[video] forward dated to 9/13

[appraiser]

Ryoji Mochizuki shared a video.
09/13 near Apprassage

[ The video starts up, dark, silent. A bedroom, if an empty desk and neatly made bed and too many cardboard boxes count as a bedroom, and then the view flips over with a soft ] Oh. [ as the user finds the front-facing camera instead of the rear that he always uses on his phone. ]

Hi... It's been a while.

[ The bottom half of the screen blurs as Ryoji draws his knees to his chest where he sits on bare floorboards, phone in his hands. He doesn't introduce himself— doesn't need to, when his name is up there for people who don't know him, his face right here for people who do: the people he's recording this video for, whispers in an empty room. ]

I'm back. I know there are probably questions as to why, or how... and I can't really explain it well myself. But I'll answer the best I can, if you want to ask, texting or in person.

[ Ryoji sits up a little straighter now, looks a little more serious. This is what he meant to say: a confession. ]

But before that, I want to say that I'm glad to be back, however it happened... a second chance like this. I also want to be more upfront about myself, and there are things I want to say to a lot of people.

There was a time in the past where I was a monster: I'd hurt a lot of people, and I ran from all of that, hid myself away, and pretended it hadn't happened. The memories I've been experiencing, I kept the good ones close, the bad even closer, pretending they weren't real and that they have nothing to do with me. I thought... that it would be better to forget about all of that and return to a simpler time. Unconsciously, I think that's what I did. I went back to before everything happened, to start over, and do better this time. But I got it wrong. I made myself forget, but I wasn't forgotten...

[ He's rambling now, a little, so he turns his eyes away from the screen, staring off at something in the distance- it's the moon reflected in his eyes, only half. ]

There's somebody I still need to say goodbye to, but after that... I want to see so many of you. I owe a lot of "thank you"s and "I'm sorry"s and "I love you"s, and I want to be with people again. I don't want to leave this world or its people ever again.

So... I'll see you guys soon.




( ooc: forward dated to 9/13 to give myself a buffer. replies can be via text, or an in-person if you want to fast-forward to ryoji showing up at your character's house/class/chance meeting at some cafe/hi roommates/he'll be finding people around town somehow. for his cr, please assume he checked up on them, whether it's handwaved or not! )

Comments

[appraiser]

It's not awkward. I told Minako once that I love her, and we're not awkward.

[ he was like. ten or something, i don't know. ]

[cattack]

I am... reasonably certain that your meaning of 'love' is different from how a confession would mean it...

[appraiser]

Hmm... The feeling is the same though, no matter if I say it to Minako, or my girlfriend, or to you. The only difference is, before a confession, only one side knows?

[ Which doesn't make sense to him at all. Why not tell everybody how much you love everyone and everything, etc.? ]

[cattack]

... Wait. Are you saying the love you feel for me or Minako is the same as for your girlfriend?

[SHE'S. a bit confused...]

[appraiser]

Love is love, isn't it?

[ NO ]

[cattack]

I... can safely say the love I feel to you, Tatsuo, and Minako are all very different things... I think?

[she sounds unsure]

[appraiser]

[ Who is this Tatsuo that Ryoji isn't sure he's met before. His interest is piqued, but first things first- ]

Can you put it into words how you feel? You can start with me.

[ "Tell me how much you love me" lmao ]

[cattack]

I, ah...

[WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO HER.]

Can it wait until we're at your apartment? It's embarrassing in public like this...

[appraiser]

That's fair.

[ He gives her a little space, grinning over the top of his coffee. ]

I wonder if any of my roommates are home...

[ Is that better than public? The two of them sitting in his bedroom while she tells him of love. ]

[cattack]

I- I rather hope they are not...

[YES, BECAUSE THEN AT LEAST SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING OVERHEARD HAVING FEELINGS]

[appraiser]

Well, only way to know is to go see.

[ Or, he could call Tuuri or Akira and check whether anybody is home, but regardless, he'll let her off the hook the rest of the way to the house, whereupon he stops at the front door, pats around his front pants pockets for his keys— and realizes that he doesn't have keys.

