2026-07-06: Better a Thorn Than a Rose
- Log: Better a Thorn Than a Rose
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Hirasaka Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: July 06, 2026
- IC Date: December 05, 2012
- Summary: Ichika comes across Umie at a park, where the two chat. Despite the dance of hidden knowledge and intentions, the two realize they share a thing or two in common, though much of it remains unsaid.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Toki, I'm telling you, I tried to get back, but the police were canvasing off the place." A pause, and Umie adds, with a sigh, "You know how my phone gets. I really can't afford having another monthly payment."
A familiar blonde head is sitting on a park bench, at a small nook of a park, mainly there to serve as a playground for the local kids, completely with packed down dirt, sun-bleached playground equipment, and the singing of metal against metal as a few kids run around in parkas.
"... Toki, you can't just... look, it's okay. I'm fine. I was making sure Amamiya-kun was okay." Sorry, Ren, but Umie needs to use you as an excuse.
.... even if she doesn't know what to say to you, exactly, right now.
"Yeah, he's fine. No, I'm not going to bug him. I'll get the costumes back to you soon. Just warning you; they got a little banged up during... all that." What was the excuse the media was going with?
More talking. Umie's eyes focus on the two girls playing on the swingsets. "... I'll pay the fees." Pause. "No, you are *not* paying them yourself."
A light flurry of snow starts; Umie gathers her coat in further, listening to the voice on the other end. She smiles, looking up towards the sky. ".... Yeah. He is a good kid. Yeah. I'll let him know when I next see him."
The way Kurou thanked Ren was so final... technically, that was due to Umie's own bungling. When it's simply just leading Toki away from a potential place of trouble, it's easy, but Ren saw so, so much.
"... Yeah. You too, Toki."
Ending her call, Umie lets out a slow sigh, sending a cold ball of air into the air. The two girls have run off down the sidewalk, leaving the playground empty, the swings slowing to a stop.
"Goddamn it..." she murmurs to herself.
She really wants some hot corn soup, but she really doesn't want to look at another vending machine for a good while.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika Kawase doesn't spend a lot of time at the playgrounds; she doesn't have any reason to. Most parents don't want their kids around Kasu High students anyway. But she's passing through, passing by as the snow starts to flurry...
And there she sees and hears Umie. She remembers, when Umie went to see her about all that a while back--more to the point, though, she remembers Umie at the fight against that Joker...
"Hey," Ichika says, as she decides to walk over. She's in her Kasu High winter uniform--which is to say, bare midriff even in the cold. Don't worry about it. Long skirt, though.
"How's it going?" Ichika asks, and it might seem like she's jsut being sociable...
But she is concerned.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Playgrounds are for nighttime, specifically for the Dark Hour-- a place to feel a little bit of freedom, by being in a place when you're not supposed to be, at a time that isn't supposed to exist. But that's for when you are younger, and seen the green night as a way to be free, without realizing the costs that come with it.
Right now, it's just a playground, and the sky is just that kind of grey-white that happens in the cold season.
Hearing Ichika, Umie turns, and nods, giving her casual, subdued smile. "Why hello there."
There is nothing on Umie, manner or expression-wise that suggests she knows Ichika's alternate identity, much less her reason.
As for signs for concern? A blotchy mark on her face that is healing nicely, in much the way bruises do. Still, it looks more recent than before...
Umie taps a red-nailed finger to her chin, her eyes recognizing the pale blond hair, the Kasu High uniform, and the bare midriff... even in winter. That is some dedication.
"... Ichika... Kawase-san, right?"
A friend of Tsubasa Seki, fellow student of Kasugayama High, one of two schools with a sizable base of Persona-users. A friend of Tsubasa Seki. Tsubasa Seki, who was also a victim of Sudou, the original Joker Killer. Which means...
No, she needs to ease into that.
"Doing well. How's you and yours doing?" She tilts her head slightly, folding her arms. "I imagine things have been quiet lately..."
