reapertoire | KILL LOG; MAKOTO

[ Romance.

Its association with an idealized love comes from the seventeenth century, but it is a word that was originally meant to encapsulate works in the Roman language, once the vernacular. In other words, literature for the people. The book Assassin comes from was such a tale.

And tonight, it begins to approach its climax. ]

Makoto!

[ He runs to her, panicked and out of breath. ]

Makoto!

[ And of course, he's shirtless but ]

Makoto, come with me!

[ he's wearing

an apron

??? ]

W-Wait, what?

[excuse her-- she doesn't understand what's going on. Her eyes widen slightly, and she takes a step forward, at least of... some implicit form of trust.

But she can't forget what day it is, or help but notice his outfit. It stops her from following him immediately]

What's going on?

[her voice rises, in measure with his]

[ It's all measured: every moment of embarrassment, uncertainty, and — ]

Uhhh, Mary wanted to play house. I was the sexy maid.

No-- not that...!

[though, she frowns just slightly. That is one question answered, but it's... a weird one.]

Why do you want me to come with you?

It's Ichigo.

[ And he is distressed, because Mary doesn't have to go through this, shouldn't have to become the monster he is—

But this is the path they chose. ]

Mary, she...

W-What?

[And that gets her attention. Her eyes widen, and whatever hesitation she was feeling before, she knew she couldn't ignore it.

It didn't matter that he was wearing the worst costume ever, and that this was suspicious on its face. She needed to be sure that Ichigo was safe.]

Where? What happened?

[it helps that, for some reason... she trusts him.]

It's really bad. I'll take you there. Hold on!

[ He takes Makoto by the hand and for the first time since that night with Eleanor, he feels something familiar.

But familiarity is not reality.

They teleport at a fast pace, soon arriving at the coin rides. ]

[Teleporting is still disconcerting, but Makoto pauses, concerned for a moment, because his Teleportation psych was so much stronger than Setz's.

Still, she's immediately on guard, looking around for a sign of Ichigo]

H-How bad? Where is he?

[It won't take Makoto very long to see what she should be looking for. Mary--also in a full maid's outfit, because evidently this house only had maids--bawling her eyes out over Ichigo. She has his head cradled in her lap. He could almost just be sleeping peaceful...but they all know what night it is. And Mary's arms are drenched in blood as she holds him close. He's so pale.

The ground beneath them is a puddle of deep red, centered underneath the wide gash that's split his abdomen open from one side of his waist to the other.]

Somebody...somebody...help. Help him! Please!

[ The shock is genuine, too.

Assassin lets go of Makoto's hand to rush to Ichigo's side. ]

Damn, one of the idiots who heal for free and he doesn't even make it... Mary, I'll take it from here, okay?

[ He brings her close. He kisses her forehead. Go. He'll call her back soon. She deserves this much. ]

[Makoto rushes forward-- Ichigo...

She wanted to be a detective-- a chief of police. Her knowledge on medical care is limited to only the basics. But she can tell something awful has happened, and there's nerves settling up in her stomach]

Assassin...

[Ichigo wasn't okay. She could see that from there, and if he wasn't okay, Akira was in grave danger. She wasn't considering herself at this point. There were far too many thoughts going through her mind, about everything she knew up to this point.]

Ichigo...

[Another step forward, another bit of her guard dropped]

[Mary lets her red arms uncoil from around Ichigo to let Assassin wrap her up in his embrace. She savors the comforting affection of his lips against her forehead and touches her wet hands to his jaw, leaving little pawprints before finally standing. Her dress is stuck to her legs, slick and heavy from the weight of Ichigo's gore.

Mary, tears sailing down her cheeks, looks at Makoto. Her eyes are sad and wide and full of regret...and resolve.

She turns on her heel and darts away, away, further into the darkened shopping center.]

[It's only when Mary disappears that Assassin checks for his vital signs and declares,]

He's dead.

[Nothing he hasn't seen before.]

Didn't even put up a fight...

[He's still reeling from how easy it was. And Ichigo was so big, so strong, so ready to kill him just a few days ago. If Assassin accepted his offer back then, would he have had a different fate? Ah, it would have been a good fight, and oh, it would have been so satisfying...

But there's a pecking order, and Assassin can't waste time when he's got his sights set on something greater.]

You're his friend, right? I'm sorry. If only we found him sooner...

[makoto realizes something when Mary disappears. She should have known a lot more about what happened to Ichigo-- if not exactly who killed him. Which Makoto wonders... Could it have been her? But she takes another step, her foot accidentally stepping in the edge of the blood pool.]

