2025-11-18: Icebreaker

• Log: Icebreaker
• Cast: Umie Akabane, Yusuke Kitagawa
• Where: Near the Port Island Strip Mall
• OOC Date: November 18, 2025
• IC Date: August 12, 2012
• Summary: Keeping an eye out to see if Noriaki shows up again, Umie runs into another familiar face: Fox, one of the Phantom Thieves. After informing him about the mysterious man who can lure Shadows with his Persona, the two catch up on other subjects, which include a few surprises from Fox: at least, surprising to Umie.

---

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    It's the Dark Hour, and someone is yawning.

    *Thssst* The second sound belongs to a can of Cielo Mist soda.

    *crinkle* There's a snap of plastic as the late night delicacy of choice, the curry bun (but not the Super Spicy Satomi Tadashi flavor, unfortunately) is freed from its clear crinkly prison.

    "Ahhhom." And then, deliciousness is had.

    All of this is done from a perched, hunched position atop of flat top building near the Port Island Strip Mall. Dressed in her usual oversized windbreaker, tank top, and shorts; Fox, if he notices her before she notices him, would be able to identify her well enough. The mask, however, is different, as it's always been. There's a pair of decent sneakers, and the duffle bag, halfway zipped open.

    Umie could be quieter, but she wanted to be seen by any Persona User that dared to play with the coffins below while SEES was away.

    She's made certain to wear the same mask Noriaki saw, even, this one patterned with a red and white checkerboard, with a yellow peony painted around one of the eye holes.

    Some shadows linger underneath her on the streets below.

    ".... Don't worry, I'll come on down soon enough. But you'll go whenever you hear his call, eh?"

     The intention was good; the plan, sufficient.

     However, there's just not much Umie can do if Noriaki, like a normal person, has tonight off.

    "...." She squints down at the slowly gathering pile of shadows beneath her. They're going to start climbing soon, aren't-- ah. "Let me finish my curry bun first, at least..." Umie groans.

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

There's more than one roguish sort on Iwatodai's streets tonight - or above them, at least.

With the light of the Dark Hour being terrible for painting, Yusuke Kitagawa sometimes prefers to don his mask and step out into the viridian moonlight. While the Phantom Thieves rarely operate alone, Fox takes care to watch out for Shadows and to avoid drawing too much attention.

Which is particularly fortunate given someone else is out here on the rooftops being obvious - and has drawn the attention of a pack of Shadows that are slowly trying to climb up each other to get to her.

There is the quiet sound of a sword drawing, and the much louder cracking and crunching of water vapour rapidly condensing and solidifying, and the shadows below suddenly find purchase on the walls much more difficult to maintain, sliding down in an eerily comical fashion.

Once they're all in a much less organised pile on the street, the ice on the building side shatters, collapsing on them in jagged chunks.

"Akabane-san." Fox stands but a few metres away from her, sheathing his sword. "What an unexpected pleasure."

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    The green light is, indeed, terrible for painting, and not that much better for anything except what could be done without eyestrain.

    .... But one doesn't always need the eyes to see, at least, in terms of resonance.

    For once, Umie's compulsive shroud is down, making it loud and clear that she is a Persona User, rather than an abnormality that walks around like she was just some random person who happened to have a shrieky bird lady appear over her head occasionally.
    
    Being so focused on the shadows below, it's easy for Fox to come up close enough to Umie; as Umie hears a sword being drawn, her hand goes to a pocket, easing the shoge's bladed end into her hand, just in case.

    The crackle and crunch of ice collecting on the wall below Umie is then noticed; the shoge blade is kept out, with the curry bun in the other.

    (..... goddamn she needs to get a bufu spellcard, this would be amazing to try)

    Really, she's letting her guard down, but she definitely wants to see if the ice-- yesssssss, there it goes. The curry bun goes into her mouth and the shoge is allowed to hook on her pocket, freeing Umie to clap in appreciation.

    After all, when she hears Fox's voice, she knows her paranoia was unwarranted. Plucking the curry bun from her mouth, Umie replies, "Same here! I figured you all finding me that one night as a fluke." Then again, they were there during Sudou's last attack.

    "I take it you've come across the guy opening coffins up during the Dark Hour too, huh?" An incorrect assumption, but Umie is focused.

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

Umie says she figured that the Phantoms finding her the night the Old Maid attacked was a fluke, and rather than try to lie to her Fox simply smiles quietly - an expression that quickly dissipates when she asks him that question.

"There's someone out there capable of opening the coffins?" His mask obscures his full expression, but the momentary widening of his eyes behind it is unmistakable.

He looks out over Iwatodai, at the various coffins frozen in the middle of their inhabitants' late-night routines, and leather creaks as he squeezes his saya. "... And if the coffins protect them like our Personas protect us..."

