2025-09-25: The Morning After
- Log: The Morning After
- Cast: Myunghon Yeo, Shinobu Shimizu
- Where: Cardboard Dragon, Hirasaka Ward
- OOC Date: September 25, 2025
- IC Date: July 16, 2012
- Summary: Shinobu walks in on the Cardboard Dragon after a... situation.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
There was a task Myunghon had scheduled from last week for Shinobu that they've given her a nice bonus in advance for. The task itself isn't anything special, grab the kei truck in the morning and go around and fetch stock from multiple suppliers, but perhaps the bonus is because there's more stock than usual? Or perhaps Myunghon's feeling awkward and wanted to compensate in other ways... well, it's a paycheck, either way.
When she arrives, though, Shinobu notices the Cardboard Dragon is in a state of some disarray, given how front and centre the collapsed playing table is in view -- the legs are broken like someone'd sat on it too hard and it snapped. The tablecloth is scattered throughout the floor, there's a discarded sling, and a pair of white shoes kicked about haphazardly -- one of Myunghon's, the one they wore to the arcade with Shinobu, if she remembers correctly, then one of Myunghon's messenger bags which is strewn open and its contents have spilled out on the floor. This would be concerning, as it might make her think it was some sort of theft or assault, given Ishiba, but a cursory glance...
... leads to the culprit themself lying on the couch, fast asleep and exhausted, bandages somewhat loose. They have a white coat and sweaterdress -- again, from that outfit they assembled on that outing to the arcade together -- somewhat... loosely draped over them like it's a makeshift blanket. Other personal items strewn about suggest that they're... less than deent underneath the blanket.
There is, mercifully, no one else around.
...
...
...
Perhaps it's worth just quietly grabbing the car keys and going about her business as usual routine than dealing with... whatever this is. It might not be worth it.
What's the play?
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu hesitated for a bit on whether or not to accept the money. That's a lot for what's being asked of her. Any other workplace she'd take it in a heartbeat, but a part of her couldn't help but wonder what it was for.
...But in the end it's still honest pay and she isn't really in a position to turn it down, so she accepted it.
And now that the scheduled day has come, Shinobu arrives in the morning to the Cardboard Dragon... and she's quickly put on alert. The place is in disarray. The table is collapsed and scattered, a sling and a familiar pair of shoes discarded...
With a frown, Shinobu shifts her duffel bag downward, ready for immediate access in the case of trouble. She creeps forward... but it doesn't take long to realise that someone is here.
And that someone is currently fast asleep on the couch. Shinobu relaxes, just a little - but she averts her eyes somewhat as she puts two and two together, courtesy of the scattered personal effects.
And so, the question - what is the play?
She could just leave. That's always an option. She knows where the keys are.
But... what if someone else shows up? Idly she considers that it might be more awkward that it's her specifically, but if anyone else saw the Cardboard Dragon in this state... There's only one thing for it.
"Hhhey boss," Shinobu greets tentatively. "You, uh..."
A moment of hesitation.
"...Everything good?" She asks.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Hhhey boss. You, uh...
Myunghon stirs surprisingly slowly for how alarmed they usually are when they fall asleep around people -- even when they stayed the night at Shinobu's, they were virtually up the moment they heard movement and life within the apartment when Shinobu had to get up. The exhaustion is still evident in their face as they lift themself up and the coat spills over and--
Then suddenly their brain catches up, and the violently fast motion to drape the coat over themself, taut and tugged, can't possibly be faster, prompting a whimper and a wince because that's their wounded right arm suddenly forced into a jolt of motion, smart one.
...Everything good?
"S-Shino--Shinobu-ssi? Why are you here so..." Myunghon's head is on fire, so much blood and embarrassment and emotion incapable of being filtered at present. "No, I, this is, this is not what you think, I was..."
What *were* they doing? Their eye widens as they come to a sudden dead stop in realisation, like they're really unaware and unable to piece the haziness and fragility and heightened emotions and regrets and... and... they feel like they're going to throw up, catching their mouth with their hand for a moment.
