[Leading that way! Oh, is that a bubble we're passing with an extremely lengthy comment attached? You asked for bad or sad, so. Enjoy.
The whole thing is this video from 1:44 to 4:13; 4:42 to 7:08, 8:16 to 8:44, but I'll link with the relevant timestamps in the description, too. Crunchyroll doesn't allow timestamp links, unfortunately
(Part #1 1:44 - to 4:13 The memory starts with you waking up, going through your morning routine, and heading to middle school, but thereâs something sort of off about this. The world seems a little colder, more colorless than a true memory would be. Even though you live in a well cared for house, no one but him seems to live here. Also, sometimes insects and small animals monologue at you here? Itâs fine.
Raven: Kageyama Shigeo. Here, you are just a regular middle school student. I have manipulated your memories. You have no psychic power here. From a different perspective, the world will look entirely different.
In class, the teacher introduces a new transfer student named Minori Asagiri. Somehow she seems really familiar, but you canât place her. Sheâs immediately popular when your classmates find out her dad runs a large company, and she invites everyone over for a welcoming party.
You look like youâre hoping youâll be invited, but awkwardly donât say anything.
Boy Student: No need to bother asking Kageyama!
Other students laugh at this and agree.
Minori: What is he, the token punching bag?
Girl Student: Who knows? Iâve never really thought about him.
Girl Student: Heâs barely noticeable.
Minori: Hmm. I see.
You look hurt by this exchange, but donât bother speaking up or responding to anyone.
Butterfly: The people here are accurate representations of people in the real world. So what youâre experiencing is a parallel world that could have easily come to pass had your circumstances been slightly different. Iâll observe how you fare in this environment without your powers.
You go through a day at school. In class, a teacher slaps you when you get an answer wrong after falling asleep in class, and makes you stand. You donât even know why you fell asleep -- for some reason, youâre just so tired right now. All day, other students tease you, laugh at you, throw things at you during class, intentionally hit you during P.E. class with dodgeballs. Itâs just a joke to them, but it builds. While this is happening, the new student, Minori, is watching this happen, too, and smirking. She also finds it funny, but she also clearly sees an opportunity here.
Spider: You had plenty of relationships in real life, and you were fortunate enough to be surrounded by good people. Situations like that are extremely rare.
On your way home from school, two older kids approach you and immediately start trying to intimidate you, asking to âborrow money,â but clearly trying to threaten you. You protest that you donât have any money, you donât have a phone. They tell you to go home and get some from your parents, but - you have to think about that for a moment. One of the kids get angry, not believing you and grabs you roughly by the head, threatening you.
Bully: You donât have a phone or wallet or parents at home? Donât give me that bullshit. Let me give you a nose job!
Shigeo: Please. . . let me go!
Just then, you see walking above you on a bridge a boy who looks a lot like you. You donât recognize him, but something about him seems familiar and youâre immediately filled with relief. Something about this whole situation seems familiar, and you know that this boy is going to come help you.
But instead, he looks down on you with disinterest and walks away, while both boys punch you and hit you until you fall over. They ransack your school bag and toss it in the river when they find nothing worth taking, and finally leave you alone to get it out.
Mantis: Your extremely talented brother is nothing but a stranger here. It looks like you refrain from using your powers in your real life. Iâm guessing youâre trying to become a better person by focusing on developing your social skills rather than your powers. But only the fortunate in life would even have that idea. It shows how lightly you take the real world.
Shigeo: If only I were stronger. . .
Everything continues much the same the next day, except youâre sore and bandaged, and even more tired than you were before. But at lunch, Minori comes up behind you out of nowhere and pours a carton of milk on your head.
Minori: Here! Have some milk! Wait, didnât you mention you loved milk? Isnât this what you meant? . . . Ew, you reek!
Minori is acting nice and friendly, but also like something is funny. When you donât react, she claims sheâs only joking, and you shouldnât be upset. You stand there in your classroom, dripping with milk and embarrassed while everyone stares at you.
