I own nothing. Monika does.
Sayori felt like she was choking from the awkward tension in the air. Everyone at the table seemed to be getting ready for something, Sayori being the only one that could only sit there and wait for the uncomfortable storm of question to hit full force. It was agony, and the girl found herself fiddling with everything. Multiple times, she nudged the small ponytail at the back of her head, wondering if it looked even, and readjusted the skirt of her dress and the tops of her socks. She had thrown on her clothes in a hurry, afterall. It would have been rude to keep Sae and the others waiting.
Meanwhile, Sae was calmly digging through her purse, looking for the questions she had so diligently written down. When she finally did find the small notebook, she went over it again, and again, deciding in what order to ask them, and which ones to scrap last minute.
Makoto was trying desperately to peek over her sister's shoulder, wanting to know exactly what the questions were in case Sayori needed help. However, whenever Sae or Goro glanced at her, she would have to settle in her seat and pretend like she wasn't doing anything suspicious or nosy.
Goro was the only one who seemed to be interested in the food the place had to offer. When he wasn't plopping food onto his plate in mammoth proportions, he occupied himself with the busy work of organizing the different seasonings that had been laid on the table beforehand. Sayori found herself growing jealous. The pit in her stomach had made her feel far too queasy to eat.
One silver lining of being faced directly across from what could be a ticking time bomb of suspicion and danger was that Goro was seated right next to her. Though she dared not to touch him in any way, the close proximity did something to comfort her. He had looked her straight in the eye and told her it was alright to lie to Sae about the Metaverse, and even if it was an indirect way of saying he wanted to save face and not have them sound crazy, it was still support that made Sayori feel better about sitting down to disable this bomb.
"So, Sayori…" Sae finally said, startling Sayori beyond reason. She had to resist the urge to jump up and run to the bathroom.
Instead, the pink haired girl took a deep breath, placing her usual cheerful smile in place. "Yes, Niijima-san?"
"Before we get to the main point of this outing, I would like to apologize for my behavior earlier. I did not mean to interrupt anything important, and I want to start off on good terms, with no negative feelings shared between us. Afterall, I'm sorry to say, but the things I'm asking you may be very sensitive," the silver haired woman had a rather bored expression as she said this, yet it somehow also looked genuine… Almost.
"There is nothing to be worried about, Niijima-san. I was just rather startled earlier. But may I ask, what do you mean by 'main point?' Goro simply told me that this was because you wanted to meet me," Sayori played dumb, resisting the urge to not-so-subtly wink.
Beside her, Goro's breath hitched, and he had to fight the urge to smile with pride. Instead, he kneeled his head down in shame, trying to make it look as if he had kept the main goal of this outing to himself. However, on the inside, he wanted to do nothing more than congratulate Sayori in all ways possible. She's better than I thought she'd be.
"You may call me Sae, for tonight. If it makes you feel more comfortable that is," Sae gave a small, kind smile, avoiding Sayori's second question entirely. Although the smile was painfully forced, Sayori did feel a bit more encouraged.
Considering the memories of Makoto's that Sayori had peeked in on some time ago, the pink haired girl wanted Makoto to participate in this conversation as little as possible. Having to sit at the same table as people who had insulted you not too long ago had to be incredibly uncomfortable. This was a rather confusing subversion to Sayori, in a way. She normally wanted Makoto to be more engaging and sociable, and the fact that one of the people who had insulted her was Goro himself… Well, it was confusing. Makoto had remained in an uncomfortable mode of support ever since Mai had spilled the not-quite-a-secret secret. That was how most of the thieves seemed to be, except for Ann, of course. So Sayori would do her best to repay this kindness.
"Of course, Sae. Thank you," Sayori put on a rather forced smile of her own. "I suppose you'd like to take the lead in our conversation, then. It sounds rather urgent." Sae nodded in response to Sayori's words.
"Ask me anything, then. I'm an open book," Sayori responded, feigning confidence.
"Alright then… What do you know of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?" Sae asked calmly, turning to a new page in her notebook to take notes.
"Hmm… That's hard to say," Sayori replied. To any outside view, it would look like Sayori was trying to gather up all of the information she had, when in actuality, she was deciding what to leave out. "I really don't know anymore than your average news report. I mean, I was there on the day all of those weird calling cards were posted on the school's bulletin board, but nothing really seemed to happen after that. The gym teacher disappeared for a few days, and then he came back in practical tears," Sayori gave her honest report on that incident, trying very hard not to squirm in discomfort. It was rather disheartening to know that even after all this time of not thinking about it, thinking about Kamoshida still gave her this ugly feeling inside.
