2026-06-18: Bottleneck Observations
- Log: Bottleneck Observations
- Cast: Yua Ijuuin, Miho Ijuuin, Remi Ryuuja, Gozaburou Gessou
- Where: Yumezaki - Main
- OOC Date: June 18, 2026
- IC Date: Tuesday, November 27, 2012
- Summary: The NWO is highly interested in how the Persona Users deal with Ulala Serizawa's time of Joka. To that end, they have sent some of their operatives to observe the proceedings.
(|============================= Yumezaki - Main ==============================|)
-=============================================== Sumaru City/Yumezaki Ward ====-
With a name that means "Dream Peninsula," it's no wonder that the glitziest part
of the city is Yumezaki. All kinds of fun and exciting business can be found
here, up to and including a game center (or is it a casino?) called Mu
Continent, where rumor has it one can potentially win big at slots, bingo,
poker, or blackjack. Pachinko Silver is right next door if one wants one's
gambling activities to be a little more subtle.
Across from Mu Continent, there's Club Zodiac, a techno dance club where the
boots are always bumping--but rumor has it the back is a maze that will lead you
to some very dangerous places... To be specific, supposedly it was bought out by
the Taiwanese mafia and is now their hideout. It's best not to pay too much mind
to those kinds of tales, though--or else.
The ward also includes a robust multi-story music store and an impressive gym.
Oddly, the music store, NOT the gym, is called Giga Macho. The gym, which is
bright, clean, and amply furnished with all kinds of equipment, is called GOLD.
Nearby, the shopping street, Yumezaki Center, invites spendthrifts and window
shoppers alike to browse its indoor and outdoor stores.
BGM: Map I - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0B_2vwPcxc
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"Hee, hee... what's taking you so long?! Bring him back here! Bring him back, or... uwee hee hee...!"
Yua places a hand on the door of the gym; they stepped in after Maya and the others left, so perhaps it's no wonder that she thinks more noise is just her rescuers dragging their heels.
"... you'll be safe," Yua lies, to Ulala, "so long as you stay right there."
To the men of the gym, perhaps they just look like more concerned friends of hers; they're certainly the right age for it.
And they remember her, from their youth, one way or another.
They linger, there, long enough to speak with her -- and then leave the gym. It's not to track down the impossibly slippery Makimura, though the dusky-skinned green-haired girl with them, the android Tyrrha, does salute and scamper off when she's directed to follow the people tracking him down.
She's got a little handbag slung over her shoulder, to compliment her sailor's dress. Welwetes is riding inside it like a purse dog. It's adorable.
Meanwhile, the adults enter one of the buildings facing the gym, where Miho's already arranged to borrow an office with a view of proceedings through a floor-to-ceiling window.
"It won't be long, now," Yua says, as she takes Remi's hand to help her down to an office chair. (She's twenty-two weeks pregnant; she's allowed to sit on the job. Or at least, arguing that she shouldn't is going to need to get past Miho...) She's finally returned to wearing her black tutu -- but one with long sleeves and leggings to match.
She's not dressed for a fight, because they're here to observe the situation. Is there any way to stop what they've begun? This is the question they need to be able to answer, for the Powers that set it in motion.
Or, rather... is there any way which Maya's friends can grasp.
"Serizawa-senpai... she's too far gone."
How she feels about that...
Her expression remains dignified, though her hands fold in her lap, a black fabric decoration stretching over the right from ring to bracelet. (On the other, of course, a ring binding her ring finger... she's Mrs. Kimitake Ijuuin, now.)
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Safe...
Miho does not speak long with Ulala; there's nothing she can say to her like this. Not that would work. But there is the matter of Makimura...
Miho watches Tyrrha go, and then goes to the office she's 'borrowed'. Now, dressed in one of her usual suits, she watches from the window. She has her sword case with her, just in case, but isn't planning to fight either. ...Which suits her fine.
Were it to come down to it, she'd be tempted to 'misplace' this particular asset...
Still.
"She is," Miho agrees. "...But we couldn't protect her from herself," she says. "If this is happening, it must be because she used the Curse herself."
A shake of her head. "...I would prefer it were otherwise," she says.
"Perhaps Amano-senpai will find a way. She seems to, so often."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
REmi is bundled up. Well, to be fair, she is always bundled up, since she got out of the lab. But since the weather is hitting she is extra bundled up, with a scarf and gloves, and a long coat over a turtleneck, skirt, and tights, ankle boots, all in extra warm fabrics... and stil lshe shivers, intermittently.