Fly: Iâm sure this must seem inexplicable to you, but sheâs bullying you in order to secure her position in society, and itâs something sheâs done routinely. If you donât become stronger, youâll be used, exploited, forever a stepping stone for others.
This continues for six months -- waking up in your house alone, getting ready for school alone. Going to school, where youâre ignored and laughed at. Being bullied by Minori, who is becoming more and more popular with your classmates for how funny she is when she does these things. Before, most of your classmates ignored you, but now theyâre joining in and bullying you, too. Minori has started acting like youâre creepy, or dangerous. Sometimes, when she does this, boys in your class will beat you up in order to âprotectâ her.
Caterpillar: The truth is, sheâs been doing this since before she joined your school. If it wasnât you, it would be someone else. Face the truth, the truth you havenât faced until this point, and realize: there are some people in this world who are not worth saving. They are only going to use you. Is that what you want?
After school, you go home to an empty house every day. Even though the home you live in is nice, youâre only fourteen - you donât really know how to take care of yourself. Your home is a mess. Dirty dishes and laundry piles up. Thereâs food, but you donât really know how to cook anything.
Through all of this, youâre nearly completely alone. There are two exceptions. The first is a white stray cat you see sometimes, on your way between home and school. She is the only creature here who doesnât ignore you or mistreat you. She usually runs away, but she is still cute, and you can talk to her a little when you feel alone. The other exception are the insects and animals that keep talking to you. Somehow, you feel like you know the voice from somewhere else.
(Part #2 4:42 to 6:33 but itâs just Mogami monologuing so feel free to skip ahead and just read this part) This time, the person talking to you in that same voice isnât a creature -- thereâs a ghost taking the form of a man sitting in the corner of your bedroom. You can see him for just a minute, while he talks to you, before he vanishes.
Mogami: Anxiety, fear, rage. All the negative emotions are collectively welling up in you. Thatâs only natural after living in this world for six months without your powers. (In a mocking voice) You mustnât misuse your powers!
Mogami (Twenty minutes of backstory, unskippable): . . . I could see spirits ever since I was born. I even had the power to exorcise them. At first, I used my powers for good, by giving advice and solving various problems. But my mother developed a serious illness, and the fees for her treatment were obscene. Eventually, I started taking underground jobs to kill people for money. I even gave up sleep to earn as much as I could. But my mother still died. The cause of her illness remained unclear to the end. There was nothing anyone could do. But after her death, my mother became an evil spirit and said âItâs all your fault!â My own actions brought forth evil around me, and thatâs what ended up plaguing her.
Moth flitting around a lamp: I should have doubted my way of life, how I was being used by others! I decided to end my life and become an evil spirit, so I could use my powers for myself this time. I was going to change the world! I began to punish those who bring misfortune to others by possessing them. If I possessed that rich girl, I knew I could punish some self-proclaimed psychics, as well! This is how I choose to use my powers.
You are allowed to use your powers for yourself. No, you should use your powers for yourself! You understand that now, donât you?
(Part #3 at 6:33 to 7:08) One day, on your way home from school, you stop in a nearby construction site and give a bowl of milk to the stray cat you see sometimes. She doesnât run away this time - she stops to drink from it. Itâs very cute, and you feel a little bit happy for the first time in a long time. But that happiness doesnât last, as you hear others approaching. You flinch immediately when you realize who it is.
Minori: Well, thatâs a crappy thing to do. Donât you know that feeding strays is a public disservice? What are you going to do about that cat?
Shigeo: N. . . nothing!
Minori: Really? That poor thing. In that case, the catâs probably better off dying. Iâll go take it to a shelter.
You get to your feet, scared of Minori and her awful friends, but also worried about what sheâs saying enough to sound angry. At this point, the cat is scared and runs away.
Shigeo: Donât! Iâll take it in. . . Iâll take care of it!
One of Minoriâs friends, a boy from school, sees you getting to your feet and reacts like you were about to hurt her. He punches you, knocks you to the ground, kicks you in the stomach.
(Part #4 at 8:16 to 8:44 Minoriâs other friends, all boys from your class, start to help punch and kick you while she watches and laughs.
