2025-10-24: Reporting Strega
- Log: 2025-10-24 Reporting Strega
- Cast: Jun Kashihara, Goro Akechi, Katsuya Suou
- Where: Jolly Roger @ Seaside Mall, Konan Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: October 24, 2025
- IC Date: July 31, 2012
- Summary: After getting intimidated by Strega, Jun reports the incident to Sergeant Suou and Detective Akechi. He is quite well-prepared--but less so to learn the nice-seeming man he'd met the other day in Rengedai was actually the Joker Killer.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
It has been a quietly stressful past few days. Finals? Oh, no, finals were fine. Jun had an easy time with them; he is confident that he's ended up on the top ten, if not the top of his class, period.
The issue is his recent run-in with Strega--but more on that later. More importantly, Jun reached out to one Umie Akabane to help him get in touch with Sergeant Katsuya Suou. It came up that she also has the contact information for Goro Akechi, who is extremely relevant to what's going on, so Jun asked if she could get him in on this too. Umie could, and kindly coordinated a meeting between the three at the family restaurant Jolly Roger at the Seaside Mall. (It was figured that it might not be the greatest idea for them to meet at the Konan PD Station. Jun did not disagree.)
Jun waits there now, drinking tea, dressed in his summer casual clothing now that summer vacation has originally begun. The details of this outfit are not important; suffice to say that he is wearing a sprig of lavender in his breast pocket, not unlike the yellow lily he wears with his school uniform. Jun loves flowers.
Whenever Katsuya and/or Akechi arrive, he looks up at them with one calm eye, the other covered by his bangs. "Suou-san, Akechi-kun. Thank you for coming to meet me," he says. "I'll get straight to the point. A few days ago, I was accosted by a group called Strega, asking me why the Joker Killer is so interested in me. This is the same group that helped the Joker Killer attack Kasugayama High back in June."
Which begs many questions right off the bat. Jun patiently lets Katsuya and Akechi ask them.
Umie Akabane has arrived from Historia: The White Chronicle.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi is grateful for all those hours spent with Umie, for her sending that message along from Jun Kashihara. Getting ahead of Tatsuzou's people matters in this information war... and walking into the Konan PD is like offering your foot to a nest of Vipers, just Vipers with funny hats.
He shows up at the Jolly Roger promptly, his briefcase turned around with his left hand to look like a simple metal briefcase, as the logo was only on one side.
He's in... a patterned sweater vest, in the summer, over a collared white shirt and a pair of nice tan slacks. However, perhaps it's appropriate, after all, he spends so much of his time indoors, in air conditioned places.
Once inside, he nods to 'Master' - a Rumormonger he's acquainted with, and takes a seat, placing his metal briefcase on part of the seat.
"It's no trouble. After all, if you're calling to report something, it must be quite important, Kashihara-san." He says, with an expression to make it clear he's taking this seriously. Jun knows that he can be... far too serious, at times, when pursuing the truth.
Fortunately, he's someone who can certainly be trusted despite his... 'eccentricities' when it comes to unraveling a mystery.
"And I must say, that it's good to see you again in good health, Sergeant Suou."
Interesting choice of phrase.
"Strega..." Akechi puts a hand to his chin, as if in consideration. "... that is quite unusual. By all accounts, the 'Joker Killer' is affiliated with the group. Something you know first hand."
A pause.
"If they're coming to you, it must be that he's keeping the reasons for his interest in you a secret even from his allies. Something which piques their curiosity at least... or a more active rift, if we're fortunate."
He doubts it's the latter, but someone poking around at Sudou's motivations among his allies could be something to exploit all the same. "Do you have the name of this member of Strega? Or, if not that, a general description?" Akechi reaches into a pocket, and takes out a notebook, and a fountain pen. He turns the pages until he gets to an empty one, and starts to write in a shorthand of sorts.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Fortunately, Katsuya had been able to return to the day shift insofar as his working hours went. This is a good thing, because being stuck on night shift had shifted all of his regular activities towards that half of the day, which had meant that even on his days off he had been limited in what he could get done.
