Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

Scene 98

As if they hadn’t felt observed enough as of late… First it had been Officer Sato who was eyeing them each time they were dragged away to work with him, then there was Akechi with whom they… Well, they didn’T outright avoid him but as much as they could. Mainly because they still didn’t know how to act towards him either. One wrong step after all and it might be over, or so they feared at the very least. For now they couldn’t let him know that they knew at least yet they weren’t sure for how long they could keep up their ‘stupid, oblivious’ act. Besides, how do you act towards someone you know is guilty of something!? They still had to try figuring that out as well.

Needless to say, they started to feel less and less comfortable around here. They either felt hostile glares at them or were under strict observation. There was no in between. sure, they were working here, at least for the time being, and they were used to being looked at with the necessary skepticism but this? This was just too much now. They didn’t know how to react. Though all they could do was look past it, even if it wasn't exactly an ideal position they were in. And even less when Prosecutor Nijima asked if they had a few minutes to spare. 

No, ask was the wrong word to use. She didn’t ‘ask’ anything from them. She never did. It was more that she ‘demanded’ some of their time the moment the two had made eye contact from afar. And she looked a little furious. Not just that but even more recently they had sensed a certain hostility coming from her in particular. There had never been a warm welcome but given their arguments as of late… This hostility had only increased with time. The tension was just getting bigger and bigger, to the point they also had preferred to not come face to face with her as a whole. Yet sometimes it could just not be avoided, like this time. At this rate they just felt as if they had been following orders. 

Not to mention that this took place only shortly after the incident of Okumura’s mental shutdown. Actually, even if they used that as leverage to escape, Nijima–San did not take this as an answer. It may as well be an order after all. So they had no choice but to have this little ‘talk’ with her… Much to their own dismay. At least it was right inside the main hall. A direct confrontation. And the prosecutor wasted no time whatsoever.

“I will be upfront with you. And you better answer me truthfully.” She said, her tone even sharper than usual. They had gotten used to it yet deep down they did not feel very comfortable either. It was hard to explain.

“Wh… What is it Ma’am?” They asked, trying to keep their tone on the downlow, calm overall. Yet that only earned them a colder glare, one almost going right through the soul. 

“Have you been the one looking at my laptop?” That… Was sudden. She at least cut to the chase pretty much right away, making sure that this conversation was cut short. And yet when she said it… It wasn’t exactly a question either. Or it didn’t feel like it at least. It was closer to an accusation if anything. Yet they could not be intimidated by that, no way!

“Huh? No.” They responded, showing that they were genuinely confused. “I didn’t.”

“Then how come I found traces of some data being transferred from it?” Was this an interrogation? Seriously!? DId she believe that it had been them!?

“I don’t know.”

“Oh really?” How she said that infuriated them, they had to admit.

“Why would I do that to begin with?”

“You have been insisting on proving your point to me, haven’t you?” She threw in, no shame nor hesitation. It was as if she was stating a plain fact here. “That the cases of the mental shutdowns and the Phantom Thieves are not connected. So you have every reason to look at my data, don’t you?”