Who's the Boss?
   
  

/=========================( - Junes - Food Court - )=========================\ 
|                                                                              |
|  Situated upon the roof of Junes, the Food Court is billed as a place to     |
| relax and have an affordable (read: absolutely disgusting) snack or two. A   |
| popular hangout place all the same, it's easy to find crowds sitting around  |
| tables or children playing in the small playground in the center at nearly   |
| all times of the day.                                                        |
|  Innumerable food stalls are set around the perimeter, with ample space      |
| given in consideration to line sizes that are more wishful thinking than     |
| matching the actual demand for refreshments. Bad weather is only kept at     |
| bay by strategically placed umbrellas and awnings around the court. From     |
| large wooden benches you'd see in parks to smaller, classier round tables    |
| outside cafes, the seating is wildly varied as the food offered (the         |
| quality of said food, sadly, not varying any from being disgusting).         |
|  Due to speakers blaring the commercial jingle nonstop, it can be hard to    |
| eavesdrop on conversations without coming very cloe to a group. This makes   |
| it a great place for a secret headquarters between collaborators. In turn,   |
| it is a terrible place to study for upcoming exams or what have you.         |
|===============================( - Players - )================================|

|===============================( - Objects - )================================|

|================================( - Exits - )=================================|
| Elevator <E>:            Inaba - Junes Dept. Store                           |
 \============================================================================/
After the difficult events in his dungeon, and after his brief recovery, Fumiya has finally returned to Inaba. He went back to Port Island at his parent's request, more of a demand really, and they made him take it easy for a couple of days when they saw how exhausted he was. To have his folks dote on him, even briefly, especially with his little brother offering to help him out... well, it really put things in perspective.

But all that came to an end, and eventually they grilled him on what exactly happened, where he was, why he was missing, and he did his best to come up with a cover story. Eventually they were satisfied, and back to the sleepy town he went.

Today he heads to Junes, still a bit tired, but not totally drained. His usual loud neon clothes offend the various people who dare to look in his direction, but he's not doing anything to draw attention to himself besides that. He just heads up to the food court to take a look around.

See who's out and about...


[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis cellphone.
[RADIO] To Aigis, Fumiya Watanabe radios: "'Sup, Aigis-babe?"
[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis radios: "I wanted to check in with you. How are you feeling?"
[RADIO] To Aigis, Fumiya Watanabe radios: "Uh, fine now, I guess. I'm not beat anymore, anyway. Er, thanks."
[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis radios: "You are welcome. What do you want to do now?"
[RADIO] To Aigis, Fumiya Watanabe radios: "What do I /want/ to do now? Huh, that's actually a good question. For now I guess I wanna get filled in on the stuff I'm still missing. In fact, I'm on my way to the Junes Food Court to see if anyone 'in the know' is hanging around."
[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis radios: "Oh I see. They would be able to fill you in on a lot. Feel free to drop by the SEES dorm in Port Island if you're curious about what we do there, too."
[RADIO] To Aigis, Fumiya Watanabe radios: "Yeah, I'll be sure to do that. I need to thank Shiki and Yuuka too."
[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis radios: "And Thora-Chan."
[RADIO] To Aigis, Fumiya Watanabe radios: "Y-yeah, of course. I was just talking about you Port Island guys."
[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis radios: "She seemed particularly worried, that's all, though I may have misinterpreted."
[RADIO] To Aigis, Fumiya Watanabe radios: "Well she's probably eager to have words with me, you're right about that. But I deserve anything she says... and anything she doesn't say."
[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis radios: "I suppose I am not one who understands these things easily, but I am glad you are taking the pains to become a better person. I think she'll recognize that, even if you hurt her before, if you're honest about it. I am sorry myself I hadn't informed you of the danger earlier."
[RADIO] To Aigis, Fumiya Watanabe radios: "If you say so. You're more straightforward than most people anyway. But I'll keep that in mind, you might be right."
[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis radios: "She is a good person, merely aggressive."
[RADIO] To Aigis, Fumiya Watanabe chuckles "'Merely', huh? Well, you're not wrong. But listen, I gotta fly, I see Shirou and another dude here. I'll be heading to Port Island soon enough, probably after I get chewed out for missing exams."
[RADIO] To Fumiya Watanabe, Aigis radios: "See you again soon, Fumiya-San. Take care."


Shirou's there, of course. He hates to be at his own home after all, and he's nibbling on some of the steak, just... relaxing. Seriously, he looks a lot better himself, having avoided anything to do with Kandori, and no one's in the TV, and exams are over, and everything is /good/ in the world... for now.

