Reverse Tarot - tohru_adachi

snake? snake! SNAAAAAAAKE--

im going to block you

c'mon, that was a classic!

3:26 AM

anyway... you saw all that stuff, right??

of course i did

3:27 AM

kid's looking even more suspicious

seriously

bookworm ain't looking too trustworthy either

3:28 AM

but maybe i just aint into their texting tone

care to clue me in, detective?

they're asking too many questions, but i guess that might be valid considering how weird this shit must look to an outsider

3:39 AM

but them being an outsider is also weird as hell even if they were somewhat related to a case

hmmm... i don't like thinkin about it, cuz they do seem decent, but...

3:45 AM

i dunno, somethin yosuke said kinda bothers me now that i really think on it

what's that?

well you mentioned him bein suspicious back at crossroads the other day and then earlier he brought up the thing about how sharin stuff with our allies could be sharin stuff with our enemies too

guess it is suspicious he's harping on that enemy stuff

3:48 AM

considering he's the most suspicious guy there

yeah but

3:48 AM

...i dunno, maybe i'm crazy, but there could be more to that

you think he's trying to send some sort of secret coded message or something

maybe?? i aint too sure on it but the way he sounded i was gettin that kinda vibe

3:50 AM

i messaged him 1-on-1 too

3:51 AM

told him he could talk to me if anything was bothering him, that kinda thing

and do you think he's gonna?

considerin he said it was personal shit, not really

3:53 AM

and maybe i'm overthinkin this and it really is just personal shit but idk

why don't you ask someone who knows him better

...good call

3:54 AM

i'll hit up yu

good luck kid

3:54 AM

you'll prolly need it

pfft, shuddup

3:55 AM

lemme know if you find out more on your end too, yeah?

i ain't particularly looking to play detective with strangers and kids that hate me, so you go have fun and i'll do the fieldwork

well yeah, i meant in the field too

adachi-san. you there?

depends

10:32 PM

if its for a job im very busy

not exactly

10:32 PM

yu and i might've just figured out who's behind our current predicament

hah? without me? man, and i wanted to be the one to drop the big surprise

well... it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing (edited)

10:35 PM

looks like it's hi-no-kagutsuchi. i guess i'll get to see that thing after all...

hah! knew it

10:39 PM

you guys are so slow

to be fair, i just got here.

fine. yu-kuns slow

so, what tipped you off?

hi-no-kagutsuchi. phlegethon. y'know, river of fire

10:43 PM

plus, red sky, sho and i's shitty feelings in there

hm... different mythologies, similar idea. makes sense.

pretty obvious looking at it, tho i guess you werent round for all that

not really. right now, we're thinking he could possibly be taking the form of watanabe in the chatroom

hah? that dork?

yeah. his name was the only one i couldn't see.

oh, right. fancy powers and all that

10:47 PM

so, whatre you two planning on doing about it?

well... first thing we came up with was informing you and sho-kun

10:56 PM

i'd imagine he's not taking it well...

...well, fuck

@Kayla, male thot enemy of state Kanji command grabs you here

ok here we go hehe

... You know I can't answer that. I can't give specifics.

Just saying, seems like you were dealt a shitty hand either way.

6:07 PM

There's no reason to wear so much of that guilt on your shoulders. Besides, that mission was gonna happen either way. We were all gonna get split up, Sho was going to get fucked over, and Teddie-kun would have probably been cut off from us anyway. I don't think things would have gone all too different.

... Yeah... I guess considering who it is, of course they would use their domain around you...

I'm guessing they just want to frame it as being all on you to make you feel worse, even though this was probably all part of the grand plan no matter what.

6:11 PM

At least, that's my take on it.

... I've probably said too much, but... You're right. I can't let myself get blamed for this...

Guess we don't have to talk about it anymore if you think it'll get you in more trouble.

*nods a bit* I think I'll rest up for now...

I was gonna offer to grab you something to eat, but I guess sleep might be more important.

Maybe tomorrow... Good night...

