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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...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"We had to bring our best to fight her at... hmm..." Hamuko started to reply, eyes closed as she 'saw' shuffle time, trailing off the sentence as she gleaned the strange new rules to it. After a bit she coaxed extra insight (EXP) and a few coins (funnily useless, but she'll hoard them just in case).

As the battle faded, an oppressive heaviness weighed down over them. Hamuko was left almost breathless, pressing a hand to her chest - not for inability to breathe, but for the painfully familiar feeling.

The weight of Nyx's sheer presence crushing them to the ground with dread. The terror of realizing their imminent death. Climbing the stairs knowing that they would likely never be descending them ever again. Staring into the alien heart of the creature in the moon, feeling in every cell of her body the promise of death.

...Half of her stamina was gone... wicked away by this forest, this grave - the only reason to be in here was to die.

"Hohh... are you... are you okay?" Hamuko asked, regaining her composure.

Maruki didn’t catch Hamuko’s words at first. Something felt off. His body suddenly betrayed him, doubling over as he hunched forward with one hand clutching his chest. His hoodie shifted over his dark brown hair, casting a harsh shadow across one side of his face. He sucked in a sharp breath, feeling like he had just run a marathon. His heart pounded erratically—not fear exactly, but exhaustion so overwhelming that it felt like it had dug into his very soul.

What the hell... Why now?

He squeezed his eyes shut, grounding himself as he’d done countless times before after grueling battles in Mementos. A brief mental acuity check. He slowed his breath. In. Out. Measured. Steady. He was good at keeping a level head in moments like these, but even so, his mind still felt like it was drifting.

When he finally straightened up, he glanced over at Hamuko. He barely registered her outstretched hand or her expression of concern.

Maruki immediately took note of the pale tint to her skin and the tension in her frame. She was drained too.

Maruki’s clipboard had already slipped from his fingers, clattering to the foggy ground. Without hesitation, he rested a steadying hand on her shoulder as if worried she might trip, his gaze soft but full of concern.

“I’m... okay. Physically,” Maruki said slowly. His voice was steady but tinged with uncertainty. “But my spirit feels... drained. Hollow. Like whatever energy we had, this place is sapping it away.”

His eyes widened slightly as a sudden realization struck him. Heavy Almighty attack. His mind flashed back to that blinding light Messiah had summoned. The devastation of Morning Star. Almighty energy demanded quite a lot of stamina and vitality before but Hamuko-san wouldn't have landed the attack if she couldn't handle it. Hell, Maruki has used those attacks too and he never-

“Wait—what about you?” Maruki’s hand tightened just slightly on her shoulder. He searched her eyes, the fatigue still weighing on his chest like an anvil. “You just unleashed one hell of an attack too. Are you really okay?”

With a slightly frazzled laugh, Hamuko placed her hand over the one on her shoulder - not pushing it away, just holding it, getting herself back under control. "Physically okay," she repeated back to him, chest tight but gradually unwinding.

...Physical touch helped. The warmth of another hand, a kind gesture from a stranger. Concern and the warmth of that worry in their tone.

People really were wonderful.

"I felt that too. I think-- bah... it felt a little too much like a few things I've experienced before. The person that went in here.... they didn't expect to ever come out again. It is a very horrible feeling," she admitted, dabbing at her eye. "I'll have to be a lot more conservative with my stamina use, though. Hah."

He realized all too late that he touched her shoulder- his mind too clouded at the fact that the girl who had just obliterated shadows with the call of the Messiah- and now collapsing under the weight of her spell; or this place- needed help.

Messiah meant sacrifice. Messiah meant letting go of the world for the greater good-

His hand twitched under her touch, as if alluding to the fact that he wanted to let go- not wanting to push her boundaries.

So when he felt her tremble he steeled his nerves and kept his hand there.

Edited 2025-02-14 09:52 (UTC)

He listens to her as she punctuates the meaning of this place. The hollow forest. Of course. This place felt as ominous as the forest he and Rumi were stuck in when they were all too young to even comprehend it all.

God, the one stranger who looked at him with a clear lens was being forced into such pain. To be so hyper aware of her own situation that she empathised with this place-

When Hamuko dabbed at her eye and mentioned conserving her stamina, something inside Maruki hardened—not with anger, but with unshakable resolve. The girl who had just obliterated Shadows with Messiah’s almighty power now stood here, hyper-aware of her vulnerability and still full of empathy for whatever had created this place.

