This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.
Sometimes You Tell The Day
By The Bottle That You Drink
And Times When You're All Alone All You Do Is Think
AK: hey there everyone
AT: welcome Kurusu
AK: yeah this takes me back
AK: used to do this all the time with the PT
AK: probably not such a great idea now that i think back on it
AK: Futaba showed me that no chat log is safe from a good hacker
MS: Nijima said that too
MS: about having memories of chatting, not about Futaba
AK: uh huh
AK: and here i am texting a bunch of teens like im back in shujin
AK: feels weird
JR: well i c you already got the most important part down
JR: don't ever use caps lol
AT: kurusu, this is julian rosea
JR: hey there dude, sorry i couldn't meet you in person last time
JR: had stuff to do
AK: It's fine. Nice to see you're okay, Rosea
JR: aw man
JR: now he's using caps, knew he couldn't resist the power of the adult side forever X(
AT: k if Rosea is done being a goofball i wanted to talk with Kurusu about some things before we go to the soccer game today
AT: first, hows things on your end
AK: not so well
AK: i got made, they knew who i was as soon as i tried
JR: hax
AK: actually i don't think so. Futaba checked.
JR: was joking dude
AK: so was I
JR: x_x
AK: Anyway, can't get back in the club now.
AK: good news is they still haven't spotted Morgana
MS: thats good
AT: did he find anything?
AK: nothing major yet, just some old equipment and dressing rooms
MS: make sure he is careful please, don't want him to get caught
JR: Morgana is a cat right, the talking cat?
AT: yep
AT: he's cuuute ^^
AT: Pelagio doesn't like him tho
JR: sounds like my kind of cat
AT: thank you for not saying what i thought you were going to say
AT: let's try to keep this at least somewhat professional
JR: hey you said it, not me
AK: like i said, takes me back
AT: if you need our assistance with something or just to provide a distraction, let us know
AT: we've been destroying their Shadows, the black boxes
MS: only one so far
AT: yes well if we didn't have to also go to school and do homework we could do it faster
AK: It's fine, really.
AK: Morgana would like me to pass on his thanks as well.
AK: and some kind of insult at the intelligence of Rosea that i won't bother with
JR: hey!
JR: oh well, yay imagination
AT: back on track, couldn't find any trace of Hex yet
AT: will keep looking
AK: Careful, he could be dangerous
AT: i know
AT: also wanted to ask you for ideas on how to find Karma's agent
AK: agent?
AT: someone in the detention class passed me a piece of paper with the Karma phone line on it.
AK: you were in detention?
MS: wasn't her fault, Kujou pretended Tsuruga attacked her when it was Pelagio
JR: wait, seriously? you were in detention?
AT: can we please focus here!
AT: need to learn who it was. Preferably without letting them know we're onto them.
AK: do you know anyone in the detention class besides Rurichiyo
AT: no, sorry. Just Mr. Umaeda, the rest were all older boys.
AT: can't remember their faces or names
AK: ask Mr. Umaeda
AT: okay, what do i say?
AK: tell him you want to try to help them so they don't get detention again
AT: Umaeda might not remember either, it was almost 2 months ago.
AK: one sec
JR: dude that's way more than one sec
AK: sorry had to check with Futaba. Yes, we can access Koashimizu academy's database and they do have records on which students were placed in detention and when.
MS: told you
AK: Keta Rurichiyo, Shinji Utakata, Torade Yoshida, Satoshi Oori.
AT: thank you very much Kurusu
AT: 3 students we don't know, I say after the game today we each take one.
MS: Tsuruga. school. we won't have time. don't even know what to look for.
AT: fine, we'll ask around about them
AT: see if any of them were ever having trouble at school
JR: besides being in detention you mean
AT: yes, besides that
AT: Utakata.
MS: I'll go with Yoshida
JR: guess that means i'm with Oori
AK: see? You can get them to focus on the mission if you try.
AK: it's just really difficult.
AK: so glad that i had Nijima around to help me with that
AT: is she ok?
AK: yes, last i checked
AT: if she wakes up please let us know
AK: got it
(Akira Kurusu has left the chat)
6/11 Tuesday
After School
The crowd gathered for today's perpetually-rain-delayed soccer game was much larger than usual. The volume of their shouts and cheers reflected that, and Aiko Tsuruga was grateful for both of these factors. It meant less attention was likely to fall on the three of them.
"If nothing else", Jiachi noted cheekily, "this is really giving us a lot of practice on how to talk quietly in a crowd." He'd been focused on the game more than Aiko or Mira, watching and occasionally cheering for the home team, which in itself wouldn't have been odd except for the fact that less than a month ago, he'd been consumed with bitter anger about being left off that same team. Enough to lie about it to any who asked.
