IZUMO ✬

[reconnective]

Comments

[sacredchants]

Do...

[ she'll...struggle with this because. well? haha?? everything she has been saying to this point? what this means for her??? ]

Do we want to try to facilitate the right numbers? There are teams that have already achieved the criteria, right? I know that there are some teams who haven't done what's needed.

[reconnective]

[...well he doesn't say yes or no right away because. like. it's izumo. he's always willing to at least try and listen to her.]

As far as I know, one team for sure has met the criteria. And I'm not sure if yours has. I know ours hasn't. Isn't it important to try and save everyone?

[sacredchants]

[ it is important to save everyone.

but this is just like the wish but worse. she hates it a lot but at this point? she has become too invested in people—even in the people she dislikes. ]

My team hasn't. [ the admission comes softly (but not softly enough thanks our mutual hearing loss.) ] There's not much left of my team, but I suspect that we're better than Goats if there are written warnings about protecting them.

[ or maybe people really hate her team? who knows. ]

[reconnective]

I don't think the others have either, which means it's gonna be a messy couple of weeks. [yikes.] You guys have four people left, right? If my numbers are adding up.

We really, really have to try to protect the rest of the Goats.

[sacredchants]

[ she nods slowly. ]

Yeah, there are only four of us left. How many Goats remain?

[reconnective]

Three, as far as I know. So we can't risk letting them drop any further.

[sacredchants]

[ ...


.... ]

If all we need are numbers, then shouldn't there.... [ this is so far from her character from when she first arrived. ...but then, sometimes, you experience something in your cyoa that has you rethinking things. ] W, wouldn't it be easier to have someone step forward for it?

[reconnective]

[...]

What, like volunteer to die for it?

[sacredchants]

[ she'll...slowly nod and officially stop making any kind of eye contact. ]

It's...easier, isn't it?

To have a target—to ensure that the numbers will be taken care of.

[reconnective]

...maybe, but...that doesn't seem fair either, does it? Like...volunteering almost sounds like a harder choice to make than killing someone who's splintering.

[sacredchants]

The second kill has to be an intentional one—a choice made independent from the Leaders.

Having someone who is willing takes out half of the equation for the person....at least, then, everyone involved will know where they stand.

[reconnective]

I had suspicions but I never could confirm that. Was last week just something different then? Both Hikaru and Alyssa were splintering.

...when you put it that way, I get it. But how do you know that for sure? Who told you?

[sacredchants]

I have no idea, but I know that's what Fox told us. Removals don't count; it has to be an intentional choice made. The remaining teams who don't have a second kill, must make the choice themselves.

[reconnective]

Oh I hate that...[that explains a lot, actually.] Which means that all of us have to pick someone innocent to kill on our own if we have any chance of saving everybody and getting out of here.

Maybe that's what Kano meant back then about one getting swallowed and one having something removed or whatever. Two different circumstances.

[sacredchants]

It does. He was so obsessed with pairs and now this place is all about pairs.

...but it's why I suggested that maybe there should be people who step forward in order to make the numbers match. At least give them a choice and others a warning.

[reconnective]

It's hard to know when he's serious and when he's just messing around. He send me a handful of dirt and I'm still not sure what to do about it. But he was the one who told us about the pairs as early as he could.

[...she's right, but he still hates it.] Maybe. There are two teams right now that are in the best position, but it's hard to imagine any of them volunteering for something like this.

[...and he doesn't want to ask, but:] ...would you?

[sacredchants]

[ ah. now the question that she figured that would come her way and she wavers only for a second before answering him earnestly...for as long as her voice can keep up, at least. ]

If I could ensure that Alphinaud wouldn't be picked as a victim then I'd happily do it.

[ her voice does eventually break before she can continue. she really doesn't want to be separated from him, but the alternative? she clutches at her chest with her good hand. (truly sometimes you see something in your cyoa that just...???) ]

I... I don't have any of my treasures left, Sora, but I want to do anything to protect this one I found.

[reconnective]

[....like. the thing about it is, he gets it. more than anything, this is something he understands and he would be a huge hypocrite to chastise her for something like this when he himself has done the same thing in order to save the people he loves. because that's what you do for the people who make you strong and the people you cherish most. you do anything to your best ability to keep them safe, even if it means giving yourself away in the process.

so...he doesn't argue it.]

...I understand. [it's said in a soft, unsure kind of tone because he's not sure if she'll let him agree, but he does anyway.] The greatest people you'll ever meet are the ones you want to keep living, even if it means living without you.

Does...Alphinaud know you feel this way?

[sacredchants]

[ honestly, she's not surprised that sora understands her and she's relieved. however the irony of the matter is not lost on her; she finds it funny that she has become the person she was criticizing so many weeks ago. giving her life up for someone else? what would that accomplish...? well, in this circumstance, it would have some contribution.....

still she'll tentatively look up at sora with a questioning look. ]

Feel in what way?

[ there are a lot of feelings being tossed around here and she isn't sure which one he's talking about in particular. ]

[reconnective]

That you'd volunteer for something like this to keep him safe, mostly. [he's curious if she's told him this at all or if she's just made the decision recently on her own. it's not his business, really, but...izumo is still a friend and he has a few feelings of his own about this.]

[sacredchants]

No, I haven't told him. [ .... ] I don't think I could.

[ because that'd open a bigger can of worms than her healing him over herself is about to... ]

[reconnective]

...think he'd be upset? [he's still not discouraging her, but uh. as someone who also. did not. tell the people he loved that he would be dying to save them, it is maybe not a great idea but it's her choice.]

[sacredchants]

Upset would be one way to put it.

[ wow thanks. i'm glad they're vibing about this of all things. ]

[reconnective]

[this is not what you should be same hat-ing about guys, and yet.]

Mm. Fair enough. But at the same time, sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness instead of permissions. [hmmm.] I'm not going to tell you what to do. But I'm gonna say something you might hate.

[sacredchants]

[ wow. look at the character growth in the two of them as izumo does take his words to heart but at the same time—it's not always bad to hear the things you hate.... ]

Fine, let's here it.