R1 DEADLAND PT2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

[lockdownmods]

[it’s strange, for the people who were already dead, the shift in scenery is sudden and complete. For those who have just arrived? It’s like you’re back where you left?

How strange.

But if you ever need her, you can always reach out to the guardian of this place.]

LOCATIONS
Note: locations lag a week behind the living counterparts

Comments

Let's celebrate Chuseok!

[starswink]

[Yoosung has continued serving his daily meals for everyone in the cafeteria, but tonight's dinner has a bit of a different mood. First, the scent of pine coming from the kitchen. More to the point, he's finally serving Korean food! A few different kinds of bulgogi as well as japchae have been made (of course, the ingredients in the meat dish bulgogi have been selected with consideration to whether carnivores can eat them safely.)

However, there's also a little sign that invites everyone to come out to the garden at night to celebrate a Korean festival, Chuseok - which basically involves eating rice cakes together and wishing on the moon!! Out there, he's set up the gazebo with big platefuls of half-moon shaped rice cakes sitting on a bed of pine needles and containing sweet fillings like red bean, or chestnut paste (which he has improved upon since the crepes.) Since Yoosung isn't terribly skilled at folding them, they're kind of lumpy and weird looking, but the general half moon shape was still achieved somewhat. He's also made sure there is plenty of rice wine to drink!! And of course, they're outside, so they can look up at the full moon.

To whoever is gathered, he offers a bit of an explanation as he passes out snacks.]

So, um, I'm not going to be the best at explaining this, but in my culture a half or crescent moon is a symbol of victory. The full moon can only wane, while the half moon gets brighter.... so on the anniversary of a major victory between rival ancestral kingdoms, we look at the full moon and eat these rice cakes that are supposed to look like half moons. When we do that, we make a wish for the future.

[He takes his own last, holding onto it delicately as he smiles. He's about to go into something a little more personal, though, so he takes a moment to let the concept sink in first.]

Before that, we're supposed to visit our family graves, which I'm sad to miss. I like to pay respect to my ancestors, but there's also a lot I would want to say to Rika if I could...

[That's his favorite cousin who passed away. Those from the entrance exam may have heard of her - he would talk about her a lot, especially when thinking about what decisions to make. She's someone whose footsteps he'd like to follow.]

... So I think my wish will be for all of my friends to be happy and to visit her and everyone else next Chuseok.

[In whatever form that may take. Maybe it involves getting out of the simulation somehow and seeing the graves again. Maybe it involves accepting deletion and hoping there's a peaceful heaven for their souls. Either is good!!! He's gonna drink and not think about that, though!!!]

garden

[supportrole]

[ Mishima hasn't really heard anything about this holiday before, so he listens curiously to the explanation, eyes focused on Yoosung as he takes small sips from his cup and tries his best to be respectful and not make any faces at the taste. (He's good with beer by this point, but this rice wine is a very different experience, okay.)

A wish for the future... He feels like he should wish for no one else to die at this stupid school, for everyone still alive to get home safe. But he also feels like that's not a wish that's likely to come true given the current track record, and somehow it would just make it even sadder the next time someone showed up when it proved no one out there was listening to his wishes.

He guesses he can just wish for the Phantom Thieves to keep making a difference back home without him. Which, if he's honest with himself, he knows they can do.


Sometime after Yoosung speaks, Mishima can be found sitting down near the gazebo and looking thoughtfully at the rice cake he's still holding in his hand. His face might be just faintly flushed from the wine, but it's probably hard to tell in the moonlight. ]

The half moon gets brighter, huh...?

[starswink]

[Yoosung is certainly hoping that a wish for happiness would have some protective qualities - no friend of his would be happy about the deaths and trials. Terra will be grieving his friend right now, so if the moon can ease his heart, even that would be enough magic to be worth it. He would also not expect that much of it from a simulation of the sky... but still, it's always nice to dream. Besides, the full moon is pretty any time. He's kept his eyes fixed on it as soon as he's had a moment to wind down from the explanations and enjoy the wine in peace. Mishima's voice carries over then - he's just musing to himself, but Yoosung turns toward him anyway.

Maybe it's because of the festive buzz he has going, but hearing him think out loud when he's bathed in moonlight makes him smile and think that Yuuki looks like he's in his natural habitat. It would have been more picturesque if he could have gotten them all hanbok to wear, but this is the Yuuki he's always known here and it's soothing to see him looking peaceful.]

Hehe. Yuuki, you have to eat the songpyeon and make your wish~

[He's going to come over and plop down next to him, a bit close. He couldn't see the flush before, but now he can.]

