2026-03-14: A Mark on the Door, A Chip from the Step
- Log: 2026-03-14: A Mark on the Door, A Chip from the Step
- Cast: Ren Amamiya, Ichika Kawase, Tsubasa Seki, Makoto Niijima, Futaba Sakura, Sojiro Sakura - Temped by Futaba Sakura's Player
- Where: Sojiro Sakura's House and Cafe LeBlanc, Yongen-Jaya, Tokyo
- OOC Date: March 14, 2026
- IC Date: Tuesday, October 09, 2012
- Summary: Determined to find out more about Futaba Sakura, Ren gathers Makoto, Ichika and Tsubasa to try and have a talk to Sojiro about the Phantom's potential next target- but upon arriving to the Sakura household, they find the door unlocked and no one responding, with a storm rolling in. Led by Tsubasa and Ichika's prior experiences they enter- but the power is knocked out by the storm and Makoto starts to fall apart. Someone else is in the house with them- Futaba Sakura herself. After a brief encounter leads to Futaba fleeing, Sojiro arrives assuming home invaders, but is baffled by what he sees. After returning to LeBlanc, Sojiro explains his and Futaba's situation and the Phantom Thieves make a deduction to Alibaba's identity.
- CW: Nyctophobia/Fear of the Dark, Trauma Flashbacks, Mention of Suicide
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Sojiro isn't in the cafe tonight. Something about business elsewhere. Ren doesn't know for sure if it's business with Sae or something else, but it does provide an opportunity. They use the group chat to call over everyone who can make it to Leblanc to discuss the matter of Futaba Sakura, with a promise to update everyone who can't make it afterwards. (Some people have to come from quite far away, after all. Even without that, this is a last-second meeting prompted by circumstance.)
"So I'll get right down to it," they say once everyone who's going to arrive has arrived. (The sign to Leblanc is set to 'CLOSED'. Members of the Phantom Thieves will know not to be deterred.) They wipe their brow--they'd passed the time by cleaning the store; good way to justify closing it for the night but keeping the lights on downstairs--and continue, "It turns out Futaba Sakura is the Boss's daughter. Makoto's sister Sae," they shoot her a quick glance, "was in here the other day with allegations that he's been abusing her and threatening to take him to court over it if he didn't spill about some information she wanted. I'm not exactly sure what that's about, but..." They bow their head. "...he's not an abuser. I'm sure of that."
Even if he did vanish for a month--but he didn't leave town. Not exactly. There were extenuating circumstances either way, surely. If they can all meet Futaba and figure out why Alibaba wants her heart changed, maybe that'll provide context on why Sojiro vanished for so long in the first place.
"Here's the plan," Morgana chips in, tail flicking off the counter stool where he sits. "The chief's house is just a block or two over. We go over with a present as a cover, get him to let us in, and while you guys distract him, I'll sneak around the place and see if I can't find her."
"I was just in Port Island earlier with Minako," Ren adds, "and there's this ultra-popular beef bowl place in the area--they let you do take-out if you're a member, which she is, so..." They raise up a plastic bag with the Umiushi Beef Bowls logo. "...I got a seasonal item there, the Autumn Beef Bowl. With any luck, this should be our ticket in."
"Even if we can only get the chief to open the door, that'll be enough--I can zip inside on my own if I have to," Morgana says with confidence. "Any questions? If not, we'll head on over right now!"
No time like the present, after all.
Outside, it's already dark, and the wind has picked up with the smell of rain on the air. The forecast said there'd be a storm tonight, after all. Fortunately, the Sakura residence really is only a block and a half away. The lights are on inside, or at least some of them are, and the front gate is unlocked--as is the front door, which they'll find out when there's no response to either knocks or the doorbell. As it creaks open, Ren shoots everyone a concerned look.
"I'm going inside. Something weird is going on," they say quietly before doing precisely that. Morgana skulks in too at their feet.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika and Tsubasa are two of those with non-Metaverse B&E experience--well, there's no B here, but there's definitely about to be E. Ichika's at Leblanc with some of the others, listening to Morgana. She nods, when Morgana is sure he's not an abuser.
"OK," Ichika answers. But a beef bowl place... Hmmm.
"OK," Ichika says again. A present, while Morgana goes. "I'm in. Besides, I..."
She shakes her head. "He deserves to have his name cleared," Ichika thinks.
Outside, Ichika is there too. There's the smell of rain, but... something weird..
"I'm in," Ichika agrees, and quietly follows after.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
That sign can't stop Tsubasa, because Tsubasa breaks into joints even when they don't have a sick feather hood, as Ichika's noted. Besides: the sign's not for them!
But Futaba is the Big Boss's daughter, huh? (Tsubasa adds a qualifier to his name, because, like, there are so many Bosses in their life, that's what you get coming here from Kasugayama. They're even still in their uniform, because they came straight here from school! The boys' uniform, that is.) Ren insists Sojiro isn't abusive, and Tsubasa scowls, thoughtfully.
"Hundred percent sure?" They check -- but just the once.
... Ren knows why they might be kind of paranoid about that. But if Ren's certain... they'll trust them on that, too.
Ren outlines their plan, though, and holds up the beef bowl -- "Sweet," Tsubasa nods, firmly.
The door creaks open, though, as they knock. "... mm," Tsubasa grunts, their blue eyes narrowing, though they go quiet as they slink inside. They have a pen light they pull out -- the kind one uses, when breaking in somewhere they're not wanted, to avoid turning the lights on and alerting everyone -- in preparation to examine those rooms which aren't lit up.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Makoto had already made plans to assist Ren with talking to Sojiro about Futaba, so when Ren announces a meeting about it, she's one of the first to make her way to LeBlanc in the evening, and slips through the closed door to wait- after all, the others who can make it are travelling from further away.
Sure, she may be coming fresh off a fight with a Homunculus, but there's no need to worry anyone else with that.
She's still somewhat dumbfounded by the truth of things. Not just that Boss has a secret daughter, but...
"...Sis is investigating this too?" It's a worrying thing to think about, and even if Ren is certain that Boss isn't an abuser, well...
It's hard for Makoto to believe her sister would be off on a wild goose chase. There are thousands of concerns running through her head. Does she know about Alibaba's request? Has she found a lead on the Phantoms here in LeBlanc? Is there something she knows about Sakura-san that the rest of them don't?
'Match found.'
...She puts that thought to the back of her mind for now.
"...You're certain there's no possibility?" Makoto asks, a little uneasily- and at nearly the same time as Tsubasa. She wants to trust Ren's convictions. It's... well. There is doubt there. She'd like to be a good enough person to be able to clear it from her head, but she's not. Still... she'll trust Ren, as long as they don't find any other evidence. Still, there's a plan. "...Hopefully it'll be a suitable gift."