G'night, kid.

sooooo to answer your question

5:09 PM

it's yu

5:09 PM

i don't feel like leavin him home alone.

guess that makes sense

5:11 PM

then again, brat could prolly use some time outside of the apartment too that aint work or drinkin related

yeah that's the issue, that's kinda all he goes out for

5:12 PM

sure, i drag him out to do other stuff, but

5:12 PM

idk

5:12 PM

just...feels like he ain't there sometimes, y'know?

guess he seemed a lil distant last time i saw him

5:13 PM

id say ya could drag him to therapy, but god knows hes too stubborn to make any sort of breakthrough there rn

yeah no, that ain't happenin

cant force anythin out of him, but he aint gonna do anythin either without help... theres no winnin with that kid

for real

can fight him one-on-one any day physically, but this?? sheesh! he won't talk to me bout any of it outside of the usual "i'm fine" or "i'll get through it" and he's been all wound up about nanako, on top of that! ...which yknow i get that, think that goes for all three of us... but damn! just...feels like there's hardly shit i can do

why dont ya try draggin him out for a fight?

5:18 PM

aint that how you dumb kids usually vent out your pent up emotions?

that IS the tried and true method

and i guess i've been itchin for a good fight myself, past few days

5:20 PM

i'll give it a shot! but uh, no guarantees he'll be up for it...

5:23 PM

speakin of, been a while since last time we were in phlegethon, huh??

have ya even been in since that night everythin went to shit?

not really, much as i wanna go again soon

luckily, osaka aint got any sign of the place

5:25 PM

but i really havent heard reports of much changin on tokyo side

yeah, kinda the same old shit here so far

5:26 PM

that bastard must be sittin pretty comfortably down there

or whatever the hell hes doin

5:27 PM

waitin on him to make a move makes me antsy as hell, but dont think anyone wants to try and get so far back in after that big fuckup

5:28 PM

and i dont wanna deal with those kids, either, so kinda stuck just waitin

yyyyep. dunno if going in alone is the best idea right now either

5:29 PM

all those shadows + yosuke n hasegawa + kagutsuchi don't exactly make for a good combo

one thing i got is being god repellant, but that dont mean much when ya cant even get to the damn god to repel

i still got one thing up my sleeve, but... kinda same, it ain't really gonna work if we can't get to him

what stupid shit are you thinkin about pullin

5:32 PM

it better not be self sacrifice or ill kill ya myself

it ain't, it ain't!

5:35 PM

i was just thinkin about using tsukiyomi's super mode thing like what yu has with izanagi

5:36 PM

didn't do that last time, mostly because it kinda takes energy and i couldn't exactly try and kill the bastard right then and there when he cornered me

woulda made things a hell of a lot easier if ya at least tried

wouldn't have been any point, specially since i don't think that was even his real body

guess ya got a point... damn, this shit blows

tell me about it

whatever. guess hell come back round when he feels like it

5:47 PM

for now, just make sure yu-kun aint gettin himself killed

5:48 PM

this is why i never had kids... you two are already enough of a handful (edited)

you sure that's the only reason??

i'll keep him alive though, promise. just gotta get him to fight out all that stress for today

hey, neither of us are gettin much of anythin

5:50 PM

still dont get where the hell you brats get off on fightin, but, hey, if it works, it works ig

for my part, pretty much just force of habit

and for him... well, guess that punks worse at expressing his emotions than even i am nowadays

6:00 PM

quite the feat tbh

hey, you up??

now i am

6:04 AM

whats up?

soooo i was thinkin...

6:11 AM

this waiting game really sucks, right?

its always bad when ya start thinkin...

hear me out on this one

6:13 AM

so, that bastard kagutsuchi, he thrives offa chaos, right? which is why he's probably got yosuke n hasegawa running around stirring up shit for him

so, what, ya plannin to stir up more chaos?

kinda! i'm thinkin if people are freaked or excited enough to get shit stirring, phlegethon's gonna open up for us a lil quicker

ya know thatll prolly only get people like you and me killed, right?

6:16 AM

dont think im the person to ask when most people are lookin for any reason to have my head on a choppin block

but that's the thing right there! it's not gonna be somethin that people can go lookin for heads to chop off about

6:18 AM

i can stir up plenty of chaos without killin people or whatever the shit else. ain't the phantom thieves proof enough of that??

6:19 AM

in fact, i was actually thinkin maybe i could try 'n get in touch with those guys if they're still around!