He couldn’t stand the thought of her suffering any more than she already had.

“Hamuko-san,” Maruki began, his voice soft but insistent. “It’s greatly admirable that you can keep your head and heart so clear, especially in a place like this. Not many people could walk through something so heavy and still find compassion for the pain around them. That’s a rare kind of strength.”

His dark eyes softened, filled with the same care and empathy that had made him such a beloved counselor at Shujin Academy. “But there’s absolutely no way I can allow you to bring yourself harm like this. Are you really sure you want to go to such lengths for a stranger?”

"Of course," she answered immediately, without hesitation.

She had given so much of herself for everyone, even people she had never met and would never know.

And this man... therapist or not, he had a genuine kindness to him. The kind of sincerity and compassion she believed in fighting for.

"It took me off guard, but I'll be okay. I promised I would keep you safe while you researched, so I will."

Maruki’s chest tightened as he listened to Hamuko’s immediate reply. Of course. No hesitation. No second thoughts. It was the kind of selfless resolve that struck a chord deep inside him. He had seen it before—most clearly in Akira, and, years ago, in Rumi. That same relentless need to help others and shouldering the responsibility of it all.

Maruki’s expression softened, but the concern didn’t fade. Slowly, he let go of her shoulder, fingers trembling slightly before falling back to his side. He looked away, casting his gaze over the fog-laden trees. His research, his life’s work—removing pain and suffering from people’s lives—had been born from a similar place. A desperate hope to protect those he cared about from the same pain that had once crushed him.

But even knowing that... seeing Hamuko like this was almost too much.

“If you say you can handle it,” he began slowly, “then all I can do is trust you." His eyes returned to hers, and he forced a small smile—a little tired, a little unsure, but genuine nonetheless. “I’m very grateful to you, Hamuko-san. Truly.”

For a moment, he paused, as if weighing his next words. Then, almost as a last attempt to ease some of her burden, he extended his hand formally. “I realize I haven’t properly introduced myself yet. I’m Dr Takuto Maruki, formerly a counselor at Shujin Academy and now well- a researcher.” There was a slight hesitation before he added, “Maybe you’ve heard of me... or my work.”

It just wasn't right to keep taking advantage of her kindness without even sharing his name in return.

"Maruki-san..." Hamuko repeated back, humming in thought. She'd read it, a few times - there was even some bickering on the board. She'd have to look at it again to really glean anything more than that.

"I think I saw your name on the board. And a few negative comments," she laughed a little lightly. "But nothing that explained your research. I wouldn't mind hearing more after we find a good stopping point here," Hamuko added. Obviously if there was something harmful going on, she'd want to find out - but multiple timelines, multiple possibilities, she didn't know what this man's experience was yet.

With that same smile, that same willingness to hear and understand, she met his hand and returned the handshake.

"Don't hesitate to press forward more here. Even if this challenged me here, if someone currently here created a place like this, I want to be ready and able to be there for them too. So it's good training for both of us."

Edited 2025-02-14 16:00 (UTC)

Maruki winced slightly at Hamuko’s laughter. He couldn’t exactly share her lightness over being branded as a brainwashing control freak on discussion boards, but… there was no bitterness in her voice. No judgment. She didn’t seem to be holding anything against him—not yet, at least.

And if he was honest with himself, part of him had been expecting the worst. Maybe even hoping she’d walk away in disgust. It would have made things easier.

It didn't stop him from being pinned down by the crimes he didn't commit. Or committed them in another world. Just like he never had a son but he did feel responsible for taking care of him nonetheless.

"My research...its pretty simple in principle," he admits with a sheepish tone. "But it seems my other selves across the multiverse had their own... interpretations. I don’t know if I agree with all of them, but the intentions were likely the same."

With a small sigh, Maruki reached up and adjusted the hood of his hoodie. He let it fall away from his head, revealing his face fully at last. His dark hair was slightly tousled from the fog and sweat, and the cat ears drooped slightly from where they had been folded into the fabric.

“I’m not planning to leave this place without answers,” he said with a bit more steel in his tone, his kind eyes sharpening just slightly with determination. “I have a hypothesis about why this place works the way it does… and if I’m right, it’s not pretty.” He hesitated as he turned back for a moment and quickly bent down to grab his clipboard from the ground. Dusting off the dust from the pinned papers, his lips pulled still. "This place has a way of getting into your head. Digging into thoughts you might not even realize you had."

