The recollection went in fits and starts, as the teens got bogged down on certain events and glossed by others.
Hikari Horaki sat through it all, listening patiently, asking questions every so often.
The soulful music from the cafe's tinny speakers — a piano and saxophone number — lent a decidedly serious air to the proceeding, even during the funny parts. After all, the teens had gone through a life-changing event...and then another, and another, and then some.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiMqZmNHU1I
The recount of the first couple of days had been almost idyllic, in retrospect. Their time in Nishiawakura had been much the same...
xx
Hikari frowned. "...why the emphasis on Kirishima-san's abs?"
Toji frowned. "What's with that look? They were pretty gnarly!"
"Here, I can show you if it's that big a deal," said Mana as she rose to pull up her shirt-
"
NO," cried out Shinji and Mayumi, the latter grabbing at Mana's arm to keep it down.
THWACK.
"OW! What the hell, Ken?!"
"You know what you did," grumbled Kensuke, decidedly looking away from Mana.
Hikari's frown only deepened. "Let's...move on..."
...
"...
how big was the seabream?!"
"Almost a meter long," explained Kensuke. "I think Iori-san sent us the picture..."
...
"So it turns out that Shinji's a coffee snob," joked Kensuke. "Given the cafe his guardian ran, it makes sense!"
Shinji wisely didn't rise to the bait, though his face did color somewhat. "Sakura-sensei is good at what he does."
...
Hikari blinked with surprise. "You met celebrities
twice over?"
"The Feathermen were cool," said Mana, nudging at the pretty circlet adorning her forehead. "Then again, the Emporium were pretty cool too."
"I'd say they were cool in different ways," remarked Kensuke.
Toji shook his head. "The Emporium
would be cool if it weren't for Kitagawa. He just came off as kind of weird."
"...I think intense would be a better word," diplomatically offered Shinji.
"Intense for
art," joked Kensuke.
...
"You were abducted by a delinquent bird-man in a
tuxedo...who challenged you to a spar??"
Shinji arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think Mister P is a delinquent?"
"Well, he has a mohawk, doesn't he? What kind of respectable individual would have hair like
that?"
(Kensuke snorted under his breath. "Don't ever let you hear him say that.")
Hikari's gaze narrowed down like a laser. "What was that, Aida-san?"
"Nothing!"
...
Hikari blinked with utter shock. "Aida-san got
kissed?"
"Why do you have to sound so in disbelief about that?" groused Kensuke.
"Because it's
you, Ken."
"I've got enough lip out of you, Toji!"
Shinji looked away from Hikari, saying, "Is...something wrong, Yamagishi-san?"
"No. Nothing at all," quickly said the bespectacled girl, who was pointedly looking away from Kensuke.
(Hikari filed this away for later.)
xx
...but with the good and the lighthearted, came the bad and the harrowing...
xx
"Even though the Ghosts gave us a rude awakening at Arida, it was my first time in the Metaverse," elaborated Mayumi. "It was...interesting."
Mana shrugged. "I thought Ikari and I put them down pretty quickly, all things considered."
...
Hikari's face turned paler with each and every detail that was relayed about the
Ai Ferry Incident (albeit without going into all of the nitty-gritty about
who had tried to capture them and
why). "...that sounds awful..."
"I'm afraid I don't remember much about it," murmured Mayumi. "I had fallen unconscious, for some reason." (The others pointedly didn't comment as to why, given what they had learned in retrospect about Armisael.)
"...let's move on," said Shinji. Toji, Kensuke, Mana, and Mayumi were in agreement.
...
"
Nagisa-san was the reason you ended up in that underground fight club?!" hissed Hikari.
"It's not like I
knew that's what he had in mind," offered Shinji in his defense.
"Honestly, given everything else that happened after that, the whole 'fight club' bit seems kind of minor," pointed out Toji.
Kensuke snorted. "Compared to a deranged terrorist attacking the Olympics? I'd say so."
...
Hikari looked downright flabbergasted. "You were chased by a literal
kuchisake-onna...?"
"Literally figurative, or figuratively literal?" joked Kensuke. "But yeah. It was a pretty close call."
"...that explains why you got kissed, though..."
Kensuke's face fell. "Oh come on, can we
not? Am I that repulsive?!"
"No no, that's not what I mean, it's just...well, you normally come across as too...earnest?" said Hikari, trying to be as polite as humanly possible.
"..."
"...I'd say that's pretty accurate," offered Toji. "A total tryhard and a pain in the-OW! Damn it Ken, quit hitting me!"