6:21 AM

and hey, i'm not sayin you gotta help me. i'm just lettin you in on what i'm cookin up so somebody knows not to freak if i go through with this

...we got a couple of their numbers, but i at least want some plausible deniability if youre pullin them into shit

6:23 AM

ask yu-kun for em, without bringin up your stupid ass plan to him. tho, i know youre at least not stupid enough to do that

i was thinkin i could just dig em up myself tbh

6:24 AM

that way, you or him ain't got nothin to do with it

please dont hack into our systems again. caused a huge fuss the last time

nah, not this time

6:26 AM

it miiight be a bit of a longshot, but... i'm gonna look into the admin of the phan-site

6:26 AM

whoever ran that could have had contact with them

hah?

it's the most low-risk option i got right now, so that's what i'm gonna try first

guess that makes sense

6:28 AM

worst comes to worst, pretty sure most nearby police departments have the identity of the leader down

hey, good point! that might actually be way quicker

...go with the techno-nerd first

i guess havin confirmation that the guy knows them would still be useful

unless i can just do a buncha guesswork off their texts and figure it out that way

ya could always try to pull the "im just like their leader with those weird freaky ass powers" card

they'd never believe me without proof though, yeah?

6:35 AM

if i just talked to their leader, i could bring up the velvet room n the old man and that'd be a dead ringer

...lets think of the police thing as a second resort

i definitely wanna avoid going through shadow ops stuff or the department chie works at. can't go gettin anybody else in trouble

6:40 AM

savin those for the absolute worst case scenario

6:40 AM

...and i'd rather not let yu or anybody else know about this, not right away anyway

ya would give the punk a heart attack

duh. he's... cracking. we all see it, and kagutsuchi sees it, which is the last thing we wanted to happen

6:42 AM

that's part of why i'm plannin this out. if we wait any longer, we might not be in any shape to fight when it comes down to it

ya think theres any way to get his boytoy and hasegawa-san out of there?

6:44 AM

youd know better than any of us

only way i know right now is kill the bastard before he decides to just off yosuke or both of them for shits and giggles. which he could. and he might! (edited)

6:48 AM

...but on the other hand, he ain't exactly got a solid reason to

6:48 AM

outside of for kicks. but he gets plenty of kicks outta dangling yosuke in front of yu to fuck with him

6:49 AM

if he can prolong that shit as long as possible, he will

hes got a lotta things he can do to fuck with yu-kun

6:50 AM

kids too fragile and cares way too much bout all you guys

yeah, true. but yosuke's... different, obviously

6:52 AM

you ask me, my guess is if he was gonna kill yosuke, he'd wait til the show was just about over

6:52 AM

can't go throwin out his puppets halfway through.

what, and use him for another vessel?

or hasegawa, maybe. but of the two, my money's def on yosuke

6:53 AM

being the spiteful little shit he is, it's the perfect way to rub it in

sheesh, course he would...

but... besides yosuke...

6:58 AM

...if we think in terms of how he can break yu even more, we know who else is a prime target

i dont even wanna think bout that...

hell, i don't either. but it's kinda a possibility we gotta take into account

7:01 AM

but somethin we can take advantage of is that the bastard really, really likes playin with his food

7:01 AM

and watchin us struggle makes it more fun

7:05 AM

he's not lettin us down to where he is now, but if i stir a whole buncha shit up and get phlegethon to open up... he might just let us in anyway. cuz he probably thinks he's on the top of the world right now, and he's not gonna pass up an opportunity to just crush all our spirits into dust right when we think we've got a fighting chance.

7:06 AM

if i hustle on this, we can grab his attention that way and there's less of a chance of him gettin bored and deciding to start messing with people individually

hah. youre ambitious, ill give ya that

someone's gotta be.

while youre stirrin up shit, make sure to keep yu-kun safe too, got it?

7:10 AM

last thing i wanna do when i get back is babysit him

yeah, i got it covered. most of it anyway!

7:11 AM

and when we're not around, he's still got plenty of other people to look after 'im (edited)

but is he gonna let em in?

