Persona 5 - The Jester's Point Of View

Scene 102

They recall the day clearly. It had been a Sunday at that time. Usually Sundays are free days but given the sheer amount of work which had piled up one was worked to the bone when it came to the Phantom Thieves' case. It was not unusual to be called up during the weekends and have work done. Even they had been told to make room on free days as this case had 'utmost urgency'. And the recent deaths surrounding it, at least according to the public opinion as well as Nijima–San's, only added to said urgency. This is all on top of studies... It was hard to focus and they didn't know if they had gotten any proper sleep recently. It had them all on edge. Not to mention the recent arguments they had been caught in, trying to somehow convince others that these cases are not connected, the innocence of the thieves in that regard. But most would not even pay any mind to what they had to say. 'The little girl is getting ahead of herself here', they heard stuff like that. Honestly, there was so little sleep and breaks involved that they were just tense all the time. They were not in the mood to work on anything yet they had no excuse to stay away either. And they had to keep pushing it no matter what! They were stubborn enough for that!

Also, stress showed itself in more ways than one...

It had been a quick glance from afar. They were busy with their own workload, one which had been given to them from Officer Sato. "Maybe look into these." That was all he said before he had just walked off, leaving them with some papers right in the hall. Yet the contents of it... They had forgotten. Not like they could focus anyways. Even less when they had taken that glance over.

Both were busy with their own workloads, them and Akechi. Sure, the two still spoke to one another and kept in touch, they pretty much had to anyway, but they still had plenty of time apart. He had to deal with his last few media appearances while they were stuck at a table with paperwork essentially. Then again, not like they really minded anyways. It gave them time to collect their thoughts when it came to him, how to approach this situation as well. Because it was just a mess. They knew after all yet they didn't know how to go about it. They tried to not make it too obvious, keep it casual but... He probably caught onto something. They were not exactly good at hiding things either... Much to their own dismay. And they had hoped to keep that distance just a little longer... But a certain something had other plans.

It all happened when they saw Akechi picking up his phone as it rang, seeming to check onto something. They didn't think much of it to be completely honest and were ready to shrug it off... Only to hear Pipistrello in their head all of a sudden.

"Oh my, how scandalous. Then again, it makes sense why the boy would retire from the public eye." It said, no, hummed. They tried to not show it yet their eyebrows were twitching a little. It just had to say something about this, didn't it?

"Scandalous? What do you mean?" They asked, trying to not be too loud and sounding not very interested.

"Oh nothing dearie. Nothing at all~"

"Nothing, right..."

"Well.. Except... Have you ever thought about if he has a lover?"

A lover? Akechi and a lover? They... Had never considered the possibility. And honestly they were not going to do that. After all, it made no sense in their head. A lover? Him? He doesn't have the time for that, right? What they know aside, there was also his schedule. He couldn't possibly make time for someone like that. It was probably just one of Pipistrello's silly ideas anyways. So... They shook their head quickly. "No. Probably not."

They heard the chuckle, the one they were all too familiar with by now. The one which only made their eyes roll every single time. Oh they could already imagine that grin on the mask too. "Then why would he respond so quickly?"