2025-11-21: You Will Have Your Moment
- Log: You Will Have Your Moment
- Cast: Tamaki Uchida, Tatsuya Suou, Umie Akabane
- Where: Kuzunoha Detective Agency
- OOC Date: November 21, 2025
- IC Date: August 14, 2012
- Summary: It's just another day at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, with Tamaki being visited by a living paradox boy trying to unsuccessfully crack a phone, as well as a strange lump under some blankets on the couch. When Tatsuya hears that Jun has been in trouble, he tries to leave, but Umie and eventually Tamaki block his exit until he's managed to calm down and eat some birthday cake.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
It's been at least a few days since two things of import had occurred:
Umie had mentioned Tartarus to Tamaki, and Tamaki had at least wanted to verify the tower's existence for herself. What was intended to be a quick sightseeing trip turned out to be an impromptu rescue mission for a revenge site target. A machete-wielding Strega member pried his coffin open and unleashed Shadows on Tamaki, Umie, and Eveline ...
... And Jun had given Tamaki a message to pass on to Tatsuya. She had texted Tatsuya some time ago, asking to meet up so that she could relay the message. It's a doozy, and she figures he'll probably want the couches to at least sit on after hearing it.
Tamaki, despite various recent happenings, seems as bright and chipper as ever. It's just shy of noon, and she's enjoying a meal at her desk -- it seems she's partway through some cake. Todoroki's at his desk, quietly grumbling on a phone call. And that lucky cat statue is beckoning visitors, just as it always does.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Tatsuya's been a bit scarce lately -- he hasn't been responding to his texts all that frequently, but enough to just let people know that he's alive. He's been on the hunt for something... but it doesn't seem to have borne much fruit. He's here a bit early having walked in with some blood on his face -- not his -- and then subsequently cleaned up in short order at the kitchenette, which has become something of a ritual.
He's taken his red motorcycle leathers off again and is in a black tanktop, though his riding glove is still covering his Mark. "... if we're lucky..."
The boy's been playing with a smartphone that's distinctly not his. Did he steal it? There's a scratchy recording that he's replaying on the phone logs. Some men are speaking on it, talking about going to 'the rendezvous point', and yet before anything juicy comes in--
The recording turns scratchy, like it's been deliberately scrambled.
"... tch. So I can't get any closer just jumping random goons getting orders? Okay..."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
A bedraggled Umie was here earlier, stopping in for something. Perhaps Tamaki or Todoroki left the room at some point, or one showed up while the other left, but somehow, Umie was 'gone'.
After engaging the 'find more potential part time jobs that may pay better/keep snooping serial killers from showing up at her workplace', 'help Myunghon with that same serial killer showing up at the Cardboard Dragon', and 'keep Bento-san (Noriaki) from intentionally letting loose another poor soul into the Dark Hour' sidequests, there's been little time for important Umie tasks like: sleeping.
In Umie's sleep-deprived state, it seemed like the most logical solution: to fall asleep at the Detective Agency, where no ninjas, serial killers, NWO operatives, or likewise antagonistic forces can come and disturb her beauty sleep.
She may have mumbled she was going to do so, even, to one or the other, before Tatsuya came in, and never checked to see if there was any acknowledgement she was even heard. That, or Todoroki or Tamaki just agreed to the inevitable.
Either way? There's a vaguely shaped Umie lump under some blankets that everyone may or may not even be aware of, due to the nature of Umie's abilities.
The smartphone's scratching feedback manages to unearth a dark apricot-nailed hand from underneath a blanket, then a blonde head of hair, buns barely holding on for dear life as Umie blearily blinks at Tatsuya.
"....."
"..... Takkun?" She stifles a yawn. ".... when'd you get here...?"
One part of her brain is trying to activate, specifically the 'tutor-sensei' part, but it still needs a minute. "... You get a new phone...?"
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki just about drops her fork mid-transit as she bolts upright from the surprise of seeing Tatsuya show up unannounced. Especially in the state he's in -- or was just before he had cleaned up. She stands and plants both of her hands on her desk. "Ta -- Suou-kun! Are you alright?"
When Umie had come in earlier that day, Tamaki had offered her some cake and said it's no trouble at all. She had, however, forgotten she was there, and sheepishly offers her, " -- ahem. I apologize if my shouting woke you, Akabane-san."
It takes her several more moments to process other aspects of his appearance. The thought that he simply got a replacement comes to mind, but the recording he's watching and his utterances help her further connect the dots. "... You relieved one of the 'goons' of their phone, I take it? It sounds like a good idea, but I imagine it'll take a bit of luck to really get anything out of it, not to mention that it's risky, to boot."