The conclusion is a grim one to draw, so he does not speak it aloud.

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    It's an easy solution; Umie doesn't think anything of it at all. Settling back into a cross-legged position, Umie brushes a crumb from her left black wrist sleeve, contrasting the light of her coat with the tone of her skin.

    It's good that she was seated, though, as Yusuke asks that question.

    "Well--," she starts, before reconsidering just how that'd sound.

    .... Maybe it's not that Yusuke is asking if anyone is strong enough to, but why anyone *would*. "Yeah, why *would* anyone do that?" she lies, instead.

    (Ha ha ha, who would ever open a coffin to see what happens? _Not anybody Umie knows_.)

    "Yeah." The curry bun is slipped back into its cellophane sleeve and put away. Alas, not even the brisk refreshing taste of Cielo Mist is enough to wash away the taste of the topic.

    So Yusuke must know as well, what happens. "In this case, the guy was completely at the mercy of the Dark Hour. The agent was going to kill him himself, but fled when me and two others came."

    She motions with a red fingernailed hand to the greatly diminished crowd of one or two shadows below. "But the agent had an ability I've never seen before. He used his Persona to summon Shadows-- that is," she adds quickly, "the shadows were already there, but he lured them in. And they were *pissed*. Like... some sort of bait tactic."

    "Apparently, this is a person someone wanted dead, making the agent another member of Strega, or, maybe, an NWO operative?" she wonders aloud. "I know Strega has that website, but on the other hand, he had an Evoker..."

    And, in the middle of her thoughts, she throws up her hands in a shrug. "Unfortunately, he's not showing up. Likely terrified," she adds as she leans forward, with a mischievous grin, "of random go-gooders wandering by..."

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

It was only a supposition - the Shadows ignore the coffins to roam aimlessly, only pursuing Fox when he stops focusing on hiding to test his blade on them, only to return to aimless roaming towards the great tower that looms over both he and Umie now once he gets far enough away. It's enough to make some guesses - which Umie has just confirmed for him.

"... what happened to his target?" He asks, cautiously. "If he fled, presumably the Shadows were meant to finish his work for him?"

He perches on the rooftop, looking at the dwindling puddles of ichor where the attempted tower of clambering Shadows have pooled.

"There are many mysteries abounding in this midnight hour," he says, quietly.

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    "We protected him," Umie says, her voice soft, her gaze falling as she reflects. "Fought off the shadows, and stayed with him. Even without Ben--" Noriaki's name is not Bento-san, Umie. "Even without the agent, shadows would still come up. Maybe it was because of this location..." She drifts off.

    "The guy was incredibly lucky, but. A smarter agent would rip someone random out of a coffin, then go and attack their actual victim. It may have even happened, that night."

    She still remembers the feel of that hand, in hers, as she asked that person to trust her. "I don't think people retain their memories, so. That's probably for the best."

    'There are many mysteries abounding in this midnight hour.' Umie may be reading way too much into it, but the way Yusuke speaks, it's almost as if it's... new to him. All of it, not just the parts that are new to Umie.

    Then again, Joker's own reactions to the information Umie gave implied the same, beyond the Dark Hour.

    .... She shouldn't be asking a question like that to a member of the Phantom Thieves, especially barely a week or so after that meeting between them and the Cardboard Dragon. Queen had warned that one of Umie's offers could betray some secrets of theirs in turn, something Umie had agreed to at the time.

    .... It'd be a terrible thing to ask.

    Too late, Umie is already asking, curiosity alight in her gaze. ".... How much experience have you had, with it, Fox-san?"

    AT least she's managed to coach it in more vague terms, allowing Fox an out. "You can say you refuse to answer," she adds, mischief in her voice. It was, after all, the same offer Joker gave her a few days ago. "You *did* help to save my life, after all."

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

Fox nods as Umie clarifies that they got the target of the assassination attempt away safely. "Did you check up on him the next night? If he woke up forgetting, but didn't end up in his coffin again..."

He shudders at the thought of it.

He looks over at Umie as she asks the question, weighing his possible answer in his head.

... There's no harm in it, he supposes. "I have been part of the Phantom Thieves since their second operation," he answers.

No numbers. Nothing concrete beyond how long he's been working with them.

He wonders how much Umie can work with from that.

"Assassinations during the Dark Hour... petty robberies from law firms... It's almost crude."

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    "Unfortunately, I can't," Umie says, shrugging. "I have to go to work, just like everyone els--"

    Her eyes widen.
    
    If that man woke up forgetting, but didn't end up in his coffin again... ".... Shit..." she mutters, under her breath. "I'd have to assume that means he's about to awaken to a Persona of his own or has already, but I didn't sense anything from him..." She rubs her chin, and grimaces. "But if he's like the people who use Evokers..." She lets out a long sigh. "I'm just going to have to hope that isn't the case, and that my abilities didn't miss something."

