2026-01-04: Infringe All You Want
- Log: Infringe All You Want
- Cast: Shinjiro Aragaki, Tamaki Uchida
- Where: Kuzunoha Detective Agency
- OOC Date: January 04, 2026
- IC Date: September 05, 2012
- Summary: Tamaki and Shinjiro trade notes about the Joker Killer and other topics. The conversation turns to their respective pasts, and Tamaki shares her own outlook on life with Shinjiro.
(|======================== Kuzunoha Detective Agency =========================|)
-=================================================== Sumaru City/Aoba Ward ====-
The first thing that greets visitors to Kuzunoha Detective Agency is a giant
golden lucky cat statue that, with its left paw raised, bids a hearty welcome to
customers and opportunities alike. Inspect it, and a mewling voice will ask for
donations: 100 yen from students and other children, and 1000 yen from adults.
A pair of dark couches that frame a coffee table have an excellent view of the
massive HDTV and dual stereos on the far right wall. On the far left wall are
shelves upon shelves full of books, none of which definitely can slide to one
side. A large desk with a lamp and computer stands in front of it. This is where
the portly older ex-gumshoe, Chief Daisuke Todoroki, makes his business, as...
blessed... by the agency's original owner. He investigates (and will spread) all
manner of rumors to find out the truth (and change reality), assisted by veteran
Persona User Tamaki Uchida.
The back room is nothing special; it has a stove and a sink, so it's a simple
task to always have tea ready for customers. There's a bathroom there too, but
it seems like it's always occupied. Don't ask who's in there, meow.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro told Tamaki he'd trade her info, and he meant to keep that promise. Therefore, he's stepping into the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, ignoring the cat statue should it call out to him.
He's in his red coat and beanie, even in the summer, and he's got a perpetual Resting Brusque Face on, but Tamaki would at least know he's good for info, as both a Persona User and a guy with his ear to the streets.
There's a notebook in his hand, as he looks for Tamaki.
"Uchida, you here? Hope this isn't a bad time. I'd like to talk about the Killer if you've got the bandwidth."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki doesn't look like she's slept very well last night. Right about now, she lays flat on the couch. In fact, Shinjiro's entry is what wakes her. She stirs, then rises from her position with wrinkled clothes and disheveled hair.
The day prior, she had attended a wedding ceremony. In the same night, she had a visitor to the Agency during the Dark Hour.
She blinks blearily in Shinjiro's direction, then rapidly stands on her feet. " -- Aragaki-san! Right!"
Knowing how this must look, she stammers out, "I-I've got bandwidth, just give me a moment to make some tea -- " and dashes back to the kitchenette.
She peeks her head back out to Shinjiro and calls out, "Take a seat on the couch! Would you like anything while I'm here?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro pauses, concern on his face as he sees her passed out on the couch. But when she awakens and says she's fine, he sighs with a nod. Sadly, supernatural serial killers don't wait.
"Tea sounds fine, thank you." He is remarkably polite for a clear delinquent, even if he's rough around the edges.
Taking a seat on the couch, he looks over his notebook, getting his information in order.
He'll let Tamaki start the conversation once she's back. She's the professional, even if he wonders how much they both know.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Several minutes later, Tamaki's mad dash ends with two cups of tea on the table between the pair of couches in the center of the office. She sits ready with her own pen and notepad in hand, ready to take notes.
She stares at him intently. "Okay. You said you had thoughts on how the Joker Killer gets around? Anything else, for that matter?"
"More and more people keep showing up, wanting a piece of him ..." Tamaki glances down at her notepad and bites the end of her pen. "Mostly high school kids. I don't think they quite understand what they're getting into."
She looks up at Shinjiro again. "Takeba-san told me that the group he's involved with also approached the Kirijo Group, but they turned them down. They seem to have poached some researchers, at least, as Evokers have gotten into the hands of non-Kirijo groups, however."
Tamaki inhales. " -- I don't know how much of what I know would just be retreading what you know, so let's start with you. Hit me."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro takes a listen from Tamaki, nodding. "I thought it was teleporting alone, which is definitely part of it. But I also think... he's actually free. I saw him - the real him - at that weird circus. He was on a bluetooth call."
The thing about high school kids wanting a piece of him... SHinjiro doesn't respond. She'll probably think the same about him when this is through, but at least he has a motive.
'Takeba-san' though gets an eyebrow raise. "She told you that stuff? I don't think he's actually part of the New World Order. I think he's aligned with a group known as Strega, a bunch of asshole nihilists who have access to Kirijo stuff, probably through the NWO. I know them for... reasons, we have connections and I'm friends with one of them, but..." He shakes his head.
