2025-07-25: Old Friends and Old Haunts
- Log: 2025-07-25: Old Friends and Old Haunts
- Cast: Masao Inaba, Eriko Kirishima
- Where: Aoba Way, Aoba, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: July 24, 2025
- IC Date: June 15, 2012
- Summary: Paths that diverged three years ago finally cross again, and Masao 'Mark' Inaba and Eriko 'Elly' Kirishima catch up for the first time in ages, sharing the highs and the lows. CW: Mentions of Stalking and Abuse.
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
It's a scenic early evening in Sumaru City, and Aoba Way's traffic is about to disperse as people make their way home for their evening meals, gathering with the family to discuss the day, and rest up for whatever the next day will bring. (Probably more of the same, for however malleable 'the same' tends to be as a concept in Sumaru City.)
"Freakin' A, man," says a young man wearing a yellow beanie - it's not the same stocking shape of his high school days, but the same white pattern seen on it has been embroidered anew as an unmistakable familiar aspect - has a raised voice as he's chatting away on his cell. Excited, but also agitated, as his path eventually has him sitting down on a nearby bench with one hand on his lap. "Yeahhhhhh. Same ol', same ol', huh."
It's a lot of small talk in that vein. An exclamation, some murmuring, occasionally some laughter. sometimes, a hand on his forehead. An animated conversation, when it feels like it's just about to be too late in the day to just have such a lively conversation.
It's easy to zone it all out as one goes about their day, but one may eventually overhear something more immediately relevant to one's recognition...
"Yeah, you saw the one I did for the festival? There were thirty of us that day, but that one - that one's a Mark original, yep! Shit, thanks to the city council gettin' in our face, we almost didn't get 'em done in time... but that one? That one, I'm proud of. ...Yeah. Yeah. It's gone now, but, I'll slip you some pics of it later."
"...Family had me manning a stall to advertise for Inaba Dry Cleaning, so I couldn't see everyone check it out live... yeah." He laughs. "What can you do? ...I love 'em. Some days more than others... yeah. ...Shit, man."
It starts trailing back off into empty pleasantries.
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Plenty of people are heading home, but just as many are getting ready for their evening out, or work events, or whatever else.
Emerging from Double Slash, a black haired woman in a fashionable tan jumpsuit is preparing for the former. It was a short shoot today, uneventful and quick. Not really the best sign for her career, admittedly, but... well. She has other priorities right now.
Don't mind the long thin sports slung over her shoulder.
Ostensibly, she's going to stop by a bar gaining popularity in Aoba Way, then start some other investigating. It's a short walk through the shopping arcade, and shouldn't really be disrupted-
Only to overhear someone talking on a cell, and a few words catch her attention, causing her to glance and see a design she hasn't seen in years. She blinks for a second, as the person starts to walk away, past her-
And a pang of worry grips her before she starts after them. It's rude to interrupt someone on the phone, but-
"Mark?" Eriko calls, a little loud, with a perfect American English pronunciation. "Is that you?" She continues, hoping that her use of English will cut through the background noise.
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
Blah, blah, blah--
'Mark?'
The young man on the phone looks up. He responds to 'Mark,' all right, but there's something in that voice--
'Is that you?'
"Sorry, man, gotta call you back-- yeah, catch up soon," click. He knows he's not hallucinating that voice. Who else can it be? He stands up.
"'Hell yeah!'" His English is accented, but for a guy who studied abroad in New York for some time, clear. "'It is me!'" He raises up a hand and waves, with all the excitement of someone who still has the flame and passion of his high school years even with the realities of adulthood coming down on oneself.
"Elly! It's me!" He returns to his native Japanese, stepping over to meet her all wide smiles on his face and everything. "I transferred back to Japan back in May!" He trails off a bit. The circumstances were messy as hell and it's made things... difficult. But he's not going to let that get in the way, as he walks up with an outstretched hand for a high five.
"How you've been?! I tried to call you when I came back, but it's like nobody ever picked up..."
