Susato Mikotoba 🌸 御琴羽 寿沙都 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
judicialassistant) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dreamcrystals2023-01-09 08:01 pm
judicialassistant) wrote in dreamcrystals2023-01-09 08:01 pm
[02] three lies, one truth
Sender: Susato Mikotoba
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Descriptions of death (specifically: falling/burning, stabbing, freezing, drowning) and the crippling fear that comes with that.
When Susato is first seen, she is nigh unrecognizable. There's only a glimpse of her. Her hair is frazzled, long well past her shoulders, and the white dress she wears, accented by pinks, does not match the grim darkness of the cage she is in. Seconds later, there's a loud metallic clang as the cage is shut.
There's movement like a shaky camera, and you... no, Susato is looking into the eyes of one man who looks almost surprised to see her. As if he hadn't been the one to put her there.
"Mr Vigil?"
The voice is small and cracks like glass over the flames below.
Before he can respond, there's the sound of a lever and a deafening scream as a feeling of terrifying weightlessness takes over your body.
You're falling, and you don't know when you'll stop.
* * * * *
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
When the dream spits you out, you can taste a mixture of blood and dirt as you blink your eyes open. They sting like you've been crying, and when you bring your filthy hands up to look at them, you can see the pink of your kimono sleeves. The loops in your air feel looser and messier than usual as you can feel the terrifying glare of a man before you, bleeding and in chains, and yet no less threatening.
All around you are corpses. You just barely manage to struggle to your feet when he moves to strike you down with alarming quickness, his blade and scythe at his call. Something hard and sharp pierces your stomach as his voice booms:
"You will not tarnish... my brother's memory...!"
You were so close. You can see some of the broken chains you worked so hard at; he was almost free.
But it's too late.
A laughter seems to be coming from the noble in the portrait behind the Reaper, and an eerie red glow bleeds out from the canvas as your consciousness fades.
* * * * *
The laughter transforms into something else, another voice. It is almost pleasant; and the scene is entirely different now. A gorgeous ballroom surrounds you with an air of celebration, you are humbled, taking the man before you in a dance. Here is the face that everyone says you can trust, and yet you can hear suspicious whispers coming from the walls.
Something is wrong.
You feel cold in a way that is inexplicable. Your very core is frozen, and it feels like you will never get warm. suddenly it's a struggle just to move with the music; but eventually you stop listening to that, too.
"Don't struggle." The king pulls you close in what is most certainly a threatening manner. Beneath your gloves, your fingers have already become ice. "Your death is inevitable now. Accept it with grace, and don't scream."
But even if you wanted to, you can't.
Pathetic gurgles escape your throat as ice travels up your chest and your neck. A piece of your white hair falls across your face, but when you go to brush it away, your hands won't move. Nothing will.
There is stillness. For a moment, you have hope, because you can still move your terrified, wide eyes, but soon that too is gone.
* * * * *
In that moment, you're not able to look at anything else.
Your neck is craned upwards and suddenly, the dream has shifted one final time. You're staring at the surface of the freezing cold water from below, unable to breathe, but the Gods above have mercy on you, and it doesn't last long. A glaring white starts to creep into the corners of your vision, filling everything in haze, and the dream ends as suddenly as it began.
* * * * *
[ Back in the comparative comforts of her home, Susato awakes with a start. She gasps for breath like she's just been held underwater, sitting up and gripping at her blankets. For all she knows, they are her lifeline. She is shaking, the faded memories of dreamscapes past rushing back to her, and she feels her arm knock something off the bed she's on.
......All she can do is breathe. ]
(( ooc: tl;dr, just a fun throwback to the fun deaths i've been able to put her through this past year. <3 please assume delayed responses where appropriate/etc. ))
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Descriptions of death (specifically: falling/burning, stabbing, freezing, drowning) and the crippling fear that comes with that.
When Susato is first seen, she is nigh unrecognizable. There's only a glimpse of her. Her hair is frazzled, long well past her shoulders, and the white dress she wears, accented by pinks, does not match the grim darkness of the cage she is in. Seconds later, there's a loud metallic clang as the cage is shut.
"Mr Vigil?"
The voice is small and cracks like glass over the flames below.
Before he can respond, there's the sound of a lever and a deafening scream as a feeling of terrifying weightlessness takes over your body.
You're falling, and you don't know when you'll stop.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
All around you are corpses. You just barely manage to struggle to your feet when he moves to strike you down with alarming quickness, his blade and scythe at his call. Something hard and sharp pierces your stomach as his voice booms:
"You will not tarnish... my brother's memory...!"
You were so close. You can see some of the broken chains you worked so hard at; he was almost free.
But it's too late.
A laughter seems to be coming from the noble in the portrait behind the Reaper, and an eerie red glow bleeds out from the canvas as your consciousness fades.
