Ichigo Catchall

[justonezero]

ghost life ghost life ghost... death?

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Week 4, Monday

[justonezero]

[Sometime after the meeting, Yoshi goes to seek out Ichigo with some Important Questions! He doesn't even have the extra hoodie on, so no need to worry about the living noticing he's around.]

Ichigoooo!

[bladeisme]

Nanase?

[Ichigo automatically responds from a couch on the lobby, his brightly colored head popping up.]

What is it?

[justonezero]

Ripley said that the god said we should find Sol and talk to him because he can talk more freely than the god can, and Szayel said you'd know more about him!

[PLEASE ASSIST??]

[bladeisme]

Sol -

[He blinks...and then nods, but he doesn't look happy about it.]

....Yeah. That'd be a good idea, but...There's a catch.

[justonezero]

What's the catch?

[bladeisme]

We need a piece of Sol to talk to them.

I had one in my brain before I died, but - it wasn't with my bones when The Resort gave them back to me. I think The Outsider took it with him.

1/

[justonezero]

2/

[justonezero]

3/

[justonezero]

done

[justonezero]

Seriously!?

[bladeisme]

Seriously.

[That sure was some expressions, though.]

There's not much we can do without a direct connection to Sol, and we need a piece of their rock to do that, so...

[justonezero]

I'm kind of concerned about the type of person who pulls a rock out of someone's brain after killing them!

Like, more than I already was!

[bladeisme]

He did blow the top of my head off - I figured he probably saw the chunk then.

[SAID LIKE HE'S FUCKING TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER, mingled with a shrug.]

So like everything else, if we want to talk to Sol, we'll have to find where he's hiding.

[justonezero]

Whyyyy would you pull a rock out of someone's brain after you blew it off...

[That's gross! That's so gross!!]

[bladeisme]

Probably because it was part of Sol - we're not supposed to let SCP's interact with each other, you know?

[justonezero]

We aren't?

[...Did anyone tell him that in his memories? He's trying to recall...]

[bladeisme]

Well, personally, I think it's kind of dumb. But Sol is classified as an Euclid, so they're kept away from the others because they don't know what they might do.

[justonezero]

...Euclid?

[What's that one.]

Week 5, monday

[bladeisme]

[Yeah, he's....seen how Yoshi has been acting today, and he wants to check and see if he's alright. So, with some hot chocolate in hand, he's going to go talk to Yoshi.]

Nanase?

[Wherever he is, anyway.]

[justonezero]

[There's been tears. There's been numbness. Fear, worry, sympathy--

It's a whole world he's never known until he came here, until he died, and it hurts so much.

By the time Ichigo finds him, it's a moment of calm again curled up in the lobby. He's not really sure what to do with himself anymore, particularly knowing he needs to be careful with his vision.]

Oh-- hi, Ichigo.

[His smile doesn't reach his eyes.]

[bladeisme]

[...Ah.

He knows that smile - and he just hands over the hot chocolate, sitting down next to him.]

...Bad memory?

[He almost feels like he shouldn't ask, but -

Asking is an important step, here.]

[justonezero]

[He reaches over for the hot chocolate, holding it in both hands, feeling the warmth through the mug. When he speaks, it's very matter-of-fact.]

I tracked down big bro Mikado- mm, my future self. He was dying from overusing his eyes, so they killed him.

[A beat. And then:]

I told everyone what I do for the Foundation, but they all still want me around...

[Even if he's supposed to track them down. Even if he's supposed to bar them from freedom.]

[bladeisme]

[That's...sure a lot that he just learned - but he reaches out and places a hand on Yoshi's shoulder, trying to be comforting.]

...They care about you. And - just because the Foundation used you doesn't mean you're a bad person, Nanase.

If it did, no one would want to talk to me.

[That was just...a fact of life, when you worked there as an Agent. The price of being alive in this world meant that sometimes, you had to take someone else's life away.]

...I'm sorry, though. That - must have been hard.

cw: suicidal ideation

[justonezero]

[The memory was definitely a lot, that's for sure.

He just drinks his hot chocolate, looking at nothing in particular.]

It was basically like a game to me. Tracking people down, that is. I just didn't expect the one to die to be someone I knew... I guess?

[How much did he really know Mikado, when Mikado was truly himself?]

Even if people were arrested... even if they died... as long as it was for the greater good, it should have been fine, right?

[But then Mikado - Yoshi was killed. Erased for his uselessness.

Some part of him argues: that should be fine, too. For what is he unless he's useful to humanity? Unless he can devote himself to humanity?

And yet...]

[bladeisme]

[There's moment where Ichigo is silent, considering that.]

...What really is the 'greater good?'

[It's something he's thought about, in this forced isolation of his. When his life of forced missions became something less, and he had time to think about everything alone.

It's made him turn a little philosophical, really.]

Back then - you weren't like you are now. You've come a long way, and you're questioning what you're doing. What you do from here, right?

I guess what you need to ask yourself, is - do you think it's fine to keep doing what you did?

[justonezero]

The greater good is... whatever makes the most people in the world happy. Especially if it could make everyone happy.

[It's impossible. He knows that. But it's how he thinks, anyway.]

...I don't want to keep tracking people down like that. But if I say no, will they even let me?

[That's the part he's unsure on. Because if they used Mikado until he was just something to be disposed of, then...

Why bother listening to the tool if it protests its use?]

[bladeisme]

...I think something like that is impossible in any world, Nanase.

[He says it as gently as he can, but there is nothing that will make everyone in the world happy, and certainly not everyone.

But he drops it, listening to what else he has to say.]

...That's what we're trying to change about The Foundation, Nanase. They see us as tools - and we want to make it so that they realize we're more than that.

And - I'm sure Red, at least, would listen to you. Maybe even Archer, if you phrased it the right way, but - you're better off with Red.

But - I'm glad. I'm glad that you realize that you don't want to do what they tell you, for the 'greater good.' Not if it comes at a cost to you.

[He looks over, placing his hand on Yoshi's head.]

You're a lot more valuable than just a tool they can use up and throw away.

[justonezero]

[But what if we just mind control everyone into h a p p i n e s s.]

..."We?"

[Who's "we?" Is there a group within the Foundation like that...?]

...Mm. I don't know if it's really because of the cost to myself. [He'd like to live a long life of course, but...]

...I want to make people happy. I'd do anything for it! But... tracking people down for the Foundation like that...

That's not the kind of happiness I want to give people.

[Not the joy of ending a life.]