2026-03-08: Conviction
- Log: 2026-03-08 Conviction
- Cast: Hyousuke Suzuki, Jun Kashihara
- Where: Kameya Alley
- OOC Date: March 08, 2026
- IC Date: Sunday, October 07, 2012
- Summary: Hyousuke and Jun get lunch together and discuss what it is that the Old Maid wants from Jun--and what Jun is hoping for from Tatsuya. Suggestions on what Jun can do to get stronger as a Persona User only go half-way, but they at least serve as seeds for ideas.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Though it was a Sunday, the izakaya - by Hyousuke's reckoning, however accurate or flawed - was as busy as it ever was. Students sat at tables, exchanging idle chatter and whispering gossip. Salarymen, whether barely out of education or twice the students' ages, did much the same, though their work clothing created a slightly more professional air when they did it. Staff slunk through whatever gaps remained between the tables, handing out orders with all due haste, before spiriting themselves back to the kitchen to grab whatever else had been asked for. All in all, it was a clattering, clinking, clamorous place, and hardly seemed suited to a peaceful afternoon meal.
Yet there Hyousuke sat, slowly and quietly sipping at a mug of green tea, for the izakaya offered something he could find in very few other public eateries - privacy. Few thought it odd when someone arrived on their own, and even less cared to even make an attempt at eavesdropping. His battered state drew some eyes, but even that curiosity was so fleeting that it was gone in a heartbeat, and everyone returned to their own business without a second thought. He was, needless to say, glad of it. He didn't need anyone asking about the origins of his injuries, nor bothering him about them in general.
He was there to meet a friend and to make sure *they* were alright, after all. True, he looked to be in a sorry state. His shirt covered winding layers of fresh bandages, bruises were scattered like jacks across what bare skin could be seen past his collar and wrist-length sleeves, and his tired gaze was underscored by bangs dark enough to form a rather stark contrast against those green, gleaming, eyes. But the injuries were physical, and with time, would heal. They were *only* physical. Jun was the one to check in on - Hyousuke was strong enough to power through whatever plagued his psyche.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun was fortunate in the sense that the injuries he'd sustained left no physical mark. Multiple Persona Breaks leave a different sort of mark, though even then not the kind Sudou had hoped for. That's a good thing. Jun would take exhaustion and headaches over that any day.
He arrives at Izakaya Shiraishi a short time after Hyousuke does. He gives a nod of greeting and smile to Ma'am behind the counter, then heads over to the table where Hyousuke's seated and seats himself there too. His eyes run over Hyousuke's many bandaged injuries with concern; clearly the enemy he'd fought yesterday had no compunctions about his life or his beauty.
But Jun knows that Hyousuke wants to be there for and support him, given what he'd just gone through, so he elects not to voice his concern that Hyousuke would no doubt just brush off in favor of fussing over Jun. Instead, he gives him a soft smile.
"Thank you, Suzuki-kun," he says. "Given everything you've done for me lately, I thought that's the very first thing I should say. You're always such a hard worker."
A hard fighter, too, he leaves implied.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyosuuke's eyes, despite the exhaustion present within and without, sharpened the second that he caught sight of Jun. He scanned over him, looking for any sign of injury, even something as minor as a scratch or a scrape, or some sign that the events of the past week or so had had effects beneath the skin. Seeing nothing - not immediately - Hyousuke smiled warmly.
"I didn't do much." He said, waving his hand to dismiss the notion. For all of the injuries he'd sustained, few seemed to be the kind to leave any lasting impact. "I couldn't have gotten any intel on you without Uchida-san, Mishina-san, and Vesper, and Kawase-san and Yamagishi-san found out where you were."
Compared to them, he was just a blunt instrument, used to batter down doors and take hits that should've knocked anyone else flat.
"How *are* you holding up after all that?" Hyousuke asked, canting his head a little to one side. His tone was gentle and as casual as he could force it to be, but he hadn't quite enough strength left in his aching body to mask all of the worry he felt for his friend. "It's alright if you don't want to talk about it." He assured Jun a moment later. "I just wanted to know if you were handling it alright."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"But you did come to help," Jun gently insists. "It might not seem like much to you, but it meant everything to me."
