[video]

[greatseal]

[The camera is slightly obscured - it's clearly Minako, but the watch's camera isn't being held at the proper angle to show her entire face. She's smiling, though.]

Hello, Hinoto-ri! I don't want to take up too much of your time, because I know a lot of people are busy right now, but I have a story to tell, if you're willing to listen!

Once upon a time, a girl grew up all alone. One by one, the people she cared about disappeared from her life. The girl kept smiling and trying to make friends, but deep down, she knew the truth. Eventually, those friends would leave her too. Her destiny was to be left behind.

Then one day, the girl was given a choice. Disappear quietly along with the world and the people you care about, or give up everything to save them - including her soul. Her sacrifice meant the world would live, but she would still be alone. Forever.

[She pauses, the cheerful smile still on her lips.]

Which choice do you think the girl made?

[and then she leans forward, finally opening her eyes to reveal bright, yellow irises.]

Which choice should I have made?

Comments

Video, Private

[otakuro]

M-Minako...

[There weren't that many people in Hinoto-Ri who knew exactly what she was talking about, probably. Atsuro seems stunned for a moment that she would throw this out so casually.]

Did something happen? Are you sure you want to be talking about stuff like this?

Video, Private

[greatsealed]

[The real Minako doesn't. But this one is frustrated and determined to throw private matters public.]

What's the point in not talking about it? It won't change the truth.

[otakuro]

That's true. ...I mean, if it were me, I might want to go around shouting for everyone to respect me as the Savior of the World, but...

[Well he had saved the world, just not the same way.]

But you never seemed to want to make a big deal out of it.

[greatsealed]

I only 'saved the world' from itself. Every person that I saved was part of the problem in the first place.

[otakuro]

...I never got the details on that, but I can imagine.

[The lockdown had revealed human nature for what it really was. A few shining points of hope here and there, but more than anything... chaos and despair.]

The people you saved... You decided then that it was worth it, right? You decided that even if you would never be thanked, it had to be done.

...Are you regretting it, now?

[greatsealed]

Living day after day with people who have lives and homes to return to... With friends and family that disappear, too...

Wouldn't you regret it, Atsuro-kun?

[otakuro]

...I don't know if I could say.

[His honest answer.]

No one could fault you if they knew what had happened. It's not fair to put a decision like that on one person. But... doesn't wanting to die... defeat the purpose of what you did?

[greatsealed]

Maybe so! I can't say I'm innocent in the matter either. What really changes by me dying? I've been dead all along since that accident anyway. It just took awhile for it to catch up to me.

[otakuro]

...

[The accident -- ]

...No way. You might be having second thoughts about that last decision, but... even without it, everything you've done in your life has meant something. All those people who looked up to you -- I look up to you.

[greatsealed]

And that's because I worked very hard to be that way. To be perfect. Less than that will just get you left behind.

[Shadow Minako is honest, but not in Minako's usual positive way. Positivity isn't a trait that she hides, after all.]

[otakuro]

...If you had to work to be that way, then it means all the more. If someone can just accomplish things effortlessly, we're jealous of them, but we don't feel that they've earned it.

Everything you've done, you've worked for.

[greatsealed]

[if he were talking to normal Minako, she'd be touched by everything he's saying... but he's not.]

You're very sweet, Atsuro-kun. But nothing I did changed anything in the end. The world will keep going a little while longer and as soon as I leave here, I'll be alone again.

[otakuro]

I can't say that's not true, but... What is it you're looking for, here? Do you want us to convince you you made the right choice? Do you just want to vent?

[greatsealed]

[The more he tries to be reassuring, the less the Shadow has any patience for it.]

I want everyone to see Minako Arisato for who she really is - as a pathetic excuse for a perfect savior who can't even save herself! Someone who wishes deep down she could dump the burden she shouldered! She'll deny it, because that's all she's good at, but I will bring those true feelings to light.

[otakuro]

...You --

[And for a few moments, Atsuro simply stares expressionlessly at the person on the other side of the screen.]



Aha...

Ahaaa.....

That's.......

T-That's really sad! Minako... Minako's other self... That's all the fodder you have, isn't it?

It's frightening how perfect she is, isn't it? The only insecurity you can hold onto is that she didn't want to do it?

No one in the world - in any world, in any of an infinite number of worlds - would ever want to do it! That's the only way it would have meaning! What kind of sacrifice would it be if it were someone who wants to die and be alone forever?! Someone like that - I don't even think they'd fulfill the requirements!

Of all of our doubles running around, you've gotta be the most pathetic. Geez....

[greatsealed]

[Wow, Atsuro... Well, at least he understands what he's dealing with. But that doesn't mean she's finished. Now that she's been unmasked, so to speak, she doesn't have to hold back.]

But it is sad. That's all I am, because that's all she is... a thousand faces, a thousand 'Personas' made to protect that hollow inner self from the world. There's a reason she's the Fool, you know. There's a reason she could visit the Velvet Room and create a different Persona for any possible contingency. She's so good at acting she even makes herself believe it.

[otakuro]

...That's probably a little better.

Minako's so good at being what people need that maybe she doesn't even know what she is herself. But then... If you're trying to go for that... telling us all these things you've just aid just makes her that much more human, right? By saying it straight out, you've stripped away her mystique.

So you've still failed, if that's the angle you're attempting.

[greatsealed]

But that's exactly what she doesn't want, you see? Everything I've told you is something she'd rather keep to herself.

[otakuro]

...So.

You're less nefarious than you are just kind of a spiteful blabbermouth.

[greatsealed]

I never claimed to be nefarious.

Just to be her true self.

[otakuro]

No way.

You're just the part that she doesn't want to acknowledge. Truth is way more complicated than that.

[greatsealed]

So you say... But can you say someone is being "true" when they're hiding parts of themselves?

[otakuro]

If everyone bared their souls to the world, we wouldn't get much of anything done. Being human sometimes means... you deal with your pain on your own.

Is it fair to ask someone to be totally honest with everyone they meet, all the time?

[greatsealed]

Perhaps not... but the real question is, can you be honest with yourself?

Minako can't. Which is why I am here... and why I will be the winner, in the end.

[otakuro]

...You're going to challenge her?

You think she won't be able to face the truths you throw at her? Maybe she's suppressed it, but... isn't someone who can take on the burdens of the world someone who could accept her own burdens as well?

((Sorry for being so late! Feel free to ignore if you'd prefer not to continue!))