2026-04-08: Kazusa Motojima Has Joined the Party!
- Log: Kazusa Motojima Has Joined the Party!
- Cast: Kazusa Motojima, Hazuki Nakao, Akari Hoshi, Roger
- Where: Kazusa's Studio, Akihabara, Tokyo
- OOC Date: April 08, 2026
- IC Date: Sunday, October 21, 2012 (Afternoon)
- Summary: Now that Kazusa has had a chance to recover (if barely, considering her surprise midterm hell), the members of In Unizone come over to ask her to join their number. Hazuki, Roger, and Akari all make their pitches, and Kazusa ends up sharing some of her experience in the Homunculus' Cocoon before reluctantly agreeing to help.
(|============================= Kazusa's Studio ==============================|)
-========================================================= Tokyo/Akihabara ====-
Kazusa's studio is on the fifth floor and tucked into a corner at the end of a
long hallway. It is a single room, long and skinny. Immediately by the door is a
patch of unfinished concrete that serves as the studio's genkan, or entrance
room, along with a few pairs of slippers for guests to use. Past that the floor
is finished concrete, while overhead silver ducts and wiring conduits are
plainly visible, along with a skylight.
Down the left side of the room are a closet, bathroom, and then a kitchenette
that includes several cupboards and a small fridge. The kitchenette ends at the
far wall, which has a large, steel-framed window that provides plenty of light
onto a small, round table with two wooden chairs, and a few folding chairs
resting against a wall nearby.
Along the right wall is another large window, but immediately to the right of
the entrance is a loft, accessible by a ladder, that for the moment seems to be
acting as storage, full of cardboard boxes. Underneath that loft, however, is
where the studio is.
Tucked into the corner is a large, sturdy c-shaped desk made of heavy, polished
wood. A large tower sits underneath the desk, and a high-end office chair left
slightly pulled out. In the middle of the desk are two flat panel monitors, with
a plush white rabbit tucked between them. On the desk is a large headset,
keyboard, and mouse. Above the desk are several wooden shelves filled with
various anime figurines and tchotchkes.
On the left arm of the desk sits a large Quintic tablet resting in a sturdy
metal frame, with a stylus standing in a base and a half-glove, a smear guard,
resting beside it. On the right arm, however, there is no equipment. Instead
there is a lamp on an arm clamped to the side, and drawing supplies lined up
against the wall. Above this space, on the wall, is a corkboard is a corkboard
with a cluster of various references and mood items pinned to it. On the corner
sits a worn sketchbook with a thick black cover.
While the shelves over the desk are new, beside the desk are several bookshelves
made of older, industrial-looking metal. One is filled with all kinds of printed
media: magazines and reference books covering things like fashion, historical
clothing, anime, manga, and video games, as well as magazines like Coolest and
several sets of manga stacked high. The other has some more manga, but is also
packed full with various anime and movie DVDs, music CDs, and a substantial game
collection. All of it seemingly kept here to keep it away from prying eyes, with
several collector's boxes proudly displayed (including a few Night Parade ones.)v
(|============================================================================|)
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa has been having... a time of it. Trapped in a supernatural space for a month, then rescued and immediately plunged into a frantic midterm cram session to make up for a missed month of study.
And now she can finally relax... except she can't, because there's always something else, isn't there? More classes, gymnastics practice, the extra practic for the Olympics... and now Hazuki wanted to have a talk.
Kazusa was... trying to be hospitable. She'd gone out and gotten some drinks, and some snacks. Those were all set up over in the kitchenette.
Kazusa herself was considerably dressed down, at the moment, though still fashionable, in her own way. She was wearing dark purple leggings, and a comfty pink hoodie, with her black hair tied up in a bun. There was some music playing from the computer's speakers that could be heard approaching the door.
And while she waited, she had a game console out on the empty part of her desk, and she was fiddling with some connectors and trying to get things hooked up to her monitor. "... Do I need a different converter...?" she muttered to herself. She glanced at the clock. No time to dip out now, her... guests were due any moment now.
... If they were on time, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki is on time. "I hope she's okay..." she can be heard saying to Akari and Roger as she approaches the door if Kazusa's paying attention. She'll then knock, two gentle raps of her knuckles.
Once they're inside, whether beckoned or the door is opened, Hazuki is in her usual outdoor wear, her hat and jacket combo, European chic. "Motojima-san!" she says, smiling softly but nervously. "Thank you for hosting us, and I'm glad you can be here again... I brought my team." She'll let them introduce themselves.
