midnightmaiden | IC Inbox

Uh hey there, Yoshizawa-san! This is Maruki! I figured I should send you a chat but I don't think I could explain my...current predicament the same way you guys do so listen- my arm is basically disintegrated. I had a wild run-in with one of the Rens here and I don't think I left a good first impression on him haha...anyways yeah, that's about it. Please shoot me a message when you are free or call me- I am unsure on how to proceed from here.

What?!

[One of the Rens hurt him? It takes a moment for her to compose herself. That's...

Disintegrated Nausea bubbles up inside of her. This isn't good.

She has to do something!]

Where are you right now? If we go to the Metaverse, I can probably heal you.

Edited 2024-09-21 18:07 (UTC)

Thank goodness you replied back. Its nothing too bad. I actually had some people visit my office here in Odaiba...which I had no idea about by the way- but I am going to wrap up soon.
This metaverse is in Shibuya circle, right? I am unsure on if it would fix my arm but yes please-! I will take anything at this point. My arm is nearly rotting.

Yeah, we can meet at the station. I'll try to be there as soon as possible!

[She'll cut the call short there, then hurry her way to the subway from Kichijoji. Thankfully, the compressed distances mean that it won't take long.

So now it's just a matter of waiting.]

"I will see you soon then."

Maruki sighs as he lowers his phone and looks onward. His work here in Odaiba is done- he should get moving. He steels his nerves and brings his disintegrated arm to gesture towards the long tall buildings at the north- concentrating so that his tentacles could let him traverse there in time since he forgot to carry his train ID- and hey the tickets don't come cheap!

A tentacle flies up in the air, wrapping around a pole but all of a sudden Maruki collapses- his energy draining as his heart starts banging within his chest. "Hn! Hn!" he wheezes as he falls to his knees and curls. He doesn't...he doesn't have the energy to traverse like this. This can't be good. His eyes widen as he shakes his head and sighs.

Great. Must be the drawback to his regenerative ability. Going by the train is the only way then. He will just have to make sure no one catches him skipping through the counters.

======

Maruki has never been scared of anything more in this entire life.

The whole station was empty. He ran into a whole bunch of black globs instead with shiny red eyes who were skedaddling away from him when he tried to go around their path- his legs shaking all the way before he finally ran into a bunch of cognitions of other people now traversing in the vehicle.

Soon after, he left the trains- thankful for the fewer number of those black inky creatures as he finds himself standing at the top of the stairs. His gaze falls on the bench where he, Dove and...Briar was it? Well, he hasn't heard from her at all after their little incident and Dove- right. He needs to book an appointment with him regarding journalling.

He will get to it soon then. For now, he pulls out his fifth snack for the day- a vanilla milkshake as he tries to calm his jittery nerves with the horror show he had witnessed while using the trains here.
Though he supposes that's just the usual public transport, he isn't surprised by the imagery at all.

Kasumi arrived early enough to stand watch for Maruki. When he finally arrives, her eyes widen, and she dashes his way. The closer she gets, the more anxiety gnaws at her. Knowing of Maruki's injury makes it all the worst.

"Dr. Maruki!"

Well, that's one way to start a conversation. She wants to drag him to Mementos right away, but it'd be easier if he knows what's coming. The last thing he needs is a sudden shock.

Maruki barely makes it there as he's called by his name. He immediately recognizes that voice, now turning to the young girl as she practically runs at him. He holds his arms up in surprise as he blinks at her in shock before putting away the milkshake from his lips. He quickly wipes at them with his bandaged knuckles for good measure.

"Is everything alright, Yoshizawa-san..?!" he asks as he carefully observes her. No sudden attacks but- "Oh. Seems like I worried you too much with that voicemail, huh?"

Edited 2024-09-29 14:21 (UTC)

"You're hurt. Of course I'm worried!" At least he's bandaged. That's... probably good? It's something, but it sounds like the kind of injury bandages alone won't fix. "So, um. I can take us to Mementos if you're ready."

Today and yesterday had played total polar opposites for him but one constant had always been this air of mystery around Kasumi. This sense of urgency he didn't notice in the Kasumi of his own world- now grasping onto him like she was drowning and he was the one lifeline holding her up the surface. He doesn't know if that is just his skepticism getting into play here but it could also perhaps be in regards to the severity of his own injury.

He tries to nervously chuckle as way to allay her fears. "It was worse yesterday actually- now I just feel very drained and um, well its not best if I had the injury out in the open..." he closes his eyes for a moment then opens it as the small glass of milkshake in his hand evaporates. "While I appreciate it I can assure you, I am still okay. Not like I came screaming or anything." He continues with a small sincere smile. There's this boundary he would like to keep intact between them.

