Sometimes, I think I forget that. You know, the part where you just reminded me that we are just teenagers. A group of kids trying to change a world too far gone and riddled in deceit and backstabbing.
[Haru sounds a little bitter, she is. There is no mistaking that she will always be bitter about everything she endured. But she is one to stand tall and to move on when needed. Her friends needed her, so her bitterness would have to wait.
Ryuji? Ryuji needed Haru right now. He needed her reassurance, the promise she wasn't mad at him. Their bond and trust that they will do better. None of them are perfect. All of them are flawed; Ren,Yusuke, Makoto— they are just as beautiful and flawed as the two of them.]
I don't regret anything we're doing. I'll never be angry with you for a misunderstanding, okay?
There's always stuff we can do to make the world a better place.
[Out of anyone in the group, Haru is probably the one whose teenaged years have been robbed the most out of any of them, right? Whereas Ryuji could just hit up the arcade on the weekend, Haru was attending various corporate events at the behest of her father. When Ren could visit the batting cages, she was probably writing thank you letters to people. When Yusuke was being Yusuke and doing god know's what, probably staring at a bird on a lake for 3 hours straight in the pouring rain, Haru was balancing multiple lives on one hand and shit, that must have been tiring.
Ryuji's not convinced that the world is too far gone. Maybe pockets of it were, but he had to believe that, at the core, humanity had redeeming qualities. Otherwise it was all futile and everything that they had worked for didn't mean diddly squat for Tokyo or the people that lived there.
For a second, he sits there, taking some of those thoughts in, oddly quiet in his usual resolve to change the mood wherever he goes. This feels right, though. It can't be all ridiculous stuff back to back to back. They needed the capacity to vent and explain the problems that they all had been harboring deep down. Lord knows, some of that attitude might've saved them some grief back home.]
Okay. I... thanks. For goin' easy on my loud mouth ass.
It isn't going easy on you. It is finding it in myself to forgive you. There will never be any doubt in our friendship. I will always forgive you even for the biggest mistakes. This mistake just happened to involve the both of us, a misunderstanding, and a secret getting out that didn't need to be out.
[Haru is the toughest emotionally, sometimes. Hard to read because she has lived such the life she has lived. not trusting until very recently.
She doesn't want Ryuji to think he will lose her trust so easily.]
[It's pretty obvious that out of anyone in the group, Haru has more emotional intelligence than any of these dumb boys do, who can't even bring it to themselves to stop shitting the pool and talk about the stuff that actually bothers them. It always ends up in a circle of trying to support the other without speaking directly from the inside and it... it gets kind of old after a while.
He doesn't think too much of her correcting him, either. She's right, of course. It's forgiving, not condoning, but honestly, Ryuji knows how that operates at such an intrinsic level that he doesn't even have something in response to it. It's just acceptance. He's quick to forgive, himself. All it ever took was a "sorry, dude" and things were back to normal. And when he messes up? He tells people to punch him around until it makes them feel better.
But he can breathe now, and it's better like this. Getting stuff out in the open, not keeping things back. It was still the right thing to do, he has no doubt about that.]
So, uh... speakin' of moving forward... You didn't happen to find any presents from Destinyland hangin' around your room, right? [There's a pair of monkey ears with his name on it that he's too embarrassed to keep around.
It's somewhat contextual too. Up until the moment that it wasn't, Destinyland was one of the best memories he's ever had. And guess who was the one who provided that backdrop? Haru, of course.]
[Her emotional intelligence is really only much more recent. Before she met the Phantom Thieves there was no way that Haru would have been this open and this forgiving. She has been hurt too many times in the past.
Haru won't punch Ryuji, and she won't push him away either. It just wasn't how you fixed problems. Not how she wanted to deal with her problems either. Ryuji became such a vital part in her life and she was unwilling to let him go. It didn't matter to her how many mistakes that he ended up making.]
[He knows that, mostly. If the team were really "eye for an eye," then they'd all be a whole hell of a lot blinder than they already are. And man, there's nothing worse in the world that the thought of someone hurting Haru. It's enough to make Ryuji see red and start charging like a bull.
But, right. Destinyland. That's a thing he wanted to bring up-]
I found my monkey ears in my cupboard the other day. Was wonderin' if more of that stupid shit showed up. [He didn't actually think it was stupid, though. He held them in his hands for a while, stared at them, and remembered the day they had together when he was wearing them.