Caterpillar: Are you frustrated? Enraged? Do you hate them? Do you despise them? They are a cancer to society! Stop letting them use you! You will be reborn as my sympathizer. I will give you strength.
You fist clenches in the dirt while you continue to be hit. A feeling is coming over you - dark and angry. You canât ignore the voice in your head anymore. None of these people are worth it. Not Minori, not any of them.
Mogami: I shall give you strength. Make your negative emotions explode and use them against the world!
Suddenly, as youâre being beaten, you remember something youâd forgotten -- you happen to have psychic abilities. Thereâs an explosion around you, as your power returns to you and explodes. The boys from school, rubble, cement blocks and pipes, junk - everything is thrown backwards from you and begins to float in the air.
(Part #5 at 9:08 to 10:10, before Dimple shows up). You throw everything back with your power. You knock all of the boys who hit you to the ground effortlessly. Minori backs away from you, clearly terrified as you approach her, her voice pleading more and more with each step you take.
Minori: Wh-whatâs with you? I - I can have papaâs bodyguards beat the crap out of you anytime I want!
You stand in front of her and stare.
Shigeo: So what.
You step closer.
Shigeo: Apologize.
Minori scrambles to get away.
Mogami: Yes! Make her disappear!
Shigeo: (More insistent) Apologize.
Minori begins to cry.
Minori: I - Iâm sorry!
Shigeo: If you ever bother me again. . .
Suddenly, behind you, one of Minoriâs friends has managed to get to his feet. Shouting die, you freak! he picks up a cement block and slams it down on your head. He hits, hard - hard enough to kill someone. Blood splatters everywhere from your head as you fall to the ground. Minori, from where she was cowering in fear, begins to smile.
Minori: You should just die.
Something seems to snap in you even further as you get back to your feet, blood flowing from the wound in your cracked skull. Itâs not fury anymore, just cold hatred.
Shigeo: What did I ever do to you people? I canât think of a single thing. But it doesnât matter. None of this matters.
The boy is raising the bloody cinderblock to strike you again, but it doesnât trouble you. None of these people are capable of hurting you. They should be more afraid of you. They need to learn that.
You reach out the other boy by the throat and lift him, using your powers for strength, and begin to force choke him while he struggles in your grip, terrified, gasping for air, losing his strength.
Mogami: (relieved) You were a lot like me, and thatâs why I didnât want you to travel the same path I did.
You donât let go, even as he starts to fade, and drool, and snot bubbles out of his nose. The memory ends.]
[ Jeanne breathes in harshly as the memory fades, and she turns to face Mob with an expression full of sorrow and an understanding.
She understands that he was put through so much, so much mental manipulation, so much mental trauma. He was attacked again and again, mentally and emotionally, so much it might as well as been physical, too.
She understands why he's terrified of his powers.
She understands that if the Mob she knows now is after experiencing all of that, it will be all right, but even so.
Even so. ]
Shigeo, you still believe people can be good after all that, don't you?
[ Her voice is soft, and she sounds like she knows the answer, but she wants to hear it from him. ]
[He blinks, coming back from that experience feeling a little hazy - not only is it a terrible memory, but it runs into his missing memories too much, leaving him grasping for something to hang onto.
Her question, though, only leaves him a little more confused. He doesn't remember how he got out of there, but he also never once - ]
[Nodding enthusiastically! Jeanne is so wise! That is in fact the lesson he takes away from this, but that's the part he can't remember, so he's blown away.]
That's true. If people can change, then. . .
[Anyway.]
I saw all of it. But since I came here, I haven't been able to remember what happened after. [It's been troubling him a lot.] I know I got out of there because I remember things that happened after this, and the other week I remembered Dimple - I know Dimple appeared right then to help me.
But besides that. . . I still don't know what happened. Asagiri-san . . . [The awful bully girl.] She was trapped there by Mogami, too. She might still be trapped in there. No matter how awful she is, she doesn't deserve that.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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There is a flicker of confusion after he says his greeting, but she smooths it over with a smile. ]
... Good morning, Shigeo. Is it time to feed Yuki?
