minato "emergency top" arisato (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
memori3s) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
expiationnet2024-04-29 03:19 pm
memori3s) wrote in expiationnet2024-04-29 03:19 pm
voice
[ Audio, just for you, Toph. ]
Has anyone seen Sha-Ming? I think he went to Bar Lupin for a night, but he hasn't been back in five days.
[ Good thing there's no video so no one can see Minato's actually mildly concerned about this. On the other hand, the fact that he's bothered to post a message on the network might be giving that away anyways. Also, rent at the inn is due in like two days? Guess who doesn't have the cash to cover two rooms. ]
He left a message for me, something about a "salary man with a bad hairline"? Has anyone seen someone like that?
[ There's a screenshot of a text message attached to the post. It reads: ]
to: minato arisato
yo if i die 2nite the salary man w the bad hairline and glasses did it
DONT THROW MY SHIT AWAY i’ll b back 😩
Has anyone seen Sha-Ming? I think he went to Bar Lupin for a night, but he hasn't been back in five days.
[ Good thing there's no video so no one can see Minato's actually mildly concerned about this. On the other hand, the fact that he's bothered to post a message on the network might be giving that away anyways. Also, rent at the inn is due in like two days? Guess who doesn't have the cash to cover two rooms. ]
He left a message for me, something about a "salary man with a bad hairline"? Has anyone seen someone like that?
[ There's a screenshot of a text message attached to the post. It reads: ]
to: minato arisato
yo if i die 2nite the salary man w the bad hairline and glasses did it
DONT THROW MY SHIT AWAY i’ll b back 😩
somehow he just attracts them...
Yeah, I don't think that counts. [ Plenty of people did, after all, and as far as Ange is aware they are all still just around. She's one of those people. It'd be one thing if he had sent it during that entire ordeal, but.. afterwards..? ]
Though the advance warning feels weird to me. Unless he really did mean it just as some sort of dumb light-hearted joke, not anticipating something really would happen to him. You know, in the sort of way that just makes it ironic.
[ Which would make the fact he seemed to know something might happen to him a red herring - and that would open up the possibilities as to what happened to him way more. He could just have had some dumb accident..
Also, yes, she's definitely thinking about this like a detective. It's what happens when your life is a big murder mystery. ]
it's his charm stat clearly
Now that Ange's pointed it out though, yeah, the advance warning is a little strange. Accident seems less likely though, given the specificity of the description Sha-Ming provided. ]
I thought maybe looking for someone who matched the description might help, but... I haven't found anyone who looks like that yet.
I know some people think he's disappeared, but... if he did, why would he leave a message?
[ And if it was supposed to be a joke, well. It's certainly not a funny one anymore... ]
no subject
[ Maybe Sha-Ming did disappear after leaving that message, but.. that would have been the world's weirdest coincidence, really. Even if Ange thinks this place is really dumb, she doesn't think it has an active sense of irony like that.
So it's more likely that the message did have something to do with Minato being unable to reach him now, but.. what could it be?
... ]
Have you already been looking around town? I could come with you.
[ ... ]
Don't misunderstand. [ ADDED.. BELATEDLY.. ]
no subject
I've looked in a few places already. ...I wanted to check the Entertainment District next.
[ Miller said he'd look there too, but Minato would feel more comfortable if he checked the area himself as well. ]
If you don't mind -- it would help a lot.
[ Maybe Ange's more familiar with that area compared to him. And in any event, it might help a bit, having someone around who may understand how the memories from that strange month continued to reverberate. ]
no subject
[ It's a brief answer, like she doesn't want to draw too much attention to the fact that she's even agreeing in the first place - despite the fact that she is offering the help relatively easy, especially by Ange standards. ]
I mean, there's a lot of seedy places there. [ Seedy places where Sha-Ming could have disappeared to, yes, but also-- ] Walking around there by yourself is no good. You'd just get yourself in trouble.
[ That's clearly the only reason she's offering to come along!! C-Clearly.. ]
no subject
Okay. ...thanks, Ange.
