Semi-Meme (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
semimeme) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bakerstreet2013-06-23 03:10 pm
semimeme) wrote in bakerstreet2013-06-23 03:10 pm
The Hug Meme
HUG MEME
- Put up a thread with your character, fandom, and any prefs (if applicable) and wait for someone to tag in with hugs!
- Go to other threads, either pick the number you want or go to RNG.
1. Friendly hug - this person is your good pal, and you just wanna give them a fond squeeze to let them know.
2. Romantic hug - you just want to be closer, so wrap your arms around them, maybe rub their back some...
3. Bear hug - maybe you haven't seen them in a while, so how about a giant hug that lifts them off their feet
4. Hug from behind - surprise them, guess who?! or maybe they're having a bad day, cheer them up.
5. Awkward hug - maybe it's on accident, but whatever the case is, you can't help but feel a little nervous about hugging them.
6. Reluctant hug - whoever this person is, you have to hug them, better make it quick!
7. "I'm sorry!" hug - actions speak louder than words, will this person get the message?
8. Give a little extra hug - give them a kiss with it, cheek, shoulder nuzzle, whatever - but let the hug linger a little!
9. Don't WANT a hug - make them see sense! Cling, and don't let go for anything oohcookiegimme! - if you're the hugged, try to get loose. Or maybe you'll give in!
10. Random or other kind of hug - pick the choice you like best, or make up your own!
Akihiko Sanada | Persona 3 Portable
9
And Ryoji had been trained by him after all. He couldn't give up either. He did his best to be strong and use his powers, even if they hurt him. He didn't let anything slow him down, not even the idea of the others and how they were doing back there. He was determined...
And then he finally found Akihiko, and something just broke. Maybe it was seeing a friend again, maybe it was knowing that Minako wouldn't need to mourn the upperclassman any longer. Maybe it was just a sense that he'd finally done something right, that someone hadn't died on his watch.
Whatever it was, it send Ryoji running towards Akihiko, clinging to him in an emotional hug.]
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He didn’t know how long he had been wandering around the forest, searching for a way out, but he was experienced enough to survive. Still, his senses were bound to get weary sooner or later, fighting monster after monster, which was why someone could get the jump on him now.]
Wh-Whoa!
[Akihiko whipped his head back to see what had just attacked him – and his eyes immediately widened with shock.]
Ryoji?!
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Of course, he couldn't say that. He couldn't allow his relief to overflow out of him... or he shouldn't, anyways. Yet he kept hugging Akihiko, forgetting the need for personal space.]
You're alive... I knew you couldn't be gone for good!
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No, I’m definitely not dead. [He confirmed in a dry tone.] They just kicked me out. Something about me being a possible threat… I guess this was their idea of trying to kill me.
[There was no way he could really be related to such cruel gods like that, Akihiko mused to himself. He didn’t want to be, anyway. He was content with being a regular mortal. Well, having the ability to summon Personas – that, he would keep.]
Hey, uh… [He replaced his Evoker back into its holster and shook his shoulders as much as he could, with Ryoji still grasping onto him.] You can let go now, Ryoji. …Are you okay?
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Still, his bravery is failing now, and he sounds a bit choked up as he continues speaking.]
But why? They voted that you all should be kept alive. If no one else was too dangerous, why you? It's not fair...
[Ryoji doesn't want to be related to those gods, either, even if his mother never voted. If such cruel gods were supposedly afraid of Nyx, he wouldn't be surprised if she was even worse.
He refuses to let go, still burying his face in the other's shirt.]
I'm okay... but are you?
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He bent down and did his best to turn his body around so that he could at least face Ryoji, then wrenched his arms away to pat him on the head.]
A little tired. [More like a lot.] I can’t remember how long I’ve been out here. Do you know the way out?
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[Ryoji nuzzles into the hand a bit, but just keeps hugging Akihiko.]
I-It's been months since we've seen you. I've been looking for you since right after I was able to leave. But I've been keeping track of where I've gone, I-I have a map, so I think we can get out.
[Later. He's... still busy hugging.]
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M-Months?! [He was clearly shocked by that knowledge. How had that much time passed without him noticing? Did time pass by differently here in the forest?] Seriously?! Did everyone else make it back…?
[…All right, he’ll acquiesce and return the hug, slipping his free arm around Ryoji’s back and pulling him closer. The hand on his head gently guided him over to his shoulder.]
Hey… Everything’s gonna be okay. I’m sorry you went through all this trouble…
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Even if you don't know who your parents were, I doubt that you'd really have such a cruel father.
