2026-10-01: Known History
- Log: 2026-10-01 Known History
- Cast: Morgana (NPCed by Ren Amamiya), Hibari Aoki
- Where: Meiji Shrine
- OOC Date: October 01, 2026
- IC Date: January 18, 2013
- Summary: Hibari stops by Meiji Shrine in the hopes that she might spot Morgana, and her hopes are realized. In talking to him, she comes to understand a lot more of the context behind Morgana quitting The Phantoms in the first place.
<Pose Tracker> Morgana has posed.
Sun is setting over Tokyo, casting shadows throughout the city. It's particularly picturesque at the Meiji Shrine, surrounded by forests that dampen the sounds of urbania and setting the illusion that one's deep in nature.
Morgana's here today, watching shrine-goers leave and shrine-keepers tend to the grounds. A couple of people have made cat noises at him or attempted to pet him or similar such things, and he's ignored him or blocked their hands with a paw or even just walked off. He's near the torii now, like he was on that day... He doesn't expect Ann to show up, not least because she has no reason to think he'd be here now, but it does mean he gets to circle his thoughts as well as the shrine to work up the nerve to talk to her, as he'd told Ichika he has to.
At this point, though, it's getting too close to a time he'd rather not think about right now, so with the shrine closing for the day, he makes his way down the stone stairs too. His tail is low, and so is his mood. At least Kasumi doesn't have to see him like this... The two of them are partners now, but he acts independently from her a lot more than he did with Ren.
He's not really sure how he feels about that.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Hibari has been to Tokyo now and again - it's a bit of a trip from Sumaru, but she has reasons to make it, whether it's to see friends, to talk to the Phantom Thieves, or to buy something. Sumaru has some very good shops, but some things are just easier to get in the bigger city.
Most of the times she comes, she swings by the shrine. It's a change - she's never been a very big shrine-goer, but she likes the feel of this one, with the trees. And on top of that she's hoped, without much actual expectations that it would ever pay off, to meet someone here.
Hibari is actually in the direction Morgana is going rather than where he came from. He might miss her at first because she's not looking his way and she's changed her hair since he last saw her, which changes the way she looks quite a lot from the back; exactly as promised, she's tried blue for a change, midtone or a little darker. It's less blatant than a brighter blue would be, but Hibari thinks she likes it.
She's not looking his way because she's typing something on her phone, but after a few moments she looks up, sliding it into her coat's pocket as she scans the area one last time.
Today, her trip has payed off.
Morgana is small and dark so he's actually kind of hard to see at a distance, and at first Hibari isn't sure it's actually him, but after a moment to let her eyes readjust she determines that, yes, it is, she's not just being hopeful.
"Hey, Morgana," she says as she walks over, voice pitched a little low in case there's someone who is *not* in the talking-to-Morgana club looking. "I didn't know if I'd see you here again." She's pretty light on her feet for her build, but Morgana's got sharp ears - she expects she'll be seen well before she gets over there, and she's just hoping he's not intending to run off.
<Pose Tracker> Morgana has posed.
Morgana did see Hibari, but did not realize it was her. The hair color is a change, and the color she had previously was so distinctive; sure, she talked about maybe changing her hair color during the New Year's shrine visit, but that feels like a lifetime ago. It's just not something he's been thinking about.
So while he did hear someone approaching, he didn't think it'd be her. When he hears her voice from behind him, he jumps and whirls around in midair, much like a cat would. "Hibari," he says with the embarrassed cool of a cat who is pretending like he wasn't just completely caught off guard. He even licks a paw for a couple seconds before he adds, "I didn't expect to see you here either. This isn't exactly on the way home for you."
At least he's not running off...? His pride is such that he needs to re-establish that he totally didn't just freak out for a second there first.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
It catches everybody by surprise before they see it. Hibari has fielded a bunch of questions about it at school, too - she's a well-known figure in Kasugayama, after all.
Hibari isn't going to draw attention to Morgana being a little startled if he doesn't. She's nice that way. (Also, sometimes she is the one being shocked and would rather not invite people to do it to *her*.) She gives him that moment to recover before she crouches down a little bit. Nobody wants to crane their neck up all the way to talk to someone.
