2025-08-24: The Unmoving Are Already Dead
- Log: The Unmoving Are Already Dead
- Cast: Shinjiro Aragaki, Reiya Aomori
- Where: Naganaki Shrine, Iwatodai
- OOC Date: August 24, 2025
- IC Date: June 30, 2012
- Summary: After Kaneshiro's defeat, Shinjiro takes a breather at Naganaki Shrine. Reiya comes forth with questions, and they exchange secrets and wisdom.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
After the encounter with Kaneshiro, Shinjiro needed two things: rest and some alone time with his thoughts. He really declared himself active, embraced his power to help his new friends at the Cardboard Dragon... he can't go back from that. SEES will know soon enough, and then Mitsuru will be back to hound him again.
Rest will have to wait, because he went to Iwatodai for the alone time.
Having already rinsed his hands and mouth, Shinjiro stands near the lonely shrine stairs, taking in the meditative beauty of the tagged tree as he takes a breath. He doesn't usually do this...
But he's been doing a lot of things he doesn't usually do. He's made friends, let people in, something he told himself he could never do again. But Myunghon has quickly become important to him, a true leader who understands what he's gone through, and in turn, can be supported by him...
He wonders what the hell is wrong with him. He's supposed to push everyone away and instead is pulling them in. He's supposed to die alone... now people will be sad.
No, they were going to be sad anyways. It's just a change in scale.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Kaneshiro... Perhaps Takeba put in a report, when it was finished with. Maybe Reiya has been paying attention. Or maybe this is coincidental.
Whichever way, there is a quiet moment at the shrine. The tree is beautiful; the shrine is serene. No one is here, though that's not always the case. There's just Shinjiro... who seems to want to be no one.
But look; at one moment, the stairs leading up to the shrine are empty. A blink, and a heartbeat, and there is someone walking up them. Reiya Aomori, dressed in his Gekkoukan uniform--largely regulation but for a bit of violet--in summer edition.
"Aragaki-senpai," he greets Shinjiro, and takes one step at a time, slowly moving upward onto the shrine grounds.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro doesn't do regulation anything. Especially not those winter clothes, still patched and worn, and that beanie on his head. Even so...
It's not Reiya's silent footsteps that get him, but his words. To Reiya's luck, Shinjiro doesn't overreact, taking another breath and turning his head.
"Aomori," he says, tilting his body finally a bit to be looking at him better. Alone time isn't going to be an option, it seems.
"Didn't know many students came up here unless they were getting fortunes." Shinjiro never used to.
A pause, as he looks back to the tree. "Peaceful, isn't it? Assume you're here to either take in the air or try and pray for a date. Which is it?"
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Sometimes people do overreact. It's troublesome. That's why Reiya usually makes a point of announcing his presence before he speaks up. ...But not this time. This is a mission.
And a mission requires certain skills.
"I come here often," Reiya says. "...The gods make good company." It could be a joke, but it isn't. Instead he looks to Shinjiro, unafraid of scrutiny; Reiya is an athletic guy, a bit of muscle on his arms in the short sleeves of his summer uniform. But he's lean, overall, smaller and shorter than Shinjiro. That doesn't seem to intimidate him.
"It's very peaceful," he agrees then. "But your assumption in this case is incorrect. ...It would be true another day; I do like the air."
He pauses. "...But I haven't wanted to date much this month."
A shake of his head. "Regardless..."
"I'm here to discuss duty. ...I would say that, but you don't have one, to my knowledge. You chose to leave. I can respect that choice..."
"Except that it seems you are pursuing the same mission under different circumstances."
"I find myself asking 'why'. And while idle curiosity would not be enough to bother you..."
"I feel it is relevant to my duties in SEES and to Kirijo-senpai, that I ask now. Why?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Reiya says the gods make good company, Shinjiro shrugs. "They seem pretty quiet to me." Reiya's smaller, but athletic... Shinjiro has the size and strength advantage, presumably, but Reiya could probably still have some tricks up his sleeve. Not that Shinjiro is imagining they'll fight - he's jsut used to thugs where you have to size them up first.
But, Reiya's here for duty, not dates. Shinjro straightens up, Reiya respecting his choice to leave... but the third year left into another fight, didn't he? Grimacing, he considers Reiya's full words.
"...you're loyal to her, huh?" he asks first, before looking back at the tree. "I can't be there for Aki and Kirijo anymore. But... that girl, Yamagishi, I couldn't let someone rot in Tartarus until they died. From there, the momentum was strong. The people I met saving her needed help to protect their neighborhood. They still need help. That's all it is."
He's pretty firm about it, but... he knows it's not the strongest defense. If Reiya's at all savvy, Shinjiro knows he'll try to poke holes. He's just hoping he accepts it.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Yes. I think good company is often quiet."
Shinjiro seems to be sizing Reiya up, and Reiya is trained to recognize that kind of look. He makes no aggressive motion, no particular challenge, just calmly accepts scrutiny.
When Shinjiro straightens, Reiya waits. Then, that question... "Yes," Reiya answers simply. There are reasons for that. But he doesn't immediately share them. Instead, his purple eyes track to Shinjiro's gaze, then back to Shinjiro himself. That girl...
"Hm," he says. "You, Sanada-senpai, and Kirijo-senpai..." Does he know any of that history? He doesn't bring it up if he does.
"I see. Well."
"Your kindness is notable. Not everyone would 'help' just because people had need, when 'helping' includes putting yourself in danger. If it were only that, I would wish you good day, and move on. I cannot force you to return to SEES, though I think you could do more good with us than only helping occasionally when you see the need, if 'good' is your goal."
"However..."
