2025-07-02: Rescue Briefing

• Log: 2025-07-02: Rescue Briefing
• Cast: Minako Arisato, Yukari Takeba, Minato Arisato, Hitomi Mandai, Ririka Kawase, Suzume Fukura, Shizuka Kuroki
• Where: Iwatodai Dorm
• OOC Date: July 02, 2025
• IC Date: June 14, 2012
• Summary: Fuuka Yamagishi has gone missing. SEES meets to discuss the issue and finds out that while bullying is the cause, she might now be trapped in Tartarus. They plan a rescue... but questions arise about whether it is worthwhile and who should take such a terrible risk and why.

---

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

SEES has called a meeting, late in the evening -- after school -- and in response to something that they discovered: the missing student, Fuuka Yamagishi, might not be missing of mundane causes. That much has slipped; there isn't much else, though, that has.

Mitsuru Kirijo is in the war room, today. She sits at the head of the table, legs crossed, and leans back in her chair. There are two sofas around the table.

Minako Arisato sits at one. The redhead leans back, eyes scanning the room. She looks like she wants to talk -- and she does.

But Mitsuru speaks.

"We've gained some information on Fuuka Yamagishi," she says. "She went missing at our school. And while we suspected bullying, when we spoke to her teacher and students involved..."

Mitsuru fowns. "...It goes beyond that, I'm afraid."

"Beyond that in... a SEES sort of way?" Minako asks.

Mitsuru nods.

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

Yukari is here, and she's visibly uncomfortable. She's still not used to her role here in SEES, but it goes further than that...
 
... after all, Mitsuru Kirijo is leading the meeting here...
 
"Do you mean how those girls collapsed and... Moriyama-san confessed to locking her in the gym?"
 
They had been investigating it - Yukari in particular as part of a dare following the great Junpei's 'Believe it... or don't.' incident.
 
In order to prove that she aint afraid of no ghosts! Even when she obviously is... but it went further than that.
 
And now they're here.
 
"It did seem pretty strange... how it all seemed connected."
 
She was suspicious that the supernatural might actually be involved, but she's not quite certain she sees how.
 
Attacked by Shadows, maybe? But wouldn't that mean Yamagishi-san is...

... suddenly she looks skeptical that she might be alive at all, after that.

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    Minato Arisato sits at the other couch. Earlier that day, he'd upset Yukari with how blank he was about Fuuka's disappearance -- and now, just as Mitsuru asked, he's here.

    "You said... Yamagishi-san most likely hasn't left the building since she disappeared, right?" Minato repeats what Mitsuru said, back then, with his same bland tone. (For the benefit of the crowd, you see.)

    "So..."

    If she hasn't left Gekkoukan since then -- there's only one place she could have gone.

Shizuka Kuroki has arrived from Historia: The White Chronicle.
GRID: Shizuka Kuroki has joined Minato Arisato.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
Hitomi Mandai sits. She sits, in fact, *straight*.

Now, straight is relative, as anyone involved in girls' comics can tell you; however, in this case it is more that Hitomi is making an effort but retains a sort of chronic tonic slouchinness to herself, as if the pull of gravity is especially hard on her.

Her eyes meet Minako's for a moment, then she looks towards Mitsuru. One hand comes up to scratch the side of her neck as she says, "... Do you think she did the Mementos thing?"

It's a forlorn thought. A hope. Maybe. Because what Yukari says makes her frown. Her eyes turn back to Minato. She has no further answer.

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka takes a deep breath as she steps into the War Room. Moving to the dorm has been... an adjustment. Heck, just dealing with the knowledge of the supernatural in general and the Dark Hour in particular is still rather a lot.

She's been friendly enough, but... maybe not as outgoing, as she normally might be. She's still feeling her way around. And when she heard there was a meeting, well...

Surely this wouldn't be for pleasant news, would it?

She's seated on a couch, fingertips tapping a quiet, steady rhythm on the arm. (Steady but not monotonous--it feels more like she's following along with some kind of melody.)

She listens, frowning as there's mention of a missing student. She looks to Minato as he says 'So...' "You're not suggesting..."

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume is perhaps the newest of the SEES members, having been 'recruited' from Mementos not quite two weeks ago. She's never been involved in a big group meeting like this for big group plans and has absolutely no idea what to expect from it.

She's pulled one of the chairs from the dining room and is sitting in it backwards, straddling the seat with her arms resting on the back. It doesn't quite work for her; her parents would give her absolute shit for sitting on the chair that way (though at least she isn't wearing a skirt; she's inside the dorms so she can wear her old comfy jeans, take THAT) and she's too short to comfortably rest her arms on the back without it looking a little silly.

(This is her way of reminding herself not to slouch, maybe. If she slouches her head is going to vanish behind her arms.)

"Yeah, she wasn't in class today," Suzume confirms; she is in 2-E, after all. "Or yesterday. I didn't know to keep an eye out before that and it's not like we're friends. But missing? I figured she was sick." She swings one of her feet absently, just skimming the floor with a toetip.

If she's missing and SEES is involved... "You think she did the Mementos dare?" she replies to Hitomi. "I don't think she's brave enough to try it."

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Shizuka leans against the back of one of the sofas, biting at her thumbnail as she listens. Geez, two people in trouble in almost as many days...SEES was working overtime lately. She didn't want to think of what could have happened to Fuuka. A horrible fate, but...
 
      As Mitsuru and Minato clue through it, the realization hits. It seems so obvious, but so terrible that it hadn't even warranted thinking about! She stiffens up and looks over to Mitsuru.
 
      "...she's in Tartarus, isn't she?"
 