She nods as Morgana makes his suggestion. "Alright. Let's move out."
When the doorbell doesn't get a response, and they find out the door is open, Makoto does call out. "Sakura-san? Are you there?" Another moment. "Is anyone home?"
Makoto looks to the others before Ren decides that she's going in. Makoto is a little less confident than the others on just walking in, but, well... "...Are you sure this is okay?" She asks, after the other three start moving- and as the rain starts falling, Makoto grimaces slightly. "My apologies, Boss."
Either way, when they're through the door, Makoto is standing next to Ren, slightly concerned as Tsubasa enters like some kind of sneak thief from a crime show.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
The lights are on - or at least, the television's on. You can tell it's the television from the flickers of the reflection; the unique signature of the modern media, cast on the backdrops of human existence.
Knock knock knock.
No answer.
Ding dong.
No answer. (Did the sound change? There's a faint meaningless sussurus - at least to human ears. Even to Morgana's acute feline hearing, though, it's just... something on TV?)
Silence.
But the gate was unlocked.
So was the door.
Open it...
A dark hallway.
Close.
It's suddenly gotten very quiet, almost like a sepulchure. The air has a smell not too unlike a lot of Japanese homes: generally-clean, a few familiar threads of commercial cleaners. There is a lingering undernote of cigarette smoke, no doubt thanks to Sojiro. A little of the lingering funk of summer, which seems to take a bit longer every year to depart.
It is harder to hear the television now. Maybe it was turned off, or maybe some trick of acoustics was carrying sound from a neighboring property. Or it's on mute.
There is no tang or scent of Resonance, nothing lurking supernaturally. At least, as far as the Phantom Thieves would know, but they are hardly novices. The house does not seem *derelict* or *abandoned*. Simply... quiet. And perhaps a little too close.
The rest of the place is - dark, perhaps disused. The light of the television in what must be the dining room or common room is throwing off enough visibility that there's no risk of stumbling even if you don't have the advantage of whiskers, but the other rooms -- Tsubasa's penlight comes out and turns around. Small patches of daylight brightness. They try one room --
-- and it's a bathroom. One of the ones with a washer unit tucked in where the hot water can flow into it just as easily as into the bath. It's kind of cluttered and there's some dust-bunnies on the floor. Though some of the hair in it seems to be a bright orange, rather than ol' Boss's shade of brown.
And then:
KRRRRROOOOOM
The sound of thunder. Distant, in the sense of not being right overhead, but coming from the westerly direction. The air is smelling suddenly and poignantly like rain. It's not typical weather for October - fall is normally quite beautifully clear - but any of the Phantom Thieves who watched the weather report might have seen some commentary about the remnants of a typhoon that had, blessedly, just brought a wave of warmer air and some rain on Shikoku were due to collide with some air mass rolling down from Siberia.
It's a coincidence.
Probably a coincidence.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Hundred percent sure?
...But Ren can't answer that, either to Tsubasa or Makoto. They bow their head, because they know why the two of them ask that.
"Guess we'll find out," they say grimly, raising their chin. They might clear Sojiro's name, as Ichika notes--or they might find that there's someone else whose heart needs changing. As for Sae, they shrug a little. "Apparently so. But it sounded like she didn't care about Futaba so much as getting the Boss to spill the beans on whatever it was she wanted to talk to him about."
That might be related to the Phantom Thieves; it might not. All any of them can do is move forward while they've got the chance.
Except something's wrong. The four of them walk into the Sakura residence, and... there's a level of quiet that makes Ren uneasy. They look around as Makoto calls for the Boss and Tsubasa flashes a pen light. They can hear the television in the distance from the other room, or they thought they did, but... nobody responds. Their concern deepens. Nothing happened to him, did it?
"Boss? It's me. I brought you something," Ren calls, following Makoto's cue, as they around the foyer. They peek into the bathroom, but no one's in there either.
Still no response. Ren glances back at their friends, then tilts their head forward just as thunder rumbles in the distance. (That's not ominous at all.) If Futaba lives here, then the four of them would've alerted her by now, but it's so still. They don't know if Sojiro would have told her about them any more than he'd ever told them about her, but hopefully knowing they're here for him might make her less inclined to think they're burglars.
They walk further in, Morgana hurrying along at their side.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika too knows why Tsubasa especially would wonder--but she's sure that if it's not true, Sojiro needs his name cleared, if only to them.
She's a little worried if the prosecutor Sae is involved. Still... They walk in, and--
KRROOOOOOM.
"Tch--" She didn't like that. But she's also concerned. There's no response...
"...Uh, lead the way," Ichika says. "Isn't this weird, though...?"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"We'll figure it out," Tsubasa decides, when Ren can't say it a hundred percent. Maybe Ichika's right, you know? Maybe Sojiro needs his name cleared. It'd be better if it was like that. "... sounds suss," is what they think, about Sae's focus.
Makoto and Tsubasa have similar concerns... but Tsubasa has more than enough concerns they can give Makoto all on their own, too, as they enter the house. "It's cool," they assure her, voice low.
Is it really cool, though?!
Smoke... Tsubasa resists the urge to cough, even if the air quality isn't being brought down right now. They happen to do that by grabbing a puffer out of their pocket and breathing it in, which is its own set of concerns, probably. Tsubasa why are you doing drugs?! (Hey, hey, it's not drugs, it's medicine, they got it from the clinic right down the road...)
The sound of that spritz is way too loud to their ears, though; they tuck the puffer away, and don't make much more noise, aside from that. Their penlight comes in handy, in the dark rooms. They make a quick inventory, as they go, and they do break the silence to murmur: "Don't look like a break-in," ... because they've been checking for the commonly-looted valuables, and everything's still in place.
Bright orange hair... they notice that, and take a second to feel proud that they did. See? Those detective instincts are clearly already real sharp.
The thunder's rumbling, though...
"Weird," they agree, with Ichika, at length.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
It's not the answer that Makoto is hoping for, to be fair, but it might be the best they have. "...Right." The rest that Ren says about Sae, though... Well.
It's not hard to see that Makoto looks both worried and ashamed at what she hears. But whatever Sis is up to, if she isn't interested in Futaba, is a lower priority for the Phantoms. At least today.
Tsubasa tries to assure Makoto that it's cool. Makoto seems incredibly disbelieving. Unfortunately, 'It's cool' is not enough to mitigate nearly two decades of life in a cop household.
