View source for 2025-11-22: The Crib Was Built With Jail Bars

*'''Log: ''' The Crib Was Built With Jail Bars
*'''Cast:''' [[Tsubasa Seki]], [[Hyousuke Suzuki]], [[Ichika Kawase]]
*'''Where:''' Eiji's Palace / Kawase Household
*'''OOC Date:''' 2025-11-22
*'''IC Date:''' Tue, Aug 14 2012 
*'''Summary''': ''Tsubasa and Hyousuke assault Eiji's Palace in search of intel, but when Tsubasa finds Cognitive Tsubasa being tortured in the backrooms, they rapidly spiral from defender to victim. Hyousuke does everything he can to get them out of there safe and in one piece -- including escorting them back to Ichika's house, alongside the details of victims they managed to steal. Ichika helps Tsubasa to cope with the grim reality of what Eiji's threatening to do... and Tsubasa helps her through the feelings that come up, too. Eiji is a terrifying man, but they're not facing him alone.''
*'''Content warning:''' Torture, domestic abuse, stalking, violence, misgendering.

----

[[Category:Logs]]
[[Category:Season 1]]
[[Category:Season 1, Episode 1]]

 MONAD: A party led by Tsubasa Seki has begun the event Eiji's Palace.

<poem>
(|========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace ===========================|)
-==== Round 1: Scale the Wall - Challenge Level 1 =============================-
| Approach Options: Proficiency or Guts                                        |
| Conditions: Skillful - Proficiency Up L1                                     |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
A steady stream of faceless yet well-dressed people goes in and out of the huge 
building ahead. Streetlights illuminate the path towards open sets of           
double-doors; the building stretches tall, boxy and white. Lovely windows with  
curtains on the inside stretch along each side of the building; huge signs      
proclaim it the Kamiya Convention Center. There's a huge glass dome at the top, 
and numerous further signs on the way in. They advertise stations and displays; 
a restaurant first, a gift shop...                                              
                                                                                
And of course, the biggest sign:                                                
                                                                                
                             Kamiya Convention Center                           
                                                                                
                             <3 The Kamiya Wedding <3                           
                                                                                
                                    Featuring:                                  
                                                                                
                          Eiji Kamiya and Ichika Kawase                         
                                                                                
                                                                                
The front doors are open wide, but there's armed guards watching them. There are
side entrances, but they're in full spotlight for the moment. However, there's a
dumpster beside a wall shrouded in shadow, and if you're good enough, you might 
just be able to climb the wall from there outright to make your way into the    
back areas right off. Whether with skill or raw bravery, the opportunity awaits!
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YFTh0Rrc18 Sleigh Bells - Rule Number One

        > hey
        > i was a dik
        > tell ya what
        > im goin 2 th palace get sum intel
        > u want in? its for ichika

        Tsubasa's terrible at apologies. They figure this is the kind of thing Hyousuke would rather do, anyway; get in a fight for someone else's sake. And if it makes them feel a bit weird, like... cut them a break, how are they ''supposed'' to meet him in the middle? Anyway, Ichika made them promise not to go ram a stick up fake Eiji's ass alone, and it's not like they ''know'' a lot of guys who can come with.

        (They kinda already excluded Akechi, on the grounds that Ichika was reluctant to ask him for help, even if his whole princely shtick is slick as hell.)

        "Okay," Tsubasa breathes out, as the two of them gather in a carpark by the Akiyoshi Building, in the middle of the afternoon. They have their phone out, and the Meta-Nav active. "She said it worked like... you need to say the name, the location, and the 'distortion'... so... Eiji Kamiya, Akiyoshi Building, Wedding Venue."

        The world shifts around them, as they're transported from the street to the outside of the Kamiya Convention Centre. "Whoa!" Phoenix exclaims -- they're ''expecting'' trouble, and trouble's expecting ''them,'' so they're already Phoenix. Their orange feathered hood is drawn up over their head and their shoulders; beneath, they're wearing traditional ninja robes, with white bandaging at their wrists, ankles, and belly. "What the hell, man?! That was so cool!"

        They pause, and add, rubbing at a shoulder: "I ain't never done that before..." They're just a ''little'' embarrassed, though. 

        "Aight, let's focus up. We gon' hafta sneak in," Phoenix advises Hyousuke, on the outskirts of the Palace. The double-doors are open, and people are streaming in, but considering the ''armed guard:'' "Front door's no good... if they know we comin', they gonna hide everythin' we could get. An' jus' remember, like..." Phoenix takes a breath, behind their dark grey witch-hat mask. "If we do meet shitty fake Eiji in here? We can't kill him, man. An' like, I get it, like... seriously, I get it. 'Fore I knew 'bout th' Dark Hour an' shit, I straight thought I blacked out in this whole violent rage this one time, I was sure if I saw him I was gonna take me knife an' shove it right in his throat. Like, I was ''dead'' sure... this guy sucks that much." Phoenix -- as Tsubasa -- chose to burn rather than have the Joker Killer slay their mother, so murder clearly isn't something they're ''generally'' cool with; perhaps it makes their anger weigh a little more.

        "But if you kill a Shadow in their Palace... they're fucked in real life, man," Phoenix relates, quietly. "Like -- it's a shit way to go. So it ain't jus'... like killin' th' weirdos in th' Dark Hour. Uh, tho' I guess there's like... lesser weirdos in here too, an' killin' ''them's'' cool?"

        Phoenix shakes their head, as they reach inside their hood. "But I got an idea, so I brought me lockpicks, an' if I'm right..." Rustle, rustle... "Sweet as," Phoenix grins, as they pull out a set of ''cognitive lockpicks.'' "C'mon, let's go up th' wall. You can hop a dumpster, yeah?" They slink around to get over to it, clambering up onto it and onto the wall, and moving over to one of the windows of the convention centre.

        Tinker, tinker... rattle, rattle... click!

        "One entry, comin' up," Phoenix declares, as they open the window up and -- give them some credit -- check to make sure no one's standing directly underneath it before they lower themself in.

 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has acted with Breaking and Entering toward Scale the Wall! Specialty!


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
Hyousuke's feelings towards Tsubasa - at that point in time, at least - were complicated. Though he'd spent a while ruminating on them, and attempting to sort them out into something that made enough sense for him to deal with, there was something in his mind that just didn't seem to budge. However, when Tsubasa asked him to come along, he didn't hesitate to send a single text back, containing only a single word - 'when.' Regardless of his feelings towards others worrying for his sake when they didn't really need to, if a friend needed him, was there really any answer he could give other than to heed the call?

He remained silent and observant as Tsubasa activated the app and went through the process. While certainly not clear on the specifics, he'd been there for the first crack at the palace - at the very least, he understood the general process. Even so, he couldn't help but be a little thrown off by the whole thing. The way the world just seemed to give way around him, how none of his senses told him anything was wrong despite everything he'd been able to perceive melting away to reveal that grand structure before him... Something out it twisted his insides like a knot.

Nevertheless, he had a job to do, bad bad gut feelings would not stand in the way of it. His 'transformation' did not have the subtlety or flair that others might have been possessed of, consisting of little more than him discarding the clothes he'd worn over the top of his disguise and placing the mask against his face, before setting the bag off to one side. He made a mental note of what few landmarks he could find - the last thing he needed was to lose those clothes. He was on a student's budget, after all.

The costume he stood proud in was a far cry from the mishmash of clothing that he'd worn before. A dark purple bodysuit - snug, though not skin-tight - formed the bulk of the outfit, highlighting the contours and curves of the muscle tone he'd spent countless hours sculpting. Padding - rubber, perhaps, or some toughened layers of fabric - covered his vitals, raising the costume just enough that those sections were somewhat more prominent than the rest. Strips of black and seams of gold served to separate the costume into sections, running across joints and embedded into each section's edges to serve as trim and accents. Meanwhile, his face was covered by a rigid plastic mask. While the frame and mouth covering were the same purple as his costume, the single lens that covered his eyes was gold - a single, mirrored, strip that shielded his scar from being seen.

"Got it. No killing." His voice was kept low, and his words short. Despite the fact that his eyes were obscured, it didn't take a genius to see that his focus was elsewhere, scanning the outside for anyone or anything that could screw their plans up before they began. "...Fucker deserves it though." He grunted, half-hoping that Tsubasa didn't hear that part. Calm and quiet though he attempted to appear, just being near the Palace was enough to set him on edge, and make his blood boil in his veins like magma.

"Where to?" Hyousuke asked, after following Tsubasa in with surprising deftness for someone with all the delicacy of a rhino. "Think he's got an office in here we can raid?"

 MONAD: Hyousuke Suzuki has acted with Guts toward Scale the Wall! Base!


<poem>
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== Scale the Wall - Round 1 ================================================-
  Hyousuke Suzuki      Guts                                   Success           
  Guts                 Base                           Fatigue: 0                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Tsubasa Seki         Proficiency                            Success           
  Breaking and Enterin Specialty                      Fatigue: 0                
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
  Starting Conditions: Skillful-2                                               
  Final Conditions: Skillful-1                                                  
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 1/6 |=    |  =====================================================-
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>

 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has drawn a new Challenge!

