Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)

"Happy birthday, then!" You're not mad she didn't tell you sooner. You're not! Really, it's just that if you had known, you would have taken the time to... you don't know, make her a card or something. Mom always liked that sort of stuff.

...And now you've made yourself feel sad, if only for a moment. You need to not do that. You need to focus on happier things, such as the fact that Kirijo-san seems to be rather enthusiastic about her present.

Not that you blame her, or anything. It is a really cool bike. "You seem to really like having it," You comment, changing the subject back to the vehicle. "That's good. You should enjoy yourself more often." Really, she's just all business, all the time, and you don't think that's particularly healthy. Not that the idea of her owning a motorcycle isn't scary in its own way, but at least it means she might not be in the dorms when she's stressed, and that means less of a heating bill.

...You think you just might live in the only building in Iwatodai that worries about a heating bill at this time of year, but that's what she's driven you to.
Ice elementals...
She doesn't say anything back, and you go inside, recognizing that she's still probably a bit lost in excitement over her new toy. Sanada-san and Shinjiro-san are already inside, though you don't know if they're doing anything in particular.

"Did you know it was Kirijo-san's birthday today?" You ask them.

Shinjiro-san shrugs. "Yeah. It's sort of hard to miss- her dad always sends her something useful for the Dark Hour. Somehow keeps picking out things she likes. Last year, she got a scope. You'll probably see it eventually, she's pretty good with it."

Sanada-san shudders. "Maybe a bit too good... You remember when she first tried it out?"
Let me guess... this was about four days later?
"I was trying to forget that, actually." And, suddenly, you have the rest of a story you never asked to have elaborated. Probably. The dates match up, anyway.

"Should I be worried? About... well... any of this? Or the bike?"

"...Maybe avoid crossing the street for the next few days." Right. You'll do that.

---

Thankfully, you don't need to worry about that all too much. Mainly because, over the weekend, you have incentive to stay indoors. Mainly, a marathon of one of the older Featherman series- old enough that you remember watching about five episodes of it in color, back when you were little.
You know, I'm still wondering how the screen display could be ruined so easily...
At first, you're sort of nervous about it. Featherman is a kids' show, and this isn't exactly a dormitory for young children.

You didn't need to have worried. Once Sanada-san notices what you're watching, he sits down next to you with snacks. You don't touch them, partly because you're worried they may be protein-contaminated, but mostly because he can get pretty invested in the show, too, and you're sort of scared that he may shock you if you get too close to his food.

Shinjiro-san watches some, too, when he's not doing something else, like making sure you don't forget to eat real food while you're glued to the television set. Mostly, he just makes sarcastic comments and pokes holes in every presented plan.

Sometimes, he and Sanada-san start fighting over how much of what you see is even plausible, but neither of them ever actually win and you think they enjoy having something to fight about more than anything else.

Even Kirijo-san shows up for a bit, though she never watches more than one episode with you at a time and it's clear that she doesn't really get the appeal. You'll give her points for trying, you guess.
Don't worry, she'll get it eventually... sort of.
All things considered, this has probably been your best weekend all year. No random time travel, no real Persona based business, you actually had something to do... You don't think it gets much better than that.

Of course, that still leaves the question of what you're going to do with the upcoming week. (Pick up to three)



[ ] Spend time with Maiko.

[ ] Spend time with Akira.

[ ] Spend time with Kirijo-san, Sanada-san, and Shinjiro-san.

[ ] Spend time with Saito-san and Koromaru.

[ ] Spend time with Morgana.

[ ] Study in the library. (+Knowledge)

[ ] Read some manga. (+Courage)

[ ] Read about mythology. (+Empathy)

[ ] Practice Channeling Hama.

[ ] Practice Channeling Kouha.

[ ] Practice Channeling Dia.

[ ] Practice Channeling Zio.

[ ] You should go someplace to have fun! Arcades are fun, aren't they?

[ ] Look up Masao 'Mark' Inaba. You aren't sure why, but you're interested.

"Kirijo-san has a motorcycle now," You mention to Akira and Maiko one day in the library.

Akira pauses. "Kirijo-san?"

"One of the people at my dorm," You explain. "She's the only girl and the one that stops the rest of us from breaking anything we shouldn't. And she got a motorcycle for her birthday. I don't know if I should be scared or not."

"I don't think you have to worry," Maiko states. "She seems nice enough."

"You've never seen her upset," You point out. "It's like she can freeze the room." Because she actually can, but you're not going to be telling your friends that. You assume that there's a reason the older three Persona Users haven't told anyone else about the existence of magic, though you've never actually asked what it is. You just... sort of assume it exists.
Of course, the reason is at least partly that everyone they care about already knows about it, so there's no real secret to hide. They don't have outside friends.
Akira shudders. "That sounds terrifying."

You nod. "Of course, she's not so bad once you get to know her, and she's just trying to look out for us, but... Even once you know that, it's still scary."

"Why's that?" You don't think that the book Maiko is reading right now is all that useful for school, but you don't think you should say anything about it, either. "If she's looking after you, that means there's no reason to be scared of her, right?"

Akira sighs. "I wish..." Just once, would it be too much to spend time with Akira without him saying something concerning?
Sadly, all signs are pointing to no.
...Huh. Maybe that's what it feels like to be Sanada-san.

"Kurusu-san, is there a problem?" You ask him, because this sounds like something you should be worried about. Well, more than you usually worry about Akira, anyway.

"It's fine. Nothing I didn't deserve." He waves it off like it's no big deal. Maiko looks worried, but seems to ultimately believe him.

You don't. Not entirely, at least. But you don't want to risk a fight, because this is a library, and you don't particularly feel like getting kicked out today. Or any day, but especially not when you're trying to focus on learning things.
We'll look into it later. Maybe get Mitsuru-san to help. There's probably a lot she can do that we can't. Like be generally intimidating.
"So, I'm done with this bit," You declare instead, pushing your math work off to the side. You're starting to have problems keeping up with the material again, but that's what these meetings are for, so it all works out. Even if the others, being younger than you, ask you for advice more often than not.

Such as now. "Oh, does that mean you could help me with...?" Thankfully, Maiko's problems are a bit easier to deal with than Akira's. You could use that, sometimes, in the other sorts of things that you do.

Really. You miss when your problems were simple. It meant that you didn't have to worry too much about solving them, because they'd work themselves out eventually. Then the Dark Hour happened.

...Okay, so it was a bit more complicated than that. But the point still stands. As long as you have Personas and Shadows and everything else to deal with, your problems will never be simple.

That doesn't mean that they can't be solved, of course. At least, you hope they can. You've more or less been able to handle everything thrown at you so far! Well... mostly. There were a few moments, but... it's fine.

It'll probably be a long time before you go out in that hour again, and you're just fine with that.

What you're not fine with is the fact that everything Akira says makes you worry about him, and if there's anything you've learned from Shinjiro-san, it's that you probably shouldn't ignore this kind of thing.

Not that you have any idea what to do instead... Okay, you've got a few, but you don't know if they'll actually help.

For lack of better options, though...


[ ] Actually start asking Akira about things. You aren't sure if he'll give you a straight answer for any of it, though.

[ ] Bring the topic up to your friends at the dorm. They've all been generally helpful so far, though this also means having to explain a friend to them and risks exposing Akira to ice magic.

[ ] Ask Maiko what she thinks. She's friendly enough that it probably won't turn out weird. Maybe. You hope.

[ ] Bring the topic up to Morgana and Saito-san. At least one of them should know what to do, right?

[ ] ...He seems okay enough that you can leave it for now. Maybe. Just until you've had a better idea.