7:14 AM

its a miracle he even bothered actually movin in with you in the first place

if there's one thing i've learned, he doesn't let anyone in. at least not as far in as he prolly should

7:16 AM

that's part of why he's so wound up right now, he's all alone in that head of his and he's gonna keep it that way as looong as he can until he finds out the hard way that shit don't work

7:17 AM

all anybody can do right now is just let him be and try to make shit seem brighter for him in whatever way we can

7:19 AM

...dumbass got me to buy into all his bonds stuff when he hardly even buys into it himself

hes always been a bit like that, but its just gotten worse over the years

7:23 AM

trust me, as someone stuck with a good chunk of his stupid memories from izanagi, that mind aint a pretty sight

i don't doubt it. i kinda relate to it a lil too much as is

bad person to be relatin to

hey, takes one to know one

yeah, yeah

...so i gotta stop kagutsuchi before he gets any worse

7:35 AM

or yosuke for that matter

lil unachievable unless ya really start rushin through causin chaos

7:37 AM

even then, prolly gonna give the tokyo so branch a headache, which, yknow, includes him

hey, better a headache than total annihilation

might have an answer for what i prefer dependin on the day

well put it this way, if you're gonna die, do you really want it to be at that asshole's grubby flamin hands?

7:41 AM

i sure as fuck don't

if there is any afterlife, i sure as hell would never stop bein pissed over that

exactly!

this situation fuckin sucks, but i guess well make it through

damn right we will

7:50 AM

i'm not lettin that fucker hurt anyone else anymore

pretty lofty goal, but if ya think ya can achieve it, then by all means

well, i have to

7:52 AM

it's kinda my fault the asshole's out to get us in the first place

we all make mistakes

7:53 AM

ya shouldnt be forced to carry the burden of yours

i still am. i guess kagutsuchi comin back kinda made it worse

7:58 AM

but it at least gives me a chance to try and make up for shit a little bit

ya brats are all so dumb...

8:01 AM

it aint your fault hes back to fuck with us. if anythin, yu-kun and i shoulda done a better job of takin him out

8:01 AM

besides, always seemed like minazuki had a lot more say in shit than you ever did

8:02 AM

especially since ya were... what, like, ten, mentally? eleven?

8:03 AM

point is, ya were just a kid

kids still got the capacity to do fucked up shit. i nearly killed yosuke and chie. that was all me. and... hell, minazuki did all that for my sake to begin with

8:04 AM

and he died for it

maybe its just me, but i dont think ya should be held accountable for that shit

8:06 AM

they certainly dont. and, hey, why wasnt i included in your 'almost killed' count?

yeah, you too. sorry, kinda spaced on that

how did ya space out on that...?

i dunno, my brain's kinda everywhere at once rn i just... i dunno, i feel like even with everythin i had to do to get these wildcard powers to where they are, i still ain't done enough

and thats cus youre a fuckin idiot

ehh, maybe

8:20 AM

look, even if it ain't totally right logically, i still feel like this is kinda my responsibility

8:21 AM

and besides, i owe him a lil payback

thats a lot better than feeling guilty

yo! i got good news

12:02 AM

i tracked down the phantom thieves! well... er, two of them, anyway

12:03 AM

they really can help us! all we gotta wait on is for them to make a unanimous decision about the whole thing

...yknow, i really didnt expect ya to get that done so quick

of course ya didn't

12:05 AM

but we're on our way!

if anythin goes wrong with your plan, yknow the shadow ops are gonna have your head, right, kid?

yeah, yeah. business as usual.

youre still damn lucky you aint on some leash

yeah, don't i know it.

12:09 AM

if your bosses have beef with me, that's on them for not seein the bigger picture here

thats on you for causin civil unrest

12:10 AM

if ya get too stupid with it, i gotta tell yu-kun

well gee, who's tryin to keep me on a leash here, them or you?

im tryin to make sure ya dont get yourself killed

12:12 AM

were both in a position where if we step out of line enough times, we die. simple as that. you just get a lil more freedom in how ya live your life

if steppin out of line is what it takes to make sure kagutsuchi does as little damage as possible, then no skin off my back

youre so damn stupid sometimes...

yeah, so what. that ain't your problem

12:15 AM

i'm doin what i gotta do. simple as that.

ya dont gotta get all edgy on me

you're one to talk!

youre the edgiest fucker i know

yeah, well, do you see me actin all broody and crap?? if anything, i'm the one person not doing that right now

instead youre bein manic and executin' ideas behind basically everyone's backs

12:19 AM

think ya gotta hear the same thing as yu-kun bout not carryin all the burden on your back

...

