Trash Squad Day 2: Yusuke Date

[truthstranger]

[This is actually a pretty lucky date assignment, overall, since Shuichi is pretty comfortable around Yusuke and the greenhouse is really a pretty good date location. Relatively. Shuichi has also brought along some rice balls and tea.

He still looks a bit nervous, though.]

Well... it looks like its just the two of us. What should we do?

Comments

[artisticliberty]

That will not be necessary. Please, take a seat, if you would.

[truthstranger]

...Okay...

[he sets his food down and sits on the grass]

[artisticliberty]

[making finger frames and looking at shuichi intently through them, then nods to himself]

That will do. Now, as for the flowers...

[he looks around the greenhouse, apparently off in his own world, and finds a flower bed with some cyclamen]

Do you know anything about Japanese flower language?

[truthstranger]

[he already blushes at that much attention. off to a good start]

Ah, not really, no.

[artisticliberty]

[he sets down the flower bed next to shuichi and takes a seat sitting across from him, cross-legged in the grass, and opens his sketchbook]

Cyclamen are said to represent shy love, so I felt they were the most appropriate choice to frame you with. Ah, you may speak while I draw you, but please try not to move too much.

[truthstranger]

[how does he even respond to that]

O-Okay.

[he does adjust how he's sitting to be more comfortable, leaning back on his hands]

...They're... interesting flowers. Very pretty.

[artisticliberty]

Indeed. I unfortunately only know enough about flowers to appreciate the aesthetics--many classic works of art utilize flowers as symbolism, after all. Haru could no doubt tell you more about the plant itself.

[he starts sketching, eyes darting back and forth between the page and shuichi]

[truthstranger]

[his cheeks stay flushed as he watches Yusuke work, and he struggles to think of something to talk about]

I don't know much about them at all... or, well. I remember an infidelity case, once, where the husband was convinced his wife was cheating on him because she received some flowers that weren't from him. She told him they were from her office, but he said that because they were roses, it was clearly romantic.

[artisticliberty]

Were they? Red roses are a classic symbol of romantic love, after all.

[truthstranger]

I think they were pink...? In any case, it was simple enough to verify with the florist that they take a number of orders from that office, and in fact it was one of their most common appreciation bouquets.

[artisticliberty]

[he chuckles]

What an insecure husband he must have been, to mistake a bouquet of pink flowers for a tryst. Ah, could you please turn your head to the right a little more?

[truthstranger]

A-Ah—yes.

[he does so]

...That's usually how it is in cases like that. At the point someone is hiring a detective, the trust in a relationship has been lost regardless of whether anyone is actually cheating. But, learning the truth can often help them start to address the issue more directly.

[artisticliberty]

So then, hiring you was merely a pretext to accuse their partner. I do hope those do not make up the majority of your cases.

[truthstranger]

Mm, it's not always like that. Like you said, they're... insecure. And they don't know how to deal with it.

It's not a majority, but it's a good proportion of them. Generally detectives aren't like Akechi-kun... private detectives most often deal with cases like that, or things like background checks or missing persons.

[artisticliberty]

You must be quite good at reading people, then. I am a tad envious.

[truthstranger]

Ah... I suppose so. I've never really thought of it that way.

[artisticliberty]

What drew you to detective work, anyway?

[truthstranger]

Ah...

[well, there's the safe answer to that question, and there's the real one. after some consideration he decides Yusuke deserves the real one, even if it hasn't ever quite seemed like the time to explain it before]

Well, that's actually... a bit complicated. In the killing game I was in—the first one, in my world—I was the Ultimate Detective. I... remembered not particularly liking detectives, but helping out my uncle at his detective agency, doing that sort of work, and starting to enjoy it.

But... that was all a lie. That is... all the memories I have from before the game are almost certainly false.

[artisticliberty]

[his hand holding the pencil stills mid-stroke]

You do not have any memories of your life before that?

[truthstranger]

[that's probably good, because Shuichi isn't doing great at holding still, shifting unconsciously]

No, not that I can believe in. Part of the reason I came back with Akechi-kun... is that I don't actually have any idea what my world is like, outside of the school we were trapped in. Everything, everyone else I remember is fiction.

[artisticliberty]

[he's quiet for a few moments]

And so you came to ours. Saihara... who would do such a thing to you?

[truthstranger]

..."The world"... is the answer to that question that I was given. A world that loved fictional killing games so much eventually they started using real people for the characters. More directly... the mastermind claimed to be part of an entertainment company.

But I'm not sure how true any of that is, either.

[artisticliberty]

If these are the same people responsible for all killing games, it is worth looking into, at the very least.

[we did swear revenge, after all]

Blaming "the world" for cruelties and injustices made upon you... how cheap.

[truthstranger]

Mm, I don't think they did the one that took place here. Though one of the raccoons mentioned he was a big fan.

We did... manage to convince the outside world that the killing game was wrong, I think. At least, enough to make them stop watching, and stop the game.

[artisticliberty]

You should not have had to endure such terrible things, regardless of what the world desired. I am sorry.