Tsumugi's image against the setting sun of the twilight hours is burned into their mind forever. That push-and-pull, the way they resolutely urged them to seize that freedom for themself, to refuse to let their wings be clipped... their hands, placed to either side of them on the table, Rumourmonger Merry's eye gazing almost impassionately. Then they remember the horrid plastic snap as they collided, pain flaring up on their dislocated shoulder, but there was something even more intoxicating past that, an inescapable gravitational pull, an attraction they shouldn't have had...
"I'm-- I'm so sorry," Myunghon sounds mortified. "Whatever this is, it's not appropriate." That last line almost feels like Myorei Yukichi surfaced from the grave in a fit of desperate professionalism. The mortal shame is suddenly taking center stage, washing up through their heart and up to flood their face. The shame is summoning tears. No, no no, the day just started. You can't be broken already. Please don't. Not in front of Shinobu. Especially not in front of Shinobu.
"Please." The sobbing starts anyway, because they can't be in control. "Allow me a few minutes to clean up and dress."
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu did expect them to stir pretty quickly, but they're slow to awake, enough for her to worry that something might be wrong - up until they seem to recognize that she's here and they start to bolt up.
"Uh... the job? You wanted me to come by early and make the rounds?" Shinobu explains. They say that it isn't what she thinks - and Shinobu isn't really sure what she thinks. But Myunghon apologises, sounding mortified.
"Hey. Hey, Myunghon - don't worry, it's alright, okay?" Shinobu races to reassure. They're practically sobbing, now... what happened?
"...Sure, but... can you tell me what's going on?" She asks, moving to step behind one of the bookshelves. She doesn't leave, though - she isn't going to leave them while they're in this state.
Reiko Shimizu has arrived from Historia: The White Chronicle.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
The job! Of course! What a fool they are. Absolutely miserable, not even understanding or recognising their own schedule. The reminder only prompts a louder whimper from them as they start to fetch the various pieces of clothing from around them, sobs breaking down amidst winces as that arm absolutely flares from not being braced and supported sufficiently. Shinobu, of course, asks them what's going on. They don't answer immediately. They haven't thought of a way to express this. How do you express something like this?
Shinobu hears them step away in a dizzying flurry, and the bathroom door closes behind them.
...
...
The sound of running water.
Half a minute later, something loud and plastic clatters on the ground, along with an 'OW!'
The tap is still going.
...
How long are they going to be in there?
When Shinobu enters, they've managed to spill a two-litre bottle of disinfectant all over the floor and it reeks of it everywhere. The sink's still running and is spilling over from where it's been stoppered and is dribbling all over the bathroom tiles. Myunghon's managed to just ball themself up into their favourite state, knees right up to their face, and has largely spent most of the time after dressing just sobbing louder to themself. They've put their clothes on, at least...
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Myunghon doesn't answer immediately. The only thing she gets in reply is a whimper, and the noises she hears aren't exactly... promising. The bathroom door closes.
She hears running water - then the sound of something falling and a loud 'ow!'. ...They've been in there long enough that she's starting to get worried. She hurries over.
"I'm coming in." She announces - and after giving them a second she opens the door. The sight beyond it is...
...It's difficult to see them like this. She suppresses a grimace and heads inside. She turns off the sink... and then carefully - very carefully, to avoid slipping on the liquid everywhere - lowers herself into a sitting position next to Myunghon.
"...I'm not gonna push you to talk if you're not up for it, but I can't leave you like this, either." Shinobu says. "I'm here, alright? Whenever you're ready."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon hears Shinobu say they're coming in, and they brace themself gently. The tap comes to a stop, and the running water fades. The sink will still need to be drained, and it's a little moist in here from all the condensation from the hot water they've left running for a bit. They look to Shinobu quietly, then glances away as they come to sit down next to Myunghon. Great, they think, she's ruined their clothes for you now, even though she'll be the first to reassure she won't care.
There's another sniffle as they lean against their side gently where they've sat down. The shoulder feels reassuring. Present. Like it's not going to go away. "W-where should I start...? I'm not sure where to begin," they blurt out, before placing their fingers all to their lips. "I had a very long day yesterday... I went to Tatsumi Port Island for an investigation, but that all changed because my interviewee had cold feet. Mio and So-young asked me to go to Shibuya with them, and that led to us meeting an old friend of mine..."
