2025-09-23: Typical Chariot Social Link Behavior
- Log: Typical Chariot Social Link Behavior
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Minako Arisato
- Where: Central Street, Shibuya
- OOC Date: September 23, 2025
- IC Date: July 15, 2012
- Summary: Minako happens to come in to the Triple 7, and Umie, recognizing her as a fellow meddler in things supernatural, enacts the traditional Chariot social link ritual. There are few things more determined, unless you're an equally persistent Fool.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
It's always on shifts like these that Umie gets restless. Night shifts usually have that nice 'break' called the Dark Hour, but truth be told, she'd rather be outside than having to limit her exploration by the whims of an egg timer. After all, it's a bad look to suddenly disappear from the register and then come in through the door, probably sweaty and in need of something to drink like you've been doing a marathon.
Day shifts like this? Without Ren's occasional shifts here, they go on forever. Maybe he's found some friend group or something similarly mundane to better take up his finite time as a high schooler; the kid could use something like that to bring him out of his shell.
Coral orange fingernails tap quietly on the counter, counting down the seconds; it's the only thing she allows herself to show her boredom, as all else is the guise of professionality, with a robotic, easy script to follow that helps when rushes hit.
There's a few customers: a teenager wearing a school uniform in the magazine aisle, a middle-aged man grabbing some aspirin, a young women wearing a facial mask getting some tissues and cough lozenges. The Shujin school rush has been over for a while now; the floors have been mopped up of any traces of their passing.
(There was a discounted yakisoba that was calling Umie's name, but a salaryman picked that up an hour ago and she's still mildly disappointed over that. Ah, the trial and tribulations of normal life.)
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako isn't in Shibuya every day, but sometimes she needs to come up from Port Island. Whether it's to go see Ren -- thanks, Yukari, for putting that idea in her head -- or to buy something she can't find down there, fate has a way of leading Minako up here. Today, it was to swing by the bookstore for a series of manga she had been reading. Bookworms didn't have the recently-released tankobon collection.
She picked that up, which is in a plastic shopping bag. It swings side to side, before Triple 7's doorbell rings -- thanks to Minako pushing it open. She steps inside and turns her head, looking at Umie.
She smiles and waves her hand at her. "Hello!" she says, cheerfully, while starting towards where the drinks are. It is a long train ride back to Port Island.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
See, Ren? You should be here. Umie would be overjoyed to have something to tease you over! It's not like you had a _perfectly legitimate reason_ to stay away at the time.
The Triple 7's doorbell rings, and like clockwork, Umie does her spiel: "Hello, welcome to the Triple 7--" with just enough cheeriness to not be too forced, or too annoying, while not falling into the Shallows of Ordinary Despair. "--!" But this resonance? It's familiar enough for Umie to recognize it, even if she doesn't know MInako particularly well; what she does know is enough for Umie.
Anyone who comes in to fight a _serial killer that summons demons in a classroom_ is swell, in Umie's book. .... As for her name? .... Think, Umie, while she's going to the drink aisle. Shinjiro surely did, but Umie was a little busy at the time... Red. Multiple personas. Fire. Did someone say her name?
(...Pyro Jack is not this girl's name, Umie, you just remember it because you like Pyro Jack. The other one was.... Linos? Surely she was going to research that at some point and forgot...)
"..." Shit, Umie had her mask on back then! How is Minako supposed to know-- oh, right, she had to take it off, because it had... caught fire.
She'll need to wait until Minako makes it to the counter, and then...
(Oh god, the monotony has really gotten to her, Umie realizes. A year ago, and she would have worried that someone would realize she *had* a Persona.)
When Minako comes to the counter, Umie gives her a calm grin. "... If it isn't... ah." She holds up a hand. "Sorry, I'm terrible with names. We crossed paths a few weeks ago? In Sumaru City."
When all else fails, go fish for your answer.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako's Resonance does have that way of standing out. And she turns her head to look at Umie, again, and there is a tilt of her head. With Umie's mask on, it doesn't register -- any prickle of Resonance... well, sometimes, that just happens. Minako has learned to live with false alarms.
She fetches her drink -- it's a sparkling clear soda -- and plps it down on the counter, and she puts it down. Minako looks at Umie, with a blink, when she hears that introduction.
And she blinks -- then she leans a little over the counter and squints at Umie. "Minako Arisato!" she says with a smile. "In Sumaru City? Uh--I don't remember running into..."