There's something she's forgetting to ask Tatsuya, but it's juuuust on the tip of her tongue. Oh -- "Would you like some cake? And help yourself to some tea or coffee, if you'd like." After a beat, she remembers what it really was, then starts rifling through her bookshelf for something. " -- oh, and let me get that message Kashihara-kun had wanted me to give to you ..."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
There's a mostly stoic look that just betrays a note of mild surprise when Umie rises from out of her couch-like grave, looking very much still like she hasn't started her day yet. "... good morning, Tutor-sensei." Is that something like sass erupting out of Tatsuya?!?!
"Yeah, I'm fine. This isn't my blood," Tatsuya reassures. Tamaki's connected the dots already, though. "Yeah. I guess they own the telecoms in this city, so once they realised I'd stolen the phone, they worked to edit all the information out... if it were someone smarter with tech, like that Baofu, he might be able to extract something in time..."
He knows Baofu? Surprising...
"This'll be inconvenient to have around too long, so I should dump it," Tatsuya concludes, literally snapping the phone in half and fishing the important bits out in the middle like he were just playing with a senbei cracker. ... there's easier and safer ways to get rid of phones, Tatsuya. What if you made the battery explode...
"... hmm?" Tatsuya's about to answer about cake or coffee, but the mention of Kashihara-kun has him frowning slowly. "Jun-- Kashihara-san did?"
His heart's heavy again. He'd been prepared to say his farewells right here, on this spot he's standing on. Or... close enough. But destiny wasn't going to let that be, was it?
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Nono, s'fine, if you have Takkun over I've be angry if I didn't get to..." She yawns, interrupting her thought. "G'morning, Takkun." She knows how to deal with sass.
"'Fraid I don't know any hacking genuises." Umie emerges further, like a small, grumpy, rumbled butterfly. Tatsuya mentioning that it 'isn't his blood' inspires Umie to finally sit up from her cocoon. "Takkun. You could bring me along, you know," she huffs, flatly.
The mention of cake now entices Umie, when before it didn't. She leaves her fuzzy shell behind, straighting her half-sleeves complusively as she goes to help herself.
"Kashihara-san's been doing some digging of his own," Umie says, after a yawn. "Been giving him contacts when he's asked. Him knowing people like your brother means he'll have more than one person to turn to at all times. But I think he understands this is serious." She rubs the back of her neck. "Besides, with Tsubasa Seki-san being targetted, that's two people he knows being affected."
Pause. "Seki-san yelled at me too, so. Takkun, you stand vindicated in being the one of us that's managed to do well with them. Friendliness just gets them paranoid. Can you believe that?" Yeah, Umie, like that isn't something _you also do_.
"The Old Maid's been out and about in civilian guise, by the way." Umie now has a piece of cake. "Saw him at a shady circus, and then, at the Cardboard Dragon. The latter place he was looking for me." She grumbles. "Surprised I haven't been fired from the Triple 7 at this point. If he visits me there? Definitely will get fired, after what happened last time." She pops a piece of cake in her mouth. "Frickin' NWO agent punched like a mule."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki's gaze did slide over towards where the Agency keeps their first aid kits (which she helps to replenish with her friends-and-family discount at a certain pharmacy), but after hearing Tatsuya's reassurance that it isn't her blood, she smiles back at him in relief.
Enjoy the remnants of Tamaki's birthday cake, Umie. That may explain her high spirits ... she had a good day yesterday.
She blinks, slightly taken aback. "You know of Baofu? I can point you in his direc -- ah -- "
But then he snaps the phone, and she freezes in place midsentence, cheerful expression and all. The sight of it sends a shiver up her spine and causes her skin to crawl. There are safer ways to do that! There are proper disposal methods! They could have transferred the data! And the battery --
Chastising him won't do either of them any good. It takes her a few moments to regain enough composure to suppress her initial urges and instead calmly state, "I can take that off your hands and ensure that it gets disposed of properly, if you'd like."
Kashihara-san? Tatsuya's choice of honorific garners a confused single-eyebrow-raise from her, though she doesn't comment aloud. None of that's her business; there's a hard line between actual investigation work and gossip over personal affairs.
Tamaki smiles brightly at Umie. "Seki-san? Since you mentioned them, I did ask them for assistance in digging through public records in exchange for my help in looking into why they would be targeted. You might see them around here from time to time."