They bite their lip. They don't particularly want Shinobu to see them like this, of course, but they're placing a lot of mental stress on them on the outfit too. It reminds them of when they were needy enough to ask them out to the arcade, and even though only one of them was thinking anything special about it at the time, it's accidentally gone and become a memory. It feels like when they wear the white coat, it's like they're allowing themself to become a member of the living again. And that's bad.
"I was very exhausted by the time I arrived home... I wanted to go to sleep, then I had-- um-- another customer... after hours..."
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu meets Myunghon's look as they look toward her, and then as they glance away. They lean against her - and Shinobu doesn't flinch or move away. That shoulder remains right there, because she can tell that they need it.
Myunghon wonders where to start, and Shinobu gives them the time they need to work through it and figure out what to say. She grimaces, when they say their interviewee got cold feet.
"...That sucks. Sorry they bailed on you." She apologises - and goes quiet against to listen as they continue. They went to Shibuya with Mio and So-young and ran into an old friend...
There's a little hesitation - but then they mention how they arrived home, but had a customer after hours. That usually doesn't happen...
"Who was it?" Shinobu asks.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"... I'm a bit paranoid. It's part of an investigation, and they were willing to talk to me about something confidential ... but then they changed their mind all of a sudden. I'm not sure who got to them before me..." Myunghon shivers a little, but indulging in that sense of fright as to who's in the shadows isn't helping. How does Tsumugi do it? How do they maintain such a wonderful sense of freedom in material reality? How do they refuse to let their wings be clipped?
... thinking about them while leaning against Shinobu makes them feel extra guilty, though.
"It's--" Myunghon hesitates. "Do you know the Peacock Silk? I've been meeting with the purveyor there a few times... they're really-- charming," oh, they can't finish that sentence without the shame and embarrassment rising up like a flooded well in flood season. Their lips tremble again as they look away. "Um, I first met them when I was investigating the store, and it seemed that they cater to Persona-Users... I brought my share of the spoils from Kaneshiro's Palace and they fashioned me that nice, new Cognitive Coat."
... the Cognitive Coat that just appeared out of nowhere on the very night Myunghon decided to leave a note saying farewell, in no uncertain terms, and they had to rush to Mementos to convince them to not make a horrible mistake?
Myunghon doesn't seem to have realised that they're giving away a clue. "We met a few more times... sometimes it feels a little like a dream, but... well, they also visited me last night and--" They hesitate further as they realise it must be really churlish to talk about all of this in front of Shinobu. "Ah. ... no... nevermind. I know how they feel. I can't imagine someone like that would be fettered by something as mundane as a relationship... I could feel it..."
They deflate further into that fetal position of theirs, eye closed.
"Even if I tried, I'm sure they'd not stick with anything for that long. They'd just lose interest and move on, and want to do something else."
These are... familiar words, aren't they. Myunghon doesn't seem to be doing it on purpose.
Myunghon exhales very tightly, and sniffles again, not quite completely coming down from their tears. "I'm such a fool..."
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Myunghon elaborates - it was part of an investigation and they were going to talk about something confidential... Shinobu grimaces.
"...Ah. Yeah, that'd make anyone paranoid." She admits. It can be dangerous to be digging around in something someone doesn't want you to know... and terrifying, if someone finds out.
Myunghon explains, then. Peacock Silk... The purveyor is charming, huh? Shinobu would comment on that, but... it seems like that charm may be related to their current worries... especially when they mention that they were responsible for the new Coat that, at least to her, showed up out of nowhere.
"...I know of the place, but I've never been. I know Tsubasa was talking the place up..." Shinobu comments.
Myunghon continues. They've met a few more times, and it feels a little like a dream... And they were the one who visited them last night.
...She can tell they're intersted in them - but also, how distant that possibility feels.
...Those familiar words feel like a jab between the ribs and Shinobu has to suppress a wince and the feeling of guilt. She feels partially responsible for this...
