midnightmaiden | IC Inbox

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)

It's... a lot. The sort of injury you'd see in adult rated films, perhaps, or in medical dramas. She wobbles a little at the sight, looking away for a moment to hide her grimace. "Raoul... Interesting. The Ren-senpai I know uses Arsène." Well, there's always Sparrow's Ren. Or one of the others. There are so many versions of people, after all.

But this isn't about Raoul or Rens or Akiras or anything like that. Dr. Maruki is hurt, and that's the whole reason they came here!

So Kasumi meets his eyes again, tearing off her mask and crying, "Diarahan!"

Cendrillon snaps into action, bathing Maruki's arm in warm, healing light. It should ease any lingering wounds, restoring his arm to its former state.

The warmth comes in waves.

Its as if he's waking up from a proper long sleep and pleasant dreams, mouth falling in surprise as the spell or whatever the persona did on him had actually transformed him somehow! A true example of a miracle.. He couldn't believe it as the black charr slowly ebbs away from his skin- now melting back to his usual skin colour as he was anticipating pain coming from the fast healing process. Its like a surgery, right? The way his persona did?

But no. Its nothing like that.

The light dims as he looks down at his hand, now pulling at the sleeve of his turtleneck as his white blazar hangs off on the other end. "Oh- it's-! It's gone-!" The shocks shifts into excitement and relief. "Oh goodness I didn't think I would be able to recover my arm! Thank you so much, Yoshizawa-san!"

The pain is gone paired with the exhaustion. Its just then that he stops, his brows furrow as he focuses on the pinky of his once injured finger. There's a green blemish there. "Huh...I guess there's some residue left. Atleast it doesn't hurt."

Edited 2024-10-02 17:45 (UTC)

When the arm heals properly, Kasumi heaves a huge sigh of relief. A little residue is still a vast improvement over how he looked before, and at long last, a smile returns to her face.

"Of course! I'm always happy to help." She bows, the bubbly brightness returning to her voice. "Though, um... I'm sorry that Ren hurt you."

There's a possibility gnawing at the back of her mind. Someone in particular.

"I might actually know who it is, but I don't want to jump to conclusions..."

He sighs as he finally takes a few steps back and goes over to another wall- leaning a against it as he presses both of his hands to his face- letting out a long sigh of relief that had been building since yesterday and had only worsened when he tried to take care of himself with antiseptic and bandage.

"Oh you shouldn't be the one saying sorry," he shakes his head as he watches her excitement. That's good- he didn't want to worry her anymore. "It was...I wasn't expecting it really. I believe he had a panic attack and then clearly my presence made it worse for him." As for apologies, he would much rather hear it from him but judging from how their last interaction went- he might as well end up losing his entire body if he ran into him. "To think this is how Kurusu-kun in another universe thinks of me." A frown appeared on his face as he let his own sentence sink in.

"I think I know who it is," Maruki hums. "I believe you mentioned Sparrow, right? And his Ren? Seems like they have a very interesting relationship."

"To the point of that Ren nearly killing...me."

Edited 2024-10-03 19:09 (UTC)

"Yeah..." Hoo boy. How to put this...

Kasumi takes a deep breath, in, then out. It's not her story to tell, yet he deserves answers, especially if he's going to help Sparrow in the future.

"In Sparrow-san's reality, you gave Ren-senpai a choice. Either he accepted your reality so Akechi-san could keep living, or he could face you for the sake of their... true reality. In the end, that Ren chose Akechi-san, but he changed so much. That's why Sparrow-san is so different... and why his Shadow is so angry."

She pauses. "He even... killed Ren-senpai, even though he came back thanks to this place. I don't know all the specifics about their world, but what I do know is that it's put Ren-senpai in a really hard place, and it's left Sparrow-san unable to fully understand his circumstances. I've... spoken to his Shadow a few times, and he was always so ruthless. He's stuck in Mementos, carved away from the person he used to be."

Maruki for once goes completely quiet as his widened eyes regard her with nothing more than actual genuine confusion. From the moment she starts talking about a reality where he gave that Ren a choice to...the fact that Ren accepted it and things changed between them.

"What are you talking about, Yoshizawa-san?"

You know exactly what she's talking about.

He remembered that image when he was trying to defend himself against that Ren but that's not...that's not right. That was just something his brain came up with in immense stress. This can't possibly be right. He shakes his head as he looks away from the red haired girl and curls up his gloved hands. "Why would he face me for his true reality? All I have ever done is use patients for-"

~~-my powers as subjects for my research.~~

All of a sudden he stops, realizing just what was going to come out from his mouth. For some reason a knot grows in his chest at the thought of what the girl might think if he continued that sentence. Hence he back pedals and blinks, "I mean use patients' experiences to simply understand how CBT treatment works."

Unless...he managed to figure out a way to manifest and build the perfect reality.

That can't be...

"Is that what Azathoth is supposed to do? All I have been making is infinite snacks in the palm of my hand."

