Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

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It sounded surreal, especially in the moment they had heard it for the very first time.

“Yo Luka! Ya ever heard of that super famous Japanese artist?”

The guy had glared at his buddy with the biggest question mark on his face when looking up from their notebook, though not dropping their pencil. It was not a shocking thing to hear, no. Just a bit annoying. “You know how little that narrows it down?” Luka could… Uh… Actually, he was not traversing the world of art so no one came to mind. But there sure had to be a few, right?

And yet, their buddy had only slammed the palms on the table, looking at the brunette in disbelief. “Dude! You know the one! Everyone knows him!”

“Does everyone? Really?”

“C’mon! Not even you are living under that rock!” Oh what a bold assumption. That and Luka could just care less honestly.

“You’re giving me too much credit…” He sighed. Even this guy knew how far behind he was with some trends. This was no exception whatsoever.

“C’mon. Ain’t you the artsy freak anyways?”

“I’m more of a writer than an artist.”

“Same thing to me.”

“How is tha–”

“Anyways, ya surely heard of Madarame!” The buddy would interrupt, then staring his friend down.

This one only put aside his pencil by now, feeling way too close to comfort at this rate and only shoved his male friend aside, unable to hide his annoyance. “I get it I get it! Keep your distance!” Luka remarked, a little annoyed sounding.

Yeah, he heard of the guy. The old man who drew this “Sayuri” painting and got it stolen, right? Well, he had heard of that artist before but… “Why bring him up anyways?” The writer asked before picking up his pencil again.

“Well, my Mom’s nagging me ‘bout not bein’... What did she say? Educated ‘nough?”

“Not educated enough?”

“Ya heard me! Anyways, always naggin’ me ‘bout my grades ‘n stuff. And not knowin’ ‘nough about the modern arts. So she gave me these!” The guy said before shoving a pair of tickets in front of Luka’s face, making the other one try to keep a straight face but… Nope, going somewhat blank.

Shouldn’t the friend be studying more then? What does looking at art have anything to do with it? “What’s your point?”

“Go to the exhibit with me!” The buddy begged, lowering his head. “I got no girl and the other guys would laugh at me! Please Luka! I can count on ya, can’t I!? My Mom’s gonna burn my ass if I don’t go!”

Needless to say, it was hard to say no and Luka’s own Mom liked to say the following:

“ Sweetie, you need to get out of the house more! Maybe hang out with your friends more! All you do is stay in your room, write or play games! ”

Friends… Yeah right…

But alas, he was in the same boat. So he accepted in the end, having decided to visit the exhibit with his buddy. And so, just to know what to expect, Luka had done his few searches online. 

Madarame Ichiryusai, a well known Japanese artist. He got famous with his famous painting “Sayuri” which got stolen. There are many theories surrounding this painting alone, heated debates and conversations starting in the artworld. They even found several online. But Madarame was not just known for the Sayuri, no, but also for his varying art styles, always coming up with a unique one. And he had several! Even at this exhibit!

And yet it made Luka’s stomach turn… Something didn’t sit right with him. Sure, he heard of artists imitating art styles but even then… Having this many different art styles? So many unique ones? Was that possible? He was no expert nor professional… Nor did he have a decade worth of expertise but– 

“Oi Luka! What’cha looking at!?” The buddy who had dragged him here suddenly wrapped an arm around the body, right on his shoulders, pulling Luka closer. And they could hear the grin. “Somethin’ caught your eye?”

“Wha– Er… N… No. Just observing.” The brunette responded, trying to remain calm. Besides… Maybe he had been thinking too deep into this one. It was probably nothing.

“For real? You’re actually interested?”

“Well, may as well give it a shot while we’re here.”

“Eh? For real? Damn, you take this stuff way too seriously!”

“I’m not wasting the money your mother spent on this.”

“Sounds stingy.”

“It’s no–” Why was he even trying to argue here? “Nevermind… Let’s just get going.”