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... ... ... ... ?

What is...?

I shouldn't... be awake...

[In the Velvet Room...]

[It's courteous of whatever's going on with Igor's plan here that Hamuko is dressed. She probably shouldn't even have a body... whatever she has going on now... did her body fall comatose without her? Did it die? If it was alive, she surely should be much older. ... ... ... Maybe that all doesn't really matter, right now. She's here, gifted a chance to be around others again. The pinboard catches her attention first, of course. Signs of other people... so many little notes, talking about multiple versions of the same person running around. That's... that's charming... that's fun. ...Even if the notes about Ken Amadas make her sad...]

Hmm... I don't see any other 'me' off the bat...

[She'll take a few minutes once given a pen and some pink paper to doodle a little version of herself, signed with her name and phone number, and add it to the corner of the pinboard.]

[Inaba, Central Shopping District]

[What a fun little town! A charming place... hey, isn't this the town she went to for the volleyball camp? She loved the accommodations, but it's so nice to actually wander the streets and see the little shops. This place is SO rural, Hamuko had never really visited a place this remote, even when jumping between foster homes.] Let's see... what's the good spot for the locals? [No point being a complete tourist shmuck!!]

[Shibuya, Underground Mall]

[Well, since nothing costs anything here... might as well get some cute new clothes, right? Who knows how long she'll be around here, and 'dreaming up' new outfits didn't seem to be a thing. No lucid dreaming here - somehow, Hamuko felt a lot happier with that in mind. Still... the fashion is so different!!]

I just want one cute orange top...!! Is orange out of style? Dang it...

[Iwatodai Dorms]

[Of all of the places she's been having fun goofing off and exploring in, the dorms... she couldn't quite get the courage to open the front. Not just yet.]

Not even Koromaru is out front right now. ...I've gotta apologize...

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"It's not that, either... the experience of dying, I mean. Or mortality. It's not something cruel, it's not something kind..."

Hamuko replied very calmly, likely uncomfortably wise beyond her apparent age. 'It just happened a bit sooner than it will for the rest of you.'

"Death, the Shadow, though... he was a very loving person. He didn't want any of us to suffer, knowing the end was inevitable. He gave us the option to have our memories changed so we wouldn't know what was coming."

Zenkichi listened, but it only made him feel worse.

Worse than before. Somehow, guilty.

He had seen the way Hamuko’s eyes had lit up when Akane first mentioned how the Kirijo Group used the name Arisato, how they flaunted it to claim their ongoing success in society. He had seen the hope there, fleeting and fragile, a desperate kind of grasping at the thought that maybe something of her, of her name, still existed in the world.

And yet, now, listening to her talk about it, about how Death had been kind, about how it had wanted to spare them suffering—he couldn’t stomach it.

Not when she smiled like that. Not when she spoke like this.

Not when it reminded him too much of how Akane used to look when she was being “upgraded.”

Zenkichi turned away, jaw tightening. He couldn’t watch her. He couldn’t listen anymore.

“I don’t want to hear any more of that.” His voice was quieter, but firm. He exhaled sharply through his nose. “I know how higher entities act when they don’t want others to suffer. You have no idea what-”

He didn’t want to elaborate more. She just came here and whoever he spoke to were past dwellers of this place he wanted to sort help from or derive connections with. The memory of EMMA was burned into his mind—how she had convinced the world that eternal sleep was a mercy. Eighty fucking percent of it. So what if it needed a fucking friend to understand humans better? She ruined his life. She ruined so many people in the long run how dare does Hamuko think-

Before he could say anything else, though, Akane thwacked his arm.

Zenkichi stopped mid-thought, turning to look at her with a sharp, confused glance. The first time she did something like...

"What?"

"I believe her."

Her LED eyes flickered as she considered Hamuko, processing what she was about to say. “I… am not human. I am not Death. Nor am I life. But I lived within Wolf too, for the past seven years.” She paused. “I never really thought much about it before I came here. But then I did think about it. And I wanted to understand. So… I requested a human body. To learn. To assist humanity better.”

Zenkichi stilled, watching her now.

Akane continued, “Wolf was kind enough to use the wish event granted by Igor, around two weeks after we arrived, to make that happen.”

