2026-07-02: Common Ground, Underground
- Log: 2026-07-02: Common Ground, Underground
- Cast: Kazusa Motojima, Yuuki Hoshizora
- Where: Mementos
- OOC Date: July 02, 2026
- IC Date: December 03, 2012
- Summary: Kazusa and Yuuki encounter each other in Mementos. While helping each other, they find out what they have in common -- including some unpleasant experiences with Ateliers in the past.
(|================ Monad - Mementos - Enter the Metaverse! =================|)
-==== Round 1: Crush Hour - Challenge Level 1 ===============================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1 and Scary - Guts Down L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
How did you get here? Was it through a mysterious app on your smartphone?
Was it testing the Mementos Rumor in a bathroom mirror? Or perhaps you
simply had the daring to pull a trigger in a train station.
Whatever the case may be, you're here now.
A sickening nausea in the pit of your stomach, as you see sinew and ichor
festooning signs that make no sense, turnstiles that mark the way down
escalators to the station below.
There's a train pulled in right now, and as several listless looking human
shadows step inside, the door slams shut, before pulling away at blinding
speed, vanishing into the devouring darkness ahead.
Persona Users who have been here may have been forewarned as to what will
happen next, as the moment the train pulls away
... the escalators are flooded with Shadows descending down to the platform,
a whole mob of them. You only have seconds to expertly navigate the throng-
before you are trampled underfoot, or crushed against the platform walls by
them.
Of course, you could always do something more daring to let them know to
give you a wide berth. They're Shadows of people
Do you field the risk of harming them?
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa doesn't really like this place. It's just... so weird. But as been pointed out to her recently... the money here spends, and it's a form of independence from her father. And sure it's, frankly, dangerous, but... what's a little danger when things at home feel so precarious anyway?
And it's not like she doesn't pass by several transit stops on her way home, so...
Kazusa appears into Mementos, her form shifting along with it. Long, pale blue hair, white-furred wolf ears and tail, a purple tunic, pleated skirts, and boots, stockings and siler bracers, and a cloack of stars wrapped around her.
She sighs as she takes in Mementos. She tries, for a moment, to reach some sort of bargain with it where it becomes normal.
... No, still weird. Oh well.
She sets forward--only to be greeted by a throng of shadows moving enmass, pouring out of a train and threatening to overwhelm her. "Ugh--again!?" Why does this happen every time?
On her belt is a pink whip and she snataches it off, flicking her hand out to snatch onto some errant piece of the ceiling. Up and hopefully over the heads of the Shadows she goes!
MONAD: Kazusa Motojima has acted with Proficiency toward Crush Hour! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Up and over the heads of the Shadows she goes.
Kazusa lands -- a small handful of Shadows directly before her. But then, several of those Shadows suddenly shoot up at the ceiling. A well-targeted, quite precise Gry spell sends them flying into the ceiling. And as they fly away, they reveal a girl behind them.
Yuuki Hoshizora visibly uses Transmutation. That short hair of a bright blue shade, which leaves afterimages; the fanciful black and silver top; the ornate boots and gloves, they all speak to her sharing that source of power with Kazusa. She has a rapier out, back half-turned to the other girl.
She turns, her bright green eyes blink, and then she shakes her head. "Sorry," she says. "I didn't hear you coming."
She looks up at the ceiling, where the Shadows are stuck to it. "...That won't hold them for long. We should move."
MONAD: Yuuki Hoshizora has acted with The Right Stuff toward Crush Hour! Amrita! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== Crush Hour - Round 1 ==================================================- Kazusa Motojima Proficiency Success Proficiency Base Fatigue: 0 Morale: 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yuuki Hoshizora Guts Failure The Right Stuff Amrita Fatigue: 1 Morale: 0 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Clumsy-2 and Scary-2 Final Conditions: Clumsy-1 and Scary-1 -================================================= Party Result: Failure ====- -==== Reach: 0/6 | | ===================================================- (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa's dismount has a graceful flourish, at least, though her eyes snap up at the Shadows looming over her. Her hand draws back, getting ready to summon her Persona--but she lets out a startled blink as the shadows suddenly fly up into the ceiling.