He's only just turned back, and as Pharos, and there's no way he'd been given the keys to the house looking like a kid. So he knocks on the door with his double one-two, one-two knocks. ]

Elliot? Yusuke? Are you home? It's Ryoji and Cleo!

[cattack]

[Cleo is praying they aren't, but...]

... Can you not get in on your own?

[appraiser]

[ ...This wouldn't be a problem, but Cleo has ties in with the police, so he turns to her and looks at her very seriously. ]

You trust me, right? I need you to close your eyes.

[cattack]

I trust you.

[she instantly closes her eyes.]

[appraiser]

[ He's glad, because it makes it much easier. Like she trusts him, he trusts her not to peek, him transforming into Pharos right in front of her instead of doing so off to the side or behind her. In this form, he has the potential to be the most dangerous criminal in existence, if he weren't Ryoji— as it is, he teleports past the front doors, turns himself back into Ryoji, and unlocks it from the inside. ]

Come in~

[cattack]

[... okay. That. That is odd.]

Ryoji, I do trust you, but... Did you just pick your own lock?

[he did ask her not to look, so maybe he was doing shady shit?]

[appraiser]

No.

[ It's not a lie, and he leaves the door open for her to come in. ]

Close the door, before the cats— ah.

[ Here they come, Morrigan hanging back at the end of the hallway, but the calico kitten patters right up to the two of them and starts biting at Ryoji's laces before he can even get his shoes off to leave at the entrance. ]

[cattack]

[She enters, sliding off her boots and closing the door, before immediately kneeling down and beckoning Morrigan over.]

They're rather sweet, aren't they?

[appraiser]

[ Morrigan is apparently a tsun and isn't so easily persuaded, the fur on the back of his neck raising slightly when he looks up at Ryoji who he hasn't seen in over a month. Katkat, though, has no such reservations, abandoning the shoe when Cleo kneels, and starts gnawing on her hand instead because who cares about Morrigan?? play with her instead. ]

Yeah... Katkat grew up with many brothers and sisters, so she's used to having cats and people around, I'd imagine. She can get a little rough sometimes, but she makes her own fun.

[cattack]

[Cleo just lets him the cat gnaw, using her free hand to scratch the kitty's ears.]

Nothing wrong with that... That's how they play, after all.

[she's just gonna. stop scritching and then use her free hand to pull some cat treats out of her coat pocket.]

[appraiser]

[ !!! Opportunistic little Katkat relinquishes one hand to bat at the other, hoping she'll get first dips on the treats before Morrigan gets a whiff of them and stalks a little closer.

Ryoji, though, is a bit surprised to see that she has treats at the ready. ]

...Do you have a cat, Cleo?

[ Because the alternative is that she's the one who... nah. ]

[cattack]

[OH MY GOD RYOJI

she carefully holds just one treat out to katkat for her to take]

No, but I take care of the strays around my apartment.

[appraiser]

[ Look, he thought "nah" at the end, okay??! Giving her the benefit of the doubt, which is apparently the situation here with Recollé, City of Cats. ]

That's good of you, that they have somebody familiar to go to instead of becoming feral. I always wondered where they went during the winter when everything ices over.

[cattack]

[you'd better have!! but look everyone in recolle loves cats it's a thing.]

I can't have any cats in my apartment, sadly, or else I'd let them, but I at least try to get them some boxes and blankets in the winter, if not finding them somewhere warm. But they're smart, so they'll find a way.

[appraiser]

[ lmao after next month, both my characters are going to be ostracized Dog People ]

I wasn't supposed to have pets in my apartment either, so that's partly why I moved out. [ He picks up Katkat before she gobbles up all the food, and steps off a little of the side so he can see Cleo try persuading Morrigan to come join them too. ]

Do you think that's alright? Letting them live as strays, I mean, as opposed to being in a shelter, or pointed towards foster, or adoption.