2026-02-25: A New Mystery
- Log: A New Mystery
- Cast: Ririka Kawase, Shinjiro Aragaki, Suzume Fukura, Reiya Aomori, Minato Arisato, Hitomi Mandai, Fuuka Yamagishi
- Where: Iwatodai Dormitory, Iwatodai
- OOC Date: February 25, 2026
- IC Date: Monday, October 01, 2012 (Afternoon)
- Summary: Ririka comes to SEES to finally share the disturbing truth she learned in Eiji Kamiya's Palace: that her brother Toshiaki was killed by a Mental Shutdown. The group discusses what they know and possible avenues of investigation.
(|============================ Iwatodai Dormitory ============================|)
-================================================== Iwatodai City/Iwatodai ====-
A large four-story dormitory used by the Specialized Extracurricular Execution
Squad, only five minutes from Iwatodai Station. Upon entering, one passes a desk
with a sign-in book for guests to find a large carpeted common room that's well
appointed for co-ed gatherings.
A TV is usually on with the local news or a movie that's been loaded into the
DVD player for a student to enjoy. A table for shared dinners, or more often
study sessions, takes up the other half of the dorm, as well as a kitchen should
one dare to show off their skills to their fellow students.
There are two winding staircases on either side. The one on the left simply says
'Boys' while the other on the right states 'No Boys Except By Invitation.' The
implicit threat of execution need not be written down for those who violate
these rules. The second and third stories are living spaces divided by gender
with common spaces that have study areas and bookshelves available.
The fourth story is the command center with surveillance capabilities for not
just different parts of the city but each room within the dorms. The Chairman
has assured all who live here that this capability is strictly necessary.
BGM - Dormitory Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj-FrFI0qnM
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka is often, if we're being charitable, a bit distractable. It's not at all odd to see her holed up in her room practicing piano or guitar for long hours, or walking around with headphones on, or getting distracted by a tune on the radio. But lately... she's been a little bit more withdrawn than usual. At least, when there wasn't supernatural business to take care of.
A few members of SEES might already have an idea of why this is, but Ririka's been taking a lot of time to process the things she learned in Eiji Kamiya's Palace... and the weight of a certain anniversary that recently passed.
But finally she's put out the word to her fellow SEES members that she has some important news to share. And so she's sitting at the head of the room, headphones around her neck, distractedly humming to herself and tapping on her thigh as she waits for her fellow SEES members to show up.
She tries to give everyone at least a nod or a 'hi' as they come in, but she's not making a lot of small talk yet.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro had talked to Ririka right before the dorm attack. She'd informed her of some of her personal worries and fears about what she learned in the Palace, and he offered to help her. So when she said she had some important news to share, he wondered if it was related to that - though it could admittedly be anything.
As he steps into the room, he nods to Ririka. He's a little awkward... does he belong here?
Well, he's in SEES. And he's not running away. So that means he should keep supporting their members. If Ririka tells him to leave, he will.
"Hey, Kawase," is all he says before taking a seat, drumming his finger slightly before folding them together.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume may occasionally be socially oblivious but even she has noticed Ririka's withdrawal. Whether that's because she's particularly alert or because it's just that obvious - well, who knows?
Either way, she wasn't sure how to bring anything up and now she doesn't have to, so it's win-win.
"Yo," Suzume says, as she marches into the room... and then right back out of the room, because she's detoured into the kitchen.
Suzume returns a second time with a can of Moonkist because meetings are a perfect time to sit down and have a drink, apparently. In that time period between leaving and returning Shinjiro has come in, which has its own complications, but she gives him a nod anyway as she sits nearish Ririka.
"What's up?" she asks, direct.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya is here. When did he get here? Don't worry about that; he's in one of the chairs in the lobby, looking at Ririka thoughtfully.
He's talked to Ririka a few times, now. He's talked to many in SEES. ...But now he's quiet.
He has a lot on his mind, and it would seem tahnt so does she.
"Hello," Reiya greets the others.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
At the back of the room, Minato leans against the wall, hands in his pockets as he watches proceedings with veiled blue eyes. When did he get here? Don't worry about it. Why doesn't he have much to say? Don't worry about that, either. Blue Leader lets his people speak their mind more than he ever does; he'll listen to proceedings without passing verbal judgement, and his own counsel he'll keep.
Still, he's here.
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Hitomi Mandai appears! Command?
