2026-01-25: Following Footsteps
- Log: Following Footsteps
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Goro Akechi
- Where: Shibuya, Tokyo
- OOC Date: January 25, 2026
- IC Date: September 15, 2012
- Summary: Akechi and Umie meet up in order to exchange information on the Joker Killer, but first, Umie issues a challenge: 'Can you find me?' Akechi does. He always finds his target, one way or another.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
>> I may have some info on the Old Maid case
>> if you're free sometime
It was bound to happen eventually: with the amount of information on Sudou (some of it highly suspect), and a future art show being the basis for something potentially highly troubling, Umie had a wealth of information, and few people she could truly trust it with.
Why not message the boy next door second coming of the detective prince, Goro Akechi, aka the guy who viciously, terribly pranked Umie with a coffin while she valiantly tried to provide him the means to show his alternate identity?
... The same Akechi who was there during one of the most difficult times she's had with a cognitive space, and provided the means to overtake the Palace's ruler. As well there for Maria, during the Old Maid's attack in front of Shujin Academy.
Decisions, decisions.
>> we can meet at the same diner or DH hours if you don't mind a few extra questions
The Dark Hour option includes an animated emoji of a cheeky-looking cartoon cat doing a thumbs up.
-----NOW-----
The fluorescent moon hangs over the small park that's squeezed between some trendy boutiques. Several hours ago, the playground equipment was filled with the last scores of children, waiting for a parent or caretaker to bring them home after their shift, or otherwise left to face the societal consequences of being a forgotten child as evening set and the shadows grew longer.
Now, there's none; or else there'd be coffins lying around. A few coffins may still dot here and there along the fringes, being teens or adults that may be engaging in less than purely legal activities. All are noted for the next phase of this question, which, as Akechi shows up, will be simple enough.
On the first piece of equipment when walking into the park, there's post-it note, placed as prominently as possible, which reads very simply:
'Can you find me? - Umie'
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
@>Is that so?
@>Well perhaps I'll make time. *Winky Emoji ;)*
@>The hour between suits me just fine.
It's Akechi in his Seven Sisters Uniform, bearing his briefcase that walks upon the playground under the sickly light of the Moon. Before he then glances at the note, and places a hand to his chin.
If Umie is watching, there's a small flare of light from his position, and he's gone. The reality is, Akechi does not have the senses of a Navigator.
Not in the same way. His ability to detect Resonance is quite good, far better than average, but it will never be the equal of Fuuka Yamagishi or even Umie Akabane.
... But one does not need to have skills like their own. For you see - there's traces of resonance that people and supernatural beings leave behind, not for overlong, but long enough.
For example, the footprints that Umie Akabane used to place the post it note. Footprints which contain a whiff of that essence of what makes her - her. Which, is what Akechi tries to follow in his camouflaged state.
For his senses, honed to his realm, that would be a simple matter, like taking a police blacklight to reality.
Unless of course... she were to be hiding her Resonance since before she placed the note. That would be a little inconvenient... but possible!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
*winky emoji*
Umie stares at her phone. True, she was the *first* to bring in a cheeky emoji, but getting a winky emoji makes the blonde briefly pause, half expecting to see some heart-broken fan behind her readying themselves for a turn into a life of crime.
Screw it.
>> great. see you then. *winky emoji ;)*
---------
"..." Eyes widen slightly behind the starry night mask, as she spots that flare of light, and, in the next instance, her eyes register his disappearance.
She bites the inside of her mouth to temper her surprise. He's taking this seriously.
....
At a first glance, Akechi may not see a clear picture. Hiding her resonance is as natural to Umie as being paranoid, but in than default state lies its weakness: to be always on means not being as fully conscious and careful of it, especially in the cracks where Akechi knows were to look.
Even Umie has her moments when her resonance will slip. A brush of excitement here, some exertion there, all leave a minute trail that can tell a story, just like the resonance left behind a tree branch, which provided a clear view of the where Akechi obtained the post-it note.
As well as the excitement of a challenge, leading towards a more recent trail furth down the brush, up a tree, across to another branch, closer and closer, until Akechi, focused on Umie as he is, will begin to notice that there's a presence nearby.
There is just a bird here, but it is not a bird.
It is an Umie, and she's just about to disappear up a slide, intending to vault on top of the dinosaur-themed encased slide to a nearby tree.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It's not a full trail. It's more like - faded bits and pieces. Here and there. A haze like remnant of a foot print. Search for the next.
Sometimes it takes a little longer, checking one way, then another out about several dozen meters then returning back to where she is.
This way, then that- then sometimes doubling back. And ah-
Birds do not exist in the Dark Hour.
There's something about Goro Akechi that Umie has no idea about though. He's quite good at climbing. And so a shape that's present - but also not, climbs silently up the tree she's heading towards in advance.
And when Umie vaults!
That's when he reappears, catching her sideways in his arms while remaining balanced upon the branch above near that dinosaur slide. "Correct me if I'm wrong but - if the game is hide and seek? I believe this means I win."
... In a position more commonly known as the 'Princess Carry.'
Yep.
What an absolute brat.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
The path winds; a lesser, less skilled detective would give up. There's points where it's clear Umie had been watching, trying to observe just how Akechi is managing to follow her, without managing to strike across the exact reason why.
She has an inkling that he's managing to track her, but it's becoming clear that it's not a direct line. Footprints, maybe? Ah, wouldn't that be interesting. Too bad she's skipping from tree to tree. She just needs to understand the secret to his own methods of cloaking himself, while keeping him away.
Still, there's something she's leaving behind that she's failing to account for. Just what is it?
There is a bird, where no birds should be.
The cognitive mask is broken, the moment that logistical error is confronted, examined, and destroyed.
Just like a corner of Umie's conception of Akechi.
Who knew that Akechi was so good at climbing?
Umie. Umie, in fact, did not.
This leads to what may be a satisfying view of Umie's shocked expression. The mask may hide *some* part of her expression, but the slightly open, gobsmacked lips? No chance.
"I... guess that does," she conceeds, in shocked tones. Yes, at some point he *had* to win in order for their business to be properly conducted, but this was not the way she was thinking it'd happen.
At least she has enough of a sense to not just tell Akechi to let her down; she's eyeing that possible drop.
".... I guess I never considered you'd be a good climber," she utters instead.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
The Tengu mask does nothing to hide Akechi's mouth, which is definitely a touch smug. A Crow Prince holds a Crow Princess within his arms.
'... I guess I never considered you'd be a good climber.'
Oh Umie, you said the magic words, as Akechi actually seems delighted, "Even if I weren't a Persona User... believe it or not, I've actually become a fan of bouldering recently. It's one of my current workout regimens."
Oh well, so long as Umie knows what bouldering is, that explains a lot.
