Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

Scene 86

It had been out of nowhere when they had passed by. Honestly they thought to not hear of the Miyuki case again, at least not after being interrogated a day or two later. They wanted to hear all the details after all. But that should have been it. Yeah, it should have been but they stopped when they heard the name drop all of a sudden.

It was when they had just entered the building and spotted the two in question. One of them was Akechi but the other one? That was a man they had never seen before nor had known about. A man who was slightly taller than Akechi was. He had messy, short, black hair, brown eyes and wearing a pair of glasses. His attire was simple but nothing informal either. It wasn't a suit or anything like that but contained the usual shirt, trousers and jeans. And yet, even with that, he looked a little messy and irritated, the bags under his eyes visible as well as the literal mess on top of his head. Actually that may as well have been a mop instead of hair. It was that messy. Talk about working day in and out. But that was more an assumption made than anything.

"Ugh, to think that she was all behind this..." The man sighed, exhausted yet also a hint of frustration in his voice. "She got us good... A little too good."

"Is there something wrong, Officer Sato?" Akechi asked, the tone as calm as it always was. Then again, what reason would he have to sound any other way?

"Yeah, there is!" He said, no, yelled somewhat. Or was at least about to do so. "This woman has been slipping through the cracks for a good while and we just found out! This is just—"

"Please, there is no need for any of this. Ishikawa–San has had her connections. You know how it is if you know what strings to pull."

"Easy for you to say kid. We not just have to reevaluate the evidence but also—" Yet that man seemed to pause, suddenly coming eye to eye with the person in question. And as soon as they had noticed they wanted to hide. Had they been standing there and listening? Yes, they did. And they honestly wanted to run. But there was no chance for that when the man had called them out all of a sudden. "Ah great. Looks like his daughter his here too." And he wasn't even quiet about it!

Akechi had overheard this and turned around, a little surprised at first before putting on that smile he usually had. "Ah, Anja. Good morning. You're early today." He commented, forcing them to step forward as a result.

"M... Morning." They responded, a little meekly compared to usually. Then again, it was the presence of someone else which got them a little on the edge right now. Not because of anything in particular may they add but because there just was yet another person. And they didn't know how to react properly to strangers. It had even taken them a while to adjust to Nijima–San honestly. And she was scary if she wanted to be, even if Akechi assured them that she wasn't as bad as she may seem right now. She was just a little stressed and that they should not take it the wrong way. And they were trying... Somewhat succeeding but... There was something about Nijima–San's attitude which felt odd. But they couldn't exactly say what, obviously. Maybe it was just the stress after all and it had gotten to them as well. Yeah, that might be it.

In any case, the officer seemed to eye them ever so curiously, almost like some hawk. Though they could see a slight tension in his body, as calm as he tried to appear at that moment. "Early today? What's going on here?" He even asked. "What do you mean by that?"

The tone had been a little cold and harsh, making them flinch on the spot. Yet it was something out of their control. They wanted to answer yet words would never come out in such an environment, especially towards a stranger. If it was someone around their age then maybe but someone way older, an officer from what they had heard nonetheless? How could they speak up!? What if they slip up and offend him by any chance!? He already seemed a little intimidating after all. Though luckily someone had noticed and answered for them.

"Ah, right. You probably haven't heard yet Sato–San. You've been busy with another case after all." Akechi began. "Anja is here as part of the team investigating the Phantom Thief case."

"What? Another kid on the team?" This one asked, suddenly caught off guard yet also sounding somewhat annoyed when hearing that. "And this one? This isn't a daycare!" Uwah, talk about harsh...

"Oh, she has been of great help before joining the team. She has an interesting approach, to say the least."

"Interesting approach you say..."

"Let's just say that even I felt a little embarrassed when hearing her theory focusing on the calling cards we have so far."

The officer eyed them even more when he heard that yet then sighed. "If they think she's worth having on the team, I can't argue there. This... Ain't my case." And yet he had to force it out of his own mouth. "And you said she's the one responsible for catching Ishikawa Miyuki in the first place."

Hearing that made them feel more embarrassed yet they also shot a glare right at Akechi. 'What were you telling him!?' Their gaze alone asked. It had not gone unnoticed and he responded while also commenting: "It had been a risky stunt. But in the end she managed to bring it all to light. If not for that we would still not know the truth, would we?"

A quick 'tch' escaped the officer's lips, him looking anything but pleased. In fact, he didn't hide any type of annoyance, if it had been that. And yet he was not going to argue about it in any way, only scratching the back of his head. "I suppose not..." He then turned to them, looking directly into their eyes which only made a shiver go down their spine. "Guess I gotta thank you, don't I?"

"Th... Thank!? No no no! There's no need!" They responded, shaking their head as well. "I've just been at the right place at the right time! It was luck!"

"Well, your luck exposed somethin' we didn't even think about. That some girl is gettin' ahead of us too..."

"That's not—"

"If ya got somethin' to say to my face, say it. Not like I'd blame you for it." He suddenly said. "Came here to chew me out, didn't ya?"

"Uhm... Why would I do that?"

"Well, Sato–San has been beating himself up over this new discovery." Akechi interfered at that point. "Especially since he was the one in charge of the case linked to your father."

They then turned to the officer again, a sudden moment of shock overcoming them. "W... Wait a second... This man was—"

"Yeah. And looks like I did more than sloppy work this time around." He admitted, sounding even more annoyed now.

That... Made sense. Well, why was this a topic of conversation at least. And maybe why this man was reacting this way when seeing them. Actually, now that they looked at him, he had a hard time looking them right into the face, his gaze wandering around elsewhere every single time. Was that why he was responding so annoyed? It made the most sense to them and they were ready to go with this explanation. "It can't be helped." They began, enough to get his attention, so that he eyed them, both face to face right then and there.

"It... Can't be helped?"

"Yeah. I... Heard it myself. Miyuki tempered around with evidence, didn't she? And she probably knew how to shield herself."

"E... Even if you say that—"

"It doesn't change anything in the end. What happened happened. I can't be mad."

The officer only stared, the disbelief visible at that moment. He didn't say a word, he only stared... And stared... And stared even more. "That—"

"Well, there you have it Sato–San." The younger male said. "There's no reason for you to worry like this."

He could have protested and he probably wanted to. Yet he seemed to shake it off just as quickly. "Nevermind. I don't have the time to argue with kids like that. I have work to do."

"Ah... Of course. Please, do not let us hold you up then."

Officer Sato though... There was something as well yet they couldn't pinpoint it exactly. Then again, maybe they were a little agitated as well, given that they had just basically talked to a stranger. Someone they had just met. Maybe there was nothing to it and they were just nervous at first.

Yeah, that was probably it.