destinystrings | (no subject)

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Who: The Investigation Team and Nanako plus one death goddess.
Where: Yu and Nanako's apartment.
Summary: The IT celebrates Christmas together away from home... more or less.
Warnings: Yu trying to keep up his mission to bring a Green Christmas to Hinoto-ri. Horrible singing. lulz

It was a bit rushed and last minute -- and most of the work had to be done by other people because a certain grey haired leader was currently acting like an idiot -- but the apartment that Yu and Nanako shared was currently decked out for the winter holiday. Streamers hung around door frames and windows, and someone had even managed to bring in a little fake pine tree to be decorated.

There's also food, of course, though how good it is depends greatly on who cooked it. Taste with care, least you end up poisoned on Christmas.

It might not seem very festive at the moment, especially considering the current state (and presence) of certain individuals... but that will change at midnight at least.

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Izanagi, you said it to her through the child after how long of speaking to her through whispers of the heart? Thou should have realized it by then that she would wish to speak with thee. And it was not long (she had to drop off the other gifts and collect her thoughts, okay) before Izanami was floating there, just outside the balcony. For a moment, it was as if she were wearing her own mask again as she looked into those yellow eyes.

SLAP.

...and then she slapped him across the 'face', lighter than she likely would have otherwise. Even odder still because it is the 13th Hour and she has access to all of her powers, considering she is, quite literally, in her human-shaped goddess form.

"...You left me."

At least it was not a legion of demons?

Edited 2012-12-27 04:05 (UTC)

...small favor that.

Still, though it was just a "light slap" for a goddess, and Izanagi barely flinched at the strike, it was enough to knock Yu on his ass. He let out a grunt of surprise as he landed on the snow covered balcony, feeling like he had just been punched in the face. He blinked, more perplex than hurt; oh... so that's how it feels like. He'd have to apologize to Yosuke at some point...

Izanagi reached up, a clawed hand touching where she had struck him. There was silence for a very long moment, and Yu was almost afraid that his Persona was incapable of speaking. Finally, though, the god shifted, coming down so that, even though he was still floating, it gave the illusion he was standing on the balcony.

"...I was a coward, sister."

...wow, that was the first time Yu heard his Persona's voice outside of his head. It was weird... like a deeper version of his own voice...?

She would likely apologize for that later if she needed to, but until then she simply stared at him in the awkward silence that followed. There was no sound aside from Yu tumbling to the floor. Even as she floated there, almost-glowing yellow in the eerie light of the moon during this time. The only thing that changed was the fact that she no longer seemed angered... only hurt.

Yet, he likely noticed before... how her curse had ended many years ago.

"Yet you did not trust me, either." Her gaze averted for a moment, and she nearly did transform into her own Persona self, before stopping herself. No. She would not hide behind that particular mask this time. "Though I cannot say you were the only coward..."

You weren't the only one that was hurt, Izanami; despite the mask, the sadness was there in his eyes.

"I was unsure as to your intentions," he replied softly. "Mine fate is shared with my keeper; though I had seen the signs, I could not say for sure that thou were the one responsible for the happenings of the year, nor could I convey as much. The visions of the future thou had imparted upon us were difficult for me to accept."

...even though his host had been rather forgiving, but that was very much like him to extend a hand to someone in need, even if their intentions were not entirely honorable.

An honest moment of truth from his wife... or perhaps she had always been honest (or at least partially so) since coming to this place? He couldn't say, though he could feel her sincerity right now; that was enough for the moment.

That was noticeable from the start, and as much as she wanted to reach out again, to touch him, she could not.

"I was, though I cannot say that I regret doing so. However..." She had split herself into two, discarding much of her own emotions and a strong desire on top of it. One that she would... rejoin with should she ever leave. With that knowledge, and knowing how it would one day be for them... "What actions they chose were their own. It was my role to ensure that they could bring about a destiny most of them know... or will soon come to realize."

What a part of her had hoped would be, even if it meant that she would be separated from those she wanted to understand.