She hesitated for a moment, but then pressed on. “I’m still adjusting. I’m still learning. But… I want to be better. I want to be more helpful. I want to learn more about others- cause I am artificially intelligent right? People means information and I will be damned if I don't make use of this opportunity to learn more while I still can.”

There was something so certain in the way she said it—no hesitation, no doubt.

Zenkichi let out a short huff, looking down, rubbing the back of his neck. “It was no big deal,” he muttered, shrugging off the weight of it. “Not like I believe in Christmas wishes anyway.”

He scratched the inside of his palm absently. Not like it mattered that it had been both of their wishes.

He wouldn’t say that part.

That would be selfish. More than the act itself.

Edited 2025-02-03 00:05 (UTC)

She was willing to concede that yes, of course, maybe what remained of Ryoji had disappeared and died after the Seal as well. The Appraiser probably ceased existing, after all... he hadn't returned to school with the rest of them.

Another person dear to her that was now gone... for now, she could bear it. And if she was the only one that remembered Ryoji, then she'd keep him alive in her heart that way.

All of those thoughts, as she thought to speak them, though - fell entirely to the wayside as Akane spoke up for herself, and defended Hamuko. As she explained everything the two had been through in this place so far, how she had a body now, and all of it. It warmed the smile on Hamuko's face, seeing these two... she saw so much of Aigis in them. Finding identity and purpose.

"Even if you aren't a flesh and blood human being, you're a person. I believe that wholeheartedly - I always have," she simply said to both Zenkichi and Akane, voice soft and warm. "If you'll have me, I'd love to get to know you two more, too."

Zenkichi carefully looked at Hamuko, still surprised by the sheer will she seemed to carry—how she insisted, time and time again, that they were all human. He was still processing everything, and she wasn’t backing down from this narrative of hope she was pushing. It was both unnerving and admirable.

"Yeah," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm, though his gaze remained steady. "You’re something else, kid. First time we meet and you’re already-" He stops and shook his head with a low chuckle, but it wasn’t one of humor. More of a bitter, self-loathing kind of laugh. "Don’t expect me to start handing out gold stars or anything. I don’t have anything savory to share."

He stopped himself, though. His words were starting to wear thin even for him. He wasn’t in the mood to keep dragging it all out.

Akane, however, was fully down for the idea. "I think it’d be great to get to know you more!" she said, all youthful enthusiasm in her voice. "I mean, you’ve been through so much, right? I want to understand. We should exchange contacts-!"

Zenkichi blinked at her for a moment. The contrast between her energy and his jaded weariness could have been a punchline in itself. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. This wasn’t a situation where he wanted to drag everyone down with his own sour mood, but he couldn’t help it.

"Gotta say though, I-" he muttered under his breath, then louder, he added, "I didn’t mean to make this feel like an interrogation or anything. Old habits die hard, y’know? But..." his gaze is fleeting. Understanding behind his otherwise unflinching mask. "-it's good that you are keeping your chin up. Maybe that's what this place needs."

With a bright smile, Hamuko was happy to open her phone so she could make contact profiles for the two of them. "I've got SO many things I could talk about. Both the awful stuff and the stuff that was always worth fighting for," she explained as she typed in names and numbers. "Don't worry, Wolf-pop, Akane-chan, I'll send more cute pictures than serious convos."

“Wolf- pop?!” he repeated, nearly choking on the word. His head snapped toward Hamuko with an expression that was a mix of disbelief and sheer indignation. “From what angle do I seem like one?! What part of me remotely screams—” He cut himself off as his voice solemnly cracks. "Do I?"

Akane burst into laughter, her LED eyes flickering with amusement. “This NEVER gets old.” she teased Hamuko.

Unlike Hamuko, who was already pulling out her phone like a normal person, Akane simply snapped her fingers. A soft ping followed, and Hamuko’s phone lit up with a data drop notification, linked by the shared "network" app that they have installed on their phones the moment they step foot here with their respective cognitive IP address.

“You can just click that link, and you’ll get my and Wolf's contact list with a small bonus~! Akane announced proudly. "Access to my digital space!”

After taking a second to click the link, her phone whirring and accessing the new digital space, Hamuko snickered at Zenkichi.

Gestured between him and Akane.

"Wolf-pop. Wolf-pup."

Zenkichi's lips parted slightly as if to respond, but nothing came out.

Wolf-pop. Wolf-pup.

It was good-natured, sure. But the words didn’t make him feel any better.

