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

[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.

[truthstranger]

M-Mm... well, I'm out of it now, at least.

[artisticliberty]

Yes, of course.

[he glances down at his sketchbook]

I am almost finished. Just a few more minutes?

[truthstranger]

Ah, of course...

[he still looks a little distant, but he settles back into place with a faint smile as he remembers what they're doing. his nervousness from before is gone, at least]

[artisticliberty]

[yusuke continues sketching for a while, this time glancing from shuichi to the flowers, and he finishes with a slight flourish]

There. I think that will do just fine. Would you like to see it?

[truthstranger]

Yes, definitely.

[he sits up a bit more, a tiny flush rising to his cheeks again. he's never been a subject of art before]

[artisticliberty]

[he turns over the page to reveal a sketchy portrait of shuichi, his expression and demeanor quiet yet full of a gentle kindness; he's smiling a little, just the corners of his mouth turning up, and his cheeks are flushed slightly. blooming cyclamen flowers surround him, framing him, one in particular pinned to his collar]

[truthstranger]

Ah.

[//////]

Is that really what I look like...?

[artisticliberty]

It is the you that I see most often. The purest you that I can imagine.

[truthstranger]

That's...

[how can he just say things like that...?]

...That is, it's beautiful. So that's very flattering.