Tamaki's expression grows somber again as she retrieves the note she had transcribed. She nods at Tatsuya. "He did. As Akabane-san says, he didn't know it at the time, but it seems the Joker Killer had approached him 'in civilian guise' and struck up a conversation with him. After he described his appearance to your brother and Akechi-san, they confirmed his likely identity. Hearing his description for myself, I'm inclined to agree."
Turning to Umie briefly before facing Tatsuya again, she adds, "... furthermore, members of Strega had approached Kashihara-kun afterwards. They were curious to know what Sudou's interest in him was, though Kashihara-kun hardly knows, either. It doesn't seem like he means him any bodily harm, at least ..." She glances down at her writings. "Kashihara-kun's phrasing puzzles me a little bit, though. 'Please tell him I'm sorry. Fate itself doesn't want to keep me out of trouble, if it's so determined to chase after me.'"
What's fate got to do with it? Tamaki doesn't have a clue.
Tamaki boggles at Umie. "What agent, Akabane-san? The same one from that warehouse?" She shakes her head. "Well, at the very least, if your Rumor's properly taken effect, your best odds of avoiding the Joker Killer are actually in the Triple Seven."
"And that man you and I encountered the other night in front of Tartarus -- he's associated with that revenge request site, I take it?"
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
"You've got other people you need to support, it's fine," is Tatsuya's answer to why he didn't pick Umie up on a mission to jump some NWO goons. Is this just the polite way of saying she'd be too slow or something!? Kids these days.
The topic of Jun does discomfort Tatsuya, though, and he reflexively puts his hands in his pockets. You know, he looks kinda silly with that glove on and just his tanktop. "... it's clear what the Joker Killer wants," he murmurs. But it's what Tamaki says that really alarms him. He does hand the broken phone over. Tatsuya probably doesn't know of the fell dangers of lithium-ion batteries, ooooo... spooky...
But still. Members of Strega approached him, and also... Sudou himself, in civilian guise. "Tch... I've got to really finish all this..." he grouses to himself, suddenly sinking and receding into that guilty, faraway look-- but Tamaki's not done. He has a message to Tatsuya himself.
Tell him he's sorry. Fate itself doesn't want to keep him out of trouble...
...
...
It's his fault... it really has all always been his fault, no matter how much of a strong countenance Jun brings to things. Fate itself is conspiring to not make 'Jun Kashihara' happy. He's so perturbed by all this that the rest of the conversation between Umie and Tamaki -- bout a different NWO agent, about Tsubasa Seki also being a target for the Joker, and also even fighting someone in front of Tartarus -- all just seems to slip above his head.
It's like he's a million lightyears away, at this point.
"Sudou'll stop at nothing to make him the centre of his attentions," Tatsuya mumbles grimly. "The only way this ends is with him in a coffin."
He grabs his jacket and suits up in short order, then seizes the katana in its shinai bag and slings over his shoulder. "I don't have time to sit around... I've been too lax... sorry, but I have to go, Akabane-san, Uchida-san. Thanks for the information."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'You've got other people you need to support, it's fine.' "'It's fine?' Don't give me that." Umie shoots back, concern in her voice. "What are they going to do, kill me? I'm sure they would have found a reason sooner or later."
Umie nods, at Tamaki's response. "Sounds good. Since they're already aware of the supernatural, that sounds like a good spot." She sighs. "They have a lot of people looking out for them; my concern was unwarranted."
'...seems the Joker Killer had approached him 'in civilian guise' and struck up a conversation with him.' Umie's eyes widen. "Wait, what?! Is that why..." Maybe Jun *had* mentioned it to her, and she just didn't clue in. "I'll need to talk to him and figure out what's up." Umie frowns.
And then Strega?! "... Shit..." Umie winces. "He could've..." No, Jun *wouldn't* tell Umie, she realizes. He doesn't know her very well, and after her going after Tsubasa so forcefully to make up for lost time...
"... Oh, yeah." Umie looks up, disturbed out of her thoughts by Tamaki's question. "He came after me some time before that." She swallows, remembering what happened, that night. "... He kept to his word, by not killing me. But I'm not that thrilled at knowing he *would* if ordered. So. Triple 7... not really safe. Besides, I think I messed the rumor up altogthe--"
Meanwhile, Tatsuya begins to move. She should have realized he'd do this, after hearing about Jun.
She has to take control of this situation, just like yesterday with Myunghon, or Tatsuya might just walk on and disappear, all over again, maybe even for the last time.