To think of even calling Akane as—

He swallowed the thought before it could fully form. His fingers twitched, and he exhaled slowly, shaking his head. "Man, I'm too old for this shit."

He raked a hand down his face, the metal of his mask cold beneath his fingers. "First dude, then bro, then cop guy, now pops—doesn't help that I think I’m the oldest damn adult here by default." As if to punctuate the thought, he pulled off his hat and tossed it onto the couch for a moment. His long black hair, now reaching past his neck, fell loose. He ran a hand through it, sighing, before adjusting the mess. The mask, of course, remained welded to his face.

Akane merely shrugged, completely unfazed. Playing into the bit even more.

Zenkichi let out a breath that was almost a laugh, then relented. "Alright, alright. Akane, show Hamuko-san around. She’s new, and she’ll probably need to get the lay of the land. I would be damned if I said I didn't need one." He gestured vaguely around the space. "Pretty sure we got a Reaper here somewhere, too. Out of the gazillion Akechis. So, uh, probably not the one you’re talking about," he added, glancing at Hamuko.

"He didn’t call himself Death," Akane noted. "Nor was he a transfer student."

Zenkichi nodded. "Right. Well, maybe you can ask her about your QR code too. Meanwhile, I need to talk to Igor about... some things."

Akane snapped a playful salute. “On it, Gramps!”

Zenkichi scoffed, shaking his head. “Brat.” And then retaliated with ruffling her hair then receding before she could even react.

The hair was real too...

And just like that, the humor in his expression dimmed. His posture straightened as he made his way toward Igor’s table, his steps heavier, more purposeful. Whatever lightheartedness he had entertained just moments ago was gone, like a switch had flipped.

"Well, if someone arrives going by Ryoji Mochizuki - he has this cute beauty mark right here on his face - that'd be the 'Death' that I'd gotten to know," she clarified. "And obviously, let him know I'm gonna give him a hug and a punch to the arm."

Still, watching the way Zenkichi interacted, then how the switch flipped...

..."pop" was a lot more complicated than he seemed, and he already seemed pretty complex.

For now, Hamuko turned her attention to Akane. "A tour sounds nice! Lead the way, Akane."

Akane processed what Hamuko had just said.

"Cute."

This Ryoji Mochizuki—Death, or its vessel, or whatever— has a cute birthmark in her eyes, huh?
Usually that wouldn't be such a big deal but...

That made Akane wonder... but for now, she held back those questions. They had a tour to get through.

While Zenkichi receded into the background, now speaking to Igor in hushed tones, Akane planted her hands on her waist and stared up at the board. With its mismatched notes, haphazard organization, and barely functional attempt at keeping everything in order, she couldn't help but snort.

"Man, this thing is a mess," she remarked, her voice carrying that distinct snark only. "Like, I get that it does the job, but still. The amount of fated rivals, old grudges, and way too many guys crowded in one place? It’s like watching a sitcom—except the whole thing’s on fire."

She turned to Hamuko, her LED-lit eyes flashing with amusement before moving on. "Alright, basics first—so, like, 88% of the population here is below the age of twenty. 9% of them are like- immortal or supernatural or something else. You got about 24% who are kids or teenagers, like me. Or younger. And like 5 atleast-once adults. " She rolled her shoulders slightly. "Technically, my code says I should be fourteen. But I dunno. I feel like I fluctuate between, like, fourteen and sixteen, depending on the day."

She paused, considering something before casually throwing out her next question.

"Oh, also—what’s your opinion on cops?"

Because boy hoo boy, if Hamuko had issues, she might as well know now, before she dropped the Wolf-shaped bomb on her.

On cops? Right, she's asking since Wolf is one - at least, that's what one of the nicknames he was groaning about implied.

But still, sincerely, Hamuko shrugged.

"I don't think much of cops in general? There was one officer that SEES was working with regularly, and I have respect for him. But we didn't interact with police much beyond that. Our senpai said that the police would work with us because they understood that something supernatural was going on beyond their scope and authority, so long as we didn't abuse that leniency," she explained. "So I never really interacted much with them at all outside of Kurosawa-san selling me equipment and giving us rewards from people we'd rescued from Tartarus."

Akane blinked, momentarily caught off guard by Hamuko’s answer.

"Huh. So the cops actually worked with you guys? That’s… kinda surprising, actually." She tilted her head, processing the thought. "I guess it makes sense, though. The Kirijo Group and law enforcement had to sort things out together, at least back then. But now? At this point, cops are just regular enforcers while the company calls all the shots."

She crossed her arms, tapping a finger against her bicep in thought before offering a casual shrug. "I mostly just asked to make sure you were comfortable. Wolf—uh, Zenkichi—doesn't look like it, but he wouldn’t want you to be worried or freaked out around him, y'know?"

Her optics flickered behind the mask, her tone almost offhanded as she tilts her head and whispers, "He's got a habit of not saying that kinda thing out loud, though. So, like, don't tell him I said that."

"So uhh...you know, honestly I could go on and on about the place. I have been to the Adamah area in Tartarus when I was just in my AI form within Wolf and I could tell you a funny story that lead to it." She was off on a ramble, not wanting Zenkichi to hear if he felt the need to listen in. "Gosh, I am sorry- I am usually more normal in my digital form but er- yeah." Why did she even apologize?? There's a blush which is thankfully hidden by the mask.

Hamuko leaned in to hear the whispers, smirking a little - and chuckling at the idea of Wolf not wanting to make others panic. "Don't worry. I'm not really afraid of other people, cool future cybernetics or otherwise - if he oversteps I'll just kick his butt," she joked, winking - she obviously probably wouldn't. It didn't really seem like Wolf would spring anything on her at all.

"Nah, don't apologize! I'm getting to know you. And yeah, made it all the way to Adamah - you guys got really up there too, huh?"

Akane giggled, her optics flickering with amusement as her eyes widened. "Oh, you would, huh?" she teased, voice laced with mischief. "I'd pay to see that."

She meant it in the most playful way possible, but deep down, she was still fiercely loyal to Zenkichi’s safety. No matter how much she joked, if someone actually tried to throw hands with him, they'd have to go through her first.

Though that wasn't as much of a compensation physically.

But Hamuko meant well—Akane could tell. And besides, it wasn’t every day she got to talk to someone other than Wolf.

"Man," she exhaled, shaking her head with a fond chuckle. "Hearing about Adamah again... yeah Wolf sort of joined a whole impromptu crusade to defeat the Reaper with Amada-san and uh...Phoenix," Her gaze drifted toward the board before she reached out and pointed at a particular picture with the major warning next to an Akechi with a very dark beak. "Really it started from Wolf mistaking Phoenix-san as one of the cognitive enemies of your universe and we had to shift to protocol mode."

"That-!" Zenkichi pipes in, "-what was I supposed to do?! Phoenix just popped up right in front through a goddamn portal!"

"Relax, Wolf- I will be your lawyer," she grins with a closed fist on her chest. "I will win the case for you."

"Shut up-!" Zenkichi's tone wasn't exactly harsh either, a sort of tired grin on his face before he turned back to Igor.

"Okay so..."

"...anyways yeah, that could have went terrible to be honest but you know, all's well that ends well."

"Okay, I saw that selfie and I've been wanting to see him in the flesh. In the feathers? Like, immediately. That's so weird and freaky and I gotta?? His eyes are red and glowing even in his selfie!" Hamuko agreed, gesturing to the aforementioned selfie.

"Plus...! Imagine learning how to teleport..."

Akane blinked, tilting her head as she gave Hamuko a careful look—the kind that was half curiosity, half what exactly are you getting at?

"Gotta… what?" she asked slowly, like she was trying to piece something together.

Because, okay, yeah, the teleporting thing? Absolutely cool. But Phoenix himself? That was a whole different conversation.

"I mean, yeah, teleporting would be insanely useful. I’d love to just—" She snapped her fingers for emphasis. "—zip out of a conversation whenever things get awkward." A pause. "Not that I ever do that. Nope. Never."

"He is pretty weird and he has prescription on him- like a legit jar full of colourful pills. Insane guy."

She folded her arms, giving Hamuko another squint before adding, "Also, what’s with the feather thing? You just really into bird guys or…?"

"I've never seen a weird bird guy before! Dogs are one thing, but like... is he soft? Is he oily?? Can I steal a feather? Is it magic?"

She makes a vague grabbing gesture with her hands.

"...I guess you wouldn't have ever like... had the urge to run up and scoop up a pigeon at a park, right?"

