recolle | [open] nobody is what they seem

Entry tags:

persona 5: akira kurusu

[open] nobody is what they seem

WHO: Kei Shigaraki (

livingimpaired) and YOU.
WHERE: RAMEN + Dreamscapes.
WHEN: Throughout July.
WHAT: Catch-all for July.
WARNINGS: Fate/ warnings. TW: Psychological torture, suicide, and gore.

A. RAMEN: Meet a sketchy restaurant owner.

[ The restaurant smells heavily of spices to the point that a person unaccustomed may very well feel bowled over. It certainly doesn't smell like a ramen shop should. But then, it isn't. The menu denotes to why – it only has various forms of mapo tofu and mapo tofu-styled ramen. The only thing that is “new” to the menu is the drinks menu has increased to save people from having to decide between water or milk. ]

Welcome.

[ He calls from behind the counter, and even offers a wave to the person that happens to enter. It's at a quieter time in the day and so the restaurant is mostly cleared out. Kei tosses a towel over his shoulder in a dramatic fashion. Does he need it? Probably not; it seems mostly to make a scene than anything else.

After the previous month, he has decided to crawl back into his role of a shady yet meddling restaurant owner. It's difficult to do so, of course. It's like trying to force a hermit crab to take back the shell that it outgrew, but he's trying. He's trying. ]

Might I interest you in attempting this shop's challenge?

B. DREAMTIME: Find out more about the shop owner, perhaps?

[ All his dreams start the same.

The area is filled with black, viscous liquid pouring down from an unseen sources above. An atmosphere which should have been stark white is being stained. It wraps around the limbs of the person traveling in the dream. Kei, himself, merely stands in the middle of it all – looking rather apathetic, and disinterested in the encroaching darkness. For it is darkness blotting out an empty scene devoid of any color, scenery, and feeling. ]

Well, well, well. I wonder what it is you hope to accomplish.

[ It is really all he has to say to the traveler before the liquid rises, taking almost human shape before it surrounds and suffocates them. When the black recedes and allows the person to finally breathe, another dream settles in:

1. (CW: Psychological abuse of a child.) [ It is raining heavy outside of a cemetery. Kei is nowhere to be seen but a younger man that resembles him steps out of the iron gates to meet with a young girl that is pushing her wheelchair bound mother. One can see there is a smile on the young man's face that goes unnoticed by both with him. ]

2. (CW: Suicide.) [ The room is dark and smells heavily of blood. A woman lies upon the ground covered in red. Her face is masked in blood and unrecognizable – a fault of the memory rather than a reflection of what had happened. A younger Kei holds her as he cries. Yet something about the scene feels wrong. The air is heavy and even if his tears are understandable there is something that does not feel right about how he holds her, how he cries upon her. ]

3. (CW: Psychological and physical torture). [ A young man lies on the alleyway ahead of the viewer. It is obvious that he is in a considerable amount of pain. Smoke bellows off of him indicating that he had been set on fire yet there are soft, gasping sounds still coming from him. A younger Kei walks toward the body. Bladed weapons snap out as he raises them to put the poor man out of his misery. And yet, the younger Kei hesitates before the weapons are put away. His hand instead rests upon the man's chest as a soft, glowing green light pours outward. Screams immediately fill the alleyway. ]

4. (CW: Gore). [ Less subtle, less kind; a man that looks very much like Kei as he does now save for the priest cassock. He stands grabbing onto an old feeble looking man. The man only laughs and spits blood with each burst of chuckles. It does not seem to bother Kei too much as he beats the body against the wall made of stone. He walks slowly along the perimeter of the wall, dragging the body with him and leaves a smear of red in its wake. All the while, he speaks a prayer in a calm, unhurried voice. At the end of each sentence, he lifts the body to slam it hard against the stone until the stone crumbles just a little under the weight of the action. ]

C. DREAMTIME: A Softer World.

[ Instead of viscous black pouring down, the dream opens to something surprisingly dull. It is the inside of his apartment, but significantly different than the one people have come to know. Instead of a large empty room occupied with just a bed and couch; it is well-furnished with various knitted items resting over chairs and ottomans.

There is a record player in the corner that is playing some obscene church gospel song as Kei, himself, is sitting and knitting in one of the overstuffed chairs. While the atmosphere is significantly less oppressive, there is still something empty about the room. It feels like it is more for show rather than showing what is inside of the man himself. It's not a living space for Kei, but a space for people to come visit. ]

I wasn't expecting any visitors. [ So he says, not looking up from his knitting. ] But since you are here, what can I help you with?