Umie Akabane believes no such thing.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Playgrounds can be for kids, too. That's how Ichika thinks of them, anyway; just something she's largely grown out of, and might grow back into one day, but from a different perspective...
Ichika nods back to the greeting. She doesn't think Umie recognizes her as Ogre or anything--but she does spot the bruise. Hm...
"Right," Ichika answers of her name. "Thorn Boss at Kasu High. You've talked to me about my partner Tsubasa before."
Not just friend; partner. It could mean any number of things, though.
"Good," she says. Quiet? Not really, but, "Yeah," Ichika lies about that, "Just school stuff mostly.
"...Looks like you got into a fight or something," she points out. "I do that a lot, at school. Need some concealer tips?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Thorn boss. "Mmn." Umie nods, noting the use of 'partner'.
She'll have to note that for later, even if the context as to what sort of partner is unknown. "How *do* bosses get appointed at Kasugayama High? I admit, it's not a world I'm familiar with, being a Sevens graduate."
As Ichika points out the bruise, Umie groans. "Yeahhh, whapped my face on something recently." It keeps happening, too. It's like events *want* people to suspect something's up because she can't say the truth.
When Ichika offers the excuse of being in a fight, Umie closes one eye. "Well, if you're going to admit to it, then I will as well; people assume things when you have blonde hair."
A lie that is closer to the truth is easier to maintain, especially when it comes with an offer of some tips.
"Honestly, that'd be great." Umie sighs. "My concealer's not up to the task when it's something like this, especially when it gets cold..."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"You step up and people start following you, you're a Boss. In my case, I got targeted by one, kicked her ass and stole half her gang, and that's how it happened. Generally there's ass-kickings involved," Ichika explains as if she were giving an academic talk despite the liberal use of 'ass'.
Umie lies, but... Even if Ichika's not sure it's true, she's not gonna call her on it. Everybody has stuff to keep to themselves, especially if it was a fight.
"Sure do," Ichika says, and her bleach-blonde works just as well for that.
"Cool," Ichika says. She closes the distance between her and Umie. "The big trick is, you can't skimp--you gotta get the good concealer. I've got a spare I haven't used yet, if you need it. Then it's a matter of how you blend... And if you can, you wanna draw the eye elsewhere with something dramatic."
Ichika is good with makeup, as it happens. ...And very good at concealing injuries.
Umie knows why; she was in the Palace. But Ichika doesn't know Umie knows, necessarily.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
And Ichika explains how a Boss is made.
Something in Umie's eyes sparkle, and she lets out a quiet Badb-ish cackle, stilled behind a polite, casual hand. "I see," she says, nodding. "No wonder Kasugayama's always been full of colorful students."
It's a good excuse-- fighting, that is. So good that it takes Umie a moment to realize, beyond the scope of her own self, that it may be an excuse for Ichika as well.
After all, Ichika... yes. WIth the Palace, and everything within there...
Ichika would know how to cover up a bruise, and she'd likely recognize, unlike Toki, that if someone wants to leave a bruise, it wouldn't be somewhere visible, unless they were careless.
Usually.
"Right. Nah, that's sweet of you, but I have a discount at the 777; if there's a few brands you recommend, I can always scout out for it." Well, assuming they'd be there. Unfortunately... she usually has to go to the underground mall instead. "Then again, you did say *good* concealer..."
Ah, Umie realizes her problem: her recent affliction of 'tight funds'.
But also... now that Ichika is close, there's another matter: what caused the bruise itself.
It's only when Ichika closes that final bit of distance that Umie says, quietly, as if passing a secret, ".... You heard the rumors, right? That those who called the Joker Killer become like that, too?" There's no cackle or twinkle in those eyes to denote Umie being anything but serious, right now.
Just quiet concern.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
A cackle! Ichika laughs softly, too. "Yeah," she says. "Real colorful. I guess you're not the sort of person who takes issue?"
