It Somehow Got More Complicated
SeekerofDreams
Aspiring Farmer
- Location
- Selphia
Mitsuru-nee agrees to go with you as soon as you ask. She also thinks there's a chance it's nothing, but that it's always better to be safe. Left unsaid is that both of you know Akira doesn't get any food at home, and while that might change if he's sick, you don't want to count on it and be wrong.
That's the normal part of this.
You've only come this way once before. Akira always insists on walking home by himself, and you aren't willing to deal with his parents by insisting otherwise. When you can, which isn't often, you try to pretend they don't exist.
Still... something feels different from last time. Not just in how there are different cars parked at the side of the road, or how the dumpsters have slightly different graffiti on them, but something else.
And then the building itself comes into sight. It... looks normal, from a distance. You don't know why you expected anything else.
Mitsuru-nee peers up. "Remind me again, which floor is the Kurusu apartment on?"
"Um..." This is why you brought your good friend, the student directory. "It's apartment 305, so... third floor."
"...The railing on the third floor appears to have been broken from the outside." Is it? It looks like it could be, but you have to squint to be sure. It must be an advantage of being reasonably tall. "I'm not sure what could have caused such a thing, but..."
"Shadows?" It's usually Shadows. "We were focused on the big one last night, so any others could do whatever they wanted." It feels sort of like a waste of time. There didn't need to be that many of you facing the enemy, some of you could have made sure nothing else happened while the rest of you were distracted.
Not that they do much, most of the time, but there's always a few who get ideas.
Not that anyone left behind could be everywhere at once, or that this would be part of the normal route, but you're going to think about it anyway.
"Maybe, but I can't see any other signs of damage." Maybe that's just because you're too far away. If you get closer, it'll be easier to figure out what happened. "The only other unusual thing is... oh. Your friend is here." You can tell by her tone that she doesn't mean Akira.
Lavenza is sitting at the foot of the stairwell, in the most inconspicuous outfit she owns. Specifically, one with a hood so her distinctive silver hair is mostly covered. "I was wondering if you would be here." So, the good news is, you aren't just paranoid.
The bad news is, whatever happened now has Lavenza involved. "What happened?" It can't be nothing. If this was a normal thing, she would have no reason to be here.
"Akira Kurusu has awakened to a Persona. Shiki and Motokage Kurusu witnessed this awakening. From there... things escalated." You don't like the sound of that word. "They were not very grateful to him for saving their lives."
You can tell there's a lot she's leaving out there. You think you might be fine with it. It's already happened, knowing the details will just make you feel worse.
The temperature drops. "Do I need to have a discussion with them?" Mitsuru-nee asks.
Lavenza bites her lip. "I suppose you would know better than I would whether or not that would make things worse. Akira has already been... extracted... so it may not be necessary."
But does that outweigh the stress relief?
Extracted? "...He's in the hospital, isn't he?"
"I would assume so. I'm capable of many things, but following vehicles isn't one of them."
Okay. And you know her well enough to know this is all the information she's going to give you. It might be enough to work with, but it doesn't really tell you anything about what's going to happen next.
It definitely doesn't tell you anything about what you should do next.
[ ] You'd like to know what the actual local humans think of the situation. There's a lot of things they could have seen, and a lot they could have been told, and what normal people think might actually be relevant here. Even if they don't pay much attention to you, they'll have to at least acknowledge Mitsuru-nee, right?
[ ] You'd like to look at the apartment itself, even if it might just be through the window. Something happened, and you can even double-check what happened with the railing.
[ ] If Akira's in the hospital, you should visit him. He was actually there, so his side of things is the one that matters. The people working there are concerningly deferential to Mitsuru-nee, so you shouldn't have any problems convincing them to let you in.
That's the normal part of this.
You've only come this way once before. Akira always insists on walking home by himself, and you aren't willing to deal with his parents by insisting otherwise. When you can, which isn't often, you try to pretend they don't exist.
Still... something feels different from last time. Not just in how there are different cars parked at the side of the road, or how the dumpsters have slightly different graffiti on them, but something else.
And then the building itself comes into sight. It... looks normal, from a distance. You don't know why you expected anything else.
Mitsuru-nee peers up. "Remind me again, which floor is the Kurusu apartment on?"
"Um..." This is why you brought your good friend, the student directory. "It's apartment 305, so... third floor."
"...The railing on the third floor appears to have been broken from the outside." Is it? It looks like it could be, but you have to squint to be sure. It must be an advantage of being reasonably tall. "I'm not sure what could have caused such a thing, but..."
"Shadows?" It's usually Shadows. "We were focused on the big one last night, so any others could do whatever they wanted." It feels sort of like a waste of time. There didn't need to be that many of you facing the enemy, some of you could have made sure nothing else happened while the rest of you were distracted.
Not that they do much, most of the time, but there's always a few who get ideas.
Not that anyone left behind could be everywhere at once, or that this would be part of the normal route, but you're going to think about it anyway.
"Maybe, but I can't see any other signs of damage." Maybe that's just because you're too far away. If you get closer, it'll be easier to figure out what happened. "The only other unusual thing is... oh. Your friend is here." You can tell by her tone that she doesn't mean Akira.
Lavenza is sitting at the foot of the stairwell, in the most inconspicuous outfit she owns. Specifically, one with a hood so her distinctive silver hair is mostly covered. "I was wondering if you would be here." So, the good news is, you aren't just paranoid.
The bad news is, whatever happened now has Lavenza involved. "What happened?" It can't be nothing. If this was a normal thing, she would have no reason to be here.
"Akira Kurusu has awakened to a Persona. Shiki and Motokage Kurusu witnessed this awakening. From there... things escalated." You don't like the sound of that word. "They were not very grateful to him for saving their lives."
You can tell there's a lot she's leaving out there. You think you might be fine with it. It's already happened, knowing the details will just make you feel worse.
The temperature drops. "Do I need to have a discussion with them?" Mitsuru-nee asks.
Lavenza bites her lip. "I suppose you would know better than I would whether or not that would make things worse. Akira has already been... extracted... so it may not be necessary."
But does that outweigh the stress relief?
Extracted? "...He's in the hospital, isn't he?"
"I would assume so. I'm capable of many things, but following vehicles isn't one of them."
Okay. And you know her well enough to know this is all the information she's going to give you. It might be enough to work with, but it doesn't really tell you anything about what's going to happen next.
It definitely doesn't tell you anything about what you should do next.
[ ] You'd like to know what the actual local humans think of the situation. There's a lot of things they could have seen, and a lot they could have been told, and what normal people think might actually be relevant here. Even if they don't pay much attention to you, they'll have to at least acknowledge Mitsuru-nee, right?
[ ] You'd like to look at the apartment itself, even if it might just be through the window. Something happened, and you can even double-check what happened with the railing.
[ ] If Akira's in the hospital, you should visit him. He was actually there, so his side of things is the one that matters. The people working there are concerningly deferential to Mitsuru-nee, so you shouldn't have any problems convincing them to let you in.
