sticksandbones IC Inbox

[bluebasketballed]

powers nerfed & gained
❆ - superhuman strength: nerfed to the point he couldn't destroy, like, a building in one hit, but even hakuji as a human could punch people's bones apart so good luck!
❆ - self healing: nerfed from instant to delayed 5-10 minutes.
❆ + conditional sunlight immunity: an enchanted anklet that nullifies the harmful effects of sunlight and sun-based magic so long as he is wearing it.

deaths & resurrection prices
none..... YET

other permanent changes
❆ scarring - november 2025: a solid scar the width of his fist at the crux of his ribcage and at the same height on his back, implying impalement. any sensation to this scar, including pain, is shared with kyojuro.


weasel's note: akaza's handwriting is the very sad and choppy scrawl of a man who barely knows how to write. the netbook is just polite enough to make it legible. i just type it in all lowercase bc i'm too lazy to pick out the spelling/handwriting mistakes. thank u for your understanding. i'm having fun now thx

he lives at the inn, the room next to kyojuro's. his window is boarded up from the inside. it is very dark in there. mentitycave

he lives at the soryu dojo south of the river, in koyuki's old room. he offers unarmed self-defense training at the dojo.


plotting contact: PM // discord @ fuckweasel

Comments

[bluebasketballed]

[look, akaza's just happy he didn't hurt him somehow. his laugh becomes slightly less cruel as he makes his way to the door.]

Don't worry, tough guy, I'll keep your secret.

[tempurahair]

[Kyojuro shoots a glower over his shoulder, but says nothing as he continues fussing with his hair. Akaza's getting the silent treatment for a few more seconds. Don't worry, he'll start yapping before too long.

Probably after he shoulders on his shirt and begins fussing with the buttons. No more shirtless show for the demon. Probably for the best, considering just what the shirt covers up. Don't worry about it.]

[bluebasketballed]

[yeah, he totally didn't get a glimpse of that as he looked to see if he was getting a reaction. his face shutters before he exits, and it'll be... a few minutes longer than necessary before he comes back upstairs.

outside the door, he doesn't come back in right away. he's tempted to just retreat to his own room without a word... but maybe he'll pop his head in for just a moment.]

Do you need anything else?

[tempurahair]

[As the door closes behind Akaza, Kyojuro finds himself turning and staring. He... would have expected a goodbye, at the very least? Things had only just been light and easy, had they not? Was there something he had missed?

He almost doesn't expect Akaza to return. He settles into finishing his routine, attempting to reach the top of his head despite his wounds, as he fixes his hair. When the man does poke his head through, Kyojuro is in the middle of the mess, teeth grit and expression screwed up.

He pauses at the sight of him, almost like a child with his hand in a cookie jar. He speaks not just to keep Akaza from commenting, but also because he's never been one to pull his punches.]

I did not expect you to leave.

[bluebasketballed]

[thanks, kyojuro, not a helpful answer whatsoever.]

I was putting things away.

[it's difficult, but he fights his own wince at the state of kyojuro struggling just to take care of his hair.]

... Do you want help?

[tempurahair]

[No it is not! :)]

I see. [He doesn't need to know where Akaza is at all times. The idea of him just leaving without a word, however, sits uneasily within Kyojuro's chest.]

Have I not asked you to do enough for me?

[bluebasketballed]

You haven't asked anything. [out of pride, or guilt, he wonders? curious as he is, akaza knows it isn't his place to ask.]

[tempurahair]

[Well... Akaza has a point there.

Kyojuro chews on the inside of his cheek for a moment before finally lowering his arms. He's only going to make a mess of both his hair and his injuries if he keeps it up.]

Only if it is not an inconvenience. You seem to want to be on your way.

[bluebasketballed]

I wouldn't offer if it was. Sit down.

[he takes the brush from kyojuro and gets to work. it's a relief that the man put on a shirt, so he doesn't have to look at the scar. not that he can ever forget that it's there...

if it's even possible, his motions here are even gentler than before. kyojuro's hair is nowhere near as long as the hair hakuji once helped maintain, but he treats it with the same reverence. he'd said it was a rengoku heirloom, after all.]

[tempurahair]

[Well, there's no arguing with that tone. He does indeed sit down, and it isn't long until he finds himself similarly lost in the effort. It isn't quite as lulling as having the soap massaged into his hair, but it's close enough. The gentleness with how Akaza works through each strand is certainly worth marveling at too.

So many questions he wants to ask, but he bites back the urge. Instead, he offers:]

Thank you. For all of this.

[bluebasketballed]

[akaza could just ignore that, pretend kyojuro never said it. he could brush it off verbally, or even chide him for it.]

... You're welcome. [as he carefully works out a tangle, he quiets. it doesn't take long.] You said we were friends. Did you mean that?

[tempurahair]

[Kyojuro can certainly hear the effort of the tangle being worked out, but he doesn't feel it. There's no pain or pulling that comes with the effort, at the very least. It's hard to fathom that the very hands that slayed him were now being so gentle with him.

How odd, that he wound up here like this.

Given all of Akaza's effort, Kyojuro knows he probably shouldn't turn to try and look at Akaza but... he tries anyway. He wants to meet his eye, even if only barely, in this moment.]

I do not say things I do not mean, Akaza.

