Persona: A Less-Than Cinematic Tale (Starring Hikari of PQ2)

Hanaya was at the cafe already when Hikari got there, which sort of surprised her a little. Sure, he was allowed to go wherever on campus that he wanted, just like her, but... it felt almost too normal, to be meeting up with a friend at the end of the day.

He barely blinked when he noticed her. "Oh, Hikari-chan. How was your day?"

"Busy," She replied. She had a lot of work to do, and while she knew she had plenty of time to get it done... Maybe setting days aside for it wasn't the worst idea ever. It kept her less distracted, even though she was wondering what would end up happening the next day. "I managed to... fill up my schedule all through tomorrow."

She didn't want to explain that she'd be meeting with Tsukane. As much as she hadn't wanted Hanaya to think that he was crazy... this felt like something only for her to know.

"Coursework piling up?" Hanaya guessed. "Yeah, our classes can kind of drag on, can't they? Though, I guess it doesn't help that..."

"...Is something wrong?" This seemed like the sort of thing she should have been concerned about.

He froze, and quickly shook his head. Maybe a bit too quickly. "No, it- it's probably nothing."

If Hikari knew Hanaya a bit better, or if she were a bit braver, maybe she would have pushed.

As it was, she wanted nothing more than to change the subject. "So, what are you getting to drink?" She'd have to listen to others' recommendations- eventually, it would be too warm outside to drink nothing but hot chocolate.

"I'm trying some iced tea. I asked online, and lots of people said it was good, so... it seemed like a good idea."

Hikari supposed that was fair enough. Maybe she'd order some iced tea, as well...

---

The evening had passed quickly, and now it was morning, and Hikari was going to meet with Tsukane once classes let out. It was sort of nice, to have a plan from the very beginning for how she was going to spend her day.

Or. Most of her day. The time immediately before classes was still unaccounted for. The time that was right now.

Maybe she should have started thinking about that sooner.


[ ] Going back to the cafe was always a valid option.
-[ ] With Shiyuri Kosono.
-[ ] With Hanaya Chatani.

[ ] The garden was a nice, peaceful place that could help her get centered for the day.

[ ] ...Well, given how she probably wouldn't have that much time to study later... the library was always a good option, right?
-[ ] By herself.
-[ ] With Shiyuri Kosono.
-[ ] With Hanaya Chatani.

[ ] She could just continue working on that project, there was a lot she still needed to do... (Crafting sessions remaining: 6)

What Hikari had learned, the day before, mostly equivalated to how easy it was to mess something up, to misplace a piece, to glue her own fingers together and how long it would take them to come apart.

As a result of this, she'd also learned care. To look at things from all angles, to handle the glue delicately, to not touch anything unless she was certain about where it went.

Unfortunately, it still had yet to really take shape, so there was a lot that she wasn't sure where it went. At this point, her best hope was that, if she ever did another project, she would chose something simpler and less likely to get her kicked out of the dormitory.

But by the time she had to leave for her first class, she'd made clear progress, and at this point, she was going to call that a win.

---

It turned out that the hardest part of meeting up with Tsukane was figuring out where to meet up with Tsukane, because if the two of them had ever established a plan, it had been forgotten in the next few days. Thankfully, they both had phones, and some willingness to communicate, and Hikari arrived in the blooming, flower-filled garden where she knew there was an entrance to Phantasmagoria nearby at the same time as the musician did.

"I'll always wonder how they manage to get so many kinds of flowers to bloom here," Tsukane started. "I don't think I've seen half of them before."

"There... are a lot of them," Hikari agreed. She wasn't sure what else she was supposed to say. "It's... very quiet and peaceful here, if you ignore..."

She didn't even try not to look at the hedge with the tunnel underneath. She'd mentioned it, in the planning, and that had seemed like the thing that convinced Tsukane that this was the place where they should meet. She wasn't entirely sure why, but... part of that was her just choosing to ignore certain possibilities.

"I think everyone is ignoring it. When I ask people about the tunnels under the school, all they ever say is 'don't go there.' I don't think they even know why." He glanced of to the side, wincing. "When I asked Nara-san about it, he accused me of wanting to use them to start trouble and told me that, if I died there, he'd be the one filling out the paperwork."

That... sounded about right. But Hikari wasn't fully sure that was a concern. "If someone did die there... would anyone even notice?" She wanted to believe they would, but...

But she'd heard insistence that Tsukane had never been missing at all.

After that, she'd believe any amount of negligence, so long as Phantasmagoria was involved.

"...I don't really want to think about that right now. Since, um... I want to go back inside. Just so I can see it and- and so I can thank those other two."

"...Can't you do that any time?"

"Maybe I could, but... I don't think I'd be able to get back out, if you weren't there." He... didn't? Why not? All Hikari ever did to leave was to just turn around and go back up the tunnel.

But if he felt safer with her around... that was a new thing. She didn't really know how to react to that. "So... you want to go now?"

Maybe, once she was in that Shadow-filled dreamland, things would start making slightly more sense.

---

The path felt as desolate as ever as Hikari led Tsukane to the cinema. "That's where they live?" He asked, staring up at the sign.

"For a given definition of living, anyway." Shinjiro pushed the door open. "Dunno what you're doing back here, but... If you like popcorn, Ribbon's got the machine running right now. Not that I know what she needs it for..."

"Popcorn is not good for the body, but it is good for the soul." With that, the little robot tossed a piece at her face, where it turned into light and vanished. "It would be even better if I had a way to taste it!"

"...I think I'm gonna take your word for it. So, Hikari-chan, why'd you bring him back here?"

"He... wanted to be here." She wasn't sure she needed a better reason than that.