But then, Tamaki asks Shinjiro to start. He trusts her enough, even if he doesn't know her that well. "The Joker Killer is named Tatsuya Sudou, son of the foreign minister. Ten years ago, he burned down an orphanage in Tatsumi Port Island. A young girl, a Miki Sanada, was killed in the fire."
The way he says it is a VERY personal bent, unable to mask his utter distaste for the killer.
"His father eventually put him in an institution, but he clearly has free roam. He's also clearly batshit insane. THe Sumaru PD is covering this up, probably due to who he is, but also becasue they're likely embedded with corruption in general."
A sigh.
"He's dangerous. No matter how many people he fights, he always escapes. I'm still considering how I'll capture him in my head."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki nods at the mention of seeing him at the circus. "Right, I saw him there, too. Didn't want to start anything with regular people around, though." She pauses for a beat, then adds, "Figured you and the others thought the same."
She rubs her temples as Shinjiro brings up Strega. "She did. I had some questions about the Kirijo Group and the Nanjo Group for ... what I thought was a separate investigation. Thanks for the clarification. Yeah, I've run into one of their members, too. I was with Akabane-san at the time."
"... I saw Tartarus with my own eyes, too. Didn't go inside yet, but it sure is real." She exhales. "Its size is downright staggering."
Shinjiro says that Tatsuya Sudou is the Joker Killer. Tamaki nods in confirmation. "Right ..."
Then he gets to the next bit. "... Didn't know that detail. About ten years ago, I mean."
Tamaki nods when he says he's dangerous. That much is apparent. Something about his phrasing gives her pause, however. "You'll capture him? You, singular? Uh -- "
First the other Tatsuya, then Hyousuke, then Eikichi, now Shinjiro. At least Ulala had the sense to just use herself as bait instead of wanting to tackle him alone.
Something else important is in the mix, as well. " -- back up, before we cover that: You say that as if you have an idea of how to cut off his escape. How?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Tartarus is fucking huge, yeah," SHinjiro snorts.
But about Miki Sanada and the orphanage... "Because most don't. It was before he was the Joker Killer."
Then, there's pushback on capture and cutting off his escape. "...if I have to. It's probably safest for everyone else that way. My Persona is strong, and collateral is a risk when my emotions get heated."
He sighs, though, but he thinks about the cutting off his escape. His facial expression betrays before his words that he doesn't actually have a real solution, as he sighs.
"I was going to appeal to his self-aggrandizing personality, knock him out, and then drag him straight to my contact. If he tried to teleport, I'd figure it out. It's... this isn't something I can overlook. He killed Miki. He's threatening people I care about, like Umie. I *can't* let him continue to get away with it."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
"Reminds me of somewhere, come to think of it," she says of Tartarus. Her frown deepens further, and she adds, "Several somewheres, even."
For once, Tamaki has heard an answer borne of consideration and tactical thinking, not simply grim determination or machismo. "I see. I've received comments on how I've recklessly handled mine at times, and I've been Awakened for several years now. I can certainly see how it could get worse if someone weren't in full control."
She places a hand on her chest and looks at Shinjiro gratefully. "So, thank you for that, at least. I've heard no end of half-cocked plans by people who just want to go in swinging at him. You've thought about this."
Recalling what she had witnessed a few days ago, she places a hand under her chin. "How do you lose control of a Persona though, though? When you lose your Evoker ..?"
Tamaki exhales out a sigh. "Yeah, I know Akabane's in his sights, too. He mentioned her in that video that's been going around online."
He can't let him continue to get away with it. "I get that. I really do. I'm still not sure if your plan will be enough."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"...It's all I think about," Shinjiro admits. "There's not enough time, especially when he's endangering those who matter to me, to sit around doing nothing. I'm constantly trying to wrap my head around how to stop him."
But, about losing control of a Persona... "I'm not a usual case. Has nothing to do with the Evoker. I'm... on medicine to control it."
When it comes to Akabane, though... "...you have to be careful with that video. I think he's telling the truth, or thinks he is, at least partially. There's weirder shit out there than time travel." Not to mention, Kirijo's plans...
"...probably *won't* be enough. But if I can stop him, it's worth any risk to my life."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki gestures at the bookshelf full of binders behind her desk. "You and me both! I've been going at this from every angle I can think of!" She inhales sharply, leans forward, and steeples her hands together. "I -- may have stumbled across some research I shouldn't have, in the process. A lot more esoteric and abstract than just conking him out."
Medicine. She peers more closely at Shinjiro. "Um. Not to be too graphic, but do you ... happen to cough up blood without it?"
As Shinjiro advises her to be careful about the video, Tamaki's face falls remembers the vague protestations that Tatsuya Suou had given her and Umie. Morosely, she answers, "Yeah, uh. I know."
