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Entry tags:
Friday | Post-Investigation
[Sanji hangs out in the kitchen. And for once it's just to hide.
He's not cooking anything, dead silent all around. The knife in his hand is just a weight to focus on as he leans against the counter, staring into nothing.
Eventually he'll move to... fill a tea kettle with water -- not because he's thirsty, just for wont of something better to do -- but he moves like a ghost, expression worn and sad]
He's not cooking anything, dead silent all around. The knife in his hand is just a weight to focus on as he leans against the counter, staring into nothing.
Eventually he'll move to... fill a tea kettle with water -- not because he's thirsty, just for wont of something better to do -- but he moves like a ghost, expression worn and sad]
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[It gets even harder to speak than before.]
If it comes out tomorrow, if we find out...do you think that...
[No. He shakes his head. This isn't a question.]
Whoever did it isn't going to make it to the execution.
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[The punishment for murder is execution, but that's only if the vote calls for it.
Sanji cannot imagine anyone voting for the person who takes out Natsuo's killer. It'd have to be someone equally loved, and frankly? He does not have the stomach to think on it.]
Oi, I got a question.
Did Natsuo ever tell you his ability, or title? I stopped him before he told me, but...
[Maybe it was something meant to protect him, Sanji wonders. Natsuo was not a kid who would've gone down easily, not without a fight. He'd like to hope he used that ability for his own safety in the end.]
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No. Not very many people have trusted me with that information, I'm afraid. I spent a decent amount of time with Natsuo, but...
[But it never came up, and Ion had never thought to ask.]
I've been pretty candid about my own given title, but I don't feel appropriate encouraging others to share theirs in return.
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I asked only on the off chance. Most people shouldn't be trusting that kind of shit to anyone.
[A soft, short laugh with no energy behind it.]
I had to tell him not to tell me, because he said he'd already spilled the beans to a few others. Can you believe it?
[Ha... ha.]
He wanted help with his task... he'd get a reward if he managed to stay quiet for an entire week. I promised I'd help.
[Mindless rambling. Sanji notes distantly it's like he can't shut up, and gives up trying to stop himself halfway through.]
Dumbass was so excited to shove a cloth in his mouth and pretend we'd made a bet over it...
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He was infallibly honest and full of spirit. It's a rare and beautiful quality that shouldn't have been taken advantage of.
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Yeah...
[He's fine, Ion. Really.
He's fine.]
Left an impression on all of us.
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Still, Ion's not one to call him on it. And, in fact, he immediately pulls his hand away like he believes he crossed a line and hugs himself with it instead.]
Yes.
[His gaze wanders toward the tea kettle. It seems like a safe place to train his sad eyes on.]
He told me that he was going to protect everyone. And I told him...not to strain himself. I had a feeling right away that he might do something irrational, but he was so happy...
[That was just two days ago.]
I wanted to share in that smile when I should have been warning him to be cautious, instead.
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What he can do is turn the conversation around, away from himself and back on Ion. A soft frown falls on his expression while shaking his head some]
He was gonna do whatever he wanted. None of us could've stopped him, short of locking him in a room.
[A tactic Sanji wishes he'd utilized, frankly.]
... I worry that might be the reason he... [Rubbing the nape of his neck]
Natsuo knew how to fight. Even for a friend, I don't think he would've just sat and taken a hit.
[Most likely he was tricked]
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[Ion blinks as his eyes burn, and waits for the sensation to stop before he continues. He won't cry. Not here, not now. This isn't the time. What they need right now, above all else, is resolve.]
No matter how much I think about it, it's still just...hard to believe.
[He knows, logically, that he doesn't actually know many of the people here that well. There are several he's spoken to frequently, more still that he'd say he's gotten relatively close to, as much as strangers can in such a short period of time, but...it just doesn't seem possible. It doesn't seem like any of them could do this to the most open and welcoming person here.]
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... Makes it a little hard to trust people, suddenly.
[He'd laugh if he had the stomach for it.]
Not that it was ever gonna be easy here, but if someone was willing to take out Natsuo, I don't have much faith any of us would be considered "safe."
[That was his mistake. He dared to think their ragtag community would have boundaries, and he was wrong.]
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[And yet. He feels the urge to laugh at himself, that said. He clenches a fist around his necklace.]
Perhaps we’d all be safer that way. But even now...I’d rather keep believing in everyone.
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Now? There is no nodding, or smiling. He looks at the other with a somber expression]
... Even so, you've got to be careful with that.
[Believing in everyone is the dangerous route, the one that'll kill him quicker.]
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[And despite his smile, it's possibly the saddest two words he's spoken so far.]
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Don't make him live through your death, Ion.
Please.
... God, he wishes he was selfish enough to ask for it
In the end, he can't say anything]
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Don't worry.