There is tightness in her face where her tears fell as she slept, but she can't seem to recall what she dreamed about that made her so sad. It's a good sad, though. The nostalgic kind. The bed she's in is warm, and comfy, and she's half tempted to go back to sleep – maybe the dream will continue and this time she'll remember it – but then the memories of yesterday come back.
Right.
Well, that's probably why she can't remember her dream.
She can only remember as far back as yesterday, and it's not as if her dream was just replaying the events of the day before. She can do that well enough herself without dreaming about it. Her name is Hanako, she has no memories before yesterday, and her favorite color is orange. She woke up in an unfamiliar bed because she is staying with a stranger until her memories come back – or perhaps until Haru's kindness runs out. Her eyes are red, her hair is auburn, and there is something missing.
Something is missing.
This latent thought is going to drive her insane, because without the mysterious missing thing, everything feels empty and she doesn't quite feel alive. Perhaps she isn't. She needs – ugh, she can't remember. What is she missing?
Maybe she should keep a memory journal. It might bring her closer to figuring out what she's missing. It also means she doesn't have to keep track of memories she has created since waking up versus what she actually remembers. There is also the possibility of her being told about her life – which isn't much the same as remembering it.
She goes to text Haru to ask about keeping one – since Haru is the one she's staying with and is therefore far more approachable – but then remembers that it's Monday, and the Phantom Thieves have exams today. A quick glance at her phone confirms it. Monday, October 17th, 9:34 am. Haru is already at school then, which leaves Hanako alone with nothing to do.
Hypothetically she could text one of the others – without being completely sure, she thinks Kitagawa and Sakura do not fall under the list of people that have exams at the moment, but she doesn't want to risk it. Nor does she think either of them will have much of an input on whether she should keep a memory journal. Honestly, she didn't think Haru would either, she's just not sure where she would get the money to buy one if not from the Phantom Thieves.
Which leaves her with a problem: she's pretty sure she's at least a few years older than them all. The concept of asking for money from teenagers is a bit weird, but she's not sure how else she's supposed to live. Can she even get a job with no memories or name? It's not like she has an ID.
. . . She shouldn't dwell on that too long. It can be figured out later. Either way, everything in her is burning to be doing something – anything – to alleviate her boredom, to leave the room, as it's too big and too empty and there is something missing.
Never the one to waste the day in bed – a fact she cannot actually prove about herself – and also in a rush to leave, she starts getting up and ready. Beige sweater, orange skirt, leggings, boots. After some deliberation, she pulls back only the side of her hair and places the hair pins in the XXII formation, leaving the rest of her hair down. Idly she notes that XXII is the number of the Fool arcana in some decks. Is that why she did it? Why does she know that?
She considers for a moment before nestling her Evoker safely in the waistband of her skirt, hiding it with the bagginess of her sweater. She shouldn't need it – it's not a real gun – but something about having the weight of it is comforting, a familiar presence that she needs in her newfound unfamiliar life.
There's a note on the nightstand, along with a good amount of yen.
Hanako,
We have school, but you're not trapped here! I've left some yen so you can go out and get some essentials we might've missed yesterday. I won't have my phone because of exams, but message me if you leave anyways, please!
- Haru
Hanako tucks the yen in her waistband too, noting that she needs to buy something to carry her stuff securely if she's going to wear this many skirts. They notably forgot to buy a bag last night while they were shopping yesterday, and that's coming back to bite her right now. The yen should be fine for now, but she definitely needs a wallet and purse of some sort.
Haru's staff offers her an escort as she's leaving, but she declines. She has to figure out Tokyo at some point if they have no timeline of when she might recover her memories. It might as well be now. Besides, she has a feeling she's used to figuring out new places like this.
She sends Haru a quick text to let her know she's going out and heads out for the day, using her GPS to get to the nearest train station, but also trying to see if she can reverse-engineer the directions they took in the car last night. They didn't go anywhere near the station, she doesn't think, but she can guess the correct direction from it at least.
Through some trial-and-error and some extensive GPS-ing, she eventually winds up in at Shibuya Station. She knows how to get to the underground mall from here, but she's already been there. She wants to explore, so she goes up into the city. The square is where they were yesterday when they exited that other world and doesn't seem to have much in it.
She walks past the politician giving a speech – noting that he is the Sun arcana and therefore likely a friend of Akira's – and goes further into the city, marveling at the cramped feeling of Central Street. It doesn't feel like anything she's used to experiencing.
A CD shop is the first thing she sees, and she enters it just as soon as she sees it. The CDs are mostly unfamiliar as she sorts through them casually, as is the music playing in the background, dashing her hopes of hearing something that triggers her memories. Not that that's a thing that really happens, she supposes, but one can hope. She doesn't manage to find any music that catches her eye, either, so she goes back out into Central Street.
There's a stationery shop just down the way – remembering her memory journal thought, she heads there. On the way she pauses next to an alleyway and glances down it out of habit and – there's the blue door again. The little girl is back outside it, but this time does not enter the (presumed) room when they make eye contact, instead staring at Hanako with a puzzled expression.
