damned_institute | Day 43: Game Room, Third Shift

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Day 43: Game Room, Third Shift

Peh. "Graduates." Who were they trying to fool? It's not like anyone here believed them, and no one ever visited the institute. What was the point in keeping up this sad little charade? To add to the realism of it? Well, whatever. If they wanted to continue this exercise in futility, that was fine with Porky. All it meant was that they spent more time focusing on the day instead of the night, which was definitely a good thing. Now, who was Porky supposed to meet in the Game Room again? Ah, that's right. Porky didn't know...

No matter. It's not like they would be able to hurt Porky or something in broad daylight. Then again, there were some more...savage patients here. Well, Porky was sure that none of them would be interested in meeting with Porky anyway.

While he waited for his mysterious contact, Porky grabbed a gameboy and started looking for a game to pop in.

...No Zelda, no Mario, no Kirby...What was wrong with Landel? Did he have no taste whatsoever? Porky kept looking for something he had actually heard of before, and eventually settled on...Tetris. How dreadfully boring. Well, no matter. As long as he didn't have to play a board game or something, Porky was content. After turning on the gameboy, Porky merely sat down and played, eagerly anticipating whoever had asked to meet with him.

[For Eva, I think~]

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It was very true that solitaire was most certainly not a two-person game, but Souji wasn't exactly a big card person. Really, the game was immaterial; getting to play with someone else was what was important.

That was why he motioned for Jun to hand him the card deck; if someone recommended the game, then that person got to deal! "How about a simple game of War?"

But that frown... why was it there? The other boy was apparently trying to put up a facade, and it was cracking. But why? Whatever the reason, Souji shook his head. "You don't have to fake it, you know. Not with me." Hopefully the kid got the drift that Souji would prefer being on an honest footing- and earn a smile later- than to have it faked in front of him.

"Okay." Jun handed him the deck, as requested, almost glad to be rid of it. He'd gone without Maya and Tatsuya for about a decade, and here he was cracking after not even a day? Had he really gone that far backwards? And here he'd been, thinking that he had been taught something throughout their trials together. He had to be stronger, or else he couldn't honor her death.

However, he didn't really know how to reply to the boy's next statement; how was he supposed to be himself with someone whose name he didn't even know, when he could barely be himself with his dearest friends? He shifted his head upwards to look at the boy again. Was he really that open, that he expected a complete stranger to trust him? It sure seemed like it. The only response that Jun could offer him was a vague nod.

Yes, Souji Seta could expect something like that, and he was rather surprised it didn't work as well as normal. Perhaps he needed to brush up on his Timid Teacher series so he could understand this guy. Clearly there was something wrong, but for the life of him, Souji couldn't figure it out.

So, for the moment, he started shuffling the cards, idly laying them out in the spreads his mind had conjured for finding his Personas. Long blocks, lines, shifting them around like a carnival barker trying to score a cheap prize... then he looked up with a grin. "How about Memory?"

Speaking of memory, that made the boy remember something that he hadn't done yet. Force of habit, really- for a year, everyone in town had known who he was, introductions were a tiny bit rusty. That, and with his headache, it was a tiny bit rough for him. "...oh, and I'm Souji Seta."

Jun watched him shift the cards around, mesmerized. He and cards had always been tied together, especially once he rejoined Tatsuya and Big Sis; they'd been their chief mode of fighting, after all. So many Personae, hiding in the seas of their mind. There were other things lurking deep in the mind too, in the deepest shadows...

But Jun pulled himself out of his musings. It seemed like this place reminded him too much of home; so many times today that he'd fallen silent, remembering, thinking. "...My name is Jun Kurosu. It's a pleasure to meet you." He even gave Souji a smile; had they been available, he would've offered him a flower. They were his main form of communication.

Souji returned that smile with a quiet one of his own, glad that he at least seemed to be getting somewhere. Jun Kurosu? He'd have to remember that; it was kind of nice to see that someone here was friendly. To an extent.

Still, after a moment, he put the cards down into perfect gridlines, as was important for Memory, then nodded towards Jun. The boy seemed fascinated by the shift of the cards, now why was that? "...you act like you've never seen cards shuffled before," he lightly teased.

