personavelvetroomdr | a wild punk knitter appears

"Essentially, yes." Good. At least he's picked up on that part. Akechi perks up a little, resting a hand on his hip. It's a start. "To put it another way, in my world, I ended up in Inaba, stuck with an atrocious pair of foster parents who treated me merely as a means to reap the financial benefits. The version of you from my world was the only one who noticed my silent suffering and was even willing to call in the abuse despite his poor relationship with the police."

He shrugs, playing it off as a smaller deal than it rightfully is, simply to avoid overwhelming him. "So, I suppose you could say I hold you in high regards."

"...Yeah, that's the kinda thing I'd do if I'd seen it," Kanji says. Because it is. "So for me, either you weren't here or I didn't see it."

Hopefully not the second one. That'd just suck.

"Not real used to people actually lookin' up to me, though."

"It seems my arrival in Inaba isn't common across realities. There are other versions of me who weren't nearly so fortunate to have met you or been taken in by Dojima-san soon after." Ah, but that last comment earns a light chuckle, at least. That is very on par with Kanji's insecure side. Something he's all too familiar with.

"Nonetheless, I do think you're a worthwhile role model, reputation be damned. A skilled craftsman who will simultaneously fend off violent gangs for his mother's sake..."

Yes, even the 'punkish' side appeals, no question.

"Other versions? That shit's gotta be confusing." But otherwise, that statement kinda speaks for itself, doesn't it? The foster system's really shitty at the best of times, and if some other version of Kanji had to step in, this kid did not have the best of times.

"Yeah, well. Mom needed her sleep. And then I jammed my hand so bad I was legit worried I wouldn't be able to knit anymore for a week, but other than that it was worth it."

"You could always try talking to the shrine fox about that. Its leaves would probably be able to mitigate the pain." Similarly to how it helped with his mother's achy joints back home, but ah... That's a long story if this Kanji didn't experience something similar.

"Luckily, you won't have to worry about gang activity here, but there are a lot of different versions of me and this boy who either goes by Akira Kurusu or Ren Amamiya, depending on who you ask. The good news is, most of them dress differently or are different ages, but it almost feels as though this place is some top secret cloning facility."

"Huh. Yeah, I guess her leaves might be good for that. It got better, but still." He's mostly familiar with the leaves from TV-world shit, but if they work for that...

"Sheesh, what kinda Featherman-ass shit is that?"

...Should he be moderating his language around the kid? Probably. Is he going to remember to... probably not.

"Ha... Yes, it is rather Featherman-adjacent, isn't it? The cross generational milestone episodes immediately leap to mind." It was always fun to see previous rangers return for special events, even if one might argue it was blatant fanservice. "Thankfully, it's not just us. There's a cat that sometimes resembles Teddie-san in that he's very similar to that goofy mascot vibe, and I've seen this girl named Haru Okumura, who seems quite wealthy."

"...Name doesn't ring a bell." But that on its own doesn't necessarily mean much.

"For what it's worth, it didn't ring much of a bell for me either. Perhaps it's one of those city things, or a discrepancy between time or space." He shrugs, because there are so many possibilities. "It's not as though Inaba is particularly rife with wealthy elites, or I suspect we wouldn't be seeing so many high schoolers on the Midnight Channel."

Kanji snorts. "It's a small town, which means people are way too up in everyone else's business. Least they won't be doin' it that way anymore."

Which might give Goro some idea of the timeline at play here!

"Don't I know it? I recall how soon after I was effectively rescued from my circumstances, my world's version of you appeared on the news, speaking in my defense. Suddenly, we were the talk of the town, me as the 'poor, orphan boy' and you as an underdog 'hero.' I would say it took until the murder of Mayumi Yamano for people to finally shut up."

He crosses his arms, scowling, but not at Kanji, at least. It's the situation that was so insufferable. "But I digress. It's good to hear that the matter was resolved in the end- for me, it was the first of May when I had arrived, having successfully obtained the power from the gas station attendant and made contact with Teddie... But that's perhaps something to discuss somewhere more comfortable.

Aiya's and Souzai Daigaku are right there, but then there's the food court..."

Options, ah. You have to both love and hate them.

Kanji sighs. Damn news. "Well, at least that's a better start than that damn biker gang special." Took him forever to convince his mom he hadn't done it on purpose and the crew just saw a tall punk and went to town--

Wait.

"May? And you - how the hell did you get to the gas station part so fast?!"

...Oh. P-pfft. That is quite the reaction, isn't it? He can't hide the smile that takes form. Is Kanji impressed? Good. That means he's doing something right.