      Someone has to actually say it.

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"They were boasting about bullying her," Minako says, with a frown. "Takeba-chan and I ran into them. It was awful."

Mitsuru looks at Minako, then at Yukari, and then she nods her head. "That's right. They locked her in the gym -- and they did bully her, make no mistake." Her eyes narrow. "Despicable behavior..."

Then, she looks at Hitomi. "I don't think so, Mandai-san." She shakes her head. She looks at Suzume. "And I don't think so. I read over her student file, and... I don't think it's likely."

Mitsuru pauses, before she smiles at Suzume. "I mean no offense, Fukura-san."

Minato points out that there is only one place that Fuuka Yamagishi could have gone. His sister looks at him -- and she draws in a sharp breath. She didn't quite pick up on that. "Minato-kun, you don't mean..." She frowns, then looks down.

"That's right," Mitsuru finishes, with a glance at Ririka. "She was in the gym, when the school changed to Tartarus during Dark Hour. And since she disappeared..."

Mitsuru closes her eyes. Her voice is firm, but soft. "Yes, Kuroki-san. We think she must be in Tartarus."

Minako looks up, sharply, at that. Her red eyes come into focus -- looking first at her brother, then at the others, each in turn. "We have to go after her," she says. "If there's any chance she is alive..."

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

Yukari nods as if to confirm with Minako what she saw. Then as Mitsuru notes what she did, "... Well she seems sorry now, about it... but... what she did was pretty awful."
 
She isn't entirely unsympathetic to Natsuki, but right now she just can't deal with comforting someone like that.
 
She looks between Ririka, Suzume, and Hitomi as they offer their own theories, then Minato's implication and...
 
... she's shocked at the thought...
 
"... there's no way right? We'd know if that kind of thing happened..."
 
Someone would have disappeared by now??? Right? Yukari looks to Mitsuru as if for confirmation and...
 
... Mitsuru confirms it.
 
Yukari's expression grows more and more serious, as if trying to look for any sign from Mitsuru... that she knew this could be a thing that happens to someone in the school.
 
Minako says that they have to go after her and...
 
"Hold on!" She says to Minako abruptly, "She's been in there for days right? An ordinary person who can't use a Persona trapped in there... there's no way she could be alive."
 
She looks towards two people in particular, "Think about how close it was for Kawase-san and Fukura-san... with how many Shadows there are in Tartarus..."
 
She's not gonna repeat it again, Fuuka Yamagishi must be dead. There's no way they can save her.
 
And she knows exactly who she blames for it.

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

"You don't need to apologize to me," Suzume says. "It's true. She's a little squishy. ...I mean, she's a pushover. She doesn't do things like that." Suzume knows nothing about her physical squishibility.

Suzume doesn't, generally, bully people. She's agressive, direct, and sometimes a jerk, and she might insult people, but she doesn't make a habit of going out of her way of picking on people who can't fight back. It would never occur to her to lock someone in the gym; if she has a problem with someone she has other ways to make that clear.

She scowls. But... "Takeba-san is right." Suzume takes a few moments to say it. "I was in there - well, it felt longer but it was about an hour." And she was about to get murdered by a flock of Pixies. "And I was feeling pretty shi - bad by the end even before they showed up. Yamamoto was doing worse even before he tripped, I guess because he's in worse shape." He's not actually in bad shape.

"Meanwhile, we haven't seen *her* for days." Suzume hates saying it, but... she has to agree.

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    "Her bullies kept disappearing," Minato reports, blank in voice and gaze. "They heard a 'strange voice', and were lured away... we've brought Natsuki Moriyama here to protect her." He pauses. "Their leader," of the bullies, he must mean.

    Even though she was being so awful, they're still protecting her.

    "Ugh, her teacher was covering her disappearance up with that story," Junpei Iori, fiery SEES member with a very fine baseball cap, cuts in to add to Suzume. "Saying she was 'sick', when he knew she was missing, just to save his own hide!"

    Minato offers no comment, as people guess about the dares Fuuka might have undertaken. He met her, once, himself; he knows she's not the type for that. He still doesn't speak in her defence.

    He just nods, to Shizuka, when she speaks the conclusion out loud.

    "No way!" Junpei exclaims as he leans forward. "So Yamagishi-san's been inside Tartarus these past ten days?!"

    Akihiko Sanada, one of the third-years who formed the original SEES team alongside Mitsuru, nods to Minako. "That's right. We can't give up hope." He looks to Yukari, then, with an intense expression. "Even though it looks bleak, Tartarus only appears during the Dark Hour. If Yamagishi-san was lost in Tartarus... where do you think she goes during the day?"

    "She is nowhere," Minato cuts in, flatly. "She essentially ceases to exist during the day, I think."

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
What Suzume says makes it seem more real to Hitomi. This makes her, ironically, sag even more; her head flops forwards slightly, and she reaches up to push up her glasses again. "... It's the obvious conclusion," she answers Shizuka. "I always figured they'd go through and do a sweep everywhere just to be sure, but..."

Minako's words makes Hitomi's face pinch up, particularly around the lips. "... Hopefully we're not too late," she says, shifting round to sit upright again and plapping both of her hands onto her knees, before squirming for a moment, then she looks towards Yukari.

"... Even so," she says.

A second or two passes, before she says, "We... uh, I guess we should bring an IV, or something, in case she's really dehydrated? But..." She shifts.

Her eyes stay on the ground. "..." Then she looks up. "So it'd only be ten hours?" she says, reasoning outwards from the golden shiny wire of Hope Minato just dropped into the room.

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka glances to Suzume as she sits in that chair backwards. That doesn't look comfortable... but she'll give her points for style, maybe.

