2026-08-23: Connecting Threads
- Log: Connecting Threads
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Jun Kashihara
- Where: Lotus Plaze, Rengedai Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: August 23, 2026
- IC Date: December 29, 2012
- Summary: As Jun and Umie catch up on leads concerning love and the Joker Possessed (which are unrelated topics), they find themselves at impasse: if the Order is trying to collect the Possessed, what could it be for? The only people would could answer that would be agents themselves. It'll have to be Jun that asks, however, as Umie strangely is hesitant to do so herself...
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Laaast Christ-mas, he gave you bad luck~
But the ver-y next day, the Colonel's a-way~
(And good riddance.)
The Lotus Plaza still has their Christmas decor up, though the sales and incentives have all moved from promises of love and Christmas romance to New Years celebrations and cheer. The machine of capitalism never stops, never sleeps, always wanting more.
It wasn't too long ago that Umie was here herself, if in the disguise of 'Kokoro Akechi', which is a name Umie hopes shall never come up again. She'll need to think of a list of better names that will be as easy to remember.
Here, she's going as Umie Akabane, her ash blonde hair in twin buns, the excess in long bangs framing her face. The outfit is similarly her usual: accessories like small gold earrings, her lucky red charm bracelet, a red ribbed turtleneck, white winter jacket, jeans, and sneakers.
Waiting at a bench near a fountain, Umie glances at her phone before looking at a mother and her small son, the latter placing a coin in the fountain.
She smiles, discreetly looking back at her phone in case either notice; with how excited (but polite, after the mother reminds him to use his inside voice) the child is, it's likely neither of them notice any of the infectious cheer they're spreading.
Then, the father walks up and shares a few hurried words to the mother, who frowns.
Kegare, kegare, kegare, as far as the eye can see. Not as much as an ocean, not thick like the bad luck that spread on Christmas, but still there, like a slight, thin hum that cannot be identified.
Has it always been there? Maybe, if she asks Jun...
Well, that can come after possible news of his date with Tatsuya. If anyone needed some Christmas luck, it's those two.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
It's sweet of Umie to think Jun got to go on a date with Tatsuya. Naive, and maybe outright oblivious given both of them were there fighting the Colonel's oppressive wave of misfortune, but sweet.
Jun is likewise dressed for the winter holidays, with a white alpaca sweater, black slacks, and a flower-printed winter coat. He arrives on time at the agreed-upon meeting place at Lotus Plaza, though as he approaches Umie, he notes her glancing in between her phone and a family of three. It's hard to tell what her interest is; to his eyes, there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about them...
"Good afternoon, Akabane-san," he greets her once he's close enough. He takes a seat next to her, though it might not be necessary. He glances again at the family, then back at her, just to let her realize he noticed what she's watching too. "I hope you're doing well after our last... encounter." He sighs, clutching a hand to his forehead. "None of us had a good time that night, so we can only pray New Year's will be a quiet one."
As it should be, being a family holiday in Japan where one cleans up the home and welcomes the new year with one's closest loved ones. Western traditions of celebrating with a countdown have started to spread, though.
"So what was it you wanted to discuss?" he adds.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Hey, the night was still young, and Umie and Shiryuu certainly had enough time to get up to mischief!
... well, as much as two chariot-type people could after chasing each other in an endless circle.
"Mmn," Umie responds, looking away from the departing family (and the happily skipping little kid), "Kashihara-kun. Same to you... sorry about bailing on you in the middle of putting the Colonel to rest." By 'bailing', Umie means 'Shiryuu hefted her under one arm and marched off after he heard her sniffle'.
"Were you able to get in touch with Tatsu-kun at all after that, at least?" Look at those hopeful eyes, Jun.
New Year's... The corner of Umie's lips crooks up. "One can only hope. It'll be my first one in my apartment, so... I'm counting on it being quiet. Hopefully, it'll be the same for you." His mom's support can't all be just for the camera.