[ It's also helpful to have someone familiar with the Entertainment District, given that he hasn't really stepped into it before. There'd been no reason up until now. ]
Where should I meet you?
moving to action!
.. outside of the events center is probably the easiest. It's that big building that doesn't look run down, but also doesn't look like it's used all that much. [ Just in case he's never been there before.. ]
I'll meet you there.
[ And though Ange turns off the feed before he has the chance to ask another question, which he totally could still have at this point.. she is actually living up to her promise. If Minato makes his way over to the entertainment district, Ange is already standing there, recognizable enough with her bright red hair. It seems that she doesn't even notice him approaching - instead she's holding her tablet and seems to be very busy with something on there instead, not looking up. ]
no subject
He's never actually seen her before, as they'd previously only communicated through voice via the network. There's a red-haired girl standing along outside the events center though. He assumes that must be Ange.
Minato approaches alone. Koromaru's gone off to search on his own, leaving Minato to stand silently before the girl. He glances at her from head to toe. She seems preoccupied with something, and even though it was Ange's idea to look with him, he finds himself feeling like an interloper.
Eventually, he finds it in him to speak: ]
You're... Ange?
no subject
It's only when he speaks up that she actually looks up from the screen. ]
Yeah.
[ The answer comes quickly - and quite calmly. Apparently she doesn't see anything strange about this situation, or about the fact he's a little late. Instead she just locks her tablet's screen and shoves it into her pocket. ]
I was waiting for you, right? [ It's got to be Minato. Why else would he be approaching her here of all places and asking if it's her? ] For the record, I haven't seen him yet.
[ .. though it's unlikely Ange would have noticed anyone here, let alone Sha-Ming.. She did seem very focused on that tablet, after all. To a point where she didn't even notice someone right in front of her. ]
no subject
Minato shakes his head. ]
I... thought that might be the case.
[ He can't shake the feeling that Sha-Ming's whereabouts will remain fairly elusive. ]
I think he visits the clubs out here, but I'm not... really familiar with any of them.
[ Maybe some of the employees or those who frequented those clubs had seen him recently. Minato takes a moment to study Ange, taking in her entire physical appearance. He arrives at a singular conclusion: she doesn't look like the sort of person familiar with Aldrip's nightclub scene. ]
no subject
So rather than saying that, she shrugs to say: ]
We could just ask some of the employees. [ It's not like she feels like checking out any of the clubs more thoroughly than that.. She wouldn't want to be caught dead in any of those places. ] Especially the bouncers. If anyone should have seen them, it's those people, right? Then we don't even have to go in any of those places ourselves.
[ It's a win-win situation, Minato! Imagine! Not having to go into a club, yet still getting information! Just the way Ange likes it. ]
no subject
Yeah, I think the bouncers would remember anyone suspicious.
[ Not that Sha-Ming is suspicious-looking! But surely if anyone was giving kidnapper vibes, the bouncers would take note. Or maybe not, if they weren't being paid enough. After all, it's not like the bouncers back at the club Minato once frequented cared enough to kick him out every time he wandered in.
And despite being someone with leadership experience, Minato stands and stares silently at Ange. Sally forth, fearless designated leader! ]
no subject
Even if she may not have experience with actually going to them, she's definitely the sort of nerd who has studied Aldrip enough to know where everything is anyway, even when said places are not quite as relevant for her. ]
So.. [ She starts as they walk. ] I'm guessing you and that guy aren't really brothers.
[ Sure, there's a chance they somehow maintained their relationship even in those strange fake memories - but Ange knows it's not like Ragna is her real big brother either. It makes her figure the other family relationships were probably fake too. ]
no subject
Yeah. We're not. ...I don't think we're from the same world either.
[ It's difficult to shake himself free of those memories, even if he'd been fortunate enough to distinguish between his true life and his false one. It's challenging when it's the closest he's ever come to having a real familial bond. ]
...is it the same for you and Ragna?