There's a small wince as Shizuka gives voice to that thought, though.

"That's terrible," she says quietly, as Minako relays what happened earlier.

She draws in a sharp breath as Mitsuru confirms it. "If she's in there, all by herself... How long could she last in there? I was just on city streets, and if I hadn't had my skateboard..." She shudders a little. The tapping of her fingers grows a little more insistent.

She looks between Akihiko and Minato. "So if that's true, for her it's only been 10 hours?" That's still not great odds, but... it's better than 10 days.

She looks to Yukari, as she voices something along the same lines as what she voicing... but with a different conclusion. "... so we shouldn't even try? Or at least check? If you'd said it was too dangerous to come after me..."

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Shizuka pulls herself up and paces, hand in her chin. "Whether it's been ten days or ten hours, we can't give up on her. We wouldn't be doing our jobs otherwise." She turns to Yukari and Ririka with a nod. "Yeah, Rika-chan's right. I was staring death in the face until the others found me..."
 
      She stops next to Akihiko lets out a thoughtful hum. "Biggest problem is, Tartarus is massive, and it's not like she went in through the entrance like we do. She could be anywhere." She was already putting two and two together and she didn't like what she was thinking. Tartarus was scary enough when you knew where you were coming in and out...

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"Yeah," Minako says. And a frown crosses her face. "I hope she learns from it."

Mitsuru looks at at Suzume -- then she nods her head once to her. She agrees with Suzume's assessment. She takes a deep breath, then, as Yukari and Suzume question it. Minako's eyes widen, as she looks between both of them.

"But--I mean, if there's any chance..." She hesitates. "...I just don't like giving up on people. I barely know Yamagishi-san, sure, but..."

"You're right, Iori-san," Mitsuru says. "What Ekoda-senpai did was unacceptable. And he will be held accountable for it."

Who knew that red eyes could be so cold?

Mitsuru looks at Akihiko -- then she nods, before she glances at Hitomi. "Yes," she says. "As Arisato-san says. It would only be ten hours. There is hope. If she managed to hide..."

She looks, then, at Shizuka. She considers the difficulty she raises for a moment. "There is a way. We normally walk into the front door. But, we shoulder enter the way she does."

"The gym!" Minako exclaims. She smiles a bit more, then. "So--we just be at the gym, in Dark Hour. Which means... we have to sneak into the school at night."

Then, Minako grins a little. "You know! Like a crime!"

"Not like a crime, Arisato-san," Mitsuru sighs.

"A little like a crime?"

Mitsuru puts her hand over her face, for just a moment.

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

Now Yukari does feel bad, because she and Minako witnessed that happening to one of them. At the time she'd written it off as a medical emergency but...
 
What good are these powers if they can't help her tell that's happening to someone when they're right NEXT to her?
 
Junpei brings up the teacher covering for her, "That Ekoda... he's the worst." She mutters. No student likes him, but this incident has made him MUCH worse in her eyes.
 
Minako says she doesn't like giving up, but... "I get that but... there's a difference between giving up and a lost cause."
 
Akihiko looks at her, with that intensity, and she looks at him for a long time, like she's not quite getting it, until Minato cuts in and explains.
 
"So are you saying... it hasn't been days?" And as Hitomi mentions it's only been ten hours then, she blinks. Then at Ririka's comment...
 
"That's different. We could hear you screaming right there - Kirijo-senpai was able to detect you. This is Tartarus...! Listen to what Fukura-san said. She was only in a space like it an hour - before she and her friend almost got killed by those horrible pixies. Ten hours... it's too long for anyone normal... and Kuroki-san is right..."
 
As she gestures at her.
 
"How will we even find her if we went looking? Kirijo-senpai has trouble enough as is directing us around in there."
 
But... Mitsuru indicates a way, "Huh... but..." Setting aside Minako's whole ENTHUSIASM for crimery, which is definitely a real word, Yukari just looks like she's not sure she's hearing this all correctly.
 
"... so you mean, we'd be going in blind without knowing where we'd end up? That's crazy! There's not even any guarantee she's alive in there!"

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume doesn't much like Ekoda either. "It's bullshit!" She doesn't bother to censor herself this time. She lets out a sustained breath that ruffles one of her bangs.

Suzume considers this for a few moments.

"Wait, hold on," Suzume says, sitting up straighter. "If she went into Tartarus when Gekkoukan turned into it, wouldn't she come back into Gekkoukan when Tartarus turned *back*? Except if she went somewhere else inside - "

A few expressions cross Suzume's face, because she watches horror movies and she just had an image of Fuuka reappearing stuck in the foundation or something. Even she isn't going to bring *that* one up though. When it's a movie, it's gross. When it's someone you've met, even if you're not friends...

But something catches her ear. "It's a bit like a crime," Suzume agrees. "But, uh..."

...

"I've done it before," she admits. "I mean, not in Gekkoukan at midnight." But she *might* have done it to skip tickets for a baseball game, a year or so ago... Perhaps sensing what is about to be Mitsuru's unblinking regard, she continues: "Anyway, I want to come. I got in Mementos and you bailed me out. If she's been in Tartarus longer..."

Suzume sets her jaw, stubborn. "I'm going to help. I don't care if you think I haven't been here long enough." It's a bit like paying them back, although that is not something she's really consciously considered. Yukari has more points, but...

"You went into Mementos without knowing where you were going to go or what's in there," she points out. "You found me but you didn't know I was in there; you did it anyway. If we can't find her, we can at least find our way back to the gym." They can sneak back out. Maybe?