Hitomi has taken off her school uniform in favor of the baggy-tee-and-sweatpants she often wears when lounging around the dorm after 'like seven PM.' The bandage on her face is gone, though one smaller one remains on her forearm; she is moving less gingerly even if she hasn't, quite, gone back on journeys to Tartarus. Not yet, anyway.
As she comes down, she glances after Suzume as she goes into the kitchen. Her eyes stay that direction for several moments, before she calls, "Hey -- get me something?" after her.
Then back to Ririka, Reiya, others. She smiles a little as she moves to plop down in a seat.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Fuuka has an idea of what this important news Ririka has to share is. Perhaps because of that, she feels even more need to be there. This probably isn't going to be easy to talk about - and if it isn't about that, she wants to know anyway.
Fuuka arrives, scanning the room to see who has already gathered.
"Hello Kawase-san, everyone." She greets politely, moving to take a seat with her hands folded in her lap. There's so much going on lately, it seems...
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
@emit
Ririka might still have some things she's upset at Shinjiro about, and they might still need to discuss that, but that doesn't mean she doesn't trust Shinjiro still. She gives him a nod as he arrives.
Ririka keeps a lot hidden, but she's worse at hiding things at times then she likes to think she is. "Hey, Fukura-chan."
"Hey," she offers to Reiya. they've talked a few times, one of those quite soon after the fight with Shadow Eiji.
She gives Minato a nod. Even if he doesn't speak much, she's glad for his presence all the same.
She's glad to see that Hitomi is doing better--or at least, has graduated to smaller bandages.
Fuuka is one of a few who've heard it--who maybe saw Ririka at her most vulnerable trying to grapple with it the morning after. She's... well, maybe more composed now, at least. Or tired. Or a mix of both. "Hey, Yamagishi-san."
She waits a few moments to see if anybody else shows up, and then takes a deep breath, sitting upright. "Hey, everyone. Thanks for coming. There's... a couple of things i wanted to share." She hasn't stopped drumming her fingers.
"First, um... I wanted to thank everyone for helping investigate Kamiya's Palace, and for helping fight Shadow Eiji. You might've seen the news, so I won't go into what happened after, but..." Deep breath.
"... my sister is doing a lot better. She's looking forward to the future, and hopefully a lot more people can be helped with the information we found, so..." She gets up and bows. "... thank you very much."
She sits down and takes another deep breath. "Unfortuantely, I..." Her gaze dips for a moment. "... learned something new, from Shadow Eiji. It doesn't concern my sister, but... it concerns my older brother."
Ririka is silent for a long moment, trying to figure out where to begin before she starts talking again. "Two years ago, on September 18, 2010, my brother was on a camping trip. He had what we thought--" Her voice trembles but she forces it to stay steady. "--was some kind of medical condition, froze up, and fell. He... well, there wasn't anything that could be fone for him."
September 18. That means the 2 year anniversary just passed, which would line up with her being out of sorts. Toshiaki was a 2nd year at the high school when this happened, so SEES' third-years most likely heard about it, but it's not impossible that the news made its way to Gekkoukan's middle school, too.
"But... what Shadow Eiji told us..." Ririka looks up to the rest of her fellow SEES members. "... he was killed. By a Mental Shutdown."
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Suzume gets a nod back from Shinjiro. It's awkward, but he's here to support as senpai.
But what Ririka tells them is stuff he's heard before. Even so, he seems thoughtful as she speaks... two years ago, an arc number from hell, huh?
He nods once, Shinjiro folding his fingers together. "I'm sorry for your loss. ...for what it's worth, from everything I know, I doubt it was a lie or a diversion. Perhaps the Shadow felt it was a way to finally be honest, as shitty a human as he was."
A pause. Ririka knows he's willing to help, but he raises it anyway. "What do you need from us?" He'll let the others ask any questions.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Something new...
"I'm glad your sister is doing better," he says. "If I was able to play a small part in helping her, then I'm glad."
But... Reiya frowns, listening. He looks to Ririka in particular, and nods. "...An unforgivable injury," he says. "To lose one's family to such a thing..."
He nods. "I'll help." Her get revenge, obviously. It's the honorable thing to do.
"But I'm sorry. It is a hard thing to know that someone intentionally took your loved one's life. ...Do you have any idea what they wanted with him?"
He doesn't know much about Mental Shutdowns, but...
They aren't accidental, as far as he knows.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume takes a moment longer in the kitchen, so that when she sits down she also slides a bottle of tea across the table at Hitomi. It's practiced; it slides almost exactly the right amount of distance before stopping.