Makoto actually did squirm in discomfort, not liking the memories of Kamoshida either. It was just one more thing that made her feel helpless… useless. At this point, she was about to beg Sae to move onto the next question. Glancing up from her spot, Makoto found what she thought to be rather unusual.
Goro Akechi's chair was now a good foot closer to Sayori's. The detective's arm had found what seemed to be a permanent home around Sayori's shoulders. The girl herself was holding his hand in gratitude, clinging onto his arm like how Makoto had seen many people hold onto their scarves in the windy season.
Sae noticed this too, raising her eyebrow, but choosing not to say anything about it. Instead, she moved onto the next question. "I see… Were you aware that your name appeared on the Phansite forum as well?"
"Yes…" Another shift of discomfort. "Goro told me."
"Do you know why your name was posted? And if so, can you say that it was accurate?"
"Yes, and yes," Sayori furrowed her eyebrows. "Not to be rude… But are you going somewhere with this? I feel like we are just reviewing things we already know…"
Sae hummed to herself in thought, writing the answers down, before sharing her own answer. "Yes, I am. This question might seem harder to answer. Do you have any idea who might have posted your name?"
Sayori only blinked in response to that. She thought for a good few minutes, crossing out the possibilities. Goro's breath hitched. He had wondering about this for quite some time. Had Sayori already figured it out?
"Well, no…" Sayori heard a disappointed sigh, not from Sae, but from the very clingy detective, who was still by her side. "Up until then, I hadn't told a single person at Shujin about my depression, or at least… not until after the post was made. The only people who could have had the slightest clue about that were my old friends… back home. And I'm sure you already know…"
"Hmm… Yes," Sae confirmed. "Perhaps later I can see if I can uncover anything about that particular part of your case…" Makoto gave a curious look at this, before giving a questioning look to Sayori, who avoided her gaze.
"Well… Would you say that the Phantom Thieves did change your heart?" Sae was paying extra special attention to this part, her inquisitive eyes picking up every single detail in body language. Makoto felt herself involuntarily tense up… a detail that was not unnoticed by a certain individual at the table.
"I would say that… Yes, they definitely changed my heart," Sayori fondly smiled. "While they didn't completely take it away… they at least fixed something that I felt… didn't really belong there from the beginning. Like… It wasn't always this bad. It's hard to describe."
"I think I understand," Sae said, thankfully waving the question away. "Now… last question about this… Do you have any ideas about how they changed your heart?"
Makoto looked back and forth between her sister and Sayori. Sayori herself was thinking very hard about her answer, and the Student Council President found that her mouth tasted very dry. Would she need to cut in? Should she do something? What should she do?!
Finally, Sayori looked up, gripping extra hard to the arm wrapped around her. It seemed to be a constant pillar as she simply smiled cheerfully. "I'm not really sure… All I remember about the experience of having my heart changed was that I woke up one day… and I felt infinitely lighter. The best way to describe it would be… being okay with not being okay."
This time it was Sae's turn to look disappointed. "I see…" The woman put her notepad into her purse and sighed. "I suppose we should eat then…"
Sayori nodded, turning to tell Goro that he could let go now, only to find his attention had drifted over to Makoto. Sayori allowed herself to follow his gaze, and felt herself froze.
Makoto looked rather pale and uncomfortable, an unusual state. Sayori knew that for the most part, Makoto always did her best to look cool under pressure, but for some reason, the girl looked absolutely shaken. Obviously, Makoto had been prepared to throw herself under the bus at any moment… A fact that Goro Akechi had found quite interesting.
"Makoto," the detective suddenly spoke up.
The girl snapped to attention, trying to get the worry to fade from her features. "What?" she said defensively, obviously not taking kindly to the detective.
"You look pale… You should drink some water," Goro asked. "You weren't even the one put on the spot, and yet you look absolutely panicked. You haven't even touched your plate." The detective had a calm tone to his voice, yet the dullness of it gave Sayori an unpleasant shiver.
"Oh…" Makoto tried to laugh it off. "It's possible I'm coming down with something. I pull a lot of all nighters to study for tests, and I have been feeling queasy lately."
"You should get some rest when we get home," Sae absently commented. The woman drank from her cup of tea and looked at her watch. "Most of this food is going to become leftovers at this point. We should hurry up and eat all of this."
