readsagain | INBOX (labyrinthum)

I have a favor to ask.

[ Well, that's a tad surprising. Chisaki didn't strike him as the type. ]

I may be able to oblige, depending on the favor.

It's a simple one. I'm meeting someone from my world who's potentially dangerous. I shouldn't have an issue handling him if he gets violent. But I'd like someone there to help encourage good behavior.

You'll get an up-close look at my Quirk.

[ To encourage good behaviour, to back him up if accusations fly about who instigated it - and he knows Dokja can defend himself.

The admittance he has a Quirk when he dislikes them is already intriguing; getting to see it is another thing he didn't expect. ]

I can help with that, and we'll call it even besides.

[ No point beating around the bush trying to get Chisaki to owe him a favor - he knows what's being revealed is enough. ]

May I ask who it is?

[ The yakuza in Chisaki insists he not look a gift horse in the mouth. The strategist, however, realizes Dokja might feel short-changed if Chisaki chooses to go public about his Quirk. He'd hate to lose a potential ally. ]

That's generous. But let me show my gratitude. If you need healing in the future, call me.

[ A clue as to what he can do. ]

Shigaraki Tomura. A business associate.

I'll keep that in mind, then.

[ His quirk is healing based, then? He wonders how it compares to the blue potion. Dokja knows that people with said potion generally can't heal themselves, though. ]

I'm not familiar with them personally, but I've heard the name once or twice.

[ He doesn't have much to offer beyond that, except that now he knows he's potentially dangerous to Chisaki. ]

When do you plan to meet?

[ Chisaki gives the date and time. ]

At The Wandering Boar in Stellari, assuming he doesn't throw a fit. [ Which says volumes of what Chisaki thinks of Shigaraki's temperament. ] You and I can meet at the tailor on the opposite corner, then go from there.

I'll make sure I'm free then, and meet you there.

Oh, and Chisaki? Two people from my world have arrived. You shouldn't have problems with one; her name is Han Suyeong.

The other, Yu Junghyeok, isn't fond of me currently, so I would keep the fact you're familiar with me to yourself if you don't want trouble from him.

Thanks for the heads up.

I met Yu Junghyeok briefly during that scavenger hunt. If I see him again, I'll keep your name to myself.

Thank you. I'll wait to hear from you, then.

open yr door

Why

[ he's more suspicious that she texted to ask. ]

cuz in five secodns i'll be at it and then i'll have to knock so save me that effort

All right.

[ Still suspicious but not enough to deny her entry, he unlocks the door. He has a feeling he knows what this is about, after all. ]

Kim Dokja!

[With a terrifyingly bright and sunny smile, Suyeong practically tramples him to get inside, slinging one arm over his shoulder in what would be a friendly and warm gesture for most people.]

Been talking to Junghyeok, got a question for you! How'd you convince him to stop regressing?

[ Considering Suyeong only does this when she wants to kick his ass, Dokja refuses to lean down to make the arm around his shoulder any easier to drag him down with.

She's still not a Constellation yet and he's taking every advantage he can. Though his expression turns wry when she asks him that question. ]

I told him to live and not abandon his companions in the third round.

Edited 2025-07-24 02:36 (UTC)

[Never mind her dignity, she's practically going to hang on him if need be. This makes it difficult to steer him anywhere, though, so he can probably ignore her efforts to shift her weight further inwards.]

Yeah, and when that didn't work because he's a stubborn bastard?

That things wouldn't get better if he kept repeating the cycle.

[ Girl why are you hanging on him like a monkey. ]

Get off me, Suyeong -

[The first statement shifts her humor for a moment, in a completely unsubtle way. Up till now her seeming good cheer had an edge as dangerous as any blade, with a hand gripping it in preparation to slice or stab. But the laugh she lets out now is round, if not soft, and without threat.]

That's sure not wrong!

[More because of the laugh than his request, she does let go, although it's to nudge him in the ribs with her elbow.]

And then what? I'm sure he was all, "If I keep trying, I'll succeed."

And we're back to "I told him to not abandon his companions in the third round".

[ The cyclical (to him) conversation makes him roll his eyes, wincing at her bony elbow - it's all dramatics.