Suzume *wasn't* at the battle against Shadow Eiji, but she went to the Palace, and really, that was enough to disgust her. "That's good," she says, on hearing that Ririka's sister (who Suzume has not met personally but certainly saw images of in the Palace) is doing better.
But the rest of it...
Ririka speaking about how her brother died is enough to get Suzume to... look away, for a moment. Her sister died, too, though last year instead of the year before, hit by a vehicle - and since Kiyomi was *also* at Gekkoukan this is something pretty much everyone who was here last year knows. Suzume doesn't resemble Kiyomi at all, though, and never seemed close to her, so it's easy to not put two and two together and realize they were sisters.
But this is clearly still eating up Ririka. Why doesn't Kiyomi's hit her like that? Is something wrong with her -
She snaps back to reality instead of doing what she was doing, which was repeatedly flexing the little bit of metal used to open the can before it popped off with a little metallic *ping* as the thin, overstressed metal finally gave up.
"..."
Suzume looks somewhere between 'scowling' and 'I am about to yell' and is only keeping herself together by the skin of her teeth. "Keep going," she says.
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Hitomi is showing less pain and distress, and that's what counts, probably. She folds her hands on one knee as Ririka speaks. She smiles at the news that things are better - "I hadn't, he get busted?" Hitomi asks, but softly, after that comes up.
"Don't worry about it," Hitomi says afterwards, leaning back -- and then --
The murder mystery is afoot.
Hitomi's eyes widen slightly.
Then more than slightly.
"What the hell," Hitomi says.
She glances at Suzume as she comes back, reaching over to collect the bottle of tea and opening it, which helps buffer out the somewhat complicated emotional landscape on her face. After a swig of the familiar beverage, and pushing her glasses up her nose, she says, "Yeah -- what else happened? I don't... really remember stuff well from that, I know there was a bunch of stuff happening."
Hitomi crosses one leg over the other then, leaning back. The smile is gone. Instead, a frown, if a thoughtful one..
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Ririka returns her greeting, and Fuuka nods back. The news... she'd heard. Fuuka nods, when Ririka says her sister is doing a lot better.
"I'm... really glad to hear that. I hope things continue improving for her." Fuuka offers.
What comes next, though, is much less pleasant. Ririka tells the story of how her brother passed - or, as she clarifies, was murdered. Fuuka breathes in sharply. Even if Ririka has already told her, it's still no easier to hear the second time.
"Kawase-san... I'm sorry." Fuuka murmurs sympathetically. "Have you... found out anything else, since then?"
She pauses, and wonders if it would be insensitive to even ask, but...
"And... does your family know?" She asks.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Thank you, senpai," Ririka says quietly. She nods quietly to him. "I think he... wanted to distract me. Or maybe just... to hurt me, when he brought it up. But... after he was defeated, he seemed pretty willing to talk..." She remembers Queen telling him to cooperate fully with the authorities, too--is that part of the Change of Heart? She's not sure.
She nods to Reiya. An injury. She hesitates a moment before answering, "... yeah." But he'll help. "Thank you."
It is good, and Ririka nods to Suzume. "Yeah." She hasn't exactly put things together about Suzume's sister, but maybe that's something they should talk about sometime. Just... later.
Ririka nods to Hitomi. "Apparently he confessed everything, and a bunch of places he was using all got raided at once, so... yeah." There might've been some complciated lega maneuvering behind the scenes, but Ririka's not really privy to that.
'What the hell.' "... yeah." Ririka knows how it sounds, she can't really say anything that makes it sound more sane.
"Thank you," Ririka says to Fuuka, of her sister. But the news... Ririka shakes her head. "Onee-chan knows," she says quietly. "But... there's... th-there's not really any way we could tell our parents, you know?"
But Shinjiro asks a good question: What does she need from them? "I... need help investigating. My only lead right now is that this might be tied to the NWO. I know the Chairman didn't necessarily want us getting involved with them, but... they seem pretty determined to mess with people, and we know they stole some of Kirijo's technology, so... maybe we can still do good for others that way."
Reiya asks if she knows what they wanted. ? Ririka shakes her head a little. "... I don't know. As far as I'm aware, Toshiaki wasn't... wasn't involved in anything dangerous. Kamiya and my sister became closer after he passed, but... it doesn't feel like Kamiya arranged it? That was kind of my first guess, but.,.."