Goro Akechi nodded in agreement, finally detaching himself from Sayori, now focused on his plate. Sayori noticed that there was a thoughtful, yet oddly cold look on his face.
Sayori had utterly lost her appetite.
"Sayori, you said that after the fact… You told your friends about your current state of mind, right?" Goro asked on the way back home.
"Yeah… Why?" Sayori asked nervously.
"Was that Makoto's first time hearing about it? I think she was taking it rather hard." The detective seemed almost uncomfortably casual about the entire thing, and Sayori found herself wishing he could stop being so aloof with her. It made everything feel too distant, when they were supposed to be close.
"Er… No. I've told Makoto about it before. I suppose she doesn't like having to talk about it again. Honestly, she probably just wanted to enjoy her night out with her sister, but Sae just kept asking me question after uncomfortable question, completely ignoring Makoto," Sayori hoped that would suffice as an explanation. She needed to keep her friends out of suspicion.
"I can see where she is coming from," Goro replied, unnaturally bright. "Being ignored is a horrible experience…"
The two continued walking for another couple of minutes, the detective breaking the silence once again.
"By any chance… Could you tell me what other friends you talked to… About your depression, I mean?" The detective stuttered, despite the fact that he was most comfortable in this situation. Sayori, on the other hand, had grown quite pale.
"Um… I told Mai…"
"The librarian?"
"Yeah," Sayori felt her chest tighten, pit forming in her very core.
"Anyone else?" Goro Akechi felt an incredible amount of guilt swelling up inside, but he excused himself in the end. This was necessary. Sayori was expecting this of him, as a detective. He would make up for it when they got to the apartment.
"Uh… Um…" Sayori felt her face grow hot. "I-I'm sorry… I can't really remember…" the girl replied lamely.
Goro Akechi sighed, wrapping his arm around Sayori's waist. "It's alright… Just tell me if you remember."
"Oh… Okay," Sayori nodded to herself in relief, instinctually leaning into the detective's embrace. If this horrible situation didn't make Sayori want to cry, it would have seemed funny.
Cuddling with someone who was trying to arrest your other friends wasn't how most people spend their weekend, after all.
"So, how did dinner with Makoto's sis go?" Ryuji asked nonchalantly.
Sayori seemed rather interested in her shoes, only answering because she didn't want anybody to panic at her silence. "I don't really know… I don't think she suspects me, or the rest of you… But there's still this awful pit in my stomach," Sayori hugged herself tightly, not liking the sensation at all.
"Maybe you ate some bad sushi?" Akira suggested, jokingly. From inside the boy's bag, Morgana protested heavily. The concept of sushi being bad did not sit well with the cat-like creature. Akira stubbornly kept the bag closed, not in the mood at the moment to hear Morgana whining.
"Perhaps it would be wise to talk about this with Akechi-kun, just to see if he has noticed any differences in Sae after your conversation with her," Yusuke suggested. The artist's attention was excitingly drawn to the passing scenery outside the subway window. "I believe we are almost at our destination."
The subway slowed to a halt, and the group was quick to leave. Morgana was getting rather sick of Akira forgetting to pay the petfare, and to avoid a news report about an angry cat attacking four teenagers, they had to get to the streets as quickly as possible.
"Morgana, the art museum doesn't allow pets either," Sayori pointed out. "Why did you want to come along anyway?"
"A thief should be knowledgeable of fine art. Our past experience with Madarame rather spoils my first time coming here, so revisiting might give all of us a better view," the cat replied wisely.
"Well why did I have to come?" Ryuji asked incredulously. "I'm not into all of that fine art stuff in the first place!"
"Because the flier Akira found said that a certain number of people have to come, or the discount won't work," Yusuke reminded him with a somber expression. "Believe me, if Ann and Makoto didn't already have prior engagements, they would have been invited instead."
"Just try not to say something stupid, Ryuji… That is, if you even have control over that sort of thing," Morgana said, causing the blonde to grit his teeth and growl. "If you can manage, maybe Yusuke won't ditch us for being the plebs we are."
"Speak for yourself, Morgana," Akira replied. "At the very least, Sayori and I are hardly plebs." The black haired boy gestured to himself and Sayori with a small smile. "We are thieves of the highest caliber," this part he whispered, giving everyone a small wink.