<poem>
(|========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace ===========================|)
-==== Round 2: The Back Rooms - Challenge Level 2 =============================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Academics                                          |
| Conditions: Boss - Add 1 Fatigue on failure., Curse - -1 to Group Roll (Per  |
| Character), and Skillful - Proficiency Up L1                                 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
Finding a side entrance or a service door, one can find a way into the Back     
Rooms. Screams rip periodically out of grates and rooms here in the back. It's  
dingy, dreary, and dark here, full of doors to apparently nowhere and pitfalls  
to the depths. Falling through one requires a laborious trek back up the stairs.
Every time. But the finery and glitz of the front areas, while nowhere to be    
seen here, depend upon these back rooms and the Shadows in them.                
                                                                                
Cognitions occupy each room. Unlike most of the Cognitions here, they don't have
blank faces; their faces are flowers with beautiful golden petals. Some are     
seated on beds, mostly naked; some are in maid outfits, cleaning the rooms. All 
of them seem unhappy with their lot, and all of them are chained at the ankle to
their work station. And then there's the ones who are being actively tortured!  
                                                                                
It's a stressful area... but you can listen in on some of the ''front'' rooms from
here, too. Alternately, if you can map your way out, you might have a powerful  
advantage in the rest of the Palace...                                          
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>


 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        No argument there; Phoenix thinks there are a lot of things Eiji deserves, and a lot of them would get them in trouble if they said them around Officer Shimizu.

        "You look good, man," Phoenix adds, quietly, as they're working on the window. In they go, and...

        "I'unno, man," Phoenix says, as they look around what's clearly the ''service'' part of the Convention Centre -- there are no guests ''here.'' "Maybe there's an office in one a these doors..?"

        Phoenix tries a door, and finds it locked; luckily, thanks to their lockpicks, it isn't locked for long. They make their way into another room -- this one darker, as if they didn't ''need'' to bother lighting it.

        But then -- "Shit, what was that?!" Phoenix barks, as they hear the distant sound of someone being ''struck,'' as they hurry through this darker room to wrench open another door, to run into --

        It's a hall of horrors. Phoenix opens a door, sights a woman draped over a bed, and slams the door shut quickly; when another reveals a maid with her ankle chained, they evict that room quickly, too. The impacts, they find, are coming from a scarred woman on a rack, the dark room interrupted now and then with flash photography. It's not easy to see in here -- to see the details -- it takes them a moment, staring in horror, to realise what kind of scars they are, the kind of scars which leave her with scarce little hair upon her head.

        It is fortunate that much of Phoenix's skin is covered; that the only sign of ''their'' massive burning is the part of their cheeks left unveiled.

        The white and gold flower on her face -- like all the other women here -- is turned in one direction, and doesn't shift, even under the lash. She has no mouth; she cannot scream.

        And in Eiji's twisted consciousness, yes -- she is notably a ''she.''

        "that's..."

        Phoenix claps their hand over their mouth, before ''they'' can scream, and slam the door shut as they flee down the hall in what can charitably be called a ''blind panic.''

 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has acted with Academics toward The Back Rooms! Base!


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
Hyousuke felt many things just from straining his ears in that godforsaken place. Sadness filled him as much as shock did, and despair lingered pervaded every corner of his mind. But, above everything else, was rage. Though hidden by his mask, and kept in check by his focus on the task at hand, the creaking of his gloves and the twisting of the skin on his face spoke volumes. That was to say nothing of the quiet growl that rumbled through his throat. Muffled though it was, anyone straining their ears enough could have heard that barely-concealed fury in him.

His muscles strained against his will. Every step he took, Hyousuke had to remind himself that they weren't real people. They were the manifestations of someone else's will - there was no point in helping them. Yet he screamed at himself to do something - anything - to bring the whole thing crashing down on that wretched creature that had dreamt something so appalling up. Yet, though his rage burned in him like a wildfire, the shock - cold and sudden - of what lay in the room Tsubasa opened was enough to stifle it, and stop him dead in his tracks.

"Tsubasa!" He called out, hand reaching out as if he could stop them from running with just that. It took him only a split second to run after them, stealth and caution be damned. Everything else was shut away as he bolted towards them, feet pounding the floor in a half-panicked frenzy, until he could finally catch up to them enough to speak. "Tsubasa. I'm here." He didn't know how to comfort others. Hell, he didn't know how to comfort himself most of the time. But it was just them there, and he'd be damned if he let them go through it without at least *trying* to help. "I need you to breathe for me. In, and out."

It was an old and hackneyed technique, but it was all he knew and it was all he had. He hoped, with every fibre of his being, that it was enough.
 MONAD: Hyousuke Suzuki has acted with Bravado toward The Back Rooms! Bravery and Focus!


<poem>
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== The Back Rooms - Round 2 ================================================-
  Hyousuke Suzuki      Guts                                   Success           
  Bravado              Bravery and Focus              Fatigue: 0                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Tsubasa Seki         Academics                              Success           
  Academics            Base                           Fatigue: 0                
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
  Starting Conditions: Boss-0, Curse-0, and Skillful-1                          
  Final Conditions:                                                             
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 2/6 |==   |  =====================================================-
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>
 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has drawn a new Challenge!

<poem>
(|========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace ===========================|)
-==== Round 3: Safe Room Planning - Challenge Level 3 =========================-
| Approach Options: Understanding or Proficiency                               |
| Conditions: Checkpoint - Cleanse all negative conditions. and Fairy -        |
| Subtract 1 Fatigue on success.                                               |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
This Safe Room is a space of relatively normal Cognition, insulated from the    
Distortion of the rest of the Palace. It's a nice hotel room with nobody in it; 
there's a bed to relax on, a restroom if you want to risk it in here, a         
mini-fridge... Who gets charged for the minibar, anyway? (No underage drinking, 
kids!)                                                                          
                                                                                
But there is more than plush carpet, air conditioning, and a balcony. There's   
your party, for one, and you may be able to have success in revitalizing them by
taking stock and listening to how they feel about all this so far. Alternately, 
you could make a plan for tackling the rest of the Palace. Either way, you      
should be sure to use this reprieve wisely.                                     
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>


 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        Phoenix -- Tsubasa, though thankfully none of the cognitions will make the connection just from Hyousuke calling out their name -- doesn't quite manage to stop running until Hyousuke gets in ''front'' of them. "Buh -- that's --" they start, their breath shallow and panicked.

        It's at least easy for Hyousuke to steer them over to a strangely warping door, the horrible dark of the hall briefly intercut with a perfectly normal and well-lit door; the Safe Room, aptly named.

        Phoenix sits, there, and tries their best to focus on that breathing. In, out, in, out -- and Hyousuke might be the kind of sharp to notice that Phoenix's in-breaths aren't as deep or held as long as most people's ought to be.

        They do not sit on the bed, though. They'll just... plant their ass on the desk.

        "... Ichika... told me Eiji was lookin' to... make me disappear," Phoenix relates, slowly. "I laughed, y'know? I was like... no one would pay for a mug like mine, c'mon!... but that... that woman, she was..."

        Phoenix's voice is very quiet. "... must be what he thinks a me. In his head... I'm already outta th' picture... an'..." A long pause, "... here."

        It's one word, but it really encapsulates it all.

        They take another huffing breath, and stand up off of the desk. "I... I'm cool," they decide, finally. "It -- it ain't real or -- or nothin'. It ain't what's gonna -- ain't happened. E-even if it did, she promised she'd come find me, y'know...? Wouldn't jus' let me rot here... s-so..."

        Phoenix straightens up, and nods, firmly. "... sorry, man. We can keep goin'."

 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has acted with Understanding toward Safe Room Planning! Base!


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
Only when they'd reached a room with some semblance of calm did Hyousuke realise his error. Silently, he chided himself for such a grave error, and quietly resolved to keep it in mind, no matter how panicked he might have been. For the time being, however, there were more important things to deal with. He said nothing as Tsubasa spoke, choosing instead to stand within arm's reach, his mask removed just for the moment. The last thing he wanted was for his friend to be looking into some unfeeling, faceless, mass of plastic and fabric.

He moved to leave as they did, but offered what he hoped to be consoling words.
"We'll win this." He said, his voice low, but firm. Conviction was writ clear on his face - every word he spoke, he meant. "We're going to take this piece of shit down, and you and Ichika aren't ever gonna have to worry about him again." Hyousuke all but spat the last of his words. So laced with acid were they, that to speak them almost burnt his tongue. Fury tinged his conviction, smouldering in his eyes like bright embers, even as he replaced the mask.

"And don't apologise for anything. *He* did this, not you. And we're gonna make him sorry he was ever fucking born." Though the mask covered his mouth, his voice was no weaker for it. In fact, some might have seen the rolling of his shoulders and the cracking of his knuckles as lending strength to his words. He was ready to back his claims up with every fibre of force and strength he could muster. "...Let's head out." Hyousuke said, after a moment to gather his thoughts. "Want me to take the lead?"


