Discovery (Event)

[harmonizenpc]

Who: Persona-users, Sayuri, ensemble NPC cast.
Where: Various.
When: Saturday, May 6, homeroom.
What: Something isn't right.


The Friday after Golden Week had come and gone without much fanfare. Things had rapidly returned to normal, save for some chatter about students' various adventures over the holiday.

Starting out, Saturday looked to be much the same, by and large. Students in 1-ho, 2-ni, and 3-ha might have thought it odd that they had substitute teachers for homeroom, particularly given that their regular teachers been present the previous day, but most shrugged it off without a second thought.

Snuck into the homeroom announcements was another blink-and-you'll-miss-it peculiarity: members of the Critical Thinking class were to report to the auditorium at the end of homeroom for a mandatory guest lecture.

Such events weren't unheard of; Chitoku's brochures had even mentioned them as a selling point. To the student body at large, this was simply the first thus far.

No doubt the students being called knew better.

Comments

[harmonizenpc]

"I'm certain. It's part of why you were brought to Chitoku. The Potential--" you could almost hear the capital letter "--can crop up in unexpected places."

Her attention remained fixed on Sayuri, her manner still deadly serious. "We think the other world may have had something to do with Hazama-san's disappearance, and I'd like to ask for your support. With this, and with the rest of our mission as well."

[conformity]

Unexpected places would be putting it lightly. If she would have known that answering the phone this morning would mean going in here and hearing all this and being asked to help out with another world and dangers.. well, then she still would have been pretty much just as nervous as she actually was when she came in. But for a different reason, at least.

And to be entirely honest, Sayuri didn't quite know what to answer. It sounded scary, but on the other hand, despite not knowing Miyume well it felt cruel to just abandon her. And then there was a large part of her brain that was telling her she had to do it, either way. It wasn't a matter of choice. If she had been giving some sort of weird potential (Potential?) for something, she had to use it for the greater good. No matter what she herself thought about it.

".. I get it." Slowly the girl nodded, her eyes cast downwards a little once more. "If it's what sensei wants, then I'll do whatever I can."

[harmonizenpc]

"Thank you. I'm glad to hear that. Ah, pardon me a moment."

It was only then, after Sayuri had given her consent, that Sekimiya allowed her attention to shift elsewhere, picking up the phone that had been quietly brightening and dimming on her desk.

"Yes, this is Sekimiya. ... Yes, it's taken care of. ... Now? She does work quickly, doesn't she? Yes, I'll be with you shortly. Good luck."

When she turned back to Sayuri, she seemed almost apologetic. "We'd normally provide a training and adjustment period, but with Hazama-san's disappearance, we're basically in a state of emergency.

"Right now, we're trying to find whatever information we can. We've sent two of the other students to the dormitory to investigate. For now, please go assist them."

[conformity]

At least the momentary phone call gave her more time to think about everything she had been told. But of course that little time wasn't enough at all. Sayuri didn't even have time to fully process everything she suddenly learned, especially with a lot of the details still missing. All she knew was that she had to do her best at whatever was being asked of her.. thankfully trying to find information didn't sound too difficult. Even she could do that, right? So she nodded.

"I understand.." Usually a training and adjustment period, but not for her.. that sounded about like her kind of luck. That just meant she'd have to work even harder, huh.. "Would that be all, sensei..?"

[harmonizenpc]

"Yes, for now."

Sekimiya stood and opened the door to usher Sayuri out. "I'll provide a proper introduction at a more opportune time."

As though remembering something, she walked briskly to her desk, retrieved something from a fingerprint-locked drawer, and offered it -- though the authority of the gesture seemed to make it a little less than voluntary -- to Sayuri.

It was a peculiar-looking thing -- a simple metal hilt with no blade, a small recessed button, and thin lines running down both sides that looked oddly like shut-off lights. If she looked on the bottom, she would see the name "Inoue" embossed on it in neat characters.

"Take this, and keep it safe. I hope you won't need it, but it's better that you have it in case things go wrong."

[conformity]

The girl stood up to receive the object, although she wasn't entirely sure what it was supposed to be. Sure, it did look like some sort of hilt, but without the blade it was hard to believe it was supposed to be any of the sort, especially with the strange lines on it. Was this some sort of valuable object related to that other world business..? Sayuri didn't decide to question it though - she shouldn't speak up when she's not being spoken to, after all. Even if all of this was confusing, if she wasn't supposed to know more than this, then that was it. So instead she safely held it close to her as she bowed.

"Thank you, sensei. I'll go to the dorms now then."

With a last nod after standing up straight again, she tucked away the object safely for now (since she supposed it most likely wasn't something she should be showing off to other students publically) and turned to leave the office through the door that had already been opened.