"How are you holding up?"
<Pose Tracker> Akari Hoshi has posed.
Akari Hoshi survived exams. Hurray!
Now, she had middle school exams, not high school exams, so she got off a little easier, but the whole 'intensely derailed by the Aerospace Museum being on fire while she was in it' still didn't help matters. To say nothing about all the thoughts brought up by what she saw and heard...
...though she's trying not to worry about it. Surely she can manage that. Surely.
"Well, she's had a while," Akari says, just before the door opens (either by Hazuki or Kazusa's hand) and reveals Kazusa! And, in turn, Akari.
Akari is a tall, slim student with dark skin and very pale hair, either grey or just faintly bluish; her eyes match it almost perfectly. She's a middle schooler, though she can pass for a little older, maybe; you could believe she's a first year if you didn't know, she's certainly tall enough to be in high school. She is wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a shooting star on it.
She is also grinning, but that seems to be her usual state of affairs. "Hi!" she says, brightly. "I'm Akari. Akari Hoshi!" Did she pick the shirt to match her name? (maybe)
Akari almost immediately takes a step in and looks around. She's nosy - and she spots the tablet and the corkboard right away, then some of the drawing supplies. Her eyes widen a little, then she looks back to Kazusa.
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
Roger did not have exams, on count of being a strange entity who has somehow cast a human identity around himself. He has his own challenges. He has never been happier, despite his life being squalor by human standards. But this isn't about that right now.
He's carrying a bag with him along the way in. He's a heavy-set guy with a strong underbite, a slightly upturned nose, proportionally small feet for his height (going by the size of his shoes), and a simple shirt and pants ensemble. His appearance is kind of bizarre but not out of 'believably human' standards, and it's tough to get a read if he's supposed to be high school age or a young adult.
"Hello! It's nice to meet you! I'm Roger!" He sounds like a certain someone in a mascot suit from a while back, during a turbulent time. (Because it is him.) He is very cheery in a youthful, simplistic way. "I'm glad you're doing what you like to do again!"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa is struggling, but she may or may not admit that. She will answer the door when Hazuki knocks, though--she left the music low for that reason.
She looks... exhausted, still, but she's trying to hold herself together. "Hey, Nakao-san." Hmm. That's a nice outfit, though she doesn't say that. As for hosting, she shrugs a little. "I was going to be spending the day here anyway, so..." She looks to Akari and Roger. "... your team, huh."
In response tot he question she shrugs a little. "I'm... fine." She's really not. She might not be quite as exhausted as she was when she got out of the Cocoon but she hasn't really had a lot of time to rest yet.
There's a critical eye turned to Akari next, looking her up and down. "Kazusa Motojima. But you probably already knew that." This time she's not referencing her family's name--she's referencing the fact that these people were probably running around in her Atelier.
She watches Akari be nosty and sighs. "Don't touch anything. If you want to know about something, ask."
And then she looks Roger over. Is the voice familiar? She must've just heard him talking during that big fight. The old Kazusa might have had somet8ing to say about his appearance. The new Kazus--well, no, she is definitely still thinking of things to say but at least she's not going to vocalize them. "... Roger," she repeats, with a frown. "... Yeah, I'm not calling you by your first name when I barely know you. What's your last name?"
She might need a bit to put together who this Roger is--she wasn't in the driver's seat at the time, after all.
As for doing what she likes, Kazusa shrugs. She vented about how things are to Tamaki earlier. "... Yeah, sure."
Once everyone is in she sighs tiredly and gestures to the kitchenette. "I've got snacks on the counter, and some drinks in the fridge. You can... help yourselves, or whatever."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Kazusa is different than she used to be. She may be struggling, but... Hazuki can tell. As they step inside, and her friends introduce themselves...
"Oh, he's a Humor from an Atelier, so I don't think he has one!" She gently says about Roger. "You remember the pig with the racquet? That's his... I don't want to say true form, but it's the first form he had when I met him."
She may have assumed they'd have a back and forth of confusion if she hadn't said anything.
"...have you been getting enough sleep?" Hazuki remembers to ask. She doesn't take anything from the kitchenette just yet. "Exams were... sure a thing."
Hazuki then glances over to Akari as she looks around. "Are your artist instincts activating?" She smiles awkwardly at that, uncomfortable in her skin as she usually is even as she tries to make comfortable talk with her friends.