In fact--]
I dunno. They kinda reminded me of everything. Y'know... it's gonna sound dumb sayin' it now, but I think that's pretty much when it really felt like you were a part of the group. I mean, you joined up earlier and no regrets on any of that stuff. Uh. Maybe... well, the Morgana shit was lame, but. I mean... That's pretty much when I decided that you're a person I'd go out of my way to protect, even if my life depended on it.
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no subject
[Haru sounds a little bitter, she is. There is no mistaking that she will always be bitter about everything she endured. But she is one to stand tall and to move on when needed. Her friends needed her, so her bitterness would have to wait.
Ryuji? Ryuji needed Haru right now. He needed her reassurance, the promise she wasn't mad at him. Their bond and trust that they will do better. None of them are perfect. All of them are flawed; Ren,Yusuke, Makoto— they are just as beautiful and flawed as the two of them.]
I don't regret anything we're doing. I'll never be angry with you for a misunderstanding, okay?
no subject
[Out of anyone in the group, Haru is probably the one whose teenaged years have been robbed the most out of any of them, right? Whereas Ryuji could just hit up the arcade on the weekend, Haru was attending various corporate events at the behest of her father. When Ren could visit the batting cages, she was probably writing thank you letters to people. When Yusuke was being Yusuke and doing god know's what, probably staring at a bird on a lake for 3 hours straight in the pouring rain, Haru was balancing multiple lives on one hand and shit, that must have been tiring.
Ryuji's not convinced that the world is too far gone. Maybe pockets of it were, but he had to believe that, at the core, humanity had redeeming qualities. Otherwise it was all futile and everything that they had worked for didn't mean diddly squat for Tokyo or the people that lived there.
For a second, he sits there, taking some of those thoughts in, oddly quiet in his usual resolve to change the mood wherever he goes. This feels right, though. It can't be all ridiculous stuff back to back to back. They needed the capacity to vent and explain the problems that they all had been harboring deep down. Lord knows, some of that attitude might've saved them some grief back home.]
Okay. I... thanks. For goin' easy on my loud mouth ass.
no subject
[Haru is the toughest emotionally, sometimes. Hard to read because she has lived such the life she has lived. not trusting until very recently.
She doesn't want Ryuji to think he will lose her trust so easily.]
We can move forward, okay?
no subject
[It's pretty obvious that out of anyone in the group, Haru has more emotional intelligence than any of these dumb boys do, who can't even bring it to themselves to stop shitting the pool and talk about the stuff that actually bothers them. It always ends up in a circle of trying to support the other without speaking directly from the inside and it... it gets kind of old after a while.
He doesn't think too much of her correcting him, either. She's right, of course. It's forgiving, not condoning, but honestly, Ryuji knows how that operates at such an intrinsic level that he doesn't even have something in response to it. It's just acceptance. He's quick to forgive, himself. All it ever took was a "sorry, dude" and things were back to normal. And when he messes up? He tells people to punch him around until it makes them feel better.
But he can breathe now, and it's better like this. Getting stuff out in the open, not keeping things back. It was still the right thing to do, he has no doubt about that.]
So, uh... speakin' of moving forward... You didn't happen to find any presents from Destinyland hangin' around your room, right? [There's a pair of monkey ears with his name on it that he's too embarrassed to keep around.
It's somewhat contextual too. Up until the moment that it wasn't, Destinyland was one of the best memories he's ever had. And guess who was the one who provided that backdrop? Haru, of course.]
no subject
Haru won't punch Ryuji, and she won't push him away either. It just wasn't how you fixed problems. Not how she wanted to deal with her problems either. Ryuji became such a vital part in her life and she was unwilling to let him go. It didn't matter to her how many mistakes that he ended up making.]
No, I haven't.
[Her brow raises, curious.] Why?
no subject
But, right. Destinyland. That's a thing he wanted to bring up-]
I found my monkey ears in my cupboard the other day. Was wonderin' if more of that stupid shit showed up. [He didn't actually think it was stupid, though. He held them in his hands for a while, stared at them, and remembered the day they had together when he was wearing them.
In fact--]
I dunno. They kinda reminded me of everything. Y'know... it's gonna sound dumb sayin' it now, but I think that's pretty much when it really felt like you were a part of the group. I mean, you joined up earlier and no regrets on any of that stuff. Uh. Maybe... well, the Morgana shit was lame, but. I mean... That's pretty much when I decided that you're a person I'd go out of my way to protect, even if my life depended on it.