jigoku_logs | Two people walk into a bar...

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Two people walk into a bar...

[ WHO ]: Saki Konishi, Yosuke Hanamura.
[ WHERE ]: The maze. All night long.

…no, just kidding.
[ WHEN ]: From March 26 (evening) to March 27 (morning).
[ OPEN/CLOSED? ]: Closed.
[ RATING ]: May be PG-13 for language?
[ WARNINGS ]: Saki and Yosuke. They’re a warning.

[ The first time Saki ventures outside of the apartment building, it's only the second day of her stay in this place and she slips out too early in the morning, before anyone can notice her. She had been told how dangerous it was, but had quietly disregarded the moment the walls felt too suffocating and the air thick with pressure. She's out maybe ten minutes, the grass still dewy and the sun only half risen, before spotting someone she didn't recognise pulled her back and away. She has about eighteen different "Rule One"s, half of which she ignores at her leisure, but in places like this don't trust the locals is definitely one of them.

The second time she ventures out, she makes it as far as police station. Although seeing nothing and nobody, the quiet and the empty streets is enough to unsettle her all the way back to the complex. The third time, she lingers perhaps a bit longingly at the foot of the library building before deciding going in wouldn't be the best idea. That time, she has to run back to the apartment building (not hard, but nerve wracking, terror she will never admit to) and it's a few days before she goes out again.

Saki puts less effort into sneaking out this time, and the way the evening breeze hits her face is a reward in itself. She's curious to see if the city changes at all at night but stays purposefully close to the apartment block.

So taking a few steps inside the maze isn't a problem, right? Just a peak and she'll be out again. ]

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[Yosuke had been making his way back upstairs from the laundry room (he'd just put on a load to wash) when he caught sight of Saki leaving the building. His stomach instantly twisted with nerves that had nothing to do with how he always felt in the apartments. He still felt uncertain about seeing her here - happy in a way, that she was there and alive and - and - well. But He was still nervous, especially of her safety.

So he decided to follow her.

The groaning thing curled up at the foot of the stairwell on the first floor had only cemented it.

Unlike last time he'd been out of the apartments, the fog wasn't quite so thick. Since that was the case, it'd been fairly easy for him to catch sight of her and run to catch up.]

Senpai? Senpai!

[ The voice surprises her, pulling her out of her thoughts and Saki turns a few paces into the maze to look at him. Her hands go immediately clasp behind her back and, unseen, she pulls off her wedding band and keeps it locked tight in her right fist. ]

Hanamura, hey, [ she greets, a bit breathy. In the time she was in Demeleier (and he was and wasn't) she only got better at her fake smiles. ] Where did you come from, I didn't even see—

[ Not caring that Saki's in the middle of her sentence, the maze gates swing close with a loud clang, effortlessly locking into place. ]

...you.

[His spine stiffens as the gates close, and he walks up to them and tries to fiddle with the latch and the lock. When no rational way of opening them presents itself, he bites his lip hard and begins to rattle them a bit.] Ah - shit, shit, come on...

[ She skips the lock entirely and starts to attempt to climb the gate. Gaining footing takes a moment, forcing Saki to step up a little higher than she's generally capable. Scaling it starts easy enough, gaining a bit of height, but when she wraps her hand around a decorative clutch, it disappears from her grasp and leaves her clutching only air.

Losing her balance and her grip, she falls soundly, only just managing to stay on her feet. ]

Man, [ she says quietly, only loud enough for him to hear. ] Something out there really hates us.

[ Her right hand dips into her pocket, taking the opportunity to drop the ring in there and pull out her phone. With a rueful, resigned little smile, she holds it up. ] Who y'gonna call?

[ It's funny because she quoted Ghostbusters. ]

[He reaches out to steady her, and glares up at the fence as the clutch winks back into existance.] Jeez. Probably every single something out here, huh? [He shakes his head, disgusted.]

And I don't think Ghostbusters set up shop here... who knows. Souji, maybe?

[He turns to look in at the maze.]

No way I'm sleeping in here tonight.

[ She tries it, at any rate. There's a ring, a click, and then nothing but static and dead noise while Saki shouts Souji's name into the receiver a few useless times. Finally, she clicks the device off and lets it drop back to her side, arms hanging loosely. ]

No good, I can't get through.

[He tries on his own, just in case hers is acting up. No dice. He closed it with a snap.] Damn...