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
Hitomi's eyes turn back to Mitsuru as she speaks. Hope. Ten hours is bad but they've got a good chance of -- no, Hitomi tells herself inside, of finding **Yamagishi**.

"It's totally like a crime," Hitomi tells Minako.

Then more issues come up. Yukari brings up a good point, which Suzume reasons out further. Her lips purse again. Her brow furrows at what Suzume says.

There is silence from the Mandai sector for some time as she considers. She speaks again, a little more quietly, her eyes slipping back towards the ground. "... Even if it's the worst case, we can at least bring her back," she says. She opens her mouth as if to say more, and doesn't; instead her arms cross in front of her, one hand on each elbow, as she slumps back into the couch.

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    Minako's full of hope, and Hitomi at least has a little to spare -- but Suzume is sceptical. As that rebel of a girl says they haven't seen her for days, Akihiko's teeth grit. His hand clenches to a fist, as Ririka asks how long she could last. (He wears black gloves, to protect his knuckles; he's quite the popular and esteemed boxer.) When she admits there might be a chance, he at least takes a breath -- one which is interrupted by a sharp intake of air, as Shizuka asks how they'll even find her.

    Akihiko is a spring, wound tense. Yukari's doubts are just the last... twist... of tension.

    His fist SLAMS on the desk, glaring angrily, as he snaps: "You all need to stop writing her off!"

    He pauses, then, looking around himself. He straightens up, and takes a breath. "... sorry. But I really need you to listen to Arisato-san. It's a good idea, and -- we have to try." He folds his hands together, head bowing forward. "I can't stand by and watch. If there's a chance we can save her, I don't want to regret not trying. If you won't come with me -- then Arisato-san, Fukura-san, Mandai-san and I will go on our own." They're united, at least, in their desire to help.

    (He clearly means the girl Arisato; the boy is watching all this quite impassively.)

    "But sneaking into Gekkoukan at midnight... is that really a good idea?" Junpei asks, a touch nervously. He heard Minako calling it a crime. He's not a crime boy!

    Minato offers him no explanation. He just listens, with that same blank expression.

    "That's true," he says, instead, to Hitomi. "We might find a corpse."

    He didn't need to just say it out loud like that...

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Shizuka sighs as Mitsuru utters the thoughts she was already considering. "That does make the most sense, Kirijo-san. We'd need a really solid plan of attack, though. It's already too easy to get lost in there." She waves her hand in small circles by her head to emphasize her point.
 
      "It's only a crime if we get caught, Nako-chan. Otherwise, it's just youthful mischief." Shizuka, you're not helping. You need to be a better role model.
 
      "She deserves the dignity of people knowing what happened. Even if she's dead, her family needs closure." Shizuka's tone gets a little dry in that last sentence. A tone she doesn't come up with often.

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka nods to Shizuka as her own point is validated. Though there's a little bit of a look at the nickname, she doesn't say anythinga bout that, and instead just say, quietly, "Thanks, Kuroki-senpai."

She listens to what Mitsuru proposes. "Entering the way she did makes sense, but... isn't there a chance you could get lost going that way?"

Like a crime... "Do crimes count in Tartarus?" she wonders out loud.

She looks back at Yukari and frowns. "Well then why even have a meeting? Just to gather us all together and tell us there's nothing we can do?" She looks down at her lap. "Look, I get it, but... I dunno."

She's very carefully avoiding the fact that she hasn't managed to use an Evoker yet, though. Unlike Suzume did, from what she heard. Is it easier when you don't know more about it? She's not sure.

She jumps as that fist slams into the table, looking up at Akihiko with a start. That even distracted her enough to stop tapping her fingers for a moment. She winces a little, as Minato puts it so bluntly. "Arisato-san, could you be a little more delicate about it?" she asks quietly.

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

Minako cracks a smile at Hitomi, then at Shizuka, on the topic of crime. "Fair enough~"

But her expression becomes more solemn, when Yukari expresses her reservations. She can't even disagree with them.

"I just..." Minako looks down for a second, when Yukari protests Mitsuru's plan. She remembers being in a car, ten years ago; the visceral memory of something wet, growing colder by the second, and heavy atop her. Trapped, as she heard noises outside.

"...I don't want to leave someone behind," Minako says. "I want to try."

Then, she looks at Hitomi. Minako hesitates for a second, before she swallows. "...y-yeah," she says. "But... let's have some faith in Yamagishi-san."

She looks at Suzume -- there's a blink -- and then she smiles a little bit at her.

Minako winces when Akihiko slams his fist onto the table. She exhales -- and then she hesitates. But, she nods after what Akihiko says. "Sanada-senpai... yeah. Thanks."


Mitsuru also blinks at Suzume. She caught that about a baseball game -- but she doesn't linger on it. Instead, she looks at Akihiko. "We can do two teams. Iori-san and I will go in through the front doors, the usual way, and search for her. And come after you, if you're in trouble."

She looks at Minako. "Arisato-san, Sanada-san, Mandai-san, Fukura-san, and Kuroki-san, you'll go in through the gym." Mitsuru nods. Then, she looks at Minato -- and at Yukari. "Takeba-san, Arisato-san. Which teams would you rather be with?"

While Mitsuru's attention is on Minato, so is his sister's. Her eyes are a little wide at what he said. There's a frown, intensifying on her face.

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

Because I will Protect You - Persona 3 OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6JB6WsaNo0

There's a sigh at Minako's statement, remembering what she said before, "I know..."

Yukari flinches, at Akihiko's slam of the fist on the table, shrinking back subtly. She doesn't say anything, even as he apologizes, instead closing her eyes...

'That's true,'

... but she opens them again when Minato notes to Hitomi...

