expiationnet | {Video}

{He is fastidious about his appearance, brushing off imagined pieces of dust and grime with delicate hands. Runyu is not a tall man nor does he look particularly strong, yet jumping to conclusions about his abilities would be a mistake. Before you stands the Emperor of Heaven, though he earned the title through underhanded means.}

I am not practiced at welcome speeches. However I will do my best. {He clears his throat and stands with all the pride he can scrape together in this moment.} I am Runyu, son of Emperor Tai Wei and Princess Su Li. You need not fear me if you have done nothing wrong.

{His gaze sharpens as if he can detect wrongdoers through the device.}

Yet if you have committed this crime against me, I will not be merciful. You have removed the Emperor of Heaven from his duties and now hold him prisoner. Kidnap on this scale can only result in your death.

{Those are big words for someone who doesn't have an army to back him up, but Runyu is, perhaps understandably, mad. Furious, actually.}

Furthermore, if you have harmed my wife... {A chill climbs his spine. Soon, she could be his wife. He must return to her!} I will kill you myself.

{His hands curl into white fists as if he imagines snapping necks with his bare fingers. He could.}

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{Oh boy, he should get accustomed to this. It's a real blow to his pride, but if it brings him back to Jin Mi, he doesn't care.}

I committed no crime. {Especially not two.} They have no right to hold me.

Seriously?

[He sits up a little straighter, clearly piqued.]

You're the second guy I've seen who's said that. You really didn't do it, what they said you did?

What if said "crime" was a necessity for order? For peace? People should praise me instead of condemning me.

{No, he won't admit to his crime...s.}

That... sounds pretty complicated.

[He laughs hesitantly, rubs at the back of his neck. Judging others is for people with much higher IQs than he has. It doesn't help that his own alleged crime is how he's saved lives until now.]

Guess I kinda just assumed you were guilty just because I was. Sorry.

Emotions are complicated.

{Runyu swallows, uncomfortable behind his mask of calm. What he did to his brother...and his father... It bothers him.}

Why do you accept your guilt so readily?

[THEY SURE AS SHIT ARE.

What Michi wouldn't give to be able to not start bawling at the drop of a hat.]

Well... [He blinks, unable to quite pick up on why Runyu would ask this of all things.] 'Cause I did it? I even messed it up part way through, so it sorta feels like I can't complain.

{Crying is something he does regularly too. Don't feel bad, Michi.}

Why did you do it? What was your reasoning?

Why?

[He has more than a few reasons, and they've definitely changed over time. His main reason, however, the one thing that kept him going through his hardest moments, has always been straight-forward and easy to understand. Maybe not for an emperor, but...]

I just wanted to save my girlfriend. She's the kind of girl who deserves the whole world, y'know? And all she asked for was me. So when I heard I could save her, I didn't really stop to think about what'd happen after.

{Give him some credit here. Runyu has a romantic heart underneath all of his scheming. It's a shame he doesn't trust it more.}

I understand. I would have done likewise. {For Jin Mi? In a heartbeat.} I do not think you are guilty.

Woah, uh- Thanks.

[For all the times he's been told that not many people can do what he does, to hear someone say they'd do the same without hesitation is actually kinda nice. It helps to reaffirm choices he's made that he can never take back.]

You don't sound like a bad guy either. Actually, you sound pretty bad ass. I hope your wife's not here.

{What better reason to fight? To use your full strength? Runyu would decimate the various worlds and himself for Jin Mi.}

I would prefer if she was waiting for me in Heaven. She has been through enough.

Uh, I guess Heaven would be better than here, but I think I'd be happy if Hinata could just stay put in Tokyo for a while.

[He chuckles awkwardly. Please let his girlfriend live a long and healthy life without him, kthx.]

Heaven is her home. Tokyo is the home of your Hinata. {It would be better if she lived it with him, right?}

Oh. Oooooh...

[Uncomfortable silence for five, four, three...]

So you were serious? About the Emperor of Heaven bit.

Yes. {He isn't smiling.} She will be my Empress. Together, we will rule over the realms.

[That is so much, but as ridiculous as it sounds, Takemichi is jealous. Not of his status but of his confidence. He's so certain he'll be able to return to his wife.

Meanwhile, Takemichi will never see Hinata again.]

Then, we'd better get you back ASAP, huh? [He fakes a little smile, pushes himself to make it real.] She's definitely waiting for you!

{Runyu lacks confidence, actually, and so he tries to lie, hoping that one day the lies feel real. If he can't return to Jin Mi, he isn't sure he wants to go on.}

Everyone needs to be returned. {He smiles at the thoughtfulness.} I won't leave you behind.

If I could go back to Tokyo... it'd be pretty amazing. [What with being dead and all. He can't allow himself to be optimistic.] But I wouldn't mind a tour of heaven either.

Mortals do not last long in Heaven. Each year is only a day to us. {So imagine living thirty years in thirty days.}

[Each year... is only a day?

The harder Takemichi tries to conceptualize this concept, the further away he feels from it. For all the time leaping he's done, he's never had to experience a time out of sync with his own.]

Oh. Guess you'll just have to visit me for a couple minutes instead.

{Yes. Which is why a millennia or two is really no big deal.}

I will. I just hope you remember me.

Kinda hard to forget an immortal emperor who'd kill a whole army of gods if they looked at his wife wrong.

I suppose all of that does stand out. {He chuckles and hopes, to himself, that their memories aren't wiped clean. That would be bothersome.}

Just a bit. [Snicker.] I kinda thought that was the point.

It is useful at times. But I don't always like to be seen as...

Above. If that makes sense? It's lonely.

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