They were nasty rumors to be sure - brainwashing is a pretty intense accusation. But as Maruki explained that he was uncertain about his motivations in other worlds, other timelines, it lined up well with what Hamuko had guessed already.

"That would make sense just given my experience in the past twenty minutes," Hamuko hummed in agreement, though after a pause she tilted her head in thought. "...But then again, I never really had the time to process a lot of what I went through most recently, so it's not easy to say."

The months after the Promised Day were too much of a haze of no one quite remembering, and of being... SO tired. So, bone-deep tired... because she was only there thanks to her promise to reunite for Graduation Day.

After an unsteady beat, Hamuko tapped the tip of her shoe against the ground in a thoughtful fidget.

"So this place both mirrors the subconscious and affects it? ...Why do Shadows congregate in here, then? I'd thought that they were tied with Nyx, but..." trailing off, Hamuko frowned, tapping her chin. "...They did say that Shadows existed and were being studied long before anything about Nyx was found... but Nyx has existed for all this time, alongside life on Earth. How detached is this place from Nyx's influence...?"

Maruki nodded thoughtfully at Hamuko’s question, his expression shifting into the analytical calm that often came over him when discussing his field of study. It was clear that her curiosity and intelligence weren’t lost on him—if anything, they pushed him to dig deeper into his own thoughts.

“Well, if we consider Carl Jung’s theory of the Collective Unconscious, I wouldn’t necessarily tie all Shadows to Nyx’s influence,” he began, his voice soft but confident. “Nyx, from what I’ve gathered, was a powerful being with her own unique impact on humanity’s psyche. But the Shadows we see here may not have been conjured by her directly. I don’t exactly see the goddess of darkness showing up again anytime soon to string humanity together for its doom.” He tried to soften the grim topic with a faint chuckle, though it only partially masked the tension beneath.

Maruki flipped to the topmost page of his clipboard, scanning his notes. “From what I have discerned so far—after hearing about Nyx being sealed enough times to almost give me gray hairs,” he added with a half-joking smile—“it’s possible this place functions similarly to Mementos- another cognitive phenomenon now relevant in our Shibuya. All of these phenomena seem to be influenced by cognition. That is, by perception—either an individual’s or, more importantly, a collective group’s common belief.”

He paused for a moment, considering how best to explain it. “Take the studio we just walked into earlier who have a public figure they look up to, for example. If someone—or an entire group—perceives them a certain way, whether positively or negatively, that perception can manifest here. It’s not necessarily tied to logic or truth, but rather the emotional weight and intensity of those beliefs.”

Maruki’s gaze turned more serious as he continued. “It’s similar to the way some people I’ve interviewed here talk about the fog. Some believe it’s poisonous, which is why they avoid investigating it. That belief, driven by fear and anxiety, could be keeping the fog in place—clouding their vision both physically and mentally.”

He stopped for a moment, his brow furrowing as a new thought struck him. “There’s also other forms of anxiety that stems in the forms of Hypochondria."

"Its where an individual who believes themselves to be sick can end up actually turning sick because of that. A trick of the mind. If we keep looking onward maybe we could...”

Maruki’s voice trailed off slightly, a flicker of uncertainty crossing his face. “But as much as I can theorize, there’s still a lot I don’t understand."

"Maybe you can help find the answer for why humanity craves death," Hamuko said a bit humorlessly. "I have ideas about it, but... my job is to be the last Seal humanity will ever need. I believe that everyone after me will be able to live, and thrive."

If it was ever in doubt, now it couldn't be. Stated outright why she felt so deeply connected to this place.

"This grave... I think the person who created it felt as though they were sealing something terrible, too. I don't know if we'll find out what, since this isn't the actual site. But I say it's better to know the dangers than to live with your head in the sand."

Edited 2025-02-15 04:00 (UTC)

Maruki froze as Hamuko’s words sank in. He didn’t speak at first, just stared at her, a rare flicker of something unreadable crossing his usually calm face. The weight of what she had said hit him harder than anything else he’d heard that day.

“You sealed away...death itself?” he finally murmured, his voice almost a whisper.That's what she meant by throwing herself at it. It wasn’t disbelief, oh no he had his suspicions—he had long since stopped doubting the incredible when it came to people like Hamuko—but a mixture of awe and sorrow. He slowly set the clipboard away from himself, unable to focus on his notes.

“You really did die in your world."