<Pose Tracker> Akari Hoshi has posed.
"I *really* don't want to talk about exams," Akari doesn't *quite* whine. It does cut her energy down for a moment, though.
But only a moment, because Akari has enough energy for two. "Maybe," she says to Hazuki, before assuring Kazusa, "I won't, either. I just recognized it! I don't have anything like it because a lot of what I do is a different kind of art, so I just use sketch pads usually instead of a tablet." Maybe she should get a tablet. It would be easier to hide what she's doing from her parents...
...they probably wouldn't let her get one, she thinks, with a mental sigh. Oh well.
"...but I do have the corkboard. Did," she corrects, which isn't doing much for her emotional state. Akari really isn't going to touch anything, though; she puts her hands behind her back, though she is nosy enough to look around a little more before focusing on Kazusa.
"And of course I remember you!" That with a grin that doesn't seem forced, despite everything. She still doesn't introduce herself as Ixquic, though she's thinking about it. It's not like Hazuki isn't talking about Humours and Ateliers.
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
Roger tilts his head at the seeming desire to know something he doesn't actually have. Hazuki comes to the rescue on clarification! "That's right! I was a Sanguin Humor from another Atelier!" This is probably not helping things. "...Um," he pushes his fingers together, "I didn't have a name before I met everyone. That... that wasn't really a thing, before then." Not that he really had any cause to truly 'remember' or 'pay attention' to anything until he noticed there was a Homunculus wrecking everything, but even then...
"Exams must really be not fun, yet almost everyone's taking them..." Roger will have to consider this conundrum as he continues to awkwardly stand out as just existentially only somewhat in sync with the emotional tenor of Tough School Times and also There Was a Museum On Fire So Many Had To Go Address.
"I'll gladly help myself! Thank you," he bows respectfully, and goes to have himself some manner of liquid refreshment - the cheer having not left him.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa stares at Hazuki with a frown for a long moment. "Humor...? What?" She at least got 'Atelier' from context and their conversation the other day.
"The pig with the..." She looks at Roger critically again, looking skeptical. "... right."
But the question about sleep makes her lok away. "... I've been getting as much sleep as I can." That technically isn't an answer to the question, though. "Yeah. They were. That other me's notes were... terrible."
They might've been 'okay', but Kazusa's standards for herself are much higher. And she needed midterms as something she could control.
It's okay, Akari. Kazusa doesn't want to talk about them, either. She does look the other girl's way, though. "... you're an artist? What kind of art do you do?"
Her eyes slide over to the tablet. "But you recognized the tablet, huh..." Her expression isn't any friendlier, but there is a faint spark of curiosity, at least. "... have you ever used one?"
Kazusa's parents definitely didn't get her this tablet, though.
'Did', though... Kazusa doesn't interrogate that. She knows that pain--narrowly averted in her case, but still.
It is definitely not helping. "A... Sanguin Humor. Like that... outdated medical theory?" Every9one's taking exams... "... Yeah. Everyone has to take them in school. Don't you know that?"
But Roger goes to get snacks. Kazusa should probabl;y be more of a hostess, but considering she's still exhausted, this is the best everyone is going to get. "So you wanted to talk, right? I got extra chairs, we can use the table."
The wooden table has two decent wooden chairs... and two folding metal ones. Look, she's never had this many people here, this is the best she can do on short notice.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
Hazuki starts by trying to explain away the ROGER CONUNDRUM. "How to put it... he's not human. But he's a person! He has a Persona like everyone else here, and I trust him. He might not know everything we do, but he makes up for it with big heart and also copious amounts of anti-monster violence."
She smiles a bit at Kazusa asking Akari about art. Maybe they can get along...
She'll take a seat on one of the less comfortable chairs when Kazusa offers, allowing Roger to explain Humors as the expert. "I... wanted to give you until after exams to process, but I have an offer for you. I want you to work with my team in helping people with supernatural problems. You're not the only person who's been attacked by a Homunculus, and I want to save as many people as I can. Especially with... the things I've been seeing, these visions I get inside Ateliers and my unique power."
"But I'll need help to accomplish these dreams. That's why I'm asking you, because you know what it's like. You've seen these things, have the power to fight back!"
<Pose Tracker> Akari Hoshi has posed.
"Wait, is it medical?" Akari's brow furrows. Her schoolwork has never included outdated philosophy of that sort. She looks at Roger uncertainly. Is he a doctor in disguise? Surely not.
Akari is very willing to talk about art. She's had some problems on that front, but... maybe if she does well on her exams...
(She can dream.)
"I like to make costumes," Akari explains. "I mean, not just costumes! I do design too, that's what I sketch, and I do things like accessories, cosplay gear..." She counts off on her fingers. And then she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her phone!
Her phone has a phone strap, which currently has a pin on it. It looks like someone took a layer of an oxidized bismuth crystal off to make it flat and then turned it into a slightly large, mostly square pin, set into a silvery frame. It glitters in multiple colours, its distinctive square-curling crystal looking almost artificial. But it's not!
"I made THAT out of something I found in an Atelier," Akari explains. "But I work with all sorts of stuff! Sometimes I just get ideas, and - you have to do it, then, you have to get it *out*. It's awful when it's just stuck in your head and you can't do anything with it - "
She realizes she's speeding up and reins herself in. "Anyway, I've used a tablet once or twice but I don't HAVE one. I had to put away a lot of my equipment lately anyway..." She points at Kazusa, rude. "That's why it's so good that you can do it now! I mean, after everything...!" She has her workshop back! And she's not hiding quite so much anymore.
Akari wishes she could do that.
"But Hazuki-san is right," Akari says. "I help, too." She draws herself up to her full height, which even sitting is pretty obvious. "Demons and other things put people in danger... it's up to people like us to fight them!"
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
Roger luckily is occupied with getting drinks in that period of time where the obvious questions that need clarification can be handled by a fellow human-human, and not a Shadow-human who struggles to be in sync with every little nuance of how strange things are when described from his life perspective.
He returns just in time with drinks. "I didn't," know about exams. He seems surprised by this. How does this man-shaped thing know how to breathe or put on clothes, sometimes. He got a few drinks for everyone - he picked out the ones he knows Hazuki likes most of the assorted, as he sets them on the table and takes one of the chairs.
"I want to play with everybody as somebody," he says, somewhat out of sync of the dramatic weight of declaring themselves as brave warriors against supernatural threats, as a core belief of his assumed personhood. He smiles guilelessly.
...
His expression darkens. "I don't want Homunculi or anyone else to take away who people are or who they want to be! No self-respecting Sanguin Humor anywhere would." And then, smiling again. His emotions come off as a bit more simply 'developed' compared to the people who have lived with human psyches for far longer than he - but no less genuine for it. "...And I like it here, even if... the rules of all the games humans play, to be human, are very, very hard sometimes."
...
"Oh! Right! Motojima-san," Roger holds up the bag. "I kept something from your Atelier for you! You see... when I talk about being a 'Sanguin Humor,' they're the part of an Atelier that reflects an owner's wants, desires, and the like. Even while that Homunculus was there..."
He unwraps the bag. It's a plush owlgirl, a spitting image of one of the native Sanguin Humors of Kazusa's own Atelier.
"Many someones still believed in everything you wanted to do and what you wanted to be!" He smiles. "...So, even if making the Homunculus go away hasn't made that easier... I wanted to make sure you knew, someone very close to you still wants you to have what you want."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa just kind of stares at Hazuki as she explains about Roger. Not human, but still a Person. And he has a Persona. Kazusa looks at Roger, and then looks at Hazuki. And then she sighs. "You know what, fine. Sure." She rubs at a temple/.
She is fully in 'This might as well happen' territory.
She looks at Akari pointedly and then at Hazuki. She doesn't ask if Akari is human, but... she's thinking about it.
Kazusa moves to get herself a canned coffee and then sits down, looking at Hazuki as she speaks. "... Yeah I don't know how much processing I've done," she admits, dourly. "Homunculus. That was that... other me." And then she looks at Hazuki. "... that... 'Connect' thing you did. I felt something when you did that. What was that?"
She sighs. ".... Look, I know I have this power, and I know I need to change, but..." She stares down at her lap, her voice softening. "... I'm barely holding things together as it is."
"It was medical," Kazusa clarifies for Akari. "... like how they used to say the Earth was the center of the universe. Or that it was flat."
But Akari recounts her artistic interests, and Kazusa takes notice. "... Oh. most of what I do is limited to my sketchbook or my computer. I don't really have the time to learn how to make costumes, but... I helped design a couple of outfits."
"... Once."
Kazusa won't really go into what happened on that one occassionshe wore cosplay, though. It... didn't end well for her.
"But it takes a lot of work to bring the art into the real world." Kazusa is coming dangerously close to giving Akari a compliment.
She studies that phone charm for a moment. "So you made that... it looks decently constructed." Okay she's trying but some habits die hard.
But put her equipment away... "Hmm. Well, only as long as my father doesn't find out I'm coming here again..." She pinches the bridge of her nose for a moment.
Roger confirms he didn't know. "... right." Kazusa's not willing to poke that 'not-Human' thing again right now. She hasn't really had a chance to process the whole experience regardless. This can just go on the pile.
Though Roger does earn an odd look from Kazusa at the phrasing. "... play." She's about to ask 'How old are you?' but then she remembers the whole 'not-Human' thing and decides against it. "Okaaay..."
But she's staring at him, something in her memory triggering, but it's taking a moment to dredge up fully.
The rules of the 'games' people play are hard, Roger says, and Kazusa snorts. "Yeah. That's called 'life.' Good luck figuring all that out."
But something is unwrapped, and Kazusa stares--and then she draws in a sharp breath as a strange kind of recognition hits her. "That..." It's like all of the anger and cynicism have been temporarily sucked out of her as she quietly reaches out to hold it, turning it over in her hands.
"... My--the--advisors made these..." she murmurs, as she turns it over to examine it in more detail. She runs her hand over a ridge of plush feathers. "... thank you." She clears her throat and sets it down in her lap, turning it around to hug it to her stomach. She's trying to put her mask of composure back on. "You... didn't have to do that, but... I appreciate it."
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
"The connect? I don't... know. But I feel I should keep doing it. I feel I can make things better, if I do," Hazuki explains. "It's like an instinct, a gut feeling, like I'm strengthening these Ateliers after them being so fragile." She glances aside. "If I can stop people from hurting, I will."
But Kazusa isn't sure. She's barely holding things together as she is. "...you don't have to. But I wanted to give you the chance to make a difference. I refuse to turn away... and I want everyone with this power to have a chance to look forward and change the world. We can only make the world better *together*."
She glances over to Roger as he explains. She too is touched by his gesture, smiling brightly at how kind a Humor can be, as she touches on a point Akari made. "There's demons threatening the people of Sumaru and hidden between the margins in Tokyo, there's monsters in the Dark Hour I mentioned, there's Homunculuses, I think there's some sort of shady conspiracy? The point is... it's a big scary world. But it can't change without good people pushing it forward, helping each other."
<Pose Tracker> Akari Hoshi has posed.
Kazusa looks at Akari.
Akari looks right back. At first she's grinning. Then she's not sure quite what to make of it and the grin slips a little, but not all the way.
Apparently she's not being teased, though. "It does take a lot of work! I did my whole costume," Akari says. "I'll show you sometime! I mean, you'll see it plenty but... there's a real version." This may not make a lot of sense to those who aren't particularly well educated about cognitive outfits but, well, that's a little beyond the scope of this conversation. Probably. That or Akari doesn't really get it either.
"Sometimes I do other things too," she says, before she slumps somewhat. "My parents don't like me doing it, though... they say I need to study instead, and I can't go to an art school. So... I guess that's why I fought so hard in your Atelier!"
Akari looks over at Roger's plush - oh, she knows those! But that's his to give. She does speak again after a few moments though. "See, that's why we work together to do all this! Because of things like that."
She means Kazusa's smile before she regains her mask more than the actual plush.
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
Guileless as regards the snark and exasperation of all those gaps in human understanding about life on this existential plane that humanity is meant to inhabit largely unbothered by neighboring existential entities, Roger stays smiling through that warm display.
There's really no sidestepping just how dangerous and scary the world outside of one's Atelier is (...not to say an Atelier is exactly a safe haven, Coleric Humors see to that for outsiders), or how there's so many challenges sometimes to really getting to be who you want and do what you want.
"I like this world a lot. It's fun," he says, earnestly. "Hazuki-chan and I--- ah, Hoshi-san," he catches himself on a critical mistake before he makes it, "have been very good friends to play with! And," he presses his fingers together, "I'd like to be yours too."
He settles a bit. "Oh! I imagine you may have heard some of this already, but, I already described us Sanguin Humors! There's also Coleric Humors, who are always going to try and drive out anything that's not from the Atelier itself... Flegmat Humors, who are kind of passive and end up going along with what us Sanguin Humors do, but they're also reflecting all the little ways you might assert yourself, and..."
And?
"Melanc Humors are the last one. They reflect parts of yourself you don't like, or criticize, and... when a Homunculus takes over, they're the ones they steal over to their side. That, and us Sanguin Humors are moderated by them, so... that's why it's so hard to remove a Homunculus!" He snorts. "The Coleric Humors see Melanc Humors as part of the Atelier - because they are - so that's why they don't just all rush down the Homunculus either."
"...If it weren't for their help, I wouldn't have been able to get rid of the Homunculus in the Atelier I lived in," he tilts his head, "but so many weren't even listening to me then..."
...
"There's a few more details," he says as he straightens up, "but if it weren't for Persona-users, both the Homunculi I've seen probably would've won... so... it'd be really good if you could help us, Motojima-san!"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"You don't... know." Kazusa frowns. That's not exactly comforting. But on the other hand, Hazuki did help rescue her... and she felt it do something.
But she listens as Hazukispeaks of offering chances, and changing the world together. She silently regards the other girl for a moment, no disdain evident in her expression.
She talks like that other version of her... the one who caught me.
... when did she get to be so confident...?
She drops her gaze to focus on her canned coffee instead, taking a sip. "... have you heard of something called a Palace?" she asks, off-handedly. She heard about that from Kasumi, though she won't name her kouhai outright.
"... but if you need 'good' people... I'm hardly the kind of person you want."
She looks like she's not following on when Akari mentions the 'real' one--she definitely isn't clued in to the whole cognitive outfit thing yet. (And really not even her own.)
"... I wanted to apply to Gekkoukan. But I knew my father would never allow it. He... made that other me give up the key to the studio." Obviously things worked out--Kazuhiro somehow ended up with them, since he let everybody in, after all. ButKazusa didn't know about that when she first got out.
She doesn't quite bring herself to look at Akari directly as she says, "... thanks, for fighting so hard."
The look she gives Roger as he brings up playing again isn't as sharp, but it is still trying to recall something. Roger wants to be her friend too, and Kazusa sighs, this time just from weariness. "... we'll see."
But she does listen as Roger describes the types of Humor Shadows, frowning a bit in concentration. "... my advisors, the night-winged many, the coutiers..."
She grows still at the mention of Melancs and what they represent. "... yeah. I'm familiar with those ones," she whispers. "My guards."
There's that word again, 'My.' Look, she's tired, and she had a very weird experience.
"... I could hear them. The... the Melancs. Or maybe it was the Homunculus, but... it sounded like me. In the Cocoon. All the time. Talking to me, telling me everything I'd done wrong, why that... other me was 'better.' It's... terrible. Relentless. Suffocating. Nobody should have to go through that."
She can't bring herself to look at anybody else as she continues. "... I didn't think anybody would ever come looking for me. If you hadn't, I... I might've..."
She sets her canned coffee down on the table, and now she's hugging the owl with both arms. "... Mina knows how to heal and support. You'll... probably need her help if you're going to keep fighting all those weird things. I'll try not to hold the rest of you back."
Why is it her potentially holding them back? Because they're all clearly better people than she is.
<Pose Tracker> Hazuki Nakao has posed.
There's something to be said about the fact Hazuki is only confident when she's talking superhero stuff. But, it still works. As Roger explains, Hazuki nods, having heard it before.
A pause. Palace? "I have, really vaguely. I think she knows more?" Hazuki says with a nod towards Akari, finally cracking open her own drink.
Kazusa tells them what it was like in the cocoon. Hazuki is sympathetic, nodding. "You're right. NO one should. And... with your help-"
Kazusa agrees, and Hazuki smiles, a small beam of sunlight. "You won't hold us back. I have faith. But... thank you, Motojima-san. Welcome to In Unizone. It's like the English 'in unison'," she says, a total nerd. "If anyone asks, we're a social club, but I don't think they will."
<Pose Tracker> Akari Hoshi has posed.
"I know a bit about Palaces," Akari agrees. "They're where people who have..." How does she put this? "People with bad desires. Demons in human skin! Like the mafia boss, who thought the whole world was just for his profit - he didn't care who he hurt! And they have a Shadow, which is not the same as a Homonculus - it doesn't come out of the Palace, but it's the monster that they could be, inside..."
Akari freezes for a moment from where she was absently swinging her legs. She ends up dragging her heel against the floor for a moment.
'I wanted to apply to Gekkoukan. But I knew my father would never allow it.'
