2025-08-20: A Broken Mirror

• Log: 2025-08-20 A Broken Mirror
• Cast: Jun Kashihara, Goro Akechi
• Where: Seven Sisters High School, Rengedai Ward, Sumaru City
• OOC Date: August 20, 2025
• IC Date: Thursday, June 28, 2012
• Summary: While checking in on Tatsuya's homeroom, Jun runs into Tatsuya's classmate, Akechi. The detective offers him some very unpleasant answers to the mystery that is Tatsuya Suou...

---

<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.

    Akinari Kashihara is working late tonight. There was a recent assignment for his class where they had to write three-page essays, and when you have a lot of students across several class periods, that adds up. Not only does he have to read each essay and grade them based on accuracy, he has to grade them on clarity, spelling, whether they actually answered the questions posed for the essay... And Kashihara-sensei cares about his job and students, so he takes each one seriously.
    
    That means that since he's focusing so much on his work, he might just end up skipping dinner. Jun and Junko can't have that--so after hearing over breakfast about how he'd need to stay late tonight, Junko whispered to Jun to come home for lunch to fix an extra bento and bring it to Akinari for dinner after school. She's an actress who works over in Aoba Ward, so she can't go home quite as easily, but Jun's school is practically just around the corner for him.
    
    And so it happens that, not long after classes have let out, Jun comes by Seven Sisters High School with a dinner bento in a canvas bag. He enters the campus with confidence--he comes by to check on his father fairly frequently, and does so by heading to the faculty lounge, so he's a known face among the teachers here, if not necessarily the students--and climbs to the lounge on the second story to drop off dinner.
    
    "Ah! Jun, you shouldn't have!" Akinari exclaims, though his broad, gentle smile says he's very glad he did anyway. "Did your mother put you up to this?"
    
    Jun giggles a bit. "You'll just have to ask her yourself," he replies. "Make sure to take breaks every so often, all right, Father? It won't do anyone any good if you collapse from overwork."
    %T"You're right, of course. I'll take a quick break right now," Akinari says, turning his seat to face his son as he opens up his bento. One of the treats within are a few rice balls, and he takes one for himself and offers a second to Jun. Jun waves it off, though.
    
    "By the way, Father," Jun adds, "about Tatsuya Suou-kun... You mentioned to me he hasn't been coming to class lately. He's a third-year, isn't he? Do you think his homeroom teacher might know more about him?"
    
    "Takami-sensei? She might--she's a caring and attentive teacher, so I expect she'd know some personal things that she might not tell other teachers. I don't know that she'd tell a student from another school, but..." Akinari looks around the room. "She's not here right now, but her homeroom is Class 3-B. If you go now, you might be able to catch her, but she might be doing guidance for some other students, too."
    
    "There's no harm in taking a look, I'm sure," Jun replies. "I'll let you have your break, Father. See you tonight?"
    
    "Yes, of course."
    
    And so it happens next that Jun Kashihara slides open the door to Class 3-B and pokes his head in, looking around in search of the teacher. Unfortunately, he doesn't see anyone who looks like they could be a teacher... but there are some students left, just wrapping up classroom cleaning for the day. (Jun, lucky for him, wasn't on cleaning duty today.) He walks in, sliding the door shut behind him, and approaches the closest one. "Excuse me--sorry to bother you, but... could I please ask you a few questions about Tatsuya Suou-kun? He is a member of this class, correct?"

<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.

Detective - Persona 5 the Anime - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hMdL9SX3nE

Akechi had seen him walk by, around the corner, as he reviews a notebook. His eyes fall upon a line.

A young man in red. Holding a young man with the soft smile.

He looks up, on the canvas bag in his hand. His mind can already speculate on the reason behind the bag.

It is that smile that Akechi is thinking about as he enters the classroom, not long after Jun Kashihara. His own smile is not soft - nor sharp. It is simply something he puts on like a sticker. Peel it away, and he would not be smiling.

Or perhaps he would be, and it would be far more twisted by another emotion.

A young man, born in privilege, the son of a celebrity movie star and a school teacher. The two had a rough patch in their marriage, but came through it stronger.

