Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

Scene 100

The door closed, the girl had finally left. Eli let out a silent sigh of relief. This took long enough... Though it had gone as he had expected. He didn't get why either, why Sae had been pushing it to no end. And yet he was in no place to question it. However, he was also not going to sit idle while someone capable was being belittled like this. She had fair points from what he had heard. Yet if it had been just that...

So it was just those two in the office. Him and the prosecutor. Even if he wasn't equal to her in rank he couldn't just see how a kid was being picked on. He wasn't going to let that slide. Not when this kid proved to be more capable than most he had seen... Maybe even him. And just why was she being picked on? He could imagine it yet he wasn't going to say it out loud. He had to hear it from her instead.

"What do you want, Sato?" Sae scoffed, not wanting to deal with whatever he had to tell her. One could see it in her eyes. He always knew that she was strict where she had to be. However, recently this 'strictness' took a turn for the worse. It wasn't even her being 'strict' anymore. No, this was overkill. This was anything but that. One had to be blind to not see it. She has changed, becoming more desperate ever since the case of the Phantom Thieves had become a bigger deal. "And better make it quick. You already had the audacity to interrupt this conversation."

"Conversation? You didn't even let her speak." He countered, not believing this. How could she call it that? Since when had she become so unreasonable? This was so unlike her... "You were just trying to push a crime onto her... Again."

"You can't be that blind, can you?" She asked, her tone sharper than before. "Anja has been acting highly suspicious since Ishikawa's conviction. Not just that but you want to tell me that she uncovered this on her own?"

"Do you know the details?"

"I don't need to know the details to know that this is suspicious behavior! And it has only become more apparent ever since Okumura's death!"

"And that's why you had even suspected her taking data from your laptop?" He threw in. "A random girl who has never done anything like this before?"

"Who else would come into question!?" She was close to hissing. "She has been pushing it and not letting it go! Not just that but her father—"

Ah, there it was. The 'You know who her father is' card. A card everyone has been playing around here. Or almost everyone. The rumors had been severe. Something which was always boiling down to 'They're letting a criminal's daughter wander around freely here!' – Basically they were all acting as if Anja was a criminal herself. Even though she had no criminal record nor had there been evidence for anything of that sort. But, even with the innocence of her father proven, she was still treated as an equivalent of a criminal. She didn't seem to let it get to her or that detective kid was shielding her from having to endure this. Whatever the reason, it still happened. Her arguments were convincing yet not many seemed to trust her. They side eyed her. And Sae didn't really seem to be an exception. The one thing he had hoped would stay the same... It was unlike her, he could confirm that much at least.

"Ah yes, her father had been convicted. And that's why she's also a criminal, just because she so happened to be the daughter of Karl Wolf." Eli interrupted with no hesitation, his tone just oozing with sarcasm. "By that logic anyone related to a criminal is guilty. Do we have to work on arresting anyone who is a distant relative of some now? Because then that's gonna be a while."

The prosecutor did not like to hear that. Oh she was sure at the brink of just exploding right into his face. But was he wrong? No, of course not. Both knew that. Even if it frustrated her to no end he wasn't wrong either.

"Listen up, this ain't it. You're really going to risk losing someone who could help move things a little forward? Just because she's—"

"Don't forget who is in charge here." Sae suddenly said, agitated yet cold all the same. And her words cut deep. "For your information, I have been put in charge of the Phantom Thieves' case."

"Wh... What?" That wasn't surprising to him. She was capable. She knew what she was doing. He had no doubt about that. But the way she said it... "Old man's orders?"

"Don't stick your nose too much into this." She continued. "How about you focus on doing your job correctly?"

Hearing that stung. Did she know? Wait, that didn't matter. Having to hear that was just... It always cut deeper, deeper than one might think. The reminder of what was the truth however... "I..."

"Don't think you have the audacity telling me how to handle this case."

"That..." He needed a bit to recover, to think for a moment. He eventually regained his composure, though he just wanted to leave all the same. "I'm not telling you that. All I'm saying is to maybe treat the girl not as if she was a convict." He didn't bother with the answer however. Instead he just left without a word. Then again, maybe that was the preferred outcome.

Not like Sae thought much of Eli to begin with. And... She wasn't exactly wrong. He hasn't done his job correctly, and it showed... The daily reminder of having failed someone... Maybe...

No, he couldn't focus on that. Yeah... But even then...