[ What the fuck else would he think? It's not like anybody else knows he had a partner before. There are the rest of the people in Lunatia with a Hypnosis Mic—Jakurai and Ramuda in particular, but... it's not like they'd do something stupid like this.
Okay, maybe Ramuda. . . ]
You think I'm smart enough to do this? [ It's said with a lot of annoyance. He knows he's not the smartest person in town. Sasara always made sure he knew, too. He's stopped caring—he knows what he is and he's fine with it, so admitting something like this isn't a kick to his pride. ] Dumbass.
[ But it's not just Ichiro who looks in trouble now. Samatoki doesn't visibly react to it, but with the timer going while they're talking about things that aren't relevant to the app, shadows have crawled from the floor and have wrapped themselves around Samatoki's ankles and wrists. His brows furrow, but he's yet to react violently. ]
[ that's a good point, actually. samatoki insulting himself sort of is enough to get him out of raging angry bull mode at least enough to try and figure out what the fuck is going on. he's still fighting with the hands, which have stopped tugging on him for the moment, as if they're interested in the game itself. ichiro's really sick of this game shit, actually. why is everything like a bad hentai???
he huffs like a caught bull and tries to look at his screen again, lifting his arm up towards the stupid phone. ] I don't know, answer the question? I didn't ask for that either!
[ the question looms, again, just under the timer, innocently ticking down.
[ Answer the question? What question? (Because Samatoki has yet to realise the text on his screen. He's hyperfocused on the boy in the video than what the app is actually saying. When he looks at his phone, he reads the question, finally. His face already looks sour, but he deflates a little and looks away with narrowed eyes.
What - are these shadows here to get both of them to blurt shit out? Talk about how they were partners and basically covered for each other's lapses? Samatoki and Ichiro were such a good team. He's disgusted by the fact now, but when he thinks about The Dirty Dawg, what was had, and what could have been, it makes him feel shitty. They all made a great team. Too bad somebody had to ruin it all.
He tries first to get away from the shadows with a hard tug of his wrist, but it doesn't work. In fact, he can feel more pressure on his wrists when he does that, as if the shadows are trying to squeeze the life out of Samatoki away.
If he does answer, he's going to do this to survive. If he does answer, then the shadows will go away, right? Whatever's going to happen next if he doesn't feels like such a terrible thing, and he has people who care for him in this place. He's not about to make them worry about him again.
Besides, it's asking what he liked. He can talk in the past tense. ]
'Tch. Thought he was the most reliable guy in the world.
[ His brows furrow. He could honestly say more, but it would just sound like regret, and he doesn't regret cutting ties with Ichiro. If anything, it should be the other way around. ]
[ and it stings, a little, wounds a part of ichiro that he's kept buried, that deserved to be shoved deep into a hole and ignored. his year with samatoki--now that had been a mistake. he'd been so caught up in the dirty dawg, so caught up in him that he'd lost friends (friends like kuko), that his priorities were so out of whack he almost lost sight of what really mattered in his life.
ichiro's always been reliable. that's something he prides himself on, that anyone in ikebukuro can count on him. that anyone who calls on odd jobs yamada has a guarantee that ichiro will get it done. it's why he's been successful at running a yorozuya. it's why he's been successful as a division leader. it's why, in the darkest part of his life, mozuku saw him as useful and valuable. to hear samatoki say that just confirms it--that he's wrong about everything, that he always has been. he can't see past the life he surrounded himself with, and ichiro's sworn never to walk down that path ever again.
as much as he's reliable, ichiro sticks to his guns. he made the right decision with samatoki, who left him on that stage. no going back from that now, and no regrets from it either. the memory hurts a year later, festering and painful, samatoki's snarl as ichiro begged him to stay etched into his memory no matter how hard he tries to force it away.
so, his expression doesn't change much. there's a brief flicker across his eyes of some other emotion, but it fades into anger instead, a chained beast held in place by the shadowy hands squeezing tight at his wrists. there's a pull on his end, back towards the wall.
the game wants him to answer too? fine. ] Used to be somebody worth respecting.
[ it's cutting and sharp, though he's not shouting. just boiling, boiling, ready to tip over. is this the end? is this stupid fucking thing satisfied? ichiro was having a perfectly good day, until like normal, samatoki aohitsugi showed up and ruined it. ]
If anything, Samatoki's worth respecting even more now because he's the one who's sticking to his guns. The world is going to change because of him, and he's not going to let anybody stop him. The ambition that drives him to do what he does, as underhanded as it may be at times, does have some good in it. His intentions are good—Samatoki's just... a little too much.
Any other time, he would be yelling at Ichiro to take that back. Samatoki's very particular about being shown respect, after all, but he feels the shadows loosening their grip on him.
It's not creepy, nor did it scare him, but it was distracting enough. And when he'a gathered his bearings, he looks back at his phone. No hint of concern for Ichiro right now (or ever), but he says something, anyway— ]
You probably coulda killed me if you kept your mouth shut. Would've been great for you.
[ Now Samatoki's just being a dick... sorry........ ]
[ thankfully, the comment from the question is enough that ichiro's able to rip his arm out of the shadow's grip. he's left staring at samatoki's face on the other end, adrenaline still high--and really, he's getting tired of getting caught in these stupid situations--but maybe, begrudgingly, a little grateful.
nevermind, samatoki sucks. he makes a "tch" noise and turns his head away. the mature thing to do here would be to just hang up the stupid phone, but he's still got a shadow around his ankle and he'd doesn't want to piss it off any worse.