And... not yet. We've been searching for a long time. Mr. D told us that by this point you were probably dead, and that we should... just give up.
[He sounds choked up, but Akihiko returning the hug seems to help. He leans closer, tucking his chin over Akihiko's shoulder.]
It's okay. I'm just so glad you're okay.
[After a few minutes, he clears his throat, pulling away with a sheepish grin.]
Minako-chan will be glad you're alright.
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Ah… I see. [He frowned, feeling concerned about the junior in front of him.] Thanks for… not giving up on me. [This was a foreign feeling, really. He was used to people relying on him for one thing or another, but to actually risk their lives to save him? Definitely different…
His cheeks colored lightly at the mention of Minako. He definitely thought of her while they were apart.] R-Really? Is she, uh… doing okay?
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[Sorry, Akihiko. It's not that he's upset at you for swearing, but he isn't one to curse himself. It just seems cruel, even when directed at a terrible god who threatened to kill some of his friends.
Ryoji shrugs, modest.]
You don't need to thank me. I just knew someone as strong as you wouldn't die so easily...
[He fights against Nyx in the future and survives, after all. Wandering in a monster-infested forest is nothing for Ryoji's upperclassman.
He smirks knowingly at that blush.]
She's been alright. Sad, of course, but I don't think she game up on you either. It took me forever to convince her not to come look for you, but I didn't want her getting hurt.
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Not a chance! There are still things I need to take care of, back home... I can't throw in the towel this early.
[Like he ever would, period. "Giving up" was obviously not a known term in Akihiko's vocabulary.]
You did the right thing, man... [Though he frowned slightly as a new realization suddenly occurred to him.] I didn't mean to make her worry... but I can't go back to the camp. Not after being thrown out. [Did this mean he couldn't see Minako anymore? Or any of the others?]
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Right. Just make sure to take a break when we get back.
[Yes, ‘we’. He’s coming with you whether you like it or not.]
She won’t be worried anymore. I’ll go to the camp. You can wait outside the border. I’ll go get Minako, and we’ll all go back home.
[Not that Akihiko’s home is actually Ryoji’s ‘home’, his Tatsumi Port Island, but it will do.]
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10 and I'm apologizing in advance
Ever since the funeral, it's been the one Yukari's dreaded the most; in fact, she's tried coming up with every excuse possible to not be there when the time came. But now that the moment's arrived...she just feels numb. It's Fuuka who asks her to help, and so she joins the other girls, feeling disconnected from what they're about to do.
It's a quick process. Minako was never one to keep a lot of things, so before long they have a few cardboard boxes filled with her clothes and other personal belongings. Eventually they begin to leave the room, eyes red-rimmed and teary, except for Yukari and Aigis, who remain stoic throughout the entire thing. Soon it's just Yukari standing in the middle of the room, staring at the boxes piled up on the empty bed, clenching her hands into fists at her sides. After a few minutes she manages to tear herself away and leave the room as well, only instead of joining the others she heads down a floor and knocks on Akihiko's door.
She knows how he felt about Minako. It's only fair that he gets a chance to go through her things for keepsakes, right?
"Senpai? Are you in there?"
you are horrible ;(
And then, ten years later, he watched Shinji suffer the same fate.
Now, barely six months after that, it happened again. Akihiko had lost yet another person that was important to him.
He couldn't even figure out what the cause was, despite being right there to witness her final moments of consciousness. Minako had been in his arms just days ago. She looked tired, but he didn't think her fatigue was so severe that she would die from it. Damn it, if only he had checked up on her before that day-! His memories... How could he possibly have forgotten about her? All the time they had spent together, fought alongside each other, fallen in love...
This time, the pain hurt even more than before.
With a sluggish blink, Akihiko turned his head toward the door, barely registering the knock. It was the sound of Yukari's voice that had actually caught his attention. He considered not answering, but after a few minutes of silence, rose from his bed with reluctance to go answer her.
The door was opened just enough for Yukari to see part of his face, shrouded within the shadows. "...Yeah. Do you need something, Yukari?"
sob
"We finished putting all her stuff up. Do you want to look through it? Before we...you know."
She can't even bring herself to say it: get rid of it all. Instead she bites on her lip and tries to look anywhere but directly at him.
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”I think I'll give you something new to put in it every year...”
Unseen to Yukari, Akihiko curled his hand into a fist at that sight. He felt like slamming it into the wall – which wouldn’t be the first time since Minako had passed away. But just by reading Yukari’s body language, he could tell she didn’t feel comfortable doing this in the first place. He had to keep his cool. He just… couldn’t work up enough energy to smile at her in reassurance.