12:20 AM

so what, i should go to everyone else with this?

ya should at least take a breath and think for a second

12:22 AM

aint like youre actin that rationally. just gonna cause more problems for yourself and everyone else if ya keep doin shit like this

12:23 AM

even gonna hurt the people who youre tryin to help

and how's that, exactly?

ya think they all wanna be left out on this? be made to feel absolutely useless?

12:25 AM

pullin in a brand new group to completely take over their work aint exactly gonna boost morale

okay, you made your point. it wasn't gonna be "takin over" anyway.

12:27 AM

look, i can bring everybody else in, i'm just... not up for getting told the same shit again about how all we can do is wait

12:27 AM

because i'm not down for resigning myself to that shit

12:29 AM

but...maybe this can bring some morale back

12:29 AM

i'm at least more sure about it workin than i was the other day

at least youre cute, kid, cus ya aint got much else goin on up there

think i'd rather you call me a dumbass than say i'm cute

dumb piece of shit who cant think worth a damn

12:33 AM

that better?

much better

12:34 AM

now i don't feel like i ended up in a parallel world on accident

maybe that parallel world wouldnt have us worryin bout kagu

12:35 AM

sounds like a good deal to me

12:36 AM

if i gotta deal with yu-kun drunk cryin over the phone one more time about his boytoy i might just seriously lose it again

seriously...? he shuts me out and then goes and pulls that?

izanagi memory transfer does wonders

sheesh, maybe he shoulda moved in with you

12:37 AM

prolly be more help than i am at this rate

id rather die

12:39 AM

besides, ya seem like ya could use someone around the house to keep ya company, and it aint like youre gettin a girl anytime soon

i guess. but... idk, kinda feels like he'd rather keep to himself no matter how much i drag him out for stuff

12:40 AM

like, i know i'm not good at this whole emotional support thing, but damn

just how he is

12:41 AM

dont blame it on the brat. hard habit to break when ya grow up like that

i'm not blamin him

12:41 AM

hell, i'm blamin me if anyone

12:41 AM

i'm not yosuke, i ain't even yuki or kanji

12:42 AM

i'm me, and being me means sucking at shit like this even when ya try your damn hardest

it aint like its easy for any of us

12:44 AM

if hanamura-kun or makoto-kun or tatsumi-kun coulda done somethin by now, they wouldve

12:46 AM

...yknow, ya could really use a drink. youre gettin way too worked up over this shit ya cant control

kinda feel like getting drunk's just gonna make me do shit i'll regret

like what?

i dunno what specifically, but i doubt it'll help me

at least itd prolly be fun to watch

for you

12:51 AM

i'm just gonna wake up with a damn headache and not remember anything

youre such an old man

12:53 AM

ya need me to get out your cane?

...okay, maybe i do need a drink if i'm hearin this comin from you of all people

at least ya aint a flirt with everyone sorta drunk

pfft, not usually

id still pay to see how badly youd fuck yourself over

sometimes i'm a pick a fight kinda drunk, you sure you wanna be around for that?

ya think im not strong enough to hold ya back?

didn't say that, just figured you'd wanna sit back and watch the fireworks

eh, 50/50

1:10 AM

if the other person has a chance, yeah

which, not likely

then i guess id have to be the responsible one

i prolly shouldn't go too crazy anyways, don't wanna end up drunk textin the thieves

youre really already worried bout that?

hey, it'd be a bad look

tryin to keep up appearances is just gonna stress ya out even more

their admin buddy hates my guts as it is, i can't go lookin like i don't know what i'm doing

look, just have a lil fun for once

1:17 AM

worry bout the consequences later, as long as they aint gettin yourself executed levels of stupid

1:18 AM

youre gonna go grey worryin bout all this

1:18 AM

and youd look pretty damn ugly with grey hair

uuugh, can't believe you're the one tellin me to let loose here

1:19 AM

fine, screw it, let's go

ha, knew youd say that

1:21 AM

im actually in town for a lil work anyway, so i guess i can spare ya the time

sounds good to me

hey, just checking in. mind giving me a status report?

drownin and wanna die

7:00 PM

i havent seen dry land in days

7:00 PM

please give me a job offer that isnt water related

we may need you and tatsumi-kun back in tokyo soon

thank fuckin god

you still in fighting shape?

dont ask me questions like that. im fine

knew you'd say that. there's something else, too. unless yu's already told you about it...

hah?

hi-no-kagutsuchi directly threatened nanako-san in a conversation with him.

what the fuck?