He finally looked up- attempting to keep a small smile, not wanting to add gasoline to the fire with dissecting everything she just spilled right now. “I- I don't understand,” he said softly, his voice empty of anger. “What happened to you...it’s one of the most selfless acts anyone could ever do. And yet, the cost—” He broke off, running a hand through his dark hair. “To live knowing others are free, but at the expense of your own life... it’s a tragedy no one should have to endure.”

This place is not going to do her any good either.

"I am sorry for pointing us to this place," his expression drooped. "Living with your head in the sand or what not is a different ordeal but I would honestly much prefer that over bringing you here. Hah.." his sentence ended off with a weak chuckle. "Hm."

Probably a little pathetic to admit that out loud, huh? Still- "If you want we can retrace our steps to the entrance again. I am sure it wouldn't be too difficult."

"Don't worry about it, Maruki-san," Hamuko assured, offering a more calm, steady expression. "Talking about it, being sad, re-experiencing the feelings fresh... none of those will break me. They'll make me stronger. And for researching places like this... it's important. I can be that for you."

With a small nod, keeping steady as she always did as the leader...

"I know what to expect, now. And I know now what sort of pacing we should do to not get overwhelmed by Shadows. What do you say?"

"If you're sure," he looks away with his gaze softening. No point in trying to push really, all he can do is wait it out and let Hamuko take things down at her own pace. If it does come to shove he will have to make use of Azathoth to get out of here as soon as possible.

It's not like Maruki was actually planning to ditch this place entirely- that wouldn't have been right. This place holds a magnamimous key to how perception can distort an individual's views paired with the people around them. "I do want to unveil this mystery surrounding Nyx now," he grips his chin as he tries to consider how could Nyx simply overshadows the populace. "Her existence stemming from humanity craving for death seems...almost too absurd to me," he shakes his head like he was looking at an equation he knew he had studied for but couldn't conjure up a proper answer at the very end. No proof to bring uniformity.

He lowers his hand and returns her nod.

"Facing adverse situations and believing in yourself to come out of it on top is very admirable," he answers with a small smile. "I will try my best not to weigh you down then."

A hollow whisper of wind blows in the crevices of his mind, a touch too cold as his gaze drifts for a moment.

I am thou...
...thou art I.
Within the mind’s depths, thou seeketh solace for all suffering.
Thou hast uncovered a bond with the Death to dreams and despair alike.
May this bond guide thee to a future free of anguish—or consumed by it.

That same voice from earlier...

Edited (sorry just fixing the confidant verse lmfao ) 2025-02-16 16:04 (UTC)

"Don't worry about something like that - the weight is grounding. I do my best work that way," Hamuko responded smoothly, confidently. And she wasn't lying - responsibility helped shape her to handle these extreme situations, to give her a reason to press onward.

And if Maruki was dangerous, or if he could uncover something to make a serious change... maybe they could come to an understanding. Maybe he didn't have to fall into whatever reputation 'other world' versions of him had fallen into...

Hamuko straightened a bit, hearing an old, familiar voice thrumming through her heart. Seeing a card descend... one she hadn't seen since those times playing with little Maiko, struggling through her parents' divorce. Not since seeing Chidori.

Thou art I...
and I am thou...
Thou hast acquired a new Bond.

The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed...

Thou shalt be blessed when summoning
Personas of the Hanged Man Arcana...

"...In the face of disaster lies opportunity for renewal," Hamuko spoke softly. The words... once spoken by the Nyx Avatar, the Appraiser, fresh in her memory and echoing almost softly from Thanatos.

Her smile warmed, a bit. Maybe that was a sign that she was still deeply connected to her role as the Seal, still firmly in place to protect everyone. While she'd logically assumed she'd have to be, there was a calm that settled as she finally sensed just how deep and unbreakable her wish was.

"Looking forward to seeing where your research goes. I'll share everything I know about Nyx to help."

Edited 2025-02-16 16:54 (UTC)

Maruki watched her carefully, unsure of how much of her words was her simply coping with the situation with her unfair past or a true resolve like any other. The need to take on burdens after sacrificing herself for the greater good of humanity didn't seem as farfetched then he had originally expected. "Like the textile ruined by my Takoyaki sauce?" He joked carefully in regards to finding opportunity for renewal, trying to wave off the unsettling voice speaking in his head. There were so many things he wanted to dissect in that dialogue, permeated into his head by a deep voice that transcended time and space. "That is a healthy outlook though so I suppose we might be able to make it past the gripes of this place after all."

Meeting your own shadow or the perception of yourself here...could he run into a cognitive double of his own? Shadowed by the echoes of this place?