(All that it had taken was a casual comment with Chief Togashi about his new working hours, and within days the problem had been mended. Togashi has little recourse to rock the boat presently, but the Konan Department is still his own ship.)
So, when Umie had acted as intermediary, and directed him and Akechi alike to a meeting with a young man that Katsuya had made the acquaintance of only a couple of weeks ago, the logistics of that meeting were fairly painless.
But what on Earth is it that he could be asking them both about?
"Akechi-kun. It is good to see you." His own greeting is more to the point.
"Of course," he says, when Jun greets them both. "If it is something serious enough to report, then we had ought to listen." It's certainly a similar enough sentiment to the one that Akechi is professing.
Katsuya is wondering, too, why it is that Jun's come to them and not the police, though he has his suspicions--
And in a sense, those suspicions are proven on the mark. "'Strega'...? And they approached you directly? Are you in need of protection?" The... Joker Killer is interested in Jun? But why? He glances over at Akechi. "Indeed. That was what I had heard, and I have seen their apparent alliance with my own eyes," he says, reaching into his jacket pocket to retrieve a notebook. "Was it one person, or were there more than one involved?" He glances at Akechi again as he asks for names or descriptions and only nods. "A thorough description will suffice if you don't have a name."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
It might be surprising to Akechi to see Jun smile to see him, however grimly--like he's relieved rather than dismayed to see him, considering how their first and last conversation went. Jun's had time to come to terms with how that went, though. He's even grateful for Akechi's poor bedside manner at the time, so to speak. It helped him come to terms with what he wants and what he needs to do--or not do.
"Yes," Jun replies, and gets out a small notebook of his own from one of his pockets. "There were three of them. They approached me in a side street leading to Kameya Alley in Hirasaka Ward this past Friday, the 27th." He opens the notebook up, flips to the appropriate page, and reads aloud:
"Takaya. The apparent leader of the group, he took point during the conversation. Looks to be of mixed race, with pale skin and long, scraggly blond hair. Extremely thin; wore long jeans and no shirt. Tattoos up and down both arms. Well-spoken. Smiled for much of the conversation, but had a threatening air. He spoke as if names were pointless, but gave his name anyway... his given name, anyway. None of them gave me a family name. It's possible they don't have any. Asked me directly from the start why the Joker Killer is so interested in me, and implicitly threatened me and my family if I didn't cooperate.
"Jin. Scowled a lot, spoke little. He seemed annoyed to be there. Blue hair cut short, glasses, and a puffy jacket and slacks. He was treated as the source of information of the group; Takaya referred to him to get my name, and the group stated that he was the one who got the intel on me, presumably including where and when to find me. He insulted me and my intelligence several times, though I refrained from rising to the bait. I think he took whatever I said in bad faith--he's either very proud, thinks very little of others, or both.
"Niko. Tall for a girl, muscular, pink hair. Dressed all in black, with a studded leather mini-jacket, denim mini-skirt, and a chain for a belt. Friendly in a brighter, noisier way than Takaya, though no less... dissonant. She lilted and sing-sang a lot, and invited me to call her '-chan,' which I did not do. She mostly seemed to be there as support for the other two; when they approached me, Takaya and Jin blocked me from the front, and Niko blocked me from the back. She also said that the Joker Killer has told them what his interest in me is, but they wanted to hear about it from my own mouth."
Jun looks up at Akechi and Tatsuya then. "There's at least one more member of their group, though she wasn't there with them--or if she was, she didn't show herself. I don't know her name, but she was a girl with long, princess-cut red hair and a white gothic lolita dress." Jun's lips thin. "She... was part of the attack on Kasugayama that I was present for; she used a hand-axe on a chain to attack and nearly murder an underclassman of mine named Atsushi Kazama." Katsuya might recognize the name; the Kasu High first-year was admitted to the emergency room afterwards and just barely pulled through. "Jin and Niko were part of the attack on the outside; Niko claimed that Jin blew up a motorcycle, which I believe..." Jun trails off for a second, then recovers with, "did happen, since I heard an explosion outside and something like that was reported on the news."