 MONAD: Hyousuke Suzuki has acted with Warmup toward Safe Room Planning! Diligence and Focus!

<poem>
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== Safe Room Planning - Round 3 ============================================-
  Hyousuke Suzuki      Proficiency                            Success           
  Warmup               Diligence and Focus            Fatigue: 0                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Tsubasa Seki         Understanding                          Failure           
  Understanding        Base                           Fatigue: 1                
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
  Starting Conditions: Checkpoint-0 and Fairy-0                                 
  Final Conditions:                                                             
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 3/6 |===  |  =====================================================-
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>
 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has drawn a new Challenge!


<poem>
(|========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace ===========================|)
-==== Round 4: The Ringbearer - Challenge Level 1 =============================-
| Approach Options: Understanding or Charm                                     |
| Conditions: Bothersome - Charm Down L1, Box - Add 1 Item''Money''Gear., and    |
| Kind - Understanding Up L2                                                   |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
Up high above the ground, you've made your way into a room of white walls and   
beige carpet that looks to be a nice dining room. That's nice and all, but      
before you can stuff your face full of Shadow food to restore your energy, the  
group will see a problem: a young boy Cognition. He is currently crying! He's   
got dark hair and and a blank face and an adorable tuxedo. A note on his blank  
face reads 'Cousin'. And he's talking in a distorted, generic voice about...    
                                                                                
"W-what if I do it wrong!? I haven't even seen the ring yet and they won't let  
me practice and Cousin Eiji is counting on me and--and--"                       
                                                                                
He's the Ringbearer, and if you don't bring him some peace, he's going to start 
crying really loudly--and might think to report the strange people in the       
room...                                                                         
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        Masks and flowers aren't that dissimilar. It's a good instinct, at least in that first bit of recovery.

        "This piece a shit... he preys on no-hopers like me," Phoenix relates, quietly. "Maybe most a them're prettier... but they're all the kinda folks what wouldn't get missed. The ones what don't got options, whose parents don't like, walk in early mornin' to have deep conversations 'bout how you goin'. I... ain't a huge fan, y'know... 'bout examinin' me position. Thinkin'... all them rooms, they all..."

        Phoenix shakes their head. If they were left to their own devices, they'd certainly get pulled right back into that mire of horrors; luckily, Hyousuke's here to pull them out. "You're right, y'know?" They insist, though they're still ''shaken.'' "We're bringin' this fuck down. She ain't... gon' have ta look over her shoulder no more."

        And Phoenix will have to look over theirs... well, a little less.

        "... you right," they add, as they straighten themself out, too. "I ain't -- done nothin'. ''He'' done it." But Hyousuke has more force than they can muster, for the moment, so Phoenix pauses for a moment... and nods. "Yeah... reckon that's for th' best."

        Hyousuke can lead them out of the backrooms and into areas of the Convention Hall where people ''want'' to tread -- well, the kinds of people who one would be more comfortable sharing a car ride with, anyway. It's a nice dining room, but...

        There's a boy, with a tag on his blank face, and apparently ''that'' kind of mask is still perfectly capable of screaming. Indeed: that's the entire problem. The CHILD is going to start CRYING.

        Phoenix looks at Hyousuke, and hisses, in a low, panicked voice: "I don't know shit about kids, man!!!"

        They take a step back, and turn to the tables full of food. "Shit, shit," they mutter, under their breath, as they look through everything. "Uh..."

        Phoenix grabs one of the bouquets from the dining table, and hastily unwraps the wire holding the flowers together before re-winding it in the rough shape of a ring. "Got it!" They declare, as they make their way over to the kid. "H... hey, cousin! Here's a practice ring, so don't cry, little buddy! You can... do it? Uh, I mean, you can totally do it!"

        this is so weird what the fuck aaaaaaaaaaa

 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has acted with Understanding toward The Ringbearer! Base!


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
Hyousuke didn't say anything in response. The closest Tsubasa got was a grunt, and a firm nod. It was not a dismissal of what they'd said - far from it. Hyousuke simply had nothing to add that they'd not already said, or been thinking. To his mind, all that was left was to keep going. Nerves steeled, anger flaring deep in his soul, and his focus honed in on the goal, Hyousuke did as he said, and took the lead. Steady, confident, strides filled the hall, the sounds echoing off the walls as he made his way towards the next section, gaze cast back once in a while. He pretended it was just so that he could keep an eye out for wayward shadows, but in truth, he was worried for Tsubasa - far more than for himself, at least.

Fists clenched and guard up, he readied himself for whatever foe awaited them in the next room. Quick eyes darted about the room, scanning for anything hostile, latching onto every corner and shadow that could've hidden someone waiting to jump them. What he found was far more disconcerting than any hostile Shadow - it was a child. A scared, crying, panicking child that he had no idea how to talk to. Hyousuke remained quiet and moved steadily, hoping it gave the illusion that he knew what he was supposed to be doing, but the truth remained that he was just as clueless as Tsubasa.

He glanced at them with frantic eyes in the hope that they'd been able to think of something. Between the two of them, he was fairly certain they were the brains - he certainly wasn't. But when he heard uncertainty, and thought of what consequences there'd be if a gang of Shadows swarmed them in a tight space, Hyousuke couldn't help but intervene. He stepped forward just enough to be at arm's length, then dropped slowly down until he was squatting at eye level. Arms in, legs together, and back arched a little, his profile was smaller, and hopefully less intimidating.

If it worked for animals he wanted to pet, perhaps it could work for a child he wanted to comfort.

"They're right kid, you got this." He gave the sunniest grin he could, despite the fact that his face was little more than a mass of matte and mirrored plastic at that point. "Just keep your back straight and keep walking, and they'll love it." Was that encouraging? He hoped it was encouraging. He hoped he *sounded* encouraging, even if he didn't feel particularly confident about it.
 MONAD: Hyousuke Suzuki has acted with Charm toward The Ringbearer! Base!


<poem>
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== The Ringbearer - Round 4 ================================================-
  Hyousuke Suzuki      Charm                                  Success           
  Charm                Base                           Fatigue: 0                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Tsubasa Seki         Understanding                          Failure           
  Understanding        Base                           Fatigue: 2                
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
  Starting Conditions: Bothersome-2, Box-0, and Kind-2                          
  Final Conditions: Bothersome-1 and Kind-1                                     
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 4/6 |==== |  =====================================================-
-==== Loot So Far: ============================================================-
  Items: 1, Money: 1, Gear: 0                                                   
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>

 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has drawn a new Challenge!

<poem>
(|========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace ===========================|)
-==== Round 5: The Perfect Gift - Challenge Level 2 ===========================-
| Approach Options: Understanding or Charm                                     |
| Conditions: Bothersome - Charm Down L1, Chest - Add 2 Item''Money''Gear., Kind |
| - Understanding Up L2, Scary - Guts Down L1, and Stony - Understanding Down  |
| L2                                                                           |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
Piles and piles of wrapped gifts lay on the table in this next room, reached by 
whatever means you used to come to such a high floor. Right above is the top    
floor, where the groom and bride have their suites. But here? Here there are    
presents, and Cognitions fighting over which ones they get to give. It's not    
Shadow violence; it's just good old-fashioned fisticuffs. Can you calm them down
long enough to get a decent answer out of them?                                 
                                                                                
More to the point, can you convince them to tell you which present will get you 
past the guard on the top floor?                                                
                                                                                
It probably isn't the rice cooker. But you might be able to take some nice stuff
for yourself while you're at it...                                              
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        Hyousuke's concern, to be fair, isn't misplaced in the slightest. This is just like that night in the alleyway when Hajime and Eiji ambushed them -- and Tsubasa had been ''so sure'' they'd be cool and keep Ichika safe, only to not even be able to lay a finger on Eiji through their own tears.

        ... they just don't take their own feelings into account with this sort of thing. Isn't Ichika supposed to be the one who matters here?

        Eiji's 'Cousin' turns his head up to regard Phoenix, though of course they have no face to see them. "I can't practice with this!" He cries. "It's garbage! Cousin Eiji needs something WAY WAY betterrrrrrr!!"

        Phoenix takes a half step back, "uh -- h-hey, don't --", and that gives Hyousuke the opportunity to crouch down, instead.

        "H...huh?" The tiny cognition wipes at the blank space where his cheek ought to be, when he looks to Hyousuke. "So that's how I'm supposed to do it? T-thank goodness... I couldn't find Cousin Eiji, so no one could tell me what to do! Okay... okay, back straight, keep walking... like this?!" He straightens up, as if someone had just jammed a pole into his spine, and walks Very Seriously out of the room.

        "..." Phoenix's lips part, as they watch the boy march off. "Huh," they remark, nonplussed. "Nice work, man."

        They proceed to sneak off further up into the Hall -- and Phoenix is ''still'' letting Hyousuke go first, because who ''knows'' what terrifying tots they're going to run into next? -- until they walk right into a brawl.