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
That Hell yeah back at her only serves to fill Eriko with delight, unable and unwilling to hide the bright smile that comes to her face, and as Mark raises his hand for that high five, Eriko meets it vigorously with a Yeah! of her own. It's completely out of keeping with her reserved presentation and right now she doesn't care.
"Welcome back, Mark!" The high five done, she returns to a slightly more elegant posture, adjusting the bag over her shoulder.
(It's just long enough to hold the sort of one handed sword Eriko used to favour, if Masao is paying attention.)
"May, really? That long?" Eriko seems surprised, surely she would have-
And then he mentions her phone and Eriko's face falls a bit. "Oh, right." Eriko looks away, not meeting her old friend's eyes. "I had to change my number a few months back, I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to get you the details." It seems there's some dark spectres hanging over them, but Eriko brightens up again- though, a touch more forced then before.
"I've been doing well enough, all things considered. There's some absolutely fascinating things happening lately! Mysteries and intrigue and there's a high school full of demons the next ward over! It's like old times again. And now you're back too!" Eriko's delight in the occult is hard to hide, as it ever is.
"What about yourself? Did the Big Apple treat you well?" She gets a bit more enthusiastic, reminded of her old home, and then thinking about why Mark is back. "Oh, don't tell me, you have your first international exhibit already?"
And then Eriko remembers they are standing in the middle of a shopping arcade and while they aren't blocking traffic, she can already feel a disapproving stare from a office lady annoyed at her for blocking traffic. "Actually, are you free for a bit? We should catch up! I was on my way to a bar nearby to investigate something I heard about." She tilts her head. "Though, if we want to be nostalgic, It's not Joy Street, but there's a Peace Diner nearby! My treat?"
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
The moment of excitable youth passes, as Mark takes a respectful step back as the two settle as they do. Mark, too, still has a yellow bag on his back - large enough to put an axe in there, too. Some old habits die hard, but then again...
"Oh... that what happened?" He rubs the back of his head. "Yeah, it's no big... glad you're okay..." He was worried, for a bit. Even the carefree, act-first-think-later class clown was a known worrier for others, as his stance settles as Eriko brightens up.
"'Fascinating,' uh, yeah, that's... that's a word for it all right." He looks off to the side. "Yeah, I was there one night - that school - 'cause of the demons. The way the others were actin' it's like an every night thing for 'em..."
Putting aside the whole Dark Hour thing which *is* every night, his tone of voice doesn't betray how weird and unsettling he finds that fact. How normalized it feels like it's all become.
"Heh, well! New York's freakin' sweet, is what it is! Was havin' the time of my life. As for why I'm back, uhh..."
He gets interrupted by the aura of Irritated Office Lady, and with the invitation to head to a place to grab a bite to eat...
"Yeah, I got time! Even if I didn't I'd make some... y'know what? Peace Diner sounds great, let's do it." Her treat! The universe has decided this is a moment in time he hasn't lost another bet to Hidehiko Uesugi! Which is a good moment in time.
"I'll catch ya up on how I came back here over burgers!" He waves along, as he starts headed that way.
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
"Ah, well..." Eriko's own awkwardness kicks in. "I'd... rather not get into out here." Eriko admits, and her right hand crosses to grab her left bicep anxiously, and her posture gets... slightly self protective?
"Oh? You visited Kasugayama High already?" Eriko asks, blinking. "What was it like? Did you encounter anything interesting?" Oh no, the occult weirdoness has gripped her again. "And nightly, really? That's so many wonderful opportunities to explore!"
Eriko claps her hands. "Oh good! I'm glad! I like it in Japan, but I do miss New York sometimes. I wish I could have made time to visit while you were there, you could have shown me how it's changed!"
Eriko might have also recalled that bet, and maybe still feels a little bad for Mark and Naoya having to pay for everyone else. But only a little...
"Oh, excellent! Let's! It'll will be good to talk about all that's happened!"
It's not a long walk to the local Peace Diner, and while the high school crowd has mostly filtered out, the family crowd is starting to filter in. It's a bit too late to grab a booth, but an upstairs table for two is less of an ask- with wide windows giving a view of the people wandering through the arcade. Eriko has ordered a small Chicken Burger combo with iced tea to drink, but has no qualms covering Mark's order.
