expiationlogs | [closed] Special Extracurricular Phantom Thieves?

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[closed] Special Extracurricular Phantom Thieves?

Who: Akechi, Akira, Ken, Kotone, Shinji, Yoshizawa, Astralin
Where: Astralin's farm
What: Meeting of SEES and the Phantom Thieves! (sleepover)
Warnings: blood and violence, thanks akechi

It honestly feels a little overdue to get all of the Persona-users together in one place, but in fairness to them, there's been a lot going on! With Ken's arrival, though, it feels more important than ever to get everyone together -- if something happens again and they need to fight together as a team, it'll be good to have moments like this.

Hopefully.

Also, like, it's a chance to just relax and have fun with the others. Kotone's close friends with all of them, so it only seems natural to invite them to what's essentially a sleepover. There's nail polish, drinks, snacks, games -- it's not a party, but just a chill hangout session to her. An opportunity to sleep out under the stars with her friends while still being close enough to a house that they don't have to worry about monsters outside.

Everyone please be on your best behavior?

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[God, why is she always like this? Akechi sighs, and struggles up to his feet.]

But you didn't. So, I call a draw. [He huffs out and takes a tentative step towards her. His grip on his sword is loose enough and he hopes that's enough to signal her that it's over now.] Let me see your shoulder at first. I'll tie it up and then we can go find the healer.

[Hopefully her incredulous look in response to, "you didn't kill me so I didn't lose," is answer enough, because she isn't wasting her breath trying to answer it. And maybe there is still a little bit of Loki in her, because as much as she'd like to scream to let all that emotion out -- it's the middle of the night. Someone might be able to hear, all the way out here.

She takes a few more steps, gripping her naginata in both hands and viciously driving the feather-like blade deep into the closest tree. Her wordless scream muffled behind closed lips is equal parts frustration, upset, and pain as she yanks the weapon back out and just tries to regain control of herself.]

Fine. Whatever gets you there sooner. I'm tired.

[Her voice is still shaking, and in spite of her best efforts, a few tears are threatening to escape, but she's still holding it together for now.]

Edited 2023-06-25 02:34 (UTC)

[He just watches that display of frustration and anger, and how she takes it on the poor tree nearby. Honestly? That's an expression he recognizes, something he finds himself often dwelling in.

Now that he has her permission Akechi walks up to her, places his weapon down to lean against the same tree she had just stabbed, so that he can have both his hands free. Then, he gently pulls the the torn fabric of her shirt to see the injury better. It's not the worst thing out there, but still bleeding and definitely something that needs to be taken a proper look by a doctor or a healer.]

Do you. Um. [He starts, suddenly finding himself strangely bashful. If he's to tend to her wound he will need to have her shirt taken off. And that's.. not something he can really just do??] Do you-- I mean, can you take your top off? Just enough that I can see the wound.

[Were she in a better mood, she'd tease him -- and rest assured, in the future, this moment will come back to haunt him -- but for now, she just starts to reach with both arms, only to let out an involuntary noise of pain from the injured shoulder. With her good arm, she untucks it from her skirt and starts to undo the buttons as best she can one-handed. Stupid old-fashioned clothing without elastic, few zippers, just buttons...

She doesn't undo all of them, but undoing about half of them should be enough for him to pull the fabric down out of the way.]

Your nose?

[Her voice is softer now, if hoarse and ragged from the scream she hadn't been able to fully release, and her body is still shaking from the residual adrenaline.]

[Look, he'd be happy to help her with the buttons but really can't bring himself to do so. It'd feel only inappropriate, especially since it's not life-or-death situation. So, sorry Kotone. You'll have to deal with his loser ass.]

Stopped bleeding. [His nose is still hurting and has already started to swell up. It looks much worse than it is, though. But he's too vain to leave it alone and risk a crooked nose!

Once she's done with the buttons he reaches out to pull the fabric out of the way, revealing her bloody shoulder.] Sorry. [He mumbles awkwardly and carefully lowers the strap of her bra. Then he digs out a handkerchief from the back of his pocket, because yes, of course he carries one with him. With a focused yet gentle expression on his face, he begins to wipe her shoulder clean from the blood, making sure not to add too much pressure around the injury.]

It's not that deep. I don't believe any nerves were damaged here.

[Honestly? She laughs, a snorting, helpless laugh that after everything, it's moving her bra strap that gets him to apologize. Of all the emotions roiling beneath the surface, that's finally the one that breaks her into laughs that sound more like sobs.]

What was the point of all this?

[That laugh makes him stop for a bit. He's doesn't quite understand the reason behind her laughter but it does resonate something within him, making his chest feel tight. What is this? A genuine care and worry?