"...Hey. You're not a fool for wanting things, okay? ...Or wanting to be with someone." Shinobu murmurs. "There's nothing wrong with that."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Ordinarily, Myunghon might have been aware of how close they pulled the loop back on Shinobu, but sobbing as they are, they don't seem to have that werewithal that has them being more hyperattentive of people and what they say to them. "Their name is Tsumugi Kujaku... it feels in every way like they'd be--" A pause, as they wonder how egotistical it is to say, "A little like what I could be, if I was confident, more charming, more poised, more successful... the way they dress, differently every day. The way they're in command of conversations and just seems to magnetically draw you in--"
Now they sound like a lovestruck schoolgirl again. Perhaps they really are. Perhaps this is the problem. They're being childish. That's the kind of emotion for people back at school when they can just afford to be in love, and the consequences won't last when they graduate, for one reason or another. Sometimes the problems do follow them out, but there are so many people who just part ways after high school, never to see each other again.
"I am a fool," Myunghon protests with a sniffle. "I knew that what we wished for could not ever possibly align. But I was swept up in the moment and said it anyway... it would've been better if I hadn't said anything. Done anything. I could've just backed away, and let nothing change... sometimes it truly does not pay to be honest. Then you're just the fool who took the risk and was laughed at for it..."
Are they still talking about Tsumugi or Shinobu here??
"Perhaps it is better to be 'free'... I believe they are correct... that's also what you're embracing yourself, right, Shinobu-ssi?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Tsumugi Kujaku... Shinobu remembers Tsubasa mentioning Kujaku-sensei. So that was actually their name... Like Myunghon would be - Shinobu listens as they recount the traits that draw them in.
"I can get why you'd be interested in someone like that." Shinobu comments. They certainly sound impressive - even if they seem a little dangerous, too, from what Myunghon did right after getting their Coat...
...But Myunghon insists they're a fool, and Shinobu frowns slightly. Would it have been better?
"...Would you have been alright with that? Letting it eat you up inside, wondering what would've been..." Shinobu asks. "Weren't you the one who told me that if you never tried, you wouldn't know if it'd lead to something different?"
...Freedom, huh...
"...I don't know about that." Shinobu admits. "I don't feel free. I just feel... indecisive, more than anything. Like I'm just treading water."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"I think they... were there, after all," Myunghon whispers, "On the night I was hospitalised. I genuinely thought it may have been a dream, but no, I could not forget how they looked. I don't understand why they were there at my hospital room, to deliver my coat, but they encouraged me on that night. They said I was the one with power, not him... not Ishiba... I should make him realise that."
Once more, Myunghon's exhibiting some enormous blindspots here -- it follows that if Tsumugi said something like that, Tsumugi was the one who incited the whole incident behind them travelling dangerously to Mementos and coaxing them to do something so dangerous it was likely they wouldn't have come back from it. But all they have to say is:
"... the way they coaxed and draped me in the coat, in the sick moonlight of the Dark Hour... it really did feel as if I could fly."
And they did fly. And someone saw. And now they're a vampire.
...
Is that why they're still here, because there's running water from spilling the sink and they can't cross it?????????
Shinobu grills them on wheter they would've been all right with that. Letting it eat them up inside, wondering what could've been... aren't they the one who told her that if they never tried, they wouldn't know if it'd lead to something different?
...
...
"But there is safety in always wondering, never swaying that boat, never taking the risk," Myunghon whispers, head leaning gently towards Shinobu's shoulder. "People never speak of the case where you do try, and fail, and now you have no excuse to hide in any longer -- just the shame and your trying and failing. That is too burdensome, too loathsome..."
It's clear they're not in a particularly happy mood right now, since it's just working up their tears further -- they look like they might be about dry right now. But Shinobu feels like she's treading water, as they speak in a messy puddle of a public bathroom with disinfectant oozing around them.
"But it's true you moved away from your parents, right? And you're still doing whatever you please, even if it feels as if you may be drifting... and you're heroically rescuing people in the shadows when the Dark Hour comes, when danger like Kaneshiro comes about. You've come to the aid of so many people here, including me... I haven't stopped admiring that, you know."
They still can't get her out of their mind. They're not about to confess they were thinking in part of Shinobu last night, even, because of the obvious parallels they've created in their mind.
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Myunghon confirms that they were there. They were the one who said they were the one with power - who coaxed them... Shinobu frowns, just a little.
"That's, uh... Maybe pretty irresponsible of them." She comments. They could have died, that night - and maybe they would have, if everyone hadn't gone to stop them. There were those people in the masks too, she supposes...
