2026-01-04: Bonding Over Zombie Murder
- Log: Bonding Over Zombie Murder
- Cast: Shinjiro Aragaki, Suzume Fukura
- Where: Paulownia Mall
- OOC Date: January 04, 2026
- IC Date: September 05, 2012
- Summary: Shinjiro and Suzume meet up to hang out at the arcade after school, where they shoot zombies and discuss some of their hangups.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro Aragaki has returned to school. That is surprising! Uniform and all, and has not stopped attending since his return, showing up each day.
What's possibly more surprising is that one day, he asked Suzume if she wanted to hang out at the arcade after school. It's probable he's feeling some loneliness, but he does like her energy, so she's a good person to go hang out with.
When they actually meet up, Shinjiro's in his usual coat, having stopped to change (because a uniform isn't warm enough outside), leaning near the entrance to the arcade at the mall.
"Hey. How are you?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume has *also* returned to school, though it was significantly less surprising when she did it. A last-ditch session with Junpei and Minato saved her from being behind on homework, at least.
She was surprised to see Shinjiro in uniform, after what they'd talked about before; she knew he didn't attend. She guesses Mitsuru got to him, even if he'd said she wouldn't. But she hadn't said anything about it, either. She certainly didn't give him any guff about it.
When they meet up, Suzume is also not in uniform, though in her case it was less because she's cold and more because she prefers pants to skirts; she's got her Tigers T-shirt on along with some comfortable jeans.
"Fine," is her immediate response. It doesn't mean a lot because she almost always answers that question exactly the same way, but she really is fine, so she continues: "Being back at class always kind of sucks, but whatever, summer doesn't last forever." She stretches out her arms: "I could do with a break." Suzume, you have been back at class for literally three days.
She glances up at Shinjiro. "What about you?" Given, you know, all the changes. Yakushima. Amada. ...class.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro appreciates that he wasn't given any crap. He made the decision himself, after all, even if it might come off as Mitsuru having gotten to him.
"Also fine. School's hard to get used to again. Still hate it just as much," he says with a lightly teasing tone. "I've had enough breaks, thanks."
But Yakushima, Amada, class... "It's been rough, though. Hopefully it eases up a bit, but that's unlikely. I *did* get Aigis to eat something, so that's a plus, at least."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume is perfectly okay with giving her friends crap, and Shinjiro counts as a friend (she feels he does, anyway) but she's saving it for other topics.
"Yeah, well, you were gone for a while," Suzume says, as she steps past Shinjiro, toward the arcade. "I'd offer to lend you my notes, but one, my notes kind of suck, and two, wrong year." Her notes aren't that bad... in some subjects. She had to borrow Hitomi's for exam prep for math.
She pauses. "Wait, she can eat? Where does she put it? Does she have, like, a robot stomach...?" Suzume frowns, thinking about that. "Does she have to clean it out. It's not like she, like... processes it. Right?"
She shakes her head. "If you'd told me weeks ago that I'd be in a dorm with a *robot* I wouldn't have believed you. Now we're all just - she's just here! It's wild!" Suzume is kind of excited by the sci-fi, though: "I wonder what else there is out there that we haven't seen yet?"
Suzume shoves the door open to the arcade, gesturing Shinjiro to enter first if he wants with a dramatic sweep of her arm. She's got some energy to burn.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"It's fine. Worst case, I bug Kirijo," Shinjiro jokes again. "Or Aki, but he's all muscles for brains." He says it affectionately, at least!
"I think she burns it," he says about Aigis. "Would make sense to me, at least."
"What's the over-under on aliens, you think?" he asks her as they enter the arcade, taking the first step in. "Like. Do you think there's moon men?"
Shinjiro glances at the games, but he hasn't been at an arcade for fun in a long time, so... "What should we hit first, Fukura?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume sometimes feels that the only thing she's good for around SEES is her strength, so she doesn't respond to the joke quite as well as some people might have; she doesn't scowl, at least, because she knows that Shinjiro likes Aki and it's not meant to be cruel. "I figured she'd just tell you to find it yourself," is what she says instead.
Suzume has encountered Mitsuru about school-related activities.
As for Aigis: "Burns it? But then she'd have exhaust," Suzume says, before her brain goes several places: "I'm not gonna think about that," she decides firmly, shaking her head hard enough to ruffle her hair. (Which is shorter than it was on Yakushima, but still kind of floofy-shaggy.)
"I don't know about aliens," Suzume says, "at least not on the moon. Maybe Mars." Is she joking or not? "Though with our luck there's demons on the moon, like they've got in Sumaru. Moon rabbits, or something. Space mochi." Pause. "I'd eat it."
What should they hit first? "I could kick your ass at Night Parade," she offers, "or we could do something co-op. Is there a line at Horror House?" She stands on tiptoes as if trying to see. (It's clear.)