Danger. Danger. Danger.
Right, she is so not going down there.
Not that she intended to, really. There doesn't seem to be much down there she would need to buy, anyways, but now she double absolutely will not be going down there. Instead, she resolutely marches on to the stationery shop. She buys a cute little notebook with a moon motif on it and a matching pen, as well as a bag to carry them (and her yen) in.
After that, she goes back out onto the street and looks around for a place to sit and write. There's a fast-food place – Big Bang Burger – a diner, and a ramen place. Considering her options, she heads up into the diner. It's more likely to have a place she can just sit and write, and this is confirmed when she is placed in an empty booth with plenty of space for writing.
She orders the first thing see sees on the menu. After all, it's not like she has any recollection of the foods she likes. The relaxing atmosphere of the diner puts her at ease, and she sets up her journal in front of her while she waits for her food and pulls out her phone. First order of business: looking up Gekkoukan.
Gekkoukan is an elite private high school located on the man-made Tatsumi Port Island, founded by the Kirijo Group in 2000. To this day, it remains one of the most technologically advanced and sought-after schools in Japan, with many graduates going on to get accepted into any university of their choice.
Read more:
So she was either rich, smart, or lucky.
Well, she probably doesn't come from a rich family –
Family.
She hadn't thought about family yet, too distracted by having lost her memories. Does she have one? What if she's missing with no memory and there's a family out there worrying about her? Does she have parents? Siblings? Grandparents? Does she even want to have a family? If she does have one, then she's just missing with no way to contact them. If she doesn't. . . then there's no family waiting for her.
What if she regains her memories and she doesn't have anyone? Her contacts are all out of date, after all. What if that's because she doesn't have anyone, anymore? She didn't see a "Mom" or "Dad" in the contacts.
And she woke up alone. . .
Shaking her head and turning back to her phone – for fear of bursting into tears in public – she goes back to researching Gekkoukan. The next article down isn't very recent, but she clicks on it anyway. Anything might help her figure out her identity.
The Kirijo Group has announced the Arisato Fund, a scholarship program meant for orphans. Winners of the scholarship will receive a full ride to Gekkoukan, including dorm residence. When asked, Kirijo Mitsuru simply stated that she feels education is important to success, no matter the background. She declined to comment on the name of the fund.
Read more:
Kirijo Mitsuru. . .
What had Sakura said?
"There's only one living Kirijo – Kirijo Mitsuru."
Hanako opens her newly purchased notebook and writes the names of all of her contacts, adding 'Kirijo Mitsuru' next to 'Kirijo-senpai'. If she can just figure out who the others are, she'll be one step closer to figuring out who she is. She stares at the page a little longer before also adding 'Empress' next to Kirijo. Like Haru. This is either gut instinct or an educated guess, but she's sure it's true, and it might help in the long run.
Satisfied with the information on that page, she turns to another. On this one she writes 'blue door – silver hair, yellow eyes, blue clothes. In trouble?' If past her knew the blue door, and thought of it as safe, why does she now feel it's dangerous? Why does the little girl put her on edge? Why does she – apparently – put the little girl on edge?
Pause.
She writes 'Akira' on the blue door page, because he can see it, and she witnessed the others stare straight through it as if it weren't there. Then she flips back to the contacts page and writes 'Koromaru' – not because she feels that Koromaru will be particularly important to solving the mystery, but because he's the only real thing she remembers from her past and he's real cute. (Plus, it seems really rude not to put him in.)
So she has two-ish clues and no further leads. Cool. This is usually when new clues come into play during mystery novels, isn't it? She doesn't remember reading any mystery novels, but she's pretty sure clues are supposed to come in when the plot stalls. And considering she can do nothing with the clues she does have, this is where the plot would be stalling.
Though. . .
She looks back at the article on her phone.
The Arisato Fund. . .
"Kirijo declined to comment on the name of the fund."
Arisato. . .
It feels familiar, but she's not going to call it a clue quite yet. That feels almost too easy, to be honest. She writes the name on a new blank page, and next to it adds a bunch of question marks. Hypothetically, it's part of her name, because that's the only reason she can think of for it to be so familiar. But – if it's her name, why would there be a scholarship named after her? A scholarship for orphans, especially?
Her family name is Arisato, she's an orphan, and she's really close to the head of one of the most influential families in Japan? Sounds entirely unreasonable to assume herself to be special like that when she has no memories, so she doesn't put anything further on the page.
She likely won't be finding any convenient clues like she would if this were a mystery novel, so she closes her notebook with a sigh and checks her phone notifications, remembering that it buzzed at some point during her research.
Monday
10/17
2:12pm
Sakura Futaba created operation help hanako-chan.
Sakura Futaba added Hanako and 6 others to operation help hanako-chan.
Sakura Futaba changed her name to Oracle.