Yes... one day, his split apart wife would be whole again, and that day she would be someone different as well... perhaps even someone that could live peacefully in the modern world. He looked forward to that day when she was not afraid to love and care for humanity again, yet at the same time... he feared losing her again.

At the same time... was he not living a proxy life through his host?

"Just as it was mine to ensure mine keeper would continue to strive for what was true, when I was too afraid to do the same."

Yes.

That had done it.

There was now a goddess floating a little closer to the balcony, and soon, a single finger was hesitatingly placed on his mask, almost exactly where she had slapped him. Yet she does not strike him again, only allows her hand to linger there a moment before resting her forehead against his--or would have, were it not for the mask--as she whispered to him alone.

"I had never stopped loving you, even in my anger. I was terrified of being separated from you for all eternity. You...and the land we created together. I had bore my own mask when other children sought answers, but even that a false face could not hide how much I loved you."

Not even splitting her being in two...

...

Were those tears?

Izanagi froze a moment, like he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. It was a moment before the god finally relaxed, reaching up to rest a hand on her side... but he ended up pausing again. Another moment's hesitation, and that hand reached up between them instead, grasping the mask...

Yu, meanwhile, had been sitting there... rather awkwardly, not to mention rather coldly, seeing as the snow had pretty much soaked straight through his pants and underwear at this point. He was trying not to pay too much attention to what they were doing; this was supposed to be a private moment between the couple, and the only reason he was here was to keep Izanagi present. When he felt the stirring in his soul, however... when he felt Izanagi reach for his mask, he couldn't pretend he wasn't sitting there anymore...

...and he felt his stomach drop at his own face under the mask.

Izanagi didn't seem to realize his human's discomfort, however. He gazed down at Izanami, yellow eyes looking tired and burdened with thousands of years of grief.

"...nor I you, sister mine," he murmured. "In this place, in this time, I must bear my mask, though there willist come a time in which I may discard it. I fear thou will be long beyond my reach by then."

She could not help the pained smile crossing her lips at that moment, seeing his face for the first time in who knew how long. The face of her brother, her husband... and her better. She embraced him then, holding him close as she could even in a fleeting grasp.

How many years had it been since she allowed herself to feel these emotions?

"Darkness has always been sibling to light, Izanagi... You know this better than most, even among our kind." Izanami smiled faintly. "Were you or I to change in that time... it matters not. I will always be by your side."

And in a moment later, she chuckled and kissed her brother lightly on the forehead as she released him.

'I suggest you replace your mask, my dear... he seems rather shocked.'

What part of "I am thou" did they not quite comprehend...?

Oh, Yu got what that meant, he just... never imagined it quite this literal ~~says the young man that never confronted his own insecurities~~. It took a supreme amount of effort for him to turn away from the sight, and even then he didn't actually get the ability to do so until Izanagi moved to replace his mask. The god almost seemed embarrassed as the mask clicked back into place, like he was ashamed at surprising his host that much.

"Sister," he began. "I will share mine keeper's belief in thee. Tis the least I can do after thine involvement in this week's... events."

He wasn't getting into more detail that that; his human was already having issues just from seeing his face.

Well, human... ~~it is Exactly What It Says On The Tin~~ maybe someday you may need to, but someone had always been strong enough to work through them rather then need them all brought to the surface. Izanami chuckled, and perhaps even wondered... how would have her human reacted, had events transpired differently?

That was a question for another time, however, for Izanagi's words of faith, after how long it had been that their final words to one another had been of separation and pain-filled malice... After all the passing seasons, he was finally able to trust her word?

"As I have always believed in you, Brother." Even when he abandoned the painful truth on the other side... A part of her bitterly wondered how long it would be before he proved this false, or if it would turn out to be true. Yet she knew better; it was him, after all. "He earned his right to choose his own path. Mere observance of those... events," ...wait... "-would have been an insult to my recognition of this fact."

...Izanami did you really just-

Yes, yes she did.

...Yu seriously didn't need this many surprises in one night.