"Anyhow- I feel it's better if we continue this upon the ground." Akechi leaps like a Bishounen character from a Mahou Shoujo to the top of the slide, then again to the ground, before putting Umie down, and taking a half bow.
"Are you satisfied? You do seem to enjoy testing my skills..." He straightens, before placing a hand upon his chin, "... though, I do wonder, is it for your own personal edification? Or...?"
He's detected a hint of distrust from Umie lately, at Eiji's Palace in particular.
"Could it be that you believe that I'm not entirely 'on the level' so to speak?"
There's a touch of bitterness to that smile, but only a little. This is after all, a tactic of his own. To deflect from the truth, by calling attention to it and subtly undercutting it.
"Well, I suppose given where you come from, it'd be only natural for you to be skeptical of someone like myself."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
As shock fades into the background, Umie's lips pull in that straight line she models so well, staring up at that Tengu mask'ed face, especially in the advent of his delight.
--Wait, bouldering, huh. "... Like... rock climbing? I should try that," Umie considers. "Not that I'd do all that great at it, but it's likely safer than..."
Wait she's still being held in his arms, this is *not* a great place for a casual conversation!!
As the crow (prince) flies (leaps) with far more grace than Umie would think was necessary, the blonde grips on the lapels of his uniform tensely until her feet are allowed to touch the ground.
Turning back to face him, the cross Crow Princess grumbles, smoothing over her jacket.
".... Show off." If she's not looking him in the eyes, that would indicate he succeeded in yet another task. She should look at him directly.
.... So, when Akechi comes up from that bow, Umie is not looking him in the eyes.
"I suppose I am satisfied, though. I was hoping I'd last a little longer, but, what's the fun in something that's easy?" She tilts her head, easing into a more relaxed poise, her hands slipping into the pockets of her jacket. "You need to realize, up until last June, I hadn't really socialized with anyone with a Persona. You've had your own for.... how long? And how long have you thought you were the only one that existed with it, as you ran around Mementos?" That part still sticks with Umie: Mementos, on a whole, would be much more dangerous than the Dark Hour in Sumaru.
But is that just because she's familiar with the latter? That's just one very general part of it, though.
"Maybe." She grins, leaning back onto one foot. "But I do seem to remember you wanting to test me at first, as well, in spite of how easy you were making it for me to figure out who you were."
Umie can't quite buy that that was a mistake, but she's had to make similar concessions. A secret identity is worth little if you can't collaborate, or build on existing ties. A person who stays alone is eventually forced to look to others for help, no matter how much they want, or even crave, to handle everything themselves.
"I have to be careful, yes," Umie conceeds, again. "But I wouldn't test someone I wouldn't trust. After all, you'd have to eventually catch me, right?" She grins, her eyes faintly amused. "Plus... I had... fun, the last time, I admit, in Aoba Park."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Think of it as problem-solving with your body. In a sense... it's training not only for your body, but your mind as well."
That makes sense then why he likes it! And hasn't gotten to talk about it with anyone!
'.... Show off.'
"Would you rather we stayed in the tree?" He says with a smirk...
Indeed, as Umie logics through it, she might realize that perhaps the reason he's a Show Off is because...
... for so long he had no one to show off too. If he'd been spending so much time in Mementos alone. This entire aspect of his life unseen by anyone else but him.
"Roughly eight months." He confirms on the timeline, "You'll get the hang of it yourself, with enough time. Though it is true that we have a different skillset... your potential in certain aspects far surpasses my own."
That is quite the concession for someone with an ego like his own, but it's a matter of fact, he's never going to be as good as a dedicated navigator. He'll never be able to sense resonance as far as someone like Umie can.
However... he's not gonna concede that in much else.
"Well, you have to remember the first time we met, you were playing the role of detective while disguised as a high school girl."
He says with a small grin, "Given that, I thought perhaps that you'd enjoy someone treating you as having wits worth matching." It does make a certain amount of sense.
Which is perhaps why he also can be so easily convinced by Umie to participate... he's competitive! And he does enjoy showing off!
"Oh? Well, then I'll keep that in mind..." He says of her having fun in Aoba Park, "... what kinds of other things do you like to do for fun?" He asks, as if curious.
However, as if in realization that the conversation was getting away from him, he snaps his focus back on the point, "Though I suppose we should also get back on topic of the Joker Killer. It is why you called me here..."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"..." What Akechi says makes an odd kind of sense. If it's her own body that holds her back, is that not a reason to seek a way around it, just as she would anything else? She has to learn how to properly push herself in a way that won't agitate her heart in the wrong way.
Her eyes tick downwards for a moment, in thought. "... I'd... never considered it that way. I'll have to give it a try. Certainly a lot safer than what we do."
Like, oh, STAYING IN A TREE AND CHATTING. That's how things get broken, for stupid reasons.
Eight months.
"... That's a long time, to be by yourself." It makes so much of what Akechi does make so much more sense, including that need for a rival. Umie could say she never wanted one herself, but didn't she challenge Joker in a race to the entrance to Mementos, and, just now...
Any time you have to feel lonely is too long.
The concession from Akechi recieves a shocked look from Umie, who glances to the side, masking the bottom half of her face by appearing to itch her nose. ".... Thank you." It feels earnest. ".... to be honest, I've been blown away by how skilled everyone is, not just in Mementos, but in general. It makes me think I've been resting on my laurels for too long."
Annnnnd there Akechi goes.
'Well, you have to remember the first time we met, you were playing the role of detective while disguised as a high school girl.' "--And I had everything under control," she's quick to remind, as if to fend off any accusations of anything he may have said next to insinuate otherwise.
But he doesn't.
".... It was the first time someone's done that." And it made her push herself further, in turn.
She settles her eyes on Akechi, intrigued, as well as amused. "Curious, are we? To be honest... I've liked painting masks. I don't know why, but it's sort of become fun, creating things with a limited amount of space. But that... well, that night, it was something I'd never done alongside someone else before. It was fun to see how you did things, and how I could compliment it, rather than try to cover all the bases myself."
Does Akechi feel the same sort of way, like in that Palace? .... Well, perhaps that wouldn't be a good example-- ".... I... wouldn't mind helping you explore another Palace, if it ever comes up."
But, they're here for a reason, and the Dark Hour is longer than it needs to be, and shorter than you want it to be, like a cat that only comes when it's not wanted.
"Right." Umie draws a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind an ear. "First off, I have reason to believe the Joker Killer is trying to spread the Mark's influence somehow, using an art show. The artist, Dimitri Tachovsky, was found roaming Tartarus, possessing an incredibly powerful Persona that stank of the Mark's power. I'm not sure if the Mark's influence has fallen away from him since we managed to 'break him free of it'--" she holds up two fingers with each hand to indicate quotation marks "--but he was at least lucid and horrified over what he'd done: the painting itself."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"If you'd like, I can show you the ropes sometime. Though I'd still recommend you start at an indoor facility and take a safety course."
