perfectmatch | week three

... no need to worry, Edamura-san! [ Rom takes a half-step back, putting a little more proper distance between them. -- or, well, as much as he can in this cramped little spot. ] I double-checked on the way here. While there do appear to be a few spirits haunting this place, they're largely just garden-variety ghosts. Nothing too notable.

[ Yes. This feels correct. The more usual distance he keeps from people. This should fix any mistakes he's made. And just to hammer it home -- ]

Nothing that one of my custom-made amulets can't handle at any rate! Do note that those are usually 6,000 yen a piece, but for you and other participants in this game, I can apply a special half-price discount, so please just let me know if you're interested.

[oh my god]

[and just like that, the urge to shove Rom's face into a locker returns]

. . . I'm not paying 6,000 yen on top of whatever you're charging me for your pep talks!!

[wasn't he listening? Rom said he would give a half-price discount. it's 3,000 yen!]

Sleazy salesman.

[. . . he's keeping the omamori when they leave]

No, no -- only 3,000 yen! It's absolutely a steal, you know.

[ A low laugh before he starts sidling out of their hiding spot. Give Edamura a little more breathing room ... ]

And do keep in mind that I'll be adding that to your invoice if you let it slip that I gave you a free sample, yes? I still have a business to run, after all, and it wouldn't do to undermine my own prices on television. This'll just be a special one-time offer for you, given the circumstances.

[AN EXASPERATED SIGH. . . and before Rom can leave, Edamura snags him by the collar and drags him right back. don't cue the cameramen in on their location when he hasn't even talked secrets, yet!!]

You're a real headache, you know that?

[a pause]

[and then, suddenly more seriously]

But I'll keep your secret if you keep mine.

[ Wah ... as has consistently been the case so far, he just lets himself get dragged back with zero resistance. Initially curious about why they're staying crammed in this little nook before he connects the dots. ]

Oh?

[ Surprising. He hadn't expected Edamura to actually indulge him in that silly wager. Rom gives a low laugh -- vaguely ominous, because it always is when he laughs -- before leaning in, head tilted to better angle his ear in Edamura's direction. Ready for this secret just between them. ]

Of course. Your secret's safe with me.

[it helps that he was teetering on the edge of telling Rom the other night. one might as well spill the entirety of his soul while indulging in a moment of emotional vulnerability, right. . .? but a few other things have solidified his decision, including Wei Wuxian's words from the previous week's interview. those have been bouncing around in his head for a while now]

[. . . what he has to offer. . . with all of his hurt attached, huh. . .?]

[a sharp exhale]

You know the "freelancer" thing is a lie, right?

It is just as obvious as I think it is. Right??

[did he truly sell it that well??]

Edited (must proofread more carefully…) 2025-06-19 16:54 (UTC)

Aah, that.

[ A smile. ]

I don't know if it's obvious. But I had my suspicions.

[ Which isn't untrue, of course. But it won't devalue the fact that Edamura's confessing it himself -- there's always a difference between an inferred secret, and one that's being voluntarily laid bare. ]

[. . . for some reason, that makes him feel better. to know that someone here had an inkling, even if they mostly took him at face value]

It's true that I take on odd jobs as I please. But it's usually for a reason.

[folding his arms, leaning his back against the wall, flicking his gaze towards the end of the aisle as though making sure the cameramen don't reappear at the worst possible moment]

. . . because I'm a confidence man.

So whatever job needs doing for the sake of a scheme, I'll do it.

[ Rom, meanwhile, is entirely focused on Edamura. The confession only earns a blink and a slight tilt of the head first, as he processes it. It's quiet when he repeats, ]

... a confidence man.

[ A soft exhale. ]

You're a scam artist.

[ Another little stretch of silence as he seems to let that fact sink in, his expression an otherwise unreadable neutral. ]

[ And then, smiling: ]

So is it part of the act that you seem like a high-strung, flustered, easy mark, or is that just natural?

[HIGH-STRUNG?? EASY MARK???]

[a little too loudly for someone trying to maintain his cover]

. . . I'm not that high-strung!! Any ordinary guy like me would react the same way to having his worldview upended!! It's natural!!

