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		<title>Merilan: Created page with &quot; *&#039;&#039;&#039;Log: Your Only Constant Friend&#039;&#039;&#039; *&#039;&#039;&#039;Cast:&#039;&#039;&#039; Myunghon Yeo, Yukari Takeba *&#039;&#039;&#039;Where:&#039;&#039;&#039; The Cardboard Dragon, Hirasaka Ward *&#039;&#039;&#039;OOC Date:&#039;&#039;&#039; October 30, 2025 *&#039;&#039;&#039;IC Date:&#039;&#039;&#039; August 03, 2012 *&#039;&#039;&#039;Summary&#039;&#039;&#039;: &#039;&#039;Myunghon updates Yukari on the results of their investigation into Kirijo Group thus far... but Yukari has much more intriguing news of her own.&#039;&#039;  ----    &lt;Pose Tracker&gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed. &lt;poem&gt;     It&#039;s been a terrifying couple of days for Myung...&quot;</title>
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		<updated>2025-11-05T09:49:09Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Created page with &amp;quot; *&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Log: Your Only Constant Friend&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; *&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Cast:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; &lt;a href=&quot;/index.php/Myunghon_Yeo&quot; title=&quot;Myunghon Yeo&quot;&gt;Myunghon Yeo&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;/index.php/Yukari_Takeba&quot; title=&quot;Yukari Takeba&quot;&gt;Yukari Takeba&lt;/a&gt; *&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Where:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; The Cardboard Dragon, Hirasaka Ward *&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;OOC Date:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; October 30, 2025 *&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;IC Date:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; August 03, 2012 *&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Summary&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;: &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Myunghon updates Yukari on the results of their investigation into Kirijo Group thus far... but Yukari has much more intriguing news of her own.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;  ----    &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed. &amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;     It&amp;#039;s been a terrifying couple of days for Myung...&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;New page&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
*&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Log: Your Only Constant Friend&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&lt;br /&gt;
*&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Cast:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; [[Myunghon Yeo]], [[Yukari Takeba]]&lt;br /&gt;
*&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Where:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; The Cardboard Dragon, Hirasaka Ward&lt;br /&gt;
*&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;OOC Date:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; October 30, 2025&lt;br /&gt;
*&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;IC Date:&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039; August 03, 2012&lt;br /&gt;
*&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Summary&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;: &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Myunghon updates Yukari on the results of their investigation into Kirijo Group thus far... but Yukari has much more intriguing news of her own.&amp;#039;&amp;#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
----&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    It&amp;#039;s been a terrifying couple of days for Myunghon Yeo. The incident at the Konan warehouse has left fresh scars, both emotional and physical, given how hard a hit they took to the ribs from the oni-salesman&amp;#039;s kick. Given what he&amp;#039;s capable of doing to Akira Hayashi&amp;#039;s head, however, it&amp;#039;s probably a mercy that they only got away with bruised ribs...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    And yesterday, they had a particularly interesting meeting with Mitsuru Kirijo, which led to unexpected results. Now they&amp;#039;re going to have to thread the needle even more finely, but they did want to check up on Yukari given she was also there and wasn&amp;#039;t really able to track how she fared in the battle -- and there was an update they could give her on their... side investigation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    They&amp;#039;re taking it easy today at the Cardboard Dragon -- there are no customers once more, and by the time school hours are over, they&amp;#039;re simply seated at the couch, fish-eyed and working on something that has them in a tachyonic, intellectual trance... until the bell rings to indicate someone coming in, that is.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;Ah, Takeba-kun. Welcome, please, have a seat,&amp;quot; Merry gestures gently, not far enough gone that they can&amp;#039;t notice someone coming in. They&amp;#039;re wheezing a little, their voice a bit strained as they speak.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Yukari only wishes that they could be fresh scars, instead they still feel like open wounds. A White Chrysanthemum, left on a dried bloodstain during the Dark Hour.