As for what she wanted to discuss... "Mostly wanted to touch base on the, uh, 'Joker' Cursed." It's a little difficult, using 'Old Maid' here as a substitution. "I don't know if you have caught onto the pattern, but 'they'," she says, with a nod to try to convey the weight of who 'they' are, "are collecting them, for some reason."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun shakes his head and offers a rueful smile. "I didn't manage to contribute much to putting the Colonel to rest either. I got caught up helping a friend of mine to the bathroom." He isn't going to get into gruesome detail on how bad it got, but it got... pretty bad. Thankfully, due to Jun's assistance and keeping watch, no one saw the idol puking her guts out. That would've been devastating for Lisa's career.
Umie asks that question. She gets all the answers she needs when his smile fades and his brown eyes flick downwards. "I'm... afraid not. I'm sure he's busy with whatever it is he's trying to do, anyway." He forces a smile. "I'd be surprised if he even noticed it was Christmas."
Besides... it's not like the two of them are couple or anything like that. Even if Jun had been able to see Tatsuya, he knows full well it would not have ended i a date.
Still, New Year's sounds like it'll be better for Umie, and that brings a genuine smile to his lips. "I expect so. I'll be home with my parents." He shakes his head. "I'm just glad they went out of town for their Christmas date, after we spent the morning together. They didn't get caught up in the Colonel's vengeance."
That smile vanishes again, this time for a serious look, when Umie gets to the point, though. "They are? ...I'm afraid I hadn't--I've only encountered one so far--but..." He frowns, holding his chin in thought. "That makes a lot of sense. 'They' showed up for Sakurai-san too, and they made it clear they wanted her. So it wasn't just her."
He meets her eyes again. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's nothing good. We should try our best to stop them from carrying anyone else away."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'I got caught up helping a friend of mine to the bathroom.' Umie blinks, straightening in her seat, before relaxing with a resigned mein. "You too, huh... my date was too proud to admit it, though."
Jun's sad smile gains grimace from Umie. ".... I swear, that boy..." Her gaze dips down towards the same tile. "... I think he was counting on Sudou being the end of it all. Now, it's just gotten worse. But..." She huffs a breath. "Would it surprise you that mine didn't realize it either? He thought everyone was just copying me, the dolt..." She lets her lips creep upward in a fond smile, just for a moment.
Then, she focuses her attention back on Jun. "If I see Tatsu-kun, I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind..." She won't. She knows it. She has less claim to the young man's attention than someone like Jun; her memories aren't the lynchpin on which this supposed 'new world' rests.
And even if she did, while the two of them care for each other, but they're not actively dating. It's just wishful thinking, and Umie's need to made amends for reminding Jun.
"Family..." She nods, smiling. Two parents that actively show their love for one another... "I'm glad. Meanwhile... we made sure the Colonel's spicy 'justice' ended." The chicken wasn't *that* spicy outside of the food poisoning, was it?
The Order, however... that's a harder nut to crack, isn't it? "I've managed to catch a few..." If it weren't for the Bride and the Groom admitting it back in Electric Town in Tokyo... "I doubt they're bringing them to the Velvet Room, if they're going through all this trouble fighting us."
There's news beyond that as well, but she stops. "Yeah. I've been able to... sense some similarities, with Badb. But I can't get it down to a science yet to be able to sense it before it happens."
"Because what surrounds those Joker Possessed... it's like there's a little bit of it everywhere, too. Just in Sumaru City."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"That was the young man with the silver hair, yes? It seemed to me like the two of you were together," Jun comments. He didn't catch Shiryuu's name, but he did catch that much--to say nothing of how much he seemed to like the Colonel's cooking.
He pauses, though, when Umie says her date thought people were copying her. Jun gives her a bewildered look. "What? Are you serious?" He'd been half-joking when he made that comment about Tatsuya not realizing it was Christmas, but there's an actual person who actually didn't realize?? ...He can only shake his head. "Good luck to the both of us, then."
Was it spicy? Jun didn't actually sample any of it himself; he can only take others' word on whether it was good or bad. He almost sort of regrets that. It was a (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime experience, after all.
"Agreed," Jun says grimly of the NWO's intentions. "I hardly want to imagine it."
Similarities? Jun furrows his slender eyebrows, but then Umie specifies she means the aura around the Joker Possessed. "Hmm... That's ominous. But just in Sumaru City...? Could it be some sort of... aura, or manifestation, of whatever makes Rumors come true?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
The man with the silver hair. Umie nods; there's little need to hide it, though she doesn't volunteer a name.