The art museum grew closer as the group walked, and Yusuke listened to the conversation behind him with a strained sigh. "Please… as long as none of you interrupt displays with pointless questions and comments that have nothing to do with the exhibit, I am sure I can manage to stand all of you." The artist started considering that it might be useful to give a lesson on etiquette just incase.
"Don't worry, Yusuke," Sayori assured. "It's been too long since I've spent time with you, so I'll keep myself in line." The girl made a show of crossing her heart, causing Yusuke to smile fondly.
"That makes me happy, Sayori. However, considering the fact that it has indeed been too long since we have hung out, aside from activities in Mementos, it would be nice to talk."
With that, the group was at the museum entrance. Akira paid for admission, being careful to avoid jostling his bag. As soon as they were inside, Morgana poked his head out slightly, enjoying the new scenery.
"They have a lot of different pieces," Akira observed, hand on his chin. He seemed to be taking a special interest in a stone monkey statue with ruby eyes. "This one has Akechi's charming smile." The black haired boy adjusted his glasses, before clamping his teeth and opening his mouth wide, mimicking the statue perfectly.
"Ah, dude!" Ryuji laughed. "That is awesome! I wish I could take pictures in here!" The boy slapped Akira on the back, causing Morgana to whine at being shaken.
Yusuke glared, directing Sayori to an inked design of a Sakura blossom, trying to get appropriate words together. "Yes, the museum wanted to get Madarame's pieces out quickly, so they had to replace it with a lot of other random displays. However, it looked rather clumsy for a long time. So I avoided visiting until now. I'm just glad they finally managed to put something together that is more aesthetically pleasing."
"Yes, because a monkey statue that looks straight out of an Indiana Jones movie is pleasing to the eye," Akira couldn't help but comment sarcastically. Sayori giggled after hearing that.
Yusuke looked absolutely dumbfounded. "Sayori, don't tell me you agree with them!"
"Not exactly…" Sayori replied with a sheepish smile, causing Yusuke to close his eyes, wondering if he should be concerned or relieved.
"I was thinking of that one kid show with monkey ninjas."
"Sayori!"
Yusuke was quick to have them leave the statue behind, determined to find a better place to look around. It was a shame that he had to leave the room with the ink painting behind, though. It might have been a good medium to apply to his own work.
There are probably a few more around here, Yusuke thought hopefully to himself. He looked beside him to find his friends were each distracted by different things.
Morgana was currently in the process of bossing Akira around, telling him to go this way and that way. It was a rather back and forth experience, and Yusuke could tell that Akira was enjoying every second of it (sarcasm intended). Ryuji was scanning the area for a vending machine, having given into the fact that this day at the museum was not going to be the most entertaining of spectacles, at least for him. He was switching between looking for a place to break his fast, and chatting with Sayori about any random topic that crossed his mind.
Sayori was the only one, aside from Yusuke, that was genuinely interested in the exhibit. However, it could be assumed that she was simply trying to distract herself from the bad feelings that had dominated her attention since her sushi outing the previous night. Akira had most certainly noticed this too, because in between demands from his whiny cat-like roommate, he was also trying to hold a conversation.
"Sayori, sorry if I accidentally offended you with that comment about the monkey statue earlier," Akira tried, casually passing by a particularly shiny gold ornament. Morgana peeled his head out, his eyes shining in captivation.
"Oh, it's alright, Akira. You guys don't have to like Goro for me to like him," Sayori responded cheerily. "Besides, his public smile does kind of look like a monkey's."
"Public smile?" Morgana asked, eyes briefly drawn away from the museum's contents.
"Yeah… It's subtle most of the time, but I have noticed he acts differently when he's in public, compared to when he's all alone," Sayori said, her smile starting to fade as she matched Yusuke's pace towards a row of paintings. "However, I can understand why he might do that. People strive to be well liked by others. Until I moved in with him, he lived alone… I-I can only imagine what circumstances he left, to be living by himself in a mediocre apartment at age seventeen."
"Sayori, how exactly do you know that the smile he gives you isn't just another fake smile?" Yusuke offhandedly questioned. He looked down at a small plaque of the painting he was studying, hoping for more information.
"Well, I suppose I can't know for sure… But I want to believe I'm making progress either way," Sayori mumbled. "Besides, I have enough fake ones myself, to know when one is even slightly real."
"Well, judgin' by the fact that you're the only girl that hangs around him… that doesn't make me want to barf," Ryuji began, "he's doing something right."
"That was very encouraging, Ryuji," Sayori replied dully. "Anyway… Yusuke, what exactly is the theme of the pieces in here?"