Pleased with this turn of events, he tips his chin up and says, "I've a keen eye. The night I met you, I caught a glimpse of a strange man at the Moel Gas Station, but he vanished in a literal blink of an eye. We crossed paths a few more times, with him offering me an umbrella on a rainy day and hinting toward the Midnight Channel and, later, he took a distinct interest in my investigation of the Midnight Channel and the murders of Mayumi Yamano and... Saki Konishi."

His smile wanes for a moment. Saki's death is an unfortunate sore spot, with many unsaid regrets. Still, he must continue. Dwelling on what's already come to pass will not aid either of them. So, he presses on.

"And then there's the fact that the day Dojima-san picked up his nephew, I bore witness to him shaking hands with the attendant and getting a sudden and unexplainable headache. The next night, I witnessed him get partially stuck within the TV after experiencing a similar headache. Ergo, after ruling out Marie-san as an option despite her ties to the Velvet Room, I simply concluded that the attendant granted Narukami-san his powers and sought to gain them as well."

In other words... yes, this kid certainly is sharp, and perhaps a bit stubborn.

"...Yeah, I guess that'd do it." Not having anything to fuel up, Kanji forgets the gas station's there half the time.

Well, he used to. After the other day, that'll probably never happen again.

"You still hungry, kid? Aiya's the obvious choice."

"Aiya's works well for me. I've enjoyed their cuisine, even if we tended to have it delivered the few times I did eat it." Well, barring the one time the two of them tried to go in and eat, only for Yu, Yosuke, and Marie to all be there.

Well, that doesn't matter now. Kanji is here, and that is a far bigger priority. And, thankfully, it's incredibly close, so he'll turn in its general direction.

It is close, and even better, the general lack of actual people means he won't be harassed by a plainclothes cop!

...Okay, so it's a little weird without Nakamura-san actually at the counter, but still. Food. Best restaurant food in town.

"So, two questions from what you said out there. One, who's Marie, and two, why'd Souji-senpai's parents decide 'thunder god' was a good family name?"

He's about to take a seat, but then pauses, eyes blinking wide open. "...Wait, are you saying that Yu Narukami goes by a different name in your world?"

There's another name discrepancy? One besides the Akiras and Rens? Ah, but he asked about Marie, too. "Ah, but Marie-san is a strange amnesiac girl with ties to 'the Nose,' who I assume is Igor, and who was evidently sent to keep an eye on me. She also likes to write poems yet is simultaneously defensive about said poems."

Edited 2023-09-15 19:02 (UTC)

"Souji Seta." What the fuck. Naoto'd probably start a conspiracy board or something at this point, but Kanji just has a headache.

He snorts. "Dude's sure got a nose, don't he. Never heard of her, though."

(The irony is that if Akechi were actually at the end of his Inaba timeline, he'd know a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. It wouldn't apply, but he'd know it!)

"...So it's another Akira Kurusu and Ren Amamiya situation." Very, very interesting. He's got a furrowed brow, and he's stroking his chin in deep contemplation. "Just as interesting that you never met Marie-san. I suppose, though, that it's not the most impossible thing, since you come from a world where I presumably never was sent to Inaba, and there are worlds where vampires exist and thankfully don't sparkle."

"Another who now?"

As for the rest, who knows. Kanji sure doesn't.

"Ah, just someone who is apparently very important to me in the future." He grumbles a little, cheeks lightly pink. "...My, ah. Future self is dating him."

Which is very, very strange to admit, even to a version of Kanji. Imagine finding out about your future love life. It's weird.

"Huh. Hell of a thing to know ahead of time." At least Kanji's not going to give him shit about being into guys. For one thing, he likes to think he's not that big of a hypocrite.

(Even if mostly he's into 'whatever the hell Naoto's doing, as long as Naoto is doing it with confidence.')

"Got any idea what he's like?"

He'll go ahead and sit down, now that the initial name confusion has been settled. "Well, I've met a few versions of him here with different temperaments. I feel as though they generally have a mysterious vibe that draws others in, occasionally with a playful sense of humor. Then there's Akira-kun, who is very young and I honestly relate to more like Nanako-chan."

Nanako... ah, another face he sorely misses. Alas. "But I suppose the benefit of seeing a bunch of people who are 'the same person' is that their differences still make it easy to see them as individuals. So interactions with them are less 'this is the person I'm going to date when I'm eighteen' and more 'they look like the person who I may end up dating, but they aren't literally him.'"

"Guess that's a good way to look at it." As good a way as you can get when there's like six of any given person around.

Or at least of those two people in particular. Whichever.

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