"You're like me," Akari says, suddenly - it's almost like she's blurting it into the conversation. "I mean - my parents don't, either. I want to go to Gekkoukan when I can, in a couple years! But they told me, I have to focus on studying. Art doesn't count to them. Art doesn't matter! They said, it was lies, or fraud, or just playing around. Not something real. But it is!"
She swings her legs back, leaning forward dangerously far in her chair - she's got one of the cheap folding ones and she's in danger of lifting the back up and folding it around herself if she puts her weight any further forward.
"That's REALLY why I couldn't let you not. Especially after I saw - " Wait, is she supposed to say that? " - well, what you felt, a little bit."
"I think you're good the way you are, whatever that stupid Homonculus says," Akari says, scooching her chair a little closer. "And it was probably them because they had the same voice as you, but they didn't really SOUND like you. You're brave!" Braver than she is. What about her dream? What can she do about it? "So you should follow your dream, and - ack!"
The danger was real. Akari leaned too far forward, lifted her weight off the back part of the chair, and folded it up with her in the middle. She clatters as she unfolds it from around her hips, planting herself solidly this time. At least she didn't fall out of the chair, precisely...
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
"Melanc Humors aren't bad," Roger adds, "but... you can see how they cause so much trouble when a Homunculus gets a hold of them." They are still an important part of the Atelier's overall chemistry. Without them, Sanguin Humors would probably embody a whole bunch of dangerous, self-destructive ambitions and then that would be its own mess - but this goes unspoken.
"Hm," he tilts his head, "I don't remember," in regards to Palaces, but he listens to how Akari describes it. Are Palaces basically Evil Ateliers, or something? He will have to engage his human brain(-analogue) in consideration in the fullness of time. (Let's not even get started on that freaky daily time of darkness, for now.)
"Eee!" He startles as Akari nearly does herself in on the chair. "Be careful! Personas don't work here..."
Nonetheless, he listens to Kazusa's resolve, as she declares - through hugging her owl plush - about what her Persona, Mina, can do. "Not at all! My Persona, Kamapua'a, plays with everyone both as support and a fighter." He closes his eyes and smiles. "We'll have fun together!"
It's innocuous in intent, but genuine in feeling.
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa has eithe been exhausted, on edge, condescending, or just utterly emotionally devastated so far today. (Sometimes multiple things at once.) But when she sees Hazuki smile... for just a moment, it draws a small smile out of her, too.
Hazuki promises she won't hold them back. "W-well... if you're sure..."
"... 'In Unizone'... you named it, didn't you?" There's no sharpness in her voice this time, at least.
But she looks toAkari as she explains. "... Demons... in human form, who can't come out... but they're also in Sumaru...?" She rubs her temple. "Sorry, I'm gonna need a bit to process all of this." A mafia boss!? I that for real??
She listens, though, as Akari expresses that they're alike. "I guess so..." She frowns. "Wait, in a couple years?" Maybe she means for university? YUeah, that must be it.
They can cross the bridge of 'You saw what in my Atelier?' at another date.
She gets a vote of confidence from Akari, that she's good just the way she is... And Kazusa shakes her head. "No, I'm not. I... after all of you charged in to rescue me, in the Cocoon... I heard... a different voice. Mina's voice. Or voices, I guess. She asked me what I wanted... and I think to get her power..." Kazusa takes a deep breath. "... I had to be willing to change. I can't stay the way I was, or... I don't know what. But I have to change. Somehow."
Even if doing so is really difficult and confusing and unobvious.
But then Akari has a chair mishap and Kazusa's weary sigh comes back. "I just bought. those, Hoshi-san. Could you please let it last more than one use?"
Yeah, that's the part she needs to work on.
But she settles down as Roger says Melancs aren't inhernetly bad, and gives a small nod. Maybe later she can process that thought more, but for now...
She nods to Roger. "... right. Mina can fight, too, a little." She's still going to ignore that insistence Roger has on putting 'playing' into everything. she's not ready for that one.
She sighs and looks to Roger and Akari. She might be regretting this in the moment, but... she'll stick with it now, for Hazuki's sake. "By the way, since I didn't get to thank you two properly before..." Kazusa rises and bows for a moment. "Thank you for helping rescue me."
Then she sits down. "Since you're all here already, I guess you might as well stick around for a while. If you want. I don't really care, but I also don't have any plans."
Kazus almost has her console set up, or maybe she can put something on her computer to watch, or... maybe they can all go out. Who knows. But at least she has a day with no homework to worry about.