She takes a deep breath, trying to organize what she learned. Maybe just go in chronological order. "I don't really have a lot of answers or new information yet, but... here's what i know."
Her hand grasps the arm of her seat as she steels herself. "... The first thing he said, was... Toshi-nii wouldn't have had to die, if... i-if my father had been better connected." That's kind of a heavy thought, and it takes a little out of her to say.
"I... I don't know if he was just... bragging, or..." Ririka looks down. "The Cognition of his father was pretty powerful. So maybe that was it? I... I don't think... my dad is wrapped up in anything like this."
But she has to keep pushing forward. "He said it wasn't an accident, but a Metnal Shutdown... he said... they threatened him with one, if he didn't meet..."
Ririka makes a disgusted face. "... his 'quotas.'"
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya is angry, to think that this was done to Ririka, and her family that has been through so much already. But he doesn't show much emotion. Not compared to Suzume, for instance. But he waits for everyone else--and then...
"If you have faith in your father," Reiya says, "Then I believe you. That suggests to me..."
"That they wanted something from him, and did not get it."
"...And that they are willing to use thse Shutdowns to get what they want."
He considers.
"Hm... Does your father work for a Kirijo hospital?" he wonders, going into full Thinking Mode.
"..."
"...Well," he says, "I said I would help, and I will. If we learn a place where I can gather information, I can infiltrate, or have one of my family do the same."
Ninjas, right?
"...But..."
He considers. "...I am not good at it," he admits, "But... as your comrades, we also wish to support you... emotionally. I think."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
The fact that Suzume shows more emotion than Reiya does is something of a complete non-surprise.
Right now her emotions are roiling and she doesn't have an easy outlet. She doesn't want to dump on Ririka while she's talking about herself, and her family, and how someone was *killed*. This isn't about her and she doesn't want it to be.
So she takes the one outlet she has.
"What the *hell*," Suzume says, her voice pitching up both in ... well, pitch, and volume, at the end, as her face reddens. "Who gets off saying something like that! I know, I know, a Shadow, one that wanted to hurt you, but - Gah!"
Suzume's hand thumps against the table as she half-rises from her seat. Her Moonkist wobbles but does not fall over. "I don't care if they threatened HIM with one," she says, viciously, "if it was that or collect - collect girls," and boy is that hard to say, "but your brother - "
If he wasn't involved in it, why? IS he just a bystander? But then why kill him?
"The - damned Illuminati!" She's been reading too many of the wrong kinds of sites... but *are* they the wrong kind, given what they've gotten up to?
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Ririka explains things further. Big sis is OK. They can't tell their parents (because, duh). She needs help, which Hitomi accepts with a simple nod, but it's the rest that seems to bring her awareness to the fore.
Hitomi goes from leaning back to leaning forwards, bringing up her tea bottle and taking another small sip. She chews on the rim a little. Displacement behavior. She watches Ririka as she keeps talking. After this, she takes another sip of the tea and looks at -- the ceiling?
Her lips are twitching for a moment. Maybe she's thinking something out.
"A New World Order... an Illuminati..."
Hitomi looks downwards, still holding the tea bottle more or less near her face. She takes a deep breath and pushes it out.
"And it wouldn't have happened *if* he was better connected... what a strange thing to say," Hitomi concludes, before her eyes flick to Reiya.
All at once Hitomi seems to straighten up, sitting further upright, her face becoming more firm and solemn. She looks back to Ririka: "I'm sorry. It... It can't be much help, but I want to stop this too. To do that kind of thing... and then you've had to deal with it twice." Hitomi shakes her head once, eyes closing. "So, of course, you have my sword <3"
Hitomi coughs into the crook of her arm a moment afterwards. Perhaps a tone mismatch. Or she jammed a not-quite-healed wound. After this, she takes a deep sniffing breath and says, "If they've stolen some of the Kirijo technology... these things could thread together. There can't be that much of it, and we... know there were other people here. I want to get to the bottom of this. And --"
Her mouth opens and closes, and she looks at Ririka, and she smiles a little, and then she sinks back into the seat.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro listens. He's still heard a lot of this, but Ririka wants help investigating. He's not as angry - because he's had time to process it - but he's still frustrated for them. He nods to Reiya as he mentions supporting her emotionally.