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She gets cranky when she's hungry.
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[ she gestures for mob to lead the way. ]
no subject
The whole thing is this video from 1:44 to 4:13; 4:42 to 7:08, 8:16 to 8:44, but I'll link with the relevant timestamps in the description, too. Crunchyroll doesn't allow timestamp links, unfortunately
(Part #1 1:44 - to 4:13 The memory starts with you waking up, going through your morning routine, and heading to middle school, but thereâs something sort of off about this. The world seems a little colder, more colorless than a true memory would be. Even though you live in a well cared for house, no one but him seems to live here. Also, sometimes insects and small animals monologue at you here? Itâs fine.
In class, the teacher introduces a new transfer student named Minori Asagiri. Somehow she seems really familiar, but you canât place her. Sheâs immediately popular when your classmates find out her dad runs a large company, and she invites everyone over for a welcoming party.
You look like youâre hoping youâll be invited, but awkwardly donât say anything.
You look hurt by this exchange, but donât bother speaking up or responding to anyone.
You go through a day at school. In class, a teacher slaps you when you get an answer wrong after falling asleep in class, and makes you stand. You donât even know why you fell asleep -- for some reason, youâre just so tired right now. All day, other students tease you, laugh at you, throw things at you during class, intentionally hit you during P.E. class with dodgeballs. Itâs just a joke to them, but it builds. While this is happening, the new student, Minori, is watching this happen, too, and smirking. She also finds it funny, but she also clearly sees an opportunity here.
On your way home from school, two older kids approach you and immediately start trying to intimidate you, asking to âborrow money,â but clearly trying to threaten you. You protest that you donât have any money, you donât have a phone. They tell you to go home and get some from your parents, but - you have to think about that for a moment. One of the kids get angry, not believing you and grabs you roughly by the head, threatening you.
Just then, you see walking above you on a bridge a boy who looks a lot like you. You donât recognize him, but something about him seems familiar and youâre immediately filled with relief. Something about this whole situation seems familiar, and you know that this boy is going to come help you.
But instead, he looks down on you with disinterest and walks away, while both boys punch you and hit you until you fall over. They ransack your school bag and toss it in the river when they find nothing worth taking, and finally leave you alone to get it out.
Everything continues much the same the next day, except youâre sore and bandaged, and even more tired than you were before. But at lunch, Minori comes up behind you out of nowhere and pours a carton of milk on your head.
Minori is acting nice and friendly, but also like something is funny. When you donât react, she claims sheâs only joking, and you shouldnât be upset. You stand there in your classroom, dripping with milk and embarrassed while everyone stares at you.
This continues for six months -- waking up in your house alone, getting ready for school alone. Going to school, where youâre ignored and laughed at. Being bullied by Minori, who is becoming more and more popular with your classmates for how funny she is when she does these things. Before, most of your classmates ignored you, but now theyâre joining in and bullying you, too. Minori has started acting like youâre creepy, or dangerous. Sometimes, when she does this, boys in your class will beat you up in order to âprotectâ her.
After school, you go home to an empty house every day. Even though the home you live in is nice, youâre only fourteen - you donât really know how to take care of yourself. Your home is a mess. Dirty dishes and laundry piles up. Thereâs food, but you donât really know how to cook anything.
Through all of this, youâre nearly completely alone. There are two exceptions. The first is a white stray cat you see sometimes, on your way between home and school. She is the only creature here who doesnât ignore you or mistreat you. She usually runs away, but she is still cute, and you can talk to her a little when you feel alone. The other exception are the insects and animals that keep talking to you. Somehow, you feel like you know the voice from somewhere else.
(Part #2 4:42 to 6:33 but itâs just Mogami monologuing so feel free to skip ahead and just read this part) This time, the person talking to you in that same voice isnât a creature -- thereâs a ghost taking the form of a man sitting in the corner of your bedroom. You can see him for just a minute, while he talks to you, before he vanishes.