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She barely even knew his name, but it doesn&amp;#039;t matter. It&amp;#039;s like how you hear them talk about death tolls on the news.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s too impersonal a way to talk about people dying. It&amp;#039;s why she can&amp;#039;t watch the news anymore.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She&amp;#039;d barely gotten back to Tatsumi Port Island when... Koalas, and she turned right back around.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s a Friday, but she&amp;#039;s dressed casually today as she rings the bell, a pink tank top, a pair of flared jeans, white shoes. She&amp;#039;s really good at doing her makeup.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
One wouldn&amp;#039;t even know she&amp;#039;s been crying a lot lately when she&amp;#039;s alone.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Hey Merry. Oh, uh, sure?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She&amp;#039;s wondering if this is the type of &amp;#039;have a seat&amp;#039; where someone is being a polite host, or &amp;#039;have a seat&amp;#039; because they&amp;#039;ve got bad news.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
The interrogative maybe even carries in her tone.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;How&amp;#039;ve you been doing?&amp;quot; She asks, casually as she takes a seat and starts some small talk, because well - it feels impolite not to.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;You look pretty ah, busy?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    The makeup does look good. They haven&amp;#039;t accessed their kit in years now, though muscle memory would still be there. It feels like they put the foundation of bandages on more nowadays, lest they be confused as someone who still has any semblance of life within them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s been difficult... my ribs are still hurting, and I was advised to take the sling off, which is painful in its own right,&amp;quot; Myunghon admits. &amp;quot;But I was able to arrange for safe passage for our client.&amp;quot; They&amp;#039;re being a bit vague, but Yukari could tell they mean Hinata Hayashi, Akira&amp;#039;s sister. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m arranging for their protection, and I don&amp;#039;t foresee any troubles on that end. I also wanted to thank you for your assistance on that night.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Myunghon shakes their head as Yukari observes they look busy. &amp;quot;No, just some-- other leads. I wished to talk about Koalas. Do you want the silence field up?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Yukari would never know that Merry ever wore Makeup. It&amp;#039;s just not their vibe, in her eyes. She&amp;#039;s still trying to pin down if there&amp;#039;s some fashion movement they belong to or the like, but sometimes just thinks she&amp;#039;s being trolled.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She&amp;#039;s probably not, but she can think it!&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Ugh... sorry. I wish I could do something about that for you, but I can&amp;#039;t really.&amp;quot; She says, as if sympathetic. In a sense, she got off easy. Barely a mark on her at all.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s like insult to injury. Physical wounds would at least make it look like she &amp;#039;&amp;#039;tried&amp;#039;&amp;#039; to stop it from happening.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Oh! That&amp;#039;s good of you.&amp;quot; She says, quietly, in regards to Hinata, &amp;quot;Hopefully outside of Sumaru- I haven&amp;#039;t seen these... killers anywhere else, really.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She used to say &amp;#039;Cop Killers&amp;#039; after the attack at Ebisu beach, now it&amp;#039;s just &amp;#039;killers&amp;#039;. How do you understand people who can just... kill like that?&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Maybe she doesn&amp;#039;t want to.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;But, it was nothing really. It&amp;#039;s not like... I did anything anyway.&amp;quot; It could just be her being humble, but by her tone it&amp;#039;s probably not.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Her eyes look startled as if remembering that Silence Field up but then... &amp;quot;Please.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She&amp;#039;s got... things to talk about with her too, in that regard. But not while anyone else is potentially listening.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    It would be scandalous and baffling, if Yukari ever saw old pictures of Myorei Yukichi. Myorei Yukichi is directly equatable to &amp;amp;#42;Mitsuru&amp;amp;#42;, to use a comparison in her sphere of people. A prim, professional, conventionally attractive young woman, cultured for nothing but the crispest of business attire and meetings.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Does that make Myunghon Dehydrated Mitsuru, if Yukari ever knew?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s all right. I... well. Better a bruised rib than--&amp;quot; Myunghon does pause, trying to not let the trauma and terror creep up on them again. &amp;quot;... and you already did save my life once. I am grateful for that, still.