[IC] The True Self - Persona

[Diabolicalrhapsody]

Alexei Dragunov - Warakuma Shopping District: Shirohane Flower Store.

She accented to his suggestions with politeness as she took the card, a saddened expression crossing her face for the briefest of periods. He knew it was downer to even the most cheery of people but if he could change things he would. She then politely accepted the payment and offered to agree on an agreement of a later date. Alexei just gave her a thankful bow and an uneasy smile.

Just as she had finished the door opened again and another person walked in. Another one from his school and judging by the rudeness and the shrill pitch he knew who it was. Aiko Yamamoto. Though he was new, he had heard the stories of the vain duo of Warakuma High. the way he addressed Kotori also made him a bit displeased but Toma stepped in and took control of the situation. Alexei was meanwhile politely asked by a concerned mother to make haste.

He bowed again, "Thank you, Shirohane-dono. I also apologize for the rudeness of my colleague. I shall take your leave now." before giving a smile to the patron and turning to face the others. As he closed on them, he heard Kotori's last few words. He glared at Aiko as he came up to the trio motioning with his hands to move out.

"You have my sincere thanks, Kotori-chan. My apologies for his behavior. " he said as he gave her a curt bow before taking the other two seniors by the shoulders and gently prodding them out of the shop.

"You have caused a bit of a scene already, I think we can continue this interrogation outside. Kotori-chan has nothing more to add I believe so leave her be." he relied in a deep rumble as they made for the shop's gate.

[Sho Minazuki]

Rui Shinichi | Chagall Cafe, Mall
11/4/2015 Sat.

>You spent the rest of the day with Akane at the cafe
>You feel like understand her a little better now.

After that, the two bid farewell before they left for home or some other business.

Rui Shinichi | Evening - Home

Upon returning home, Rui got a message from Kazuki... It had the title "URGENT" pasted upon the subject. This message was also received by everyone else who now has a Persona like him.

Megumi has confirmed that another area has opened up in the mirror world. I urge that tomorrow we investigate it. I will explain more on the day

Hm... This concerned him just a tad... Noboru was missing from school, not to mention Kazuki did mention something about kidnappings over the past year... Was the mirror world related to those? What Kazuki says seems to point to that, though it looks like more will be explained tomorrow. It was also Sunday tomorrow, so a whole day off, this was fortunate and convenient for them. Unable to focus, Rui instead chose to spend the night playing a game to relax.

[Haru Nyan]

Ayano: Outside the Nurse's Office
"Right...Right, apologies..." Ayano muttered beneath her breath while lowering her head slightly. Perhaps getting too caught up in a mystery wasn't wise...

As Leiko went on with her story, different thoughts crossed the girl's mind. The president simply told her that she doesn't know much about the boy's disappearance, despite them being club members and classmates to boot. With a defeated sigh, Ayano slumped her shoulders, she felt like her time was wasted of course she wouldn't say that within the other girl's presence, Heaven knows what that might bring about.
Although, all was not lost. As Leiko then pointed Ayano towards Yamamto's siblings, Aiko and Akari. "Older siblings, eh?" Ayano thought to herself with a hand on her chin. If they don't shed some light on this little predicament then all of her efforts would be in vain.

Before taking off, Ayano asked, "Where do you propose I might find them? Or at least one of them."

[SwordfishKnight]

Akari-Warakuma High
Akari sighed as she walked the halls of Warakuma. There was too much buzz about Noboru. He simply skippes school. That was it. Nothing dangerous or bad, he just left for the day. It was rather annoying to hear this much about him. He was just a background character. He wasn't important. As she walked by the nurse's office, she heard more discussion about him. Angry, she walked into the office to tell the offenders off.

"Listen here." She huffed, her breathing heavy, "Noboru is not gone or anything like that. He isn't gone, he isn't missing, he just skipped school or something. So stop sticking your nose where it belongs. Ok? Ok."

Akari stomped off, leaving the other few people in the dust of her rage.

