Haha. [He shakes his head, places the straw in his glass and takes a drink. Yeah, it tastes good. Very refreshing after that boozy drink he just downed a while ago. He takes another sip and offers the drink back to her.]
Don't worry. I wouldn't go without taking proper precautions first. [Maybe?] But once we gain the control over our Personas again I will definitely want a rematch. A true test of strength.
[Flat-out, no consideration needed at all. Just a very simple statement as she shakes her head and gestures for him to keep the drink. She'll make herself another!]
I've been thinking a lot about it. The fight we had. [Her voice is steady and contemplative as she pours some juice and adds a squirt of mineral water.] You didn't want to fight to try to learn, or to become better, or even for me to learn something. You just wanted one of us to get beat into the dirt to prove which one of us is better.
[She gets her own straw this time and pops it into the drink, taking a casual sip.]
I don't have to prove anything. Maybe you're a stronger fighter than me, maybe you're not. [She shrugs and takes another sip, wondering if maybe she's giving him a challenge of her own. Oh well. She won't coddle him just because they're friends -- maybe especially because they're friends.] But you went way too far for a spar between friends. I don't think I'd like fighting against you with a Persona.
[Well, that's disappointing to hear! The frown deepens on Akechi's face as he places the drink down on the table. Thanks for leftovers?]
It was a duel, not a spar. My apologies if I misled you with my intentions. [But in all fairness, he had warned her -- telling her that he wouldn't hold back and that neither should she. But more than that, what really bothers him is the way she's stripping the whole deal down, as if it had been pointless bravado.]
It wasn't as meaningless as you make it to be. [It had meant a great deal to him.] I needed to see your strength, how else would I be able to trust you. Besides, I learned a quite lot in the process.
[Look, she thought it was nicer to let him have the one she'd given him than make a whole new one after he'd already tried it! #JustFriendsThings]
Call it whatever you want. It was still messed up at the end. Duels are supposed to be honorable, right? If it'd been for real, you would've died when I pulled the knife. But you kept pushing it way past that after I said to stop.
[She takes another sip of her drink and shakes her head again. If it was a fight to prove to him that he could trust her, it had done quite the opposite for her -- shaken her trust completely.]
What kind of leader would I be if I said "okay" to another fight like that? One using Personas?
Pulling a secret weapon like that on me was hardly honorable move, Kotone. [Just saying. Sure, there really hadn't been any specific rules declaring that they could only use one weapon. But she can't really bring the "honor"-card on him (besides, he was tapped in Loki, not Robin).]
And I didn't think we were done just yet. If you pull a knife on someone comes with heavy consequences. [Don't threaten him with a good time and all that.
But the last comment makes him snort a laughter.] You're not my leader.
Neither was the way you pinned me. Things got out of control, and I should've stopped it earlier, you're right.
[It's an easy admission as she shrugs her shoulders. Really, she shouldn't have taken him up on it at all, but it had clearly been so important to him. She swirls her straw in her drink and shakes her head.]
You're right about that, too. You're a really strong fighter, Goro, but I wouldn't put you on my front lines. Maybe Akira leads in a different way. I trust my team to fight their hardest, but to listen if I think something needs to stop or change. I asked you to stop twice and you ignored me when I felt our lives were in danger.
Tch. [He clicks his tongue in annoyance and shakes his head, leaning his back against the chair.]
He's not my leader either. [Akechi had followed Akira's lead while they were in metaverse, but outside of that it was a different story. He wouldn't answer to anyone.] And why do you always make it about you. What you should have done and what not. You're not responsible for me or anyone else here.
"Always?" [she echoes, raising an eyebrow. First of all, that's patently untrue, she's as responsible for Ken and Shinjiro and has been for months. Second of all, she's rarely made it about herself where Goro's involved.]
Are you talking to me, or does Akira usually say the same things?
[Actually, he does. Kinda. But he doesn't think of Akira right now.]
You were like this during the incident at the bar with Dazai-san and Chuuya-san. [Back then she had acted similarly, as if it was her job to stop the every bad thing she saw.]
[Hm. Yeah, okay, he's got a point. Even still,] I don't think it's that weird not to want to see your friends get hurt.
[She taps her fingernails gently against the glass and adds,] I think we've all got a responsibility to look out for each other. Maybe we're not a team, but we're friends.
[He doesn't say anything to that. It's normal, he thinks. Something that normal people would do and think. Friendship is something that's still a rather new are for him..
But at least he doesn't go in rejecting that notion.]
Yet you're much more harsher towards yourself than to others.
Not the way you are. [He might hold himself up for a ridiculous standards, and punish himself mentally whenever he fails to meet any of his self-given requirements. But he barely blames himself for other people's shortcomings or feels responsibility over anyone other than himself.
Although he's slowly learning to build the bridges to his island of isolation.]
[Maybe it's why Akihiko and Mitsuru thought she'd make a good leader, or maybe she started feeling this way after she was given the responsibility of leading everyone. It's hard to say which was a result of which, so she just shrugs.]
Anyway, until I know you're not going to go too far, I don't want to fight you with my Personas. If you want a rematch with wooden weapons, that's fine.
[Ken could, but Goro doesn't seem like the type to have any healing skills. He's like Shinji in that respect, she'd be willing to bet.
She huffs and shakes her head.]
I'll take a concussion over handing you a blade any day, I think. Like I said, you're a really good fighter. I think I could learn from you! But not if I'm just trying to make sure both of us are alive at the end of it.
Robin Hood has a samarecarm. And even if he didn't you can.
[Hadn't she mentioned something about healing someone with her Persona just a now?..And, if they really wanted to do it and found a way to have access to their Personas they could have Akira there. That'd probably make her feel more safe.]
