2025-09-30: Revenge Makes the World Go Round
- Log: Revenge Makes the World Go Round
- Cast: Niko Kirisaki, Jin Shirato
- Where: Strega Warehouse Hideout - Tatsumi Port Island
- OOC Date: September 30, 2025
- IC Date: July 19, 2012
- Summary: Two days after the events of An Arsonist's Justice, Niko seeks out Jin in an effort to make herself feel better about what happened, one way or another. A rollercoaster of emotions later, Jin manages to tell her just what she needed to hear.
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Two days ago, the Joker Killer invited Strega to attend 'his art exhibition', which was obvious code for 'crashing the actual art exhibition with a murder', and only a slightly more subtle request for assistance. Niko was quick to volunteer, and so off she went! On her own, for a change. It would be fine, she can handle herself, so she would assure.
By all reports, it was indeed fine, for a certain definition of fine. The mission was successful at least - or so it had seemed. Perhaps Jin has already managed to learn that the target managed to pull the wool over their eyes and survive, somehow. But he would have needed to learn any and all details himself, since Niko herself didn't report back. Not that she's obligated to or anything, Strega do what they want. She'd probably check in the next day.
The next day came and went, still no sign of Niko. Less said about that day, the better. Suffice it to say, it sucked.
But today! Glorious return of Niko, to the vacant warehouse used by Strega as a base of operations in Port Island. Everything is fine. You can tell everything is fine because she doesn't announce her presence. Creeps around like a burglar in the night, ascertaining who is around at the moment. The sounds of computer fans and rapid keystrokes are enough to give away that Jin is here - which stands to reason, he very often is.
Sneak, sneak... Niko approaches from behind, closer and closer, making as little sound as possible, hoping Jin is distracted enough to not notice her presence. He'd better speak up if he's noticed her. Because when it's Niko, you know what's going to happen if you don't stop her. She's going to get riiiight up behind Jin, bend forward to be just that much closer to his ears, and then...
"Hiii, Jin-chan~"
Crank the volume up to 11. She loves doing that. The reactions are always funny.
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Jin lets out a shout of surprise at the sudden intrusion, bouncing out of his chair at the sound of Niko's voice. He had been so preoccupied what he was working on that he failed to notice Niko's approach. In a flash, his hand is on a grenade that only seconds ago was hooked safely on his belt (you can never be too prepared!). Before he can pull the pin, he recognizes the intruder as Not A Threat.
Just an annoyance.
Jin lets out a huff of frustration. "What do you want?" Jin hooks the grenade back on his belt, then practically flops down in his chair. His attention is already back on his computer screen.
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
There are probably few who would look at Niko and see Not A Threat. Then again, there are probably also few who look at a grenade about to be primed and not flinch even the tiniest bit. It's a good rapport, in Niko's opinion.
Good enough that she'll freely and openly pointlaugh in Jin's face, because that's a very good face he's making. Her reply follows naturally, "Just wanted to see your face! That one, in particular."
She got him so good that time, he failed to even immediately correct her calling him 'Jin-chan'. Ooor could it be that he's getting used to it? People will get used to anything in the long run, all you have to do is ignore their protests for long enough.
Same old Niko, or so it seems. Right down to utterly refusing to be ignored. When Jin shows the screen more attention than her, she leans on the back of his chair and looks over his shoulder, leaning far enough forward to make it extremely difficult indeed to keep pretending she's not there.
"Whatcha doin'?" she asks, looking at the screen as if she could possibly have any clue in regards to the foreign language of 'Code'. And because one question is never enough, immediately following it up with, "Dontcha wanna know about Ojisan's art show? Bet you're curious, right? You always gotta know everything." She pauses, canting her head. "Unless you already do?"
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Jin has definitely gotten used to it. He also knows it's a lost cause fighting it.
"What do you want to tell me about Ojisan's art show?" The annoyance is clear as day in Jin's voice, but it's way easier to humor her. Jin knows from experience.
He doesn't bother answering her question; it'd be too much of a pain to explain what he's doing anyway. And she probably wouldn't understand if he explained it, anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Niko knew it was the right call to go bother Jin, she feels better already, what with all these perceived successes under her belt. It's so much easier now that she no longer has to fight him every step of the way to get a conversation to flow the way she wants it to.