D. WILDCARD: All these are awful.

[ For anything else! Like you actually want to have them meet in the clinic, that's okay with me! Or if you wanna plan for anything more specific PM or hit me up at

saltandburn! ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Ren finds himself in such an odd dream—a familiar voice that forsakes him to drown in this gunk. It's disorienting to find himself in a different scene, rain pattering down on him even though it should be summer. Odd. He doesn't recognize the mother or the girl, but that face. There's no way he can mistaken it, even if he looks younger. Brow furrowed, he contemplates over the best course of action.

Should he just watch...? No. ]

Mister Shigaraki?

[ Hesitant, he calls out to him, but doesn't approach. He looks different, especially with haunting smile. ]

Mister Shigaraki?

[ The young man steps away from the young girl and mother. His head tilts as he does not seem to recognize the name as he steps forward toward Akira. ]

I'm afraid there isn't anyone by that name. [ His steps somehow sound foreboding as he walks across the sidewalk to meet with the "visitor." The chilling smile has faded to something more neutral and dead. A bladed weapon is at his side -- it is wrapped up with cloth, but still held with purpose. ]

Are you, perhaps, lost?

Edited 2018-07-07 05:08 (UTC)

[Kara, stepping into this other place, the choking, cloying cloud of black liquid is already baffled. That was Kei's voice? That was definitely his form. This was already pretty eerie but when the goop starts to clear and she can finally see that feeling cracks apart and shatters into something far worse. She's faced with a disgusting scene, something both vile and infuriating, but the gunk is still holding her back just enough that she can't intervene.

Thrashing, she shouts out to the man.]

What the fuck are you doing?! Stop!

-- Kyrie eleison.

[ He doesn't halt; he doesn't relent. Even with the new presence screaming at him to stop, he can't until the chant is complete. If he ends it early, the worm will find a way to escape. The man is no more than a smear on the side of stone. Zouken is no more than chunks of meat that happened to get caught on the side of the wall. He flicks his fingers, splattering some of the matter onto the ground. ]

It seems as though you've come to see an unfortunate sight. [ Yet he seems extremely pleased with himself all the same. He steps forward to her, looking at how the gunk holds her in place. ] I see. You're just a visitor, then?

Yeah, no shit Kei.

[Kara practically growls, tearing free of the muck with all her strength. Black ooze sprays everywhere, and when she steps free her foot slams down into the floor, cracking it.]

What the fuck did you beat that guy to death for? Aren't you a goddamn preacher?

Kei? I'm afraid that you're mistaken.

[ His smile is irritatingly smug as he takes some piece of the old man's clothes up off the forest floor so that he could wipe his hands clean with it. ]

I'm a priest, but only in name. There is no one more fake than I am but to get into all of that... well, it's hardly what you're asking me, is it? [ The cloth is discarded quickly, like it is something disgusting rather than what he wiped off onto it is. ]

He decided to have me be his enemy. That is all.

And that's all.

[Kara spits the words out, a coldly mocking parody of Kei's tone.]

You just killed a man, murdered him because what? He was full of worms? He was old?

[Some of the wriggling creatures are still alive, for the moment, and one makes the mistake of getting near enough to Kara to be stepped on. Her boot squelches, dark ooze spraying in an odd pattern on the ground.]

You went from nihilist to full on psychotic murderer...Jesus Christ.

Because he made me his enemy.

[ Kirei repeats his reason carefully, easily. His shoulders lift and lower as he shrugs off the accusations that he is a psychotic murderer. ]

I won't deny that I took pleasure in his death. He has been nothing more than a creature deserving death for years. [ His head cocks to the side as he steps forward, easily meeting her anger with his calm. ] But there's no reason to get into the reasons for it. In the end, I killed him. In the end, he decided to foolishly name himself my enemy and place himself in my range.

I killed him, because it was the easiest thing to prevent him from killing me. [ He chuckles. ] Oops, it seems I gave my reason, after all, but... what of it?

[Atsushi doesn’t know where he is or how he got there, but he’s far too disturbed by the scene unfolding before him to care. A younger looking version of Kei holds a woman who has obviously passed away, covered in blood and unrecognizable. This must be some kind of dream...

Or rather, a nightmare. Atsushi’s voice trembles as he speaks.]

Shigaraki-san...? Is that you?

Shigaraki.