Her own eyes are silver, blinking widely in surprise as she catches sight of the other girl. "--huh?" The wolf ears on top of her head shoot up, also in surprise.
'That won't hold them for long.', she warns.
And indeed it doesn't-- they all start to fall before they can move, and Kazusa reacts on instinct--her hand flicks out, and she pulls Yuuki out of the way of the falling Shadows.
Unfortunately they're still surrounded, so it'll take some effort still to get out of the crowd.
MONAD: Yuuki Hoshizora has drawn a new Challenge!
(|================ Monad - Mementos - Enter the Metaverse! =================|)
-==== Round 2: No Cover Points Here! - Challenge Level 1 ====================-
| Approach Options: Proficiency or Guts |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1, Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1, |
| Scary - Guts Down L1, and Scary - Guts Down L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
The walls have a pulse. You're sure of it. By the subtle rhythmic gyrations
of strands that web the floors to the walls. The tracks wind and twist into
odd shapes and bends that no railroad would ever tolerate as you walk.
And there are shapes in the dark.
Plodding bulbous behemoths, masks facing every which way, like several
shadows were stitched together into one singular horror.
Do you try to avoid them? Or rush them in the hopes of gaining an advantage.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Yuuki yelps when this new girl grabs her, and they make their way out of the falling Shadows. It still takes some effort to push away from them; knocking Shadows away, before they keep rushing forward.
She looks around at the walls. She would swear they're pulsating, moving a little something is breathing. "Something is... very off about this place," she says. Then, she looks sideways at Kazusa.
"...I didn't introduce myself," she says. "Yuuki Hoshizora. I didn't expect to run into someone else. But... I think it's for the--"
She sees the shadows move. Then, she sees the gigantic creature moving -- masks stitched together to form its body. She grits her teeth, hissing softly. "I think--if we move that way, and stick to the shadows, we can evade it. I'm not sure we want to take it with just two of us."
MONAD: Yuuki Hoshizora has acted with Proficiency toward No Cover Points Here!! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa catches her breath when they come to a rest, nodding at YUuuki. "Yeah... there's a lot of things off about this place." She gives the wall a dirty look. "... I try not to think about it too much."
She gives a short nod. "Kazusa Motojima." Motojima like the electronics and video game giant? Could be! "Tell me about it. I keep running into weird people here."
At least she finally met someone willing to use what she presumes is their real name.
She scowls too, when she catches sight of those Shadows. Look, she's even got tiny little wolf fangs! "... yeah. I'll follow your lead."
MONAD: Kazusa Motojima has acted with Proficiency toward No Cover Points Here!! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Mm. Yeah," Yuuki agrees, her tone darker for a moment. "I don't like it. Especially knowing that it's real and not... a movie."
She shakes her head -- and then she glances at Kazusa, one eyebrow lifting. "W-Weird?" Does that include her? But then, she looks forward, and her expression becomes more thoughtful. "Motojima?"
A beat.
"Like... Night Parade?" she asks. She has played it before.
She falls quiet -- and then she steps into the Shadows. She motions Kazusa to follow after. And Yuuki, as it happens, is a natural at sneaking after a Shadow. She stops them a couple of times -- until it turns down one corner.
And they can proceed straight, in its wake.
She exhales. "That was close," she says. "Good work, Motojima-san."
MONAD: Kazusa Motojima has drawn a new Challenge!
(|================ Monad - Mementos - Enter the Metaverse! =================|)
-==== Round 3: Nueeeeeee Not a Pop Quiz! - Challenge Level 2 ================-
| Approach Options: Academics or Understanding |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1, Hard - Understanding Down L1, |
| Scary - Guts Down L1, and Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
This floor is dark. For some reason the darkness makes the resonance here
hard to sense, even for a navigator.
You turn the corner and you see a shape in the dark, a Shadow dissolves from
a many masked behemoth into a Leonine creature with a vaguely ape-like face,
and a serpentine tail.
