.
He's lying, he tells himself, disbelieving both in what Adachi told him and in his own reassurances.
He shakes his head. Moving takes some force of will. His eyes are wide.
He's lying.]
Don't. You're not - talking your way out of this.
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[Damn, his muscles burn with the need for release, but Adachi remains still, body locked, knowing that Souji is too wary for a successful physical assault. That's fine. Adachi has plenty of material to work with. He pours his whole being into his next words, expression open and cruelly honest, demanding Seta face the truth.]
Souji, she's dead. See this? [A gesture to his shoulder, displaying the shallow gunshot wound.] As far as she got. Not the best of aim, that one. Tell her thanks for me when you see her corpse - well, the top half of her corpse, at least. Izanagi's attack was...a little messy, aha!
[There is a fanatical gleam in his eyes.]
Call Satonaka. She was there for it. Go on. I'll wait.
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Ange.
She'd been through enough already. That had been what he wanted - to change things for her, to show her something different. Barely two weeks in and what had he given her, but more of the same. The how of her death doesn't matter. All that matters is that it's happened and he wasn't even there - where was he?
Soundly asleep, blissfully ignorant.
He could laugh, but the raw, hysterical amazement has fallen aside into a dull, mute sort of horror.
He becomes aware that he was staring at the forest floor and looks up again, meeting Adachi's eyes. What colour was left on his face is draining away. He'd thought he could end this here and it'd be alright. That, despite his mistake, noone would have had to suffer for it beyond the battle itself.
Now it seems he'd failed before he even started.
He sucks in a thin breath. He's too tired, too hollow to summon a persona, but he can feel them there, their presence keeping him up. Izanagi. Loki. Tam Lin. The only way he can move is forward. He still has a duty. He still has to finish what he started.]
Who else?
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I suppose that depends on the nature of your question. Who else did I dispose of? Who else did I fight? Who else did I...play with?
[He begins to circle Souji.]
You really want to know? Heh, well, let's just say most of this blood isn't mine.
[A smirk.]
It's Karkat's. What a chump. He honestly thought he had a chance!
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This isn't a game! These people aren't here to entertain you!
You could have had a second chance here! [Hope was his blessing, but sometimes, it was more folly than anything else.]
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[Peculiarly, he's speaking heatedly now. He doesn't actually believe any of this bullshit, or care really, but lying about it...it's a second nature to him. So easy to slip into the role of furious victim. He continues circling, anger furrowing his brow.]
You're damn right I could have had a second chance, but not under these circumstances! You made a deal with me, Seta! We had a deal!
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He doesn't have the luxury of wondering about it right now. Instead, his head snaps up again, and he meets his eyes once more, terse.]
And you were any better? You attacked Saki Konishi - [and what had souji done? so very, very little.] - and would have harmed her if it wasn't for a passer-by. Your secret was still kept!
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Do you know why I attacked her!? She tried to run screaming from the building! Do I honestly have to reiterate my point about how you seriously fucked up keeping your people under control? I tried being diplomatic, but that bitch wouldn't hear any of it! Should I have just let her run and confess everything that happened? Grow up, brat! Sheik came in after the fact and it was only through him that she'd listen to damn reason.
[His eyes are cold.]
It shouldn't have been him. It should have been you.
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Come on.
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[A powerful adrenaline rush possesses him now, bringing new energy to his movements. He can sense it, can see that Souji is struggling with himself, is fighting a losing battle with his conscience. It's almost disappointing how easy he is to manipulate. But enough is enough.
His circle loops tighter and tighter until he is standing shoulder to shoulder with the boy, watching him askance. The anger has been flipped off for the time being and replaced with amusement.]
I guess I should thank you, Seta. If not for your inaction, I wouldn't have been able to collect Saki's debt. You remember it, don't you? The day that I found Link asleep in the woods... I let you speak to her on my communicator.
Where were you, hero, when she got on her back and let me fuck her...all for information on where her precious boyfriend was? Well done, Seta. She trusted you to be there.
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His head turns abruptly to look at Adachi directly, eyes wide, mouth ajar in shock.
He's lying, he tells himself, weakly, and he forces himself to ignore it, knowing it's stupid, knowing that's the lie. He can't start trying to delude himself, not now - he's turned from that possibility long ago, and besides, he owes it, owes it to --
who? Who would care? Will it change anything? If he accepts it or not, it still happened, it won't help Saki. The best of intentions don't mean a damn thing when you're too late.
Loki's anger is venomous, Tam Lin's unease flaring to a twisting ache, Izanagi's scorn bound by Souji's own horror.
He moves, suddenly, whole body jerking as he flings himself at Adachi. End it end it end it!]
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[One leg slides back to brace himself for the impact and then, arms outstretched, he seizes Seta's forearms as the boy launches himself at him. Throwing his whole body into it, grimacing in pain as warm blood spills fresh from his gunshot wound, he hurls the boy to the ground and immediately follows, putting all his weight into his knees as he comes down hard on Seta's legs. Without pausing, he releases one of Souji's arms to wind an arm back and aim a punch at the boy's jaw.]
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His sword half-trapped by their position, he knows he needs to move. he needs space. Reeling from the punch - Adachi is stronger than he looks, it's hardly surprising - he aims to throw one of his own, gritting his teeth and trying to shove him off.]
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