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[orphne]

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[orphne]

That's some fight.

Do you think he's still angry right now?

[chemex]

it was a bit ago, and as long as you don't mention me he should be fine.

[orphne]

I'm asking if you think he needs time to cool down. To sleep on it.

I don't know him that well. If he's still really mad, he might just kick me out, too. And that'll make it harder for me to check on him in the morning.

[chemex]

oh.
tomorrow is probably good, then.

[And then, after a delay of about a minute and a half:]

actually you know what, don't
don't worry about it, i shouldn't ask you to be involved.

[orphne]

He seemed pretty drunk, so I was planning to bring him some breakfast and some water in the morning anyway. I won't tell him you asked me to go.

If you let me in and talk to me.

[chemex]

huh?
no, it's good, i'm okay.
just indisposed, i can't let you in my room when i'm all naked and soggy.

[orphne]

It wouldn't be the first time!

I'm coming upstairs.

[chemex]

[He makes a sound, and gets up (naked) to scramble across his room and lock the door.]

this is different i am not wrapped in a towel after showering??
i am just freeballing here.

[orphne]

[Oh, she learned a new word. Nice. Thanks, Akira.]

What, did you roll around on your bed in wet clothes? Put a blanket over yourself or something.

[She is coming down the hall! He might even be able to hear the click of her heels.]

[chemex]

[Instead, he sits on the floor in front of his door.]

can we just text instead?
it's already here, the communication channel is open.
i am fine, my pride is a little bruised.
there, see? done.

[orphne]

It's voice to text, it's the same thing.

[She speaking softly, but he can definitely hear the low murmur of someone's voice approaching, and then the sound of her trying the door with a sigh.]

Really? [Through the door.] Are you going to make me ask Dazai-san to pick the lock?

[chemex]

[He sighs, and his head thuds against the door.]

I'm fine, I promise. [His voice is small again. He is not fine.]

[orphne]

Yeah, that's what I would say if something was really bothering me and I didn't know how to talk about it.

[Bluntly. They might not be exactly the same, but based on their conversation earlier, she can guess.

She presses her forehead against the door and sighs.]

Sixty seconds, then I'm getting Dazai-san.

[chemex]

[He flinches. Wow, is this what it's like for Akechi to be called out? Is this why he's so avoidant? So caustic? So-- God, he really does have it bad. He huffs softly.]

I have to give him back his clothing, anyway. [He does not mean that to come off as "yes, get your murder uncle to come pick my lock".]

[orphne]

[He'd used her first name earlier, so surely it's fine for her to do the same, right?]

Akira. Please. You got in a fight with one of your teammates, and you're more worried about him than you are yourself. You of all people can get why I want to talk to you, right?

[chemex]

[He hears her. He knows what she's getting at.]

[She's not going to leave him be, and he can't be upset with her for it.]

...yeah, okay. Hang on.

[He gets up, pulls his yukata out of his bag, wraps it around himself. Ties the obi. Shuffles back to the door. Unlocks it.]

[He hesitates just long enough before opening the door, trying to make sure he's breathing evenly. He's a mess, regardless-- his face is red, his hair is a mess, and he's very specifically looking at the floor.]

[orphne]

[Kotone herself is visibly tired, more than anyone might expect from how bright and cheerful she had been downstairs all night. But she still glances over him, noting the yukata (cute), the redness to his face, the mess that's been made of his hair, and the way he won't meet her eyes.]

Thanks.

[She carefully pushes herself inside past him and- helps herself to his kitchen, running a cold glass of water. She'll hand off the water and move to sit down on his bed, though unlike before, she isn't crossing her legs, showing off, trying to make herself look confident and sure -- her knees are together, hands resting on them as she glances up at him to see if he'll join her, or if he'd prefer to stand. Her posture is open, accepting, ready to listen.]

What happened?

[chemex]

[He takes the water. He doesn't register he's meant to drink it, that she's looking after him, until she walks away from him, until she sits down.]

