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week one ❧ monday
[Ultimately... Nino has to know what her profile says. Of course, there's the problem that she doesn't, you know, how to read, and she doesn't want to ask Jaffar; from what she's gathered from the rest of the profiles, they're pretty embarrassing or bad.
While she's sure he's read it...
She doesn't want to ask him to read it to her. That would be mortifying.
There are a few people she likes in this place, but someone was kind to her in particular, and already knows her secret; that makes it easier to immediately start snooping around the huts to try to find Akira's--and instead... managing to run into him as she's looking.]
... Oh!
Um, Akira...!
[I need ur halp]
While she's sure he's read it...
She doesn't want to ask him to read it to her. That would be mortifying.
There are a few people she likes in this place, but someone was kind to her in particular, and already knows her secret; that makes it easier to immediately start snooping around the huts to try to find Akira's--and instead... managing to run into him as she's looking.]
... Oh!
Um, Akira...!
[I need ur halp]
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Hey, Nino.
[a slight tilt of the head, she looks like she wants to ask something. and akira, being... well, akira, he has to oblige. so with a small smile:]
What's up?
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[Compartmentalizing murder seems like a great idea right now.
One thing at a time.]
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[he wasn't expecting that, considering jaffar is around. but he'll just nod his head, curious to know what it is.]
With what?
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[To ask Jaffar... for obvious reasons.]
Do you think you could read it to me?
I'd really, really appreciate it!
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he figured that jaffar would probably be the one to do that for her, but it seems like she's a bit embarrassed by that. well.
that's okay, akira thinks.]
It's not a big deal, I don't mind. [he only looked through them briefly, so he hasn't memorized the information to just tell her.]
Maybe I can show you how to read a couple of simple things while we're there.
[mostly like. her name and jaffar's.]
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[Akira's always so nice to her... he's quickly becoming A Fave.
Either way, she's quick to point out her own profile (she's actually an incredibly fast leaner, of course, and recognizes her own name, though it'd be obvious enough with the picture anyway).
And then she waits eagerly.
(It's probably fine.)]
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still, he'll remain pretty quiet as they make their way to the profiles, waiting for nino to point out her own.
he scans it quickly before reading it out loud, and his brows knit pretty fast. there's a bit of a "what the hell" running through his mind.]
Most of these profiles are pretty exaggerated, so don't take anything on here too personally, okay?
[it's like a quiet warning, because he thinks the word choice is... pretty fucked up and that nino shouldn't have to hear this, even without knowing the context of it. but akira's too honest a person to keep it from her, especially when she asked nicely—so after a moment, he'll read out everything but her name.]
Age fifteen. Height and Weight: Five-foot zero and small. Identifying features: green hair— [he pauses, drawing in a breath before reading the rest.] an annoying tendency towards high pitched "I'll do my best"s.
[and the last.]
Sacrificed for being a terrible daughter.
[seriously, what the fuck. he doesn't even want to look at nino because he feels like this will probably hurt her feelings, even though he's obviously not buying the validity of this completely here.]
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It all feels correct for the most part, and she's quiet as she listens--and the comment on her voice and her necessity to "do her best" doesn't really bother her. (She's heard worse).
The rest, though...
For being a terrible daughter, huh? She flinches...and then ducks her head, almost shrinking in on herself, fingers grasping at her skirt now that she's changed into her proper clothing. She doesn't...argue it, though. Not at all. Instead, all that escapes her is a quiet:]
...Oh.
[Yeah, helping to fight and kill your stepmother is probably being a pretty terrible daughter, huh.]
Um... [And, quietly:] Thank you for reading it to me...
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it bothers him—it bothers him a hell of a lot. his hands emerge from his pockets, moving in idle motions—stretching before balling into fists at his side.
this isn't right.
it's not right at all, and he can't just sit there and let her shrink in on herself this way.]