You got something on your mind?

[supportrole]

[ Ah... Mishima looks up and smiles. ]

I know, I know. I'm still narrowing down my wish options.

[ Among other things. He's always got something on his mind, honestly, but in this case, it's not bad. He leans in a little closer himself. ]

I was just thinking that's a neat way of looking at it. The part about the half moon. It's kind of inspirational, you know? Like even if I'm only halfway to being the kind of person I want to be, I'm going in the right direction.

[starswink]

[This brings them from sitting 'a bit close' to 'actually close,' enough that he can feel a little of Mishima's energy without touching him (but that possibility is an inch away.) Yoosung blinks a couple times, actively aware, but at the same time, he completely accepts it and just quietly snickers at him narrowing it down.]

You're so meticulous, even if it's wishes... [He is teasing him, but with incredible fondness. While he talks, he glances between the songpyeon in his hand and his eyes... it's just easy to look into them from this alignment, sitting together and being the exact same height. He kind of wants to tell him he should just eat more rice cakes to equal more wishes so he can give him all of them, but he's pretty sure that would be too silly, talking from the wine instead of reason or the spirit of the holiday. Besides, Mishima's having a deeper thought right now that he doesn't want to interrupt. Once he's finished talking, Yoosung feels a little pride.]

Well I think it's really great our culture could inspire you! I always thought it was nice too. I... definitely relate to the half moon at times. But it's all good! [Punctuating that cheer, he quickly reaches across his back to pat him on the opposite shoulder. He holds it for a brief moment, before letting go and putting that hand back on his wine.]

I'm sort of curious what you'd say your ideal self is like... but then again I believe you can show me some day too. You've been helping me a lot all these weeks, so I-I already think you're so bright.

[As soon as he says that, the corners of his smile curl up in embarrassment that he actually said something that sappy to a friend, and he takes another drink in an attempt to forget that. Then again maybe he is being an affectionate drunk and he needs to stop.]

Um, but seriously, do you want to tell me?

[or should he just watch?]

[supportrole]

O-oh.

[ It is kind of embarrassing, and the color in his cheeks deepens to a point where it's much more noticeable -- but his smile grows too, into something he couldn't hold back if he tried.

For someone who's always considered himself so much duller than all the bright lights around him, it's a really nice thing to hear. And knowing he's personally made a difference to someone he likes this much... that's nice too. ]

Um... Thanks, haha.

[ For a second, he touches his shoulder where Yoosung had just given him that friendly pat, before sheepishly running that hand through the back of his hair. ]

I guess... I mostly just want to be stronger and less selfish. If I'm honest, I think I always just wanted to be a hero so I could feel good about myself. I want to be the kind of person who helps people for their sake, and not for my own.

[ On a philosophical level, he's not actually sure if pure altruism really exists, so maybe he'll never be able to do anything without thinking of himself at least a little. But he can definitely be better than the person he was back home, when he'd either ignored other people's pain or used it as a stepping stone for his own delusions of glory.

He looks back down at his songpyeon. ]

I don't think I'll really be able to do that until I'm more okay with who I am. But I don't think I can really like myself until I become a better person, either, so... I think I've got a pretty long way to go.

[ At least halfway.

He looks back to Yoosung, still flushed and smiling, with eyes that are bright, if slightly out of focus. Leaning closer again, he bumps his own shoulder lightly against his when he slightly miscalculates the distance between them. ]

...If you think I'm okay, though, that helps.

[starswink]

[Aww, Yuuki. He's sorry for making him blush... and for thinking it's so cute when he does, too. Yoosung isn't sure, but to him it looks like he's so happy he doesn't know what to say. He doesn't even have to thank him if he can smile for him like that. It's infectious, so for a moment Yoosung is just smiling back in bliss before he starts to listen. After hearing it, his mood is more serious, although there's another twinkle in his eye for a different reason. Not just because he's leaning into him and his warmth feels so soft, or because he'd feel personally gratified that his approval helps Mishima like himself a little more.]

You want to be a 'magician'...!

[He's getting ahead of himself with this exclamation, but he's just a little excited. The desire to be more altruistic is just a goal he finds really admirable.]

That probably sounds random. But... I mean... it's like what Rika said. The things we try to gain selfishly are because they give us happiness, and that's how we can understand how powerful it is to give others happiness. It makes you feel powerful, like a magician. That's really what she was... and it's what I wanted to be too. I came to love volunteering with her help.

[He hasn't moved away from Mishima's shoulder. It's comfortable.]

