entranceway | 003 💀 text/action

Hey, Sakamoto Ryuji here.

I can't be the only one with ass kicking on the brain after that invisible dog bullshit. What's the consensus on fighting instructors around here? Did that turn out to be a thing?

If anyone's got the time show a few moves and still taking requests, I got one of my own. I'd appreciate a few tips if you feel like sharing. I'm talking about the badasses that know what they're doing, not just the make it up as you go kind (like me). Hate to say it, but the stuff we're facing in events is a little different from what I'm used to.

Dunno what I could trade for it, but I learn fast! And I'll think of something. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

PS: And if you're looking for Akira, don't worry. Nothing bad happened to him. He just went home. Sorry.

_{[The last bit is the real crux of the message and also the thorn in its side; bundling it in with the request lessens the sharp prick of it. Not by much, but some.]}

I | Exercise facilities + outer grounds

_{[Anyone with an eye for blond phantom thieves can usually spot Ryuji adhering to a runner's training schedule, a carry-over from home. Indoors in the weight room, outdoors on the grounds, casual long distance jogs, short distance drills--he's at it most days, alternating between staving off boredom and building on his strength.

Usually time following an event are cool down days, a period to let himself recover from the trial of the week. Not this time. He keeps his foot jammed on the gas pedal with the restlessness energy of someone who has something he has to face but is taking every detour to avoid it. The request for some self-defense pointers had been practical--if the Tartarus event taught him anything (and the Asgard event before that, and the zombie event before that), he could use them--but it's also fuel for the avoidance fire.

Usually there's room for a chat in between squats on the beach or a friendly wave on a run, but don't take it personally if he seems a bit standoffish today. He's distracted, brows set in a flat line, viciously pouring energy into his routine with a nice, healthy contempt for the ground or the horizon, whatever he happens to be staring at.

If someone catches his eye, though, he'll forcibly relax, offering a smile. It comes a beat too late to be effortless, but that's hardly out of place, right? They've all been through a lot coming out the other side of the event meat grinder.]}

II | Training center

_{[Futaba. Morgana. Iwai. Yusuke. Ann. Makoto. Haru... Akira. How could he have thought this place felt small? With all of the people most familiar to him--people he'd shared the burden of events with, sat across the breakfast table with, lived with in the case of his two best friends--gone to fuck knows where, Wonderland feels infinitely massive and empty. He could handle this together. Alone, it's... it's hard. Harder than he imagined.

There's still Akechi, and isn't that the height of irony, to be the last man standing with Akechi Goro, out of everyone. He hesitates a while with phone in hand, Akechi's name in the To: field, but his hands aren't interested in sending more messages.

They want to make fists. They want to break.

Those in the training center will be privy to Ryuji, uncharacteristically stoic and grim-faced, slipping on a pair of gloves and squaring off with a punching bag with a frenetic violence to match. Either that punching bag insulted him, or someone didn't burn off quite enough energy climbing stairs in Tartarus.

The flurry is broken up only by a wince after a particularly hard punch. Peeling off his glove reveals a streak of red from split knuckles. Apparently someone also doesn't know when to quit.]}

Fuck

_{[Any gym rats handy with bandaids...? Alternatively, maybe you see him taking himself and his bloody hands for a walk to the clinic for something to wrap them with. He's probably not the only needing aftercare after that doozy of an event, even if his most recent war wounds are fresher.]}

III | Kitchen

_{[The thought of going back to his empty room in his empty section of hallway throbs worse than his bandaged knuckles. Suddenly it's like his first day in Wonderland all over again, not knowing what to do or where to park himself in a strange, unwelcoming environment.

He ends up in the kitchen, hungry but not really, searching the fridge and cupboards with a listless indecisiveness. He's probably standing in your way as you go to grab something--and will continue to stand in your way until prompted, or he notices you.]}

_{[And he'll slide to the side to let you get to your business, smile apologetic.]}

IV | Wildcard

_{[Ryuji'll be going about business as usual in Wonderland post-event, so feel free to come up with your own starter around the mansion and/or elsewhere! Or hit me up for a different one if you're not feeling the locations/prompts.]}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I didn't want to.

[He didn't want to just say that. He didn't want to just tell him. It's not that easy. Too much explanation, too much making things so obvious verbally when there really was no need to waste the energy talking about something when he was already doing something. Simple. But even that was probably too complicated for Ryuji. Well, lesson learned again, though maybe Minato thought he should've known again.

Minato didn't let just anyone in or understand him. That part Minato understood of himself well enough, and only opened up when he felt comfortable. Safe. He had given information before because he felt safe, he felt like he could trust Ryuji to keep it to himself and be aware of it, and then here, he ended up treading in a space that made him want to close himself off and leave it at that. But no, he decided not to lay the last few bricks.

He still thinks Ryuji shouldn't get so worked up over someone else's feelings, but oh, well. To each their own.

Ryuji was just so... He's an excellent Chariot, but he'd make one hell of a Magician.]

Shithead, Sakamoto. [Not as ass.] First vampires, now this. Have you not met me?