He'd lost hope of being found, much less rescued. How could anyone find him in that bizarre alternate dimension that seemed to be wholly under Sudou's control? Jun never thought he'd been abandoned, but if he'd been spirited away in an inescapable hidden dimension... Thankfully, the situation hadn't been so dire as he'd assumed.
He notes, too, the names that Hyousuke lists. Eikichi's no surprise, as a friend of his; Tamaki too, as an employee of the Kuzunoha Detective Agency; Ririka is a new friend too, and Fuuka is an ally, more or less; but-- "Who is Vesper, if I may ask?" It's not a name he recognizes, and although there were a pair of Phantom Thieves there to help, their names were Phoenix and Ogre, if he recalls correctly.
"Mmm. Relieved to be free. Still quite tired from yesterday. I'm not used to this sort of fighting," Jun admits. He can defend himself against normal people, but being able to hold his own against the supernatural is still very, very new. "My mother and father were worried sick, so I'm most relieved that I didn't give them cause to grieve."
Though Sudou, even now, doesn't want to kill him. It makes Jun uneasy. For all he said that it was too late for the two of them, he wonders if he hasn't actually given up. Leos are known for having to have their own way... and he's especially caught up in his delusions. Lies perpetuated by 'him,' as Tatsuya said--whoever 'he' is.
"What about you? You've done a lot of fighting yourself this past week," Jun asks, lowering his voice. The background chatter of the other patrons will make sure they aren't overheard, though that's less important to Jun than Hyousuke's well-being. Maybe he'll brush him off as he suspects, but as the conversation goes on, he finds he can't not ask after all. "Are you all right?"
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke's lips twitched a little, and he looked away with a somewhat sheepish expression playing on his features. Not an unpleasant one, and certainly not negative - but it seemed like Jun's assurance of his role had instilled a sudden, fleeting, yet no less present sense of bashfulness. When he recovered - quickly enough that he did not lose step in the conversation's pace - Hyousuke shrugged at Jun's question.
"No idea." He said flatly. "He's on our side, but that's all any of us really know about him. He just shows up sometimes, and leaves when the job's done."
Briefly, Hyousuke pondered if he should set up another appointment with Julian. Quite why the stray thought entered his mind at that moment, he could not say, but it sauntered off as quickly as it had drifted in.
"Takes getting used to," Hyousuke then said, in regard to the fighting, "But if you keep training with it, you get the hang of things eventually. Took me a while and some help to use Achilles right." He chuckled a little at his own remark, before taking another sip of green tea. As it so often was, that drink served as a filler for the conversation - a way for him to stall for time and formulate something in his mind, before committing thought to speech. "I'm just glad you made it home alright."
His more bitter thoughts on parents and homes to come back to were kept silent.
The question about his wellbeing caught Hyousuke a little off guard, and he started at it. It was only a small thing, manifesting as little more than a sudden and slight arch of his brow, but it took him a moment to conjure a response he felt comfortable giving.
"Me? I'm fine." He said, dismissing the notion easily. He waved his hand, batting away the question like it was little more than a bad smell or a persistent insect. "I took a few hits, but it looks worse than it feels." Given how he looked as though he'd lost a fight with a wood chipper, it was not an especially high bar to clear. Curiously, he said nothing of his state of mind - though whether him keeping that part quiet was a conscious decision or not was hard to say.
"Actually, if you don't mind me saying, there's something else I've been thinking about. The Joker Killer, he kept talking about you remembering stuff. And there was that guy on the roof protecting you the whole time." He paused, partly to compose himself, and partly to thank the server for the bowl of ramen slid unceremoniously in front of him. "...You don't have to talk about any of it if you don't want to. It seemed kinda personal."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun does see that note of bashfulness in Hyousuke's expression, however fleeting it is; they are sitting right across from each other having a conversation, after all. It doesn't seem like he's upset about the reassurance, so he maintains that encouraging smile until he shrugs.