You don't think I'd be lethal with a wooden object? Hah, I'm not sure if I should be hurt by that or not. [He's mostly joking here.] But sure. Maybe I'll take you up on that challenge, Kotone.
We are not getting to the point where Samarecarm is needed!
[Buddy!! But she rolls her eyes, because of course he could kill someone with a wooden object. Lots of things can be used to kill someone. But it would be way more effort than knives, and those are her terms.]
If you wanna get beat again, sure.
[But, she's not above being just a little bit petty, giving him a smile because again -- he likes challenges, and she is incapable of not trying to tailor the things she says to whomever she's speaking to.]
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Don't worry. I wouldn't go without taking proper precautions first. [Maybe?] But once we gain the control over our Personas again I will definitely want a rematch. A true test of strength.
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[Flat-out, no consideration needed at all. Just a very simple statement as she shakes her head and gestures for him to keep the drink. She'll make herself another!]
I've been thinking a lot about it. The fight we had. [Her voice is steady and contemplative as she pours some juice and adds a squirt of mineral water.] You didn't want to fight to try to learn, or to become better, or even for me to learn something. You just wanted one of us to get beat into the dirt to prove which one of us is better.
[She gets her own straw this time and pops it into the drink, taking a casual sip.]
I don't have to prove anything. Maybe you're a stronger fighter than me, maybe you're not. [She shrugs and takes another sip, wondering if maybe she's giving him a challenge of her own. Oh well. She won't coddle him just because they're friends -- maybe especially because they're friends.] But you went way too far for a spar between friends. I don't think I'd like fighting against you with a Persona.
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It was a duel, not a spar. My apologies if I misled you with my intentions. [But in all fairness, he had warned her -- telling her that he wouldn't hold back and that neither should she. But more than that, what really bothers him is the way she's stripping the whole deal down, as if it had been pointless bravado.]
It wasn't as meaningless as you make it to be. [It had meant a great deal to him.] I needed to see your strength, how else would I be able to trust you. Besides, I learned a quite lot in the process.
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Call it whatever you want. It was still messed up at the end. Duels are supposed to be honorable, right? If it'd been for real, you would've died when I pulled the knife. But you kept pushing it way past that after I said to stop.
[She takes another sip of her drink and shakes her head again. If it was a fight to prove to him that he could trust her, it had done quite the opposite for her -- shaken her trust completely.]
What kind of leader would I be if I said "okay" to another fight like that? One using Personas?
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And I didn't think we were done just yet. If you pull a knife on someone comes with heavy consequences. [Don't threaten him with a good time and all that.
But the last comment makes him snort a laughter.] You're not my leader.
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[It's an easy admission as she shrugs her shoulders. Really, she shouldn't have taken him up on it at all, but it had clearly been so important to him. She swirls her straw in her drink and shakes her head.]
You're right about that, too. You're a really strong fighter, Goro, but I wouldn't put you on my front lines. Maybe Akira leads in a different way. I trust my team to fight their hardest, but to listen if I think something needs to stop or change. I asked you to stop twice and you ignored me when I felt our lives were in danger.
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He's not my leader either. [Akechi had followed Akira's lead while they were in metaverse, but outside of that it was a different story. He wouldn't answer to anyone.] And why do you always make it about you. What you should have done and what not. You're not responsible for me or anyone else here.
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Are you talking to me, or does Akira usually say the same things?
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You were like this during the incident at the bar with Dazai-san and Chuuya-san. [Back then she had acted similarly, as if it was her job to stop the every bad thing she saw.]
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[She taps her fingernails gently against the glass and adds,] I think we've all got a responsibility to look out for each other. Maybe we're not a team, but we're friends.
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But at least he doesn't go in rejecting that notion.]
Yet you're much more harsher towards yourself than to others.
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[Just a gentle probe and a raised eyebrow. Isn't everyone way harder on themselves than on others?]
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Not the way you are. [He might hold himself up for a ridiculous standards, and punish himself mentally whenever he fails to meet any of his self-given requirements. But he barely blames himself for other people's shortcomings or feels responsibility over anyone other than himself.
Although he's slowly learning to build the bridges to his island of isolation.]
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[Maybe it's why Akihiko and Mitsuru thought she'd make a good leader, or maybe she started feeling this way after she was given the responsibility of leading everyone. It's hard to say which was a result of which, so she just shrugs.]
Anyway, until I know you're not going to go too far, I don't want to fight you with my Personas. If you want a rematch with wooden weapons, that's fine.
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Wood can be just as dangerous as blades, you know. Risking a concussion is no laughing matter.
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[Ken could, but Goro doesn't seem like the type to have any healing skills. He's like Shinji in that respect, she'd be willing to bet.
She huffs and shakes her head.]
I'll take a concussion over handing you a blade any day, I think. Like I said, you're a really good fighter. I think I could learn from you! But not if I'm just trying to make sure both of us are alive at the end of it.
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[Hadn't she mentioned something about healing someone with her Persona just a now?..And, if they really wanted to do it and found a way to have access to their Personas they could have Akira there. That'd probably make her feel more safe.]
You don't think I'd be lethal with a wooden object? Hah, I'm not sure if I should be hurt by that or not. [He's mostly joking here.] But sure. Maybe I'll take you up on that challenge, Kotone.
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[Buddy!! But she rolls her eyes, because of course he could kill someone with a wooden object. Lots of things can be used to kill someone. But it would be way more effort than knives, and those are her terms.]
If you wanna get beat again, sure.
[But, she's not above being just a little bit petty, giving him a smile because again -- he likes challenges, and she is incapable of not trying to tailor the things she says to whomever she's speaking to.]