"Hey! You look like the type of person who just tromps around here thinking
they own the place! You probably don't even care about us! I'll let you go -
but only if you prove it!"
It holds up its hands, and an outline appears, showing a shadowy outline.
https://imgur.com/a/E0ojhEh
"Who is this!? Tell me! If you get wrong, then I'LL BE MAD!"
Oh no. There are very few clues to figure this one out.
Of course maybe the quiz is all meant to assess whether you care about him
and things like him, maybe if you see things from his perspective and show
you care, either through working out the problem to his satisfaction, or
understanding his point of view, he'll let you go.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Being a movie would make it more agreeable... then again, I don't know who'd dream some place like this up." She looks at Yuuki curiously. "... have you been here before?"
She catches that look, though, and instantly backtracks. "I-I mean, not you!" She might think it a little bit, but then again, she'd be weird, too.
She'd rather not go this alone, though, if she can help it.
'Like... Night Parade?' Kazusa pauses, and then sighs. "Yes. Like Night Parade." Beat. "... do... you play?"
"Whew," she says, when they finally get past the Shadow.
But they proceed--and then they're interrupted by a Shadow up is upset about people traipsing through. "Ugh. Like I'd want to own this place," she gripes. "But, fine."
She only has a the outline, but luckily she knows silhouettes. Kazusa startes critiquing what she can of the outline and what might be conencted to it--and hazards a guess.
MONAD: Kazusa Motojima has acted with Fashion Talk toward Nueeeeeee Not a Pop Quiz!! Smarts and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"A... couple of times, but... I've had some experience in Dark Hour and an Atelier, too," Yuuki says. She hesitates, her voice quiet for a second. It brings unpleasant thoughts to mind; thoughts about her parents, thoughts about why she is doing this. As she told Magus.
She needs to get stronger.
She smiles, a little, at the 'Not you!' And then, she nods. "Right. I--ah--" Does she play? "...Yes. Sometimes. Your family's company did very well with it."
She slows to a stop, after Kazusa. She stares at the outline offered by the Shadow, her expression screwing up. Then, she reaches behind her one-shoulder cloak...
...and pulls out a small ruler. She holds it up to the drawing. Then, she nods. "I think, based on the measurements and the ratio, it must be..."
MONAD: That Approach doesn't match the challenge! MONAD: That Approach is out of uses! MONAD: Invalid approach. MONAD: That Approach is out of uses! MONAD: Yuuki Hoshizora has acted with Academics toward Nueeeeeee Not a Pop Quiz!! Base! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== Nueeeeeee Not a Pop Quiz! - Round 3 ===================================- Kazusa Motojima Academics Success Fashion Talk Smarts and Patra Fatigue: 0 Morale: 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yuuki Hoshizora Academics Success Academics Base Fatigue: 1 Morale: 2 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Clumsy-1, Hard-2, Scary-1, and Stupor-2 Final Conditions: Stupor-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 2/6 |== | ===================================================- (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"I've been here a couple of times. I've only been in the Dark Hour up late studying..." Kazusa glacnes away, her rexpression darkening. "... I've only been in one Atelier."
Hers, in fact. She doesn't like to talk about it much.
"... Yeah. The new version's pretty good." She has mixed feelings about her family's company. But she does genuinely enjoy the game.
But the two of them both hazard their guesses. The shadow seems to light up. "Yes! Correct! So you do care... be on your way, travelers!" It ambles off, and Kazusa lets out a sharp sigh.
"Well that just happened. Let's... get going before it decides to come back."
MONAD: Yuuki Hoshizora has drawn a new Challenge!
(|================ Monad - Mementos - Enter the Metaverse! =================|)
-==== Round 4: Scaredy Cat... - Challenge Level 1 ===========================-
| Approach Options: Charm or Guts |
| Conditions: Annoying - Charm Down L2, Box - Add 1 Item/Money/Gear., Scary |
| - Guts Down L1, Shuffle - Draw 1 Minor Arcana., and Stupor - Academics |
| Down L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
These Nekomata gave you some trouble, but they're on the ropes now. That's
when-
"Wait! W-Wait let's talk! You want some treasure right? Well, I know where
to find proper lockpicks."