The gears in his head turned before he focused on Hamuko and his expression stilted. "Technically, I should be paying you back or citing you in my papers but I am not too sure how would I be able to explain that my thesis was ran through a multiversal peer review process if I ever truly brought cognitive pscience into academia..." he furrows his brow as he grips his own chin. "I suppose I will cross that bridge when I get there-!"

With that he digs his hand into his pocket and holds out the same box of Apple juice from earlier, holding it out as a little token of appreciation. "I usually have more snacks on me but if this helps you recover some of your energy, have at it-!"

Edited 2025-02-16 23:01 (UTC)

"Thanks," Hamuko took the offered apple juice with a small laugh, balancing her naginata on her shoulder to poke the straw through. "No matter what you do for a citation, I can easily see Mitsuru - my senpai, that is - knocking on your door for answers the second it came across her desk. Tell her I'm sorry for me, if that happens," she laughed lightly as she took a sip. "For leaving so abruptly."

'Leaving', right...

"And that I bet she is SUPER pretty-- actually nevermind, that'd be too weird coming from some man she doesn't know."

Maruki smiled softly as Hamuko took the apple juice, glad he could offer at least a small gesture of help. It wasn’t much, but it was something. He watched as she poked the straw through and took a sip, balancing her naginata like it was second nature.

When Hamuko trailed off with her laughter, Maruki’s brain went into overdrive. Mitsuru... Kirijo? The name immediately rang a bell. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but a flicker of recognition crossed his face.

His mind flashed back to a conversation he’d had on the net. It had been with none other than another Goro Akechi, and though they had spoken only briefly, Akechi had mentioned that a Mitsuru Kirijo had approached him after winning against him. Maruki’s pulse quickened at the memory. The Kirijo Group, a massive trading company, had been whispered about back in Maruki’s grad school days. Rumors of human experimentation had floated around—nothing confirmed, of course, but just enough to make any cognitive pscientist’s ears perk up.

Hamuko’s light comment now seemed anything but.

Maruki blinked, swallowing hard as he tried to keep up. Her mention of "leaving" sounded far too final for comfort. His face paled slightly. He opened his mouth, stumbled for words, and finally managed, "I-I wouldn’t... I mean, yeah, I don’t think I’ll be passing that exact message on. But I’ll keep it in mind,” he said with a sheepish smile, carefully writing down the name Mitsuru on his clipboard. Even though the tragedy woven into Hamuko’s words weighed on him, he tried to push through it for the sake of the conversation.

Testing the name on his tongue, he glanced up at her. "Mitsuru... Kirijo? You’re talking about the head of the Kirijo Group, right? In my world, they’re primarily known as a large trading company. But when I was a grad student, there were... well, rumors. Nothing I ever put much stock into. Something about their family being involved with human experimen—"

He stopped himself abruptly, realizing how that must sound. His eyes widened, and he immediately raised his hands in apology. "Ah, sorry! I-I didn’t mean to imply anything. I don’t know the full context, and I certainly don’t mean to dredge up anything painful."

"I’m just trying to keep up here. Cognitive psience has its complexities, but I’m a little out of my depth when it comes to corporate conspiracies."

"No, you're right, that is something that was being done under her grandfather and by her grandfather's co-conspirators. She didn't say how much her own father knew, but by the time I knew him, he had resolved to change things a lot - and Mitsuru took over."

She shrugged a little, but her expression was a bit severe. What the Kirijo Group had done was horrid. Mitsuru carried a heavy burden, trying to right the sins of the past.

"If the Kirijo Group is under Mitsuru, then it's trustworthy. Without her, I can't be certain. Before her, it was horrible - and it's her grandfather that had captured Shadows in an attempt first to figure out time travel and later, to summon The Fall. There's a good chance that in your time, Mitsuru is still working on understanding Shadows and keeping people from being harmed by them - I believe completely in her integrity."

...

"And her ability to crush dissent in the group under heel. No way she will tolerate another incident like Ikutsuki."

Edited 2025-02-17 01:59 (UTC)

Oh, there was a lot shared in that single moment. Maruki quickly extended the name Mitsuru up with a placeholder to a grandfather, as if mapping out a quick family tree. Taking up notes was something he really did particularly enjoy and that trait had really come in handy during counselling sessions too. His mind whirred. Time travel. Summoning the Fall. Capturing Shadows. The sheer breadth of Kirijo’s past dealings staggered him.

