[Public post, but addressed to one(1) Minato Arisato] | VIDEO (Backdated)

[helenchanted]

[Miki has only been here for day, and yesterday night's events have left her happier than she could have imagined. But...she suppose she owes someone and apology for her behavior the night before.

Maybe it's the lack of a good night's sleep and she'd not using the camera and post function on the watch clearly, or maybe simply because she's not that great with computers in the first place, but what was supposed to be a private post is unfortunately sent publicly. Regardless, it is a small video of Miki looking like she didn't get that much sleep and she's looking at the watch's camera like it's a small cursed object.]

Hey uh. Arisato. I mean Minato. M-Minato Arisato yeah that sounds better..

Look when you watch this? Just wanted to say I'm sorry 'bout yesterday. I didn't know about the different world things and I just thought you were the Minato from my world.

He was the leader of Strega. That's why I did the...I'm watching you sign. [She says, tihnking 'I still don't trust you that much anyway.']

So uh. I'll stop that. I'm sure you're a nice guy and not an idiot.

[She pouts, trying to think of what else to say and just shrugs.]

Have a good day.

[End video feed.]

Comments

[Private video]

[helenchanted]

[Oh god she's doing the Sanada face without realizing it.]

Believe me, I attempted to private the video but unfortunately, it won't let me.

[She pauses and almost blurts it all out in a rapid succession, but this time, it does come out much slower.]

My name is Miki Sanada. I'm Aki's sister from another world.

[SURPRISE!!!!]

[Private video]

[greatseal]

....So that's what you meant yesterday.

[She hadn't been calling her fat, she'd been calling the friend she thought she'd seen fat. ...This doesn't really make it any better, Miki.]

Well if she's not me, all of that makes sense. I'm 17 years old... but Minato and I never had a sister.

[Sister. That... sounds so strange to even consider. A sister who looked almost like her, but not quite. One who probably wasn't a junior. Would they still act the same? Have similar interests? Join the same clubs?]

[Action]

[themortalhalf]

[He's... happy, if emotionally drained and tired beyond all reason, don't get him wrong, but—

What.]

Do you not know how to use it?

[He sits up. Is she having a problem with it? Or did she accidentally talk to someone she didn't want to, or—]

[Locked video - You have no idea how much I love shiny things. And Phoenix Ranger Featherman R]]

[helenchanted]

It's a long story.

[She averts her eyes from him again, both from the fact that no matter who he says he is, there's still a part of Miki's brain haywired to think of him as the Strega leader. It's like this weird bizzaro world that she can't shake off and it will take a good amount of time for her to adjust.

On the other hand, even her Minato did something good, in the end. She owes him for that.]

You might want to sit down, and I'll tell you everything.

[Action]

[helenchanted]

Nah I left the computer stuff to the others. But I do now!...Minako showed me how.

It's just that I posted an apology to Minato for the Strega stuff yesterday.

[She hesitates for a few seconds before adding.]

...In a public video.

[Locked video - Phoenix Ranger Featherman R is pretty boss. ]]

[fools_journey]

[ . . . ]

I am sitting down...

[ He really is! He's at the table in his apartment's kitcheny area. But actually sitting is a different matter altogether than bracing himself for it. ... when someone tells you to sit down, that generally means the story is pretty weighty in addition to just being long. ]

[Private video]

[helenchanted]

...yeah I should apologize to you for that too. And...I know. I guess Minami never had an older sister in her world either...

[Despite the heavy subject, she's smiling by now. Memories of her best friends are a good way to cheer herself up.]

Minami and I are close the same age. I just had my birthday in January...well back at home, since it's September here. I'm 16! We're the youngest members of SEES.

[Private video]

[greatseal]

[uh

wait what. Minako is slightly alarmed now.]

What happened to Ken-kun?

[Locked video - It is! It's the best and---NOT THAT I'D TELL ANYONE.]

[helenchanted]

[She attempts to look over to check but wait, cameras don't work like that.

...she should really get a coffee after this. This is going to be a long day.]

I didn't realize. Alright, maybe I should start at the accident...

[ > You tell the other Minato the story of your world, starting from the accident, to how both the Minato you know and Minami had the aspect of Death put into them...

>...While you have barely slept, you sometimes take odd poses, trying to remember the series of events correctly. All the while, the camera moves along with you as you first sit down, then slowly slide down from your chair to the floor and finally, the camera points to the floor with only part of your face visible. You continue to tell him everything...

> How the Minato was put into the testing facility and survived with the three other children...

> How the four of them escaped and formed Strega, only for Takaya's methods to cause him to be kicked out...

> How both Minami and Minato had no idea they were each other's siblings until much later...

