retrospec | (no subject)

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So I'm not a big laws guy, but I'm pretty sure walking around with a giant scythe would be against some kind of law, despite that being a shitty kind of weapon. Does it make a difference, not-getting-arrested-wise, if that scythe is a book at the time?

[He'd say something about wanting it a month or two ago, but he can't lift it when it's a scythe, so it's not that useful.]

Also Retrospec doesn't care what your legal address is, but I don't think that should surprise anyone.

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[It might help that very few people have the obnoxiously red, obviously dyed hair that Shuji does. He sticks out somewhat.]

That's me. Keigo, right?

Un, I'm Keigo! Nice ta meetcha!

[ with that, keigo took a seat beside shuji, settling in easily. ]

So, you wanna have me look at this book, then?

[Shuji pulls a book out of the bag he'd been carrying and hands it over.]

Have at.

[It's probably obvious even a little bit in that it's super depressing. At least, it's obvious if you're decent at reading Tokyo dialect.]

[ keigo looked it over, blinking as he began to page through it. as he scanned the pages, his expression seemed to dim, brow furrowed. ]

Oi... this guy's writin'... it's really depressing...

[ he continued, exhaling softly. it would be one thing if this was just some random book someone found, but this was something this guy got from retrospec, wasn't it? that... put a very different spin on things. ]

It looks like it's about a guy who's havin' trouble expressing himself in a way that's genuine. Like he can't wrap his head around how to talk to people or cultivate relationships, so he ends up acting like a different person entirely just to connect.

I thought it would be something like that from what I could make out.

[His problem was mainly that he couldn't read a novel like this easily, and had to look up Tokyo dialect words almost every sentence.]

It's not necessarily autobiographical.

[ keigo continued to page through it, skimming along. he wasn't about to sit there and read a novel for hours while this guy sat there, probably bored out of his skull, but he was getting the gist of it. ]

Mmn, well, that's a good sign, then. It'd be kinda awkward, otherwise.

[ he glanced shuji's way, frowning. ]

And you said you got this from Retrospec, right? Does it appear in your like... visions and shit?

It's in one of them, in scythe form mostly. And a few others I've gotten glimpses of it when I was carrying it around.

Huh... So, I'm guessin' it's probably really important to...

[ how did he wanna phrase this... ]

...the guy in your visions, yeah?

He's the one who wrote it, and I haven't seen any of his other books, so... This might be the most important one.

It must have some kinda deeper meanin' to him, then...

[ he lifted the book up and gave it another once-over. ]

...or maybe it's just because it turns into a weapon.

It's more useful than slapping someone with a book, for sure.

[Not that he's tried.]

[ okay, that got a chuckle from keigo. ]

I mean, yeah, that's true...

[ he paged through it a little more. ]

Well, regardless of the importance of the subject matter, he was a really good writer...

I don't mind if I take after him in that way. ...If it was just that and nothing else, that would be great.

[ keigo hummed thoughtfully. ]

Well, that's fair... But what makes you think you take after him at all? Are those memories you've been gettin' like... believable?

[ because his ... well, they were. ]

Depends what you consider 'believable', but it's not about the magic stuff.

It's just... I'm self-aware enough to know what my own flaws are, or at least some of them. And he's got those flaws too, just turned up to eleven.

[He can see all his own bad points in Dazai, but he doesn't take it to the extremes Dazai did. Yet.]

Huh. So, he's kinda like you, but like an exaggerated version, maybe?

[ that's how keigo was taking it, at any rate. ]

Pretty much. Like me but worse.

Hm.

[ that was interesting. ]

Well, even if you have some of the same traits, and even if you have those memories, those things are in the past either way, y'know?

[ this type of advice didn't really work on him, so maybe he was being a bit hypocritical, but-- ]

[Hypocritical advice is definitely the way to go.]

I know. It's not like I'm just going to give up because I'm doomed to be that guy, or something like that.

Well, that's a start, I guess. It's best to just take this crap with a grain of salt. We can't really be sure what it all really means when Retrospec hasn't exactly been straightforward with us from the start.

Retrospec doesn't know the meaning of being straightforward, or helpful.

[ he laughed at that. ] You're right. There's no hope for them, at this point. We'll just have to figure stuff out ourselves. Just like always.

Same as usual... At least we're getting used to it. I don't know if that's a good thing for our sanity, but it makes it easier to deal with this crap.

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