perfectmatch | week three

You little skunk.

[ Odile is grabbing him by the sleeve again, but she'll still follow him to the back. She has not be party to a kleptomanic rogue to not understand the obvious signs. ]

You'll be turning in that wallet before we leave, correct?

[pffft. . . he rifles through the wallet as they walk, pulling out the ID (good) and a few currency bills, before he leaves everything in perfect place and tucks it into his pants pockets]

Yeah, yeah! Don't nag. I'll swing by the lost and found on our way out.

[with the ID in tact, it will swiftly find its place back to its rightful owner. he doesn't speak again until they've made their way to the back of the store, tucked in the aisle lined with boxes of puzzles]

. . . anyway. There's something I want to tell you.

Edited 2025-06-17 00:36 (UTC)

[ Don't nag... she will nag him all she wants, that's her psuedo-family given right. As long as it gets returned, fine, even if... ]

Why you're so comfortable pickpocketing strangers, perhaps? And running away for that matter, but I won't complain about respite.

Yeah. About that.

[. . . . . .]

[a moment of silence. Edamura leans back on one of the shelves, perusing the puzzles until his gaze lands on on one featuring a Shiba Inu and a cat lying in a field of flowers. he plucks the box from its resting place and shuffles to the floor, gesturing for Odile to follow]

[yes they are gonna build a puzzle on the floor while they chat, they can pay for it afterwards]

You know. . . before my mom died, I worked for a company that sold herbal tea. They advertised it as something that had tremendous health benefits, even though it was just your boring, less-than-average blend. I was a salesperson, so it was my job to. . . well. Make sales.

[a pause]

. . . we'd do that by quoting an initial price that was way too high. Then we'd plant someone out in the audience to complain about the price, which would prompt us to lower it on the spot for a "special" deal. Propel ate it up. In hindsight. . . it was pretty shitty.

But at the time, I didn't really know any better.

[ A long pause, but she'll join him on the floor, settling to get comfortable for what she feels is going to be a long chat. Particularly once he begins with mention of his mother -- the smiling woman still lingers in Odile's mind, laid in bed and not much else. Alike enough to the person beside her now that she can still see echos of their similarities.

... Scams like that aren't uncommon in the world, no matter where you may be. Hers doesn't lack of it either, the method familiar as she'd been audience to them before, and she sorts through the pieces as he speaks. The straight edged for the frame, and then the rest to the side. ]

You were just out of high school. I wouldn't expect a young man of that age to think anything of it -- perhaps a feeling that it wasn't very nice, or that you couldn't believe people would fall for it... It's obvious, after all, what you're doing.

[ From the inside, at least. And for those with good faith... Well. They wouldn't assume any better, either. Odile inclines her head for him to go on. ]

[he is sorting pieces by color, though he does slide some of the straight edges towards her pile]

A few years out of high school, actually. I was. . . twenty? But that's still pretty young.

[a pause]

Young and naive enough to not appreciate the gravity of what I was doing. At least. . . not until the police got involved.

[picks up a small piece with rounded edges, toying with it idly between his fingers]

. . . I told them I had no idea the entire business was a scam, but they didn't believe me. I got let off on probation for my first offense, but the conviction stayed on my record.

[ ... She wonders... what colors they are, and though her gaze remains on the pieces he sorts her mind remains on him.

...

His mother wouldn't have been smiling, if she knew. Is that what this is? ]

What did you do after that?

[that's the worst part. even after he got caught. . . she was never disappointed in him]

I tried to get another job. What else could I do? We had bills to pay.

[a wry smile as he places the piece down and links it with another]

But nobody wants to hire a criminal, much less one whose crimes were steeped in dishonesty.

[ ...

She'll begin the framework then, forming the corners silently. Much the same... as Ka Bue, then. ]

Did you darken yourself further?

[wh]

What?? Did I darken myself??? No????

[THAT TURN OF PHRASE, ODILE]

How else am I supposed to take your first unsteady steps into crime, and a world that won't give you a second chance? Most stories lead into an anti-hero of a kind, with the character in question further submerging themselves into the ink pot of malefaction for the sake of the ones they love.

[ ... ]

Did you manage to find honest work, Edamura?

[ Did someone give him a chance? ]

But when you put it like that, it sounds so edgy!

[says the guy who got called a chuuni last week]

[BACK. . . ON TRACK]

[an exhale. a few more pieces get linked together]

And no. Of course not.

[. . .]

And then my mom died. [. . . leaving him with absolutely nothing] So I found the guy who was running the herbal tea scam and partnered up with him to start swindling people again. Knowingly this time.