> How Ikutsuki puts a hit on Mitsuru to lure Strega back into the city...

> In fact Minato might realize that Strega seems to have shown up much earlier than the ones in his own time...and this is why they recruited both Ken and Koromaru before SEES did...

> How some events stayed the same, such as Shinjiro's death, Ikutsuki's ultimate betrayal, Mitsuru's father's death, Ryoji's appearance...

> Minato might also notice how you quickly passed over the Ryoji bits and had an odd look in your face.

> How the Fall was still going to happen...

> How Chidori's 'death' caused Strega and SEES to come to a truce and talk, finding clues in the files about Minami and Minato's sibling connection.

> How both teams joined to fight Tatarus together, and Takaya tried to stop them one last time...

> How, in the end, when all hope seemed lost, Minato ended up sacrificing himself to become the seal, allowing his sister to live.

> You actually feel much better talking about it. And maybe feel a bit like a jerk about your Minato but...he still had killed a lot of people. Even if he had saved so many! But still...

> ...you should really stop having these internal battles regarding members of Strega. It's bad for your health.]

[Private video]

[helenchanted]

[OH GODS YEAH RIGHT SHE FORGOT THAT PART FROM THE OTHER WORLD.]

Ha ha...yeah uh...

Well...

He might have joined Strega where I come from...

[Private video]

[greatseal]

...'Might' have?

[But really, what. She knows revenge is Ken's thing... and Strega was all about revenge too... but she's having a hard time imagining Ken sticking with Jin and Takaya and killing people.

...Or Minato, for that matter.]

[Action] 1/something

[themortalhalf]

[ > Apology

> For the Strega stuff yesterday

> In A Public Video

> Minako ]

[Private video]

[helenchanted]

...okay he was in Strega. Before you get too angry, he never killed anyone, nor was he allowed to come when they did hits. Minato assured me that, once.

[For some reason that seems important--WAIT why is she DEFENDING STREGA?!

...she really needs a coffee.]

[Private video]

[greatseal]

...I'm not angry. It's not your fault, Miki-chan.

[she's just... frustrated. Confused. Worried.

Afraid for the brother she's never even met. The brother who technically isn't even hers, but it's hard to think of it that way.] ...And Minato?

[Action]

[themortalhalf]

[There are

so many things wrong

with the words that just tumbled out of her mouth

it's like every stupid thing she could have possibly done just decided to have a brainstorming session

and came up with

what she just said

he doesn't even know where to start with this

he only slept for an hour ]

[Private video]

[helenchanted]

W-well. They did with what they had. Apparently he killed only people that really deserved it, criminals that got away scoot free from the law...but still...ARGH! No! I should not be saying that.

[Even if they deserved it, it still didn't make it right...she'd learned all about that herself with Shinjiro's death...Takaya's death, even if it wasn't at her hands, had left her only with an empty feeling and not much else.]

He...

Tch.

Despite that, we all teamed up and...he's the one who...saved us.

[You have no idea how hard it is for her to say this. But she has a feeling Minako needs to hear it.]

[Private video]

[greatseal]

[No, she agrees with Miki. Even if they deserved it, it didn't make it 'right.' Even with as angry and sad as she'd been, she hadn't brought herself to finish off Takaya, after all. She can't imagine her brother being any different... being a murderer. But his kind spirit, the need to help others she can already tell he has despite their short time together here... maybe that had been warped just enough to make him capable. Enough injustices can twist a person, and one accident can change an entire life.

...But this is too painful to keep considering. So she stops, instead focusing on Miki's words.]

...With the seal, you mean.

[That just slips out quietly, her mood too contemplative to realize that Miki may not even understand what that was. She'd only even mentioned the full story of what she'd done to Shinjiro while she was here, after all, and the events of their own Promised Day were probably just as chaotic. But then...]

...You said before that Death was with both of them. What happened to Minami?

[Action] /done

[themortalhalf]

[He's just going to open up his COMP, scroll to her entry, and find out exactly what she said for himself. When he locates her message, he's just going to stare at the screen impassively for awhile.

It's too early for this. ]

[Private video]

[helenchanted]

[Huh...]

She was with us at older student's graduation. We weren't sure how come we knew each other at first, or why we wanted to listen in...but then when Mitsuru started her speech, we all remembered...

...we ran up and found Minato on the roof. Minami and him had talked about what they'd been doing after the fall. I think, he was glad to see all of us. Chidori, Jin and Ken were there too...

[Unfortunately for you, despite having bouts of stupidity, Miki is not stupid either.]

But what exactly do you mean by the seal?

