Open Post - Persona 4 AU!Akechi

[fogboundcrow]

A. A Boy Jumps Out of a TV, When...

[For reasons you're not too sure about, you are in the Junes Department Store's electronics department.

Maybe you live in Inaba. Maybe you just walked through a door and ended up there. Regardless, there is a twelve year old boy climbing out of one of the TVs, with the screen rippling black and white, and it's probably all very unsettling.

He did not expect to have company, and so when he drops to the floor, he stops and stares.

He wanted recognition, but not like this.

He straightens his stance, removing his thin, brown-framed glasses, and blurts out a snappy-]

Don't mind what you just saw! It's all an elaborate magic trick.

[...That's a terrible excuse. More likely, he's going to have to explain.

Lovely.]

B. Damn it, Teddie! Where the hell are we?!

[Akechi meant to go into the TV to try and bribe Teddie with more snacks and perhaps, maybe, finally get a better feel for the TV world.

One problem: He did not end up in the TV world. He ended up where your character is, and now there's a very puzzled tween glancing around with thin, brown-framed glasses and a middle school uniform.

But he lifts the glasses. There's no fog. Everything's clear.]

What the hell is going on here?!

[Did he go in the wrong screen? But that makes no sense. He knows which screen to use!]

C. Wildcard

[Got another idea? Have at it!]

[ooc: This Akechi is from my currently ongoing fic. More info on his profile!]

Comments

A

[liedol]

[ Of all the tiny hole-in-the-wall places Saitou could have picked out for her, Ai could have ended up somewhere worse than Inaba... probably. The hospital had been a dour sort of place, but it'd been quiet and she'd been left alone and on the nights she managed to sneak up to the roof, the stars had been more lovely and vivid than anything she'd seen in Tokyo. And the little apartment she, Aqua and Ruby had been squirrelled away into until they could return to Tokyo for real... well, she's lived in worse places. So long as there's a roof over her head and everything works as it should, Ai's learned not to be picky.

Not being picky doesn't mean she can entirely forego standards, though. She has Saitou's credit card and a very strict warning not to go too wild with it, but she's found herself drifting over to the electronics even so. She might be on hiatus right now, but it's only right that an idol should keep up with what's going on in the entertainment world, right?

Which means she's just in time for Akechi's grand entrance and his not-so-grand excuse. Ai blinks at him, then casually pops off her shades just so the total lack of conviction on her face is nice and visible.

Casually: ] If you're going to lie to me, have something better prepared in advance. 'Magic trick' isn't going to stand up to follow up questions at all.

[fogboundcrow]

[Oh, that's... Hasn't he seen her before? Akechi's memory is razor sharp, especially when it comes to people who are not, in fact, complete pieces of shit.

His wide-eyed stare gives way to a more focused, narrow look, not quite a scowl, but sharp all the same.]

Follow up questions such as?

[Best to let her lead, so he can try to assess how to best steer the conversation.]

[liedol]

Well, I'd probably ask you to explain the trick. Or I'd get you to repeat it so I could try and work out how it was done. And once I realized it wasn't a trick, I'd start asking 'how' and 'what'. It's better to have answered for all that lined up instead of coming up with them on the spot.

[ The irony of this turning into a lecture about how to lie is apparently lost on her. ]

Anyway. I'm pretty behind when it comes to technology but I'm pretty sure even the really fancy TVs in Tokyo can't do that.

[fogboundcrow]

Congratulations. You passed my test.

[It was absolutely a test. No, he totally didn't slip up and bluff because he wasn't expecting company.]

I suppose I could give an honest explanation, but I fear that such a thing may be too mind-shattering to grasp.

[liedol]

Hmm, do you think?

[ She takes a moment to look him up and down in a searching, curious sort of way.

She doesn't think he's that much younger than her - or at the very least, not young enough to be playing pretend with such shamelessness that he'd let an older kid he didn't know come along and join in. Even if he was, though... well, she could play along enough to assuage her curiosity at least. ]

Try me. If my mind gets shattered, I promise you can say "I told you so".

[fogboundcrow]

[Akechi shrugs, trying to play it off like it's no big deal.]

Suit yourself.

[So he turns to face the TV again and then casually sticks an arm inside.]

Watch and be amazed as I defy the laws of physics and all rational logic.

[His tone's a bit dry, perhaps a tad bit ironic. Perhaps if he spooks her enough, she won't press the subject. The TV world is hardly safe, after all.]

[liedol]

[ She's doubtful even up to the moment the screen turns pliant and gives under the touch of his hand. She thinks it's probably a prank or a ploy to turn her away – she's certainly not expecting it to actually work – so when his hand slips into the TV as casually as someone waving an arm through an open window, she's... agog. Agog is a good word for it.

She stares at him for a long, long moment, her eyes running up and down what's left of his arm outside the TV, clearly trying to pick out the trick she's missing. Then she promptly hurries over, peering as close to the TV as she can get and flaps a hurried hand at him. ]

Pull your hand back and do it again! I want to see how it works up close!

[fogboundcrow]

Ah, so I'm a living spectacle, am I?

[Well, this is amusing. So amusing, he withdraws his arm and then sticks his head in instead.

Because that's obviously more unsettling, which makes it more fun. He's allowed to make a little mischief.]

[liedol]

Wh–!?

[ Ai makes a sort of spluttery sound very unbecoming of B-Komachi's beloved center and grabs at his arm in an admittedly slightly pathetic attempt to haul him back. What if she dislodges him and his head doesn't come back???? ]

Wh–what're you doing, you can't just stick your head in – what if it stops working while you're in there?!