Edited 2024-10-05 16:35 (UTC)

"Well... like I said, the Maruki from their world changed Akechi-san into a very different person when he altered reality. It's supposed to be a world where everyone is happy, but... I don't think Ren-senpai is."

She looks down, fingers threaded over her waist. "I think Akechi-san wanted freedom. He didn't want to live in a world where everything was decided by one person. Sparrow-san is different. He has a right to exist, but his condition means there's so much in this place that he can't understand, and it means his Shadow is trapped down here, all alone."

Edited 2024-10-05 17:39 (UTC)

"If that Maruki is anywhere resembling me then that's just incorrect," Maruki denies again- just as he always did whenever it came to such a topic. The worst part? He doesn't know why he's defending that Maruki in the first place- judging from the reactions that he illicits in that Ren but still-!

His eyelids droop as he fidgets with his curly hair, running his gloved digits on the back of his head as he tries to connect the dots. "That wouldn't...that doesn't make sense. If that Maruki is anything like I am I would make sure everyone can do what they want- happily."

"You know...this shadow, right?" He tries as he carefully looks at Kasumi with a serious gaze. "Are you saying I maybe capable of reversing it?" Then he stops and his eyes widen for a moment. "Hold on-!"

Edited 2024-10-05 18:09 (UTC)

"Does this mean if that Maruki can change reality- perhaps these manifestations-" he suddenly pushes himself away from the wall and snaps his fingers. A packet of pocky drops in his hands. "Are these...also related to that? Did I finally do it?" Its as if he's been hit with the urge to yell Eureka!

"But why...why can't I remember?" His brows pinch together as they nearly spasm in confusion. "I swear I would have remembered something like that, wouldn't I? It doesn't help that Azathoth is keeping his silence away from me and I have been seeing...visions. I don't know. I- I-"

"Can I actually help people with this?"

Edited 2024-10-05 18:13 (UTC)

"You could. I'm sure of it. You helped me, after all." Despite what everyone else says, it helped. She's happy like this... isn't she?

She shakes such thoughts away. "I think the best thing you could do is meet with Sparrow-san. Talk to him. As long as he gives his consent, we may be able to help him, but I'm not sure Ren-senpai would approve..."

Maruki immediately notices the hesitation in her voice and the frown on her face as she says You helped me.

"I am sure your senpai would want what's best for everyone," he answers with a smile which is quite unlike the confused doctor from yesterday. He's more...certain this time. "Maybe that version of me made a blunder on his end but perhaps rather than consulting Ren-kun we could talk to Sparrow-san directly. I just feel like its not in either of our best interests to cross paths unless strictly necessary." Surely, Yoshizawa understands where he's coming from. He needs to have a proper conversation with that Ren first about everything else that happened before he could go after someone with whom he shares such a *fascinating* relationship with. As for consent...well, he can't just let him wallow up in his own misery if he doesn't want his help. Many simply don't reach out for others and there's no judgement there but ultimately if Maruki can save him- it will be worth. He's carried it all before when it came to Rumi- he will do it again for anyone else who suffers.

"You are my patient as well, Yoshizawa-san. We all have different ways of coping with our own traumas...but it should never come down to suffering because of it."

"Or have others told you otherwise?"

"Sparrow-san just deserves a chance to make the choice because he wants to. That's why I think it'd be good to talk to him first, just so he knows what options there are."

What he says isn't wrong. It makes a lot of sense. Some people are stubborn. She can understand that. "It's been so hard for him, ever since Ren-senpai was killed by his Shadow, but nobody's had any solutions. You're our first real chance at helping him."

"When did I say he won't have a choice?" He continues, a strange lilt in his tone as he looks away from Sumire to glance at the deep abyss of Mementos before him. He's a shadow- perhaps he's dwelling here somewhere. "I would need to talk to him atleast once to have an idea about what he truly wishes for." Indeed, he will talk to him. Everyone has wishes, no?

He sighs as he looks down at his hands before he comes down to a slow stop. He can't approach this situation haphazardly. "To be honest, we are getting a little ahead of ourselves. Clearly there's a gap in my memory which is keeping me away from my true potential and right now approaching either of your senpais is simply walking into a messy situation."

"I need to figure out a way to unlock it," he nods slowly as he regards her. "I can't possibly expect you to back me up with everything. First I will have to stop being helpless in a place like this and then..."

I will learn the truth.

"...in all honesty," his tone falls as he's once again enveloped in phantom embers.

His clothes manifest back into its true form- as if his spirit had once again shifted to the innocent councillor. "I have no idea where to start haha."

"I definitely owe you after this, Yoshizawa-san."

"If it helps, Shadows don't really hurt me down here. I can keep them more docile, if you need to ease into your powers." It's so weird, how the tables have turned.

Her world's Maruki was the one who gave her so many opportunities, who guided her here and let her awaken her true power, and now...

"But it's up to you! We can take it at whatever pace you want."

IC Inbox

no subject

The injured and the damned

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

TW: gore

Re: TW: gore

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

Re: 2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)