randangonpa | Trash Squad Day 11

Trash Squad Day 11 - SECRETS

Are you ready for it?! It's the long awaited final event! This is your last chance to get close before your final dates and the final bonus event!

And, back by popular demand, it's the motive vi—wait, no, not that. Well, I guess you're motivated to build your relationships? That's better anyway.

...Anyway! Check your tablets! You will find you have a few interesting video files! They should be familiar to you! The catch is... if you don't share each one with a different person by nighttime today, they will all be shown to everyone here! We'll have a fun midnight viewing party!

This may seem a bit cruel, but... love is cruel sometimes. Take it as an opportunity to get a bit closer to the people you care about, or everyone will learn a bit more about you! It's win-win when you think about it that way!

[ On your tablets are a minimum of 3 video files! There is no maximum; it's however many you OOCly want to deal with. Each video contains some sort of secret your character has—'secret' loosely defined as anything they would be uncomfortable being thrown up on a big screen in the auditorium in front of everyone. The presentation can be as simple as lines of text with embarrassing facts (Alice wet the bed until she was in junior high!) or as involved as a dramatically edited montage of the murders they committed through their whole life. Your choice!

Each file should be shown to a different person to count as 'shared'. If there is anything they do not manage to, or choose not to, share with someone in particular, comment with a brief description of it over here. These will all be shared publicly in a post which goes up on Thursday before the date announcement post. ]

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SUBMIT YOUR HOT OR NOTS AND DATE RATINGS by 6PM PST THURSDAY.
SUBMIT YOUR UNSHARED SECRETS ALSO by 6PM PST THURSDAY.

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[yusuke picks up the tablet as soon as it hits the ground, sets it on the table, firmly cups rin's face with one hand so he can't escape, and stares him down]

Okumura. Look at me.

[That is actually a good idea, because he was about to bolt from the room. Running from his problems is definitely something he does.

But he's caught, and with Yusuke's hand there he can't really look away, so he's left looking at Yusuke. There's shock and a whole lot of hurt in those eyes. He wasn't actually consciously aware of that fear of his, but now that he's seen that video too? Yeah, he can see where the fear of abandonment has always been a problem for him.]

[making eye contact and keeping it, unblinking]

I seem to recall you running from your feelings before. Do not run from the people you love, Okumura. You must face your fears if you wish to move forward. Am I clear?

[Yeah, that. That's a real challenge for him.

But right now he's still in shock so he can't even argue with Yusuke. All he does is nod a little in affirmation.]

[he leans in a little, serious]

You are not alone. You are only alone if you keep running.

[and he lets go of him]

[The answer comes a few moments after Yusuke lets go, when Rin finally gets control of his voice again.]

I know. I...I know.

[That doesn't do much to help with the crippling fear of everyone eventually deciding he's not worth the effort and just abandoning him, though.]

[baby steps, rin.

that having been said, yusuke's going to run his hands over his face and into his hair from having seen akira and ichigo almost dead, and then seeing them executed. hoo boy.]

[Yeah, the last game was quite a trip. Fun times all around.]

...I'm sorry. I thought it was just some dumb stuff from the thumbnail, I didn't realize what it really was.

[taking a deep breath in and letting it out]

... it is alright. I simply... reacted emotionally.

Well no shit you did! You didn't need to see Akira like that.

[He knows they're good friends, and he probably definitely didn't need to see Akira shot out of a canon like that. Or learn that Akira definitely killed someone, because that sure happened too.]

[he knew the basics, but not the details]

Yes... and neither did you. I am sorry.

[He's not really used to others feeling bad for him like that. So he glances away awkwardly as he tries to come up with words to make it slightly less terrible..]

It's alright. Though I guess you know now why I don't really talk about it, huh?

I do.

Shall I show you one of mine, then?

Yeah, that's fair I think. Then I'll help you through whatever problems you've got.

[Since Yusuke was such a bro and reassured him and all.]

[yusuke flips through his videos, and frowns]

... I have one left, but it is... not pleasant. I will tell you that now, in case you do not wish to view it.

I still want to see it, even if it's unpleasant.

[He owes it to Yusuke to see it. Not only because Yusuke saw his, but because they're friends. And that's what friends do for each other.]

Very well.

