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[gorb]

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@

SOBA

✖

CHARACTER NAME

Geto Suguru

CIVILIAN NAME

Zaru Soba

TEAM

Brimstone

HOUSING NUMBER

003

❤

Comments

[shadowban]

two sides of the same coin. kind of like how rct is the direct inverse of cursed energy output.

have you learned it, geto-san? i haven't figured rct yet.

[gorb]

It isn't anything I'm proficient at. I have to concentrate.

Are you in danger, Megumi? Cannibalism to RCT is a strange leap.

[shadowban]

only from my hormones, truthfully.

i've been thinking about a lot of things. like how ridiculous it is on paper to be able to say "i know what my best friend tastes like" and mean it, because the king of curses made me eat yuji's finger. and i can joke about it now, somehow, like it wasn't one of the worst things we've both lived through.

it's not normal.

[gorb]

( He pinches the bridge of his nose, suddenly furious at the universe. )

At least you know your friendship can last. There's a certain intimacy in that.

[shadowban]

it's gonna hurt all the worse if something bad happens to either of us, too.

[ not to put too fine a point to it, but megumi's seen the direct fallout of a similar friendship crashing and burning. ]

[gorb]

Yes.

Which is why we won't let it happen here. You can rely on others. It's frightening but it will get easier.

[shadowban]

but can people rely on me?

i feel like i'm just making things worse, even if i know logically that can't be true all of the time.

does it get easier with time?

[gorb]

Don't discredit yourself too much. You're a good kid who's finding his way after a bad time. Your friends would come to you, wouldn't they?

( No, it doesn't get easier. But -. )

If it helps just know you can't possibly be doing worse than commandeering a cult.

[shadowban]

i inherited the zen'in clan. that's cult-adjacent.

...not that it matters much. nearly every relative i have who can fight is dead now, after everything that went down.

[gorb]

Should I be sorry for your loss?

[shadowban]

they deserved to die. the world is better off without them.

[ sometimes, the parallels align too much for comfort. ]

[gorb]

Then good.

But that's back home. You can just be a boy here.

[shadowban]

i used to know what that's like. being just some kid. worrying about mundane things like laundry, rent, whether it's going to rain in the afternoon.

sometimes i wonder what my life would be like if gojo-sensei never found me.

[gorb]

With all due respect, Megumi, normal children don't worry about rent either.

[shadowban]

...they don't? what do you mean they don't?

[gorb]

I didn't.

And even though I was a seventeen year old drop out neither did my girls. Maybe you were in a unique position.

( u know with ur shitty dad. )

[shadowban]

i don't remember him, truthfully. i remember the other guy, the chainsmoker. tsumiki's mom and her stinky cologne. but not him, not really.

he left when i was two, maybe three. my sister remembered him better. she budgeted the money we'd get monthly.

[gorb]

He sent it to you?

Ah, I don't really care about your father's tribulations. No matter what he had children, he should have been there for them. But all I need is for you to allow yourself a little grace. This is new.

[shadowban]

nah. pretty sure he forgot i existed soon after he left. i don't hate him, but i don't... know if i cared about him.

that's weird too. kids shouldn't think like that about their parents.

you're more of a parent to me now, geto-san.

[gorb]

( ...

Hang on, hang on, he needs to chain smoke ten cigarettes. )

Well then be filial and listen to me. It's going to get better. You're trespassing new ground. You're feeling new things. I think this is more progress than you realise.

[shadowban]

[ filial — now there's a request megumi's well-versed to following. ]

that i'm acting up and out instead of constantly engineering situations that could capably wipe me off the planet?


this is cheaper than therapy too, you're right.

[gorb]

Probably therapy would still help, but -.

Throwing a tantrum isn't going to have any permanent adverse effects, so I think it's fine. Just don't be too upset with Satoru either, all right? It's the first time he's not had to run at one hundred percent either. you're both learning.

[shadowban]

[ appropriately chastised— ]

it's weird, seeing him this handicapped. i know he's not always been this terrifying, but he's always

[ ——been untouchable, in his mind. until he wasn't. ]

i'm relieved to not be as strong as i was back home. but i know he isn't. he's never been in a situation like this, has he? toji-san hurt him, but that was a singular exception.

[ hurt you, too. ]

[gorb]

( Relieved. Isn't that funny? So is Geto. )

Satoru is strong in many ways. Just because LILITH has had her influence doesn't mean he's incapable. But it would be better if we tried to keep him from burning out. I think he might forget that he isn't quite as impervious as he used to be.

And he was exhausted when your father hit. That's how he managed it.

[shadowban]

he's an absolute bitch to fight. threw a whole truck at my head.

[ it's nice to have someone who understands that toji-san is a massive jerk. ]

i've never seen sensei exhausted before, you know. he always kept that out of sight. well, except for ieiri-san. she complains about him not sleeping right.