"It's not, but I've been spending more time in Tokyo lately since I know a lot more people here these days," Hibari says, "and I've been down here a few times." No need to say how many, or why; he can just think she's attentive to her shrine visits if he wants. "It's not like the old days, though, when I only really knew many people in Sumaru and Port Island."
Of course she's been to Port Island, all of with Ichika, to visit Ichika, and just on her own.
"How have you been? I can't exactly call you!" Hibari may be keeping it light on purpose for the first few moments to keep Morgana (and herself) at ease, but she really does want to know; she assumes Tokyo is more dangerous for a cat (or at least someone cat-shaped), and it's not like she knows Yoshizawa either. But she doesn't see anyone else around with him, so he must have come here by himself...
<Pose Tracker> Morgana has posed.
Morgana does appreciate that Hibari both says nothing and crouches down to talk to him. He'll keep an eye on any shrine-goers on the stairs coming down, but at this point there's hardly anyone left, so they should be fine.
Morgana also knows about Ichika and her Port Island family, but not knowing if Hibari might know anyone else around there, he doesn't call her out on it. It's not like he dislikes or doesn't get along with her. Being new to the team has its disadvantages too, though. He can't help but think about how Ichika said she'd come to the team late and so she just went along with the group's vibes, and Hibari's way later than she is...
In the same way, Hibari tries to keep things light, and Morgana replies with a heavy, "That's on purpose." A beat. "I'm doing fine. I've got a new partner now. We're doing great together--already worked together on a dangerous mission, which went flawlessly, of course."
That's a bit of an exaggeration, but it hardly went poorly, either. Mostly he wants to impress on her that he doesn't need to be pitied.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
There are some advantages to coming by this late! Even if it will probably make Hibari's trip home a little less convenient, she's already put herself out by coming here at all, and she's both more likely to find Morgana here (as proven, since she did) and less likely to run into other people this late.
"Hmm," she says, when he says 'it's on purpose'. Not a sound of disbelief, just thinking. She thought he might have cooled down a little - well, she supposes he *has* or he wouldn't have spoken to her at all. "Well, I had something to say to you, so I hope you don't mind me doing it now since I didn't have a chance before:"
"I'm sorry."
Hibari continues a moment later: "I should have said something to Ryuji way before, but I thought you just had that kind of relationship with him..." She's seen it with some of the guys at Kasugayama, who cheerfully insult each other in ways that would have either made her furious or feel horrible but fall in together as soon as there's anyone else involved: nobody gets to say those things but them. She's heard brothers do it too, but she doesn't have any, so what would she know?
"But I wouldn't have let anyone else speak like that to me, so I shouldn't have let him speak to you that way either."
Hibari's been thinking about this, ever since she froze up rather than get involved in the confrontation. She ran away too, if not so physically. She still feels somewhat guilty about it, if she's being honest; some of what Ryuji said might have been accurate, and other parts Morgana took in the worst way possible, but still. If someone had done anything like that at Kasugayama, it would have started a fight. Possibly with knives.
"But other than that... a mission, huh? I'm glad it went well." Hibari really has to meet Yoshizawa at one point - well, she has, once, over cooking at Leblanc; they'd talked about paella, among other things. But she didn't know that she could hear Morgana at the time, or that she was going to Palaces. There's a lot she doesn't know about her, partially because she doesn't attend Shujin. But: "I won't pry about her, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Morgana has posed.
Hibari apologizes. Morgana is silent--not because he doesn't accept it, but because he feels guilty she feels like she has to. "No... It's complicated, I guess," he murmurs, ears sinking. (Is it complicated?) "Ichika said the same thing, though. She came in late to the team, so she just assumed it was normal. Guess that goes double for you."
He pauses, and in that time, Hibari offers some support. "Thanks," he replies. "You could talk to her yourself if you really wanted. She was part of The Phantoms for a short time--just on a probationary period. She decided not to join after we--after they helped her out with something," he corrects himself. There's no 'we' anymore. Not with them.
"...I guess none of this makes any sense to you, huh? Since you did only join just recently." Oracle too, but they were all a lot more involved with her before her joining, whereas Hibari's only interacted with Phantoms outside of Ichika and Tsubasa casually, at least as far as Morgana knows. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore, so you don't need to worry about it."
