Reverse Tarot - iwatodai

Since Shinji had come back to life and joined the other “ghosts” at the dorm, everything had been pretty quiet. Life had continued on in a weirdly mundane way, as if it hadn’t cared that he’d suddenly and inexplicably come back from the dead after a decade. It pissed him off that even after this long, nothing had happened, and no answers had been given to him. Why the fuck was he alive? How did he deserve to be alive? And why did he have weird snippets of memory from after his death that were present enough to bug him but too far away to reach and properly comprehend? As he’d woken up with a phone in his pocket, he’d hoped it would provide some answers. There did seem to be something up with that chat room, but he hadn’t been able to get any useful information out of the people there, even though he’d thrown safety out the window and explained who he was. Not that safety mattered anyway. He shouldn’t be alive. And what could anyone really do with the information of someone who’s legally dead? He sure as hell hadn’t expected someone in the chatroom to tell their boss about him, much less for that boss to start accusing him of being an impostor and demand to meet him. At least Shinji had been able to choose the meeting place. He was slowly getting used to his phone but had still barely used its navigation features. Had the meeting place been anywhere particularly far from the dorm, he would certainly have gotten lost. Even more conveniently, he was already at the place he chose. "That alley." The choice of meeting place had been an obvious one. It made more sense for the meeting to take place somewhere significant, and this was about as damn significant as it got. The place he died, the place he came back to life; the place his friends last saw him, the place he’d be (re?)introduced to whoever this was. He wasn’t sure how long he’d given a shit about that kinda bs, but it just seemed right. .

7:46 PM

Besides, Shinji had felt oddly drawn to the place he died ever since he first woke up there. When he wasn’t hanging around at the dorm, or being forced to be sociable by Ryoji, he was almost always back here, skulking in the dark alley behind Port Island Station. Old habits died hard, he guessed. The person he was talking to immediately knowing which location he was referring to just from those words confirmed that this was definitely either someone he knew from way back then, or somebody who had carried out a lot of in-depth research on some crazy whim. Was it bad that he kinda hoped it was the latter? What the hell was he meant to say if this was one of his old friends? What the hell would they say? More importantly, what would they do? If his current thoughts were right and this was Mitsuru, Shinji was in a lot of trouble. She sure as hell hadn’t seemed happy through her messages, and Mitsuru was never fun to deal with when she was angry - during the SEES days he’d gotten in enough trouble with her just for small things like staying out too late. He dreaded to think how she’d react to learning that he had actually been alive for the last few months. Better than if he was an impostor, he hoped. Shinji decided to stick to the shadows of the nearby stairwell until whoever he was meeting showed up. He felt a little safer there, out of sight for the most part, not that anyone was about to see him given the state of the place - the buildings seemed to have been abandoned years ago and in the months Shinji had been coming here he’d only seen a couple of kids take a wrong turning and end up in the alley once, quickly to turn and run back out. The stairs also gave him somewhere to sit which was always a bonus. Leaning against the wall beside him, Shinji watched the empty space of the alley, waiting to see who was going to turn up. @Echo, tangent lore whisperer

The drive back to Iwatodai, after having spoken with 'Mochi' over text had already made her ever so slightly on edge but then to have some. . . disrespectful lout pretend to be one of her dead friends? That was a step too far. It was more than enough to propel the redhead into action. Though it, perhaps, wasn't the most reasonable reaction, she couldn't just let this sort of thing go! Not when things had finally gotten calm again for everyone! She couldn't let this disrespect stand! Her leg bounced as she sat, face twisted in suppressed fury and her limo drove her to the only place anyone who knew Shinjiro Aragaki could mean when they said 'That Alley'. And though she was nearly convinced it was some faker, trying to get a rise out of her, something in the back of her mind was telling her something was just too. . .coincidental about the whole thing. A slam of her limo door and a surprisingly decisive flare of her fur coat are the only indicators of the red heads arrival at that fated alleyway.

10:48 PM

It seemed as though this place would never truly fade from her memories, as they all seemed to flood back as she walked, head held high, into the depths of that place. Upon not seeing anyone immediately rise to greet her, Mitsuru crossed her arms, glaring death down the darkened tunnel she was faced with. "If you're here, show yourself."