But life went on, Aiko knew. With everything else happening recently, it was easy to lose track of the fact that an entire school year was going on in the background. They still had to wake up, go to classes and submit their assignments each Saturday, and the extracurricular clubs didn't stop just because officer Makoto Nijima had been hurt and put in the hospital.
Idly, she wondered how many students here would drop what they were doing if they knew that the leader of the legendary Phantom Thieves was visiting their distant coastal town.
Regardless, it remained a welcome distraction for when the weight of leadership felt too heavy. The things that made other students stress out, she was happy to lose herself in for a while and just be a normal student. A normal first-year student who was the head of the school fencing club, often a target of bullying and foul rumors, but still relatively normal.
Mira was right about that at least. Sometimes, when she was tired and scared, it was tempting to stay lost.
Not now, she reminded herself, bringing up her phone to privately check Akira's message. This is the time when we need to be active. As active as possible. Anything we do distracts Karma from Akira's moves. Got to find out who was Karma's agent at school, learn if Utakata is the one who's been passing out those papers.
"Pelagio found us a spot on the shore", she started once they were sure no one else was listening. "Another cave, further up the beach from Yume Bay. We should be able to use that to dispose of the black boxes without any chance of being seen."
"Transporting them there could be a bi- a problem, though", Julian said. "They really stand out."
Flinching at a near miss on goal, Mira turned to them. "I've got that covered, actually. You remember that big crate you saw in our dorm? I asked Ekuya-san if I could borrow it, and she said yes. Shocking, I know. She said it's used to move soap dispensers and appliances to the dorms, and they only use it at the start and the end of the term. We should be fine. It's definitely big enough."
Aiko smiled. That was one less problem taken off an enormous pile of them. "Thank you, Mira-chan. If you're up to it, we could go out later today-"
"Not today", Jiachi cut in apologetically. "Sorry, can't."
"Why not?"
Scratching his short-spiked hair in his usual attempt to hide embarrassment, he shrugged. "Uh... Y'know. It's kinda, um... my... heh... my birthday. So my folks want to drive me back home after the game today. So we can celebrate."
Mira chuckled just a little bit too highly to feel completely at ease. "Well, happy birthday, Rosea-kun!"
"Yes", Ai echoed more genuinely, giving him a brief, hesitant embrace over his shoulders, for once able to forget about their problems and celebrate life. "Happy birthday to you, Rosea-kun. If I'd known, I'd have gotten you a present. Sorry."
"Please don't", he asked, looking around nervously to make sure no one else heard them. "I just... It's not really such a big deal, y'know? Maybe if we were in America it would be, but not here. We've got way more important stuff to deal with right now anyway."
"I suppose", she admitted. "But still I wish I'd known. What about you?"
Mira shrugged. "August 23rd. I'll be going back home to visit with my family then. You?"
Ai gave an expression of mock victory. "January 5th. No real plans. I only found out when I checked my birth certificate info."
"Then we can make plans", Julian offered brightly. "Plenty of time!"
"Assuming we're still alive by then", Mira pointed out before reconsidering her words. "Um, sorry. Didn't mean to bring the mood down. Actually-"
"Tsuruga-san?"
The three followed the source through a miasma of noise back to the short boy standing near the foot of the bleachers. Shukiji Niyoga waved to them, prompting expressions of annoyance from several but also recognition that they couldn't simply ignore him.
"Stay here", Aiko advised them, releasing Jiachi and stepping down from her seat above him. "I'll be right back."
Once it was clear they would be gone longer than a minute, Mira slid down into her spot and Julian leaned back. "'Actually' what?"
Mira gave a happy sigh, a sense of marshaling the courage to act. "Actually, I think I do have a present for you."
"Even though you didn't know about it until now?"
"Yes."
"I really need to let the feather bag know that you're not the load he thinks you are."
Mira frowned awkwardly. "Erm... yes." It wasn't exactly a secret that Pelagio hadn't always thought highly of her role in the group, considering her soft-hearted, but rarely had it been expressed so brashly before.
Fortunately, Julian wasn't so judgmental. Stopping to join in the fanfare of a well-earned Koashimizu team goal, she sat back down on the bleacher and turned to him. "I wanted to apologize to you for before."
"Hm? 'Bout what?"
Shaking her head as if in disbelief, she stared into his eyes. "You know what. When I saw what happened to Ai-chan."
"Oh. Oh yeah. The yelling. Right."
"Yes", she gasped as if in sharp relief. "The yelling. You know me, Rosea-kun. You know that I'm not a violent or angry person normally. I just..."