Aiko-Warakuma Mall
As the man escorted him outside, Aiko's spirits drained. He was on a fast track to nowhere, and no one was helping.

"You know what? Forget it. Noboru is missing, and i'm getting nowhere with this. I'll go search on my own. Good luck with whatever the hell you're gonna do."

Aiko stomped off, heading out of the mall and looking into other parts of the city.

[Kissu]

Leiko Hamada:Warakuma High-Outside of the Nurse's Office

Leiko opened her mouth to reply with some kind of dry comment about the twins whereabouts, but the words would never leave her lips as a breathless, high-pitched growl interrupted their conversation, Leiko's lips lifting into a frown as Akari Yamamoto made her presence known.

The senior angrily belted off about how her brother wasn't missing, before warning them not to interfere any further. Leiko's glare intensified as Akari gave some kind of angry huff, before storming off down the halls.

"...I believe that answers your question," Leiko said calmly, her voice starkly contrasting the ambience of the moment. "I'm not sure what your relation is to Yamamoto-kun, but if his own sibling doesn't want you to intrude, I would respect that." She paused. "But...Akari Yamamoto's performance was pretty good there, don't you think?" She glanced over to
Ayano with a minute smile. "Truly deserving of the Yamamoto legacy."

With that, the Club President took her leave, her head swimming with thoughts about Noboru Yamamoto. She hadn't at all been convinced that something was amiss with Noboru...until his sister opened her mouth. As soon as she did, Leiko could sense the raw emotion and anxiety that lay behind the stormy bluster that the girl was conveying. If Noboru's own siblings were concerned...then something was definitely wrong. Still...she had no intention of intervening; there could be a number of reasons why the boy had disappeared, and for all she knew, he had very good reasons for it too.

Deciding to cast away her doubts for now, Leiko made her way (for the second time) out of school. Hashimoto was long gone, having decided to leave sometime during her conversation with the senior girl, but she wasn't so concerned about him. Despite his lack of muscle mass and his apparent tendency to get into troublesome situations, he appeared quite strong, in the emotional sense. That was her limited opinion of him at the moment, at least.

Idly, Leiko looked up at the Warakuma skies, allowing her mind to wander away from the dramas of the school and towards the dusty tomes she had packed away at home.

[Sho Minazuki]

Noboru Dungeon

Rui Shinichi | Abandoned Warehouse > Mirror World [???]
12/4/2015 Sun.

It was roughly morning, and the party had already assembled to the mirror. Kazuki was about to begin explaining, likewise Megumi was there too in order to provide navigation.

"Okay, so, someone has been dragged into the mirror world... I've basically called this for a rescue mission, I will hold down to support you all if things go wrong, and Megumi will guide you all through this... New area that's appeared... Well then, as soon as you are ready, follow on through and we'll get to it", he said. He was commanding today, he didn't even ask for questions like before this time... Was it eagerness? It was hard to tell, as he's been doing this for awhile now according to him. After the party packed their weapons they headed on through. Without much dialogue, Kazuki led the team through the mirror world with directions before they reached what appeared to be a new area... The team poured into the small clearing before it as they observed it.

((OOC: Swordfish, take over from here))

[SwordfishKnight]

Mirror world group-Outside Noboru's dungeon

Upon reaching the clearing the most noticeable thing was that the building looked like a movie theater. It looked brand new, as if it had just been built. On the building where the movie posters should have been, only showed one thing: a picture of Noboru. It posed him in a way to be stoic and brave, almost comically. The next thing that was apparent was posters of his friends plastered all over the walls. There were many there, from old friends such as Sachiko and Rui to new friends like Chiaki, Alexei and Kotori. The last thing were the bright spotlights, endlessly waving across the perpetual night sky. Looking at each other, the group entered the buliding.

Mirror world group- Glam-pitheatre

The stark contrast on the inside of the dungeon surprised everyone. On the inside the theater was run down, with wallpapers rotting and the floors being trashed. The movie posters were changed now. Instead of the brave Noboru being shown off as with outside, he was now cowering in the fetal position against a faceless shadow. The last thing to be seen was sickening. As with outside, there were posters of his friends' faces, but this time, they were ripped and torn apart, with hateful messages scrawled across them.