Something is wrong.
You feel cold in a way that is inexplicable. Your very core is frozen, and it feels like you will never get warm. suddenly it's a struggle just to move with the music; but eventually you stop listening to that, too.
"Don't struggle." The king pulls you close in what is most certainly a threatening manner. Beneath your gloves, your fingers have already become ice. "Your death is inevitable now. Accept it with grace, and don't scream."
But even if you wanted to, you can't.
Pathetic gurgles escape your throat as ice travels up your chest and your neck. A piece of your white hair falls across your face, but when you go to brush it away, your hands won't move. Nothing will.
There is stillness. For a moment, you have hope, because you can still move your terrified, wide eyes, but soon that too is gone.
In that moment, you're not able to look at anything else.
Your neck is craned upwards and suddenly, the dream has shifted one final time. You're staring at the surface of the freezing cold water from below, unable to breathe, but the Gods above have mercy on you, and it doesn't last long. A glaring white starts to creep into the corners of your vision, filling everything in haze, and the dream ends as suddenly as it began.
[ Back in the comparative comforts of her home, Susato awakes with a start. She gasps for breath like she's just been held underwater, sitting up and gripping at her blankets. For all she knows, they are her lifeline. She is shaking, the faded memories of dreamscapes past rushing back to her, and she feels her arm knock something off the bed she's on.
......All she can do is breathe. ]
(( ooc: tl;dr, just a fun throwback to the fun deaths i've been able to put her through this past year. <3 please assume delayed responses where appropriate/etc. ))
no subject
[It's amusing watching Fang trot about. He'd never seen a creature like her before so it was a curious sight to take in. Despite it, he keeps the conversation between him and Susato going.]
I like a whole lotta stuff. But I ain't got a lot saved up in my phone.
[He pulls the device out of his pocket for Susato to see. It's a red smartphone, just a bit smaller than the size of his hand. The lock screen facing her depicts some graffiti art as well as the music player app.]
It's mostly hiphop and j-rock, coupla rap songs but been givin' city pop a listen recently. [A recent addition to his library, thanks to Futaba.] You wanna give it a shot?
no subject
They were for a friend. [ She can sense herself spacing out as they go, her voice airy, so she turns to Beat as a way to keep herself grounded and focused. ] ...But yes, I... I'd love to hear modern music. Do you mind?
[ Sharing music in this way seems kinda personal. She doesn't want to overstep. ]
no subject
[Pulling off his headphones, he hits pause on the current song before he hands them over to Susato. Well aware that this technology is much ahead of her time, Beat takes his time showing her the basic controls on one earpiece of his headphones.]
You can adjust how loud you want it here, and you hit this when you want 'em it to start. Once you get 'em on, you go to go.
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She finishes placing the headphones over her ears, speaking a little bit louder after she does so. ]
I remember Mei showing me once. [ And then she'll hit the button that looks kind of like the head of an arrow, pointing sideways. It's a good thing he lowered the volume. ]
no subject
Yeah, I heard a bit of what Red likes too. It ain't too bad either.
[He walks alongside her as she gives it a listen, catching up to Fang as the dragons continues to wander, head tilting curiously as she watched Susato.]
How you findin' it?
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Meanwhile, once Susato has an idea of how loud the song is going to be, she feels comfortable enough that she presses the up button on where Beat had indicated the volume. Her head starts to nod along to the beat, and for a moment she wonders how loud the volume can go.
She keeps pressing the button, but once it gets too loud, she'll start pressing the opposite one.
......Fascinating. ]
Hehe. I like it?
[ She doesn't seem sure, but she starts gently patting her hand against her leg next, so it can't be all that bad. If there are lyrics, she probably doesn't understand them too well. ]
I recognize that it is Japanese, but it still... feels like a different language. I think I would have to write down the words to have a chance at deciphering them.
no subject
So when she begins to tap her hand to the beat, he can't help but smile, feeling a little proud in the moment.]
It don't sound like the Japanese that you used to? Can't even imagine what that's like, yo.
[Susato always had an air of formality about her, but the way she spoke never really bothered him. He knew someone like Nagi after all, and there were similarities in their manner of speech. But hearing her say that reminded him that it might not be the same for her.]
You can keep listenin' while we walkin'.
no subject
The song in the background, and at the forefront, Beat. ]
Which song is your favorite?
[ Music is important to him, so in a way, she's getting to know him better... She hopes. ]
no subject
I'mma change the song, aight? Might get a little loud.
[He waits a little bit before he switches the song being played. He doesn't know much about music that Susato might've listened to in the past, but he's at least aware that what he was going to play may surprise her.]