Jiachi raised a hand to cut her off. "Let me guess. You just thought that I'd pushed Tsuruga-chan into doing something that got her seriously hurt. Right?"
"Right. And since then, I've started to realize... That wasn't you. It wasn't Pelagio either."
Watching the other team from Koichi Pref school start bringing the ball back their way, she briefly wondered if working some kind of sports metaphor into her words might make it easier, but thought better of it. "It was her. She wanted it. The rush. The adventure. Even if you'd said no like I did, I think she might still have done it without us."
Processing her words, her hypothesis, he glanced back at the field before continuing. "Well... I think you're right. I can see where she's coming from."
Her jaw dropped. "Still? After everything that's happened?"
His arms spread, encompassing the soccer field, then the dorms. "School? Soccer? It's nice. It passes the time. But this Persona stuff? This is the chance to make our mark, Sorano-san. Our chance to do some real, lasting good in this messed-up world, which is honestly a lot more than a lot of people our age get. In this case, we're taking down evil masked monsters that prey on people's negative feelings. Oh, and Shadows."
She couldn't help but giggle a bit at the joke before getting back on track, the afternoon sun's glare playing out over her dark skin. "And you're still not mad at her or anything? For making us the targets of these Karma people?"
"Hey", he protested. "They haven't tried anything yet, have they? Aside from Nijima-san. Who, as you said, was only targeted 'cause she was investigating them long before we got involved."
"True", she conceded. "But the more we mess with them, the more likely they are to take action against us. We've seen their power. They're not afraid to hurt people."
"'Cause they're d-bags", Julian pointed out calmly, eyes focused on the horizon now. "Hell, if Tsuruga-chan is right, they might be messing with students at our school too, trying to get 'em to awaken Personas. We do nothing about it? That's us saying it's okay for 'em to do that. Haven't you ever seen Spider-Man?"
Mira folded her arms, trying to let that straightforward logic allay her fears but not quite succeeding. Fear, she had begun to realize, dominated her decision making far more than it did Aiko or Jiachi's. Fear of Kujou. Fear of her father's disapproval. Fear of the Shadows. Fear of Faraway Lands. Of the unknown.
Fear of Karma.
But in Julian's earnest eyes, those fears were either non-existent- a possibility she considered unlikely- or well concealed.
"You supported Ai-chan in her decision", Mira said softly. "You and Pelagio stood by her, and if you hadn't, then she might be dead right now. Or worse, turned to their side. You saved her from the Masked Circle. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. Any time."
Shaking her head at how casually he was brushing this confession off, she sniffed. "You're a much better friend than I ever gave you credit for, Rosea-kun. All this time, I still thought that you were just trying to... you know."
He did know. The evidence was plastered all over his face, which for once looked remorseful instead of cocky. His words were equally sedate and measured.
"I'm an asshole, Sorano-chan. You were right there in my Land. You saw for yourself just how much of an asshole I really am."
"But you figured that out", she reminded him gently. "That's the hardest step to take. And I'd say you've been getting better already."
"Maybe", he allowed. The game was wrapping up now, the Koashimizu team gathering around portly coach Kurikado to receive his hearty congratulations on a game well played, final score 3 to 1. "Not like I haven't got other worries either."
"Other worries?"
He gave a quiet snicker, trying to make it clear to her that he knew exactly how trivial his personal problems sounded when they could die tomorrow. "I'm turning 17 today. And the only friends I have in my life are two girls. Neither of which is my girlfriend. Isn't that weird?"
"Sure", she gave him a teasing smile. "Like you and Ai-chan aren't close. Clearly no connection there at all."
The sudden surge of body heat reminded him of that time at the shrine, as well as what they had said to each other. "We agreed that we'd gotten together for selfish reasons. Just 'cause it was considered the 'cool' thing to do, so we- so I- could show off to people. And I swore that I would try and become someone she might want to be together with again one day."
"I know. She told me the whole story."
"Good." Watching the crowds disperse, he was free to lean back onto the seat behind him. "Whatevs. Maybe I'm just feeling like this 'cause I'm the only guy on this team."
"Pelagio's male."
He snorted. "Yeah, but he's not even human. Doesn't count."
She paused for a moment, expecting a prideful retort from the world's only talking saker falcon, but nothing came. "I guess he's out patrolling. Or watching over Ai-chan."
"He's good at that", Julian admitted, able to lean back now that the others had cleared out. "I'm surprised he doesn't turn into a butler in the other world. He gives me that kind of vibe."
"Maybe he was once", Mira supposed. "You never met Mona-chan, but he's practically a human in a cat's body."
