Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

Scene 95

It was surreal to them... Shocking even. They didn't want to believe it. They refused. But who were they to doubt it at this point? It had been right in sight, right in front of their eyes. And worst of all? Only they knew about it. Only they had seen it. Only they knew what had been going on. And there was no one they could tell. This was not necessarily something they had expected to see happening but they couldn't deny it. The voice matched up, the shape of the figure they had seen... And they had direct confirmation from Pipistrello as well, a being who seems to know more than it is willing to tell... At least on its own. And it had said it right then and there, right inside the Palace...

" That guy over there, taking care of the Shadow? That was Goro Akechi. The boy just murdered someone. And that was not his first time either. "

A sentence stuck inside their head for days now, a knowledge they would have to bear for who knows how long! Anyone sane would probably go to the authorities and report what they had seen! But if it was that easy they would have done so already! It's not! And that was the thing they knew! They just knew that it was not easy in the slightest! It was impossible!

Hypothetically speaking, if they could come out and talk about what they had seen, there was a chance that Akechi would catch wind of this. He was a detective, right at the source. He may be able to pull some strings and blame it on them instead. He could do that very easily and everyone would probably believe him! He could twist it and make them look like the bad guy instead! It was a possibility to consider.

But that was not really a problem for them. Why? Because it was just theoretical. The truth was that they had seen this in the Metaverse. There was no evidence for something like this. No one could even prove that had blood on his hands. They knew that pretty much right away. The Metaverse was not something known to the public eye. So who would believe them? Even if they could ask Pipistrello to bring someone else to this world, what good would it do? Then they would know about the cognitive world. But so what? There was no evidence of a crime there. The Palace had collapsed and the body had disappeared. There was no evidence to speak of. It was impossible to prove his guilt no matter how hard they'd try. So they cannot pursue something like that. It was useless. Literally useless! And it was getting to them. Will they have to walk around with that knowledge!? Yes, there was no other choice! And it had them... Well... They were... They... They just...

"Anja, was it? Hey, Anja. Anja!" A voice would wake them up, making them realize where they had been sitting at right now. It was right in front of a desk with a stack of papers, something they had promised on the day they had fled when having heard of the calling card. Making up for the hours of the day which had been lost. And it was Officer Sato who had held them up to this promise, dragging them away as soon as they had entered the halls. Then again, thank goodness. They didn't even know if they could face Akechi properly now. Being in his presence would just lead to... Actually, they didn't want to think about it.

"Ah! Wh... What is it?" They asked, a little startled while facing the man. This one only sighed and shook his head.

"You're staring into empty spaces recently." He said, not very amused. "And you look pale too."

"Huh? I do?"

"Yeah. Did something happen?"

"Ah— N... No! Not at all!" They forced a smile on their lips yet they knew that this was nothing but a lie. Something did happen! Yet how believable would that even sound!?

"So it's me, gotcha."

"Hah!? No, it's not you either!"

"Oh please, I know what you're thinking. 'I'm sitting there with this incompetent cop who convicted my father because he didn't do his job correctly.' Right?" They couldn't tell if he was joking or not. He had said it in such a deadpan voice, not to mention the blank stare... They really couldn't tell with this guy.

Yet they shook their head. The only truth they were speaking at that moment. "I already told you that I'm not thinking that!" They protested. "Ishikawa had tempered with the evidence and let her connections protect her. Nothing more."

"So you say but—"

"I mean it! Sure, it's not great but blaming you over and over won't bring my father back!"

He only eyed her, the gaze sharp and having them freeze in their seat at that moment. "Then what happened? You're acting strange lately."

"Strange? Me? Why?"

"You're usually clinging onto our Inspector Ga– The detective brat I mean." Officer Sato scoffed, his tone making his distaste more than obvious. "Yet you're arriving here by yourself and don't follow him around when he's gotta be somewhere."

"Th... That? Uhm... Akechi–San said that he's... A little more busy but—"

" '–San?'" The officer interrupted a bit more sharply, making them flinch. "There's gotta be something you're hiding."

"I'm not! Honest! Anyways, let's get to work! Please!"

He only rose an eyebrow at them before lifting off one of the papers finally. "Hah, whatever you say. Let's finish those papers. Or Niijima will be up my useless ass again." And one would think it was over but... During the entire time where they had to help him out with the not so fun work they felt themself being observed.

They really had to keep their act together if they didn't want to get interrogated.