To hear other people researching into cognitive psciences, to hear that he might not have actually been the first perpetual psicentist in anyway...still considering the fact that those researchers brought about the Fall- "Hm...time travel and then? Calling onto the harbinger of death...right..." he nods ever so slowly as he makes notes while his mind wanders. "That is certainly a jump from one goal to another-" he couldn't help but honestly be baffled by the sheer possibility of it.

Time travel...could very well be possible though. By rewriting certain events into cognition metaphysically, we could change perception to the point of exemplifying the effect into the material world. He knows Azathoth was capable of it, judging from how it created cognitions and other copies readily.

Still, something in Hamuko’s words made him uneasy. She’d mentioned Mitsuru’s integrity and her ability to crush dissent in the group. But what really drew his attention was the way she said...

“‘Another incident like Ikutsuki,’” he repeated slowly, as if turning the phrase over in his mind. “Did he do something in particular outside of dabbling in these phenomena?"

He didn’t know the full story, but Hamuko’s tone had been heavy with past betrayal. And if he were to bring up his own research to Mitsuru... was there a comparison being drawn?

"He was a loyalist to the group that wanted to bring The Fall. He posed as our mentor and guide, a supporting researcher, and both withheld information and manipulated it to cause us to accelerate The Fall, making us think we were working towards ending the Dark Hour."

He was dead, fallen off of Tartarus' impossible heights, but the betrayal still hurt. No one likes to be played for the fool, let alone what he'd done to doom all of mankind.

"He thought he'd be a part of a system of control over the world of The Lost. He attempted to sacrifice us all on one of the roofs of Tartarus and he shot Mitsuru's father dead. So, needless to say... if your world's Kirijo Group doesn't have Mitsuru at the head, there is a long history of violence, fanatical nihilism and manipulation in the group that needs someone with the resolve to actually purge it out.

"To put it more succinctly: I trust Mitsuru. I do not trust the Kirijo Group, especially without her."

Maruki listens intently, one hand gripping his chin with the clipboard now tucked underneath. His gaze shifts to the side, carefully adhering to the description she laid out about the rather...strange man. "I am really sorry to hear that," his eyes soften.

“Of course, my experiences weren’t anywhere near as harrowing as yours. But… I do understand the pain of being betrayed by someone you trusted.” His mind drifted briefly to his own past—his college professor, the mental shutdown cases, and how his research had been exploited by people with dark agendas. Even though he hadn’t physically taken part in those horrors, it still stung.

Ikutsuki’s actions, though, seemed like the stuff of dark fiction. A mentor posing as a guide, leading those who trusted him straight to doom. “He sounds like a rather despicable man,” Maruki said with a faint frown, his expression clouded. “All that effort—just to bring about the Fall? What a… dismal, meaningless cause.” Perhaps he misintepreted her or she still had reason to suspect him. Either way, Maruki didn't have any hidden agenda as melevolent like that.

He adjusts his glasses. They click on the bridge of his nose.

Still, the mention of Mitsuru Kirijo gnawed at the edges of his mind. He couldn’t say for sure who led the Kirijo Group in his own world—he had heard of her, but only vaguely, and many years ago. But Hamuko’s trust in her spoke volumes.

“I can’t say for certain where Kirijo-san stands in my world,” he admitted. “But if she’s as strong-minded as you say she is—carrying the weight of her family’s past while fighting to right those wrongs—then I believe she’s more than capable of steering the Kirijo Group down a better path.”

A faint smile touched his lips, lighter this time. “Honestly, I might refer to her for a citation if I ever make it back.”

That small levity didn’t last long.

Something shifted. The hairs on the back of Maruki’s neck prickled—a sudden, involuntary reaction, as though the air had changed. His breath hitched. He felt a strange pressure coil around him, like a low hum vibrating through his chest. Then, faintly…

Listen...
To my voice

He froze, one hand instinctively flying to his neck. His eyes widened behind his glasses. “I—did I hit my head or something? I swear I just heard—”

....bellowing voice...

He blinked rapidly, as though trying to clear his vision or shake off a dream. His brows knitted together. “I think I heard a girl’s voice,” he murmured, more to himself than to Hamuko.

Hamuko halted any response, quieting to turn her head, try and catch the voice on the wind. There was a subtle shift, wasn't there...?

Voice...? Bellowing...?

"...I think... we can go deeper. Let's see what that is. We have more battles ahead of us - I'll focus on physical damage, if you can try for elemental. Do you know how to do an All Out Attack?"

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