"Not too late", he reminded her. "He and Kurusu are gonna be here for the rest of the week. I'd like to talk with both of them in person at least once, instead of just text messaging... but not today."
"Not today", she agreed. "You still need to get your present."
She reached for her phone.
Shukiji had chosen to drag Aiko all the way to a quiet table in the far corner of the school's auburn-colored 2nd floor library for their talk this time, which gave her plenty of time to consider what to say. More importantly, exactly how to say it.
She knew what was going to be asked already. The problem was getting enough force into her words to convince the school's number one top graded student to leave them alone.
In the end, she chose to err against caution. Caution had only encouraged him before. She waited until they were both comfortably seated at the table, far away from the scant other patrons before leaning in, her eyes gleaming as if she was facing Kujou or Lady Scorpio again. Trying to make a mark on that supposedly eidetic memory of his.
"I've had enough of this."
Shukiji looked neither amused or entirely dire. His single visible eye regarded her the same way she knew he regarded everyone else- someone who was only of interest to him because she knew something that he didn't. If she'd been a normal first-year student like she had imagined earlier, then he might have never even bothered to learn her name.
"Then end it, Tsuruga. Tell me what I want to know, and I can stop bothering you. I have, of course, brought gifts to trade."
"And you still don't get it", she grunted in exasperation. "I said no. Rosea-kun said no. Mira said no when you asked her. What makes you think this is going to go any differently than before?"
Utterly calm, he pulled out a folded slip of paper onto the table. "Information on your true nationality", he explained briskly. "It took a lot of digging, but here it is. Sorry for being so late."
She looked up, imploring a square ceiling light for guidance she knew she didn't actually need. Can't tell him. He'd want to go there.
"Thank you for that. But no. Sorry."
Disappointingly, this wasn't enough to make him quit. If anything, he looked mildly curious now, moving the note pack off of the table. "So you're not even slightly interested in where you came from?"
"It doesn't matter to me any more", she pouted, folding her arms defiantly. "I'm me. Go ahead. Tell everyone at school that I'm a gaijin or a hafu. See if I care. You can't possibly make me less popular than I already am."
"That remains to be proven", he claimed, his one visible eye narrowing into focus. "Other students have warmed up to you in the past two months, haven't they?"
"A few", she admitted, briefly flashing back not only to Mira and Jiachi, but Reiha, Noel, Kotone and Keta as well. Once upon a time, she might have had Shukiji on that list as well, but she understood him better now. "And they wouldn't care where I'm from any more than I do."
Shukiji shrugged, for a moment seeming to accept a defeat. "Fair enough. But can you really say the same thing about the true identity of your father?"
That took her longer to deal with and process, but the result felt the same in the end. "Okay. Now that, I'd definitely like to learn some day... But when I do, I want it to be from a source I can be sure of."
That, in turn, was enough to break Shukiji's own careful composure, his front bang sliding away to reveal his second eye as he rose out of his seat. "Every fact I offer to people is always the verified truth, Tsuruga. I always double check my sources. I never lie, and I expect the same courtesy in return."
"Then believe me when I tell you", she countered evenly, "that we have a good reason for keeping this secret away from you, Niyoga. Knowing it could put you in some real danger. I'm not lying about that."
He paused breathlessly, momentarily considering her warning before blowing it off. "Please. You can't possibly expect me to take that threat seriously. There's no knowledge in this world-"
"-that I shouldn't have", she finished irritably. "Yes, yes, we know, get a new catch phrase already."
Once again he was carefully studying her face for clues, making her feel as though she were under a microscope. "You've been injured recently", he noted in genuine surprise. "And you're not getting very much sleep either. Hm. Maybe you're not bluffing after all. But I'll be the one to decide if it's too risky for me or not."
Which naturally brought her own mind back to the question that always popped up whenever she thought about Shukiji, and now he was right in front of her to face it.
"Why? Why is it so important that you know everything, Niyoga? Do you ever use all that information you've got stored away to actually help people? Or do you just use it to control them? Is being the smartest person around really so great, if it means you don't have any friends?"
A polite, condescending laugh answered her questions. "Yes, I expected that you might say something horribly cliched like that. Especially considering... never mind." Far from impressed, he leaned back in his chair, raising an arm to gesture at one of the amber wood bookshelves lining the room. "There's another reason that I chose this spot, you know."
Uncomprehending, she raised an eyebrow. "Well of course you love the library. All these books. It's not really my favorite place to be, but it's a nice quiet study area. I spend lots of time here getting ready for tests."
"I'm glad that you approve", he noted before pointing at one of the shelves with a sudden disgusted face. "In fact, I do appreciate most of the reading material here, except for... that."