His bookbag is down at his chair as he reads a graphic novel, translated from English, with a white skinned man with black robes and black hair that speaks in black ovals with white lettering... seems oddly familiar to the boy.


Onto the idle scene walks Souji, looking as content as ever, dressed in his usual attire. In his hands, a tray of some manner of lunch purchased from the food Court. Spotting the two others, he raises a slight wave and approaches. Even though Fumiya is dressed as, erm, vibrantly as usual, his attention is drawn more to Shirou, who had apparently been through some rough days of late. "Hello there, Sekigawa-san," he then turns Fumiya, the most recent victim and greets him as well, "and you, Watanabe-san. You both seem to be doing better."


As he walks throught he food court, Fumiya pauses for a moment as his cell phone rings. After talking for a few minutes he hangs up and heads into the food court proper.

His eyes immediately settle on Shirou, and Fumiya wastes no time heading over. He's just the person, or just the 'type' of person anyway Fumiya was looking for. "Hey, uh, Shirou." The 80s kid starts off, awkwardly. "Mind if I have a seat?" Not inviting himself for once, maybe he's still tired?

Though invited or not he takes the seat anyway, he hasn't gotten /that/ polite. "Listen, I, uh..." He stumbles on his words, though it should be obvious what he's concerned about. "Kinda wish everyone were here at once, I'm not good at this stuff. But thanks, for, you know, everything. Including trying to warn me. Um... sorry I didn't listen---"

He breaks off when Souji appears, and blinks. "Oh hey." He only met the guy once, but he has been told a bit about him. Including that he was 'in the know' on this stuff. "I guess I was bound to meet you again sooner or later."


Shirou just waves Fumiya into a seat, his mouth full of steak, not expecting him. He gulps it down a bit, wiping his mouth off with a napkin before nodding to Souji as well. "Err... Seta-senpai, Fumiya. 's good to see you both."

He smiles just a bit, pointing a fork at Fumiya. "You're damn right you should have listened. When I tell you I'm serious, I mean it." He points the fork back to his face. "See this face? This is my serious face." Just be glad it's not a Death Glare. He's been working on it.

"But it's alright, I suppose. You've helped to prove my theories about... our unsub. I just wish we had the time to set up a sting opperation. He works fast." He mms a bit, eyes closing a bit, the wheels turning already. "Shion-sama was on TV not too long ago. Might have to be ready to save her next. The fact she's in a hospital now makes it easier and harder..."


Souji looks between the two and says firmly, "Well, I'm glad both of you are alright, regardless." Hearing Shirou's idea, he nods and affirms, "Yes, we should probably keep an eye on her, then."

"Have you heard anything about the other going-ons?" He inquires, seeming genuinely perplexed. He's been focusing on the TV disappearances for awhile and fears he's a bit behind on the other going-ons, such as this 'death cult' and the KNOWS complex.


Serious Shirou is Serious, indeed. Fumiya tries not to smirk. He gets the point, honest. He nods. "Theories, huh?" Fumiya leans back in the chair, folding his arms. He puts on a /serious business/ expression too. "Actually, that's a good point. I may have been taken by that jerk, but I should tell you guys what I remember..."

Looking back and forth between Shirou and Souji, he frowns. "Though, maybe I should wait till there's more of you guys? You all have, like, a group and stuff, right? I know Thora, Hanamura, Amagi and Satonaka are all in on it too. We should probably get a few of them together sometime this week..." He suggests, and not just because he wants to have other people around the next time he sees Thora.

Though it might be part of it.

He glances at Souji at his questions, and shrugs. "I've been sleeping that exhaustion off, man. Though I think it's obvious now that KNOWS complex is bad news."


"Oh, no. Tell me if you know anything Fumiya. I mean it." Shirou's... really taken all this to heart, really. "But, err... as for the death cult, that's Strega. I know Thora's done a lot of buisness herself, dunno much myself. The /other/ power group is the KNOWS complex, yeah. Part of SEBEC, it's run here by a girl name... Farah, I think. The main guy of SEBEC is Takahisa Kandori." His face visibly darkens just /saying/ the name.

"Tried to send Sun Mall in Lunarville into Hell. While I was in it. Tried to send a zombie against Fumiya here." He nods a bit. "He can ... I dunno, warp reality to a degree. He tried to stop us getting to Fumiya. Bad News, and extremely dangerous. Not our unsub though." He errs a bit. "Unsub being Unidentified Subject. Easier to say in public then 'killer'."