'We might find a corpse.'

-=-=-

~A while back~

The four of them watched that intimidating guy with the beanie and heavy coat go. His words 'I don't have time for this shit.' still ringing in their ears. "That guy never changes." Akihiko, said with a fondness that clashed with the tone of his departure.

"Hey, senpai. Who was that?" Junpei asked, as if still a little intimidated by his presence. They'd been here to visit Akihiko, who'd gotten injured a while back, still standing in his hospital scrubs.

"He's a friend from school... sort of." Akihiko answered a little stiffly at first, "He knows something about a few people who are suffering from apathy syndrome, so I called him here to ask about it."

"Wow. Even in the hospital. You're really dedicated!" Junpei enthused his praise for him, notably impressed, as Akihiko Sanada's tone turned more casual.

"More importantly Did you bring it?"

"Right!" Unzipping his bag quickly, he produced a stainless steel hand gripper, depositing it in his hands.

Yukari, who'd been looking thoughtful, now looked astounded, "That's a" Akihiko took it within his hands, giving it an experimental squeeze, before settling in on the hospital bed, beginning to rhythmically press the two bound grips together.

"They confiscate everything when you're admitted to the hospital. Apparently strength training is forbidden, but I've already wasted enough time from my injuries."

Yukari made a surprised noise, like she was torn between being impressed and incredulity, as Junpei continued, "Speaking of which, why do you box, Senpai?" Akihiko's expression became more pensive, serious, as he continued to press the grips together, "It's not the sport itself that I like. I just wanted to learn how to fight." He squeezed extra hard this time, holding them together "I know what it's like to feel powerless, and I don't want to feel that way ever again."

Minato turned to the others at that moment, and asked as tonelessly as if they were cleaning a classroom together, "Are we done here?"

Yukari side-eyed him, and hesitantly replied, "It's a little rude but yeah. Do you have somewhere else to be?" Minato turned towards the door, "Not in particular." And began to walk off down the hallway of the hospital.

Junpei sucked his breath through his teeth, and called after him angrily, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" But.... he didn't respond.

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

~Just after~

The monorail slid almost noiselessly across the expanse of the sea between Port Island and Iwatodai City, Yukari and Junpei sat next to each other on the way back, if only perhaps because they were going in the same direction.

"Man, that guy really rubs me the wrong way. Compared to him, Sanada-senpai is so cool. 'I fight so I won't regret.' Man does that sound like what a video game protagonist would say or what?"

Yukari barely looked up at first from one hand laced over her bag, on her lap, and the other working at a flip phone, but eventually as Junpei spoke to her, she looked sideways at him.

"I guess that's what a guy like you would be into." She answered him flatly, as Junpei replied belligerently, "What's that supposed to mean!? 'Like me'?" Yukari just looked back at her phone without answering. After a moment, he settled back against his seat looking thoughtful.

"What do you suppose Minato-kun fights for?"

Yukari's eyes half-lidded at the question, then she closed them fully, in consideration of the question, "He probably only fights because he was asked to." As she turned, to look out over the waters again, towards the setting of the sun, the slow countdown towards the stroke of midnight.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Junpei asked, and Yukari looked his way, then eventually shifted back to look forward again... then down.

"Living that way must be very lonely." The pot softly said of the kettle.

-=-=-

~Not long ago~

"And that's why we're checking it out. Those girls who collapsed, they used to party in those alleys behind Port Island station." Yukari pronounced her sentence at the Wild Duck table, as Junpei stopped eating his fries to awkwardly rub his neck. "Y-Yeah but... I've heard some nasty rumors about that place. We shouldn't go."

"Who's acting scared now?" Yukari gave him a look that was both irritated and a little smug after all that taunting after the 'Believe it or Don't.' "Don't even try to run away from this. If Shadows are causing harm to people then we have to investigate."

She closed her eyes, and sipped her soda, putting it down after a moment, "You're coming too, Arisato-chan. I'm not sure I expect much out of Stupei, so I'm counting on you to pick up the slack" Junpei interjected, "Hey!" "Arisato-kun-" She raised a hand, "...You don't really care one way or another so, I guess you can just head back."

"Sure," Minako said easily, looking up mid-drink from her shake. "I'm interested. And him..." She looked at her twin brother, her smile intensifying a little.

Junpei lurched towards him at that moment, an arm over his shoulders, "Come on, Minato. You're not getting out of this one! Are you really gonna let your little sister go to a place like that without you?"

Minato looked flatly at Junpei, like he was going to make an annoyed comment about 'Personal Space' but then replied, "Okay."

"That's the spirit!" Junpei enthused, as Yukari gave him a look that was something like pity, in that moment. "With all of us together, we can handle this, no sweat!"

It was only now that Minato finally stated, "Personal Space." And brushed Junpei's arm off his shoulders, Yukari looking away from all of this, troubled, before her fingers squeezed around the exterior of her soda cup in obvious frustration.

"It'll be fun," Minako said, breezily. A comment which caused Yukari to look up again, and towards her out of the corner of her eye, as if assessing something about her. "... Sure." She agreed, without really agreeing.

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

~Back to Now~

"Is that really all you have to say?" Yukari replies sharply, to Minato. Maybe she didn't think there was much hope, but that doesn't mean she ever wanted anyone to die. "I can't tell if you're even joking or serious-! But one thing's clear to me!"

Her hands ball up, her nails touching to her palms. "I don't have the same resolve as Sanada-senpai. This plan still sounds nuts to me... I just want it to make - to make sense to take this kind of risk. But you?"

Her brown eyes look at Minato, and try to peel back the layers of trying to figure him out, why he saved her again that day - and again, falling short.

