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> 01. [text]

Hello everyone! ＼（＾∀＾） I hope you've all settled in well!

My name's Minako Arisato. I've talked to a few of you already, but for everyone else, it's nice to meet you!

Now that things have calmed down a little I was wondering - how many of us were Persona-users before coming to Hinoto-ri? I think it might be good to meet and compare notes if we haven't yet, see what's the same and what's changed. And maybe we could also make a list of people with experience who can help with answering questions or training, or things like that! Just jumping into using a Persona can be pretty daunting...

For everyone else - what do you usually do for fun? Some of the things I like are music, volleyball, cooking... If we have enough people who like the same things, maybe we could even form a club! I wouldn't mind having someone to play volleyball with again. Or to go out to karaoke! (ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ♪

Anyway, that's all for now!

[added private text to Shinjiro]

Can I come over later?

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[Aww.] I understand... I hope I'd do the same, in that situation.

Is she going to be all right?

She'll be fine when she's had time to recover; the operation was a success :D

But just between us? She wouldn't take care of herself if she wasn't made too. At all! She even lied to me about her illness getting better so that I wouldn't bug her about it! That girl...! Grrr! D:<

But whatever, I still love her!

[Talking about yourself to strangers over the internet is fun.]

So tell me more about you playing volleyball; were you good at it?

[He tilts his head, a brief, quizzical look coloring his expression.]

My—

[He cuts himself off, trying to follow Minako's trail of thought in the ensuing silence. It takes him a moment, his own thoughts racing from one line of reasoning to the other like an electric current, until they suddenly find a point of connection, taking to it like a sudden spark that brings a room to light—and from there, the answer comes to him, and he finally thinks he understands.

He sets down his chopsticks, pushing back his chair and standing up wordlessly. Within another few seconds he's slid open the door to his bedroom, entering inside, finding his coat and digging the pocketwatch out of its usual hiding place.

So this was the proverbial nail?

Would he have even said anything to Minato about it? Minato seemed like a quiet guy, more prone to understanding the value of silence than about the benefits of filling the void and making sure nothing stayed empty for too long. Minato wasn't someone he'd stay up talking about aimless things into the night with (even if he wasn't the one doing much of the talking). He can only see their conversations being brief and to the point. He hadn't intended to say anything about the watch in the first place. It just happened as an off-hand comment; he really hadn't expected Minako to actually look for it. That was why he hadn't told Aki, because that idiot would have gone looking for it and probably gotten himself into trouble over something he had stupidly lost in the first place.

He had told himself he didn't need it, sentimentality be damned.

He returns to the table with the pocketwatch in hand, staring down at the bullet-shaped indentation in its casing for a few seconds before offering it to her.]

This thing?

[The casing doesn't close all the way because of the indent in the metal, and the glass inside is damaged where it took the bullet, a cobweb of cracked lines that make the IV almost unreadable, but it's still ticking, oddly enough. It's keeping Port Island time, he supposes, or maybe its own. He hasn't dared correct it. He doesn't want to break it.]

Edited 2012-09-16 00:10 (UTC)

I see. ... enjoy. [ He pauses then, not so much a silence waiting for her to reply but more of a hesitation, as if there's something he wants to ask her but isn't sure how to say. ]

[Looking at Shinjiro now, one would never guess just how bad he'd looked that night. The coat is clean and repaired. The watch, though... it told the whole story.

She'd seen it once after the accident, when the doctors told them about it, but it hadn't been in the box of things left in his room. Maybe Akihiko had kept it, or maybe he'd left it in the hospital room. The latter felt more likely. It was a wake-up-soon charm.]

They said if it hadn't been there you'd probably have died.

[No, now they knew he would have died.

She doesn’t know for certain how Minato and Shinjiro’s friendship went, but she can imagine. Minato isn’t pushy the way she is. He wouldn’t have shoved his way into his senpai’s private life and business. They likely sat at the same table in the dorm, or leaned against the same wall, not speaking but sharing the same space. Minato would have supported Shinjiro quietly, with brief conversations and an unstated trust, and Shinjiro would have come to respect the distance. Acted like a real senpai. Not troubled his leader with ‘minor’ things.

Minato probably never even knew the watch was lost.

Her thumb runs over the bullet marking for a moment before she sets it back on the table.]

Please... don’t tell Minato. [One tiny act no one could have predicted had meant the life or death of a friend. Minako knows how she’d react, if the situations were reversed. She doesn’t want her brother to even get the chance to feel that guilt. He doesn’t deserve it.]

Edited 2012-09-16 00:29 (UTC)

[That feels short, even for him. And the weird look, as well. Something is up.]

What is it?

[ He's been thinking about the hints he saw in their interactions and things Minako has said. And with her comment about going to Shinjiro's for dinner, it just... makes him wonder.. ] Were you and he ... going out?

He doesn't need to know.

[If this was really the only thing that stood between him living and dying—regardless of how much time it actually bought him when coupled with everything he knows and feels—then her brother doesn't need that haunting his mind.

In fact—]

None of them do.