[He stays standing, slowly rotating the glass in his hands.]

...I'm fine, I promise. It's... there's a lot I can't... really say, it's not fair to explain my history with him without knowing what he's okay with you being aware of. It's just a lot. I overwhelmed him. So he threw me in a lake.

[orphne]

Okay.

[No, that she gets. If something ever happened with her and Shinji, she wouldn't want to explain, well... a lot of the things that had happened to him in his life.]

Sounds pretty complicated, but I'm not sure I get how you "overwhelming him" led to getting tossed in the lake. Like, you were fighting him?

[Physically overwhelmed him like, attacked him? That doesn't seem right, for Akira to do something like that without provocation.]

[chemex]

[He just... sinks to sit. Carefully, on his knees, mindful of his lack of anything under his yukata. He doesn't need to actually flash her. He keeps rotating the glass in his hands, and for a moment he just sits there, quiet.]

...we. We fight a lot. We're rivals, but it's... [He shakes his head, carefully rearranging himself so he can sit in his usual wretched posture, angled so he's not giving her a full frontal upskirt.] We were both drunk, and he's really important to me, I... got too close, and he got mad, and he pushed me over the railing because I taunted him without realizing. [He sounds so tired.]

[orphne]

Hmm...

[She's tired enough that her face goes blank while she's thinking; that's another thing she'd been working with Dazai on, trying not to make it so obvious when she's thinking hard about something. It's like she forgets how to make facial expressions when she's not consciously focusing on them.

Mentally, she's going through her Personas, trying to think if any of them match Akechi. She hasn't tried to get a sense for his Arcana, though now that she knows he has one, she might try a little harder. She flips past Metatron -- the Aeon, definitely not -- Sandalphon? No, not the Moon, that's Shinji. The Star, maybe?

That's a question for later, though. She shakes her head as if to mentally reset, hand falling away from where it had come to rest on her heart. Akechi isn't here right now. Akira is.]

...Did he get mad, or did he get scared? [It's another blunt question, but an important one, she thinks. It had hurt when Junpei had shouted at her, back when they had learned the truth of what had seemed like their inevitable death. It wasn't because he was mad at her, though; it was because he was scared. Maybe it was the same for Akechi.

Or maybe Akechi's just a jerk. She doesn't know him well enough to say for sure.]

[chemex]

[Akechi's definitely a jerk, but he's not just anything, unfortunately for everyone. Akira looks up, and the question doesn't really surprise him, so he nods.]

Both, I think. He's... You've not known him super long but I'm sure you see how weird he is about people being friendly and close to him. [He gathers himself up, folding the yukata under his knees.] So I think he got scared, and then got mad because that's easier. And possibly his default setting.

[orphne]

Mm.

[She hums neutrally. She'd assumed it was just because he was an idol, and that seems like a tough business to make friends in, but-- Akira seems to be hinting it's something different, if it's something he doesn't feel comfortable telling her without Akechi's expression permission.]

And you can't check on him yourself in the morning because...?

[If Akira's even asking her to do it, it can't be because he's too angry to do it himself.]

[chemex]

[He laughs, the sound small and humorless.]

...Akechi's spent most of his life alone. And I got mad, and told him I was gonna leave him alone like everyone else, because he kept trying to get me to. [He looks absolutely sick about it, but maybe she'll scold him. It won't fix it, but it'll help, that someone else can see and tell him he fucked up.]

[orphne]

[Her brow wrinkles, and to her credit, she doesn't answer immediately. She mulls it over for a moment, trying to see if there's any other conclusion she can reach, before asking in confirmation,]

So, let me get this straight. You got too close to him, he pushed you in a lake, and you got mad for being pushed into a lake and told him you were going to leave him alone...?

[Like, it must have felt very dramatic in the moment, but does breaking it into its parts make it feel more manageable? Because the answer is obvious to her, even if it's not exactly easy.]