And you wonder why I'm pissed off!? Wonderland ain't funny to me. None of this is.

_{[Minato might well have gotten that impression without needing to be told, as instead of relenting, his lips thin over an expression winding tighter with displeasure.]}

I've met you, all right, and I've been tryin'a to get on the same level since then! What's the big damn deal just sayin' what you mean? For cryin' out loud, if you don't wanna talk about somethin', just say that, it ain't hard.

How do ya expect someone to know when you're pullin' this kind of shit, huh? You don't wanna talk straight with me? Fine. But effin' around about this place ain't cool.

Edited 2017-10-28 06:33 (UTC)

[There really wasn't much else to say about this place that hadn't already been said or emoted over. If Ryuji was going to still be upset and irritated, then what was Minato going to do about it? The subtleties were flying very well under the radar, especially in Ryuji's airspace.]

Okay. You're right.

[However this conversation was going or had gone or wherever it was going, Minato was wrong, of course. Again. But he could be that for Ryuji since Ryuji's insisting. No problem at all.]

_{[Sweet baby Jesus grant him strength.]}

... Are you tellin' me what you think I wanna hear?

_{[Breath, Ryuji. Breathe and find your happy place.]}

You told me to keep you honest, remember? I can't really do that if you aren't bein' honest.

[Minato shook his head. It wasn't what he thought Ryuji wanted to hear. He was being honest.]

You are. And I am. You think I'd lie to you?

[So Ryuji was right. Shouldn't he enjoy being right? Minato was only saying that he was.]

Uh? This entire flippin' conversation is because you didn't wanna be? For a reason you haven't explained yet, I might add.

_{[Oh yeah, he's enjoying this so much. So much. This is him running his hands down his face in victory, and not because he wearily hit his limit somewhere around the time Minato claimed "too cool for school" status when it comes to being outraged against Wonderland.]}

You can't just suddenly change your tune and leave it there! What am I right about?

_{[Please help him understand what is happening right now.]}

[Since when was Minato not being honest? Ryuji still must have a rock bottom low opinion of Minato to even accuse him of everything he had been accusing of him in the first place.

The tune changed because there's no point in playing music on deaf ears or ears that don't understand or won't understand, like a spoon ladling soup and never knowing its taste. No point in taking a diamond and scratching it up against cheap metal. Shields, engage.]

That you're upset. That you have the right to be upset. If other people aren't upset, you get upset.

[He was right about all those things. That seemed clearer now. Ryuji could feel however he wanted. Minato shouldn't have suggested in the first place that Ryuji should react or feel any differently, even if he had been trying to be helpful, but wherever help wasn't needed, he should just mind his own business.]

That's a backhanded way to put it, but fair enough, I went off on ya and I shouldn't have. I can't stand hearin' things have to stay the way they are or there's nothin' to be done and I took it out on you.

_{[He's not without this much self-awareness, or the self-moderation to say it. And he can give up the anger--it's burned out of him and left him feeling more worn out than when he started--but the other is still side-stepping around the elephant in the room.

He's not willing to give that up just yet. He searches Minato's face with a hard, scrutinizing sweep of his gaze.]}

I wanna know why you're still puttin' on this act like you can't be bothered. What is it? You think I can't handle it?

_{[Ryuji is a creature of honesty, enclosing his thoughts behind a transparent pane of glass, easily seen and easily known--and in many cases even when others don't want to know.

To have someone not return the favor, and not even give him a reason as to why, is to put him at an impasse. He's unsure what else to do to get the bottom of this evasive jig aside from flipping Minato upside down by the ankles and shaking him until something comes out.]}

[Backhanded? It was perfectly clear to Minato, but maybe not clear to Ryuji. That couldn't really be helped though. But really, sometimes nothing could be done about some things--including not at the moment, but maybe in the future--so why get upset? But Ryuji was entitled to be upset about things that he or anyone else or the universe couldn't change. It didn't mean Minato had to agree.]

Can't be bothered with what?

[Maybe it was Ryuji's turn to make himself clearer.]

Quit playin' dumb. You know.

_{[Stepping back, he waves to encompass the entirety of this debate, the one which Minato's so far all but been a spectator in. Taking his unopened drink, he moves to put it away again, looking visibly tired. Sharing a drink together is a bit of a tough ask when they haven't yet been able to meet in the middle.

There's only so many times he can beat his head against a wall before even a hard-headed guy like him has to call a timeout, for both their sakes.]}

I ain't down for gettin' this runaround anymore, man. Give a shout when you feel like talkin' for real. You know where I am.

_{[He's willing to listen, but he's done with this left-footed dance around matters at hand. The track is calling his name louder than ever; his legs itch to move.]}

I gotta grab some air. _{[With that, he starts for the door.]} I'll catch you later.

[Minato gave Ryuji a nod and then a wave.

This conversation could come to a close now. Whether it came up again, then it would. If it didn't, then it didn't. There wasn't really a need for an explanation on either of their parts. If they didn't meet, then they didn't.

Sometimes, that's the way it was. It is what it is.]

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