[ Maruki's simmering the whole way, his blood a low rolling boil in his veins. The nonsense Akechi has pulled on him while trying to keep the wool over his eyes – repeatedly speaking to him about the purely hypothetical idea of a psyche so split that it manifested two personas, as if Maruki's too stupid to realize that nothing he's ever said has been purely hypothetical – it absolutely infuriates him.
He can tolerate a lot from Akechi. A nearly infinite amount of bullshit. He can take verbal abuse, threats of all kinds, physical violence, sleepless nights, endless training, thankless work, mutual lies–
He can no longer tolerate Akechi faking certain things. His personality. His knowledge of the cognitive world. His estimation of what Maruki can observe and analyze.
There is a fundamental respect between them. And to Maruki's mind, if Akechi respects him at all, then he had better start respecting him enough not to treat him like a goddamn idiot.
They make it to the clearing behind the castle, partially obscured by a hill. The site of so many nighttime training sessions. The place where Akechi lay on the ground after the Green Knight was defeated, panting and staring up at the sky as Maruki admitted that it was in fact grief over a friend that drove him to discovering new heights of power.
Here he rounds on Akechi, the first part of what he's said drawing a couple wry quips onto the tip of his tongue to try to lessen the tension between them before they do battle, but then–
We could have avoided the distressing loss of our only kettle.
Maruki blinks.
Smiles at him, quick and sharp and nowhere near reaching his eyes before it drops away again.
Takes a step back.
Brings his hand up to adjust his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose– ]
Let's begin.
[ Bitten out. Harsh. Far more so than Akechi's likely to have heard before, two words even more acidic than whatever Maruki barked when he would break up fights in the forest.
And without further ado, there's a nice Piercing Strike headed straight for Akechi.
no subject
He can tolerate a lot from Akechi. A nearly infinite amount of bullshit. He can take verbal abuse, threats of all kinds, physical violence, sleepless nights, endless training, thankless work, mutual lies–
He can no longer tolerate Akechi faking certain things. His personality. His knowledge of the cognitive world. His estimation of what Maruki can observe and analyze.
There is a fundamental respect between them. And to Maruki's mind, if Akechi respects him at all, then he had better start respecting him enough not to treat him like a goddamn idiot.
They make it to the clearing behind the castle, partially obscured by a hill. The site of so many nighttime training sessions. The place where Akechi lay on the ground after the Green Knight was defeated, panting and staring up at the sky as Maruki admitted that it was in fact grief over a friend that drove him to discovering new heights of power.
Here he rounds on Akechi, the first part of what he's said drawing a couple wry quips onto the tip of his tongue to try to lessen the tension between them before they do battle, but then–
We could have avoided the distressing loss of our only kettle.
Maruki blinks.
Smiles at him, quick and sharp and nowhere near reaching his eyes before it drops away again.
Takes a step back.
Brings his hand up to adjust his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose– ]
Let's begin.
[ Bitten out. Harsh. Far more so than Akechi's likely to have heard before, two words even more acidic than whatever Maruki barked when he would break up fights in the forest.
And without further ado, there's a nice Piercing Strike headed straight for Akechi.
Better act fast. ]