What reason was there to smile anyway, when his heart had been buried with his beloved?
“...Hmm.” Akihiko slanted her a brisk nod in affirmation. “I’ll hold onto it.”
He didn’t want them to throw it away. Shinji’s room was left untouched after his death, after all, and Akihiko had planned to retrieve this belongings at graduation… well, now.
-Insert some hybrid mutant number here-
He has the letter Ken slipped under his door the other night tucked into his pocket. It's told him everything he needs to know.
It ain't much of a surprise. Amada is a smart kid. Hell, he isn't even a kid, not really. Amada was someone who had to grow up too fast, too soon, and was stuck in a body that refused to grow up along with him, that's all. Shinjiro had always wondered what had happened to him, now that he didn't have a mother. He heard things sometimes, but nothing concrete. Now he's had the chance to see how Ken's turned out, a product he helped sew, then abandoned to struggle in the dry earth. He doesn't know what he should feel.
But he guesses that doesn't matter anymore. Or it won't, give it another week. It's obvious the kid has something in mind for the fourth. Shinjiro knows what it is. He can read between the lines, can read the meaning behind every radical the kid drew to construct his message. What else could it be? It doesn't surprise him, not really, to know that the kid hates him. It's only natural to want someone who had killed your family to die too.
That doesn't surprise him at all.
What surprises him is that that knowledge doesn't settle his nerves any. You'd think it would, given that now he has the chance to potentially even out the scales. Soon he won't have to deal with things like he has been day after day, and wonder what the hell he's supposed to do with tomorrow. He should be okay with it, but he's not. He's scared of it, because there are things, he realizes, that he hasn't done and still needs to do, because he's sick of regretting things. Except those things he didn't realize needed doing until now. And now he doesn't have any time, if things work out the way he should. He's scared and it's ridiculous. He shouldn't be frightened at all. Shouldn't be worried about other people either, because they've (he, she, her) been doing just fine without him around. The idea of maybe leaving permanently shouldn't be so distasteful.
Guess he's always been a coward.
And now he's doing what he normally does when he's running away from something—a thought or a feeling he can't really outrun—: he walks somewhere where he doesn't think other people will go. He heads up the Dorm's staircase, passing each floor until he reaches the top to where the roof is and he can see everything, and stands and watches and waits for the Dark Hour to hit. Part of him imagines that there's already a hint of green to the night.]
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But they had come so far since then, from just him and Mitsuru, to all of these new remarkable potentials. And having a full team with Shinji back – that just made Akihiko even more eager to end it all. Because after Shinji helped them defeat the final full moon Shadow, then he would realize that he had proved his worth, right? Taking the pills, struggling to control Castor, suffering with the guilt for the past two years – it would all have been worthwhile if he had a hand in saving the world. SEES didn’t need a hero’s glory. They were brought together to do the right thing, and it felt good to save innocent people from turning into the Lost.
On this night, Akihiko had been thinking about sneaking out around the Dark Hour to get some training in. He had spent plenty of time studying for the upcoming exams, and school wasn’t his only priority these days, anyway. If Mitsuru caught him, she would most likely lecture his ear off, but there were only a couple more rounds before the big match. They couldn’t let up now, not when they were so close to their end goal!
But then he heard the sound of a door nearby closing – it sounded like it came from Shinji’s room – and he peeked out into the hallway just in time to see his friend trudging up the stairs. What was he doing at this late hour…?
Naturally, Akihiko followed him, after grabbing a jacket to combat the cold night air. He could always train tomorrow night. And every night afterward. But Shinji was more important right now.]
Hey, Shinji. Couldn’t sleep, huh?
[Akihiko walked forward until they were standing side-by-side. He knew of his friend’s penchant for checking out the view from rooftops, and wondered how often he had come up here since his return to the dorm.]
This building isn’t as high as Gekkoukan High, so the view’s not as great. And, well… [Staring at a bunch of coffins lining the city wasn’t exactly appealing. But at least it demonstrated the importance of what they were doing.] But that’s okay. It’ll all be over soon.
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Yeah. [It would be all over soon. The calendar's ready to turn into October.
Years ago, he might have tried to smile, but he doesn't even attempt to now. The only thing that manages to break through his habitual facade is a wry curl that twists into his voice.] Guess so.