Umie can see it; Ichika doesn't have any visible bruising herself, now... but certainly, she's known how to deal with it in the past. And she would recognize that simple fact about how the right people know how to conceal their marks.
Still, "Cool," Ichika says then. "I'll give you some then." Ichika lists off a couple of brand;s they are unfortunately expensive and high-end. ...There's always theft!
But before Ichika can re-offer, Umie mentions something else. Something... related, but different.
"Yes," Ichika says then. "I've heard that."
"...I've heard about it happening."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'I guess you're not the sort of person who takes issue?'
"When I was a sweet and innocent Sevens girl, I was," Umie admits. "But good grades and good manners attract..." Her words still, as she thinks back to Hodai Tabe, that unassuming, quiet co-worker who eased Umie into a life of being a konbini worker. Sometimes irresponsible, sometimes annoying with how he sometimes seemed like he was talking down to her.
It was Hodai Tabe, the person Umie thought nothing of, who called the Joker Killer on Umie, not _Syuusei Honjou_, the man who quietly waged war on Umie's future, just to send a message.
"... they attract people who assume you'll be a good girl for them, as well," she says, quietly, casually, ignoring that elephant in the playground with them (it's a slide).
Brand names are given; Umie nods. "... Oh right, I've heard of that one..." One or two she's even used in her high school days, back when she didn't realize how tight money could be.
Back then, she only dealt with demons and shadows.
"I've heard that... those that have been attacked by the Joker Killer might have a bad time of things, soon, because of it." She points to her bruise.
"But the timeline... that's something I haven't heard."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Sweet and innocent. Ichika gives Umie a Look at that--but then Umie continues it. That casual statement...
"Ah," Ichika says. "Yeah. That's true."
But Umie's heard of it. That's good. Not that surprising, either; it's a famous brand. "A lot of people just decide that if you're 'good' then you'll keep being 'good' for them, too. Guess you've seen it."
But, the Joker...
"Mm, yeah. Like, the Joker's revenge..."
She considers. "Rough. Well, Tsubasa already knows," she volunteers, "So don't worry about that part."
"We've got people we can rely on."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
That look from Ichika is met with an impish half-grin from Umie. "I know," she plays along, "I'm so very surprised myself."
But the intended thorn in that other sentence, of how good girls attract certain people, pricks just the right way.
"I may have seen it, yes," she says, with a softer, more sober tone.
'And I imagine you've seen a lot more of it,' she wants to say, but doesn't.
As for the Joker's revenge?
Umie's eyelids lower; she nods, seeming relieved. "Good. Mine was... not who I expected it'd be."
Perhaps, it's the Phantom Thieves, given Tsubasa and Phoenix are good friends, from what Umie gathered from what Tsubasa has said. That, or the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, given Seki's connections there. There's also the connections Ichika likely has, through her and her sisters.
Umie's not the bearer of bad news, this time.
"There is a rumor that there's a blue room that can help people. I'm afraid I don't know much more than that."
She doesn't know where Hodai is, either.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
May have. But Ichika knows she has. And Umie was at the Palace... so she knows that Ichika knows, but doesn't know that...
Ichika shakes her head. "Sucks," she says instead of much else there. Instead, she focuses on the here and now at the moment.
"You had a guy in mind?" Ichika wonders of Umie. "I guess you can never tell who's going to do it until they do, though. The Joker Killer didn't tell everybody who called on them, after all."
Ulala, for instance, wasn't known...
Not of Maya.
"Hm. The blue room..." Not 'a' blue room, but 'the' blue room. Ichika notices the article after she says it. "I've heard the same. I appreciate the corroboration. That's... not something I can handle," she lies. "Not something I can do stuff about."
"But I'll pass it on."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
It's an interesting little web of lies they all weave, and Umie, at the very least, knows the necessity for it, be it someone who summons with a mask, a token of their contract with a wiseman, or something meant to Evoke something deep inside.
