2025-07-12: Coming Clean
- Log: Coming Clean
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Mio Kazama, Yukari Takeba, Katsuya Suou
- Where: A Safehouse Somewhere in Sumaru City
- OOC Date: July 12, 2025
- IC Date: June 8, 2012
- Summary: After the attack in Ebisu Beach, Mio drives her crew to a safehouse, where all of them trade information, some of it more sensitive than others.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
".... um. We're... close to leaving the supernatural zone. Or field. " Umie, crammed into the back with the witness(?), Yukari, Katsuya, and possibly others, raises her voice to the driver, not bothering to correct her skewed baseball cap or her mask, which she finally just takes "I'm not feeling anything close. The demons should be out of range as far as I can see."
She's trying not to stare at the bobblehead mascots on the dash up front as she talks. It's making her feel queasy, as she smells the eggnog car freshener and the 90s idol band music on the stereo.
"... Keep me conscious and I'll give you more updates," she adds, as if an incentive is needed. "K-- er, Suou-san, that lady that was with you. She doing okay?" She cranes her gaze, trying to look over, but with the way they're all stuffed in here, all she can tell is that the lady is, indeed, here, from her scarf.
Thankfully, Myunghon's safehouse is within the perimeter of whatever constitutes a 'supernatural zone' in Umie's mind, allowing the intrepid(?) crew to rest and relax in relative comfort, as long as you ignore the moral crisises, injuries, and questions of the law.
Hamade is asleep in the other bedroom, tired from her ordeal (and the potential idea that she's been betrayed by some party, surely not the police?!).
".... Still not sensing any demons. I think we're good." She cranes her head back, closing her eyes as she sits on the couch. "People with bad intentions'll be another matter, but you can cross that off the list, at least." Eventually, she opens her eyes, now looking to Yukari. "... Yumi-san, right?" oh no
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
PREVIOUSLY:
OUR HEROES ESCAPE
Is it simple good fortune, or a more meddlesome power at work? The roads out of Ebisu beach are almost empty. This is a sorely-needed blessing, as a certain black sports car pounds down the asphalt at a spritely 140km/h. A nearby speed limit sign advises: 50. The woman at the wheel is, if you will pardon the expression, locked the fuck in. Dressed as a nun, her veil is pulled back, and she's wearing a pair of faux gold and amber aviator sunglasses. Scanning the road as if expecting the forces of hell to emerge from every corner. The gang pass by a postal truck as if it's standing still. Mio smacks her bubblegum and then stabs the stereo system's on button with a gloved hand.
~NON-SUTOPPU DE itte mimasho te~te omottara mata akashingou!~
She's not trapped in here with you... you're trapped in here with her.
FLASHBACK OVER
The NSX is parked securely at one of Myunghon's safehouses now, hidden from view from the road. Mio has just returned indoors, closing the door behind her. Her phone is in one hand, but no call seems to be active. "Well," she puts both hands on her hips and beams proudly to whoever might still be lucid and present. "I think you can say we've safely made it out, everyone!"
We now have the gap aesthetic of the nun scapular, sunglasses, and baseball cap. This is what passes for fashion now. This is our world.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
So! Crammed into a two seater with FOUR people is not exactly a comfortable experience. It may be less comfortable for Katsuya because she keeps that Metallic Firearm shaped BRAIN GUN in her hand at ALL TIMES during the trip, clinging to the car in the other.
There's also her collapsed metallic recurve bow, a quiver! And a bag! So things were tight to say the least.
Which is made all the more nerve wracking for her being in a pair of denim short shorts over bikini bottoms and a bikini top. "Hey you know where you're going right?! I didn't know nuns were allowed to drive, I thought they took vows..."
AGAINST DRIVING? What all does she think nuns are prohibited from doing!?
"... then again you don't exactly look like a real nun..."
Umie however... "Huh!? Supernatural what now?" Despite her questions, Yukari puts the Evoker to her head, and...
Well... there's a Persona over the car for a moment, flaring bright, energy dancing up as if coming from the floor. "I'll do more than just keep you conscious." And Umie gets a Diarama, as wind, scented with a fresh water spring after rain just fell flows through her, healing her up.
Eventually at the safehouse...!
"So... demons really are real? And... I can use my Persona outside of the Dark Hour in this supernatural... zone... thingie?"
Yumi-san, someone else calls her, and Yukari sighs again, "It's Takeba... Yukari Takeba. Everyone just says that because of the bow. Hold on a minute..." Opening her bag, she rounds the corner, and unzips it, sliding something over her head and...
... she's still wearing the same denim short short bottoms but, now she has a pink cardigan on over her top. "There, it was getting a little awkward after that cramped ride."
She says, brushing her opposite arm... Katsuya will definitely notice the 'firearm' like object is in a holster.
"Uh, what about the rest of you? Do you have names you can say or...?" Which is when she double stakes at Mio's new attire. "Well... that's a look."
[OOC] Yukari Takeba says, "*blu-ray *sitting in a holster that's strapped to her right thigh."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
The car was absolutely, positively not made to hold this many people. There aren't even enough seatbelts in the back for everyone crammed in here! They're in violation of the Road Traffic Law! But there's also absolutely, positively not anything that Katsuya Suou can do about that because that would mean deciding which one of them would have to get out of the car when an attempt was just made on their collective (but especially the homicide detectives) lives! And, he need only take a look at the eyes of the driver to realize that he has a snowball's chance in hell of convincing her to stop the car to let someone out in the first place.
"Nuns are permitted to drive, Takeba-san----"
The car has just made a sharp turn. Pop music assaults his eardrums. This will not stop until they reach their destination. At a time like this, what can Katsuya do but go on 'lockdown', his gaze distant as if he were a thousand miles from 'in a car with a couple of strangers, a colleague, and his brother's former tutor while escaping a pitched Persona battle on the beach in which several people, in less fortunate circumstances, would have died'? Also Yukari has just raised the gun-like object (which had just nudged him in the thigh a moment ago) and shot herself with it to summon her Persona to heal Umie, whom he has just clocked is still wounded.
Something rolls and bumps against his shoe. He's afraid to see what it is in this car.
There's still sand in his shoes, an even more distant part of his mind reminds him...
He steadies first himself, then Hamade (who looks fit to faint) once they get out of the car. First business is getting inside and out of the open. Second is making sure Hamade does lie down because she does very nearly faint on the way in. Third is...
...is sitting down in one of the rattiest looking chairs he's ever seen in his life outside of a homicide scene, but beggars can't be choosers. He'll take it.
His shoes are at the entrance. They're still full of sand.
"She is... fine, all considering," he tells Umie, having just returned himself from getting her situated. "She wasn't hurt. I think she is..." He searches for the word, "upset, after what happened." It doesn't feel like it's the right word, all-told. "I do not think they would have been able to follow us easily," and he looks at Mio, here, who is beaming and wearing the oddest assortment of clothing he's ever seen on a...
"You are not really a nun, are you?"
But that may fall by the wayside. Yukari, mercifully, still had her bag and has changed -- or at least, pulled on a cardigan, which is good because he was going to offer his jacket as a coverup and it's much better not to separate the elements of his suit. Even if it's now damaged, he considers with a sigh.
"Suou. Sergeant Katsuya Suou, of the Konan Police Department, Homicide Division." He has... just pulled out his badge and displayed it: Katsuya is a legitimate officer and not just doing cosplay! "My partner is Junior Officer Hamade, also Homicide. We were investigating a report of a body before..." he pauses, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. "...What happened. As you saw, I, too, have a Persona. And..." he's looking at Yukari now, oh no, "that... device you have, that is an 'Evoker'? That is what allows you to summon your Persona?"
He'll leave the matter of Demons to Umie. She probably knows it better than he can explain. "And you are," he says to Mio, "an associate of Yeo-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"There's probably some fancy name for them that I don't know yet," is Umie's nonchalant reply, trying to keep from being tossed in the air as Mio maneuvers expertly over an obstacle. "Forget the nun part, I thought you needed to pass tests to get your license."
If Umie hadn't seen Remi do the same, she may have been completely unprepared, due to how narrow her scope of focus was during the fight.
*BANG*
Remi didn't summon her Persona with her braingun in a cramped car.