At risk of being completely wrong about why she's here and making her angry for a different reason, he says: ]

If you're hear to read me the riot act about the Hanahaki, that was months ago, Suyeong. Nobody else was here.

[His reward for that guess is an absolutely withering glare, because damn it, she was sure she was coming at this with the maximum of subtlety.]

[A long moment of silence follows, as she visibly struggles to shift gears and tactics -- a struggle that actually shows in her hands as they start to tremble. And there's all sorts of emotions in her eyes she can't hide, and doesn't bother trying to. He'll pretend he didn't see a single one of them, after all.]

[When her voice does come out finally, it's a low tone that scrapes.]

I'm going to try to put this in terms you will come about a city's length from understanding, Kim Dokja, because that's as close as I think I can get you. I want you to picture the first day you showed up her. Fix it in your head. Imagine the arrival. Finding that potion. Walking out of that forest maze. Running into new people.

[She jabs him with one finger. Hard, not that it matters, because she's just a girl, not a constellation, not a Demon King, not even an incarnation.]

And those people say, "Oh, Kim Dokja? There was someone who knew you here. They're dead now."

[ His mask is difficult to keep on, for once. There's a tightness to his jaw when he sees the pain in her eyes, when she recounts the story of waking up and potentially finding out she came too late to save him.

He tucks his hands into his pockets, so she can't see the way he digs his nails into his hands. He doesn't sass her, telling her that his first day here he'd met a child with a knife who had cut themselves to show off their healing power. ]

I wouldn't have done it if I didn't already know that this place doesn't let people die, Suyeong. Even I'm not that reckless.

[ He's silent for a moment. ]

I killed another man dying of Hanahaki - mercied him. I saw him again three days later, as hale and healthy as he'd been before the flowers.

You don't know.

[Stepping back, she folds her arms, tight enough that she's almost squeezing herself.]

It could have been different that time. That could have been the exception. The Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds to whatever this land's Eight Lives is. Something you don't have a book telling you about. It was your life, you idiot! You're so damn used to giving it up you don't have any idea it's actually important!

[In this moment, her hopes and dreams of convincing Dokja to not sacrifice himself at the end of all things seems foolish and very distant indeed. He's writing it into himself, underlining and emphasizing, pressing so hard that even if you ripped the words away the notches would be visible beneath.]

[She wishes, she wishes so badly, that he at least remembered Kaizenix. Then she'd have a real weapon to use against him. Even now she knows perfectly well she's reacting too harshly, taking it too personally, to really pretend she's from just after the 10th scenario. But she can't stop. All she can do is hope he's too busy dealing with everything else she's lashing out at him with to notice that.]

[ He's not shocked she's mad - she's already made her dislike clear. He is shocked by the ferocity of it, by the burgeoning sense of despair he can see in her eyes. Yet again, a look he's seen previously - a look he's ignored easily - seems to cut him sharper than before.

Without thinking he raises a hand to rub at his chest, where something heavy feels like it's sitting in his lungs. ]

I -

[ He shakes his head a little, mentally, grits his teeth. ]

Suyeong, there was no evidence to support that I'd die and never come back. The one man who stayed dead had deliberately given up his power to stop a disaster.

Everyone else - every Dreamer - has returned. I had two proofs against none. It wasn't a casual decision!

That is NOT a NORMAL equation for people to risk their lives on just to not tell a secret!

Like!

[She stomps one foot hard, then kicks the nearest chair, because she can't punch and kick Dokja.]

Maybe! It was the only way to beat the lesser disaster. MAYBE! It was the only way to deal with Nirvana! MAYBE it was the only way to deal with the 10th scenario! I don't think so, but I'll assume! For the sake of argument! That you thought about it and couldn't come up with literally anything else. Maybe each and every one of those was justified.

[After a couple of more kicks to the furniture, she rounds on him, somehow managing to stare down at him in cold fury despite being much shorter.]

You tell me. You make your very best argument. As to why dying instead of telling a secret was the only acceptable way.

INBOX (labyrinthum)

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🎀

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cw: self harm, not dokja

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