That it was Tatsuya Suou's motorcycle, he feels disinclined to share. Tatsuya clearly doesn't like either of them, so... Jun will keep his secrets from them. Even if they already know, at least they won't have heard about it from him.
"So yes, I did get that impression," Jun adds, nodding to Akechi about a lack of communication within the group. He sets down his notebook and turns it to face Akechi and Katsuya, so they can read and copy his meticulous, elegantly-written notes if need be. It's basically what he's already said so far. "I even outright asked them why they didn't just ask him themselves, which is what prompted Niko's response. She referred to the Joker Killer as 'oji-san,' on that note--none of them looked that much older than myself, though I certainly didn't get the impression any of them were high school students, either."
Jun takes a deep breath and lets it out at this point. "...I did attempt to cooperate with them, though I tried to avoid giving them too much information, either. They made it clear that if I didn't, my classmates and family would suffer for it." His visible eye narrows, but he maintains his calm. "And this brings me to why I'm taking to you two specifically about this matter." He looks at Akechi. "Akechi-kun... I'm sure you remember that poem you told me about."
Here, he stops. He doesn't actually know how much Katsuya does or should know about that, and this is the opportunity he's giving Akechi to share something that's now (as far as Jun knows) extremely relevant.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Which is why Akechi is going to take out that poem right here and now and read it to Jun again... Just Kidding! (Even in the Meta, ohohoho)
Akechi listens to the details, as well as Katsuya's ruminations, writing down everything Jun says in that shorthand system of his.
"... A motley crew, to be certain," Akechi says as Jun finishes. "Though that only would make them more dangerous and unpredictable, rather than less so."
He does look through his notebook, as if referring to his prior notes, "... Some of the witnesses to the incident referred to her as 'Chidori'. Though, that's hardly confirmation."
Akechi notes to Jun, as if to add at least some moniker to the description. "... And yes, that sounds accurate. Forensic evidence shows that it was likely a illegal ordnance- to be more specific, a landmine, that destroyed the motorcycle."
He glances sidelong at Jun's notes, and jots down a few more notations. Before he then brings up the poem. Akechi glances upright. Then... flips through his notebook, to bring out the very same slip of paper he gave Jun. "I do." Unfolding it, and handing it over to Katsuya.
"Please read it to yourself. Kashihara-san... did not react well to it. I suspect as a result of his experiences during the attack on his school."
As he attributes it to trauma, which is quite understandable, given that Jun was in fact - traumatized by it!
A young man in red. Holding a young man with the soft smile.
Don't remember. Stop it. Don't remember.
In June, the spider lilies bloom blood red in the fields.
A man hangs from the branch, caught between decision and action,
A blackbird cries in the tree, who hears it?
Who is there? Who is it, with that face?
Black butterflies fill the school hallways.
It is just the beginning.
"I did not actually say where I obtained this poem, last time we spoke. Believe it or not, it was from the Joker Killer's own lips. I tried to test out the rumor, and called my own number... then remained silent. Staying on the line long enough I heard him breathing for some time - before he then began muttering about 'Voices' and reciting it."
It is a lie, but it's quite the plausible lie. Umie after all does not remember speaking these words at all. And even if Sudou denied it... well, the man is a psychopath who hears voices in his head and acts as if he's possessed.
"I believe he is obsessed not only with Kashihara-san..." His eyes drift to Jun's, "... but his mother as well."
A beat pause.
Before he then looks sideways at Katsuya, "And, your younger brother, Suou-san."
It's information he's a bit loathe to give up, but he can't exactly hide it since Jun knows he has it. And if he excluded Tatsuya... well, he wouldn't be much of a detective, now would he- if Jun figured it out, but not him?
It would look like he's either incompetent or untrustworthy!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Perhaps, he should have expected as much, since Jun had all the signs of a studious, er, student, to the point where he'd given Katsuya the impression that he was less cramming than lightly brushing up ahead of final exams. But he's still somewhat surprised when Jun pulls out a notebook and reads back both the names he knows but pre-written, detailed descriptions of the members of Strega he'd encountered. His own pen hovers over his notepad for a moment, as he weren't sure how to proceed.
He's asked eyewitnesses for descriptions before, but he doesn't think he's ever had someone read back pre-written notes before...
