2025-10-12: Rock Candy and a Curse
- Log: Rock Candy and a Curse
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Tamaki Uchida
- Where:
- OOC Date: October 12, 2025
- IC Date: July 25, 2012
- Summary: Umie and Tamaki meet properly one on one after the former comes in with an update on a case, as well as some rock candy that isn't what it seems.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie Akabane: someone Tatsuya may have mentioned once or twice, thought likely in the form of referring to her as 'Tutor-sensei'.
The first 'official' time she was here, 'Tutor-sensei' was in disguise: sporty white windbreaker, matching shorts, baseball cap, large earrings, ponytail, and glasses. She had left with Tatsuya Suou, who had been there to get a change of clothing after his previous outfit was damaged in an *explosion* that destroyed his beloved motorcycle. Tamaki would be able to see right past it easily enough, given it's not that much different from the way Umie looked when she came in the second time, in order to deliver one well-intentioned rumor request.
Which is similar to the way she comes in now, sans any eyeglasses, her blonde hair collected in two side buns on either side of her neck and wearing a red blouse, layered over with a thin windbreaker. The lower halves of her arms were covered with thumsleeves in all the visits she's made here; it wouldn't take a detectigve to figure out why, being she's been seen associating with Tatsuya 'Paradox Boy' Suou not too long after he began being his paradoxical self several weeks ago.
"So... the Jack Frost case. I think I got the perpetrator, but I don't think that's going to foot the bill for the Hirasaka Satomi Tadashi's freezer section. All he had was some rock candy and some silver foil." Some of which Umie has in one hand right now in a ziploc bag on the desk. "He offered ice cubes, but that's a lot harder to transport..." She makes a face. "... I think I need to just take another hunting job, but Takkun keeps taking all the good ones!" She plucks out a piece of rock candy between two dark violet fingernails, and tosses it into her mouth.
Y She makes another face, and politely puts the bag back onto the desk.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
'Tutor-sensei' is in fact the name that Tamaki knows Umie by. At least Tamaki associates her with positive things: Tatsuya had recently mentioned that she was likely plotting ways for him to have fun, which is a move that Tamaki highly endorses.
As Umie enters, Tamaki quickly shuts a desk drawer, stands up, and flashes her a smile. "Welcome back!" She gives Umie a cursory scan in case she needs to offer assistance -- a first aid kit, a towel, what-have-you -- though the intent behind her gaze may not be so clear.
Her face grows concerned at the seemingly-small payout. "Hmm ... I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the monetary value of those items. Perhaps you can get them appraised somewhere that deals with items from Demons and other supernatural sources? Cognition can be a bit strange like that, and something's value doesn't necessarily map to its real-world equivalent. Some of the most potent things I've used appeared like mere candy."
Tamaki follows up with a slightly nervous laugh as she admits, "But if that doesn't pan out, I can at least try and smooth things over with the pharmacy proprietor. We ... go back a ways, at least, and I may be able to explain it in a way she can understand."
"I can perhaps dissuade Suou-kun from taking on so many. He was absolutely drenched the last time he came in ..."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
There are obvious differences that can be observed between Tatsuya and Umie: the height difference, certainly, with Umie standing at a mighty (small in comparison) 155cm. Then, there's the comment from Tatsuya, which is very true: 'Tutor-senpai' is very unwilling to let Tatsuya mope for long. Whether or not her personality is any more cheerful may remain a mystery for now.
Barely catching the tail end of Tamaki quickly shutting that desk drawer, Umie pauses, then offers a sideways grin. "... Did I catch you at a bad time?"
Umie, at least, is a little better off than Tatsuya; a bit of frost bite is easily treatable, especially when there's supplies she can use without depleting her own. There's also less of an overwhelming need to somehow eternally punish herself for her innocent sin(s), at least that Umie's willing to show here.
Umie sighs, bringing her head to her temples. "... Cognition. Right." How is it that so many things are still new to her, even here, she wonders. "Peacock Silk's certainly been getting their share of items lately." She'd almost be suspicious, if she had any indication their intentions were anything beyond just business.
'Some of the most potent things...'
Umie looks at the candy, and lifting the bag up to peer at it. "I guess we're going to find out soon, aren't we?" she murmurs, letting it drop from her hands. "Good. I can check with the guy again later. They can be pretty resourceful..."
'He was absolutely drenched the last time he came in...' Umie's lips tighten in a thinning line. "I really wish I could help him more than I have, but I think all he sees when I drag him everywhere is another reason to feel guilty." She sits in a chair, crossing her legs. "Like I haven't been at it longer than he has." Pause. "Just... not in a social capacity, like we're doing here."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki is, at least as far as surface appearances go, all cheer, all the time. She shares that unwillingness to let Tatsuya mope for long, let alone anyone.
Tamaki glances back to her desk, then beams back at Umie. "Not at all! I was simply reviewing some case notes, but I've hit a dead end there. Rather than power through solving it, it's sometimes best to take a break and come back to it." She waves off the concern. "The break is very much welcome, don't you worry ... ah, how should I address you? I don't think there's much reason for me to call you 'tutor-Sensei', even if that's all I know you by."
"Peacock Silk, their name was on the tip of my tongue! I haven't had a reason to go visit them, myself, but I haven't gone deep into such a cognitive space for years now." Tamaki has little reason to be suspicious of them, herself; while she approximately knows a wide breadth of things, the depths of her knowledge don't reach far except in a few select topics.