[At all. Not Aki and not Mitsuru. There are a lot of things that are better left unsaid, even if the truth is something that they're probably owed. Honesty and kindness don't always go hand-in-hand, and there are often times you are forced to choose between the two. They don't need to know he's in a hospital bed, veins plugged with wires, probably with some machine doing the breathing for him. The outcome might even be the same, in the end. And if not, he still sees a gravestone with his name on it somewhere along the horizon.]

I just died that night, all right?

[They'd be happy knowing he was alive, he's sure, even if it isn't currently much of an existence, but he doesn't need them thinking that they had maybe done something wrong. He lost the watch. The fault, ultimately, is his. And the dying part isn't something he regrets—or that his other self would; it had been what Amada had wanted. All he regrets is hurting other people in the process. If he could stop that, he would.]

Edited 2012-09-16 00:58 (UTC)

[didn't you parents ever teach you that such a forward question is impolite.... oh wait

She looks a little taken aback before recovering and smiling at him.]

You're clever... I didn't think I'd given anything away. You must have done well on exams and things too, right?

Edited 2012-09-16 01:00 (UTC)

[She nods... but that turns into a scowl at the last part. Shielding their friends is one thing, but saying it like that made it sound like he didn't want to live.]

You didn't, though. I even heard some people saying you woke up before I came here. That's why I thought you already knew. You can't just give up!

[Even if she already had, earlier in the year.]

Forgive me for not addressing your question, however I should like to know how to make those incredibly absurd and cute faces.

[She idly wonders how long it will be before Theo is trying them out as well...]

It's easy!

Just use ( and ) for the cheeks and then add eyes, arms, and a mouth! ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ

There's lots of ways to do it. (✿◠‿◠)

[Not long --]

I see! Then, something like this?

( o)===========>

It is Master Igor.

... Mitsuru-senpai expects good exam scores.

[ But that's hardly the issue here. He's not sure how he feels about this revelation. It's not that he has any objection to them as a pair. It's kind of nice, actually, to know that he likes at least one of Minako's boyfriends (he knows he's had more than a few girlfriends, so he wouldn't be surprised if Minako has had more than one boyfriend). He could see how they might mesh. But ... he knows (or thinks he does, anyway) what happens to Shinjiro.

So instead he simply is thoughtful for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of prying (he normally doesn't like to, but she is his sister, and so he feels it might be okay...). ]

... if you decide to get together again here... will you let me know?

[ It's less nosiness than thinking it would give him cues. If he knows if she's dating Shinji and they happen to be hanging out in person at the arcade or music ship, and she mentions that she will be going to dinner with Shinjiro, then her brother'll know to not invite himself along ~~to enjoy good cooking~~... for example. ]

[She's not exactly opposed to his suggestion... but it does open a window of opportunity which she can't resist taking.]

Will you be letting me know if you get a girlfriend? [hmm....] Or maybe you already have one...

[ Once again skimming to see if any other experienced persona users have replied, and then he sees this. He has no words.

Oh Elizabeth... ]

[Just quietly agrees with this.]

[~~wow it does bear a striking resemblance~~

IT SO DOES NOT THAT IS NOT MASTER IGOR WOW THEODORE IS SO OFFENDED FOR THEIR MASTER

ELIZABETH

ELIZABETH

WHAT IF HE CAN SEE YOU]

[She's NOT going to quietly agree.]

It looks just like him!

[although.... now she has ideas.]

How about this?

d(ー.ー )b♪

It's Minato!

Edited 2012-09-16 01:45 (UTC)

I didn't... [He sighs. That scowl.] I didn't say anything about giving up.

[Resigning himself to the future that lay in store, yes, because there are some things he can't do, and that's not so much giving up as it is taking responsibility for what you've done. Lay in the bed you've made. It had never been a matter of giving up, really. If it had, he would have been dead a long time ago.]

Just saying that's the story, is all, because that's probably how things went.

[Though there are some things about her story that don't add up. Heard some people? Why would she be hearing about it second-hand? Aki would have told her. Mitsuru would have told her. Unless it was a rumor some jackass had started.

Though maybe she had died before they could, but... something's off still. Or maybe he's assuming all the wrong things, reading into every word he hears more than he should, even though he's sure—

...Maybe he should just stop thinking.]

[Quietly agrees with this too.]

Let me fix it.

d(ー.ー )b♪

[She sighs. She's getting the feeling that this piece-meal story has made things even more confusing than before. She needs to get it all out before anything else can happen. He deserves that.]

I'm just... going to tell you everything now, okay? A lot of it you won't like, but... listen first, please?

[ How to answer that. . . ]

If you'd like... I don't have one currently, though.

[ He's... not entirely sure he wants one right this moment, either. He wouldn't readily admit it, but he does miss Yukari, and even if they hadn't officially been something exactly, still... it would feel a little wrong. Not that this has stopped him from being nice and maybe even flirting a little. He's not sure he'd take it further.

And besides, there's Elizabeth. He loves her very much. She's a dear friend, and she's done and is doing so much for him, but...

Well, his thoughts are complicated, and let's leave it at that. ]

[Why, it does appear to be Minato! Well, from what he could gather. He's not quite sure what the two things on the sides are, but Theodore believes the other is dancing.]

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> 01. [text]

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text / this is TOTALLY LEGIT

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[Not here!]

[ELIZABEEEEETH i mean not here]

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