2026-03-17: Bring Your Homework To Mementos Day
- Log: Bring Your Homework To Mementos Day
- Cast: Suzume Fukura, Reiya Aomori
- Where: Mementos - Entrance
- OOC Date: March 17, 2026
- IC Date: October 11, 2012
- Summary: Suzume and Reiya take a break from studying to hit Mementos... and come up with a plan. Certainly this isn't going to lead to any misunderstandings as to what they're up to!
(|=========================== Mementos - Entrance ============================|)
-====================================================== Tokyo/Shibuya Ward ====-
Once you enter Mementos, however you manage it, the world will transform around
you. It's subtle at first. Initially, while you remain just before the entrance
of what should be Shibuya Station's Underground Mall entrance, there's just a
soft, fractal blueness at the edge of your vision. The city itself seems normal,
but all the people are gone, and it feels like you're walking on air.
Head down the stairs and no subtlety remains. Disturbingly vein-y lines,
dark-ish and reddish, dig through the floor, walls, columns, and ceiling. A set
of turnstiles mark the bottom of the stairs at your back, and in front, there's
a set of escalators leading deeper within. Snow plays on TV screens to either
side, and past them, would-be electric maps display cracked and broken.
Those Persona Users whose outfits transform will, while they were in their
normal clothes above, find them transformed here. No Shadows lurk in the
entrance, but they can still sense your presence at this point--so this is your
last chance to turn back.
BGM: Mementos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Jkz_ZC9Yc
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume should probably be studying.
And, to her credit, she actually *was*. She got some solid work done on math, her least favourite subject - better than she expected. Is she actually going to be a credit to SEES with her grades this time? Has putting in the work actually paid off?
Well, maybe, but she eventually declared that if she thought any more her head was going to explode (that was exactly how she'd announced it) and that she needed to work off some energy. Since she'd been allowed - encouraged even - to organize trips into Mementos, she, well... she did that.
The nice part about going to Mementos instead of Tartarus is that you don't have to stay up until midnight. If you get the urge to go in, say, the evening, instead of overnight, you can do that. With such a small group (two) Suzume was absolutely not willing to go very deep, but the shallowest levels are still relatively safe even for such a small team and good practice. Plus, there's occasional gems or coins to pick up.
Suzume is in her usual hunting outfit: the jacket with big pockets that comes down past her hips to midthigh, swallowtail-cut for maximum leg mobility, similar to Junpei's (though he wears his around his waist, usually) or Ken's. The jacket is short-sleeved so that her tonfa don't tangle in her lower sleeves - it simply doesn't have them, cuffed just above the elbow. Underneath it she has pants rather than the skirt all her other uniforms have, black and neat but with that bit of stretch to it that gym clothes have. The top is a short-sleeved shirt with polo-style buttons. It's loose-fit, but in a way that looks deliberate rather than Suzume's usual approach to baggy clothes, and seems vaguely sporty even though it is still clearly a uniform.
Also the cat-ear headband. Sigh. At least the slightly dragonfly-wing-styled tonfa don't look too ridiculous.
"I still think we need to press deeper," Suzume says - right now they're just travelling, this particular area is cleared of Shadows. "I mean, not TODAY, just in general. There's gotta be something down there. Just like there's gotta be something up Tartarus."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya has been studying, but he's been studying between exam periods, too. Thus, he's more willing to go get some exercise instead of cramming tonight. ...Besides, he did bring a bag with some of his work, for if he gets a seat on the train to take the time to review.
Reiya is in his usual clothes; slacks and a nice button-down. But there are a few things hidden on his person to make battle easier, and once they got into Mementos, he pulled out his weapons. The Peacebringers are made up of bronze, steel, and brown leather with Latin inscriptions, patterned after a Roman god of war.
"I agree," Reiya says as they travel, "But I think some of us may be a little gunshy on it now... after what happened with being lost in the depths, and having to return."
"I'm still willing, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
It never occured to Suzume you could bring your homework to Mementos. It's probably for the best.
"Nice," Suzume said, about the 'peacebringers'. They're a weapon of Reiya's she hasn't seen before.
Suzume pauses for a moment to stick her head inside a room, just to be sure. Nope. No Shadows. They'll have to move downstairs before they find any more, but she's not in a rush to do that; she goes in to check for treasure boxes or other anomalies.
She's careful, and she's quiet until she's sure they're alone. "Yeah, well," she admits. "I wasn't there." She wishes she was - not because she particularly wants to be trapped (she still has nightmares about it occasionally that she refuses to admit) but simply because Suzume *should* have been there, it wasn't an operation she should have skipped.
