personavelvetroomdr | a wild punk knitter appears

He looks up at the menu for a moment, chin in hand. "Hmm... Everything is free here, so technically, we could order their most expensive items without fear." Oh, how tempting. Even their Mega Beef Bowl would be free even without completing it. Heh, heh...

What fun.

"But I think the most unfortunate thing about all this is how empty the place feels. All the people you'd expect to see, like Chie-san, Amagi-san, even Hanamura-san and Teddie-san... Just absent. I did encounter the fox in the TV world, but otherwise it's almost a ghost town."

Kanji's sticking to his usual, because you can't go wrong with roast pork ramen. Also it's not raining, so the mega beef bowl wouldn't feel right.

"Yeah, it's weird as hell not havin' Mom in the shop, but... rather stay there than anywhere else." Not to mention not having Naoki across the street to go bother.

Hmmm... perhaps some gyoza and a large bowl of nikudon to start. He gives the order to one of the cognitions to start before setting his attention back on Kanji. "I know the feeling. Initially, it was just me at the Dojima house, but now I'm staying with my future self, a littler version of myself, and a five year old Akira-kun. It's certainly preferable to being alone, but I can only imagine how awkward it'd be if another universe's Dojima-san, Narukami-san, or Nanako-chan were to appear."

"Knowing Souji-senpai, he'd just roll with it. Dojima-san probably would too, once he got his head around it." Sure, he's a cop, but he's the only cop in town who can actually tell the difference between 'Kanji actually did a thing this time' and 'everyone's blaming Kanji for existing again.'

"Nanako-chan would have a billion questions, but that ain't necessarily a bad thing."

He nods along. "I can see Dojima-san being a little alarmed, but he's a good man. I doubt he'd kick us out, especially considering the kids. As for Nanako-chan... I can only imagine she'd be ecstatic to have some new playmates. Space is the main concern, if anything."

Then again, this place abides by very unusual rules. Perhaps the space would expand. It wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen.

Edited 2023-09-15 22:30 (UTC)

"...Yeah, that ain't exactly the biggest house, is it."

But they got a resourceful bunch of people here. If it came to that, they could figure something out.

"Bigger than some of the homes I've lived in, but living with two other children and a teenage version of myself certainly does change things." Granted, that's only one more person than had been living there in his world, and no adults.

Ah... No adults. "To be honest, I think the most difficult part is that we're all either children or teenagers. We're trying our best to take care of the kids, but obviously an eighteen year old detective is not the same as a man in his forties who already is a parent, and I'm certainly no more experienced."

"Yeah." Kanji sighs. "At least they ain't here on their own, but..."

He's sure as hell not equipped to raise a kid. He's still a kid himself.

"We're doing our best. I think my older self has an edge in that he actually knows how to cook, somehow, and he's lived with Nanako-chan for long enough that he's easily the most experienced out of us in caring for younger children."

He blows a small sigh at that, thankful for the food as it finally arrives. "I obviously won't try to rope you into impromptu babysitting, but I have a feeling they'd be very interested in one of your plushies."

"How that happened is probably he listened to Souji-senpai." Kanji's not a bad cook, but Senpai's definitely on another level. (The girls are... well, has Chie ever been in the same room as a cookbook in her life, and Yukiko's improving, and Rise does okay when reminded she's not cooking for either the tofu shop or only herself.)

"Sure, no problem. What kinda animals do they like?"

"Akira-kun loves dinosaurs, and I suspect the younger me would enjoy a matching plush, so perhaps..." Hmm, he pauses, taking a bite of gyoza as he contemplates. "Perhaps two little feathered velociraptors? One colored like Red Hawk and another that's black and gold for Akira-kun?"

Raptors are close enough to birds, anyway, that it wouldn't be too off putting, and then they could have a matching pair.

Kanji nods. "Got it. I'll let you know when they're ready."

"Oh, we may need to exchange numbers for that, if it isn't too much trouble." He pauses. "...Well, that, and it would be rather nice to keep in touch regardless. But I also don't want to impose, since I'm still mostly a stranger to you."

Too much eagerness might be off putting. He needs to keep his expectations reasonable, since he's starting from scratch here.

Oh, right. That's a thing. "Yeah, no problem."

It's a little weird having a fan club, even if it's a fan club of one, but... what the hell. He can roll with it.

"Although, perhaps after we eat." Still, he'll set his phone to the side, not too close to his food. "And if you'd like to see my findings regarding the Midnight Channel and other assorted Inaba oddities, I certainly wouldn't be opposed. It'd be interesting to see how my findings compare to someone who had seen 'all' of it from beginning to end."

"Damn, kid, you wanna show off your work about as bad as Naoto, don't you?" But if the way Kanji's smiling is any indication, that's not a bad thing. "Sure, go for it."

"...Well, yes. Shirogane-san is a big inspiration." And Kanji knows Naoto. Kanji knows Naoto. That's so cool. If he was starstruck before, now...

Well, now he's just going to set his notepad out, but in such a way where it's not at risk for being soiled by the food.