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro definitely means nothing bad to Akihiko, but they're also basically brothers. It's the only reason he talks about him that way. He wouldn't let anyone else do the same.
But, about Mitsuru... "I dunno. We both want me to graduate. We all made a promise in middle school to graduate together. It's why I came back."
"Fukura, she's a *magic robot*. It's entirely possible she breaks the laws of physics." A pause. "Do you think space mochi is in weird flavors?"
Once they're inside, Shinjiro shakes his head about the Night Parade. "Nah, my reflexes aren't good enough." His hands shake too much. Suzume may have even noticed before.
"It's open. Let's do Horror House. You'll have to teach me how to play, it's been a while," he does say, as they approach it.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
A promise, huh.
It's kind of a weird thing to promise. They're all in the same year; presumably they would all graduate together, unless something went really weird. She looks at Shinjiro as if trying to figure out what that thing might be, but gives up after a few moments. Maybe one of them almost moved away or something, she thinks, uncertain. Mitsuru wouldn't, but the other two...
...yeah, okay.
"See, that's even weirder," she says, "because magic only works after midnight, and it's not like she naps until then." Suzume isn't entirely sure how Aigis works, but it has to be technology, right? It's not all her Persona; it's not like she's only awake during the Dark Hour. She scowls, thinking: "Maybe she only breaks the rules of physics during the Dark Hour."
This way madness lies.
Suzume does know enough to keep her voice down, though, or make it sound like they're talking about a game or something, and she knows to switch the topic once they're inside: "It's a shooting game," she says. "Light gun. Point it at zombies, shoot zombies. It's not usually my best kind but I can manage."
(Suzume also has not noticed his hands shake much. She hasn't been in a position to. He seems so energized in the kitchen...)
"When you run out of ammo, reload by shooting somewhere that's not the screen," Suzume finishes. "DOn't worry. I'll cover you." She grins as she picks up one of the light guns.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Maybe she's powered by a magical chunk of Sumaru," Shinjiro jokes. But then he drops it once they're inside.
"Light gun, huh. I'll give it a try."
He picks up the gun. When they start playing... he's got strong motions, but his aim isn't perfect. He decides to shoot center-mass instead of for headshots, simply because he has a better accuracy with them.
"Tell me if I'm doing shit," he says. He probably *isn't*, but it's clear he's a newbie, even if he *did* immediately reload well.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"I mean, how do you ask that kinda thing?" Suzume wonders. "Just... 'hey, I was trying to figure out how you work'?"
A pause. "I'll see if I can convince Junpei to do it. He came up with the Babe Hunt, he's used to saying stupid things to girls." She may have looked at Shinjiro out of the corner of her eye on that one...
When they start playing, Suzume has skills. She's not as good at it as she is at fighting games - less practice; she's never had one at home to play. But she's pretty good.
"C'mon, over here! Take shots at the ones on the left - no, crap, they come in from above - !"
She also has a tendency to take charge. She knows the first couple stages of this game pretty well... but only the first couple; past that she has less experience and can't predict quite as much. The jumps get her - they're not really jump-*scares* precisely but they do throw her off. So while she pulls ahead on kills at first, it doesn't last and they balance out more further on.
"Not bad," she eventually says, with another one of those crooked grins.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"You don't," Shinjiro does say seriously. "It's one thing to speculate, but another to ask, you know? She's got feelings." Which surprised him, but he definitely gets the vibe she's a lot like them.
As they shoot, Shinjiro listens, and that he's good at. He's a good co-op player, which comes from years of having to play with Aki and not get into a fight *too* quickly.
"You're pretty good," Shinjiro says back to her. "You go to the arcade a bunch, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Obviously she's got feelings." That part wasn't even up for debate; she acts like a person, she looks like a person, she's a person. Suzume isn't entirely sure what to make of Aigis but *that* part she's sure on. "Doesn't mean you can't ask. I mean, we study biology. And people asked where I'm from."
(She's from Port Island, so it wasn't a very interesting conversation.)
But, as for the arcade...
Suzume lets out a slightly noncommital grunt, but Shinjiro - who she likes, despite the gap in year and life experience - deserves a better answer then that. "...Yeah," she says, after a brief pause. "I like the games. And it's better than hanging around at home all the time, even if you get looked at weird by some of the guys - well, you wouldn't."
It's always awkward to talk about her home life with someone who, until recently, lived out on his own; his only family is Aki. So generally Suzume doesn't. But she's definitely spent at least part of her time at arcades, or shut up in her room, or out with friends doing sports, to avoid hanging out with her family.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"I guess that's a point," Shinjiro replies to Suzume.
At the arcade, though, he considers her answer. He doesn't entirely have context for something like that - he's never had a home, or a family to avoid, or... any of that, but Suzume's feelings are still entirely valid and he knows that. So...
