week three | dates

[showhost]

You worked up your courage and asked someone out on a date! Good job!





Now you have to hope the producers are kind re: where they send you.

Comments

[singurarity]

[ The weight of a life isn't worth comparing. It's devastating to have the life of someone slip through your fingers and it's devastating to have to let go of so many more. That she'd had to do what she did still makes her feel sick when she thinks about it and she can't not think about it. ]

There were... a lot of people who died in front of me, that I couldn't save. And the ones I erased...

... You're really kind, Josuke. I don't want you to imagine it or to know what it's like to fight to save your world. And I don't want anyone's forgiveness, because I don't want anyone to ever think this is okay.

[ Ritsuka is little more than a quivering ball of misery at the moment, honestly, head lifted from her knees only enough to be heard. ]

I don't know. About the wish. If I could trust it, I'd want to hold on to it and figure out if there's a way to stabilize the existence of those people and give them a second chance. See what else I have to do with the driving force behind this mess. I can't just say "I want it so this never happened," because it'd just probably mean those Lostbelts didn't ever exist in the first place when they were only brought out because of that force. And the other Masters would still be dead.

... I can't give you a direct answer right now, because of that. I'm sorry.

[haircared]

[ In however small a way, her answer is a relief. It shows him that she humanizes those people in the Lostbelts... they're not a sea of faceless victims. Each and every one was a person with a life that, if they were brought back, would have deserved to live out to its fullest. his hand drops, and he keeps his gaze pinned at the shoddy Olive Garden carpet, expression hard to read. ]

It's fine. [ He says, not really sounding fine, but at least seeming to accept her answer. Bluntly: ] Just didn't want you to say "I'd get rid of the last one with it."

[ The last Lostbelt standing in her way. If the only thing on her mind regarding getting the wish was completing her mission, killing billions more in the process, he thinks he wouldn't have any other choice but to stop her. And he really didn't want that, even if he would follow through, would've put her in the ground if he had to. His question had been an ultimatum, though Ritsuka herself hadn't known it. If he heard an answer he didn't like to that question, there would be no going back with him. All things considered, it's the most merciful answer she could have offered.

It's not that comforting, but at least now he knows she's still trying to find a way out from underneath this weight. There's still hope, maybe... for some of the people in the last one. However: ]

But I don't think there's any way to bring people back, wish or Grail or second chance whatever the hell else. There's no power strong enough to restore someone's life after it's lost... not even mine.

[ He's brought people back from the brink of death countless times. It's why he knows, perhaps more than anyone, that once a soul is gone, it's gone forever. He shakes his head, mournful. ]

You're better off trying to save the ones are left — and swearing to me you're gonna do it.

[singurarity]

[ She doesn't need a wish to deal with the final Lostbelt, she doesn't say. She's made it this far without it, beyond her own wish to live. That had never been the problem. The problem had been the cost.

He's got a valid point, though. Even when she'd been sent to handle Singularities and restore the timeline without sacrificing anyone, well before all of this had occurred, she'd been told that those who had died in the original history were still going to die in the Singularity. That was how it had happened. There was nothing she could have done to change that.

But the Crypters had been revived. And some had died again, but...

Well, it's best not to dwell on that specifically, and Ritsuka lifts her head to stare at Josuke with burning eyes. ]

If I can find a way to save the ones in the final Lostbelt, I will. And that's not a swear to anyone, that's just a given. There's no way I'd back down on that if the option existed.

[haircared]

[ It's the best he can really ask for, given the circumstances. Now it's just a matter of making sure she follows through with it. He meets her eyes , his own still clouded with something like anguish, but he can see the fire still burning there, despite the weight on her. He wishes there were more to do, more lives that could be saved, but he learned over the last summer that as much as he wishes time could be turned back, actions undone, it's just not realistic. She'll always have to live with the fact that she's wiped out nations and nations of people, just as he's never going to be able to fully look past it. His fighting spirit rises up to meet and push back against hers. ]

"If you can" isn't enough. [ No, now that he knows billions of lives hang in the balance, he feels that he can't turn away from this or just send her on his way. Knowing about the potential for them all to be lost, and not doing anything about it... he couldn't live with himself. ] If the damn thing is real, I'll give you my wish if that's what it takes. There has to be a way... to overcome it.

[ There are people with extraordinary powers here, himself included. He can't just let this lie. When his hand finally completely leaves his face, he looks pale, but his expression is stubborn, full of grit. Josuke is gentle by nature, empathetic towards everyone, even those he doesn't get along with. But here, it's clear just how deeply things like this affect him; he knows, in his heart of hearts, he won't be at peace until he knows how the cards will fall down regarding this. He feels a bone-deep need to safeguard the lives of those people, now that they've come into his periphery. ]

I just... don't want anyone else to have to die for this. It's not right.

[singurarity]

The "if" is the same "if" as "if it's real".

[ That much she can't control. He knows it as much as she does, as far as she's concerned. Right now, they still don't know about this wish. What form it takes. Anything. ]

I didn't have the options back there to save those people. If they exist here, why wouldn't I make use of them? Believe me, I know this isn't right.

[ She doesn't need that to be expressed. She's known that from the beginning. She's struggled to find some other way. She'd thought a bright spot had appeared and then she'd had to watch Britain and its faeries and its human livestock burn. ]

I won't let them die.

[ She'd refuse to let anyone help her when it came to taking down the Lostbelts. But saving the people... ]

... So please... help me save them, if mine... isn't enough.

[haircared]

[ At least with this, he doesn't have to feel conflicted. If it's for the sake of saving them, then of course he's going to give it his all — even if he had a use for the wish, he would have forfeited it for something of this scale quite easily. ]

Yeah. [ He agrees shakily, not quite feeling up to saying as personal as I'll help you. A part of him is still wary... and wanting to tread carefully while facing a situation so out of his league. All at once, he feels a lot of pressure on his shoulders to figure this out with her — he can only imagine what that pressure has been like to carry alone. Purposefully vague: ] My relatives might know more about this kind of thing... I'll talk to them.

[ Mr. Jotaro and Mr. Joestar saved the world two times over. They'll know better how to handle scale like this, or at least help him not feel so small in the face of it. At the forefront of his mind, too, is what will happen if it all falls through. He'll have no choice but to face off against Ritsuka then, and he doesn't want that either.

Dabbing a bead of sweat from his temple, he shifts uncomfortably again. The small, dark, cramped space around them isn't helping. ]

There are probably others here that'd want to help a cause like this... [ Will and Ryuji come to mind, as does Mark, though he's not sure how much a normal person like him might be able to help (crowd laugh track). ] You should try asking around.

[ There might be others without uses for their wishes, assuming they're real. more than that, he doesn't want the weight of all this carried by a small handful of people. ]

[singurarity]

Yeah, I'll talk to them. [ ... There's some pretty amazing people here, she knows that. Lessing... they've already talked about things. Asa's got a whole mess on her hands. Sanji needs to save his crew member. But maybe she'll see if Will knows anything that might help. ]

... Thanks.

[ For a lot of things, but he was vague and she can be too, exhaling quietly and swiping a hand over her eyes. ]

If that's it, then--I'm gonna tell them I'm not feeling well so you can get out of here.