If we ever get to have a normal life again, I'd like to have you try it sometime. I think it would be nice... it might open your eyes to other causes you'll support too, just like the Phantom Thieves. You look stronger when you have something to believe in.

[He's not even saying that as a general 'you.' Yoosung immediately believed in the thieves after Mishima talked to him when they first met, that's a strength.]

[supportrole]

Huh?

[ It does sound pretty random out of context, but he listens, trusting that pretty much anything Yoosung says will eventually arrive at a point he can understand, no matter how unpredictable the route.

Ah... "Magician" isn't a word he ever would have thought to use to describe something like that, but... with that explanation, he thinks he can see why she would have phrased it that way. ]

Mm... [ He nods twice, once vaguely and thoughtfully, and then once more with more decisiveness. ] Yeah, that makes sense, I think! I can definitely see why you'd look up to her.

[ If we ever get to have a normal life again gives him a moment of pause. He still wants to go home, of course, and be a better, more reliable ally for the Phantom Thieves than he ever was before. But at least in this moment, that thought is a little bittersweet. They'd both go back to their respective homes in that case, he's sure, and as great as that would be, it would mean they wouldn't get to spend moments like this together anymore, sharing in each other's warmth. After this, it seems like it would be hard to move on to just being internet friends like what he's used to. ]

I hope she's doing well, wherever she is. And everyone else we've lost outside out of this, too.

[starswink]

[It would definitely be bittersweet. Yoosung actually dreads thinking about what's waiting for him, after he visits those graves in his wish. But Mishima definitely has things to return to, and if he can, he should. It would make him happy to know that he was living his best life, especially if he helped him find another piece of it. But right now, when their best bet at leaving the simulation was being downloaded into an android, the chance of actually having a normal life again seems so slim that the conversation might as well be about winning the lottery. So he doesn't mind at all when Mishima decides to keep the topic on Rika. And others they've lost... he feels unease again when he thinks about how the RFA could be among them and he still doesn't know for sure. But Mishima may not even be thinking about that. He didn't just say 'you've' after all.]

I hope so too. I'm sure they are... Our souls might even be with them already, since we're just backups.

[Though if that was the case, that would be especially bittersweet, since it'd mean he would truly never her again. But at the same time, it's comforting to think of his true self being at peace. Yoosung's kind of in a babbling mode, he's not thinking too hard about the philosophical landmines. Besides, he's still kind of wondering if there was more to what he said. There has to be, right?]

Who did you lose?

[supportrole]

[ Oh... Somehow it hadn't really occurred to Mishima, at least in his current state, that this wasn't common knowledge here. It's not like it's a secret or anything, he just doesn't talk about it too much. He'd kind of gotten in the habit of keeping things to himself to try to limit what could be used against him. He might have said something during Obon, but they'd been busy not existing then, so... ]

Oh, my dad died when I was in middle school.

[ He says it pretty matter-of-factly -- not coldly, and it had definitely been rough at the time, but he's had a few years to accept it. It hadn't been a sudden shock like Rika's death had been, anyway. ]

It's okay, though. I mean... it sucked, obviously, but. You know, it's been a while, and I'm used to how things are now.

I'd like to think that too, though... that our original selves are with them.

[starswink]

[He nods understandingly, having been filled in on the situation. When Mishima agrees as a result, he smiles wide for a moment that lingers silently as Yoosung considers that things have changed since their reunion where he had muttered that they wouldn't let him into heaven.]

Thanks for agreeing, hehe... He was a good man, right?

[supportrole]

Yeah. He wasn't especially remarkable or anything, but he was always fair and worked hard.

[ If he were thinking more clearly right now he might feel a little bad saying that, since he'd obviously thought that just being fair and working hard weren't enough for himself. ]

[starswink]

[Yoosung kind of just laughs at the assertion that he was 'unremarkable,' it's a funny thing to say about your dad but at least he seemed to love him.]

What kind of work?

open

[lovedanime]

[Mitarai has arrived later than sooner, bringing with him a little serving of cold japchae. Nobody has seen him leave his room since the time when he first arrived. Instead of a blazer, he's wearing a zip-up hoodie from the school store; upon further examination the uniform underneath is exactly the same. His progress on the japchae is very slow as he sits here in the corner, listening to the commencement of ceremonies and regarding his rice cake. Finally it's time for him to ritualistically look up at the moon and take a bite.

He starts coughing and sneezing and this scatters several pine needles to the ground. It's not the cook's fault that there's lumps in this - he's reacted with similar clumsiness even to factory-made rice cakes in the past - but Mitarai is just consumed with despair over the situation.]