"...You shouldn't say that in someone else's house," Makoto remarks in a whisper to Ichika, because she is *clearly* focusing on the right things and trying not to think about the fact that they are trespassing right now. At least she's slightly reassured by Tsubasa's statement that it's not a break in.
"Maybe he's not home?" Makoto ventures, though that seems unlikely to be the case. "Boss-"
And then the there's a crash of thunder and Makoto jolts alert for a second, before looking around anxiously. ...It's fine. It was just thunder. She's just on edge, being in someone else's house. "...Maybe we should think about turning back."
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Ren calls out to their erstwhile legal guardian, complicated though his situation may be. He's got a lot going on. But... When Ren calls out, there is no reply. Nothing seems to echo in this space. It's a quiet house.
Morgana can't pick up much other than 'slightly dingy house,' even from his lower perspective. There's a whole crinkled disposable-chopstick wrapper underneath something... unforgivable... unless it's recent, perhaps.
Tsubasa hits the dilator. Justifiable. There are surely worse places out there, but this isn't a *great* place. They are correct, at least, that this place doesn't seem ransacked. Boss might not be in, but then why would the door be unlocked like that? Why would he leave the TV on? He's a business owner! A professional!
Unless something has happened quite recently. Quite recently indeed.
But there's a lot of somethings that could fit this bill. They know Sojiro isn't in the bathroom - that would have been a farcical conclusion to this tension. But where could he have gone?
And where might 'Futaba Sakura' be?
Makoto counsels the potential of retreat. There are four of them in a house where, perhaps, Ren might have a clear reason to be present. It's getting late. Something could -- It seems for a moment like the lights came on!
Just for an instant.
KRRKKKKOOOMMMMMMMOOOMOOOOMMMM
Thunder! Closer, now, seeming almost directly overhead, huge enough that you might be able to *feel* it just a little bit deep in your guts. And just like that, the lights go out.
*ALL* of the lights. Every single one.
They are cast in thunderous darkness, marked by the sudden sound of intense fat raindrops, angrily hurled from on high, pouring down. A staticky sound that engulfs the dark passageway. The one point of light comes from Tsubasa's penlight, currently pointing towards an unremarkable patch of the wall. If anything it makes the rest of the darkness deeper. But as eyes adjust--
They don't have time to adjust.
Someone screams. A sudden intense from-the-diaphragm shriek, radiating from elsewhere, washing through the thin walls, unearthly and of indeterminate direction. It sounds like a young girl, it's certainly not Boss!
Several quick heartbeats later there is a loud slamming THUD from upstairs, something heavy dropping onto the floor.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It is sus, as well as weird. And it's a point in Sojiro's favor, in Ren's opinion. If he really were abusing his daughter, would Sae really gloss over that part once Sojiro broke in favor of whatever information she was trying to squeeze out of him?
...At the very least, Makoto doesn't say anything about it, and she'd know her sister best.
"It is," Ren murmurs to Ichika and Tsubasa. About it not looking like there's been a break-in: "Agreed. But if he collapsed somewhere..." They shoot Tsubasa a concerned look as they use their inhaler, but... they seem to have that under control. Yeah, it does smell like cigarette smoke in here.
Makoto jumps at the sound of thunder and suggests they leave. Ren looks at her with slightly widened eyes.
At their feet, Morgana growls, "We can't turn back! If we don't find out more about Futaba Sakura, Alibaba will expose us!"
And that's true, but it feels like there's something going on with Makoto. Ren's gaze settles into concern--
Just as there is a flash of light and an INCREDIBLY loud crack, and all the lights go out.
Damn, that storm rolled in fast.
There's a high-pitched scream and a THUD. Thanks to Tsubasa's penlight, they're not completely blind, but Ren can only whirl around; they can't make out where the stairs are.
But Morgana can, and with a loud, "Futaba!!" he's already racing up them, bounding two steps at a time despite the fact that they're as big as he is. There's an advantage to being in a cat's body.
Ren considers these sounds, and the flash of a furry body as it sprinted ahead. "...Futaba-san?" they call.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Not the decor," Ichika whispers to Makoto, "The weather! That feeling... it's weird!"
But Makoto's... fine. And this house is OK. She doesn't mind it, except for the smell of smoke. But the TV's on and--
At least Tsubasa agrees.
"Definitely not a break-in..." The lights go out! Ichika's breath catches--but she doesn't freak out. Not until the shriek, which jars her vis--Well, it would be visible, if anyone could see.
"Shit!" Ichika says. Morgana's alredady on the way up--
"...Scared me," Ichika mutters. "Futaba-san?" she echoes Ren. "You OK?"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"It's cool," Tsubasa shrugs off Ren's concerned look. "... don't worry. I'm lookin'." They gesture with their pen light, helpfully. It's not only good for sighting valuables -- it's also good for illuminating collapsed business owners.
"Jus' coincidence," they assure Ichika, on the weather. "... right?" Like, now they're THINKING about it, IS it a coincidence that the weather is creepy as hell right now? It's not like Sojiro has a machine in here to control the weather or something... like... that's stupid, right?
Right?!
"You chicken?" Tsubasa wonders, to Makoto, when she asks if they should turn back. Man, are they seriously ganging up on her with Morgana?! They sure are, and part of it is that they feel a little more on edge after dwelling on the thunder, too.
The lights go on, which has their head snapping up -- except of course it's just the thunder yelling LOUDER, and Tsubasa, after a moment of alarm, shines their pen-light where they heard Morgana calling out. Thankfully, that's the stairs. "Oi!" Their voice raises from its raspy whisper to call out. "Sakura-san?!"
They'd run up there, too, except --
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Indeed, Makoto is doesn't say anything about Sae glossing over that part.
Family loyalty gives you one hell of a set of blinders. That's what makes it more terrifying when you keep being given reasons to take them off.
"Ah, right..." The weather. She's not the biggest fan of storms- sudden loud noises have always been a slight problem for her, but what's worse is the really bad ones. It's part of the reason their apartment is in one of the newer areas of Shinjuku- it was something Sae managed to take into consideration when they sold the family home to relocate.
She knows Ren is looking at her, worried, and Morgana is pointing out the facts. "I know that-" Makoto starts, but she's definitely... off kilter. Tsubasa- Tsubasa of all people- taunting her doesn't help. "That's not it, it's just-"
And then- the flash of light, the thunder crash, the sudden darkness and the scream.
...Screams, actually, as a shorter, smaller one comes from Makoto who lunges clumsily to grab onto Tsubasa- who was just about to rush forward, clutching them with all her might. She doesn't even have time to notice that Morgana has run off, when a few seconds later, she looks up to the others.