Aiko stared, following his finger until she recognized the slim volumes and the artwork adorning them. "Light graphic novels. So what? There's nothing wrong with them."
Even more disgusted by her reaction, Shu gave her a pitying glare. "Manga has no place in a school, Tsuruga. You have no idea how... disappointed I was to learn that Vitienne-san's current ambition is to become a manga artist."
That rocked her, though not in the way the short boy had clearly intended. Her eyes widened in interest and she smiled back excitedly.
"Really? That's awesome! I'm sure he'll do really well at-"
"It is a waste", Shukiji countered with a fury she had never seen in him before now. She had known early on that Noel was actually the closest thing to a friend that Shu had, and they had grown up together in middle school with Ayano Furusato.
Supposedly back then, at least according to Noel, Shukiji had been easier to get along with compared to now. Perhaps Ayano's death had affected him too, though he would never admit it.
"If it's what Vitienne-kun wants to do", she tried. "Then as his friend, you should support his career choice."
"A waste", Shukiji repeated with vitriol, directing her over to the bookshelf. Despite his earlier signs of revulsion, he didn't act as though the books there were contaminated, merely holding a few up for her to observe the covers. Aiko's eyes lit up when she recognized the artist's name too.
"Oooh! Hey, some volumes by Kamachi. I love his art. Kubo-san too. And is that a collection of Takaha-"
"Thousands and thousands of books", he cut her off tersely. "Millions of pictures, all demanding an artist's careful hand. All of it devoted to the cultural rot of this country."
She stared back at him dismissively, feeling a bit like Keta when he was trying to figure if she had been kidding or not about him being Hex. But Shukiji's face held no trace of humor this time. "You sound way more melodramatic than any of these books."
Shukiji let the insult pass by, angrily stuffing the books back into their spots on the shelf. "I hoped that you, of all people, might understand. You seemed intelligent and logical when we first met. I suppose it's difficult for someone like you to grasp it."
Ignoring his boastfulness in turn, Aiko leaned on the shelf. "Try me."
For once, Shu had to pause to put his thoughts in order before speaking again. "There's a lot about our home country that I'm proud of. The devout commitment to harmony, the courtesy towards superiors and elders, the supreme respect given to education. There's only one thing I've seen here that I really despise, and that is the cultural pressures of manga and anime."
"Again, so much drama. Have you ever considered writing some?"
He looked tormented by the very idea. "I haven't been able to piece together exactly what caused it. Assigning blame at this point is pointless anyway. Over the past fifty years, our people have gravitated more and more towards an emphasis on... cute things."
Aiko's face darkened, fists tightening. "And... what is wrong with cute things, may I ask?"
"Nothing. Unless you develop a cultural obsession with them to the exclusion of all other earthly concerns, as so many of our people have."
What she wanted to do right then was summon up Jack Frost and show him just how 'useless' cute things really were, but she knew that was impossible here and Shukiji was already heading swiftly onto another track.
"Illogical cute things aside, let me put this another way for you, Tsuruga. If it was Kohru Tatsunoko asking you to share this secret with him instead of me... would you?"
It was impossible for her not to become flustered by the accusation, and even more not to dwell on its implications. Retreating back to her seat at the table didn't make him let up at all.
"There's no need for you to answer that one. You see, I can already tell by your reaction. You're blushing. You would share anything with him, if it meant you getting closer to him."
"No", she protested, genuinely angry in a way she hadn't felt in weeks. "I wouldn't. Don't put words in my mouth, Niyoga!"
His young-seeming lips formed an innocent smile. "Is that what I'm doing? Or am I just reading your tells the way I have learned to over the past two months? Every person has their tells, and yours are quite obvious, I'm afraid."
Ai realized then that without meaning to, she had pulled her head down and away from Shukiji, so that the thump of a particularly colorful visual novel on the table came as a surprise.
"It's not entirely your fault, Tsuruga", he said more candidly. "That's my point, you see. Like everyone else, you've lived and grown up in a land where that is the single most popular form of entertainment. That, and a hundred thousand other books and issues similar to it, with more coming out all the time. Many containing erotic content."
Still trying to understand, she popped open the book. The artwork was well done as usual, the story looking like some kind of harem story set after an apocalyptic war had killed the majority of men, with all the obvious changes in social norms that implied... along with a few that weren't quite so understandable.
"That book", Shukiji told her in an uncharacteristically cold fury, "and all of its type, exist only to provide an excuse to have the artists draw eager young girls with impossibly large buttocks and breasts... because that is what makes it sell. That is what my old friend is throwing away his life for. To spend his time drawing socially-accepted pornography."