Oh, no... This must mean bad luck...

[He puts all the food aside, gets down on his hands and knees, and begins picking up the pine needles one by one.]

[starswink]

[Even if Yoosung isn't exactly happy to see Mitarai after everything else, the fact that he wasn't coming out of his room at all was a little bit disturbing. There's still his conscientiousness that tells him he should watch for him like Terra would, so not even seeing him from a distance was kind of bad. In that sense, it's relieving that he showed up, though he still feels awkward talking to him. When he starts coughing, Yoosung worries more about the food, but yikes. This is even more pitiful, he's just going to crack a joke.]

Sheesh, I'm never getting married if my songpyeon is that bad.

[And why is he trying to get the needles anyway?? He's just going to raise his hand for attention.]

Uh, I was planning to sweep after the event....

[lovedanime]

No! No!!!!!!! [Mitarai makes to wave both arms in denial. However, he's on his hands and knees on the ground, so he can only raise one arm.] It's, it tastes REALLY good! I just, uh—

[He waves his free hand at himself to indicate general deficiencies that he's not sure how to put into words that aren't egregiously, disruptively self-deprecating. What does marriage have to do with any of this, anyway? Is he being culturally insensitive! He's turned bright red, not that the coughing was helping at all in that respect. Mitarai at this point just puts his hand where he was sitting and pulls himself up, breathing heavily from all this self-perpetuating anxiety. He nods at the words for which Yoosung was trying to get his attention.]

I see; thank you for doing that... [He lets out one last breath and assumes an at least slightly more neutral expression.] Even more than I realized, it's a little like a grave-sweeping ritual, eh.

[starswink]

[Yoosung stares a bit at all of his flailing around, tilting his head in confusion. Eventually Mitarai calms down though, and if he's going to make it like that...]

Huh, does that make it weird for dead people to celebrate Chuseok? [Yoosung pauses for a beat. His face is also flushed, but for a different reason, one that lends itself to being this scatterbrained about the conversation.] Do we have graves?

[They left the school before he could find out what happened to Mishima's body. And he was the first victim, so he wouldn't find out what they did with bodies after that, either.]

[lovedanime]

No, it's not weird. [Mitarai shakes his head still looking calm, even fond and affirmative.] Dead people should want to visit their family graves just as much as living people do. When you said you were going to sweep this area after the event, it reminded me of the Obon festival we have in Japan, which involves visiting the family grave and sweeping that area, so I thought you were being fastidious for similar reasons... Though Obon is one lunar month earlier than this; I'm confident the Japanese equivalent of Chuseok is the harvest moon viewing festival Tsukimi, though we'd almost never travel or anything for that. It's really interesting to experience a culture where the same idea is revered even more.

As for our graves, [his eyes darken and so does his mouth] I'm afraid there's none as far as we know. Not a single person remained in the location where they drew their last breath, and eventually the bodies were removed altogether; after the executions, almost immediately. Probably cremation or a morgue, though I can't put it past Vivienne to try for better... [But he'd rather not talk about Vivienne.]

Tsukasa-kun made a shrine in the field; I think you'll agree that's more like a place to leave offerings than a dedicated grave. However... [How does he phrase this delicately. His lips form a thin line.] The garden is certainly the best place of all to sweep up.

[starswink]

[Yoosung is just kind of chilling through this. It's just a lot of information, and besides, Mitarai talking WAY more than he'd ever seen him do before.

He furrows his brows a bit when he talks about how not a single person 'remained where they drew their last breath' but then says the bodies were removed like that wasn't the same thing. That sounds like there's some kind of weird and disturbing coincidence going on that he should definitely not ask about right now.]

I mean... yeah, we trim the plants and clean up our graves around this time. I just didn't have any idea that this was our memorial site, so..... huh, it was just supposed to be normal cleaning, but I can be extra reverent or something.

[but after a moment, something else dawns on him and he squints a bit.]

Wait... who is Tsukasa?

[lovedanime]

Tsukasa-kun is the Apprentice Faker originally known as Emiya Shirou-kun... Due to some complicated supernatural circumstances I can't recount in full detail, he ended up assimilating the memories, name, and appearance of a different preexisting separate young man named Emiya. When he remembered his true nature, he decided to select a new name for himself: Tsukasa.

[Dispensing information like this increases Mitarai's confidence. Usually doesn't get him beaten up. Way safer than the garden that turns his stomach, separate from the field, and loosens his grip on the chopsticks that had grabbed a couple small bites of japchae between words.]

That said, the garden isn't our memorial site... at all. It's, well, [you can do it, Mitarai] the place where Viral laid Henry-san to rest, and 2-D buried Maya Fey by the flowerbed.