Despite the fact that she and Tsubasa are the same height, the way Makoto moved to grab onto them has left her at an awkward angle, making her seem shorter right now. "Wh-what was that?" Makoto blurts out, panicked, before trying to stand up on her own again and disentangle herself from Tsubasa- but she's definitely curling in on herself, making herself look small, not looking up- only to yelp again when she hears the thump from above, and sees the light fixture above them swinging.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Morgana is the man on the scene first, the dark house still being *dark* to him but navigable, thanks to the utterly human eyes he possesses. Run, run! Dart through to the stairwell and ascend it at lightning speed. Upstairs, there's a hallway. Two doors.
Morgana goes for the open door. He may think, later, that the closed one was decorated, but he finds himself in a man's bedroom, the smell of Sojiro hanging wistful in the air. There's nobody under the bed. Nobody on top. Morgana might notice it's bigger than Ren's bed, even though Ren's bigger than Sojiro. Weird.
But there's nobody who can hear Morgana...
The house creaks. Ichika calls out to Futaba-san. There is no response. Then her attention turns to Ren. Quite excellent.
Tsubasa speaks in support of Morgana's assertion before his tragic departure, and then raises their voice to call out again. Sakura-san!
A series of soft thuds. Like someone descending stairs. No answer.
A sense of Presence increases.
A sense of something being closer.
A hind-brain tension. Is it just the ionized air produced by that helatious lightning bolt, which might have struck an entire sub-station from the sound of it?
Or is something getting slowly, implacably *closer*...
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
That weird feeling might just be the smell of ozone. Did anyone remember to shut the door?
But then there's way more to get weirded out by, like how still no one responds even though there's definitely someone at home. It still might be that she's scared of home invaders or something like that, so after Ichika and Tsubasa call out, Ren adds, "I'm Ren Amamiya--the guy living in the attic of Leblanc. If Sojiro-san ever told you about me." He might not have, they suddenly realize. "These are my friends with me. We're not here to hurt you. Are you okay?"
Morgana pitter-patters down the upstairs hallways, slinking like the cat he most certainly is not. He picks the first door he comes across, and once he enters, it's immediately apparent this must be Sojiro's room from the smell alone. That doesn't mean Futaba isn't in here, but a quick check under the bed and in the closet make it clear this isn't the case.
It is weird how big the bed is though. Maybe Sojiro just likes to spread out.
Downstairs, Ren turns towards Makoto as she lets go of Tsubasa, only to curl in on herself. Okay--this is going beyond just being spooked. They reach out their free hand to attempt to steady her...
...but then there's something. A soft series of sounds descending.
Coming closer.
Closer.
Closer...
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika... doesn't think introducing herself will be very reassuring. So she doesn't! Instead, she considers the matter of the weather. "I mean, what else would it be?" Ichika whispers back. There's now eather machines! ...She does wonder about... Makoto. "it's OK," Ichika assures her, trying to soothe a little and stop Tsubasa taunting. But she doesn't go hard, because they've been friends longer than...
Makoto blurts something out and--
Ah. It is weird, but...
"Uhhhhhh," Ichika starts. She did not shut the door. And instead she just--
Kind of stands there. Oops.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Man, Tsubasa can be a jerk. Luckily, the universe can repay that with --
"Wha-- hey!" They yelp, when Makoto lurches forward to grab them. "Makoto-chan?!" Tsubasa, who is decidedly not a huggy person to most people, is just kind of frozen there for a second as they stare at her with wide eyes. This may, in fact, make it worse.
Or maybe what's worse is the way that they awkwardly pat her shoulder, when they realise what's going on. "H--hey, man, it's cool..." They shoot a panicked look over her head at Ichika, as if to say, 'THERE'S A PANICKED GIRL CLINGING TO ME WHAT DO I DO'
"J...jus' stay behind us," they suggest, almost as unnerved as she is, when she straightens up only to shrink down like that.
There's a pressure, growing closer...
Seeing Ren reaching out to steady Makoto, Tsubasa instead steps forward, towards that impending Presence. "Oi!" They call, again. "Who's there? Sakura-san? It is Sakura-san, right?!" Or is it not Futaba? They take another step forward, their expression turning a shade grim as they shine their pen light around, their other hand curling to a fist in preparation.
If this is a home invader, he's not here to steal shit, and that means...
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
It's a good thing everyone else can sort of keep their cool, because Makoto sure can't. Sure, they've seen her be on edge in Mementos, and the few times they've met in the Dark Hour, Queen's Phantom Thief outfit is always active, local threat or no. Ren is trying to reach out to the entity in the house, who is hopefully just Sakura-san's daughter. Hopefully. Ichika's soothing, while helpful is perhaps a little too late once the lights are out, and Makoto seems to barely be capable of communicating.
Tsubasa's own freezing might have made it worse if Makoto were really capable of noticing, but the shoulder pat seems to help for a half second, even as Makoto turns her face to the ground to not be seen.
As Ren reaches out to steady her, Makoto, her voice quiet, speaks up. "Can... Can I hold on to you?"
She turns her face up, hoping Ren is the only one who sees her. There's a rictus grin on her face, and her eyes a wide with nothing short of terror. Beads of sweat roll down her face. In the flash of Tsubasa's penlight, it's easy to see how pale she is now. The second Ren gives her assent, Makoto latches onto her arm tightly. She's trembling with her whole body. She's not even moving beyond that.
And then she hears the footsteps.
"What is this!? Who's there!?" She can't even pretend to control her volume anymore, and she starts to look around frantically.
More of those noises of something getting closer.
"I can't take this anymore! I'm done! Take me home!" It's just short of shouting, or maybe screeching. She wills herself to and take a step, closing her eyes-
And instead, her legs give way under her, and she falls to her knees, gripping tightly enough to Ren's shirt that it's in real danger of tearing, her other hand digging tightly into Ren's arm. "No... I can't move my legs..." Her voice becomes small and quiet again, speaking in terror and disbelief, unable to do anything but cling.
Another step, and she lets out a gasp of fear and buries her face into Ren's side, closing her eyes tightly.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
If Morgana doesn't get caught up checking Boss for contraband, he would see that the other door in the hallway is now open. But...
Soothed reassurances and expressions of confusion. Tsubasa's speaking to Makoto. Their voice echoes outwards. Clear and easily heard. Would a whisper even be quiet enough, in the face of this sense of pervasiveness?
Makoto is the one who takes it the worst. Or at least the most sharply, the most acutely.
A faint rustle from nowhere in particular.
Tsubasa's penlight stabs into the gloom. It is *dark* out. Given just how dense it is, the power must be out for most of Yongenjaya. Here they are, indoors and downstairs, without even windows to admit anything to relieve this cthonian darkness. The only exception is Tsubasa's penlight, which glitters off of the odd shiny object they end up pointing at.
