Entityx

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 10th- Afternoon

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Oka mulled over her explanation. Initially when she spoke more about the storm she didn’t completely believe what she was saying but there wasn’t exactly anything that she could go by to not believe her explanation. She quietly continued to listen as she further explained what could be happening to the students. The probability of students lashing out because tragedy had struck was very high. A lot of people had a hard time processing their emotions and sometimes their way of dealing with those emotions was to lash out.

Oka’s problem with that was that it had become such an issue at the school that they were called to intercept. She let out a sigh, trying to calm herself. The more she got worked up about it, the more she was actually starting to believe her. Personally, Oka was not as severely affected as many of her peers. She didn’t know the people at her school that well. And by well she meant that she wasn’t very close to anyone. It didn’t change the fact that she felt bad for the people that were close to the victims.

She decided it was best to concede. If she let herself get upset, she knew she was going to get too deeply involved and that was something she did her best to avoid. “You’re right Ueno-san. Let’s try to talk to the students. But, I think that we should try to find Yamamoto-san as our first student. I don’t want to assume it’s just adolescence. I think that typically he’s an upstanding student. He can be a creep, but he doesn’t act out physically towards anyone. This is the first I’ve heard of such behavior from him, which is why I’m so concerned.” Oka looked at her other classmates, making sure to make eye contact with them all. “If this request is reasonable for you all, I’m ready to try to tackle this.”

She didn’t want to combat aggression with more aggression--no. That was never the way to solve problems. But she didn’t want to let the situation slide. And as Ueno had said, maybe they could try to talk to the offending students and find out the source of the issue. If it turned out to be some defense mechanism for the students then that would be one thing but everything just didn’t feel right. She supposed she would just have to wait and see what happened.

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_{@Obscene Symphony@Hero}

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 10th- Afternoon

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First Nakano disagreed then Ueno. Now the numbers were tied. She couldn’t understand why her fellow upperclassmen were against confronting him about his behavior. They had just had a meeting yesterday about the adults wanting them to help take care of the issue. Sure, she was against the idea to begin with but now that something had come up they were the two that were backing off. Oka felt a tinge of irritation come over her but she remained cool. She was very much used to following orders and this situation seemed like a direct contradiction.

She didn’t care what Yamamoto’s previous behaviors were. She cared about how he was behaving right now. Initially she opened her mouth to argue back with this point in mind when Ueno’s demeanor shifted and there was a sense of urgency to her. Oka wasn’t sure what angle she was getting at as she asked about details about the rise in delinquency and that she might actually have an idea of what may be going on.

What kind of insight could she possibly have to correct their current situation?

“I’m not sure I know of any other incidents other than yesterday. That was pretty bizarre--the writing on the board. Really, in general, the fact that the administration is asking us to help take care of these issues has been a concern of mine from the beginning.” Oka tapped her chin, thinking hard on if she had noticed anything else. She had been so used to keeping to herself that her awareness of the students around her was low. She had done her very best all this time to keep to herself and stay out of trouble. Sure, she may have voiced a complaint here and there but it never stopped her from completing any duties assigned to her.

Her hazel hues narrowed over to Ueno as her thoughts circled back to her statement about how she may have known what was going on. "What do you know about all of this?” She inquired curiously. Moments before Kinoshita had showed up, when Oka had brought up the strange occurrences, Ueno shrugged it off. So she knew something all along? “I recall earlier when I made note of how strange everything was these past few days, you shrugged it off as the storm potentially riling the students up. So you’re saying...you know something else?”

Oka was right to find this girl peculiar. Aside from her ability to differentiate individuals in a room, she wondered what other skills she was hiding.

---

@Obscene Symphony@Hero

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 10th- Afternoon

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As they had been speaking with each other, Nakano-san had finally made her appearance. It was odd that she’d be late for a second time. What has been going on lately? She listened as Kinoshita-san continued to further explain the situation with Yamamoto. For one, he may have been an irritating slimeball but violence? She had never heard of him doing that before. He may have said a thing or two to the students and stuck his nose where it shouldn’t have been but Yamamoto was a smart student. He was good at sneakily causing trouble for others without getting his hands dirty like that.

The more she thought about the situation, the more she didn’t like it. Today was even more bizarre than yesterday. Oka looked over at Nakano-san, who’d suggested that they all just avoid him. But since when should the Student Council now turned Disciplinary Squad turn a blind eye to someone actually showing signs of being a delinquent.

“I disagree.” Oka spoke up, her attention turning to Nakano-san. It was one of the few times she’d actually gone against the grain. Usually she would’ve heeded her advice and just went on about her business. Oka was not one to get involved in things that had nothing to do with her but something about this just didn’t sit well with her. ” I think we need to confront him about his behavior. If the administration wants us to crack down on delinquency, the Valedictorian should be no different. What if he goes after some other girl, then what? Kinoshita-san said she was pretty shaken up. He sounds unstable.” Oka grew quiet for a few moments, mostly because she was surprised she was so gung ho about going after this guy. Something in her just said, ‘Nah, something ain’t right.’