I got a lotta faves but been listenin' to this a lot lately.
no subject
The lyrics are in English, which might add an extra layer of difficulty to it, but even if she doesn't understand everything, she can still remember bits of Beat's dream and the conversation that followed.
Take a look at me. I'm not the perfect boy you want me to be.
She can understand. ]
...Do you still feel free here?
no subject
That song was important to him, serving as a reminder of his goals and how he didn't have to live under the shadow of his parents disappointment nor their approval. He didn't have that here, yet somehow he still found himself looking for some kind of validation at times. Some encouragement to know that he was doing the right thing and making the right decisions.]
I mean, yeah, kinda. Don't got my parents breathin' down my neck, you know?
But we don't gotta talk 'bout that, yo.
[He at least offers that, not wanting this conversation to be about him if he could help it. He had come here to cheer her up, after all. Not the other way around.]
no subject
No, we don't. But I like learning about the things that are important to you.
[ She'll allow the song to finish without any interruption. ]
Thank you for sharing that with me.
no subject
Course, yo.
[Not taking his headphones back just yet, the next song, begins to play, this time a mix of English and Japanese. Though a lot tamer than the beat of the last song, the message it carried was similar to the last.]
I got other things that's important to me that ain't got nothing to do with my folks. [A smile returns to his face as he looks at the headphones atop Susato's head.] Wasn't really into music before. But got into it 'cause of my friend back home.
no subject
Because of your friend? Did they play an instrument of some kind?
[ She wonders if his friend was a musician, though she has no real reason to assume it so. Maybe they just shared things, like they are doing now. ]
no subject
[He remembers how he and Neku butted heads when they first met, their personalities clashing with one another. But he'd changed over the course of the Reaper's Game. The both of them did and that was enough to get them to a point where they could work together, where they could become close, where they could actually become friends. It's still hard to believe how much Beat trusts Neku now considering their history.]
He's better 'bout it now. A lot better. [A chuckle leaves him, but there's a sadness to it that Beat didn't show very often.] But he went missin' for a while. Didn't know where to find him. An'... I dunno, man, I guess music kinda helped me feel connected to him while he was gone, you know?
[And he did feel a connection with Neku despite what happened. Beat knew that his friend was out there somewhere, he just had to find him. And he did eventually. It was these things that were important to him rather than his broken relationship with his parents.
That importance carried in his voice and in the way his expression changed. In how he smiled and frowned and sighed. Then he chuckles.]
Heh, didn't mean to keep talkin' like that.
no subject
You missed him.
[ That's sweet... She wonders if she would have found some way to stay connected to Kazuma as well as they went their separate ways, beyond the letters they would inevitably send each other.
She hopes so. ]
I am glad you had that connection. Is that how you found each other again?
no subject
Hell yeah, I did. He's my best friend, you know?
[He starts walking again, his pace slower. They needn't hurry tonight, considering they barely had a plan besides making it to the lake.]
I mean, kinda I guess. It was like I could still feel like he was 'round. Not jus' 'cause of the music. Like legit feel him.
[It's obvious that he's having trouble trying to explain it better to someone who hadn't been there.]
But anyways, took me three years to find him! But it was more like he found me and saved me from gettin' my ass handed to me.
no subject
You mean, there was a fight? I am picturing a dramatic entrance, followed by a touching reunion.
[ And like, possibly some hair ruffles. ]
no subject
[Beat joins her, his own laugh loud and boisterous. The grin on his face reached ear to ear as they continued to walk, trailing behind Fang as they closed in on their destination.]
I was hella hyped to have him back. Like I knew we was all gonna be okay with 'im 'round.
no subject
Just like last year. ]
Well, where was he hiding?
no subject
[Even he didn't know how to fully explain where Neku had been. Especially considering what had happened to him prior.]
Phones kinda disappeared. Like he straight up didn't exist 'cept for the few of us who remembered him.
[There was a touch of melancholy to his words. With how he looked, a thousand yard stare gracing his features, it was obvious that there was more being left unsaid.]
He was in another city. In Shinjuku. But it was like that place didn't exist for a lotta people either. And he was stuck there, all on his own for three years.
no subject
That she recalls, there had been a lot of talk surrounding the place, most notably a rail station that had opened there that had gained a lot of popularity. To say it just didn't exist for a lot of people... She can't imagine it.
Three years... Three lonely years. ]
...You know, that almost sounds familiar.
no subject
Familiar, huh? Why's that?
no subject
[ Susato is always a little hesitant to breach the topic. She was never there, but perhaps Futaba would have more to say on the matter, someday. ]
Three years is roughly the time Kazuma spent in the Realm of Stories. [ All by himself. Before Reverein. ]
no subject
Same as Phones, huh? [No wonder she had said it was familiar...] But what's this Realm of Stories supposed to be?
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