        "Okay," Phoenix says, because they are indeed the closest thing to the brains of this operation, "I know what you're thinkin', 'cuz I'm thinkin' it too, but hol' up a sec. See that top floor up there? It's under ''super'' heavy guard, man. I reckon if we get in there, we gon' find what we lookin' for. But I don't see no way to sneak in... uh..." Phoenix hesitates. "... 'less we... use th' front door?"

        They jerk a thumb back to two men who slam into the wall, entirely too occupied with punching each other to notice ''them'' as they argue about who's going to get to give the best gift. "'Pparently we get in there with a gift or some shit, but man, miss me with knowin' what the fuck this freak wants to get. Uh... these weirdos might know, tho'? So, like, I figure we got two ways to do this."

        Phoenix spreads a hand. "Either we use our, like, brilliant fuckin' orator skills to convince these guys to calm down for five seconds an' tell us what we gotta get... or we win th' fight an' ''make'' 'em tell us."

        They pause, for a single beat.

        "So. Y'know."

        With that, they turn around and haul their fist straight into the face of the guy who just won that last fight, causing him to stagger right back ''into'' the wall. "Hey, asshole!" Phoenix snaps, at his blank face. "You reckon you know how to bleed for what you wanna get?! You don't know shit, man!" They sink back a step as the man slams his fist into their shoulder, before they push forward to shove their knee into his gut and grab him by the back of his featureless head. "If you think you can beat me, I'll tell you what shit will get ya in there for sure. But if ''I'' beat ''you'' --"

        Phoenix throws him back, to the ground, before their ninja tabi comes down in a brutal ''stomp.''

        "-- you tellin' ''me'' what the dream gift is."

 MONAD: Tsubasa Seki has acted with Scar Talk toward The Perfect Gift! Empathy and Focus!


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
Hyousuke was, once again, glad for the mask. Not for any physical protection it might have provided, potent though that might have been. He was glad because it kept up the illusion that he was a cool, calm, and confident authority figure that knew what they were doing, rather than someone that was only *barely* an adult and was shocked that that had actually worked. The sight of the kid - Shadow though they may have been - was enough to break him out of his silent stupor that stopped him from properly responding to Tsubasa, however, and he straightened himself unceremoniously.
"Don't ask how I pulled that off." He said, making his way towards the next room. "I don't know either."

He'd hoped for something simple in the next room. A group of bad guys, one big bad guy, a door they'd have to kick down or search for the key to, something that they could brute force their way through with enough time. What they found was not any one of those things. What they found was... not that. It was a fight, yes, but not one that'd be easy to win. The room was full of brawling Shadows, and while he might normally have relished the chance to rip them all to shreds, it wasn't a smash-and-grab kind of job. There'd have to be finesse to it - something he didn't exactly have in spades.

Tsubasa took the lead though, and that gave him everything he needed to do something he *was* good at - standing there and looking scary. Back straight, shoulders back, and stand widened, Hyousuke blocked the light that tried to reach the supernatural being, swallowing it with his own shadow. He loomed like some stoic pillar of a man, and though his face was obscured, he scowled hard enough that there was every chance the Shadow could *feel* it through the layers of plastic. He hoped so, anyway. Looking scary was easy, playing good cop was not.

"Talk, and do it quickly." Hyousuke said, his voice stern and dangerous. "My friend's not very patient, and I don't know if I can stop them from caving your face in."
 MONAD: Hyousuke Suzuki has acted with Charm toward The Perfect Gift! Base!


 MONAD: Hyousuke Suzuki has acted with Charm toward The Perfect Gift! Base!

<poem>
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== The Perfect Gift - Round 5 ==============================================-
  Hyousuke Suzuki      Charm                                  Failure           
  Charm                Base                           Fatigue: 1                
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Tsubasa Seki         Understanding                          Success           
  Scar Talk            Empathy and Focus              Fatigue: 2                
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
  Starting Conditions: Bothersome-1, Chest-0, Kind-1, Scary-2, and Stony-2      
  Final Conditions: Scary-1 and Stony-1                                         
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 6/6 |=====|  =====================================================-
-==== Loot So Far: ============================================================-
  Items: 2, Money: 1, Gear: 1                                                   
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>

<poem>
(|========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace ===========================|)
-==== Round 6: The Missing Piece - Challenge Level 1 ==========================-
| Approach Options: None                                                       |
| Conditions: Revelation - The best result.                                    |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-                                                                                
                                                                                
                                                                                
Up the stairs...                                                                
                                                                                
Your group has secured a path to the top floor, where the groom and bride's     
suites await. There is a Safe Room in the bridal suite to return from later, a  
room even more opulent than most of the rooms here.                             
                                                                                
...Except that the bedroom is locked behind iron bars, a prison for all its silk
and feathers.                                                                   
                                                                                
A family portrait of the Kawases is here on the wall, consisting of two older   
adults who must be the mother and father, and what should be a brother and a    
sister. They are labelled: Mother, Father, Toshiaki, Ririka, and Ichika. All but
Ichika have been x'd out with red ink. There is a message scrawled below:       
                                                                                
she is only mine                                                                
                                                                                
A photo album rests on the counter of the vanity. It's open to a lovely set of  
pictures, of Ichika a little older with a child, and a woman who resembles Eiji.
                                                                                
                                                                                
'My mother and my wife, as it should have been.'                                
                                                                                
The rest of the pictures are of fake, but relatively tame family photographs.   
That's the only one in which Eiji's mother's face can be seen, though.          
                                                                                
In all the others, her face is blackened out as if by spilled ink.              
                                                                                
Additionally, there are papers: names and companies, and then the places those  
people were actually sent. The papers are sufficiently bizarre as to look       
obviously fake... but the information on them is real. You might be able to save
some people with these.                                                         
                                                                                
Final Loot: 2 Items, 1 boxes of Money, and 1 Pieces of Gear!                    
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
</poem>

 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        Hey, by ''Japan's'' standards -- at least right now -- Hyousuke's ''still'' not quite an adult. He's gotta hit the big 2-0 for that! ... he and Phoenix are definitely getting there, though. In training to ''become'' an adult. Y'know.

        An intimidating approach might not have worked if Hyousuke were here alone; ''several'' of these Shadows are shouting very intimidating things at each other. But backed up by an ally who is, ''as he speaks,'' pulling their leg back to kick the shit out of the guest some more --

        Well, he can imagine what might happen to his suggestion of a face, because he has to duck into the fetal position to ''avoid'' it.

        (And if Phoenix is all too used to this kind of violence, well -- they're a thug in a gang. This isn't actually all that different to the beatings they have to lay on rivals who step to Ichika, at school.)

        "Okay, okay!" The Shadow cries, covering his featureless head with his hands. "Just stop them from going this far, I thought we were having a gentlemanly brawl here!!"

        "Fuck off with that," Phoenix spits.

        "Eeek!!" The poor, battered guest lifts a hand to point at a gold-plated crib, its barriers the bars of a jail cell, as if to make plain that Eiji's children would suffer no less at his hands than his wife. "H-he wants that! That's what he really wants! Leave me alone!!!"

        "Of course he fuckin' does," Phoenix scoffs, as they step over him, and to the guard.

        They're at least able to keep the bile out of their voice as they tell him, "We brought the bride and groom somethin' nice," jerking a thumb back to the crib. "So, like... can we go offer our congratulations?"

        "Hmm... that will do," the guard replies, stoically.

        They are granted entry.

        Phoenix ducks into the Safe Room -- "jus' gimme a sec," and God willing, Hyousuke will pretend those retching noises from the water-closet never happened -- which handily establishes it as a point of return, before they step out to get to...

        Phoenix's hands curl to fists; they punch the wall, beside the portrait. "Fuck YOU, you piece a shit!" They exclaim, unable to restrain themself. "Ichika's ''my'' girl!" Wait, what --

        "An' I'll rip ya eyes out 'fore you touch her mom, man, she's the nicest fuckin' lady out there!!!"

        It takes them a moment to look at the other pictures... Ichika as a mother, and... "... that... his mom? Wait, ''as it shoulda been?'' Fuck him, man, he's the one who--!!"

        They rustle through the photos, briefly, before they come to something more useful. "These... these're names," Phoenix realises, as they pass some of the papers to Hyousuke. "Companies, locations... fuck, these the girls he grabbed?! Shit, man, this is what we were lookin' for!"

        Which means they've found the intel they came in here for...

        ... and they might want to get out of here before one of those guards comes to investigate Phoenix's yelling.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
A pit formed in Hyousuke's stomach the sight of the gift. The muscles in his neck tensed and twitched as his face contorted, and were one to listen closely, they might have heard the sound of his teeth scraping and crashing against each other. Rage flooded him as much as revulsion did, both of them threatening to rise from his throat. Whether they came out as scorn as as sick, he could not tell, but he kept his mouth closed for fear of finding out the hard way. They were so close to the end, and he refused to blow their cover at the final hurdle.

The urge to break the Shadow in two resided - albeit slowly - and he followed Tsubasa to the the door. He remained silent, standing tall and levelling a scornful gaze at the men guarding the door. He had plenty to say - most of it with his fists - but what little of his brain that remained capable of rational thought told him to play the part of a bodyguard. With how many gathered guests were, in his mind, likely to be rich enough to afford some manner of security, he hoped that such a sight would not have been out of place.