The gleam of leather on one of Sojiro's oxfords. Oxblood brown, nearly purple. His kind of color.
The glint of the ceiling lamp mount's shroud, a piece of cut synthetic crystal that would doubtless glitter. It twinkles instead, as the penlight crosses through it.
Their light ends up on that painting in the hallway, which has, of course, a protective cover on it, because it's a print *of* a painting rather than the thing in itself. That cover is plexiglass, and it's clean and it's shiny, and where Tsubasa's standing, and looking, they're able to see a reflection of the hallway behind them.
A hallway where four people -- and Morgana, but of course, he's easy to separate out -- should be standing... and instead where five *are*.
The third-hand light of Tsubasa's penlight shimmer off of a pair of broad, circular, immense, shining-in-the-murk EYES --
No, eyeglasses.
Highlighted by that dimness, the figure - who seems almost to be coming *OUT OF THE WALL* - is leaning over to look at Makoto, the angle of the lean putting her less than twenty centimeters from her. That shadowed figure looks down, the darkness hiding everything save the suggestion of a SHROUD AROUND HER HEAD:
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Makoto opens her eyes, as the thing gets closer. She looks up, slowly. Cautiously, terribly slowly.
And then she sees it. Those two glowing circles in the night. The terrifying figure stalking them.
The ghost, haunting the Sojiro household.
And Makoto shrieks, cutting through the silence of the room like a knife, her pupils shrinking, tears streaming from her eyes, each was wide as a dinner plate as she clings so tightly to Ren's leg that it might hurt, unable to do anything but scream for the moment, as loud as she possibly can.
If Futaba or Sojiro ARE in, there's absolutely no way they haven't heard them now.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
She's there for several moments. Her head turns to look past Ren's looming size (because she IS directly behind them) and at Ichika and Tsubasa. Their angle is better: there's the shadow of a face beneath those gleaming spectacles. Something that makes them *clearly* glasses, because what else would be atop of a face?
But then back to Makoto, JUST as she sees her, JUST as Makoto opens her throat and shrieks. There's another moment of blurring motion on the part of the shade-- no, she's looking around sharply, almost a reflex behavior, up towards Ren, back out at Ichika and Tsubasa, nearly a second into Makoto's horrified reaction before
she
screams
TOO!!
The grip on the side of the doorjamb ends and the figure sinks down nearer to the ground (or, if you read her, ends up crouching for a moment in the hallway and staying in that lowered posture after.) Another instant, her hands held up as if in defense. Her fingers curl, uncurl, freeze...
And then she books it, back through the room from which the TV lights had been coming, with the slamming of several objects on a table falling off, a casualty of this hasty passage.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Sometimes, things don't need to be described by words. Sounds will do. The uhhhhh that Ichika intones covers everything that's going on pretty nicely, actually.
As Tsubasa calls again to Futaba--assuming it is Futaba--Ren looks into Makoto's pale, terrified rictor grin. They nod once, mutely, creeped out by her terror but unwilling to say so. They know they're just missing context on why she's acting like this, and if they knew, it'd all make sense.
But it's incredibly unnerving to see Makoto "Queen" Niijima acting like this. At least they can be a rock for her, and when she latches onto their arm, they hold still.
This is good, because Makoto doesn't. She wails, then sinks to her knees. Her grip is painful, but they steel themself, keeping their expression neutral and free of flinches or grimaces. They watch her as she buries her face in their side...
Tsubasa's penlight travels through the room. Ren isn't watching that. What makes them look away from their friend is a presence at their back.
Synchronous with Makoto, they slowly look up and back.
A fifth person is there, looking down at her.
Makoto SCREAMS and clings hard enough to their leg to cut off their circulation. Ren stays where they are, rattled in a way that only remaining as outwardly still as possible can counterbalance.
Because of this, they get a good look at the 'spectre' whose luminous eyes, this close up, are definitely glasses, as it looks around the room at the rest of their friends, at them, and then back at Makoto, before SCREAMING too. They see it--her--crouch, hands up, curling, uncurling--and then she bolts out of the room and away. Crashing sounds echo in her wake.
"........"
so, that just happened.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Rustle. penlight. Leather...
Five people. "Holy shit!" Ichika says, and jumps, a heartbeat after Makoto's shriek.
She saw a person. And now Makoto's clinging to Ren. And thre was a person who also screamed and left. A 'spectre'...
"Um."
Ichika looks at Ren. She looks at Tsubasa. And she looks to the door.
"Uhhhh..."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Dude, ya freakin' me out!" Tsubasa tries to calm Makoto down, except, like, that's not soothing at ALL. Being fair: she's freaking them out.
It's so dark, man! Normally when they're bustin' into a joint, there's at least street lights and shit!!!
They do their best to illuminate the situation, though. Man, Sojiro hasn't cleaned up his shoes, huh...
There's a lamp mount, a painting, and...
"SHIT!" Tsubasa yelps, as they see that reflection of five people, and whirls around to face the -- ghost?! Seriously, Makoto, did you get them haunted by FUCKING GHOSTS?! -- with their light.
No, those are glasses --
And she's just --
Collapsing down and shielding herself and --
SLAM --
"Uh."
Tsubasa takes a breath.
"Orange hair... ain't that Sakura-san?"
They sound terribly unseated by all this, but they definitely remember seeing loose hair of that shade in the bathroom. Tsubasa's detective deduction is... it must belong to the other person living here! And that person is probably a girl, with how long the hair was! And that girl must, then, be the mysterious Futaba Sakura--!!!
Look, it's either that or she's a ghost, and Tsubasa just is NOT going to cope with that tonight.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
If it was unnerving to see Makoto acting like this, it's only likely to get worse.
Because for all Tsubasa is trying to get her attention- Makoto is totally non-responsive to outside stimulus right now, instead she's back to burying her face in Ren's leg, her voice going a thousand miles a minute.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry," she starts, her voice going at almost a blabber. "Help me! Sis, where are you? I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Her voice keeps going, as her voice grows ever quieter, becoming a desperate whimper- but at no point does it stop. "Sis, help me! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry, Sis, help, I'm sorry..."
It's almost like Makoto, for all she is physically in the room, isn't here mentally- and wherever she is, it's bad.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Before it ran, that shadow-shape looked directly at Ichika when she said 'um'. Or near enough.
But what may have caused that bolting, separate from the sheer astonishment of Makoto's terror-scream causing a contagious reaction, it - *she* - had looked directly at Tsubasa when they spoke of the orange hair. When they said a name. When they advanced a hypothesis... *that had her dead to rights.*
But now she's thumping up the stairs, and matters accelerate enormously when a spectral voice --
Not spectral, muffled.