Tamaki frowns and leans her chin against a propped-up hand. "Still, it's unfortunate that a 'Christmas in July' promotional campaign could backfire on the pharmacy like that. Mascot characters made manifest, spreading snow, crystals, and magic tinsel, wreaking havoc in the stores they were meant to represent ..."
Umie's comment about Tatsuya's apparent self-inflicted guilt garners an amused snort and smile from Tamaki. Embarrassed at her own reaction, she shakes her head and forces a frown. "-- He has that vibe, yes. If there's anything I've learned, though, time doesn't really have much to do with it. I've been Awakened for five years now, but I know several other people who are dealing with matters far more grave and weighty than I've ever known. The more time passes, the less confident I feel in my own overall understanding of capital-C Cognitive matters."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Ahh-ha." Umie nods, drawing a blonde bang from in front of her face. "Gotcha. Yeah, there's been a lot of that going around, hasn't there...? Dead ends." Oh, Umie, please don't make it sound like that.
But, when Tamaki assures Umie she's not interrupting (even if Umie's been shown to just charge on in to establish a social link if necessary), the blonde makes herself at home.
"Ah, yeah." Umie clears her throat. "Umie Akabane. I... used to, uh, tutor Takkun." Which may sound like it's a lie due how she phrases it, when it's anything but. Sometimes, those social links really are that simple in how they're first established. "First name or surname, whichever you're comfortable with. I'm not picky." She waves a hand, dismissively.
"They're worth a visit, even the employees there can be a little eccentric." A wide, thin grin spreads on her lips, standing on the edge of being just a little... sharp. "But aren't we all? Kujaku-san, though... sometimes they may it easy to go chasing after them, in order to prove you're worth their attention. The other two I haven't properly met yet. Pernelle, though..." Should she tell Tamaki Pernelle is a talking peacock?
'Naaahhh. It's part of the experience, right?'
"He likes tater tots and surprises," Umie offers instead. "So I'm going to try to combine the two." Even if her apartment is far, far too small for such a task, and potatoes aren't exactly common...
"I mean, to be fair," on the subject of cognitive spaces, "I'm not sure anyone's really known about Mementos until recently. But, isn't that really curious? WIth that Meta-nav app and everything, it's like it was *meant* to be discovered by the right people--" LIke the Phantom Thieves? But how could that just 'happen'? Was Myunghon onto something with her suspicions of it? Umie makes another one of her faces, not liking the way that thought feels.
Another delusion, better left unvoiced. She'll just shove it away.
"Demons can't be mascot characters, no matter how much they try to volunteer for it. *Especially* if they volunteer for it," she mumbles, deadpan. "God forbid someone hires a pixie. They will straight up murder you and claim they didn't know any better."
Tamaki's been awakened for that long, which maybe is why Umie's already feeling at ease talking to her like this. "Was it like this five years ago? All these Persona Users? It seems like it's just exploded in the last few months, but I figured that was just because I decided to jump in."
Dealing with matters far more grace and weighty... "...." The young woman sits in her chair for a moment-- perhaps a little too long, before she shrugs. "Yeah, that's Takkun. He wasn't like that before, that's for sure. But... it still feels like this is Takkun, somehow." Her lackadasical shrug is replaced with a thoughtful glace downwards, as if the color of the carpet needed more thorough consideration. "I mean, I was just his tutor for about a year, so... maybe I just... didn't know him well enough. But he definitely didn't have a Persona before..."
Wait, should she be telling Tamaki this?! She holds up a hand. "_that_ needs to be kept a secret."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Regarding dead ends, Tamaki slumps over and responds in monotone deadpan, "Tell me about it." She glances over at her desk. Too many cases, too little time.
"Akabane-san it is, at least for now!" Tamaki folds her arms and sighs. "'Used to' does make sense. I get the feeling he's been skipping out on classes. He didn't seem to remember that it's exams week. Still, I take it he's dealing with matters which eclipse exams."
Umie's grin elicits a giggle from Tamaki, hidden behind a hand. "Oh, despite how I may seem, I certainly have my eccentricities. It couldn't hurt to expand my network of contacts, I suppose." Time will tell if Tamaki's taken aback by the Peacock Silk crew, or if she remains as unflappable as ever.
"Mementos, rumors, and the Joker Killer all did seem to spring up around the same time, yes." Tamaki brings up a finger to slowly tap the side of her face, just under an ear. Her expression turns pensive. "Trials meant to refine the spirits of the people involved, perhaps, like in that old adage, 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' In the two variations of what I've seen, they do seem to have that commonality in that they seem ... tailored towards one or more people." As she says the last bit, she tilts her head to one side, then returns it back upright.
"Still, other things have been in the works for years, as I've only recently learned. Long before I Awakened. At least I can take solace in the fact that this didn't start with me."
Tamaki shudders at the mention of being murdered by a Pixie and shoots back with no hesitation, "I'd believe it." She pauses to stare at Umie for a few moments. Does she know?
As to the question about the state of things five years ago, Tamaki shakes her head. "No, the time I had Awakened five years ago was an isolated incident, to the best of my knowledge. There was one other Persona-user I knew in-person, but ... well, there's only me to tell that tale now. I only knew of other Persona-users some few months later after finding that Dark Side of Sumaru site, which had only recently been established at the time. I didn't even live in Sumaru yet!" Tamaki barks out a short, bitter laugh. "That's how desperate I was to find ... any proof that I hadn't simply gone mad, or that I wasn't alone in this, you know?"