[the moment fades, and Edamura lifts his gaze to flash Odile a smile. calm. even. cool. collected. very different from the friendly and affable and sometimes dramatic Edamura everyone in the house has met so far]

And I was really good at it, Odile. Really good.

[not beating the chuuni allegations]

[ He isn't. But this Edamura feels

alien, to her.

There is always more than what one can see. This is fact. He is, she finds, a wonderful storyteller. Able to draw someone in with his words... to keep them in suspense, even if her patience is wearing ever-thin. Little wonder that he was so good at swindling, poisonous as the thought lay.

Odile settles back, hands on her lap, and stares at him warily. ]

Edamura. I'd like to ask you a question, expecting honesty.

[it is, unfortunately, the actor in him. the part of him that is capable of swindling the amount of people he has swindled, even if his intentions here are. . . to be truthful, for once]

[the smile fades, brows raising in bemusement, but he does nod]

. . . yeah, sure. Go ahead.

Perhaps it's a spoiler to the end of your tale, which you are so lovingly crafting to annoy me with impatience, but... do you still engaging in swindling others?

[ There's a follow-up to this question, which is more important than the question itself, but... she does want to know this first. And sooner than what he's giving. ]

[SHE'S SPOILING IIIIIIT]

[frowning a bit at having his little story time interrupted, but. . . she jumps forward to that question so quickly that he imagines it is gnawing on her. a deep inhale, a slow exhale]

. . . I'm supposed to be in retirement now. The confidence man lifestyle is-- [waves. . . a hand] And sometimes, it just. . . sounds nice. The idea of finding someone normal and peaceful to settle down with. Finally finding honest work. Just. . . being an average guy, living an average life, in an average world.

[it's. . . why he had come onto this show, actually. to change things for himself. to be something more than Edamura the swindler]

[. . .]

[but that's a lie too, isn't it? the things he says he wants differ far too much from the things he actually wants]

. . . but there's a job waiting for me when I get back home.

[because Laurent will always come calling when he has need of his favorite business partner, won't he?]

I haven't decided if I'll take it, yet.

[. . .]

But I probably will.

... You enjoy it.

[ It's blunt, and a little cold. ]

[. . .]

[a sharp exhale. he does not flinch back, even if the ice in her words stings. that's to be expected. she is, after all, objectively correct in her harsh judgment, and he knows it]

. . . can I finish my story?

...

[ Odile exhales slowly, lowering her gaze back to the puzzle. What a stupid thing it is, to like someone. Her hand moves to start putting it together. ]

Continue.

[a small bow of his head, but now his gaze is focused on the few pieces he as already put together. he finds a few more, arranging them around the tiny picture that has begun to form in front of him. it's one of the flowers]

. . . I was pretty stupid back then. In the years after my mom died. In all honesty, I'm not proud of the person I was. A cocky kid who felt like he had nothing to lose.

[he admits to that with a surprising amount of clarity and understanding of his own character. when he thinks back on those years-- the years of Japan's greatest swindler-- he almost feels. . . ashamed. what a dumb and hurt kid he had been, making dumb and hurtful decisions, all because he couldn't cope with the turns his life had taken]

But then one day, I met. . . someone else. A man named Laurent. I tried to swindle him, but I was two steps behind his every move. He was the one conning me. And then. . . he recruited me for my biggest job yet.

[. . .]

. . . the world is full of rich jerks who are untouchable by the law, you know? People who get away with shitting on others just because they have cash to spend. He introduced me to one such person: some small-time movie maker who preyed on aspiring actresses. Who ruined lives for his own sick entertainment. Laurent wanted to con him out of his entire fortune as some kind of punishment for the things he had done.

[another piece. another small exhale]

When we completed that job. . . my perspective on the world completely changed.

[. . .]

. . . I took the money Laurent paid me for my role in the confidence scheme and used it to pay back every single person I had swindled myself.

And then I turned myself in to the police.

[SHE MISSED THAT PART!!!]

[ ...

Rather than swindle the common man now, he acts as a kind of robin des bois. But he's aware of his faults -- older now, seeing differently, looking back with a heavier heart at the things he'd done and... seeking to make reparations. Odile continues to work on the framework, unresponsive, as if she hadn't heard him.

It's simply her mind turning over itself, checking through his words and who she knows-- knew him to be, judging each and weighing their worth. By the time she's settled, the outside is complete.

... ... ... ]

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2/3 actually sighs in expressions

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