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
It's always complicated; feelings always are, in Hibari's experience. People - and she includes herself in that - aren't very good at talking about them; language is a little slippery and doesn't always mean what people want it to express. Kasugayama has a counselor, but some of the students find it easier to talk to a non-adult about it, and Hibari's been a kind ear in the past, and sometimes even given advice of her own. (Whether it's good or not depends who you ask.)
"Some people are like that," Hibari says, with a very slight shrug. "It's pretty normal... and it's just as normal to yell at them when they go too far." That's one thing Morgana doesn't need to feel different about. He's not the first person to snap and he won't be the last, either. "I think it's a guy thing. I don't know any girls who do it." Does that mean she thinks Morgana is a guy? (Well, yeah; the question is whether she thinks he is a human guy, which this doesn't answer.)
Of the Phantoms, Hibari is closest to the other Kasugayama students for obvious reasons, but also made friends with Haru, and has spoken to Yusuke more than a couple times too; his occasional weirdness is not particularly offputting to Hibari, who also gets a little intense when it comes to the arts. (If different arts.)
"Was she?" Hibari was not aware of that, though it makes some things Ren and the others had said make a bit more sense. "No, I understand that. It's not something everybody wants to do. You have to pick someone to make an offer to... but they have to pick you, too." Or, not 'you', as Morgana is making clear to her; he doesn't consider himself part of the group anymore.
"I might, though. I've talked to her before about cooking. I might see if she's still interested. But that's beside the point," she adds. "I did want to see how you were doing. But it sounds like you're doing okay... It's hard to do this stuff on your own, or with just one partner. I used to, you know."
<Pose Tracker> Morgana has posed.
Kasugayama is blessed to have a few sensitive souls there right now. Whether they'll still be there next year or not... some of them are third-years, after all. For their sakes, one hopes not.
But that's a separate issue right now. Hibari thinks blowing up and yelling is a guy thing, and that's sort of reassuring and sort of not. "I'm sure there must be some girls out there who do. But it does feel like it's way more common with guys," he replies/concedes. "We're just more confrontational most of the time."
He nods as Hibari absorbs this info about Kasumi out loud. It's getting a little easier, a little less awkward, to talk to her about it--especially when she brings up how she used to be more of a solo operator previously. "You had your gang, at least," he points out. Lower, he mutters, "It was easier when it was just a 'gang'..."
The more people there are, the harder it is to stand out. And yet, at the same time... ... ...Haru's a good friend, huh? If Hibari had remarked on that out loud, he'd have said 'good for you' and meant it. She did start out as another one of his protegees, too. In another life, in another timeline, maybe they'd be the ones partnering on their own, separate from The Phantoms.
He shakes his head. "Anyway, about Yoshizawa, it's not my place to say more. If she wants to share the details, she'll let you know," Morgana continues. His tail flicks a bit. "I'd ask you how you're doing, but if you've got enough time to come see me, I'm sure things are pretty peaceful for you right now."
Which is a good thing, in some ways. In other ways, it might just be the calm before the storm. That's got nothing to do with Morgana anymore, though--right?
"By the way, just in case Ren didn't tell you, she and I found a new Palace. We'll be the ones to take its Treasure first," he boasts. "Just you wait!"
He and Kasumi have been working on training in Mementos in preparation for challenging it again. And this time, they'll be able to make it through--without relying on Joker or anyone else.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Hibari felt guilty *because* she was bad at confrontations, and she's been thinking a bit more about this after Hana's Kingdom.
"Well, yeah. I'm sure there's some. I just don't know any," Hibari says, before considering. "Well, Ichika is pretty direct, sometimes, but she's not the same sort of... well, it's different." She's thinking maybe she was a little too binary about that...
Hibari has pretty sharp ears, but she pretends she didn't hear the last low mutter if she made it out. "Actually, I started before that," she explains. "I didn't know they had Personas, and they didn't know *I* had one, so we worked separately for a while. Months for me, though I didn't manage to do much on my own; I snuck into places and looked around and gathered some information and materials, but it's not like I ever got to the end of a Palace. I couldn't even deal with Kenzo by myself. But we didn't actually find out about each other until later. I think I actually have had Danzaburou longer than the other two, it's just that none of us knew."
