After school, Akira seems a bit worried about something. "Kurusu-san, are you okay?" You ask, even though you get the feeling you already know the answer. He's predictable like that.
"Well, I..." He doesn't have his school things with him. You assume that he gave them to Maiko. "I just... don't really have anything to do today, and everyone says I should spend more time outside because it's so nice out, so..."
That is a problem. From what you can tell, books make up basically Akira's entire life.
You're pretty sure that's not healthy, but you also think he wouldn't listen to you about it, so there's not really a lot you can do there.
"So, you want something to do?" You have an idea. It's probably a terrible one, but...
Look, so long as she doesn't pull out the Megidolaon, we should be fine.
"What is it?" Akira sounds more cautious than usual. Honestly, he's probably got the right idea.
"Well, I was going to go meet with a friend. You remember Lavenza, right?" He winces, and you'll take that as a yes. She's not exactly the most forgettable person in the world. "You could come with me, if you want. She likes to see different places. I think she'd like talking to more people."
Well, assuming her colder side doesn't come out and scare your friend away. Which could very easily happen. Akira's basically a rabbit in that respect, and Lavenza can be pretty terrifying at times.
Or maybe that's just you being able to sense how much power she has. In which case, a regular human like Akira would probably be fine, but only so long as the strange girl doesn't find reason to use that power.
That won't save you. They make excuses.
"That..." Akira thinks it over, before glancing at a large group of kids from the year above you. "...That wouldn't be so bad, I think."
"Okay! Come on, then." You're not giving him a chance to change his mind right now. Otherwise, he might remember how crazy Lavenza can be sometimes, and try to escape. And she's not even that bad, most of the time.
So, if anyone asks, you will fervently deny bringing your friend to act as a sort of meat shield. Even if it might be very slightly true.
"I was not aware you would be bringing a friend." Lavenza's golden gaze bores down on you, making you wonder if you've made a horrible mistake. "Kurusu-san, was it?"
Akira nods, quickly, looking for all the world like he's about to bolt. "Y-yes. I'm sorry about the trouble, Amada-senpai said it would be okay..."
"I thought you'd like having someone else around," You say. "Kurusu-san's pretty smart, and reads a lot, so he knows a lot about lots of different things. It'd help a lot to have him here."
"...If that is what you believe." And this is why you will never claim to understand Lavenza. Along with the fear that she might kill you if you did, but that's normal.
Honestly, the Velvet Room would probably be a lot more helpful if the attendants didn't seem to all be some variety of insane.
Akira doesn't seem to know what to make of this. Honestly, you don't blame him. You told him to stand by the fountain while you went into a space that seemed to be empty, and came out with an odd blue girl.
...In hindsight, maybe not the most subtle thing you could've done, but you're sure it could be worse.
"She says it's fine." At least, you think that's what she's saying...
"O-oh. I see. Lavenza-san, it's nice to see that you're friends with Amada-senpai. He doesn't have a lot of good ones." You'd point out that he's even worse off, but this might not be the place for that.
"You don't believe yourself to be a good friend?"
Akira just shrugs helplessly. "Well, it's just me, Oohashi-chan, and those weird grown-ups he spends time with. There's only one there that really..."
"I think you are underestimating just how powerful connections between people can be. In the right hands, they can even overcome reality itself. You read a number of stories, don't you? How is it that such a thing has never come up?"
"I have no idea what kind of stories you've been reading." And suddenly Akira and Lavenza are off into an in-depth discussion of literature that suddenly makes you feel like you're the one that wasn't meant to be here.
It's not a feeling you like in the slightest.
All things considered, you're probably not in the best mental state to be doing this yet.
But it's been so long since you've fired an Evoker, and the gleaming lump of metal in your hand is the sort of thing that you can't keep away from.
Which, again, says bad things about our mental state, but that's nothing we didn't already know.
There's a few targets just ahead of you. All you need to do is summon your Persona and attack them.
This should be easy.
"Nemesis!" The initial summoning is always the easiest part. You just need to be willing to look past the things you shouldn't be thinking about right now, and you can keep yourself relaxed enough to actually do things.
But, of course, once you've pulled the trigger, everything starts shifting around you. Nothing's moving, it's all still there, you just can't focus on one specific thing.
But the targets. Those are there, and the people you're confused about are not, and that's all you need to know. "Hama."
One down. "Kouha."
Just one left. "Zio."
And that makes three. But there's still some pieces left on the ground, and you haven't touched on all you can do quite yet.
"Cruel Attack." It hurts less, when you do it like this.
It also doesn't do as much.
You wonder if there's something you should be taking from this, before shaking your head and dismissing your Persona.
Once you do, things become less confusing.
You also have a splitting headache. Which you'd almost expected, but...
[ ] Find one of the others, and ask them if these headaches are normal.
-[ ] Kirijo-san
-[ ] Sanada-san
-[ ] Shinjiro-san
[ ] ...It should be fine.