"Can youuu--?!" Umie's complaint is stopped in its tracks as Yukari's intent becomes clear, and the bleeding (including the internal bleeding that she could only assume is there) is stopped. "Well, that's a relief." Personas... can do that?! This is a game-changer!!
Umie keeps her awe deep inside, determined to maintain that other kind of mask: the cool one, where she's not affected by anything around her.
-----
"Yeah, as far as I can tell. Lots of mythical, legendary, or folklore types. I think it's a rumor thing, but... it's been the case for them for at least... eight years?" At least Umie's willing to talk now, especially since Yukari was nice enough to heal her. Umie nods. "Takeba-san. Noted."
Also, Yukari has something *Umie*'d like to know about, but she waits for Yukari to change, chancing a look at Mio, their nun getaway driver. As she opens her mouth to say something (which notably takes her a moment to even get to that point), Katsuya walks in, explaining their escort's status. Umie's expression softens. "... I'm not sure what's going on, or what those people all meant when they appeared, but... I imagine that's got to be rough for her."
Yukari asks her name. Instead, Umie points to Yukari's Evoker. "... How many people have those?"
Yet, when Katsuya says his name, Umie is reminded of her slightly younger, more mannerly self. And Yukari *did* heal her, and Mio's driving *did* save them, and Katsuya is literally right here, knowing her full name and number.
".... Umie Akabane. Don't pass it around unless you have to," she says, softly.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"There's probably some fancy name for them that I don't know yet," is Umie's nonchalant reply, trying to keep from being tossed in the air as Mio maneuvers expertly over an obstacle. "Forget the nun part, I thought you needed to pass tests to get your license."
If Umie hadn't seen Remi do the same, she may have been completely unprepared, due to how narrow her scope of focus was during the fight.
*BANG*
Remi didn't summon her Persona with her braingun in a cramped car.
"Can youuu--?!" Umie's complaint is stopped in its tracks as Yukari's intent becomes clear, and the bleeding (including the internal bleeding that she could only assume is there) is stopped. "Well, that's a relief." Personas... can do that?! This is a game-changer!!
Umie keeps her awe deep inside, determined to maintain that other kind of mask: the cool one, where she's not affected by anything around her.
-----
"Yeah, as far as I can tell. Lots of mythical, legendary, or folklore types. I think it's a rumor thing, but... it's been the case for them for at least... eight years?" At least Umie's willing to talk now, especially since Yukari was nice enough to heal her. Umie nods. "Takeba-san. Noted. Yeah. As far as I know, you should be able to summon your Persona, but these zones aren't guaranteed to be everywhere in Sumaru City. Not sure what causes them-- rumors, maybe."
Also, Yukari has something *Umie*'d like to know about, but she waits for Yukari to change, chancing a look at Mio, their nun getaway driver. As she opens her mouth to say something (which notably takes her a moment to even get to that point), Katsuya walks in, explaining their escort's status. Umie's expression softens. "... I'm not sure what's going on, or what those people all meant when they appeared, but... I imagine that's got to be rough for her."
Yukari asks her name. Instead, Umie points to Yukari's Evoker. "... How many people have those?"
Yet, when Katsuya says his name, Umie is reminded of her slightly younger, more mannerly self. And Yukari *did* heal her, and Mio's driving *did* save them, and Katsuya is literally right here, knowing her full name and number.
".... Umie Akabane. Don't pass it around unless you have to," she says, softly.
[OOC] Umie Akabane says, "bluray: use this pose"
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
QUERY: don't nuns take a vow against driving? Maybe?
ANSWER: Mio blows a grape-scented bubble before sucking the gum back into her mouth. "Eh? I just do this part-time. Saint Bernadette's is, um, really progressive."
Knowledge -1 [So bad at lying, it spreads factual inaccuracies.]
QUERY: don't you need to pass a driver's test to drive!?
ANSWER: Mio blows a more aggressive grape-scented bubble, again. "C'mon, let's see you hit a bootlegger's reverse at 95 while some pumpkinhead freak tries to hit you with a fireball!"
Knowledge +1 [Everyone knows Pyro Jack.]
There's a pause, again, as Yukari shoots Mio's fashion sense through the heart. Mio glowers back, though it's more of an unimpressed =_= than an angry stare or anything. "Yes, yes, you're welcome." she waves the critique off, willing to let it die out there. The less attention drawn to her getup, the better.
Alas, no luck with that. The policeman is querying whether she's actually a real nun. So the young lady in robes swirls to face Katsuya, skepticism on her face. Skepticism at his, uh, skepticism. "Ehhhhh~? But I work at the cathedral, and that part's not a lie. Come check out Saint Bernadette's on a weekday if you don't believe me. Heck, the old man there'll vouch for me, I'm just a little more kirakira~ than average." the doubt runs off of her like water from a duck's back.
Anyway, introductions time. "Yo. You can call me Mio, or @KijinMio, or The Driver. Add me on socials, if you know you know." she makes a V with her fingers, casually.
Mio eyes Katsuya's badge for a split-second after he shows it off, wearing a half-lidded stare. Whatever calculus she's doing, it appears to pass, because with a blink of the eyes, she's back to normal soon after. "Also, yes. I'm working with Yeo-san. She needed a driver, and I need the kinda info she trades in." the follow-up is remarkably straight-laced. No singsong voice, no comedy. No obvious tells that she's lying.
The pale-haired girl blows another bubble, which pops. It's time for the elephant in the room. That's right, it's time to talk about demons. Mio turns her head to look at Yukari, chiming in after Umie. "... anyway, yeah, demons are a real thing. People use them to kill folks and get away with it." there's a level stare that follows it. "Worst kind of people you can imagine. They've been doin' it for years, and nobody stops 'em."
(bubblegum pop)
"At least, not until now." Mio flashes another V with her fingers. This one comes with a more dangerous grin. The kind that reaches the eyes. "'bout time the cops got on board. It's crazy down here in the shadows."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Really!?" Yukari astounds at Katsuya's statement of nuns being able to drive, before... "Well maybe they shouldn't."
-=-=-
"... A 'rumor thing'? Ugh, don't get me started on that... Eight Years..." She shakes her head, as if, nothing about that made sense. "... I don't remember anything like that happening around here but, that's maybe not surprising..."
As Mio says 'You're welcome' and staresssss at her Yukari double takes, "H-Hey don't take it like I'm ungrateful or anything - I'm just... not sure what to make of all this? There's no sketchy Persona Using nuns where I come from..." She's not even sure she's a nun for real at this point!
"... Right..." She drawls in reply to Mio being more Kirakira than average, "This is turning into such a weird day..."
Don't even remind her about her shoes. They're a lost cause.
"Oh!" She checks his badge, "... You really are a police officer." She astounds at that, "I was wondering because... never mind."
She's not exactly used to plain clothes officers. "It's nice to meet you, Officer... is what I'd say if we weren't here." She corrects, obviously a little nervous, before Umie asks a question, "Huh? I mean - not many, I think. Then again... maybe more than I expected, given that... crazy woman attacking us."
Before Umie offers her name, and a request... "Akabane-san. Okay no. I won't. Like as far as I'm concerned no one needs to know... any of what just happened to you."
The Officer asks a follow-up question and... she nods.
"Yeah, it's not a real gun. Like... if you wanna check it... I don't really know anything about guns, but there's not even a place for ammunition that I could find..."
And she definitely DID check, thoroughly, before ever trying to put it to her head for the first time. That reassurance did NOT help.
And yet that other Evoker had... cartridges? What? How weird.
"...but... without it, I definitely couldn't summon my Persona... I didn't know you even could without one of these."
Okay this is going well
I think
Unless he's already made up his mind...
She decides to be forthcoming if she can, she's been cooperative! So maybe if she continues to be...
"...Maybe this is hard to believe, but I'm part of a group who... saves people from Shadows during the Dark Hour... we're based out of Tatsumi Port Island. Ordinarily I don't even carry my Evoker around during the day but..."
There's an exasperated sigh... "... well, our 'leader' I guess? Uhhh, Faculty Advisor? He asked me to find out about these skill card things, and I was told that I needed to go to that 'Velvet Room' on Aoba Way. So that's what I was here today to do and I brought it with me just in case. I was just hanging out on the beach to unwind a bit when..."
She makes a gesture to express that 'all that' happened.
The Demon talk, well, Mio confirming they not only exist, but have been running wild for years, "Wait a minute... slow down - you mean these 'Demons'... they come from people... like... the ones we fought!? These people just, run around summoning them to try and kill cops and everyone lets them?"
...
...
...
"What is with this town!? That's not normal!"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"..." Umie gazes at Yukari, dark eyes contemplative. A group of people that go around, saving people from shadows? "... Tatsumi Port Island, huh... It's too bad there aren't more groups like that around." (Umie, you literally started socializing with other people in a supernatural space for a few weeks, at most.) "But that Evoker thing. Why is it a gun? Wouldn't it be better if it was some gadget like you see on sentai shows?"
Nodding now to Mio, Umie finally takes her baseball cap off, revealing her (dyed) ash blonde hair. "Mio-san, then? I won't call you that if we bump into each other in a cathedral, promise." .... Not that Umie plans on seeing if Mio is a real nun or not. She has no idea how any of that even works!
Umie immediately regrets her decision, though, when the topic of demons comes up. It'd be good for people to know this, if someone's using their 'mark' (not that Umie even knows what the proper term is) to summon demons like that. Double so, after Mio points out something she's not even considered. Maybe Mai-chan is right: Umie herself was just a portent of things to come.
".... You... have to be able to. It's like your Evoker, Takeba-san. Not just anybody can do it. But unlike your Evoker, you have to have a mark or seal. Not sure of the mechanics, or if it can happen outside of Sumaru City. You'd have to ask someone who knows." Not that Umie hasn't been tempted, with Mai-chan's voice lightly teasing her over her shoulder, poking at her curiosity. Why not confirm it? "If someone does, it's likely because they're connected to the NWO. That's the only way I know of, right now, and I could be wrong." She motions to Yukari's Evoker. "The first time I saw someone use an Evoker, it was someone helping me through..." Mementos is really hard to explain. "A place. But that same person was fighting us on the beach, so I don't know what's up with that. She was disguised both times, so I can't tell you her identity." It seems not everyone's just playing with masks like Umie is.
Feeling the need to justify why she even knows this, despite _no one asking just yet_, Umie adds, "... A friend of mine has one."
(Umie will not realize until later that technically, she did not lie.)
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Unfortunately, it's probably not possible to make it illegal for nuns to drive, Yukari.
Sadly, Helios's ability to assist the group is rather limited, much to Katsuya's chagrin. --It's not completely absent, mind, but he would have been more pleased if his own Persona were able to help people like that. Alas, it's just not where his -- or Helios' -- strengths lie. Perhaps he shouldn't be too surprised, all told. Still, at least he has come to know more and more people who do have that sort of power. After a difficult battle, wounds must be treated in some fashion, and going to a hospital might only invite questions.
...He has yet to meet a certain fairy...
"But, simply working at a cathedral does not make one a nun," Katsuya persists, as if Logic will win him the day here somehow. "Doesn't an ordained sister have to..." He trails off, perhaps remembering Myunghon and who Mio (apparently??) was working for. Perhaps he's seeing Myunghon's influence (real or imagined!) in this one! "...Besides, there was a nearly full bottle of Gekkeikan in the back seat." So nuns can't drink cheap sake now, Suou, is that it??
"Yes, it's shame these aren't normal circumstances," he says with a sigh. He tucks his badge away. "That's correct. As Kazama-san says, they are using even demons as instruments of murders. Until recently, I was involved in the case tracking the Joker Killer. He is not a normal killer. He uses demons to commit his murders... and unfortunately, it appears that even the nonsensical rumor about 'people giving him a call' is in fact, true. Perhaps Akabane-kun can explain it better than I can, but rumors do become true in Sumaru City-- ah, so you already are aware?"
Is it the same in other cities, he wonders. Darkside had been cagey about it, but implied it could be so...
Katsuya looks surprised. Mio even confirms it after a fashion. "Eight years? I see..." The posts on Darkside had been cagey about 'how long' this had been going on. Their 'benefactor', Baofu, himself had implied he had been a Persona-user for many years but hadn't specified. It may be that they don't want to let someone get an edge on them in this long-running situation, or at least, that's the only explanation Katsuya can think of. Yet, that doesn't mean that 'eight years' is the upper limit. "It must have been limited in scope until recently. I have been on the force for a few years, and we have not heard of anyone reporting to the hospital with..." Katsuya trails off, taking a long moment to consider the implications here. Ah.
He grimaces. "Hmm. I see."
The demons they had fought in the high school had expressed an interest in eating them. And there are missing persons who are not found again. Speaking of missing people, though--
"Akabane-kun, you said that my brother was alright?"
It will be rough going for her, Umie expresses. "...Most likely," Katsuya agrees. "I will try to explain things to her. Perhaps it will be easier to swallow, coming from a fellow officer. In any case, what concerns me is the attempt on her life," and his, actually, but he seems to be ignoring that, "I suspect they will try again. Yet, I will have to think about how I'll report this." The last time he said anything... he got kicked off the case and put on leave. What are they going to do this time, commit him?
Something seems to occur to him and he turns his head, focusing on the far wall. "...I will... have to report the use of my firearm as well. In all my years on the force...!" He shakes his head. "This has never happened before..." He'd shot that young man multiple times. And, true, it was what he'd been trained to do, and true, he would have done it again in defense of Hamade or any of the other Persona-users on the beach against someone with such killing intent, but...
He's going to have to think long and hard about this.
Yukari, meanwhile, explains her own Persona -- explains the device she'd used. "May I see it?" he asks, more out of curiosity than any attempt to bust her for illegal fir
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
@emit
Unfortunately, it's probably not possible to make it illegal for nuns to drive, Yukari.
Sadly, Helios's ability to assist the group is rather limited, much to Katsuya's chagrin. --It's not completely absent, mind, but he would have been more pleased if his own Persona were able to help people like that. Alas, it's just not where his -- or Helios' -- strengths lie. Perhaps he shouldn't be too surprised, all told. Still, at least he has come to know more and more people who do have that sort of power. After a difficult battle, wounds must be treated in some fashion, and going to a hospital might only invite questions.
...He has yet to meet a certain fairy...
"But, simply working at a cathedral does not make one a nun," Katsuya persists, as if Logic will win him the day here somehow. "Doesn't an ordained sister have to..." He trails off, perhaps remembering Myunghon and who Mio (apparently??) was working for. Perhaps he's seeing Myunghon's influence (real or imagined!) in this one! "...Besides, there was a nearly full bottle of Gekkeikan in the back seat." So nuns can't drink cheap sake now, Suou, is that it??
"Yes, it's shame these aren't normal circumstances," he says with a sigh. He tucks his badge away. "That's correct. As Kazama-san says, they are using even demons as instruments of murders. Until recently, I was involved in the case tracking the Joker Killer. He is not a normal killer. He uses demons to commit his murders... and unfortunately, it appears that even the nonsensical rumor about 'people giving him a call' is in fact, true. Perhaps Akabane-kun can explain it better than I can, but rumors do become true in Sumaru City-- ah, so you already are aware?"
Is it the same in other cities, he wonders. Darkside had been cagey about it, but implied it could be so...
Katsuya looks surprised. Mio even confirms it after a fashion. "Eight years? I see..." The posts on Darkside had been cagey about 'how long' this had been going on. Their 'benefactor', Baofu, himself had implied he had been a Persona-user for many years but hadn't specified. It may be that they don't want to let someone get an edge on them in this long-running situation, or at least, that's the only explanation Katsuya can think of. Yet, that doesn't mean that 'eight years' is the upper limit. "It must have been limited in scope until recently. I have been on the force for a few years, and we have not heard of anyone reporting to the hospital with..." Katsuya trails off, taking a long moment to consider the implications here. Ah.
He grimaces. "Hmm. I see."
The demons they had fought in the high school had expressed an interest in eating them. And there are missing persons who are not found again. Speaking of missing people, though--
"Akabane-kun, you said that my brother was alright?"
It will be rough going for her, Umie expresses. "...Most likely," Katsuya agrees. "I will try to explain things to her. Perhaps it will be easier to swallow, coming from a fellow officer. In any case, what concerns me is the attempt on her life," and his, actually, but he seems to be ignoring that, "I suspect they will try again. Yet, I will have to think about how I'll report this." The last time he said anything... he got kicked off the case and put on leave. What are they going to do this time, commit him?
Something seems to occur to him and he turns his head, focusing on the far wall. "...I will... have to report the use of my firearm as well. In all my years on the force...!" He shakes his head. "This has never happened before..." He'd shot that young man multiple times. And, true, it was what he'd been trained to do, and true, he would have done it again in defense of Hamade or any of the other Persona-users on the beach against someone with such killing intent, but...
He's going to have to think long and hard about this.
Yukari, meanwhile, explains her own Persona -- explains the device she'd used. "May I see it?" he asks, more out of curiosity than any attempt to bust her for illeg
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
He's going to have to think long and hard about this.
Yukari, meanwhile, explains her own Persona -- explains the device she'd used. "May I see it?" he asks, more out of curiosity than any attempt to bust her for illegal firearms possession. "From a distance, it does rather remarkably resemble a gun," he explains. So-- she's a part of a group of people that...
Hunts Shadows in the Dark Hour to save people? Katsuya looks at her for a long moment.
"I... see. And this is... under whose jurisdiction?" The rest of her team aren't all students, too, are they? The phrase 'Faculty Advisor' is giving him a bad feeling about this...
But when she expresses her exasperation at the situation they'd been thrust into, he sits up straighter. "Now-- Takeba-san! I do not think... this sort of situation does not normally happen," he tries to argue (plead, more like). "Sumaru is a normal city, just like any other." He stops then and takes stock of the occupants of the room and the people he's encountered in the last two weeks or so.
"...More or less normal city," he amends, slouching his shoulders.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Something seems to occur to him at a distance, however. "Er, Takeba-san... what did you mean by that comment before?" Did he... not seem like a police officer?
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"..." Umie gazes at Yukari, dark eyes contemplative. A group of people that go around, saving people from shadows? "... Tatsumi Port Island, huh... It's too bad there aren't more groups like that around." (Umie, you literally started socializing with other people in a supernatural space for a few weeks, at most.) "But that Evoker thing. Why is it a gun? Wouldn't it be better if it was some gadget like you see on sentai shows?"
Nodding now to Mio, Umie finally takes her baseball cap off, revealing her (dyed) ash blonde hair. "Mio-san, then? I won't call you that if we bump into each other in a cathedral, promise." .... Not that Umie plans on seeing if Mio is a real nun or not. She has no idea how any of that even works!
Umie immediately regrets her decision, though, when the topic of demons comes up. It'd be good for people to know this, if someone's using their 'mark' (not that Umie even knows what the proper term is) to summon demons like that. Double so, after Mio points out something she's not even considered. And, *especially* after Katsuya reveals how it's related to the Joker Killer.
Maybe Mai-chan is right: Umie herself was just a portent of things to come.
"Oh, uh, yeah." Umie blinks as Katsuya asks. "He doesn't seem to know who I am, but he knows who you are, so." She casually shrugs, gesturing with her hands held upward for added effect. "Ah, I guess I'm not as memorable as I thought. When I checked with the friends of friends that got me in touch with him before, if any one them had tried to contact him, he pretty much ghosted them. He's got it in his mind that he needs to do whatever he's doing by himself, and that nobody should become involved with him." Her act can't sustain itself for very long, as she thinks back to how the teen looked, and how haunted his gaze felt. "... He said that there was a sin he had to atone for. So... yeah, I wasn't lying, but it's not exactly great news either." Her expression betrays a grimace. "I know I didn't promise you anything, but at the same time, I feel like I could've given you some better news, Kats-..." She clears her throat, suddenly remembering Mio and Yukari in the room. "Suou-san."
It's too bad Umie can't help Katsuya's case in portraying Sumaru City as a normal city, either.
"About demons, and, uh, summoning then. You... have to be able to. It's like your Evoker, Takeba-san. Not just anybody can do it. But unlike your Evoker, you have to have a mark or seal. Not sure of the mechanics, or if it can happen outside of Sumaru City. You'd have to ask someone who knows." Not that Umie hasn't been tempted, with Mai-chan's voice lightly teasing her over her shoulder, poking at her curiosity. Why not confirm it? "If someone does, it's likely because they're connected to the NWO. That's the only way I know of, right now, and I could be wrong." She motions to Yukari's Evoker. "The first time I saw someone use an Evoker, it was someone helping me through..." Mementos is really hard to explain. "A place. But that same person was fighting us on the beach, so I don't know what's up with that. She was disguised both times, so I can't tell you her identity." It seems not everyone's just playing with masks like Umie is.
Feeling the need to justify why she even knows this, despite _no one asking just yet_, Umie adds, "... A friend of mine has one."
(Umie will not realize until later that technically, she did not lie.)
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
While the burblings of conversation fill the cramped lounge, Mio crosses the floor to rummage through a small fridge hidden in a cupboard. After all, it's not like the refreshments are gonna do any good staying unused. By the time the energetic young lady turns around, she's cracking open a can of Sour-Apple Amrita Soda with one hand.
Katsuya's impressive logic stat is allowing him to pursue this line of questioning, and something about Mio seems gleeful to rise to the occasion. The game is afoot! "Eh? My contract says Nun on it, I've got an ID card and everything!" Mio deflects with sunshine. The effectiveness is up for debate. "And the sake is for making people behave! It's not for me!" the truth is thin and flimsy with these statements, like the bead of condensation rolling down her can of soda. She turns to face him and shrugs, wearing a big, friendly, but cheeky smile. What're you gonna do? "Don't know what to tell you, Officer. I am what I am, y'know?"
It looks like as far as Yukari's misunderstandings (or communication difficulties) go, Mio is willing to let it be water under the bridge for now. She offers the younger girl a faint hand-wave of understanding after the apology, attention focused on the brief introduction to SEES's struggles around Tatsumi Port Island. Not that the group was named, mind you. Eyes of amethyst briefly scan Yukari from head to toe, taking her measure. "Tch," a clicking of the teeth and tongue as she considers the story. "Sounds tough in Tatsumi Port Island, Yumicchi. It sounds like you... uh... you've got a crew behind you, but," she gestures to the other girl with the soda can, pinky finger pointing.
Her tone is lighthearted and understanding. She seems to have picked up on the 'Faculty Advisor' line at the same time. "Don't drop so many hints about 'em... I bet Sarge and I could figure the rest out from those couple of things if we wanted to, y'know? You gotta keep your people safe!"
Ouch, Officer Suou. Do you ... *feel*... like a Sarge? A Sergeant, perhaps? It rolls off the tongue in a way that's decidedly boorish. Not at all like the handsome fellow the rank belongs to. There's a knowing glance from Mio to Katsuya, and a smile. It's not an unpleasant one, even. It's a knowing one. This girl *understands* how authority works, and seems to respect something about the policeman despite her somewhat legally grey kind of life. Perhaps it is the man behind the badge.
There's also another moment of silent observation. Mio's eyes swivel to Umie, at the mention of the New World Order. There they remain locked, for a moment... and yet only a moment. But it definitely happened all the same. When next she speaks, her tone remains as pleasant and cheery as it was before.
"Well, well, if you run into me at Saint Bernadette's, you can just come call me Mio-chan for all I care! I'm not that precious about it." the pale-haired girl smirks cheekily at Umie, picking the conversation up from there. She folds her arms, carefully carrying that can of drink still. "You already saw my secret and know I'm wrapped up in the weird stuff, so... I dunno, just be cool about it."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
It's a relief that Mio lets that one slide. "Yeah..." Yukari lets the idea of there being more groups like that go too without answering Umie further, since she's trying to be cooperative but also without... saying everything... unless she has to, before nodding Mio's way, "Yeah I do, there's no way I could do this alone otherwise... the Shadows are, bad in Tatsumi Port Island."
She wishes there were more too. She has a feeling why hers exists. Before Mio suggests she not say so much, "Huh!? But... he's a police officer. If he asks then, I kinda gotta cooperate..." Oh man, now her anxiety is spiking some now! She was hoping no one would call attention to the pressure to say as little as possible, "... the last thing I want is to be in trouble with a cop."
What she doesn't say is, if he decided to arrest her, he'd find out what she's about REAL FAST she can imagine, from when Ikutsuki comes to bail her out...
... at least she hopes he would.
"Um... I honestly don't know why it's a gun? I definitely wish it weren't." She sighs in frustration, "It makes everything that much harder, really."
It took her months to be able to pull the trigger... she really couldn't do it, the fear was just too strong.
"But... more like Sentai shows?" Yukari replies to Yumi with a tone of awkwardness, "... Please don't give our leader any ideas."
Katsuya notes it was limited in scope, and Yukari considers this, "That makes sense..." But even if Demons weren't something she remembers from her brief time living here...
... it doesn't mean she wasn't hurt by Rumors.
Umie explains that it's just something that some people can do... and Yukari takes in this new information. "Uh... right. Have you ever heard of something called 'the Potential'?" She shifts in place, trying to find a comfortable position to stand in for this conversation, "Maybe that's a part of it. They say I have that but... they never mentioned anything about doing this without an Evoker."
Katsuya seems pretty torn up about shooting that guy though, and Yukari says, "Yeah... I get that it's your job and all but, it's your first time doing that...? I guess... it'd be weird for anyone shooting at a person like that..."
She rubs her opposite arm, discomfited by those thoughts. This was her first time shooting a person with arrows - or attacking them with her Persona.
It's different, shooting a monster, rather than a person. She doesn't want anyone to die... and she certainly doesn't want to kill anyone.
This really sucks...
She's wrapped up in those thoughts, when Katsuya asks to see it. "Oh right." And unstrapped the holster, she just, hands the holster towards Katsuya, Evoker and all. "Here you go. Um, don't ask me how it works though. I really couldn't tell you."
Katsuya will find it really strange in construction. There's no safety, and despite it's look, no slide stop. There's a 'window' in the grip, which shows something luminescent... but it's hard to determine what it is.
And the letters S.E.E.S. are engraved upon it.
"Jurisdiction? Uhhhhh... well. Technically we're designated as a school club at Gekkoukan High School but we're sponsored by... the Kirijo Group? You've heard of them right?" She confirms, before moving on, "Local law enforcement... we have some kind of arrangement with them, since they can't exactly do anything during the Dark Hour."
Yukari definitely doesn't say 'They take us into the back of the police station to sell us weapons and armor.' That might just be going a step too far on volunteering information.
Katsuya indicates that this isn't a normal kind of situation for Sumaru City, and Yukari nods quickly in agreement because she doesn't want to get on a cop's bad side, "Oh hey - I'm not meaning to... bad mouth your town or anything." She slumps a little in posture, "Just... I'm a little freaked."
She gets a little wrapped up in her own thoughts, before he asks what made her think that, "Oh, um... you mean?
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
It's a relief that Mio lets that one slide. "Yeah..." Yukari lets the idea of there being more groups like that slide, since she's trying to be cooperative but also without... saying everything... unless she has to, before nodding Mio's way, "Yeah I do, there's no way I could do this alone otherwise... the Shadows are, bad in Tatsumi Port Island."
She wishes there were more too. She has a feeling why hers exists. Before Mio suggests she not say so much, "Huh!? But... he's a police officer. If he asks then, I kinda gotta cooperate..." Oh man, now her anxiety is spiking some now! She was hoping no one would call attention to the pressure to say as little as possible, "... the last thing I want is to be in trouble with a cop."
What she doesn't say is, if he decided to arrest her, he'd find out what she's about REAL FAST she can imagine, from when Ikutsuki comes to bail her out...
... at least she hopes he would.
"Um... I honestly don't know why it's a gun? I definitely wish it weren't." She sighs in frustration, "It makes everything that much harder, really."
It took her months to be able to pull the trigger... she really couldn't do it, the fear was just too strong.
"But... more like Sentai shows?" Yukari replies to Yumi with a tone of awkwardness, "... Please don't give our leader any ideas."
Katsuya notes it was limited in scope, and Yukari considers this, "That makes sense..." But even if Demons weren't something she remembers from her brief time living here...
... it doesn't mean she wasn't hurt by Rumors.
Umie explains that it's just something that some people can do... and Yukari takes in this new information. "Uh... right. Have you ever heard of something called 'the Potential'?" She shifts in place, trying to find a comfortable position to stand in for this conversation, "Maybe that's a part of it. They say I have that but... they never mentioned anything about doing this without an Evoker."
Katsuya seems pretty torn up about shooting that guy though, and Yukari says, "Yeah... I get that it's your job and all but, it's your first time doing that...? I guess... it'd be weird for anyone shooting at a person like that..."
She rubs her opposite arm, discomfited by those thoughts. This was her first time shooting a person with arrows - or attacking them with her Persona.
It's different, shooting a monster, rather than a person. She doesn't want anyone to die... and she certainly doesn't want to kill anyone.
This really sucks...
She's wrapped up in those thoughts, when Katsuya asks to see it. "Oh right." And unstrapped the holster, she just, hands the holster towards Katsuya, Evoker and all. "Here you go. Um, don't ask me how it works though. I really couldn't tell you."
Katsuya will find it really strange in construction. There's no safety, and despite it's look, no slide stop. There's a 'window' in the grip, which shows something luminescent... but it's hard to determine what it is.
And the letters S.E.E.S. are engraved upon it.
"Jurisdiction? Uhhhhh... well. Technically we're designated as a school club at Gekkoukan High School but we're sponsored by... the Kirijo Group? You've heard of them right?" She confirms, before moving on, "Local law enforcement... we have some kind of arrangement with them, since they can't exactly do anything during the Dark Hour."
Yukari definitely doesn't say 'They take us into the back of the police station to sell us weapons and armor.' That might just be going a step too far on volunteering information.
Katsuya indicates that this isn't a normal kind of situation for Sumaru City, and Yukari nods quickly in agreement because she doesn't want to get on a cop's bad side, "Oh hey - I'm not meaning to... bad mouth your town or anything." She slumps a little in posture, "Just... I'm a little freaked."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
She gets a little wrapped up in her own thoughts, before he asks what made her think that, "Oh, um... you mean? About..." She looks up at him and briefly has this deer in the headlights look like 'Oh no.'
Rather than lie though, she decides to tell him the truth... "Just... I've never seen a cop with red-tinted sunglasses in plain clothes before, that's all."
(It's almost like he's trying too hard to look cool)
... She DOESN'T say as she wants to stay out of a jail cell tonight.
"Saint Bernadette's..." She repeats quietly after Mio says that, maybe it was for Umie but... "... I'll remember that, Kazama-s-err...chan." She doesn't yet correct for a first name basis.
Geez she feels weird calling an adult that.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"But... you cannot simply be hired as a nun without...""
[LOGIC]: Try as you might, you cannot convince this young lady she's not actually a nun. It's time to give up: there's no cracking past that sunny facade of hers. You may as well attempt to lay low a mountain with a toothpick. Besides, she might even be right. How many facts do you really remember about nuns, anyway?
[ENCYCLOPEDIA]: Don't you bring me into this. Only 2% of the population is even listed as Catholic in this country. And besides, which one of us is the one who can't provide a convincing argument, again?
"...I, I see..." Katsuya says, at length.
He doesn't want to know what happens with the sake. It's for drinking, right. IT'S FOR DRINKING, RIGHT.
"It's in the same way that you can summon a Persona outside of the Dark Hour here, or so it seems. Some places are more supernaturally attuned." He looks back at Umie. "Just moments before they appeared on the beach," meaning that squadron of killers, "I had a strange feeling. It felt like, 'something was wrong here', or as some people sometimes say, 'someone walked over my grave'. Akabane-kun... do you know anything about that? You mentioned 'the NWO'. ...Is that who those people were?"
He really is green. He's the greenest one there is-- this side of his allies, that is. But it can't be helped. He only learned what a Persona was not even two weeks ago.
Why is it shaped like a gun? Honestly, that's a question Katsuya would also like an answer to. It seems like the sort of thing that could get an otherwise upstanding young person in a lot of completely unwarranted trouble with the authorities.
At least with the bow, there's some plausible deniability.
But even Yukari doesn't know. Perhaps it's best taking that question up the chain, should he ever get the chance to ask it.
"The Potential..." He shakes his head. "No, I'm afraid not. The only method I know is the one that I use. It appears to be rooted in the 'Persona Game' which I played as a child. Yet, I cannot think that everyone who played a game then proceeds to awaken. But I'm getting sidetracked. There is a lot that I do not yet know, I must admit." It seems that Umie -- or the mysterious Mio? -- may know the most about Personas. And demons, too.
Tatsuya... doesn't remember Umie? "He didn't remember you," Katsuya remarks, frowning as if in thought. Still, the expression eases up. "Yet... my brother does not always have the best memory for names or faces." Or at least, that's the impression he's always had, and it isn't as if he'd had a deep relationship (Katsuya would hope not!) with Umie, and it had been a few years and she did change her looks. Far more concerning: "He isn't even contacting his friends?" He seems outright taken aback by that! "Why would he-- I had thought," hoped really, "he was staying with one of them. Why in the world would he do something like that--"
Umie tells her what his brother had said to him. Katsuya outright stops and remains stock-still in his seat.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"Did he... tell you why?" What had happened? Did Tatsuya get into some sort of trouble, somehow? To say that Katsuya looks 'troubled' in this instant would be an understatement.
He turns his head to look at Mio. He blinks. 'Sarge'...? the look in his eyes suggests. "Ahem, Kazama-san, please..." he says, and he nods as if to encourage Yukari to keep talking. "Yes, no citizen should be afraid to talk to their local officer!" He pauses. "Ah, well... there are some things that the force does not wish to accept are true..." Like Personas, and demons, it seems.
And, just what is it that Mio's implying here? That he'd snoop? ...Well, perhaps, if it became dangerous maybe. ...This may not bode particularly well for Yukari. Yet, despite her downright sunny expression earlier, there's something that seems almost knowing when Mio looks at him. Like she gets that he's not the arbiter of the law here, either. That it's as complicated on his end as it is on her end (he assumes, given who she works with).
Yukari at least seems to understand what he's going through. "Yes. Even in this city, the times when an officer of the law must fire on a suspect are extremely limited. I have used force before, but never lethal force. ...Of course I have done all my required training and I practice regularly, but..." But it was still the first time.
It was the first time with his Persona, too. Someone could burn someone to death with a Persona's power. Or drown them. Or electrocute them. A Persona is a weapon as well as a means of defense, he realizes, and that, too, is something he will have to sit with.
Not that he intends to turn away. Not that he will wash his hands of this. But he must be careful, especially as an officer, or...
With all that in mind, he takes the Evoker from Yukari and studies it for a moment. "Indeed... this is not a firearm, despite its shape." He has good trigger discipline: he keeps his finger off that part out of habit. "How strange. It seems almost as if there were something inside." He hands it back over to her in the next moment: he has no desire to take it apart; all he'd accomplish is breaking it, most likely. S.E.E.S., is it...
It's actually what she says next that surprises him more than the Evoker itself. "A... school club? The Kirijo group?" Kirijo. They'd talked about that at the Cardboard Dragon that night. "And... the local law enforcement is aligned? I... see...." He sounds just as pleased as one would expect to hear that a bunch of high school students are running around fighting Shadows in the Dark Hour at the behest of a corporation and the local law enforcement, but what, exactly, does he intend to do about that?
Besides, as Yukari's reaction reminds him, don't they have enough trouble in their own backyard. "No, I..." He pauses, as if to consider his words. "I understand. It is a complicated situation. And, I suppose things have taken a turn lately. Attacking officers... surely they did not think they could do that with impunity?"
...What if they did?
"There is no need for alarm, Kazama-san," she's the least alarmed one in the room, Suou, "I will not tell your secret." After all, who would believe him? And anyone who might, it seems, would already know. And if they already know... it's all the more reason to keep it secret.
After all, there are forces in this city who seem to be ready to permanently silence people who know too much, even police officers. Someone betrayed them. Had it been whoever called in the tip about the body?
The obvious answer, alas, is still beyond his willingness to grasp.
But Yukari answers his question. The one about how she wasn't sure he was a cop, or so she'd implied. It's because of his clothes and his sunglasses. Katsuya looks down at his nice suit. One finger grazes the edge of one of the lens of his sunglasses.
"I am a homicide detective," he says, as if that explains it. As for the sunglasses--
"It prevents glare," he says, feeling as if he's been put in the spotlight and doesn't like
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"It prevents glare," he says, feeling as if he's been put in the spotlight and doesn't like it. Is it... is it weird to dress and look like this??
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
As Mio pulls one out, Umie's eyes light up. That's... a Sour-Apple Amrita Soda! "... Oh! Did you try their Blue Raspberry flavor?" Umie immediately asks. How is that even a question someone should ask?
And how is it still not the oddest thing anyone has asked here today?
Yukari's statement draws Umie's attention next. "... Really? Just how bad? Usually I just have to make sure whereever I am's locked up for the night if I'm doing night shift." She did, after all, let Katsuya know that she works the register at a Triple Seven in Shibuya. But how can you really depend on that, when Umie hates the night shift as well?
"... I guess, if it can enable people to use a Persona, maybe..." She shrugs. "I'd feel the same way as you, so maybe there's some truth to it being that way. It was hard using my Persona against a person, even when they were attacking me." Until it wasn't, when she felt her blood on her fingers. Looks like all of them had to deal with it being their first time actively using their Persona on a person. Umie's not alone there. "You mentioned that name the other night--" She winces, one hand palming her face, as she realizes...
".... So you were there too, Suou-san." This is a lot easier when she feels like her identity is obscured. "I guess, it's not like something like this'd be something just anybody would come up with." While part of her wants to try the Evoker...
It's still putting something gun shaped to her head. She's not sure how any of them do it.
".... Is... that why they're called Personas? The Persona Game?" asks Umie, the Persona expert. She places her elbow on the couch's armrest, and places her head on it. "I tried it with a couple of friends as a prank years ago, but nothing happened. Maybe it was because I already had one?" (She wouldn't know that she'd be telling on herself, with that.) "I'm not really sure on why everything felt so weird. I know it was harder to really... see. In the... Persona, sense." She looks at Mio and Yukari, helplessly. "... Can either of you see like that? It's not like I can see really far, but, it's further than I can see physically. Demons, shadows... even Persona Users, if I pay attention. But after that, nothing."
She... just assumed everyone else could.
Katsuya's concern wasn't unexpected; it's why Umie took his request so seriously when he told her about it. "No. Whatever it is, he thinks it's so dangerous that he can't tell anyone about it. But he knows you have a Persona, and he knows I have a Persona. He's... different. But he's also still Tatsuya. Maybe, if I knew him longer, I'd have a better read." It is, however, *also* why she feels like she's just delivered a giant helping of bad news on the man's already heavy shoulders. "He might be. I only checked with a few friends of friends we had in common. He looked pretty hungry when we first met, so I gave him a meal." She sighs. "I can tell you this: neither of you had Personas back then, or else, you were really good at hiding it."
There's that stare, from Mio, which Umie catches, and freezes on, unable to move past, or understand how to read. Is she a secret NWO agent? Or does Mio think _Umie_ is an NWO agent? "... Don't... tell anyone I said that. No one. Not one bit of this leaves this room, okay? Especially if it leads back to me."
Then, it passes. Umie relaxes. "... Yeah, well, likewise," Umie says, to Mio.
[OOC] Umie Akabane says, "bluray: making 'I'm not really sure' as a separate paragraph"
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Mio's gaze swivels between Yukari and Katsuya for a time, as the discussion turns to what's going on at Gekkoukan. She's said her piece, after all, it's not her place to intrude any further! If Yukari feels safer talking to the police about this... well, sure, why not? She takes a long swig of painfully artificial soda and averts her gaze. But even if she tried to ignore all of these salacious details, it would be too much. Local police involvement? Faculty? Shady corporate meddling? Sounds like the usual power and greed dynamics at play when old men use children as pawns in their sick little games for just one more hit of money and influence and...
She snuffs the train of thought out before it can chug any further down the line. There's a time and place for that, and it isn't here, or now. Certainly not in front of the cops. "Phew." is all Mio offers, "Tatsumi Port's got its own share of problems, huh? Sounds like the shadows are growing pretty deep everywhere, not just Sumaru." she is not, actually, aware of the difference between shadows (indirect mention of forces unknowable) and Shadows (proper noun referring to wacky things you beat the tar out of in supernatural spaces). "All I'm gonna say is... if something weird is chasing you, uh, you can take shelter at the Cathedral."
Regarding her workplace, so recently mentioned, the young lady masquerading(?) as a wearer of the cloth offers Yukari a sympathetic little grin and pauses to explain. "And I mean Saint Bernadette's Cathedral. It's in Aoba Ward. Kinda boring for a high-schooler, and far away for you. So, um... not expecting you to make a social call unless you need a hand with something. Or in case you need help with rumours, and you can't afford Rumourmonger Merry." she ends with a wink, the kind that makes a little star fly out with a ~pwing~ sound. She turns to Katsuya, still frozen in wink-pose, fingerguns aimed at him. "You, on the other hand, are local. So you can crawl in if something weird is up and your fellow suits aren't helpin'."
(Let's not reflect on a teenager calling you <name>-san. . . you're old, Mio-san! You're like... 19! You're a Granny! A GRANNY!)
[-1 Morale]
A single bead of sad sweat rolls down Mio's cheek. The scrutiny on Katsuya's mode of dress takes the sting out of things. Nevermind that she doesn't find it weird, but then, she grew up in show biz. Dudes in suits is just... normal. Anyway, she forges ahead. Important questions need answering. Eyes of fuchsia lock onto Umie's, holding her gaze again strongly. And then, the girl pipes up: "Uwaa~a, you like the Blue Raspberry too? We don't have any here. I'm dyin' for one!"
Odds of being a secret NWO Murderer: decreasing.
"Oh, uh. Can I see...? Spiritually?" Mio repeats what she *thinks* the question is, squinting. She glances at the others, then back to Umie. "I dunno, not like... a lot? I can't sniff much out until trouble usually starts, I mean... maybe you have megassu sharp senses?"
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Faux-nun finally flashes a cheery V with her fingers at Umie as well, seeing how nervous she is. "OK-desu. Your secret's safe with me, I don't think I really understood it properly anyway! No misunderstanding, no problem!"
Hmm...
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Yukari isn't even going to delve into the question of whether Mio is a nun or not, it'd give her a migraine trying to sort through, besides it doesn't really matter to the situation at hand, right?
As it's explained about supernaturally attuned, "Huh... well, I knew about Mementos, just - I didn't think it could happen in the real world unless it was the Dark Hour."
Umie asks about how bad the Shadows get, "Huh!? Well... pretty bad. There's... like a big nest nearby."
AT LEAST she doesn't talk about Tartarus, but that's for... reasons other than this. It's that she suspects... something going on there.
You see Mio. She fully understands she's being used by the Kirijo Group. It's just... she has a goal in allowing herself to be used. "We get a lot of cases of apathy syndrome..."
... But that feeling Katsuya describes when trouble started makes her rub her other arm, "Uh, yeah, I felt it too. I wasn't going to get involved but, then I thought... those people watching, they aren't in coffins... what happens if they get attacked?"
Yukari considers Katsuya saying he gained it from the Persona Game and suddenly she looks startled, "Hold on... the Persona Game... that kid's game from like... the Showa Era?" Yukari tries to explain further how she knows about it, "I remember my Grandaunt once asking if kids were into weird occult stuff like that these days and... I didn't know what to tell her really. How do you get a Persona from an old game like that though?"
Though Umie indicates she played it and... Yukari looks her up and down, "Wow, Sumaru girls have more old-fashioned tastes than I thought... Uh! Not that I mean anything by that."
She shakes her head on sensing any further, "I feel stuff but - it's pretty close range mostly. Only one of us can go further... and even she says she's not really good at it."
She steps back from the talk on Tatsuya, even if she's still listening to it. His brother huh?
When he tells Mio that no citizen should be afraid to talk to their local officer, "Oh! I'm not just- I'm hoping you're gonna take how much I'm cooperating into account. I get how... it must have looked, with you know, me putting something that looked like a gun to my head."
Her heart is beating a bittttt fast right now... what teenage girl wants to have a record? They might kick her out of school for that! Well, probably not... SEES's leadership kinda runs the school.
BUT STILL!
His statement though, on needing to fire on a suspect... "... Yeah. I saw that guy with the sword coming at you and, well-(Ninja? Was he a NINJA?)- maybe it was in self-defense, but... well... that doesn't really make it any easier..."
SHE could have killed that woman. If her aim had been off... if the woman had turned or twisted at the wrong time...
...
... suddenly she feels pretty nauseous.
She's still regathering her stomach when he finishes inspecting her Evoker. As he hands it back, she slowly straps it around her thigh again. "Yeah... I'm not sure myself. It's not like they give us a manual or anything either. I just know it works."
When he asks about the school club, and the hierarchy... she nods as if to confirm, "... It's kinda messed up sounding, I know. But, I guess the police don't know what else to do about it? Do they just let Shadows eat people... or...?"
She shakes her head, she can imagine how somebody who's sworn to protect the public might feel about learning these things exist... and they're helpless to stop them.
Yukari knew the Dark Hour was everywhere... but now with Mementos and... and this in Sumaru City, she's beginning to realize how extensive the problems really are.
Katsuya though explains why he dresses like that, and Yukari stares at him, staying quiet because 'I am a homicide detective' doesn't answer the question.
'It prevents glare.'
"... Oh, right." A beat, "T-That makes sense I guess..."
Why RED though?
She looks towards Mio again, bro
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Why RED though?
She looks towards Mio again, brow furrowing, "Cathedral... right, then I'm not likely to miss it." She at least knows a Cathedral is a big church, they're very distinct! "Well... I didn't think I'd be coming down here often..."
As Mio makes her expression gestures, Yukari instead thinks again of that woman again, acting all erratic... using a different kind of Evoker.
"But I've got a feeling that... well... I'm gonna be back more." Her eyes dart over to Katsuya, "N-Not to cause trouble or anything though! Promise!"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"It was alarming. I had thought you were..." He shakes his head. "I am glad it was not the case." Though, if he is going to be bluntly honest, it was worse with the woman on the other side. That Evoker used cartridges. And she did not seem well at all... what were those pills she took?
Honestly, chatter about soda is probably the most normal thing Katsuya overheard anyone talking about in days.
Katsuya does cut in to ask one very, very important question here:
"Mementos?"
He hasn't been! Perhaps someone should change that. It's not like life is getting any less complex lately!
There's at least some relief Katsuya can take in the fact that he's not the only person thinking about this -- and that it's not normal to attack another person with your Persona. It's one thing to strike out against a demon or a shadow. The former can be hostile and the latter gives you no choice in the matter, for instance. The fact that there are people who are predisposed to do that, though... it was the first time but it won't be the last time.
He should be careful in what he does and keep the 'weight' of that decision in mind, but he will also have to 'get used to this'. Otherwise, good people will get hurt or die. Both these extremes are correct, he's found, as he examines his own heart.
"Exactly. I don't think we did the wrong thing. Yet, I think it is important to think about these things."
Just as long as you don't overthink them also, Suou-kun.
"Perhaps," he says, on the matter of how one gains a Persona. Yet, she already had one? "Was it from an earlier time you played the game, then?" Fortunately for Umie, something very terrible happens to Katsuya in the next moment.
Yukari's heard of the Persona Game. Her grandaunt asked about it once. It's an old game from the Showa Era. Katsuya, a spry twenty-five, feels as if he's crumbled into dust in that moment. She's-- she can't be more than a decade younger than him! How is that old...!
"The... the Showa Era wasn't that long ago," says Katsuya, knowing full well it ended in 1989. You know, about 23 years ago. Has it really been that long?? "There are... children did used to still play those games in the 90s," he tries again, feeling absolutely decrepit and ancient. How do you get a Persona from a game that old anyway? "T-to be honest, I don't know..."
Upshot! He's forgotten all about what he asked Umie!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
The Dark Hour is still a strange one for him. It's hard to believe that all along (for how long??) it's been the case that there's an extra hour at midnight that everyone who doesn't use Personas (as far as he knows) doesn't meaningfully experience.
And, for that matter, does it happen at midnight all over the world, or would it follow that it could appear in the middle of the day relative to Japan? He's not even sure which of these two possibilities makes the most sense, given the dearth of facts he possesses about... many things that have impacted his life of late, really.
He touches his sunglasses, fidgeting with them briefly. "I will keep that in mind, Kazama-san. Seeking sanctuary in a church... there is something 'romantic' about that, now that I think about it. Er-- in the literary sense, that is..." Not the other sense. Not the other sense at all!
It really doesn't help when Mio pops fingerguns right at him. He blinks, but at least recovers swiftly. "I hope it won't be needed, but if Hamade's life continues to be in danger that may be a good place for her to go." And the rest of his 'team' might like to hear it, too. They don't precisely have any safe harbor at the moment, from where he can see, and things seem to be getting more complex than a serial killer chasing Maya Amano with demons.
As for Shadows--
"I suppose they do not have a choice. When Shadows attack an ordinary person, it sounds like what happens is quite bad." He hasn't been able to confirm it, but it sounds about just as survivable as a demon attack. "If the only people who have Personas in Tatsumi are students, then it cannot be helped." But are there really no adults with Personas there? Perhaps it just isn't common for an adult to have a Persona...
What Umie says about Tatsuya is a lot of concerning bits and pieces but not anything that can be assembled into a concrete picture about what's going on.
What Katsuya hears about Tatsuya is this: 'he looked pretty hungry'.
His brother isn't eating right. His brother is starving. Katsuya, staring into the middle distance, takes the long, slow, careful breath of something trying to calm themselves and not immediately blow a gasket.
"If you see Tatsuya again," he says, just as slowly, underlining in triplicate the very very very particular care he's taking here to not flip out, "please tell him to come home. Or at least, to please eat a proper meal."
See? It's fine. He can be rational and sane and just fine about the fact that his brother is starving to death in the streets of Sumaru for some reason.
He answers Yukari's question about his fashion choices. His answer makes sense to him. But...
Maybe it's a good thing he can't read minds, all considering.
She knows something about the NWO, the people who attacked them. The thought of it just about sends a jolt down Katsuya's spine. But who are they, and why are they...
Even he can see, though, that she isn't willing to answer anything more right this moment. She's clamming up. Perhaps it's dangerous for her to speak so freely, in the same way that it might be dangerous for Hamade to exist, unless they can all work out some collective means to protect her. So as much as he wants to know, he knows asking won't get him an answer.
"You have my word," he tells Umie. "But, please... when you feel you can speak more, tell me about the NWO. If they are the ones we are up against, it's better for us to know more and not less about them. This will not be the last we hear from them. Of that, I am certain."
No understanding, no problem... Sometimes, he wishes that could actually be the case.
"No, I believe you. In fact, you were a great help. I think that the situation there would have been worse without your presence." Still, he is a cop: "Regardless, please be careful. Our situation appears to be complicated."
(...and the Dark Hour isn't?)
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'Old men use children as pawns in their sick little games'? Umie wouldn't know anything about that.
Umie would also not know anything about where shadows probably come from.
Or what lies inside the NWO's ritual chamber.
But Umie does know the secret of the missing Blue Raspberry. "Limited Edition. Triple Seven is holding a promo deal with them. Get them quick or you'll have to look for scalpers online."
Umie also knows about Mementos! Kind of. ".... Wait, you knew about Mementos?" Umie gradually shifts up from her slouched position. "I could've saved myself a trip, doing that." Should she tell Katsuya about that, too? That Tatsuya knew what Mementos was, and nearly died trying to save Shinjiro?
One look at Katsuya answers it. ....Yeaaahhh, let's not let the world's big brother of the year find out about those details. There's more where that came from.
"... Yeah, about Mementos, I should show you, Suou-san. Probably would be a good thing for you to know about." She waves a hand. "But I recommend bringing a few people along for the ride. It's not a fun time."
Yukari's statement brings a laugh from Umie. She smirks, settling back in her couch. "I mean, why do you think the rumor about Mementos spread around? Rumors are currency, especially around here, Ta-ke-ba-san," Umie says, drawing out Yukari's last name playfully. "Even old ones. You might find out some things about some things you're trying to figure out, if you listen to the Rumormongers around here. Port Island's close enough."
That brief brush of playful advice is ended with, ".... Also, we didn't have enough money to go to the movies that day." She shrugs. "Anyway. A nest of shadows, huh?" There's someone else who can sense further. "Huh, maybe I'll have to see if it's like that for her, too. Since..."
"I didn't know Personas could heal," Umie finally admits. "Do you know how many times I've had to bandage myself up because I got on the wrong side of a demon short enough to be mistaken for a mascot sign?"
She's an expert in some ways, but a novice in others.
Like here.
"Katsuya-san." She lets out a slow breath as she looks down, trying to figure out *what* she can say. She's an only child; sibling relationships are a mystery to her outside of media and friends. "... He's still Tatsuya in that way; he's stubborn. He tried to save me, even. When I look at his face, it's... something's haunting him. But I don't think anyone's going to get it out of him until he's ready to say. Unfortunately for him..." She smugly crosses her legs. "I'm still his senpai. I'm going to help him when I can. Might mean we'll be on different sides if things get hazy, but if that happens, you'll know why."
As for the NWO? Umie shrugs.
"I only know enough to get me in trouble, which is... 'I know they're there'." She grins. "They've already made things hard for me, just because of that. The fact that this could happen to some adult living in a tiny apartment working part-time should alert you to how fast it is before you get pulled underwater." Well, that, and, a lot of context Umie's not going to say here, both mundane and not so mundane. 'I pissed off a guy who tried to propose at my graduation' doesn't exactly have the right *push* to it, does it?
"I think I might catch a nap on one of those extra cots. I'm on night shift tonight. It's going to succck." She gets up, and stretches. "Oh, Takeba-san. I doubt you and your group'll ever be going anywhere near Shibuya, but. If you're stuck there during the Dark Hour, head to the Triple Seven on Shibuya Central Street. I'm not doing night shift all the time, but, maybe you'll luck out and have a place to hole up in. No freebies, though."
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Mio pauses, a kind of cartoony figure in the background of Katsuya's flustered defense of things from the showa era. One, two, three... she counts on her fingers, realizes the era ended before she was born, and vee~ery slow~wly lowers her hand again, not wanting to make things worse. That's tact. That's teamwork. Thankfully, Katsuya then immediately puts his foot in his mouth about the idea of hiding in a church being romantic.
"... pfft. Ha!" the girl laughs a disarming, genuine laugh. "You're not wrong! There's really somethin' about hiding from the darkness in the church. Might even be the good kind of rumour to spread around." she emphasizes the word, drawing out the 'u' in rumour with deliberate showmanship. But on this point, she speaks no further.
She also lifts her smartphone from an interior pocket once again, jabbing the screen. And because she is, despite everything she has suffered, still herself, she pipes up directly at Katsuya and Umie both with deliberate sunshine from the diaphragm. "And if I see someone that looks like this guy's younger brother, I guess I'll try to offer him a bento or something!" Mio beams extra-proudly as she then reveals: "I work part-time at the conbini* near the church too, so I can always sneak away the stuff about to go on special before we sticker it! Don't worry, we always look out for the locals."
(*24/7 convenience store)
The phone comes up to her ear and she moves towards the door back outside. "Hang on, I'll just make this call, uh, you can get comfortable or whatever, grab a nap, I'll be waiting here until I can get in touch with Yeo-san anyway..." She ducks outside for a moment, starting a conversation with someone on the other end of the line. You can hear it for a little bit.
"Hihi? Oh, Ryo-kun! I'm running a little late back to work today, can you manage without me? Eh? Yeah, I'm fine, but I think things are gettin' weird, someone made aphantasm space or whatever and summoned demons but..."
The voice trails off as the distance increases... . . .