It is safer than being a Persona User, well - mostly, when you're indoors. Outdoors... perhaps not so much.
Umie however brings up the loneliness of eight months by himself. If only she knew it was two and a half years... and... nine before that.
"Well yes. Though, it's not anything I'm not accustomed to."
He says, as if trying to downplay that part. After all, the last thing he wants anyone to do is pity him.
However, accustomed to... accustomed to the loneliness.
To being alone.
That is his life, or at least it was. Can he even quantify what his life is like now?
"If that's the case, then... what will you do about it? Are you planning to train these talents? There are ways, even by yourself."
That's something he's an expert on. In... more ways than he could ever say.
He chuckles as Umie gets a little defensive about her escapade in disguise, "I wasn't disputing that." Even if, he did wrest her from that situation, he's not going to claim she couldn't.
No, there's only one way in which he underestimates women... only one.
"Then I suppose I should be honored to be the first." He says, and perhaps, fairly sincerely. He knows far too many girls who aren't taken seriously by the people around them.
Considered unintelligent or vapid and vain. Caricatures of people whose only concern in life ought to be finding a man.
Yes, he can understand quite well how she wasn't taken seriously by a man who only saw her as a future bride.
"Masks?" Akechi echoes, but then seems to trail off thoughtfully... was this why she was chosen? Or is it a side effect of being chosen?
"Interesting. Our culture's fixation on masks has always fascinated me, to be honest. How each of us in a sense... has two faces." Tatamae and Honne certainly are quite Jungian on their own. Two faces - does that mean everyone is truly two faced? Perhaps not in the traditional sense of the term...
"Huh... well I admit it certainly unpleasant, accompanying you and Sergeant Suou into that Palace, even if the location left much to be desired. I'm glad you enjoyed the experience."
Then again, perhaps it was because it was sticking it to a guy like that - that was in part what gave him so much satisfaction. But it's interesting to consider what aspects of this she finds fun.
"Well, I'll be certain to keep that in mind, going forward. It has been quite different involving others-"
Not that he needs others. He doesn't need anyone. But, they are all useful in what is coming next. It's not like he's truly befriending anyone.
He definitely isn't.
He knows what he's doing, and that is nudging various pieces on the chessboard played by the NWO.
A hand touches his chin as Umie begins to describe what Sudou is doing, "Hmm. That is... concerning. Just what I'd expect of a psychopathic killer, like him. Though, perhaps I should ask. Are you aware of some rumor he might be taking advantage of to do this?"
His eyes are visible past the eyeholes of his mask, peering at her. "If he could do this before, then it stands to reason he would have done so already... what is he taking advantage of in order to... 'temporarily deputize' others into his madness, so to speak?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Akechi surprises Umie further with his offer. "... That'd be nice, actually," Umie is even more shocked to hear herself say, whether Akechi was just being polite or not.
Eight months, two years, nine years. Umie would have no way of knowing that, by the time he had entered his freshman year, Akechi had already Awakened. While her own resonance was masked, Akechi would have known better; her files made the fact that she had Awakened clear enough.
Her lips turn subtly in lopsided manner, her eyes narrowing in that manner she sometimes has, like a corvid focusing on a detail of something shiny. "But you did so, while having to navigate a new sense of yourself. I'm not sure why people like you manifest masks and outfits, but I imagine it only furthers the idea that there's a divide between two halves of your life." There's the self-made young detective, and the prince in the tengu mask, holding a toy laser gun and knowing it to be as deadly as the realistic looking models others have used. How does someone navigate that divide? And what relationship would they have, with each side? Is it different, because Akechi is a detective?
And, speaking of beginnings...
Umie's lips purse, her next question hanging on her lips by a thread before she simply shoots ahead. ".... If you don't mind me asking, what was it like, when you Awakened? Just... curious." She wasn't alone when she Awakened. Nor had she technically been alone, since then, if one wanted to count the codependent moon phases of Mai-chan's comings and goings, each meant to capitalize on Umie's lowest points.
"Mementos has been pretty useful, actually, for that reason." Umie glances about for someplace to sit, looking for something that isn't going to seem like she's expecting the second coming of the Detective Prince to sit on a slide, or something. (This is where her behavior differs from, say, Shiryuu; she just might sit someplace with the sole purpose of forcing him to do the same, because childishness means nothing if it means forcing that smug express off his face, and also, maybe they can cuddle together later and-- DAMN IT UMIE FOCUS) "I think... I've gotten better." She settles on the ledge of a raised concrete bed, raised only a few feet; hopping onto it, she crosses her legs. "But in order to truly know, I need to lean on people like you."
Is that a twinkle in her eye, followed by a flash of a impish grin as she tilts her chin? "Won't it be interesting, when I figure out how to trick you next." It'd be the best way to repay Akechi, in a way: to try to raise to his level. (And, maybe, try to banish her own own fear of failure.)
Umie is oblivious to Akechi's ponderings over masks, as well as the further significance. Just why was an eleven year old girl chosen to be placed in front of Gozen? "It was never the one I wanted, when it was one mask." It was never perfect enough, each attempt to finalize an accusatory finger pointed back at her. "But when it was several, I could just let myself not be bound up by that question of it."
But that didn't mean she didn't have questions, herself. "Yeah. Me too. Tatamae and honne, and when you look at Personas themselves..." She casts her eyes upwards, towards the green sky. "There's only been Badb, for me, but I've noticed people who can summon more than one. Maybe, for them, it's like that."
The topic of Kamiya's Palace doesn't bring Umie's gaze back down anytime soon; she seems to avoid Akechi's gaze, now. "Kamiya's Palace was one of the hardest experiences I've had in a while," she admits. "But seeing the circle of influence he was a part of begin to crumble afterwards..." Something sparks in those eyes, despite her continued dedication towards looking up towards the moon.
Carefully, her eyes lower back to Akechi's own face. "You really helped me there, Akechi-kun. Getting through it, and also, when things were getting really rough with the ruler." The kun comes out gently, rather than the 'san' she's used before. "And, with Sakurai-san. So... thank you."
"... I can continue to call you Akechi-san, of course, if you want," she quickly amends. "It felt bad to just switch to 'kun' too fast. You took me seriously, after all." Kun may indicate familiarity, but it could also be read as looking down.
"As for the Old Maid, I have a theory." A sigh is let out, becoming the closest the Dark Hour could have to a cloud crossing the moon's face. "... I may've been the start of it. He actually visited me a second time. I was tired of hiding! But I had it all under control." Did she.
