Two people walk into a bar...

[sank]

[ 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. ]

Comments

[sank]

[ 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. ]

[andallforone]

... [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...

[sank]

[ 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.

[andallforone]

[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.]

That running icon is so cute

[sank]

[ 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. ]

all of his icons are cute

[andallforone]

[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?

He is too much cute for me!

[sank]

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.

[andallforone]

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

[sank]

[ 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?

[andallforone]

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

Yeah. To me.

[sank]

[ 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.

[andallforone]

[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.

[sank]

[ 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. ]

[andallforone]

[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?

[sank]

[ 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. ]

[andallforone]

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.

[sank]

[ 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. ]

[andallforone]

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

Thanks, senpai.

[sank]

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

Where do you think we are?

[andallforone]

Middle of a horror movie?

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

[sank]

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. ]