"Well, since you asked!" she starts, resolutely turning the chair to give Jin no choice but to face her. "Fire aside - I mean of course there would be a lot of fire when Ojisan's involved - it all went exactly as planned!" There's the first lie already, there's no way Niko would ever plan a single thing. But never mind that. "You should have been there, you'd be so proud of me! There were dozens of people, and I didn't let any of them get by me!"
The exact word she uses there is suujuu-nin, a general term for a great multitude of people, leaving it unclear exactly how many she's talking. It certainly sounds as if she's impressed herself, at the very least.
"Oh, they tried," she continues to babble, "But they made the mistake of underestimating the great Niko-chan!" She laughs, haughtily, hand in front of her mouth and everything. She sure makes it look like she had an absolutely fabulous time.
And yet. Something about her looks... different than usual. Not so much her general outward appearance, that's the same as always. It's the look in her eyes. They don't have quite the sparkle they normally have, when she laughs. And her eyeshadow... she usually keeps it in good condition, but she appears to have neglected it, leaving clear smudging visible. Something's up.
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Jin sighs again as the chair spins around and he's forced to face Niko. He does actually listen, though. The last thing he wants is for him to have to hear this all over again when he can't respond appropriately to any questions she has.
If Niko's searching for words of praise, she isn't getting them. Jin isn't usually the praise-giving type. Still, as he looks at her, something seems off. And for once, it's not just Niko's brain.
"You look like a mess," he observes aloud. There's a hidden question there that Jin doesn't speak aloud. 'What's going on?'
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Oh, Niko knows very well what Jin is like. Buuut... slowly but surely, he's learning to see things her way. Today it's less objections than usual, one day she'll manage to get actual praise out of him. Niko knows what she wants, and she's very persistent.
She's also enough of an optimist to wonder whether this might be the day... but the words she gets instead are far from what she was expecting. She blinks blankly at the statement, snapped out of her entire spiel. "Huh? What are you talking about? I look--"
She stops mid-sentence. How would she know what she looks like right now? She hasn't looked in a mirror lately. Because... she didn't want to look at herself. She feels the anxiety return already, just thinking about what she might see if she did.
"N-no, it's-- I'm fine, nothing is wrong, it's... everything is how it should be, right?"
She isn't asking Jin. She's not even looking at him right now. It's clear enough that she's suddenly lost confidence, starting to panic about something that isn't entirely clear.
It calls to mind the day they first met. It was the Joker Killer himself who'd brought Niko to Strega. Though she ended up acclimating quickly, back then, she looked absolutely pitiful, wild-eyed like a lost puppy in unfamiliar surroundings. That day, the members of Strega got to see that despite the muscular exterior, Niko is not nearly as strong of a person on the inside.
That she looks like this now, and has suddenly fallen silent... it must mean that she's far more shaken than she was trying to act.
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Jin's mouth pulls its way into a disapproving scowl. He folds his arms over his chest, annoyed that Niko thinks he would ever possibly buy that kind of assurance.
"You don't look fine and you don't sound fine, either."
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
When Niko is confronted with a reality she doesn't like, her first impulse is always to push back. In that respect, the immediate, knee-jerk reaction shouldn't be a surprise. Her frown emulates Jin's, and she snaps right back.
"How do you know? This could be part of 'fine', for me, there's different kinds of fine to be! Don't you see? Things are fine, things have to be fine. If they weren't fine, that would mean..."
She trails off in the middle of that odd tirade, gaze distant for a short moment. Her lips slowly pull back into a grimace, then they begin to wobble...
There's just about enough time to think the words 'oh no' before the expected happens, and she lets out a wail. If Jin wanted her to be honest, he's got his wish, but now he has to deal with a Niko who's crying. And yelling, while crying.
"Jiiin, they were SO mean to me! I didn't do anything wrong, they're the ones breaking all the rules and making things worse! Telling me I wanted this - of course I didn't want any of this! This is just how it's supposed to be, how it has to be now, why can't they see that?!"
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Jin isn't bothered at all by the snapping back; he'd rather have a snippy Niko than one that calls him 'Jin-chan'.
And then she drops the '-chan'. Yeah, he was right. Something's seriously wrong.
As much as Jin despises it, he has no choice but to get involved. If he doesn't, Niko's liable to spend the rest of the day crying. How's he supposed to get anything done like this?
"First off, who's 'they'?"
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Niko immediately begins to respond to the question with "Ah, they--" But then she stops, abruptly. She holds up a hand, indicating she needs a moment. She sniffles a few more times, takes a few deep breaths. It undoubtedly takes her longer to calm herself down than Jin would've liked, but... he's right. Now that things have come to this, not letting her get it off her chest is just going to make things worse.
That's not the only reason she needed a moment. She was going to just blurt out the names of everyone involved. Which could get certain people into more trouble than she would like, before giving her a chance to settle matters in her own preferred way. Thankfully... there are a some convenient ways to group people together.
"...SEES was there," she finally speaks, clearing her throat before adding. "And the Phantom Thieves. There was so many of them... why were there so many of them? How big are those groups?" Definitely unfair to be so outnumbered by people who like to prevent murders. She will call out a few people in particular, however.
"I think that... one of them was with neither. 'Shimizu', with the Persona Lachesis." She made it personal. Niko is making it personal in turn. But the most personal matter would be... "...there was one Phantom Thief who rides her Persona like a motorcycle." Which is pretty cool, but. "She's insane, she'd totally have murdered me if I didn't get out when I did."
No, that isn't a hypocritical statement at all. People have the wrong impression of Niko, and it's their fault for not seeing it.
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Jin mentally stores these names and facts away. He doesn't need to ask any more questions because he's pretty sure he's got the picture put together now. Jin's annoyance levels are rising by the moment. And for once, it's not because of something Niko did.
It's because of what someone did to Niko.
No one fucks with Strega. And Jin is the only person Jin is going to allow to give Niko a hard time.
"What are you crying for? If they screwed around with you, we need to screw around with them back!"
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Even if you asked Niko, she wouldn't have an answer to the question of what reaction she was expecting. She definitely wouldn't have an answer to 'what do you want me to do about it', if that had been the reaction she got. She wasn't really thinking about that at all. She was just venting her frustrations at this point, about how wrong everything went for her personally, and how that's everybody's fault but her own.
She seems entirely flummoxed by the reaction she does get, and has no good answer for that one either. What is she crying for? What was it about all that that bothered her so much? Now that she's confronted with those questions, she can't think of a reason. Because... everything really is as simple as Jin says, isn't it? Don't get upset, get even. They're not getting such good business out of running Revenge Request for nothing. People aren't calling the Joker Killer so regularly for no reason. It's a fundamental rule of how things work in this world. How could that have slipped her mind, even for a moment?
"...Yeah... yeah, you're right, of course! We could... we could put a bomb on their porch! Or a bomb in their front door! Or a bomb in their keys!"
Those all amount to the same thing and are things that Jin would have to do entirely on his own. This is why she isn't the one who makes the plans.
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
"Let me see what intel I can find on them," Jin says, spinning around in his chair. "We'll figure out what to do with them after. In the meantime, go fix your makeup. If anyone sees you lookin' like that, they're gonna think poorly of Strega."
Jin doesn't actually believe that. He also doesn't care if anyone thinks poorly of Strega because of some smudged makeup, either. He just wants Niko to stop crying and take care of herself so he can get to work finding out who these people are.
Personally, he's looking forward to a little violence.
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Called out?? Niko sure thinks so, a hand immediately going to her face when Jin comments on her makeup. She must look hideous! Fixing that absolutely has to be a priority. Strega's reputation aside, she won't be able to stop feeling self-conscious about it now. "O-okay, I'll do that! Thanks, I'm counting on you, Jin-chan!"
Well of course there was no way that he could escape that form of address yet again. Not when he's being so nice and supportive. And yet... if Jin thought that was the most grating thing he had to deal with today, he might have another thing coming. Because after turning, and taking a few steps on her way to do as Jin suggested, Niko pauses. "Oh, by the way..."
Whatever Jin may have been expecting her to say as she briefly turns back around, she hits him with something he could have never seen coming.
"You didn't close the bracket on line 537." And then she just leaves.
Worst of all, she was right.