Edited 2025-02-06 02:39 (UTC)

Akane stared at Hamuko’s grabbing gesture, her LED-lit eyes flickering as she processed the absurdity of the question.

"I… haven’t exactly interacted with physical things," she admitted, voice flat. "Kinda hard to grab a pigeon when you don’t have hands. Or, y’know, a body most of the time."

Still, the thought stuck with her, and she tapped a finger against her mask in thought. "Also, pigeons? Uh. Yeah, about that. Most birds—especially pigeons—are kinda… super endangered where I’m from. Like, so rare that they’re basically reserved for high society events and, like, government-run community rehab zones until things get better and they are let out freely again. You can’t just see one on the street. And even if you did, good luck getting anywhere near it. The closest thing to a real bird I’ve ever seen is probably a surveillance drone shaped like one."

She shrugged. "Not that I’d know firsthand. Wolf’s fieldwork doesn’t exactly take him to normal places. I’ve never actually been to a park before."

Akane paused at that, as if the realization had only just fully clicked in her mind.

...Most of them were closed off anyway. Nostalgia’s a big problem in her world. Some people fell into despair at the very sight of an innocent park, over things that remind them too much of the past. Parks were monitored real heavily to make sure no one starts spiraling into existential despair over, like, an old playground slide and eventually become EMMA's victim in the process.

A beat of silence.

"...But now I’m kinda curious," she admitted, tilting her head. "What’s the big deal with birds, anyway? Why would you want to scoop one up? What’s the appeal? Is it its warmth or just the touch?"

Hamuko's giddiness and enthusiasm tapered off, as Akane explained the world they were from. Explained just how dire things were...

Even if she logically knew that there would likely be threats to life, it was... sad, to hear that things had gone so far downhill. That people were restricted from those areas, so on... that sounded... suffocating. And profoundly sad.

But Hamuko put on a calm smile when asked the question, tapering herself. After all, these two were part of something that fought to change things, there were people trying. She believed in them.

"There's something sort of funny, when you're really young in your life. All your mind's impulses are so new, and you haven't been told not to follow those impulses or taught how to temper them because what might strangers think about you acting childishly?" She chuckled a little. "...Well, I think life is a lot more fun to indulge on impulses and not worry too much about other adults judging you. Once you have a body, Akane-chan, I think you'll get a chance to feel that too."

There was something strangely compelling about her words—this whole idea of indulging in impulses, of not worrying about what others thought.

It made sense, in theory.

And yet…

She frowned slightly, arms crossing as if instinctively trying to put up a wall. “I mean—” she started, then stopped. “I’m just young because of my AI model, you know? And the soul attached to me. It’s not like…”

Not like she was really a teenager.

Not like she was supposed to have these thoughts.

She looked away, something in her synthetic chest twisting uncomfortably. The last time she had acted purely on impulse—truly impulsively—had been when she sort of made up her own persona by copying Wolf’s Persona- Cosette and leapt into battle to save him. It hadn’t been calculated. It hadn’t been analyzed, or planned out. It had been pure instinct, like something deep inside her had just moved before she could think.

And in that moment, she had felt… real.

Akane swallowed, looking down at her black gloved hands, flexing her fingers like she was trying to feel something.

“So… what could I do right now that’s impulsive?” she asked, almost hesitantly. It felt weird to even entertain the idea.

Zenkichi’s voice was low, nearly hushed, as he spoke with Igor. His fingers were loosely interlocked, resting against the surface, but his body language was stiff—tense in a way that he couldn’t quite shake.

“So, let me get this straight,” he murmured. “Once Akane leaves my server in a cognitive world, she can’t go back in to protect herself?”

Igor nodded slowly, his ever-present, unreadable smile never faltering.

Zenkichi exhaled sharply through his nose. “And if she enters a cognitive world without re-entering my server first—unless it’s a Jail—then she’s just… stuck?”

“Correct,” Igor affirmed. “Unless external intervention occurs and well...she...”

She died.

Zenkichi's hand flew to his holster but the lingering presence of Hamuko and Akane who were still in the same area as him was the only thing holding him back from even putting a bullet through that smiling man's skull.

Zenkichi muttered a curse under his breath. That meant places like Mikage-cho and Sumaru were dangerous for her. Hell, even places like Mementos, Tartarus, or the TV World followed the same damn rules if he wasn't careful.

