Writing snippet: Black Mask Haru, and the fate of Okumura Kunikazu
Noir was a ruthless dispenser of justice, a shadow striking fear in her target's heart. Okumura Haru was a coward who quivered at her father's displeasure. She was a child yearning for soft touches that would never come.
Noir would have shot this heinous man in the face without regret. Haru couldn't even raise her axe. Sweat coated her hands as her arms trembled. She had taken those other lives so easily, so how dare she hesitate now? (She couldn't do it.) He was no better than the rot he had ordered her to purge. (She couldn't do it.) What justice did she serve if it crumbled the moment her feelings was on the line? (She couldn't do it.)
What did it say about her, its loyal executioner?
Her father looked at her, his face paled in fear. He apologized and pleaded and pleaded. He begged for forgiveness. Numbness filled her limbs as incessant buzzing invaded her ears. This man made her a murdered. She was his sword to wield, his bargain chip to throw, his glass-eyed doll to sell. Even so, she panted and begged after him like a dog, a girl so weak and sycophant just hoping for scraps of praise from her owner. Sometimes she recoiled from the person she became. That disgust for herself pooled in her heart like poison as desperation grew alongside it. Gentle praises turned into angry barks, her invisible chains and willing cage. He was hooks in her flesh. He was a parasite that devoured her soul. He was her world.
So for as long as he existed, she could never live.
Her vision swam and blurred, terrible tears flooded her eyes. Oh, she hated being weak in front of the Phantom Thieves, these true allies of justice who burned her with their purity.
A clicking sound jarred her. Akechi readied his gun. He looked at her in the eyes.
"Night. Haru. Do you want him dead?"
She stared at him. His garnet eyes, several shades deeper than Mako-chan's (eyes that would never look at her so lovingly anymore), shone red under cool blue light. She shook under the weight of being seen. In that moment, she knew he understood. He would never judge her for her choice. Jagged emotions tore their way through her soft throat. She spat out a bloody whisper.
Realizing her betrayal, her father shouted in impotent anger and disbelief. But she couldn't hear him anymore. All her senses zeroed in on that silly (deadly) laser gun Goro-kun wielded. His finger curled.
Black mask Haru post, but the basic gist is that Haru's natural latent psychic abilities made her a target for Shido. They forcefully awakened her persona and made her serve as their assassin. In an attempt to cope, Haru has deluded herself into believing she's serving justice. Also she goes through a worsening arc before her redemption arc because of her jealousy towards the PTs.
Haru was tasked to cause a mental shutdown in Sae so that they can frame the PTs for murder. The PTs manage to intercept her, but not before she caused heavy damage to Sae's mind and plunging her into a coma. Makoto, who was in love with Haru before, has a hard time even looking at her after that.
They worked together on the Okumura palace because. Erm. I want them to?
Goro has killed before. During an experiment gone wrong with Wakaba, Goro went berserk, his body and mind fusing grotesquely with his two persona. He killed (then cannibalized) Wakaba (which he regrets), as well as the other scientists (which he does not regret), before setting fire to the lab when his mind stabilized to fake his death + destroy the lab equipment. This is why I made him the one who understood Haru and decided to kill for her at the end