Why again on the Monorail? He gave his reasons but... Why is it always just...

Every other time, every single other time...!

"...You don't even care. You shouldn't go on this mission if you're only doing it because you were asked to. If you don't even care whether Yamagishi-san is alive or dead."

... he had to be asked, to do anything.

"I really hate that side of you."

It's only then that she looks to Mitsuru Kirijo, at her question. "You can assign me however you'd like... but him?" She gestures at Minato, "He needs to stay behind."

If he doesn't have the resolve to do this in any other way, he shouldn't be here. It's perhaps the only way she can...

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    "Man, you too, Kuroki-senpai? You guys are sounding as bad as Yukaricchi when she wanted to go search out those mean back streets," Junpei sighs, hearing Shizuka join in on the crimes talk.

    Minato looks to Ririka, blankly. "Sure." He does not, in fact, re-phrase his warning more delicately.

    For some reason, this makes Yukari angry.

    Minato blinks, looking to her.

    What team would he rather be with is a question he doesn't answer, as he looks at Yukari, instead. It's not even particularly intense enough to be called a glare. He's just -- not all the way present right now.

    (He never is.)

    At length, he bows his head in a nod, and says: "Understood."

    With that, he stands from his seat, and walks away.

    If he's staying behind, he doesn't need to be part of the mission briefing.

    "H-hey," Junpei stammers, his head turning as he watches him leave, "what do you mean, 'understood'?!" He stands, scrambling after him. "Hey, wait up, Minato! Yukaricchi didn't really mean all that! Okay, Minato?"

    ... but he's talking to a brick wall. Minato closes the door in Junpei's face, as he leaves. Was it even on purpose? Or was he just not paying any attention to him?

    "Uh," Junpei says, a hand still half-lifted as he looks at the shut door.

    Akihiko frowns, looking at the place where Minato was. "We'll... assign him to stay behind and take care of Kawase-san and Moriyama-san," he decides, a touch unsettled, as he looks to Mitsuru for confirmation. "Right?"

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      "Oh, you mean I'm in the..." Shizuka swallows the lump that had formed in her throat in response to being drafted into the main search party. "G-Got it, Kirijo-san." She had learned better by now than to disagree with Mitsuru Kirijo. She had seen too many stronger than her brought to their knees, figuratively, and in one or two cases, literally.
 
      Of course, Yukari Takeba had her own, comparable presence. Shizuka closes her eyes and sighs. At least with Yukari, she had the slight protection of Senpai Privilege. "Yuka-chan, I know Nato-kun isn't the most... tactful guy in the world, but he's pretty darn good on our runs. We can't just leave him behind." Of course, Senpai Privilege isn't bulletproof, and Shizuka takes a step or two away in anticipation.
 
      But, as Minato leaves of his own accord, Shizuka can't tell if the situation has been defused or if the fuse has just gotten shorter. "Yeah, I guess... he can do that." She makes her way over to Junpei and brings his hand down. "It'll be fine, Pei-kun," she says softly. "We'll check up on Nato-kun later tonight."

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume has no comment about whether crimes count in Tartarus, because this is not something she has considered before and it needs additional thought.

Plus, Akihiko smacking the table kind of startled her. A slight flinch is all it shows, and Suzume tries to hide it, but it's there.

"We might," Suzume agrees, "but at least you'd know."

After what they did for me, can I not do it for someone else? Can I just leave her there? What if she IS alive? Suzume might have survived ten hours if the Shadows didn't find her. If she had just hid in one of the side rooms, and neither her or Jiro had made a noise, maybe. Which means, if Fuuka hid in whatever passes for a closet in Tartarus (Suzume has not spent much time in Tartarus yet), maybe she's still in there.

It's not much of a chance. And Suzume doesn't know Fuuka, so it's not like she's doing it for her. Maybe doing it for the people who saved *her* is enough.

Suzume looks from Minato to Yukari. Her scowl is back. "Not like you're doing much better," she says to Yukari. "You said it was crazy. Like it was a lost cause, because she's dead. Now you're volunteering as long as he *doesn't* go, even though I don't think you think it's worth going. I don't get you."

She watches Minato go. She sure doesn't stop him. Or even address him.

Instead, she steps away too. She only goes to the kitchen behind her, though. Banging suggests she closed the fridge a little hard. About ten seconds after that, she comes back out with a can of Moonkist. (It's actually hers. She is many things but only occasionally a drink thief.)

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
SLAM!!

Hitomi jumps in her seat at the noise, her eyes going wide behind her glasses. She looks at Akihiko as if he just -- made a... loud noise in the meeting space. She takes a deep breath and pushes it out.

"Yeah," she says with a nod. "I --" she unfolds one arm to gesture in the air. "I can handle it, anyway. I don't mind the risk."

Then Minato drops the bomb. Her lip quivers. Courage shakes.

"If we do... I've handled remains before, a couple of times." she says, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "... Sanada-sempai, I can count on you, right?"

But the executive call has been made. Hitomi doesn't really look up from the floor, and eventually lets herself flop backwards into the couch with a subliminal 'paff'.


After this, her eyes turn back towards Yukari. She speaks with weight. Force, vigor. And she inevitably looks over at Minato when he gets called the hecc out, lips pursing for a moment.

She doesn't seem to be coming to a decision, though looking steadily at some *is* kind of a judgment in a lot of contexts. Especially if he's leaving. She does turn her head to look at Junpei in the exact same poe-faced way, though the angle means the light reflects a little off her glasses.