[. . .]

[wait. okay. deep, easy breaths. it's basically the same question Odile asked, but with Rom's own. . . Rom-ness added]

— I'm a scam artist, but I'm not here to scam anyone. My reasons for being here are completely personal, and I haven't been anything other than myself the whole time.

[be. . . grudingly]

So it's just natural, I guess.

Edited 2025-06-20 01:10 (UTC)

[ Rom smiles at the expected reaction, but -- in truth, it really was just something to draw time, to give himself a few more seconds to process this reveal. Edamura, a career conman? Its hard to imagine, admittedly, but he's dealt with far more implausible things. And if he believes the claim that he hasn't been untruthful since entering this show, that lying and swindling isn't something core to his nature ... ]

Were you in need of money, perhaps?

[ It's said quietly, and not just to avoid further attention from the camera crew who are no doubt looking for them. This is one of the rare moments where Rom's treating the matter with an appropriate gravity. No judgement, just trying to get a better picture. ]

And if you were part of a larger scheme instead of acting on your own ... the stakes must have been high. [ Not stuff just done for small change. ] You don't strike me as the type to be affiliated with organized crime, though.

[. . . ah. . .]

[the irritation melts from Edamura's features almost instantly, brows raising in surprise at the question. the assumption that he became a swindler out of necessity. did he start scamming people for the money. . . ? that was a part of it, sure. . . but it certainly wasn't the whole reason. it's a little embarrassing to admit how stupid he was back then, so he brushes past that question to address everything else]

I'm not.

[that's a firm answer]

I've run confidence schemes on them before, though. I helped take down a gang in Los Angeles, and. . . [here. he hesitates, something shuttering his features in favor of a forced, distant neutrality] . . . a large yakuza organization operating out of both Shanghai and Tokyo.

[. . . he doesn't want to talk about that one]

I work with a much larger crew headed by a man named Laurent. He's the one who recruited me.

[all those years ago]

"Team Confidence," he calls it. Stupid, right?

[ A blink, before he addresses the easy part first: ]

It's a pretty cringe name.

[ Says the guy going by 'Enigma Syndrome.' He knows what he's doing there, though.

This ... really is quite a lot to take in, though. Rom's astute enough that he gets the hint: he won't be prying for any details about how exactly Edamura was involved with the yakuza, of all people. But a more generalized statement should be fine to make, right? ]

Edamura-san, you're truly a much bolder man than I expected. Even I know when to avoid drawing the attention of certain people ... [ A pause before he smiles. ] Being a thorn in the side of people like that, though -- that's admirable. I'd worried for a moment when you admitted to being a scammer. But if it's like that, it's almost a public service you're doing. Very cool.

[. . . admirable? a public service? very cool? Edamura's features slacken even more as he stares at Rom, before something tight clutches at his heart and forces him to look away. that's probably how Laurent-- how the rest of Team Confidence-- saw themselves. but. . ]

I don't think I'm very admirable.

[. . . it's never how Edamura had]

I don't think what I'm doing is right by any means. [is lying and betraying someone-- even the worst of the worst society has to offer-- ever right]

But I guess it-- [ngggg. his features twist in consternation]

It gives me purpose.

[AND THEN, DEEPLY BEGRUDGINGLY]

. . . it's kind of fun.

[ ... 'kind of fun.' Edamura thinks taking down American gangsters and messing with an international yakuza organization is 'kind of fun.'

There's a bemused pause before Rom laughs. Not ominous for once -- just amused. ]

Ah ... by any chance, have you ever wanted to go sky-diving? You sound like an adrenaline junkie.

[CHOKES]

No!! Absolutely not!!!

[please the "adrenaline junkie" in him has LIMITS]

That's a pity. I've heard the view is beautiful. And I'm sure you would have made for quite the sight, plummeting down to Earth from a plane, probably screaming the whole while!

[NOOOOOOO]

[GRABS HIS COLLAR AND SHAKES HIM AGAIN]

You're impossible!!!

week three | dates

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

1/3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject