2025-10-03: Brotherly Concern
- Log: 2025-10-03 Brotherly Concern
- Cast: Jun Kashihara, Katsuya Suou
- Where: Seaside Mall, Konan Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: October 03, 2025
- IC Date: July 20, 2012
- Summary: While studying for finals, Jun happens to spot Katsuya Suou. Since Maya had shown him a picture of him, he decides to ask him some questions and confirm if Tatsuya really is his brother.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Pirate-themed family restaurant Jolly Roger is a fine place to go for curry, drinks, and rumors. Jun Kashihara will stick with drinks, thank you, with a slice of apple pie to munch on in between studying for finals next week.
It isn't a last minute cram session, as it is for many. Last-minute cramming is largely ineffective. No, this is simply the latest of Jun's regular study sessions, set in a restaurant at the Seaside Mall for a change of pace. Hirasaka Ward and Aoba Ward have both been attacked lately, and Jun would like to be somewhere a little less unsettling to concentrate... The Sevens emblem in his Kasugayama summer uniform pocket ought to keep him safe from the Joker Killer.
He pauses at a trigonometry problem, setting a pencil-holding hand under his chin. "Hmmm... This one's a little tricky..." he murmurs to himself. He'll have to take a moment to reflect on it--and as he does, he picks up his mug and sips the tea blend he ordered earlier.
It's fairly quiet in here today, making it a good place to study. It'd be even quieter if it were raining... but alas, no. At least there's the distant roar of waves to help him concentrate. A trip to the beach might be nice once finals are over... He hopes Tsubasa will be in a position to choose to go or not go by then.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Finals are next week. Katsuya might be long out of reach of scholastic exams and the like, but the exam schedule this year hasn't eluded him because he has a younger brother who is still in school--
Or rather, isn't in school, which is the entire problem, isn't it? Tatsuya's been out of class and away from home so long that he's going to be risking expulsion at this rate. He suspects his parents have already been trying to do what they can to avoid that fate, but...
Other people are able to commit to their schooling and deal with the various supernatural threats. Why can't his brother? What is it that makes his brother's situation that precarious?
These thoughts are the ones that percolate to the top from all the stresses on Katsuya's own life of late. He's been assigned to the night shift at the station, and it looks like he might be staying there for a while instead of the usual trade off as other officers are moved around. It's a little strange. But it's also why he's in here: it's a good place to catch up on the rumors around here, and possible get something to drink before his shift begins. Coffee would be a good start.
If Jun lifts his head from his studies now, he'll see someone who he might well recognize heading for the front counter. The family resemblance is strong.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
It is a good question, isn't it? Jun promised Tatsuya he'd stay out of his way from now on--and that means not getting involved with Joker Killers or chasing after him. He still wants to help his friends, though... and if there's a mundane problem, that's not so much an issue, is it? So--even if Tatsuya is trying to chase after the Joker Killer and bring him to justice, something Jun understands and appreciates now--why sacrifice everything else to do it?
Granted, it isn't a question that's on Jun's mind right this second. Still, it is something he's asked himself. He knows Tatsuya hasn't been attending school after looking into Seven Sisters High School, and the matter of the Joker Killer isn't something he has to handle all on his own. It's odd.
Someone else heads into the restaurant. Jun, pondering the trigonometry question, glances their way--and then glances again, not just recognizing the family resemblance but recognizing Katsuya from the photo of him that Maya shared. (Granted it wasn't a very good photo, but still.) He lowers his pencil as he stares for a moment. Is that--?
He doesn't interrupt Katsuya ordering his coffee or swapping rumors with the Master. However, once he's done and clearly no longer in the middle of something, Jun rises to his feet and approaches. "Excuse me," he says. "Pardon me for bothering you, but would you happen to be Katsuya Suou-san?"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
They'd exchanged a few words, back then at Aoba Park. But Tatsuya hadn't been interested in answering any of Katsuya's questions and, to be fair, there'd been a fire raging and some things must take a back seat to arson and attempted murder. It had, fortunately, only been 'attempted'.
And like clockwork, that moment has created brave new problems for Katsuya to deal with. Perhaps he's starting to get paranoid, or maybe he's not wrong to think this way, but if what Akechi said about some people in the department being in the NWO's pocket is true, and if some of what Tsubasa had said was also true, perhaps his new work schedule is a small form of retaliation against him?
Or, maybe not. In the summer season, all sorts of things can arise in the shortened nights. He'll have to take it one step at at time. First, that involves for today, some coffee.
And the latest stories circulating around the city. He'd checked in with Toku the other day, and so now...
He's still waiting his order when Jun rises and approaches him. Katsuya glances his way.
[PERCEPTION] Hard - Success: He's a young man. 17? 18, you think, at most. That's the Kasugayama uniform. Aha, a third year. Look at the table, at the books: he's here studying. That's not the set-up someone would pick for a cram session, with finals next week. That suggests a normal review session. That's not expected of students from that school, but perhaps not all match up to the stereotype.
And he knows Katsuya's name. Gazing down at him, Katsuya nods. "Yes, I am. And you are...?"
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Katsuya has a lot going on. Jun can't know about any of it, both figuratively and literally. The fact that he knows anything at all about Sumaru's seedy underbelly is... bad. For a number of reasons.
For now, at least, he can offer Katsuya a faint but sincere smile when he confirms himself. "I'm Jun Kashihara, a student at Kasugayama High School." Not really necessary to add that last bit, considering he's in uniform, but it's only polite. "I heard about you from Maya Amano-san, the reporter," he explains. This isn't really all that necessary anymore, but still... "Is your younger brother named Tatsuya, by any chance? A tall, handsome student at Seven Sisters?"
'Handsome' is probably not the best adjective to give to someone who's family to him, but Jun can't help but think of that first, or close to it, when he thinks of Tatsuya.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
The less a civilian like this young man knows about what's really going on in this city, the better. For now, at least, there's nothing for someone unconnected with those things to worry. The danger, as one might put it, is confined only to those 'in the know' about such things, or otherwise pulled into its orbit.
...Though, there's probably reason to still be worried about the Joker Killer. There had been an unsettling rumor recently that even the Sevens Emblem isn't perfectly protective anymore.
"Kashihara-san, I see. It's good to meet you." He stops to think about what Jun's just told him. "Ah, so you spoke with Amano-kun." That answers things. But why had his name come up?
'Handsome' visibily gives Katsuya pause. It's not wrong: objectively, his brother would be considered good-looking, and he would be surprised if he weren't attracting the attention of the girls he went to school with. But what he's heard from his parents over the years is that there's been no one like that in his brother's life. ...Then again, Katsuya himself didn't start dating until college.
"Yes," he answers after that moment's reflection, "Tatsuya is my younger brother."
He thinks about this, too, for a moment.
"...Have you met him? Tatsuya, that is," he asks Jun. Then he adds, "Recently."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"Ah--I'm sorry. I suppose that's an odd thing to hear someone say of your brother," Jun remarks, seeing Katsuya's pause. He isn't about to out himself to a stranger, so that'll have to do. He nods all the same when Katsuya confirms it. "I see..."
He smiles a bit at the counter-question. "Yes. But only for a brief while. He helped me out recently, and I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to thank him properly the other day," Jun replies. This is more or less the truth. "Amano-san was helping me try to find him--that's how you came up. She apparently texted you about it, though you didn't respond while we were still talking about it."
He pauses then. Truthfully, he doesn't know what he hopes to accomplish by doing this. He already promised Tatsuya he wouldn't get in his way. But... this isn't getting in his way, right? And Jun still wants to know more about him... even if it must be from a distance.
"Um... I just was wondering if everything is all right at home with him," he concludes softly. "He seems like he's going through a lot right now... He was very kind to me, so I'm worried about him."
That's safe enough to say--right?
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
He shakes his head. "No, it's quite alright." It's a little unusual, to hear from another boy his brother's age, but perhaps there wasn't another way to describe him that would make sense. His brother is tall, but there's not much else left that, if he were forced to describe him to another, he thinks he could use with Tatsuya. ...Well, that choice in biking leathers, certainly, but surely Tatsuya isn't running around in those all the time.
(nobody tell him)
So Tatsuya helped him out? "I see..." Katsuya says, folding his arms across his chest. "So it was like that. Amano-kun was helping you?" That's right, Maya had texted him about it, but he'd been in the middle of a meeting at that point and couldn't respond in time. "Yes, I recall that now. That was a few days ago, wasn't it? Unfortunately..." He reaches up, fidgeting with his sunglasses as if vaguely agitated.
"...My brother hasn't been home in almost two months." He's grimaced -- there's no better term for that tightening around his mouth. "Our parents are very worried about him. I understand that he is in good health and not in... dire trouble," he continues, opting for the diplomatic approach for 'conducting some secret campaign against a serial killer with a sword and the power of a Persona'. "Nevertheless, if you do happen to see him again, please tell him to call his parents."
A long, long pause follows.
"When I've tried to call his number, he doesn't answer."
Another longish pause follows that.
"...That... isn't new, however."
He averts his gaze, as if he's already said too much.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun's eyes widen at the admission. Only one is visible behind the curtain of his dark bangs, but still, that muted surprise is visible. He knew Tatsuya hadn't been attending school, but... he hasn't even been at home? ...No, given Tatsuya's goal, that does make sense. He's probably worried that he'll get his family mixed up in that business with the Joker Killer... ... ...no, that doesn't make sense. If that were true... Katsuya is apparently also after him. Why wouldn't they work together?
Jun gets an inkling of why that might be when Katsuya admits Tatsuya actually usually doesn't answer his calls. Jun folds his arms over his chest and tilts his head to give him a sympathetic look. "I see... You don't get along with him? I'm an only sibling, so I don't really understand that experience, but I've read enough literature to know siblings often squabble..." He averts his gaze, beautiful face turning melancholy. "...However, I don't think he would entertain my requests that he call home, either. He, ah... He was kind about it, yes, but he did ultimately tell me to stay away from him..."
For a moment, Jun says nothing. Then he shakes his head slightly. "Anyway, yes. Amano-san was helping me for a bit, just to try to find him. I ended up finding him later by coincidence." Heading into Kuzunoha Detective Agency, at that--but Jun decides not to mention that part. If Tatsuya is on bad terms with his brother, Jun won't be the one to expose (one of?) his hiding spot(s).
"I'm sorry for whatever family troubles you might be experiencing right now," Jun adds in sympathy. "I hope he comes home safely in the end."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
It's... a lot to admit to. Normally, he would have waved on past the matter, outside anyone who didn't already know the situation to begin with, but Jun did ask and, Katsuya couldn't bring himself to lie about it. Especially not to someone who had been done a good turn by his brother. Besides, if Jun were to ask around Sevens, it's likely that the rumor mill is saying much the same thing. That Tatsuya ran away from home. That he hasn't been back. That he'll get expelled, at this rate.
...After all the sacrifices everyone made to make sure he could go to a school like Seven Sisters High in the first place...
But that sentiment is neither here nor there in the moment. Katsuya isn't incapable of lying: you have to tell lies sometimes in this society to get along. But there are some things he'll lie about, and some things he'll elide, and some things...
It's saying too much, but he may as well have said it: he can't call Tatsuya to ask after him for Jun, because they haven't been on speaking terms in years. "It is... a complicated situation," Katsuya says, shaking his head. "I am sorry. I did not mean to involve you." How do you even get into the muck and the murk of their current relationship with a stranger, anyway? It's upon years of shouting and argument at this point, and it's not likely to be changing anytime soon. "I suppose... that may be so," Katsuya says, fidgeting again with his sunglasses. Siblings... do often fight or not get along: he's seen the results at times in his work. Perhaps, it was inevitable from the start...
...That's disheartening.
Nearly as disheartening as the remark that Jun makes that even if he tells Tatsuya to call home, he probably won't do it. "That is... likely," Katsuya admits, closing his eyes for a moment. "He can... stubborn, sometimes." So he'd told Jun to stay away from him as well?
Amano was helping him, Jun reiterates, but mentions that on his own, he'd encountered Tatsuya anyway later. Once again, Katsuya's attention turns on him, nearly laser-like. "...Where? How long ago was that? Did you get any sense of where he's been hanging around?" As a matter of fact, yes, but will Jun just up and tell him, after how secretive Tatsuya's been being?
He shakes his head again, at Jun's sympathies. "It is alright. I did not mean to trouble you, Kashihara-san." He pauses, then, gesturing simply with his right hand, "We hope for the same. I thank you, for your consideration." Tatsuya is old enough to take care of himself, and seems to be particularly skilled in matters of the Persona, but it doesn't mean that Katsuya doesn't worry.
With that, his coffee has arrived, and he reaches over to pick up the take-away cup.
"Good luck on your exams, Kashihara-san." He has faith that this young man should do well. It's simply too bad his brother can't follow his example.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun has certainly heard about how Tatsuya hasn't been to school. However, he hadn't yet gotten to the gossip that he hasn't even been home. Somehow, a chance encounter with a certain Detective Prince upended all that...
When Katsuya apologizes for involving him, though, Jun can't help but chuckle a bit. "You really are brothers," he remarks, perhaps enigmatically. Perhaps not, though. Jun did already say Tatsuya told him to stay away. That mild mirth fades away when he sees Katsuya fidgeting, though. It's strange to see an adult acting like that. He must really be worried about his brother...
That's why he hesitates when Katsuya catches hold of something he says and tries to interrogate him more about Tatsuya. He gets the sense that Katsuya is asking out of genuine concern, and he does feel sorry for him, but... "I'm sorry. I don't know that it's my place to say." He doesn't want to give Tatsuya's secrets away--that would definitely be getting in his anyway, even without a direct encounter. But... He pauses, lips pursing as he looks up at the taller man. "...But I got the impression that he was pursuing someone dangerous. Someone you might be familiar with," he adds delicately.
Hopefully that's enough to let Katsuya put some clues together on his own. (And never mind that Katsuya already knows. Jun doesn't know that.)
He gives a shallow bow when Katsuya thanks him. "Not at all. I'm the one who troubled you first, Suou-san. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me." (Isn't it refreshing, seeing a young man with such a strong sense of politeness and etiquette?) "Thank you. Have a good rest of your day as well." With that, Jun will return to his table, leaving Katsuya to leave with his to-go coffee.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
His eyes widen, and he regards Jun carefully, when he says something like that.
'You really are brothers'.
It takes him a moment more to collect himself. It-- had just been a surprise. That was all. "Is that so? I... suppose it is to be expected," he says, choosing his words carefully.
So they are alike. Still, after all these years. It makes his heart feel a little bit lighter, somehow.
Even if he can't entirely quell the worry that still nags at him, even in spite of seeing his brother just days before. But then, that's probably why it nags at him. It's not as if an interaction like that had been able to quell his worries: far the opposite, with them both facing down against the Joker Killer.
Jun hesitates, though, gives a vague answer when Katsuya asks him a bunch of questions about Tatsuya's whereabouts and when that even was. Almost, it looks like Katsuya is about to say -- ask -- something more. Jun, though, says one thing more, before Katsuya can assemble that impulse into so many words. He says that he thinks he was pursuing someone dangerous.
Someone Katsuya himself already is familiar with.
#501. The Old Maid. The Joker Killer. ...Tatsuya Sudou.
He gazes down at Jun for a long moment, as if to assess something about them, himself, in some secret place. Yes. He does already know.
"Yes," he says, instead, to Jun, "I think you may be right."
It's almost poetic. Both after the same man. Does Tatsuya know, somehow, about what happened ten years ago? Did he find something that pointed him in the same direction? Are they both, possibly, after the same thing? It's not as if he should expect his brother to tell him, though, even if he hunted him down and interrogated him himself. ...His little brother wouldn't give in so easily.
"It's quite alright," he tells Jun instead. He shakes his head. "I am glad that you are looking out for him in your own way." And here he had thought that perhaps they didn't make polite young men anymore. "Please, take care."
With that, he's off. It's going to be a long night.