"Then there was another small jump I'm aware of, sometime three years ago. I don't yet have the full details on what happened, but I saw another group running around at the time of the Mikage-cho incident, and I recognized that as another cognitive space. It feels like if there's a new group of Persona-users, it's a sign of impending disaster. Like we're supposed to be the counterweight, part of an immune response."
Tamaki raises an eyebrow at this last bit. "The same Suou-kun as before, but different ... yeah, I didn't know him until two months ago. I've only ever known him to be ... moving with some kind of serious urgency and purpose, let's say. And I certainly feel like I was a different person before I had Awakened to my own Persona."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie nods at Tamaki's chosen name. "Hey, I've been using Uchida-san, so it works."
"Aughghg," Umie groans, remembering last night. "Don't remind me. I got him and his older brother to try to chat, and that was one of the first things his older brother said to him. I get it, I really do, but this is a guy who *walked away* from a burning motorcycle and still kept on fighting. I don't think there's any way anyone will be able to staple him to a desk for long enough right now." ... Because Tatsuya was convinced that things would stop if he managed to 'send Sudou back'. And what will happen if that's not enough?
... That's when they'll have to all pull through for him, and make sure he doesn't fall into that pit of despair, because those are the times He especially likes to strike.
"I figured. Kuzunoha pretty much is where everything passes through." Umie Places an elbow on one armchair rest, holding her palm up to lean her head into. "
There's a moment of confusion as Tamaki indicates rumors being new; the same with Joker Killer. Well, the latter... it was covered up, and the former... would Umie even really know?
"You mean the different ways Persona Users Awaken?" Please don't say the Persona Game is weird, please don't say the Persona Game is weird, _why does everyone think it's somehow the weirdest way_?!
Tamaki staring at her after Umie's comment causes the blonde to blink, then, slowly, grin a shark-like grin. "Maybe I'm the one who's possessed by a ghost. I was was killed by a pixie, and now, I must take my revenge!"
'That's how desperate I was to find ... any proof that I hadn't simply gone mad, or that I wasn't alone in this, you know?' Umie's expression is sympathetic; she leans forward in the sofachair. "That's pretty human, if you ask me," she says, on a soft, low voice. "It's very easy to believe there's something wrong with you, when the world around you is telling you what you're experiencing isn't real." Her fingers interlace together. "Probably one of the top most human things of all." Just like there's an equal urge to separate and isolate yourself, out of fear.
But that's a story for another time, especially as this is the first time Umie hears this word. "Mikage-cho Incident?" A new group of Persona Users, a sign of impending disaster, like an immune response. And here, alone, Umie could count more than one group of new Persona-users, formed along the lines of circumstance.
"Not a great sign," she sighs. "But I guess that's where weirdos like us come in, eh? 'No, it's not in your head, here's some tips, don't die, holy cow you have a cool Persona'. Well, that's Umie, at the end. _She can't help it if everyone's Personas are so cool_, it makes her so angry because she has to then act like they're not!!
"He's always been stubborn, and I guess driven, too, when he had an interest in something." He was also great at impersonations. "Cocky too. That's still there, just... I think whatever's riding him right now is smothering it. But you have it, <bullseye>, I can't say I'd ever seen him be this flavor and intensity of serious." But Tamaki offers something that could be a possibility as to why, one that Umie had never considered before.
After all, how would she know, when Badb had been a part of her for so long? And likewise... the circumstances being what they were, to Awaken to Badb. "... Hm. Yeah." Umie's gaze is calm, but like the waters of a deep lake, the bottom drawing away and refusing to reveal what thoughts exist there. "It certainly opens a new world to you, doesn't it?"
She reaches out and takes another bit of candy, unthinkingly. "Hehe, these don't taste so bad the secondh... thime..." Her tongue's going numb. And blue! (that's just the food dye, thankfully).
Chattering teeth follow, and Umie bunches up into ball, trying to conserve heat as she shivers. "F-f-f-f-ree-thz-g-g-g!"
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki nods and briefly makes a 'shushing' gesture before speaking. "It wouldn't do to lecture Suou-kun because he's not taking the path that everyone's 'supposed' to take. I've fought the temptation to do so on several occasions. Besides, the two incidents I've been involved in stopped classes from being held in the first place. There's much I don't understand of his situation, but I trust that there's a reason besides mere delinquency that he sees fit to remain truant."
Tamaki gives Umie a bow. "On that note, thank you for nudging him to relax a bit from time to time, Akebana-san. I fear that he'll break if he doesn't."
Tamaki sighs at the mention of 'everything' passing through Kuzunoha. "For good or ill. I can't step too far in any one direction, just do what research I can and send others on their ways."
Tamaki has at least relayed things as she understands them, going off of the earliest evidence she has at the time -- flawed or incomplete as it may be.
Tamaki tilts her head at Umie's question about Awakenings. "Mm? Well, to an extent, that, but I meant the overall phenomena related to what someone goes through. An Awakening appears to just be the start, the first chapter of a larger novel." Perhaps one of Tamaki's 'eccentricities' is that she doesn't think the Persona Game is weird at all. At least that's something that's relatively well-defined and can actually be replicated.