"So, do you want to start?"
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
Mark has a bit of resignation that there's no quelling Eriko's interest in the occult, and there's a bit of off-screen small talk on some of the Demons that showed up when he lent a hand, but nonetheless...
The local Peace Diner's register, miraculously, works! Mark got himself a Chicken Burger and a Peace Shake, and stood in brief childlike wonder that they could actually order food here. Nine times out of ten, back then... it's a wonder the chain even stayed in business.
"Yeah... I'll start," Mark settles down as he leans back in his seat. "So yeah, went to art college in New York. Third year, I got invited to an internship with a famous artist back home here. We were gonna get it all sorted out that I'd fully transfer to a local college here-- yeah, really," that art scholarship and its weight was worth its weight in gold, "but..."
Mark exhales, lowers his head, and puts a hand on his face.
"That artist was Ichiryusai Madarame... the guy that just confessed to bein' a plagiarist and ruining a bunch of others' careers." The sound of a bullet being dodged - but also a great, life-altering inconvenience when a major part of his ability to transfer back here hinged on that internship. He shakes his head again. "Just, outta the blue, screamin' and cryin' and carrying on 'bout being that bad a guy..."
He sits up again. "So, uh, for now I moved back in with the folks. They moved to the Hirasaka Ward here - mom loves the shopping center. They'd been makin' a lot of noise about me settling into inheriting the family business, as always... I'm still enrolled in college, but... it's a lotta online stuff, now, and even that's a real shit show." He smiles. "Scholarship's still got me covered, but shit... just my luck, right?"
But he's making the best of it, looking to his face. After all, he promised Naoya and the rest - no matter what - he'd go out and become a great artist, after all they been through together.
"...How 'bout you? Seems like somethin' has been weighing on you. What's up?"
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Eriko may look very different than she did in high school, but some parts of her will never change. If anything, she's even more open about it! No evading the Eriko demonology debate!
Eriko nods, picking up a fry to start her meal as Mark talks- an indulgence for sure, but she's planning to work it off tonight. Mark's story sounds wonderful to start off with- an internship, a scholarship, studying under a renowned artist, yet Eriko knows there's a but coming.
So when he brings up Madarame, Eriko's eyes widen. "Oh my." That's the only initial response she can make. "That's awful. I'm glad you didn't end up under that man, but..." She can't help but note the opportunities lost at the same time, or the dip in Mark's energy. "I can't believe your parents would expect you to give up your art to run their business, though. You're so skilled, and passionate!" Eriko shakes her head. She's been relatively lucky in the parental department compared to a lot of her peers- there was only a little clash on her choosing to follow her path. "Have you spoken to Brown yet? He meets a lot of people in his line of work, he might be able to find someone who could help you."
Still... "...I saw some of that press conference." Eriko admits, after a moment. "It was... very intense." Eriko frowns for a moment, before stopping to take a bite of her burger, and thoughtfully chews and swallows before eating. "There have been rumours about that, you know. Have you heard about the 'Phantom Thieves of Heart', Mark?"
But then Mark pushes her on her own problems, and Eriko places her burger down, and wipes her hands before starting. "...Well. You remember that I decided not to go to college and try and make it as a model, right?" She remembers the shock that caused Ms Saeko and some of the others, considering Eriko's academic performance. "Mom was rather worried about me trying, but she supported me in the end. I signed with Glory Talent within about six months.And things were going rather well, all told!" And yet, there is a but coming.
"At least, until last year." Eriko slumps a little. "I..." She frowns. "Someone started stalking me." She says, seemingly a little ashamed to admit it. "They started with letters, then gifts, then..." Eriko shakes her head. "He started showing up at photo shoots, or commercial filmings. He even got to the dressing rooms one day when I was working at the TV station." Recalling it seems to be a bit of a struggle. For a woman who once lamented she wasn't turned to stone longer and had endured the Other Mikage-Cho without any lasting troubles, it might be strange to see Eriko Kirishima afraid. "That's... why I had to change my number. The agency went to the police, but they said their hands were tied..." She frowns, a touch of anger. Despite all the evidence...