'There's weirder shit out there than time travel.' "Takeba-san mentioned something to that effect about the Kirijo Group, too." Her expression and tone go flat. "And trust me, in my time, I have seen far, far stranger."
'It's worth any risk.' That claim causes Tamaki's blood to run cold. Her hand idly reaches for her necklace again, a frequent enough tic around certain conversation topics that Shinjiro may have noticed by now.
"... is it, really?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"I get it. He's a real threat."
Shinjiro, however, pauses as she asks about the medicine. He considers, before his face falls as well, clearly a serious subject. "With it, too. It's... I don't recommend the medicine to anyone."
"The Kirijo Group's done some fucked up things. I will say that the heir, Mitsuru Kirijo, isn't... I can't believe she'd ever support that kind of stuff. She's my age and a good friend. I trust her."
But then, Tamaki's blood runs cold, as she grabs her necklace. Does she have issues with mortality? He gets a guilty look on his face, considering.
"...I don't have a future, Uchida. If something happens to me, I'd at least like it to matter for someone else."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
"I see." Tamaki lowers her gaze to the table and takes a sip of her tea.
Tamaki nods at his description of Mitsuru. "That's the gist I got from Takeba-san, too."
Shinjiro tells her about his own situation, his own lack of future. "After what I went through, myself, I'm acutely aware of the fact that ..."
She trails off, considering her words carefully. "This is my answer, at least, gleaned from the road I had to take. It's not the answer, but it's mine, you know?"
Tamaki glares fiercely in Shinjiro's direction as she instructs, "You only get one shot. You had better damn well make it count."
She turns her gaze to the table again. More meekly, she adds, "Don't ... tell anyone this, but I've died before."
"Not everyone gets as lucky as I did. Hardly anyone."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro listens intently to Tamaki. And then... he breathes, as she instructs him. "I know. I've been trying. I don't want to die."
It's her secret that puts him over the edge. He puts both hands on the side of his neck, exhaling. If she gave him a secret, trusted him enough right now, then...
"I have less than a year. The medicine, it's causing chronic organ failure. Kirijo's best doctors are trying to do something, but I don't have enough hope, not with what they've told me. She's gotta carry that for me."
A breath. "So if I can stop the Joker Killer before I go, maybe clear the Dark Hour forever, then... then that's enough."
A pause. "Not that many people know. It's... for two years, I lived on the streets. I caused this, so I had to isolate. I couldn't let my friends down, couldn't cause them pain. But that causes them pain, too. Stupid fucking catch-22."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
It's here that Shinjiro makes clear to Tamaki the stark difference in the luxury she has today compared to the timer running short that he has to reckon with.
She remains quiet as she processes the news, and drains the remainder of her tea as she does so.
Chronic organ failure in exchange for, what, retaining control of your Persona? That's a forked road with time bombs waiting at the end of either trail.
Eventually, she finds her words. "I can understand the haste, then. I apologize if I spoke out of turn. I know how I feel in my circumstances, but I can't say I'd feel differently in your shoes."
Bitterly, she adds, "Stupid fucking catch-22."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
One time bomb already detonated, even, as Shinjiro drinks his own tea. He's not going to tell her about Amada - she's a private detective, that's just opening problems - but he did feel he could trust her enough to let her know about his condition, with how many Sumaru-oriented individuals he's told.
"It's fine. I don't... I was recommended to start a bucket list. Try and find ways to experience life in this time, give the people around me memories to cherish. But... if I knew it would truly make a difference, I'd take the risk of leaving sooner." A sigh.
"I did decide to go back to school, though. Still sucks, but... I promised Kirijo and Aki I'd try to graduate with them."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
It might be opening problems for a more nosy type, sure, but ... If Tamaki ever found out about Ken, odds are that she wouldn't look at it unless explicitly asked to do so, and paid for it, especially if someone else is already on the task. She only has so many hands, so many hours during the day. Being a little bit mercenary in how she chooses what to spend her own finite time on helps her triage and prioritize what she feels is actually important.
And it keeps her Pact-bound Demon happy, too, nya~.
Tamaki leans back in her seat and folds her arms. "A bucket list is one way to do it, sure." She tilts her head. "I don't think there's any singular right way to make the most of it. Myself, I just regularly partake in simple pleasures. Food's one of them -- dining, not cooking."
Her face turns to a scowl. "I've made my difference, though. Several times. The way I see it, life owes me some normalcy."
Tamaki scratches at her cheek as she realizes how callous that might sound. "Er. At least, I used to feel that way. At this point, I think it owes you more."