No criminal record. There's no reason at all for him to attend Kasugayama High. He could make it into Sevens with a single word from his father, who would naturally support his son in every way. And such a naturally pretty face, does not feel as if it belongs at Cuss High.

Envy can be such an ugly emotion, when it is the reason for a smile behind a smile.

"Perhaps I might be of some assistance." A line, to cause him to turn, as the classmate who is on cleaning duty startles, "Oh! Akechi-kun! Thank goodness - I didn't really know what to say, Suou-kun hasn't attended class in so long." There's a note wherein she might be surprised to see Akechi himself. But his presence is not so unusual.

Nor is his absence.

"Ahaha..." He chuckles at her answer, "Well then, it's a good thing I came today to drop off my assignments." Before his attention turns to Jun again, "You would be Jun Kashihara, if I'm not mistaken?" The way he says that, it's like he didn't actually need him to answer the question to know that to be true. "I think a different venue would be in order, especially if you're looking for my classmate."

A beat.

"Would you mind following me? It's not far."

"Oh! I hope you're coming back later." One of those left over cleaning the classroom enthuses at him, as Akechi replies back with a casual flirtatiousness, "I just might, at that. Though please don't wait up if I'm not back soon."

Assuming Jun does follow him, he'd lead him towards the stairs, up one flight - then another, and down a third floor hallway.

"Our ex-Principal gave me special permission to utilize an area that would preserve our privacy nicely, I think."

<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.

    The canvas bag is at least empty by the time Jun enters 3-B--though depending on when exactly Akechi spotted him, he might well have seen him take it to the teacher's lounge.
    
    Depending on how nosy the Detective Prince is, he might well have heard father and son talk warmly and lovingly to each other.
    
    Yes, it does seem like Jun Kashihara leads a blessed life, doesn't it? Nothing particularly bad has ever happened to him. He gets good grades, he's openly gay (well... he doesn't pretend to be straight, at least), his parents love and support him... He might attend Kasugayama High, a school known for delinquents, but he wasn't banished there; he attends because he wants to. Because he likes it there. There was that recent "gang war" incident that he was caught up in, but not only did he not suffer any significant injury, he barely even remembers what happened. The stars all seem to smile down on him.
    
    Compare and contrast to a young man who almost ended up at Kasugayama because he was told his record of violence made him unfit for Seven Sisters. Good thing he turned his life around quickly, isn't it?
    
    Jun likewise turns around when that handsome young man speaks from behind him. Akechi, he catches--and it immediately stands out to him. Jun enjoys reading, so naturally he knows of the Second Detective Prince with the oh-so-literary name. He hadn't known he attended Seven Sisters, though; he'd never spotted him here and has not followed his career all that closely.
    
    Even more surprising is that Akechi knows him. Jun's eyes widen in surprise, lips forming a perfect "oh" for but an instant. He quickly composes himself, though, and nods once. "Thank you. I truly appreciate that." He bows to the girl he'd just been addressing, an apologetic air to his smile for putting her out even momentarily. When he rises, he glances at that other student, gushing at Akechi. Akechi seems friendly enough back...
    
    Jun does follow. He has no reason to refuse; he recognizes his name, his classmates recognize his face, and why would high school detective Goro Akechi have any kind of ill will against him? On the contrary, if Tatsuya Suou is mixed up in something untoward, it makes sense to him that Akechi would not only have information on him but want to discuss it somewhere private. He still doesn't understand how Akechi knows him, but he's willing to hear him out.
    
    "Ah, yes... I heard your principal passed away after being targeted by..." He clutches his arm without thinking about it; when he does think about it, he shakes his head a little. Stay calm. "After being targeted," he concludes smoothly, though no doubt not smoothly enough for Akechi's tastes. "It seems we were just barely able to avoid a similar tragedy... I hope you and your classmates are doing all right after that."
    
    It's not just a platitude, either. For all that Seven Sisters and "Cuss High" are rivals, having seen and experienced that horror firsthand, Jun wouldn't wish it on anyone. (Besides, Jun doesn't care about that school rivalry.)

<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.

Yes, it is a good thing, isn't it?

Otherwise everyone would see him for what he truly is, and we can't have that.