Tamaki's expression freezes at what she supposes is Umie's attempt to tease her, then she bursts out laughing. Nevermind, she doesn't know. "Haaahaha! You look very much like flesh and blood to me, how could you have died?"
Tamaki nods at 'that's pretty human.' "Yes, which is why my tendency is to try to understand rather than chide. I don't want to shame someone for not measuring up if I don't know what burdens they bear."
"Ah, you might know it by a different name, the SEBEC scandal? Mikage-cho is the area around where the SEBEC scandal happened about three years ago, roughly two years after I had initially Awakened. I was a student at St. Hermelin High School at the time. Media outlets said it was some kind of lab explosion from a chemical leak, but I know for a fact there were Demons and Persona-users present. I holed up to protect some of my fellow non-Awakened students, but that was about the extent of my involvement. As far as I know, after some time, the cognitive space surrounding Mikage-cho went away and things returned to normal. My assumption is that the other gaggle of new Persona-users fixed things."
Tamaki smiles at 'that's where weirdos like us come in.' "If I can be the light in the darkness for someone else, if I can be the kind of figure that I could only wish to have in my younger days, then I feel that's a sign that I'm doing something right with my life."
At Umie's description of an earlier Tatsuya contrasted with how he is in the present, Tamaki listens and briefly glances over at her bookshelf. "It's ... a quality in him that I feel I recognize. I don't know if my sense of recognition is accurate. I could be projecting. Yet I feel this sense of familiarity all the same."
Tamaki leans back against her desk and tightly grips the edge of it with her hands at hearing 'It certainly opens a new world to you, doesn't it?' Everything in her seems to tense up as she recalls what that time in her life felt like. There's an edge, a frostiness to her reply. "You -- could say that, sure."
Then Umie takes an ill-advised bite of candy. "-- Oh, dear. One moment." In a flash, Tamaki moves to retrieve the office's space heater from behind a cabinet door behind Todoroki's desk and plugs it into the wall nearest Umie. Some warm blankets come out, too. If this needs a more game-y approach, though, and this is the Bind ailment from a self-inflicted Bufu candy, then she may have to manifest Arianrhod for a cast of Energy Drop, though she refrains from doing so initially. "Hold on, let me fix you some hot tea, too." And so, she bolts over to the kitchenette in the back.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Trust me, I get that part. I was arguing on Takkun's behalf. I doubt he does it just because; even at his worst he still went to school enough." Tamaki's not the only one who doesn't fully understand Tatsuya's situation; despite Umie bearing the same mark and undertaking the same matter of the Joker Killer, some of what drives her is seeing Tatsuya being the way that he is. She shouldn't have to feel like she's so tied to helping him, given her time as his tutor was so short, compared to others who've been there longer (and treated more coldly despite it).
Still, she can't look away from someone who needs her help, especially with how Tatsuya's face looked so haunted when she managed to find him that first time, after his brother asked her to keep an eye out.
Tamaki bows and thanks her; Umie promptly reacts by sputtering in disbelief. "... Wh... you can't thank me for something I've sucked at so far." She turns her head, her lips tied in a rueful frown. "Many times he's making me feel so restless that we just end up hunting something. Like, I feel like I'm the one who can't sit still for long." Because she can't; over and over again, whenever something touches a part of herself, it's always the same: she starts seeking out the Dark Hour, or Mementos. And she runs.
"Huh." Tamaki, again, brings a new perspective. How is it that she has more insight (the flavor that's not tied to sanity, that is) than Umie? "... Perhaps it's because my own 'first chapter' took forever to get going." She taps a colored nail to her chin. "Like a novel where the author thinks pacing is for cowards." Her tone is dry, but she grins, still in good humor. Besides, of *course* the Persona game isn't weird! (Ha ha ha could you tell Umie what happens, so that she can act like it worked for her too...?)
"... I was joking," Umie prompts, quietly, with a cheeky grin. "Sorry, still alive."
"You've got a solid head on your shoulders, talking like that. I can see why Takkun trusts you guys enough to help him." Why is she talking about Tatsuya like he's a wounded dog?
For once, the words Tamaki says don't itch at some old phrase of a lie from her past. For once, she can inspect the mystery, and feel enlightened, instead of scared. "Yeah... I heard about a chemical leak or explosion, in the news, but that was about it." She frowns. "Huh... a cognitive space that surrounded Mikage-cho... Sounds like Mementos but somehow worse, since at least Mementos stays were it's supposed to. The Dark Hour's enough as it is."
'... if I can be the kind of figure that I could only wish to have in my younger days...' "..." The words cut through Umie's carefully constructed demeanor like an arrow; her mouth making a sound as that arrow hits. She laughs below her breath. "... I guess that's what I've been doing too. I've been trying to help Takkun, but there's been so many times he's said things that have helped me."
The reaction to Umie's next reply leaves Umie dumbfolded, her cool exterior freezing with a look that could almost be comical.
Ah, you did it again, she thinks. You hid and threw up a shield of thorns, and made someone else pay while you ran.
But by the time Umie recognizes it, she's literally freezing herself. Teeth chatter uselessly as Umie scoots herself towards the space heater, wrapping herself in blankets until she almost begins to get swallowed by them. "... S-o-r-r-r-y," she chatters out. "B-b-bah-th th-th-th-ime f-for m-me-e t-thoo, Aw-ak-" She finally stops, having the sense to just wait until her tongue actually cooperates with what she wants to say. Which, thankfully, is solved with some hot tea, which Umie drinks, swaddled like a shivering caterpillar among all those blankets. ".... ahhhhhhhhhhh.... so much bettterr...."