(Part #3 at 6:33 to 7:08) One day, on your way home from school, you stop in a nearby construction site and give a bowl of milk to the stray cat you see sometimes. She doesnât run away this time - she stops to drink from it. Itâs very cute, and you feel a little bit happy for the first time in a long time. But that happiness doesnât last, as you hear others approaching. You flinch immediately when you realize who it is.
You get to your feet, scared of Minori and her awful friends, but also worried about what sheâs saying enough to sound angry. At this point, the cat is scared and runs away.
One of Minoriâs friends, a boy from school, sees you getting to your feet and reacts like you were about to hurt her. He punches you, knocks you to the ground, kicks you in the stomach.
(Part #4 at 8:16 to 8:44 Minoriâs other friends, all boys from your class, start to help punch and kick you while she watches and laughs.
You fist clenches in the dirt while you continue to be hit. A feeling is coming over you - dark and angry. You canât ignore the voice in your head anymore. None of these people are worth it. Not Minori, not any of them.
Suddenly, as youâre being beaten, you remember something youâd forgotten -- you happen to have psychic abilities. Thereâs an explosion around you, as your power returns to you and explodes. The boys from school, rubble, cement blocks and pipes, junk - everything is thrown backwards from you and begins to float in the air.
(Part #5 at 9:08 to 10:10, before Dimple shows up). You throw everything back with your power. You knock all of the boys who hit you to the ground effortlessly. Minori backs away from you, clearly terrified as you approach her, her voice pleading more and more with each step you take.
You stand in front of her and stare.
You step closer.
Minori scrambles to get away.
Minori begins to cry.
Suddenly, behind you, one of Minoriâs friends has managed to get to his feet. Shouting die, you freak! he picks up a cement block and slams it down on your head. He hits, hard - hard enough to kill someone. Blood splatters everywhere from your head as you fall to the ground. Minori, from where she was cowering in fear, begins to smile.
Something seems to snap in you even further as you get back to your feet, blood flowing from the wound in your cracked skull. Itâs not fury anymore, just cold hatred.
The boy is raising the bloody cinderblock to strike you again, but it doesnât trouble you. None of these people are capable of hurting you. They should be more afraid of you. They need to learn that.
You reach out the other boy by the throat and lift him, using your powers for strength, and begin to force choke him while he struggles in your grip, terrified, gasping for air, losing his strength.
You donât let go, even as he starts to fade, and drool, and snot bubbles out of his nose. The memory ends.]
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She understands that he was put through so much, so much mental manipulation, so much mental trauma. He was attacked again and again, mentally and emotionally, so much it might as well as been physical, too.
She understands why he's terrified of his powers.
She understands that if the Mob she knows now is after experiencing all of that, it will be all right, but even so.
Even so. ]
Shigeo, you still believe people can be good after all that, don't you?
[ Her voice is soft, and she sounds like she knows the answer, but she wants to hear it from him. ]
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Her question, though, only leaves him a little more confused. He doesn't remember how he got out of there, but he also never once - ]
Of course. The world is filled with good people.
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It is, and the world is beautiful because people can strive and change to be good, too.
[ His confusion worries her, though. ]
... What all of that did you see, too?
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That's true. If people can change, then. . .
[Anyway.]
I saw all of it. But since I came here, I haven't been able to remember what happened after. [It's been troubling him a lot.] I know I got out of there because I remember things that happened after this, and the other week I remembered Dimple - I know Dimple appeared right then to help me.
But besides that. . . I still don't know what happened. Asagiri-san . . . [The awful bully girl.] She was trapped there by Mogami, too. She might still be trapped in there. No matter how awful she is, she doesn't deserve that.
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[ Jeanne doesn't know if Asagiri was like that outside of that dark world or if she was portrayed even worse to torment Mob. ]
But if that is the way you feel now, then even if you don't remember, I'm sure you did something you would accept.
[ Even if the memory faded out on his power going out of control, that he remembered Dimple helping him means he didn't go too far. ]
You truly have a good heart, Shigeo, one of the most noble I've seen.
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[He's blushing! A lot?]
Me?
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[ No hesitation, all certainty. ]
So pleae try to consider that you can be a little more confident.
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[He's not a naturally confident person, but. . . ]