Jun's bewilderment draws a slow, blackbird grin to Umie's lips. She cackles. "... I know, right?" A moment, and she says, "It can be adorable, sometimes. But also, just as annoying." _She'll volunteer that part too_.
Just not how it factors into the concept of Shiryuu's air of 'gap moe'.
'Good luck to the both of us, then.' "Indeed," she softly agrees, her gaze floating back up to Jun's face. "All we can do is ensure whatever 'world' or 'timeline' Tatsu-kun is fighting against doesn't come to pass."
No matter how spicy it is.
Aura, manifestation... "From what I've gathered... it may be 'kegare'. Or, at least, something that people can call 'kegare'." Not 'it *is* kegare'-- unfortunately, Umie has no way of determining what a 'kegare' is supposed to be.
A manifestation of whatever makes rumors come true... "It's possible," Umie agrees, with a nod, her red-brown eyes serious. "I could sense when people entered their 'time of Joka' before, but... that was just 'bad luck'. If this is something I've just started being able to detect, it could have just been something that's always been there. But the Possessed... it's like that, amped up to..."
She makes a face. "If there was ever a thing that could be called 'kegare', it'd be this. Like, tasting something rotten at the back of your throat. Something going bad, filthy."
But what if it's all in her imagination?
Her gaze is cast towards the fountain, her lips thinning out to a frown. "... But..." The red-nailed fingers of her right hand gather against her good luck charm, feeling the bead placed there. "You can't set aside the idea that this, itself, could be a lie that that entity is trying to make into another truth."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun laughs a brief, slightly awkward laugh when Umie cackles and trashes her date. "You two seem like you get along well," he offers all the same, because if she can call him annoying like it amuses rather than irritates her, what else can that mean?
He shuts his eyes, though, when Umie weighs in on Tatsuya's battle. "...Yes." As much as he wants to see him, as he continues to want to see him, as he can't stop himself from seeking him out when he believes he's there... Jun knows it's better for everyone if he doesn't succeed. He might not know the extent to which that's true, but it's clear from Tatsuya's behavior it's so, and he trusts him.
"Hm." Kegare--'taint,' or 'filth,' or... perhaps one might broadly translate it as 'sin.' It's associated with Izanami and the underworld. After learning that there are in fact gods, it's an uneasy thought that there might be more than one involved. Fortunately, Jun does understand that Umie says 'may' and 'could be called.' Something that seems appropriate to go by that name, as she clarifies.
"I see... Hopefully it's 'kegare' in name only. If only we could find out why 'those people' want them... We have no idea why they've been doing anything, really." He shakes his head. "...At least it doesn't seem like bringing the 'Other Side' back is their general goal. I encountered the Bride recently through a... robot proxy warrior, if you can believe it... and she indicated that she and the Groom want that, unlike the rest of their organization." He rubs his forehead. "So it's still going to be a problem, but at least it's a smaller problem than it could be."
Who can say that any of the supernatural isn't just a lie cooked up by the gods? Jun keeps that thought to himself, though. Therein lies the path to paranoia. "Honestly, I'd prefer that to the alternative," he says instead, thinking of Izanami's kegare. "Though by no means does that make it a good thing, either. I wonder if we could somehow make contact with a member and question them... No, that would be foolish."
He folds his arms and legs. "I just wish we had a way of making the first move, instead of always playing catch-up."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"... we do," she admits, with a fond, almost embarrassed smile. "It snuck up on us; we'd always fight and bicker, but then we'd realize we just... were too used to using that as a shield to keep people from getting too close. Even the simple act of having a Persona means carrying a secret with you." And having a strange tattoo on your wrist... while there's ways around it, the cheapest was to keep it covered with cloth, rather than risk rain, sweat, or lighting giving away the heavy concealer on your wrist.
It was due to Tatsuya's 'failure' that Jun awakened, even if Umie'd disagree with that assessment. In turn, it was by Jun's own will to seek a new route that Sudou's scheme did not succeed.
"Yeah. Even by calling it 'kegare', though," Umie continues, "it feels like a sick joke, considering how Tatsu-kun feels responsible for all of this-- that he being here just 'taints' everything around him..."
A feeling she knows, and still wonders if she contributes to, herself.