"They'll have to get over it eventually," she says. And if she doesn't *sound* sympathetic she at least feels it, a little. "If you and me are willing to go, we can't be the only ones."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Thanks," Reiya says. "I was able to get them thanks to an object I found down here." That, and some tarot cards, and the Velvet Room! But Reiya doesn't notice any Shadows, either--though the advantage to coming down here with Reiya is that it gets much easier to get the drop on what Shadows there are thanks to his anti-navigator abilities.
"I wasn't either," he says. "Maybe the two of us can make the difference next time."
Reiya isn't always good at picking up on tone; social engineering is his weak point in espionage. Nevertheless, "I'm sure we won't be. It just occured to me that some might need gentle treatment to start back up again."
"...Any more chests?"
As it happens, Reiya can pick the locks on the locked ones.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"That's where I got these." Suzume wiggles her tonfa toward Reiya. It has a vaguely dragonfly-wing style...
Wait, no, that's styled like a Pixie wing! Not the kind with curved wings, the kind with straighter ones. If Reiya has also done this, suddenly it makes a lot more sense. ...even if it doesn't at all explain the cat ear headband, half-buried in her hair. (She needs a haircut again even if it's not as bad as it could be.)
"So," she says, "maybe we won't push it until after exams." Much as she'd like to take her mind off them... "But then we can. And Tartarus too. Maybe we should offer to go there first - I mean, it's the first priority anyway - and then see if they'll come back here... they can't run away forever."
As for treasure?
"Yeah, actually," she says, before rapping it sharply with her tonfa. "It's not locked though." And it only has a Life Stone in it - well, it's better than nothing.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Pixie wings! That's a little surprising, considering, but maybe not out of the realm of possibility. "Nice," he answers, and does not comment on the headband. Sometimes people want to be cute...
"Right. And I'm not sure any of them are inclined to run--it's just... I wouldn't blame them being shy on it. It's important to anticipate things like that."
A Life Stone! That's not too bad.
"...Besides," he says, "Mementos is linked to many supernatural phenomena. I'm interested in understanding how and why."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Sometimes people want to be cute, but Suzume is mostly accepting of the cat ear headband. It helps that nobody makes fun of her.
Much.
"Well, chickening out is like running," Suzume says, with a scowl. "Not that I think any of them would, like... STAY chickened out. But if they stay away too long we're gonna lose valuable... investigation time."
A life stone isn't too bad. Suzume puts it in one of her big coat pockets for lack of anywhere else to put it; her tonfa take up both hands, after all, she's not going to carry it around in one of them. It's not the only supplies she has in her pockets either.
"...Yeah," she says. "I mean, why here? Why now? Does it have to do with the rumours in Sumaru or what? Or does it have to do with the Dark Hour? It's all weird shit! And then there's the Kirijo Group stuff - "
Well, it's Reiya so she can trust him with it. "Whatever," she says, with a sigh. "We gotta survive exams first anyway. I don't want Kirijo-san to kick my ass because I didn't do so well."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Caution can be healthy... in moderation. But if we don't investigate more soon, then others will learn what we haven't. I know we arent necessarily against the Phantom Thieves, but they're only one group that investigates these things."
His sai are at his belt, at the moment. And then... Hm. "That's a good set of questions," he says. "And I wonder if this opened due to the Kirijo Incident, like Tartarus. It's not lost on me that Mementos goes down instead of up. But if so, why here?"
"...I have a potential theory about that. Well, more a hypothesis. I imagine it has to do with the population density of Tokyo."
"I can't say whether it's linked to Tartarus at all.... But I'm sure that the 'people' here have to do with what it is."
A nod, then. "Do you feel prepared?" he asks of exams.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume makes another face at the Phantom Thieves.
"I don't trust them," Suzume says, "but we need to know what they know; that's why I said that Ririka-chan should get in touch with them if she thought they had information she needed. If I could find it all myself in here, I'd do that instead..."
Suzume doesn't say anything for a few moments because she's navigating. Out of this side room, back down a hallway. They saw the stairs already, it's just a matter of getting over to them without tripping over the tracks. Mysteriously, she worries about that.
She also picks up the pace as she goes, roving a little ahead of Reiya. For someone with short legs, she walks fast.
"It's not just in Tokyo though," she says. "It's in - well, it's here too, and you can get to it in Sumaru. I don't know if you can get to it from any further away. If we had a trip to... I don't know, Osaka or something, I'd check if it works in THEIR train station. Maybe that's what I should do some weekend. Take a train out to some other city and check."
Now she's thinking about it...
"But it does look like it has to be cities, though, right? With the transit stations and all..." Suzume looks frustrated for a moment.
The frustration remains at exams. "No," she says, "but who is? I made a deal with myself, though, I get a day off if I do well. Actually, I got a question for you. If you're interested."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"I don't either," Reiya admits freely. "But I'm willing to believe that they may be operating in good faith. Nevertheless... They're using the supernatural to affect the natural world. That's not something I can leave alone."