"I get different kinds of weird looks," he muses. "I stopped going places like this after I chose to live on the streets. Stopped doing much of anything. But it's been surprisingly nice to get back into it."
A sigh, led by a small smile. "I think I like it. Don't tell anyone I said that, though."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume doesn't tell many people about her home life in general.
And even if Shinjiro knew her sister way back when (he might have; she always went to school at Gekkoukan) she's gone now, and it's very easy to not put two and two together and realize they're the same Fukura family. Suzume and Kiyomi were so different, and it's not like they ever spent much time around the other...
"Huh," Suzume says, sounding noncommital again. But this time it's because she's thinking. She never really thought about it - obviously people avoid the homeless on Port Island. She chose to speak to him, beyond that first time, because she thought he knew something; they didn't become friendly until later.
"I guess you would," she agrees. But then she grins: "Except that time I caught you digging in the crane machine for that Hee Ho doll for that girl. You've been doing THAT, at least."
Don't tell anyone he said that... well, she hasn't told anyone about the Hee Ho doll, anyway. (Except Hitomi. But she was there anyway, so it doesn't count.)
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Whether or not Shinjiro's connected it, he'd never say anything. Not his place.
"...tch," he tells Suzume as she brings up the crane machine, but it's not actually upset at all, more embarrassed. "She was a reseller, anyways. Didn't even want it. Still have it somewhere." What a bizarre day.
"Besides... helping people's important. We have to make the world a better place before we leave it. Even if I forgot that for a bit." It might sound like morbid philosophy stuff, but he seems fairly serious about it, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"You did all of that and she ended up being a reseller?"
Suzume doesn't know whether to laugh or not at Shinjiro's embarrassment. Sorry, Shinjiro; your Yakuza substory has ended in chaos. "At least you got a Hee Ho out of it, I guess."
(She will never say whether she thinks the Hee Ho doll is cute or not.)
Helping people's important... Suzume lets out a puff of breath. "You take that seriously, huh?" she asks. Well, it makes sense. "I get that. I mean." She waves a hand. "The whole thing with SEES," though she keeps her voice down for that. "It's not like anyone else can do that. It's why I'm here, if I can protect someone." Like when she Awoke, in Mementos... "And... everything else."
She wants to be the one people depend on. Is that so bad...?
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"True," Shinjiro says about the Hee Ho.
But about taking it seriously... "Yeah. It's important to me." He's not going to say more, can't risk hurting Suzume if she figures out something's personal there.
But, about wanting to be the one people depend on... "That's a good motive. I think this life is one of the worst things that can happen, but... if we're in it, we have to live it. Protecting people's worthy, you know?"
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume has guessed some things about Shinjiro and absolutely none of them are that one.
(She did figure out he's a lot less rough than he likes to let on, though.)
Suzume shoves her hands in her pockets. "C'mon," she says, making a gesture - step away from the machine, they'll find another one. There's plenty to play, and it lets her continue to speak without raising her voice: "You weren't there when it happened, but when I first found out about this, I was in Mementos with a friend. We did the dare, you know?"
"We ran into some pixies. And he froze up. Twisted his foot running, but even if he hadn't he couldn't do anything. He panicked. I took a swing, but I didn't have an Evoker so it didn't do shit. SEES had to rescue me."
Suzume makes a fist. "I don't wanna be the one who gets rescued," she admits, more quietly. "I don't want to be the one who people have to bail out, who can't do anything for herself. So yeah, like I said. I get it. I don't think it's so bad."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro walks away with Suzume, listening about the dare.
"...I get it. I decided a long time ago, I didn't want to be a burden on anyone. So... I try to be self-sufficient, try to be more dependable than dependent. But I think I do a pretty decent job on that."
As they look for a machine, he pauses momentarily. "Besides, we're built for that. Tanks, you know?" He's being vague in terminology, but hopefully Suzume will understand he means Personas.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume elbows Shinjiro, exactly the same way she would someone her own age. "You do fine," she says. "I mean, hell, you've bailed us out before..."
As for tanks: "I make do," she says, with a slight grin. She plays video games enough to understand the reference. "And I've been keeping up on my workouts too. I'll show you sometime."
She hesitates for a moment. Better not to bring that up HERE, so instead: "Later, I wanna talk to you about Kirijo. Group," she clarifies, not Mitsuru. "Got a couple more questions. But not here. For now..."
"You want a drink? My treat," she clarifies. "I could do with a soda."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro at least takes the elbow well, nodding. As for the workouts, he nods to that too.
"Sure," he says casually to the thing about Kirijo. His face is even, but not cold - it's worth talking about, and he has info.
"Sure. I'll take that or a canned coffee. Thanks again for hanging out."
It's been nice! He enjoys spending time with Suzume.