Akechi stays quiet for a few beats before continuing cleaning her. This duel was important to him. He needed it to happen to get peace, so that he could look at Akira again without all those hurt feelings after knowing the scar he was carrying. One that he got from her. The issue here, however, is to see if he can make her understand him without making him sound vengeful or petty.]

Akira is my rival and you defeated him. [He says eventually] I couldn't accept that.

[It's so stupid. It's so stupid. It's all so stupid, and she can't stop laughing. Or crying. She can't tell which it is now, vision blurred with tears as she tries in vain to keep it together.]

I didn't even want to fight him. [As gentle as he is, she can't help but flinch as the handkerchief brushes a deeper spot, sniffling and trying to blink past her tears.] I keep hurting people I care about, and I don't want to.

[And that includes you too, Goro!]

Maybe. But it still happened.

[He says, voice so soft that it doesn't even sound like him.]

He's.. [Akechi begins but closes his mouth, not really knowing what he was about to even say. He's what? Important to him? Maybe, but he's not going to admit that out loud. Besides, that has nothing to do with Kotone here. So, instead he just allows her to let out the pent up emotions. Just listening how her laugh through her tears and watching her small frame shaking in front of him.]

No one is mad, Kotone. Akira is the only one who's ever been able to best me in a duel. So, I had to see your strength. [Is it stupid? Maybe, but extremely important to him.

He's quickly done with the wound and proceeds to wrap the now bloody handkerchief around her shoulder. It's not ideal but beggars can't be choosers and so on.]

How are you feeling?

[Maybe no one is mad -- the little sticky-note with the poorly drawn Koromaru had helped with that realization -- but it doesn't mean she didn't hurt people. Akira, Shinji, Goro, Deku, Scott, so many townspeople... She hates it. She just wants to sleep.

She rubs her less-injured hand across her eyes, trying to sniff back her tears in lieu of a tissue. If this was a test of strength, then she failed it miserably, probably.]

Can we go to the healers now? [The laughter's gone, replaced by just a bone-deep exhaustion that she couldn't hide right now even if she tried.]

[Once he's done tending to her wound he almost reaches for the bra strap to fix it but stops. No, somehow dressing her up would feel like too much of a violation of her personal space.

But despite finding something simple as that hard he still reaches out to place his hand on top of her head, gently pulling her into half-embrace. Akechi is generally bad with people, especially when the genuine feelings are on the table. He doesn't know how to deal with crying people. Even with Akira he feels like had made it worse.

So he just.. hold her for a while and mumbles to her messy hair. ]

Sure.

[She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it definitely wasn't a hug. She goes still, almost not sure how to respond. How's she supposed to reconcile this with the boy who was daring her to murder him just minutes ago? She can't understand it. She misses her team. Her whole team.

Another laughing sob, but she lets herself relax in his arms, shaking her head at the absurdity of it all. If she wasn't in so much pain, she might have thought this was a bad dream, but...]

C'mon. [Her voice is still shaky, but they both need medical attention before she can finally let herself go back to sleep.] Let's go then.

Yeah. [He agrees with a nod and let's go of her. If he remembers correctly the owner of the farm, Astralin, was one of the healers. So going straight to him was the smartest move. They'd just have to make sure not to wake up the others. He can only imagine the reactions they'd get if they arrived there all bloody and beat up.

He gives her yet one look at her.]

I can carry you. If you promise to keep it as a secret.

I can walk.

[Her injuries are mostly to her arms and back, not her legs. Fixing her bra strap and pulling her shirt back on with one hand, she simply doesn't bother messing with the buttons. The only one around to see is Goro, anyway.

And maybe if she stumbles a little as she grabs her naginata again, well, that's fine.]

Let's go into town. I can pay a healer there.

[It would be free to go to Astralin, but she doesn't want him to see her like this. That's her dad.]

If you say so.

[He doesn't doubt her. And it's true that he's not in his top condition either after that duel, his nose is one thing but his neck and throat are still covered in blood. He doubts his injuries are that bad but yeah. He'd rather not face others with cuts and bruises.

Besides, Kotone isn't only one who's tired and coming down from the adrenaline high. There's barely any color left on his cheeks, the moonlight making him look like pale like a ghost.]

We'll pay together. [He corrects her and bends down to pick up his sword. ]

And thank you. [For humoring him and allowing him to do this. Even if it was at the cost of herself.

Akechi is going to hate himself just a little bit more after this, isn't he. Oh well]

[The sooner she can get them both to the healers, the sooner they can both get back to sleep, so she just starts walking as he collects his sword. She's just so tired of making the wrong choices, saying the wrong things. Shinji, Dazai, now Goro. Maybe the only reason she was any good at talking to people before was because of Theo and Igor...? No, that can't be true, she had friends before Gekkoukan. Nobody she kept in contact with after the move, but...]

Are you disappointed with the outcome?