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Outside of Sumaru, Yukari hopes, and Myunghon nods. They glance around, and then raises their hand gently--&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;Mafui.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    A column of Blue rises around them as Kudlak gestures, spindly and cunning as he typicallly appears, and the sound-muffling field rises in a small bubble around them. Myunghon immediately reaches for their tea, as if to compensate for the SP drain.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;I have a contact that used to work in witness protection... we&amp;#039;re arranging for another name and home for Hinata Hayashi. Which... still won&amp;#039;t be easy for her, but Sumaru is definitely not a place she can stay in, with how pervasive the NWO is in this city.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    A pause, as they shift their legs and try to gather themselves. &amp;quot;So you might have seen me in Tatsumi Port Island a few times this past few weeks... I&amp;#039;ve been doing a lot of interviewing of the survivors of Ten Years Ago.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    They glance aside, then does admit: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ll start with the bad news. A lot of them are pretty quiet -- some have cancelled on me at the last moment, others have an excuse that feels a little too uniform... but one pattern that did come up is that they were all compensated very well by the Kirijo Group. As I investigated further into Iwatodai, I did find that people largely didn&amp;#039;t have a large public outcry... they didn&amp;#039;t take Kirijo like an angry mob.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    A longer pause, and they look slightly awkward, then -- &amp;quot;And... well, I will also confess I did find who I believe might be your mother&amp;#039;s name amongst the list of compensated people. In case that was not... evident to you.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Scandalous and baffling are definitely the words for the idea that Merry could ever have been anything like Mitsuru Kirijo.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Whether it makes them dehydrated Mitsuru however, is up for debate!&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... Yeahhhh but... all the same.&amp;quot; She says, as if not really trying to &amp;#039;&amp;#039;worry over them&amp;#039;&amp;#039; per say, but more just &amp;#039;I&amp;#039;m worried but trying not to impose too much. &amp;quot;And I really didn&amp;#039;t do much, I mean, look at how long it took you to recover from it?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s at least, what she focuses upon. But the Silence Field rises, and Yukari is not certain she&amp;#039;ll &amp;#039;&amp;#039;ever&amp;#039;&amp;#039; get used to it.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;The... NWO?&amp;quot; Yukari asks, and pieces together some context in front of Myunghon, &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s what those people are called? ... But yeah I agree, maybe somewhere rural?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It was her suggestion to Tsubasa at least, that Hinata may be safer somewhere like that.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
And then, she sits up straighter, &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t- see you, but that&amp;#039;s probably a good thing, right?&amp;quot; Yukari says, hesitantly, like &amp;#039;If I didn&amp;#039;t spot you and you were around a lot, then you weren&amp;#039;t too conspicuous... despite always being very conspicuous&amp;#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Huh... I see.&amp;quot; Yukari doesn&amp;#039;t sound especially surprised at first, though she&amp;#039;s reining in that lack of surprise some, her expression neutral. Until Myunghon adds-&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... Geez...&amp;quot; As she lets go that attempt at neutrality and lets that anger creep in as she realizes that Myunghon must know what that means, that it&amp;#039;s pointless hiding the details any longer, &amp;quot;... it&amp;#039;s mortifying really... that she just accepts &amp;#039;&amp;#039;blood money&amp;#039;&amp;#039;...&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
What would Dad think!?&lt;br /&gt;
It doesn&amp;#039;t matter! He&amp;#039;s dead! He left us behind to-&lt;br /&gt;
Don&amp;#039;t you dare finish that...!&lt;br /&gt;
-to fend for ourselves Yukari! Of course I take their money! How else do you expect us to live!?&lt;br /&gt;
Where&amp;#039;s your PRIDE!? They took your husband from you! They took Dad!&lt;br /&gt;
... Yukari- he was in charge- you have to accept that-&lt;br /&gt;
Don&amp;#039;t even finish that statement. All I&amp;#039;m going to accept- is that you&amp;#039;ve given up on believing in Dad! Or maybe... maybe you just never did.&lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s not... like that... I just... what do you even want me to do? Throw their money back at them? Hold my head high as I work fast food? Retail?&lt;br /&gt;
