Emperor

[[IT’S BEEN HOURS SINCE YOU SENT THIS AND IM STILL DYING thanks so much for the high praise. Like seriously this means so much coming from you because I enjoy reading what you do with Julian so much, and honestly I could stand to learn so much more about description. Like I mentioned Yusuke’s a really new muse for me (I didn’t even intend to pick him up at all after finishing the game) so this means so much to hear that I’m doing him justice.

[[ And with that, I believe I’ve caught up to event replies on Yusuke. I need to sleep now and I’ll be working on Gintoki’s when I wake up, but let me know if I missed yours out and I’ll get right on that!

Susanoo stood atop one of the taller buildings in the area; the view allowed him to survey the events unfolding in this false world. At the moment, he watched a young one approach a rather large piece of a fragment. The god knew something of that size would attract a mob to this creature, and as if on cue, they appeared. He watched as more and more seemed to appear from the shadows, violent intentions towards the one that stood between them and the fragment. He watched the creature run from his attackers. It wasn’t the best attempt, and even with borrowing the power of something named “Susanoo” seemed to be not enough to help.

The god decided to make his move once the other was surrounded. Any other being and he would find entertainment in their struggles. But, he had watched this one closely for a reason. This worm that stood among hawks was Susanoo’s master. The only one the god had some care for. If left unguarded, he would cause more problems for Susanoo regarding his personal goal.

He rushed down the building he once stood on at remarkable speed; claws cracking glass and concrete as he ran on all fours. With a strong leap, propelled by his tail, he closed in on Yusuke’s location. He crushed a few of the infected citizens under the force of his weight and gravity with his landing. His tail whipped behind him to clear more of the infected, easily crushing some of their bones with the force.

Susanoo lunged for Yusuke, digging a clawed hand into the other’s shirt. Making note of the fact the other still had the fragment. Ignoring any reaction from the other, the god clutched the man and the fragment to his chest with one hand.

The infected never stopped coming, and the ones slain were quickly replaced. As more lunged, the god already had his dark sword ready in his other hand. With a spin on the ball of his foot, the frontlines were easily sliced in two.

He had been saved from a sticky situation when his servant came rushing in, carrying Yusuke away from what might otherwise have ended in serious injury. Yet why was it that Yusuke’s face was white as a canvas? Seeing the wanton killing around him, the phantom thief found himself faced once again with the helplessness that he was made to feel every time he looked upon his servant.

While he had detested the thought of compulsion, he had had no choice but to use a command seal the previous time, in order to prevent any more innocents from being harmed.

And yet, here they were, met with innocents who now possessed the strength to fight, yet were far too weak to stand against the might of Susanoo. Blood that was not his own stained his clothes, and regret threatened to consume him. He would have to use another —

No. This had all but proven the futility of the action. There would always be a circumstance, an interpretation beyond his command. If only there were some more complete way...a way to force a change of heart.

But that wasn’t an option for the moment. Taking a breath, he steeled himself. For if he were not the one to try and take his servant in hand, then who would?

Red eyes blinked once, twice at the literal cleaning supplies and Goro wondered if Kitagawa had some sort of joke weapon before his poor choice of words made it all clear for him.

“Oh, I meant – Nevermind.”

It was fine, he knew that for all his eccentricities that Kitagawa was a reliable fighter. All that was needed were clear tactics to guide the artist’s blade, and while he was not Kurusu, Goro had enough knowledge to make use of him in battle. Hopefully a bitter history would not be in the way of their teamwork.

“There are about ten surrounding the perimeter of the building, most of them converging around the entrance. Fox, Use your ice spells to keep them in place to so we can easily knock them out.”

Both of them were still wearing their civilian clothes, but the switch to codenames was a signal to realign their focus towards battle. While spoken mostly out of habit, it was probably something that the former detective found ideal to pick up again. Crow knew the importance of names in Servant battles, and how confidential they should be.

“And one more thing.” From his pockets he pulled out cards that should be a familiar design to his companion – it was originally his handiwork, after all. “These are from Joker. He said to slip these in the infected that we’ve knocked out.”

At the front lay the trademark insignia of The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, with the group name written on its other side. With how widespread they plan to distribute the calling cards later on, it would be even more suspicious to leave the area close to their residence devoid of its presence.

Listening intently to the detective’s plan of action,, Yusuke gave a sharp nod. Having a clear goal and enemy in sight once more, Fox felt a nostalgia in the thrill that was coursing through his veins. The days spent sneaking through Palaces, effecting change that made the dangerous battles alongside Joker and the rest worth the risk. He’d have gone to the ends of the earth, if it had been with them.