"... Sorry," she tries again. ".... Awakening wasn't fun, for me either. Not sure if you've put two and two together, but. Takkun and I have the same Mark. I just pretend I somehow got mine with the Persona Game." She takes a long sip, giving Tamaki a long, self-depricating grin at her own expense. "That's why, when he sees me, all he can probably think about is 'oh no, guilt, guilt'."
"And he doesn't realize I'm looking back at him and thinking the same exact thing."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki adds to the warmth with the glow of her smile, pleased that mundane measures have seemed to work. All the better to ease the chill that Umie experienced! It's only after she's warmed back up that Tamaki starts the conversation back up.
She leans back on her desk, returning to her previous perch. "Right, and I was agreeing with you; we're on the same page. Just letting you know that you've got more people in your corner!" Tamaki flashes a 'peace' v-sign with a hand and her grin widens. "If you ever need backup, tag me in and I can give him a pi -- ahem. So that I can provide my perspective on the topic."
The v-sign turns into a firm pointing gesture. "I can and I will thank you for 'sucking' -- you're trying, and that's the important part." She brings her pointing hand back to her own chest and fiddles with the choker on her neck, causing the coins on it to jingle slightly. If Umie's familiar with funeral rites, or possibly with some of Myunghon's antics, she may recognize the fashion accessory as the customary fee for the ferryman to the afterlife. "Take it from me. In most cases, as long as you keep trying even in the face of failure, that's enough. I think that applies here." After a beat, she adds, "Though maybe go jogging or visit an arcade or something if you're just restless, ahaha!"
Tamaki's voice turns wistful as she moves onto her next point. "And about that 'novel' analogy: conversely, I feel like my 'first chapter' was ages and ages ago, but I feel like I've already changed so many times since then, I and keep changing. Maybe my story's already concluded, I've only been on the sidelines since that time. Or maybe I'm in a glacially-slow burn of a story, where my own Awakening is but a footnote in a greater tale, and my real purpose is to provide aid and insight to others ... or I still have yet more trials to undergo. Or perhaps I'm simply under the thralls of pareidolia, perceiving patterns that aren't really there." Tamaki pauses to laugh lightly as her demeanor brightens again. "It may not actually matter, and what's more important is that I move forward with deliberation and purpose, and that I keep moving forward."
Unfortunately for Umie's thirst for knowledge on a particular subject, however ... "I think of that group of my classmates which went to handle matters in Mikage-Cho, most of them had played the Persona Game, but the manner in which I had Awakened a couple of years prior was different, something I don't think can even be replicated anymore, and far less ... gentle, let's say." Tamaki covers her mouth to laugh at either Umie's admission it was a joke, or some private joke of her own. "Despite that, like yourself, I'm still alive, and I intend to make the most of the remainder of my life."
"As I said, the more things I discover, the less certain I feel about everything. Both what I went through when I Awakened and later experienced at Mikage-Cho at least ended: both areas are squarely back in mundane reality now. Perhaps that can provide us with a bit of hope, that these things will not loom over us forever, that even those spaces and phenomena may also end someday." Tamaki taps the side of her face again in thought. "But then again, things today differ from those past situations, and while I recognize some aspects, those are outnumbered by the subjects thare I'm not familiar with. I cannot say with 100% certainty that they will end -- I can only offer a shred of optimism and hope that such a thing is possible, not inevitable."
Tamaki looks directly at Umie, her tone serious and inquisitive. "If one gives up, however, then it becomes inevitable that those phenomena will persist, not end. Why else do you think I've thanked you so profusely for continuing to try?"
Pertaining to both 'a solid head on your shoulders' and Tamaki's earlier frigid reply to 'it opens a whole new world': Tamaki raises up both her hands placatingly and nervously laughs in an attempt to cut the tension and defuse the situation. "Ahaha -- d-don't misunderstand! All I had meant is that as a result of my own Awakening, I saw firsthand how most people are not so understanding and blindly expect adherence to the collective social order. That was the world that was opened to me. I wasn't the one unfairly maligned in that situation, but I know another who was. If we can harness our resources to ensure no one is left behind, to give our aid where it's most needed, then we'll have a better world. I've seen evidence that people are capable of such in more recent days, your own actions included, but I forgot myself momentarily and lapsed back into my ... more pessimistic mindset as a first-year."
"These days, I'd instead say that I see both possibilities. Inertia may carry us all to what my pessimism fears, but things may change if we fight against the tide and push back." Tamaki laughs again before continuing, "Besides, if I prematurely adhere to fatalism within the confines of Sumaru City of all places, where commonly-held beliefs can congeal into reality, then my fate is as good as sealed, isn't it? It's important to acknowledge the risks and consequences of hardship and failure, but I feel that when several roads are closed off to you, that simply highlights the roads still open to you, as well."
Tamaki glances over Umie's arms, where such a Mark would be, though like many topics, she only knows of them, the surface details, and not their deeper significance. She tilts her head. "Unless Suou-kun branded you himself, I can scarcely imagine why he would blame himself for such a thing ... but my imagination has limits." She rolls up the sleeves of her jacket, displaying her own arms: bare untattooed skin, as almost anyone would have. (Also, moderately-toned forearms -- moreso than one might expect given her stature.) "I bear no such Mark myself, I'm afraid." UUmie would never guess the circumstances of Tamaki's Awakening in a million years, at least not by process of elimination.