"I believe many of them were purchased from overseas by a local collector… from China, I think," Yusuke commented. "In simple terms, it's a more extreme version of a culture festival… they even have music pieces originating from there playing in a different area."
"I can see why you only wanted to come here now, Yusuke. They didn't spare a single detail," Akira smiled. "Also, Sayori… I see you trying to escape the subject. Because I caught you, you're going to stop doing that, and talk with us a bit more about your relationship issues-"
"When did I say I have issues?!" Sayori shouted defensively, alerting several bystanders to her presence.
Akira winced, putting a finger to his lips. Morgana grumbled about how thieves were supposed to be sneaky, before wisely tucking himself away into Akira's bag.
"None of us did, Sayori. I was just teasing you again… I'm sorry," The boy pushed up his glasses sheepishly, seeming genuinely apologetic.
Sayori sighed, before giving her friends a kind smile. "I know, and I'm sorry too. Honestly, ever since moving past our mutual friendship, I have honestly been worried about a lot of things… One of my main concerns is how none of you seem to like him. It's a shame, really. I think Goro needs more friends than the roommate he felt he was obligated to take in because of his own emotional… well, I don't think issue would be the right word. Emotional… hiccup?" The pink haired girl began to ponder her word choice, while her friends all glanced at her in amusement.
"Well, Akechi doesn't seem like the kind of dude I'd spend time with, unless I had to," Ryuji replied, causing Sayori to pout. "But I see what you're tryin' to say. He needs more friends, other than the one he's constantly mackin' on, and aside from the fake friends that are only there to give him a hand cramp from signin' autographs." Sayori blushed scarlet, causing the blonde to give a shit eating grin in her direction.
Yusuke winced. "I think there's a more elegant way to say that, Ryuji, but I do agree with you. I sadly don't see myself spending any time with Goro Akechi, unless he was accompanied by Sayori… Maybe." The artist, feeling rather uncomfortable with Sayori's piercing pout aimed at his back, went back to studying the pieces, pausing only to take notes in his sketchpad.
Sayori was still pouting as she looked at Akira expectantly. "I assume you feel the same way?"
"Well… Yeah," Akira shrugged. "I just can't help but get a feeling of irritation every time he's in my vicinity. Something just doesn't sit right whenever he's around… It's strange, honestly." The black haired boy looked thoughtful for a moment. "However, I suppose I can't really dislike him just because of a bad feeling. Besides, when I handed Ann her winnings, I made a strict vow that I wouldn't be so cynical of your relationship with him."
"It was mostly just to save his wallet," Morgana piped up from inside the bag, causing Akira to shake it. The cat grumbled after that, but said no more.
"It might be more easy to like him if I had more specific reasons for it," Akira theorized. "But for now, I'm choosing to tolerate him because I at least trust your judgement, Sayori. You said earlier that he was helping you with something important, afterall."
Sayori nodded in understanding. "Alright. I am fine with that. Is there anything else you would like to know?"
"Yeah, what's it like to make out with the Second Coming of the Detective Prince?" Ryuji suddenly piped up, having once again given up on finding anything interesting while everyone talked about more serious stuff.
Yusuke and Akira both looked at the blonde boy in horror, noticing out of the corner of their eye how Sayori seemed to be growing redder by the second. However, this wasn't the embarrassed shade of red… This was something else.
"Sayori, my dearest friend," Yusuke tried. "Why don't you come over here and look at the pretty flowers with me?" The lack of response from the pink haired girl was worrying, especially since he couldn't see her expression due to her bangs covering her face.
"Now he's done it," Morgana said snarkily. "We're going to get thrown out of the museum now. Meanwhile, the cat's theory that Ryuji only had one brain cell was further cemented by the blonde's lack of situational awareness.
Akira was the first to act, lightly poking the girl to see if steam would suddenly burst from her ears. "I think Sayori is going to spontaneously burst into flames soon. We should pull the fire alarm to cool her off," he jokingly suggested, only for Sayori to suddenly jerk forward.
"Ryuji…" she began, finally alerting the blonde to the very real danger he was in. The former track star began to back up, a panicked smile on his face.
"Sayori… I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," the boy was now backed into a corner, his hands raised in a defensive pose. "Come on, Sayori, this isn't the Metaverse. Do you really wanna cause a scene?"
