personavelvetroomdr | a wild punk knitter appears

Entry tags:

a wild punk knitter appears

Kanji's just confused by this whole blue room thing. The... Velvet Room? Didn't Souji-senpai mention something like that once? Well, whatever; he mostly just wants to go home.

And home is where it sinks in that whatever's happening is real enough to take seriously, because his mom's not there.

Okay. That's. That's gonna be weird, but he can work with this. He'd still rather stay at home than anywhere else - it's familiar. And it has all his craft shit.

Once he's had a moment to be weirded out, he might even take some of that craft shit outside for a little project work somewhere. The hill, probably, since it has a nice view.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"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'."

The fact that the kid's Shadow was kind... says a lot, really, but it's a lot that Kanji doesn't wanna make him unpack right now. Besides, if he was in a complete-shit foster situation and it wasn't even the first one, it makes sense.

Not completely unlike his own situation, really.

"And if one hadn't turned up at all? What would you have done then? I'm not sayin' you didn't do a good job, but this is up there with Naoto going 'I better get on TV and taunt the asshole into kidnappin' me,' so..."

"...That is certainly one way to try and kidnapper in the act and thereby obtain their identity." Oops, Kanji, now he's thoughtfully rubbing his chin, contemplating this. "As expected from Shirogane-san. Sometimes one must make risky gambits in the pursuit of truth."

"Kid. That wasn't a suggestion." Not that he's really surprised, but still.

"And my first question still stands. What if you'd gone in and never got a chance to defend yourself?"

"...We didn't go very far. Teddie-san took me to the shopping district, fully intent on turning back if things got out of hand."

It's not even that he can fight back. It's... "Besides, I had obtained the power. You need a Persona to enter, correct? Even if mine ended up a Shadow, I knew there was a chance I'd see one, and I knew not to say that it wasn't me. I was... prepared."

"Prepared doesn't mean shit can't go wrong. I can't even really say 'at least Ted was with you,' since he was pretty useless in a fight to start out."

Kanji sighs. "Look, it's just... we had to deal with an actual child gettin' chucked in there and it was bad. I guess knowing a Persona starts as a Shadow was one thing, but that still coulda blown up in your face."

"...The killer went after a child?" Oh, that's a glare right there, and he stiffens in his seat, gripping his chopsticks so tight, it's a wonder they don't snap. "No, that... shouldn't be a surprise. They had no qualms killing Konishi-san, after all, or attempting the same with Amagi-san."

Ugh. How reprehensible.

"Even so, I suppose a small child would have a more difficult time. I'm almost thirteen, so I'm more 'developed.' From a psychological perspective, I can only imagine it'd take a truly broken child to develop a Shadow."

"Well, the--" And Kanji breaks off that thought right there. "Do you want the big spoilers or not."

As for the rest, he nods. "You're probably right on the bubble of 'actually repressing enough shit to get somewhere,' and... weirdly, having been through so much shit before you even got to Inaba might've given you an edge over other middle schoolers. Still one hell of a big risk to take, though."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject