personavelvetroomdr | (no subject)

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[It's a perfectly ordinary day in Tokyo, if you ignore the fact that Akechi just got done enduring a horrific, white palace with crumbling architecture, creepy tentacles everywhere, and scraps of memory locked away and scattered like puzzle pieces, culminating in battling a tentacled abomination to free Wakaba Isshiki's Shadow from the prison of her mind, and... well. A mother-daughter reunion is always nice, he supposes.

He's on the phone when he stumbles in, deep in the midst of a conversation.]

Isshiki-san's condition is stable, but we'll have to relocate her before he notices anything amiss. ...Yes, Dad, I'm all right. Not that I don't appreciate the concern, but-

[The signal cuts out, and... ah. The Velvet Room. And not the Velvet Room of his childhood, but... this one.

At first he bristles, eyes narrowed into a razor-sharp glare. He has half a mind to complain to Igor about locking him out, but all signs point to Ren's "Igor" being impostor, and... no. Wait.

Recollection flashes before him. With that recollection, he grimaces.]

...Of course I'd end up back here.

[He shuts his eyes, brings a hand to his face, and breathes in deeply. He was such a stupid tween, and if people connect him to said tween... Who even knows how much time has passed here?]

[ooc: Older version of

fogboundcrow for the funny. Some info on his profile. Yes, he's wearing a Shujin uniform.]

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[ The rock itself is nothing special, except for being kind of pretty. But Ren pouts anyway, more at the idea than anything. ]

Damn. I just taught him a coin trick. Wish I formed a rock bond.

[...A rock band.

P-Pffft... snrk... Hahaha... Yeah. Give him a second. That pun was bad, but...]

It was actually quite sweet. My younger self taught him how to skip rocks, then he wished to find a rock to keep. We went to Junes to acquire a bucket and a few odds and ends and then exchanged rocks with each other.

[Funny how vivid that memory is. Must be because this place unearthed it.]

It's good to hear he's had other pleasant encounters, though.

I've been worried about him. He's so tiny and, like. [ He gestures with his chopsticks. ] Quiet, you know? How's he supposed to survive? And what if he ends up in the Metaverse or something?

My younger self was taking care of him, but he's only twelve. I'm sure he'll do his best, but I do wonder if it'll be enough.

[The fingers of his free hand rap at the table, while he prods another sushi piece with his chopsticks.]

You could stop by and check on them, maybe. If that won't implode your timeline.

[ Ren doesn't volunteer to do it himself, because he doesn't know shit about taking care of a baby. He also assumes people won't want to just give out their addresses. Instead, he eats some more sushi. ]

I might. I'll just have to handle it delicately. My younger self is...

[He gestures vaguely with his hand.]

Well, you have firsthand experience. But I think the timeline may withstand it, seeing how that phone call didn't erase us from existence.

[ He gives Akechi a distracted little smile. ] I can't even tell if you're joking, dude.

[ He feels a little itchy thinking about that meeting, even though it was his own suggestion. Weird. ]

Schrodinger's joke.

[He winks.]

I think I may have to smooth things over regardless. Knowing him, he's going to go on a witch hunt to find the source of the "Akechi Alliance."

[He chuckles all the same.]

Which leaves either me, or my counterpart in the striped tie who he's already rather fond of.

[ Ren almost chokes on his sushi. He stares at Akechi with wide eyes. ]

Are you serious? He's such a fucking creep, Akechi. He makes my skin crawl.

[The severity of the reaction makes him laugh without meaning to. Holy shit. That's... extreme?]

My child self found him cool. He acknowledged the hard work he put into his notes and evidence and seemed to carry himself with an air of confidence that he found admirable...

But that's the rose-tinted glasses. I haven't encountered him like this.

[He gestures at himself.]

So who knows? Perhaps my more developed brain and greater lived experience will recontextualize some things.

[ Ren is giving Akechi a pained, pitying look all through this explanation. ]

He got you with the flattery and the smooth attitude, huh. Tale as old as time.

Plus it's a version of us. Seeing himself older, looking clean and successful... you have to understand how aspirational that is. If memory serves, I'd only lived with the Dojimas for about a month at that point, so I didn't consider them my family just yet.

[There was a lot up in the air. He was only just starting to open up. So much can change over the course of five years.]

No, yeah, I get it. [ He sighs. ] You were a kid. I called you baby Akechi in my head, you know. I'll probably still do it next time I see you. ...This situation is so weird.

I'm just saying about your evil twin so you can keep a lookout, now that you're older.

Careful. If you call me "baby," it may give people the wrong idea.

[It's really just another attempt at levity, and... well. The opportunity was right there. Ha.]

I suppose I'll have to investigate either way, though what strikes you as evil?

[ The joke makes him laugh, as much from surprise as anything. He walked right into that one. But the question...