Souji nods as he takes all of this in. He puts his hand to his chin, pondering a course of action based on all of this. First, he answers Fumiya's question, "Yes, we'll definitely be getting together sometime this week to discuss and investigate this further. We'd appreciate whatever you can tell us, although if previous victims are in indication," he stops himself. Think positive. He then looks to Shirou, "Yes, I've been hearing plenty about this Kandori character, and nothing good. I definitely want to have a look into the nearby facility sometime soon.


Fumiya doesn't volunteer the information right away. "Maybe if we had a few more heads banging together, be patient Shibrou. Besides, I don't want you to run off with the choice intel I give you." He smirks. Perhaps he can still be a /little/ bit of an attention seeking brat.

Though his train of thought is promptly de-railed when Shirou mentions that Farah is in charge of the KNOWS complex. Fumiya obviously has not been keeping up with the news. "Wait, Farah... /Farah Newmann/?" He asks in disbelief. "That... really klutzy foriegner? She was at the Paulownia Mall that night when the Zombie went after me. Though.... I don't remember everything clearly, I don't /think/ she was involved. At least, she looked pretty frazzled herself after it all ended if I'm right. She doesn't strike me as someone who could tell a convincing lie."

Fumiya sighs, and shrugs. He wishes he were fully in on this stuff earlier, now he has to think back on everything that's happened to him since moving to Inaba to decide if it was super-natural or not. What a pain.

Shaking his head, Fumiya tries to steer the conversation back to stuff that's easier for him to get his head around right now. "So you guys /do/ have some kind of formal arrangement, huh? Are you part of that SEES thing Shiki mentioned? The Inaba-branch, maybe?"


Shirou grunts a little. "Dunno if it was Newmann or not. Saw her with Kandori at his fancy dress ball... don't ask Fumiya, just... it was weird." He murmers, rubbing his forehead just a bit. "Fine, fine, we can wait. But no, not SEES. We're... well, loosely affliliated with the Kuzunoha Detective Agency. Seta-san here could tell you more, or Shirogane-san."


Well, whoever's in charge there, " Souji remarks as he hears the two out, "I'd like to know what they're up to in there and how they're tied to this 'Kandori' fellow." The silver-haired boy sighs, looking between the two of them, Call it stating the obvious, but he says something that seems to be on everyone's minds these days, "You know, I've been thinking, why -here- for all of this to happen? I mean, this is effective 'Middle of Nowhere, Japan'. No offense, of course it's a nice place, but there's not even some big legend about this town."

"By the way," Souji promptly changes the subject before one of the two turns out to be a passionate local,"I heard something about some 'death cult' that Chie and Michiru were looking into. Would either of you know anything about that?"


Fumiya taps his chin, and his expression is blank for a moment. "Well, I guess. I don't know her much either, but I haven't met any other 'Farah' around here." Not that he's been TRYING to get personally acquainted with every babe in Inaba...

Yes he has.

Fumiya just shakes his head at the mention of Kandori again. "I dunno man. I just know him by heresay. And, I guess he horned in on my... uh, TV... thing." He's not even sure what to call it, or what he SHOULD call it in public. "But, uh, about this place? No clue. I never came across any of this supernatural stuff before moving here. I'm from Port Island. But, AFTER I moved here, I started seeing this crap whenever I went back /there/ too. So I dunno if coming here did it, or if this is all something that just... 'started' recently."

Fumiya remains quiet on the talk of Death Cult. He knows about as much as Souji. Probably less.


"I really don't know much about Strega, sorry. I know far too much and too little about Kandori though. I've had... too many encounters with the man." He mms just a bit, eating a bit more of his steak.

"Why here? ...why not, I suppose. The unsub has been picking people that appear on the TV. ...why. /Why/ is what I want to know. People appear on the TV, then the Midnight Channel, then they're kidnapped, then we have to save them. Is he jealouse?" He eyes Fumiya just a bit. "Good thing you're pretty much in the clear then, eh?" he teases a bit. "I've lived here all my life, Souji-senpai. And I couldn't tell you either. The biggest 'legend' we have is the supposed Guardian of the River. Nothing used to happen here till this year. ..hmm, this year. Maybe I should check a few of the old prophets, maybe the Mayans... illogical, but at this point I'll take any port in the storm..."


"You need to fill me in more on that guy, by the way." Fumiya says to Shirou as he talks about Kandori. "I tagged his property, even though he didn't seem to mind. I don't buy it though. Plus he got in the way of you guys trying to save my ass. I don't think he has a specific beef with me, but I'd still like to pound him one."

Huh, speaking of. Fumiya idly glances around to make sure no one is close enough to overhear. "And, uh, about that. I haven't tried to use, um, 'that' yet. I've been guessing it'll come naturally if I ever come across another supernatural monster. I'd like to be of help, but I guess I gotta learn the ropes first, huh?"