... I can&amp;#039;t live with you anymore. I can&amp;#039;t even stand the sight of what you&amp;#039;ve become.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... Traitor.&amp;quot; She exhales, looking away from Myunghon as she doesn&amp;#039;t want to catch her in the crossfire of her anger, fingers curling into her palm to contain it in the dug in pain of her nails even thinking about their last &amp;#039;&amp;#039;real&amp;#039;&amp;#039; conversation all over again.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
A breath... one-two-three-four... she releases those nails. &amp;quot;Yeah... I knew. I couldn&amp;#039;t get a single one of them to talk to me. Though it doesn&amp;#039;t help that they blame Dad...&amp;quot; Pause, &amp;quot;... And me too really.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
A few years back, she had to translate a passage from the Scarlet Letter for English class. She couldn&amp;#039;t help but imagine herself as wearing one that only the survivors of that incident, those people who lost someone... could see upon her.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;It doesn&amp;#039;t surprise me they all cancelled on you too... I guess, I hoped maybe if it wasn&amp;#039;t me, they&amp;#039;d talk.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;Yes, the New World Order -- and yes, the same one from the conspiracy theories,&amp;quot; Myunghon does answer Yukari, still finding the concept a little silly. They&amp;#039;re probably just one country away from the conspiracy being the Illuminati... though they&amp;#039;re not sure that wouldn&amp;#039;t have become real from rumours too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m not being told where Hinata is headed, of course, for her safety,&amp;quot; Myunghon does admit. &amp;quot;... she did confer her thanks to us.&amp;quot; It does feel a bit cold, since it still feels like the regretful sting of failure.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Yukari admits not having spotted Merry, and there&amp;#039;s a faint smile as they admit: &amp;quot;I did wear different clothes, since I realise that the black coat stands out a lot. Though I did end up meeting Yamagishi-kun in one of my trips out, and I did touch base with Shinjiro-ssi as well.&amp;quot; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Yukari&amp;#039;s SEEN Myunghon rarely in other clothes, typically more femme, but... it&amp;#039;s a rarity! One day, it might just shock her.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    But the mention of her mother has Yukari jumping to it being blood money. She calls her traitor. The emotions are raw and difficult, and Myunghon does pause to let her process that. And Yukari reveals she&amp;#039;s been doing her own investigation too -- and been stonewalled in the same way. There&amp;#039;s a hesitant pause, but then they say:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;I did have a lead, but... it might not be what you were hoping to hear. I dug deep into the records to see just where the opinion that Eiichiro Takeba originated, and that led me to an old Sumaru TV news report. I rang up an old contact with the media to check on where their source for that report was, and... it appears to have been one of the bereaved families, acting as an anonymous tip to the media. The motive is unclear to me -- they couldn&amp;#039;t give me more than a brief explanation.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... New World Order?&amp;quot; She sounds skeptical, &amp;quot;Who would name themselves something like that? It sounds like the thing villains on an anime would call themselves or something.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Well, she&amp;#039;s not exactly &amp;#039;&amp;#039;wrong&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Hinata conferred her thanks, makes Yukari think of how Hinata&amp;#039;s situation... could make her exactly like Yukari, in many ways.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Her thanks?&amp;quot; To Yukari at least, it sounds like &amp;#039;Thanks for failing my brother.&amp;#039; &amp;quot;... She probably didn&amp;#039;t know what else to say.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It sounds a mite bitter, and for good reason, before Myunghon describes that they&amp;#039;d met Fuuka and Shinjiro... &amp;quot;Oh, they didn&amp;#039;t say anything.&amp;quot; A beat, &amp;quot;Good on them.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Much better that they didn&amp;#039;t really, even in collusion together. She&amp;#039;d rather not get caught talking about stuff like that by the ACTUAL NINJA in SEES that&amp;#039;s loyal to Mitsuru.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Indeed, this is why Yukari doesn&amp;#039;t talk about it. For one, because she&amp;#039;s used to everyone taking the side that her Dad is at fault.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
But also because... the emotions are so raw, so painful. She can&amp;#039;t help but hurt the people around her, inconveniencing them with it.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
If her feelings about her Dad are an inconvenience, it&amp;#039;s better she not say anything at all.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Myunghon&amp;#039;s information though, causes Yukari to look up and blink as if startled, &amp;quot;Not... the Kirijo Group?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