"I'm not here to be roasted, darn it!"
"...to be fair, I don't think Akane Hasegawa would've kissed just
anyone," observed Shinji, trying to help him save face.
"I don't need your pity," grumbled Kensuke, crossing his arms with a harrumph.
...
"You...you all fought an Angel alongside Ikari-san...?" said Hikari with a sense of wonder. "Like that giant blue crystal from July...?"
(Everything regarding Mayumi being bound to the Angel had been glossed over; they had only said that, through a peculiar set of circumstances, the girl had stumbled onto the battle and had awoken her Persona during the mayhem.)
"More like a giant glowing halo that could transform into a bunch of monsters and summon a bunch of Archetypes instead of a crystal," remarked Mana.
...
Hikari's expression turned a strange color when Mayumi disclosed that her parents had passed away. (The exact reason
why wasn't spoken aloud.) "Oh Yamagishi-san, I'm so sorry...was that you were around yesterday...?"
"Yes. I'm living with Misato Katsuragi and Mana-san for the time being."
"Honestly, Katsuragi's not that bad. We'll make do," encouraged Mana.
...
Hikari seemed withdrawn by the time they had gotten to the assault by Minako. "...so a woman just
attacked your sensei's home without warning, and killed Agents Iori-san and Amada-san...?
"Yeah. She wasn't exactly the talkative type...and she was strong.
Freaky strong," darkly growled Toji.
"Stronger than anyone I've ever heard of," acknowledged Kensuke. "The scary thing is, if that Angel hadn't shown up, we probably would have all died. Who knows where they went, but I don't want to tangle with a gal that nonchalantly decides to
chase after a literal Angel."
Mana, Mayumi, and Shinji solemnly nodded in agreement.
Hikari didn't know what to make of the tale.
...
"...even after everything, you were all in Tokyo-2 when it fell to that fog...?"
"We arrived after the fact," explained Mayumi. "But we were present when the fog faded. Our...our efforts helped to end it."
(Hikari's face had taken on an ashen hue, it seemed.)
xx
Before long, two hours had passed.
Though they had drank and eaten amidst the retelling, Hikari's appetite had been relatively subdued as they had started talking about the less pleasant parts of the road trip.
"There's a lot of little bits and pieces we can still mention, but those are the major points," finished Kensuke. "We did have a fun time at karaoke on the way back...and we slept under the stars. That was nice."
"We
also woke up with beetles crawling on us," groused Toji with a mulish scowl.
"...shouldn't...shouldn't you all...be in
therapy, or something?" asked Hikari with a plaintive gaze. "I mean...what you all went through...it's not
normal...!"
Shinji inwardly grimaced, looking at the glances sent his way by the other members of Team Statherós. (What would therapy do, other than provide an opportunity for the secrets they knew to be unleashed? What would it do, but risk the Velvet Room?)
His Other quietly looked at an old, faded crayon drawing.
"It would be put your Attendant at risk."
The Beast loomed over the horizon, like a bloody face emerging from the deep.
"And wouldn't THAT be a shame..."
(
No.) "...I don't know if we need it-"
"Don't be so blasé!" interrupted Hikari, trying to keep her voice down. "How can you even know-?"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSf1H2urhRM
"Class Rep," interrupted Toji, arms crossed. Surprisingly, Hikari stopped. "Look...I get that you're concerned. It's...well, nice that school stuff isn't the only thing you're worried about. But you weren't there. Don't act like you know what we went through or how we're supposed to be handling it."
"...but..." Hikari seemed to be at a loss for words.
Kensuke interjected. "I think what Toji's getting at is that it wasn't just us who were there. We had Sakamoto, Katsuragi, Shinji's sensei, Agent Hasegawa...and even before they passed away, Junpei Iori, Ken Amada, and Hirofumi Kurosawa were also a part of it all."
"It feels like Kurosawa shouldn't even be a part of that group," grumbled Mana.
"...but he was just doing his duty, even if it was in a way we didn't like," remarked Shinji, trying to keep up with the big picture. "Just like everyone else...just like we are. Duties, responsibilities...they're like weights that we have to carry. School's a kind of weight, if you think about it...we just have to carry more than the average student." Looking back at Hikari, he added, "does that help, Horaki-san?"
"Going to school and trying to get good grades
isn't in the same league as watching people
die, Ikari-san," she reiterated with emphasis.
For some reason, this pushed Toji to stepping away from the booth, hands on his hips. "If you're gonna get on our case, that's fine. Your whole thing is being a worrywart. But...it's not something you
have to worry about;
it ain't your place." Scratching irritably at his head, he said, "I'm going to take a walk."
