mamakechi | [ ic // like the memory of a warm smile shining at you from a dream... ]

The snow has started falling, enough that Noir's concerned for the garden beds (and she's likely not wrong to be so) but not yet so hard that they have to rush. Not so hard that Haru can't be a little distracted on her way to Tokyo from Iwatodai to assist with Noir's garden.

Distracted by, for example, a woman with very familiar features in the Velvet Room. She's not precisely a familiar face for a multitude of reasons, but... well. She does keep telling Magpie that he looks nothing like his sperm donor.

This is about to get very, very interesting, isn't it?

Still, the least she can do is ~~continue ignoring the fact that she still has a capacity for kindness after all and~~ get the poor woman oriented before she's descended upon. Odd, though, that Haru's finally met someone who doesn't feel like a real person. (She's Goro's mother, though, so she gets a pass.)

"Excuse me. Did you just now find yourself here?"

Akako jumps a bit when she hears a voice addressing her, but quickly smooths herself out. "Haru-chan! Yes, I've just found myself here...where are we, exactly?"

...Okay, Haru was not expecting to be recognised so readily. Or familiarly, for that matter. While it's true that she doesn't drag her father into things if she can help it - well, this changes the dynamic rather significantly, doesn't it?

"I'm afraid you have the advantage of me, but part of that is the nature of this place. It's..." hmm. How to explain it to someone who has probably never had to deal with this level of weird in her life?

"It's something of a gathering point that draws in people from all sorts of parallel timelines. While you seem to have met 'me' while you were at home, I have not met you."

...What? Akako blinks a few times, sweeps her hair back to her headband, red eyes both sharp and seeking. "Parallel timelines...would they happen to have anything to do with cognition?"

Maybe this will be easier than Haru thought. "I can't imagine it doesn't. At the very least, this is much more of a cognitive world than a real one, made the most obvious by the ridiculously short travel times between destinations and the general lack of a real population."

Even putting Haru's 'real people' issues aside, as she knows intellectually that's not a useful or healthy benchmark... the real population of this space is very small, compared to what they all know to expect of Tokyo.

"Ah. I only know a bit of the theory, but I think I get it." she laughs, inner nervous mother shining through. "Where I come from, it was all debunked as pseudoscience several years ago...there's no way you know of to return home, then?"

"Not a controllable one, that I've heard about." And that's the sort of information people would be passing around, in an attempt to reassure each other.

"It's not as pseudoscience as you might think, though I can definitely see where it'd be easy for people to dismiss it as such. The vast majority of us here have some amount of experience with the concept."

Akako is, unfortunately, already aware it's not pseudoscience. "I see..."

Her hands go to brush off her skirt again, trying to take it all in. "Is there anywhere I can sit down? I was doing laundry before this and my feet are killing me."

"I think the only chair in here is permanently occupied." She's never seen Igor out of his seat, anyway. "But I'm sure we could find somewhere. If there's not empty seating somewhere in the local representation of Tokyo, I'll be very surprised."

Especially since they could probably chivvy one of the cognitions into surrendering their seat very easily.

Akako can't help but let out a laugh. "Tokyo is a city of surprises. Hopefully it'll let us down this one time."

A bit more straightening out, and she puts on her best game face. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Akechi Akako." Haru in her universe called her Auntie, but that's a nickname this one likely isn't familiar with...she'll keep the nickname offer for later. "Do you know an Akechi Goro in your universe? If you do, he's my son...or another version of him, anyway."

That gets a very fond smile out of Haru. "He's a very dear friend of mine, yes." Granted, the circumstances that brought them together were... far from ideal, to put it mildly.

But she can't regret it entirely, when she got Goro out of the deal.

"...Though on second thought, we may want to start somewhere other than Tokyo. There's a dozen or so versions of Goro here, and your sudden presence might be something of a shock."

Will be. Will be a very big shock.

Akako's heart warms as she sees Haru's fond smile. Her son deserves such good friends, no matter the universe. "If you say so -- you know them better than I would..." Would it really be that much of a shock? Akako moves to follow Haru.

Back the way she came it is, then. Inaba would be fairly quiet, but given it's where a lot of the Goros are based, she'd rather not risk it. Besides, Iwatodai has no shortage of places to sit down and relax for a while.

The middle door is kind enough to drop them off in Paulownia Mall, and it's not far from there to the coffee shop. "None of the cognitions ever ask for money here, so you're free to order whatever you like, or just take things from various shops."

A twisted, bitter knife stabs Akako right through the stomach -- Mama, I'm still hungry... -- at Haru's words. "...I see."

(If the cognitive realm was a way for her to provide for her family during her worst times...well. She subtly eyes the Kirijo Corporation's logo on a nearby ad.)