Not even the perpetual numbness seems to save her the cold.
Remi regards Ulala warmly, for the times she stepped up for her friends, though at present she only shares a few quiet words of encouragement before leaving with the others.
She will, of course, lend Yua her hand, so that her friend may sit.
She has her own weapn handy, as well, but fortunately for her, her primary orders aren't to fight. She leans against the edge of a desk, arms crossed. "I wager she will be... particularly motivated, in this case, non?"
"... But if they should fail..." Remi frowns deeply, gaze fixed on the gym.
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
Rolling in, completely late to the festivities is a rather short king. He walks up to the group, holding up a finger if anyone tries to talk to him while he's dealing with his smart phone. He is dressed in a suit of a distinct color(whatever was trendy right now) with a graphic shirt of something popular(like a Batman logo or something casually nerd chic).
As he types on his phone, he chews his gum annoyingly, smiling his smug little grin as if nothing in the world could go wrong for him. Things always did tend to work out for Gozaburou Gessou. Even when his parents were starting to control him, they just sort of died due to a convenient assassination. Just how his #blessed life worked. Sorry.
He finally puts his phone away and smiles in that rather put upon fashion. The kind actors used to always be on instead of telling the group that the actor wanted them to all die...quickly.
"Sup, gang? Whadd I miss? Don't go getting excited that I made it but I did. Soooo Serizawa-sempai messed with the bad stuff I'm guessing."
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua, if anything, is more bundled up than normal. One could blame the cold.
That's certainly plausible.
And yet, Ulala's only thirst for encouragement is her urge for vengeance... a thing which Miho identifies, succinctly. "Haa... so she called Sake-san," Sudou, though poor Zabu might be out of the loop about why she'd call him that, compared to Remi who's definitely heard the tale of how he offered them pre-loved sake as a gift for their son, "even though Amano-senpai's supporting her... she should really take things a little more seriously..."
To be fair, it's not as if their people are known for informed consent.
"... maybe she'll figure something out," Yua frowns. "Or... perhaps Suou-san will...? Mm..."
The one woman here shorter than Zabu looks up to him, from her chair, with her half-sighted gaze. Teal hair all pulled up in a neat bun, there's no hiding the eyepatch over her left eye, but somehow the effect of it serves to underline her fragility rather than offering her an imposing expression. One couldn't expect less from a Yamato nadeshiko! "She's changing," Yua offers, in quiet explanation.
"She won't be human, any more... this time, our job is to observe them. We're to assess whether they're able to interrupt the process... or reverse it. Knowing that... we'll be able to interrupt any further attempts. Mm... right?" Yua asks, looking to Miho, whom one might presume is both large and in charge.
She doesn't look terribly happy about it.
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"If they fail," Miho continues for Remi, "Then she will remain in her transformed state, and there will be no reprieve but death. ...And our handlers would prefer, instead, that she fall into their hands." Miho says it dispassionately, but her expression tells the story, the derision and displeasure with which she delivers the statements. She doesn't like the idea much.
"But indeed, Amano-senpai will be motivated."
Miho looks to Zabu. "I won't," she says of getting excited, as if she took it entirely seriously.
"She did." Yua explains in more depth--with more information.
"Suou-san is also inventive," Miho says. "They have a group of people suited to the task, if anyone at all could be, some of whom appear to be rather experienced."
"So if they can't do it... we can reasonably assume it cannot be done."
Miho inclines her head to Yua. "Correct," she says. "We are meant to ensure that we can gather a large number of test subjects for the next step."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi just shakes her head as she hears Zabu enter. She doesn't even bother to look at him--much less speak to him, so his shushing efforts go unregarded, at least by her.
"Do at least try to show some decorum, Zabu-kun. Honestly." There is no warmth in her voice despite the familiar form of address.
She looks to Yua and nods--she remembers that story, and as for what's going on... She's changing. "Mm. Then they had better act quickly. I wonder how long she has..." By 'they' she means the Persona User community at large.
She nods silently to Miho next, as she clarifies what their handlers would prefer. "Mm. If only our assignments could be observation-based more often."
"Next step... how delightfully clinical," she mutters.