She's standing up straighter now, "Just agree to let me go, and I'll tell
you where to find them."
The way her eyes are darting around, it's clear she's looking for an opening
to escape, or catch you off guard and redouble her assault
But maybe there's a way to play this. Maybe you can get the lockpicks and
the treasure.
Maybe.
You're either gonna have to Charm or Intimidate them into cooperating
though.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Mm. Yeah," Yuuki says. "I've... been trying to keep my skills sharp and get as much practice as she can."
She glances sideways at Kazusa, then, and she smiles. "Mm. It is," she says. "I'm not great at it, yet."
Fortunately, the Shadow lets them go. Yuuki nods to Kazusa -- and they keep moving along. But it's only a little further down the next passage when a pair of Nekomata leap at them -- and a few spells, a thrust of the rapier, and a well-place strike from Kazusa, and the two cat-like Shadows are sent sprawling.
"...well, I know where to find proper lockpicks!"
Yuuki's eyebrow twitches. Then she looks sideways at Kazusa. "...What do you think, Motojima-san?" she asks.
Her voice is sharp. And she is, as it happens, playing the 'bad cop' role. Whether Kazusa picks up on that, though, remains to be seen.
"Maybe we should just dispatch them, and be done with it."
MONAD: Yuuki Hoshizora has acted with Guts toward Scaredy Cat...! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"... Yeah. That's part of why I'm here too, I guess." The practice, that is.
"Mm." Kazusa studies Yuuki for a moment. There is so much she could say, about Night Parade... instead she just asks, "Do you have a main?"
Two Nekomata appear--and then there's a pitched battle! Kazusa stares at the two when they surrender, and glances sidelong to at Yuuki.
Just dispatch them... playing bad cop, eh? Well, Kazusa's not great at Good Cop, but...
She steps forward, smiling just a bit too sweetly. "... you know, I think it would be such a shame if we had to mess you up further... so why don't you lead us to these lockpicks, or I'm afraid I won't be able to stop my friend from doing something... unfortunate."
She's still kind of menacing when she's trying to play Good Cop. Oh, well.
MONAD: Kazusa Motojima has acted with Demon Queen toward Scaredy Cat...! Patra and Efficient! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== Scaredy Cat... - Round 4 ==============================================- Kazusa Motojima Charm Success Demon Queen Patra and Efficient Fatigue: 0 Morale: 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yuuki Hoshizora Guts Failure Guts Base Fatigue: 2 Morale: 2 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Annoying-2, Box-0, Scary-2, Shuffle: Sword-0, and Stupor-1 Final Conditions: Annoying-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 3/6 |=== | ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 1, Money: 0, Gear: 1 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"You're trying to get stronger, too?" Yuuki asks. That makes her wonder: what would the reason for that be?
Then, though, she shakes her head. "N-Not yet. I haven't settled on one," she admits.
After the pitched battle...
The negotiations seem to go well at first. The Shadows look at Yuuki, then at Kazusa. And Yuuki gives a serious scowl, but it doesn't quite compare to the sweetly-worded threat. Kazusa's threat works...
"Aaaah! Spare us! Spare us! FLEE!"
...a little too well.
The Nekomata turn and high tail it. Their flight leaves a bit of dust in their wake -- but a gleam on the ground, too. Yuuki leans over, picking up what they dropped.
"Well," she declares. "We do have one lockpick at least..."
MONAD: Kazusa Motojima has drawn a new Challenge!
(|================ Monad - Mementos - Enter the Metaverse! =================|)
-==== Round 5: Victim Blaming - Challenge Level 2 ===========================-
| Approach Options: Understanding or Guts |
| Conditions: Annoying - Charm Down L2, Boss - Add 1 Fatigue on failure., |
| Stony - Understanding Down L2, and Terrifying - Guts Down L2 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
You reach the subway platform! Ahead of you is a towering slab of black
stone, with red engravings etched into it, blocking the path deeper.