"Also yeah this Mementos-" he jabs behind him at the pit of darkness he power walked right through from. "-is this Mementos? Or is the app thing I remember hearing from Igor."

He laughs nervously. "Uh...I don't think I wanna go back to those black glob-like monsters." Brings back memories. Too many to count.

"If we stay on the top level, we shouldn't run into any Shadows. It'd just be easier to heal you in the cognitive world, since I can summon Cendrillon there."

She still watches that hand closely. Maruki's acting okay, but how much of that is genuine, and how much is for her sake? Maruki always tries to make others feel safe and at ease. It's just the kind of person he is.

He never puts his needs first.

"Cendrillon, you say?" he perks up at the name. "That's the other name for Cinderella, isn't it?" He sighs as he keeps catching her gaze on his arm. His insides feel mush with shame at the fact that he's getting someone like a highschooler worried about a grown ass adult like him. ~~Especially someone like him.~~ It's embarassing really but its not something he would admit out loud- he's simply the type to work alone and Yoshizawa's concern, even if they are meant well, just makes him further shrink into his own shell.

"Healing my hand- well I suppose that's something out of a fairy tale," he sighs as he can still feel slight tremours in his hand when he simply lets it fall to the side. It aches like a migraine at the back of one's hand and he does not want to imagine what kind of horrors would flow once its unveiled.

"Alright, fine. I believe you," he nods ever so slowly as he balls his good hand. "Take me to this mementos. I will explain the rest of the story to you there."

~~After all who knows if Ren might still be here, waiting at one of the corners.~~

"Yeah, Cendrillon's another name for Cinderella. I think it's French?" Either way, she can see the unease. The subtle tremor in that hand. It's obvious this is a lot for him. He hasn't been here for very long, and already he's been through so much.

So Kasumi activates the Metanav with a simple, "Mementos."

Their surroundings ripple, and soon the familiar shape of the station takes on a dingier, crimson tint. Kasumi's uniform shifts to a black outfit not unlike a spy, with a black mask covering her face.

She tears her mask away, calling out, "Cendrillon!"

An elegant Persona manifests behind her, red, black, gold, and crimson, though she does not make any moves.

"Do you want me to heal you right now? It won't be too hard."

The metanav...

Right. The phantom thieves did the same thing the first time he came to this school, did they not? In one second he's looking at Kasumi speaking into the metanav and in the next its as if spirals have suddenly overcome his visions- lolling and peaking in through the edges as his whole body feels like its in the air for a moment before he's back on ground again.

Darkness envelopes them as Maruki looks around at the bright red train tracks and railings running down on the ground. Sumire is now in an almost all-black outfit, a lot unlike the student he knows from Shujin with the black mask on her face. The ripples clearly have affected him as well as he finds himself looking down at a white gloved hand and dressed in all whites again. He's sticking out like a sore thumb here.

And then the persona appears, reminding him once again of the winged monster erupting behind Ren yesterday. His eyes widen as he watches the gold and crimson mix with each other but oh wait this is different-

He's nearly taken aback, one step behind the other before the heel of his shoe hits the railing and he almost falls before a tentacle erupts and solidifies itself into the ground- letting him stand upright again. "Wow, that was- not embarassing at all," he cuts as the tentacle leaves the ground and disappears. "So this is mementos?" He looks up at the wild outlines of this other world manifested from the app. "I saw Kurusu-kun and his friends disappearing like this as well- you kids really are getting into dangerous matters."

"And the persona..." Its as if he's looking at a star. Or perhaps a meteorite now piercing the earth's atmosphere to look like a piece of sun itself. "That Ren had a similar one- it had wings...I think? He called it Raoul."

Its then Yoshizawa throws the question at her. He nods, "Yeah just let me get the injury out so even I will have some idea on what happened to it." He carefully slips out his injured hand from his sleeve- now showing off the entire area of damage done to his arm whilst rolling up his sleeve. The bandage was wrapped all around his fingers to his elbow- slight black veins peaking up and disappearing into the folded creases as he groans from its own sight then offers a quick glance to the young red haired girl. "Sorry its a bit gorey," he says as if he doesn't know what kind of madness these people go through as he removes the pin of his bandage and lets the linen fall.

The hand has faded into a near charred skin tone with small flecks of green now showing in small areas where the bullets were embedded into him yesterday. Its too much of a mess to look at. He quickly covers up the entire wound with his other arm. "Go ahead, please."

Edited 2024-10-02 16:13 (UTC)

Re: TW: gore

midnightmaiden - 2024-10-02 16:27 (UTC) - Expand

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TW: gore

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