2025-09-20: Family Conspiracy
- Log: Family Conspiracy
- Cast: Mio Kazama, Shinjiro Aragaki, So-young Park
- Where: Saint Bernadette's Cathedral, Aoba Ward, Sumaru
- OOC Date: September 20, 2025
- IC Date: July 14, 2012
- Summary: After learning Myunghon was nearly killed by their mother, Shinjiro confides in Mio and So-young what he's learned in order to find a plan. It doesn't go great, but in the end, they resolve to tell Myunghon what they learned and support them no matter what.
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
[SAINT BERNADETTE'S CATHEDRAL]
[6:22 PM, JULY 14th]
After a brief discussion online about where it's safe to meet up for a discussion about serious matters, Mio has volunteered the church grounds. Saint Bernadette's is in the guts of Aoba Ward, Sumaru City, nestled between some high-powered financial consultancy high-rises. It's a small little oasis of green lawns and shrubs surrounding the main building, which is rather unoriginally a white-spired cathedral with two stories visible and brass detailing around the cladding. There's a big oaken double-door leading to the inside, at the end of a short, paved path, and this is where Mio is waiting.
For the first time in a while, since she's been here at 'work' all day, she's actually waiting around in her nun's habit with the hood all drawn up and everything. She has a little cloth bag over one shoulder and is scrolling her phone while she waits. There's nobody else on the grounds at the moment who can be seen from here, at least. Not unusual for this time of day. She figures it's probably useful to be, you know. Visible. For people to find.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro is once again wearing his red coat and beanie as he walks through a neighborhood he doesn't quite belong in. His coat's new but identical to the previous, but even so, he clearly gives either 'delinquent' or 'homeless' vibes.
Shinjiro contacted Mio and So-Young telling them they needed to talk about something serious, just the three of them. As he approaches Saint Bernadette's, he pushes the double door open, before stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking for Mio. It takes a moment to recognize her, but he goes towards the only person there who is also on her phone.
"Kazama," he greets, before a pause. "Should I be calling you 'sister' while we're here?" Will God get mad if he doesn't?! Shinjiro doesn't know anything about religion.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young's used to enjoying her shinkansen rides to Sumaru in peace and quiet. She doesn't particularly enjoy writing on the train, so it's usually just a chance to close her eyes for a little while and draw a line between the Tokyo part of her day and the Sumaru part of her day, to let her thoughts drift over what she needs to do next in regards to her work and projects.
And, alright, maybe once in a while she'll succumb to a nap. But it's rare, and it's only really been recently as she tries to navigate what's going on in her life with respect to Myunghon.
As if to punctuate that, her phone lights up with several 'pings' as messages come in. Ignoring the dirty look she gets from one passenger for forgetting to turn her phone to silence, her brow furrows slightly. That's... odd, and worrying. Given that they exchanged numbers more or less in the wake of Ishiba's attack-- So-young stops that thought forcefully, and decides she'll deal with it when she gets there.
She strides into the church grounds with her usual confidence and a clear indication she's been here before, her arms folded as she steels herself for what she thinks is the worst. Maybe she looks a little less out of place in Sumaru than she normally does, given the black dress she's wearing, though she doesn't exactly look like a mourner. The sunglasses perched in her hair are not helping either.
"Alright. What happened?"
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Mio puts a finger to her cheek as Shinjiro asks whether he needs to observe any special naming rites. "Well!" she begins with a certain catlike, goofy, sidelong glance that suggests something silly is at play here. "That depends how much we like you!" and then allows the comical look to drop, returning to her usual pleasant norm. "Nah, it's fine. It's more of a job than a lifelong calling for me. Just call me whatever you like. Did you have any trouble getting here?" she asks, waving at So-Young as the other woman makes her way onto the grounds. "Yo! Over here!"
Mio leads the two into the church, which looks exactly like one might expect. There is small entrance hall with a visitor's book and place for people to leave their shoes, then an aisle flanked by pews, heralded by an altar at one end. There is a small electronic keyboard behind said altar. The interior is mostly lacquered wood floors and concrete walls with cladding meant to give the appearance of older-style masonry.
But that's not where we're headed! It's through the locked door at the back that leads into an office space we go. This room is a lot less fanciful than the space where services take place, but that's probably fair. There's a staircase in one corner near the door, a large wooden desk against the north wall with a small desktop PC on it, and a smaller plastic desk in another corner with a laptop closed on top of it. Smart money is on the smaller desk being Mio's, given the bright stickers on the laptop, the white ball-cap sitting next to it, and the assortment of lip balms collected on top of a few receipts.