Unfortunately there's a Shadow here too.
The man's distortion warps the stagnant air around it, as it stands there,
obsessively mumbling to himself.
"Damn bitch. She wouldn't listen to me that's why I had to do it."
Is he talking about a murder in reality!?
But the man's Shadow looks up at your group, and his face turns into an
angry grimace.
"You're here to judge me!? ME? You're all the same - everyone of you
thinking useless trash like her is the victim."
You don't have long before he's going to transform - you can feel it in the
air, but you don't have much further to go either.
Maybe you can keep him calm long enough before he transforms into:
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/c/c4/SMT_III_Oni_Compr
essed.png
Assuming, you want to. Many may not even desire to try and would prefer to
charge right in. Distracting him is of course an option!
OOC Note: This is not a target known to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and
thus would not have a calling card sent to him at this time. Killing him is
possible, if you're that persuasion of character, otherwise you'll have to
subdue him.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"Or I guess just... getting used to all of... this," she says with a gesture, as if to indicate the everything. But she looks at Yuuki for a moment. "Stronger, huh...?"
No main yet, huh. "Mm. Well, I'm sure you'll find one if you play long enough. But it's not a bad idea to play multiple characters to get used to them anyway."
Kazusa sighs, as the Nakomata flee. "Well, at least we got one lockpick out of them..." She stiffly looks away for a moment. "... did I lay it on too thick...?" she wonders mostly to herself.
But at last, they reach the subway platform. "Oh thank--" Kazusa starts, but she pauses as a strange man is there.
A man mumbling very unsettling things. Kazusa feels a chill. Oh, no. Not some crazed psychopath again. As he transforms and starts to menace them, Kazusa glances to Yuuki. "... I don't like my chances of talking him down." A butterfly springs to life in front of her, and with a crack of her whip it disperses, summoning the half-nad-half form of the half-corrupted Mina Harker. "Mina! Use Grasping Eija!"
The Persona's left hand raises, and with a hiss she calls for a ahnd made of shadow to try and grasp the Shadow.
"Whatever we do, we can't kill it!"
MONAD: Kazusa Motojima has acted with Guts toward Victim Blaming! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
Yuuki nods -- but she doesn't elaborate, just yet. Being stronger is something she has put a lot of thought into, after the sparring session with Magus. She does smile, though, at the mention of finding a character.
"...Yeah," she says. "I'll keep at it untilo I find one."
She keeps moving with her. She pauses, as they reach the platform -- and then her eyes are on the man, mumbling such strange things. Such strange and... awful things.
"How--how horrible!"
Yuuki grits her teeth, and then she holds a hand out. A butterfly appears on it, too; it floats away.
The interlocking rings, gears, and gems of Galileo appear behind her. "Galileo!" she cries out. "Right--I won't kill it--"
She throws her hand out. A wave of gravitational force shoots out -- and then tries to bind the Shadow in place to the ground, with a shadowy sheen where the gravitational force grows stronger.
MONAD: Yuuki Hoshizora has acted with Guts toward Victim Blaming! Base!
(|============================ Monad - Results =============================|)
-==== Victim Blaming - Round 5 ==============================================-
Kazusa Motojima Guts Failure
Guts Base Fatigue: 2 Morale: 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yuuki Hoshizora Guts Success
Guts Base Fatigue: 2 Morale: 4
-============================ Party Conditions: =============================-
Starting Conditions: Annoying-1, Boss-0, Stony-2, and Terrifying-2
Final Conditions: Stony-1 and Terrifying-1
-====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 5/6 |=====| ===================================================-
-==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================-
Items: 1, Money: 0, Gear: 1
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
(|================ Monad - Mementos - Enter the Metaverse! =================|)
-==== Round 6: Noone Ask What She Was Using As Paint - Challenge Level 1 ====-
| Approach Options: None |
| Conditions: Revelation - The best result. |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
"Get the hell away from me!"
