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

[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.

[midnightmaiden]

"Mm. He and the other version of me think that I've been altered somehow. They talked like I'm a puppet, or like I don't know who I really am." What stings is that she knows that's the case for him, but saying it wouldn't make him feel any better. "And it's not that I'm not aware of these things. Back home, people have been changed like that, but it's complicated..."

[pheasantboy]

"They talk to me like that as well. All the time." Both of them, outsiders. Is it possible? Or is it possible she has been altered, and doesn't know it? Without knowing it, he's on uncertain ground; he has more room to think about these things than he did, but it's not infinite.

"So in your world," he asks, gently curious, "the things they describe do happen? But not to you? Are you certain?"

[midnightmaiden]

"I wish I could say I was." And now she sighs. "Crow-senpai didn't say anything when I panicked. He didn't say I was wrong, but he also didn't say I was right."

At least the park is pretty at night. She takes a moment to look around. It's somewhat grounding, but not flawless.

"But maybe..." Kasumi hesitates. "Well. Isn't it different if you ask for it? If you were in a dark place and you needed an escape, and someone gave you exactly what you needed."

[pheasantboy]

He considers her. Is what she describes problematic in itself? Is it a problem because everyone else says so? He'll never think that.

"I don't think that's wrong." Far below Shibuya, the lower levels of Mementos are shaking. "Is it wrong for me to say... a lot of the people here seem to have suffered a lot? Which is unimaginable, of course," he adds, as if it's obvious.

"The problem is, they see virtue in their suffering. Which you would, of course. But I can't imagine it's better to have suffered than not."

[midnightmaiden]

"I think it's complicated." She takes a moment to consider his words, consider his worldview. It's very similar to Maruki's. "The world would be a better place if nobody had to suffer, but sometimes when people do suffer, they find connections with others like them. A bad experience hurts in the moment, but I know that it can lead to something better. Crow-senpai had a very difficult life, but now he has a family that he might've never met if his circumstances didn't bring him to Inaba."

So... there's that. Perseverance through pain. "So to Crow-senpai, the fact that he made it through the worst of it and found moments of happiness, even when things got tough, probably means a lot to him. His pain may have left scars, but if you took that away, he'd probably argue that he'd stop being himself."

He has raised some ideological opposition to Maruki in the past. Their meetings have often turned into heated debates, from what she's heard.

"I think... some people handle pain in different ways. What works for Crow-senpai might not work for someone else. When you're in a really dark place, sometimes hope seems impossible. If someone asks to be happy again, if someone asks for a change... Well, that's their choice."

[pheasantboy]

"That's certainly true." She thinks about things an awful lot, doesn't she? But he doesn't mind; it's interesting stuff, more so for not being handed to him with a heaping dose of inadequacy.

"It's possible, though, isn't it, to meet people without hardship. To be yourself without pain. Crow may be attached to the people he met and to his circumstances, but equally, if he hadn't suffered what he did, surely he'd have met other people, and lived another life. Not the one he has now, for sure, but not a bad life."

He comes to a halt before his building, and smiles at her, a bit regretful. "This is me."

[midnightmaiden]

"That's true, but I don't think he'd want to give up what he has. For him, the idea of what-ifs like that just don't appeal to him because he's worked hard to get where he's at and wants to cherish it." Kasumi looks up at the building, still a touch uneasy.

She could go home, but home's so empty without her parents.

"...Hey, how many people are staying there?"

[pheasantboy]

He takes a look up at the building, towards the sky. "You know, I don't know. Two months ago, it was just me and an—" abrasive—"alternate of mine. At least, by most people's reckoning.

"You're welcome to stay, if you like? I mean, if we can find an empty apartment."

[midnightmaiden]

Whew. Okay. That's a good sign! Very, very good sign. She can work with this. Kasumi brightens at the offer, nodding. "Only if it's not too much trouble!"

[pheasantboy]

Oh, he laughs. "You're never trouble. Or, I say that. My Yoshizawa-san isn't trouble. But maybe you're hiding something, hm?"

He turns to lead her into the building at this point, perhaps fortunately.