Operation: Uncage the Sparrow!

[midnightmaiden]

Kasumi, now more than ever, is adamant about doing something right. She'll prove her worth. She'll go back to her roots as the Midnight Maiden, solving problems on behalf of the unfortunate!

Stocked up on Goho-M's, healing items, and other assorted odds and ends, she sends a message to Makoto to join her in Tartarus when the Dark Hour arrives. They're doing it tonight!

That'll prove she's not just some puppet.

And so she waits outside of Gekkoukan High School for the clock to strike midnight and for the Dark Hour to commence. She's got a rapier at the ready, though she doubts that she'll need it.

What could possibly go wrong?

Comments

[midnightmaiden]

"Um, well... Hold on. Let me ask." Kasumi takes out her phone, sending a quick text.

Kasumi Yoshizawa: Hey, Senpai, sorry about my last few messages.
Kasumi Yoshizawa: How long was Sparrow missing? I never ran into him before, so I just want to make sure I have my facts straight.

[Goro Akechi is typing...]

Goro Akechi: At least a few months. I didn't see him at the Halloween Party, so that would make it a minimum of two months, if not longer.
Goro Akechi: It's good to hear that Sparrow is safe. Rose informed me of the details. If you have any pertinent information to share, now would be the time to do it.

Uh oh. That's... worrisome. Just how much did Haru tell him? Kasumi winces. "Um, sooo please don't freak out, but Crow-senpai says it's been... two months."

[pheasantboy]

"Two months?" He stares at her. Surely that can't be right?

Surely somebody would have come for him before two months had passed..?

He presses a curled finger to his lip, looking away. Maybe it seemed to them that he'd gone home. Or died. Nothing worth making too much of a fuss about. That must be it.

[midnightmaiden]

"I got lost for around the same amount of time, I think. It wasn't long after the party." So she understands, and she steps just a little bit closer as she fires off another text.

Kasumi Yoshizawa: Senpai, did anyone notice he was gone? Would anyone be happy to see him?

[Goro Akechi is typing...]

Goro Akechi: I had concerns. It seemed odd that he was absent for so long, and I know for a fact that Hawk will be relieved to see him.

Kasumi Yoshizawa: Okay, good. I'll pass it on.
Kasumi Yoshizawa: Oh! And can you keep an eye out for Makoto Yuki? Something happened in Tartarus, and I think he was pretty upset. I... might've had to use force to stop him and Sparrow's Shadow from hurting each other.

Goro Akechi: That aligns with what Rose told me.
Goro Akechi: Right now, all that matters is that Sparrow is alive.

Satisfied for now, she tucks her phone away. "Okay, so Crow was worried about you, and he said Hawk's gonna be happy to see you. I think what happened is that nobody knew where you went. I only found out because I heard about you from..."

Shoot. She can't say his Shadow.

"From somebody who could... feel that you were in danger? And then Crow confirmed it. I wouldn't have been able to help you if he hadn't helped me."

[pheasantboy]

"Ah." And just like that, relief swallows him and spits him out, seemingly suddenly, eerily whole. "It's good to hear Crow remembered me. Between you and me, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was a little glad I was gone. And it will be good to see Hawk again. I promised him another visit to the red pandas."

He considers her again, there in the Velvet Room, which he never saw. "You are Kasumi Yoshizawa-san, yes? It's just that, with all the excitement, I quite forgot we haven't been introduced."

1/2

[midnightmaiden]

Whew. Okay. He's looking happier now. That means she did her job! A great success for the Midnight Maiden. She's still got it!

In fact, she's straightened her posture and actually manages to smile again. "Yes, that's me! I think I might've shown up while you were missing, but I kiiinda got lost in Tartarus before I really got to meet anyone outside the party." But that was then. This is now, and...

Oh.

2/2

[midnightmaiden]

"...Well, there is another version of me you might want to watch out for." Kasumi hates that she's having to warn him like this. That... Is it really fair to the other-her? "She, um. Thinks I was... brainwashed? I hope you can hear this without forgetting. But she seems to think there's something wrong with me."

[pheasantboy]

No, he can hear that. He heard it every day before he vanished, annoying as it was.

"Do you think there's something wrong with you?" There it is, the big question—at least as far as he's concerned.

[midnightmaiden]

"I'm just me. I wish people could accept that. My therapist didn't do anything other than comfort me through a really tragic time in my life." But she still sounds a little uneasy. It's hard to be confident when even that Shadow got angry with her.

[pheasantboy]

... oh. The bottom falls out of his world. The boy he was would have pulled the red flags from her words and braided them five different ways by now. But Sparrow skips over the collisions, the coincidences, and offers her a smile. "Just me doesn't seem to be very good currency here, a lot of the time, does it?

"I'm Goro Akechi, by the way, known as Sparrow. Tweet, tweet?" It's a joke; maybe she'll cheer up? "I think the others have gone to bed, haven't they? Can I walk you home?"

Not that he thinks she needs it. But it seems like she might need to talk. And he doesn't want to be alone either; never has. Not even in the life he's forgotten.