On your way back, you encounter a Shadow of a woman in her early 20's
wearing sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and athletic shoes at the station crouched
near a wall, who- flees upon seeing you? Leaping onto the tracks in a panic.
"You won't do that to me again! I won't let you!"
She flees into the dark past Shadows, one after another, the Metaverse
Shadows ignoring her, but not you. Eventually she's gone.
But upon coming back to the station, you see what she was crouched over,
graffiti'd onto the floor in dark ichor.
RUN IF YOU SEE
THE BLACK MA
She never finished, a character for maybe an S is almost there after, but
there's something thoroughly unsettling about a distorted Shadow coming all
the way up here to attempt to write a warning.
Even as you watch, the graffiti begins to vanish - becoming a blurred stain
on the platform, as Shadows trample over her warning without notice or care.
OOC Note: If you wish to attempt to find that Shadow again in the future or
investigate who she was in real life, then contact Penguin Sniper.
Final Loot: 1 Item and 1 Pieces of Gear!
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa has been doing her own thinking--but more along the lines if she can use her Awakening to work for her. And about how to wrest control of her life back from the (further) mess her Homunculus has made of it.
She'll keep at it until she finds one. "... good." Kazusa pauses, for a moment. She glances Yuuki's way for a moment before looking forward again. She seems to be hesitating for a moment before offering, "... if... you ever need someone to practice against..."
She doesn't quite get to making an offer, leaving herself an out, just in case.
This time, it's Yuuki's Gry spell that wins the day, pinning the Shadow down long enough for it to be subdued, while Mina's spell doesn't seem to find purchase. "Okay, let's get the heck out of here."
They move on, only to encounter the Shadow of a woman running. "Wha-- hey!" Kazusa stars forward as the woman's Shadow leaps on to the tracks and runs away. Kazusa takes off running. "You idiot! You're going to get yourself killed!"
Probably literally, if one of those weird subway trains hits her Shadow.
But there's no catching up to her, not with the other Shadows taking an interest, and Kazusa beats a hasty retreat back to safety. "Okay, is everybody crazy in this stupid place!?" Kazusa huffs angrily.
She scowls, glaring down at the writing, and then frowns. "Run if you see... The Black Ma...? Mas...? What in the world..." She glances to Yuuki. "Is a Black Ma some kind of... shadow or something?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Ah... I'll take you up on that," Yuuki says, with a nod of her head. She could stand to practice more.
And, besides... she hasn't met someone else who uses Transmutation before this. It would be good to learn more.
It's time to leave, though -- she nods at Kazusa, and follows after. The offending Shadow is left pinned -- and they make their escape. But, they're almost knocked aside by that fast moving Shadow. "Aah--"
Yuuki shakes her head to clear it, then glowers after the Shadow and her pursuers. "What was that?"
Then, she looks at the writing. Kazusa asks -- and then Yuuki leans in closer. "...I don't think it was finished," she says. "I see... an 'S' there. Or rather, the start of one."
She frowns. "Which doesn't answer anything."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
Kazusa has met someone else who uses Transmutation, though she can't expect to know everyone who does. But she might talk about it, if asked.
Still, there's a small smile as Yuuki accepts her offer. "Alright," she says, trying to stay casual. "I main Kaguya-hime." The moon princess, who... uses a whip.
Don't think about the fact that Kazusa also has a whip.
"... but I'm familiar with most of the roster."
But there's a puzzle here, and as the writing starts to vanish Kazusa's hand goes to where her pocket would be to grab her phone-- but she's wearing a magical skirt now. "Shoot. I'll just have to remember it," she says with a frown.
"... whatever it was, she seemed pretty freaked out," Kazusa says as they get to safety, finally. Kazusa sits and sighs. "So, where'd you come in from? If you don't mind me asking."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Ah, fitting," Yuuki says, with a smile. She did notice that they both use whips.