It is good food, of course. He's enjoying himself quite a bit.

"You don't say. Well, Naoto's pretty cool like that." Struggles to see it, but: Naoto's pretty cool like that.

Between bites of his own food, Kanji makes his way through the notes. "Shit, you've been busy," is his first comment - but entirely justified, when Kanji's own friends didn't know half of this until months after Akechi strung it together.

"There is one thing you're missing, and even Naoto didn't think of it until we went over everything all over again. But I dunno if you want me to tell you, or if you wanna wait and figure it out on your own. Could also tell you what's up with the gas station dude, but again, you might not want me to."

The Arcana shit sounds like stuff Souji-senpai's mentioned before, but that's not something Kanji knows a whole lot about. But it does suggest he's eating lunch with a twelve-year-old Wild Card (seriously, who keeps trusting kids with saving the world?).

"Oh, and I'm pretty sure the fox is the weird lady in white who's at the shrine at night."

Hmmm... On one hand, answers that could be useful later. On the other hand, his older self...

Would knowledge be the forbidden fruit? Would it damage his future self? Or would the timeline fork, bend in such a way where they can coexist?

It's a troubling thought that gives him pause, so he opts to take some beef in his chopsticks and munch as he mulls it over.

"If even Shirogane-san overlooked it, it must be quite the subtle detail. On the other hand, if he is to arrive in Inaba, our combined efforts could make reaching the truth easier. I also seem to have established one of those arcana bonds with the attendant, so that might be useful? To be honest, my notes are due for some updates in that respect, but the fox..."

Well, that's an interesting notion. "Well, I always figured there was something supernatural about it, anyway. It even took a request from the attendant directly to me."

"The lady's only out there at night, she hides by the fortune box so well I can't see her from my room, and she asks people who go in there for raw fish to feed her kids. I know sushi's a thing, but she wants like... fish from the river." Kanji is not sure he'd trust those fish for sushi purposes. "So I'm pretty sure she's the fox, which explains a lot about the fox. Like how she knew those leaves were so useful in the first place."

And, he guesses, why the fox would pester the gas station attendant at all.

"Well, the gas station dude's not a guy, for one thing. Not sure if she's a woman either, really, but she's not a guy."

"That is highly suspicious. Though if that's the case, I'll have to inform Nanako-chan that it is not, in fact, a 'Mr. Fox.' Though the fox didn't seem particularly offended regardless." Perhaps it, or she, even found the whole thing amusing. Nanako is a little girl after all.

"But that's odd, if so. The attendant certainly looks masculine. Then again, they're a supernatural entity with the power to grant access to the world behind the TV screens. I even awakened my 'Death Arcana' when we shook hands, so... Hm."

"She's probably used to it. Everyone assumes animals are male at first, for some damn reason." (Patriarchy, Kanji. Patriarchy is the reason.)

"Death Arcana, huh." Kanji snorts. "Little on-point of her. You actually went in for the handshake? Got guts."

"Narukami-san refused to show me the TV world even though I was ahead of them all with my deductions and evidence. While things started to improve between us, and he was open to compromise and gradually introducing us to the TV world in a controlled fashion, his lack of trust in me compelled me to obtain the power on my own terms."

He lets that sink in, taking one gyoza and chomping it rather fiercely.

"I'd already gained the attendant's interest, and Marie-san informed me that if I could awaken to the power, I'd gain access to the Velvet Room. It took days of work, but between Amagi-san and Chie-san's helpful testimony, my own documentation, and observations, I was able to not only impress the attendant into bestowing the power upon me, but make early negotiations with Teddie-san to obtain the glasses not only for me but my world's version of you. And this was accomplished by April 30th."

Yes, that early. He's rather pleased with that fact.

"...Don't take this wrong, but I can see why he hesitated. That shit's dangerous, and you're younger than us." And even if it hasn't happened for the kid yet, considering what happened to Nanako-chan... well. If it'd gone like that instead, it would've been Bad.

"Shit, kid, when you get an idea in your head you work fast, don'tcha."

"All around me, people were treating the murders and disappearances like some sick spectator sport. I saw alarming patterns, witnessed the deaths of Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi as they occurred on the Midnight Channel, and I knew it had to be stopped."

He sighs, because yes, obviously, it's dangerous. The deaths within the TV world made that all too clear, after all, and the account from Yukiko certainly made that clearer.

"But it was fine. I obtained the glasses and even had the foresight to wear a face mask during my second trip to mitigate the effects of the fog. Perhaps it could have gone worse, had I a more aggressive Shadow, but he was utterly toothless. Far too kind for his own good, and-"

He stops for a moment, laughter in his head. You say that like I'm not here, Goro. And after all we've been through together...

"...Yes, obviously we worked out our differences. I am trying to have a conversation with Kanji-san, so can you please butt out?"

More chuckling that only he can hear follows. Lovely. "...Anyway, I have a Persona now, and I'm working on obtaining more, since I have the 'power of the Wildcard'."

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