[ Maruki falls in step alongside him, watches him for a moment. He's tired enough that there are words on the tip of his tongue that otherwise wouldn't be.
If Akechi is to be believed, then he is also new to the cognitive world and to his persona. All evidence he has of other users in anecdotal. He has been going at this alone, and not for very long.
If he peeks through the tiny holes that have begun to be poked through Akechi's story, the details change. His understanding of cognitive psience, that jagged and winding map of the collective unconscious, his brutal efficiency with Robin Hood, his phenomenal pain tolerance, Palace.
Add onto what Maruki knows from half a year spent watching Akira and his friends so closely, and the holes grow. He already suspected they were utilizing similar methods as his own as a means of altering their targets' cognitions – those changes of heart. It hadn't made much sense before now, beyond the shared basis of the principles of cognitive psience.
Now that he knows it's his persona that makes that possible – now that he knows these cognitive worlds do exist, can literally be accessed – now that he feels certain Akira and the rest of the Phantom Thieves must be persona users too, entering those cognitive realms and doing battle against such wounded, distorted people–
Where does that leave Akechi?
Not as a member of their group. Not only because of his stance against them in the media, but simply because Maruki has watched closely, and he hasn't once seen evidence of Akechi's ties to that group.
So either he's new to this and he's been alone, or he's not new to this and he's still alone. The details are almost irrelevant when he knows the end result is likely the same.
Perhaps the fortune that Akechi speaks about brought them together so that neither of them need to experience it alone. ]
Next time we'll both bring our dinners outside.
[ Or snacks. He already needs to make a trip to the crystal for Vil, and he has an idea.
Maruki scrubs a hand through his hair, yawns. ]
Before I decided I was going after the Green Knight, today was supposed to be a day like any other down at the lake, so I had prepared my usual supplies. There's an assortment of sandwiches and cut fruit in the refrigerator. Please help yourself.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deranged about this. bye
If Akechi is to be believed, then he is also new to the cognitive world and to his persona. All evidence he has of other users in anecdotal. He has been going at this alone, and not for very long.
If he peeks through the tiny holes that have begun to be poked through Akechi's story, the details change. His understanding of cognitive psience, that jagged and winding map of the collective unconscious, his brutal efficiency with Robin Hood, his phenomenal pain tolerance, Palace.
Add onto what Maruki knows from half a year spent watching Akira and his friends so closely, and the holes grow. He already suspected they were utilizing similar methods as his own as a means of altering their targets' cognitions – those changes of heart. It hadn't made much sense before now, beyond the shared basis of the principles of cognitive psience.
Now that he knows it's his persona that makes that possible – now that he knows these cognitive worlds do exist, can literally be accessed – now that he feels certain Akira and the rest of the Phantom Thieves must be persona users too, entering those cognitive realms and doing battle against such wounded, distorted people–
Where does that leave Akechi?
Not as a member of their group. Not only because of his stance against them in the media, but simply because Maruki has watched closely, and he hasn't once seen evidence of Akechi's ties to that group.
So either he's new to this and he's been alone, or he's not new to this and he's still alone. The details are almost irrelevant when he knows the end result is likely the same.
Perhaps the fortune that Akechi speaks about brought them together so that neither of them need to experience it alone. ]
Next time we'll both bring our dinners outside.
[ Or snacks. He already needs to make a trip to the crystal for Vil, and he has an idea.
Maruki scrubs a hand through his hair, yawns. ]
Before I decided I was going after the Green Knight, today was supposed to be a day like any other down at the lake, so I had prepared my usual supplies. There's an assortment of sandwiches and cut fruit in the refrigerator. Please help yourself.