Taking the cards from Crow, and seeing the insignia that he’d designed, his lips spread into a small smile. Truly, with this card in his hands, a physical reminder that Joker was here, as were most of the rest. That made all the difference in the world. For together, they would be able to do anything, should they put their minds to it. And now, Akechi was here with them. The one regret they’d had, given a second chance.

“That sounds just like Joker. Let’s get started then, shall we?”

I art thou, thou art I. With that incantation, his mask and persona manifested momentarily, and he cast a Masukukaja buff before dashing forward. The faster the cleanup, the better.

Following Crow’s plans, he summoned his persona again, casting Bufudyne in rapid succession. This would be easier if only he still had Mabufudyne, but he would make do with the skills in his arsenal. With only ten, he had the stamina to weather this battle.

He’d never intended on being a criminal. Of course, like any child growing up, he’d contemplated his future on occasion, mostly questions. What would life be like, being adopted? What would he learn, what would he do, what kinds of people would he meet? He and his siblings had even talked about it, occasionally, speculating on the adventures they would have. Countries they could visit, technology they could see, all kinds of things. Once, he’d even asked his mother what the outside world would be like, what he would do when he was eventually adopted (and though he could no longer remember her exact answer, he realized now that he’d been given no real information at all).

Regardless, in all that he’d considered when thinking of a possible future, Norman had never questioned that he would be a law-abiding citizen. Of course he would be! Maybe a police officer, or a detective – he’d always been fascinated by mysteries after all – but even if not, always on the right side of the law.

He had certainly never envisioned himself breaking into an establishment at an absurd hour of the night, as he was currently doing. Or, well, attempting at any rate.

The front entrance of this hole-in-the-wall pizzeria was an old-style single door, chipped green paint in the front of a red brick building, with a tall glass window in the middle of it. It even seemed too narrow compared to the doorways he was used to. There were two locks, one on the handle and a deadbolt above it, and though they appeared much newer than the door itself, they didn’t seem to be much more complicated than the Grace Field House locks. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and he’d be in and out. Hopefully unseen, if only because explaining why he was breaking and entering didn’t strike him as a particularly enjoyable pastime.

So Norman thought, until he happened to glance back to check for any unexpected company (whether it was one of “his own”, so to speak, or one of the infected) and found someone looking his direction. Only sheer force of will to keep calm prevented him from jumping out of his skin. He couldn’t quite make out the figure, let alone their expression to determine their opinion on his current preoccupation. He smiled, friendly, hoping they could see it and would take it at face value. He’d been lucky enough so far, in that regard, but expecting good fortune not to run out eventually would get him killed, he had no doubt.

He stood up from his crouching position, slowly enough to be nonthreatening, and mentally noting every possible escape route. That had become the norm, somehow. He had no intention of dying here.

“Hi. This is not what it looks like.” Well, it was, but not for the reasons that they probably thought. Hopefully, they had an amiable disposition and would accept his explanation. “I noticed a couple of Saint Fragments inside, and it turned out to be locked, and…well, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not find out what happens if we don’t gather enough to help repair the firewall.” Assuming that was, indeed, the purpose they really served.

@artbufun

It had always been his goal to be an artist — a dream inspired by the painting which he had grown with, which had painted stars in his eyes and wrapped his heart in a sort of wistful warmth on sight. And if one were to tell him that he’d have found himself becoming a phantom thief...why, the very idea was laughable!

And yet, against all odds, he’d fallen quite willingly into the role of one of the phantom thieves of heart. All it had taken was a chance encounter, and rage at an injustice that he had averted his eyes from for far too long. And in this chance encounter, he found a new type of salvation. Friends whom he knew would stand by him no matter what, and make sure that he would never lose his way. In finally facing the truth, he had found the depths of despair and rage, but in their presence, a meaning for existing.

Together, they’d fought back against the shitty adults. Scum who saw fit to take advantage of others for their own gain.

But there had been the small acts of injustice which they’d chosen to act upon as well. Like the burglary group that had broken into various restaurants and cafe and stole from their register. Yes, not unlike the youth before him at the entrance of an establishment that could only be described as quaint. (Not that that was a bad thing, by any means. Master’s establishment had been similar, and it had given his heart some measure of peace that the true Sayuri was in such a place.)