[Action]

[helenchanted]

[She had a good exactly what he'd done, and Miki groans in frustration. She might not be the brother she knows, but she can read Shinjiro pretty well.]

...I know.

I should have waited and asked you or Aki...

[Private video] 1/2

[greatseal]

So she's all right.

[That is said with far more relief than Miki probably expected. Even though she'd only learned of Minami's existence three minutes ago, the fact that a family member of hers - even one that was never born, that she's never met - is alive and well somewhere, surrounded by friends who care about her... that's amazing. And she can imagine that the other Minato probably thought so too. She'd give anything to have allowed her own brother that same freedom... to take on the Seal herself and let him live.

...Wait.]

[Private video] 2/2

[greatseal]

[this is an incredibly awkward time for this topic. But now that she's messed up she can't backtrack. Forge ahead, Minako...]

It's what was needed to stop Nyx. She's not destroyed, you know... Ryoji was right about that. What I - What your Minato must have done is use the power of the Universe... um, the energy from the user's friendships, and everyone's desire to live... to seal off Nyx from being touched by human thoughts again. That way, she'll never come back.

[Locked video - My lips are *sealed* ;) 1 of 2 ]

[fools_journey]

[ Minato listens to it all quietly. For the most part he manages to keep his reactions to himself, especially as somewhere along the way, he realizes this is just as cathartic for her as it is informative for him, but he can't always swallow everything behind his impassive mask. Especially not when Miki touches on certain subjects. The accident, deaths, Ryoji (however briefly glossed over! he doesn't really think about Miki's particular reactions to Ryoji at this time, however), the end...

Especially the end. But also -- just hearing how his other self became a part of Strega. It's sobering to think about. He wonders how many people his other self had killed... He didn't think he had it in him to murder someone whether they deserved it or not - especially not now with the added perspective the Universe and the seal have brought. But if in another world he was a part of an organization that used the Dark Hour to kill people... he supposes he must reassess what he is capable of.

And besides that, to think of how easy it would have been for the Kirijo group to 'take in' either himself or Minako and put them through the experiments that Strega went through... Aside from their grandparents, there hadn't been too many relatives of theirs who cared much. Maybe they would have found it awfully convenient if he or in another world his sister had just ... disappeared with the wreckage.

Dark thoughts aside, however, he finds it interesting to hear about Minami and to hear about his other self. It's so -- strange, and he struggles to try and put himself in his Strega self's mindset. To understand. -- and to understand Minami, too. Some of how Miki talks about her reminds him of what he's gotten to know again about Minako. But some of it is altogether different, and it really helps him separate her in his brain from being another world's version of Minako. Similarities make sense - they come from the same parents, after all - but the differences are important.

And yet, they're not important at all, when it comes to the end. Neither the differences between his sisters (it's nearly impossible for him to not on some level think of Minami as a sister) nor between himself and his Strega self really matter, because how it ends makes complete sense to him, and of all things, he smiles just a little when Miki talks about the other Minato sacrificing himself and Minami living on.

Whatever else is wrong in that other world, he's glad that there's at least one place where he was able to protect one of his family members. He very much wishes that somehow his sacrifice could have protected Minako, too. But they're from different worlds, and it seems as if each world needs its own seal. Even so, that Minami lives on makes him happy. And that despite everything his Strega self had been through, he was still able to bond with others and realize his answer and make that choice... That, too, is cause for a smile. ]

[Action]

[themortalhalf]

[He can see Mitsuru in there. And he knows Minako is, probably under a cloud of private messages, and who knows who else at this point. The good thing, however, is that it's probably all private at this point thanks to early, friendly intervention. Kept under lock and key where it belongs.

He sighs.

He can't say he's mad, not when she's being like that—a little frustrated maybe—but this wasn't how everything was supposed to come out. They would have had to hear it sometime. Just... not out of the blue like that.]

What's done's done.

How much have you told them?

[He's not asking for specifics, but "a lot," "not so much," "hardly anything at all," or "just about everything" would go a long way letting him know what he needs to prepare for when he eventually walks over.]

[Locked video - 2 of 2]

[fools_journey]

[ But the smile doesn't last too long before it vanishes with a sigh brought on by his thoughts about everything else...

He's not really looking at Miki for a long while after she finishes - rather, he's got a far away, lost-in-thought sort of look, until at last he shakes himself out of his thoughts and forces himself to look up at her again. ]

Thank you for telling me everything. And... I'm sorry. For the trouble and the pain I've caused you in the telling and -- in your own world.

I know -- it was a different me, but... all the same.

[ With the history they have, he can't imagine it's easy for her to sit down and talk with and be friendly with the doppelganger of someone she'd known quite differently... and mostly negatively. ]