Does Umie ever have things under control, when she has to insist that she does?
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Well then. I typically use a gym in Sumaru City but... I know a facility in Shinjuku that should work nicely. They offer safety courses as well, if I'm not mistaken."
Does he seem, actually rather delighted to share? Maybe so, maybe so.
He then draws back subtly at that 'corvid' like gaze, as if to take a moment to assess her words. "It does. In a sense, you become something of a different person. You simply get better at compartmentalizing in your day to day."
He isn't about to share the 'Will of Rebellion' aspect of it, no, he's not going to give that away so simply.
"Hm." He strokes his chin as he considers the answer to her question, "Coincidental. I ended up in the Metaverse by happenstance. Whether it happened because some God or Demon selected me is something of a mystery, even to myself."
He lies. He knows at least to some extent which one did. There's a reason why he never visits the Velvet Room, especially not his.
"It was... painful and frightening, but also cathartic... liberating. You must tear off 'the Mask' you wear, so to speak, as a gesture of your resolve to fight. It is a bloody affair."
The blood may be metaphorical, but it hardly matters, he remembers it dripping down his face, before it was licked away, devoured by flame.
"I can imagine so... and there is more to it than being a training ground. Perhaps I'll demonstrate, one of these days." He doesn't seem to mind standing, however, oblivious to her cuddle fantasies with a certain ninja. Instead chuckling, "Well I am the reliable sort - or, so I'm told. So I don't mind you leaning on me, every now and then."
There is quite the smug look on his face though as she expresses about how to trick him next, "Haha... you may certainly try!" Such a big grin. "Though I'd wager it's still far too soon to be challenging me in this realm."
Umie... has no idea. In the same way he uses his right hand, when garbed like this, when he's left handed. He's holding back, though only someone who's noticed it might realize.
Right now at least, it's easy enough to write off that he's just being competitive! Though as she addresses her hobby, he looks somewhat disquieted, "It is understandable that you'd find a single mask stifling. Jung wrote that the greatest danger to growth is for your 'true self' and your 'Persona' to become one and the same. We're all meant to have more than just one- yet adults try to force children to wear a single mask, to be an extension of the parent's will. ... That is no way for anyone to live."
Unfortunately, he's caught up in that situation himself, and does not even realize it. "Ah, yes." He tries his best not to jolt as Umie brings up wearing more than one, "It is a special talent known only to a select few. Joker of the Phantom Thieves possesses it, as an example. It is quite the interesting power... I do wonder how one achieves it."
He is quite - vague there, but that's because he's putting distance between that knowledge and himself.
He's not really that special.
Remember he's taking the easy path.
Relying on his piece of shit friends who got together just to lick each other's wounds!
"Robin Hood has always been enough for my needs, though I do see the advantages in having more than one."
There, fortunately they get off that subject quickly enough, as he smirks, "Well, I suppose we're alike in that respect. I certainly enjoyed that part myself." Not to mention what he got to do to him in private - after.
That was quite fun, crushing the heart of someone who'd recently had it changed...
Umie thanks him though, calling him Akechi-kun, and he blinks behind his mask, as if surprised by the sincerity of the thanks, "Oh- ah. You're quite welcome." Before he then awkwardly says, "There were quite a few individuals that were upset with me in the aftermath from a misunderstanding of sorts, I suppose I didn't quite expect gratitude."
Indeed, he hasn't really received all that much, and when he did, it was quite mixed. "No, it's quite alright. You're welcome to call me that, if it's what you'd prefer. Most do after all..."
Though, he seems to appreciate the gesture of not calling him that, until one does. Is he actually a little touched? MAYBE!
Which is why it's a bit of emotional whiplash when Umie says she has a theory, "Oh? I'm eager to hear it." Before- "Really? In... what sense?" And then-! "A second time? Why so? After his failure to kill you, has he developed an obsession of sorts?"
He asks, almost clinically, like a TV Detective might when discussing a horrible crime, "Or is it due to the characteristic both of you share?"
He finds the latter more likely, but he's going to present both theories!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"You'll have to tell me the name; safety courses would be up my alley." It's strange, realizing the hidden parts of people, especially those that sit on that boundary between the mundane and supernatural. To write off the former as always lacking when compared to the latter across the board...
But she'll still hunger for it, just like she does unlocking every mystery in front of her, like the 'Mask-sans' and every other flavor of Persona User. The deeper differences that each has, like what a 'Will of Rebellion' even is, is beyond her. "I guess that's just something that comes with time, for people. Especially if they don't have someone to talk to." She smirks. "At least I had the advantage of time. The Dark Hour exists, whether you go outside or not."
'Whether it happened because some God or Demon selected me is something of a mystery, even to myself.' "I'm not sure if I want to think there's another weird mummified head floating around," Umie says, smirking. "If bigger forces do exist out there... I'm not sure if it's a compliment to think that we're somehow interesting enough to be noticed." It wasn't like that for her. It wasn't. She was just a kid who lied.
She's just a normal, boring person. Don't Look at her.
".... I see." There is a faint give in Umie's response. It's hard to tell where the line exists between metaphor and being literal, when she's seen how their personas are summoned. "... It was... similar, for me. Just, no mask, if you were being literal. I can't remember that much, though." She shrugs her shoulders in a sharp jerk. A resolve to fight... did she have that, or did that come eventually? Is that what having a Persona means? What would Joker say, if she asked the same thing? Would he even answer? What of those who use Evokers, or played the Philemon game as children?
.... what is she searching for?
"There's more to it, huh? I'd like to see that. If the Dark Hour exists for a reason, I guess that means Mementos would be the same." She tucks a strand of hair behind an ear. "I'd love you to show me what you know." As for challenging Akechi-- "Yeah... though isn't that the fun in it?" If only Umie knew...
He has to not expect her, in order for her trick to work. If she gets stronger... perhaps even that limitation could be limited, in time. But what happens when she begins to notice his own? An innocent game could become deadly, very quickly.
"It's funny, that you would mention Jung," Umie comments, raising a finger. "You've probably heard of the children's game in Sumaru City, right? The Persona game. Of course, when I played it, nothing happened, but that's pretty common, even for those who don't have a Persona. How is it that a game, named after a Jungian concept, even came to be? I was surprised when people didn't even know what it was, when I moved away."
"Perhaps it's wrong to be looking for connections where there aren't, but sometimes... it all feels connected in ways I can't see." She interlaces her fingers over her topmost knee. "Though the part about adults... I wonder if we just shed those possibilities as we get older. Or... we do the opposite, and try to regain what we've lost." .... But is that just a 'last fling'? Either way, Umie's lips dip slightly, sensing a strange disquiet in Akechi's words.