"I think I have the most intel on the NWO. They have strings all over, but agents once mentioned that the 'heads' don't always communicate. Which makes me think it's multiple branches, maybe. Additionally, they're connected to the Joker Killer, though I'm not entirely sure on their direct relationship, but he's the son of one of their bosses. And the chairman told us Tatsuzou Sudou tried to bring the Kirijo Corporation into it..."
A grimace.
"For the sake of your brother, and everyone else they've threatened, I'll do everything I can to help you figure this out, Kawase. It's been posted before that Mental Shutdowns can happen by killing a Shadow in Mementos, right? That means whoever is doing this is a Persona User. That narrows it down some, but sadly not enough. But we know the NWO has Persona Users... perhaps if we want information, we have to dig into them. It'll be dangerous..."
An exhale.
"But it's worth it."
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Fuuka nods as Ririka thanks her. She explains that she told her sister, but not their parents...
It does make sense. How would one even approach that? How would one even start to tell their parents about something like that? ...It'd certainly be difficult for her - but her parents are a different case.
Ririka needs help investigating... Fuuka hesitates for a moment.
"Um... I'm... good with computers. So... if you find anything you need to access, or have an idea where to look... let me know? That's something I can do." Fuuka offers.
It wouldn't be the first bit of potentially dangerous hacking she's done, and at least one person here already knows she does... but it is still a bit embarrassing to admit to having those kinds of potentially illegal skills.
She listens, though, as the conversation continues. It wasn't random - her brother was targeted... and it wouldn't have happened if her father was better connected.
"That's... horrible, I'm sorry..." Fuuka murmurs, shaking her head.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka is angry, too--among a lot of other feelings. It hurts, to ahve an old wound suddenly reopened like that. She is emotional, but she's trying to hide the worst of it, here.
She cried out a lot of her feelings on the 18th, after all.
Her father... "I... I mean... I've never seen anything that suggested..." But maybe they wanted something from him? Ririka goes still as she thinks about that.
She already knows that Eiji was willing to sell her off for his own gain--but to think that they'd treat Toshiaki like that, just to get at someone else...
Feels galling.
She looks to REiya. "... he works for Tatsumi Memorial, so..." She had no reason to think about if it was Kirijo funded, but when she thinks about the timing of her family's move... "... that belongs to Kirijo, doesn't it?"
Ninjas! "Thanks," she says to the offers. But emotionally... Ririka considers that for a moment and then nods, her voice softer. "... thanks. I... think knowing people are supporting me helps a lot, Aomori-san."
'What the *hell*.' "... yeah. It's... really messed up. But... from everything we've found out... the shit he was bragging about was the shit the real Kamiya was doing, so..."
"Yeah, I'm not saying he should get a pass or anything, just because he got threatened," Ririka 100% agrees with Szume, there. "But... it does mean it's something that can be controlled, right?"
Hitomi points out the phrasing. "Yeah, I'm still... puzzling that one out." But Hitomi wants to stop this too, and offers up her sword. Ririka blinks--it's maybe not a tonal fit, and the thought of 'but you use dice' comes to mind, but she also remembers what Hitomi said in the Palace.
"... Thank you, Mandai-san."
But the stolen tech. "Yeah, it could be connected. And anywy, if this is something they're doing to people... they should be stopped, right?"
Speaking of being connected, Shinjiro brings that fact up next. "And what the Joker Killer did at that art show... talking about Nyarlathotep, and Marks... that painting... he's up to something seriously messed up. Maybe it plays into the NWO's plans somehow?"
Shinjiro willhelp. "Thanks." And then he mentions the cause of the mental shutdowns. "... Right. But I'm not sure how you'd even find someone's Shadow, though... Mementos is kiiind of big..." But they can investiate NWO Persona USers. "It might be dangerous, but... I can't wait until they hurt someone else."
If it wasn't a supernatural affair, perhaps Ririka and Ichika could figure out a way to tell their parents. But it is, and that's... a pretty tall ask. And what if telling them too much about the supernatural makes them more vulnerable to it?
... No, they can't tell them, unless a mundane explanation can also be offered.
Fuuka offers up her illegal skills. "... Right. Thanks, Yamagishi-san. If I find a lead like that, you'll be the first person I come to." It might be dangerous and illegal, but... it's not like they'll get far against the NWO by playing purely by the rules.
"Thank you, Yamagishi-san," says Ririka to Fuuka's concern after.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"It belongs to Kirijo," Suzume confirms. "Or at least, if they don't own it, they got influence. It's where they sent me, after."
After she awoke in Mementos the first time, for a little overnight observation.