[bluebasketballed]

[admittedly, he gives kyojuro a bit of a flat look when the man turns his head while his hair is being worked on, but there's no venom in it. akaza just pushes his cheek to turn him back around so he can keep combing.]

I know you don't. [and yet, he still asked.]

[tempurahair]

[Kyojuro does not budge. He holds Akaza's despite the scolding he can see in it.]

Yet you still doubt me. So allow me to speak it plainly. You, Akaza, are my friend, and likely my closest ally in this moment.

[Only once he's finished yapping does he turn himself back around]

[bluebasketballed]

[such a fucking stubborn man.]

It isn't you that I doubt. You're nothing if not... forthcoming.

[tempurahair]

[You love it, basketball boy.]

But you still doubt all the same. Why is that, Akaza?

[bluebasketballed]

[don't call him out like this.]

If -- our roles were switched, I'd never trust you again. I don't understand why you do.

[once everything is straightened out, akaza gathers some of kyojuro's hair to tie it up the same way he usually wears it. very heterosexual of him to notice this, by the way.]

cw: suicide mention

[tempurahair]

I see.

[Kyojuro blinks as those hands begin gathering up his hair. Part of him thinks to protest — he'll likely lay down to sleep soon, after all. No sense in keeping it up. The rest of him, however, is thoroughly stunned at that apparent attention to detail.

It actually takes a second for him to swallow that down, to re-assemble his focus.]

I can offer you two reasons why. They are connected, so I ask that you bear with me as I explain. [Not that he gives Akaza a chance to say no.]

First and foremost, in the hours before my death, I learned that any understanding I might have had about your average demon were cast by the wayside, thanks to Kamado and his sister. A demon can have the will to be something more than the existence they have been given.

Secondly, when we met, you hardly reacted to my blade. You were far more concerned with stepping into the sun, ending your existence once and for all.

If you had simply told me that you had turned over a new leaf, I would not have believed you. But in that instance, I knew that the demon I fought before was gone. That the man here in his place was different. Changed. And I would not make the same mistake I made with Nezuko, in leaping to cut her head from her neck.

[bluebasketballed]

[even given the chance, akaza wouldn't interrupt. this is something that weighs on his mind every day in this place, and the eventual explanation somehow feels both understandable and also... lacking. it isn't that kyojuro is wrong -- akaza doesn't want this anymore. but he is still the demon who killed thousands, who needs to continue to kill to survive. facing the sun would be so much easier.

he finishes tying kyojuro's hair and lowers his hands to his knees limply.]

... Thank you, then, for giving me another chance. I'll try not to waste it.

[tempurahair]

You won't.

[It's not a command, not a threat, but just a simple statement. He knows this about Akaza, the same way he knows the sky is blue and that the grass is green.

With his hair fixed, it's easier to shift a bit on the bed to properly face Akaza. Provided he doesn't shy away, Kyojuro lays a hand on his shoulder, touch gentle despite the roughness of his palms.]

I know it is not easy, shouldering what you have done. But each day that you continue to try, each day that you choose not to resort to outright violence, is a victory. And I am proud of each and every one of those.

[bluebasketballed]

[the sheer level of confidence kyojuro has in him is shocking. not only does he trust akaza, but he's proud of him? it doesn't seem real. akaza can't in good conscience hold kyojuro's gaze, so his eyes fall to the hand on his shoulder. despite his inner turmoil, the look on his face is openly fond, touched.]

Kyojuro... [his voice is choked. he doesn't know what else to say, but hopefully he comes off as grateful.]

[tempurahair]

[There is no mistaking the impact his words have managed to achieve. For once, Akaza seems to look his age — the immortal one he'd been locked into so long ago. It almost makes Kyojuro's heart ache, even for all the warmth that seems to suffuse it. Not for the first time, he can't help but wonder what might have spurred the man down this path in the first place. How gentle hands could be so readily converted to ones stained with blood.

At the same time, Kyojuro almost finds himself warring with his own instincts. He has the urge to raise his hand, to lay it upon Akaza's cheek, or perhaps thread into his hair. Another part of him almost longs to pull him close, to secure him in the sort of embrace that might protect him from whatever grief and guilt seemed to ail him.

He writes it off as being nothing more than his urge to protect and nurture anyone younger than him. He's felt the same about Shinobu and Mitsuri before, after all. This is surely no different.]

Really, I should be thanking you, you know. You have opened my eyes in the same way that Kamado once did. There is much I could learn from you.

[bluebasketballed]

[that -- that might be going a little far. akaza shakes his head and turns his brow up. almost laughs, that's how ridiculous it sounds.]

From me? No. I don't have anything to teach anyone, least of all you. Except what not to do.

[tempurahair]

No?

[Kyojuro doesn't shy away from laughing, though it's admittedly beneath the booming decibels that his laughter tends to trend toward.]

You have demonstrated regularly, how one can shoulder on in the face of adversity. Despite the weight on your shoulders, Akaza, you are still here. And I admire that persistence.

There is much I could blame myself for. I suspect that the longer we remain in this place, that list will continue to grow. But if you can keep moving forward, I can as well.

[bluebasketballed]

Don't take any blame for the things I've done.

I'm only still here because you asked me to stay.

[... saying that out loud sure is an admission. not just to kyojuro, but also to himself. the only reason he didn't walk into the sun, the only reason he's trying to fit in and play nice in this town. he owes kyojuro, he wants -- needs kyojuro to approve of him.]