That impression of being stunned lasts a few moments longer, before it becomes suspicion, &amp;quot;Well that makes sense. A lot of people blamed him after... and when the news came out, a lot more did.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
And that blame ended up being used to hurt her and her Mom. After all, you can&amp;#039;t punish a dead man, but you can punish the people he left behind.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
...&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She looks down though for a while, as if sorting through it. &amp;quot;That doesn&amp;#039;t rule them out.&amp;quot; Yukari says finally, as if her skepticism had finally come back, &amp;quot;All it would take is them paying someone&amp;#039;s family to tip off some journalist who didn&amp;#039;t care about the facts.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She really does assume the worst of the Kirijo Group... and perhaps, for good reason. But is she really correct?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;That was my reaction as well,&amp;quot; Myunghon has a very light sigh, as if this is just the odd, stupid reality that Sumaru City exists in. &amp;quot;To be quite honest, that might be why it exists. Such secret societies are old-time rumours, after all. In America they have such theories like secret messages if you fold a dollar bill a certain way. What is to say that is not how it all faciliated itself?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Yukari reflects on how Hinata probably didn&amp;#039;t know what else to say. &amp;quot;... yeah,&amp;quot; they answer, similarly deflated. They can&amp;#039;t be more positive about it -- they did fail, in their own mind.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    But when they reveal that it isn&amp;#039;t the Kirijo Group, at least on this end, where the smear tactics started, Yukari has an understandable reaction -- and suspicion, her default narrative, comes back over it. Their lips grow thinner as they purse them gently, watching Yukari work through it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;I can&amp;#039;t rule that out, no,&amp;quot; Myunghon does admit. &amp;quot;But Takeba-kun... this suspicion isn&amp;#039;t healthy for you either. I&amp;#039;m not done -- my investigation for you will still continue, and there are many dark corners that I think the Kirijo Group is plainly involved in, such as how Evokers exist in Strega&amp;#039;s hands as you&amp;#039;ve yourself observed.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    But they do look to Yukari, voice a bit more empathic as they say: &amp;quot;But I do ask you to consider, and to not create more shadows in your mind immediately.&amp;quot; They lower their head. &amp;quot;A level of doubt keeps us in check... but an all-consuming one leaves us jumping it anything and everything and leaves us weak and drained. And I say this because I&amp;#039;m very prone to that same habit.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... Here I am, being forced to take an organization like that seriously.&amp;quot; Yukari says, in that &amp;#039;why me&amp;#039; long-suffering tone, after witnessing them kill somebody, and try to kill many others.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s a crazy messed up world.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Myunghon though notes that the suspicion isn&amp;#039;t healthy for her either. &amp;quot;&amp;#039;&amp;#039;Excuse me&amp;#039;&amp;#039;?&amp;quot; Yukari says, after a time, as Myunghon says this suspicion isn&amp;#039;t healthy for her. Sounding incredulous, and even upset.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Not &amp;#039;&amp;#039;healthy&amp;#039;&amp;#039; for me?&amp;quot; She even stands up, like Merry struck a nerve, starting to shout at such a volume that Merry is probably super glad they have Mafui up or else they&amp;#039;d hear it from the ground floor of this building.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;They killed my Dad! They recently admitted in private to us they created the &amp;#039;&amp;#039;Dark Hour&amp;#039;&amp;#039; on accident, Merry! S.E.E.S.? They told us it was to protect people, but it was really just to clean up their mess! And they didn&amp;#039;t &amp;#039;&amp;#039;tell us&amp;#039;&amp;#039; any of this on their own! I had to &amp;#039;&amp;#039;pry it out of them&amp;#039;&amp;#039;! What happened ten years ago? That was the start of it all!&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Well that&amp;#039;s uh, news. Perhaps even news to Merry. But she only found it out really recently, &amp;quot;And you&amp;#039;re telling me that I&amp;#039;m &amp;#039;&amp;#039;too suspicious&amp;#039;&amp;#039;!?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