'...At least it doesn't seem like bringing the 'Other Side' back is their general goal.' "Sometimes it feels like it may as well be the same thing," she murmurs, softly. "The way Sudou went about it, it was like... a world where everything was the way it was 'meant to be'. In that light, it's not too different from the wish for a 'world without sin' 'they' wish for."
Which makes less sense, of they're gathering people with this 'kegare', but that may be in name only. "Scion, right?" Umie asks, as Jun mentions her. "With the Bride being pregnant... it's probably the only way they can use her unique abilities safely."
They want that... just like the two Marked civilians she's encountered, who were also connected to the Order. Maybe, those two came into contact with the Bride and Groom at some point, and the belief spread from there. "I see..." she considers, tapping an index finger to her chin. "What did you tell Scion back?"
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"I see." Jun smiles at Umie's smile. Having the same sort of feelings in his own heart, he can tell the quality of her feelings from it. They don't just get along; they really care about each other. She deserves someone like that in her life, especially if it's someone who can understand the isolation she's experienced. Jun's fortunate to have had so many people supporting him up ever since he got involved in the supernatural--Umie herself included. "I'm happy for you two, then."
No doubt Tatsuya considers it his failure that Jun Awakened. Considering his personality and Sudou's obsession with him, it was probably going to happen sooner or later, though. The best Jun can do to mitigate that is keep his promise.
"Then why call it that at all?" Jun wonders of Umie and kegare.
He falls silent when Umie compares the 'Other Side' to the NWO ideal of the 'world without sin.' "I suppose the difference is whether everything is going forward or back," he muses. "In that sense, I suppose I have to prefer the 'world without sin'... even if it's a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea."
He frowns at the reminder that the Bride is pregnant--he saw that briefly during the battle at the Morimoto Sanitarium--but it's been a whirlwind since then. If that's the case, then yes, it does make sense to have a robot proxy take the field for her. As for Scion herself: "Yes," he confirms. "And nothing, really. What is there to say to someone who wants to unmake this entire world, just because they aren't happy with it?"
Even if, honestly, Jun could understand a little how the Bride must feel.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
There was a time when Umie would look at her classmates and wonder what was so special about talking about your crushes, or who you were dating. There was the appeal of knowing it from a gossip angle, yes, but...
Now, she realizes a lot of it was a secret bitterness. It's a stark contrast to the feelings she feels now, bittersweet as they may be, knowing that Tatsuya and Jun's attachments towards one another can't be freely expressed without risk.
But why allow it to be a tragedy, when it can be something else?
And why call it kegare?
Umie considers. "It's an easy name for it, considering what Chizuru Ishigami-san said, but... we can't trust her to not be a part of the machine as well." At least, according to the intel Umie heard through Nanjo's staff's efforts.
But what do they call it? Umie thinks back, to her own efforts at 'naming things'. Damn that heart-shaped perfume...
"... The past, or the future," Umie supposes, along with Jun's words. "I guess... that's why the idea of the former appeals to people with Sudou, as well as the Bride and Groom, whether it's the same exact idea or not. A world where things are supposed to be the way they are. Meanwhile, people like Sudou's father... they set their eyes on a future that's better."
If she had to choose... she can't even pose the hypothetical, to herself. "... If someone placed a gun to my head..."
It feels like an antithesis, to say she liked either one. "If I chose, either answer would be a lie."
Either way, what is there to say, to either? "That may be it-- why neither of us could say we liked either one. But..."
She lets in a breath. The Badb calls this difference between the two parties a weakness to take advantage of, but looking at Jun's face, she can't bring herself to fully commit to that idea.
Instead, Umie says this: "This may point to where we can find answers: the Bride and Groom, and to a degree, Scion, most likely, might be willing to volunteer information. They were willing to at least insinuate that Those Others' intent was not good for the Possessed, and that the Possessed'd be worse off in that organization's care."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"If we can't trust her, then should we really use the word she suggested?" Jun points out, before reluctantly adding, "Though I admit, I don't have any better suggestions."
"For a subjective definition of 'better,'" he adds dryly of Sudou's father. All considered, Jun very much doubts that a 'world without sin' would be friendly to anyone that Tatsuzou, an old man entrenched in his own power, doesn't approve of. In that light, it's easy to understand why the Groom and Bride are pursuing something else on their own time.