Still, she crosses her arms, staring at the windows with a stony expression.
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
At Yua's explanation, Zabu offers a smile and a quick nod. "Beautiful. All is well then...It's a shame this a bit of a bottle episode though." He offers casually, finding a place to sit down. "Can't all be blockbusters. Otherwise they lose their appeal, you see." He explains to Remi, because Zabu is sure the explanation went over her head. Even if it didn't, Zabu still THINKS it did.
On Miho's reaction to his question, his smile grows and he softly clicks his tongue. Tsk,tsk. "I'm hurt." He isn't. He just chuckles softly. "Right. Just watch and see if they are smart enough to figure it out. Wouldn't be surprised if they have something planned though. Suou-kun seems like an annoying smart kid..."
But then Remi tells -him- to show some decorum? Really? Zabu just chuckles and chews his gum, cocking his head to the side. "Decorum is for squares who don't have money. Us in entertainment follow the rules of places like New York, Milan, Paris, London. Plus I know you all from my younger days. We're all friends here, Ryuuja. Come on, bygones will be bygones." They will not.
He leans back in his chair, watching the gym door with a kind of eagerness before his phone goes off again. He reaches for it, judging it to be something that can wait and returning the phone to his jacket pocket. "So what are we going to do while we wait? It's a bottle episode so we can all trade stories about the subject of our day. Serizawa-sempai do anything interesting in your life?" He looks to the two who were probably still screwing before looking at Remi with a smirk.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
"They'll experiment on her," Yua adds, quietly.
Her grief, too, is a delicate thing.
"She's preparing the space... she might hold out long enough for them to get back," Yua supposes, though she sounds a touch doubtful. "Soon, I'll be able to summon Gretchen... I'll see everything, then."
She looks down at her hands, worrying a finger along her mokume gane ring. "The observation is important... so that we're able to effectively put down opposition going forward. They... they don't, um..." They don't want any excuses for failure, is the thing she can't quite manage to spit out.
(Chizuru has particular motivation to make sure that Kandori's experiments get back to him, after all.)
She frowns, glancing to Zabu, though it's a restrained expression. "... this isn't one of your funny shows," she adds, with a pout.
"Besides... Suou-san's older than us."
Is that really the most important thing here?!
Well, the wife of a cop would know...
"Avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre..." Yua supposes, as Zabu invokes Paris, airily. It's an idiom, just to try and trip him up -- 'to have both butter and butter money', which might translate, coast to coast, to something akin to... "But you're the sort of person who wants to have the same cake he eats, aren't you?" This, she delivers in rather impeccable English, cashable in both New York and London.
One way or another, she's telling him you can't always get what you want.
You've either gotta give them cake or suffer the consequences of being the asshole hoarding cake, Zabu!
She's back to Japanese, at least, as she takes a deep breath. "... Serizawa-senpai was kind to me, when we were younger," is how she answers his question. "She was the kind of person who would give nasty girls a piece of her mind if she overheard them... so... we'll say I'm disappointed she used this Rumour, all right...?"
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
A 'bottle episode'. "Your loyalty to our old senpais is touching," Miho decides.
Then, "You could be," to how he's hurt. Instead, "Right. Just watch."
A pause, after Remi mentions decorum and Zabu answers it. "Those places may have money," Miho says, "But it is Japan's rules that 'rule' here." She looks to Zabu. "London's aren't bad, but they aren't the sort of directives I would bring home to Mother."
Yua is better at the social game than she thinks, Miho internally remarks.
"As to bygones, they will go better when they are let go."
Experiment on her... that much is true, too. Miho shakes her head. "Right..."
"While we wait we will remain composed and vigilant. We are not children who need to entertain ourselves."
But, talking of Ulala...
She looks to Remi, and then to Yua. "Yes. Serizawa-senpai came to our defense. She was kind, and helpful. ...and direct, and a person who felt emotion strongly. I admired that about her."
"I'm disappointed, but... Someone who feels so strongly can be tempted to rash action."
"I do not blame her, I think."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi doesn't react to the explanation of bottle episodes and blockbusters. Even if the explanation was directed at her.
She reaches up to brush a strand of her honey-blonde hair out of her face. "Tch. You do not need to speak to me of Paris, Gessou."
"Our circles did not overlap much," she replies, though she doesn't look at Zabu as she answers. She appreciates what Maya and Ulala did for Miho and Yua, though she isn't keen to say that, and to draw Zabu's attention to them.
'They'll experiment on her.' Remi's frown only deepens. But when Yua speaks of being able to summon Gretchen, Remi stands, instead of leaning against the desk. When the supernatural kicks in, she'll need to be on more active guard duty, just in case, though she expects Yua will be able to shield them all well enough.
"I know," she says quietly, to the thing Yua can't quite bring herself to say.
She does always enjoy hearing Yua's French, though.
As Miho speaks of readiness, Remi is silently fetching her own sword case, just to have it at the ready.
"Such things can be tempting," she agrees with Miho. "Though if she survives this... that is something she shall have to reckon with Amano-senpai and the others over, I wager."
<Pose Tracker> Gozaburou Gessou has posed.
The Idiom does trip up Zabu. He is smart enough to understand the words but he is struggling with the exact meaning. A bead of sweat rolls down his forehead. The only sign of defeat as he smiles at Yua and her fucking gall. "Message received." He settles into his chair, clearly defeated for the moment.
He darts his eyes to look at Miho, still smiling that smug smile as he pats his head dry. At first, it would seem Miho is going to deny his little game but then she goes ahead and mentions memories of Serizawa anyway. Call that a minor victory. "I see. Yes." He says, letting the light glare hide his eyes for the moment as he looks to Remi again.
And he receives entertainment as Remi tells him off. Beautiful. Just wonderful that he could slide that metaphorical salt in the wound. Even that little half answer to his query validates him enough to just preen in his failure corner.
"I admittedly didn't have much with Serizawa but I will make it my mission to crush Amano-senpai." Zabu says casually as one does your one sided Revenge-ships.
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ijuuin has posed.
Yua spends a moment evaluating what she'd do if Zabu got hurt by all the women with swords here.
(She decides, as the moment passes, that no one can blame her for not getting up. She's pregnant and her feet hurt.)
"Mother is quite exacting," she agrees, instead, with Miho, and she speaks of her like the samurais did.
Yua sighs, looking down at her ring. "She dearly wanted to marry... she was quite jealous of me, you know...?" And surely she feels bad for Ulala, saying that so maudlin. "I suppose that man took advantage of her..."
She bites her lip, painted a lovely crimson shade, as she turns her head to look to Remi. "Amano-senpai will forgive her," she decides. "I'm sure of that."
The very same Amano-senpai, perhaps, who Zabu will crush...
Yua feels a pit, in her stomach, as she wonders whether her lateral spite -- well, broadly lateral, it's really hard to say how much status Yua's commanding even now she's just a few degrees of separation from serving the top -- will have just ended up making Maya's life worse.
(And a moment to tell whether she needs to excuse herself to the restroom...)
... and of course, she can't have too much sympathy for her.
"Amano-senpai is a woman held tight by destiny... right?" She looks to Miho, for confirmation; it's thanks to Miho that she knows these things at all. "So... we can't leave her be."
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho is willing to talk about Ulala because Ulala deserves to be remembered; if it happens to entertain Zabu, then that's an acceptable loss.
"Indeed," Miho says of reckoning as Remi mentions it. "Their relationships will have to adapt to the changed status quo. ...Perhaps they'll manage."
A look at Zabu, then. "Good luck," Miho says simply of crushing Amano, at first. But to Yua, instead, she remembers... That jealousy. "I'm sure he did. That man..." She shakes her head.
"She probably will forgive her," Miho agrees.
"...But that is correct. Maya Amano is the center of much that has been, and will yet be."
"She, at least, will surely survive, even if her best friend does not."
"And she will oppose our mutual allies."
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi will also take some small enjoyment in seeing Zabu tripped up by the French Yua was just speaking. (Now she has two reasons to appreciate Yua's French.)
But Zabu wants to crush Maya. "Our mission today is to obseve. You can settle whatever imaginary vendetta or act out whatever tired movie plot you wish on your own time."
"Then hopefully he, too, will receive his own reckoning," Rem says, of Makimura. And then she nods to Yua. "You are probably right." She can't venture a guess for the rest of the Persona Users, though.
Destiny... Remi tries not to think about it too much, but sometimes it's unavoidable. "Indeed," she remakrs to Miho.
But Maya will oppose their allies... "Then she will be dealt with another day." Remi hopes that day isn't soon, though.