"You're most welcome," Akechi says back, quite affably, waiting for him to bow and follow. After all, he does seem so friendly. Not even bothering to introduce himself, of course Jun must know given his celebrity mother - and his classmate did it for him anyway.

"Yes, a most unfortunate incident." Akechi says in a tone like he's discussing the weather, rather than a murder. He does turn to look at Jun's face, as to answer what Jun said about whether they're doing alright, "There was a memorial ceremony after, but few tears were shed. He was the sort of man to make many enemies amongst the student body, so it hardly surprises me that someone would go that far."

Akechi turned straight forward, "Nevertheless, whether one judges him as wicked or virtuous... he too, deserves justice, don't you think?" His smile does return, "And I'm quite glad that you and your classmates were able to pull through... that is in fact, part of why I wish to speak to you in private."

Out of his pocket, he produces a key chain with several keys, and as Jun and him travel forward down the hall, he will hear the moving of great machinery. Perhaps the sound is strange... like it was meant to be silent.

Around a corner, and Akechi unlocks the door to another stairwell. The sound of gears moving, as an inevitable march of time is so much louder, but still distant enough not to drown out their conversation.

The door shuts easily behind them, and Akechi stands on the landing before one would go up the stairs further.

"You are here to inquire on the whereabouts of my classmate, Tatsuya Suou. One day he simply... stopped coming to class. It is my belief after looking into his whereabouts that he is investigating the 'Old Maid' himself, in an attempt to stop him before he kills again."

Akechi puts down his briefcase on the dusty landing, this is typically an unusual move for him, but in a conversation like this, he'd prefer to have a hand free. "I believe he is quite invested in the matter. While he won't speak upon his reasons... I've deduced several motives which would make resolution of the matter quite personal for him."

He then places a hand to his chin, as if ruminating upon the matter, "But to be quite frank, I believe more than that is going on with him." The machinery is old, rusted, there is a scraping and grinding sound every time it moves, echoing hollowly throughout the tower's insides.

"Upon my last encounter with him, he appeared to no longer remember who I was. His classmate, whom he'd known for three years. He made certain excuses... but eventually admitted that he no longer even knew my name."

Don't remember. Stop it. Don't remember.

His brown eyes flick towards Jun, as if he'd been leading up to a certain question, "Would you happen to have any idea why that might be?"

<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.

    It's a subtle shock to Jun just how little Akechi seems to care about late Principal Hanya's death. Even when he explains that Hanya made enemies with the student bodies and it's no surprise that someone might have called the Joker Killer on him, he can't help but shake a feeling of... wrongness. His father had never said anything about it... But then, his father isn't the type to burden others with his problems... There have been days when he came home extra tired, but Jun always figured that was just the nature of the job sometimes.
    
    So it's reassuring when Akechi turns and tells him even someone like Hanya deserves justice. Jun gives him a small smile in return. "Yes, I do think so. It's a horrible way to die. Death may be the great equalizer, but the ways in which a man may die are not themselves equal."
    
    There is a sound of machinery growing closer. As he walks with Akechi, he watches him take out those keys; when they go further in, Jun realizes that it's the sound of moving gears. Ah, this must be the clocktower, he thinks. It's visible to all who enter campus, after all, even if he's never been up here before. He looks towards the door that would take them further in, but Akechi stops here on the landing, so Jun stays with him.
    
    Stays, and watches, and listens.
    
    So Tatsuya is investigating that serial killer... Or at least Akechi thinks so, but it makes sense. It makes a lot of sense, and it fills Jun with relief. It still doesn't reconcile what Tsubasa told him, but maybe they misunderstood, or didn't understand what they were seeing. There's surely a logical explanation. Maybe Tatsuya's family would know something... Though before resorting to that, there's plenty more Akechi has to say.
    
    And it is plenty. Not only that, but bizarre. He no longer knew his classmate of three years? He'd forgotten him...?
    
    The thought fills him with unease. It feels like there's been a lot of instances of memory loss lately...
    
    ...but does he know anything about that?
    
    "I-I don't," Jun stammers, startled by the question, and is briefly annoyed at himself for it. It makes him sound suspicious when he's being wholly honest. He composes himself anew and continues, "I only met him for the first time the day before the attack... I can't even properly call it 'meeting' him. I just happened to spot him across a crowded venue, just before he left." He pauses. That answer feels false, even though it must be true. (It is technically not even true within the confines of This Side, but that run-in at the train station was a while ago, and Tatsuya wasn't wearing his motorcycle leathers then.)
    
    He frowns. It's not just for that reason. The bouquet Tatsuya gave him: butterfly weeds, and lilies of the valley. Let me go, and... You made me happy. A bouquet one would give a loved one upon parting for good. It still doesn't make any else, and the thought strikes him that maybe Akechi knows more than he's saying. "Pardon my asking, but... why would you think I would know anything about that, Akechi-kun?"

<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.

It is, shocking, isn't it? How little Akechi seems to care about the murder of his own Principal. Even if he wasn't well-liked... it was still a murder in the halls of the school.

Perhaps as a detective he is simply a little numb to such things. Perhaps.

Still, he does smile at Jun's answer to the question, "That's quite the poetic way of putting it." He replies, "You have such a delightful way with words, Kashihara-san."

The ways in which a man may die are not themselves equal.

It's something he's thought about many times himself.

Akechi doesn't elaborate on his deductions for Tatsuya's motive. While they're important they're not what he's actually interested in here. It is more Jun Kashihara's reaction.

As Jun stammers that he doesn't, and replies it was only his first time meeting him. Jun may feel like Goro Akechi's brown eyes are just piercing through the 'feeling' of falsehood in that moment, even if there's no reaction to suggest that he thinks he's lying.

"I see..." He allows himself to trail off, as if lost in thought, perhaps ruminating upon some facet of how Jun just responded, until he asks his follow up on why he believes he'd know anything about that.

"Haha..." He breaks into a soft chuckle, "...well, ordinarily it is the nature of a detective to ask accusatory questions like that to the people around them, just to see if they let something slip."

It is something that might feel disorienting, like he's indicating that he's 'just asking questions' while at the same time qualifying it with 'ordinarily'.

But his hand drops down to his pocket, and he brings out a notebook with his logo upon it. There's a slip of paper stuck in it, which he brings out, putting the notebook away in a pocket, and unfolding it as if it were some grand theatrical gesture.

"But while the police have written off the incident at Kasugayama High as 'gang violence,' I have not... there's something decidedly 'cultish' about the Old Maid and his methods. Recently I came upon a 'prophecy' of sorts at the site of one of his murders that I believe is quite connected..."

Akechi looks at Jun, and holds the unfolded, creased paper out for him. "Would you mind taking a look for me and checking if any of this is familiar to you?"

The paper reads, in red characters:

A young man in red. Holding a young man with the soft smile.
Don't remember. Stop it. Don't remember.
In June, the spider lilies bloom blood red in the fields.
A man hangs from the branch, caught between decision and action,
A blackbird cries in the tree, who hears it?
Who is there? Who is it, with that face?
Black butterflies fill the school hallways.
It is just the beginning.

<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.

    "Thank you. I do enjoy poetry," Jun replies, smiling back. Clearly he has taken the comment as a compliment.
    
    That smile is interrupted, and Akechi stares him down. He at least doesn't look away. He knows he's telling the truth. He... he's almost completely sure he is.
    
    So when Akechi admits that he was just trying to get him off his groove, Jun's smile is fully gone. That makes sense for a detective, but he can't say he's very keen on it. He decides to let it slide anyway. He can't fault a detective for being suspicious of others.
    
    That 'ordinarily' does have quite a bit of heft to it, though. It implies there's something about this situation that isn't ordinary. He's already said that he thinks there's something more going on with Tatsuya--already said there's something strange about him, that he didn't recognize someone he should know. When Akechi pulls out a notebook and hands him a piece of paper, Jun isn't surprised, for all Akechi's theatrics.
    
    "Clearly not," he murmurs, accepting it even as he continues to look him over. "The police really think it was just gang violence? I know that's what was reported on the news, but..."
    
    But it's strange.
    
    You'd think the police would know better. Even a simple interrogation of the people who were there would tell them it was more than that, surely.
    
    Cultish. Jun feels an involuntary shiver run up his spine. Something about that strikes a dissonant chord in him. He shakes his head to try to shake it off and looks down at the paper.
    
    A young man in red. Holding a young man with the soft smile.
    Don't remember. Stop it. Don't remember.
    
    Already Jun's face has gone pale as a ghost--yes, a spirit that should not belong in this world. His kneejerk desire is to shove the paper back at Akechi, but he manages to master that reaction and force himself to keep reading. Most of the rest of the poem--prophecy?--is opaque to him, but one thing does stick out. "In the language of flowers, red spider lilies represent..." His throat goes dry. He swallows hard, fingers trembling. "'Lost memory,' 'abandonment'... 'never to meet again.'"
    
    He manages to hand the piece of paper back. He feels sick. There's one other part that stands out to him, though he doesn't quite know why: Who is there? Who is it, with that face? But he does know what it reminds him of.
    
    "A man stands there also and looks to the sky,
    "And wrings his hands, overwhelmed by pain:
    "I am terrified--when I see his face,
    "The moon shows me my own form!" he recites under his breath.
    
    ...Jun brushes his dark hair back, though not enough to actually pull his long bangs from his right eye. "...That's a passage from Der Doppelgänger, a poem by Heinrich Heine." Technically the poem is untitled; the title comes from the song form by Franz Schubert that used the poem as its lyrics. "It's one of my favorite poems. It popped into my head just now..."
    
    Ah. His breath is quickening. His heart is racing. Is this an onset of another panic attack? That dirty, rusty grind of the clock gears isn't helping. Jun turns away to try to find a spot to lean on and try to get himself back under control. He could swear he's never read that prophecy-poem before, but it's clear to him he's having a reaction to it. Is it possible that he heard it during the attack, and his mind is trying to protect him?
    
    "...Please excuse me," he adds, faint and breathy. "I don't actually remember the events of the attack very well. I believe I'm experiencing repression as an automatic defense mechanism, to protect myself from whatever trauma I experienced then." His breath is getting more labored, not less. "Still, I've been--I've been having physical reactions to... to reminders. Every so often."

<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.

"Whether they really think that is a complicated question." Is Goro Akechi's simple enough response, "That is at least, what they insist upon when I try to solicit their cooperation in my own investigation."

There's a chilliness within the words that points to the idea that he does not quite trust the police on this matter - or maybe even any matter. It's not directed towards Jun...

... not when all he needs to do is look at him, to know the chill runs to Jun's bones, upon his first sight of the paper.

"Yes... quite so." He agrees, as while he's not an expert on Hanakotoba, he at least knows enough of the symbolism. It's important to understand a great many topics for killers who might use a certain symbolism. "In many Eastern cultures they are grave flowers, for that very reason..."

He adds onto it, but now wonders even as he says it, if Jun is simply more correct. That it being a symbolism of 'death' might be off the mark in a poem that's more about 'memory' and 'forgetting'.

His mind turns to Meng Po and the bridge of Naihe in Chinese Folklore. "... Fascinating." He might as well have said 'Don't stop.' Just like he did to Umie, but he takes the paper back when it's handed to him. There's no reason not to.

"Are you quite alright?" He asks, in a tone that doesn't sound like it's concern exactly but more a prompt for him to put words to whatever he's feeling right now. However, Jun then speaks of a poem, and he listens.

"Words that Franz Schubert then later created music with... how aptly Jungian..." He says, as if in rumination on the matter. It's not that he's a big poetry fan either. "... it is interesting that it became one of your favorites." He remarks, as if it said something about Jun Kashihara that it is.

Like it clashes a little with what he knows of him so far.

However, it was coming on from the beginning, and Akechi does not seem the least bit surprised. Jun's reaction from witness accounts is not necessarily anything he'd make a connection to ordinarily. Normal people having strange reactions to a Persona is nothing unusual...

... but then came an 'Oracle' who mislikes the word for it.

"Take your time." Akechi tells him 'kindly' to his panic attack, "Try counting several seconds between each breath." He's not quite certain what part of it served as the trigger, but pressing him so far that he falls unconscious like he did on scene wouldn't exactly serve his purposes. "You went through quite the traumatic experience, it's only natural that you'd have a difficult time being reminded of such."