"Hmm... I see." So this Vesper is a mystery... But if no one knows him, why would he help with coming to Jun's rescue? He touches a hand to his chin in thought, but this is literally all the information he has on the man. He didn't show up for the rescue itself, and Hyousuke didn't say he was with the Phantom Thieves, so there isn't even anything more he can deduce from that. "I'll have to express my gratitude to him if we ever happen to meet, then," he decides.
Someone comes by with a mug of green tea for Jun too. He nods his gratitude, puts in an order for red bean gyoza--today is a day to celebrate strangeness--and sips on it himself. A hot drink really hits the spot now that the weather's been growing cooler. "Thank you. I am too," he replies. "Do you have any suggestions on how to train?" Though Hyousuke's fighting style seems very different from what comes naturally to Jun... Which has also stood out to him, but with a second battle under his belt, Jun feels like he can understand better why he seems so violent. Violence seems to simply be a part of this world...
Sure enough, Hyousuke dismisses Jun's concern--even seems uncomfortable by it? He's not sure. Either way, he nods, eyes silently flicking over the many injuries that 'look worse than they feel.' He can only take his word for it, but it's hard for Jun to imagine he isn't pushing himself to some extent.
"Hmm?" His eyes flick back up to Hyousuke's. His expression softens with gloominess for a moment. "It seems personal to me too. Unfortunately, I do not--and refuse to--remember the context." Jun brushes a few strands of hair back as he shuts his eyes. "The gist, as far as I can tell, is that I have some kind of shared background with the two of them that's since been erased from my mind. The Joker Killer, Tatsuya Sudou, is trying to make something horrific happen, and the one who protected me, Tatsuya Suou, is trying to stop him. A key to all of this is me remembering whatever it is that happened. As long as I don't remember, Sudou-san is hampered from carrying out... whatever it is he's trying to accomplish."
Jun opens his eyes to look back at Hyousuke. "I trust Tatsuya. He's protected me many times--not just the other night. I've thus chosen to keep these lost memories locked away." He raises a hand to his chest, where the black X would be on his Persona. "And Argeiphontes represents that conviction."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"I'll let him know if I see him again." Hyousuke said, nodding to acknowledge Jun's sentiments towards Vesper. "Don't know when that's gonna be though. I can't get a read on the guy, and it's not like we're just gonna be walking by him in the halls." With his own sentiments regarding Vesper put forward, he eyed the gyoza curiously. He'd seen them before, of course. He'd come to the establishment too many times to not have caught a glimpse. He blinked once, then returned to his own meal, slowly chewing at the noodles while the conversation continued.
The topic of training came about, and suddenly, Hyousuke seemed to have a touch more energy than he had a minute ago. It was still restrained - whether because of what few social graces he maintained, or the fact that his aching body could only exhibit so much of it - but he perked up nonetheless.
"There's a load of different ways, but they all come down to fighting shadows and demons a bunch. If you stay up past midnight there's a bunch of bad guys running around, and there's this place called 'Mementos' you can get into if you want to train in the day. Seems like everyone's got different ways of getting in that one though, so you should probably ask Uchida-san about it. Wherever you go though, don't do it alone."
What he neglected to tell Jun was that he'd done exactly that. On multiple occasions. Despite the warnings that had come from a fair few of his friends. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them though, right?
"Otherwise, it's the usual stuff. Work out, eat good, learn how to use a weapon. I know people say Mutou-sensei's harsh, but if you want to learn martial arts, he knows his stuff." Mutou-sensei being Hyousuke's instructor, of course - one he had closer ties to than he cared to let on in casual conversation.
Then the topic shifted to his inquiry, and Hyousuke acknowledged Jun's resolve with a single, firm, nod.
"Right. Whatever he's got planned, it can't be good. Still feels weird to give him a name after all this time though... Sudou..." He rolled the name around on his tongue, pulling a slight face as if the word itself was some bitter pill, before continuing. "Whatever he's calling himself, he's still hurting people. The next time he shows his ass, I'm gonna make sure it's the *last* time."
More tea, and another expression. Lighter this time, and accompanied by an easier tone.