---

@Hero@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 10th- Afternoon

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Maybe she was just overthinking things. She didn’t really think they were connected, more like the instances were strange. The students were really acting out of character lately. The rise of delinquency was very unlike the school. It was to the point that administration was involving the student council to help manage these issues. Everything just felt off. Then the weather this morning, she initially put it off as a potential error by the meteorologist but the fact that they had gone from no chance of rain to this was a bit odd.

Either way, she couldn’t argue against Ueno-san. Instead, she opted to stay silent and not say anything further. As they rounded the corner to head to the Student Council room, their familiar kouhai came shouting at them. Odd, she didn’t see him as the type to behave this way.

“Yamamoto-san? Hm? Why would I know where he is? And now that you mention it, Nakano-san as well? She’s not here either?” Oka was as puzzled as Ueno-san. For one, she didn’t have too much of a close relationship with Yamamoto-san. What little she did know of him, she didn’t like. He reminded her of a pesky, dirty little weasel. He never gave her the aura that he was truly pleasant to be around. Word around school was that he often gave Nakano-san trouble. That alone was more than enough reason not to like him. She respected Nakano-san too much. She tried not to make a face at the mere mention of the boy.

“It is odd that she’s not here. I understand the weather, but I would’ve assumed she would’ve mentioned something to us today.” And as Ueno-san asked if anything was wrong, Oka followed up with, “Is there something we can help you with instead?”

---

@Obscene Symphony@Hero

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 10th- Afternoon

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Oka noticed that it was taking Ueno-san a moment to reply. She seemed to be lost in thought there for a moment. It was then she replied with an apology of her own and Oka felt a sense of relief. The last thing she needed was a rift in the Student Council. Besides, in a way she was still trying to build some sort of relationship with her peers this year without her father knowing.

Oka moved out of Ueno-san’s way so that she could move beside her. Oka began to walk out of the classroom, assuming that Ueno-san would follow. “Well, honestly I didn’t mean it that way. It’s a bad habit of mine. There’s a lot of pressure from administration and I just wanted to throw the feelers out. That and...I guess I just thought of how my father would react.” Oka grew silent for a moment. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. For as long as she could remember, she always worked to earn the respect of her father.

To some degree she felt like she had it and part of her still continued to work hard to keep it. It was a strange ethical dilemma she was experiencing between her father and her school life. Oka had been under this thought process for so long...it was hard to break old habits.

“But I understand, moving forward we will look at other solutions that benefit everyone.” As they walked, Oka thought about Kendo again. It would have been a good time to burn off some frustration but maybe she could really make amends by working with Ueno-san on the club budget. The sound of thunder boomed throughout the school, causing it to rumble. Oka immediately became distracted by it. “So odd that it would be storming today. I’m usually very prepared...what’s going on? I’m sorry to get off topic Ueno-san, first yesterday with the writing on the board and now this random storm today.” Oka couldn’t explain why she felt so uneasy.

"The corruption of that world has started to seep into your own.” That phrase started to ring in her head. It was just a dream right? She just hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night that’s all. Yeah, that had to be it.

---

@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 10th- Afternoon

---

The second day had come to a close. Today was certainly an improvement from the first. Oka supposed that some of the students had started to settle back into school life. As she gathered her things to prepare to leave, she could hear the grumblings of the students about the weather. For sure, the weather change had been a bit strange. Oka had always taken extra care to be prepared today so today was definitely odd. They were promised sunny skies all week. Oh well, there was nothing she could do now.

She supposed even the weather man could be wrong sometimes.

Oka debated on whether it would be worth it to go to the Student Council or if she would go to kendo instead. She grabbed her bag and quickly looked around the classroom. She was hoping to catch Ueno-san before she left. She thought back on her interaction with Ueno-san. Her response to the possibility of disbanding one of the clubs to support the rest was to be expected. Ueno-san did have close relationships with a few individuals that were part of some of the clubs. It was simply a suggestion, but it definitely gave her the feeling that Ueno-san was a pretty emotional person when it came to people in her life.

It was difficult at times for Oka to think of things that way. She had no real connections with anyone at the school afterall. That evening when she got home from school her father had actually been home waiting for her. It was a rare occurrence for him to have dinner with her, so she assumed that day he must have had some interest in her first day of school. It was her first year as Vice President of the Student Council. He started their evening by going on about how he had wished she had worked harder to become the President and that the Vice President position was merely second place. He then continued by asking what their tasks were for the year and then they spoke about the club situation.

Her father of course, stated the optimal route. It was just as she’d expected. When she told him what the club had actually decided on, he remained silent. She took his silence as displeasure. Their night then ended with him reminding her to keep a positive representation of their family and how important it was to him for her to get into the best University. Of course, as always, Oka did not argue and simply complied with his request.

Oka sighed as she relived the night prior. First she had Ueno-san likely thinking that she didn’t care while also having her father put the pressure on her to produce noteworthy results during her final year. It was completely exhausting. How was she supposed to please both parties?

Still, she hated the thought of there being any animosity because of her comment so it probably was best to try to smooth things over with her perhaps? Oka hadn’t planned on going to Student Council and had finally settled on kendo as her best option to release some pent up energy. She made her way to Ueno-san’s desk and cleared her throat in order to make her presence known.