7:07 PM

brat didnt tell me bout that

and just now, koromaru came into chat talking about smelling trouble. more than usual.

7:08 PM

i don't know how much of his moves we can predict, but if this aligns in the way i think it does...

ugh...

i'll deal with the brass in kansai. i think you both will want to get back here as soon as possible, either way.

yeah, yeah. ill get there with the kid as soon as i can

hey. got something i could use your opinion on.

aint promisin itll be nice

i'm considering taking yu off this case for the time being, after we rescue him. either he'll just be on leave, or i'll transfer him somewhere far enough. maybe kansai. maybe overseas... i don't know yet.

are ya serious?

yeah. i don't like the thought of it, but... he's in no state to continue on this.

and ya think isolatin him from any support he does have is the right idea?

not necessarily. which is why i'm leaning more towards keeping him at least in the country. either of us or his friends could visit him at any time.

aint really sure how behind this i am...

8:23 PM

actually, nevermind, made up my mind. sounds fuckin stupid

if i was sure of anything, i wouldn't have come to you.

8:24 PM

i just know that being in close proximity to this isn't doing him any favors. kagutsuchi knows exactly how to hit him where it hurts, and it's working like a charm for him.

and forcin him to leave would just show kagu hes winnin

8:25 PM

i really dont think its a smart idea to throw the depressed kid on his own

8:25 PM

yknow shit like that usually dont end good

yeah, i know. like i said, i'm not necessarily leaning towards leaving him all on his own. but to put it bluntly, i can't trust him to act with a sound mind anymore.

sheesh... makes sense, tho

8:31 PM

dont really think there is a right option with the kid at this point, but he def needs someone there with him that he can trust, even a lil

yeah. i'd volunteer yosuke-san, but he's not exactly free right now.

tatsumi-kuns the reason were in this stupid fuckin situation rn, but he aint the worst option

8:35 PM

dont think sho wants to leave tokyo (edited)

i don't doubt that a few people have attempted to reach out to him, at this point. with not a whole lot of success.

8:38 PM

...so we can't be sure that even having someone with him would do a whole lot.

might keep him from goin over the deep end, at least

8:42 PM

just sayin, the kids never done well with bein isolated (edited)

8:43 PM

its just gonna make shit worse on him if hes alone

that's true...

8:50 PM

i don't suppose we could convince him to go visit his uncle for a while?

hah, then hed just feel useless

8:52 PM

would be good for him to be back in inaba, but as much as he likes this place, i dont think he could handle not havin a big case to work on

that's true too... and if anything of the sort was going on in inaba right now, we probably would've known. guess that'd be too convenient.

...ugh, all this shit even makes me anxious to think about

you're not the only one.

hah? somethin actually breakin through that ice cold exterior of yours?

9:00 PM

thats when ya know shits really hit the fan...

no, i've been anxious for a while.

9:03 PM

i'm just pretty good at not letting it show on my face.

jesus, if youre anxious, we really dont got much hope

9:17 PM

...lets just worry about all of this after we get all of em out. you know makin me worry bout all of this wont end well for anyone

...well, me being anxious doesn't mean there's no hope. it just means i have to fight a little harder than usual.

9:18 PM

but yeah. we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

times like this i wish i could still drink...

9:19 PM

im gonna go out for a walk. you can keep thinkin up plans for yu-kun and propose if you think you got anythin mind-blowin, as long as it isnt mind-blowingly stupid like some of your other ones (edited)

no promises.

@waffle | himbo collector (to Kanji) how likely are ya to want to temp become a full-time shadow op in a dif area with yu-kun for a while?

how long's a while?

aint got the answer on that, other than until all this is over, prolly

ya aint gotta say yeah, or say anythin at all, yet. makoto-kun just thinks itd be best if he was away from this case for a bit, so im just lookin around to see if anyone would be willin to go away with him if that ends up bein his choice

i'll think about it.

thanks

i just... i don't know if i feel good leaving right now, as much as i wanna be there for yu, y'know?

yeah, i get it

10:36 PM

just dont got many options for yu-kun

10:36 PM

at least not ones that arent gonna make him a danger to himself