animus_network | [Video]

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[Video]

[Ken appears on the network, a frown on his face.]

There's a very dangerous girl running around here. Her name is Minami Arisato. She's out of control. She killed me. I don't know why I didn't stay dead, though...

[He can play the innocent kid card right now. It'll work to his advantage, anyway. To everyone's advantage.]

[He sways a little, and takes a deep breath, clutching his head.]

Nemesis... no. Stop... it hurts...

[He mashes the buttons, finally turning it off.]

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[Chidori watches, understands the hesitation- but if Nemesis is becoming unmanageable, the last thing she wants is Ken in pain. When he downs the pills dry, her lips give a slight downturn, and she taps the side of a mug, eyelids lowering slightly, reproving.]

Drink. It will help.

[He lowers his head a little. He knows that look, and it always makes him feel guilty. He grabs the mug of coffee, taking a sip. It's good, like her coffee always is, and he sits there quietly drinking it for a few long moments.]

... Thanks.

[He takes the coffee like she knew he would, and she picks up the cocoa, taking a delicate sip and then giving a slight nod.]

It's no trouble- though I hope this doesn't last. It would be [she hesitates, casting for a proper way to put it, and settles for-] unfortunate if Nemesis began to give you trouble.

... Yeah. She's usually been quiet at home, except when...

[He pauses. It was a different kind of loudness then, but maybe she'd understand.]

... With Shinjiro.

Understandable.

[And it was, considering Ken's issues with the other persona-user. Still, the fact that Nemesis was acting up despite Shinjiro's not being there was making her more than a little uneasy.]

You will let me know if it gets too out of hand?

[There was an art to making sure Ken didn't feel like he was being treated like a child- asking him to be responsible enough to ask for help if things got dangerous was one of the ways she managed it, most of the time. He was smart- and sensible- enough to comply when asked, thankfully.]

... Yeah, I will.

[He takes another sip of the coffee, closing his eyes.]

How do you guys stand this all the time?

Good.

[She pauses at the question, closes her eyes, and takes another sip of her cocoa.]

We have long since become accustomed to it.

[... He sighs, and opens his eyes, staring at the floor.]

... It's not fair. It's not fair that things like that happened to you.

Nothing has been fair about what has happened to any of us.

[Yourself included, Ken.]

But that is why we try to make things better for ourselves. No one else is going to do it for us, after all.

I know. And I'm trying...

[But now that Shinjiro wasn't killed by himself... he doesn't know what to do, or where to start.]

But?

[She hears that sentence trail off, but only prompts him to continue. She won't force him if he doesn't want to talk about it, but sometimes all people need is a little prodding.]

I don't know what to do anymore. I don't know where to start...

[He grips his mug tightly, trying to contain all he's feeling right now.]

I didn't think I was still going to be around. I... was going to join him... I thought it'd be best...

[While the answer had not been entirely unexpected, Chidori hadn't thought he'd be quite so forthcoming about it. So she sets her mug down and laces her fingers together, setting her chin on her joined hands and staring him down evenly.]

Is it truly so inconceivable that you simply continue living?

[It isn't that she doesn't understand his reasoning of course. But Ken has more going for him than the rest of Strega. Unlike them, the Kirijo group didn't force an expiration date upon him. He could still live, if he so chose.

So why not, if given a real choice?]

... I don't know what to do, though. For two years I've been focused on killing him. And now... I don't know what I can do anymore. I want to make things better, but I don't know where to even start.

It's starting over, in a lot of ways... and I don't know how to do that.

You are stronger than that.

[Her voice is almost sharp, but there's more a sort of concerned sternness there than anything else, fingers tightening against each other.]

Things cannot always simply be made better Ken. Sometimes, things must be made to change. It applies to people as well. And situations may worsen before they get better, but nothing was ever accomplished by giving up.

[He almost flinches, but catches himself before he can.]

... I'll make things better. I'll make things right. But there's so many things that are...

[The situation with the rest of Strega slowly dying from what was done to them. The situation with SEES. His own future.]

[All of them are so big, that it's hard to find a place to take a first step.]

[Chidori sighs, and pulls one of her hands free to set it on his arm. She forgets, sometimes, how much Ken is prone to trying to do by himself, regardless of whether he really has to or not.]

You do not need to undertake everything- much less do it all alone. Sometimes, no matter how driven, a single person can only change so much.

... But these are all things that need to be done. And I want them to get done...

[And there don't seem to be enough people who are trying to do it... so he'll do all he can.]

Rome was not built in a day, Ken. Nor by one individual. Do what you can, but do not believe that you are the only one who will ever get anything done. Everyone needs help sometimes.

[Just look at Strega, after all.]

... [Sigh.]

You're right. But it's hard to ask for it...

It can be, yes.

[Siiiip.]

But while we are around, do not doubt that you have those of us in Strega to ask.

[... He manages a tiny bit of a smile.]

... Thanks.

None necessary.

[But if that looks like the ghost of a smile on her face, you wouldn't be entirely wrong, Ken.]

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