I don't believe that. [he says, quietly, but firm. there's a very subtle fire to his tone, with conviction he states that plainly.
he doesn't believe that she would be a bad daughter. in just a couple of days' time, akira's already seen that she's warm, kind, and helpful. she wants to do her best despite her own shortcomings—
how could a person like that be a terrible daughter?]
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Nino wasn't expecting that sort of staunch defense; it clearly startles her, and she stares at him with wide eyes--and then, almost embarrassingly, she has to rub at them for a moment to make sure she doesn't cry.
People don't usually... defend her like that.
It's a lot.]
... It's true, though.
[She says that softly, shaking her head, staring down at the ground.]
I...more than anything, I wanted to make my mother proud, but...
[In the end she was a backstabbing bitch.]
She hated me. After everything...she hated me so much. [Past tense is, of course, because she's way dead now.]
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akira's sure that it's not that nino was a terrible daughter.
it's that nino had a terrible mother.
shitty adults... apparently they aren't just in japan, or on earth. they're in every world.]
That's not because you're a terrible daughter. A terrible daughter wouldn't want to make their mom so proud.
[if anything, akira's probably a terrible son because fuck his parents, he's sticking with coffee dad.]
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She promised that she would hold me...and stroke my hair, and tell me that she was proud of me, if I could do one thing for her--but I couldn't even do that. That's why...it says that, I think.
[Her brow furrows a little, and she shakes her head.]
... It was wrong. I don't regret not doing it. But still, I... wish she would have.
Just...once.
[Held her...told her nice things, or complimented her--but that's because Sonia hated her, isn't it?
And she was never Sonia's daughter at all.]
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Some adults.... a lot adults, they're no good.
[not that this is a great thing to say about someone's mother, but whatever.]
Keeping the things any parent should do for their child behind a gate like that—it wasn't fair to you, Nino.
[shouldn't a parent do those things? tell their kids that they're proud, hold them and stroke their hair when they need comfort? tell them that things would be okay?
his gaze shifts—his parents didn't do that for him either after he'd gotten arrested, so it's not like he doesn't understand how terrible it feels. but he doesn't say it, because it's not about him.]
I don't think that makes you a bad daughter, Nino.
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She ducks her head and takes a slow, shaky breath in, and then...well, she crouches on the ground, burying her face in her hands.
She can't help it, really.
After all:]
I'm sorry... you've been so nice to me... but I--
[She shakes her head a little, breathing in a shaky breath.]
I wanted to know... why... I wanted to know why she would ask me to do such a terrible thing. So I went back, even though my new friends had just saved me, and...
[She bites her lip, shaking her head.
It's real bad, Akira, it goes beyond just normal petty family squabbles.]
It was... it was just because she tried--tried to...but I, we...!
[Her breath hitches, but she continues:]
Because of me, she's dead...!
[Sorry for the backstory dump at rank 1, Akira, Nino's an open book about everything.]
Even though she wasn't my real mother... I'm still... [And, more softly:] Aren't I still a terrible daughter?
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he wonders if he said the wrong thing by pushing the issue. he certainly didn't expect that nino would get so upset in this way.
but if he made this mess, then he'll just have to clean it up, too.
so akira crouches down to nino's level; slowly and gently, he places a hand lightly atop her head. he doesn't think he should go so far as to hug her—that feels a bit awkward, especially considering he's the one that provoked it.
he doesn't mind the backstory dump—but he doesn't feel great that he caused it. but he'll let nino say everything he needs to. she can cry it out however she feels like she should.
but when silence falls and that question is asked, whether or not nino looks at him, akira is just shaking his head gently.]
Would a terrible daughter be this upset over this? Because I don't think that's how it works. [he doesn't know what caused this woman's death, but nino is broken up over it—and in his eyes, that likely means that it wasn't something that happened because she's a bad daughter that wanted it.
...or that it makes her one, really. it's hard to say without knowing, but he just honestly doesn't believe this of nino at all.]
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Well, she feels bad for dumping this all on Akira, but at the same time...
Saying it, finally, feels a little bit better too.]
...S-sorry, Akira... [She scrubs at her face vigorously, offering a wobbly smile.] ...B-but... maybe you're right.
