Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

Scene 87

There was never a shortage of arguments and debates of the like when it came to working on cases. And it can be beneficial, getting the gears going and making the other think. Though sometimes such debates could get out of hand, more than one might think. And this was one of such moments Goro had walked right into before knowing it. And seeing this was... Something else, to say the least.

The first meeting had been a complete contrast to how the two acted. The roles were clear – Sae was the one in charge for the most part and Anja... Well, she was just someone who helped out with the investigation here and there, part of the team. And it was mostly that, nothing else. Yet recently things had just become more tense between the two.

Sae–San's theory was no secret, especially not to Goro. She blamed the psychotic breakdowns on the Phantom Thieves, having made several connections. Both of these cases were odd, in her mind there was no other way. That or she had just gotten desperate to solve this case herself and take all the credit. This has been going on for months now after all.

And Anja usually never protested the idea. One could see that she had her own thoughts and doubts, especially judging from her expression. But she never really debated this. That was until after Miyuki's conviction however.It changed everything. Suddenly she became a little more fierce, making her stance known all of a sudden. And she couldn't take it, at least from the looks of it. And today had just been another day of that, something Goro had walked in on. Yet he had decided to remain silent, at least for the time being.

"And what makes you say that these incidents are not connected?" Sae asked, her voice sharp as she looked at Anja. Entertained? No, she was annoyed. 'Not this again' basically. But it was this again. Not just that but her being a little unwilling to listen to the younger female probably recently didn't help things. Even if Anja's father's name cleared she didn't have it easy around any law enforcement. Most still saw her as 'some criminal's daughter'. And Sae–San might think of it the same way... Though it wasn't exactly like her either. But the entire situation may have made her more judgmental? No, there was something else at play, wasn't there?

"If you listened to my point Ma'am you would know!" Anja countered, her voice having been a little louder than one might be used to from her. Butting heads with a prosecutor... She had guts, to say the least. "The patterns are very different! The mental shutdowns occur out of nowhere but the Phantom Thieves usually announce their big target beforehand!"

"Have you ever considered that they would just throw people off that way?"

"Why bother with that then? They weren't caught yet so why not keep going without a word if that's the case!?"

"They wish to taunt us."

"Really? Then why switch up the method this much and not kill their targets? Besides, the first reported incident involving the Phantom Thieves was Suguru Kamoshida! And it was—"

"Don't talk as if you have the full picture! We cannot rule out the possibility that these incidents are linked!" Sae–San would interrupt. She really didn't want to hear this yet Anja wanted to press on. It was almost as if she was.. Defending the Phantom Thieves? Sure, she had warmed up to them, Goro could not deny that. But this much? She knew something more, didn't she? She just couldn't say it, hence why she used the pieces of information in the real world to make sense of it, trying to get through a thick skull. But it wasn't exactly that easy.

"I..." Anja said, though hesitating at first. She didn't know how to react properly it seemed, though shaking her head shortly after. "I don't, maybe. But it's still weird. Why leave evidence behind which could get you caught? No one knows how the mental shutdowns occur so why not just keep going? The logic doesn't make any sense."

"As if you know what you're doing." A sudden hiss right back. "Have you ever worked on a case before this one?"

"N... No. But—"

"Then let me handle this. You just go back and—"

It was impossible to listen to this any further. Goro couldn't take any more of this. The issue wasn't that Anja had probably caught on by now that something was amiss but rather that these two were not giving it a rest. They never did. So he had to step in and he had an excuse for doing so. "Ah, there you are Nijima–San. I've been looking all over for you!" He said, pretending as if he had just arrived.

However, Sae didn't seem pleased hearing his voice either, only rolling her eyes. "It's you Akechi."

As for Anja, she was just surprised, nothing more. "Akechi–Kun? Ah, actu—

"Could you leave us alone for a moment?" He asked, not letting Anja finish that sentence. "It's classified information we have to discuss."

"R... Really?" Though she was hesitant, a little at least. Yet all he did was shoot her a glare, not just asking her to leave but telling her to. She caught on. "I... It can't be helped. Sorry to have been a bother!" She then added, forcing it out of her mouth. "I'll leave you to it then!"

Another time, another excuse. This had started to get out of hand. They just can't leave it be, can they? And getting them out of these situations, every single time... Hah... What was he doing at this point? Not just that but they were really becoming irritating, to say the least.

"Something classified again?" Sae had asked him however when Anja had left and she looked more than skeptical.

"Yeah, kind of." Goro responded though was she buying it? Of course not.

"You're shielding her a little too much, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh please. I'm not doing that in any way." He... Wasn't... Right? No, he was but— Ah, why did she have to bring this up!?

"Yet the 'matters' you have to discuss with me recently keep on increasing. Is there something going on? Are you two withholding information?"

"What are you taking us for? Besides, wouldn't Anja ready to debate you prove that there is nothing like that going on?"

"I suppose not... Though tell her to get in line, will you? She's being a nuisance."

"I..." He didn't know what to say to that. This was becoming more and more unlike Sae–San. It all felt weirder and weirder the longer this went on. Could it be...? Yet he gave in for the time being. "I will discuss it with her later."

"Good. Now, what do you want? Make it quick, will you?"