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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...Aspiring? Back home, he was researching it years ago. Is he telling people he's new to it?

[ Also, "bringing happiness to his clients"? Given everything else they've talked about... yikes. ]

He claims he's interested in the field out of a genuine desire to understand and undo the damage wrought by our mystery perpetrator. His words, his expressions, everything is either perfectly performed or sincere.

[The weight of Akechi's words suggests he believes equally in either possibility.]

He's quite a fan of the Phantom Thieves, too. I've known enough liars in my lifetime to deduce that at least some of his feelings are genuine. Every meeting with him, I'm constantly observing the minutiae of his words, his body language, everything.

[ Ren likes the Phantom Thieves' work, too. That doesn't mean he's not a murderer, or a mole taking them down from the inside. ] It doesn't matter how people feel. It just matters what they do.

[ ...It's possible he sounds a little too bleak when he says that. He collects himself a little before he continues. ] But that's something you could have Futaba look into. How long he's been doing cognitive psience work, and whether it actually started before the incidents. But if he's involved in your brainwashings, it might take her some effort.

That's the thing. Futaba-chan has traced his records, and all she has found is his therapy practice in Odaiba. There are some records from his college years- an interest in psychology, for instance, but she was never able to find tangible proof that he ever succeeded as a cognitive psientist.

[Hmmm... There are a few pieces of sushi left besides the ones he's set aside for Morgana. He might as well enjoy them.]

Quite curious that you know these things. I take it you've a fair bit of resources at your disposal?

[ This is the problem with getting invested in people. You start to forget what you yourself need. Not to out yourself as a longtime Metaverse user or a Shido conspirator, for example. Ren's decided to play the same role he does at home, and that is not it.

He smiles wryly. ] Kind of? I'm an information broker back home, that's all. The clients I have these days, I must be pretty good at it. If you do that long enough, you do pretty much know everything that happens in your city.

Oh?

[Well, that's interesting information to file away for later. It even earns a curious eyebrow raise.]

You must lead a truly interesting life, if that's your career path. Not that I'm complaining. If I had a resource like you as an ally, I can only imagine how much easier my investigation would be.

I don't know about "interesting." But I could give you some names, if you want to find someone good who won't fuck you over. Although I guess they might be different people in your world.

[ Successful deflection? Hopefully... ]

I suppose it could be useful in the event our memories carry over. I'm still not sure what the verdict on that is, since my memories from my younger self only stretch up to this precise moment.

[It's still surreal. Every passing second adds a second of memory from that exact moment in time, but nothing past it.]

[ Successful deflection! ]

That's useful, though. Like a baby monitor or something. What's he up to now?

He is... currently debating whether or not to text the other me. He doesn't want to come off as too needy or desperate, but he also values him and seeks stimulating, intelligent conversation.

[Ah, yes, more interest in that "creepy" Akechi. Sorry, Ren.]

He's also debating what to do about dinner, since he has a little boy to consider and he doesn't know how to cook.

[ Ren frowns, but he's already given his opinion about that Akechi, so he lets it pass. ]

There are probably cookbooks. Simple easy recipes for babies, or something.

He doesn't trust himself in the kitchen, so he's mostly opted for carryout. Not that that's an issue, but this is his first time caring for such a young child without the same independence as our sister.

[He pauses.]

Well, not that Kurusu-kun isn't a remarkable young boy. I just think my younger self is holding himself to high standards because Kurusu-kun thinks the world of him.

[ An emotion slips into his mind. He refuses to look at it, and it leaves again. A good tactic that's served him well many times. ]

Now that you mention it, my Akechi did say he used to suck at cooking... But he got better once he had a teacher.

I wonder if I'm the only Akechi here that's any good in the kitchen. Took a lot of growing pains to get to that point, but Yu always had the patience of a saint. Still does, if I'm being honest.

[There's that air of wistfulness to his words again. There are so many people he wishes were here. Even before all this, so many of his friends and family were simply unavailable, save for long distance contact.

Now the distance has only grown.]

[ Head slightly tilted, he listens to the sad little note in Akechi's voice. ]

Homesick?

I have been even before this place.

[He looks away, his expression distant. Not quite hollow, but not all there.]

Five years in Inaba, five years finding happiness and a sense of belonging, and then that's all torn out from under me. I chose to go to Tokyo to pursue the case, and it's not as though I haven't seen my loved ones or kept in touch. But now I'm not only the lead detective on a high stakes, undercover case, but I also have to ensure this new generation of Persona users doesn't get themselves killed.

[ It's always weird when Akechi confides in him about his feelings back home, like Ren needs to turn around and spot the person behind him who Akechi's really talking to. It feels like that now, too, but Ren's kind of learned how to respond, or at least he thinks he bas. No unsolicited advice, nothing pitying. Though this Akechi might be different. ]

Sounds like you have a lot of responsibilities. Your baby self would be happy. [ He smiles a little. ] All that talk about proving himself.

Haha... He has no idea what's waiting for him, the good and the bad.

[His smile's slightly strained. There's a lot that goes unsaid. Loki. Call of Chaos. The trauma from the events of November and December... all of it immediately leaps to mind.]

I think a part of it is that he's so young. He doesn't completely grasp how playing the part of a "hero" can leave you with lingering scars.

[ Ren scribbles on the How to Talk to the Akechi From Shujin Who's Still the Wrong Akechi page in his little mental notebook. ]

But it was worth it, right? Even though it sucked. [ It's not a feeling Ren will share, if so. But his own Akechi would think it was, and this one seems cut from the same cloth in a lot of ways. ]

I would say so. I wouldn't be who I am today without those experiences, even if not all of them were pleasant and some have left me...

[He trails off, shaking his head.]

Ah, apologies. I'm making this all about me.

[ Ren blinks, nonplussed. ] Well, it's your storytime.

[He smacks a hand against his forehead. Right... the embarrassing prepubescent antics of his past self.]

Of course. My prepubescent stupidity...

[Well, he touched on his Shadow already, but hm...]

I actually tried to kill someone once. That someone being Tohru Adachi.

[...That's not the most pleasant icebreaker, but it seems... relevant? Maybe.]

[ It only really becomes clear how much Ren's previous look of confusion was a mask when it slips off his face. For a second, his expression is utterly, eerily blank as he struggles to... take that in. An Akechi who tried to murder someone. He'd kind of expect it of the creepy guy, but not this one. ]

Huh.

[ Yep, that's what he has to say. Any further processing will take a whole lot more time than he has right now. But then his facial expressions come back online, and he softens his gaze. ] Was that stupidity, though, or just desperation or emotional stress or something?

Edited 2023-08-28 04:24 (UTC)

...A lot of things happened with barely any time to breathe.

[But he might as well talk about it. He already dropped the large bombshell, after all.]

I mentioned how my dad was shoved into the TV. Adachi had Taro Namatame do it to keep us off his own trail, but while we went to rescue Dojima-san, he was left in charge of my sister's well-being... and he placed her into the TV while she was sleeping. Then that bastard called Namatame over, evidently, and pushed him in as well to set up a convenient red herring.

When we rescued Nanako, she was in critical condition from the TV world's fog. Very briefly, it seemed like she... died.

[He'll let that sink in first. The next part is... intense.]

[ Ren is quiet, partly because Akechi's confession is still echoing in his head, and partly because he remembers baby Akechi insisting that Nanako was one of the only people he needed. His eyes narrow with sympathy.

(But was Akechi lying? Why the hell would he lie about that? Ren's as sure as he can be that he hasn't given himself away. And even if he has, why would Akechi's response be to lie about a murder attempt of his own?) ]