NG++

[afailedmurder]

[After what was probably a very long first day of school, Akira returns home to find a pleasant boy enjoying a nice too-late-in-the-day coffee at Leblanc.]

Ah, there you are. I was just telling Boss about how we met on the train.

Comments

[afailedmurder]

Your arrest, of course.

[starting to look a little doubtful though]

...Am I wrong? The dates matched up, and his travel plans...

[criminaljustice]

[time to stare unhelpfully at his half-eaten pancakes while he stays perfectly still to keep from doing. anything. rash.]

[afailedmurder]

[watching his expression seriously]

What did he do?

[criminaljustice]

... he was drunk. And trying to get a woman to get into his car. She kept saying she didn't want to, saying no, so I pulled him away from her and he tripped and went face-first into a guard rail.

He blackmailed her into saying I assaulted them.

[afailedmurder]

...Yes, that sounds like him.

[criminaljustice]

... it's insane. That the guy who ruined my life also... had you end it.

[yeah, actually kind of stuck on that. trying to make it make sense]

The odds of it being the same guy... it's crazy, right?

[but also hella convenient]

[afailedmurder]

It's not crazy at all. It's destiny.

[criminaljustice]

Destiny to be set up to be this asshole's scapegoat twice-over?

[probably a bit more vicious with the question than he should be--but then again, Akechi DID play a role there.

but he sits back in his seat to try to keep his cool]

--I don't believe in that sort of thing in the first place.

[afailedmurder]

[just watches this outburst, though he at least waits for him to sit back down before digging into his next bite of pancake]

I can understand why you would want to take such a standpoint, though I can't say it seems terribly supported by the evidence...

[shrugs]

Believe what you will. The bottom line is that we have the same enemy, and I have a proposition.

[criminaljustice]

... a proposition.

[u got his attention tho]

[afailedmurder]

A gentleman's duel to see whose justice is superior.

You have a lot to catch up on, so I'll give you some time to collect your Personas and reassemble your team. When you're ready, we'll start the clock and see who can take him down first.

[criminaljustice]

--if you do it your way, my chance of getting my name cleared goes to zero.

[YOU CAN'T GET TESTIMONY OR A CONFESSION FROM A VEGETABLE OR DEAD MAN, AKECHI???]

[afailedmurder]

Consider that incentive to win.

Besides, I think I'm being quite generous even giving you the chance. The damage he's done to you doesn't even compare to what I've been through. There's no alternate timeline I can run to in order to escape the taint of my own birth.

[criminaljustice]

The only one still calling your birth a taint is you.

[afailedmurder]

I am good at fooling people. I suppose I got that from him.

[gloomily shoves a forkful of pancake into his face]

[criminaljustice]

You haven't fooled me.

[afailedmurder]

I'm not trying to. Not anymore, anyway.

[criminaljustice]

What I'm saying is that you haven't fooled me into think you're not tainted. I just don't think you're tainted just because you were born the way you were.

It's a pretty narrow way to view the world like that.

[afailedmurder]

Let me stop you right there. I don't particularly care what your opinion is when it comes to subjects you don't know a goddamn thing about.

[criminaljustice]

But you care more about the opinions of people who aren't relevant in your life anymore?

[your priorities are fucked.

but he will finish his pancakes instead.]

[afailedmurder]

The fact that you think that only proves my point. Drop it.

[squeezing his fork a little too tightly]

[criminaljustice]

Only if you can agree to do the same about anything involving my life.

[his grip isn't as tight, but there sure is a tension in his own limbs.]

[afailedmurder]

Fine, though that's not the same thing.

[he's running out of pancake. he fork-stabs a strawberry with unnecessary force]

[criminaljustice]

Right, because my birth has made my life so much better.

[massive eyeroll.]

[afailedmurder]

Are you trying to compete? This is one thing you're not going to win.