Still, he is a professional: his pen moves across his own notebook paper, taking shorthand accounts of the people that Jun had witnessed. Of them, one strikes a chord--
"'Niko', is it... I think that I have seen her before. Your description of 'Jin' seems familiar as well. The others, I do not think I have seen."
Of the two, he's seen Niko twice and Jin the once, and Takaya and the mysterious woman in white -- whom Akechi names as 'Chidori', possibly -- the never.
"Atsushi Kazama. Yes, I recall the case report." It had been blamed on an 'explosion,' he thinks he recalls: something unexpected of that nature. He had learned differently from the likes of Umie, Ulala, and others along the various networks that Persona-users in the know in Sumaru can follow.
A motorcycle had been destroyed. He makes a quick note of it, but doesn't linger long on that piece of information. He glances at Akechi. "Illegal ordnance? ...I see."
...Perhaps he ought to have waited, though, he reflects, glancing at the notebook as it's laid down. He makes a few small additions to his own, his gaze flying over the neatly written text. His handwriting is better than his own, Katsuya has to admit.
"'Oji-san'? That's... hmm. It seems they are well-acquainted with him," he remarks, clipping his pen to his notebook for the moment. "So they threatened your classmates and your family if you did not cooperate..." He'll have to ask Hamade if she can keep an eye on him: with no one else he can trust at Konan PD, he'll have to start from there.
'With no one else he can trust'. What an awful turn of events. If Akechi hadn't suggested it, he might have even still had some trust in many of his fellow officers, a scant handful excepted given recent behavior. Lacking trust in one's fellow officers, though, is certainly the first step of a long downward slide. What can one do if they can't trust another to have their back?
"The... poem?"
He doesn't know about it. Fortunately, Akechi has a copy on hand, which is handed over to Katsuya. His gaze skims the lines, and in silence, he reads what it is that he sees.
"What... is this? Was it penned by the 'Old Maid'?" He pauses, as Akechi confirms precisely that. "This... it doesn't make sense. What is this intended to express? It's... quite vague," Katsuya, the eternal skeptic, finishes.
But Akechi has one thing more to say. It's the people who are 'of interest' to the killer that he's aware of. Not just Jun. But also his mother.
"His mother? But why?"
And Katsuya's own younger brother.
There's no shock there, unlike the reaction to the apparent interest in Jun's mother. Instead, Katsuya stares down at the sheet of paper and the text upon it in silence. "..."
At length, he speaks, folding the paper in half and handing it back to Akechi. He picks up his own pen and in shorthand makes a few notes of his own.
"He is... fixated on my younger brother," he echoes. "No, that... I cannot deny."
He's seen that for himself, in fact.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
A landmine... Yes, that sounds about right, Jun grimly acknowledges to himself. He nods once. Chidori... Maybe that's the name of the girl in white, he doesn't know, but he does make a mental note of it. Katsuya recognizes a couple of the descriptions already--seems taken aback that Jun came prepared to a meeting he requested, something that brings a brief but small smile to his lips--and confirms he does recognizes Kazama's name. He doesn't interrupt when Akechi confirms he still has that poem, and is silently grateful when he doesn't read it aloud again... though he could probably handle it better now. On the contrary, he looks abashed at the reminder of how he behaved back then.
"Speaking of that--since we're sitting here together, please let me apologize for how I behaved back then," Jun says. He bows his head to Akechi. "I'm very sorry. You were only trying to help me, and I overreacted." He raises his head, and his lips thin at where Akechi said he got the poem from. "I... did pick up on that, back then," he says softly. (Well, he picked up on Akechi's lie.) "I told Strega as much, too. It seemed like they weren't aware that he'd written any kind of poetry, let alone... prophetic poetry, as you said."
A good thing that Sudou has written (will write?), or rather re-written, the In La'kech on the walls of his sanitarium cell... How convenient that so many things are coinciding to truths or near-truths here, considering this poem Akechi just shared was 'written' after the attack on Kasugayama. It looks, too, like Katsuya didn't know about any poem; Jun silently hopes this doesn't mean he accidentally lied to Takaya. After all...
"I told them about it since... that's really the only clue I have about why he's obsessed with me. I didn't remember much of it, but I told them I had the impression that it was confidential to the police, and that it had probably been written by the Joker Killer, though I wasn't sure. They didn't seem especially concerned about their ability to find out more, so it's possible they might invade the police station or hack their servers or something like that." He nods to Katsuya--and now he understands why he's here. Then he looks at Akechi. "I didn't drop your name specifically, of course. Saying that law enforcement was involved with it was as far as I was willing to go. But if they do find out you have a connection to it... they might come after you, too."
He shuts his eyes, expression pinching. "Takaya said that if they thought I was holding back or lying to them, they'd come back significantly more hostile than before. I repeated--truthfully--that I don't want anything to do with the Joker Killer and I know nothing concrete about why he's obsessed with me, so I can only hope that scant hint I gave them about the poem qualifies... but I can't simply look the other way when it might get other people in trouble instead, either."
Jun's eye widens, blood draining from his pretty face, when Akechi mentions an obsession with his mother. Akechi... probably did--no, now that he thinks about it, he did mention that. It had escaped his mind, he'd been so overwhelmed by that damned poem. Now that he's remembering that, though...
"With my mother... with Junko Kurosu," he murmurs, not quite under his breath. He nods once at the mention of Tatsuya--it seems natural to him that Akechi would be slow to mention that part, since it's Katsuya's brother--but he can only cover his mouth with one hand. That part, at least, Katsuya is already aware, but his mother... Jun(ko) Kurosu...
Tatsuya Sutoh had been a man of so many coincidences. But... are they actually not coincidences at all...?
"I'm sorry to bring up something possibly unrelated," Jun says, lifting his head, "but do either of you know of a man named Tatsuya Sutoh...? I'd thought it a coincidence, but I ran into him a few days before Strega approached me. He was a tall man with long white hair, wearing a nice jacket and scarf. I met him on the way to Seven Sisters High School, where my father teaches." Akechi would know, but Katsuya surely would not. "He seemed nice enough; he was courteous to me, at least. He said he was an alumnus there, and, when I introduced myself and said my father, Akinari Kashihara, was a teacher there, said he was his favorite teacher. He actually seemed quite shocked to learn I was his son. He mentioned that he was on break from work, so he was coming to visit the school while he could... and... he said that he had a best friend once... by the name of Jun Kurosu, whom he hadn't seen in many years. I actually brought that up with Strega, and they didn't know what I was talking about--they thought I was trying to lie to them, actually--but..."
If the Joker Killer is also obsessed with his mother, it's just one too many coincidences. Jun can't afford not to mention it at this point. He can only pray he's wrong, that he's just being paranoid. Surely one of Akechi or Sgt. Suou can reassure him.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi seems initially startled by Jun's reaction, especially as he bows his head and apologizes, but then he smiles, "Thank you, Kashihara-san... though there's no need for that. I should apologize myself for being too... forceful, in my investigative techniques."
He even has the good grace to look vaguely ashamed, "You'd witnessed a truly terrible incident not long before... I should have been more sensitive to that."
It's easy for him to be magnanimous, after someone apologizes first, isn't it? Especially when he still comes out on top, since he was only trying to help him- yes, that's what he was trying to do.
And it is a good thing, isn't it? It's not as if Goro Akechi would have access to intelligence about the Sanitarium itself from a vast conspiracy in control of the personnel there.
That would be quite silly to think that!
He listens to more of Jun's encounter with Strega. "I understand, though if you must drop my name in the future in order to satisfy ruthless killers threatening you and your family, then I would hardly begrudge you that. It is what Sergeant Suou and I 'sign up for' in a sense, to put ourselves in harm's way. I'm only glad that you came out of the encounter unscathed, Kashihara-san."
Katsuya describes the prophecy as vague, and Akechi confirms, "Perhaps. ...I think if you consider it more as 'Prophecy' than Poem, it may make more sense to you. His fixations as his 'future' in a sense is quite revealing."
As for Junko Kashihara, Akechi scribbles it down. "I believe it's a word game." He writes down Junko Kashihara, then the characters for Kurosu beneath it.