She frowns as the writing vanishes -- then she folds her arms. For a moment, she is fixated on the problem. It makes something for her to work, in her mind. "Maybe... the key is to find out more about the Shadow."
She nods her head, and then she looks back at Kazusa. She leans against the wall; for a moment, she hesitates. "Renegdai, in Sumaru," she says. "I... transferred to Seven Sisters, recently. From Choju. What about you?"
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
They both use whips, and they definitely don't have more in common than that. (They definitely have more in common than that.)
Yuuki proposes learning more abou tthe Shadow. "Maybe... if we can find her again. The person she belongs to... could be anywhere. Where would we start looking?"
It's not like there are Persona users specialized in searching for things, right?
Yuuki shares, and so does Kazusa, after a moment. "My family lives in Shibuya. But I've been at Shujin since middle school." She studies Yuuki for a moment. Yuuki summoned her Persona the same way Kazusa does...
She's only met a couple of others that she knows is like that, but... they both seem like special cases.
Kazusa leans back, crossing one knee over the other. "... you summon your Persona the same way I do." She doesn't say anything more, just lets that thought hang in the air for a moment.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Maybe... we can see if we can find someone to help," Yuuki says. "With--um. Searching."
She knows about Navigators -- but the one she knows is an ex-Navigator, who no longer uses a Persona. She doesn't volunteer his help. She glances at Kazusa -- and her eyes blink, once, before she nods.
"Shujin, huh? I heard it can get intense." She hesitates for a moment, then, at the statement. Then, she nods.
"I found this power in an Atelier," she says. "It was... it was the one of someone I knew, in Choju, before I moved here."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
""Yeah..." Kazusa frowns a little. "... I knew some Persona Users. I can ask around, see if any of them can help, or have more of an idea."
+"Yep. It kind of always is, honestly. But that's just... what it takes to be high-status." She's less in love with it--or at least, less inurred to it--than she used to be.
Kazusa looks at Yuuki for a long, hard moment. There's only one reason she knows of for going into someone's Atelier. "... were you able to help your friend?"
She doesn't bother to specify with what, or ask what the issue was.
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Thanks," Yuuki says. "I'll... um. I'll see what I can find out, but I don't have a lot of contacts here, yet."
She looks up -- there's a blink, but then a nod of understanding. That is what it takes.
Her expression darkens at the question, and she glances downward. "...no," she concludes. "Not... not yet. I'm trying to do that, still."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"... I know some other people--well, at least one--who uses the same power you do. And..." Kazusa sighs a little. She doesn't understand Roger, but... he is the subject-matter expert. "... he's an expert in Ateliers."
She was tense when she asked that question, and she stays tense--tenses more--as she receives that answer. "... Then I'll help you," she says firmly. "... and I'll contact anybody else I can, too."
She stares at Yuuki for a long moment and then looks down, letting out a slow, controlled breath. "... the Atelier I awakened in was my own," she says simply. "... so I know what it's like."
<Pose Tracker> Yuuki Hoshizora has posed.
"Really? I... um. I would like to meet him, some time," Yuuki says. She keeps her tone carefully neutral -- but there is still tension and worry that slips in. Her eyes glance downward.
"Thank you," she says. "It's... there are some complications, but--I can tell you later. And your friend. I... should get some notes together."
There is someone else in there -- but she hesitates to mention that.
At Kazusa's admission, her eyes widen. Yuuki swallows, but then she nods her head. "I'm sorry," she says. "But... but, thank you. Even after going through that... I really appreciate that you'd help me."
<Pose Tracker> Kazusa Motojima has posed.
"I'll get in touch with him. And... I'll give you my phone number, too, so we can stay in touch."
She finally stands. "You're welcome." One of those wolf ears flicks with curiosity at the mention of complications, but Kazusa keeps her face schooled. "We'll figure out the complications, then."
"Thanks. But it's because I went through that that I want to help. I can't just--stand by, and do nothing. Your friend..." Kazusa catches herself. She's not sure if it would help or not to describe what her friend is going through right now. "... nobody deserves to go through that," she finally settles on.