It was only when they reached the safe room, and Tsubasa ducked away for reasons he chose not to think too hard about, that he let anything out. No words left his lips, no bile or retching. It was a shout. Primal and guttural, wrenched from the depths of his soul like something dredged up from the lowest reaches of the ocean, it had him doubled over and throwing his palm against the wall out of fear the force of it would make him collapse. He didn't care if Tsubasa heard him. He was far past caring about anything but seeing the mission through at that point. Yet, when they emerged again, he stood as straight as his still-quivering muscles would allow, and bit back anything else he had to say.

He chose not to comment on Tsubasa's mention of Ichika being their girl either. He knew of Sakamoto, even if he'd not had the pleasure of meeting them in person, but the intricacies of interpersonal relationships did not take priority for him at that very moment. He pushed whatever thoughts and lingering feelings he had about anything but the immediate situation to the back of his mind, resolving to think on them later - Tsubasa needed their help and he sure as hell wasn't going to let them down. Even if that meant he had to postpone his own white-hot anger until they were out.

"Fucking ace." It was a curt and rather underwhelming reaction to having found a list that could save people from utterly horrific fates, but the way he spoke it said more than words could. Hyousuke had all but breathed the words out - like he was sighing in relief, or letting out a breath that tension had forced him to hold since the moment they'd set foot in the Palace. With that said, and the intel secured, his head snapped around to the exit. "Take whatever else you can, and move. Got a feeling they won't like us being in here long."

Brow furrowed and jaw clenched he inched his way to the door, hoping to hear something - anything - that could indicate the situation outside.
"Eyes forward, back straight, do NOT stop or look around. We gotta walk out here like we belong here. If shit goes sideways, run like hell and don't look back." Hyousuke never stopped to consider that Tsubasa may or may not have made similar exits after stealing something - his focus was on the mission. He also decided to leave out the part where he'd act as bait and distraction if Tsubasa needed to make a hasty exit.

He didn't need another talking-to like he'd received at the computer store.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        They gotta get the poison out. Phoenix doesn't call attention to Hyousuke's yell, either, as if they've both mutually resolved with zero words at all to not poke at those open wounds.

        It seems like Hyousuke had control of their one braincell here, though, because at least ''he'' was screaming in the ''Safe Room.'' Phoenix...

        Well, maybe they woulda if they were thinkin' straight.

        "H--hey, hang on --" Phoenix says, as they shove the documents into some unseen pocket on the inside of their hood. "Hol' on a sec! I don't reckon we gotta go out there --"

        The door handle turns. Phoenix yelps, "shit!", and grabs Hyousuke by the arm to drag him into the Safe Room just in time to avoid the guards bursting in.

        "Sorry -- sorry, man," they say, releasing him as soon as they're safely in the Safe Room. "I know ya don't like gettin' grabbed, jus', weren't no time, I panicked..."

        Phoenix takes a breath. "I reckon -- we can get around with these things," they explain, a moment later. "Like... you notice anythin' weird about this?"

        They point to the desk they were sitting on -- supposedly in the ''other'' Safe Room -- where the corded phone has been pushed aside just as their butt pushed it, despite the fact that they didn't even get close to the desk when they entered just recently. "This is the same fuckin' room, man," they say. "We were just here, but like, in that hell hall. So I'm thinkin'... maybe we jus' figure we're gonna walk out into that fuckin' hellscape, an' we go ''there'' 'steada out there with those guards?"

        They shrug. "I mean, that or it don't work an' we at least get the drop on 'em."

        Going ''back'' to that hell hall isn't Phoenix's idea of a good time, but...

        ... at least no one's going to be looking for them ''there.'' So, with a deep breath, they recall their terror, and put their hand on the handle of the door again.

        "Here we go..."

        ... as they open it up to a darkened, terrifying hall.

        "Let's... let's not stick around, man," Phoenix mutters, as they hurry down the poorly-lit Back Rooms, retracing their steps back to the room they broke into to get in here, and then out to the empty service hall.

        "Up here," they say, as they hop up and grab the window-ledge with their hands, hauling themself up by their arms with a grunt of exertion. It's not ''easy'' to lift their weight like this, but this isn't the first time they've had to do it, either.

        Conveniently, going out the way they came in means that Hyousuke can retrieve his disguise clothes!! Once he's got those in hand, Phoenix leads them out of the Palace...

        ... and ''they'' sway, as reality sways back into existence around them.

        "Fuck, man..." Tsubasa mutters, their expression drawn. "-- oh!" They reach into the pocket of their board shorts, and pull out ''those papers,'' checking them over. "Yeah, they came with us... it's all right here, man."

        Tsubasa folds them up, and tucks them back away, turning to Hyousuke. "Hey... thanks, man," they say, with a flicker of a smile. "I woulda been fucked if I did that on me own... I know I was a real prick last time, but... look, I was jus' talkin' shit 'cuz I was mad, man. Really... appreciate you comin' through for me here."

        And if he believes they're actually fine after that, they have a great bridge to sell him, too. Not too far from here, actually. Great view at night. Only involved in a ''few'' atrocities!


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
Hyousuke whipped around at the feeling of a hand grabbing him. White-knuckled fists were raised up, and were halfway to a guard before he realised that it was Tsubasa grabbing him. Even that much was only barely enough to calm him down, and it took a concerted, conscious, effort on his part to get his mind into a state where he was ready to listen properly. His lack of speech was not due to this, however, and was instead born of him listening intently and saving any questions for the end. Tsubasa clearly had a better idea, and even he wasn't foolish enough to dismiss that.

He wasn't sure how he was supposed to encourage Tsubasa. Their idea wasn't a bad one - it sure as hell beat trying to brute force their way through the lobby, or hoping nobody noticed that they clearly didn't belong. But nothing sprang to mind, save for one thing.
"Whatever happens, I'm right here. Count on it." A simple reassurance that he'd be there to lend Tsubasa his strength if it ever came to it. He wanted to say more - to DO more - but that was all he had to offer.

The back rooms instilled in Hyousuke a surge of feelings he couldn't describe, and had no intention of trying to. Yet, he could not shut anything there out. The wails of the trapped, the clanking of chains, the images in his mind of what they were subjected to - he wanted to wall of his mind, but the risk of someone happening upon them and delaying their exit at the very last moment was too much to consider. He clenched his fists and bore it, casting an eye over his shoulder as he kept pace with Tsubasa. It was perhaps not what he'd advised, but then again, they were aiming to clamber out of a window and bolt away from the premises. Trying to fit in at that point seemed rather pointless.

Exiting the Palace felt no better than entering it. The world made sense again, and all looked as it should have, but his senses still took far longer to readjust than he was comfortable with. He blinked and flexed his fingers, as if to try and assure himself that his body was still his own, and that he was still in control of his own faculties, but it still took time before he could speak without risking stumbling over his own words.
"Any time." He said, nodding as firmly as he spoke. "And don't worry about earlier. I was being kind of a dick. Let's... Let's just focus on this for now." Part of that was the same dismissal of himself that he'd pulled before. But there was insistence - urgency, even - in his voice. It was more than a simple disregard for his own wellbeing. "You gotta get that somewhere people're gonna listen to it."

He took a moment to catch his breath and drape his clothes back over his disguise. He looked scruff, to say the least, but he was a Kasu student with blonde hair and deep scar carved across his eye. Looking neat and tidy would've drawn even more attention.

"Where're you staying tonight? I'll take you there." It was a statement, not an offer, if how firmly he'd said it was any indication.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "I will," Phoenix says, when Hyousuke urges them to count on him. And as it happens, they do, because if he wasn't there to get out with them --

        -- well, they might have done something stupid at one of those doors. But they ''are'' what passes for the brains of this operation, so they've gotta think about getting out. Luckily, going out the back way involves a lot less ''acting,'' if only because there aren't many people back here.

        "Yeah..." Tsubasa says, when they are back where reality makes sense, as they look down at their pocket. "Maybe -- maybe Yeo-sama can help -- or Uchida-san, or Akechi-san? Gotta ask Ichika..."

        In those moments it takes Hyousuke to change -- Tsubasa doesn't need any, they're ''cheating'' -- they lean against a car, grasping the side of their scarred brow. Hyousuke tells them what's up, and...

        ... honestly, any protests Tsubasa could make are fake as hell, and they ''know'' that.

        "I'm, uh... I'm stayin' with Ichika over summer," they say, as they straighten up away from the car. (Thankfully, it's not one with a proximity alarm. It's 2012.) "I'll text her... you know where her place is?"

        (That text looks like, 'we did it', and then like, 'omw ur place'.)

        If Hyousuke needs directions, they'll provide them; they're pretty sure Ichika won't mind Hyousuke knowing where her folks live, under the circumstances. Thankfully, they actually have bus fare on them, this time...