But she can project herself into the real world. Through electronic devices. VR. That was something right?

And then came the real question—the one that had been gnawing at the back of his skull since this whole mess started.

“…What happens when we go back?”

Edited 2025-02-07 17:27 (UTC)

With her focus on Akane's conversation, Hamuko's brain wasn't really picking up on the detail of the words Zenkichi was murmuring to Igor behind them. Even if she was more clearly hearing Igor's responses (with such a distinct voice, how could she not?), the words didn't really process, like how background chatter faded out of focus.

The same was not true, however, of the sound of Zenkichi's abrupt movement, the sound of fabric and clasps - there was a subtle shift of her head, turning an ear almost purely on instinct, trained and ingrained to be alerted to the sound of a gun (evoker) being reached for. It's not an impulse she can control. There were a lot of nights that being sharp for specific cues was important - especially with STREGA lurking out and about.

But she doesn't do more than peek over her shoulder, see that Wolf isn't doing anything, just... cursing to himself, looking sour in front of Igor, who looks nonplussed as ever. With a quick, silent assessment, Hamuko turned her attention back to Akane.

The question before her was more important. What could I do right now that’s impulsive?

"Well... let's see. Is there something you've wanted to put up in here that's not strictly informational? Or maybe we can tease some people on their network posts - nothing mean, just funny images or jokes. Or, if you can walk out with this robot body, we can go try all kinds of things in any of the cities together. We can go play games, dress up, get some spray paint and do a ton of graffiti, go skateboarding, get tattoos, go clubbing--" Hamuko's voice started to raise a bit with each more outlandish and delinquent proposal - part to make it clear to Akane that she's joking, of course, and part to pull Zenkichi's attention. You know. To distract him.

Akane’s eyes widened as Hamuko continued listing things out—one after another, more ridiculous and outlandish each time.

“I mean, it’s not exactly a robot body,” she started, attempting to interject, but the girl just kept going. “It’s… well, maybe it is, but it’s mostly built out of cognition and code, so it’s more like—”

But then—

Games. Dressing up. Graffiti. Skateboarding. Tattoos. Clubbing—

Her thought process derailed completely.

She stared at Hamuko, mouth slightly open.

What.

That was an option? That was even possible?

Her smile twitched, like she was genuinely holding back a grin, and before she even realized it, she had started typing into the air—quick, automatic motions, like she was noting all of this down in her digital notepad for later reference.

And then she noticed.

Hamuko’s voice was rising, just enough to be intentional, just enough to—

Zenkichi exhaled sharply, trying to keep his anger in check, his grip on his holster still taut from the conversation with Igor. “So if this place is overflowing with cognition,” he said gruffly, “then what happens when we leave? Will she exist normally in our world which is strung up by cognitive phenomenon?”

Igor was silent.

And that alone was enough to set his teeth on edge.

He hated that silence. That smug, knowing, withholding silence. The one that meant Igor was holding all the cards close to his chest, and Wolf wasn’t getting a single one unless the damn long-nosed man was hauled off his ass to follow through with his questions.

He’d been this close to punching something—maybe even that damn smug nose of his—

And then—

Go clubbing-

Zenkichi’s head snapped up, his entire focus ripped away from Igor as instinct kicked in.

“HEY, HEY, HEY—”

He bumbled forward, practically tripping over himself in his rush to rise to the bait. “What do you mean by clubbing—”

And before he even thought about it, his hands instinctively covered Akane’s ears.

Or… well. Where her human ears would be but instead they really just skwed the headphone mounted on the cognitive projections of two human ears that were really just for show.

Akane, now sitting there with Zenkichi’s gloved hands lightly cupped over the sides of her very clearly not-ears, gave him the flattest stare known to mankind.

As if she couldn’t still hear everything.

Zenkichi, finally realizing what he had just done, grit his teeth and snapped at Hamuko in sheer exasperation.

“What kind of bonding initiative are you trying to drag her into?!”

"Da-"

Akane stops.

"Wolf,” she said flatly, voice crystal clear, “you do realize this doesn’t actually work, right?”

Zenkichi froze.

“…Y-Yeah, well,” he sputtered, quickly removing his hands but still pointing a finger at her, as if that somehow gave him the upper hand in this ridiculous exchange, “it’s the principle of the thing!”

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