Tamaki laughs behind a hand again, then sheepishly places her index fingers together to couple with an admission of guilt. "I have told a similar lie about having played the Persona Game, back in Mikage-Cho, so we have that in common. Mind you, I'm, ah, coming clean on that to a close friend in a few days. The lie served a benign purpose at the time, but that purpose no longer exists. Perhaps you should consider when the time is right to let him know, too."
Waving her hand again, she laughs. "But listen to me, going on and on like some old crone! Honestly! I'm sorry if I spoke over you while your tongue might still be thawing out. Still need some more time under those blankets? Would you like a tea refill?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Thanks." Umie gives Tamaki a relaxed half-smile, "If I think it'd help, I will. Same goes for me, though. If Tatsuya is looking really haggard while going on a request, text me, and I'll see if I can't get over there and track him down to try to help him."
Go to the arcade or jogging? Umie snickers. "God no, an arcade? I'm trying to save up my money, not spend it. And jogging during the Dark Hour is still jogging, just more interesting!" She waves a hand casually. "I don't understand why people don't get more annoyed when they step into a mundane area and can't do backflips or whatever." Because you're the one with the heart valve replacements, Umie.
"Or maybe," Umie says, taking Tamaki's 'novel' analogy, "you're a proper detective. You're solving mysteries, connecting people, and all that, so that's how your progress goes. Even small things can have big effects. Small encounters can lead to new beginnings." She smirks. "As for me? My persona is literally the embodiment of war, death, and bad omens. Pretty sure I'm the one that comes in and signals that the fun's over."
"Gotcha." So Tamaki's method of Awakening was different... and something that might not be replicated anymore. "I've never considered that, but I wonder if there's other ways that have come and gone like that. What drives them? Is it really something that happens by chance?" As for gentle... well, Umie just skips over that, for now.
"Even in Sumaru City, there's a line between the supernatural and the mundane. Demons might pop out, but I've never heard of a cognitive space intruding onto the 'real'--" Umie makes rabbit ears with both her index and ring fingers "-- world. Might want to do some research into that with your old friends; maybe that place once had a Mementos, and something made it spill out. Might even be worth it to talk to the people that seem more familiar with the place; there's people out there who use that cognitive 'cloaking' to another level, and it seems tied to an app called the Meta-Nav." She sighs. "The problem is, it's more of a matter of 'they meet you' rather than the other way around."
"... Every problem is solvable, eventually. Every lock is just a barrier with a way to cheat it called a 'key'." Umie smirks. "I should use that line on Takkun sometime. Think he'd appreciate it?"
As for Tatsuya... "Likely the same reason I feel guilty for his." Seeing Tamaki bear her wrists, Umie does the same, tugging off the thumbsleeves off her left, revealing bare skin, while the right bears much the same Mark as Tatsuya's, in the same spot. It looks undeniably identical, aside from being on a different, more slender body type. "He only got his once I came into and out of his life, but he acts like it's the same for me. What's more, it's possibly these things have a time limit. I haven't told him this, because I don't know what that 'time limit' is, or what it leads to. I've had mine for a lot longer, so I suspect he really doesn't have to worry about it. One less thing to think about."
Umie frowns, at least on the origin. Tamaki may be incorrect on whether or not Tatsuya knows, but she's correct in another way: how Umie got it. "... Maybe. He knows I have it. He doesn't know exactly how." Just that the NWO may be involved, somehow.
As Umie tries to warm up, it may lead to something Tamaki may not have noticed until now: Umie's resonance... wasn't there, before. To all appearances, she seemed like a mundane person, unless someone hasdabilities to unveil her. However, due to the shock of suddenly freezing, her resonance unveiled itself, though as she warms up, it's begun to disappear yet again, like water on a dry sidewalk. "More tea please," she quietly requests.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
"It's a deal, then!" Tamaki grins, then remembers something. "Ahh, he seemed pretty drenched after the last one he took on, some toilet ghost rumor."
Tamaki tilts her head and considers. "That sounds ... familiar. Yeo-san mentioned that they're stronger in cognitive spaces, too -- enough to ignore their injury for a time. I don't think I'd ever thought about that before, since I'm pretty fit since I've been involved in sports from a young age. I think I understand them a little better on that now." And she considers the possibility that Umie may also benefit in a similar manner, though she doesn't press the issue here. It isn't visibly apparent, and it seems rude to pry.
"Ahh, I don't know if my job is so tightly entwined with my greater 'narrative role.' You may have a point, but I've also been Awakened for far longer than I've been a mere apprentice detective. Consider why I went into this field. If anything, my early experiences caused me to want to look out for people who'd otherwise slip through the cracks, the nails that stand out too tall and get hammered." Tamaki glances back at the cabinet. "I don't take kindly to bullies, and I'm not one to join in on picking on who everyone else seems to view as an acceptable punching target. Our law enforcement proper often carries the presumption of guilt with suspicion, but I went into private practice to balance things out a bit more and prevent institutional oppression from targeting those it rightly shouldn't."