“Ueno-san, I’m glad I could catch you. I just wanted to...apologize for yesterday. I didn’t mean to come off as insensitive. I was just throwing out potential options. I am grateful that you have taken up the mantle to try and work with the club members. If there’s anything I can do to assist, please let me know.” Oka as genuine in her statement. She definitely wasn’t trying to make waves with anyone.

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@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 9th- Afternoon

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Forty percent?

How was the rest of the school supposed to function with such large cuts? It seems the adults in the situation didn’t take into consideration it’s students. They were mighty focused on presentation. Delinquency was sure to spike if there were going to be issues even stabilizing the clubs. If some were to be given up, then they’re going to have tons of students with too much time on their hands after school. They’d also run into the problem of if they did cut some clubs, what were they going to be? It was definitely a delicate situation that was placed on the Student Council, one that Oka was not too keen about.

But Oka knew that it would be very difficult to keep all the clubs with such small budgets.

“This is only a thought as of right now, but if we were to get rid of a club to help with the budget, which would it be?”Oka presented the question to her club members. If they had to resort to it, maybe they could randomly choose. If they were really pressed to impress the administration, they would focus on the clubs that garnered notoriety or truly benefited the school. Oka tried to think of how her father would likely make a decision like this. She was sure he would pick the latter option. It was the most logical, of course. Her father was always an enthusiast of Herbert Spencer’s take on social Darwinism: ‘Survival of the Fittest.’

She knew this option would evoke a negative response from her peers and likely lower her relationship points with them. Dammit Oka! This wasn’t the time to think of this in terms of Otome games!

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@Hero@Obscene Symphony

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 9th- Afternoon

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Sora was definitely a spirited first year, wasn’t he? They all seem to be full of so much energy when they first arrive. Oka immediately thought back of earlier this morning and the ruckus that followed after seeing the writing on the board about the President. With the way that the students were behaving, she wondered how long before the spirit in him began to fade.

Nakano-san interrupted her thoughts as she mentioned his positive marks from Hinotori Middle school and mentioned his likely interest in the Photography Club or the school’s newspaper team. “Ah, makes sense as to why you have that camera.” Oka remarked, finally taking a seat across from Nakano-san. Nakano-san had continued to mention what was on the menu for the Student Council. Of course Vice Principal Taniguchi was focused on delinquency in the school as if they were police officers or something.They were just a group of students.

Oka tried her best to hide the irritation on her face and instead sighed. She went on about the club budget and of course, Emiha would be needing some support. “It does indeed seem as though the Student Council will be pretty busy this year.” Of course the budgets were tight with these new renovations.

Much to her dismay. So much for an easy final year.

It was fine though, she was sure her father would be happy to hear how involved the Student Council is and their efforts to ‘reform the school.’ She was sure.

It was shortly after Sakuya’s brief message that Ueno-san arrived. Oka distinctively checked behind her, of course, to not see Ito Maki behind her. What could they have possibly spoken about when she left? Unfortunately she wasn’t able to catch even a whiff of it before she was interrupted by the second years. Oh well, seems like Ueno-san had made it in one piece. “Glad you could make it too Ueno-san.” Oka continued the trend she had started with Nakano-san.“It seems like we must have two busy bees this year.”Oka gave a half smile. She then continued. “The fourth person here is our kouhai, Kinoshita Sora, a first year. Nakano-san chose him to be our secretary. She also mentioned that we have a lot of work ahead of us this year.” Her hazel hues rest on Nakano-san again, waiting for her to elaborate more.

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@Obscene Symphony@Hero

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

April 9th- Afternoon

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It wasn’t before long that the door slid open and another student entered. Oka turned her attention away from the departing students and focused on him for a moment, paying close attention to his bag. She noticed for a split second a camera lens before he put it away and set the bag off to the side. Oka turned back around and silently opened up the window to let in the cool breeze. Once satisfied, she never took her place at one of the desks and instead remained by the window.

As he introduced himself, she remained internally cautious while still offering a polite smile. “Good afternoon, Kinoshita-san. You may very well already know me, but for the sake of introductions I’m Naomi Oka. This year I’m acting as Vice President.” She paused for a brief moment, choosing her words carefully. “I know that at times Student Council work can be a bit overwhelming for first years. But don’t worry, your senpais are here to help guide you if you have any issues.” Oka continued, casually.
.
It wasn’t long after Sora had arrived that Sakuya had then arrived as well. “Ah, Good afternoon Nakano-san. You seem to be a popular, busy little bee on the very first day of school.” Oka casually lifted her wrist to check her watch as if to look at the time. She was obviously teasing the President for her tardiness. It wasn’t like Sakuya to be late; but she could only assume that either the Principal or the Vice Principal were trying to be the puppet masters to Sakuya’s actions.

Now all that was left was for Emi to arrive. No doubt, Emi was getting herself into something she had no business. She recalled Emi staying back in class with It Maki, someone Oka just knew she had nothing in common with. She knew their conversation was most certainly not going to be about the weather. Oka would have to tease Emi as well for delaying them.

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@Hero