... And so, the 155 cm young woman puts her plate down, hunches slightly, and *leaps* over the coffee table between them with a nimble step onto the couch's back, and then, with the next step, *over* Tatsuya to plant herself in front of the doors leading out. "No, *you stay*." She spreads her arms out wide. "And you *sit down and eat something*. I just watched you disassociate during the last attack." And she... wasn't any better, then. And after then. (... Maybe, it's getting worse.)
"The reason you're not getting anywhere," Umie starts, "is because you keep doing everything yourself." Pot, meet kettle?
"You're the only other person I know that has a Mark like this. You think these'll just go away because he's dead? He's not the only one with the Mark. And the NWO... that isn't going away either. You haven't said *anything* about what happens after this goal of yours, and I'm beginning to suspect you *have none*." Red brown eyes look up at Tatsuya's own.
"... Please," she says, more softly. "I'll chase you, if I have to."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
At their exchange over 'other people to support,' Tamaki glances between the pair. As she attempts to de-escalate matters, her tone is placating. "While that may be true, we'd like to support you, too. No one person can keep going at full steam forever. It's better for everyone if we spread the load around."
About Tsubasa, "Mmm. I think it's more accurate to say that your concern may have been warranted, Akabane-san, but it has now been addressed."
Then about Jun, Sudou, and Strega, Tamaki tilts her head at Umie, unsure what she's getting at. She visibly grows concerned after Umie confirms that the warehouse was the second time she had encountered that ferryman-salaryman, but that might have to wait and be revisited shortly after as someone else starts to shuffle off outside --
Tatsuya's sudden motions for departure cause her to try and follow him to the door, though she's slower to do so than Umie. In frustration, she calls out after him, "Wha -- Hey! You're going to just go off on your own again?"
Just after she shouts, she winces. She's doing it again. There are lessons she's learned long ago herself, and during her own high school days, she had incredibly little patience for others who hadn't caught up to her own progress yet. She had genuinely cared for her ex-fiancé on some level, true, but they had bickered with much frequency and intensity both. Her manner of expressing her care had been anything but gentle, and it's better characterized as brusque and berating.
It's an aspect of herself that she's tried to work on for the last several years. While she has been mostly successful, the shame in the realization that she isn't entirely rid of her old habits painfully stings her chest just as much as her eyes sting with the beginnings of tears.
She shuts her eyes and exhales a long sigh to try and reset herself. No matter how much she sees other aspects of her younger self reflected back at her in Tatsuya, no matter how badly she wants to shake him by his motorcycle jacket's collar and get him to learn what she feels like she's already learned herself, getting through to him will require patience.
"My apologies. You just ... remind me of how I used to act, in some ways." She glances over at Umie as she states he keeps 'doing everything himself,' then nods. "Precisely like that. I ... had a partner, back when I had first Awakened. When we did. Now there's just me. Or so that was the case until these last few months."
Umie goes on about the Mark. That's something Tamaki can't relate to at all, at least not so directly. Nor is Tatsuya's apparent lack of regard for what happens to him after he's completed his grim task; she'd always been fighting to be able to enjoy a normal life. It's not those, but ... "Our situations aren't exactly alike, and I feel that I did have it lighter than you currently do in some regards. Still, the sense of single-minded urgency and purpose you seem to move with rings all too familiar."
Tamaki glances down, then fiddles with the six-coined choker adorning her neck. "What I went through damn near broke me. I'm going to say this more gently than Akabane-san, but please, stay for a while. If not now, then sometime soon. I ... think I would like to tell you about my own history sometime, then -- pardon the expression -- you can tell me if I'm full of shit or not."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Tatsuya didn't expect to make it out of the Detective Agency without Umie intervening. Tamaki's reaction is a little more unexpected, however. He never really got to talk to her a lot on the Other Side, but she'd been pivotal in some of the struggles they've faced against the Masked Circle, even going as far as to adopt an almost superhero-like disguise at times. (It was, as he recalls, Nekomata-themed.) There's wisdom in what both of them say, yet...
Umie points out that the reason he hasn't gotten anywhere is because he keeps doing things by himself.
True, he thinks, and yet... and yet...
Tamaki contrasts this to her own experiences, ones Tatsuya can't possibly be familiar with. He observes the way in which she has to work through and choose patience, in contrast to that temperament just earlier. This is... how adults do things, he thinks reflexively, distracted for a moment as he stops. That he reminds her of how she used to act -- she had a partner, when she first Awakened, but now...
...
