IC INBOX | OKADA IZOU

[goei]

@Izou

manslayer

---

ABOUT ME

The strongest, most genius swordsman to ever haunt the streets of Kyoto! That's me! So you better think twice before crossing me, ya hear?

NOTE

As long as you don't get in my way I won't kill you, probably.

Message @manslayer

Comments

[beathollow]

( mafuyu shifts, blinking slowly as she rolls onto her back and...


immediately sits up faster than she wants to, the passive sadness of unfamiliar pain washed over completely with disbelief. )

... Where- no, it was Dawn, wasn't it?

( she accepts it gingerly. she knows this rabbit. she stares, vision blurring a bit- it used to be so much bigger, didn't it? )

... This was mine, when I was little... Mom threw it away...

( she hugs it close, blinking back tears. )

It still smells like the apple spray I used-

[goei]

[Izou blinks]

No kidding? I just thought it seems like somethin' you'd like.

[Wait]

The hell'd yer mom toss it for? Ain't like it's super beat up or nothing.

[HE HAS A VAGUE MEMORY OF HER SAYING SOMETHING ELSE ODD ABOUT HER MOM PREVIOUSLY ACTUALLY.]

[beathollow]

I... um.

... You're going to get mad.

( ... not... a great way to start that, actually! even if it's super true! )

Mom always... just. Goes through my room, and- "cleans". She'll throw away things I don't need, or things I outgrew, usually while I'm at school.

... She... does it a lot. When I- ( ... proved to be an early bloomer. ) When I was reaching middle school, she decided I didn't need my toys and storybooks anymore. So that I could do more mature things.

[goei]

[I mean, she called it. He is mad. But not for the reason Mafuyu might expect.]

Wh- What's she throwin' away perfectly usable things for??? Even if ya ain't got younger siblings, give it to little cousins or just hold onto it until there's grandkids!!!

[THE OKADA FAMILY WOULD NEVER THROW THINGS AWAY THEY COULD STILL USE.]

[beathollow]

Because they don't suit her image of me. And that's what matters above all else.

( does she even have any cousins? and grandkids... there's a sinking feeling in her stomach at the thought. would her mom even let her pick her own husband? ... or her wife, if that was the case? would she get to name her own children? it's-

it's a lot. she hates this.

mafuyu just hugs the rabbit closer. )

[goei]

[Ah. NOW the real thing to be angry about hits him.]

Wh- The most important things' supposed ta be what makes you happy!

[THAT SHOULD BE EVERY MOTHERS GOAL FOR HER CHILDREN???]

[beathollow]

... Then I should be happy to be a good, devoted daughter, of course.

[goei]

Ain't you from modern times?? That's the sorta filial piety shit people had ta deal with in my time but I thought modern people invented feminism and shit.

[YOU GOTTA GET WOKE, MAFUMOM.]

[beathollow]

I- I know.

I know. ... She's good at making herself look like the good guy, though. Even... when she's saying horrible things.

[goei]

You never tried standin' up to her or nothing?

[beathollow]

( mafuyu is... quiet. izou may notice a flinch at the question, and she buries her face in the little rabbit. it shouldn't be this small. )

I- I tried. That's the fight I told you about.

... She acted like I was attacking her, or- or declaring myself a wanted criminal, or something. That nothing I said or felt mattered, because it upset her more.

I remember being desperate to get away from her because I was scared, and-

Then we were all here.

[goei]

[Okay. Izou instinctively knows Mafuyu will not want him to kill her mom, but offering to do so is his immediate impulse. So instead he actually has to (gasp) think and formulate a sane response.]

So she got mad that you weren't just lettin' her treat you however she wanted.

You know that what she said is bullshit, right?

[beathollow]

I-

( no, because she loves that woman still, and maybe- maybe she deserved it all, after all. )

Yes.

... I just remember I needed to get away from her. ... And now I am. And... I don't know what to do next.

[goei]

Maybe if we do a good job Braphine can send one of us back with ya to back you up? Just like, temporarily.

Not me though, I wouldn't be able ta keep my cool.

[He would just do a murder.]

[beathollow]

I don't think most people would be able to.

[goei]

Yeah, but fer other people they don't get a sword out when they lose their cool.

[beathollow]

That does pose a unique challenge, yes.

[goei]

Though I guess you don't gotta go back anyway? Could just avoid her entirely.

[beathollow]

I don't want to. Whatever she was going to do to me that day, just her approaching me was enough to scare me out of the house. ... I just want my friends.

[goei]

That's the rub, ain't it...

[The discussion of whether Braphine will only be able to send them one place has been done to death and it's still all a hypothetical, so, instead.]

Well, even if it ends up bein' that we gotta make hard choices and part ways from people we care about... I guess all you can really do is be grateful of the time you did have with them. But it's probably harder when you gotta actually make the choice rather than it bein' made for you by the people killin' you.

[This is about himself as much as it is Mafuyu, now.]

[beathollow]

...

( she's quiet, contemplative- the idea of losing the girls hurts. but he's right. ...she doesn't want to think about all of this. )

Yeah...

[goei]

Sorry, I guess that was kinda a downer thing ta say!

[But also.... haha, he meant it!!!]

But... even if I miss my family and you miss yer friends, you're still glad you had them, right?

[beathollow]

It was. But it was still needed, and still true. It's going to be a hard choice no matter what.

... I am, though.