... Ah. So that's why, with Joker being a sort of 'rival' and all... "So you noticed it too. I guess, it's hard *not* to notice." She peers at Akechi, dark eyelashes lowering as she touches a a hand to her chin. "Isn't that a reason to feel vindicated, whenever you succeed?" Obviously, Akechi's disquiet is because of this possible advantage Joker has over him! Ha ha ha CHANGE THE SUBJECT YOU IDIOT
"You got to get your thrills one way or another." Umie shrugs, once more. "And being shot with diamonds did mean I got a way to pad out my income for a while, if I'm careful about it. So, there's that."
"A misunderstanding? Over something you said?" Oh no, Umie would *never* have that happen, not at alllll. "You *were* trying to draw comparisons here and there." She's amused, at least, judging by her grin, eyes twinkling like two more stars in her starry mask. "But you *didn't* imply the Phantom Thieves were going to steal my heart." --wait, Umie, don't just come out and say that without at least seeming like you're connecting to things together!! "... Just as an example."
CHANGE THE SUBJECT.
"The similarities. The visit went..." She palms her face, briefly dislodging her mask. "... I guess it went 'well' in that I'm still alive, but it turns out he wasn't interested in killing me, just trying to convince me of his... view of things. If anything, I was the one that got on *his* case. Especially after he called me 'little sister'. That's where I think it started."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"It's called Noburock Shinjuku, just a quick jaunt from the station, which makes it ideal for a quick workout before I take the train home."
Indeed, the hidden parts of people... who would have thought Goro Akechi was into climbing? But then again, he wouldn't have guessed she was into masks either.
"Well, the Shadows do get quite talkative in the Metaverse, though it depends on if you're interested in having a conversation."
Demons are more interesting in his mind. They just have more... identity, but he's more accustomed to the Shadows.
As for mummified heads- "It certainly wouldn't surprise me if there were. The presence of one, certainly implies there are more- when Shadows wear mythology like a coat, don't you think?"
He could hardly name any other than Nyarlathotep and Igor though, even though Igor wouldn't claim to such, what else would you call him?
"Well, that would certainly depend on their motives. It may be less a matter of interest and more a 'means to an end'. Like pawns on a Chessboard."
Which is why he turned him down, he refuses to be anyone's pawn. His choices are his own. Or so he thinks...
"I was." Being literal, before he considers the matter of her not remembering, "If you can't, then it's best not to try and force it. Traumatic amnesia exists for a reason, and it can cause more harm than good to try."
He says to her, again, almost clinically, but is he not saying it from a place of concern?
"Perhaps. Though, how long has Mementos existed? The Dark Hour at least has a more concrete timeline... but for all we know, the Metaverse might have existed for some time."
It's something he's wondered himself, however there's no way to verify it. Was he truly the first to enter it? Or was he merely the first of this generation? He can't even say.
"Haha- well I can't give away all my secrets, but I certainly don't mind showing you a few tricks of the trade." He does seem happy to do so though, because it is his realm, happy to be the person in the room who knows the most - is the mentor, "I can't say you're wrong...!" He says cheerfully on that being the fun of it.
He does enjoy being challenged in that way after all, being the competitive person that is. Then again, does he consider Umie a challenge? Or merely a potential challenge? That's for him to know.
"Well, yes I've heard of it. Rumor has it that those who play it may attract the gaze of something from the beyond. I've never tried playing it myself... but I have seen children trying it out. It didn't seem much different from other superstitions like 'Bloody Mary' in the Western World. Though perhaps there is something to it? The Mementos Rumor seems to prove that, after all..."
He crosses his arms, his posture subtly leaning back in consideration, "Who can say where any children's game comes from? Though it's not so surprising, with masks being such an ubiquitous part of Japanese culture, that Jung's work would resonate with someone..."
Umie wonders about it, and Akechi shrugs, "More the former than the latter, I think. Most just come to accept the role that was decided for them. And even when it's the latter, it's more often based on pure nostalgia, I think - rather than an actual desire to change their circumstances."
He's seen enough older men having those middle-aged crises to understand that much. Not that nostalgia doesn't have it's own hold on him...
... he still catches up on Featherman, from time to time.
"I won't say you're wrong. It does make for an interesting challenge, given that he has such versatile abilities..."
Indeed, at any time, Joker can have a Persona which he is weak to, but life isn't a game where a weakness automatically means a loss.
Umie does point out how his words might cause misunderstandings causing his right eyebrow to twitch slightly, "It was more a misunderstanding of the timeline than what the content. Though I do see your point I suppose."
But the Joker Killer-!
"That does make sense, the Rumor does appear to be limited so that he can make only a singular attempt... when someone makes a call."
He looks pensive for a few moments, "I see." He takes 'little sister' as confirmation that it was about the Mark after all, that made him interested in her.
"But that doesn't explain how you believe you're responsible for his current plot..." He points out.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"I'll have to look it up, especially when it gets colder." To be fair, Umie didn't realize she'd be into masks, either. But, like so many other things she's picked up, it's provided a sense of satisfaction, even if their ending point would likely be them getting destroyed in combat.
Which means they don't have to be perfect!
(Which means they have to be perfect, or she won't *use* them.)
"You noticed that too, huh." No, of *course* Akechi would notice that. "They act differently from the demons in Sumaru City, but I didn't put two and two together until recently that there was a reason for it." Well, more like, 'Joker and Mona told her', but!! "... It makes me wonder..."
Shadows wearing mythology like a cloak... or a mask. Perhaps, it's because..."... In Freudian and Jungian terms, the shadow is an aspect of the self," she says, her words like careful footsteps as she outlines her question, without pointing to the hard ball of sin that lies within, as well as the knowledge Akechi has hinted at having, himself. "I wonder... if people realize that the shadows they fight are, in reality, parts that make ourselves up. The shadows outside Mementos are likely unable to really draw on mythology because it's a different kind of space, while Mementos... feels different."
And beyond Shadows and Demons, there lies... "If there is more beyond that," she supposes, "perhaps that's an answer to a question a friend of mine had." That friend being Tamaki Uchida, though Umie leaves that out. "Two years ago, I could probably count the number of Persona users I've ever sensed on one hand. And now, the number of them's increased beyond just a handful here and there. Supposing that this is because Persona Users are a sort of 'defense mechanism', rather than just chance..."
The moon reflects itself through the holes of Umie's mask, reinforcing the unnatural state of this hour. "What lies around the corner? Are we pawns, or are we marbles?" Is the game logic, or cause and effect?
"... So the mask is..." A bloody affair, indeed, if you have to pull your mask off. "Maybe it is, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't--" Her hasty response shoots out partially, before she realizes what may lie behind Akechi's words. Is that concern, or is it just something she wants to read, however?
