Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

Scene 8

Princes all have that perfect image they desperately try to keep. Always look handsome, never embarrass yourself, do not show a sign of weakness or vulnerability. Then again, that made these moments even more special. The moments where Anja could literally sit back and just enjoy a few different expressions from Akechi. Expressions not many got to see. It was like getting special treatment of some kind. Not even the cameras would catch him like this. It was amusing, very much so, and she could not help herself but humans giggled whenever she saw one of those rare expressions. Is that what they call VIP treatment? Nah, of course not. But it felt as if she was getting some special treatment here. Though she had not expected this of all things to be causing several funny faces. 

It was once more Anja who had dragged Akechi away at the next best opportunity. It was getting more and more frequent and even she found it weird how often she was dragging him away. And yet she did so anyway, no matter how it looked to others. Even if it got her stares all the time. You just gotta learn to ignore it to the best of your abilities! People get the wrong idea all the time anyways! But what was her excuse this time? Well…

“ You’re not busy for a little bit, right? There’s this new taiyaki near the train station! Let’s have a look together! ” One of her simple invitations. And she had been able to spot the upcoming sigh either way. 

“You will not take no for an answer, will you? ” Akechi brought up, no longer putting up a fight.

“ Haha, you’re starting to catch on, don’t you? ”

“ You’re no longer masking your intentions, are you? ” He was always trying so desperately to hide any type of frustration with Anja and yet she could by now spot it. He was certainly overwhelmed every single time. But that was fine with her in the end. It would result in the same thing regardless… “ Though I suppose if it is near the train station I have no reason to decline. I will have to take the train later. ”

“ Great! It’s a date! ” She had said, seeing the near shock in his eyes yet added quickly: “ Wait no. Maybe I should’ve said hangout actually… ” 

Back to the present at hand. Apparently this new stand had some type of special offer, some ‘mystery taiyaki’. Anja had heard of it before – Simply put, the flavor would vary from person to person. They just put in some special paste, one of the several. Apparently they wanted to ‘push boundaries and test new things’ or something like that. Needless to say it had gotten her curious and she somehow managed to talk Akechi into it as well. 

“ Eh? You want to go for the usual boring stuff? ”

“ What is wrong with picking the usual? ”

“ Try something new. A little bit of risk never hurts, right? ”

“ W… Well, that— ”

“ This mystery taiyaki is a big talk around town. ”

Apparently that sentence had convinced him to try it in the end. It was almost like a literal mood switch, something putting her off a little but… It can’t be helped, can it? The end result would be the very same now however. 

Anja had not bothered for a few seconds when having taken her small bites. Luckily there was enough room for one so it should be fine until dinner time. The paste was… A mixture of sweetness yet also it tasted… Wait, let it hit your tongue a little and it also felt kind of hot. Nothing too unbearable but it still might make someone crave for water. That they would manage to make a paste like this… Huh, she never would have even guessed that a paste could be spicy, at least a little bit.