2026-04-11: What We Are in the Dark
- Log: What We Are in the Dark
- Cast: Hyousuke Suzuki, Minako Arisato
- Where: Mementos
- OOC Date: 2026-04-11
- IC Date: Tue Oct 23 2012
- Summary: Far from the prying gazes of friends and allies, two lost souls come together and shed their masks.
(|======================= Mementos - Path of Qimranut ========================|)
-====================================================== TokyoShibuya Ward ====-
Escalators lead down into train tracks in a dark and reddened work, fractal
blueness blooming at the edges of one's visions like a field of flowers in Hell.
Train platforms line the left and right of the room, looking just like a normal
train station save for the ambience; metal bars keep you from wandering off in
those directions.
The tracks are what to follow. The strange blow of wind and debris encourages
you that way, too, pushing at your back to urge you deeper within. When you do,
bright pink splashes at your footsteps and fades as you pass. The walls are
poorly lit with intermittent fluorescent-style lights, and the vibe of an
abandoned subway continues.
The tracks lead further into a dark and winding place whose path changes with
every visit, and they run absolutely everywhere. The hulking black forms of
Shadows trudge like zombies over them. Some are smaller than others, and some
jitter with abrupt bursts of speed, but they're all eerie.
Search enough, and you'll find more escalators leading further down. Motes of
light along the way might turn out to be useful materials. At the bottom, an
intensely red platform leads to what was once a strange wall as countless trains
zoom past. That wall has opened to more escalators leading yet deeper within.
-==== Players =================================================================-
Hyousuke Suzuki [VII] Minako Arisato [0]
-=================================== Exits ====================================-
<A> Deeper to Mementos - Path of Aiyatsbus
<C> Further Down to Mementos - Path of Chemdah
<M> Go back to Mementos - Entrance
(|============================================================================|)
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
An eerie wind teased at Hyousuke's back. Cold as the grave, it whispered to him, urging him deeper into the fathomless dark beyond. It held no voice, but even so, he could hear it telling him to venture in - to disregard his unfamiliarity with the spidersweb of concrete and steel, and slaughter anything that stood in his way. He could hear something - the wind, perhaps, or his own arrogance - telling him to pay no attention to the fact that he was venturing in solo, and to trust in his own strength. There was no need to bother others for a trip into such a layer, after all. He was strong, and that was enough.
Despite the multitude of forces, supernatural, mental, or otherwise, that urged him onwards, Hyousuke paused at the entrance. The lights ahead provided only meagre illumination. The blackness beyond was like some yawning abyss, swallowing whatever pinpricks of light dared to encroach upon its presence, snuffing their glow out before it could span any great length. He wondered if it was the mask. The visor had been made as clear as possible, with as wide a field of vision as could be achieved without compromising protection, but it was still a layer between his eyes and the world around him. He had to test if it was a hindrance more than a help.
As he stood no more than a metre or two from an escalator, Hyousuke loosened the straps holding his mask to his face. The purple polymers and mirrored, golden, visor fell slowly away, all but peeled away from his visage as he exposed his face to the chill of the Metaverse. He had no concerns about his identity. He hadn't the same obscuring powers that Ichika or Tsubasa had, after all. But without it, he still didn't feel whole - like he'd stripped part of his own flesh away. Hyousuke shook his head to dispel the comfort, and peered into the void, hoping that his eyes adjusted soon.
He didn't want to be there longer than he needed.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako Arisato, for her part, is here for a simple reason. She wants to revisit where, several weeks ago, SEES went into the depths of Mementos and encountered trouble. It left her feeling as if she failed as a leader. It was a difficult time for her. And now, she has looked at it, and she hasn't found any answers. Thus, she started back up.
Which means when Hyousuke comes to the escalator leading up, he finds a familiar red-haired girl coming up. She looks up at him -- maskless -- and she blinks. There is a moment where her expression is tired, worn out...
And then, the usual cheerful smile comes to her face. Her own mask.