As she remembers what Shinjiro made her do, made her calm down, made her confront Mitsuru, suggested she thought she was withholding it for a good reason.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;I&amp;#039;d say I&amp;#039;m not suspicious enough! That I&amp;#039;m giving them &amp;#039;&amp;#039;too much&amp;#039;&amp;#039; benefit of the doubt!&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    That immediate alarm hits Myunghon fast and hard, a person who&amp;#039;s always hypersensitive on messing up their social cues, always on eggshells as to how to approach people, as their words set Yukari off. They try to keep the wrenching in their gut in check and their expression gentle, still, however, as Yukari expresses her disbelief in vigorous, upset fashion.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    What Yukari says, though, is news to Myunghon -- their eyebrow raising rather high as Yukari shares that Kirijo &amp;amp;#42;did&amp;amp;#42; create the Dark Hour on accident. That&amp;#039;s really interesting -- &amp;#039;they&amp;#039;? Who did Yukari talk to? She had to pry it out of them... Merry is terribly silent at this for a moment longer.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    They decide to channel the facts, and then responds gently after a few seconds of silence, not deciding to grapple &amp;#039;too suspicious&amp;#039; or &amp;#039;not suspicious enough&amp;#039;, because that&amp;#039;s going to set Yukari off further. It hurts them, to see her so consumed like this, but they&amp;#039;re not going to be able to reach them right now, like this.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;... okay. I apologise, Takeba-kun,&amp;quot; they gently affirm. It&amp;#039;s not useful to challenge the self-destructive narrative at present. They want to revisit it when the truth is clearer, though, they file in their mind. A few more seconds.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;It is news to me that they created the Dark Hour -- and on accident, at that. What else did this person you confronted say...?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Yukari stands up straighter again in position, as if assessing what her anger did here. Looking at first still just as upset, then slowly easing off as Merry apologizes.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She closes her eyes for a moment, then- &amp;quot;Whatever, I&amp;#039;m sure you had good intentions.&amp;quot; There&amp;#039;s something just a little deflated in her own words.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Had good intentions, is basically what Shinjiro said of Mitsuru Kirijo.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
What else did they say?&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Yukari recomposes her thoughts, not yet sitting down, as she crosses her arms, then, &amp;quot;So about ten years ago, Kouetsu Kirijo was the head of the group, and he discovered that Shadows had certain properties... apparently ones that can influence time, and space. So he gathered a bunch of them together to try and create something that can... control time.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It sounds like a fantasy, to &amp;#039;&amp;#039;control time&amp;#039;&amp;#039;.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;That was... where Tartarus is now. Where their lab was. Their containment failed, and that caused the disaster... which, created the Dark Hour.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
But when you think about it, the Dark Hour itself feels like a fantasy, doesn&amp;#039;t it? A frozen, secret hour between hours, at the same time every night.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;In the aftermath, they covered it all up- and, expanded a school that was beside the lab to hide it in plain sight over the site of the disaster. That school is now ... Gekkoukan, my school.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Her eyes slide over to Merry, still with a certain intensity, &amp;quot;I asked Fuuka-chan to look into some odd things I saw on the messageboards for the school, if you go far enough back. Students collapsing... being admitted into the hospital, then never returning to school.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Her expression now changes to being pensive, but worried, &amp;quot;Turns out, that was apathy syndrome. But they covered that up too. It&amp;#039;s how no one ever traced this back to Tatsumi Port Island... because they were so good at covering it up that Apathy Syndrome only became a recognized thing a few years back.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
Suddenly, it all starts to make sense, doesn&amp;#039;t it? Though she still hasn&amp;#039;t said her source.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    Myunghon does pace themself very carefully -- because hopping to action too quickly has a tendency to escalate in people who&amp;#039;re already agitated. They are careful to keep their expression gentle and non-combative or defensive, as is their body posture (a little harder, given how reflexively they tense up, but they&amp;#039;re managing, even if their chest hurts so much right now).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    They listen to Yukari&amp;#039;s story thoughtfully, eye getting a little fish-eye in that way they turn a bit blank when they&amp;#039;re deep in thought. What she says is truly revelatory, however -- it would be extremely hard to digest for someone who isn&amp;#039;t already used to Sumaru City&amp;#039;s daily bullshit.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;So the Shadows... predated the Dark Hour?&amp;quot; Myunghon catches the implications of that story. &amp;quot;We&amp;#039;re predisposed to think that the Dark Hour produces the Shadows, and yet...&amp;quot; This does cause them to ruminate further, as they consider the story further.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    To control time.