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[foolaround]

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[fooligans]

[ Should it come off as surprising that the first person Akira thought of after making way too much curry is Kotone? Probably not. ]

Hey, how's the curse practice going?
Have you got to the F-word or not yet?

[ Fantastic joke, really... ]

Also, what are your thoughts on curry?

un: orpheus

[foolaround]

getting there! i can almost say fuck now!
WAIT I DID IT

[ yes. yes she has, akira. ]

and curry is the best!

[fooligans]

You did it!!
Let's celebrate with curry, then.
I can bring it to your place or whatever works for you.

[ What is even going on, why are they like this. ]

[foolaround]

[ gremlins, both of them. ]

aww, akira, you know just the way to a girl's heart! ✨
my place works! [ and she rattles off her room number ]

[fooligans]

[ He's at her door no longer than fifteen minutes later but for some reason, he thinks it'll be funnier to text her instead of just knock. ]

Knock knock.

[ Why is he like this. ]

[foolaround]

[ aaaaand she's over there in a flash. ]

What, don't you kids knock anymore? [ kotone grins, opening the door wider and stepping aside, gesturing for him to follow. ] C'mon! I cleared the table.

[fooligans]

Next time I'll knock so you can hear me better, granny.

[ He's risking getting cursed for that comment but at least he brought two big bowls of curry—one for Kotone and one for himself. ]

If that's not enough, I'll make more next time.

[ Alternatively, she can always steal his curry!! ]

text

[fruitknife]

Hey. Had an idea.

I need a real kitchen and I need it last fucking month. Makoto offered the one at her house but I can't keep barging in on people. I also can't function with just a fucking microwave.

Want to look for a place together? We already know we won't kill each other. I'd ask Aki but

Looks like he's gone.

In theory I don't mind Ken being there if he wants to be, but in practice... the two of us probably need a little space from each other (we're working on it, don't start). Really the only person from home who's not fucking allowed in is Takaya, but I think we can all agree on that.

[foolaround]

omg i KNOW im so done w this hotel room setup, living in the dorm spoiled me

[ it beat group homes and distant foster parents any day. ]

thats a great idea! and if you don't text yukari abt it im gonna

and... yeah. i noticed, too

[ there's a lot to say there, and she doesn't know where to start, so she just moves on ]

i'm really glad you two are working on it

[fruitknife]

[Shinji wouldn't know from foster parents, but the dorm was one hell of a deal. And then in Liminal Space he figured out how to recreate it pretty quick (with some variations, since the whole group wasn't there or anything).]

Go for it.

At least this time I know I didn't imagine it. He hit Liminal Space for like, a minute. Dunno if anyone else even talked to him.

Good news is I think Takaya's gone too. The damn fires are apparently a dark-web thing. He would've fucking bragged about starting one by now. [If... nothing else, he's predictable?

Still, one of these departures is much better news than the other. Shinji's starting to think he's cursed, regarding Aki.]

Yeah, well. Two years of running from myself was enough and I haven't had the chance so far. Got dumped into Liminal Space like three days after graduation day and I missed him there (definitely not this Ken, timeline bullshit).

[foolaround]

good. i hadn't seen any more signs of him but i wasnt sure if i was just imagining it?

[ getting hopeful about that could've gone really badly. ]

strega lighting someone's coffin on fire would've been new. different from their usual thing

[fruitknife]

Still exactly the kind of chaos vector he'd jump on.

Hopefully he fucking stays gone. I did at least finally get to punch his smug face in, but if I never see him again it'll be too soon.

[Chidori Deserved Better Friends. Jin... it really depended on how far up Takaya's ass he was at any given time. But Chidori deserved better friends.]

[foolaround]

WISH i couldve seen that

i was lucky enough to not run into him face to face. saw him trying to do his whole cult leader thing again online though

backdated july event stuff!

[piercedyourheart]

[ yukari hates how quickly she falls into old haibts while wandering the dark, cold hallways of the hall. she steps lightly, bow held at the ready with an arrow notched, and prays the small orb of light she's conjured will last until she gets out of here. mitsuru would have chided her if she was aware how little yukari had practiced her newfound powers since her arrival. as a result, her range of sight is limited to 20 feet around her. the most she can see is the floor and the shimmering walls of floor-to-ceiling mirrors that meanincingly tower overhead.

she catches something out of the corner of her eye and whrils on her heel to face it, ready to strike a Shadow ...and only sees her reflection pointing an arrow straight at her own chest. ugh. stupid move. she rolls her eyes, lowering her bow and huffing in irritation at how jumpy she is.

and her reflection grins, an ugly, twisted thing that suits the unnerving yellow hue of her eyes. yukari--the one outside of the mirror--stares back, jaw slack. it--the yukari in the mirror, all too real and knowing--opens its mouth to speak when a noise in the far distance causes her to look away. when she turns back to the mirror, there's only her. pale, shaking, irises blown wide. a noise echoes down the hall again and yukari forces herself to move forward, bow again at the ready as she heads further in.

she doesn't dare look at the mirrors again.

it's another minute (or two or three, time has lost its meaning in here) before yukari sees the red hair and familiar outline of kotone. ]

Kotone? [ her shoulders relax for the first time since entering the hall. things were gonna be okay. she approaches her friend, words exhaled on a sigh of relief, ] Oh, thank god. You scared me, you know? I thought you were a monster or something.