Grounded. Bound by material life.
*Familiar*
"Futaba?? Are you okay!?" says the voice of SOJIRO SAKURA, followed by hurried footsteps, a sharp twist of the doorknob followed by a slam, and followed by a gruff and all-business voice of the familiar gentleman - now speaking with a cadence and tenor that even Ren likely hasn't heard.
"Who the hell are you?! Don't move!" He reaches down.
"You hear me?!"
Something goes click --
SOJIRO & TSUBASA
Followers of the Pocket Flashlight Way
And casts more light on the situation.
The flashlight walks over Ichika - who had been looking that way just a moment ago - then Tsubasa, and finally on Ren and Makoto, inevitably. "You...?"
The flashlight's beam is turned towards Makoto, as if she is being inspected.
"What are you doing in my house...?"
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Once again, Ichika speaks for the trees. There's only the holiest of shit going down right now.
It's Tsubasa who has the most presence of mind of all four of them--putting together the orange hairs they saw in the bathroom with the orange hair on the mysterious fifth and name her as the Futaba Sakura they all seek.
This is some bang-up deductive logic--Akechi would be proud, surely--but Ren can only spare a couple thought cycles towards it. Makoto is having a full-on meltdown right now, her mind somewhere bad and very, very far away. Gingerly, they rest a hand over one of hers.
"Makoto. It's okay. It's going to be okay," they murmur in their deep, most soothing voice. They might start repeating this to until it's able to break through to her, except--
'Who the hell are you?! Don't move!'
Ren looks up, eyes wide behind their own glasses, just as Sojiro shines his own flashlight on everyone. On the plus side, seeing faces he recognizes means he calms down. On the minus side... this went incredibly pear-shaped, incredibly fast. They can only hope that Morgana's got eyes on Futaba.
(He does--or at least, he does on the door to her room, into which he has now crept. He may or may not escape before she returns, but he may be able to scope out her living space a bit.)
"Uh," they utter, as eloquent as Ichika in the moment. Then they raise their other hand, which still carries a plastic bag with the Umiushi Beef Bowls logo. "I brought you dinner from Port Island...?"
They glance over their shoulder at the stairs. Then they look back at Sojiro.
"...Was that your daughter?"
If they're the one asking, it'll make sense, at least--they were there for that conflict he had with Sae.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika can't do anything for Makoto right now, either; she has no idea why she's so scared, but she knows that kind of fear when she sees it. Or doesn't see it, because it's still really dark in here... Tsubasa's a detective but--
Ichika puts her hands up when Sojiro says not to move, eyes wide. This isn't like running from the cops--they're not running!
...why aren't they running
Ren has an answer, at least.
"...What he said."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"What the fuck?" Tsubasa asks, looking at Makoto, face drawn tight; it's entirely possible to miss the fact that they're so freaked out because they're deeply concerned.
And like, it's not just Makoto, even? There's that girl? Who's apparently, like...
Okay, so Tsubasa once heard Shuyo talk about spiders and say how they're more scared of you than you are of them, and Tsubasa looked at him and punched him in the shoulder and told him to fuck off with that shit, those things are creatures of malice, and he punched them back and told them how they're so stupid where are they supposed to keep malice their brains are like the size of a pinprick, which is when Tsubasa grabbed him in a headlock and declared that he was the prick, and --
ANYWAY, that's what they think about with regards to the girl in the locked room, yeah? She's more scared of them than they are of her.
They might have even pointed that out, except --
IT'S THE COPS!
wait, no, it's her dad.
IT'S HER DAD!!!
"We ain't doin' nothin'!" Tsubasa yelps, holding up their hands, which has the helpful side-effect of illuminating the ceiling. (It's not that helpful.) "Hey--!" -- oh, it's a flashlight.
"Look man, I get ya pissed, but Makoto-chan's scared a th' dark an' we heard a bangin' like someone fell down or somethin' an' we -- she's cool, man, jus' give her a minute!" They're still worried about what Makoto's going to do faced with this new terror, apparently...
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Unfortunately, Makoto is not cool. Even with the flashlights, even with Ren and Tsubasa trying their best to mitigate Sojiro's reaction, Makoto is still shaking, still babbling, still begging for her sister to save her. No matter what, it's going to be hard to have any real conversation while Makoto is like this.
On the upside, if someone tries to get her to stand, she's at least... agreeable to being moved, as long as no one tries to pull her completely away from Ren right now.
Someone else will need to hold the umbrellas to get them back to LeBlanc, should someone suggest they talk there.
Once they're in LeBlanc- and, fortunately, the power comes back on in the time they get in, and after being given a chance to sit and recover and be in the light, Makoto seems to recover- if she's a little out of it for a few minutes more.
Eventually, though, she manages to speak up. "We're sorry for sneaking in like that, Sakura-san," Makoto starts, giving a deep apologetic bow. "And... I'm sorry for my display back there."
She and Ren were supposed to tag team this discussion, but right now, Ren, Ichika and Tsubasa will likely have to lead.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
"You--" The flashlight beam turns towards Ren, and then towards the bag. There is a sound of exasperation. "... I can't exactly blame you for expecting me to leave something on the counter, after everyth--"
Ren intercepts! "Wh-- you--!" Heartbeat,
"... Yes." A grunting sound of weariness. Ichika is acknowledged with a turn of the flashlight for a moment, but then the light focuses on Tsubasa. Perhaps into their eyes! A little. It's hard to not do that at least a little. When his face can be glimpsed Sojiro seems stern but he is visibly listening.
"-- Alright," he says, his voice gentler. "Look. The power's on at the shop. The rain's eased up a little... I was waiting it out, but then I'd heard..."
With a defeated air, Sojiro continues, "Besides... if we stay here, she'll hear us. She's safe. I... urgh. I'll explain everything. Come on." He steps back then, the flashlight turned towards the floor - a guidelight rather than a piercing beam.
Along the way, Sojiro hangs back a bit. Bringing up the rear, perhaps. "Did I seriously leave this unlocked again...?" he comments, to himself. And on the way, muffled slightly by the rain, he asks Ren:
"So, you and her--?" He sounds guarded. He looks grave.
But, at Leblanc, Sojiro helps people in - holding the door, coming in more bedraggled than usual. Mostly the water.
Once everyone is settled, he begins with answering Makoto.
"... Forget about it," he says. "Fears can be like that." He grimaces, and sets himself in one of the bar seats, turned to face others.
