→ it will come back

[gorb]

TFLN OVERFLOW

Comments

same orz

[tokakujuho]

[ a vacation? wouldn't that be something? he has the money but no time... ]

What happens when you've squeezed them dry?

[gorb]

Oh, you know.

We send them to live their remaining days out on some farm somewhere.

[tokakujuho]

How original.

How long are you going to keep that up?

[gorb]

Keep what up?

[tokakujuho]

The awful villain act.

[gorb]

Well, I am an awful villain.

[tokakujuho]

I see.

[gorb]

You don't think so?

[tokakujuho]

I never have.
But if that is the future you're striving for, what I think doesn't really matter.

[gorb]

Never?

Nobody has been lying, Nanami. I've done everything they've said I've done. Isn't that enough to convince you?

[tokakujuho]

I'm not doubting the reports or being naive.
I know you've done it.
You're capable, we're all capable.
It's what they raised us to be.

[gorb]

They raised us as cannon fodder and called it heroism.

I'd do it again.

[tokakujuho]

For what it's worth, I don't blame you for what you've done.
We were trained to be weapons, ready to kill at the drop of a hat.
It should hardly come as a surprise when you did exactly that.

Could you see yourself returning some day?

[gorb]

In a box, maybe.

( But ah, that's not entirely fair. Not when Nanami is being serious. )

I don't think I can, nor that I would want to. I refuse to leave my family behind and with things forever unchanging? No. It's for the better this way.

Would you ever leave? Properly, I mean.

[tokakujuho]

I can't leave again.
There's nothing there.

[ Ieiri and Gojo. especially Gojo who's working himself ragged, chasing after Geto's shadow. but there's also the kids. the little monsters their strongest has collected in order to change their world order. should he tell Geto that? how all their broken hearts are hard at work to make sure nobody is ever lost the way they lost the most human of them all? ]

The kids need support.
They're all remarkable in their own way, little monsters like you and Gojo, but they're still just kids.

[gorb]

( It's one of those nights then, heart pulsing like a bruise. Geto finds he doesn't mind it, he's always been a nostalgic beast. He just usually avoids anyone that can inspire it. )

You know I'm glad?

I'm not too far gone to not recognise that there's still good there. It's not all rotten. The next generation can be better than ours, that's always been the point. That's all I wanted.

stares at next generation's current state🥺

[tokakujuho]

[ it would be better with Geto around. the kids are strong and excitable enough, have limitless potential from what Nanami has seen so far. what they lack are good role models. people with ideals and beliefs that go beyond their self-interest.

in the weeks after Haibara, Geto had played a huge role in keeping Nanami sane. even though they were still kids, Geto seemed to be the only one to look past his own heartbreak and still see his friends. Nanami's always admired that about his senpai, and suspected the ability to see beyond one's own grief and heartbreak was what broke Geto in the end. ]

Are you happier now?
With your family?

LMAO i know fuck.

[gorb]

( The question draws him up short. A part of Geto, instinctive and a little fierce, wants to say yes immediately. The clear lines he's drawn between the person he was and the person he is have been distinct enough that the answer feels glaring. But he takes a moment anyway. Nanami has always been better at seeing through people's bullshit. He's surprised that hasn't changed much. He wonders if he does the same to Satoru.

The reply comes, typed and then re-typed. )

I think so.

I feel lighter now.

( Maybe that might turn out to be a problem in the end. For now, he's needed. That matters. )

[tokakujuho]

[ lighter. that's all they can hope for. to not feel weighed and dragged down by grief and regret. to find those small singular moments that break the cycle of violence and degradation.

if Geto has managed, there's hope for the rest yet. ]

Good.

[gorb]

What about you?

What would make you feel lighter?

( Genuinely curious. )

The kids help, don't they?

[tokakujuho]

[ he can almost hear Geto's voice, the melodic up and down. it has always been a source of calm for Nanami's forever disgruntled teenage self. minutes pass, not even dots to indicate he's typing.

what would make him feel lighter? he thought leaving would do the trick, but here he is, back with the school and their sordid business. ]

That is not really a priority of mine, Geto-san.

[gorb]

Maybe it should be.

( That part had been frustrating too, the weaponization of child soldiers. He doubts either Nanami or Gojo allow it to happen quite as strongly these days, but old habits are ingrained. He may be the world's worst curse user but he is also, unfortunately, a mother hen. )

It can't all be surviving. That's the quickest way to not.

[tokakujuho]

I'm doing fine, all things considered.
But thank you.
For your concern.

[gorb]

( He's gonna kick your ass! )

Hm, I'm sure. Don't make me worry about you, Nanami. I might end up showing up again, think of the trouble that would cause!

[tokakujuho]

[ oh yeah? him and whose army?? ]

There is no need to be so dramatic.

[ does Geto really thing his showing up would be more troublesome than his absence? if he wanted to come back. if he really wanted to, his miscreant friends would move heaven and earth to make it possible. ]

I am quite well, I assure you.