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    That&amp;#039;s so much of what anyone wants to do, isn&amp;#039;t it? To have control over their life, to wind it back to a more pleasurable, happy moment, to speed it up over unhappy moments, to stop the inevitable march of death and disease and decay.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    It is a fantasy. But it&amp;#039;s a very human fantasy.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;Mmm. I was afraid of that very scenario you described, students disappearing,&amp;quot; Myunghon confesses. &amp;quot;The NWO is no stranger to blackbagging and kidnapping people, Takeba-kun, and... they have access to Evokers as well. I have not ruled out that there is no connection between them, and the current evidence only paints a stronger picture.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    In Kirijo&amp;#039;s case, it turns out that the students disappearing was caused by Apathy Syndrome, not something more sinsister... and yet Apathy Syndrome only started when the Dark Hour did. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    ... just who is the source here? This is a goldmine of information. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Could it be...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;... thank you for sharing all this with me, Takeba-kun,&amp;quot; Myunghon does sound genuinely grateful. &amp;quot;For the next leg of my investigation, I&amp;#039;d wanted to focus on the fact that it is plain to both of us that Kirijo technology is frequently leaked to other malicious actors, such as the NWO and Strega. If I can trace the routes they deal, there may be more information there. But on that matter...&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    A pause.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;I won&amp;#039;t ask you to divulge who told you this. But I did want to check. Is this person who explained this to you a kind who would sell Evokers to those groups?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... I guess? Though they didn&amp;#039;t say how they got them. I&amp;#039;d assume some kind of technology.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She tries her best to answer how the Shadows predated the Dark Hour, but she genuinely doesn&amp;#039;t know.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It is an interesting thought though, where did they come from, before the Dark Hour?&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;I can&amp;#039;t say I really know.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s hard to believe that her Dad worked on something like that. But did he actually? Did he &amp;#039;&amp;#039;really&amp;#039;&amp;#039;?&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s ironic, Eiichiro Takeba was the head of a project to control time, and Yukari&amp;#039;s the one standing still ten years later.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... I didn&amp;#039;t hear any word of their involvement. But... I wouldn&amp;#039;t rule it out.&amp;quot; Her eyes drift up to the wall, like she&amp;#039;s thinking upon it.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s like she&amp;#039;s still somewhere else, as Myunghon thanks her... and speaks of leaks, but she snaps back to it soon enough, seeming to pick up the context quickly enough like a student not paying attention who got called on during class.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;#039;Is this person who explained this to you a kind who would sell Evokers to those groups?&amp;#039;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thank you, Takeba. Your assistance is appreciated. I will look into this matter.&lt;br /&gt;
If you&amp;#039;re out to cause trouble, then we&amp;#039;re going to have a problem eventually.&lt;br /&gt;
If she&amp;#039;s keeping secrets then it&amp;#039;s because she thinks it&amp;#039;s for a good reason.&lt;br /&gt;
It never mattered whether I wanted this power or not, only the fact that I &amp;#039;&amp;#039;had&amp;#039;&amp;#039; it!&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Maybe.&amp;quot; Yukari Takeba allows, remembering that Mitsuru said she&amp;#039;d &amp;#039;look into the Evokers&amp;#039; that they spotted with the NWO, and never said anything else to them. &amp;quot;... If they thought they had a good reason.&amp;quot; She says bitterly, as if those words were a poison pill to be swallowed.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;It is... intriguing, because a lot of what we deal with -- you just have the impression that some of these supernatural powers and spaces may very well have existed since time immemorial,&amp;quot; Myunghon admits. &amp;quot;But then you literally have the Dark Hour only existing because of corporate action, ten years ago. The assumptions don&amp;#039;t always hold.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    But Yukari&amp;#039;s answer on who her source is is...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Actually comforting, in a way, to Myunghon, because the most terrifying possibility in Myunghon&amp;#039;s head is that Yukari is approaching the one who would be actively proliferating the technology, to the NWO, to Strega, and would be part of the black labs that Yua and Remi were both sent to.