"...At the start of the year he broke into the apartment I was sharing with some other models. It was lucky none of us had been home alone." She shudders a bit, and crosses her arms again like she did before, protectively. "I... had to deal with it myself."
Eriko shakes her head a bit. "...I haven't heard anything from him since then, but... I moved into my own place, and told my family not to visit. I couldn't bear it if Hannah or May were hurt because that disgusting creep suddenly turned up when they were hanging out with me."
She reaches for her tea, and takes a long sip through the straw to calm her nerves. "...Either way, I'm not getting as much work as I used to. Some of the photographers think I'm... difficult to work with now. Brown is still trying to get me booked when he can, of course, and Yukino seems to be putting in a good word with her mentor, at least." Eriko sighs.
"...Still, it's not all bad!" Eriko quickly tries to change gears. "I mean, it's given me time to look into a mystery of my own! Did you know Kei was back in Japan too? And now you're back too! It's been so long since we've all been this close together..."
With at least one very notable exception.
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
"Yeah... we're in touch," Mark nods at the suggestion about Brown. "He's been a lifesaver. He namedropped me for doin' up a piece for that festival a little while ago. Got me a few commissions since! Still..." He rubs the back of his head. It's Brown. They were best friends growing up, best friends now, but damn if the man didn't find some new way to drag him into trouble anew. "...glad stuff's been workin' out for him."
And then, drifting back further into the Madarame situation... "Yeah... heard 'bout them placing cards all over his art exhibit before all that went down." He's shaking his head. "Like... what in the hell? How? That's what I wanna know." Him, and so many others curious about this enigmatic group.
...But soon enough, Mark pushes the point on Eriko's own life, and the way she places her food down... he knows he's about to be in for something. He puts his own food down to place his hands together. He nods. Yeah, he remembers she decided to forego college.
Things were going rather well, until...
'Someone started stalking me.'
"Ah shit." Mark sits up, listening intently to the timeline and the examples. The way she sounds actually afraid, that doesn't go past him. Anything that could faze Eriko like that... yeah, that'd scare him too if he had one.
"That's some bullshit," Mark raises his voice. "If I see him I'm gonna kick his ass!" Mark does get marks for volume and boldness, as he had when they were younger - but he is not particularly imposing physically even when the metaphysical spaces has him act as a powerful warrior figure and trailblazer with the Persona, Ogun.
"Fuck that guy," he slumps, with the quiet encroaching revelation that it'd probably get his ass sued and put in jail, assuming that's a fist fight he'd win. "...That's rough. Really sounds like Brown's done us a lot of good, huh..."
He doesn't bounce back as quickly into a cooler, calmer mood as Eriko attempts to, as she voices her interest about the 'mystery' that has enamored her. "Kei? I hadn't reached out to him, since I know he's got a lotta stuff on his place... makin' good on the promise to being the Number 1 guy in Japan." With a wide smile of 'he is always going to be the Number 1 pain in the ass.' The two of them used to be outright vitriolic to one another, until They-Know-What happened.
He exhales as he has himself another sip of his shake. "...I mean, you're not wrong about the mystery stuff," he says the key word in English, because he's on the level, "ran into a bunch of Persona-users trying to kill someone on a beach, it's... it's not even just at night when a school's already closed up, that was a freakin' beach in the middle of the day."
"There was a lot goin' on and a lotta people there, but I was dealing with someone who had a Persona that seemed to form some kinda cage around them, and... not gonna lie, real freaky." He laughs a bit. "...Seriously, what the hell is up with this city?"
"I mean," he sets the shake down, "...I'm glad to be back with everyone here, yeah? Maybe we oughtta look into this together."
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
"That's good," Eriko says, with a nod. She notices the way Mark trails off, but doesn't push any. "He's certainly come a long way from the class clown he used to be, hasn't he? ...Even if his jokes haven't as much." Perhaps, some material is timeless??