As for the Dark Hour, Umie's own reponse is straightforward. "What timeline? It's been around since I Awakened, at the very least."
But Akechi can't give away *all* his secrets, right? Umie laughs. "You *did* once say I was going to somehow inherit your title. Seeing as I don't have the hair..." A half-gloved hand makes a show of drawing a long side bang back. "I can make do with the bits of wisdom you deign worthy of passing on. Perhaps, I may find something to give back, eh?"
How much could there be in Sumaru City that is entirely due to rumors, and why are rumors even there, in the first place?
"Maybe that's why removing the mask is so painful. Even if it's made literal in the case of people like you, breaking the face of the mask we were meant to wear... means casting away the shield we have to mask what we see. To be satisfied with your lot in life... who could ask for more?"
'Many would,' would be the answer in her face, her lips phrasing the question as highly rhetorical.
The twitch of Akechi's right brow leads Umie to stifle a laugh. "It *does* make me relieved that you have to double back and think things over. As for me..." Her grin extends devilishly. "I'll find that book of answers one day. Until then, I'll have to be flawed as everybody else."
But what of Umie's 'innocent sin' regarding the Joker Killer. "The thing is... I challenged him on some things. Like, his involvement in an arson that occurred in 2002, as well as... his relation to his father. I may have... mentioned a certain mummy head." She frowns. "When we managed to wrestle Tachovsky-san free of whatever was scrambling his senses, he mentioned a 'mommy', and how the portrait had to be better than 'his mommy'."
"In short." She sighs. "The painting is of something related to the _mummy_.... Gozen. Perhaps, to spread the Mark's influence... to build a 'family' or 'group', like the Phantom Thieves. He sees Joker as having 'stolen' from him, so, in order to gain what he feels he's 'lost', he wants more people. As one of the few people with a Mark not attached to the NWO, he likely sees me as an automatic addition to his own little group." Umie is so very, very wrong in her approach, but the right answer would require knowing and acknowledging the 'Other Side' as real.
"If he can't spread the Mark himself, the only other way is to spread a madness so deep that people invite the Mark into their hearts."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Yes. Shadows in the Metaverse tend to have a more 'fluid' sense of identity." He agrees with her, "Demons are quantifiable as individuals, even though they might be identical in every other way."
However, as Umie speaks of it in Jungian and a Freudian sense, and he toys with it, "Perhaps. I think they realize it when they come into contact with the shadows of people- that each person must possess a Shadow. Or if they don't at first, then they do soon after."
Akechi of course had the advantage of Wakaba Isshiki's notes on Cognitive Psience, to understand how it fits together. Even in the sense of what the Persona must be...
"A friend of yours, you say?" The theory she puts forth, "I suppose that's possible. Though correlation is not necessarily causation in this respect. There might be another characteristic of the world which is causing so many to awaken as of late..."
Akechi then listens to what Umie has to say of Sudou, rubbing his chin, and nodding along, "Hmmm. A very Freudian implication..." He ruminates aloud, as he then considers the possibility, "... Well, since we don't know enough of the Mark, we can only speculate how much of a disaster that could be... he needs to be stopped, immediately. Though..."
His amber brown eyes look upon Umie Akabane with a certain strange mirth, "... you do realize you've never mentioned your acquaintance with a Mummy head known as 'Gozen' to me before this conversation?"
A beat.
"... Right?"
One might hear a pin drop as he presents that to her.
"Nor that you awakened so young." Why mention that? Because he can add up facts! 1+1=2...
"Is there something you'd like to get off your chest, Akabane-kun...?"
Leave it to a Detective...
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"You mean, like a chicken and egg scenario? Just as likely."
It would follow, that, like Gozen gave her her Mark, like a marble cast into a bed of other marbles, that Awakenings would happen. Like the rumor of the Phantom Thieves, or the disappearance of a teal-haired girl into a growing tower that appears at an hour that should not exist. A rebellious teenager, with no Persona, who Umie tutored for a year, then reappeared with the same Mark as hers.
All marbles, casting across the Collective Unconsciousness, some larger than others.
How many times as she sparked something herself? Like.... now, as she raises an eyebrow at the mirth in Akechi's masked eyes.
Ah.
How many times has she found a similar joy in unlocking a mystery, Umie wonders. Her face may have made a similar expression even, perhaps a smile angled another way, the light in her eyes almost ghastly. A answer, another question, yet another shiny object to collect.
Wincing, she lets out a slow, soft groan.
She had let Joker in on her secret; he had even mentioned something to the effect of that he'd want to know, just because it was tantalizing. And then, she had told Shiryuu, after he had gleaned as such. All because of a green frog ice pack, because the Dark Hour was green, which meant 'luck' somehow.
That is the logic of someone younger, trying to make sense of a world that shouldn't be possible.
Just because someone knew what the Mark was, or that the Joker Killer was Tatsuzou's son, wouldn't mean they would know more than that.
Umie's chin ducks down against her neck, shoulders shifting as she begins to laugh, much like the end of their second meeting face to face.
".... That was how I got the Mark," she says, slipping her hands into her pockets. "I was eleven. Stupid, isn't it?" She adjusts her mask. "Like a story a kid would make up."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Umie groans, his gaze shifts a teeny tiny bit.
And he enjoys making her squirm some, because of course he knows they do rituals in front of Gozen on the Nichirinmaru, but he's fairly good at keeping track of what he is supposed to know, and supposed to not know.
But indeed, he can quite easily feign that he doesn't, after all why should she expect someone only now just connecting dots about the outer fringes of the New World Order know it's greatest secrets?
"Hmm." He evaluates what she has to say about it being stupid, with a hum. "That's not the word I'd use for it. Horrible, more like. Eleven is far too young to have to deal with such things-"
Says the hypocrite, who helped spur the awakening of an even younger child than that, "Though I doubt you're telling me because you were looking for pity."
He closes his eyes for a moment behind the mask, then takes a breath, "That rather implies you know a great deal more about the New World Order than you've been letting on, but- I understand if you haven't told me before when we were discussing my investigations, it means you have your reasons for being circumspect with this information."
He at least seems to be taking it rather well that she hasn't shared...
... but that's for another reason. If Umie lets out too much to the people around her, it is likely he'll be ordered to kill her much sooner, rather than much later.
And he'd rather not, if possible.
"I won't press for more information on the matter, especially since this seems to have been unintentional on your part."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
It's good lesson for one to impart another, and hadn't he said he'd teach her a trick or two?
(Perhaps not the one he's displaying right now, in feigning ignorance.)
"I'm afraid the last thing on everyone's mind at the time was what was ethical," Umie murmurs derisively, though with a glance towards Akechi to indicate that he was not the intended recipient. "Though I'm sure many were in the dark about what would happen when you cast a child to the wolves, just not the person who wanted it all to happen."