[fogboundcrow]

[He pulls his head out, grinning. Oh, this is fun.]

You saw me crawl out of the TV already. Is sticking my head in really that much worse?

[He taps the screen a few times. It goes from its ordinary surface to black and white ripples with each tap.]

[liedol]

Well, that's...! [ ...

She doesn't have a retort, does she. Ai huffs and smoothy blusters on in the manner of one used to losing arguments with kids serving Annoying Younger Sibling Energy. Occupational hazard of being a care home kid. ]

Anyway...! How are you even doing this? What are you even doing in the first place?

[fogboundcrow]

I shook hands with a weird gas station attendant and obtained unusual powers that allow me to enter a frankly dangerous world beyond the TV screen so that I may pursue the truth regarding the recent serial murders.

[It's all said almost flatly, almost like it's the most mundane thing on the planet. Like there's nothing weird. Just another day in Inaba.]

[liedol]

[ . . .

It's too early in the day for her to look and feel so pre-emptively exhausted. And yet. ]

You've officially lost me. I'd believe a lot of things right now, but you took that a step too far.

[fogboundcrow]

Well, in that case...

[He dives into the TV head-first and just... disappears.

It takes a bout a minute or so before he leaps back out, lands on his feet, and does a little bow.]

Behold. I did it again.

[liedol]

[ ANOTHER SPLUTTER. She half lunges for him like she can scruff him like a kitten before he goes in, but her swipe goes wild and she has no choice but to hover anxiously until he pops back out. If this is just a prank show, their production values are being wasted in a sleepy little place like Inaba.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, her expression is even more troubled than before when he pops back out. ]

I can see that. [ For the first time, she actually sounds a little irritated – though the irritation seems directed inwards rather that at him. ] But you can understand why this is pretty unbelievable, right?

[ She's extremely cautiously patting at the TV screen like she's expecting it to bite her hand off. ]

[fogboundcrow]

More unbelievable than two women turning up dead on power lines and antennas with no discernible signs of death? Or how about the Midnight Channel?

[Surely she's heard the rumors. It's all the gossiping teens of this town seem to talk about half the time, when they aren't getting irritatingly excited about the murder case.

When she taps the screen, it should be normal. When Akechi taps it... boop. Ripples.]

It only really works if you have the same power that I do. Otherwise it's a normal TV.

[liedol]

... I guess in a little place like this, two murders like that are pretty unusual.

[ Whether she's willing to hinge her understanding of this whole situation on that abnormality is another question altogether. But her sceptical expression is starting to make progress towards thoughtful - she's willing to entertain the idea even if she hasn't completely bought into it just yet.

Her hand hovers over the screen but she doesn't touch it again. Yet. ]

What'd happen if we both touched it at the same time?

[fogboundcrow]

Well, you'd most likely fall into the TV world, where you'd be woefully unprepared for the fog, the dangers, and... Teddie.

[Right, that... probably warrants an explanation, too. He makes a little sound like a sigh crossed with a growl.]

...There's a strange bear creature inside the TV. He's... a lot, let's just say.

[liedol]

[ A pause as she takes this in and... yep, up go her eyebrows again. ]

What, he's worse than whatever's in there that's actually dangerous? It's just, you really kind of singled him out there. Is he really that bad?

[ meanwhile, somewhere, back side of the TV is interrupted by Teddie sneezing. ]

[fogboundcrow]

Not worse so much as weird.

[He cringes, because where does he even begin?]

He makes insufferable bear puns. He's... very, very excitable. Also rather dense.

[Not malicious. Certainly not unpleasant, but god. He sure is a handful.]

[liedol]

[ Strange bear guy... talks in puns... kind of dumb... is literally named after the thing he is...

She visibly rolls that information around in her head for a few seconds before looking back at him with that befuddled expression right back in place. ]

... Not to rag on him when he's not even here to defend himself, but... do you guys kind of have a mascot character or something?

[fogboundcrow]

He basically is a mascot character. He even has a zipper around his head, but there's nothing inside.

[It's very strange and a bit of a source of insecurity for Teddie, so he opts not to say "empty" as a courtesy, plus Teddie could be listening for all he knows.]

Rather a strange creature, but a useful guide to the TV world. It's just not a place I'd casually take someone, seeing how one's innermost feelings tend to manifest as their own beings.

[liedol]

Innermost feelings?

[ Ai blinks at him. And then like a lightswitch flipping, something clicks. Even when she'd pivoted to talking him more seriously, there'd been a flippant, teasing sort of tone to her words that's all but vanished now. Even her expression, though she hasn't stopped smiling, suddenly looks... a little off. ]

So... when people are in there, you can tell how they really feel about things?

[fogboundcrow]

Essentially, yes. Your most repressed feelings can manifest in labyrinthine dungeons that reflect those feelings, while a being made of those emotions may attack you and demand acceptance.

[He sighs, eying his own reflection on the TV screen.]

The victims in the murder case were trapped in that world and didn't escape in time, nor did they have the support required to accept their Shadow selves.

1/2

[liedol]

[ For a long moment, Ai doesn't say anything at all.

It really sounds too good to be true. A world hiding just outside of plain view where all the things that are inside you get ripped out and put on display. For anyone else that might sound terrifying and it's not like the thought doesn't make her feel a little uneasy as well but...

Could it really be that easy? Could there really a be a way to chisel some truth out of her heart after all this time? ]

... Right. I get it now.