[Voice] Arcana III - so much to lose

[onelastpromise]

[Minato couldn't not notice, this time. He'd thought at first that he might be wrong, but well... A few days and no contact can only mean one thing, can't it? The message comes late at night, and is brief. His voice is level and calm, but trained ears could tell it's only barely so.]

...I know not many of us were close to them, but I figured it's worth knowing: Marie, my housemate, seems to be gone. I'm pretty sure Shirogane Naoto is, too.

[He shuts it off quickly. Two of his closest friends here, vanished. He doesn't know if they went home or what. He's...never really thought about where the people who are no longer in Avalar may have gone. Home? Some other world? He can't help but be sad about it, no matter what the case may be. It hurts.]

Comments

[action]

[notsogrimreaper]

[Now that got his attention. His grip on Minato tightens, and he meets Minato’s eyes with a steely gaze.]

...Is he trying to hurt you?

[If he is, there’s no way Ryoji’s going to sit back and let it happen.]

[action]

[onelastpromise]

[That's a new kind of expression out of his friend... He doesn't want Ryoji running off half-cocked, but he can't lie to him.]

He tried to strangle me a few months ago. I fought him off and he hasn't tried anything since, even saved my life at one point, but I think that was because of Minako-chan...

[action]

[notsogrimreaper]

[It is new for Ryoji to get so angry when it comes to the actions of humans. They are, after all, a species he can’t hope to understand or judge… but after watching his friends die over and over, most of the time for absolutely no reason, he now has a reason to be upset.]

I don’t care if he tried to save you. That doesn’t excuse that he tried to hurt you and hasn’t told you that he won’t do that again.

[action]

[onelastpromise]

I'll be ready next time, though. If there is a next time. He won't get so close. Besides, I...want to help him.

[He's concerned. He's never seen this kind of anger out of Ryoji before.]

[action]

[notsogrimreaper]

You want to help him? He’s not redeemable. I don’t understand… I know you’re hopeful he’ll be different, but he tried to kill you! He can’t be forgiven for that!

[He’s practically shaking with rage, ready to just get up and storm out of here.]

[action]

[onelastpromise]

[He's...almost a little bit scared of how strongly Ryoji is reacting. He knew he'd be mad, but to this extent?]

No, he's...he's already changing. I'm not the one who can help him, not yet, but he can change. D-Dammit, he's just like me.

[action]

[notsogrimreaper]

Until he changes, he can't be trusted... Minato, I just want to protect you. I don't care how much of yourself you see in him. You were never a murderer. He's not 'just like' you.

[action]

[onelastpromise]

But I could have been. I don't know if you ever saw how I was before I returned to Iwatodai, but I... With different influences, I could have become him, or Takaya. I could have become worse. Knowing there are other worlds, where things go differently...there have to be worlds where I did.

[action]

[notsogrimreaper]

There can’t be… you’re special, Minato. You never could have done anything that cruel.

[Ryoji just refuses to believe it. The person who gave him his life could never be anything like the person who took life away… He looks about ready to run out the door.]

[action]

[onelastpromise]

There have to be. Maybe there are worlds where my parents didn't die and I grew up a normal kid. Worlds where you're the leader of SEES, worlds where I'm the Appriser. Worlds where Shinjiro-senpai didn't die. Worlds where Junpei-kun did.

I-I've thought about it before. If there are infinite possible worlds, every different set of circumstances has to exist. Worlds where I died in 1999, worlds where I killed you, worlds where I killed a hundred people.

[He can see it. He was such a blank slate before returning to Iwatodai, he could have become anything.]

The Fool represents infinite possibilities, right? Not every possibility is going to be good.

[action]

[notsogrimreaper]

No matter what combination of worlds there are, there can’t be a combination that makes you a murderer. At least, not without a very good reason. I know there are infinite possible world, but you’re expecting me to believe that the human who selflessly saved the world for a population that won’t even remember he existed could ever be a murderer, then I think you’re being ridiculous.

You’re not like him. Minato. You could never be like him, and I’m going to talk to him to prove it.

[He stands up quickly, hands still shaking with anger. He just can’t handle imagining someone who hurt his friend running around free, while Minato defends him like he isn’t even bothered that he could have died. He can’t handle it without doing something about it, and so, without another word, he runs to the door.]