Ichika, just by virtue of having directly affected, likely knows more about Umie's problems now than Toki, a person who Umie's known for much longer.
You're a terrible friend, Umie thinks to herself. But better to be a terrible friend to someone who's alive than a truthful friend to someone who's dead.
"It would have, yes," she agrees. "If I was still that person."
'It did, for you,' she doesn't say.
To express that is to step over that line, and ruin the game of lies. So instead, she plays selfish, referring only to herself, because she is a person who didn't see Ichika's deepest secrets beared on a symbolic, cognitive stage.
"... I like to keep my fires contained to one zone," Umie says, vaguely, instead. If it has to be someone, Umie thinks, it's better it's someone she already knew had a reason to call.
"I assume it's the same for you." That, Umie will say, with a small smile. "For anyone, really. But I wonder which is worse: knowing the punch that's coming, or not knowing right up until the moment you feel it?"
A genuine question, from Umie Akabane, oracle of ruined days and nasty nights.
As for the blue room? Umie thinks on it.
She cannot tell Ichika Kawase, Thorn Boss of Kasugayama, that the reason Ichika cannot access this 'blue room' is due to needing an ID.
"Yeah, it's..." She shakes her head. "Kuzunoha Detective Agency would know, if no one else does."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika doesn't love it, but she gets it; the more people know her dual identity, the more people are on the hook if anything ever crashes down there. That includes her sister--and that's why it can't include her sister. And if she's not going to tell Ririka...
Who, then, of the many others?
Ichika asys, "I bet it sucked while you were, too. Glad you found a way that works for you, though. Nobody should be stuck like that."
It did suck, though. And Umie... likes hr fires contained. "Nice idea," she says. "I know it can't always be like that." But what's worse...? Ichika thinks about it.
"I don't know," she admits. "But personally, I'd rather know."
Ichika in turn, though, can't tell Umie Akabane that she has been there as the Ogre, that she finds the music soothing and comforting, that she tried to flirt with the piano player and marveled at the Demon Artist's work.
"They know a lot of stuff," Ichika agrees. "...Still..."
"Be careful, OK?"
"All this business with serial killers and blue rooms and demons..."
"Doesn't mean people don't want to see you come home at the end of the day."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
It's a necessity of the masquerade.
'You too,' Umie would say, and her expression says that, for just a moment.
Better a thorn than a rose, in a world like this.
Better to know than to not know, as well. Umie nods. "I agree. But, only on the principal that definitely know I can handle everything and everything," she adds, with cheeky grin that says much the opposite.
Umie Akabane does not know how to handle everything and everything, definitely.
Umie Akabane cannot tell Ichika Kawase that she's too embarrassed to enter the place, and that her younger self thought it was not a place for kids.
.... She'd be halfway correct, but the denizens of the Velvet Room were kind, all the same.
They know a lot of stuff, Ichika says, while also...
'Be careful, OK?'
The playing around with half smiles, turns of phrase, and indirect meanings lessen.
She nods. "Sometimes it's easy to forget, when you're focused on a goal," she admits. "Which is why it's good to have a reminder."
Standing up from her sitting position on the bench, the blonde gathers her hood and shivers from the shock of the cold air against her face.
"Those people... are worth protecting." She dips her head, snow flurries disappearing as they fall across her white coat. "And so is your midsection, Kawase-san."
She's pointing. "From frostbite."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh, is that how it is?" Ichika asks, lifting an eyebrow. "Well, as long as you can handle everything, then." She'll play along. It's fun, right?
Still...
"Yeah. Goals are nice and all... but your life doesn't stop being a life, unless you let it."
A shiver! Ichika doesn't share it--instead, she smiles back. "They are," she agrees. "But...?"
Her midsection? From--
Ichika laughs outright. "What an old lady thing to say," Ichika answers. "It's cool, though. Don't worry. I'm headed somewhere warm."
"...But it was nice to run into you." Check up on her. "I'll see you around, yeah?"