Kensuke flashed everyone a brief look before sliding out of the booth. "I'll go with."
"...I can get the bill for your food," said Shinji, sensing they were going to step away for a bit. Both boys gave their thanks before walking out of the cafe.
"Did...did I say something wrong...?" wondered Hikari.
"I don't think so," answered Mayumi. "You're just...trying to be helpful."
"...can sorta see where Suzuhara's coming from though," remarked Mana, looking somewhat introspective. "It's one thing to hear Katsuragi or Sakamoto talk to us about this sort of stuff, 'cause they lived through it. But coming from you?" Mana turned her head, looking across Mayumi towards Hikari. "You a Persona-user?"
"Well, no-"
"Is there anyone in your family who's dealt with Metaverse combat, or with anti-Ghost ops?"
"...no-"
"Then why are you acting like you know better?" she asked, with absolute sincerity; the fact there was not a hint of snideness in her tone somehow made it worse.
Mayumi, looking somewhat nervous by the impending escalation, decided to switch tactics. "Um, Mana-san...would you be available to practice in the Metaverse? I did so yesterday with Katsuragi-san, but I'd like to get better at coordinating with you as well."
Mana took the change of topic in stride. "I'm up for that."
Shinji had enough
empathy to understand what Mayumi was trying to do. "I can get your bills as well."
Mana casually thanked him whilst Mayumi nodded gratefully. "We'll pay you back later, Ikari-san," she added, before following Kirishima out of the cafe.
Then, it was just Shinji and Hikari.
Way to leave me to deal with the emotional fallout, guys, he couldn't help but inwardly muse, even as he ventured forth. "...Horaki-san?"
"What did I do wrong?" she frankly asked.
"I...I don't think you did anything wrong. You just wanted to know how our vacation went. You were worried. That's...that's not a crime."
"Then why did it seem like I upset Suzuhara-san? Why did Kirishima-san agree?" The pigtailed girl looked strangely vulnerable, in a way he wasn't used to seeing from the authoritative Class Representative. "I bet Aida-san and Yamagishi-san were of the same opinion..."
Shinji leaned back, trying to understand exactly what might have gotten under Toji's skin. The dual pianos playing over the speaker seemed rather fitting for the conversation. "Well...we went through a lot. Not just individually, but as a group. As a team. We even picked a name for ourselves: Statherós. It means 'steadfast' in another language. It was...a vow. A promise. We're still trying to live up to that."
"...I guess I was just the odd one out."
"Well...it's not
your fault that so much happened to us."
"But people are
allowed to worry even if they weren't there," she retorted. "I don't
have to have lived through it to know that a kidnapping plot on a ferry, encounters with terrorists, and
funerals aren't normal for a summer vacation...and that's not even
all of it..."
Shinji grimaced. "I know, Horaki-san, I
know it's a lot..." (And that wasn't even all of it.
There's more you aren't telling her.) "...I guess it seems different, coming from someone who didn't experience any of what we've been through? Even if you possessed as much knowledge as Misato-san...it just wouldn't feel as authentic, I guess?"
Hikari mulled over his words, hands bunched together on the table in front of her. "...
why would it be different?" she muttered quietly. "
No one listens about him, when I've lived through it, so why..."
Shinji blinked, leaning in closer. "I'm sorry? I didn't catch that."
"...it's nothing." Looking back up, she briefly bowed her head. "I'm...I'm thankful that you shared all of that with me. Could you let them know that?"
Scratching at the back of his head, Shinji replied, "Well, it's not like this'll be the last time you see us. We're probably going to look into tutoring sessions at school to catch up on summer homework..."
"...I guess you still have that to deal with," she remarked with a tired smile. "That's
one thing I can help with, at least..." Rising from her seat, Hikari said, "I'll pay for everyone's meal, Ikari-san."
"No, wait-!"
"I
insist," she firmly said, with such conviction that it rooted him in place. "You've...you've all been through enough. So...
please."
(He had an inkling that his finances were in a considerably better position than hers.)
(
Yet you can't help but feel that she...needs this, somehow.)
"...okay."
"Thank you," she said with honest gratitude. Bowing once more, she added "have a good day, Ikari-san."
Shinji watched her walk away, idly sipping from a mocha that had long since gone cold.
She tries to take on so much responsibility, he wondered to himself.
Why? In spite of his concern, he couldn't help but feel that he had more insight into Hikari as a person, because of this...
xxxx
/Empress
//now at Rank 3