Mio closes the door just before So-Young asks the question, then pokes the air conditioning controls on the wall so they don't bake in the summer heat while they chat. "Grab a seat," she gestures vaguely towards a couple lounge chairs strewn before a knee-high table. "Okay. Whatcha got?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Sure, Kazama," Shinjiro immediately settles on. "No trouble at all. Neighborhood's too rich for my blood, though."
When So-young arrives, she gets a nod, and then the three are heading into a backroom. Once they take a seat, he shivers slightly as the AC goes on. Both ask the same question: what happened?
"I'll preface this with the fact I'm shit at conveying information," he grimaces. "But we need to talk about your mother, Suzie Park," he looks to So-young. He takes a breath. This is going to sound insane.
"Myunghon told me she tried to kill them. They're paranoid as fuck about her, looking in every corner for shadows, like a goddamn barista could be a spy. Tried to get me not to ask questions or meddle, because they could 'hurt innocent people'." He's looking at So-young pointedly, as if she may understand something about it, though it's not accusatory.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young's stride is definitely the look of someone who's been here before, but maybe that's not too unusual given the amount of different places Myunghon's been sleeping. The conductor nearly heads for the staircase to the basement, in fact, but pauses and nods as Mio waves her to a seat, shrugging her violin case and her purse off of her arm in the process. She flat refuses to ever sit seiza style, so when she sits down it's with her legs to one side, lounging to one side.
"Honestly, you surprised me with the messages out the blue. I'm so unused to having calls on the train, most of the orchestra can't wait to drop work or just practice on their own that the afternoons are usually silent," So-young frowns lightly, but there's no bite to her words. Instead, her eyebrows go up when Shinjiro mentions her mother's name.
There's a pause which is much shorter than it probably ought to be, given what he's just said.
"Ah, yeah," So-young sighs as she leans on one arm. This is definitely not the sort of recognition Shinjiro is looking for, even if it is recognition. "I get it. I'm used to walking away from a family dinner feeling like someone's just tried to murder me. I usually have to go blast something real loud to remind myself how to be human again afterwards."
She looks at least a little serious as her brow furrows. "But honestly, the stuff I usually get was nothing compared to what Myunghon had to face. Mother never really feels all that approachable in the first place, but she really seemed to have it out for them. Just couldn't stop peppering Myunghon with sideswipes and sarcasm. I really don't know what's going through mother's head when she introduces us but then pulls that out of the blue."
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Mio tugs her habit's hood down and shakes her head vigorously to let her hair free, because she's been standing outside for a while and is, frankly, still kind of uncomfortably warm. She wasn't sure what to expect from this meeting, but this doesn't appear to have been something she predicted. If the look of wide-eyed surprise on her face is anything to go by.
"I... dunno if you could've conveyed that any better." she holds onto the back of an armchair as she thinks, gaze sweeping So-Young and Shinjiro in turn. "That explains why they were looking so uneasy the last time we hung out... um. So-Young, what's up with this? Is this true?" the question is asked, before So-Young's explanation.
The pink-haired girl is quiet as she listens, at least. Her expression turns slightly crestfallen as her understanding deepens. "... so, you guys got a cruel parent too, huh? Tchyaaaaaaa, this sucks... Shinji-kun, do you know anything more about this? This sounds crazy."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As So-young and Mio respond, thinking it's a cruel parent, Shinjiro's grimace sharpens. "No, you don't understand, it's-"
He catches himself, sighing. "I mean violence. Real, physical, deadly violence. Your mother tried to *kill* Myunghon, Park. Same as Ishiba did." It hurts him to even say. "I tried to do digging into her, and found nothing. I did find some stuff about Myunghon from the informant at Club Escapade, though." He feels guilty to have pried, but...
"Did you know they're a *crime boss*?" He clearly didn't.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young has already dramatically flopped on the table as if to protest the woes of her life in regards to her mother, so this is definitely a misunderstanding on her part. That fact seems to filter through to her a little bit as Mio and Shinjiro both take her confusion in remarkable stride, and her brow slowly furrows as she tries to encompass the news.
Slowly, she sits up, falling into a deep and solid silence as she listens to Shinjiro press the point.