She swallows down the bile in her throat, gently brushing the sickly hands of the past from clinging to her skirt. "Normally I'd offer a coffee on me, but if money doesn't matter here...all I can offer is my company, if you'll have it." A polite, somewhat bashful smile to her impromptu tour guide.

Edited 2023-12-20 05:16 (UTC)

It would have been, if... not quite like this. But certainly fighting Shadows produces quite a bit of money.

"I'm certainly not going to turn down company." Especially not that of someone who is, however adjacently, important to the most precious person in Haru's life.

A cognitive waiter comes by to take their orders; after they depart, Haru says, "Forgive me if this is an intrusion, but I'm getting the sense that you had... a rather dramatic change of fortunes, compared to the story as I know it."

Compared, Akako can reasonably assume, to the story as most Goros here have lived it.

Akako lets out a small laugh -- dainty, with the light current of dark basalt underneath it. "No apologies needed. I've lived long enough to have several, Haru-ch- er, Haru-san. I'd...have to know the story as you know it to tell you how mine differs, though." Her hands fold politely on her lap; her eyes are glittering, but genuine. "If that isn't too much of an intrusion."

"It isn't." And it's definitely better that Akako hear it from someone with a bit of emotional distance from the events in question.

"I know Goro's father managed to be even more worthless than mine, since mine at least was married to my mother and claimed me." That hasn't stopped Haru from wondering, every now and then, if she and her mother would've been better off alone. "I know you did what you had to, to support yourself and your child, which mostly gave people another point to hold against both of you. I know that having no one in your corner took its toll."

And now the big one. "I know that most often, you were dead before Goro was ten. The method and whether he found you varies from one timeline to another, but generally speaking, if he has one parent in his life it's the worthless one, with neither of them discussing the elephant in the room. You can probably imagine how well that goes."

What Haru tells her isn't unexpected, but...

dead before Goro was ten. the method and whether he found you...

(catcalls and cursing and nights spent dirty)

...deep breath in. Deep breath out.

(nothing about the pit in her stomach that seeing the test opened could've prepared her for the hunger that would scrape it clean and call it home for years)

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

(then, the sun rises and the cloud cover breaks -- no, she hauls the sun up and breaks the clouds herself. she fights back the tidal wave in the only kimono she has and somehow, she wins. it's not the belief in herself but the disbelief in her son's eyes when she buys them good groceries that makes the world turn again.)

"You...could say I had a massive change of fortune compared to the norm, then."

Edited 2023-12-20 06:57 (UTC)

"I'm glad. None of you deserved all of that." Sure, it hurts that the good turns don't happen more often, but at least they happen sometimes. Goro's not universally slated to die alone. Her father isn't always (or even often) so stupid as to let her nearly die for his own gain.

"But that would be why I changed destinations. Before you're confronted with the pack of them, you deserve to know what they're going to be thinking when they see you. I doubt any of them are your particular son."

"I'm sure all of them are my son."

Akako pauses. "Er." A small laugh. "Thank you for your words of support. It really was nothing short of a miracle...if only I could extend it to other versions of myself."

Their waiter comes by; she accepts her coffee and miso soup with a bow of thanks. "My son, the one at home...he sometimes talks about how he doesn't feel worthy of being my son, so it's a bit of a knee-jerk reflex to reassure him otherwise. It's my instinctive response to it, at this point. But I understand; it'd be a shock to most of them to see me, I imagine."

A wry smile. "I'm almost glad he isn't here, being honest...I don't think he could survive very long without a student council to terrorize. Or his boyfriend to spoil." A single sugar cube into her coffee and a dash of creamer; she stirs it elegantly. "He's still catching up with all the childhood he missed."

"Oh, of course. Past a certain point they won't have common experiences with you, but that's hardly likely to stop you from caring." How well they'll respond to her is going to vary, of course, but that can be a Later Problem.

Haru can't help smiling herself, as she applies some cream to her coffee. "Gods know he deserves that catch-up time."

"He does. I assume even more so, in your universes...I can only imagine how horribly he was treated." (And there were times when, in her darkest moments, she would've wanted him to suffer. But it was never a genuine feeling -- just that creature called Hurt stirring up from her pain.)

"Don't know if I could not care about them, being honest." She takes a sip of her coffee, fond. "Pitfalls of being a mother, I suppose. ...I won't expect the same from them, though. I know it's a rather complicated situation."

"In a couple distressingly rare instances, he was rescued. Slightly more often, he at least has some company to turn to. Most of the time, though, he's been utterly alone."

And she can probably imagine the sorts of things Shido would demand of a child desperate for approval.

"At the very least, maybe Magpie will finally believe me when I say he doesn't look like his father at all."