"Pity?" Umie shakes her head. "What's done is done. To have the Dark Hour to myself, as well as Badb, was a boon. Would you consider your own situation, whether it was dealt by a god or demon, entirely bad?" Taking her hands pack out of her pockets, she leans against one palm, tilting her head. "To be able to run through the night," she murmurs, gently, "and be beyond the expectations society's thrown at you, making your path forward, and making your own will known. To be able to do things, when situations rise up, and come back at someone who thinks they can control you."
To be a coward, in spite of all that power, for years. How many things could she helped in?
"I will always hate what they did to me, don't get me wrong," she amends, in light of that dark thought. "But I may have died in a different way, if I didn't have Badb. Hopefully, it's not been the same for you, but, regardless, it did mean we were able to talk like this, as two people who happened to have Personas."
He's taking it well. "Take it as a compliment, that I fooled myself into thinking you somehow knew." She glances down towards the hard clay trailing the playground, worn in from many, many running feet. "Despite it being dangerous information."
She's just endangered someone she's grown to like.
"It's dangerous, is what it is. Marks are one thing, but what I just said is... it's not relevant. There's more than one way to get a Mark; the Joker Killer got his another way."
She holds up a finger.
"Twelve or... thirteen year ago, in fact. Just how... I'm not sure."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Akechi to some extent knows. Wakaba Isshiki's notes theorize on what happens when one throws a child to the Wolves.
"No I can't imagine that it was a high priority." Akechi says with a sardonic tone, looking just a touch distraught.
Eleven.
Eleven.
"Hmmm, no, no I wouldn't- but it didn't come with the expectation of remaining a political pawn in a clandestine organization." He counters to Umie, "I had a great more freedom than yourself to explore, especially during the day - whereas you had a single hour."
Indeed, he understands his situation as a Persona User was far less bad than Umie Akabane's... but if they were to compare lives before then?
Umie would be the far more privileged, of the two. Even if that means the expectation of becoming a powerful man's wife.
He nods absently at her saying she'll always hate it, "Perhaps you're right. Though I should ask, what are your plans in regards to the New World Order?" Akechi eventually asks, "Are you seeking their downfall...?"
Whether it's vengeance or not- well that question means quite a lot to him. He could very much appreciate it, if Umie were.
There's a chuckle as she tells him to take it as a compliment, "I might have gotten to the point of understanding there's a 'Mummy Head' that grants the Mark soon enough... but I only recently made the connections that this organization exists at all."
One could say only within the last month or two... if they'd followed along with his interactions with Ren.
"Noted." He says to the idea of it being dangerous, "Though eventually I would have run up against them anyway-?" He says as he reaches out both arms and shrugs broadly. "I'd say we're all in a great deal of danger, fighting such an organization."
But Sudou got it in a different way? His brow furrows a touch at that. He was under the impression that he got it the same way, and his father was in denial.
"... I see. That long ago? Then..."
It would be so much easier if he were a simple psychopath, rather than one who's had that influence for so long.
So much easier.
"... well, once he's in custody, there will be plenty of time for questions."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
No one is an island onto themselves. A Persona is a marker of that, reaching into a collective that exists beyond a single person, be it a goddess of battle and death, or a highwayman who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.
(Or a trickster god cursed to bring about the end of the world.)
That expectation, which Akechi politely serves as a reminder, tempers the moon's glint in Umie's eyes.
Umie always had a house to go back to, a room of her own to be in, food, money, a lot of things Akechi didn't have, growing up. Her parents, while distant, still *cared* about her, in their own ways. They acknowledge her as their daughter, with her own wants and desires. She could, at any point, go back to a life of tensely waiting for someone to move on, and coast through life on the merits of her family's connections, until whatever little spark inside her properly died.
Umie's mother is alive.
Umie has all these things, and doesn't know what it's like to not have them, or that Akechi has lacked them, and the depths of that lack.
She knows one thing, however. "You have to perform a role. The boyish detective prince next door, just masculine enough, but without the threat. At the same time, you have to deal with people double your age or more, looking down on you, openly questioning you in interviews and cases on TV and in magazines." She motions to the moon above. "Even if this hour disappears tomorrow, we'll still have the times we were able to utilize it. Sure, we can't go and grab something from a vending machine, or be able to drink anything that doesn't look like blood, but it's still an hour, every day."
It's her own way, of finding peace with the fact that, for organizations like SEES, the end of the Dark Hour is a necessity.
Because it is.
"My plans..." It's as if Akechi, somehow was the first to ever ask her that question directly. Or maybe, he's the first who she felt she could give an answer to, if she could find it. "..."
Tamaki's words come to mind, once again. "I want to be the person I never had, for others," she says, her head dipping slightly. Green rays highlight the stray hairs of blonde, casting her upward glance as she finds her answer. It's not just that, it's... "So... yes. I am."
Even if she doesn't have an answer for how, or what she can even do, it feels like the only answer she could give.
Akechi's daring pose brings a sudden laugh from Umie. Her shoulders loosen. "Now there's the Robin Hood. What about you? Even if you only know a little bit?"
If only Umie knew to treat Sudou's answer with the same increduality as the many other answers he gave her. "He's the first, as far as I can tell. Which would make me, possibly, the second, to be Marked. That's alive, that is."
She has to note that possibility.
"There's a problem with that: he teleports. Maybe, it's to do with rumors, just like you mentioned earlier, but we can't be sure. His father placed him in that sanitarium; I don't think a prison cell's going to do any better unless we figure out how to undo that rumor."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Aren't they?
Akechi certainly believes he's an island unto himself. No one can truly understand him. No one can love him for who he truly is. It's impossible- for he's an accursed presence in this world.
At least, that is his self-delusion.
As Umie tells him about the role he has to perform, he places a hand across his chest, and bows theatrically, one arm behind his back.
"Yes, that is exactly it." As he then straightens up, "And I must earn their approval, even when I'm rejecting their arguments, or pushing back against them."
It is like spinning plates, constantly, trying to charm the adults around them, trying to seem useful, talented - someone they will not dismiss.
A child that cannot be dismissed or made invisible just because someone older than him is in the room.
"Hm." The tip of Akechi's Tengu mask raises, to look at the sickly glow of the Moon. Something about Umie's line rings wrong to him. He's not certain why, perhaps it was some minute detail in Isshiki's notes.
"... I suppose you're right. As it stands, we don't lack for opportunities currently outside of the Dark Hour."
And he hasn't in years... it's all a few clicks in his phone away.
Umie speaks of her plans, in response to his question, and he gets the impression that she hadn't really given it serious thought, or if she had, she'd evaded coming to any conclusions.