That makes two of them. He can still see it, the way the group used to all unfold in a slightly different, more run-down Kuzunoha Detective Agency. The way Ginko'd spend her time with the cat statue, and Eikichi has dibs on a certain corner of a couch, and Yukki's always the responsible one keeping tabs on actual developments, and Maya-nee...
Maya-nee... she hasn't given up either.
Umie points out that he hasn't said antyhing about what happens after he's concluded his goal. Her eyes meet his.
They're very cold and far-away, nothing like the Takkun she once knew. There's no life in them.
"My goal's always been the same as it was, before and after Sudou's gone too, Akabane-san... I have to atone, because I committed a sin that should not exist," he gravely says. "And now Jun, and Maya-nee--" mistake "and so many others have been drawn into all this, because of me. It's because I fell into a moment of weakness that he has placed his Mark on me. On you. On so many other people."
Tamaki shares that what she went through nearly broke her -- and she'd like to share her history. He'd really like to, in a vacuum. He would've, back on the Other Side. He wants to hear about what kinds of struggles everyone else's gone through -- that was just Tatsuya's natural predisposition.
But now...
"Everything will collapse if I don't atone. Every moment I allow myself to be distracted by the idea I belong here... the closer someone gets, the harder it'll only be. Don't you get it?"
On the surface, these are the words of a teenager at the brink of despair.
"... so please. Just leave me alone for now."
And then, he tries to quietly shuffle through the door again, head tucked down, a hand tucking the strap of that shinai bag tighter.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"... Like I said to a friend of mine," Umie notes wryily on the topic of Tsubasa, "there's a difference between 'the police are covering shit up' like I'm Captain Obvious, and then there's 'the police are covering shit up because...'" She trails off; it's hard at this point to tell who knows what, and who is save to admit it to.
"It's just a different setup. Pretty sure there's ways I've been better off than some," Umie says to Tamaki. From what little Umie's learned, the incidents Tamaki's been through outweigh a lot of what most of her life has been. But then again, isn't that how it goes? Something happens, and you fall into the supernatural world like Alice through the looking glass.
'It's because I fell into a moment of weakness that he has placed his Mark on me. On you.' Rage licks at the back of Umie's throat. This? _Again_?
"That's... a load of bullshit, Takkun." Umie never talked like this before as a tutor, but this Tatsuya, the same with those cold, distant eyes, wouldn't know that. "I've had the Mark since I was eleven. It started because I told lies about that fancy sinless world Tatsuzou sold to my parents. At some point, the lies refused to stop, and Tatsuzou threw me into..." She swallows. "... Since then, I've had my Persona, and I've heard things. If anything, my decision to tutor you increased your chances of getting yours." Her right hand clamps onto Tatsuya's right wrist; an intentional act.
It's also intentional so Tamaki has a chance to get closer to him.
"You don't get to take my sins from me. I may have been a kid, but a part of me still invited it." She could have been more sympathetic to Myunghon, but here? She feels she's being just as stubborn as she needs to be. "So we are giving you cake, you are going to calm down, and we are going to get more information. Then, you will go do what you need to do. Okay? I can, and I *will* tie you the hell up with my weapon. *This* is *my* atonement."
She attempts to lock eyes with Tamaki, in order to correlate a possible means of attack.
"You *will* have your moment, Takkun."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tatsuya does remember the Other Side correctly -- mostly. She did (and still does!) have a cat burglar costume to go about swashbuckling in ... though she lacked some of the drive that she seems to now possess on This Side. She was hardly a speedbump for tougher adversaries such as King Leo, registering only as the smallest of inconveniences as they'd instantly sweep her aside. One may be hard-pressed to believe that the Other Side's incredibly lackadaisical Tamaki was a veteran Persona-user at the time.
The Other Side's Tamaki may have taken the advice of This Side's Tamaki about leaning on others to the other extreme: she came to the conclusion that once was enough for her, that she did her fair share, and so she didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt about sitting back and kicking her heels up while others handled the incidents in the Other Side's Mikage-cho and Sumaru City.
-=-=-
But back to This Side.
Umie trails off with a 'because ...' and Tamaki gives her a meaningful glance. There are a number of secrets that she keeps, too. A recent visit from Public Security after speaking about one has her staying more tight-lipped than ever, herself.
She closes her eyes as she replies to Umie again. "... It is a different setup, like you say. While my situation was harrowing in the moment, I do feel as if I came out of it relatively unscathed in the long-term. That's why I say it's lighter."