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
"It's cool, I stayed a couple nights a while back."
He said it so casually and offhandedly that it was hard to interpret it as a dismissal of his time there - it truly had just been a quick visit from a friend. As nice as it had been, he didn't seem to place too much weight on it, instead looking around and trying to get a better idea of just where they were, and which bus would get them closest to the Kawase household. Were one to listen closely, they might have heard his brain overheating from the strain of it.

By some miracle - or perhaps Tsubasa giving directions where Hyousuke inevitably got them wrong - they managed to find their way to the Kawase residence. By the time he hopped off the bus, Hyousuke looked to be in a rather concerning state, despite the lack of apparent physical injuries. His stare was a little distant, his posture more slack than it should have been, and his movements were sluggish enough to point to indicate exhaustion. Yet, for all of the things that looked wrong with him, he kept his gait steady and deliberate, while his eyes focussed forward. No matter how harrowing the things he'd seen, and the danger that Eiji still posed, they at least had this victory to their name.

Hyousuke rang the doorbell, but stepped back as soon as he was sure it'd gone off. He wasn't staying there, after all - he was just dropping Tsubasa off. But, like any dutiful dog protecting someone it cared about, he did not dare to leave Tsubasa's side until he was certain that they were safe.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

>I'll be waiting.

Ichika is indeed waiting when the doorbell rings. She's dressed in a skull tanktop and black cargo pants, in house slippers because obviously. 

And that's apparent when she opens the door. "Hey," she starts, and then she looks over them both. "Tsubasa, Hyousuke-kun..." 

She considered a lot of things she could say--she certainly wonders if she should've gone with them--but--

"Are you two OK? You should come in." She steps back. 

She means ''both'' of them, but...


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        Tsubasa is in a yellow tanktop with a flower on it which they're definitely going to go and change as soon as they get inside; their boardshorts are dark orange, their hair is neon blue, their blue-and-black binder under that tank actually ties the whole thing together...

        ... and none of that really matters, because they ''look'' like they've been up for seventy-two hours straight. "I -- we got out okay," Tsubasa settles on, because they're not really ''okay.'' "Hyousuke-kun made sure, like... y'know, we got back here."

        Even if Tsubasa had to remind him what bus line to catch. That doesn't really discount his efforts, because his concern anchored them to coming ''back'' instead of going out to get in a fight and deal with their feelings in a way that was gonna get blood over these papers.

        But Ichika invites them both in, and Tsubasa turns to Hyousuke. "C'mon, Hyousuke-kun," they encourage him. "Her mom knows ya, right? So like... you oughta get some water or somethin', at least... yeah?"

        Clearly they ''were'' just talking shit back then, because they sure sound like they give a shit about him right ''now.''


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
<poem>
Hyousuke started forward a fraction of an inch. He knew he was welcome there. They were inviting him in, and it was hardly as if he was a stranger to Ichika's parents either. More, some part of him *wanted* the company. Maybe to affirm that he'd done a good job, maybe to give him a place to sit or lay while he pulled himself together, or maybe just to reassure him that he was somewhere safe. But, in that split second that followed, he thought better of it, and shook his head in a slow, solemn, manner.

"...No, I'm..." He wanted to say it was fine. That he was fine. It should've been easy too - he'd done so plenty of times before, after all. But the word caught in his throat, threatening to choke him if he didn't do something with it. "...It's fine." Hyousuke eventually managed to say. He wasn't fine. He hadn't the strength left in him to deny it, and he didn't think them stupid enough to believe him if he did. "I'll *be* fine. I just... I need some time alone." He afforded them a weak smile. That much, he could manage. "Call me if you need me again. And thanks." The last part was directed at Tsubasa, if the gaze he hauled towards them was any indication. "Couldn't have done this without you."

Before anyone had a chance to object, Hyousuke turned to make his exit. Whatever happened with the papers, he hoped to hear of. But for now, all he could think of was rest.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

Ichika can see it in Tsubasa's eyes. They got out okay. Even Hyousuke can't say he's fine, and that's something he does a lot even when he isn't. So... 

"Thanks, Hyousuke-kun." 

She'd rather he come in, but... 

"OK," she says. "But remember, it goes both ways. Call me if you're done being alone." 

Ichika worries, but... since Hyousuke is leaving, she won't call after him to insist. Instead she reaches for Tsubasa's hand. 

"Let's get you sitting down, at least."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        He'll ''be'' fine, Hyousuke says, and Tsubasa's deeply relieved he at least didn't try to say it present tense. "Okay," Tsubasa says, nodding to him. "I will. You too, y'know? And thanks, like... if it weren't for you... I really woulda been fucked in there."

        They won't stop him from making his exit, this time. It's a little hard for them to get so real with the gratitude, but... they really owe it to him, they think.

        Hoping that Hyousuke is at least off to get some rest of his own, Tsubasa takes Ichika's hand, letting her guide them in. "... sure."

        Maybe somewhere private. This is seriously the world's worst-timed shirt.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

"Thanks," Ichika says again to Hyousuke after Tsubasa. She really appreciates him in the moment. They both owe him, if it went down like Tsubasa said. ...And besides, she's glad he's alive, too. 

Ichika walks up, avoiding the kitchen area to bring Tsubasa back to her room, instead. "Mom!" she calls. "I'm going up with Tsubasa!" 

"All right!" she calls back. 

Ichika leads Tsubasa into her room and... 

She winces, looking at the shirt Tsubasa is wearing. "You, uh..." 

"You went to the Palace, huh...?" 

It's uncomfortable. "Are you... ok?"


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        It's at least late enough in the afternoon that Tsubasa's already had lunch! And ''helped'' with lunch, at that, even if they weren't very confident in doing much. They were a big fan of Ichika's efforts!

        Now, though, Ichika looks at their shirt, and Tsubasa just kind of leans forward and strips it off overhead and tosses it into the corner. This isn't as scandalous as it sounds like, because they have their binder on, under there, like a secret ''second'' tank top they were keeping in reserve; still, all that really means is that it feels less transgressive, which is the binder working as intended.

        (It's a double standard!)

        "Yeah," Tsubasa says, going over to slump down on the bed. "Like I said I would."

        They look down, at their knees.

        "... no," Tsubasa says, quietly.

        "But, look -- we grabbed this."

        They grab the papers from their pocket, unfolding and smoothing them out. Names. Locations. "Some a his... victims. I'll check th' details, but... I reckon it's all legit. You think... I can get this shit to Yeo-sama? Or, like... Uchida-san, or Akechi-san, or someone? Gettin' people outta that shit's... above my pay grade, like, I can break into a joint, but..."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

"Sorry," Ichika says. "I mean, I know you'd do what you said," she clarifies. 

Lunch was great! Ichika learned a lot, and was happy to cook with her mother and Tsubasa. It gave her good feelings all afternoon... even when Tsubasa decided to go to the Palace, for a while. 

But they're... 

"That's OK," Ichika says. "I wouldn't be either." 

She looks at the papers when Tsubasa hands them over, though she wants to be looking at Tsubasa instead--until she sees what they are. "Whoa..." 

"Yeah!" Ichika says. "Yeo-san, Uchida-san... Akechi-san, yeah. And we've got somebody who can work on it, too--Hibari?" 

"Between everybody we can definitely do it. This is great, Tsubasa."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "No-- no, it's cool, it's... findin' what to say, right?" Tsubasa shakes their head, correcting themself, when Ichika apologises.

        But they do smile, briefly, when Ichika recognises what the papers could mean. "You reckon?" They ask, when she mentions Hibari. "I was worried 'bout gettin' her wrapped up in, like, ''real'' real bad shit, y'know, like..." There are some aspects of gang life Hibari prefers to keep a little distance from; Tsubasa never offers ''her'' a beer. It might make sense, then, that they wouldn't push her into Eiji's business. "... but man, I reckon she's the only one who'd know what's up with some a this shit."

        (Hibari does, after all, know ''everyone's'' business. For someone to be declared a missing person officially, they need to have been missed at ''all''... but there are more people who disappear than who are reported missing.)

        "But that's great," Tsubasa smiles, though their expression's a bit thin. "... you want me to handle it, or do you wanna do it? Either's cool, Ichika."

        They know she doesn't just want to be an observer, here.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

"Yeah," Ichika answers. It's like that. 

"I do," she says, and remembers--Hibari has kept her Persona secret... so, "We can keep her away from the action and still rely on how she knows so much shit. Yeah, it's like that." 

Still... 

Ichika hands the papers back. "You can. I gave some from that last time Merry-san and everybody tried to Yeo-san, so I'm already involved. Just tell them I'm up to talk it out, too. ..This looks like even more than she got...." Referring to Hibari's alter-ego, that is. 

"Thanks," Ichika says. "This'll help people." 

She glances to the desk, where the papers could go, and back to Tsubasa. "...It was bad, huh?"


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "You think we can keep her safe?" Tsubasa asks, with the ghost of a frown. "Then... okay. Good plan." They don't know about how her Persona works, because they don't know she ''has'' one, but they ''do'' know she's firmly part of the gang's ''back row.'' They want to protect Hibari, too!!