@Kura [has returnethed]

Shinji sat waiting in silence, scrolling through his phone absently. Why was he so damn nervous? Even with the distraction of the phone he couldn’t help but fidget, fingertips tapping against the back of the device through a mix of trembling and nervous habit. He’d been way better at controlling his nervous responses previously, but they seemed to have come back far worse since his death. It would be a good thing if this was one of his friends, right? Sure, they might not be happy that he hadn’t contacted them sooner, but it wasn’t like he’d had contact details for them or anything. Having more people to interact with would be nice, and maybe whoever it was could help him figure out how the hell he was alive. A frown crossed Shinji’s face as the sound of footsteps rang across the quiet alley. Was this the person he was meeting? “If you’re here, show yourself.” The voice had gained maturity, but was still unmistakably her. Shinji’s concerns were confirmed: it was Mitsuru. “Ah, fuck,” he muttered, loud enough to make his presence known. “I thought it was you.” Shinji pulled himself to his feet and came out from the stairwell into the main alley. He could feel the trembling more than ever as he stepped into the slightly lighter area, revealing himself to the redhead. He could only hope it didn’t show. For lack of a better description, Mitsuru looked pissed off. Shinji figured he’d be pretty angry too if he thought someone was impersonating his dead friend. Her expression and posture still sent an uncomfortable chill through his body, though. “So, here I am.” He fought to keep the nerves out of his voice. “I turned up as promised. You’re, uh, looking good?” What the hell else do you say in this situation? Shinji tried to maintain eye contact as he waited for Mitsuru’s response. @Echo, tangent lore whisperer

------------- Returning to Iwatodai seems. . .strange, at first. The blue haired coder hadn't been back properly in some time but as soon as she stepped off the train and into the familiar seaside air, it was like coming home all over again. Sure, some things had changed, there were definitely some new things that she hadn't recognized but so much was still exactly as she'd left it all those years ago. Which made trekking her way to the sole remaining Wild Duck Burger that much easier. A quick chat with some of the staff (some of which had remembered her from school!) And Fuuka was on her way to the old dorm with several bags of food to fling at her friends upon arrival. Despite the extra weight weighing her down, Fuuka gets to her old dorm in plenty of time, shifting the bags like unwieldy groceries, and knocks on the door carefully. @waffle | himbo collector

Home was a tricky word to define. For some, it was simply wherever they were living at the time. For others, it was where they grew up, even if they were there no longer. For Makoto, he wasn't entirely sure what category Tatsumi Port Island fell under. By definition, the place was his hometown, but he'd hardly had that much time to grow up in it. After the death of his parents, he and Kotone had spent the rest of their childhood and early to mid teens moving from place to place, relative to relative. Nowhere was home for long enough that Makoto could remember it. In his mind, so much of it would all blur together— it was surprisingly easy for him to misplace a location where some vaguely notable anecdote of his life took place. Like with everything else at the time, he couldn't exactly find it in himself to care too much. When it came to that specific case though, his sister had found that aspect of him pretty humorous; whenever she'd quizzed him on what town that one really good takoyaki stand was in or something of the like, all he could ever offer was a shrug and a half-hearted guess. More often than not, he'd get it wrong, and she'd be all too excited to correct him. Iwatodai wasn't an exception to that rule, as little as it would get brought up in those conversations between him and Kotone. At least, until his second year of high school, where he'd spent a whole year's time etching every single interior and exterior into his brain as a side effect of frequenting those places so often with so many people. Fast forward to the present day, where Makoto found that to be pretty helpful in navigating around town. Luckily, he'd gotten off the train pretty early. So that being the case, until the time came to meet Fuuka and Ryoji at the dorm, he decided he'd play a little game; walk around town a bit and see just how much had changed.

8:13 PM

Unsurprisingly, there wasn't a whole lot he could point out. The Iwatodai Station area had all the important things still intact; Hagakure Ramen was still open, same with Wild Duck Burger, and most importantly, the bookstore was still the same as it ever was, and Bunkichi-san and Mitsuko-san were alive and well. They'd even remembered Makoto when they saw him standing outside, not that he really expected otherwise. While catching up with them, he nearly lost track of time entirely, but then, why wouldn't he? Paulownia Mall was largely the same as he remembered it, too. Chagall Cafè was still open, albeit remodeled, and obviously no one he worked there part-time with stuck around past high school. Club Escapade had recolored their furniture to a deep blue (something Elizabeth would've appreciated, no doubt) but otherwise, it hadn't changed at all. Every difference was more or less just something minor.