[From the weary tone in her voice, it's clear she thinks she already knows what he's going to say. If it's about someone who defeated Akira, he probably wants someone cool and collected, someone who doesn't freak out at the idea of people around her wanting to die. She should be used to death, after all.]

Not necessarily.

[Maybe a little, yes but that has more to do with this place than with her. To have a true test of a strength between them they would have to use their Personas, let them clash and see who's heart and skill truly is superior. But while being stuck like this, capable only drawing the fragments of their influence they are left to deal with their weapons, and limitations of human bodies.]

You are rather good with that weapon. Did you choose it yourself? [His own sword had originally been a reflection of his own heart, curated specially for him and his fighting.]

[She shakes her head, picking her way carefully down the hill so she doesn't stumble on the incline.]

Mitsuru-senpai gave me my first one. It didn't make sense to pick a different weapon after, so... [Shrug! Naginata it was. Or hockey stick. Sometimes it was just a really good hockey stick.] This one was fused from one of my Personas. Kartikeya. It's called Vel Vel Muraga.

Chuuya gave me the knife.

Hmmm, I see. Our weapons originally manifests to us during wakening of our Personas. Which is why each one is unique.

[He looks at her weapon again. Now that it wasn't pointed at him anymore he has a chance to focus on the fine details of it and admire the craftsmanship behind it. If this one was truly born from her personas then it was just the same as his own. Something made just for her.]

Was this your first time using it? [The knife, he means.]

Oh. No, ours don't do that. We have to buy them.

[It must be like, way cheaper if you can just summon a weapon from a Persona. It was so expensive to buy stuff off Officer Kurosawa. Even this one, while she didn't have to pay money for them, she did have to surrender one of her Personas, along with fusion material that was hard to find in Tartarus.

Another one-shouldered shrug at the mention of the knife.] Against someone who isn't Chuuya. I'm still not very good at it.

Edited 2023-06-25 11:46 (UTC)

So do we, eventually. The deeper you travel into metaverse the stronger the shadows grow. In order to defeat them we have upgrade our weapons. Buying them was usually Akira's task as a leader but there were times when we could find them hidden in the palaces along with the other gear.

[it is kinda funny to be able just to talk to someone about this stuff so casually, knowing that the other party is able to understand and relate. there's something freeing about not having to hide that part of yourself. (is this what it's like to have friends??).

he walks right beside her, but when they arrive at a rather short but steep part of the hill he hurries to slide down before her, and then turns to offer his hand at her. She had been reluctant to receive his help before but it feels just the right thing to do, considering everything.]

You'll get used to it eventually. I use a gun outside of metaverse.

[you know, against real people]

Yeah. I got to keep most of the money we found in Tartarus, but I also had to make sure to buy everybody's weapons and armor, too. I ended up doing a lot of part-time work in the beginning.

[It is nice to talk about it with someone else, isn't it? She'd talked about it a little with Akira and Sumi, hardly at all with Shinji, but it's easier to talk about it with someone who really does get it and has been through it all before.

If he's offering, she'll take his hand, picking her way more carefully down the steeper incline. Her legs are shaking a little, and as she passes him, he'll be able to see just how drawn her face looks, exhausted beyond what the exertion of combat in the middle of the night really should be.]

You said you killed people. [Maybe a long time ago, before this place, that would have been horrifying. Now, she just sounds tired. Spending time with people like Dazai and Chuuya will do that.] Why?

Hm. If only people knew how much money it takes to defeat the shadows. [A small attempted joke. One that barely has any energy behind it.

Akechi does catch a glimpse of her expression when he helps her down. He doesn't comment on it, allowing her to have that piece of privacy. Still, a light frown appears to his face as he remembers her words from just a moment ago. Why does everyone around me want to die. His mind goes immediately to Dazai and his depressed antics. He exhales deep and continues to walk after her.

This is why people like them don't make good friends.]

It was something I needed to do. [He admits, not wanting to sugarcoat the truth.] I believed that in order to achieve my goal people needed to die.

Edited 2023-06-25 12:30 (UTC)

[The joke does at least bring the faintest of smiles to her lips, and even once they clear the steeper part of the path, she keeps her hand in his, holding it gently unless he pulls back himself.

The smile doesn't last, though, fading away into something resigned.]

People like Akira.

[Yeah, she didn't forget about that.]

[He only briefly glances down at their joined hands, unsure what to do. For some reason she doesn't pull away from him despite her earlier avoidance. With a slight confusion creeping on his face he let's it be. They can walk hand-in-hand, all bloody and carrying weapons. They must be a sight.]

Yes. People like Akira. [He confirms immediately, voice sounding more distant. The one that his little jaded dark heart truly regretted. The one murder that had kept him awake at nights.] We needed someone to take the blame for all the crimes committed. Akira was making himself a problem to our cause and thus worked perfectly for it.

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