Click to see other updates:
Oracle : alright listen up dweebs
Oracle : if any of the shujin ones respond rn i'll hack ur phone lol
Oracle : i tried cross-referencing hanako's contacts with gekkoukan students but i cant even get into the records
Oracle : the security is higher than the GOVERNMENT
Oracle : the kirijo group super doesn't want ppl seeing these records
Savior : Does that mean you won't be able to find anything that way?
Savior : . . . Savior?
Oracle : gave u a codename
Oracle : i can find something it'll just take longer so it's gonna be FOREVER
Savior : But why savior?
Oracle : ur persona is messiah = savior
Savior : Seems a little pretentious, though.
Oracle : this gc is CODENAMES ONLY ur savior now
Oracle : now in the interest of not being murdered by mako-chan later for crimes against exam-time im gonna stop talking
Monday
10/17
2:48pm
Akira : Hey, if you want to meet us at shujin, we're going to have a meeting about your situation
Akira : We get out at 3
Hanako : Okay! I'll be there soon!
She pays for her meal and gets ready to leave, making sure to tuck everything neatly into her bag so she doesn't lose it. The yen she has left are tucked into the inside pocket as well, so that she is no longer worrying about dropping money.
It takes her more time than she'd like to get to Shujin, even with the navigation app. The subways in Tokyo are confusing. Not to mention the closed-off areas that lead exactly to where she needs to be, making it necessary for her to find a way around. There's no reason for anything to be this confusing.
She ends up in front of the school just after 3:10. Shujin students are still walking about and making their way home, and they all completely ignore her as she tentatively makes her way into the front courtyard. It's Ann who spots her first, waving excitedly from her spot next to Akira. They're both standing off to the side, clearly waiting for the rest of the Phantom Thieves – at least the ones that go to Shujin – and her.
As she nears, Ann grabs her arm and faces her towards Akira. "Tell Akira that dogs are superior to cats."
"I can't believe you," Akira says with a dramatic hand on his chest and a mock-hurt look. "Right in front of Morgana, the poor kitty." He reaches around and gently pats the bag on his shoulder. There's a disgruntled sound and some grumbling she doesn't quite catch, so Hanako can only assume Morgana is inside the bag.
So Akira takes an entire (not) cat to school every day. Or, at least, he did today. She wasn't aware it was so easy to smuggle animals into school. Briefly, she imagines shoving Koromaru into a bag and bringing him to school. He's probably small enough to fit, but – yeah, she wouldn't be able to keep him hidden.
Her assumption is proven correct when a muffled voice that sounds very much like Morgana – though she honestly can't rule out it being a very small Morgana-sounding child – comes out of the bag. "Don't call me a kitty!"
"Aw see he's upset about your dog comment, Ann," Akira continues.
Hanako stifles a giggle at the meow of outrage that comes out of Akira's bag. "I'm a dog person, myself. Sorry Morgana."
"I don't care!"
Akira catches sight of someone coming down the front steps and calls over. "Ryuji! I'm being betrayed over here! Please tell me you're a cat person."
"I told ya, you're never getting that outta me," Ryuji says as he draws closer. "I like both."
"He means he's a dog person," Ann stage whispers to Hanako. "He just doesn't want to hurt Akira's feelings." This starts up a whole new round of bickering, so Hanako tunes them out and looks around as they wait for the others.
Shujin is. . . average. Pretty, but she imagines it looks just like every other school in Tokyo. The uniform is just as average – red and black plaid bottoms, turtleneck, blazer. Seriously, what is up with the red? Though she supposes it does make the uniform more interesting than most others.
Some of the students glance nervously at their group – or more specifically the still arguing Ryuji and Akira – as they pass. Hanako briefly wonders why this is but decides not to ask. She sees Makoto exiting the building and waves hello as she nears, turning back to the Phantom Thieves bickering. Just Haru, now.
She must be standing too close to the sidewalk, because after a moment someone bumps into her. She stumbles and turns to see a brown-haired Shujin student, who had apparently been on his phone, as it had tumbled from his hand and onto the ground face down. "Oh, excuse me," she says and backs up a little, not wanting to touch his personal property. His head snaps up at the sound of her voice and their eyes meet. His expression –
Justice. Rank 10. MAX.
Terrified and surprised, like. . .
Like he knows her.
This has to be someone from her past, right?
. . . He does look familiar.
"Are you alright?" She asks, intending on continuing her line of thought when he answers.
He shakes his head and picks up his phone, hurriedly shoving it into his bag and backing away. "Sorry, I mistook you for someone else for a second. Excuse me," he says and then rushes off, skillfully weaving his way through the crowd of students and disappearing around a corner soon after.
Hanako turns back to the Phantom Thieves, now joined by Haru. They're all staring puzzled in the direction of the boy – so she's not the only one that thought it was weird. Good. "Does anyone know who that was?"
Makoto is still staring off at where the student disappeared with a calculating look in her eyes. "I can't quite remember his first name, but that's Amada-san. He's a third-year."
Amada-san.
Hanako glances back at the gates, where Amada is long gone.
Who is he?