"If she's here... Niijima, right?" This towards Makoto, perhaps a little more grumbly but not hot. "I imagine you've heard about... about Futaba." Now, Sojiro looks at the others, and finally, to Ren.
"I shouldn't have kept this a secret," he said. "I'll tell you everything. So..."
A couple of seconds. "Where do I start...? Futaba's mother. We knew each other, long before Futaba was born. She - her mother, Wakaba - she was a weird one. We got along well, though. She was sharp as hell. A little stern. A little..." He raises a hand loosely. "... socially inept. But carefree. She was a great woman."
After a beat, he continues. About the mother, it seems. "If something piqued her interest, that'd be what she focused on. She always burned the midnight oil. I thought that would change once her kid came, but even Futaba didn't change her much. Don't get the wrong idea about her... she always took good care of Futaba."
Sojiro sighs. "... But one day, she left."
His face hardens. "... She committed suicide. Threw herself in the street, right in front of Futaba's eyes..."
"... A lot happened after that, but the long and the short of it is that I ended up taking custody of Futaba. She's... Once she got here, she was so depressed she wouldn't answer back if I spoke to her." His jaw tightens. He seems out of steam for the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Given that she's latched on to her, Ren's got to be the one to guide Makoto back to Leblanc. After handing the Autumn Beef Bowl off to Sojiro and letting someone else handle the matter of the umbrellas, the five of them manage to make it in one piece. Once she's in the light, Makoto starts recovering fairly quickly too--not immediately, but she really is scared of the dark, huh...
Ren also notes that Morgana's nowhere to be seen--but given where they last saw him go, they're confident he's going to be fine.
Along the way, they murmur to Sojiro, "You did." And then, firmly: "No."
Once everyone's back at Leblanc, where the power is indeed on and the lot of them can get dry, Ren settles on a seat to watch Sojiro and listen quietly. Wakaba... Hadn't Sae mentioned that name too? But his use of 'was' implies that...
Sure enough, he reveals she's gone. Ren sits up straight, eyes widening as their lips part in shock. Not just killed herself, but right in front of Futaba--? That's... that's horrible.
...but what does any of this have to do with Alibaba?
However, listening to all this makes something else in Ren's head click. "Is that who you talk to on the phone every so often? The one who's always making demands of you?" they wonder. Sojiro once again used the past tense about Futaba not answering back, which means...
"...Like sweets from the Sumaru Hyakumanzeki Festival?"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
It goes better than Ichika expected it to, anyway. Makoto's a wreck, for a while yet, but...
Sojiro is answering them. "Sure," ichika says, and walks with the others. She at least does have an umbrella about it. But for Makoto, she looks. Sojiro has the right answer; but Ichika is going to worry some about that.
She settles down, sitting next to Tsubasa.
Then she listens. A mom... Ichika actually smiles at first. Sharp, and... not so good with people. She sounds charming. And when someone stays who they are after having kids... it's a good sign. But left?
Ichika blinks--and lowers her hand, next to Tsubasa.
"That's awful," she says. Right in front of her. "I'm so sorry..."
But Futaba wouldn't speak. That tracks for Ichika, anyway. "She must be in so much pain..."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa's eyes are blue, when the light shines in them -- light, and steely, to the point one might get the vague impression there was a Westerner in their lineage somewhere, but don't say that in front of their father.
The light also, as it happens, reveals the flaws in their makeup... the way they're covering massive burn scars over a full half of their body with fake tan and concealer, a story also written on their face. There's a bit of a squint to their left eye they're not entirely able to conceal; they probably didn't just shave off their eyebrows. (There's cyan and white makeup, suggesting something like eyebrows.)
They do catch that Sojiro apparently leaves his place unlocked habitually... though they hurry forward a bit to give him some privacy, since he was clearly just talking to himself, and so miss what he has to say next. Besides, they're sharing Ichika's umbrella!
"Uh... yeah, man," they add, awkwardly, onto Makoto's apology, "we ain't meant to hurt nothin'." Technically, Tsubasa never said they didn't mean to barge in, which means that technically, all of that is true! They trust Morgana to do the rest of the barging, it's fine.
They listen to his story, though, and...
... and when he gets to the point, they need to reach over and grab the hand Ichika's offered them. Their grip is tight. "Shit," they surmise, eloquently. (Swearing in front of an adult! Again! Well, that's entirely normal for Tsubasa, the times they've been over here in the past.) "How could she do that to her fuckin' kid?" It was hard seeing the aftermath, but that was different... Futaba's mom really died... and right in front of her...
They scowl, troubled.
"Gotta be real fucked up 'bout it... guess that's why she looked so scared. But... if she don't even answer, how's she go with school an' shit...?"
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
For better or worse, Makoto's not in a state to hear Sojiro's whispered question, or Ren's emphatic response. Who knows, having something to be angry at instead of scared of might have helped. A bit hard to tell now.
Makoto's not being particularly talkative, but it's hard not to notice the way her eyes widen when Sojiro mentions how Wakaba died, or the way her hand goes to cover her mouth. "No way..." Makoto murmurs, and for a second, she looks almost as shaken as she did in that house- but she doesn't lose it completely, even if she's steadying herself against one of LeBlanc's tables.
She doesn't have a lot to add, at the moment. Tsubasa and Ren are asking the pertinent questions, Makoto is doing all she can just to listen-
Even as the wheels turn in her head, slowly putting things together.
...and, perhaps, feeling a little too much empathy for the girl in that dark house.
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
During the walk: There is a disconsolate grunt at the news he left the door unlocked again. There is no answer to the firm denial. He looked guilty at the time. Maybe he was trying to raise the mood. Maybe he knows it was a mistake.
After that, there are questions. Sojiro raises his head.
"Heh," he answers Ren. "Well. Not always."
And he rubs the back of his neck. "... But a lot of 'em. Including that one. Sometimes I wonder if I'm being indulgent about things like that. But... Well, it's the least I can do."
Ichika speaks... and she doesn't have a question, she has a comment. One that makes Sojiro exhale. "... Yes. Once she settled in, she opened up, little by little. That's when I found out... she blames herself for her mother's death." The bitterness in his voice is faint but deep.
"I'd wondered, why - why she could possibly - but I didn't want to rub salt in the wound. She was improving, I thought, anyway, until a few months ago. She started getting scared... even if there wasn't anything frightening was going on. She's not a typical girl, you understand. She's got such a quick mind, she's always jumping around."
Sojiro looks defeated at what Tsubasa says next. But he answers them even so. "... She doesn't. That's the answer to that." He looks up towards Tsubasa. "I've tried to bring it up, and... hrrm... You're probably thinking I should have called a doctor, and I did - they even did a house call. But Futaba locked her door and wouldn't come out. I..."