Hitomi then crosses one leg over the other. "... It's pretty heavy to consider,' she says, having gone from looking at the floor to looking at a corner of the ceiling. "He might come around."

Hitomi Mandai (hitomi) pages Minato Arisato and Minako Arisato: context SEES command probably knows: hitomi's dad did funerals. but don't tell nobody, let them draw their own conclusions! heh heh heh!

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

There's a plan. An approach on two fronts, one the normal way, and one through the gym. Ririka listens to Mitsuru explain, and note who's on the two teams, and who's asked...

And she notes who isn't asked.

If one listens closely, they might hear a... very faint humming sound coming from Ririka as she thinks on things while staring at her lap. Her fingers are also tapping again, quietly, in some kind of imagined counterpoint to the faint melody she's humming.

If you pick up on the humming and also know your video games you might recognize it as an 'adventure' theme from a recent JRPG.

Ririka looks at Yukari as she naps, though she doesn't stop her quiet vocalization. She's upset at Minato, and Ririka knows she doesn't have any context, having just joined, but... she does pause long enough to say, "You were the one arguing against this mission, Takeba-san."

She looks at Minato as he says he could phrase it more delicately, but doesn't. There is an expectant look for a moment... but nothing comes. So she just nods to herself and lets it drop.

But then he gets up and leave, and Ririka just watches him go. She's not sure what to say, what the conflict is, so she stays silent, for now. Maybe she can ask him about it later.

But she's lost in her thoughts as the others weigh in, and once everyone else has said their piece she stops and sits up straighter. "Kirjio-senpai, I want to join the team going in on the ground floor. If I'm going to say that we should do for Yamagishi-san what you all did for me, then... I'm not going to sit this out."

There are other reasons for choosing the front door team versus the Gym team, tactical ones, but those don't feel as meaningful to say right now.

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

When Yukari lays into Minato, Minako's eyes go wide. She starts to stand up, feeling her cheeks get hot. The old instincts come back -- to step in, to come to her brother's defense. But then she hesitates, looking down at the way her hand was already balling into a fist.

The way he spoke so casually, about how Yamagishi might be dead...

It makes her freeze up. It makes her angry. It makes her, on some level, agree with Yukari. And caught between those feelings, Minako freezes up with uncertainty.

And in that time, Minato just stands up and walks away. She looks at the door that her brother closed after himself. "Minato-kun..."

She looks down.

Then, she looks at Suzume -- and she hesitates for a second. "It's... it's okay," she says. She doesn't sound like it's okay. "Takeba-chan is--she's trying to be careful."

She glances at Hitomi -- and with a moment's hesitation, she nods. "Maybe," she says, even if she doesn't sound sure.

Mitsuru hesitates. It's rare that Mitsuru Kirijo lets some awkwardness show. She does, now. She hesitates, as she looks after him. Then, she looks at Akihiko, and nods. "Right," she agrees. "He can handle that."

Her sense of poise returns, in short order. "Arisato-san--" There is only one in the room, now. "--You'll be in charge of this operation."

Minako hesitates, before she looks back at Mitsuru. After a flicker of hesitation, she pushes a smile to her face. "Right. Just leave it to me."

Then, she looks at Hitomi -- considers her remarks earlier -- and Mitsuru nods to her. What that is about goes unsaid between the two.

Ririka's question, though, takes her by surprise. She hesitates -- blinks -- and then she looks down. "...I can't say I approve. But you aren't a prisoner here. Iori-san and I will try to protect you, if you insist," she says. "But if things go wrong, you are to flee, Kawase-san."

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

Junpei says they didn't mean all of that. But she did, she doesn't watch him go, glad that he did though...
 
"That doesn't matter." Yukari tells Shizuka, "I'm not here to take advantage of someone."
 
And Hitomi?
 
"I hope he doesn't."
 
Suzume though? Ririka? With each of their accusations...
 
... Minako tries to step in and Yukari tells her... "It's okay Arisato-chan. I can defend my words myself." She may be surprised Minako is still trying to defend her... really surprised, but - maybe Minako understands the same thing she does about Minato.
 
Yukari levels her gaze Suzume with those amber brown eyes, not looking the slightest bit ashamed.
 
"You're right." She agrees, "I did say all that... and I do believe that..."
 
As her gaze travels over to Ririka.
 
"... and I'm still making the choice to go."
 
What kind of choice is he making now? She doesn't say, but definitely believes. Both of them make the decision to go... they ask Mitsuru specifically, even when she doesn't approve.
 
There's a frustrated noise at the idea they're not prisoners. Like she disagrees. When circumstances have pushed them both into corners.
 
"I don't think either of them should go, personally."
 
She says succinctly, "The two of you may think you know what you're getting into... but you don't."
 
How can anyone possibly make a real choice - before they've been to Tartarus? Before they know how their life will change from now on?
 
They can't.
 
No matter how determined either of them feel they are. They can't see yet... they are prisoners...
 
It's just the bars are a green haze and a sickly moon that now rules over their life every night... and this dormitory, led by people who say they have a choice, and say they're not prisoners.

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

    Why does Minato... say thoughtless things like that?

    Is he trying to be hurtful? Or is he really not thinking at all?

    There's no one left to ask.

    "Yeah, later," Junpei agrees, nodding to Shizuka. He thinks that was all pretty rough, but... he'll say that to Yukari's face, later. He's pretty sure that calling her out in front of everyone will just make things worse, and right now, at least, he's trying to think about that.

    (Someone else is holding the hotheaded stick. They pass it around SEES so that everyone gets a turn.)