        Tsubasa takes the papers, folding them up again and standing up to deliver them to the desk. "Cool," they nod. "I'll take down copies, so you got the info... safer if we both got it, anyway." Even if Eiji jumps them in a dark alleyway to steal it back -- can he do that??? -- he at least wouldn't be able to ''stop them'' if they were sharing it around.

        And, "... yeah." People like them.

        Tsubasa flops back onto the bed -- ''entirely'' flops, right down on their side where they curl their legs up to their chest, which is at least slightly more dignified than going into the fetal position upright.

        "yeah," they say, again, but with less tone to it, "... shoulda picked a different shirt."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

"Yeah," Ichika says. Maybe she can convince Hibari to share her identity too... Well, they'll see about that later. Right now, Tsubasa is much more immediate a concern. 

"Good idea," she says. "It's better to have copies, just in case." Of something happening to them. ...She's pretty sure Eiji can't come after them to steal it. If what she heard about the Palace and its Shadow are true, anyway. 

But... yeah. People like them. 

Ichika watches Tsubasa flop, and steps over, reaching out to put a hand on Tsubasa's upper arm, hoping the warmth of her hand will do... something. 

"...It's awful," she agrees. "You saw them, then..." 

Ichika swallows. 

"What he thinks."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "of me,"

        Tsubasa says, voice still quieting to nothing, the barest croak,

        "yeah."

        With great effort, Tsubasa shifts one of the hands hugging themself to lift up a little more, grasping Ichika's loosely. They want to apologise; the words won't come out.

        Tears sting their eyes, and at length they weep, and for long moments they won't ''stop'' weeping.

        The most uncanny part is how quiet it always is, when they're gripped by this kind of grief.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

"Of..." 

Of Tsubasa, in particular. One of the ones with the flowers was ''Tsubasa''. Ichika stares for a moment as the processes it, until she hears that bare, bare nothing of a voice, and lets her hand be taken. "Tsubasa..." 

Stepping out of her slippers, Ichika climbs onto the bed behind Tsubasa, and puts an arm around them to hug tightly close. 

"Oh, Tsubasa..."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        They're not usually arranged ''this'' way; it's more often Ichika who needs the reassurance to get to sleep, after all. But Tsubasa, all closed off and shutting down, hasn't really given her many other options.

        They do feel her arm around them, though; they stiffen, for a moment, before a miserable little noise escapes their lips and they lean back into her.

        ... it takes a long time.

        A long time of crying, silently, of feeling that worthless misery, the horror of Eiji ''finding a use'' for them -- and just what it ''was.''

        One of those photos... they recognised it. A trip which they and Ichika took to Shibuya, where they looked ''so'' good they'd ended up posting the pictures to their social media. Just, in that copy of the photo... all the background faces were painted over.

        Tsubasa's, too.

        Which is why the thing they end up saying, finally, voice cracked and worn, is this: "... gotta... lock me socials down. Reckon... he's stalkin' you through me. Shoulda been more careful."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

This is the option Ichika picked; it's fine with her. She wants to be there for Tsubasa, this time, and even if it takes a long time... 

Ichika is soft to lean into; her arms are soft, too, without the hard lines of obvious muscle someone more athletic might have. She's tough, but she's no bodybuilder. 

But she can still hold firmly, and she does. 

She hasn't been as far in as Tsubasa has, though she doesn't know that; she hasn't seen that photo album. But... 

"...?" Ichika wonders. "Fuck him," she says fiercely then. "You didn't do anything wrong. That's on him." 

Because of course; whether through Tsubasa or otherwise, he obviously is. 

"It's all on him."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "Hyousuke-kun said -- somethin' like that," Tsubasa says, voice still choked, and the horrible implication is that this isn't the ''first'' thing they've apologised for this afternoon.

        And, "Sorry," it happens again. "I oughta be takin' care a you. Jus'... need a minute."

        They reach up a hand, to grasp Ichika's, and she will find it trembling.

        "Didn't know it were -- weddins' don't got that -- what he..."

        Tsubasa trails off, and swallows. "... sick shit," they venture, first, and shakily.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

So he did. "He was right," Ichika insists. 

But that apology gets a fiercer hug and the answer, "No. Let me take care of you, too. You need it right now." 

Ichika curls her hand under Tsubasa's, hoping to pull it close so she can hold their hand and their person. 

"...It's sick," she agrees. "Really sick. What he thinks of people.. what he thinks of me. Of you." 

"It's sick, and it's wrong, and it's awful." 

"What he's doing..." 

She closes her eyes. "I hate him," she ventures, trying it on again. 

She hopes it's more unambiguously true this time.


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "Mm," Tsubasa sniffs. "M'kay." They let Ichika pull their hand close, clasped against their chest; they are easily moved.

        "I hate him, too," they say, and it's not ''just'' to support Ichika's bravery.

        And it is longer, still, before they find their voice again.

        "... I found... me. ... in the back. Jus'... even in that lightin'... could tell the me strung up there were a woman." Not a girl. The wording is deliberate. "No wig, or nothin'... was..."

        Tsubasa takes a breath, and their hand curls, into Ichika's. "She was bein' tortured," Tsubasa says, as if ''she'' wasn't Eiji's idea of ''them.'' "There was -- photos, or filmin', or somethin' -- but all it was were givin' her more scars. And... and this, flower... where her face oughta been. She never moved her head, even while they were..."

        They quiet, again.

        "In his head," they try, again, "he already got rid a me."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

It's easier, when Tsubasa hates him. Ichika wants to. She ''knows'' at least, that she won't forgive him. But is that the same thing? 

But she listens, when Tsubasa explains. "...Tsubasa..." A woman. And there was no wig. She was just... 

"..." 

"I saw the flowers too," Ichika says quietly. "What he did to those... women," she says. "And almost all of them were women, it felt like. Like that's just how he sees..." 

She shakes her head, and squeezes Tsubasa again. 

"Fuck his head," she says. "He's got surprises coming. You're ''not'' gone. And I'm... I'm not going back." 

"No matter what, he's not going to have either of us." 

Of course, he only cares about hurting Tsubasa because... 

"...I won't let him."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "Sick shit," Tsubasa affirms, again, when Ichika supposes that's how he ''sees'' them.

        (Them all.)

        Ichika insists he can't have either of them, though, and Tsubasa nods against the pillow. "Mm..."

        Another breath. "How he was... treatin' you... it made me sick. Like... literally. Like... one a th' gifts he wanted most were... like, it were a crib, but... those were jail bars, man. An'... what he wrote, it..."

        Tsubasa swallows. "It's... kinda funny," Tsubasa says, though of course it isn't ha-ha funny at all. "Hyousuke-kun was way smarter'n me... he saved his yellin' fer th' Safe Room. I... I saw those photos... like, ones I took, too... an' I jus' freaked, man. Hollerin' me fuckin' head off... stupid..."

        They pause, briefly.

        "... mighta said I was gon' rip his eyes out if he tried touchin' ya mom."

        They're not sure if they should feel bad about being so violent or not.

        "Uh, we managed to get out 'fore th' guards barged in, at least... I, uh, realised it was always th' same Safe Room, an' I got this crazy thought that, like, maybe we'd come out where we ''expected'' to come out, so I was like, 'I expect to come out in the world's worst hallway' an' somehow that ''worked''... but that's why I didn't manage to grab more'n I did." Their gaze drops to the pillow, but there's shame in their ''voice,'' too. "If I jus' kept my cool, I coulda..."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

How he was treating ''her'', Ichika reflects. But she remembers that from the palace. ...And it's awful, what Tsubasa indicates. "...He..." Another baby. But this one would live to be treated the same way. "I won't let him," she says again, more quietly and fervently, at that. 

But--

What he wrote? 

"...Tsubasa," Ichika says gently when they say they freaked. But then she hears--

"Is he after Mom, too?" This, in a much smaller voice. Tsubasa's violence doesn't get to her--it's the question that she's even... 

But they got out. "Oh..." 

Ichika doesn't dwell on the clever maneuvering of the Safe Room, other than to say, "Cool, but--" 

But-- 

"You know what happened the first time I went in there for real?" Ichika asks quietly. "I brought a bunch of friends with me. And... I lost it." 

"He started talking about how it was my fault," she says. "Because... because my little girl wasn't a ''son''. And that's why he..." 

"You see?" she says. "I freaked out, too. I fucking--I just charged him. We all barely got out at all. Because I couldn't keep my cool." 

"...So don't worry about that, OK? You both came back. That's what matters most."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        Tsubasa squeezes Ichika's hand, though they can offer her no real ''reassurance'' about everyone she loves. "I... I dunno..."

        They slip their hand out from hers, though, when she relates her own hotheadness -- but it's just so they can stroke her wrist and her arm, because in that moment they can't find the ''words'' to reassure her. "Ichika..."

        Tsubasa takes a breath. "... I remember," they say, quietly. "You told me... kinda." She had to approximate some details, but they got the gist of it, even before they had a Persona. "I... I told Hyousuke-kun what happens if you kill a Shadow in their Palace, like... how they die for real... tried to make sure he wouldn't do nothin' drastic. But I dunno if... like, if I'd seen him..."