Go die.

I hate you.

Fuck you.

Getting finished with their overall look at the inside, they ventured deeper.

[Sho Minazuki]

Warakuma Shopping District

As everyone went about their Sunday, some policemen were walking around, pasting up posters on the noticeboards... It was a warning poster, and seemed to identify cultist activities. It appears they've become more active as of late. Standing in front of one of them was a boy, despite it being a Sunday he was dressed in uniform, identified as the fancy private school in the north side. He had a pretty rough look, his uniform was worn unkempt and tie was not done properly, hell it wasn't even done up, and he had a pair of tinted shades, though dark, did not completely block his eyes out. He appeared to be transfixed on the poster...

In any case, it appears today was going to be a normal day... Well, for most people at least.

Rui Shinichi | Mirror World [Glam Pitheatre]
12/4/2015 Sun.

"Hmmmm...", Rui didn't really have any words. It was more like he had this disapproving smirk, and seemed more likely to comment on the shoddy decor, which honestly is probably it. He expected something else when he saw the outside. Behind him was Sachiko and Kami, with their own weapons in hand, and he had his sword too.

"I feel like this place is a metaphor, there's so much that seems personal already...", he commented. In any case they decided it was best to move on... Megumi warned them briefly that she felt the presence of shadows further ahead, but had no accurate reading yet, at least not until the party was close enough, so they had to tread carefully.

[SwordfishKnight]

Glam Pitheatre
The group soldiered on deeper into the recesses of Noboru's world. They looked and observed the dark walls of of the theatre, when the voice boomed out of seemingly nowhere.

"Hey you fuckfaces! Wanna intrude in on my territory? You enjoy getting in someone's way? How about you get in the way of some of these guys!"

Four shadows emerged from the dark halls. THey were Gigas, looming over the group.

Aiko-Warakuma Shopping district

Aiko rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes. He had been awake all night searching around town. It was probably a stupid idea, but he did it nonetheless to try and find Noboru. He staggered along the shops, giving futile efforts to see if Noboru was in any of them. Looking upwards, he saw the pole with a missing picture of Noboru. GIving up, he collapsed against the pole and let out a single soft sigh. He was extremely tired, but didn't feel like sleeping.

[Sen]

Sato Hashimoto // Warakuma High, By The Front Gates
April 11 2015, SATURDAY
After School

The sound of the school doors opening drew Sato’s attention. The boy stood up from his spot against the wall when he saw the familiar face of Yukiteru Yoshino, one of the more dedicated members of the Archery Club. He often tagged along whenever Rokoru, Mika, and himself hung out after practice. Sato wasn’t sure of his relationships with the others but the two of them had never really talked one-on-one before, and the opportunity to do so was something he decided he shouldn’t pass up.

Sato pushed himself off from the ground and greeted the familiar boy, who merely blinked at him in confusion; as far as Sato had seen in the time he’d been in Warakuma, people sitting at the front doors when pretty much everyone was already gone was a bit unusual. They ignored the fact after getting it out of the way, but Yuki simply continued walking away as soon as Sato explained why he was lingering around with a slightly bloody lip. Sato quickly pushed himself over by the shorter boy’s side and attempted to make conversation (with little success) as they made their way to their respective homes, splitting about three quarters of the way to Sato’s place.

Having nothing else to do for the rest of his Saturday, Sato returned home and jolted up to his room. Once there he tossed all his school stuff into a pile by the door and changed into clothes more casual than his uniform before flopping onto his bed. There wasn’t any immediate homework for him to do nor any kind of recreative activity he particularly wanted to take part in, so he merely let his eyes close as soon as they wanted to and passed out.