[starswink]

Oh. [That makes, um, sense? No it doesn't. But Yoosung is too tipsy to really follow this, just like how he thought the garden and the field were somehow the same thing. But he gets the gist, he thinks.] I always wondered what "Faker" was supposed to mean, but that's just...

[He doesn't even know what to do with that. Good for Tsukasa. He guesses.

But... that talk of burial just makes him stare deeply into the ground at their feet. So both of his friends from the living were moved somewhere here, huh? That's really creepy... and that means the garden was ruined as early as week 2 of everyone's semester. Just great.]

.... I wouldn't blame anyone else for not wanting to hang out here after that. [He pouts.] People should tell me these things when I try to plan parties!

[lovedanime]

[Mitarai quirks his lips as he agrees with Yoosung's decision to let the topic of Tsukasa slip away. He really doesn't have anything much to do with either of them. That guy is so strong, he's probably going to live... Mitarai really can't stand him! And yet he shouldn't say things like that!]

Well... [Yoosung obviously worked so hard on this event that is so beautiful. Mitarai really doesn't want to discourage him.] The garden is still a way better place than the field to have a party. There's better furniture, and you don't have to walk as far. We really do hang out there sometimes! It's seriously not like we refuse to set foot here.

I didn't realize nobody told you those things at all.

—

[A shiver runs down Mitarai's spine.

He gets up to fetch some baekseju. In what is surely a coincidence, Yoosung can't see his face that way.]

They must have just been sure you'd be happier if you didn't know.

[starswink]

Whaaat... but how I feel about it doesn't matter. Didn't I tell everyone I wanted to help out all the victims? I can't do that if they try to protect me instead.

[SIGH..... maybe this is why the guild doesn't actually have a lot of victim cooperation.... but he'll deal with it.]

I guess it is kinda hard to take me seriously. Even you thought I was trash at first, right?

[because that's sure how it made him feel to hear his motive in context. Even if he's changed his mind now, that still stung, and he remembers Hank said he said bad things about him in trial.]

[lovedanime]

[Mitarai is pouring the baekseju, and then the bottle clanks against the glass.]

Never!

[The silence resounds for a second. Mitarai picks the glass up and turns around.]

I'm sorry. Please don't - stand on ceremony, I don't mean to silence you. Be as mad as you like. I didn't take you seriously. I saw your level of talent as lesser. I said things you should never say about a person. If you feel like you were seen by me as trash, [at this point the guilt starts to amp back up] you have that right. I exhibited the self-righteousness that had nobody truly surprised by what I eventually did to Waver Velvet-san. But I never... I never, ever...

[He looks down and takes a good long few drinks of the baekseju, forehead suggesting very deep anger at something other than Yoosung, before exhaling and sliding back into an informative mode.]

At any rate, I don't think they were protecting you in particular from this kind of knowledge. It seems like nobody has been recapitulating the fine details of the investigations and trials to anyone. Most of us already had to live through it once, and isn't it if not guaranteed than at least natural for the victim to not want even more details on the most horrible event of their lives? There's probably more pressing matters to bring up at meetings. If you are deciding it's important, surely everyone will listen.

[starswink]

[Wide-eyed as the shout echoes into the night, Yoosung whispers an astounded "Shit" into the awkward silence that follows. He had been sure he was right about that... in the context he knew, the line was blurred too much between the total reform Mitarai desired and whatever he actually meant by reaching Yoosung Kim. How could it not be when even back then he had opened with the hundreds of corpses? Yoosung was free to bring up such an incendiary topic since he doesn't like Mitarai anyway, but now he feels like he's back to not getting him at all. Now he feels like he has to explain in order to figure this out. After all, he did ask him not to stand on ceremony.]

... Hank told me about 'despair.' I thought when I showed you my weakness, it made you think I was gonna be like them. That that's why you wanted to mess with my head, and why you looked so guilty. That's just... the conclusion I drew from why you killed Waver... I mean, you were applying this principle to all of our worlds, so I don't see why you would think that I wouldn't think that. If you don't, then explain it already.

[He honestly feels like he might need another drink for this. But he's got to make sure the guild rules are enforced, so he folds his arms instead.]

Anyway, it's true that the meetings shouldn't be for that. I'd rather people just felt comfortable to come to us with their concerns over that stuff. Reinforcing the guild's image isn't really your problem though.

[...Actually, he's not even sure if Mitarai got a chance to find out about the guild after he kinda freaked out, so he'll just conclude that is super not his problem.]