"...It reminded me of home..." As did many things here; he couldn't let the past go, sadly enough. It wasn't that he wanted to, because as it was, he was very, very, lucky to even remember the events that had transpired, but his surroundings constantly and consistently made him aware that he wasn't where he was supposed to be, with the people he wanted to see.

Jun picked up two cards: the seven of spades and the ten of hearts. He set them back down, nodding towards Souji. At least he seemed to be quiet (though a bit nosy), unlike the people he'd previously talked to. He hadn't really minded their talkativeness, but Souji was a pleasant change.

Souji could totally understand that. The slide of cards and the challenge of finding them had been a matter of life and death, yes, but it had also been fun as well. It was like a challenge with himself, finding those Personas and forcing them to awaken from the deepest depths of his mind. Certainly, he at least found it to be invigorating, and these card games were no different.

Of course, he couldn't exactly say, 'Oh yeah, it reminds me of fighting for my life against inhuman monsters and getting inhuman powers as a result,' so instead he took his turn with a quiet nod. And he'd be happy to let it go like this, to let the game proceed in comfortable silence between the two of them.

It was a bit weird that Souji seemed to understand the significance of the cards, but Jun didn't comment on it. He didn't think prying into his business would be pleasant for either party, and it wasn't really the type of thing he'd do. He was nosy to a point, yes, but that had more to do with having been out of the loop for a very long time. Information was one of his loves, after all; for a little period of time, there, he'd considered becoming a teacher. Partially, yes, because he wanted to make it up to his late father, but mostly because that hunger for all kinds of knowledge had been with him since he was little.

Jun took his turn, a bit pleased that he'd finally met someone more like himself: comfortable with silence. There was so much that could be said, in body language and facial expressions. He himself was quite relaxed, a very rare position for him to be seen in. The smile had disappeared from his face, replaced with a thoughtful look.

Unfortunately, the game was interrupted in the middle by the intercom going off, I.R.I.S. going on about the latest bit of nonsense- a tradition that Souji was already getting tired of. It was especially bad because of the game, which Souji had been enjoying a great deal; it was a little odd to have someone as quiet as himself around, but it was a refreshing change of pace as well. His headache was practically gone, though it still remained for some reason- a quiet twinge in the back of his mind, that never went away no matter how much he tried. It was odd, tremendously so- it should have gone away by now!- but there wasn't much for it.

So, the boy started gathering up the cards, smiling at Jun as he did so. "I'd like to see you again tomorrow."

Jun was taken slightly aback when Souji said that he wanted to meet again, but not really averse to the idea. There was something about him that Jun was interested in, though what is was, he couldn't put his finger on. He couldn't have been part of the Masquerade: Jun remembered everyone whose dreams he granted. Instead of dwelling on that, however, he turned and picked up a card, handing it to Souji.

"...I'd like that too." He replied, giving the other boy a small, careful smile.

That was a promise, then; at some point in the following day, he'd make sure to bother Jun and see how the quiet kid was doing. Really, it was just like back in Inaba- quite a few people responded well just by having someone around who could listen to them and seemed to care, let alone planned on helping out in some way.

Still, he flipped the card over, rather curious as to what it was. He was going to ask 'why,' but at the moment, he figured that it would probably speak for itself.

Jun had picked up a card at random; it almost alarmed him when Souji turned it over and he saw that it was the joker. His mouth dropped open for a second, his eyes only slightly wider than usual, both expressions almost undetectable without a keen eye. He pulled himself together after a second, realizing that the nurse from earlier was coming over to collect him.

"...It was nice meeting you..." He trailed off, hoping that that statement conveyed his attempt at saying goodbye. He didn't like that word, or any of its synonyms, after all. The nurse pulled him away with a smile, saying something about meeting other new people.

As the nurse pulled him away, it was entirely possible that Jun would miss what happened next. The 'joker' in the regular deck was based on the 'Fool' of the Tarot... and having the card flip over and be presented in such a way was like a punch to the gut. It was almost exactly like what happened in his own mind.

And here? That was a bad thing. His headache returned like an explosion in his head, the world going white and his eyes going blank for a moment, not even hearing what Jun said. For a moment, a brief moment, that odd pain returned with a vengeance, nearly bringing Souji to his knees. But then? Then it was gone, as was Jun, leaving him alone with the joker silently laughing at his plight.

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Day 43: Game Room, Third Shift

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