---

Sato Hashimoto // Hashimoto Residence
April 12 2015, SUNDAY
Morning

Sato woke to the typical silence of his room (minus the typical distant animal noises). He rose from the nest of blankets and pillows he had made around himself as he fished his phone from his pocket to check the time. Not too late, but still several hours from his usual time of awakening. With a loud yawn Sato stood up, stretching his arms over his head as he made his way over to the door, grabbing a fresh set of clothes on the way. The mess of items and clothes he had created the night prior had obstructed the half-asleep teen’s shuffle path, so he lazily pushed them away with his foot until he could slide his way into the hallway and into the bathroom.

After having went through his morning routine (albeit a lot slower than usual), Sato found himself at the front door, unsure where to go on such a boring Sunday. But, as he typically found himself doing, he left anyway on a trip around town for no particular reason. He didn’t exactly feel like talking to any of Archery Club clique after the events of yesterday (which Rokoru no-doubt shared with Mika and the others) so the boy simply left it to chance to find him something interesting to do with his Sunday.

---

Sato Hashimoto // Warakuma Shopping District
April 12 2015, SUNDAY
Noon

As Sato made his way through the shopping district, idly stopping at what stores caught his fancy (and having picked up a cup of tea from some chain that had opened up recently), he noticed something a little more peculiar for the small town of Warakuma. First it was the plethora of posters put around the town that detailed the recent activity of some supposed cult that was brewing in Warakuma. Sato didn’t really think twice on it until he noticed some police wandering by, a sight that felt strange to him for a reason that escaped his thoughts. There were several cops standing around in the busiest part of the district, eyes scanning each person that passed by them, even the old women carrying bundles of fresh food for their families.

Though, as he took a sip from the hot drink he held, Sato noticed a strange guy still dressed in a school uniform (that wasn’t Warakuma High’s) eyeing on something on the wall, which was presumably one of the posters the cops were supposedly plastering up on any good spot for them. It was strange seeing a student still wearing a uniform on a Sunday, let alone someone that didn’t seem to be local to the town.

Unfortunately, Sato had drawn his attention to the right of himself and had neglected to pay attention to the path he was heading, walking right into the back of some guy and spilling the drink he held pretty much all over the bigger man’s back and himself. The person turned on his heel immediately with a shout and shot a look at him that Sato swore could kill someone if they looked straight back. Unsure of what to do, the third-year backed a few steps away, hand still clenched around the now crushed cup that previously held a drink. The guy didn’t seem like he was going to get physical with the twerp that just drenched his shirt with a scalding liquid, but it was clear he was getting aggressive. The man’s appearance didn’t help; broad build, bold eyebrows with a piercing in each, furious expression on his ugly mug, a shirt that clearly displayed the power behind any punches that’d come from him.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, you lil’ fucker?!” The guy shouted straight into Sato face’s. He felt a stray bit of spit hit his face and he winced at both that and the volume of the voice. This wasn’t good at all, though it was kinda funny seeing some obviously middle-aged dude get so riled up over such an accident. Clearly it would be best to just run away like some fourteen-year-old that just pulled a prank on a teacher, but for some reason it didn’t strike Sato as a solution at the moment and he merely held his ground as the man continued spouting bullshit about modern youth and how much of a waste of oxygen he was.

[Sho Minazuki]

Rui Shinichi | Mirror World [Glam Pitheatre]
12/4/2015 Sun.

"Askr!", as the four gigas advanced upon the party, everyone summoned their Personas in response. Immediately two Gigas charged Rui who was in front while the others surrounded and went after Kami and Sachiko. He wasn't going to stand there and wait though, he charged forward himself with Askr right behind, before stopping as Askr brought his blade down slashing at the one closest to the front, before Rui drew his own blade and spun around, slashing at the second one. He didn't have the force of strength like his own Persona possessed against Shadows, but that was okay, this only allowed Askr to follow up on his attack with a swing of it's own. Upon strike, Rui stood upright and did command advance motion, hand out front, as a cutting wind sliced through the Gigas. Though, they were hardy shadows... They didn't go down from this. They simply resumed their charge. A green aura surrounded Rui for a split second, and before they shadows could react, he was dashing right through them while slashing before Askr appeared around each one of them with a barrage of slashes, and pretty soon the two gigas were no more.