        They grow quiet.

        "... well... woulda been a lot like th' first time I met him, I guess."

        When Tsubasa couldn't do anything.

        They squeeze at her arm, briefly. "Um... but with ya mom an' stuff... he had all these pictures. Yeah? But -- but all them -- everyone what weren't you or him -- their faces were like, scratched out, painted over, fuckin' obliverated, man. Like, in th' one with us, too... everythin' but this one photo a his mom. An' like... jus' that ''one'' photo a her, too." Tsubasa falls quiet, for a moment. "I reckon... it's his obsession. Like... like, under that family portrait a you guys, he wrote... uh..."

        Tsubasa goes quiet, again.

        "... sorry," they say, their voice small. "I dunno if... you wanna hear that."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

It helps. Ichika is soothed by that little motion. 

But Tsubasa remembers. "Yeah," she says. "And that's... good. I should want him dead," she supposes. "I should want him to suffer everything he did to anyone else. ...But..." 

She doesn't. "I'm weak," she sighs, and leans into Tsubasa a little more. 

"It's OK," she says. "I don't expect you to fix it for me." 

But, her mom... "Oh," she says. "That's... creepy." 

Everything except--

"His mom..." 

"She left when he was young," Ichika explains. And then she pauses. The 'family portrait'... 

"I..." Ichika's stomach roils a little. "I don't think I do," she says softly. "Unless it'd help you to tell me. I'll... I'll have to find out eventually, probably." 

She pauses. "But his mom... Like I said. She left when he was young. He never got over it. He used to tell me I wasn't like her. And his dad told me I was 'taking good care of him', because he didn't have a mother... so he needed me more." 

"I thought it was a compliment, back then." 

"..." 

"It was something about how he wants me to himself, wasn't it?" 

"He talked about that a lot. How it felt like we were the only people in the world..." 

"Stupid," she calls herself again. "I was so stupid."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "You're not weak," Tsubasa says, quietly. "It's... harder, when it's closer to ya, like... I didn't have to burn, y'know? If I'd just let him kill me mom... I coulda got out scot free. ... but I couldn't do it. Same as I couldn't... post nothin' to Revenge Request."

        And they affirm, when she says she doesn't want them to ''fix'' it, "Okay." They remind themself, again, that they went in there to find more evidence for ''Ichika'' to use.

        "It's okay," they assure her. "Leave it for later."

        But Ichika has evidence of her own. Eiji's mother... Tsubasa croaks, with a nauseous noise that they swallow back down into themself, bile burning their throat. They get the meaning behind both of those photos he featured together, now. They don't ''want'' to get it, but they get it.

        "Bastard," they swear, bitterly.

        And then: "... yeah. Somethin'... like that."

        Tsubasa shifts, on the bed. "Can I --" they start, planting an elbow down to turn themself around, and if Ichika doesn't put a stop to it they'll turn in the bed to face her so that ''they'' can wrap her up. (Well, in one arm; the other will have to find the one she's trapped between herself and the bed and grasp her hand.)

        "You weren't stupid," Tsubasa insists, pressing their forehead to hers. (Their wig is quite skewed on their head by now; never mind that.) "You weren't. Guys like that, they make that shit sound like it's great. Like it's romantic. Like -- you the only one what can save 'em. You know, before... before Hajime tried his sensitive shit on me, he were pullin' it with Tachibana-san? They ''practice,'' man. It's a ''tactic.''"


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

"...It's hard," Ichika agrees. "I'm... still glad you didn't do those things." 

But they'll leave that for later. Not much later, as it happens, but later. And Tsubasa makes a noise that Ichika doesn't quite understand, before Ichika hears 'bastard' again. ...It's a good word for him. 

"I figured." 

But Tsubasa asks first, and Ichika says, "All right." 

Ichika lets Tsubasa shift, and lets herself be the one wrapped for the moment. Her forehead touches Tsubasa's. 

"..." 

"I felt so special," she says. "While he was like that." 

There are tears in her eyes, going over it again. "...I believe you, though. They're both awful." 

"...You're right. He's just got us turned all up. Like it's our fault." 

"...But it hurts," Ichika says softly. "And seeing you hurt like that, I..."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "Yeah," Tsubasa says, softly.

        They feel like a bad person, because sometimes they wonder if ''not'' killing the people hurting them was stupid of them, but...

        ... but they really don't wanna be like their father.

        Tsubasa waits for Ichika to be fine with it; but when she agrees, they're the one to wrap her up, instead. She felt special...

        They can understand that. Ichika... knows how hungry they are for that kind of feeling, too.

        For the moment, Tsubasa just strokes her hair, listening to her. It's only when she trails off, unable to find the words, that they hum. "... it's fucked up," they say. "It fucked me up, too. But... I tell ya what I said to try an' get me head back in the game... after Hyousuke-kun caught up to me an' herded me inta th' Safe Room to cool off."

        They press their forehead in to hers, gently, and perhaps she can feel the scarring there. "I said... it ain't happened, an'... if it did, you promised you'd come find me. Like... you wouldn't let me jus'... rot away in a joint like that."

        Tsubasa breathes out, and they're looking at her, but at this distance all the details are blurred to nothing. "... I seriously owe him, y'know?" They add, with a touch of regret. "After all that shit I did... he still made sure I got through it... even though he was as chatty as a rock by th' end." Tsubasa can tell that Hyousuke shutting up doesn't mean he's stopped ''feeling'' things, though.

        "So... I ain't... gon' say I ain't scared or nothin', but... I ain't on my own with this shit. Neither're you," they add, as gently as their scratchy throat can manage. "We gon' be okay, Ichika."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

Ichika does know that. 

"Mm?" Ichika wonders. When he caught up to them, and... 

Ichika does feel the scarring there. She opens her eyes again, to look into Tsubasa's. "I promised," Ichika reiterates softly. 

"He got me out too, back then," Ichika admits. "...But that's just how he is. What are we going to do about him?" she sighs. 

...But that's not the question of the moment. 

She looks at Tsubasa again, too close to focus. "...Yeah," Ichika says. "Neither of us is alone, here." 

"We'll be okay." 

"...We will."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        "When you say it... I believe you."

        It's not easy, for Tsubasa. They've been abandoned enough times over their lifetime that it feels like a foregone conclusion; that of course what they have is ''conditional.'' It is no simple thing for them to believe someone would come to save them -- when until quite recently -- no one has.

        ... the events of the past year have helped them greatly, but it's one year against seventeen more, and it just isn't that ''simple.''

        Even so -- when she says, again, that she promised -- Tsubasa's not lying to her. They ''believe'' that. They can visualise it, in their head.

        As they clearly did.

        "I dunno," Tsubasa sighs, in concert with her, when Ichika worries for Hyousuke again. "But... we'll do somethin'. He's a real one, y'know?"

        And Tsubasa's not alone ''now,'' either.

        "We will," Tsubasa affirms. "Eiji's wrong. I always, like, fell through th' cracks or whatever, so it's easy for me to think it's jus' inevitable, but, like... even this mornin'... ya mom like, straight ambushed me, but like, in a nice way? Said... if I had some problem or whatever, I could ask her, like... she liked me, she was worried 'bout me an' shit. Ain't just her, neither... like, Yeo-sama an' Big Sis an' Officer Shimizu, they lookin' out fer me, too? An' like... Uchida-san would prolly notice, an'... like... so maybe me father wouldn't give a shit if I got sent to some torture dungeon, an' maybe me mom would be too blitzed out to even get it, but... there's people what'd notice, even if they couldn't do nothin' official-like. There's people would give a shit, like... adults, even."

        They pause, smoothing their hand through her hair. "An' you... you chose other guys. It ain't jus' you an' him... ain't just you an' no one, like. Hyousuke-kun draggin' both our asses out th' fire... Yeo-sama's lookin' out fer th' girls he took. You got... so much here with you, Ichika."

        Tsubasa shifts their hand down to her shoulders, so they can hug themself in closer to her. "Like me," they say. "I'm with you. I'm with you... all th' way."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
<poem>

When she says it, they believe her. Ichika manages a small smile at that. It's good to be believed. Even if, no, it isn't that ''simple''. 

"Oh..." Her mom did that. "That's cool." It makes her happy to hear that. But the others, too--all of those. And sure, not their father, or even their mother, but--

"Yeah," Ichika agrees. 

She closes her eyes at the hand through her hair, and listens. "...Mm." 

What she chose.... 

"I do," she agrees. "I really do." 

Ichika squeezes Tsubasa's hand, and hugs close to Tsubasa, too. 

"Thank you," she murmurs. 

"I love you..."


</poem>
 <Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
<poem>

        Tsubasa sighs, when Ichika pulls them in, too, still grateful for the support ''she'' can offer just the same. It isn't one-way; they're both here for each other.

        "Thank ''you,''" they murmur, in turn.

        "I love you, too..."

        Maybe having a rest before dinner is just the kind of thing they need right now.

</poem>