Then he writes the character for Kuro-> Writes out Blackbird and beneath it separates out 'Black' -> Karasu. "If you break it down based on her Maiden Name and look at it as a rhyming puzzle, it suggests her." He rests a hand upon his chin, as if reexamining it again, "Ordinarily I might consider that a stretch on it's own- if not for his fixation upon Kashihara-san, and his mother's status in the public eye."
It is common enough after all for serial killers to fixate upon celebrities.
He watches Katsuya's reaction for his brother, merely nodding after a moment, "I see." He waits to see if Katsuya says more on the matter when...
... Jun mentions that he'd encountered Tatsuya Sutoh, a man with White Hair, and Akechi's eyebrows shoot up. Jun will see the alarm even before he finishes, and he will look sidelong towards Katsuya, perhaps trading a glance there.
"Kashihara-san... it is our current theory that the Joker Killer is none other than that very same man. Though his name is 'Tatsuya Sudou.' 'Sutoh' is likely a thinly veiled pseudonym he chose for himself, perhaps as some tongue in cheek joke."
One might think Akechi should be scolded for giving out such information, but 1. The Sumaru PD doesn't acknowledge that Sudou could be a suspect, other than Katsuya. 2. It's for Jun's protection to know this.
"... A former student of your father. Suddenly, his obsession with you and your mother makes a great deal more sense." Akechi drops his hand from his chin, and writes down 'Jun Kurosu', just in case, though for now he believes it only backs up his theory on Junko.
"... It is interesting, that he treated you so kindly. Though it is likely so that you will relax your guard around him should he approach you again in the future."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Jun reacted badly to this poem. Yet, even as he reviews it once, twice more, Katsuya can't begin to guess why. It's certainly... evocative. A little too floral, even. "Is this meant to sound prophetic?" he guesses, which, based on further statement from Jun and Akechi on the matter, is apparently right on the money. "I see... so, that is the sort of mindset the killer is in." Acting as if he has been given the 'gift' of prophecy -- or perhaps even believing it. #501 certainly didn't appear to be in his right mind, at least not based on any of the circumstances in which his and the killer's paths had crossed.
Confidential to the police, is it... He doesn't look at Akechi. Something he had been in possession of, and which he hadn't handed over to the investigation at Konan, well, Katsuya can guess why not. It must be something important to cracking the case, as... strange as it seems when he looks at it. So it's something that could vanish, if the investigation is being tampered with. Perhaps it's best kept with Akechi, with that in mind.
They might invade the police station next, and even if things are fraught, this evokes a reaction from Katsuya. "From afar? Surely, they couldn't..." He trails off, as if to silently consider a few things more. With one hand, he readjusts his sunglasses. "...I see."
They might come after him, too. After both of them.
"That is certainly possible. Thank you for the warning, Kashihara-kun. Please do not worry," he says, trading a look at Akechi, "we will both be prepared for such an occurance. As Akechi-kun says, this is our duty as civil servants and defenders of the peace." He says that, completely straight-faced.
Perhaps they'll both be prepared better than Jun might immediately think, at that. If it's all of Strega, at once, though, like it was with Jun, on the other hand, that could be more of a problem.
Well. He'll have to hope it's not quite a visit like that one.
Or that they don't threaten his parents, for that matter. He'd like to think he could keep from being coerced, himself, but... it's more difficult to know how it might go in a situation like that one.
"I agree. As long as you were able to escape that encounter safely, that is all that matters," he says, meanwhile. "We will be able to take care of ourselves, especially with your warning."
Jun, however, may still be concerned for his own safety. "Please rest assured, Kashihara-kun. We will do our best to keep an eye on you to maintain your safety." Hamade, and whatever support they can buy from the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, he decides. They should know some people who can watch over Jun, even if they can't intervene physically.
"Your mother is...?" It's not as if he doesn't know the name and the face that goes with it, even if he's not a movie-goer himself. "I see." Actually, he really can. The resemblance is rather striking, now that he considers it.