"Stories", she waved the accusation away, placing the book back on the shelf. "They're just stories."
"Best-selling stories", Shu countered. "And you know as well as I do that stories can influence reality just as reality influences stories. You've seen the Emma Muller's chain of restaurants, haven't you? An entire franchise built on the ridiculous allure of having all of its waitresses dress up as cute maids, and act the part as well."
Forget seen, she thought numbly. She'd almost been hired to work at an Emma Muller's restaurant once, only turning it out after hearing some horror stories from a former employee there.
"So what?"
He shook his head in dismay. "Now, think of everything you've experienced here at Koashimizu academy. Look at the skirt on your school uniform. In fact, I believe one of the first insults that Kujou-san leveled at you when you arrived here was stuffing your bra, wasn't it? You've seen it for yourself. The girl students here and in countless other schools actually compete with each other in such things. And the majority of them would happily light themselves on fire if it meant earning the exclusive company of Tatsunoko-san, or perhaps a few of the other more handsome male students here."
She regarded him dismissively. "And you seriously think that manga is to blame for all of that stuff? Yes, Tatsunoko-senpai is very attractive and cute. I know that. But-"
"It's cultural pressure", he insisted. "Pressure for you to act in certain ways repeated endlessly in story after story. It's made our country a laughingstock!"
Aiko closed her eyes and held her breath. It would be a lie to say that she hadn't thought poorly about some of the things Shukiji had described to her... But even now, when she had personally observed illustrations of a working relationships between cognition and reality, it seemed too wild to believe.
And even if it is true, there's absolutely nothing we can do about it. You can't change what people like.
And you shouldn't.
Breathe out. Her eyes locked into his, but were no less disparaging than before. "That's a very... interesting theory, Niyoga. But it doesn't change my decision. No."
His teeth clenched tight, sucking air in and out, Shu stared out at the library windows, as if finally accepting that everything he'd said and done today had been a waste of his time. The burning resentment that rose from this fact suffused his normally pleasant voice, making it scathing instead.
"As I said Tsuruga, I thought that you were more mature than most of the foolish girls here. Clearly I was in the wrong, this time." Averting his eyes as if she was something hideous, he stared into a bookshelf instead. "You're just like all the rest of them. You've been shaped, Tsuruga. You're another copy of an image. Just a bouncing pair of mammary glands and underwear, your mind more hormones than brain cells."
But she barely seemed to hear the details of his accusations. Far from the anger she had first expected, she felt... sad. Shukiji had been the first student of Koashimizu who had actually reached out to her. Even if it was for his own selfish reasons, that fact would always remain. She would always remember the time they'd spent together at the cliffs, exchanging stories and mocking the idea of a hidden portal at the beach which would send you to the world of your dreams.
But another fact that could no longer be denied by her was that whatever bond she had thought existed between them was now gone. Shukiji was not like other students. He held her in the same contempt that he held for all the female students of Koashimizu academy. For anyone who enjoyed manga as she did. More, since she had held onto a secret he desired and refused to share it with him.
With a resigned sigh, she rose from her chair, quickly heading to the door and out in the hall. "I'm so sorry, Niyoga-kun. I think that we're done here now."
The strange thing was, she didn't feel any differently than before, at least not at first.
She stood out there in the hallway letting minutes and students roll on by, alternatively relieved that Shukiji wasn't following her and frightened that for once, she couldn't think of anything she felt like doing.
I tried. I really did. I thought he was just weird. Eccentric. Shukiji would be a great friend to have for us, because he's so smart. But if he's going to talk to me- to anyone- like that, then we'll just have to make do without him.
It wasn't an easy admission to make to herself, but it was over now. Done.
She decided that her energy might be better spent finding Noel and giving him the encouragement in his new goal that Shukiji wouldn't.
Then her phone beeped.
6/11 Tuesday
Evening
Some hours later, Jiachi Rosea sat out on the tiny pier of wood someone looking for a jest might call a back porch. Constrained by a fence and surrounded by the gray walls of nearby housing, it had never provided any kind of view to speak of.
Yet, his grandfather, Gentaro- or George, depending on who you asked- had used this spot more times than he could remember. While hardly aesthetically pleasing like some back decks he'd seen, it provided a welcome reprieve from how crowded their house could feel when they had guests, and for now he relished the privacy.
He didn't even mind when he heard the door behind him slide open, and Mirambela walked out to where he was seated to lie down beside him.
"You didn't need to provoke him like that", she said neutrally.
Peering up through the gap between roofs at the stars, he smiled into the sky. "I think I kinda did. Had to get it off my chest, or it'd just keep eating me up inside all the time. Besides, this was the only day of the year I might be able to get away with this."