[ He doesn't know the extent of others' current relationships stemming from that bizarre month. Perhaps they'd escaped with less collateral mental damage. Perhaps not. ]
no subject
The girl answers the question so easily that it sure does seem like her own memories might be a little clearer than Minato's own. It's like she doesn't even have to think about it, nor does she have to doubt a thing. ]
I do have a big brother, but it's not him. Battler onii-chan has never been in this world, as far as I know.
[ Unless he was part of a previous cycle, but Ange doubts she could get lists of people who were here before that easily.. ]
no subject
What's he like?
[ Minato's still trailing a little behind Ange. He won't be able to see any minute shifts in her expression in response to his question. It's why he adds: ]
...I don't have any siblings, so I used to wonder when I was younger.
[ He hadn't been close to any of his extended relatives either, no cousins who filled those niches. But maybe that was its own blessing. Family always made things complicated. ]
no subject
He's a lot older than me. [ She explains. ] Battler onii-chan was eighteen when I last saw him. I was six years old back then. He also didn't live with me and my parents, so I didn't really see him all that often.
[ In a sense she's sort of glad that Minato is walking behind her. It makes it all a little easier. If she just looks ahead, she can pretend she's just talking to herself.
It makes it a lot easier to keep her tone level, even while discussing this. ]
So to me he kind of just was like the big brother who made everything more fun when he visited. He really liked joking around and playing. He and my father always really went at it.
no subject
It sounds like he always made sure you had a good time.
[ He does not ask about what's happened to this Battler onii-chan. Minato knows one too many a dead family member to ask that question so frivolously. Instead, he asks: ]
...do you miss him?
[ It's not as though he and Sha-Ming had truly lived their respective lives in each other's orbits. Nevertheless, all the fears and anxieties associated with a loved one going missing managed to seize upon him. He can't imagine what it must be like, to be separated from one's actual sibling.
Even now, Minato maintains his respectful spot behind Ange. ]
no subject
Maybe she should have seen the question coming, given what they were talking about. It's not like it's coming out of the blue, after all. And yet - despite knowing the answer so intensely, despite the answer having practically shaped her entire life the past twelve years - she has trouble answering.
It feels too vulnerable. But can she really dodge a question that direct?
Ange inhales. She still isn't looking at him. All he's seeing is her back. Maybe it's fine. ]
Every single day.
[ It's the truth. Ange can feel her heart ache as she actually speaks the words, but she tries to straighten her posture a little as she walks, doing her best to at least make the view from her backside seem unaffected by it, even as she's divulging something that feels like a secret to Minato. ]
no subject
...you should tell him that when you see him again.
[ Not an "if" you see him again, but a "when," because Minato truly believes it's only a matter of time. Whether it be to his face or to a headstone, he's certain that Battler would appreciate it no matter what corporeal or incorporeal form he happened to take.
And in return, maybe Minato should tell Sha-Ming that as well whenever they finally find him. ]
no subject
And then: ]
Shouldn't I be telling you that?
[ Not an answer to what he's saying in the slightest. It's likely purposeful, given how far she's going out of her way to directly address that. Instead she's just reflecting the entire thing right back to Minato.
In fact, the most telling fact might be that she actually looks back at him now, rather than continuing to look ahead of her as she walks. ]
You probably have a lot to tell that weird guy when we find him.
i think we can probs wrap up soon if that's ok with you!
Minato starts walking again to catch up with Ange, this time with a purposeful stride to his steps. ]
Maybe it's something we should both say.
[ There's probably a lot Ange would like to tell Battler if he ever makes his way to Aldrip. ]
...it's something that both of us can do, isn't it?
[ Isn't it best to tell the other person how much they mean to you before it's too late? It's better than having to live with the weight of words unsaid crushing your chest. ]
yes, let's wrap it with this tag! c: thank you for the thread!
[ ...
She probably.. means it affectionately..?
Who knows, honestly. At least she's still walking, and since they're approaching the club now, she says: ]
Let's go see what they know.
[ And so their little investigation begins..! ]