Tsukane nodded. "I wanted to thank the two of you for... for helping save me. Everyone always told me that what I wanted was impossible, before, so once I found a place where I already had it... If you hadn't come there, I wouldn't have left it."

Hikari thought about the paper she had found, describing an event that would have occurred the previous day. Whatever it would have been, she... found herself happy that she didn't end up finding out after all.

"I am glad I was of help to you. When you talked about not having friends, it reminded me of- of- of- Error. Data unavailable."

Tsukane glanced at Shinjiro. Shinjiro sighed. "She gets like that sometimes. I still don't know why she calls me what she does."


[ ] "I don't think Ribbon knows, either."

[ ] "You... haven't been doing a lot to stop her."

[ ] "..."

"You... haven't been doing a lot to stop her." He'd corrected her once, Hikari could remember that, but after that it just seemed like he... didn't bother.

Shinjiro shrugged. "Yeah, well... there's worse things. It's just a name."

"...It doesn't sound like a name," Tsukane said. "More like... some kind of model number? Except I don't know what any of it would mean..."

"It does sound a lot like her designation... UIY-2249, right?" Ribbon nodded at Hikari's words.

"Yes. UIY stands for Unique IndentitY. 2249 is... my personal number." She sounded a bit less sure of this than she maybe should have been. "I am not sure these same principles can apply to IW-5. I do not believe humans usually have numbers associated with them."

"Well, Persona Users have an Arcana, but..." All she got looking at either Shinjiro or Castor was a string of error messages, and Ribbon's Arcana had no number at all, so maybe she was just different.

But hearing that, Shinjiro didn't sound surprised at all. "...Yeah, makes sense. Five for Hierophant."

...It figured that he'd know that already. "Do I have an Arcana?" Tsukane asked.

Hikari nodded. "Yours is the Lovers Arcana." She probably would have been able to say a bit more about it if she knew what it all meant. "And I have the Sun, and Ribbon has Faith." And Shinjiro apparently had Hierophant, which she might have been able to locate when looking at him, now that she knew what to look for, but she wasn't entirely convinced on that point.

"...Does that mean I could be called something like that?"

"...The designation IW-6 is in use. Alternative designations are also in use."
I wonder what those three are doing now...
"Oh, it's like setting up a new username..."

"It's all right, Akabori-kun. Ribbon-chan doesn't call me anything special, either." She didn't particularly mind it, but given how she'd been one of the ones to find her it seemed just a bit unfair.

"I am not sure why IW-5 has a unit designation in the first place. Or why I would know it. Unless he- Error. Data unavailable." ...Of course it was.

"And she probably doesn't know who took the other names, either," Shinjiro sighed. "Though... Are IW-3, IW-4, and IW-8 taken?"

"Yes. The designations IW-3, IW-4, and IW-8 are all in use. They have been assigned to- Error. Data unavailable."

"Do you... know who she's talking about?" Hikari ventured. The whole thing had sort of lost her...

"...Kind of. Except I don't know when any of that would have happened. Seems like the sort of thing I'd remember, but..." Apparently it wasn't. "And... I don't really think anyone needs a new number. It's just... a thing that happened. Apparently."

This was not reassuring in the slightest.

"...Do you normally talk about these sorts of things?" Tsukane asked. Hikari shook her head.

"I normally help them fight Shadows and get around places. But that... might not be a good idea right now. Since you..."

"...I can fight. See?" And without a moment's hesitation, Tsukane was wrapped in bright blue light, the figure of a Persona behind him...

[ ][Tsukane] With wings.
-[ ] And clawed hands.
-[ ] With feathers that seemed to curl up into smoke.

[ ][Tsukane] Carrying a shepard's crook.

[ ][Tsukane] Whose face was hidden beneath a too-large helmet... assuming that he had a face at all. ...Thinking about it, there was a pretty good chance he didn't.

"...He was with me after I woke up from you saving me. It's what you fight with, isn't it?"

"Well, we also tend to use weapons," Shinjiro said, as if they hadn't gone just about the whole time without them. "But I guess if you've got good magic you could probably go without for now. Unless you've already got one?"

"If he doesn't, I'm working on something he might be able to use." Was this the time to talk about building weapons in her dorm room? Particularly when they weren't meant to have them at all? "It's... some kind of spear, though I don't know how useful it'll be..."

For some reason, none of them seemed particularly comfortable with hearing that.

"Query: Why would you need to create a spear?"

"...I don't know. It just seemed like a good idea at the time." Still, it seemed like Tsukane was interested in going on adventures with them.

Hikari couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad one.

(Tsukane Akabori has joined the party!)

(The tactics Heal/Support and Debilitate are now available.)


[ ][Evening] There wasn't much reason not to spend the rest of the day adventuring...
-[ ] In Hikari's Dreamscape.
-[ ] They might have missed something Backstage...

[ ][Evening] Getting a nice, refreshing drink at the cafe might have been a good idea, actually...
-[ ] With Shiyuri Kosono.
-[ ] With Hanaya Chatani.
-[ ] With Tsukane Akabori.

[ ][Evening] Studying was a good idea. Studying could never not be a good idea.
-[ ] By herself.
-[ ] With Shiyuri Kosono.
-[ ] With Hanaya Chatani.
-[ ] With Tsukane Akabori.

[ ][Evening] There was a garden. She could rest there.
-[ ] By herself.
-[ ] With Tsukane Akabori.

[ ][Evening] Tsukane wanted a spear. She was going to make him a spear. (Crafting sessions remaining: 5)

[ ][Evening] ...Why was the internet the sanest place she could go to right now?