[midnightmaiden]

Okay, the tweet, tweet comment gets a little giggle out of her. That's a good sign! Especially with how swiftly he's recovering. "To be honest, I'm still not sure where I want to stay. I've kinda just, um..."

How to put this...

"Well, there's my home, but it just doesn't feel the same without my parents, sooo... yeah. But I can still walk you home."

[pheasantboy]

The little blocks click into place around them, one after the next, as he laughs at her joke in turn; her mention of her parents bounces off him.

"I'll accept that. This place is a little dangerous, as I found—" it's actually far safer than any city, even Tokyo—"but you shouldn't come to too much harm."

But he blinks at her a little, interrupting his patter of chatter. "You do have somewhere to stay? You aren't sleeping in the parks, or some such?"

[midnightmaiden]

"Yeah, it's just a little lonely staying there, so I've considered finding somewhere else. Ideally around other people, but..."

Oof. She winces. Here comes the tough part. "Well, other than Ren-senpai and maybe Crow-senpai, I don't have a lot of friends here. And things've been... tense with Crow-senpai."

[pheasantboy]

"Let me guess. Always questioning the ins and outs of your reality."

He's not that angry; he really does like Crow. He likes everyone. He's walking them through Kichijoji, towards Inokashira Park and his apartment; it won't take long.

[midnightmaiden]

"Crow-senpai hasn't really talked about it, but I think when I messaged him about it, he got uncomfortable. I sorta panicked after meeting the other me..." She follows along, voice so uneasy. "But yes. I met some other people who talked about me like I was a puppet, or brainwashed, or like I wasn't who I really am."

[pheasantboy]

And he stops in his tracks, for just a moment. Just to ... stare at her, with wide eyes and a ridiculous hope.

"Yoshizawa-san, it's not you, is it? Surely you would have said something, if you knew me." But imagine that, if this was the real Yoshizawa, from home. If there was anybody here he really knew, or could talk to.

[midnightmaiden]

"...I'm from Crow's world." It hurts to have to say this, because it's clear he's been lonely. Desperate for someone to understand. "But it's okay. I don't think you're wrong for being how you are."

[pheasantboy]

"Ah, of course you are." Oh, well. Life goes on, doesn't it? His mouth pulls a little at the corners, in a shadow of its usual smile; he starts slowly walking again. Did Crow ever mention his Yoshizawa? The answer is that he did, but Sparrow doesn't remember it.

"That sounds an awful lot like I've been the topic of discussion? I won't hold it against you. It was slow here, the way I remember it."

[midnightmaiden]

"I, um... met someone really dangerous in a place you probably can't see or remember, and he... had thoughts. And I disagree with those thoughts." She's not sure how else to word this. One wrong turn of phrase and he might forget again.

Well, she'll keep walking. Hopefully this isn't too upsetting. "He was there when we rescued you, too, but I stopped him."

[pheasantboy]

"This is all remarkably vague. I can tell you've been talking to Crow."

But he doesn't sound annoyed about it, just thoughtful, as he tries to access his past. They talked about it, didn't they? Something about how he remembers things, or doesn't? Did they? Didn't they?

[midnightmaiden]

"Crow-senpai said some... supernatural things for our worlds don't stick with you, and that's why you were stuck there for so long." Hmm, but maybe phrasing things in general fictional terms could work? Let's see... "So the person I met was kind of like... well, you know how some movies have evil twins or like dark counterparts? He was kind of like that."

[pheasantboy]

"I think I know the sort of thing, yes. Doppelgangers and the like." They've cropped up a few times in Featherman to say the least, but that doesn't occur to him.

But he stops in his tracks again. "You... you did all have things like that in your worlds, didn't you. Like the green moon I saw. Like that building."

[midnightmaiden]

"It sounds like it happened in our world a few years ago. My, um... well, someone I know's done a lot of research into that sort of thing. And I know Crow-senpai's hometown had some strange supernatural things going on, too."

But he saw the building, and the moon was fine, too... So supernatural stuff on its own isn't the problem, is it? She taps her chin with her index finger, pondering this.

"I think, maybe, it's not the supernatural things that cause you to forget, but specifically what's inside places like that tower. That doppelganger, too. I think any time you see monsters here or superpowers, that might be a trigger? And I know that has to be a pain to deal with..."

[pheasantboy]

All of it piles up in his awareness, unavoidable, and he sighs. "It's as if my past is a closed book, that everyone can read but me. And everyone's very good at talking as if the book matters. No offence intended, of course."

Wait, he doesn't think the holes in his past matter? They're just crossing the main street towards Inokashira Park, which stretches out black and silent in the night.

[midnightmaiden]

"...Crow-senpai hasn't told me a lot, to be honest. And your... doppelganger has really strong opinions that I don't agree with." Not completely, anyway. He seems really nice, and clearly isn't happy about the circumstances. "It still stinks that there's so much you can't see or remember. It must be really hard when all of that surrounds you, and it's like everyone else is in on a joke they won't tell you."

[pheasantboy]

He sighs. She really gets it. Listen to her. But then, she would, wouldn't she? "And going by what you said before, you're talking from experience?"

Not that he didn't notice that they're talking about his doppelganger, specifically. But first things first.