How's she doing? "Busier than you think," she says, "but some of it was out here, in Tokyo." Does Morgana know about Kingdoms, or the Homonculus? Does Morgana *want* to know about them from her? She's hesitant to ask directly in case he sees it as bragging, but he surely knows something, since they were both around before he left. "But it could be worse by a long shot."
Calm before the storm, indeed...
"I heard about the Palace, but I haven't seen it. You're going to take its Treasure?" Hibari falls silent for a few moments. She's really thinking about that one. She tends to worry, and she doesn't want to see Morgana (or Yoshizawa, for that matter) hurt... and right now that worry is kicking in.
"Well," she says, "just so long as you're careful." She smiles, to try to take the sting out of it. "And I'd say that to anyone. Like I said, I haven't been there, but I heard it was weird..." And hopefully 'weird' and 'mysterious' does not mean 'extra-dangerous'.
Hibari straightens, then, or moves as if she might. "I won't keep you any longer, unless there's anything you want to talk about," she says. "But - it was good to see you again." She feels a little better, and she thinks she sees a little bit about why he bailed... but she can't see how to make things right again, at least not here and now.
<Pose Tracker> Morgana has posed.
"Yeah, Ichika's nice," Morgana agrees. Of course, he hasn't ever seen her throw down with fellow female gang members at Kasugayama--she isn't the Thorn Boss for nothing. She showed her spine at Eiji's Palace, but that's not quite the same thing either. To him, she's the kind healer of the group, just like how Haru's a kind and gallant axe-wielder. Nothing wrong with either of these images. (Maybe that's one of Morgana's problems; he tends to get an idea of someone in his head and then never update it. He's like that with Ryuji and Ann too.)
"Really? I didn't know that," Morgana utters, lifting his head when Hibari explains she'd been operating on her own, without even Ichika and Tsubasa, for a long time before they all learned about each other. It piques his interest--he'd been a solo operator too before meeting Ren and the others--and he says, "Hey... Do you like it better before, or..."
Or is it better to have a team after all? The words are on the tip of Morgana's tongue, but he hesitates, then shakes his head. "...Never mind."
She might have a guess what he was thinking, though, considering what she just pretended she didn't hear.
She's keeping busy, though, including here in Tokyo. That explains why she just happened to be in the area. He nods once. He does know about both Kingdoms and the Homunculus, but not asked, not answered.
"That's the plan," he replies with blustered confidence. There's still too much he and Kasumi don't yet know about it--including whose Palace it even belongs to--before they could do that. He said as much to Joker, though, so he may as well say as much to her too, since it's come up. His tail flicks again at her smile and reassurance. "You shouldn't spend too much time worrying about rival phantom thieves. ...but thanks."
He gets to his feet too. "Not really," he replies, affecting casualness. "You take care of yourself too, Hibari."
Her Navigator abilities might have him feeling insecure, but he finds he really does mean that. A moment later, he'll bound off into the darkening evening.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
To Hibari, who saw Ichika at Kasugayama well before she ever saw her in a Palace, Ichika seems more aggressive. More than anything else, she's protective of others... which is sort of the same, but sort of different, and may explain their different opinions of her attitude.
Did she like it better before? ...well, Morgana isn't going to finish that question, much as Hibari would like to answer it, so instead she simply says, "Yes, I was. It was pretty different..." She's happier in a group. There are practical reasons for this, sure... but more importantly, she just *likes* having others around. She's social. She's never been great on her own! Even if there were a few things she could do more easily then; it's different.
She can tell some of that confidence is bluster, but not all of it, and Morgana *has* managed this far; it's not like he's helpless, and if Yoshizawa has worked with the Phantom Thieves before, neither is she. "I don't know if we're rivals or just two teams in the same division," she says, with a slight smile. "But I was concerned about *you*, not your phantom thieving."
"Don't worry. I'll take care of myself too." She gives Morgana a brighter smile as she turns, letting him go first while she checks her phone again. "Have a good night, Morgana."
She doesn't do it yet, but once she gets on the train, she'll type out a quick note saying that she saw Morgana at the shrine, just to keep Ren up to date: he's okay, they had a chat with no loud arguments, but she didn't even bring up the possibility of coming back directly because she didn't want to push him in the moment while they were finding where they stood.