[The scene: a somewhat run-down Japanese-style house, not in shambles, but clearly something of a shack. It's evening, sometime in late autumn, so there's a chill in the air. Yusuke is about 11 or 12, huddled in a corner of a room dedicated to making art: there's supplies on multiple tables, several easels with half-finished canvases, and paint splatters on the floor and walls. There's also a small bookshelf off to the side, mostly filled with art books, but hidden behind it are a few volumes of manga. Yusuke is currently reading one of the manga volumes, shivering from the cold, but determined to ignore it. He reads for a few more minutes, until there's a SLAM of the front door of the house being open and shut. He jumps, and fumbles to hide the manga before the door to the room opens. He's on his feet by the time it does, and the person who opens it is an older man dressed in a formal kimono. He eyes the room critically without saying a word, and then turns to Yusuke, and sighs deeply.

Not finished yet? The exhibition is this weekend, and it would be a poor showing with the number of works I have so far.

"My apologies, sensei. I promise I will have it done for you before then."

Hmmm... I seem to recall hearing promises of the sort last time, and I was still short one painting then, wasn't I?

"I... I swear I will work even harder to make up for that. I know how much the exhibition means to you, sensei--"

The older man interrupts with a laugh and a smile, but there is nothing warm or kind in his gaze.

You worry too much, Yusuke. I have complete faith that you'll deliver on time.

"... of course, sensei."

But let's not leave any room for doubt, shall we?

Yusuke goes still, and then he reaches out a hand towards the older man, calling out "Wait, sensei, please--!" but it's too late. He has closed the door, and Yusuke can hear the sound of it being locked from the outside, a click echoing in the room with a terrible finality. Yusuke lowers his head and presses his face to his palms, shivering. He's only lucky he was able to eat dinner beforehand, because he knows already that the door will not open until the morning. Glancing around, there isn't anything that he can use for a blanket... he takes the manga volumes out from behind the bookshelf and bends them a little, judging how soft they are. He can use these for a pillow, at least. He sets them down in a pile by the corner for later.

For now, he has work to do. He stands in front of the unfinished canvas, already painted in shades of deep blues and blacks. Yusuke clenches his fists hard, and swallows back the tightening in his throat, and he starts to paint. He paints in a frenzy, like he's possessed by something, but it's obvious that it's just him lashing out in anger and frustration. The painting comes to life as a boat at sea, caught in a storm, a crack of lighting hitting the bow of the ship and splitting it in twain. It's beautiful, and Yusuke is in tears by the time he's finished--and by the time the sun rises.]

[...oh.

Rin had some perceptions of Yusuke previously. Perceptions that definitely colored his first encounter with him, and that made becoming friends a bit more difficult. Even after they were friends, Rin had been assuming that they were true, and that he would just be friends with Yusuke despite them.

But now he sees that he was wrong, and that Yusuke has suffered just as much as anyone else here. He's not a spoiled rich kid with no worries whatsoever who sticks his nose in places where it doesn't belong, he's just...Yusuke. With his own past and his own problems.

Rin doesn't say anything about the video. Instead, once the video is done, he just reaches out to pull Yusuke into a tight hug.]

[yusuke lets out a gasp when rin hugs him, just out of surprise. he's stiff for a moment, but then he wraps his arms around him in return]

[Rin will go ahead and hold onto Yusuke tightly, then. ]

I'm sorry. That was so cruel, I can't believe someone would do that to you.

[yusuke's moved on from his past at this point, accepted a lot of things now that his vengeance was fulfilled, now that madarame was brought to justice--but somehow, hearing that makes his throat tighten up in a way he didn't expect]

... it is alright. You need not pity that child; he is not suffering like that anymore.

It's not pity, it's empathy.

[He knows all too well what it's like to be mistreated by someone who looks like a kind person.

He pulls away from the hug, but he keeps his hands on Yusuke's shoulders as he says the next part.]

You're not a tool to be used like that. You're a living, breathing person, and you deserve to be treated like one. Don't ever let someone treat you like that, alright? Because you deserve better.

[yusuke knows that now, but part of him still feels the pain of being used his whole life for nothing more than fame and money. he smiles a little, wryly]

... I wonder how things would have turned out had someone told me that when I was younger. Perhaps I would have run away. But that was always what kept me there--I had nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to... until I met Ann, Akira, and Ryuji.

Aah, so they're your precious friends then.

[Rin has friends like that too, back home. Friends who helped him open up and become a better person.]

Yes. Though they are far from perfect, they have supported me and fought by my side. I treasure their friendship more than anything else, even as much as my own art.

[he gets a really fond look on his face]

We are a wayward group of misfits, delinquents, and troublemakers... yet being with them is paradise compared to what I lived through before.

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