...so. ] Unlike you, I've got morals. There's no point in shady shit when I can just take you in a fight on my own time, and I'm not going to kill someone, either, even if you deserve it.
[ that's yakuza shit. that's delinquent shit. that's the life ichiro left behind, and the life he never has to go back for again, because he saw something better for himself, grabbed hold of it with both hands, and never looked back. ]
[ samatoki was right, though. now that ichiro has his bearings, it's obvious samatoki couldn't have done this, especially with a question like that. not to mention, he at least answered honestly, which is more than ichiro was really expecting.
there's a long pause. it's like he's getting his teeth pulled. ] ...thanks.
[ CLICK BYE HE'S HANGING UP HE NEEDS TO WASH HIS MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP. ]
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no subject
Okay, maybe Ramuda. . . ]
You think I'm smart enough to do this? [ It's said with a lot of annoyance. He knows he's not the smartest person in town. Sasara always made sure he knew, too. He's stopped caring—he knows what he is and he's fine with it, so admitting something like this isn't a kick to his pride. ] Dumbass.
[ But it's not just Ichiro who looks in trouble now. Samatoki doesn't visibly react to it, but with the timer going while they're talking about things that aren't relevant to the app, shadows have crawled from the floor and have wrapped themselves around Samatoki's ankles and wrists. His brows furrow, but he's yet to react violently. ]
... How do we get out.
no subject
he huffs like a caught bull and tries to look at his screen again, lifting his arm up towards the stupid phone. ] I don't know, answer the question? I didn't ask for that either!
[ the question looms, again, just under the timer, innocently ticking down.
what did you like about your partner? ]
no subject
What - are these shadows here to get both of them to blurt shit out? Talk about how they were partners and basically covered for each other's lapses? Samatoki and Ichiro were such a good team. He's disgusted by the fact now, but when he thinks about The Dirty Dawg, what was had, and what could have been, it makes him feel shitty. They all made a great team. Too bad somebody had to ruin it all.
He tries first to get away from the shadows with a hard tug of his wrist, but it doesn't work. In fact, he can feel more pressure on his wrists when he does that, as if the shadows are trying to squeeze the life out of Samatoki away.
If he does answer, he's going to do this to survive. If he does answer, then the shadows will go away, right? Whatever's going to happen next if he doesn't feels like such a terrible thing, and he has people who care for him in this place. He's not about to make them worry about him again.
Besides, it's asking what he liked. He can talk in the past tense. ]
'Tch. Thought he was the most reliable guy in the world.
[ His brows furrow. He could honestly say more, but it would just sound like regret, and he doesn't regret cutting ties with Ichiro. If anything, it should be the other way around. ]
no subject
ichiro's always been reliable. that's something he prides himself on, that anyone in ikebukuro can count on him. that anyone who calls on odd jobs yamada has a guarantee that ichiro will get it done. it's why he's been successful at running a yorozuya. it's why he's been successful as a division leader. it's why, in the darkest part of his life, mozuku saw him as useful and valuable. to hear samatoki say that just confirms it--that he's wrong about everything, that he always has been. he can't see past the life he surrounded himself with, and ichiro's sworn never to walk down that path ever again.
as much as he's reliable, ichiro sticks to his guns. he made the right decision with samatoki, who left him on that stage. no going back from that now, and no regrets from it either. the memory hurts a year later, festering and painful, samatoki's snarl as ichiro begged him to stay etched into his memory no matter how hard he tries to force it away.
so, his expression doesn't change much. there's a brief flicker across his eyes of some other emotion, but it fades into anger instead, a chained beast held in place by the shadowy hands squeezing tight at his wrists. there's a pull on his end, back towards the wall.
the game wants him to answer too? fine. ] Used to be somebody worth respecting.
[ it's cutting and sharp, though he's not shouting. just boiling, boiling, ready to tip over. is this the end? is this stupid fucking thing satisfied? ichiro was having a perfectly good day, until like normal, samatoki aohitsugi showed up and ruined it. ]
no subject
If anything, Samatoki's worth respecting even more now because he's the one who's sticking to his guns. The world is going to change because of him, and he's not going to let anybody stop him. The ambition that drives him to do what he does, as underhanded as it may be at times, does have some good in it. His intentions are good—Samatoki's just... a little too much.
Any other time, he would be yelling at Ichiro to take that back. Samatoki's very particular about being shown respect, after all, but he feels the shadows loosening their grip on him.
It's not creepy, nor did it scare him, but it was distracting enough. And when he'a gathered his bearings, he looks back at his phone. No hint of concern for Ichiro right now (or ever), but he says something, anyway— ]
You probably coulda killed me if you kept your mouth shut. Would've been great for you.
[ Now Samatoki's just being a dick... sorry........ ]
1/2
nevermind, samatoki sucks. he makes a "tch" noise and turns his head away. the mature thing to do here would be to just hang up the stupid phone, but he's still got a shadow around his ankle and he'd doesn't want to piss it off any worse.
...so. ] Unlike you, I've got morals. There's no point in shady shit when I can just take you in a fight on my own time, and I'm not going to kill someone, either, even if you deserve it.
[ that's yakuza shit. that's delinquent shit. that's the life ichiro left behind, and the life he never has to go back for again, because he saw something better for himself, grabbed hold of it with both hands, and never looked back. ]
no subject
there's a long pause. it's like he's getting his teeth pulled. ] ...thanks.
[ CLICK BYE HE'S HANGING UP HE NEEDS TO WASH HIS MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP. ]