I'm not proud of this AU.

[immolating_inner_demons]

Then why did you do it? [Tadashi is never going to understand the logic of his mun. He's trying not to sound too angry, though, and go the route of reasoning instead.] It's bad enough you have that 'AU' Hiro you're giving so much grief, you didn't have to do this. This whole set up was optional. It doesn't even make sense to add another muse to your load when you never play with most of them as it is. You need to prioritize.

And you need to leave me alone. I'm making some headway on this... project. [Really, Tadashi? That's what we're calling it now?] Look, I'm grateful you at least looked at this idea (unbelievable - multiple people are onboard with this?) and wanted there to be a way out for me. But that means you already know that I've got a handle on this. Maybe instead of playing out the solution you should leave me to it and go get a headstart on your next paper. You don't even have a canonpoint for me, so clearly this needs some shelf time. [By which he means he never wants to have to have this discussion again.]

...if anything happens to Hiro because of this, I... [It's too much to contemplate. He just hopes his mun moves onto some other muse.]

Comments

[aviatophile]

Just...you don't have to be alone either. If you need help...

[He will be SO GRATEFUL if your mun never goes that far.]

[immolating_inner_demons]

I hate to sound like my brother, but in this case, the best thing you really can do is stay away from me. Especially if I'm not acting like myself.

[aviatophile]

So I'm supposed to just sit back and let him hurt other people? [Kaito, no.]

[immolating_inner_demons]

No. Yes. I don't... [Tadashi has been the rock for so long in his family and his circle of friends he's actually not used to having his ideas questioned. Everyone relies on him, counts on him, takes his word for it that he knows what to do and how to handle things.

It's the same weight that let the demon back out of its' cage, but he's learned to use that authority to try and keep people out of the blast radius. Admitting how little he's actually prepared to handle this is like swallowing glass.] You're a criminal. Not a gangster, but you'd be in danger anyway. Hiro would never be able to take if he lost you.

[aviatophile]

[Kaito has been on his own for so long. He lives alone, with his dad dead and his mom traveling. No siblings. Just his best friend and her dad to turn to if he ever needed it. He's never had anyone to really look up to after Toichi died. He learned to never take things at face value. To question everything.]

If I'm good at anything it's being unpredictable. The amount of people who have tried to kill me, just for being what I am, is reaching levels of absurdity. I've never been under the illusion that I was safe just because I don't hurt people.

That doesn't make it okay to just stand back and watch if someone needs help.

[immolating_inner_demons]

[Just. All the facepalming.] I can't control your actions. But stay safe, or as safe as you can. For Hiro's sake.

[aviatophile]

Of course. My life is going good right now. Reckless death? Not for me. I'm going to stick around for the both of us.

I just want you to know that you can trust me. When you need to.

[immolating_inner_demons]

I want you to know and remember that if you get close to me, you're getting closer to Saionji, too. Moths and flames mean anything to you?

[aviatophile]

Plenty. But don't worry, I won't treat him like I do the men after my head.

Who knows? Maybe if his knowledge isn't entirely the same as yours then he'll never even know I'm a thief.

[immolating_inner_demons]

He can't get caught or turned into the police. One, he's as smart as I am, he'd get out. Two, he'd go after Hiro. Or Aunt Cass. You can't stop him permanently except by either the option we've already gone over, or helping me find a way to get him out of my head entirely.

[aviatophile]

Plus if he's arrested that's going to ruin your chances of a normal life anyway.

But maybe at the very least I could help give you the time you need to do that. I don't know how. But you can't outthink yourself.

[immolating_inner_demons]

Not to mention what it'd do to Hiro and Aunt Cass. [See, this is kind of the basis of the problem. He is the last person he thinks of when considering any given situation.]

Thanks. I need more time. I've been trying, and I'm sure I can get this resolved without Hiro ever having to know what happened, [no he's not, but he's not about to say that] but it's going to be tricky at best.