He says it so automatically, like as a detective he is simply used to dealing with victims of crimes recounting their trauma.

Before then continuing at a more deliberate pace, digging into this while he's still coming down - so as not to push too hard, too fast - but to keep on topic enough that it would be hard for Jun to fully recover, "I actually did not consider this as necessarily connected to you at first... but the word 'Blackbird'... your mother's surname contains the character for 'Kuro' ... and rhymes nicely with 'Karasu'."

He places a hand to his chin again like he's considering, "It could be that the Old Maid is merely an obsessive fan of your Mother's career... but if that were so, one would think the entire prophecy would be about her, don't you think? ... A young man in red, holding another young man with a soft face."

...
...
...

"It's almost like he predicted what would happen, that day." Akechi lies. After all, the prophecy was recited after the event. Nor was it written by Sudou either, merely someone connected to him...

... in a way that would be extremely uncomfortable to her.

"Perhaps the Old Maid holds you in high regard, Kashihara-san."

<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.

    "I see..." Jun doesn't press the matter of what the police do or don't believe about the attack on Kasugayama. It's hard for him to think of why the police would be so dismissive of the case or hostile towards Akechi, but he doesn't have a reason to think Akechi is lying about the matter, either. He opts to leave it be. There's something going on there that's beyond him, and he doesn't need to know what it is.
    
    Some things are better off unknown. Jun does believe that, however half-heartedly at times.
    
    Jun of course knows that red spider lilies are associated with the dead too. He doesn't need to add on to anything Akechi says on the matter. He seems to find something very interesting about it, and Jun doesn't ask after that either.
    
    Is he all right? Obviously not. Jun explains about that. Confusion does strike him when Akechi comments on his love of that particular poem; how is that interesting? How does it clash? But he finds trouble in reading too deeply into that. Maybe it hits differently for him, Jun doesn't know. He doesn't know why he's calling any part of it Jungian either.
    
    Talking him through the panic attack helps, at least. Jun's read up on them since that day, but it's hard to remember what needs doing when he's in the middle of it. He takes deep breaths; counts to eight; breathes out; counts to seven. He does this a couple more times. His heart rate feels more normal afterwards, and of course he's actively controlling his breath.
    
    Of course, then Akechi moves on. Blackbird... Kuro... Karasu... He clutches his head with one hand. "S-so what?" Jun says shakily, and he can't quite stop a hostile note from entering his voice. But there is a 'what,' and it is very relevant--to the point where even Jun sees it, for all the haziness of his memories. Not knowing the lie, it wrecks the calm he'd struggled so hard to regain for himself. Especially since--
    
    Perhaps the Old Maid holds you in high regard, Kashihara-san.
    
    --there is a terrible ring of truth, clanging out from behind those blurred memories.
    
    don't remember
    
    "Stop it!" Jun staggers back, back striking the wall. His dark eyes are wild with fear--and, perhaps, a threat of fully atypical violence. "Leave me alone!!"
    
    don't remember

<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.

Some things are better off unknown.

Perhaps things would go differently if Akechi himself believed that.

He doesn't explain what he means by it clashing with his perception of Jun, nor does he explain why the poem feels Jungian, nor what relevance that would have anyway.

But as Jun comes down from his panic attack just slightly, he reacts with that hostile note towards his questioning. It's hardly something one could blame him for.

After all, he reacts to his panic attack by pressing on that which triggered him. And as Jun staggers back to strike the wall, demanding he leave him alone...

One might swear there's something that's a mixture of cold, analytical assessment and amused schadenfreude within those brown eyes.

Akechi smiles, then stalks forward. One might think he has every intention for initiating violence against Jun, the cornered animal.

Save he steps past him, grasps the door handle, and opens it. Light spills in revealing it was never locked, as he holds it open for him.

"You're acting as if I'm keeping you here. I'm hardly detaining you, Kashihara-san." He says in a tone that feels almost patient - but it's difficult not to see it as anything but patronizing. "My sole interest is in uncovering the truth before the man kills again. If you wish to leave, you may... I won't make any attempt to stop you."

His eyes settle upon the young man, about the same age as him as if to pin him to the wall before he actually does bolt, "But perhaps then you should give up on searching for Suou-san." He presents it almost like it's a binary choice, "It seems as if it might be too much for you... to pursue him is to be exposed to much worse than this, I fear."

He then reports just as patiently to him, as he then reaches up, and tears a Sevens Emblem from his dress shirt, leaving behind the broken stitched outline of it's former presence. To his fans, it might be like marring something absolutely priceless - but his image is more important than merely what he's wearing.

He then extends that emblem towards him, "If you keep this on your person, the rumors say you'll be protected. ... If I were you, I'd consider investing in two more for your Mother and Father as well..."

<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.

    Violence might well happen--Jun's thin body tenses, and with the hand not clutched to his head, he reaches out, up, for the yellow lily tucked in the breast pocket of his summer uniform button-up shirt--
    
    But then Akechi opens the unlocked door, letting light pour into the room. The sounds of turning gears aren't quite so oppressive with an escape route. But with the air fit to move, his thoughts are better able to move.
    
    Akechi presents it as a binary: either accept terror into his heart, or give up on Tatsuya.
    
    His visible eye turning towards the floor. He'd told Marlowe-sensei that he wanted to see Tatsuya again--to talk to him, to understand what his motivations had been that night--to discern the meaning of that bouquet of butterfly weeds and lily-of-the-valley. However, if Tatsuya's goal really is to stop the Joker Killer, then...
    
    "...yes... yes, I suppose you're right," he murmurs, shoulders sagging.
    
    ...then suddenly the message of Let me go makes some amount of sense.
    
    "Thank you, Akechi-kun. That's very kind of you," he continues, accepting the torn emblem and clutching it close. He does see and hear that condescending note, and it is humiliating, but he already realized this about himself, didn't he? That he's fragile. It might be just about this one thing, and just because of the trauma he's made himself forget, but he can't risk doing this to himself further. He'd been on the verge of doing something... out of character. He realizes this about himself, and it leaves him feeling cold.
    
    But what other choice does he have? He can't do this to himself. He can't do this to his parents. And it's absurd to chase after a boy he doesn't know anyway. Surely this is as far as he can go if he doesn't want to remember--or rather, if he wants to not remember more than he wants to see Tatsuya again.
    
    It crushes his heart, and he doesn't know why. And while he doesn't know why, he feels it's for the best.
    
    As Jun staggers out of the room, it might seem as though he isn't really listening... but he stops in the door frame. If I were you, I'd consider investing in two more... He swallows hard at the implication, but to Jun, the two people he loves most in this world are his parents. Akechi's advise is extremely sound.
    
    "...I'll do that," he whispers.
    
    Then he lurches onwards without looking back. When he reaches the first floor grounds, he'll take some time to sit and compose himself. He'll remember the empty canvas bag still somehow hanging to his wrist, where he does not and has never worn a wristwatch. And, feeling defeated and depressed, he'll leave for the train ride home.

<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.

It is very kind of him, isn't it?

Kurosu Theme - Persona 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5FCybF6tzE

He merely ripped his resolve to shreds in front of his very eyes, and scattered them to pieces on the floor, just because he could.

An open door to offer an escape from a mirror held up to his own fragility.

"... Do take care of yourself... and them."

After all, it's your true priority isn't it? Not pursuing this young man who saved you. Akechi watches him go for a time, and lets the door begin to shut...

It is behind that door, that he contemplates how he feels in that moment. There's a strange sense of...

dELigHT

His smile twists - and in the dark of the tower...

"Ahaha..."

What is just a chuckle at first at his own feeling of schadenfreude, over tearing down the boy who has everything, especially a loving family, of revealing his own weakness despite having no discernible reason why he is weak.

"... AhahahahAHAHAHAHA...!"

Becomes an ugly cackle and then a full on burst of laughter.

He doesn't know why Jun Kashihara is involved in all of this. He just knows some God or Devil is connecting him like a silken strand of a web to some greater design. And for however special he might be for that.

"... Just another pawn..."

He's not nearly as special as he, and never will be.