Either answer would be a lie. In other words, she'd refuse to choose either one, even with a gun to her head. There's certainly an honesty in that.
"I can only speculate, of course, but I do believe the 'Other Side' is objectively worse for the majority of people." Jun pauses. "...Though perhaps that's only my own bias in play, when I can only know for sure it was objectively worse for Tatsuya and me."
He doesn't need to know or remember the specifics to know that. Whatever Jun Kurosu was like, the hints Jun Kashihara has gotten have not been pleasant.
Umie points out that they've already gotten some answers from the Bride, Groom, and Scion. "Mmm... You're right, but... how would we be able to track them down? We could only hope that they happen to show their faces the next time one of the Possessed appear, and that we happen to be available to fight and question them." He gives Umie a slight smile. "Though with you and I both on the task, that at least doubles our chances of making that happen."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Yeah," Umie says, nodding. "It's still good to question it, though. What we call something can change the shape of it, if enough people do it. But, as it stands... yeah, I've got no ideas, either."
'For a subjective definition of 'better, Junn says. Umie gives him a sharp little smile. "Want to bet it's a world that has everything only he thinks is great? I doubt he even thinks his most devout followers are good enough..."
People... like her parents, Umie reminds herself.
Her wry smile dissipates at the thought, like snow against the heat of one's cheek.
"... To be honest, I don't know much about it, aside from what you've likely gleaned. It's weird, though..." She settles back on her bench, shifting a little against the hard wood planks. "Back during the Museum incident, did you or anyone you were warning seem to see glimpses of a different set of events? It seemed like everyone kept getting confused." She shrugs. "While I didn't have that problem, I had my own unrelated issues."
It's better to shrug it off than look at it directly, especially for Jun's sake. It's not like she's trying to look away, right? ... Right?
"You were able to meet Scion once. Maybe, you'll luck out and see her again, especially if those two have gotten the idea from Sudou's rantings that you might be necessary for this 'Other World' of theirs," she supposes.
If they're both on the task, that'd double their chances, right?
"...." Umie hesitates. "... It'd... be better if it was someone like you, or... Uchida, or... someone who isn't... Just..."
'What's the worst that could happen, if you told him? Isn't he your ally, Umie-chan~?'
"It needs to be someone that isn't me," she repeats, her gaze back on the frothy fountain, rather than Jun.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"No bet. Not unless you're the one betting against it," Jun says with a wry smile to Umie.
His own smile likewise fades when she brings up those... visions. "I didn't," he says quietly. "But I noticed that others seemed to." If not for Argeiphontes giving power to his promise, would he have been haunted by those visions too, like he had by deja vu once upon a time?
Neither of them can look directly at these problems--for everyone's sakes.
However, when Umie hesitates and says it can't be her who asks, Jun gives her a long look. There are a lot of questions that could be asked here.
"...All right. I'll ask, in that case," he simply says instead.
Jun maybe has a little too much experience at this point taking others on faith.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
He didn't.
Something in Umie seems to relax, at that. ".... Then be assured that not everyone did. I doubt I was the only one."
To not look directly, or to look away from a call of duty...
..... All Umie can do is give Jun a regretful silence. "..."
"Thank you," Umie mumbles, with a grimace.
"... If something comes up... call me." She can at least give Jun that.
Somewhere, a clock chimes, a little too loudly against Umie's ears.
"I should get going." She stands up with a sigh, slipping her hands into the pockets of her jacket. "Oh! One more thing," she says, taking out a red scarf, "Those historical legends? They're growing."
She makes a face, as she drapes the ends of the scarf over her shoulders. "I'm apparently related to a ninja princess." WAY TO MISS THE MORE MESSED UP PART, UMIE. "So... we... match? Sort of."
After all, that ninja master's surname was _Kuroda_, not _Kurosu_.
"You take care, Kashihara-kun," she says, with a warmer tone, "You have my number, so if anything comes up, you can always give me a call." It sounds weak, after her refusal to talk directly to Bride and Groom, but... "Let's both have a wonderful New Year's."
... even if hers will be spent away from her own parents, they're still on her mind.