A somber nod, agreeing with Haru's statement. Then, Akako tilts her head. "Magpie?"

"They've resorted to code names, with so many physically identical people to try to tell apart. I'm not entirely sure why the corvid theme is so popular, but it is." Haru will leave them to it, honestly.

"Magpie is... one of the most stubborn of the lot."

"There really are a lot of them here, huh...I'll have to keep track." She nods. "I assume they all like Featherman? He liked making up his own characters for the show when he was younger...Feather Crow, he called himself."

"It's a common enough theme that you can likely start there, at least." Several of the Goros won't admit to it, but that doesn't mean they're not into it.

Akako lets out a laugh. "Mine only admits it to a select few...I know how it goes with him."

She takes a few prim bites of her sandwich. "And how have things been going for you here?"

"As a rule, he's slow to trust. I suppose being secretive with an interest most people take as childish fits with that." Goro as Akako knows him might not be as guarded, but no doubt she can see how that's happened in cases where she's not present.

"It's been going well enough. It helps that half the real population is versions of someone I know very well, when it comes to socialising - opportunities haven't been common at home. There's another version of me here as well; if you need to differentiate you can call me Rose. We've been working together on a gardening project, as well as maintaining our own separate beds."

"He's always been slow to trust, as I know him." Akako smiles. "Thanks for the clarification, Rose. I'll have to stop by your gardens sometime. Where are they?"

"Noir's is on the rooftop of Shujin Academy, in Aoyama. Mine... I set up shop in a love hotel here, because the beds are nice and it's not like anyone else was using it." Also, it's about as far away from her father's house, physically and emotionally, as she could get. "If that would be uncomfortable for you, I can take pictures."

Akako winces, instinctively, at the mention of a love hotel. "Very thoughtful to warn me. I...may have to decline any in-person visits for the time being. I'd love to visit the one on Shujin's rooftop, if Noir will ever allow me...the Haru in my universe grew delicious crops. I'm almost curious to see if they taste any different here."

"That's quite all right. Mine is also a rooftop garden, so if you do want to brave it you can take the fire escape and bypass the interior entirely, but don't make yourself suffer needlessly." For all Haru enjoys the irony of staying in the love hotel, for her it's only irony; for Akako, it's a minefield. If she's going to walk through it, she deserves to go in prepared for it.

At least the cognitions aren't terribly interested in play-acting the whole... love-hotel thing.

"I don't doubt she would. Her relationship with her Goro is... more fraught, but most of that is down to the sort of things his father demands of people. She wouldn't hold it against you."

"The smell and sound get to me the most. And there are certain beddings that send my mind in the wrong direction...maybe one day, though." She sounds hopeful, hopefully.

And now...onto the ugly bald elephant in the room. Best to shoot it dead before it takes up any more of their oxygen. "And what kind of things did he demand of his son?" Akako asks, taking a sip of her coffee to steady herself. "I can imagine what he'd ask, but...it seems most versions of my son here haven't had the luxury of only imagining it."

"Take your time." If she can swing an in-person visit, great. If not, that's perfectly fine.

And what an elephant he is. "Hurt people. In ways that cause their death or simply disgrace them, depending on what he thinks he can gain from it. Goro tends to go in thinking it'll be worth it to exact some revenge on his unknowing sperm donor, but he looks so much like you that learning Shido likely has his suspicions didn't surprise me in the slightest. It only makes him turning a teenager into his personal hit man that much more repulsive."

Akako's face shades deeper and deeper with disgust. "And he'd be using the power of cognition somehow to do it, too?" A snort, derisive. "I'd remark about Shido never changing, but it's more that he's changed like a glass of milk left out in the sun for far too long."

Haru can't help laughing at that description. It's entirely apt, probably only more so from Akako's perspective.

"Via cognition, yes. I'm sure the only reason he's not doing it himself is so it's harder to trace back to him." Or because he doesn't have a Persona, and thank the gods for that. "I take it he's not in a position to cause you any more trouble?"

"Six feet under, with a significant part of his estate signed directly to me post-taxes." Akako's eyes glimmer brightly. "The best position for him to be in, if you ask me." Certainly better than any he had in bed.

Edited 2023-12-23 02:13 (UTC)

"...A change of fortunes indeed. Congratulations."

She certainly deserves it more than just about anyone else Shido would want that kind of money going to.

Akako lets out a laugh at Rose's reaction. "Thank you. The bastard's death was a great boon, but getting the court's ruling on the case was another pain in the ass entirely."

"I can imagine - especially if you had to prove you had his unacknowledged child to pull it off."

He does, after all, have a habit if burying information he doesn't want found.

[ ic // like the memory of a warm smile shining at you from a dream... ]

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