As Rui turned to the rest of the party, it appears they were done too... Before he could speak, he heard Megumi over the navigation.

"Okay, I've found the core of this place... We're not too far away. Just a little more", she said. Everyone responded in the affirmative and without delay delved deeper into the dungeon.

Warakuma Shopping District - Noon

"kids like.... some... little.... why I.... da-... hey y-", from just out of earshot, to this boy, it was just random ramblings, loud, and annoying, not to mention it didn't really paint his age group in a good light.

"Oh shut up old man", kid was pissed as hell, or at least he looked it. Glasses and eyes with a mean streak, his hair was a little spiked too, and his uniform seemed a little ruffled. He stepped in front of Sato, pushing him back a bit, albeit somewhat roughly, it looks like this guy wasn't stepping in to save someone. It really looks like he's incredibly pissed. In his hand was a can of juice.

"You want another drink? Here's your fucking drink", he just hurled the can right in the man's face, it looked like it hit hard too as it bent a little, and upon impact, orange juice spilled everywhere.

"Grrhgh- lousy-", the man went in for a punch, but unfortunately... This kid was not looking for peaceful recourse, he was already a step ahead. The man before he could properly raise his fist, tasted the heel of a pair of 5000 yen shoes as the kid just went for a straight up kick.

"Stupid old man... God I've been waiting for a reason to punt this asshole", he commented, cracking his neck a bit. Just note this was in everyone's earshot and vision. As this ended, a police officer was already running at them.

"Oh it's you again? Seriously Riku, you had a good record going. No assaults for months!",

"Oh yeah I did... Until this guy decided to rant about youth. Hell does he know...",

"... I'll let you off this one time, but I see this again I'll take you down to the station", with that, the officer picked up the out-cold man for some treatment. The boy now identified as Riku just sighed, and then he properly noticed Sato.

"Hm?... I don't know you... Must be a kid from that other school. Whatever... I've got business to see to", what kind of business this was, Sato can probably only guess... Except all he can really imagine right now is beating up more people. The way he executed that kick was... Expert. Clearly he did a martial art. In any case... Business business...

[I-Am-X]

Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma Shopping District
April 12th, 2015

Even though school just started, she was already thankful for the arrival of Sunday and considered the day off a blessing. It wasn't that she disliked school but the last couple days have been quite rough, from the lack of sleep, 'the dreams' and more importantly writers block, which can probably be accredited to the first 2 reasons. All in all, she could use the time to laze around and not have anything to do with writing today. Just sit back enjoy a great snack while watching some anime. The rest of the day would be devoted to reading some manga but first, she needed to go out and stock up on some food. She has been roughing it and relying mostly on convenience store food the last few days as she racked her brain over her manga.

Leaving her apartment she headed for the shopping district and made her way through the stores. After an exhausting few hours of walking and shopping, she decided to call it a day and head back home. It was then where things started getting interesting. She spotted a number of policemen going around putting up posters. Moving in closer to get a better look at the poster, she noticed a disheveled boy glaring at the poster. That in itself was eye catching once you noticed the school uniform he was wearing. Looked like the uniform those pompous blowhards from that private school wear. Not exactly the 'look' you'd find going to such a school. After her interest in his looks subsided she glanced at the poster. Apparently it warned of Cultist activities that have been all over the news lately.

Just as she made her way to leave, things started to heat up involving a student from her school and the aforementioned boy. She was intrigued, the boy apparently had some martial art training considering how incredibly skilled his strikes were. As he made his leave, she strongly considered following him out of curiosity but then she looked down at her groceries and sighed in disappointment. "What horrible timing...." she muttered as she moved in the opposite direction.Saying that, the exchange can be used as potential materiel for her manga. So in a way, she didn't leave exactly empty handed. Either way, she'll keep an eye out for that boy. With that display, her interest was piqued. What else is he capable of and what exactly is he up too. With one last glance, she made her way home.