Tamaki takes keen notice of the honorifics -- or lack thereof -- that Tatsuya had used just then. 'Jun.' Not 'Kashihara-san.' Not even 'Kashihara-kun.' Simply 'Jun.' And then 'Maya-nee'. They do strike her as overly familiar ...
'Everything will collapse if I don't atone. Every moment I allow myself to be distracted by the idea I belong here... the closer someone gets, the harder it'll only be. Don't you get it?'
'Don't you get it?'
'Don't you get it?'
As for the totality of what Tatsuya's referring to ... after taking several moments to consider the question, Tamaki can only curtly answer:
"No. I don't." It's a painful admission for her to make.
On some other level, she does get it. It doesn't have the same reality-shattering stakes as Tatsuya's plight does, but she was faced with a similar dilemma, albeit on a lesser scale. As much as she dearly misses Reiko Akanezawa, as much as she had wanted Ideo Hazama to have instead experienced a life where his peers were more compassionate to him, both of them are gone from this world.
She has long since made her peace with that fact and moved on with her own life. Rather than attempt to find them again, her focus today is on helping the people more directly in her sphere of influence. From her perspective, there's no point in considering how fate could have diverged, no reason to consider 'if ...'-prefixed musings of alternate histories or timelines. (Other possibilities ... that's what Yanagi had told her about what a Homunculus is, isn't it?)
She doesn't get why or how 'everything will collapse.'
But she does get why 'it' will be more difficult 'the closer someone gets.'
More softly, she adds, "... Not entirely. Not the first part -- " Tatsuya may be forgiven for getting the impression that she's dismissing 'everything will collapse' as a teenager-typical maudlin overstatement. Her next statement carries genuine sorrow to it. " -- But I do know the pain of having to leave friendships and relationships in the past."
Umie briefly goes over her own history, and Tamaki is reminded of another gulf which separates herself from both Tatsuya and Umie: Tamaki hasn't needed to atone -- or at least, not for either of their sins. Painful as it may be, Tamaki is particularly adept at detachment.
She boggles mouth agape at Umie's admission that she was eleven. She's not going to undercut Umie by arguing with her right now, but that's something she's going to revisit.
Feeling that gulf more keenly than ever, Tamaki's all but ready to relent and let Tatsuya leave, but Umie surprises Tamaki with her insistence. As their gazes meet, she can't help but follow along in her own way. While Umie may get physical, Tamaki will stick with rhetoric as her weapon (for now). "Allow me to say this, at least: I had my own task to accomplish, and I tried to recklessly throw myself headlong into danger many, many times to little avail. I was only successful in it after I had taken the time to relax and recharge."
Tamaki stretches her hand forward, beckoning Tatsuya to stay. "Consider it tactical and strategical advice that doesn't stand at odds with your goal, but ultimately aligns with it: sit down and eat some goddamn cake." There's a dangerous glint in her eye -- she knows not to grab his leathers, but at something with more traction to it. "Last warning."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Umie's upset again. ... there's something kind of nostalgic about it, not because Tatsuya's been in the habit of making Umie upset, but because sometimes, when he's done something reckless, Yukki or Maya-nee would do much the same... but...
She's upset about the Mark. She's convinced that because she was younger, she must've been further down the chain -- if not convinced she's the originator -- and thus, infected him with it. Tatsuya doesn't have the energy to argue. Because Tatsuzou sold her parents a false dream. A world without sin.
Tatsuzou threw her to...
to...
There's a quiet frown. It's him...
He's almost a ragdoll the way Umie moves his right wrist. Is she just not hiding it from Tamaki anymore? Well, that's fine. There is a fire here in Tamaki on This Side that Tatsuya wasn't expecting. Tatsuya knew she was a veteran, of course, that she'd seen things -- that she was part of the St. Hermelin crew was evidence enough, but there seemed to be... more.
But it was like it was all too much, to keep doing it over and over again. It's the age-old question any hero faces: how many times?
Perhaps Tamaki has a stronger count of it than most, with those six mon coins of hers. Tatsuya does sound the part of the maudlin teenager -- one at risk of self-harm to himself, perhaps. But... they both insist, last warning. He's not going to get away. He could stop time.
Stopping time to get away from his troubles is only going to invite more disaster.
"... okay... I get it," Tatsuya eventually relents. And thus, moments later, Tatsuya is seated in front of a juicy fat slice of
*drum roll*
caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake!
Oh god, Tatsuya despairs inside. It looks about as sweet as nii-san's cakes...
You better check your blood glucose after, Takkun. Hyahahahaha!!!