The one committing the misdeed now. He was but a child! What could the circumstances that had led the child to this point have been? Were there despicable adults who took advantage of innocent children, the least likely to fight back, even here in this place that was referred to as Utopia? Such audacity!

In his mind, Yusuke had already concocted a tragic image surrounding the boy.  There had to be some way he could help. He stepped forward just as the boy noticed him, and, as was often the case, found the conclusion he had reached to be wrong.

Saint Fragments? With a thoughtful frown, Yusuke walked toward the child, and peeked through the door, his eyes catching faint glints as light bounced off the fragments in the dark dining area of the pizzeria. Well, this was a conundrum. Common courtesy dictated that they inform the owners of their presence, but what if they weren’t home; or worse, what if they refused to hand over the fragments? Perhaps they were keeping the pieces for their own selfish desires. The possibilities were endless, but the option of just leaving the fragments and coming back in the morning did not at all seem wise given the likelihood an infected citizen would just smash through the shop doors and whisk the fragments away.

In the end, propriety won out, and he raised his hand to press the doorbell.

A catchy tune played, followed by silence. But at least they had tried. Now, it seemed breaking and entering was their only option.

“I suppose we don’t have much choice. Let’s get those fragments with as little mess as possible, and leave a note for the owners.”

@artbufun

There was nothing wrong with taking breaks, no, even Ray needed to rest sometimes. A sound body would allow him to have a sound mind. Which was something that he needed constantly if he didn’t to accidentally get hit by some infected citizen. However, given his current location, taking a break would be unwise, seeing how infected citizens were slowly gathering here too. 

But, the more people that Ray met that were older than him, the less and less he was getting around to understanding them. It’s like they were some enigma that he couldn’t wrap his head around just yet. Or maybe the person before him was just eccentric. For within his vicinity would be one individual drawing their life away with little care for his surroundings. Here. Where infected citizens where starting to gather.

Now, Ray wasn’t someone that would just go up and expect that any random person would be so engrossed in their own activities that they wouldn’t notice some clearly hazardous individual coming their way, but with how fervently they were scribbling away into their sketchbook, it could only seem that way.

“You have got to be kidding me.” The 12 year old mumbled to himself. Ray quickly judged the distance between himself, that individual, and the infected citizens. From the looks of it I can get there in time but… Ray wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to go around dragging someone clearly older than him away from danger. 

But you know what?

If there was one thing that he learned from his siblings, it was that saving people wasn’t about rationality. So he was running. Running to save a life. One older than his. One he didn’t even trust. One he didn’t care about. But it was the right thing. And Ray wasn’t someone that wouldn’t do the right thing. He was just someone that chose his battles well. 

“Can’t you look around you?!” The child yelled, before grabbing the other’s arm, and with all his might, tugged. Tugged until they were on their feet. Then dragged until they were running with him, away from the infected citizen. 

It was important to remain focused, especially in this trying times. But there had been no infected nearby, and such a wonderful opportunity had presented itself in the form of a single flower surrounded by broken concrete and a scattered mess, a thing of beauty miraculously unharmed in a scuffle that had taken place here. It was like a ray of hope in the midst of chaos and despair, much like the beauty that lay hidden in imperfect human nature.

Not about to let this inspiration go, Yusuke had promptly whipped out his sketchbook and began sketching references. Examining the flower from different perspectives and capturing all of those was important, of course. But the devil is in the details, and so each crack on the floor and each item scattered carelessly about had to be taken note of.

By the time he was done, Yusuke was having so much fun that he simply couldn’t help but start painting different ways of presenting the imagery in his mind. And how lovely the images that came out from his brush. For this was a subject that had fascinated him since he’d experienced the heartache that came with being at odds with oneself.

So intent was he in his work that he hardly noticed that he was no longer alone. The infected, starting to gather; perhaps it had been attracted by a saint fragment - the one dangling in a bag with his keys, most likely. An artist could not afford to be encumbered from his craft.

With all these factors, it was no surprise that Yusuke was taken completely by surprise when a child grabbed his arm tugging him as he yelled, and dragging him along.

How rude! The knee-jerk thought was soon buried as he finally noticed what they were running from. This child! So young, but had still taken it upon himself to save the artist. Such altruism in these troubled times! Yusuke was nearly choked with emotion at the thought.

Picking up speed, he stopped letting himself being dragged along, and instead ran along on his own strength while they put some distance between them and the infected citizen. He threw a glance over his shoulder, checking if they were still being pursued before he stopped and faced the child.