[Granted, he's not sure he fully believes that defeating a few irregular Shadows will change things. Why even go into Tartarus anymore if you can just tear it down from the outside by waiting for the irregularities to appear? But maybe the Chairman's theory is true. He would have liked to be able to see the world with Tartarus gone. He might not be able to sleep now, but he rarely slept during the Dark Hour, anyway. It was too dangerous to when you lived on your own and wandered the quiet streets, and old habits die pretty hard. Shadows came down into the city sometimes, and he wasn't an invincible coffin; he couldn't pretend the Dark Hour didn't exist.]
So what're you gonna do then, after the damn tower's gone? There ain't gonna be anything for you to fight anymore.
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And it’s been great, having you back here. [Now entering sappy territory, but Akihiko didn’t care if Shinji got exasperated with him for it. He had a right to be sentimental at times, and now, it just felt natural. He went with his gut whenever logic wasn’t required to fit into the equation.] Mitsuru agrees too. Let’s give the next one hell, okay? Just like last month.
[Shinji’s question actually gave him pause. Akihiko had easily doled out a stock answer when the other SEES members were discussing it, but this was his best friend. This was different.]
Tch, I could always kick your ass, you know. [He retorted with an impish gleam in his eyes. After a moment, the humor faded from his expression, and he turned to glance out over the sleeping city before them.]
You mean, aside from graduating and going to college? Not sure yet. I gotta pick a major first, so I’ll know what to study. I don’t plan to let up on my training, though, even after the Shadows disappear. It’s just gonna be weird to fight without Polydeuces. [Out of habit, Akihiko pulled his gloves on tighter, and then casually flexed his leather-covered fingers. Down at his waist, his holster felt unusually heavy, as if trying to get his attention.] But who knows? The Shadows might come back. Then we’ll be needed again. I’ve gotta be ready for that day, just in case.
What about you, Shinji? If we can’t use our Personas anymore, then you can stop taking those pills, right?
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He hopes it works. He hopes destroying that last Shadow will tear it down. It's easy to want to believe in Aki's enthusiasm, smile a little at the humor. (The only reason you can kick my ass is because I let you.) He hates Tartarus, in his own way. It stands for everything the Dark Hour is, and it's easy to want to blame Tartarus as the source of all his problems, shift the blame to something inanimate and incapable of feeling regret, and hate how he had ever woken up to the Dark Hour. How he had pushed himself into in the whole affair despite Ikutsuki warning him that he didn't have potential. He had been reckless and stubborn then because he hadn't wanted to leave Aki to his own, more thoughtless brand of recklessness and stubbornness. It's something he can't regret doing, but he does regret not hanging back and being more careful. He hadn't understood how expensive mistakes can be.
But, ultimately, the fault is still his.
Though some of his thoughts stray somewhere else, he still listens, scoffs silently at some of what Aki says.
Of course Aki wouldn't stop training. It isn't in his blood to. Shinji's not a fan of it—for as much as the two of them fight, it's not something he's into—but it's better to box than to fight Shadows every night, and one day Aki'll probably go out of it. He just wishes he could know that Aki wasn't about to jump headlong into stupid shit that he can't pull Aki back from.
His mind then wanders to the hanging question, and his eyes go distant for a moment. He shrugs his shoulders.] That ain't something I've thought about.
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Regardless, Akihiko had every intention of dragging him out for such an event, when it took place. He believed that SEES would succeed at their endeavor. Why else would they fight so hard and risk all of their lives? Because the end goal was worth every bit of their efforts. The Chairman was a smart man, and SEES had Mitsuru’s father and the rest of the Kirijo group backing them up. Everyone was counting on them to win. Failure was not an option.
Akihiko shot a curious look toward his friend, not entirely surprised to hear his answer, but still feeling somewhat disappointed by it. Just because Shinji had returned to SEES didn’t mean he was absolved of guilt. More like the opposite – he only joined again because of Ken. He could never fully recover if he didn’t find a way to forgive himself.]
Still living in the moment, huh? [He lifted a hand and placed it on Shinji’s shoulder, gripping him firmly.] …You’ll move past this too, you know. Don’t throw away your whole future because of what happened before.
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Though he knows he's a hypocrite. For as rooted as he tries to keep himself in the present, he dwells on the past at least as much as Aki does, but instead of counting each day for what it's worth, he mostly counts mistakes and compares them to the life he had once upon a time.
His shoulders stiffen at the contact, but he doesn't move away—just stands there, stares at Aki for a few long seconds before looking away. He wishes he could be as sure of things as Aki is. That he could face life with the same kind of determination—minus the occasional idiocy that comes with it. But he's paid for a clearer vantage point, so he can see how the world runs. He can't get that back.]
If I'm around to see it, I'll go.