"...So do I, I admit." Eriko says, and for once, it's not pure wonder, there's concern too. "It's..." Eriko frowns. "If it's true they can make someone like that confess their crimes, what else could they do? And there's been the Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns in the press, Apathy Syndrome... I wonder if it's all connected." A pause. "Though... I cannot help but wonder how it might feel to undergo such a phenomenon..."
It's... weirdly comforting as Mark gets loud and angry. It's a reminder that he's still, in some ways, the brash, proud and brave young man she remembered. "Thank you, Mark." Eriko says, a faint smile returning to her face as he swears to kick the guy's ass. "I don't think that will be necessary, though. At least... I hope it won't." She frowns again, and shakes her head. "...It'll be fine. I'm sure."
She isn't.
"Yes. Of all things he's currently serving as the RA of a high school dorm over on Tatsumi Port Island, can you believe it? It's one way to practice humility, certainly..." Still, there's a light in Eriko's eyes that implies she suspects something more. "I want to drop in on him, but he keeps insisting on coming out to meet me when we discuss..." She pauses, remembering where she is. A normal Peace Diner. Not the ones where people would hide out from demons and talk about the goings on. "Mysteries." She settles on, after a moment. "...besides, wouldn't it be fun to see Kei managing a dorm full of teenagers?"
Oh no she is absolutely suggesting Mark join her in an ambush.
"What...?" Eriko's eyes narrow. "That's... awfully dangerous of them. I hadn't heard about this, I would have thought the rumormongers would be talking already." On the topic of what's wrong with this city, though... "...I have some ideas, actually." But out in the open is not a great place to discuss them, is it? "It might not be a 'what', exactly." She settles, on for a moment. "More of a who."
And the Masao opens the door to the offer Eriko has wanted to make this whole time. "Really? That would be wonderful! It's been a little lonely when it's just been Kei and I, and we've been looking into different options and methods." Eriko smiles brightly, her eyes alight with joy. "With you along, it would be much more of an adventure! So why don't we do just that- in fact, there are some things I want to look into more that I'd feel much better with you along!"
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
The price of business of being in Brown's presence - the jokes. They won't have to worry about affording air conditioning with those jokes, at least. This will be a harder sell come winter, but with global warming, maybe not.
...anyway.
He takes a lot of the speculation about suffering the nightmarish afflictions in stride - he knows she's 'for real' about those thought processes after all they've been through. That's Elly. They're all who they are.
Will it be fine? Is she sure? He's got a sunken look on his face when he is quietly rolling to disbelieve, exhaling loudly in some resignation that maybe there's no way to know until someone's broken a foot in that stalker's rear end. Even so...
'Of all things he's currently serving as the RA of a high school dorm over on Tatsumi Port Island--'
"For real? Kei? Doin' that?" Mark blinks widely... "Y-Yeah, sorry, I'm interruptin'." He lets that thread continue without further outbursts. His insistence about coming out to meet when it's time to discuss... in English, Mysteries.
"Mysteries. Yeah. I get it." Eriko, the occult fanatic, is one thing - but if Kei's treating this stuff seriously too, and this is Kei Freakin' Nanjo they're discussing, then...
"Pff. If the teens there are anything like we were, heh, yeah he's gonna have his hands full." He tugs down at his beanie a bit. Yeah, he'll have to see it for himself. Even if it's going to be quite a thing to process that this is what Kei's doing with himself right now, of all things.
With Eriko's brimming enthusiasm for having another friend along on their investigations and interests, Mark just shakes his head.
"Pff. It's been one thing after another since I came back... man. Yeah, all right, you know I can't turn a blind eye to this shit goin' down, whatever it is." He looks up, that wide smile still there, as he gets his phone out. "College is really kickin' my ass," beat, "I mean whose ass isn't gettin' whipped by growing up, yeah? ...But we'll keep in touch. I'll let you know if I catch wind of," he clears his throat, "Mysteries."
Looks like it's been time for yet another rodeo into the world of the weird.