"Hey," she says. It's got the usual cheerfulness. "Been awhile. I'd say in better circumstances, but..." She motions around. "...The decor leaves something to be desired, huh?"
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke stood and blinked as someone emerged up towards him, surprised at the appearance of someone else. Were his mind not so unfocussed, he might have reasoned that he was not the only one that knew of Mementos' existence, and running into someone was uncommon, but not impossible. But with his mind elsewhere, Minako's appearance caught him off guard, and gave her a split second to notice the expression set into his features. His lips did not bear the snarl he'd worn at the sanitarium, nor the boisterous grin others might have been accustomed to. His eyes were unfocussed - glassy, almost - as they looked to her, but stared through her, as if he saw something in the middle distance. Each of those eyes - sharp and green as cut gemstones - were underscored by the dark grey of bags. However, only one was split in half by a canyon-like scar, reaching from brow to cheek in a single, deep, line.
He met her with a nod and a weak smile, attempting an expression he supposed was polite enough, but there was no real feeling behind it. From the way he held her gaze, from the moment he'd seen that shift all the way to the close of her greeting, there was something else in his eyes that belied his true feelings - a sad hint of empathy. A moment of stillness passed between them as he considered what he was supposed to say in response, but even when he did speak, it wasn't with the energy he'd held when they'd first met.
"I don't think Shadows care much about decorating unless it's a Palace." He said wryly. "I hear it ain't much better under this layer either."
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako notices that he doesn't have that snarl, but she isn't shocked. The battle against the Joker Killer, or rather, the one that wasn't against the Joker Killer... That was an unusual circumstance. But still, the glassy eyes -- the bags under them -- and the weak smile, they all give him away.
And in that, they have something in common. Her sunny smile doesn't have a place down here, really, does it?
"You've got a point. I've been a little lower, once, and... no, not really." Minako exhales, softly. "How, um. How've you been? You look..."
She motions, with some hesitation. "Like you're having a rough one."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke's smile tightened a little when she brought up how he looked. His hand twitched around his mask a little, and it took all his will to not press it back to his face in some vain attempt at hiding everything again. To present himself as that soldier that had stalked the halls and grounds - the snarling, snapping, hound with a bronze titan at its back. To hide the man that stood before her, human and vulnerable and tired. It was useless to try and hide... but at the very least, he could deflect.
"You didn't look much better coming up." Hyousuke said, his voice lowering. There wasn't a hint of mocking to his tone, despite the words themselves. Instead, the empathy that had been present in his gaze had manifested in his voice as well, lending it a softness that clashed against the bitterly cool draught that whipped between them. His gaze never left her throughout it all, lacking any harshness, but gaining focus as things continued. "Are you okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Owch."
At first, Minako keeps smiling. But her smile fades, and then she glances to the side. A little more softly, and showing more of her exhaustion, she adds: "...Owch."
She looks back at him, and then she nods her head. "Yeah, I'm... just pretty tired lately. There's been a lot going on, and it's hard to get my mind off some things," she admits. She looks back at him. Her head tilts to the side for a second. "Which is why I'm here, at Dark Hour, by myself. Maybe not my smartest plan ever."
She tugs on her SEES armband.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke was silent as he listened, and near motionless too. The closest he came to a reaction was a slow blink, his eyes trained on her as a sign he was listening. Again, silence hung between them, the second between her finishing and him speaking carefully-considered words stretching out into what felt like an age.
"Not like my plan was any better." He said, offering a weak smile again, though more as an attempt at lightening the mood rather than an adherence to social convention. "I came here on my own too. I got friends I could call in to help, but sometimes I..."
His voice trailed off, and whatever he'd planned to end his reply with was spirited away by the next breeze that stung the air. Hyousuke wasn't even sure what he'd meant to say, but felt it stick in his throat, choking him as he searched for a way to finish his response. His kept its softness when he eventually found the words, but there was a strain to it as well, like the very act of speech took effort to achieve.
"Sometimes I just don't want them to see this."
His fingers curled in once more, and gripped the mask a little tighter.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako laughs softly, though it's not with much mirth. She steps off the escalator -- then leans against the wall and looks at him, thoughtfully, for a moment. Her expression softens at what he says last.
"Yeah," she admits. "I... get that. I was coming to see where I screwed up--and I feel like I let them down. I didn't... you know how it is. It feels ungrateful for their support, to come back here for that reason."
Minako looks at him. "Sometimes, it's easier to keep that kind of thing inside."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke nodded. It was a slow and thoughtful - nearly morose - gesture, given only once before he replied to her.
"I'm sure they'd all have something to say about it." He said, in a voice that was almost a lament. "Your friends are good people, and if they're anything like mine, they'd kick your ass for coming out here on your own." A smirk cut into his lips for a moment, and a breath huffed out of him. Like her laugh, there was no real mirth. There was more bitterness to it than joy, as if their concern for his wellbeing was somehow a burden.
"But it's hard, isn't it? Keeping it inside, I mean." That saddened empathy had returned with a vengeance, trembling his voice a little and lending it a vulnerability he scrambled to remedy. "You don't want to worry them. You want to be strong for them, so letting them see anything else..." He trailed off again. Not because he did not know what to say, but because he thought the implication would be enough. Hyousuke thought, deep down, she would know that struggle to maintain one's strength, and give her friends a pillar upon which they could rely on - a perfect leader, perhaps, or a fearless hunting hound.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Ha, maybe so..." Maybe not. Minako isn't sure -- but there is much about SEES that is unclear, including whether they're friends or not. But while they're being open with each other, she isn't sure she wants to get into that just yet. She isn't sure what she thinks of it just yet.
She tilts her head -- and then she nods at him, with understanding. "Yeah... it's like that. Plus... well, I'm the co-leader, so... they're my responsibility," Minako says. "And that...makes it more complicated too."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"Having all those people looking to you for orders..." Hyousuke said, once again letting the thought come to a quiet and unceremonious close. He didn't finish it - how could he? What consolation or wisdom could a warhound offer to a commander? None, he thought. But in spite of the differences between them, he still felt the need to offer something more than silence and tacit agreement. "...You know, if you ever want to do something like this, I'll go in with you." He paused for a moment, giving Minako time to digest the offer, before continuing. "Hell, doesn't have to be this. If you just need a minute to talk like this, that's fine too."
His mouth hung open a little, as if to add something else to it all, but drew closed as he evidently thought better of it.
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
"Mm. Yeah," Minako says. She looks at Hyousuke and blinks. There is a moment's hesitation. She isn't one to share her problems. She isn't sure she fully can. But...
She hated lying to Ren. And sometimes, she does need to talk to someone.
"Sure," she says, after a moment's pause. She smiles, then -- and it's a tad less cheery, but it's genuine. "And... the same goes for you, all right? If you need someone to talk to, you can reach out to me, all right?"
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"...Alright."
There was a noticeable hesitation to Hyousuke when he responded. The quiet that lingered when he'd mulled the idea over, the unease with which he'd accepted, and even the slight tension to his muscles all spoke of a man that struggled to accept such a gesture. Even when it was given by someone that understood him - that knew why he had to wear the mask - his instincts screamed at him to not show even a mote of vulnerability. But, despite hesitation, there was weight to that one word as well. He spoke it with such gravity that there could be no mistaking that he'd not simply accepted to placate her.
"I suppose this is the part where I'm supposed to give you my info, but it's gonna be a while until my phone works." Hyousuke cast his gaze back to the escalators, and at the beckoning void that lurked beyond them. "Want to try going back in? Together, this time."
<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.
Minako catches the hesitation. And in that, she supposes, they're also alike. She nods at his acceptance, and then she cracks a smile. "Yeah, Dark Hour makes that inconvenient, huh?"
She looks ahead, then she nods. She interlocks her fingers, then cracks her knuckles with a POP.
"Let's do it," she say. Nothing to help a new friendship like handling Shadows, after all.