[He glances at the gates again.]

Could try giving a leg up...?

[ Saki starts to agree, getting a single sound out— ]

Did you kill me? [ The voice comes from the other side of the gate, two arms stretching through the grated openings, open eyes splayed across his palms and blinking at them.

Saki jerks purposefully back, away, closer to Yosuke's elbow. ]

Unless you're gonna summon that Purse-thing of yours, I'm good here.

[He doesn't register the weirdness that she knows about his Persona because WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! He takes a step back, arm out over Saki, making her take a step back too. Eyes in the palm, staring right at them, looking, asking if they'd killed - ]

Is that -

[The Magician card is floating in his right hand, a pale and cold light in the darkness of the maze otherwise. Yosuke barely registers it as there.

Tenome was a pretty well known ghost back home, especially since a western filmmaker had used him as a basis for one of his most memorable monsters in his super creepy film. Yosuke's mouth is wide open. First the Teketeke, now him? What, would he get home and Hanako-san would be in his toilet?!]

Senpai... we should... probably get out of his vision...

[ She makes a tight little noise of affirmation, willing her feet to work again. Against that thing leaning into the gate's bars, against the sickly blue light of Hanamura's card, she can feel an old panic swelling up from her chest to her throat —

The man lunges against the gate, shouting profusely at them, all yellowing teeth and a gnashing jaw. ]

Run, [ she manages, a harsh and inarguable sort of whisper. She's become quite good at running, mostly out of necessity. When Yosuke turns, she will too. ]

[She doesn't need to tell him twice. Turning on his heel, Yosuke grabs her by the wrist and starts to run. He's fast - always has been - and though he's sure Saki is fast too he doesn't want to risk going one way in a maze and her going the other.

The gates creak ominously as Tenome continues rattling at them, hissing and spitting curses at their retreating backs.]

[ She has no issue keeping his pace, her past year spent in Demeleier having trained her well. While the constant push and pull between her grave and anywhere else may leave some cobwebs and stickiness in her joints, it's easily done away with. Walking is only difficult the first day she "wakes up".

She only tugs her arm away when a few minutes past no longer hearing the rattling of the gate, the venom of the mysterious man, stopping to catch her breath. ] I think, [ she pants, only a bit, ] —we're good.

Yeah. [He's breathing a little heavier, but the run didn't take too much out of him. He does wipe his brow with his sleeve, though - cold sweat. The card has disappeared.]

Can't these guys ever take 'no' for an answer...?

Wow, you almost sound like a girl. [ She doesn't mean it in a deprecating way, her mouth twisting in a quick smile she throws his way. She sits haplessly on the cool grass. The hedge walls aren't the comfiest lean, but it supports her back all the same. ]

We might be here for a while, [ which is why she's making herself comfortable. As comfortable as she can be, at any rate. ] Wanna play truth or dare?

[Nevertheless, he's quick to say] No I don't!

[After a moment, he sighs and sits across from her, a little to the right. His kunai are slipped out of his sleeves and placed on the ground beside them. Just in case.]

.... Fine. Truth or dare. In a place like this... well what more could go wrong.

[ She can't keep herself from rolling her eyes at his hasty denial, but all comments are kept to herself. ]

Uh. [ Saki stretches her legs out in front of her, running her hands up to her bent knees. ] Dare.

[Back at home, he might have been able to squeak something about her daring to go on a date with him or something. Here, now, with everything... he can't. But that means he has to make up another dare, and he can't think of anything. Urgh...

He screws up his face.]

All right, uh... I dare you to...

[He glances around, sees a crow sitting on the edge of the hedge, and points at it.] Share your next meal with one of them! Completely halves. No giving yourself a 'bigger half' either.

[Wow.]

[That sucked.]

[ I'VE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE. ]

[ It's so ridiculous, and so unfortunate, that all Saki can do is choke out a laugh. ] Sure. My next meal. Hear that, crow?

[ It gives a toss of its head and flies away. ]

It's cool, he knows I never go back on a dare. [ She smiles back up at Yosuke. ] Your turn.

[Yosuke watches the crow fly off. Nuts. He'd been hoping that was one of the ones Mika had talked about, that helped you out of places. Oh well.]

Uh...

... Dare, I guess.

[ Her eyes skim across the darkening sky, finding the first blinking star and keeping to it. ]

Show me your Purse-thing.