She glances over at Fuuka. "I know a bit about computers too," she volunteers, which is an understatement - but she's not sure she knows the right kind of illegal tricks, unless you want to download a music album or a video game. Still, it might at least be an offer of assistance... and understanding about Fuuka's skills.
Suzume is still upset, for some clear reasons and some unclear ones. She forces herself to try to stay calm, but it's not working very well. "I've been lookin' in Mementos, remember? If we find anything on a trip..." She can't guarantee it, of course.
Suzume scowls again. She grabs her drink, almost angrily, but she's more controlled about drinking from it so she doesn't make a mess. The Moonkist can goes down a few moments later with a loud *thonk* on the tabletop that would get her yelled at if Mitsuru was here.
"This is <fucked up>!" Suzume blurts out, breaking into actual profanity (she says it in English, which means it doesn't count as bad words in Japanese, clearly). And what can she do? What HAS she done? She doesn't know about the psychotic breakdowns, obviously nobody's killing anyone's Shadow for those but everybody keeps talking about the two events together... and here Ririka is doing something about it...
For a moment, Suzume feels like the worst person in the world. And then, the most useless. What is she but muscle?
"I'll help," she says, eventually. "I mean. You knew that. I just didn't say."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Fuuka is good with computers... Reiya looks to her but says nothing, instead looking back to Ririka--and then suddenly Suzume. "..."
"Yes," he agrees. "It is." 5r
he doesn't know how to help, but he wants at least to provide a presence.
But Ririka, again--"I see. So..."
Kirijo hospital, and the NWO...
"And mine," Reiya agrees with Hitomi, too.
"It will be dangeorus," Reiya says. "If they have this power, they do not want to lose it. We must be on our highest guard."
"...But as Aragaki-senpai says, it is worth it. Such a power should not exist."
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Something that can be controlled. Hitomi takes her glasses off and cleans it on her T-shirt's hem for a moment. They're all sharing this around. Hitomi's slightly watery-sleepless eyes turn towards Fuuka, or at least the colorful blur with Fuuka's voice.
As they go back on, she says, "Oh... you're good with computers, Yamagishi? That's good to know..." She takes a deep breath and lets it out. Her legs uncross, and she recrosses.
"A," Hitomi is about to say before SUZUME
THIS IS <<FUCKED UP>>
Hitomi visibly leans back, expression turning into an unfettered D8 of surprise for a moment before she recovers herself. "Hey," she tells Suzume, "we can solve this, come on." She smiles as she straightens up, gesturing a little to no real cause with the hand holding the bottle cap.
"We already did the impossible three times, right? What's four or five?"
Back to Ririka: "Do you have... a police statement or anything, about what he said? It sounds like this isn't stuff he told the *cops*, but maybe we should all - I mean, everyone who was there, against the Shadow." A beat or two passes.
"Maybe the Phantom Thieves know something? Do any of you guys know much about them? I saw the one with the mask and the... thing," Hitomi concludes, "the cool jacket. Coat?"
She sips her tea.
Yeah, Hitomi visibly decides, that's a good description.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro nods to Ririka. They've gotta get it done. Reiya agrees with him, too.
And then Suzume curses. Shinjiro turns his head more towards hte outburst than the curse. He nods as she says she'll help - he thinks she's capable, but he doesn't know what to say.
Though, when Hitomi mentions the Phantom Thieves, Shinjiro frowns thoughtfully. "You're talking about Joker. I had a meeting with the Thieves alongside some Sumaru colleagues of mine. I don't think they like me very much. I told them that I felt what they were doing seemed hollow if they're just forcing decisions on bad people... and they took that poorly."
A sigh. "We can probably ask them if we really need to, though. I just don't know how we'd get a hold of them. They have that PhanSite, but I don't think we want to go through that. Besides... we might want to do this ourselves. We don't actually know who we can trust, do we?"
It might seem hypocritical of him to mention trust. But he really does mean it.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Ririka's father works for Tatsumi Memorial...
"Oh, I know that one..." Fuuka says idly... and feels just a bit embarrassed about it a moment later. It's probably not a good thing for her to be so familiar with a specific hospital that one can comment on it the same way one would talk about a restaurant they frequent... though this may not be a surprise, either, at least for those in her class - before joining SEES, she was in and out of the hospital fairly frequently.
That's how they had files on her, after all.
Suzume says she knows a bit about computers, too.