Yes...

[Her head is a mess. It's different trying to puzzle out a murder-- this is the first time she's come across a body, so soon. She's almost certain Ichigo would be warm still.]

We have to go get the others-- we should talk to Mary more. About what happened.

[she's going into her investigation mode.]

[Assassin's expression is indiscernible.

He is eerily calm against the deafening silence.]

Oh, I wouldn't do that.

What?

[and there it is, her guard slams back up, her hand reaching for her mask... just in case.]

Why?

[she... feels like maybe, she already knows the answer to that.]

Because-

[Velvet appears, her blade drawn.]

You're not going anywhere!

[She leaps towards Makoto, her blade beginning to catch on fire as a result of her psych. As they fight, she'll unleash a series of punches and kicks, powerful but not very grounded.]

[ And Assassin rises from his spot, leaving Ichigo to bleed as he leisurely walks toward the fight. ]

Ahahaha... Sorry, Makki. I like you. I really do.

[ He adjusts his gloves as he watches each hit connect without pain or remorse. ]

But...

[ He jumps, his psych activates, and when there is enough distance between Makoto and Velvet, he puts all his power into a close-ranged kick. ]

Edited 2018-04-12 03:26 (UTC)

[Makoto can only dodge one thing at a time, but upon rolling away from Velvet, she places her mask onto her face, knowing that her psyche is her best chance at a defense.

Which is fine. It's fine. She's in serious danger, but it's fine]

AH...!

[the air is forced out of her, but she's still fine, rolling backwards, and then letting the momentum push herself back up to her feet.]

Why!? What are you doing?!

[she backs away, knowing it's probably better to run, to find help. Especially when it's two against one.]

Ahahaha!

[ He rips the loose apron off his torso, revealing the tattoos that marked his pride, his nature. ]

Don't you get it, Makki? We all know we're not here to make friends.

Especially not Akira.

[it's two on one, but. Makoto at least has a pair of brass knuckles to make it way less one sided than it could be, her hand sliding into her pocket, and sliding out with them on]

... You're getting revenge on Akira.

[she swallows, and steels herself, staring at his face, her red eyes hardening.

If there's one person she will defend, it's him. And-- she's going to try her hardest to escape this. Though she finds herself dodging random strikes as much as possible, even though she still feels the force of the kick from earlier.

She jumps back, recognizing her best way to protect Akira was to survive.]

You would kill me, just to strike at him...

[she forces herself to feel the heinousness she would have felt before, her voice hard]

You're horrible.

[ Beneath his bare and relaxed exterior—

Under his gloves lined with metal, his knuckles turn white. Ah, his gauntlets would be better for this, but... This is fine. This is enough.

He wouldn't be an Assassin otherwise. ]

Oh, I'm horrible? Haha, wow! That's rich.

[ He tosses Maya's magatama in the air and catches it. Then, he walks, saunters toward her, fists clenched, each name from his lips dripping with venom: ]

Maybe he should have thought twice before he killed Eleanor. And Chuuya. And Jacopo.

[ That's what his instinct tells him, anyway. ]

There's no story without conflict, Makki. I should know. And oh, how I know.

[the list of names he's ticking off is a surprise to her, she expected something different. But she knows in her heart, none of those people were killed by Akira. She feels like there may be something else there, like...

No. She can't say it, in case they are looking at this from two different angles, and she'd never want anything she said or did to be used to hurt Akira.

She'd figure it out, though she can't help but notice the magatama. The trial that caused her the most anguish of them all, the first...]

He didn't...

[her voice is soft, passionate, and she watches him. She knew that, perhaps, she should have expected as much. But she'd wished she'd never believed in their friendship.

It hurts worse, knowing that he's reduced her to a pawn in some sick game between him and Akira.]

Conflict made up of your own grievances, taken out on someone else? Without proof of anything you're claiming?

This isn't a story!

[ And he loses it.

Maniacal laughter resounds throughout the shopping center, and suddenly he is reminded of how big his stage is. It's not Shinjuku, but there are so many ways he could make this fun, so many different ways he could make this hurt. Characters like him aren't opposed to violence. It's just how they're written. ]

Didn't anybody tell you? Oh, that's right. Akira doesn't tell anybody anything.

Akira LIES!

[ He teleports once more, immediately closing the distance between them to throw a jab at her chest. ]

KILL LOG; MAKOTO

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