[ Her hands clasp together over her knees and without even realizing it, Saki starts favouring her empty ring finger. ]

[Yosuke blinks, surprised. Now it comes to him. How the hell does she know...? Had she seen Souji or Adachi's when they showed up here?]

Uh... you sure?

[ Her eyelashes flicker the tiniest bit. After all this, has she given him any reason to think she doesn't know her own mind?

Of course, he's not the Hanamura she had spent a year with in Demeleier. ]

Yeah. I dared you, right? [ Her smile flickers, there and then gone. ]

[It was more for his own benefit than hers; it's a little - well. Slightly personal, almost. Using Susano-O to fight in the TV world to save people was one thing... using him as a party trick seemed weirdly invasive.

But, well, this was Senpai. She'd never let it go if he backed out of a dare.

So he sighs, summons the card, and crushes it in his hand. The persona appears between them, floating a few feet off of the ground.]

[ She's up and on her feet in an instant, darting a few feet back and hovering too close to the hedged wall, as if expecting it to protect her.

Saki isn't sure what it reminds her of. Magatsu Izanagi, smelling like ash and offering her death. The TV world, too bright, forcing her through things thicker than blood.

She doesn't want to, but she finds it terrifying. ]

Okay, [ she finally says, clipped and quiet and ashamed. ] You can— [ put it back in your pocket? ]

[Her reaction surprises him, and he dismisses the persona in a flash. Was she scared? That was... weird, he guesses. All the same, he's glad she didn't see Susano-O for too long. He finds he doesn't actually seeing that part of him.

He clears his throat.] Truth or dare kind of sucks. Let's do something el -

[A low grinding sound comes from the end of the path they've stopped at. He looks down the way, then gets to his feet.]

... Something else like walking away, maybe.

[ She hears the noise but is focusing entirely on him, her gaze holding on his retreating back as she doesn't move.

(If she can't see it, there's nothing to be afraid of.

She can outrun everything in this place, or so she believes, but him — Hanamura Yosuke, is permanent, and that leaves her far more timid than anything this town can throw at her.)

She blurts out, ]

We're married.

[ And then, she's mentally facepalming so hard, because now he's going to think she's even crazier than he already does. ]

... [He didn't hear her right, did he?

Or was she choosing a really awkward moment to shit him up?]

Senpai, I don't mean this nastily or anything but - this really isn't the time for jokes. I really don't wanna get cornered here...

[ At his words, the hand that had been halfway to her pocket halts abruptly, before tucking behind her back altogether.

This may be the first time he managed to genuinely hurt her feelings, and Saki’s smile is a little crinkly in the direct aftermath. ]

Yeah, sure. Whatever. Lead the way.

[He doesn't really pay it any mind. Whatever she's stalling for isn't affecting the sound of the thing grinding and squelching towards them. He grabs her wrist again and sets off at a run.]

[ She stops him a few minutes into it, when they're considerably deeper into the maze and the squelching sounds have becoming effectively silenced from the distance.

Stops him by tugging her wrist away, pulling her arms close to her chest. She isn't sure when his touch became so hard to bear, but pushes the thoughts aside. ]

It's cool, I can't hear it anymore.

[ It's completely dark out now, the sun's last lights having faded and leaving only stars and inky blackness. ]

Hey, when we spoke last --

[ She pauses to gauge his reaction, looking up at him. ]

[He pants a bit, breathing heavily.] I think - that they're attracted to anything kind of supernatural, like Susano-O is.

[He says it at the exact same time Saki said her piece, and he stops, closing his mouth and looking at her curiously.] Sorry, what?

Nothing, [ she says, almost immediately. Shaking her head, she smiles ruefully. ]

Sorry. I guess that was my fault, huh. [ She had heard his words, even as they had overlapped with his, and taps her forehead near the temple. ] Sometimes I'm not that bright.

Huh? [He shakes his head.] No way. How were you meant to know?

[ She doesn't answer the question, instead meeting his eyes with a certain stolid wariness. ]

You know, Adachi's... Persona... had talked. Sort of.

[ Yes, she does know the word. It's just easier to be disrespectful about it. ]

Does yours do that?

[He closes his eyes, sucks a breath, lets it out through his nose.]

Yeah. To me.

[ She sits down, pulling up her knees -- but there's a certain straightness to her spine that hadn't been there before. The moment she needs to be up, she will be. ]

You make it sound so harmless.

