Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

Scene 83

Once outside, in front of the gates, they knew what they had to brace themself for. It was not much of a surprise to be completely honest and yet they still had been a little startled once Akechi had turned back to them when outside and was staring at them with a rather sharp gaze. It was as if he could slice them in half right now, much to their own dismay. Were they in hot water? No, it was even worse than that. Honestly, it was a little uncomfortable for them to have this conversation but they pretty much had to, didn't they? Luckily the sun had started to set outside. Just how much evidence was there? How much had Ishikawa hidden inside her own home? No use to dwell on that but they were curious. This was some massive cover up, wasn't it? But no matter, first they were getting an earful...

"What exactly were you thinking?" Akechi asked them, his expression showing that he was anything but pleased when having heard about this. They flinched a little as a result, not often having seen that face yet when they did they knew that it was bad. Very bad. No, terrible. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from this woman?"

"I... I know but... I had a hunch..." They responded, meeker sounding than they usually would be to be honest. No snarky comeback or anything like that. They didn't have the guts to do that if they were completely honest.

"And yet you did it anyway..." He sighed, shaking his head. "You know, if you suspected her of something, you could have just talked about it."

Easy to say but they couldn't exactly. After all, they were instructed to not tell anybody about it. And they were going to keep that word. But of course they couldn't say that, or else it would raise more suspicion. So they had to lie, whether they wanted to or not. Though that didn't make them feel any less guilty or ashamed. "Sorry... You just seem so busy. I didn't want to bother you with something like that."

He only looked at them, a bit baffled yet not exactly pleased either. "Not bother? What makes you—"

"Again, I was just following a hunch." They said, or rather continued to lie. Though the last part wasn't an exact lie at least. "I mean, I didn't have any evidence after all. And saying that Ishikawa is 'unsettling' is not really building a strong case against her, is it?"

"That..." The young detective had been silenced right then and there, pushed to overthink their words perhaps. He knew they were right about that last part, didn't he? "I will give you that. But you didn't need to try to dig her dirt up yourself. You saw where that got you."

They nodded slowly. Yeah, they knew from the start. Honestly, it was a miracle that they had gotten out alive here. Yet then they saw his expression relaxing a little, not exactly looking too thrilled still. Yet it seemed to not be as tense as before.

"But, I will also admit, if it had not been for your stunt this could have gotten past us."

They looked at him, a little surprised to hear those exact words coming from his mouth. Though they then grinned sheepishly, one finger placed on one of their cheeks and seeming to scratch it. "It was... Luck." They added.Yeah, it was somewhat luck, to say the least. But they quickly got themself out of this state and placed their hand down, their sheepish expression disappearing and instead being replaced with a face of curiosity. "By the way, Ishikawa spoke about proof?"

Hearing that had him also shift in expressions, not saying a word at first. But he might have recalled something, shifting from surprise to a rather serious demeanor instantly. "Right... The murder your father committed..." He began. "Or should I say now the one she framed him for."

"Ah–" It shout out of their mouth in an instant. So... It was true. What they had heard... It was not just nonsensical scribbling of words but there was truth to it. Then again, one may have thought of just as much if having seen her Palace. "I read about that..."

He looked at them curiously for a second, making them flinch in position before deciding to just come clean. So they added: "I may have snooped around a—"

"I can tell." He interrupted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He sounded awfully calm. Probably not the first time he had witnessed that, hadn't he? "She was so close to silencing you after all."

"Well... Pretty much."

"Don't get yourself into trouble like this again..." Akechi finished it up with that sentence, making them only look to the side. They couldn't face him for one reason or another. This was embarrassing in a sense. Of course they wouldn't get away with this.

But they had to agree, didn't they? So they nodded when turning back. Yet it was also then when they had realized something. "Wait, how do you know what she was up to?" They asked, finally. It just had come to their attention after all that he was there, right this moment. Yet they never bothered asking. "The timing was very convenient."

"Simple. She told me." The detective responded with no break. "At first I thought that she was going to fly into a rage when she approached me during work hours out of nowhere. Yet before knowing it she just dragged me here and handed me all the evidence she hid."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that..." That... Was odd. Even he couldn't help but feel weirded out by this. Or so his face suggested. It was sudden, they had to admit that. If they were in his position, they would probably be weirded out by that as well. It just... Happened. "It's not my case but I have to hand it in now. The officer in charge will have to reevaluate everything for a case against her."

They nodded. "O... Of course."

"How did you get her to do that anyways?" He suddenly shifted the subject. More or less actually. Yet their body tensed up a little. Of course they would be asked. They were the only other person there after all and Akechi knew that they had a motif for going this far! And he wasn't wrong, they did something. Yet even if they did tell him, would he even believe them? Probably not, the story sounded to bizarre. One had to see it to believe it.

"Me!? I didn't do anything!" They quickly retorted, waving their hands in front of their face. "I don't know how this happened!"

He looked at them. That face... They new it all too well. He wasn't exactly buying that excuse. They had to be involved somehow and that was a fair assumption to make. Though that was also why they were surprised when he suddenly said: "Then I won't push it."

"Huh? But—"

"No, it's fine. Maybe the 'how' isn't important. What matters is that you managed to catch someone who hadn't even been suspected." He interrupted. "Besides, you have been a victim yourself in this situation. Whatever you did could be brushed off as self defense."

They nodded again yet knew that didn't mean that they were in the clear. He had become wary, unusually so, yet for now would be ready to drop the subject, luckily. Though even as he turned away they could notice the short glance he had given them. It was an odd one, they had to admit, a mixture of skepticism and... Concern? Wait... Concern? As in him being worried? Was there a chance that he... Maybe... He had been at least a little worried about them? Like actually worried? Was he looking out for them here? Or—

No, it can't be. They were probably reading too deep into this. There was no way in their mind. They were probably just on his watchlist or something. Nothing more, nothing less. And even if not... They had to be careful or he might catch on that they are hiding something big from him, as unbelievable as it would sound.