"Keeping a promise, going to school ... that's all well and good. Just make sure you're truly aligned with whatever it is you decide to do, you know?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"I cook. I've considered what it'd be like if I could do something with it, but now, it's just one of the few things that makes me happy. The fact I can share that happiness with others helps," Shinjiro explains.
At the least, he doesn't see Tamaki as callous, nodding. "...I feel like this life is the one of the worst things that can ever happen to someone. Everyone deserves normalcy. If there was a big red button that removed all the magic from the world, there's a chance I'd push it. I get that... there's a lot of good we do. But we're burning ourselves out to do it, and there's a lot of bad we can do, too."
Tamaki says to be aligned... and Shinjiro exhales, nodding. "Yeah. Learning you gotta be selfish. It's hard."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki grins when Shinjiro mentions he cooks. "Aheheh. Yeah, I remember hearing you talk recipes with the izakaya ma'am. But hey! That counts as a worthwhile endeavor in my book."
Her voice goes flat again, completely deadpan. "I'd push that button in a heartbeat. Zero hesitation."
Despite her words just now, she does pause to contemplate what she's just said. "You're right in that it's not all bad, but I'm of the mind that the bad vastly outweighs the good."
She scowls again, her brows furrowing as she considers the full implications of that decision. "And ... yeah, there's a few people we both know whose lives are improved with it being a thing." Umie, at the least. Tamaki figures that odds are low that Shinjiro knows Maki. Then there's the people they managed to save based on the intel Phoenix had found in Kamiya's Palace.
Tamaki narrows her eyes and holds up her finger and thumb pressed close together. "Okay. Maybe some slight hesitation."
More firmly, she states, "You're entirely correct in that everyone deserves normalcy."
"Being selfish is easy. Being selfless is easy. Striking the right balance between the two is what's hard." Tamaki stands up and stretches her arms before walking over to the kitchenette. "Right now, my body's tea balance is still too low. I'm getting a refill."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"I used to work at a place called Hagakure in Port Island. Taught me everything I know," Shinjiro says with a light smile.
But on the subject of magic, he does consider what she has to say about it improving lives. "...I'd hesitate too. But so many teenagers are involved in this. My peers... they deserve a chance to just live their life."
As Tamaki gets up to get tea, Shinjiro shifts. "Should I leave you to it, then?" Though on the subject of a balance... "I do agree. There's just... in my case, it's that it feels like I don't have the right to infringe on the living. I'm walking dead, after all."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki's eyes sparkle with keen interest when Shinjiro reveals his former workplace. "You did?! I've been there a couple of times! The special's so good; you must be very capable if you learned from there."
Is she drooling? She might be drooling.
Tamaki nods at Shinjiro's mention of teenagers. "That's a big reason behind why I answered so quickly. My gut instinct is to slam that button down. I'm sick of seeing it happen so damn often." Karukozaka. Mikage-cho. Seven Sisters, Kasugayama, Gekkoukan, Shujin. Is she missing anything? (Why is it always high schools?)
"It's not even limited to just teenagers, I saw a man probably twice your age Awaken and get further drawn into matters. He just wanted to live a regular life, and I ..." Tamaki trails off as she curls her fingers into a fist. That ... might actually be her fault, at least in part. That's definitely a mark in the 'push the button and undo magic' column.
"... that's one of the reasons I don't talk much about what I went through five years ago. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. I even kept the guy I was dating for a while in the dark."
As Shinjiro asks if he should leave, "Oh! Uh -- " Tamaki peeks her head back out of the kitchenette. "Hold on, actually, change of plans." She emerges again. "Let me at least see you off. And ... I could stand to get some -- " What time is it. "-- Breakfast. I'm ... assuming you've already eaten, but can I at least trouble you for your thoughts on what I should get?"
At his insistence that he doesn't want to infringe, Tamaki scoffs. "Screw it. Infringe all you want. We're all the walking dead, just to varying extents. The way I see it, you're just a bit further ahead on the road than the rest of us."
She puts on her jacket and opens the door, choosing to walk out herself. "C'mon, let's make this day a good one. Whattaya say?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Yeah. Chef taught me himself. I'll bring you something I've made next time I'm coming to the area," Shinjiro decides spontaneously.
"I don't blame you. We all keep our secrets, for ourselves and for others." He has things he hasn't told her tonight, too.
"Sure," he says, standing up. But, there's a pause. "We're all the walking dead, huh... wish it felt that way, but I get your point."
But then, there's a small grin, pushing past the uncertainty. "Yeah. I guess not every day has to suck. ...if I decide to go after him, I'll let you know before I do anything," he reassures Tamaki. And then he'll help her decide breakfast! After pulling up a search engine to see what's all in Aoba. (He usually frequents Hirasaka, after all.)