"Oh, you do?" Fuuka asks, both surprised and curious. It's not a common hobby for girls... but that might just be the insecurity talking. She may be getting the wrong idea, but... "Then we can work together."
She hears the swear - but doesn't call it out. Suzume isn't wrong. Hitomi, then, comments on what she said. Fuuka nods.
"Yes, I am. I've had a lot of practice." She confirms. Ririka thanks her, and Fuuka nods.
"Of course." She replies. She knows how powerful information can be. Right now, the enemy has the cards... anything they can get would be helpful. The Phantom Thieves, though... she hasn't decided how she feels about them.
"We don't really know them... It seems risky." Fuuka admits. She's surprised that Shinjiro has apparently had a meeting with them, though.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka nods to Suzume about the hospital. "That makes sense." After a moment she adds, "My family moved because my dad got a job at the hospital, when I was 7."
So, just after Ten Years Ago happened, in other words.
She nods to Suzume. "Yeah, I'll help you look, too... if we can find anything out..."
Suzume swears in English, though, and Ririka nods like she understood. "Yeah." And to be fair, Ririka's done a lot of processing so far, but... bringing this up with people who can help is her trying to be more proactive. "It's okay, I gotcha. Thanks," she says of the offer of help.
Reiya brings up a good point, though, about them not wanting to give up that power. "I hadn't even thought about that aspect of it... that's good to keep in mind."
Not that it's going to stop her.
"A police statement...?" Ririka frowns. "No, but... I'm not sure how I'd get that? And I kind of don't want to hear about... everything he did..." she says with a grimmace.
"Maybe..." she says about the Phantom Thieves. "One of them mentioned something about the NWO to toe Cognition of Kamiya's father, so... maybe they've had some run-ins..."
She looks at Shinjiro in surprie as he mentions meeting with them. "Wait, you did?" But they don't like Shinjiro because of what he said... Ririka looks down for a moment. "... did you ask them why they were doing what they were doing?" Her fingertips drum on her thigh as she tries to process her thoughts on the matter.
She nods to Fuuka as she mentions the familiarity. That makes sense, but she doesn't comment.
But both Shinjiro and Fuuka make points about the Phantom Thieves.
"I know it might be risky, and I'm not saying we should trust them fully." She knows people have reservations about what they're doing--she does, too, even if she can see why someoe might do what they do. "... but they were fighting Shadow Eiji with the rest of us. Whether directly or indirectly... they helped my sister. So for my part... I think I can give them the benefit of a doubt."
"If we can get in touch with them... I'd like to hear them out. This is for my brother. And for anybody else who's been hurt this way."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"I didn't say we couldn't," Suzume objects to Hitomi, "I said it was messed up, and I said that because it IS messed up."
Suzume, that is not *quite* what you said.
Fuuka looks over at her. "What?" Suzume says, defensively. She's not sure she wants to bring up her electronics here, not that half the people don't already know about it, especially if they paid attention to who set up the replacement television, but... "Are you surprised? Before you got here I was the one monitoring the Darkside of Sumaru." She still does, in fact. And she likes Fuuka, so... "Drop by my room sometime and I'll show you some of my stuff."
And on top of that... Ririka wants to get in touch with the Phantom Thieves?
"I don't know if they pay much attention to it," Suzume says, slowly, "but the Phantom Thieves have got a fan site forum. I don't know if they run it - probably not - but I bet they watch it. I would if it was a site about me." Who wouldn't? "I have a login, but I don't use it much. I signed up when we were getting a little suspicious, and I thought I'd keep an eye on it... it's mostly just people talking, but every once in a while someone makes a request there. Maybe they read those."
She scowls. "Might not be a great idea. I don't know if I trust them either. But it might not be a horrible one either." Since they were fighting Shadow Eiji, they might already know some of this, anyway. They did the actual Change of Heart, and Suzume has no idea how that works.
"I mean, you'd be the one who'd have to decide what to say to them," Suzume says. "But if you want to write something I can post it. If you call out him by name, it might catch their eye." She means Shadow Eiji.
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
"Hmm... well, I'm willing to take the risk, but I won't just go charging ahead if we're not on board," Hitomi says about the PhanSite and other potential media. She seems to be settling out. She finishes off her tea, glancing back at Suzume as she, too, is revealed to be a Computer.
"You need to set me up with the movies... I know you can download those online, right?"