He chooses his words carefully. ] I've met a lot of liars. Doing what I do. Over time you have to learn to see through them, to some extent, if you don't want to end up fucking stabbed. [ Yes, more stabbing. ] You have to be able to tell "probably harmless" from "there's something wrong with that dude." You know? And there's something wrong with that Akechi.

Oh, I'm aware. Tohru Adachi, the culprit in the Inaba serial murders, acted like a bumbling fool. When I was young, I discounted him as a suspect because of it, even though he'd left some pretty egregious hints toward his involvement.

[He blows a tremendous sigh, pausing to eat more sushi.]

Pleasant smiles and kind words can mask a darker intention. But if he's me, it's also possible that he's a version of me that lacked the support I received that genuinely altered the course of my life. I'm not saying he's good, but I suspect this may be a multifaceted matter. Something deeper than throwing women into TV because they wouldn't fuck him, anyway.

[ Ren's not really satisfied. He didn't have support either, but try telling that to the families of his victims. No one actually cares. He doesn't want to argue about it, though, so he's about to say something like, I guess. But then Akechi says that. ]

...Wait, was that the motive? Behind the killings?

Edited 2023-08-23 21:16 (UTC)

Yes. He forced himself on Mayumi Yamano, believing that her appearance on the Midnight Channel was a sign that she was "meant" for him. The news of her scandal with Taro Namatame left him feeling "betrayed," and when she refused to humor his delusions, he shoved her into the television.

[He growls, pausing to take another bite. Calm, deep breaths follow. it's fine.]

Then, Saki Konishi... She was only seventeen, and he tried to force her into a kiss at the police station. I imagine it would have escalated to assault, if he hadn't forced her into the TV.

[ ... Ren's face slowly crumples into an expression of extreme distaste. That's some Masayoshi Shido shit, he does not say. Imagine if Shido had direct access to the cognitive world. A nightmare Ren has thought about many times.

Like, Ren doesn't have a whole lot of moral high ground to stand on here, but at least he's never killed anyone because he couldn't get his dick wet. ]

[The wordless response says all, really. Akechi understands the sentiment, even if the specificity is lost to him.]

As for the other victims, the most heinous thing is that he used a proxy. Taro Namatame, the same Taro Namatame who was involved in the Mayumi Yamano scandal, called with concerns regarding those who appeared on the Midnight Channel. Adachi goaded him on, telling him to take those who appear somewhere safe.

It was all for his own sick amusement, and so our efforts to stop the murders only added to his entertainment...

Edited 2023-08-23 21:36 (UTC)

Yeah, I've met people like that. [ He's been in plenty of their Palaces, too. Sometimes lately he's wondered what someone like that would even be like if the Phantom Thieves changed their heart. What would be left? ]

This Namatame dude, was he okay? [ It's just, if Ren were Adachi, god forbid, he would've seen a guy like that as an obvious scapegoating candidate. Knows a little too much, has already been in a scandal. Like the Thieves, back home, and look what happened to them. ]

He almost wasn't.

[Blunt, but true. Akechi's gaze goes distant, and for a moment, he peers out into the restaurant, watching the smiling cognitions mill about.]

It was... Damn it. So, eventually, Adachi got a bit pissy that Naoto-san and I were so on top of things. Imagine, a grown man being so infuriated by a group of teenagers. He'd already goaded Naoto-san into getting kidnapped to confirm the culprit, as our stakeout with Kanji at least confirmed that he used a large vehicle to carry out his crimes and thus ruled out the high schooler who performed a copycat killing.

After Naoto's rescue, however, the truth was nearly in reach, or so we thought. Adachi seemed... less than enthused about that, and I suspect he's the reason I was accosted by a news crew and became the next "victim."

[He raises a finger, chuckling.]

But I already had a Persona, so I anticipated the kidnapping and used it to my advantage. When Midnight came around, I proclaimed my victory over the perpetrator, exposed his methodology, and... well, escape was simple enough.

But it seemed Adachi gave Namatame-san a little nudge. He "introduced" him to a police detective whom he could demonstrate his methods of "saving" people to.

[He pauses.]

And so Namatame pushed Dojima-san into the TV. That was where it all went to hell, to put it lightly.

Edited 2023-08-23 23:19 (UTC)

[ This whole saga is bizarre and fascinating, and Ren is genuinely riveted. But Akechi doesn't seem as comfortable. The pauses, the little Damn it... Ren frowns at him across the table. ]

You know, if you don't want to talk about it, you can just tell me to get fucked.

[...Ren, your phrasing. He snickers. This is so stupid, but it's a good way to diffuse some of the tension.]

But we haven't even finished eating! Although I suppose some people may brazenly pursue such vices in a place like this, where the cognitions would hardly care...

[That is terrible. So terrible, but hey! It looks like some of the discomfort's eased up because of that stupid remark. His tone of voice is just as playful as his last little quip, really. He's even smirking again.

Why is it so easy to make jokes like this, but so hard to just be genuine with his Ren sometimes?]

[ Ren snorts. ] You never let up. It's like talking to me as a twelve-year-old.