[ His voice is raw from crying. He lifts his head to look toward the young man entering the small room. The entire area reeks of blood. A soft chuckle as he holds the woman close, like unwilling to give her up. ]

You're mistaken. You are and you are not. You're but a visitor in his memory. In this memory. [ His eyes close. Somehow, he seems more composed now that he realizes he is not alone. ] You get to speak to the man that's been haunting him. How lucky you are.

[Finally completely free of the goo, Kara advances on Kirei. This is not Kei, at all. She can tell that much. It has his face, sure, but there's nothing of the cheerful nihilism the priest displays. That...malice...and smug calm? That's annoying.

Her hand snaps out, grabbing a fistful of his cassock with an inhuman speed and strength, twisting the fabric near to tearing.]

You've got to be his 'other self'. The side he tries to hide. [It takes considerable willpower for her to remain coherent and not splatter him across the dreamscape. she's angry, yes, but mostly because of the self-satisfaction plastered all over that too-calm face.]

Is this your big nemesis, Kei? [She looks around, wondering if he can hear her in the dream.] This worm infested freak, and your maniac past life?

That's right. [ His expression seems almost bored even as she grabs onto the front of his clothes. The only change in it is that his jaw is more set, annoyed at how she is nearly tearing the material. ]

It's not so much as hiding as he has no way to talk about it. The person that I am is not evil in the way that can be explained. What I did here was evil, yes, but it is better that that creature died than continued on. [ He has the sense to not smile in a smug manner at the end of his sentence. ]

Who is our greatest enemy but ourselves, visitor? The person that we see we could become. Ah, but that's impossible, isn't it? Even for him, it is impossible for him to be me. I'm myself. He's himself. You're yourself. And she is herself. [ And he lacks the sense to not chuckle. ]

But a maniac? Not at all. I'm neither sane nor insane. I am enlightened to myself. But I prattle on and on... you actually can talk to me. Surely, you have something to ask, to say, or else what is the point of even interrupting me from reliving a fond memory of my own?

[Anger continues to well up inside Kara, a burning, blazing, roiling feeling of pure hate. Not anything pure and righteous, just simple disgust and disdain for his attitude. She shoves him, releasing the cassock, though not hard enough to really throw him anywhere. She's mindful of her strength even now.]

Why was it better to kill this guy, then?

[She folds her arms, setting her jaw belligerently, head cocked to one side.]

You've lectured me all the time about being good. Staying human. And here you are, smashing freakshow here into the pavement like it's fucking Christmas.

[ Stumbling back, he does nearly lose his footing -- and trips back onto the wall that is covered in most of Zouken's remains. He pushes himself off a wet part of the stone. Pulling on his clothes to straighten them, he lifts his chin a little at her words. It's a familiar gesture that Kei does when he hears a question and he becomes temporarily preoccupied with his own thoughts. ]

He doesn't know, and I don't yet have that memory. [ He smiles; it is a smug yet coy one. ] What he knows is this man is a monster. Not just because he was made of worms, but because he is filled with nothing but malice and hatred. He delights in the suffering of others to where he would even orchestrate them himself.

[ Kirei shakes his head. ] He is no more than a sadist driven mad with the pleasing thoughts of pain that could be inflicted on others. Children, family. It doesn't matter to him. He has no scruples and so is little more than a worthless worm squirming about in the darkness. Or ... I should start using the past-tense, shouldn't I?

[ Once more, he chuckles to himself. ] But again, that is only why it is better he died. As for why I killed him, I shall say it over and over, again... because he decided to foolishly name himself my enemy. I would have felt disgusted in knowing he lived on, but I would have no reason to kill him if he had not decided to have me be his opponent.

[ He walks forward toward her. ] You're looking for righteousness not goodness. Humanity is not filled with righteousness and not all actions are. This is something I took happiness in. It's ugly and unsettling to look at, but that, too, is human. To remain pure... is inhuman.

Haunting?

[Could this be...Kei’s past self? But how could that be? Atsushi is so confused, but he’s also intrigued, and he takes just one step closer to the scene.]

Who are you?

That's right.

[ He holds the woman close for a second longer before carefully setting the body back down on the floor. Looking away, he lifts her hands to place them over her chest in a pose not unlike if she were resting in a casket instead. ]

Kirei Kotomine. A record of him, anyway. [ A pause. ] And she is a woman I could not love. [ Why not get the elephant out of the room? ] She wanted to prove I could love her by ending her life. ... and what do you think of her incomprehensible reason?

[Al eventually get along to visiting the restaurant, after texting each other so much, recently, how could Al NOT come, after all...60% off, he enters with a smile when he sees Kirei]

A challenge? Let me guess...each tons of your super spicy ramen?

