justicereigns | [Audio]

We lost a weekend from the past month. I think that's about the most interesting thing that has happened.

[Waiting. No, he's not helping if you don't ask.]

Lost?? How?

[He wouldn't accept your help Ikki! >:| He is manly and independent and can pick out his own clothes. Badly if you've ever seen him in shorts; and later he wears two jackets, but still! He's going to be over here... looking at jeans and trying to remember what looks good on chicks. Maybe he should have asked Alice's help, since she'd dragged him clothes shopping before.]

No one remembers what happened in those two days. The memories are gone, wiped. I think last year something similar happened, but they like to play with our memories so much that it's hard to keep track of it.

Hn. Curious. I think I remember the whole you're talking about... what happened around that time though, anything?

They were normal days, Friday and Monday I mean. I have no clue on the weekend.

[Actually he lies. He was plagued with bad dreams, not nightmares but dreams that made him think things he didn't want to think about. Realize things he didn't want to accept. But Smoker wasn't there the day he threw Hyoga out of the apartment telling him to not return, only to have the animal bring people to him, so there's no point in telling him. No reason to.]

Whatever they did, they did a good job cleaning up after it.

[Awww Ikki ;;]

Maybe something happened they don't want us to know about. I mean they left the memory of the moon falling.

Not for everyone.

[Though he doesn't count as he was taken... Or so he assumes, why else wouldn't he remember it all?]

It could. Maybe it was a secret that they knew would get addressed at the Town Meeting.

[Grasping at straws.]

No point in breaking our heads for now about it. Did you find any pants or are too busy taking all the cute clothes you can find?

Cute clothes. [Dripping with sarcasm.] Pink flowers are all the rage right now.

[Returns with several pairs that still look too big.] I can't tell the difference between girl jeans or not. [Seriously. He doesn't get it.]

[He gives him... Her, a look.]

Probably the ones that are nicely folded rather than thrown around without care.

I would say that red frills suit you better though.

[Makes a face.] I hate red. Reminds me of Akainu.

[That and it emphasizes his blushes.] Okay. So these? [Brings Ikki a pair for inspection. :|] They look short. [Because Smoker is short.]

Who?

[He's guessing a pirate. He eyes the pair and then looks at Smoker.]

You are short.

An admiral. Believes in Absolute Justice. Kills civilians and marines, killed Portgas. Aokiji hates him too.

[Opens his mouth to object to the short comment, looks up... realizes he's looking up and grumbles, stubbornly taking the jeans to go try them on.]

Ah... That type. And he's still allowed around? He probably would have been brought down by his own doings in my world.

[This is why he doesn't like any structured organization, scum like that is bond to appear in some step of the ladder.]

You're lucky. In my world if Aokiji doesn't become Fleet Admiral... Akainu will. He impressed a lot of people in Marineford. Politics. [A shrug as he goes into a changing room.]

I take his "Absolute Justice" then is just the justice sang by those in political power. If it was a pure "Absolute Justice" issue I doubt people would be impressed with him unless they were crazy enough to think they can control it.

[Peeks his head out. He is being shy about the jeans :| Not the boxers, but the girl jeans. Yup.]

They do think they can control it. Or him. [Okay getting over the shyness now to try walking in the damn things.] They think since pirates don't fight fair, we should do worse than them. Even "stronger", but I don't see how it's not losing sight of Justice.

I once knew a man who devoted himself to Athena and to expel the evil from the world. But he obsessed with it so much that eventually he lost sight of what he was trying to protect and even tried to kill Athena when she reincarnated. Of course, it wasn't just his fault, some helped to push him over himself, but even without those people I believe he would have lost himself eventually.

You know, hearing about how your world is almost makes me think it wouldn't be so bad for you guys if some real chaos happened and guys like that Akainu and those who think like him were brought down.

[Eying him walking.]

Not bad.

[Blushes and flusters at the comment. Is that good about the jeans? Okay yes, he will just... go with with these and go get more of the same type.]

Hn... Even if the unthinkable happens and Aokiji doesn't take Fleet Admiral... I wouldn't want open opposition to Akainu. He's wrong, but he's still better than Blackbeard or the Pirate Emperors getting a foothold. [Big eyes narrow down in focus.] Everyone's playing with fire. It used to be that there were four pirate emperors that held each other in check, the marines trying to arrest all the pirates, and shichibukai to help us if it came to open war against one of the emperors. [The obvious distaste in his voice at the word shichibukai is palpable.] Then Crocodile, one of the shichibukai tried to take over the world, Jinbei refused to help against Whitebeard, they employed Blackbeard to take Crocodile's place -- huge mistake -- and Boa Hancock did nothing in the battle except get in my way and help Straw Hat.

Now, one of the pirate emperors is dead, the two strongest marines are being forced to retire, and Blackbeard has Whitebeard's devil fruit, and freed a bunch of pirate prisoners -- not to mention all the ones Straw-Hat freed. [Folds his arms grumpily, trying to think it all over. He's spent the last month and a half doing nothing but thinking things over like this, but it's somehow nicer to say out loud.] When a big figure like that dies... it's a power vacuum. All the pirates will want to be the next Whitebeard, others will try to be Pirate King, the rest will want his islands or to snatch up the pieces, the pirates freed...

[Shakes his head and rests a feminine hand up to his temple.] I despise Akainu and his absolute justice, but he kills civilians and marines in the pursuit of pirates, pirates do it to get fame or money. Fighting Akainu wouldn't save lives. I hate him, but we still have to work together to fight common enemies.

And what about the consequences? The civilians killed have families, so do the marines. Just as a kid losing his parents to pirates would lead him to become a marine, a marine that kills his parents in pursuit of a pirate will probably be lead to become a pirate himself or even worse. Because if the justice and the law of the world he lives in is one that uses pirates as an excuse for their own crimes, one that will condemn them just for being in the vicinity of a pirate even if they didn't know it and will label them as criminals, then they may as well live against it from the start. You can't be sure that fighting along with him will save lives either.

I know of the consequences. [Growls, though it's still more cute than intimidating.]

There's a reason I hate him, and I do not take it lightly, but to fight him would mean losing the marines entirely. We'd be swarmed over! We can barely hold our own, even with his lot in our ranks. I'd still rather see his idea of the future come true than Blackbeard's. Akainu might decide to demolish an island for housing pirates -- might -- but Blackbeard could accidentally while trying to take another one half an ocean away. Big Mam sees people as candy. Either they produce it for her, or she'll kill them. Other pirates see islands as slaves waiting to happen. You think that world is better than Akainu's twisted justice?

I never said either of those two worlds should be the one to be. A world in which people live in fear, be it fear of the pirates who abuse them or from the marines who will condemn them for things they might have not even done... None is a good option. If those are all the options your world truly has, it must be s really horrible place to live in.

[Hangs head.]

Tch. It's not nice. [Lights up a pair of cigars and tilts his head to the side.] I'm going to try to make it better than that. No matter who takes power. I don't have anything nice to say for Akainu except that living in fear of him, is still living. [For the most part? He hesitates, since it was hard to forget the look on Coby's face and who saved him? A pirate. Damn his whole world.]

I must be one of the only ones who aren't dead and yet still not too eager to go back to my own world.

Yeah, it's still living. Until power gets to their heads and then people start being executed for crimes such as having their own opinion. [Ikki shakes his head.] If I remember correctly, some people in your government already do that, or something similar.

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