"What?" The girl had an edge to her voice, her face still hidden by her hair. Now having cornered him, she looked up to reveal…
Her usual cheerful smile. "I just wanted to say that I haven't really… actually made out with Goro yet." The girl began to giggle. "You silly…"
The four boys sighed in relief.
"However…" Sayori's eyes flashed dangerously, making her smile seem rather creepy. The four once again tensed. "It's fair to warn you that you shouldn't assume things like that."
"Y-Yes, ma'am," Ryuji said, echoed by Akira, Yusuke, and finally Morgana.
With that said, Sayori skipped off to look at more art.
"Man… sometimes it feels like she's straight out of a horror movie."
"Let us only be thankful that she is too noble to actually act on any of the common tropes associated with that genre."
Sayori eventually found herself in another room, her attention caught by the unusually large paintings within it. This might be something Yusuke would want to try.
The paintings were all different panels, stacked from side to side, or from top to bottom, creating one large picture. Another unique thing was that at least two of them that Sayori had seen so far told different parts of a story in each separate section. The precise line work directed the eyes through, and Sayori found all of them rather intriguing.
"It's like a giant comic book page," Sayori said absentmindedly, trying to rationalize her astonishment. She went to the nearest one, an up and down explosion of violet fire, showing a charred figure falling towards what looked to be a red fog. Upon further inspection, Sayori found that a few of the wind marks that the figure passed by were actually broken strings.
"Yusuke, look at this one!" Sayori shouted upon seeing the blue haired artist enter the room. "What do you think it's about?"
"Well, the plaque right by it… Is actually rather unnoticeable," Yusuke said with a frown. Going over to the small white podium with information, which was nearly hidden in the large painting's shadow, he read the name aloud. "'The Broken Angel's Descent.' It says here that although completed very recently, there is one panel at the bottom that is missing, which is supposed to represent a bittersweet irony that the supposed Hell the figure is falling towards will actually lead to better fortunes."
The artist looked up and grimaced at the painting. "It does seem rather incomplete… Though the poor lighting doesn't help it much. I would very much like to see it in its full potential. It would be much more relatable that way… Wouldn't you agree?" Yusuke glanced at Akira and Ryuji, who nodded in agreement.
"Neither of you any have any idea what I just said."
"Yup," Ryuji confirmed, Akira shyly nodding his head.
"I think the lighting of the room is trying to draw more attention to the work that's beside the door," Morgana spoke up. "Afterall, the position it's in would mean that you wouldn't notice it when you first step into the room."
"That's some rather irresponsible placement," Yusuke complained, turning around to glare at the painting that was trying to steal the attention from the one he was trying to enjoy most so far.
However, the thieving painting soon stole all of his attention away as well. Sayori noticed his stunned silence and followed the artist's gaze. She also became silent, her eyes widening and color draining from her cheeks. It was a similar reaction, but for a very different reason. Oh dear…
The right to left painting was of a bridge, which was very… very similar to the small memorial bridge that Goro had shown her. An ancient looking robed woman was standing on the bridge holding an umbrella, the bridge itself having multiple branches of plum blossoms tangled up in its planks. As the story being displayed in the picture continued forward, the inside of Sayori's stomach seemed to turn inside out.
As time went on, the woman grew older. The blossoms wilted, and everything began to fall apart. However, the woman always had a patient look on her face, waiting for what… the painting didn't say. There was an overcast, gray background, the clouds showing very clearly the detail the painter had used with his time.
Gears began to turn in Sayori's mind, connecting a few puzzle pieces that, for only a few moments, she wished would remain separate. Yusuke said this was probably Chinese… right?
"Sayori, you ain't broken again… Are you?" Ryuji hesitantly tapped the girl on the shoulder. The girl nearly fell over from the new weight on her shoulder, barely managing to catch herself on time.
"I-I'm alright," Sayori assured. "I was just wondering, could one of you take me to the gift shop? I think Goro might like a postcard or something of this painting." Sayori gestured to the painting of the bridge, a small, hopeful smile on her face.
Akira groaned, about to immediately decline. He was already dangerously low on funds as it was. However, before he could utter a word, Ryuji stepped in.
"Sure, I'll take you. How hard could it be to find a single postcard anyway?" This caused Sayori to beam happily.
As it turned out, it was actually very difficult. There were three different racks of postcards. Each one was very disorganized from the museum's visitors not putting the merchandise back where they found it.
"Wouldn't it just suck if the painting was too large to put on one post card, so they had to put it on multiple?" Ryuji asked, half joking.
