[ He slows to a stop, staring at the ground until Reigen catches up, and then a few seconds past that before he lifts his head up again. ]
It's in the past.
[ It's already happened. Neither of them can change anything, or fix anything. So there's no point in dwelling on it, is there? Especially when the person involved has already made up their mind. ]
no i appreciate getting this lore just in time to die. honestly he's just like. oh. that makes sense doesn't it. also isn't that story supposed to be about a girl. also, fuck.]
He's quiet, though, not meeting Reigen's eyes. Reigen is DEAD in the future and therefore can't exorcise him, but he doesn't know that, just sort of anxiously clenching and unclenching his fists waiting for Reigen to say anything more.
[he truly does not even realize hanako would think he would, because he doesn't think of himself as an exorcist, because he's not one. he just assumes it's the memory. putting a hand on his shoulder.]
That bad, huh? [...] Look, we don't actually have to talk about it, but if this is your problem, believe it or not but I might actually be able to help. [or at least. he knows people who might?]
[actually, he's going to go into confidence mode while he spins his wheels on this.]
Listen, between you and me, that other guy was an amateur. Total fraud with no technique. I'm way better than that, so I don't have to go around trying to show off or something. I don't have any reason to want to get rid of you, so why would I?
[he does actually think this guy is an amateur because he's using weapons at all instead of just waving his hand at a ghost and they instantly disappear like mob does. but he's more saying that because he's trying to stall while he decides what to actually say.
anyway! yeah! he has been causing trouble all the time. stabbing children on the mingle. strongly suspecting him of at least one murder. but also. okay. he has to take a second to think this through.]
...Look. I have a consulting business, and we do exorcise ghosts when we are hired to do so by a client. But I wouldn't agree to exorcise one like you. You're the wrong classification. [a person, who was once a kid.] Even if you caused trouble. So I would have to find another solution to that.
[ if mob were in this game i hope he'd take one look at hanako and instantly evaporate him ]
"Wrong classification"... [ somehow, it makes him think that he's not worth being exorcised, like he's the wrong sort of ghost. but never mind that, he doesn't want that, anyways. ]
If I hired you as a client... you would have no choice but to help me. Right?
[mob is hilariously rude and impatient with ghosts so. probably not that but it would be pretty funny.
anyway listen he knows he probably took that badly but he thinks "I wouldn't hurt a child" and also "I care about you" are also things he's going to take badly. at least this one he won't start wondering if it's going to stay true.
anyway, he's relieved; this angle on it works. it shouldn't be a surprise; hanako clearly understands just as well as he does that sometimes lies that sound good are easier to believe than a messy and complicated truth. he's a fraud, and he has no abilities, but he is utterly convinced in the ability for Mob, Serizawa and Dimple to figure out a solution to anything supernatural. he just has to tell them to do it. and he would not take hanako's money, hanako cannot possibly even have money, but sometimes it's easier to tell someone they're a client and you have to help than to let them wonder if you really meant it when you said you'd try just because.
he doesn't know how different worlds work, but he just kind of thinks they can maybe figure it all out.]
Correct. I pride myself in 100% customer satisfaction. Whether my clients are living or dead, you will see the desired results.
He digs into his pocket, and holds out a rock. Just a plain, normal, everyday rock like any you'd find on the side of the street, but it's the same rock he'd let go of all those years ago. The one that represents all his hopes and dreams thaT REIGEN IS GOING TO CRUSH BY BEING DEAD ]
he will absolutely take the rock in his hands very carefully, frowning at it. he understands what this means, why it matters. and he doesn't know for certain what he can do, but he does feel, in this moment, both grateful to have received something as precious as hanako's trust and relieved that for once, for once, he wasn't lying to someone when he received it.
(well, he was. but only a little.) he may not have any spiritual powers, but even so, with the help of someone like mob, he is pretty sure he can figure this out. he takes a heavy breath and sighs, closing his fingers around the rock.]
So this really came from the moon, huh? [he will wrap the rock in his handkerchief.] I'll hold onto this, then. Just for now. Something like this might be helpful, but I'll make sure not to damage it.
[ It's a lunar rock solely because he believes so, despite appearances, despite what anybody else might think or say. He believes it, and so it is real.
Just like he believes in Reigen— his powers, his abilities, his promise to help. If he believes it hard enough, even the impossible can become true. ]
Looking forward to working with you, shishou.
[ I'm this close to digging up the graveyard with my bare hands is2g ]
[thanks for your dedication to destroying me. calling him shishou of all things also destroys him, so that's fun, too.
he made the decision to admit the truth, even if that means admitting he never had any business being anyone's shishou. but i think in this moment he understands something for the first time, something he knew was true for hanako but never considered how true it was overall. sometimes you do need something to believe in for a little while, even if it's fake, even if there was never anything special about it. you can't live in a fantasy world forever, but for just a little while, when it's too hard to contemplate a world where nothing has the power to save you, maybe there's nothing wrong with having something to hold onto while you find your footing.
making people believe in him is the only thing he's ever been able to do. but if he can use it for something like this...maybe there's value in that.
he sneezes.]