Back to Ririka. Hitomi's expression solemnizes. "Mm," she says. "Yeah... I don't blame you. A lot of this is things the police ought to be taking care of." Then there's a question. Straightening up, and she gestures with the empty bottle:
"I agree. Anyone who helps to help people should get that much. If they betray it... well..."
Hitomi's shoulders lift.
She then glances back at Suzume, and seems to be contemplating something. She does not voice whatever the something-or-other is.
"I bet I could write something appealing... Do you know if they take particular requests? Or is it sort of like a big prayer wall and everyone's just hoping?" wait why is she volunteering to write the post
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro sighs as Ririka indicates she wants to talk to them. He clearly doesn't trust them. "...they seemed like they meant well, wanted to stop tyranny and stuff like that. But they were talking about 'clarity' and 'distortions' and trying to justify it. I can't trust their method because obviously they wouldn't tell us what it is, and we don't know if they're being manipulated. But if they're taking someone's ability to take responsibility, forcing them to confess... I don't accept it."
Not with everything he's lived through. Not with his own guilt.
A pause, as they start talking about how to do it. He furrows his brow. "Hold on. We shouldn't go to the Thieves right off the bat. Not without trying ourselves, first. If we just go to them first for information and aid... I dunno, I don't feel good about it. We need to be self-sufficient, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"...I must agree with Aragaki-senpai."
Reiya looks to the others. "It might be useful to gain information from them--but their methods as surely as this involve using the supernatural to change the material. ...They've helped you, and for that, I will give them the benefit of the doubt. But I think that entangling ourselves with them further should be done with care, if at all."
"Besides. If we go them now, we have no leverage, nothing to 'offer' in trade for the information we seek. Would a group calling themselves Thieves really just give us what we wish out of the goodness of their hearts...?"
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Hitomi is chewing on her thumbnail as both Shinjiro and Reiya make reasonable points about approaching the Phantom Thieves. She's not looking exactly in their direction.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume grins at Hitomi. "Yeah, hit me up." She can get you the movies. Probably.
"I'm not a fan either," Suzume says, with a scowl. "But if you wanted to get ahold of them to ask some questions, that's how you'd do it. Maybe they'd share something and maybe they wouldn't."
She picks up her drink again. "If it was me, I wouldn't do it. But it's her brother, not mine." This time, that part of her mind reminds her. "And they might know something we can't get, if they heard something else from the Shadow."
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Fuuka flinches at Suzume's response - but nods.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know that, but... Yes, I am." Fuuka admits. "I don't meet many people who do... I didn't expect it."
She nods, though.
"But... I'd like that."
And then, there's the matter of the Phantom Thieves.
She's hesitant - but Shinjiro and Reiya make some good points.
"I agree with them. We should be careful..." Fuuka says. But Suzume has a good point, too. It's Ririka's brother. Ultimately, it's Ririka's choice how to handle this. "...But I'll support you, Kawase-san. However you decided to approach it."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka looks to Suzume and nods. "I think I heard something about that, but I hadn't checked it out... but if they keep an eye on it, then maybe..." It's no less indirect than her own thoughts, at least. But who knows if that burner phone is still working.
It's okay, Suzume. Ririka was there when the last one happened and she doesn't know either.
"They ought to be..." Ririka says to Hitomi. "But..." If the Police were going to do their jobs, Kamiya wouldn't have needed a Change of Heart to begin with, right?
She frowns thoughtfully at Shinjiro as he elaborates on his feelings. That doesn't make much sense to her, either, but... she's hearing it second-hand and in summarized form. "Who do you think would be manipulating them?"
Self-sufficiency is a decent argument, but Ririka finds herself compelled more by Reiya's argument. "... that's true... the thing is, we don't know what they might want..." Finger tap, finger tap. She tries to puzzle something out... and then sighs. "And if I start thinking about that my mind just starts going in a loop."
She nods to Fuuka, who'll support her. "Thanks." Ririka takes a deep breath and sighs.
She's a musician--'investigating a conspiracy' and 'making bargains with thieves' aren't exactly in her usual skillset.
""Mayube we hold off until we're confident that we can make a trade of some kind," she proposes. "... after all, if they're thieves, there's gotta be something they want." She nods to Reiya as she says that.
"But for now... we can still keep investigating the NWO. Yamagishi-san and I got some info about what the Joker Killer is up to that we're trying to verify. Maybe... that'll turn up some leads."
She offers another bow. "But either way... thanks for the support, everyone. I'm glad I can count on your support once again."