[Kara's expression darkens further, the angry young woman glaring down at the corpse. And it is a corpse, that much is obvious, but what the fuck. What kind of world does Kei's other self come from, where there are men made of worms and priests go out and murder them? It is murder, as far as she can see, because bad people go to jail, they don't end up dead on the floor.]

Yeah. He's dead.

[Her foot comes down again, hard, the minute he steps towards her. Blood seeps into the cracks in the stone, an oozing red spiderweb expanding out from where her boot made impact. Something swirls at her back, the cape Retrospec had sent her settling on her shoulders, and something seems to click.

His heart. It's...]

You say that righteousness and purity aren't human. Maybe.

[Another step, this one less filled with fury. She glares up at the man pretending to be a priest and puts her palm against his chest, like she's going to push him again. She considers it, but only for a moment.]

...You aren't human, either, though.

Tsk.

[ He actually says the word rather than clicks his tongue. Smiling at nothing in particular, he tilts his head as her hand rests upon his chest. Indeed, he knows he has no heartbeat. ]

He doesn't know yet the reason why I have no heart. I can't tell you what I don't know, unfortunately. [ Kirei decides to save her on asking after it. ] But I am human. I've never forgotten my flawed self, and embraced it completely.

You're, however, attempting to avoid the contradictions that make up people. You think having humanity only means that you will be good? [ He turns his head to bark out a laugh at the idea. ] Visitor, you will be given more power than most as you regain more and more of yourself.

[ His smile remains smug and proud. ] But I will tell you one thing... with the face you have now, you will not ever be able to save one person. Not in any way that means anything. Saving their life, yes. But saving their life, hardly.

You are correct.

[ He lifts his hand toward the Hall of Fame where there is a petite young miss sitting, looking proud, in the picture. ]

The task is to eat the spiciest mapo tofu that I have in under an hour. If you do so, you win five-hundred dollars and your own picture upon the wall. The entry fee, however, is fifty dollars. [ His tone sounds almost a little too cheerful as he explains the challenge to the young man. ]

-The blackness felt like the ocean at night, cold and unforgiving, swallowing all of existence into its maw and not even chewing. No life, no light, could escape the absolute darkness of its depth, Satsuki choking and coughing, sputtering out more black before it finally, mercifully pulled itself away...

That man... He looked, vaguely, like Kei, but much younger. Satsuki had to take a moment to gather her senses back up from the dark deluge that had just consumed her, to even pinpoint that much. In fact, by the time she realized what was happening, the other man was already screaming. She reached for... reached for what? She never reached for weapons before. There was nothing to be had anyways. Emptiness...

So she did what came naturally, dashing forward as soon as she was at her feet, and raising her arm. Kei stood well tall enough over her that there was no way she was going to reach his neck or head, but a clothesline to the chest, particularly with her monstrous strength being reined in by nothing, would be enough to throw him away from his... target? victim? She didn't fully understand.

But she intended to find out.-

What the hell is going on here?! -She screamed, her clothesline arm aimed at Kei's chest.-

[He thinks about it for a bit]

I think I will pass...how close to other people tend to beating it anyway?

Not very.

[ Kei readily admits the failure of others. ]

It's quite a spicy dish. [ One that he speaks with extreme fondness and pride. ] Anyway, you're wanting something of ... weaker spice, is that right?

[ As she dashes forward, he changes his position -- snapping his leg out aimed at her own. He does, of course, end up taking the arm to the chest but his own are up crossed over where it would have hit. He moves back some in the process, but doesn't completely lose his balance. ]

It seems I'm dealing with a rushing boar is what is going on. [ He shakes his arm at the side, feeling some numbness at having taken the hit. But his body has been trained and beaten and broken to be the weapon of the Church. Kirei can only also thank that he still has armor underneath his cassock, but that doesn't mean he doesn't already feel the bruises building. ]

What are you attempting to do, visitor? Can't you see -- ah, well, I suppose his healing is about as far as it needs to go anyway. [ So he says as he looks toward the unconscious Kariya. ]

[He nods]

Then work my way up...

and seriously?

Dare I ask how many try?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 7

[open] nobody is what they seem

B-1 if you think i'm not here for the fate/bullshit you're wrong

you're in it now, son. in it talking to younger kirei, i guess!

B-4 and I am so here for Fate shit.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

B-2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

The promised day....

no subject

no subject

no subject

b3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject