2025-09-10: What is There to Say
- Log: What is There to Say
- Cast: Myunghon Yeo, Yukari Takeba
- Where: Cardboard Dragon, Hirasaka
- OOC Date: September 10, 2025
- IC Date: July 09, 2012
- Summary: Yukari visits Myunghon once more, and the two turn to speaking of family before long... and how complicated a topic it is for the both of them.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon's been exceptionally hard to contact the last week -- which likely isn't a surprise given Yukari was actually... there... and even literally saved their life with her timely Recarm and healing spells, pulling them from the brink of darkness that they were receding into. Since then, she knew the Cardboard Dragon group had to drop them off at the emergency ward, since there was literally no other source of medical assistance on short notice, but since then...
What's happened has been a little vague, perhaps. There was likely a shock from Myunghon disappearing from the hospital, and Sumaru being abuzz with rumour of a Vampire caught fuzzily on phone camera jumping out of the third floor story of the same hospital they dropped Myunghon off at. When Myunghon finally commandeered their phone again, they reassured everyone they were fine now, though they're staying at some other people's places and the store would be closed for a bit...
But today, they've announced that the Cardboard Dragon is back and open for business!! Everything's fine. Everything's just peachy. The proprietor is... well, they're not back at full speed -- the sling on their arm is restricting them to typing on one hand, but they seem to still be undeterred as they work on whatever it is is occupying their attention on their laptop on the couch, perched in that fetal manner of theirs that turns them so ball-like.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Pure One Heart - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5hGA8AQkgU
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Hard to contact? Yukari, didn't. Mostly, she sat around, staring at her phone, dreading the news she might receive. And if she called - she might receive it that much sooner.
And then she went to school, because one still must go to school today.
Texts came. She checked them, not sure what to believe and not to believe without the telltale 'Koala'. Then, finally reassurance.
A deep sigh, as something unraveled from her heart. It's not like she cares for them specifically or anything...
... she just doesn't want anyone to die. And Merry is 'anyone'. One of nine billion and change people in this world.
To care is to die a little each time. And she'd rather not.
But now that the Cardboard Dragon is open again, she doesn't have to worry about that again, right?
A train to Sumaru City. That a day trip on Monday afternoon is ill advised... well whatever, it's SEES business! It's for her investigation... it's...
...
"Hey there." She says with a smile, as she enters the Cardboard Dragon, still in her uniform, with a pink cardigan tied around her waist and her school bag over her shoulder, "Glad to see you up and about. How are you holding up?"
There, all casual. Perfect.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
That's right. It's important to project assurance to others. That's what it means to be an adult in the center of a nest of people who they've become ensnared... intertwined with. How much the revolutionary bleeds and cries and weeps isn't something that's going to be recorded by the annals of history. How much their blood transforms into the light of Hope is what's going to be carved into those who are inspired by them, no matter how personal or parasocial.
Myunghon also has a smile -- a little too perfect, perhaps -- as they rise, a little too late. They shift gently around their sling; there's a new coat draped around them. It's very dark, and clings much better to their form than their old one, as if it's tailor made for them... and it exudes some cognitive energy, given that this is a supernatural space as well.
It wasn't there when Yukari last healed them during the incident. But, hey, it's been a week, right? They went and replaced that coat that got punctured by Jin Shirato.
"I'm well, thank you. I apologise for all the trouble... and I thank you again, for saving my life, Takeba-san."
There, all gentle and kind. Perfect.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Merry apologizes, and thanks her and that smile fades into looking a little embarrassed, "Oh! You don't need to apologize or anything. It's not like it's your fault any of that happened." She says, before her pose shifts awkwardly, "Iiiii didn't really do much, to be honest. The other people deserve way more of your thanks for keeping that guy away from you."
A beat.
"But hey, you're welcome?" She says as that smile returns. "And well it's nice to see this place open again. Even if I'm not really a real customer or anything. Just, you know? ... Still standing. Despite everything."
It's what you have to do, even if you don't know how to live. You have to keep at it, keep living. That's what she believes at least.
She doesn't ask about the rumors because come on, vampires??? Obviously made up... stuff.
She coughs into a hand and lowers her voice, "Also I think I met your half-sister? Who's... a bigshot Conductor? What's that about?"
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon has no idea how to live. They thought they were exploring their feelings and emotions and that was supposed to be a healthy, positive thing, but all they've received from it in the past month has been pain and embarrassment. It's too frightening. They don't have a place in the world of emotions. It's like Miho agreed -- they're forgetting themself. Theirs is the world of logic and reason. Of variables and constants, of hypotheses and control groups.
"I have not seen him since..." Myunghon feels that fear creeping in, but they keep it well under way. Say his name, without fear. Tsumugi's words echo in them. They do so once, privately. "Still standing," they chime in. "That's the least I can do after everything. Especially since the supernatural doesn't wait for you to have a break. And neither does work nor school, hmm?"
But then-- their sister??
"Ah..." Myunghon places a finger to their lip. "Yes, I only found out about two weeks ago myself. She was *there* when we went to Kaneshiro's Palace, snooping on us, and it appears the Meta-Nav app will drag anyone in its reach into the supernatural, awakened or not. I was stressed that she insisted on venturing further than leaving, but then she awoke to a Persona..."
There's a helpless left-arm shrug, since their right shoulder is dislocated. "It isn't everyday you find out you had a half-sister all this time. That's the area of tabloids and scandals, given who our mother is."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Her expression falls instantly, "... Yeah. Like, I wish I could say something reassuring, like he won't be back or anything. But he really might be? I can't really see him being removed from duty or anything."
Even being witnessed by Katsuya, whom she knows is a good guy! And a good cop! She hates to admit that it could just happen but it's not like she has a better idea, "And it's something you're just gonna have to learn to deal with, not because it's right... but because, it just is, but... I guess. Use that?"
It's what she does, at least. She still is a little afraid every time her hand grips the Evoker, and puts it to her head.
"Yeah... you don't really have a choice, I guess. Time... doesn't wait."
No, Yukari is not reading the script of her own game. It just sounded right to her in the moment.
The subject of her sister though, "Uhhhh... that's terrifying...?" On the idea of the Meta-Nav dragging in other people. "... I'll have to remember that..."
Because she hasn't tested whether using an Evoker will drag other people in with her either!!!
"Uh, yeah, wow. So, how about that? I usually think of half-sisters coming from someone's Dad cheating on someone's Mom or something."
She looks up, and her fingers card nervously through the side of her short hair, "... Not the other way around."
The idea that SHE might have a half-sister that she doesn't even know about it, that COULD be just hitting preschool terrifies her.
Her Mom isn't exactly careful about the men she goes home with.
"... Tabloids though? I mean, I know your Mom is an actress but..." She didn't think she was some big name or anything? "Uhhh, how does that make you feel? Having a half-sister because your Mom... welllllll..."
She's not gonna say it, not even a polite euphemism for it, more proof she's in fact a teenager!
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
At this exact time last week they would've fallen apart to that possibility. Now, however, they've regained enough of themself to reassert: "He made the mistake of telling me he knows where I live... but this is a supernatural space." The smile is a little bit too perfect as they say, "There are many more tools at my disposal if he tries anything further." Which is true, but it really didn't stop them from just cowering in bed and pretending they're not there and having Umie scale the third floor of their house when he did pop around.
Time waits for no one... whether you're a future sorceress or someone who's just trying to get herself together between Tartarus or school. "It's fine. I'm making progress on your query as well," Myunghon gently asserts, before the topic shifts again to the Meta-Nav.
"... the app is one of the most concerning items on my list. I think it's healthy for no one to trust it. There's motive behind who it's assigned to, and even if it appears benign on the surface..." Myunghon deeply frowns. "I have a second Palace now to concern myself with, and this one has far more powerful Shadows... though I believe that was in part due to our hasty planning."
Cheating, huh...
"... I think it speaks volumes that So-young is the *older* of us two," Myunghon points out. "Five years older, in fact. My birth was one of sensation, back in the day of the economic bubble -- the powerful union of a famous actress and a corporate star on the rise. There were no amount of sycophants and yes-men around me when I was little, that even I, as a child, could see easily through them for how naked their intent was."
A pause, as they conclude.
"That she has been living in South Korea, hidden from the limelight all this time leads me to conclude that I know which of us was one born out of passion and love."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Uhhhh IS IT?" Yukari asks nervously, "Does that mean we're gonna have demons or Shadows coming into the store!?"
If she'd known this she would have made sure her Evoker was closer to being in her hand during her PRIOR visits.
"Not sure how to feel about that? Though... if it makes you safer from... that happening..."
Yukari isn't exactly a fan of the supernatural.
"... uh, you're not gonna kill him though, right?" She asks, "He's... absolute scum, but... well, you know?"
She looks at least, uncomfortable about the prospect.
"Oh! Why..." She looks over her shoulder before finishing that one, "... Thank you! I appreciate that. Especially given you haven't had a lot of... time lately."
Yukari's brow furrows at the prospect, "It's, an app, though right? Are you saying it's like, what are they called... viruses?"
She heard viruses do a lot of damage to the economy every year, computer ones. She doesn't really understand it though except people break computers and steal things with them.
"... Another one, huh?" She doesn't exactly sound... enthusiastic, about more Palace crawling, but doesn't voice... why right now.
She has to talk to SEES about that one. Not to give up Merry and their friends of course.
"Oh! She didn't really strike me as the... big sister of you two." Yukari says after a moment, "Even though she's really accomplished? Maybe I should have figured that part out already."
Maybe it's just hard for her to peg down Merry's age with their eccentricities!!! She's not sure.
She listens to their story though, and is somewhat taken aback by 'famous actress' but that's not her focus right now. "Ah..."
It's weird to be jealous, over that life, given how Merry describes it, but it also sounds like their Father and Mother are alive?
And respected?
She remembers how everyone treated her Dad, after he passed... how everyone treated them. Even if it was empty... it'd be nicer for people around you to want something from you, rather than to dismiss you like garbage.
"That sounds really rough. I'm not sure how I would even deal with that."
Probably enjoy it at least for a while, before she learned to hate it! "... Which one would you prefer it be?" Love, or Passion, "Or... do you not know?"
She realizes feelings on these subjects can be messy and complicated. She knows which one she would prefer of course, but.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon blinks once with their one eye remaining. "I thought you were already aware of this, Takeba-san. I've demonstrated Skill Cards to you here on this very shopfloor..." A pause. "I have not had issues with Shadows in the Dark Hour infiltrating this place, myself. I can only hypothesise as to why, but perhaps the cognitive boundaries of a home is not unlike that of the boundaries a coffin exerts for those who are not aware. If that were not the case, none of us could rest easy at midnight, now can we?"
Yukari isn't certain how to feel about that -- and wonders if Myunghon is going to kill him. The smile gets a little more faded and long as they stare off into the distance for a bit. "I won't kill him. Don't you worry about that." It's a little unsettling, as if they're layering even more psycho-locks over themself, but it is what it is.
It hasn't been a lot of time at all, so Myunghon's likely not scratched anything more than surface details, but they are gearing their attention towards Kirijo in the last week or thereabouts. Shinjiro's been busy that way as well... and those Full Moon Shadows won't be the last, they're certain.
"It isn't just an app. It has strange properties, such as -- being able to know what you consider your 'main' phone. I've run experiments, such as purposefully losing my phone and switching to a burner for two weeks -- and certainly it jumps over at that point. I even switched to an old gara-kei that doesn't run apps and it somehow appeared there too -- with full functionality."
Their finger is on their lip again, as they move closer and gestures for them to sit down. They sit back on the couch. "I'm greatly uneasy at the level of intrusion this app has, Takeba-san. It's not a stretch to feel as if our Palace explorations are done at the behest of someone who finds this quite funny indeed."
There's a chuckle as Yukari says she didn't figure So-young to be the older one. "Hmmm... I'll take that as a compliment." Their voice is a little playful. But indeed, their father and mother are alive. And respected. For certain interpretations of respected. There are, of course, many more complications, but Myunghon isn't voicing them right now.
Which one would they rather have it be, though?
"... given my suspicions of who I think it may be? I think it is both, no question about it. But how I feel about it is... immaterial, I think, to the reality that has been presented before me." That feels good to say. "The question is more why she chose to introduce is now."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Well the first time was during the Dark Hour and... I thought the cards were just weird!"
Yukari says, as if in protest, at needing to then take them to some Long-Nosed guy in a cabaret lounge to attach them and-
"Okay well... that's, good? Just... I hope this place doesn't become a supernatural battleground because there's the opportunity, I guess."
It is a concern after all with Strega. The other ones... the cop killers, well, they can do that without needing this space.
She thinks! Look- she doesn't understand the rules about anything anymore!!! Things are weird!
She does exhale as they say they won't kill him. Like she's pretty sure that's not the whole answer but, so long as they're not killing the guy, she doesn't mind him being punished.
"Just... don't go too far." She says, like she's accepting the Psycho-Locks for what they are, "You don't want more trouble to come back to follow him back to this place."
The Meta-verse app is a creepy topic to her though, "Uhhh, how does THAT happen?"
When she says about switching phones and it following them, as she takes out her pink flip phone, complete with charm, and flips through the really, REALLY old features just to be sure.
"... I don't know what I'd do if I was being stalked by a supernatural app..." Yukari murmurs, seeming relieved.
Then at their invitation, she does sit down, laying her bag on another seat, and sitting down.
"... I don't know if I like the sound of someone being aware of everything we're doing, and tracking it. Especially when there's no way to get rid of it."
Yukari considers whether it was a compliment, then well, a slight nod. So-Young was fun to deal with! But her vibe felt...
... a little more of that youthful energy, she would say if she had to parse it???
"I dunno if I'd say it was immaterial." Yukari says softly, after listening to them say that, "If it was, you wouldn't have thought of it in the first place, right?"
It's a little awkward to point that out to them, but... well. "Part of you wants to know, I think... when considering this, new family in your life."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"True..." Myunghon chuckles, nodding. But indeed, even they don't have the capability to just attach Skill Cards. If they had that capability, they could be even more versatile than they imagined. Some people have the ability to have multiple Personae. Is it a learnable skill, then, the act of equipping Skill Cards? One has to wonder... the possibilities are endless, at this point. It's all cognition.
Will the Cardboard Dragon ever become a supernatural battleground? They can't dismiss that, they suppose. But Yukari affirms to not go too far, and there's an over-long pause, like their concussion is catching up to them, but then they nod again. "I won't go too far. Just what I need to protect myself." When Miho has been spurred to act, she will. And...
They're the one with true power. They have to remind themself of that.
"There has... certainly been more than my fair share of being stalked, yes," Myunghon lets out a little puff of grief at that. That's all the emotion they're allowing themself at the moment. They lace their fingers loosely together. "The shape is at least starting to make more sense. That mysterious sniper figure we saw at Kaneshiro's Palace, for instance... I wonder if they're related to the app in any way. Even if you only *know* you don't know -- that's better than not knowing you don't know."
Myunghon can't blame Yukari for considering So-young younger, though. She does have that youthful energy -- and Myunghon's mannerisms and speech does tend towards polite and formal, with their choice of words, their delicate and formal sentence structures, and their refined, enunciated desu nes.
Is it truly that immaterial? Myunghon chuckles and tilts their head. "Ara, Takeba-san, that's a little more forward of you than usual." The hamburg steak they get, since that's a mission, but the emotion of family isn't something they expected Yukari to get invested in. It's like there's a deep reason inside.
"But you are correct. Perhaps I do wish to know the full story. My relationship with my mother is... transactional, shall we say, but it is not as distant and fragmented as it is with my father." Very careful words there, just evocative enough to let someone imagine, without being specific. "And So-young sounds like she has equally short amounts of time with our mother too. Two children, equally estranged... it makes one wonder where her priorities are."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"... That's a relief."
Yukari says, and for now at least, lets go some of her suspicions there, but she does believe them when they say they won't kill.
But she winces at Myunghon bringing up that 'stalking' hits closer to home, "Ah sorry, I shouldn't have said that really..."
It was a poor choice of phrase, in her mind, but then they bring up the sniper, and Yukari's brow furrows, "You really think he might be involved in that? Uh... well, I hope not, but who knows how a guy like that thinks?"
If the Shadow dies, the person dies right? She remembers them saying that...
"He reminds me of Strega, I guess them saying they can do whatever they want, whenever they want."
She hates that. She hates that people think like that about the supernatural.
It's a power that ruins lives, in her mind.
Then Merry accuses her of being more forward and she stumbles at that thought, "O-Oh was it? I guess I'm being a little bit of a busybody there when it's none of my business, it's just... you know. The way you said it..."
She trails off, looking a little sad at the idea of a transactional relationship with her mother, and a distant - neglectful one with her father.
"... I don't know, I guess. She did say she was performing in Shibuya, so maybe she's been working up to meeting you for a while, even?"
It's at least, her thinking on the matter, "But I guess it's up to you, based on whether she's someone you want to get to know, or not."
On that matter... Yukari can't really blame them for, no matter what Merry would want. They haven't known each other, and someone suddenly coming into her life???
She knows she might resent it, a lot, actually.
Masao Inaba has arrived from Historia: The White Chronicle.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon wonders what it is that drives Yukari to urge them to not go too far. Is it a sense of compassion? A mixture of guilt imposed from cultural conditioning? The idea that if she didn't care, she'd be like their enemies -- Strega, or the sniper? Or perhaps Yukari's already understood a similar importance to not elevating oneself just because they have access to the supernatural... unbeknownst to them, that is how Yukari sees it -- it ruins lives. Perhaps their very own too.
"It's fine," Myunghon shakes their head gently. But does Myunghon think the sniper might be involved?
"All I can do is hypothesise at the moment, Takeba-san. "But it is clear just from us encountering the Joker Killer with Strega, and the presence of that sniper, that there are more powerful factions using the Palace spaces to ends that we can only guess at. Whether they too are only users by whom this app was sent by, or whether they had a hand in it... both hypotheses are equally valid at present. They may not even be mutually exclusive."
Myunghon does relent, only lightly accusing Yukari in the end, but they do notice her reaction -- family's a really touchy topic with her. "That is true. So-young did say she lived here in Japan for two years before mother told her to come visit me, I believe. Whether she knew an amount of time beforehand or not..."
Do they want to get to know So-young better, though? "Hmmm. I suppose if I am being very honest, I am so used to family being something distant and cold that it is difficult for me to grasp the idea that I have the chance to become closer to someone related to me. I suppose I am not opposed to the idea... but it is as I said earlier -- childhood was a cold, unlit home, one of apology notes and money for food left at the counter, of strange sycophants and attendants."
Why are they saying so much, anyway? They're kind of worked into Yukari's flow, since they've signalled that it's a topic they feel strongly about. "... at this point I am merely griping about family. My apologies."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Not just her life either... she suspects, though she has little more than a gut feeling that it ended her Dad's life too.
"... Using Palaces... but, what for though? To kill people?" It's the only thought that comes to mind, because she doesn't immediately grasp what other crimes one can commit, "Or brainwash them? Though I'm not sure I see how."
She's still not even really sure what the Phantom Thieves did? They convinced the Shadow but, would that really change a person so completely.
"That's... pretty disturbing. Uhhh, most people don't have 'Palaces'- I hope..." She trails off, thinking of Mementos too. Well that's an awful thought.
"... I hope neither of us have a Shadow anywhere."
The thought of just you know, dying, or being brainwashed and there's nothing you can do! That really freaks her out some.
She has no idea that her Shadow is perfectly safe from this, because how would she know anything about the reality of Personas???
'Touchy' is putting it mildly. She's only really told two people anything about her parents.
And only the vaguest, most bare bones details.
But, Merry talks about their experiences with family, and Yukari considers what life would have been like for her if she were neglected by both of her parents.
She knows the answer to that.
It balances out the jealousy nicely. "Well, she seems nice enough but... you shouldn't do anything you don't want to. That's what I think. You didn't grow up with each other... and blood just, isn't enough of a reason on it's own to want to get to know somebody."
And this on someone Yukari has a positive impression of! But, she must really care deeply about the choice as well.
"Oh! Nah, don't worry about it. Iiiii get why someone might need to, from time to time." Yukari says, as if understanding of the situation, and perhaps thinking she's quite slick. "A lot of people have problems like that with their family."
Very slick. Super slick, no one would ever guess, right???
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"If the Phantoms are able to effect a 'Change of Heart' that causes people to confess, as we have seen, hard to believe as it is, surely other cognitive changes are possible...?" Myunghon lets the question linger, before murmuring, "But you do not even need a Palace to kill someone in the supernatural world. I think we spoke of how you can track down someone's Shadow in Mementos..."
Their look becomes a little more heavy at that thought. They're still not sure what prompted them. They want to just say desperation. The seductive whispers of Tsumugi, who they see in the mirror as themself, but in control of their life. The Ideal form that they might take, if they had any semblance of self-esteem and confidence, not fakery.
Do they still have Shadows somewhere...? "Mmmm... I do wonder. All I have are hypotheses, not theory. But I do sometimes wonder what a Persona is, in relation to a Shadow. It's very hard to prove anything, however."
Indeed, they might not even be aware that *someone* has met their Shadow, in the past, before they awoke to their Persona...
But Yukari says they shouldn't force it if they don't want to. Blood isn't reason enough to want to get to know someone. Myunghon looks a little off-guard at that. It's... honest, in a kind of way that sounds sincere. "We'll see. We're not in a terrible hurry to make a decision one way or another, and she *is* still a Persona-User, and it would be unprofessional of Rumourmonger Merry to turn her away simply because of family circumstance."
Yukari expresses how it's fine to gripe about family... and then Myunghon pauses, and gestures with their fingers. "... Suppose I say anything said does not leave this room," Myunghon first lays out the assurance. "Are there any challenges you have with your own you'd like to vent, Takeba-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Iiii still don't know how they did it." Yukari admits, "I mean we saw them loading those gold bars like it was a heist, and Kaneshiro vanishing but...?"
She has to assume they did something besides just beating him right???
"... Oh, yeah, we had that happen to us. That Shadow was just being a real jerk though, so I slapped him."
A beat.
"Then had Io slam him against a wall... he's okay of course, I just wanted to teach him a lesson."
Yukari though gives Myunghon a strange look, "... You really think our Personas are connected to our Shadows? I don't know how that could be. Wouldn't our Shadows dwell... somewhere else?"
No one tell Yukari it's all in her head, even though it's in fact partially true in this case.
"Our Personas just come right out of us?"
It doesn't make sense to her! But a lot of things don't make sense!
"Well... good point, and like I said, she seems nice enough."
Then Myunghon CALLS HER OUT! OUTRIGHT! And Yukari has a whole 'wa shock' startled look on 'how did they know!?'
She stares at Merry for a bit... then just, it's not quite closes off fully, but just tries to sort through this the way she usually does when someone asks her about family.
"I mean, there's not really much to vent about? My Dad died in an accident when I was little... and my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms. I haven't spoken to her in years, so... what's there even to say, really?"
As if that's not anything all that significant... really. Downplay. Everyone has family problems. Plenty of people get neglected. Merry here has a similar problem with neglect so...
... there's no reason to share further, right?
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"That is indeed beyond me at present. Akabane-san is seeing if we can get in touch with them, since they saved her from the Joker Killer, but she has her own worries to address too," Myunghon remarks. Worries might be a touch light, given what they've been exposed to about the Mark and the NWO now... but it's not something they can talk about at all.
But Yukari did run into a real jerk of a Shadow in Mementos... and then Io bodyslammed him against a wall. "M-maa," Myunghon chuckles after their noise of surprise. "I somehow cannot fault you... the Shadows you see in Mementos are often exaggerated versions of the worst of someone. ... you and I may very well find our own Shadows revolting."
Myunghon does have a helpless shrug (one arm! injured, still) at whether Personas and Shadows are connected. "It is only a hypothesis, at this point, but if a Shadow is inextricably linked to someone's psyche, and all our Personae claim to be our other selves, does it not also make sense that they are connected? But you do have a point. Why do our Shadows dwell elsewhere in the first place, but not our Persona..."
Yukari saying So-young is nice enough makes her wonder how she'd react in one of So-young's most gremlin of moods, though. It sounds like she got her on a nicer mood. The theramin still echoes in their head.
But Myunghon looks at Yukari's shock... and the way her body language shifts and the tone of the conversation changes. The way Yukari's downplaying it. Myunghon's particularly sensitive to it today because they've also been masking and downplaying a whole lot -- like how they had to be convinced out of causing a Mental Shutdown on Ishiba in Mementos... or die trying, anyway.
My Dad died in an accident when I was little...
Myunghon's eye narrows gently. There's... something about that. They want to just jump to the conclusion that comes to their mind -- ten years ago. They're not certain if Yukari would flinch or turn away, if pried too hard, though. And of course, there's every chance it is a completely unrelated incident, after all, but...
From all Myunghon has grasped about Yukari, she's there in Tatsumi Port Island, fighting for her life in Tartarus, not only because she doesn't want to abandon the others that're fighting for their lives at this point, perhaps, but... what about before? What was the impetus for her to come to Tatsumi Port Island in the first place? Chance? And if it was, why not leave? Something binds her to the island...
"... true," Myunghon decides to not press the issue, but they also offer a proverbial branch from what they spoke of before, glancing around again to ensure it's safe... and because they're curious if, with the topic of parnets so fresh in mind, if it'll prompt a reaction from Yukari.
"I have not struck gold yet, but the more I scrape at old records, the more I am convinced there are mounting inconsistencies between the gas leak story and what happened Ten Years Ago. Records missing. Survivors unwilling to speak with me, or unconnected witnesses having stories that are far too consistent with each other..."
A pause, and then they shake their head gently. "When I do hit pay dirt, the koalas will sing to you."
Sometimes, it's about knowing how to let your conversation partner have the grace of being able to deny it, is the way Myunghon would put it.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't respond... like, they're a pretty big deal on the news and all right now. If they go on revealing themselves to everyone who wanted to meet them they'd definitely be in prison by now..."
Yukari seems certain on that, though they do seem like teenagers? Which is 'wow' to her.
Maybe she assumes they'd be smarter than she thinks they would be.
Myunghon's chuckle at her reaction, causes a sheepish look at first, until she mentions how they'd find their own shadows revolting.
"... I definitely wouldn't want to meet mine." She says, more seriously. "I'm not even sure what an exaggerated version of my worst would look like..."
She could TRY to speculate, but without knowing the parameters, it's hard for her to know which part of her worst self it would reflect the most.
"Mineeee didn't really say anything when it came out the first time? Though I have heard... one of them talk." Yukari admits, as she thinks through the idea that Shadows and Persona could be connected, "I guess but... why the Shadow? Can't there be other parts of our 'psyche' they come from?"
Yukari doesn't know enough about Shadows really, until recently she thought they were only mindless monsters! Not that everyone had them.
Nothing could make Yukari pay attention more than giving her own casual excuse about family. She becomes almost keenly sensitive to Myunghon's body language, as if she assumes judgment from others.
But then Myunghon seems to let it go, and Yukari might be holding her breath for a few seconds too long in how tense she seems.
Even as they bring up ten years ago right after.
There's an uncomfortable shift of her posture, because her reaction internally is wondering if they know! Do they know? They are a rumormonger after all.
Maybe they're just being nice, because there's no way someone wouldn't see the name - and realize they're not connected.
"I ah- thanks. Thanks a lot. I really appreciate you being willing to help me out here. I've been trying to figure it out on my own for a while but... there comes a time when you just realize, you're not equipped to do it?"
She looks off to the side, as if embarrassed by her own weakness, "I don't have any real contacts, or ways of looking up records, or the time to find witnesses..."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"True. But we aren't just 'anyone', are we? We are a whole other group of Persona-Users who happened to work together to make that whole heist of theirs work," Myunghon ruminates. "If I were head of a phantom thief gang, I'd at least be cautious and interested in potential rivals or obstructions to my plans, owuldn't you say so?"
If Yukari and Myunghon knew about some of the security holes the Phantoms have on their crew, they'd probably choke.
"Yes... I imagine meeting one would truly catch one off-guard. It might even reveal an ugly side that's in your blind spot," Myunghon murmurs. "I try to be a little understanding with that in mind, but... like you say. Sometimes a jerk is just a jerk."
But Yukari says something interesting -- her Persona didn't really say anything? "I see... mine did have a speech and everything, though I was a little too faint to hear much of it. But... that is also equally true. Why, if there is a Shadow, perhaps there is a Light version of ourselves that casts the Shadow, after all."
Beware the Ideal self...
Myunghon does seem to have it correct, with their posture and body language remaining as carefully neutral as possible -- perhaps, at the very least, to not drive Yukari to more discomfort. They do recognise that she probably knows what they're trying to do... and of course, the name of Eiichiro Takeba has undoubtedly come up again and again, in the same negative light.
There is a more genteel nod, something that looks a little less crafted, though, as Yukari expresses thanks and also a recognition that what they want is beyond their own capability. ... it's something that they've come to realise the importance of in the past month.
"I could very well lament not being able to cook or tailor my own clothes or any such matters I need aid with too... but I do appreciate you entrusting me with this still."
The story of Eiichiro Takeba, and why his daughter would show up ten years later with doubt and yet drive in her... yes, the shape of the mystery is coming to light. No doubt Yukari is so, so tired of what people assume -- Eiichiro Takeba is a villain, a demon, who caused so much death and destruction, such that people don't even interrogate it anymore.
His name has been assassinated. And no doubt it impacted Yukari and her mother's relationship too.
"Now, is there anything else I can offer you today? A Skill Card?"