@artbufun

Loud clashes against metal gates, and the chorus of snarls and growling. Those were the warning noises that roused Goro from his reverie, immediately shifting his mindset into one of full attention. The brunette groaned - for the infected to appear close to his residence was something within his calculations, although he was certainly hoping that it shall not come to pass. Fate had other plans, it would seem.

He braved a small peek from his window. They haven’t invaded the inside of the building just yet, but if he didn’t wish to get holed inside his room, the best course of action would be to clear up a path. If he was planning to achieve victory in this scavenger hunt - and he was - then such a feat was mandatory in his eyes.

Kurusu wasn’t around the area, and he would loathe to waste a Command Spell when alternatives yet exist. Besides, a childish side of him wanted to prove that he could handle his own without a Servant, thank you very much. The young phantom thief would never let it down if he called someone he almost murdered for help over something as trivial as this.

Still, it was unwise to try to take such a group on his own. An attempt was made some days past, and much to the former detective’s shame he had nothing to show for it outside of cuts and bruises. Another Master who could fight on their own might suffice. Fortunately, there was already somebody nearby who qualifies. Thus, with pistol and saber in hand, Goro ventured out a few steps from his own apartment and knocked on his newest neighbor’s door.

“Kitagawa-kun?” His voice was light, hoping that the artist was indeed inside. “I would like to request assistance for some clean up.”

The unfortunate thing about their housing in this place was the fact that their rooms were all so very dreary. But that was no real issue for an artist of Yusuke’s caliber. And so it was that with full confidence that Yusuke had set about to create a painting to add flair to the room. Never mind the announcement about the fragments, there were priorities to be met.

And so he had been enthralled by the allure of setting brush to canvas, to the extent that he didn’t even notice the din outside as the infected approached the area surrounding their houses. It was only by some stroke of luck that, displeased and frustrated by his progress, he had looked up from his work in time to hear the knock on his door.

“Akechi-kun? I’ll be right out.”

He thought to himself how noisy it was outside as he moves to the back of the room and grabbed what he needed, and then opened the door to greet the young detective, holding out a broom and dustpan.

The sight of Akechi with a pistol and saber in hand greeted him. And immediately, Yusuke realised he’d misunderstood the nature of this ‘clean up’ that Akechi had asked for assistance with.

The broom and dustpan go back into the room, left leaning neatly against the wall near the door, and he grabs his Katana without skipping a beat.

“Ahem. Shall we?”

@artbufun   /   event.

     ❛   do you think there’s a conversation rate for that weird ssr thing to yen?   ❜   ann interlaces her fingers behind her back, walking forward while halfheartedly paying attention to her surroundings. maybe she should be taking the whole scavenger hunt thing seriously, especially with a supposedly large sum on the line! but at the same time… this is a fictional world created by some alternate being, right? is this currency even real? is there any worth or merit to it besides using it here? though she’s sure yusuke would probably just get art supplies or something like that…   ❛   i mean, we could totally use that money for our, you know, group. but if it’s not even real, then is it even worth it?   ❜

Yusuke’s not entirely sure what the value of SSR to Yen is. And really, is it any surprise, with how bad he is with money? But he does know that 5000 SSR has lasted him far longer than 5000 Yen would have, and that the prize is a very large amount. Unlike Ann, he doesn’t question the worth of currency in this world. After all, they were here together here and now, were they not? And so there was very little reason to doubt what he was seeing with his own two eyes.

♔ – White King — What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve made?

There’s a pained silence at first, with Yusuke averting his gaze. But even so, his pain is clear to see.

“I...have only been saved. I didn’t sacrifice a thing, because my friends were there to show me the way.”

From the warmth that gazing upon the Sayuri brings him, to the persistence with which his friends had dragged him out from his resignation to live under Madarame’s care for the rest of his life, so many others had sacrificed so much so that he could stand where he was today. There had been no sacrifice on his part, not as far as he was concerned.

♘ – White Knight — How do you handle stress?

♚ – Black King — What goals do you have for yourself?

“I wish to paint…to create works that inspire and save others from the blackness of this world. Just like my rays of hope did for me.”

♞ Black Knight — Are you creative? In what ways?

♘ – White Knight — How do you handle stress?

“If I were being perfectly honest...Not too well, unfortunately.” It’s only the truth. With a tendency to get defensive or to even be taken aback by something as simple as hangiing out in troubling times, it can hardly be called ideal behaviour.