Then, she thinks of the last time that she was in Sumaru. That's when Minako says, low and slow:
"Ohhhhhhhhh."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Sometimes, a false alarm can be first sign of something being off.
In some ways, Umie would stand as the polar opposite in that regard: where Minako's stands out, Umie's is hidden to a compulsive degree. It's not to the same degree, or as foolproof as the Persona Users who possess actual cognitive masks, but...
.... it bites Umie in the ass, most certainly.
Minako blinks, and Umie remains calm, using that moment to 'peel back' that shroud over her own resonance. ( ... which always gives her that terrible feeling, like she's about to flash someone, for better or worse.)
Either way, Minako gets it in one. Umie grins, eyes lidding slightly as her fishing pole nets the perfect catch. "<Bingo.>"
Ah, now. What was Umie going to do?
Her hands move automatically as Umie thinks. "Umie Akabane. A friend of Shinjiro Aragaki's." Hopefully that name will register.... just like the sparkling clear soda that Umie scans and bags.
"I... actually get off soon. Like, a few minutes." She tilts her head, slightly. "Would you be free for a chat?"
A pause, as she leans in, with a mild look of desperation in her eyes, her voice appropriately low to keep it from being overheard. ".... I need to talk shop or I'm going to scream."
She pulls back, all smiles. "WIll that be all?"
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Oh--oh, with Aragaki-senpai?" Minako asks. Then she nods her head. "I had no idea! He just came back to SEES recently, and..." She gets distracted with explaining; that's when she pulls out a few coins and slides them over, before she takes her drink.
"Sure," she says. "I'm trying to think of who you were, but--" No, she better not voice that here. She glances at one of the other customers, then back at Umie.
She smiles -- then she gives her a big, bright thumbs-up.
"You got it!" Minako says. "How about I wait outside, til you're off your shift?"
Then, she nods. "That'll be it!"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"He's a good kid, isn't he?" Umie Akabane, standing at 155cm, speaks of Shinjiro. "Sounds like he's fitting in."
'I'm trying to think of who you were, but--' "I can fill that in," Umie responds with ease, "Honestly, if you did know? It means I did something wrong." She supplies nothing further, for much the same reasons as Minako, as her eyes glance subtly towards one of the other customers making their way to the counter. "It shouldn't be long."
DId she strongarm a social link into happening? Umie sure did.
It's a fine Chariot tradition, after all.
----LATER----
"Phew." Umie steps out from the alleyway nearby; no longer dressed in the red garb of retail and sales, she may as well be a different person, with how the khaki shorts, black sneakers, and a cream colored tee with red and yellow stripes across the chest. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting for *too* long." She rolls her shoulders and yawns. "Though, if you had walked off," she starts, warm brown eyes opening up, "I wouldn't have blamed you." Her tone is dryer now, more relaxed, far more suitable for the task at hand: socialization.
(At least, Umie finds it more suitable.)
"... There's a place near the station we can probably chat in peace. Ever been to the Underground Mall here?" Umie asks, as she tilts her head back towards Minako. "There's area that doesn't open until later. Perfect for chats." With stalking ninjas, or SEES members, as it turns out.
.... She's trying to be a little better about suggesting places, now.
Whereever they go, Umie only waits until then to make her grand reveal. "I was the 'mouthy one' with the shrieky persona and the mask," Umie bluntly reveals as she walks, then thinks for a moment, her fingers coming to pinch the bridge of her nose. Right, that may not be specific *enough* "... The one that *wasn't* dressed for band practice, just to be clear."
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Mm-hm," Minako says, with a smile. Even if she has trouble thinking of Shinjiro as a kid -- but that comes with being younger than him, as it happens.
She nods, though, even as she lifts an eyebrow. How could Minako have not noticed? She was chalking it up to not remembering which Persona user that Umie was, especially with a fight. Now, she finds herself even more curious.
She heads out the door, with a wave. "Sounds good," she says. "I'll be right out there!"
When Umie emerges a little later, Minako is leaning against the wall -- heedless of any dust or dirt she might get on her black Gekkoukan jacket -- and drinking from her soda. It's about half-emtied now. "No, no," she says. "I'm good! And I wouldn't do that. I'm curious, besides."
She blinks, then she nods her head. "Sure," she says, easily. "Lead the way!"
She pauses, as they arrive -- and as Umie reveals. The 'mouthy' one, with the mask. Minako's eyes widen -- then she snaps her fingers. "Ah-ha! That's what you meant. The mask is clever." A beat. "Uh, you don't want most people knowing who you are, though, Akabane-san...?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Minako admits she's curious, and Umie grins, shrugging. "... Then that makes two of us, then, Arisato-san~ Shall we?"
It makes her feel a little bit better, at least.
-----
'The mask is clever.'
"... When I remember it," Umie murmurs, settling on a bench. "I'm surprised more people don't, really... we're helpless in areas like this." She points to another area, where some stores are shuttered, perhaps permenantly, until new tenants come in. "I was stalked over there once, for instance." She says this casually.
After all, she wasn't *attacked*, necessarily. No, _Shinjiro_ was attacked, and she's not happy about that at all.
"I don't mind it if it's someone willing to race into a school she doesn't go to," Umie answers, "to fight alongside people she's likely never seen before, against a serial murderer summoning fireballs and god knows what else, to protect someone she may or may not know. That's not who the mask is for. Unfortunately, that young man knew who I was before that, so." She shrugs. "It is what it is."
Umie's mein relaxes a little further, realizing that Minako was displaying concern. "Besides, I need to know how Aragaki-san's actually doing. You know he wouldn't tell me if I asked, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"You've got a point," Minako says, as she considers that. She looks down for a moment, her brow furrowing. "I guess it's easier for me. I'm in--uh--have you heard about SEES? The group operating out of Gekkoukan? So... we have strength in numbers."
She looks up -- then she blinks, and she smiles at the compliment. "Well--I mean... hey. I was there, I didn't expect to run into that, and... I couldn't just look away. And pretend kit wasn't happening." She leaves out that she was sent on an errand by Theodore, though.
Who would ever believe it?
She tilts her head to the side for a moment. "Aragaki-senpai... I think he's doing okay. The truth is... I don't have a great read on him, yet," she says. "And I feel like he keeps himself a little separated, still. But..."
She looks right at Umie -- then she smiles, and pumps a fist. "Just give me time!"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie crosses her legs, nodding as Minako explains. "Yeah. I was really surprised when there was a tower in the middle of Port Island." She places her hands on the topmost knee. "I was part of the outside crew that helped when Yamagishi-san went missing inside Tartarus. That's how me and Aragaki-san met, in fact."
It's an easy point to reveal, allowing everything else to fall to implication without Umie having to explain a thing. "I've never seen shadows like those before, either," she remarks, touching on another minor mystery for her. "Do they just happen in Tartarus, like that?" No, wait, wasn't the moon full that night? (Was that just by chance?)
As for the Old Maid, Minako did it, because she couldn't just look away. The earnest statement causes Umie to grin, leaning forward. "Me either." She'll leave out the part about her and Shinjiro trying to investigate; that's Shinjiro's decision to reveal, if ever.
As for Velvet Room attendents giving errands, yeah. Who *would* believe that?
"... Yeah, give him time to warm up. He's got a good heart; he's just not great at letting himself be open about it." Umie pauses...
... just as Minako pumps a fist and declares her determination. Umie blinks, chin tilted, then... giggles, head bowing as her shoulders shake. "Man, now I'm beginning to feel a little scared for him. ... Sounds like you're the sort of person to do that to everyone."
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Ah... yeah. I didn't realize, but... I saw him show up there, to help Yamagishi-san," Minako says with a nod. She nods her head as she considers it for a moment longer. "I'm glad you helped him. It was touch and go, getting inside the school and finding Yamagishi-san."
Mino shakes her head, then, and she looks back at Umie. When she says that, Minako smiles. It's nice to know there are more people like her out there.
"Don't worry," she says. "I'll give him time. Just... I want to be sure everyone there is okay. I'm supposed to look out for them." A beat, then Minako smiles a little knowingly.
"But... I hear I can be a lot, too," she says.
She looks at Umie, then. There is a moment of consideration -- and then she asks: "You don't use an Evoker, right? I heard about that, and know a couple others. Most people in SEES do, though."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"... Yeah." The calm on Umie's face distorts, remembering. "... When rumors began circulating around Sumaru City..." It was one of the first things she had ever done, in fact; exposing herself to everyone, and acting like she had just been a part of the crowd, all along.
"Being alone like that during the Dark Hour, and not knowing what was going on..." Umie trails off. No, this was about how the operation went; it *was* touch and go. "To think, Yamagishi-san was the one that saved all of us in the end."
Hearing Minako talk like that, it's no wonder SEES' resolve is so strong. "Looking out for other people's a great quality to have in a group like SEES," Umie comments.
If it wasn't just Kirijo (the heir, not the company, Umie reminds herself) Akihiko, and Shinjiro at that time, things would have gone a lot differently; Umie's sure of it.
'But... I hear I can be a lot, too.'
"There's nothing wrong with that." It's not like Minako even declared she felt self-conscious about it; Umie refused to let that comment leave without being remarked on. She smirks. "Sometimes it's the only way someone's heard, especially when a whole lot of us will just wrap ourselves up in our own thoughts. Just remember to treat yourself every once in a while, eh?"
No wonder Minako came charging in; but then again, she made her reasons clear as crystal.
There's a spark in Umie's eyes as Minako 'talks shop', as it where. "No." She shakes her head. "You need those to summon your Personas, right? I'm honestly really curious as to why they're guns--" She leans back on the bench. "But I take it you guys get that question a lot."
It took every ounce of Umie's self-control to *not* try the Evoker Shinjiro entrusted to herself... on herself. "Well, gun_shaped_," she corrects herself. "Is that how you're able to summon multiple personas?"
She has no reason to believe it is, but it'll open the topic for Minako to comment on, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Mm-hm," Minako murmurs. "Yamagishi-san was -- is -- amazing. We couldn't have done it without her."
She shakes her head, then, and she she blinks -- and there's a moment where her smile flickers when Umie reassures her. Was she that obvious? It comes back, though, and she nods her head. "Treat myself, huh... yeah. I'll try to remember to do that, Akabane-san."
That might be a tall order, sometimes.
Umie's answer, though, makes her tilt her head with confusion -- and then she nods her head. "Yeah. They're... I'm not totally clear why they're shaped like guns," she says. "I don't fully understand stuff like that, at least, not the details. But I can't do it without an Evoker."
She hesitates. "And if it works... that's what's important, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
That flickering smile is answered with one of Umie's own, like a quiet signal.
It's okay. She may not know it *exactly*, but she gets the feeling, well enough.
Minako doesn't seem to know. "Honestly, I can see some advantages with that. Every time you use it, it has to be a conscious decision, right?"
She remembers how Yukari had to will herself into pointing the barrel at herself.
Maybe, that's the reason, right there, just like how Shinjiro had to will himself to use it as well, in Tartarus.
She leans forward on the bench, her gaze thoughtful, quiet.
"You have to face what your Persona can do, as well as what might happen to you, or your friends. A lot of us don't have to think about it, and, maybe, that becomes our weakness, especially when things go wrong."
Death, she wants to say. The Badb part of her would say it, but Umie, at least, realizes it's not a thing to be uttered bluntly.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Yeah. That's... that's true. I didn't think of it that way," Minako admits. "There's no unintentional summoning of a Persona, when you use an Evoker."
She doesn't realize, though, that a Persona can't always be controlled -- but that, too, is something that Shinjiro can teach her about. She looks at Umie and considers for a moment, before she nods.
"Maybe so. But... it has advantages both ways, I think, Akabane-san," she says. "If we don't have an Evoker, no matter how much we want it -- or need it -- we can't bring our Persona out."
She shakes her head again. "I should get going, though, since I need to be back at the dorm. But..." She pulls her phone out, holding it towards her to exchange contact information. "...It might come in handy, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
To be fair, Umie didn't either, until Shinjiro told her. Her experience with Badb has always been that it's a part of her, and that all Badb's actions are a product of her own will.
She's still processing that bit of news.
".... Then that means you need friends," Umie says, simply. "No one is meant to do all of this themselves." Which is really, *really* ironic coming from 'trial and error things until they work, who needs help' Umie Akabane, but isn't that always the case with advice you can give but never take?
Has it been that long already? Umie looks at her phone. "Oh, yeah. You're close by the station, so it won't be that much of a walk."
Umie was considerate this time!! One gold star for Tutor-sensei.
"Oh, right. Definitely." Umie gets out her phone, an outdated model with a red braided silk cord strap on it, and enters it in, then holds out her phone for Minako. "If you need anything, give me a call. Even if it's to remind yourself to take a break every once in a while." She gives Minako a half-smile. "... That is, if you need to socialize with someone who *isn't* going to talk SEES shop with you. Unless you want to. It's pretty interesting."
But all things of this sort are, to someone who's hidden themselves for so long.
It's not until Minako leaves that Umie stretches, then pauses.
You realize she completely dodged your question about having more than one Persona, riggght?
"Tch..." _DAMN IT_.