"You know, I heard how you two were talking on the roof back there. Is the one you had feelings for?" Despite there being little risk of the pair being overheard - whether due to the normal ambient noise, or Ma'am conveniently clattering some pots and pans around - his voice dropped a little when broaching that personal topic.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"...Thank you." That hadn't been what Jun had said, but what harm does it do to let Hyousuke pass on the thanks for him? If neither of them know who Vesper is, there's no knowing who might run into him next, and Hyousuke seems to have a good deal more experience.
He seems to be happier talking about training, at least. That doesn't seem surprising. Most students of Kasugayama High enjoy fighting. Jun nods at his advice not to train anywhere on his own; not knowing that Hyousuke habitually disregards it, he has no reason not to listen. "I'll be sure to speak with Uchida-san, then."
He does smile slightly. "Oh, don't worry. I wouldn't exactly call myself a martial artist, but I do know how to win a fight." He probably could stand to brush up, but somehow Jun has a sneaking suspicion that Mutou-sensei's style is not going to jive with his own. He appreciates the suggestion, at least.
"Yes. He needs to be stopped," Jun agrees. Silently, though, after actually fighting him last night, he can see why the Joker Killer has been such a thorn in the sides of so many people. With the ability to teleport at will, how can they nail him down long enough to be arrested, much less incarcerated? ...But that's something Jun knows he's not going to be able to figure out on his own. Maybe he'll talk to Katsuya about it further, now that he has a better understanding.
Color rises in his cheeks when Hyousuke asks about Tatsuya. "...Yes," he murmurs. He ducks his head, a small smile uncurling on his lips. "I think you can understand why, now."
And why it can't work out. But Jun can't bring himself to care about that. The heart wants what it wants.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"Speaking of Uchida-san, if you're looking to make some extra cash, she gets in bounties for certain demons. Let me know if you take one of them - the sooner I can make enough to get my own place, the better." As genuine as the remark was, he still accompanied it with another lighthearted chuckle, hoping that it could lift the mood somewhat. Talk of killers and injuries and unaddressed psychological issues tended to bring the mood down somewhat, in his experience, and he didn't much care to spend his lunches like that.
He then nodded when Jun spoke of fighting physically.
"His door's always open if you want in. Just make sure you show up in clothes you don't mind getting sweat on. Plenty of water too. He goes hard on the cardio..." He could still feel the burning in his legs from the last time he'd been told to run laps. As fond as he was of the lessons, it was not unusual to find him paying for them in the morning.
When it came to love, Hyousuke was dense. There were no two ways about it. Outside of a fight, anything less subtle than a neon sign would not clue him in on something. However, given proximity and where his attention was, even he could not ignore the effect that Tatusya had on Jun, and he couldn't help but smile in turn.
"He seems like good people." He said, poking idly at the half-finished ramen languishing in the broth still steaming away in its bowl. He looked down at it, avoiding looking too hard at Jun, if only to spare him the embarrassment of someone scrutinising his expression. "...Maybe we'll see him again, when all this is over."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"Bounties, hm... I'll ask her about those, too," Jun muses. He doesn't really need money, but it does seem like a good way to gain experience. He does lift his gaze to Hyousuke when he asks to be let in on if he takes any. "I could do that, but wouldn't it be more efficient to go to her directly about them? Especially if you need to earn enough to find your own place--that isn't a one-time expense, but something you have to pay every month."
Not to mention utilities, groceries, toiletries, and more. "Is living in the dorms that unpleasant?" he wonders, concerned. "If it's really that much of a concern, I'll leave bounty-hunting to you. Mother and Father provide plenty for me; I don't need to worry about that sort of thing." He offers another smile. "But thank you for the information. On Mutou-sensei, too."
He also appreciates the discretion Hyousuke's showing about Tatsuya. That is Jun's hope--seeing him again. Even if stopping Sudou weren't a concern... that would still pull him back. "I hope so," he says quietly.
He will, too, he's sure. At the Aerospace Museum.
"But that's for the future. Right now, we have lunch to finish," Jun adds, noting the way Hyousuke's ramen is languishing. Leave it too long and the noodles will get soggy, so-- "Shall we eat?"
He'll dig in on his gyoza too, so both of them can fall silent to enjoy their meals.