Souji looks between the two of them. So, Fumiya wasn't familiar with his Persona yet. That was no problem. "It's alright," Souji explains, "most people don't get to using it right away. Don't feel obligated to help us, but if you ever want to tag along on our investigations or expeditions into the TV, you're more than welcome."

Then, turning to Shirou he says, "I definitely think we need to do something regarding SEBEC and this Kandori guy sometime this week. It's another we should probably bring up when we're all together."


"Agreed. And yeah, Fumiya... If you want in, just say the word." He nods to Souji a bit. "You can choose how deep to follow the rabbit hole, as it were. I'm in for the long haul..." He smiles just a bit, sipping on a soda as he folds up his book. "And honestly Fumiya... I oughtta smack you. But I guess eveyone's got their faces to hide.... and that reminds me, I ought to work on a costume." He says a little ramblingly, eyes closing a touch.


"Well, it's not so much feeling obligated..." Fumiya fidgets. "... I guess it's more that, this is what I've gotten myself into. And, believe me, I worked damn hard to get myself tangled up in this whether I should have or not. I'm not about to sit in this power and do nothing while you guys are playing hero."

But he will probably need some fighting experience. Fighting shadows with a Persona isn't like fighting off thugs and morons in the back alleys of Port Island.

Fumiya just grins, impishly, at Shirou. "You've already smacked something that looks like me. That'll have to do for now." He pauses. "Costume? For what?"


"Sometimes? It's easier to ask the questions when people don't know who you are." Shirou says quietly, eyes closing. "Something I learned from these American comics... my uncle sent me a bunch a while ago, getting back into them for some reason."


"Costume? What do you mean?" Souji asks perplexedly. Does someome think he's a superhero now or something? Listening to Shirou's explanation, apparently so. He has to try pretty hard to stop himself from facepalming at the thought. It's bad enough half of the investigation team thinks of this as 'the most fun thing to do in Inaba.' (Even if that -might- just be true.) "I don't think that's necessary just yet," he says to Shirou, trying to hide a little diappointment.

Deciding to change the subject, he looks to Fumiya, "Anyway, if you do decide to come along, you'll be with people who've been doing this for sometime now. I'm sure we'll be showing you the ropes as we go."


Fumiya hmmms at the comics Shirou mentions. He doesn't really look at them. "American media huh? Eh... I think I'll back off from that for now. At least until I get my head straight again." Not that all of that stuff was the cause of Fumiya's troubles, but it certainly wasn't helping him.

Suffice to say, he's not even entirely sure how he should start behaving now. But that's something for him to wrestle with, and decides not to bring it up.

Instead he just nods at Souji. "I appreciate the sentiment. I'll be talking to the SEES folks at Port Island, too. I need to thank a few of 'em anyway for their help."


Shirou waves a hand a bit. "Just a thought, just... nevermind." It makes perfect sense to Shirou, really. If Kandori didn't knwo who he was, he wouldn't have been able to magick in an inventation inside his pillow... or torment him or give him night terrors. But that's a story for another day.

"Well, at any rate, I'll have to be off soon. Kaede-sensei has ordered me to his house for a few rounds of training... something I've had to neglect due to exams. Fumiya, Souji-senpai, I'll see you at school."


Souji nods as Shirou departs, "We'll be seeing you then." He then looks back to Fumiya curiously. He had heard about SEES and was roughly familiar with what they're up to by now, "Sure, if you want. They might just know more than we do about these powers at this point. I honestly wish I could speak to them more myself."


Honestly, it would be best not to encourage Fumiya to create a costume for himself. Somehow, he would be the only one capable of making a disguise that would better inform people of who he was than if he just wore normal clothes.

He winces at the mention of exams. "Dude, don't even mention those. I missed em entirely. I still don't know how badly that's gonna hurt me in the long run. I mean, I'd like to get out of em ENTIRELY, but I doubt the school will be so generous. Especially with some of the teachers I've seen there."

Sigh. Great. Now he has exams on the mind. He had better head home and read over his notes, just to be safe. The past two weeks being stuck in that weird supernatural hell, followed by his recuperation, have pretty much made him forget everything he would have just forgotten normally anyway.

Fumiya shrugs at Souji. "Most of em seem ok, at least the ones I've met. Shiki's kind of an oddball, but a good guy." How bad would one have to be that he's called an oddball by an oddball?

Fumiya stands, and dusts his hands. "Well I'm out. I'll see you both around school." He grins. "I'll stay out of trouble until we get to talk again."