Thought so. I'm a little allergic to moon dust, actually. So I'll put this someplace safe.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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It's in the past.
[ It's already happened. Neither of them can change anything, or fix anything. So there's no point in dwelling on it, is there? Especially when the person involved has already made up their mind. ]
I'm okay. Really.
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[and made it sound like some kind of supernatural thing, at least as much as he could interpret it.]
But there's a difference between that and deciding to stay.
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Reigen doesn't get a response from Hanako, he gets another comic book panel in his face. Suffer. ]
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no i appreciate getting this lore just in time to die. honestly he's just like. oh. that makes sense doesn't it. also isn't that story supposed to be about a girl. also, fuck.]
...Oh. That's what you meant.
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He's quiet, though, not meeting Reigen's eyes. Reigen is DEAD in the future and therefore can't exorcise him, but he doesn't know that, just sort of anxiously clenching and unclenching his fists waiting for Reigen to say anything more.
Begone, evil spirit!! or something ]
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That bad, huh? [...] Look, we don't actually have to talk about it, but if this is your problem, believe it or not but I might actually be able to help. [or at least. he knows people who might?]
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You're... going to get rid of me?
[ yes being exorcised would solve all his problems, actually, but still!! ]
1/2
2/3 actually
No! No, of course not!
3/3
Listen, between you and me, that other guy was an amateur. Total fraud with no technique. I'm way better than that, so I don't have to go around trying to show off or something. I don't have any reason to want to get rid of you, so why would I?
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That's what he said too, before. He left us alone since we weren't causing trouble, but then...
[ then they caused trouble. like Hanako's been causing trouble around here all this time. Reigen has so many reasons to want to get rid of him ]
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anyway! yeah! he has been causing trouble all the time. stabbing children on the mingle. strongly suspecting him of at least one murder. but also. okay. he has to take a second to think this through.]
...Look. I have a consulting business, and we do exorcise ghosts when we are hired to do so by a client. But I wouldn't agree to exorcise one like you. You're the wrong classification. [a person, who was once a kid.] Even if you caused trouble. So I would have to find another solution to that.
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"Wrong classification"... [ somehow, it makes him think that he's not worth being exorcised, like he's the wrong sort of ghost. but never mind that, he doesn't want that, anyways. ]
If I hired you as a client... you would have no choice but to help me. Right?
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anyway listen he knows he probably took that badly but he thinks "I wouldn't hurt a child" and also "I care about you" are also things he's going to take badly. at least this one he won't start wondering if it's going to stay true.
anyway, he's relieved; this angle on it works. it shouldn't be a surprise; hanako clearly understands just as well as he does that sometimes lies that sound good are easier to believe than a messy and complicated truth. he's a fraud, and he has no abilities, but he is utterly convinced in the ability for Mob, Serizawa and Dimple to figure out a solution to anything supernatural. he just has to tell them to do it. and he would not take hanako's money, hanako cannot possibly even have money, but sometimes it's easier to tell someone they're a client and you have to help than to let them wonder if you really meant it when you said you'd try just because.
he doesn't know how different worlds work, but he just kind of thinks they can maybe figure it all out.]
Correct. I pride myself in 100% customer satisfaction. Whether my clients are living or dead, you will see the desired results.
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He digs into his pocket, and holds out a rock. Just a plain, normal, everyday rock like any you'd find on the side of the street, but it's the same rock he'd let go of all those years ago. The one that represents all his hopes and dreams thaT REIGEN IS GOING TO CRUSH BY BEING DEAD ]
...Help me.
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he will absolutely take the rock in his hands very carefully, frowning at it. he understands what this means, why it matters. and he doesn't know for certain what he can do, but he does feel, in this moment, both grateful to have received something as precious as hanako's trust and relieved that for once, for once, he wasn't lying to someone when he received it.
(well, he was. but only a little.) he may not have any spiritual powers, but even so, with the help of someone like mob, he is pretty sure he can figure this out. he takes a heavy breath and sighs, closing his fingers around the rock.]
So this really came from the moon, huh? [he will wrap the rock in his handkerchief.] I'll hold onto this, then. Just for now. Something like this might be helpful, but I'll make sure not to damage it.
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[ It's a lunar rock solely because he believes so, despite appearances, despite what anybody else might think or say. He believes it, and so it is real.
Just like he believes in Reigen— his powers, his abilities, his promise to help. If he believes it hard enough, even the impossible can become true. ]
Looking forward to working with you, shishou.
[ I'm this close to digging up the graveyard with my bare hands is2g ]
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he made the decision to admit the truth, even if that means admitting he never had any business being anyone's shishou. but i think in this moment he understands something for the first time, something he knew was true for hanako but never considered how true it was overall. sometimes you do need something to believe in for a little while, even if it's fake, even if there was never anything special about it. you can't live in a fantasy world forever, but for just a little while, when it's too hard to contemplate a world where nothing has the power to save you, maybe there's nothing wrong with having something to hold onto while you find your footing.
making people believe in him is the only thing he's ever been able to do. but if he can use it for something like this...maybe there's value in that.
he sneezes.]
Thought so. I'm a little allergic to moon dust, actually. So I'll put this someplace safe.