Re: Awakenings, "The nature of my own Awakening did seem tied to the nature of the cognitive space it happened within and the desires of the person who was responsible for it manifesting. It's a wide world, and it's entirely possible that there's so much more that we've never heard of and never will. I do plan on talking with those friends to get more details on that incident, since it may be related to several current-day matters. I could be mistaken on the exact mechanism, too ..." In fact, Tamaki's perception is woefully incomplete here.
Tamaki hems and haws some. "Well, I wouldn't say every problem has a solution, not in so absolute terms. A good number of them do, however, and if history is any indication, these supernatural circumstances likely have solutions as well. So ... assume a problem is solvable, until proven otherwise! My own Persona apparently has tales about her where she cursed her son several times, but her geases had clear conditions to them. If you use such a line on him ..." Tamaki pauses to place her fingers on her lips, then lowers them. "He might say you sound just like I do. Jury's out on if he'd appreciate that or not."
Tamaki simply listens on the topic of Tatsuya and Umie's respective Marks, absorbing the information. Something to follow up on later. "Regardless of whether either of you is to blame or not, it seems to me that you both are still trying to make things right again. I'm glad you have each others' backs."
She moves to make more tea as she ponders the significance of that gap in Umie's resonance. Given the plan that Ulala relayed to her, such a thing could come in handy ... Tamaki returns from the kitchenette and holds the mug of tea forward for Umie to take. "May I ask something, Akebana-san? Is it possible to cloak the resonance of others, or are you capable of only concealing your own?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
".... Hanako?" Blink, blink. "No way, Hanako's a thing?!"
"Ehh." Umie waves a violet nailed hand. "Oh yeah, yes, you got it now. Merry-san and I are similar in that regard, in some ways. I had heart surgery when I was little. I'm sure I would've been okay in sports if I was careful growing up, but I was never into them growing up for other reasons." Instead, it formed the basis for why she was able to avoid *some* potential headaches that would have revealed her 'tattoo': namely, sports in general.
"The underdogs." Umie does a little grin at that. "I've always had a soft spot people like that too. Was too much of a coward growing up to ever dare stand out in any way that I could help, so when I saw someone that is like that, they had my respect." Perhaps, that's what drew her to certain types of people. "It seems to be a common thread with a lot of Persona Users: an unwillingness to look away, or a want to help. Perhaps, it's human nature in general. It's just something that's hard to keep up with without paying for it in some way."
"Oh, in absolute times, definitely. It's more..." She considers, folding her arms. "... A way to survive. To understand that every barrier has a solution; it's just that some things require a debt of time and effort that's more than we can pay. I could move a mountain, rock by rock, if I lived forever, and had the strength. But I don't, so it's impossible for me."
Her eyelids lower. When she told Ren that line, it was being persistent in matters of normal life: tests, math, studying. Not moving mountains, or 'smaller' feats, like catching a serial murderer. For Tatsuya, who has removed himself from that life... what meaning would those words even have? "... I guess... I'd tell him it was like that day, when he lost his motorcycle. He still got up and kept moving, because there were people that needed him. To keep moving forward, despite the odds being stacked against you; that is what it means. To unlock every mystery, because..." It may hold an answer for you.
Umie sighs. "You can say that. My goals aren't all selfless; I honestly start getting ansty when I'm doing normal life things." Her lips twist in a half-frown. "Like, going to work as a cashier after running through a P...lace, like during the Dark Hour," she saves herself at the last moment there, "and acting like nothing happened? Makes it real hard to take some customer yelling about their fried chicken being too greasy, you know?"
"Just myself. I can do more than that, too, but spreading it out... too hard. Resonance, my presense, yaddayadda." She seems almost smug, as she brags about it. "That's how I manage, by myself. As long as you get that first attack in... sometimes that's all you even need."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki points at Umie. "Bingo. Urban legends of all sorts have been coming to life within Sumaru. She might not have been a thing before, but nowadays -- well, who's next? Red Cloak? Turbo Granny? Ghostly drenched taxi passengers? You did say you were looking for taking on rumors of a higher calibre ..."
"To each their own! I like them, even if I got the name 'muscle freak' in high school, aheheh. I wasn't even that bulky, but I guess I didn't fit some standard for feminine appearances."
"The underdogs," Tamaki sullenly repeats. "I've seen what happens when that goes too far without anyone standing up. Eventually, the downtrodden reach their breaking point and snap back." Tamaki closes her eyes and shakes her head. "If anything, I'd like to avoid a repeat of that in the future if I can help it."
Tamaki nods. "I think in these cases, given the ... apparent nature of these supernatural spaces, these matters likely do have solutions. I only fear that when Suou-kun fulfills his purpose, he'll have burnt out and not know how to function in every day life. I certainly struggled to readjust. But ... it does sound like he'd like your take on things."
Tamaki tilts her head as she listen. "Mmm. I'm the opposite. I can only tolerate cognitive spaces for so long before I need to resurface. I don't quite associate them with excitement anymore, simply trouble, a sign that something's wrong. But maybe my opinion would be different if I worked retail."
Regarding Umie's cloaking abilities, that still seems to satisfy Tamaki. "Hmm. Just yourself might still be enough for what I have in mind; I'll text you if this idea takes off further. I'm not sure Tatsuya-kun would approve, however."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"..." Umie makes a sour face, like she's just tasted a lemon. "... Yeah, but... dealing with toilets...?" God, Tatsuya must have stank to high heaven...
"I guess that's just how rumors work." Umie shrugs. "It's weird that it's just Sumaru City, though it hasn't stopped some things from happening elsewhere."