    It's very possible.

    At Umie's question, the blonde simply sits there, letting Fox take all the time he needs to decide to answer. The answer, however, surprises her. Her eyes widen. "gh.... But that's just... but in battle, you don't..." she sputters, before she regains her senses.

    Maybe there were other operations. He also never said he *awakened* then, just that he's been a part of them. Experience does not come at an amount that's equal to time.

    She relaxes. Perhaps, maybe Fox was a victim, or a friend of one, as Panther's words implied she was, during the Cardboard Dragon meeting.

    To assume Fox meant Madarame would be assuming too much.

    But... if it is true, then.

    She plants one hand on one knee and turns her palm upright, resting her hand atop it. "Then. My bargain is still in play here, you know." She gives a half grin. "Whether my first assumption is true or not, information is how a person survives in this world. Otherwise, we are like that man in that worst case scenario, thrust into a world we never consented to, lost, and confused."

    "So!"

    She holds her hands in front of her, palm up, the left wrist tinkling with the red bracelet's bell chime from the movememnt. "Ask me anything non-personal about the supernatural, and I'll try to answer. You saved my life, and, you've given the Old Maid a run for his money more than once. I think I'm obligated at this point."

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

Umie is clearly flustered by how Fox's behaviour in battle doesn't seem to match up with the time he's spent with the team. He smiles enigmatically. "I have faith in my own talents and I trust my team - I know they have my back, and I'll have theirs, and that frees me up to focus on the fight."

... Plus, the catharsis of wielding Goemon counts for a lot, but he thinks it might feel different for different Persona users.

"One non-personal question about the supernatural, you say?" He tilts his head, thinking. He might even pace a little.

"... Hmm. What do you think is the most interesting mystery about all of this?"

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    Yusuke answers elegantly, and in spite of her earlier flustered response, Umie chuckles, seemingly pleased with Yusuke's answer. "It makes sense."

    It's not only because Joker is a good leader, but because they all, in a sense, compliment each other. It's a different dynamic from Cardboard Dragon; neither is invalid.

    Both give others the means to fight back, in their own ways.

    It amazes her, how many people out there exist, just like this, and not just in the Phantom Thieves.

    "Yep. One." Her lips split in a sickle smile. "If it's interesting enough, I may not be able to help myself and answer more."

    (That's a lie; Joker would be able to say as much. Umie can't stop herself.)

    And again, she lets Fox think, if just to see some answers in what he chooses to ask.

    ....

    Yet, like a Phantom Thief, Yusuke manages to outpace Umie, drawing the conversation back into the realm of mystery. "... Huh." Behind the mask, red brown eyes study Yusuke. She snickers. "Damn, that's a good one." She holds up a finger, lazily trailing it in the air. "Alright, I'll play."

    And yet, she can't say what mystery really tugs at her; all the better to reveal what's under another card as a distraction.

    So, sorry, Tamaki, Umie'll be borrowing a question from you. "Someone told me, once, that it feels like, when the population of Persona-users increases," which is not what Tamaki had said but Umie's cooking with this, "it's a sign of impending disaster. Not that they are the ones responsible, but that it's a counterweight. An immune response. So the mystery is..."

    ".... What does it mean, when so many people, such as you and presumably your group, along with so many others, have Awakened? What's around the corner? That is a mystery I'd like to solve."

     It is not the one she truly wants to ask.

<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.

"... That's quite a question to ask," Fox replies, folding his arms. "I find myself wondering it, too. The strangeness of these hidden worlds seems to be increasing apace."

"If I find any clues or leads, I'll let you know," he chuckles. "For now, though..." He looks up at that eerie green moon. "I think it's high time I make myself scarce. Take care, Akabane-san."

Saluting with his sheathed sword, he makes his way to hop down onto the street, moving like a smear of ink as he darts from point to point, into the shadows - and gone.

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    "You get time to ponder a lot of things, during the Dark Hour." It's Umie's turn to give a vague smile. "A lot of things."

    But the Dark Hour brings its share of freedom along with the quiet.

    Fox offers to give Umie any clues or leads. "On the mysteries of Personas? Good luck," Umie snickers. "But yeah. Keep an eye out for any lanky tall skinny as hell hooded guys out there during the Dark Hour. That mystery is a lot easier to solve."

    She takes a moment to realize that Fox is at least *two* of those. "Impolite ones," she tacks on, as a qualifier.

    Yeah. Take that, Noriaki. Umie called you impolite.

    'For now, tho...'

    "It *was* good seeing you again, this time without us being sliced at." She smirks, saluting back with two fingers. "You take care too, Fox-san."

    Waiting as Fox slips away like ink in water, Umie's own resonance melts away as she slips back, making a point of going the opposite direction with ease.