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    That Yukari can admit a &amp;amp;#42;maybe&amp;amp;#42; heavily discredits that, given how suspicious Yukari is, puts them at a bit of ease as to where she&amp;#039;s gone to get her information. It was bad enough that Shinjiro had to interface with Strega to get his second Evoker, and his suppressants...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;All right. Thank you for that, Takeba-kun,&amp;quot; they say, not betraying that their aim on that question was more roundabout than the investigation. &amp;quot;... I&amp;#039;m going to drop the silence field in five seconds, okay?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... Yeah. Well, it may not be the only one.&amp;quot; Yukari says, thinking of her meeting with Ayame. &amp;quot;Maybe the SEBEC incident was the same way. Maybe.&amp;quot; She&amp;#039;s not ruling it out at least that there was something Ayame said that might be true.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
But it is true, as much as Yukari Takeba would &amp;#039;&amp;#039;love&amp;#039;&amp;#039; to say with certainty it was Mitsuru, to pin her to the wall...&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
... she&amp;#039;s not sure. She&amp;#039;s not willing to fully commit to that one yet. Because despite her suspicion, despite how much she believes her Dad was wronged.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She wants to know the truth. Not to just throw wild accusations around.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
But, there is something too, to Myunghon&amp;#039;s line of questioning even beyond that. Those who trust nobody, and nothing in this world to the point of discounting even the idea of the certainty of truth- are often the most vulnerable to manipulation.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;Five seconds... okay.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
And five seconds later...?&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
The moment the spell drops? &amp;quot;Ahaha, what the heck was that? Come on... you know I don&amp;#039;t believe in rumors like that, so why all the theatrics?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
She&amp;#039;s laughing, as if she were never angry in the first place. Apparently, she&amp;#039;d be a frighteningly good actress if she tried to be.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Myunghon Yeo has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
    Myunghon looks particularly intrigued at what Yukari says. &amp;quot;The SEBEC Incident also created a new supernatural space of its own...?&amp;quot; Now that is an intriguing factoid that they&amp;#039;re particularly interested in. For all they posit to be a Rumourmonger, Yukari certainly is no slouch at obtaining information on her own too. Perhaps she should consider the trade...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Merry has no opinions over Yukari&amp;#039;s quiet desire to kabedon Mitsuru. Maybe it will happen someday, Takeba. You just gotta keep hoping, you know? For today, they just have to be content that they could get Yukari to at least... doubt. Because that degree to which one can be paranoid of the world, and be manipulated by it is indeed exactly the place Myunghon fears Yukari is going.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    And they&amp;#039;d like to stop that, if they can.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    The spell drops, and--&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    &amp;quot;Oh, you wound me, Takeba-kun!&amp;quot; Myunghon gasps overdramatically. &amp;quot;I do tell you, the Flying Squirrel of Inaba Pass is extremely real. Many such accounts where people have had their faces hugged. It&amp;#039;s just the kind of grisly death that intrigues Sumaru City.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    A pause, and then they smile sweetly, before saying, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;d best tidy up before the day&amp;#039;s over, so we&amp;#039;ll catch up another time, okay, Takeba-kun? Thank you for coming over today.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
    Well, given how they first met, it&amp;#039;s also no surprise Merry is also a theatre kid.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
 &amp;lt;Pose Tracker&amp;gt; Yukari Takeba has posed.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s totally just a &amp;#039;Hare of Inaba&amp;#039; knockoff tale, Merry. For someone who trades in information, you&amp;#039;re surprisingly gullible, you know?&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
...&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;... Wow is it really that late already? Well, it was pretty late when I came in. Sure. See you later, Merry.&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
It&amp;#039;s a lonely train ride back. Just her and Tsu-chan. The charm her Dad got her at the Moonlight Bridge Opening ceremony has over the years been her only constant friend.&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
But, what else is new?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/poem&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Logs]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Season 1]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Season 1, Episode 1]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Merilan</name></author>
	</entry>
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