His 17th birthday party hadn't stood out at all... until he'd made it stand out. His mother had prepared exquisite grilled teriyaki as one of his favorite dishes, and his father had gotten him an expensive-looking electric razor as a present. That in itself, he supposed, was a kind of concession. A neutral gift signifying one's becoming a man, and without any overtones of trying to push him into behaving more Japanese.
He could pretend that was the reason why he'd felt bad about bringing Aiko and Mira as surprise guests, and after a lovely dinner, making the proclamation to both of his parents that the two of them were his friends.
His mother had been happy to hear it, filling their meal with spirited table conversation. Even now, she was in the kitchen trying to teach Aiko a certain Starlight recipe she had been trying to perfect.
On any other day, his father might have protested. At least, that was what he had believed. In end, his staid acceptance of it surprised Jiachi, lacking even the hint of a later retribution to come for this sudden change of plans.
"It's the truth", he went on. "You two are my only friends. And if my old man has a problem with that, then too freakin' bad. That's what a real man does, right? Stands up for himself?"
"I guess so", Mira said, once again feeling like the wet blanket. Fighting off those instincts, she sat down next to him, noticing for the first time that he had carefully chosen a spot where someone looking out the back window would be unable to see them.
"Thank you, Rosea-kun. The party was lovely, and so was the game. I think it was exactly what Ai-chan needed to help get her mind off this whole Masked Circle business."
"We're not done with those d-bags", he pointed out. "Not by a long shot. Getting rid of all the Shadows they captured is just the start. But yeah, I know. You gotta unwind sometimes, or you'll go nuts. Gramps told me that."
"He knew what he was talking about", Mira agreed. "I... I know what it's like to lose someone in the family. One of my sisters, she..."
"Hey, easy", he cautioned. "This is supposed to be happy time, remember? Don't go into it if it's just gonna make you sad. Heh. It's my fault for being so morose, I guess. Sorry 'bout that."
She blinked. "No need to apologize. In my home, growing a year older is also a time for reflection. A time to reconsider what you want to change about your life- about yourself- in the coming year."
"Sounds like I've gotten a head start there."
"Yes." She smiled back. "You were very courageous back there. You made it clear that you wouldn't let him- or his fear of JCAP- decide who you made friends with. I would have been less confrontational about it myself, if it had been my Papa... but I've come to realize that's the difference between us."
"There's a few more differences than that, I'd say", he said casually. "But yeah. Happy to have you here, Sorano. Tsuruga-chan as well. I'm just glad my old man didn't flip out completely and yell at you two to leave."
"If he had", she assured him, "we wouldn't have held it against you. Ai-chan knows what it's like, having difficult parents."
He gave a light sigh. "Credit where due, he has been getting a lot less difficult lately. That was the other reason I thought I might be able to get away with this."
"That's good", Mira nodded. "So if that's not what's troubling you, then what is?"
Part of him wanted to lie and say that everything was fine. But she deserved better than that.
He took a deep breath. "Suguru Kamoshida."
"Who?"
He laughed nervously. "You don't even remember who he is? Heh. That's good, I guess. A d-bag like that shouldn't occupy very much space in anyone's mind. He doesn't deserve to be remembered. I never met him myself. I only know him by reputation... and the stuff that Takamaki-san told me about him."
"Ann Takamaki", Mira recognized that name. "Another Phantom Thief, like Nijima-san and Kurusu-sensei."
"Yeah", he muttered. "She told me all about it. Kamoshida was the Phantom Thieves' very first target. He was a gym teacher who physically abused boys... and harassed girls. And more. Very, very uncool."
"Now I remember his name", Mira said more somberly. "From the Phantom Thieves documentary we watched. He was a monster. A rapist. A true shetani."
"Uh-huh. A monster with a Palace, which is sort of like a Land. And in that Palace, where his true feelings about his victims could be seen..." He shuddered. "What's been bugging me is that it wasn't even that far off from what my Land was like. You saw my cognition of Tsuruga-chan, didn't you?"
"Yes. I did", Mira refused to let her voice falter. "It was... awkward."
"No kiddin'. And Kamoshida's Palace was chock full of cognitions like that. People who had been reduced to nothing but his slaves, because that's how he wanted them to be. So..."
His voice finally began to crack, no matter how he tried to stop it, coming out as a weltering whisper. "So, what does that say about me? Does that mean that I'm a monster, just like him?"
A flat denial came to her lips for a moment before being considered and dropped. "Rosea-kun. You said before that you trust Ai-chan's judgement more than you do your own. Did she ever hint that she thought you were a monster?"