[foolaround]

[ as yukari gets closer, kotone's expression resembles—for all the world—nothing so much as yukari's own stricken and fearful look a few moments ago. kotone's voice is audible as yukari gets closer, but... wrong. and the girl in front of her isn't saying a word. ]

—just take my hand! [ the mockery of kotone croons in its warped and echoing voice, stigmatic palms oozing dark, thick blood. as the reflection raises its hand, a small hole through it becomes apparent. ] C'mon, cipher!

[ the reflection chirps that, yellow eyes flashing. ]

You heard Igor. You know all the masks we've worn. Why not make it easy on yourself? We can finally, finally be perfect!

[ kotone backs up half a step, grip tightening on her naginata and barely acknowledging her friend's presence. what the hell is this? ]

[piercedyourheart]

[ whatever relief yukari felt before is washed away by a wave of dread. kotone's voice is normally a steady sense of comfort, upbeat and cheerful with a depth of sincerity that lay just below the surface if you paid attention. it's embarrassing to admit, even to herself, but there are many times when the voice in her head is replaced by kotone, ever cheering her on.

yet this voice slows her steps, quickens her breathing. and the yellow eyes, the blood on her hands, the holes in them.... she can barely keep up with what the reflection is saying. cipher? igor? her head is swimming with lots of questions that can wait until this awful, messed up place is far behind them. ]

She doesn't need to be perfect, [ she snaps at the reflection, glare stony as she puts her hand on kotone's shoulder. ] And she's not going anywhere with you.

[foolaround]

[ the reflection turns, grin widening. there's something oddly... plastic, about the girl in the mirror. the real kotone is silent, shaken in a way that she'd never let herself show before any of their major battles, even as she leans slightly into yukari's touch, shifting closer to her. ]

Oh, hi Yukari! [ the shadow looks to kotone again. ] See? How many times did we make sure we had a Lovers Persona on us before we'd go somewhere with her? So we'd mirror her just right? Not just her, all of them! They didn't like you, they liked what you showed them.

So come on! Let's get rid of everything they don't like, Kotone! Just be a doll the world can adore! It hurts less than trying to be a real girl...

[piercedyourheart]

You're wrong.

[ yukari's voice is like steel, her brown eyes dark with anger. (and her touch remains ever soft.) ]

I don't know what you're talking about and I really don't care at this point, but you're wrong. [ she pauses and turns to look at the kotone next to her who looks more frightened than she's ever seen her. ] Even when you tried pushing me away at first and I got upset, I wanted to be your friend, deep down. And you still are. You always have been and--

[ the words are tumbling over each other in the rush to get them out. it's what she should have said when they had more time, things she wanted to say on gekkoukan's roof on that day in march. ]

Kotone, [ her hand drops from her shoulder to her wrist, gripping it lightly, ] there's never been anything you need to get rid of or change for me to care about you.

[foolaround]

[ kotone finally looks at yukari, turning her attention fully to her friend and not the shadow in the mirror as that rushing defense spills out. her mouth hangs slightly open and there's a searching look in her eyes, taking in yukari's expression, the sound of her voice. even with that anger, she's being so...

gentle. even now. even to her.

kotone's eyes widen when yukari takes her wrist and starts talking to her, and what she says... there's an ugly part of herself, even now, that screams it can't be true. even if yukari isn't lying consciously, if anyone knew how damaged she really was, saw how weak she was, then surely... but even so. it's impossible to miss the sincerity in this. she knew her friends cared about her, but with so many of them she'd never been fully able to shake old habits, or the feeling it was somehow... conditional. transactional, in a way. she loved them all dearly, she had wanted to stay with them, but— ]

Yukari... [ her voice is small when she speaks up, cracking on the final syllable of her name. she thinks back to their conversation on the beach at yakushima, that heart to heart in the dark hour while yukari felt her world crumbling around her. she reaches out, grasping yukari's other wrist in her free hand.

the shadow flickers out, leaving the two's normal reflections in its place. ]

text; un: firecracker

[thepunshow]

So if you think and dream in your voice
Does mean that your dog thinks in his own barks

[foolaround]

[ who even is this. doesn't matter, she's into it. ]

GREAT question

probably? it's basically language right??? i know someone who can understand dogs so i bet it works like that ￣へ￣

[thepunshow]

[ wait, who is this. oops. whatever, they're enthusiastic and willing to talk so she can only answer in kind. ]

Thank you for the compliment, I thought long and hard on it
And yeah, exactly! They talk to us and each other in barks so why not think in barks
Could they actually talk to dogs???

[foolaround]

iiiii meeeeaaaan
sort of???
she always basically got what koromaru was trying to say, and she had a bunch of strays figured out too

[thepunshow]

That is
Really really
Cool
So what are their usual thoughts????? Is it just stuff like "I'm hungry" or deeper than that

[foolaround]

[ she attaches a picture of koromaru sprawled out on the couch. ]

he has a deep and complex inner life we can never hope to grasp (￣m￣）