"Commendable." He says of her idea.
Foolish
Just like a woman to be so irrational
He dismisses it internally. There are some people you can't get close to like that, that you can't be there for.
The only person he ever had was his Mother, and he didn't deserve her. Her love for him was wholly irrational, as is this thought of Umie Akabane's to be the person she never had for other people.
Yet, she then says 'Yes I do.' "... I see. So it's about ensuring there are no other victims for you..." He can work with that, he supposes.
However, she counters, by asking him the same, with a laugh, "Myself?" His eyes rise to meet Umie's, glittering strangely in the light of the Dark Hour, "I will always oppose such sickening individuals as those that lead the New World Order. My contempt for people such as that is what drives my sense of justice."
One might expect the Detective Prince to say it's for society's sake, or some lofty ideal. But no... it's apparently more personal than that. For all he presents himself on television. It truly is winning approval so that he might use his widespread approval to wield the barber's blade against people who are cancers upon society.
"The first. Yes... that might be so." She says of Sudou, considering the matter. The New World Order wasn't conducting those kind of experiments back then, to his knowledge. "I think there's a more pressing issue..."
Akechi says, as he leans back subtly, "His recent video on the internet promises to unmask himself in a subsequent post. I may not know the inner workings of the New World Order... but I do know how politicians think. His father will assuredly respond to prevent any scandal at this point, as it would undermine his hold upon the organization."
He gives Umie a meaningful look, "We're on a clock, it won't be long before he sends in a death squad to kill him before he ever can utilize his powers- or utilizes the rumor to force him to appear at a location intended to entrap him."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie laughs as Akechi gives her a theatrical bow, giving him a few gracious claps at his performance. "Marvelous. Bravo. Why, you even manage to charm me. How else were you able to get so many secrets?"
Following along with the same air, she places a dainty hand on her chest. "Meanwhile, I'm just a normal, boring adult with many normal, boring parttime jobs." Another hand goes to her ear, as if to hear some far off gossip. "What's that? I color my nails a different color? No one will care. Oh no, I suspiciously became sick? Oh, that's just Umie Akabane. Such a terrible fate..." Her hands resume their rightful rest on her knee. "But there's much to learn, when one looks to another."
Like how to spin those plates, or rise to challenge a mind used to seeing a trick in every adult's praise.
... Or how to charm someone, without selling your soul, but it's too late, for that one.
"... My, my, I'm not sure if I can ever work with that," Umie teases, the mirth in her voice echoing the glint in Akechi's eyes. "Someone with a sense of Justice... that could be a terrible influence on me." As if she didn't already know it to be a part of him, and what drives him.
.... Or that she didn't specifically think of people like him and Katsuya in who to give information to, at least in situations not tied with the Phantom Thieves.
And yet.
Something hangs over her as Akechi voices his reasoning.
She just shakes her head. "I just... get the feeling that something bad is going to happen." This same person just remarked that she'd like to see to the downfall of the NWO, and has also predicted that she would see the Joker Killer's death.
Brown eyes flick back to Akechi's face. "It's irrational, to think that; something *will* happen, regardiless."
Yet that thought still hangs there.
"Yeah." She frowns. "And the painting's already done, so, I suppose, if there's one way to nab him, that'd be it. Its showing's supposed to go on... hold on, I wrote it down." She reaches into the pocket of her jacket, drawing out and unfolding a piece of paper. "The 25th, of this month. It'll be a private showing in Iwatodai, but I'm very sure the client who will be presenting it in Tachovsky's stead will be none other than the Joker Killer himself. For someone like you... I bet you could secure a means of getting in, given the role you play." She gives Akechi a sly grin. "Perhaps you could manage to fit in another person or two, whether or not you can make it."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Perhaps I'm manipulating you in order to uncover all of your secrets, one by one." He says so flippantly that of course it sounds ridiculous! Who would think he's doing that!?
Right?
"Untrue." Akechi says as he straightens backwards, "Rather, I wouldn't deign to call you an adult. Perhaps you meet the criteria by technicality... but adult is a 'role'. Another mask. One you've rejected."
That's, an interesting perspective, isn't it?
He obviously doesn't think she's normal or boring either but he's not going to even address those ones, just to mess with her.
"You must not have listened to the hosts in any of my recent interviews. After all, I'm considered an exceptional influence on the youth of this country. Now... if you'll just hand me your autograph board, young lady..."
He even stretches out his gloved hand, still teasing, obviously he doesn't think Umie is THAT kind of fan.
"You don't need to be an oracle, to know that..." He says quietly, on the fact that something bad will happen.
"The twenty fifth..." He echoes her statement, "...Hmmm, yes, I'm rather certain I can manage to acquire tickets with a few phone calls. Though I do wonder, if it's truly that dangerous, then why allow the show to go on at all?"
...
"Food for thought." He says, without ever explicitly outlining what it is he's implying.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
To so blatantly state it that way...
What a brat!
Umie points a languid lavender nail at Akechi's face, as if he was close enough for her to push his nose. "And maybe each time you do so, it makes me just a little sharper." He doesn't do it in bad faith, it's just in his nature as a detective... right?
Of course.
'I wouldn't deign to call you an adult.' "So you'd call me a child?" she asks, playfully. Such a back and forth would operate differently if it was between her and Shiryuu, but that may be due to their own shared quirks.
One day, Akechi will see that difference for himself.
"... But that is a good way of putting it. It's a mask I've ripped off. It wasn't as bloody, however." Soul-crushing, is more like it. "But one day, I'll have to create a mask to take its place. And you, when you reach that age, will at least know it's possible."
To be the person she didn't have doesn't mean it should be grand gestures.
"... Just as you show that someone younger doesn't mean less capable."
He beckons with a hand, and Umie holds up her hands, feigning a look of despair. "Sorry, left it in my other jacket."
One doesn't need to be an oracle, but still, it jabs at Umie. "No," she concedes. "Otherwise we'd both be proper oracles."
Why allow the show to go on at all? Umie frowns, tilting her head.
"I'm not sure what world you live in, but I'm used to a world where people wave you away if you try to warn them that a painting could be something so terrible as draw people mad."
She hums, chewing on Akechi's statement a second longer.
"Perhaps, if the painting disappeared during the Dark Hour... who would even know?" she murmurs, thoughtfully. "I doubt they'd set up the morning of. Or... if the artist would be so kind as to call in and let them know the painting is a fraud..."
Damn it, why didn't she think about these possibilities before?!
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"You said it."
Goro Akechi says of such a plan, with a chuckle.
"Not I."
He's not the kind of person who breaks the law as a rule, but is it really breaking the law when the display itself is a conspiracy to create a crime of mass insanity?
Certainly not.