"No", he admitted. "She didn't. But, but my Shadow-"
"Your Shadow?", she cut him off. "There's still a lot we have to learn about Shadows. But from what we're found so far, I know that a Shadow is your very worst self. It's the suppressed, destructive part of you that most people keep carefully hidden away, the evil thoughts that you think about when you're really angry, then drop just as fast. Because the rest of you knows better, and feels shame for even considering those thoughts."
Unsure of how to respond, Julian simply stared blankly, letting Mira continue.
"You never saw my Shadow, Rosea-kun. She... my Shadow was a clanking, beeping metal giant with my face, and she was horrible. You never saw how the robots there were exiling cognitions representing everyone I didn't like down into a dark pit, and planning for their extermination once I was trapped as part of that world."
Staring down into the wood of the deck, she shook her head. "For a long time, I wondered if having those thoughts buried inside of me made me a bad person too. But do you know what the difference between you and Kamoshida is?"
"He's in jail and I'm not?", Julian suggested jokingly.
"I was going to say, he's an adult", she said once she'd finished chuckling. "You talked to Takamaki-san about this, and I watched the documentary with Ai-chan. Kamoshida's behavior in the real world was also despicable. Not even that far away from how his Shadow acted in the Metaverse. Adults are supposed to grow out of such things and become mature, but he didn't. He stayed the same. No one stopped him. No one until the Phantom Thieves."
Jiachi looked thoughtful. "So, maybe I was on my way to becoming a d-bag like him in the next ten years. Maybe I would have, if I hadn't gone to Faraway Lands, and seen the truth of myself."
Mira looked back at him, sympathy clear in her dark eyes. "No. That is far too grand an assumption for you to make, Rosea-kun. There are too many other factors in life to consider. Such as the position of authority he was granted after winning an Olympic gold medal."
With a comforting smile, she leaned back against the house wall. "Regardless, I don't think you would have ever become that way. All it took was a little pushing from us, and you saw the truth of it, all on your own. And you decided, all on your own, that you didn't want to be that person."
Jiachi snickered. "More like I saw just how shitty a world where I control everything would actually be. Yeah, it was fun for a little while, but..."
"You're not a monster, Rosea-kun", she said, her tone serious again, gripping his hand in her own. "You're arrogant, and reckless, and you're still much too concerned about 'being cool' for my tastes, whatever that actually means... but you are not a monster. Certainly not in the way that Kamoshida was. And you saved Ai-chan's life too. Don't ever forget that."
"I won't", he promised. "Not ever."
Something wet struck his leg and he checked back in the sky for rain, only realizing then that a tear had crept up on him without either of them realizing it. He would have pulled away out of reflex, were it not for Mira's grip.
"Shit... Damn it, I mean... Real men aren't supposed to cry."
"I won't tell anyone", Mira hushed him. "Besides, it's your birthday today. You do what you want."
So he did. He made no further effort to block out the tears, or the words that wanted to escape from him. "Damn it... Damn it, I'm so damn lucky. I'm so damn lucky to have two wonderful, smart, cute, beautiful-"
"Shh", she cut him off. "You'll make Ai-chan blush. Oh."
From her tone, Jiachi assumed that Aiko had finally come out the back door to meet them, but as he cleared the blurriness away from his eyes, he saw that it wasn't her.
It was Pelagio. He'd swooped down through the darkness onto a nearby roof before gliding across the gap and onto the nearby fence post, his eyes screwed tight with determined focus.
"Pela-tori?", Mira asked in surprise. "I thought you were supposed to be looking around for Hex."
"I was", the falcon replied, his voice stripped of its usual aplomb, deadly serious. "But I witnessed something during my patrol that I felt I should let our captain know of immediately."
That got them standing up fast, Julian looking into Pelagio's raptor gaze with near equal intensity. "What's up? Is it Mr. Kurusu? Has something happened with-"
"No. Kurusu is currently visiting with the Nijima woman at the hospital, as he usually does. I came here because there is a gate that has appeared at the beach."
Mira froze. "A gate? At the Yume Bay?"
"...No. Not the Yume Bay."
Persona Profile #7: Tam Lin
Arcana: Sun
Strength: Bless, Physical
Weakness: Gun
Abilities: Tarukaja, Aqua, Malaqua, Zan, Endure, Blade of Fury
Background: A famous fairy who was said to haunt Caterhaugh Wood in England. He supposedly lured young women away to ruin them. He was once a human who had been trapped by the Fairy Queen. A young woman named Janet is said to have fallen in love with him at one point, and finally managed to free him.
A/N: Short chapter here. but structure demands. Next one will be longer.
Happy St. Patrick's day.