"Your Evoker," Reiya explains. "It is not of standard SEES issue. It may or may not be of Kirijo make. This concerns me."
He considers. "You may wonder why a simple member of SEES recognizes such a thing. I will share a secret with you, if you will indulge my question. Where did it come from?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Reiya is willing to accept it. Good. But... Shinjiro has some words in response to his observations. "Tch, that's not why I'm doing it. 'Good'... isn't something so quantifiable as that."
Reiya, though, asks a pressing question. About the Evoker. Shinjiro considers what he'll say, tensing up very slightly before releasing it. In the end, he chooses to be honest. Aki already knows, after all.
"....I bought it. From a group known as Strega. Was on a time crunch."
This may lead to many questions... but Shinjiro is more curious why he's offering a secret. Why DOES he recognize that? Others thought it was his actual old Evoker, so... "So, what are you sharing in return?"
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Hmm. Good. Raw idealism is dangerous," Reiya says. "I'm glad you have something more sensible in mind. ...Even if it's still dangerous."
But he does have a question--and Shinjiro may tense, but Reiya remains completely calm. So when he answers...
"I see," Reiya replies, and frowns thoughtfully. "...The fact that such a group has them in surplus worries me. I should learn more about them. ...But I said a secret for a secret, so i won't pry further at them now."
However...
>Reiya will remember that.
"My mother works for the Kirijo Group. The Ergo Labs Division, in specific," he says. "The Anti-Shadow technologies division. I am familiar with more aspects of SEES's mission than most members, accordingly. I would thank you not to spread that too far, and in return, I will mention your Evoker only to Kirijo-senpai and Ikutsuki-san. ...I'm obligated to report to them."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Raw idealism is dangerous... but that doesn't make Shinjiro less dangerous. After all, he put a hole in a classroom. Reiya does frown, so Shinjiro tries to help with that. "I don't think they have them in surplus. They told me their stock was limited, as if I was making a big ask," he reassures.
Reiya says his mother's a Kirijo Group employee... Ergo Labs, the anti-Shadow division. "Secret's safe with me. Tell them whatever. Kirijo probably already knows, honestly." She knows everything...
Instead, Shinjiro pauses. "So she helped build the Evokers. The technology we used. Corp's got some shady vibes going on. I don't care what they do, rich capitalism bullshit is rich capitalism bullshit, but it gives me the shivers sometimes just how much they know about all this."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"I see. That's good at least." He needs to know more about Strega. Much more. There will have to be time for that...
But right now, "The fact that you have enough of a relationship with them that they were willing..." He trails off, and shakes his head. It's not the point of this information-gathering exercise, at least.
"That wouldn't surprise me," Reiya admits. Though he is part of why she knows so much, these days. Now that he's involved.
"I think the Evokers were another team... But yes, that kind of thing." A pause. "Yes," he admits freely. "And they do know a lot. It's no exaggeration to say that they make SEES's work possible. But..."
A shake of his head. "...I trust my mother, at least. I don't trust some other company I've never heard of with Shadow technology. There are those who would misuse it."
Like Strega, for instance.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Tch. It's none of your business," Shinjiro tells Reiya about his relationship. It might make him more suspicious, not less, but he's anxious about getting found out as being on suppressants. Kirijo *cannot* know.
"There's people who would misuse anything in every group. You might trust your mother... but does that mean you need to trust everyone? I don't trust Kirijo Corp or Strega... I only trust the people I know are reliable."
Shinjiro steps over to the shrine, next. "Kirijo herself is. Aki is. But I can't be their third anymore, even despite that."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Maybe not," Reiya allows, and does not press that issue for the moment. ...But that 'for the moment' is doing some lifting. Reiya does not look particularly apologetic. he just isn't pushing.
"True," Reiya admits of trust. "I think that's a sensible attitude for you." He doesn't specify what his trust level is foreither, though. Or for the people he knows of. But... reliable...
"I see."
"...You trust those you know are reliable." He pauses. "Kirijo-senpai and Sanada-senpai are reliable, but you can't be their third."
"Should I take that to mean, Aragaki-senpai, that you are not reliable?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Reiya doesn't press. Instead, he says it's a sensible attitude, and Shinjiro nods once. He takes a breath, turning back to the shrine fully, before...
Reiya asks a devastating question. One that causes him to grimace. He's silent for a long moment, turned away from Reiya, tense not in a hostile way but tense nonetheless.
"...I'm the bull in the china shop. People get hurt around me, Aomori. You can parse that however you want."
He finally turns back around. "But someone told me we had to keep moving. So, that's what I'll do."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya isn't intending to devastate with the question; he's simply drawing what he thinks is a logical conclusion, and testing it by asking his senpai. It could be considered very rude, all the same.
"..." The bull in the China shop. "I see," he says. "...Yes, I think I understand."
It's not quite the answer he was looking for, but it makes sense to Reiya. If people get hurt around Shinjiro, then...
"Thank you for answering my questions, Aragaki-senpai," Reiya says, and bows once. "I think that's true. ...The unmoving are already dead."
"I won't bother you with that question again. Your reasons for staying away are your own, and i do not know your personal relationships with my senpai enough to talk about what they would feel, or want."
"...Thank you as well for your assistance with Yamagishi-san. Take care."
With that said and his bow finished, Reiya turns to leave.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Tch, sure," Shinjiro says about answering his questions, though, he grimace sharper at the 'the unmoving are already dead'. Not only the unmoving... sometimes, you know your death in advance.
Shinjiro does turn to head back to the tree, though. "You don't, that's true. You're a smart guy," he says about his personal relationships.
As Reiya bows, he waves it off, before allowing him to leave. "Sure. You too."
He's gonna need a moment before he heads back to Hirasaka. Just to breathe.