But if she could... Hm. "Right. It's better to do your own study if you can."
Reiya makes use of his abilities in that respect; while Suzume navigates, Reiya continues to silence their steps and Resonance, stepping across the tracks carefully.
He is slower, on account of being stealthier.
"True," Reiya answers. "That's a good idea. Hmm. If you do, consider bringing a friend," he suggests. "Just in case."
He'd go!
"It does. It furthers my hypothesis if it's cities in general." But then he pauses. "I think i'm reasonably prepared," he says. "But I can become moreso."
A pause. "Oh? Do tell."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume is now coming up with a PLAN.
"Okay," Suzume says, after a moment's thought. She walks backwards so she can talk to Reiya, realizes she can get away with that on a sidewalk and not in Mementos, and walks forward again. "Bring a friend, huh? Since the two of us had the idea, why don't we partner up on it? We can pick a weekend and go to Kamakura and, uuuuh..." Her mind blanks for a moment. "...Hakone?"
Kamakura is a city of a couple hundred thousand, but it used to be a historic capital and is still a major travel hub and tourist destination, about an hour away by train from Tokyo. Hakone is a mountain spa town up near Mount Fuji and is much smaller, but still only a couple hours away - definitely day trip possible.
"That'll let us know how small it can be and still work, right? And if neither of them work we can check one of the bigger cities, but they take longer to get to." Suzume pauses, near the rest stop near the stairs down now.
"Anyway, I was going to go up to one of the bashos - uh, the sumo tournament. I can get tickets for one of the small boxes. Two people, for one Sunday. You watch sometimes with me. You want the other seat? Assuming I don't bomb exams."
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Probably better not to walk backwards in Mementos. Though there might be a rumor in that...
Partner up on it? Reiya blinks slowly, which might be hard to read as anything other than thinking about it, though in truth he's pretty surprised. A weekend trip with a girl is one thing; a weekend trip to a tourist hub like that... Especially with the spa town.
It's probably not that, though. It's probably just practical.
"That's good thinking," he settles on saying, because he doesn't want to get the wrong idea. "That would be a good set of test cases to start with. And at worst, there's some historical value in traveling to Kamakura especially..."
But anyway? Reiya is no longer so sure that it's 'the wrong idea'. He's quiet for a moment. "I do like sumo."
A small box...
"Yes," he answers. "I'll go with you."
Now he's going to be wondering, but he needs to set that aside for the mission down here...
"It is better not to go alone."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume isn't thinking much about it. Of course it's just practical. She wanted to check other cities; Reiya got her thinking about population density. Do you need so many people to do it? Does having the extra traffic in Kamakura help?
It's not something she's ever had to think about before...
"I've never actually been to Kamakura except for once, on a school trip," Suzume says; an hour's trip is short enough to see some of the temples, including the Kencho-ji. "So yeah, there's definitely a lot of history stuff there. Bring your coins," she jokes, thinking of one of the shrines; her crooked grin returns. "I know I will."
And her grin stays. "Great," she says. "I mean, I'd go myself, but it's better with someone. It should be some good matches, I hope." You never know until you get there, of course. "But that involves passing exams first. I'm trying to reward myself for a good job."
She fidgets a moment. "But don't worry. I'll do fine." Probably. Hopefully. Great, now she's got the same kind of worry she had LAST time, except it's over Reiya instead of Mitsuru. That's a plus, maybe...?
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya has had to think about it! It's a skill he's picked up. You don't want people getting the wrong idea all the itme...
But two is probably sufficient for the actual mission.
"I haven't been often either," he says. A nod, then. "Definitely." coins!
"I'll hope the same. But I am.. optimistic." About good matches. "Very well. No exam success, no basho."
As Suzume fidgets, Reiya stays still. He's pretty good at that. "Good! Then we should make the most of our time away from the books."
At least Reiya does fewer executions?
"Of course, even if it's for research purposes, they won't reimburse us," he says. He might be kidding. But it's true either way.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
It's never come up for Suzume before. She's never been in a position to worry about it. Nobdoy cares about sumo but her, and she doesn't exactly travel very much...
Her grin broadens. "Thanks," she says, without going into much detail about *what* she's thanking Reiya for. The idea? Giving her something to do that isn't just brute force? Travelling with her? She's not going to explain!
"If they're not gonna give us a budget," Suzume says, "we'd better make the best of our trip to Mementos, huh? Maybe we can scrounge up a gem before we gotta turn back." She looks at the stairs, then: "Shall we?"
WHO
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Sure." Reiya gets the wrong idea. It happens. But surely it won't go that wrong.
"Heh," Reiya answers on budget. "That would be useful. Sure, let's keep looking."
"...Let's see if we can get the drop on a few more Shadows."
This, at least, should be fun.