"Well, it wasn't that I *disliked* sports, but more this." Umie lifts up her right wrist. "It was hairy enough trying to get through school and having to figure out ways to cover the top of my right hand. And during the warm months? Forget about it. Some kids were convinced I was part of some religious cult." Which, in a way, they'd be right, but for different, scarier reasons. "But really? 'Muscle freak'? Screw them; you're fine the way you are."
"..." Is that how some Palaces start, she wonders? Or not just Palaces... Forbidden powers, being granted to people at their most desperate, or their most lonely.
"He'll need yours, too, you know." Umie's expression turns serious. "Someone who doesn't have the Mark, who he's had to trust, whether it was willing or not." She burrows further into her blankets. "I don't think he's able to think about what's going to happen beyond the Old Maid being dealt with. Like, if he did, it'd scare him. He's powerful, but you're right. He'll break. When that happens, I'm going to do whatever I can, because..." She breathes, remembering what Tamaki said earlier. "That's the sort of person I wanted to be there for me, once."
Or maybe, Tatsuya will 'go back to his home planet' or whatever it is that's supposed to happen, and...
Why does that feel painful, somehow? If he just 'returns' to whatever, and the body he was 'in' is reset... "... But maybe I'm the selfish one, because if he does succeed, or whatever, he'll go back to being his normal self." She sinks into her blankets. "... and I'll have to go back to pretending I was just some tutor he had, once, now just a cashier."
'You'd miss that, wouldn't you? You liked being able to not having to hide everything about you from him, fighting with him, being able to finally show all the parts of you that you had hidden all this time... Or maybe, you liked that you could finally have some power over him. Aaaa, what a dangerous woman~' Mai-chan's voice, child-like and sweet, titters in Umie's mind.
Umie sips her tea, conflict spilling into the grimace in her lines of her lips and eyes.
"It was a source of freedom for me, growing up, so." She forces herself to move on from that thought. "Maybe if I had experiences like yours back then, it'd be different."
Or maybe, it's just the Badb in her.
Umie's eyelids lower; her mouth splits in an open smile. "If it's to visit an annoying little fire-starter... I've given my number to the right people. Takkun can't stop me; the Old Maid's made it quite personal for me."
"Besides, if this is what it takes to stop that ma--ahh--CHU!" She sneezes, barely able to keep her cup of tea from spilling. "... Augh..."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
He did. The amount of fabric refresher it took to get the couch back to smelling normal ... Tamaki refrains from any commentary, though for a moment, she does make the same face as Umie.
"Yeah, the rumors just seem to extend to Sumaru's borders, and no further. But they're far from the only phenomenon happening."
Tamaki nods in understanding. "That ... would be difficult to hide in a sports setting. More complications than just your heart." Then she snickers, briefly drops her normally formal, professional manner of speech, and makes a rude gesture. "Damn right I am."
If Umie were to say those thoughts aloud, Tamaki would be highly inclined to agree. Loneliness was at the root of the issue behind her Awakening.
'He'll need yours too.' Without hesitation, Tamaki nods and replies, "He has it. We've been talking about that. I think he's now giving consideration to his future. I don't know how much difference I've made yet, but it's a start."
"Would you and him need to pretend the past didn't happen?" Tamaki tilts her head in confusion, blissfully unaware of the full implications of her question. She certainly doesn't know just how necessary it is for Tatsuya to do exactly that, at least regarding the Other Side -- buuuut, since she's not aware of any such distinction between Sides, she just means events on This Side.
'Freedom.' "No, no ... I understand that. Freedom's hard to come by as a child. I would not describe my own experiences around the time of my Awakening as freeing, however. I had little choice in who I became, the road was set for me."
Tamaki also lowers her eyelids and raises her chin. "... Something of the sort. Who are 'the right people' in this case? If it's who I'm thinking of, then I can speak more freely on the topic."
"... but maybe that should wait until after you've recovered from your cold."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"They can go beyond it, but in specific circumstances," Umie says, quick as ever. "The Old Maid was able to use his powers outside of Sumaru City, for example. I nearly became one of his victims, because I thought I was at least safe until the Dark Hour." ... Also, a thing Umie can only term as 'bad luck', but the how's and why's of it still allude her.
After all, how could it be as simple as 'bad luck', when you don't really believe in luck at all?
Umie gives Tamaki a toothy grin at Tamaki's rebellious display. "Hehehe." She gives no further comment, just her quiet approval.
Tamaki's next question, however, seems to draw confusion from Umie as well, whose knowledge has been equally muddled by how piecemeal her clues have been to Tatsuya's dilemma. "That sounds like avoiding what's happened. There's something like that with Tatsuya, but I can't really ask about it."
'Freedom's hard to come by as a child.' "..." Tamaki is right, but it's hard to describe just how complicated it all is. It was her choice. She walked into that ritual room of her own free will, smiling, walking right behind Tatsuzou.
stop looking at me
go away
i didn't mean to lie
stop, please, I won't do it again
"Let's... wait, yeah." The blanket covers the top of Umie's head, as she burrows as deep as she can. "... I think I feel sick..."
It's not the rock candy causing it, but Umie's not willing to divulge that information now, as her head disappears under the pile.
She'll be like that for a while, then, when she pops her head back out, she'll act as if nothing had happened, and be on her way, thanking Tamaki for putting up with her.