Hearing this, Sayori began to search through the racks even more frantically, a worried expression now on her face. Akira and Morgana were nearby, looking for the much wanted card from a distance.
"I'm just kiddin', Sayori! It would probably ruin the painting if they did that," Ryuji attempted to assure. Recalling a certain piece of advice his mother had given him a few days before… one that she gave quite often, the blonde attempted to find something to say that would slow the girl down.
"Y'know, you never actually did give any of the details of sushi last night. I'm sure Makoto will tell all of us about it tomorrow, but I'm thinking you're spin on how it went might be a little less worrying," Ryuji began with a light smirk. "Afterall, Makoto reads way too much into things sometimes.'
Sayori paused in her searching for a few moments, a sad, but thoughtful, look on her face. "It wasn't anything that would really seem intense from an outside view, but I couldn't help but feel like I was being probed half the time. I think Sae only blinked three times during the entire two hour trip to the restaurant…" Sayori hesitated before adding, "Of course, I was looking down most of the time, so she might have been blinking then, too."
"I wouldn't be surprised if Sae doesn't blink," Ryuji shrugged. "It's a random… but very real thought I can't get out of my head right now."
Sayori smiled, about to continue her report of the previous night, only for Ryuji to, regrettably, continue talking.
"Like… I'm just imaginin' her as some sort of reptile, unable to blink… So instead she just has to lick her eyes, or some shit," Ryuji seemed to be contemplating the universe as he spoke, and Sayori found herself genuinely concerned.
"Ryuji… are you okay?"
"Probably not."
"Well, at least he's being honest with himself," Morgana commented from within the bag. "Meanwhile, I just saw the post card you were looking for on the bottom of the middle rack."
Ryuji glared at the cat as Sayori squealed with joy.
"Mona, you piece of-"
"Yay! I found it!"
Sayori immediately went to the front counter, delicately placing the merchandise in front of the cashier. "Can you make sure you can't see it from inside the bag? I want it to be a surprise for when I get home," Sayori knew she didn't really need to explain her motivation, but did so anyway. She was way too excited for someone who had been remembering Sae's eyes drilling holes in her head only a few moments ago.
The cashier simply nodded, a bored expression on his face. He honestly couldn't care less what this dense girl said. He just wanted to get home, watch his favorite show about monkey ninjas, and forget about what his parents said about his lack of shame.
At least some of the customers can be pleasantly cute, he thought, eyeing Sayori up and down. The girl was waving to her multiple male friends, though, so he did not dare mention this thought out loud. However, the thought was now in the wild, setting off some sort of chain reaction that would not go unnoticed.
For the second time, Goro Akechi looked up from what he was doing. He clutched his pen tightly, right hand trembling as he closed the journal he was already filling up.
"There it is again… I feel incredibly angry all of a sudden…" The detective quickly checked his phone, wondering if he was getting yet another phone call, but there was nothing. Not even a single text notification had invaded his screen.
"I must really be losing it… I mean, I am talking to myself," Goro pondered, unable to write the feeling off as nothing. Taking a few deep breaths, he quickly tried to distract himself from the terribly tight feeling in his chest.
I really want to call Sayori for some reason. But I shouldn't, because she is enjoying time with friends…
"Thank you, Ryuji. I really appreciate you buying this for me…" Sayori gushed. "However, was it really necessary for you to slam your money down on the table like that? You almost broke the counter… and the cashier seemed to have a heart attack." The girl clutched her hag, a confused gaze trained on her friends.
The four boys all gave each other knowing glances, before Ryuji simply nodded. "Yeah, definitely necessary. Let's just say I needed to get a point across. You could also say I'm doing Akechi a favor."
"Um… Okay…" Sayori said hesitantly. "I'll be sure to tell Goro that. Maybe he'll be grateful…" With that, the girl began her long trek home.
Akira and Yusuke both looked at Ryuji quizzically. "You handled that guy checking Sayori out rather well," the artist commented.
"I was literally five seconds away from breakin' his damn nose."
"I see," Akira replied, releasing a dry chuckle.
To clarify, none of the stuff in the art museum is based off of anything specific. So if any of you decide to review, I make no claims to accuracy in actual art. A web comic may or may not have been referenced, as well as a childhood television show favorite of mine, but most of it was rather random. Though I did try to make it accurate to things I have learned about China myself, because you might say it could be important. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please read, review, and I'll see you all next time!