(catch-all/open) hold up, i'm invincible

[invinciblemikey]

WHO: manjiro "mikey" sano & you

WHERE: the harbors, mirth, and the hinterlands.

WHEN: november 1st till... the end of november??? probably

WHAT: mikey fixes boat things, does hella partying, has his shadow take over, and then goes for the noticeboard hinterlands quest.

WARNINGS: well. hahaha. (possible) suicide attempt mention, (possible) ideation, lack of control, dissociation, crime boss talk, death, drug and alcohol use, violence, and maybe a murder might occur. hi, he's great

Comments

[zangetsu]

I'm saying it's good because there's just one!

（ DON'T OBFUSCATE THINGS. ）

[invinciblemikey]

... Why? I'd kill for some people here. Or they would, but whatever.

(the fuck that means)

[zangetsu]

So?

（ what does that have to do with him not wanting that?? the wind shifts, and ichigo shuffles himself around so he's not getting a face full of smoke in the interim. ）

The people in my life can stay right where they are back home. No one else needs to be here.

[invinciblemikey]

... Dead?

(SINCE THEY KEEP GOING BACK TO THAT. APPARENT DEATH TOPIC.)

And you do? Fuck's this, penitence?

[zangetsu]

Do I need to point out all the ways this place is shitty regardless of what it actually is, an afterlife or an alternate dimension or whatever? Because I watched that Headless Horseman guy cut down a lot of innocent people, that's not exactly the sort of environment I want my sisters dealing with.

（ he's already here, so he's not going to complain about that. but it sure as hell isn't penitence. ）

[invinciblemikey]

... You have sisters?

(watch him show zero care about the rest of what he said, not a smidge of a sour expression over watching the massacre - he's done worse.)

[zangetsu]

Yeah. Twins.

（ it's the first time he's so much as mentioned them since coming here, though they've occupied a fair amount of his thoughts. he was longer in the dangai — three months with only tensa zangetsu and white for company, and he'd missed them then. but he had a purpose in the dangai. here, he's just... listless, restless. pacing like something in a zoo.

since the guy's apparently content with his smoke-break, ichigo opts to click the flashlight off a bit belatedly, turning it over in his hands. ）

They're thirteen.

[invinciblemikey]

(considering ichigo hasn't yet turned around and left, that only makes mikey think he needs to get something out of his chest. he's used to it, so once he puts off the smoke on the sole of his sandals, and he taps the space next to him.)

Mine was fourteen. You miss 'em?

[zangetsu]

What kind of question is that?

（ honestly?? a little offended right now?? of course he misses his sisters, his friends. he'd give anything to just walk right up to his dad and bury his face against his shoulder like he used to when he was a kid.

but what kind of asshole wouldn't miss his little sisters tho. ）

[invinciblemikey]

Then don't make conversation, see if I fucking care.

(don't be defensive!! you brought it up!!! ugh, TEENAGERS!!!!)

[zangetsu]

（ SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, WEIRDO!!! YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE A TEENAGER TOO!! ）

Of course I miss them, asshole!

[invinciblemikey]

Oh, grow up. What are they like?

(SHUSH!!!!!!!)

[zangetsu]

（ why are you completely infuriating. ichigo just glowers at him, and then: ）

You first.

[invinciblemikey]

My sister passed at 14, I'm a year older than her. She was incredibly baddass, caring, determined, funny and protective. If she had lived, she'd have been a great mom - that's kind of what we imagined.

(absolutely devastating, but he says it with a straight face.)

1/2

[zangetsu]

（ buddy, sincerely: what the fuck. ）

[zangetsu]

I'm sorry to hear that.

（ he's spent too many long nights wondering what he'd do with himself if he lost his sisters. every time they've ever been in danger has left a mark on his soul. he's never really bothered to make a secret of the fact that he would burn the world down to nothing to protect them.

so... it's a genuine sentiment, not a reflexive platitude. he can imagine what it's like, and it terrifies him. all the fight and wary hostility goes out of him at once, snuffed like a candleflame. ）

Mine are thirteen now. Karin's more like me, I guess. Yuzu's more like our mom, but she passed when they were toddlers.

（ he'll offer serious family history for serious family history, he supposes. ）

[invinciblemikey]

It's been a long time. I've come to terms with it.

(a lie, and one doesn't even have to know how bad manjiro is when it comes to opening up. every trauma, every piece of information, always given as casually as if he had been speaking about the weather. it's bottling up at its finest, but who'd be fine with their sister dying on their back?

emma kept mikey from spiraling into the darkness that takes over, the reason why he has been more dead than alive as time went by. first, his older brother. then, his childhood love, then his sister.

shit sucks. he could never accept it.)

You take care of 'em?

[zangetsu]

（ his mother's loss is as raw as if it was yesterday. he doubts there's such a thing as coming to terms so much as accepting reality. but he isn't about to say it, instead offering a faint shrug. the wind coming off the bay is getting colder, and ichigo's used to the milder climes of karakura. ）

Not alone. Me and my old man.

（ there's a tolerant sort of fondness in how he talks about his dad, clear indication of a solid relationship between them. ）

tokyo rev spoilers

[invinciblemikey]

(that's something they can agree upon, except mikey doesn't do a good job at either. it's hard for him to understand sometimes, even though he's been an orphan for most of his life. a father he didn't get to know, a single hazy memory, and a mother in a hospital who he could only visit once a week.

she shaped him, from his inability to show vulnerability to his desire for strength. decades later, that's still with him, as if it had been yesterday. he can't accept reality so easily.)

... Sorry you're here. I get you.

[zangetsu]

（ the urge to be flippant about it is present, but ichigo... sighs, and scrubs a hand through his messy hair. ）

It's fine. We're all in the same boat, I'm not special.

[invinciblemikey]

Speak for yourself. I'm special as fuck.

(and that's the last bit he's going to say before he hops out, waving a goodbye as he takes another drag, back turned.)

See ya, kiddo.