More rubbing of the back of his own neck. "I don't feel I have the right to make her do anything she doesn't want to do. It's the best I can do."
He looks to Ren, then, and says, "So... Her situation is why I couldn't let you into my house."
After this, Sojiro straightens up. His head hangs low for a moment, but he lifts it up. "... So... that's that. I hope you can all just..." He doesn't finish the thought, shaking his head slightly after. One hand goes into his pocket. "I'm going to head back, then. It's late, so head home soon, all of you, alright?"
He comments to Ren again, "Just... lock up, don't be like this old man. Thanks for thinking of me."
And then, into the rain, he leaves. Soon enough he'll be home, and the power's coming back on anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Makoto's still quiet, still listening as Sojiro answers. She doesn't speak up, though. There's a lot that could be said, but really...
Grief was bad enough when you didn't see it happen. For them to die in front of you... That's horrible. Near impossible to handle.
...And if you couldn't accept conventional help...
Makoto's silent for a bit more, until Sojiro is gone and the Phantom Thieves are alone in the cafe.
"...I think I might know who Alibaba is now," Makoto says, once she's finally sure she can speak. Perhaps it's coming from an odd angle- but for Makoto right now, it's something she can do, something she can latch on to, some way to be useful after that meltdown.
"I think the reason that Alibaba wants us to change Futaba Sakura's heart is because Alibaba is Futaba Sakura." She looks out to the other three. "If... If she can't reach out to anyone else, or let anyone else reach out to her... Maybe we're the only hope she's got."
Makoto can remember it too well. The grief of losing her mother was bad enough, but she still had the rest of her family. When her father died, though, she was alone. "...Ren, can you see if Futaba Sakura has a palace?"
That's the only way any of this makes sense- Alibaba's deal being a cry for help.
...Honestly, it's the sort of cry for help Makoto may have wanted to make herself once upon a time.
Maybe it's a cry for help she's too scared to make for someone else.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Ren nods once when Sojiro confirms. They hadn't figured it was every call, but there was one caller that he tended to take a different tone with compared to others... They just had a hunch.
Quietly, they're relieved. There's no way Sojiro could be abusing her when he spends so much time thinking about what she wants. If she's too traumatized to leave her room and he doesn't want to force her out, and she won't open her door for the doctor...
"I see," they say quietly. Knowing that Futaba's why they're living in Leblanc's attic does explain a whole lot.
It's clear it's a painful topic for Sojiro as well as Futaba. Ren doesn't verbally respond, just nods. They watch him leave in concern, then look around at the others.
"She does. I checked her name already," they tell Makoto. "But..."
They pull up their smartphone, tap the Meta-Nav, and speak into it: "Futaba Sakura at the Sakura residence."
Bing. "Hit found," a smooth, robotic woman's voice says.
...Which means that the location of her Palace is the place they just were. It only makes sense, if she never leaves her room anymore. Now all they need is her distortion.
"Alibaba did get really weird when I asked them for the name of their target." They look back at Makoto. "And given that Sojiro-san was gone for a long while just a couple months ago... The timing's right. I think you're on to something."
Which changes the nature of the change-of-heart request quite significantly.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika squeezes Tsubasa's hand, especially at the question. She glances their way--trying to offer silent support. But Sojiro answers a number of questions, says a lot. She blames herself... "That's awful," Ichika says. To lose a mother that way... to blame yourself for it--
Why? Ichika doesn't know either. But grief does strange things to people. Ichika knows that much. But lately... Hm.
"I see..." he doesn't feel he has the right.
"Thank you for telling us," Ichika says to Sojiro. "And we will." Go home soon. Ichika has her van today, so even if they talk past the last trains...
Makoto though has a theory, and Ichika's eyes widen as she says it. "What?" Ichika starts. "She wants us to change her heart...?"
But then she thinks about. And Ren confirms it. It exists.
"...She must think she's the problem..." That's what Ichika thinks, anyway. Hearing how she blamed herself...
She's sure. They have to help her.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
She don't even leave her room... she's scared of everything. Man...
"Sure," Tsubasa says, glancing away and reaching up to rub at the back of their neck with a hand. (Surely that's not familiar, or anything. ... in Tsubasa's case, they can't really run their hand through their hair without ruining the whole illusion.) "Later, sir."
When the door closes, behind him, they speak up: "... he ain't done nothin' wrong." They were suspicious of him, but hearing a story like that... it makes sense as to why she'd be so terrified. Maybe they're just -- biased, hearing what her mother did, but --
But there's no way Sojiro's hurting her when he's the one who helped her out, right?
Makoto floats a theory, though, and Tsubasa's blue eyes widen. "No way!" They exclaim, only for Ren to helpfully demonstrate, though the Meta-Nav, that yes way. "But -- but she ain't done nothin' wrong!" Tsubasa insists, hand coming down a little heavily, on the table. "She ain't like that fuckin' Eiji, or Kamoshida, or Madarame, or Kaneshiro! The damn phone's wrong 'bout it! No way does a girl like that have a twisted heart! Jus' 'cuz she saw some mad shit?! That ain't fair!"
But Sojiro disappeared... and Makoto's logic about her not being able to reach out isn't unfitting...
Ichika, though, points out that Futaba thinks she's done something wrong, and Tsubasa sighs, deeply. "Right," they say, their shoulders sinking with their tone. "So it ain't, like... always objective, huh...? Fuck, man..."
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
The fact that Ren confirms that Futaba has a Palace seems to be all that's needed for Makoto's theory to be put together, like it was the last step.
"...I'm glad," Makoto comments, when Tsubasa states that Sojiro hasn't done anything wrong. It's... a relief at least, to know Ren and Futaba's caretaker isn't abusive.
Let's just. Ignore all and any other thoughts about that right now. Not important.
"...All a Palace needs to form is for someone's desires to be distorted. It... it doesn't mean that the ruler is evil." It has to meant that. It has to. "If her desires were distorted by her mother's death, and this badly, it might have been all it took."
It's not objective. It just is. ...especially if the distortion is about blaming herself for her mother's death, the way Ichika suspects.
"...I want to help her too. But... we can't, not without talking to her- and Alibaba seems to be the only one who can contact us, instead of us contacting her." Makoto lets out a sigh. "...Not unless we approach her in real life, at least."
She looks to the others. "We'll have to ask everyone, but if it's up to me, if Futaba-chan herself is asking for our help... I think we should do it. I'll follow your lead on what we do next though, Ren. For now though, I think all we can do is wait for her to contact us again."
...Makoto might be personally invested, but Ren's the leader for a reason- in the end, the way forward has to come from her.