I was gonna say earlier -- if there's anything you don't get or wanna know, you can ask. I mean, [ her eyes drop, ] whatever Seta hasn't already told you.

[He mutters something too low for her to hear, but it might sound something like 'so a lot, then...'

He gives a sigh and sits down opposite her.]

I'll do that. Don't worry... a lot of things don't make sense. I just gotta think through why they don't and if I want to know.

[ Saki reaches into her pocket and starts to fiddle with something too small for him to see.

Something occurs to her and she smiles, leaning forward on her knees. ]

One time, you accidentally broadcast yourself singing along to... some song. [ She skips over not knowing what the song was, knowing full well it was after her expiration date. ] I mean, you acted like it was an accident. You were just messing around; things had gotten bad and I guess we all needed something to laugh at.

Another time, you took a TV out of my room because I couldn't relax with it there, [ she adds, a bit quieter in tone. She's not about to begin to explain the mansion, the Guardian, the brief but welcomed treat of indoor plumbing and electricity. ] And... another time, I was sad and missing someone important to me, and you climbed the entire temple just to sit there beside me and cheer me up.

[ Saki hears her voice start to break as she gets to those last few words. Not giving herself a moment to hesitate, she tosses the ring at him. ]

[He listens to her, mouth opening as she keeps going, and then he flinches back as she throws the ring at him. It bounces off his cheek, but his hands are quick and he grabs it before it lands on the on earth between them.

Looking at her, and then at the ring, he's not sure what to say. There's a lot of uncomfortable emotions and he almost feels like she's trying to make him something he's not, but also that she's trying to remember someone he isn't being right now.

He licks his lips, not sure.]

You... were serious, huh?

[ She nods. ]

We were there for a year. A lot happened.

[ After a moment, she ducks her head, giving a breathy laugh. ]

It was an accident. We weren't together, we didn't mean to.

[ That doesn't make any of the other stuff less real, though. ]

Heh... [He holds onto the ring for a little bit longer, then holds it out to her.]

I'm sorry, senpai... I wish I could remember.

... I hope I can be like I was there, too.

[ Rather than take the ring back, she gets up, shifting so she's sitting beside him, shoulder against shoulder. Only then does she pluck the ring from where he's offering it, holding it tight within her curled fist. ]

You're a good guy. I have faith in you.

[ Not a good kid, or a good man -- he's surpassed the former and she's not ready to see him at the latter. This is a comfortable, fair middle. ]

[He smiles a bit, feeling a lot more comfortable beside her than he had since she came in here.]

Thanks, senpai.

[ She doesn’t look back at him, instead tipping her face toward the sky. ]

Where do you think we are?

Middle of a horror movie?

[He snorts after a beat, a derisive sort of laugh.] Feels like it, anyway.

When you were living in Inaba, did you ever hear of the story of the Shrine Lady Kiyoko?

[ It's unlikely, as it was only told to Saki when she was a child and had otherwise fallen out from being Inaba's main urban legend by the time she started high school. It's also not true, but that's the last thing she's going to confirm. ]

Her statue was in the shrine for years. She wasn't a priestess, but apparently Kiyoko's family had built the shrine and maintained it, so when they needed someone to sit for Ame-no-Uzume, they picked her. When she was left at the altar a few years later, she committed suicide. Like, fifty years later, there was this group of kids that were really popular at the school, and anyone who wanted to join their group had to spend a night in the lap of Kiyoko's statue.

[ Saki starts off telling the story plainly, her voice losing little from its normal disinterested pitch. As she gets into it, however, tonal embellishments are added — and the noise from the natural parts of the maze, wind rustling the leaves and the crows cawing over head only adds to the atmosphere. ]

This one girl, Ami, she really wanted to join the group to impress this guy she liked. So she did the dare, thinking nothing could hurt her. Inaba was a safe town, and nothing had ever gone wrong when anyone else took the challenge.

The next morning, they found her cold, lifeless body draped in the statue's arms. It turned out that her great-grandfather was the man who had left Kiyoko at the altar all those years ago.

[ It's very likely Saki's getting the math wrong, but she doesn't give it any true consideration. Fifty years could equal great-grandfather, why not?

Mostly she's just disappointed she doesn't have a flashlight to shine under her face. ]

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Two people walk into a bar...

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That running icon is so cute

all of his icons are cute

He is too much cute for me!

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