It took a moment for what she said -- and how she said it -- to sink in, after which he was left a stammering mess. He struggled to get a word out as he stared in disbelief, but all he could manage was an awkward, "A-aaa-!!" noise. Really, he should have seen this coming, because this was always how things worked out, wasn't it? It still was enough of a shock to make his brain and voice box refuse to cooperate.

After a moment, however, he fell into silence, staring at Izanami, and...

"...are you going to start calling me a stupid marmalade muffin now?"

Izanagi actually let out an exasperated noise at that. Really, human? Of all the questions to ask, it had to be that one?

Congratulations! You may have just met a certain fragment of your friend! Or rather, someone who is an annoyed tsundere death goddess of a younger twin sister. Either one is likely to be true, and even more so likely accurate to a T.

And the moment Izanagi sounded exasperated, she could not help but laugh. Of all the questions he could have chosen to ask...

"Hardly." Honestly, why would she? That was the hollow shell who was left powerless; not her.

"Okay..." Yu replied, though there was an obvious wary note to his voice, like he was expecting it any second.

Izanagi shook his head in exasperation, amazed that his human could be so strong and dependable, and yet have amazingly air-headed moments at the same time. Your shining beacon of hope, ladies and gentlemen.

After a moment, the Persona rested a hand on his sister's shoulder, giving it an absent minded squeeze of affection, before letting go. No words needed to be said; he knew now that she still loved him, and she was loved still in return. Where they went from here would be up to them, and the choices of the boy behind them. He gave a small nod to her in respect, before returning to Yu's soul.

It was a moment before he could finally get up after Izanagi disappeared, and Yu fought against a shudder that wanted to run through his body. He did like the snow, now that he was in his right mind, but sitting in it for this long definitely wasn't one of his smarter actions.

...Representative, please. As though she would stoop so low when she is the more eloquent half. But then, she was the more stubborn as well.

A hand lingered over Izanagi's for a brief moment, that faint, warm smile she'd always given him before her untimely demise still present on her face as she nodded to her equal, no... perhaps even better ~~no matter how much of a jerk he'd been in their early years~~. It was almost relieved, because it meant that she no longer had to wear a certain mask of her own.

Still, once Izanagi vanished, it left one last person to be concerned for. Honestly, did no one tell him when he was younger that it was foolish to sit in the snow?

"Your friends are waiting, child." Also warmth. Warmth was still good for the living. She was not about to ruin their Christmas further.

...Yes she was still holding on to the plushie shutyourstupidjerkfaceokay. ~~HA! She didn't actually say it.~~

"All right..." he murmured, resisting the urge to sneeze. Dammit, he's going to end up sick now. "Will you be staying, or...?"

He knew Yosuke would have a fit about her being around still, and he wasn't sure about the others. But... he...

...what did he feel? He wasn't sure anymore.

Silly humans and your confused emotions due to being unable to tell the difference between your own and your Persona's. She smiled kindly. nodding only once.

"For a few more moments, perhaps." Just to give at least one more the chance to speak with her, because she had a feeling at least one more of his friends wished to speak with her.

He smiled at that, reaching for her hand without even thinking of what he was doing.

"I'm glad," he said softly, "and again, I'm glad you came. I--"

...and then it hit him what he was doing. He was just confused about what was going on, and now... D-dammit, this had to be Izanagi's fault... or something. Dammit!

Unfortunately for him, her hand is hidden beneath the cloak and sheet that goes over her shoulders and arms. Thus it was harder to find for the child. It did not stop him from being amused, however.

"Oh, boys..." She shook her head, amused. Did he not know how to make his emotions separate from his human's? Either way, she is smiling faintly. "You will get sick if you stay out here much longer."

Oh god... oh god this was so embarrassing... oh god... Yu quickly let go, though not so quickly as to seem offensive, because dammit. And dammit, Izanagi, why do you have to do this?

"R-right. Let's go back inside."

And... he might have just practically ran back into the apartment.

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