    "We're not going to think about it like that yet," Akihiko insists, to Hitomi. "We're going to save her. That's how we need to look at it." And when Ririka speaks up and asks to go with Mitsuru, he nods. "You're brave. That's good. It might be we need it, out there. Just don't mistake recklessness for bravery, all right?"

    Finally, Akihiko looks to Minako, and adds: "We're counting on you." He's putting his trust in her -- the trust she first earned when she saved him, on her arrival to SEES.

    "Relax," Junpei sighs, meanwhile, looking to Yukari. "You're way too wound-up. Grab a drink like Suzume-chan! We need to get into a good mindset for the mission, anyway."

    "Do what you need to do to prepare," Akihiko advises them, translating Junpei's enthusiasm into worldly third-year advice.

    What they need to do to prepare... can they really be prepared for something like this?

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume had just been being a little sullen over at the side with her soda. She didn't want to bail from the meeting but she didn't have much else to say.

Until Yukari says she shouldn't go.

"Yeah?"

Suzume takes a very long drink and then sets the mostly-empty can down on the table with exaggerated care before she looks up at Yukari. And she has to look up; Yukari is not all that tall but she's still a couple inches taller than Suzume at least, and she doesn't much that, either.

"You're right! This is the first time I'd be doing something with SEES." Suzume's voice is a little low... at first. She tends to pick up volume as she goes and today is no exception. "And I know there's not a *lot* of hope, but there's a *little*, and I'm not going to be the one that leaves someone in a place like THAT if there's something I can maybe DO about it!"

"Or maybe you don't think I can take care of myself," Suzume says, looking Yukari up and down. "Well I'm not one of those girls whose job is to sit around and be decorative. I can pull my own weight. You've got more experience than me, sure! But I'm not going to sit on my ass and whine about how there's nothing to be done!"

"So you can stuff it with the 'don't know what I'm getting into'!" Maybe I don't know what I'm getting into. But I know what I got out of - what SEES got me out of! And I'm going to get her out of it too, because nobody deserves that!" Suzume isn't - quite - yelling. But it's maybe one step down from that.

She turns from Yukari, her entire body tense. "I'll be ready for the operation," she says to Akihiko, her voice tightly controlled, before she too begins to stomp her way toward the stairs up to the girls' dorm side.

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

      Shizuka sighs, placing her hands on her hips. Yeah, the fuse was a lot shorter. This was gonna be a rough operation. But she was a third-year, too! She has to be a pillar! A rock!
 
      Yeah, no, this was gonna be super rough.
 
      "Well, I'm gonna be heading down to the mall tomorrow after school to stock up, if anyone else wants in. Wonder if Kurosawa's got anything new in stock." She lets out another sigh, wishing she could leave the room, but as one of the three third-years... pillar and a rock. She makes a mental note to stop by Minato's room in a bit, as well.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
Mitsuru approved. Hitomi lets out a small sigh but doesn't do more than nod back. Maybe she isn't exactly thrilled at this. She bites her lower lip for a moment, possibly just to taste her own lip gloss.

"You've got to go sometime," she answers Yukari, but not very loudly. Akihiko's words make her look to him for a moment, before she resumes gazing intently at that corner of the wall and the ceiling, slowly sinking into the couch cushions.

Maybe, she thinks, I should... but then Suzume's speaking. Passionately!

But then the stakes are rather high, aren't they?

After Suzume leaves, she looks to Shizuka. "I'm in," she tells her, and at least she doesn't resume staring into space afterwards.

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

The ability to flee, if things do get bad... is one of the things she was considering, as much as she hates to admit it to herself. But even so... Being told Mitsuru disapproves of something Ririka's already decided on, that just makes her more inclined, not less. "Just give me an Evoker."

She says it in a firm tone of voice, but... well, she'll have to see if she can deliver on that promise, won't she?

But then she looks to Yukari as she's addressed. Her fingers drum on the arm rest of the couch again, but this time it's a harder, more staccato rhythm. One of annoyance. "So you're mad at Arisato-san for going because he was asked, and you're getting mad at us--" she's including Suzume now "--for volunteering, instead?"

She stands up--and when she does she really does, at her full 178cm (5'10") height. "You're right. I don't know what I'm in for. So when do you think I should go to tartarus, if it's not to try and help somebody in need? Ignoring all of this won't make it go away."

She pauses, as she looks to Akihiko. "It just... seems like the right thing to do," she admits, with a bit less intensity than a moment before. She's still not joining the 'real' mission, after all. "I'll be as careful as I can," she finally settles on.

She maybe wouldn't have expressed it the exact same way as Suzume does, but... she still feels a similar way, at least in spirit.

She looks to Akihiko as he says to prepare, and Shizuka as she announces a trip. "... maybe I'd better come along. To learn what I can, and to stock up."

But that's tomorrow. For now, she's lightly tapping her fingers on her thigh again, a bit absent-mindedly. "I'm gonna go clear my head," she says, and leaves to go get some fresh air.

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

Minako blinks when Yukari says she can defend herself. She looks sideways at her. She hesitates for a second, but then looks back at Akihiko. There is a blink of her crimson eyes -- but somehow, hearing that he is counting on her pushes her forward.

"Right. I'll make sure this goes okay," Minako says, and she smiles at him. "Just leave it to me, right?"

Minako winces when Suzume's volume increases. Her eyes widen, and she hesitates for a second. "Fukura-san--uh--" But, she is stomping off. Minako slumps back against the sofa, and pinches the bridge of her nose. She looks at Shizuka, then she nods. "Yeah... good idea."

She looks after Ririka -- hesitating, and starting to open her mouth. But she is already off. Minako sighs, slumping back into the sofa.

"Tomorrow," Mitsuru says. "We'll go at Dark Hour."