...But she wonders how much worse it would've gone if they were the only ones who had appeared to Myunghon.
There is safety in always wondering, they say. The times when you try, fail, and have no excuse to hide in...
"...I dunno. Maybe." Shinobu admits. "Sometimes... that's just something you gotta live through and come out the other side of so you can grow."
Myunghon asks her about her parents, say that she's still doing what she pleases... Shinobu frowns slightly.
"Didn't have much choice. A few years longer, and I bet they would've kicked me out on their own." Shinobu replies. "I only stopped being the 'disappointment' 'cause they got pissed off at Ayame. I dunno how long that would've lasted."
Seeing how quickly they turned around and wanted back into Ayame's life once she had something they wanted... She's even more sure of that, now.
She shakes her head.
"Sure, but... It's not like I'd be able to do all of that on my own. I'm doing that with you and everyone else." Shinobu replies. "I remember how rough it was before we joined up. I wouldn't have been able to do half the things we've done."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon looks somewhat surprised when Shinobu calls it irresponsible, like they haven't considered it in that way. "Um... I suppose so..." They really have a blind spot around this person, don't they? "When you put it from an outsider's context, perhaps. But I do remember feeling heavily distressed, being back in the White Room again, being looked at coldly by the nurses once more, being called Ms. Yukichi... to have someone sweep me away and encourage me on that night was..."
Freeing. Suspiciously well timed. Very fortuitous. Are there any plans behind it?
But Shinobu says that sometimes that's something that they have to live through and come out the other side so you can grow. Myunghon grows a bit more cattish, perhaps rare for how gentle they usually are, to say, "I think that is easier to say to the someone who did take the plunge and fall, than the one who admits they are treading water at present."
... it doesn't last, though, and they glance away to say, "Sorry. ... that's unfair."
Shinobu confesses that she didn't have a choice -- a few years later, she would've been kicked out. Ayame was their target of ire instead. There's a deep frown and she bites her lip, cupping her fingers to her lips again. "... I'm sorry. I'm just assuming the grass is greener on the other side. I knew you had troubles with your parents. I wonder how Reiko-san is taking all of it, herself..."
They wouldn't be the band of comrades they are on their own, Shinobu advises. It's only because they all came together as one that they're able tod o half the things they've done. Myunghon reflects on how unified they feel, when the Cardboard Dragon is at their rip-roaring best, ready to roll out and curbstomp someone in battle.
... so why does it feel like they're still Alone Together right now?
"I'm... I'm delaying you. I'm being a distraction," Myunghon's words sound cold and harsh to themself. "I do... still need to do things today." They ignore the fact that they look barely suited for it. "I'm..." They bite their lip, glancing over their shoulder towards Shinobu again. "No, nevermind..."
With some difficulty, they lift themself up on that left arm on the sink, water splashing a little, tossing away the rolls of duct tape that's... why is there always so much duct tape in the Cardboard Dragon bathroom?? It's a mystery. "I shall clean this up. I'll... I'll see you later?" It sounds almost hopeful. "I'll treat you to lunch or dinner to make up for this."
The mask has to come back together for the rest of the day. Time awaits no one.
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Myunghon recounts what it was like for them... Shinobu knew it was bad, but after hearing that, she can't blame them for taking the advice of the first person to show them a way out of it.
"...Yeah. I'm sorry about that." She murmurs. And surprise crosses her face, then, at Myunghon's response. She hadn't expected that, and she looks away.
"...No. You're right. Sorry, I was out of line." She apologises, feeling scolded. She goes quiet for a bit, as they process talk of the Shimizu parents.
"...I know it's rough for her, too. She's got a lot on her shoulders, even if she tries to put a smile on about it..." Shinobu replies with a shake of her head.
They fall into silence briefly... until Myunghon, eventually, decides that they're delaying her.
"No, it's... it's fine. Do you, uh... need a hand up?" Shinobu assures with a shake of her head - but she moves to stand up, too. She meets that brief glance... but the tension is too thick for even her to cut through it and ask what they were going to say.
"...Yeah. You don't have to treat me or anything, but... I'll see you once I've finished making the rounds." Shinobu replies with a nod.