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not in the least does akira feel like it's a bother—but then, he's also used to this sort of thing. it feels natural to him, and in some sense, in a time and place where he has to pretend even more than ever that he's nothing more than what he feigns—
but this is part of him too, a very real and natural part of who he is.]
Believe in yourself a little more. You're a good person, Nino. [she's kind and warm, she's thoughtful and bright—it doesn't take talking to her much to see that.]
You just had some bad luck. [because adults are shitty.]
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She's quiet for a long moment, focused on breathing...and then she just thumps onto the ground properly, sitting there and crossing her legs, wrapping her arms around her knees and propping her chin on her hand. She'll worry about whether or not she's a good person later.
For now...]
Um... do you mind if I ask what your profile says?
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[he'll hum and offer her a nod.] That's only fair, since I know what yours says. It's a little silly, though—I don't think much of it true, either.
[he'll flip to his own profile and just read it off the same way he read nino's.]
Akira Kurusu. Age 16. Height: Five feet, nine inches. Weight: Three question marks.
[he pauses, offering her a bit of a cheeky smile.] It looks like they let me keep one secret, huh?
[sure, that's what we'll go with and not that atlus didn't give anyone canon weights.]
Identifying features—Huge glasses, frizzy hair. [another pause, this is weird and embarrassing to say out loud.] A smirk that can make girls and guy drop their panties.
[seriously, nino. it's weird.]
Sacrificed for stealing hearts, falling off treadmills and being a smartass.
[somehow, that's less embarrassing than the panty dropping thing, whatever.]
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She doesn't totally get the connotations behind those colloquialisms, really, but she can at least get the general idea.]
I mean... you are really handsome.
[She can tell! Even though her heart is totally stolen, so it's more of a casual observation.]
...Thank you, Akira. For...reading mine to me, and sharing yours too.
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regardless, it's nice to see nino in better spirits after all of that. he kind of caused her to cry, but now she's laughing, so...
it's probably fine, right?
(please don't tell jaffar he made her cry, technically speaking. don't do it, nino.)]
I don't mind. It's not like everyone else didn't see mine already anyway. Now we're even.
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She knows better. She knows how Jaffar is, she'll definitely never tell Jaffar anything like that SHE KNOWS...]
Mm...I wish I knew how to read.
[She frowns a little to herself, drawing in the sand idly with a finger.]
It seems so... amazing! To be able to read everything for yourself, and... to not have to depend on anyone else. You could study anything you want!
[The shitty stepmother thing is, in fact, the reason behind the illiteracy, of course.]
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I never really thought about it that way.
[honestly, why would he? literacy is something he's taken for granted because it's just one of those things that exists. in a country where the literacy rate is 99%, he hardly ever considered people who can't read.]
I could try to show you some things. I don't think I'm much of a teacher or a tutor, but I could try.
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[There's...a slow, warm smile that spreads over her face at that, even as she begins to brighten further.
...!!!]
I promise I won't take too much of your time, and I'll do my best to learn... um, and I'll find a way to thank you, I promise!
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[it's something good, productive and helpful for him to do.]
I'll just have to think of the best way—I think there are some pens and paper around we could use.
[since sitting at the profile board and doing that sounds terrible, and he doesn't want to just draw letters and words in the sand. that's lame.]
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Okay! Just...let me know when you're not busy and I'll be ready to learn!
[HELL YEAH.]
I'm sure you'll be an amazing teacher!
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[he'll take a little bit of inspiration from nino's catchphrase here. he'd like to help her, if he can!]
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Let's do our best together! We'll be unstoppable!
[But...well, she at least got what she came here for.]
I guess I better not stay out long, or Jaffar will worry. But...thanks again, Akira! You're the best.
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[he doesn't think it would be all that great for jaffar to start worrying about her right now.
he won't hold her here, not when he was just trying to help her out, especially.]
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[And then, off she goes, back to her kawaii boyfriend.
Sadly, learning days will be derailed by suffering and murder.]