Something flashes across her eyes - anger or frustration, though it's far from clear who it's directed towards. Slowly, she folds her arms, her voice held remarkably steady. "Bear in mind that I did not even know I had a secret second family until a month ago at _best_. I grew up not knowing who my father was and with my mother absent. Suffice it to say that when it comes to matters of family you could probably tell me that mother is in fact a dinosaur in a remarkably realistic skinsuit and I would probably have to pause and go 'well, maybe'."
"Of course I don't know anything," she adds curtly to Shinjiro's question, immediately leaning over to pull at her purse. "I'm merely the normie who must be shielded from all manner of unpleasantness." Instantly So-young has pulled out her phone, flipped it open with a stony expression, and fiercely pushed a speed dial button as she brings it to her ear... and waits.
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
There isn't a little glint of frustration that flashes across Mio's face, but instead a glassy-eyed emptiness to her gaze as she takes a few mental steps back to process what is happening. "Oh." she echoes with a quiet, lilting tone, after Shinjiro describes quite simply what happened, and that 'attempt to kill' was very literal.
The world has once again turned to violence, and here we are, scarcely one or two mornings after she let Myunghon talk her out of buying a gun. During the entire exchange between the other two, Mio is silent. It is only after So-Young pulls out her phone that she slowly turns her head, like a doll receiving an instruction.
"You know... we settled the score with one crime lord already..."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As So-young starts to get curt, Shinjiro sighs. "Look, I didn't think-"
He glances to Mio as So-young pulls her phone out, eyes rising as if he's not actually seeing this. "Put that away!" As she dials speed dial, though, his face moves to fear and panic. There's two options there.
One, So-young is calling Myunghon. This is... bad, but not unsolvable. Myunghon might understand exactly why Shinjiro went to them, even if they're hurt.
Two, So-young is calling *her mother*, in which case Shinjiro is literally going to consider tackling her across the floor and smashing her phone if he decides that's the case.
"*So-young*, what the hell are you doing?!" He breaks his normal naming scheme, that panicked, that serious about this.
Mio, meanwhile, gets a glance, as if asking for support, but she's in her own head. "Look, if Myunghon is a crime lord, I have *more information*, goddamnit!"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young only stares resolutely back at Shinjiro, as if it truly would take an actual physical altercation to stop her at this point. Her mouth is drawn into a determined line - but her brow is furrowing as her silence grows tellingly long. "... she is not picking up. Of course. Not even an answer machine."
'She'. Meaning it really is the worst timeline right now - though at the same time, So-young's distinct frown shows absolutely no surprise. Suzie Park is not the sort of person who does something as tasteless as pick up the phone herself. Between layers of agents, her cultivated persona as a famous actress, and the overwhelming surety and importance she projects, Suzie Park's telephone calls are always outwards bound, and never inwards.
In a sudden motion, she snaps the phone shut again, the motion so fierce it makes a deliberate 'snap' of noise as if to wake Mio out of her sudden stupor. "--let me be clear. I could not give a damn about Myunghon being a crime lord. That is their business, even beyond the fact I have an incredibly hard time believing it. But as 'a daughter of Suzie Park' I think I have some significant stake in finding out what the hell is going on."
No, that's not just it. She wouldn't be so frustrated otherwise. The 'normie' comment she pulled is too telling for that, even if So-young herself doesn't seem to have put two and two together.
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
This all rather went from 0 to 100 in a hurry, so it's all Mio can do to stand and think. From whatever great mental distance that keeps her safe, that is. It isn't until So-Young's attempt to phone home fails that she exhales again, and places her hands together. At the plastic *snap!* of a phone folding shut with great force, the animators return to drawing light in her eyes and she returns to the present.
"I don't really... I don't really know a lot about Yeo-san's personal life, I'm sorry, so this is all kind of surprising me." she holds onto the chair to try and centre herself. "I'm just very mad someone is trying to hurt them, because they have been so kind to me all of the damn time. Um. So-Young, I feel like this is more something you should speak about rather than me." she bites her lip in frustration. "Just thinking about how this must've felt when I was trauma dumping on Myunghon after they went right through something similar..."
After a moment to gather her thoughts, Mio tries to be useful. "So what... do we do, with this knowledge?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As the phone is not picked up, is revealed to be Suzie Park, and snaps shut, Shinjiro luckily does not lunge. He takes a breath, as if the world just ended.
"Please *listen* to me. If we're not careful, we could get Myunghon killed. They're the leader of a Korean organization known as the Baengnyong as of the last year. Their subordinates are angry, thinking Myunghon is spineless and unable to do much. They joined after their father tried to kill them... but who could give them the power to become a crime boss within such a short span?"
A pause.
"My theory is, it was your mother." It's a longshot, but... he's hoping he's correct, as scary as it is. "And if we don't go about this the right way, not only are they dead, but so are we."
Mio had a question, though... "Obviously, if you want to talk to your mother, though, we can do that, Park. But we need to control the situation. I can't let Myunghon get hurt, not after everything they've done for me." He then turns back to Mio.
"You want to meet a movie star?"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young deliberately pauses to take a breath. It's not like her, but something about Mio's wary uncertainty disarms her, and she drags a hand down her face as she lets out a sigh. "... the trouble with that is that there is nothing to speak about from my side. All of this - any of this - continues to be a complete surprise to me. For better and for worse I grew up without my parents and with a great deal of fierce independence. The 'why' and the 'how' of it all, I am completely clueless about."
As much as she hates that thought, it's a bit of a sore point. She wouldn't even be able to say for sure what her own mother's Palace keyword would be. Isn't that kind of sad?
"... I can at least provide background information. When my mother went to Japan, where she was working and moving around. Perhaps you can match something up from that," she sighs again. "But, this is my warning to you. It is incredibly difficult to get my mother into a situation where she is not in control. Even logistically, I can't say for sure where she might be working one week to the next between production crews and location shoots. And family dinners are always her arranging them, never me."
"This sucks. I don't want to suspect Uncle as being part of this, but I suppose I have to. I wish I'd brought a drink," she grouses unhappily.
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
There's a lot of very particular detail that Mio has to try and pick up in a hurry, regarding Myunghon's position as the leader of an organized crime band. And not just any neighbourhood shakedown artist, but a foreign mafia. She's straining slightly with eyes closed, trying to count each detail. "Who could give them that kind of power? It--it's usually from someone higher up in the organization... right?" one hand has gone to her forehead. "Unless they took it from someone by force? But that doesn't... seem like them..."
The pink-haired girl slowly paces away from where she's been gripping that chair, to think. She turns to face the big wooden desk and rests her hands on it, tapping her fingers. "Your mother sounds really scary." she admits after a little bit. "My dad is like that... he controls everything and, like I told So-Young and Myunghon last night, tried to kill me too. I don't have any answers. When people hold all the cards like that, it's all I can to do hide out and try to wait for a chance..."
Upon being asked if she wants to meet a movie star, Mio blinks and turns around. She has a vague look of non-comprehension, brows arched slightly in confusion. "I... could? If they're helpful? Who is it?"
After all this moroseness, she lifts a pointer-finger aloft and glances at So-Young. "... you can steal some of Ryo-san's sake if you want?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Mio gets a response first. "The movie star is Suzie Park, their mother. We're going to meet her, is what I'm saying." A pause. "Look, if you're expecting a well-thought out tactical plan, you're not getting anything. But neither can I sit around and do nothing. Myunghon is so scared that... I worry what happened with Ishiba will happen before they figure out their own plan." A breath, as if he feels guilt for not believing they can do it themselves.
So-young gets the next glance. "We could always track her from her shoots... but if she's as dangerous as I think she is, that's not going to be easy. I'd have said we go into her trailer or hotel room or whatever but that's difficult, right?"
Uncle... "Do what you think is best there. I trust you both with Myunghon's safety... but I don't know if I trust many others. Akabane already knows, but Myunghon told her not to meddle, so she might not. I can still ask her, though.
Finally, he circles arond to something Mio said earlier. "Though... you mentioned the power in the organization. If their mother is dangerous enough to almost kill them and apparently have spies... probably-" HE FORGOT SOMETHING, HE SUDDENLY REALIZES
"...oh, and she's a Persona User. That's the last element I have." He's sheepish for caring more about the TRUE CRIME NOVEL SHIT than the actual magic shit.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"Certainly, but there's a difference between 'overbearing mother' scary and... all the rest," So-young finishes lamely, not really sure how to even step close to referencing Mio and Myunghon's parent issues at this point. Even she looks rather shellshocked, not completely immune to confusion and shock as she tries to figure out what the hell is going on. At least she waves a hand to Mio's offer, letting out a faint snort. "I'm not so far gone that I'm going to steal from a church. I'll just save myself for the izakaya."
"The simple fact is that I don't know where her trailer or hotel room _are_," So-young shrugs helplessly to Shinjiro. "I have been largely left to my own devices in Japan, which has suited me just fine up until this very moment. Every few months it's time for a dinner. My mother's acerbic nature aside, they-- were going quite well." So-young clearly knows how stupid this sounds now, a frown flickering across her face.
"Uncle might be a way to reach her, but he has been my mother's retainer for decades. It is probably safe to say that if I go 'hey, I would love to talk' so suddenly, word will reach her somehow." That's something else to grapple with. How does Myunghon get along with Uncle? Who would he side with, in the end? The awful part is that she just doesn't know.
She looks flatly at Shinjiro for his last bit. "... great. No Dark Hour, then. Or at least, we can't use that to surprise her." She should be surprised, but she's honestly just feeling kind of numb and willing to believe anything at this point. "At this point, you probably have better connections to finding her than I do, but I could at least try calling the offices of the companies she's working with."
"There is one final wrinkle," she adds flatly. "Exactly how good do you really think I am at trying to keep something secret and subtle?"
... at least she's self-aware??
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
"Oh." Mio is crestfallen that there's not another, surprise movie star waiting in the wings. "I thought you knew someone else famous on TV who might be able to help..."
She finally, taking everything into account, paces back towards the other two with her arms folded. She does not have a victorious look on her face. "I don't like it, but... I don't think we can just decide we're going to take revenge like that. If this lady's also got the power like we do, then... that clinches it even further. That was gonna be my one suggestion, and it's gone. You don't have to sit around doing nothing, but, if someone's got an army and they've got the power so we can't even spring that on them..."
A heavy, tiring feeling washes over Mio in an enervating wave. She'd never entertained the notion that, say, her own target(s) might have the ability to contend with the supernatural on their own terms. It is not a comforting thought to realize the night may not belong to you as much as you once thought it did. She gestures vaguely with both hands, palms towards the ceiling. Like a shrug, only even less pointed. "So-Young, this is your family... I don't have much right to screw with it. What'cha wanna do? Can we do something for Myunghon without it being a suicide charge? Feels like we're missin' something..."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro goes quiet for a long moment, as it is revealed they have basically no strategy, no contact, no location to go, no plan to spring. He grimaces.
"At this point, with nothing coming to mind... I don't care about your ability to keep it subtle, Park. I just care about saving someone who's shown someone like me so much compassion..." Another grit of his teeth, and... he turns to Mio.
"If we want to call this Uncle, we can. But if it's a bad idea for you both... I can do it alone. You don't need to risk your lives, as long as you protect Myunghon if everything comes flying back."
A roll of his shoulders follows, which would seem entirely normal if he wasn't already dehumanizing himself again, brushing aside the importance of his life a mere day after Yukari told him to be more careful. "Worst case, I die. Best case... Myunghon doesn't. Castor's strong enough to believe in best cases, sometimes."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"This is my family, but it's not like I have a whole lot of personal stake in this, strictly speaking. If the people involved didn't want me to know about this, I can't say I feel like I have a lot of pull over it," So-young frowns at the table for a moment, before shaking her head. "... I want to keep calling Mother over and over until she picks up, quite frankly, but I'm well aware that she's just as stubborn as I am."
"Oh, don't be so daft," is her immediate and unimpressed response to Shinjiro valiantly proclaiming it's okay if he dies so long as everyone else is alright. "You are actually the worst person to do this. With all the respect in the world - you can be easily removed without any blowback or public alarm. That is the worst possible way to go about this," she decides as she folds her arms. "If there is some big crime family drama behind this, then what will annoy them most is being dragged out into the open."
... So-young may be operating entirely on movie logic here. But who knows? Her mother tried to kill her sibling while she flies around during a shadowy extra hour of the day on a personification of her mental map. They are in a movie.
With a sigh, she shakes her head. "Look. I realize I am the last person to be the sort to say this, but if we are all in agreement that 'helping Myunghon' is the best course of action here, then I think the first step is to actually tell them that as a united front. Blasting off on our own - while I'd dearly love to do that - is only going to freak them out more when they find out. The whole idea is surely to avoid another bout of complete isolation."
A beat. "Then we can figure out what the hell to do next, because I certainly refuse to leave it at that, and maybe I can get my own bout of yelling in for good measure. And maybe then I can see what every gossip rag under the sun would like to do with an anonymous tip about Suzie Park being connected to organized crime."
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Mio stiffens a little at Shinjiro's brash disregard for his own life, head tilting back a little bit. "I'm not giving up on helping Myunghon!" she makes this much painfully clear. It isn't a shout, but she isn't speaking softly anymore. "But--Shinji-kun, you and I think the same way when something pisses us off. At least... like, when that cop was beating up Myunghon, I was about a second away from getting him in the back of the head. And you were a second ahead of me. So I know how you feel!"
Mio runs both hands up her face and sighs. She has never been the voice of reason, so thankfully it doesn't -all- fall to her. Maybe her fallibility can make her more believable. "But... guys like this... like these crime families, they don't screw around brawling or pulling guns on people like you and me. They blow up our apartments while we're asleep, or smash us in three-car pileups that explode for no reason. So don't... don't go pissing your life away tryin' to show your hand throwing a punch at a mirage." she pleads this, hands clasped near her chest.
"Like... So-Young's right. I don't wanna sit around while Myunghon is getting threatened! I don't wanna make it someone else's problem! But... we gotta start thinking. Looking for patterns. Weak points. Loose lips." she's counting off on her fingers, now. "I know I don't look like it! But I've been planning this kinda revenge for years. We got a lotta work to do if we wanna make a change, and not just..." she frowns again. "... let off steam."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro immediately gets blasted back 'it is really stupid to get yourself killed this way' and his expression sharpens. But... they're not wrong, the way they're putting it. He takes a long moment, and then...
"Fine. We'll tell Myunghon, then. They'll be mad at me for letting you know, but I don't care at this point. They need to know they're not alone."
Though, there's a pause and a sigh. "I don't know if gossip rags would work. People already think she had a..." how does he say this out loud??? "...bat baby? Whatever the fuck that means."
He rolls his shoulders. "...I have my reasons for 'pissing' my life away. But you're right that it'll just fuck things up here. So... thanks."
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young goes silent for a long period as Mio speaks, letting out a faint sigh. She's never really had that sort of viewpoint, never really faced the sort of hardship or formless enemies that so many of the people in Sumaru seem to have. So it's difficult for her to really counter or even respond to that argument beyond folding her arms. "They're clearly not completely unstoppable, though. The Phantom Thieves did it in Kaneshiro's case, and are apparently continuing to aim to make changes even now. One thing at a time, I suppose."
That thought tugs at her, like it's an option to keep in the back of her mind.
"There's a difference between a rumour and a concerted investigation. It wouldn't be the most subtle of options, but that would be the point. Just having enough people sniffing around would surely be a distraction and an annoyance in equal measure. But that is by the by until we at least establish where we are at and deal with the here and now. Unless you want to tell a paranoid person 'hey we nearly got ourselves killed without telling you'. It does not seem like the absolute best of options."
"But, a bat baby? I don't remember that..." Well, So-young only ever ego searches herself and not her mother, so maybe it's just never come up. "Please don't tell me this is another vampire thing."
"That's me, the voice of sense and reason," she adds towards Shinjiro's thanks with not a single trace of sarcasm. Well, the self-awareness could only last so long, and maybe So-young's simply tired that part of her brain out.
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
When all's said and done, Mio looks a little sheepish about having derided Shinjiro's efforts as 'pissing his life away', but then, emotional teenagers with baggage are prone to being dramatic! It's probably fine! She glances away uneasily, a reminder that for all her bluster as a violent rebel on the cusp of adulthood, there's a very vulnerable individual still stuck in there.
"I don't think it's a bad thing to have told us... maybe Myunghon will be angry. Maybe they won't... but more heads put together on the problem has gotta be better than one, right...?"
She forces herself back into the thick of things, and helps herself to a seat. Kicks her legs out and stares at the ceiling. "Maybe... getting it off your chest was the best move. Gives us something to think about." Mio lifts her head up again slightly, indicating the big desk at the back of the room with her gaze.
"Look--I--even--" there's a couple false starts before she presses her lips together for a second and forces it out. "Could we snoop around in Mementos for something? Or put something on the Phan-site? I've been trying to find something out about those Phantom Thieves we saw... I'm not gonna say we should ask everyone we see about Suzie Park's Dark Secrets," air quotes to go with the spoken words. "But maybe they'll have a different perspective we could use. That's all I was thinking."
That last part was a lie, because she soon adds: "Uh. So-Young... if you want, I can ask Ryo-san here about it, too. He's not really a priest." Mio sounds apologetic about this, for some reason. "You can trust him, I mean, he's basically my uncle now. He used to do a lot of deals with a couple local yakuzie families when he was managing entertainment industry stuff. Just if he's heard anything, even if it's just people to keep his freakin' nose out of it. Up to you... but I didn't wanna just pour cold water on this whole thing."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Honestly, Shinjiro probably did piss his life away. His baggage and trauma led to those actions, after all... but as So-young mentions they shouldn't leave Myunghon in the dark... "...you're right. I just... don't want to burden them any further than I have." He rubs the back of his head, clearly having his own baggage visible on the table.
"Yeah, it's a tabloid thing," is all he says about the bat baby. "I did not ask further."
Mio says it might have been the best move to get it off his chest... he sighs. "Yeah, I guess..."
Though, about the Phantoms, he grimaces again. "I don't trust them. We can try chatting after we talk to Myunghon, but... can Palace stuff even do anything to a Persona User?"
"Don't push it," Shinjiro finally lightens a bit forcibly, teasing So-young about being a voice of reason. Then he turns to Mio again.
"Ryo-san, huh? You can try that, too."
He stretches. "When we have time and are not in a church office room hating life, we can contact Myunghon and ask to talk." A pause. "Sound good to you two?"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"... if Myunghon is angry then so be it. You can always just tell them I browbeat it out of you. It would be the most believable lie in the history of the world," So-young looks terribly smug as she points that out for absolutely no reason at all, nodding along with Mio. "I mean, I get it. I'm suddenly feeling vividly angry myself. But I'm smart enough to know that either of you getting yourself killed is only going to leave Myunghon even more of a wreck."
... but she's still not sure about herself, is the unspoken bit there. It's not even clear whether So-young is thinking about her own omission in any way, or even seems all that upset. The two of them have come from different walks of life entirely, and it's going to take more than a month to bridge that.
"To be honest, I'm not even thinking about using the Phan-site or 'officially' using the Phantom Thieves. They're just a group who are apparently managing to successfully punch upwards, and I would love to know what they think about what options we might have. More to the point, think of how much havoc you could cause running around someone's head - and they didn't. They could have. That means-- something, even if I'm not exactly sure what. Good intentions?"
So-young's not good at plans, and she looks tired out even coming up with that much, so Mio's suggestion is a welcome one. "... that's true. I'm assuming that any kind of mafia that exists is local. Maybe you can dig something up," she nods in agreement, before her eyes flash and she smirks at Shinjiro. "Speak for yourself. I love life. It's just very specific people I hate right at this moment."
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
"Yeah." Mio echoes So-Young's sentiment in the way only a teen who thinks they came up with the thought first can do. With needless gumption. "I'm still alive despite everything, so... I figure that's gotta mean something. I hope it's true for you too, Shinji-kun."
And with that, she stands up again to stretch. Making a point of doing so, forcing herself to move after a lot of stress and mental strain. Mio then slaps her own cheeks. "O-kay! Let's talk to Myunghon next time and come clean. I'll do what I can on my end. I won't talk to many people, I promise! But if you find out something, and you're gonna act on it... at least lemme know, okay? I won't stop you. But I wanna be ready. Promise me. I'm not stupid! I might have something that'll help when you least expect it!"
Another clap-clap of hands, but this time, it doesn't involve smacking her own cheeks at least. "You two, um. Feel free to hang out in the cool as much as you wanna, or if you're busy, that's okay. You can always come hide here if something really shit is going down, I promise. Ryo-san and I are really good at hiding people. We'll protect you both! Um!" that last syllable comes with a little clenching of fists, determination welling up in those eyes. Ah, sometimes it's good to have friends that try really hard, isn't it?
[A FEW BLOCKS AWAY]
[MAHJONG PARLOR 'LUCKY CAT']
In the middle of trying to decide whether to declare riichi or slow-roll his hand just one more round, 'Father' Ryosuke Sato of Saint Bernadette's Church adjusts his sunglasses--worn indoors, naturally--and runs a hand through his windswept black hair, before suddenly sneezing at around the same time as Mio mentions his name. He rubs his nose and curses silently, while a generously-sized man in a suit next to him chuckles slyly. "Someone walkin' on your grave, Ryo-kun?"
God damn it.