Akechi even points out that the poem/prophecy appears to contain a bit of wordplay. "That's... certainly the connection made by a disturbed mind," he says, after regarding the supposition. Real criminals don't hint at their future misdeeds by poetry! That's like something out of a TV serial, it's not real life. Except, what is /real/, anymore?
"Tatsuya... Sutoh?" Katsuya echoes. Is there a bit of disbelief in his voice as Jun describes the man he's met? Surely, it couldn't be. A pseudonym that flimsy is--
He trades a sidelong glance with Akechi. The young man, if Katsuya is reading him right, is thinking the exact same thing as him.
Akechi comes out and says it, even saying that this is the man that 'they' have as their primary suspect for the killings. Technically speaking, that's not a lie since there are a plurality of people associated with the police and the Konan PD who think that Tatsuya Sudou is responsible, it's just also that all of them are standing here in front of Jun (perhaps someday, Katsuya might find out that there's one more person at Konan who believes that Sudou is the killer, but today isn't that day).
"If he is the sort of person to leave hints like that in his poetry," he refuses to call it prophecy, "then perhaps he is also the sort of person who..." Katsuya reflects, on the matter of the name. It's all ridiculous nonsense. But this is also the world in which he's found he now exists.
"Yes. Perhaps he does not mean you harm, as such," he supposes, but it's mostly because he doesn't want to alarm the young man even more than he surely already is. Why such interest in Jun and his family? "Regardless, to stay safe, it would be better to avoid him if you can. Please call us if you see him again. I will try to come as quickly as I can," he says, because that, in the end, is all he can say or promise.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun offers Akechi a smile when he gives his own counter-apology. No need to doubt his sincerity, though he soon lowers his eyes. "No... You made it clear to me that I needed to be realistic." He meets his gaze again, and there is a calm steel there now. "It was an important experience."
...Of course, it helps that he met Tatsuya later and gained resolution there. Getting re-traumatized by Akechi really was an important step in that emotional journey, though. Who knows if he would have handled getting accosted by Strega so well without that?
"Ha. It's not my desire to place either of you in unnecessary danger, even if that is the case... Still, you're welcome." Katsuya's serious straight-facedness... reminds him a little of Tatsuya. It's reassuring. He smiles. "Hopefully it won't be necessary to drop your names to protect myself. Jin and Niko both seemed disgusted with me by the end and convinced I know nothing--which I don't. It was Takaya who remained..." His face tightens. "Interested, in me."
He'll place his trust in Katsuya and Akechi, though. If Katsuya can place a discreet watch on him, then that's as much as Jun can ask for. The Sevens emblem apparently was far less help than Tatsuya thought it would be, after all.
Akechi explains the wordplay between blackbird, karasu, and Kurosu. Jun covers his mouth with one hand. Absent context, it would seem like a stretch, but... the coincidences just continue to pile up. He can't deny that it does seem like a link...
...especially when he confirms (before even saying it!) that Tatsuya Sutoh is actually Tatsuya Sudou, the Joker Killer himself, most likely. "Oh god," Jun whispers--but for all the dread that washes over him like a tsunami, for all the revulsion that crawls over his skin like ten thousand spiders, he can't be shocked. He'd already had a hunch.
Still, something seems odd. Sutoh, or rather Sudou, had seemed genuinely surprised to learn Jun was Kashihara's son. If that's related to his obsession with him and his mother, shouldn't he have already known? ...Maybe it had been an act. Jun hadn't had a reason to doubt it at the time, but he can't afford that naivete any longer.
"You may be right," he murmurs, clutching his fingers in his lap, thinking of how he'd given him a flower and encouraged him on reuniting with his best friend. Just what did he unwittingly encourage in a deranged serial killer? "I'll... I'll be sure to do so. Knowing what he is now..."
It's terrifying. Not just for Jun, but for his family and friends... Why does he keep getting wrapped up in these things again, even after he made the commitment to stay away? Well, there is an obvious 'why' there, if the Joker Killer is obsessed with him...
He bows his head then. "Thank you very much for your time, Suou-san, Akechi-kun. I pray that you'll be able to catch him very soon, and I'll make sure to be in touch if any of them approach me again."
That's all any of them can do.