8:13 PM

The final stop before the old dorms had been Naganaki Shrine, and his first thought upon walking up the steps to the shrine itself had been of Koromaru. Then when he'd finished praying, sitting on the bench in front of the playground began to invite bittersweet memories of Maiko and of course, Akinari. Thinking about it, with both Shinjiro and Ryoji suddenly coming back, Makoto half-expected Akinari to be sitting next to him, talking about his writing plans like they'd gone back in time; It stung more than he anticipated to find that not to be the case. Before too long, Makoto decided to make his way to the dorm, where he spotted Fuuka with several bags in hand with the Wild Duck Burger logo. Was it just him or could he smell the food already…? "Hey," He strolled up the steps to her with a light smile, hands in his pockets as he waited in front of the door. "You think this place still looks the same on the inside?" He wouldn't have doubted it one bit, outside of possibly a few layers of dust here and there. Although, knowing Shinjiro, he probably kept the place spotless since he moved back in...

When it came to Ryoji’s day to day, he often spent much of this time flitting from place to place. Working at a Big Bang Burger outside of town, he ended up spending most of this time on Iwatodai’s outskirts. However, the port was as wonderful as it was when he was a teen, and he was much relieved to find it mostly unchanged. Having missed out on ten years of his life, he still felt like a human freshly constructed, still new to the world and experiencing most everything for the first time. He had spent much of his earlier life through the eyes of Makoto and Kotone, split between them as Pharos, but when he obtained his true power, he had used the opportunity to scrub his own memories and try to live as a human for a while. As Ryoji, as he was now, he had found that he greatly enjoyed doing… pretty much everything, jumping from place to place and hobby to hobby. He found himself talking to locals, making connections, much like the twins had. He had inherited his person hood from them, after all. However, he didn’t mind the occasional trip to places by himself, spending his days watching the ocean or feeding ducks in a park. He was idealistic and romantic, enjoying every moment of his life and the world around him, especially now that he was given a second chance to experience it. Still, it had been lonely. He had Shinjiro, and Shadow-chan (his cat), but he missed the connections he had made back in high school. To him, it was still like yesterday, even if ten years had passed for everyone else. He missed Junpei and Makoto, and every moment they spent together. And Kotone… he couldn’t think of her without feeling a great sadness in his heart. They were both the loves of his life. He was comforted by the discovery that Makoto was alive and well, but Kotone… Kotone had been his fault. He knew that wasn’t exactly the case, but he couldn’t shake it. If he didn’t exist, then she would still be here. As much as Ryoji loves life and the world, he would give that all (edited)

10:08 PM

way if it meant that she would be safe… To love and to have lost, or to have never loved at all? He was interrupted from his negative thoughts by the knocking at the dorm’s door, having been dusting under a lamp to make sure the place was presentable. He hides the dust rag, fixing himself up briefly, and takes a deep breath. This was it, wasn’t it? He would see them again, and they would be so different… what if… things didn’t quite go well…? He had to try and be more positive. He tried to focus, but his head and chest felt tight, and he felt uneasy… Ryoji opens the door to see the two of them, standing there, completely different but somehow exactly the same. He sees the bags of food and remembers that he hadn’t eaten today, his stomach turning in hunger. How strange it is that he could have such human reactions… He stared at them dumbly for a few moments, time standing still. As he did, taking in their features one by one, he suddenly felt his cheeks wet with tears… “Ah?” He touches his cheek, pulling back his hand to check if he was really crying. He feels a sob rise in his throat, his chest warm and tight and scared and relieved, all at once in a dizzying whirlwind. “S-Sorry, I don’t know why I’m…”

The arrival of the former SEES leader gave Fuuka a bit of a scare, jumping slightly in place from his sudden appearance like a cat who'd heard a loud noise in another room. Fortunately the slight bristle is immediately soothed as her head turns towards Makoto with a, somewhat relieved, smile. "You startled me. . ." But all it takes is a single sigh and she's smiling up at him like it hadn't been eons since they last spoke face to face. "Maybe! Maybe they have a new sofa since they have a cat, now." Fuuka was tangently curious to if Shinjiro had gotten new appliances for the kitchen or if he was more of a 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' type. The second one seemed more likely. Before she could bring up the potential of Shinjiro getting out of work early to drop in the door to the dorm opened wide. "Ryoji. . .kun?" The grin on the tech whiz' face drops slightly at her old classmates pause. There's a moment of hesitation where it feels like no one knows what to do before uncertainty is replaced with panic at the avatar's tears. "Oh!" Fuuka is immediately a bundle of frantic energy, shifting her bags to and fro as she searches in them for something. She ends up having to put half of them on the ground near Makoto as she finds her handkerchief in her dress pocket. Despite having to stand on her toes a bit to do so, Fuuka is carefully dabbing her friends tears away with the cloth and trying to keep her own stinging eyes at in check. "W-well, that's certainly one way to say hello, Ryoji-kun!" At least her smile and, hopefully, cheerful tone was comforting enough in the moment. @waffle | himbo collector

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