Reincarnation | Ryouta...? | [ATTN: Masami]
If there was somebody alive Masami knew he held distaste for on this ship, no questions asked, it was Ryouta Ishikawa. One could look into the shades of grey that came with murdering someone when under a motive, sure, but when it came to Ryouta- Masami saw no point. To the salesman, the motive Ryouta killed for had been petty and abrupt, something that was more bark than bite. It was definitely not something to kill over (protecting Sora reasoning or not). So, despite Masami believing Ryouta’s a respectable guy when you looked at his surface, at most of his personality, he also strongly believed he couldn’t be forgiven.
It was true that Ryouta had confessed. But simply put, Masami didn’t particularly care. It was less that he believed all killers were immediately evil and more that he had no reason to see him as good when it came to Ryouta. He had killed Valentina, one of the sweetest people there, for reasons that in Masami’s head, made little to no sense. Masami wasn’t sure if he outright hated Ryouta, and in fact remembered previous smalltalk with him being, for the most part, enjoyable. But enjoyable smalltalk was long forgotten the moment Ryouta confessed to killing Valentina- that was Masami immediately knew the private investigator was someone he didn’t exactly like.
So when he heard the private investigators voice coming from somebody he barely recognised, Masami merely stared, his expression an in-between of stoic and angry.
It didn’t take a genius to find out this was Ryouta Ishikawa. Behind the dark hair and uniform was a red face and pale eyes that were, to Masami, pretty clear indicators of this boys identity. Honestly, he barely knew how to react to this. Ryouta’s formality didn’t make it any better.
He looked at the boy for a few seconds before speaking, his expression and posture getting less stoic and more animated as more time went on.
Then, he began to talk.
"What is this? What? What! Are you like- trying to reinvent yourself to escape your PAST, or something? Because it’s not working! Seriously, what the hell?"
His tone was almost a forced-on anger, his words brisk and bold.
"And, uh- I am doing well, actually! I’m like- on a ship- free! And I survived it all with an innocent conscience!"
He simply stares at Ryouta for a few seconds before continuing.
"Man, seriously, what the hell? Why’d you dye your hair? And the shades…? Those were like… the coolest part of your outfit…"
His tone seems to have faltered, now featuring some level of genuine curiosity mixed up with his (rather strangely presented) anger.
Picking up on the dramatic change in expression with the salesman, the male frowned. Regret planted itself in his heart. He should not have worn his prescription, because for the first time in a long while was he forcing himself to look at every crease, every wrinkle on another's face.
He was better off not seeing more than a few colored blobs from a few good feet away. The obvious angry tone coming from the fiery spirit certainly did not help matters. Wincing, he stumbled back, holding his hands up in front of him. He visibly shook and averted his gaze. This was supposed to have been an easy stepping stone in his new path. After all, talking to another male was supposed to be perfectly in his comfort zone, right?
...Oh, right. He needed to dismiss what was in his comfort zone. He needed to put all his past experiences behind him as soon as possible. Opening his mouth, he attempted to respond after gulping.
"I... I'm sorry...? N-No I mean it... "
“L-Listen… We won’t need to see each other ever again after we arrive, so... you all are… the last people who ever need to know Ryouta Ishikawa… existed. I’ll be Daiki Shimazaki soon enough-- no… I am Daiki Shimazaki… She wouldn’t… Daiko-chan wouldn’t ever forgive me, I know it-- not that you would know her, but… I… Who am I kidding? You’re just a guy Ryouta Ishikawa talked to once. Giving you his whole background wouldn’t be worth it… You wouldn’t want to know it either,” he sighed. “It’s not a… I mean, i-it’s a wig. A-And… Those shades were his… They were for his gang of ‘knaves’, and… I won’t be needing them wherever I’m headed. I see a lot... better this way anyway…”
“I’m… glad you’re fine then. Ryouta Ishikawa had felt guilty about not helping you, but… he had been given something that was too immense for him… He’s… I’m sorry that it’s not the right thing to feel guilty over, but…”
The male seemed to be at a loss for words, averting his gaze once more. He gave a sigh of relief knowing that at the very least he was finally shaking off that phony accent.
