[text]/[action]

[miseris_socios]

Yu Narukami is no longer in the Tower.

If anyone needs me for the rest of the day, they can find me on floor 48.

[And anyone who does look for him will find him wandering between two graves - Yu's and Shinjiro's. Two years ago... he still feels somewhat conflicted about being saved, but he's glad it happened.]

[Still, losing a friend and an enemy turned friend is difficult.]

Comments

[action]

[floreatnoctem]

You really shouldn't spend whole days in here, Ken-kun.

[Chidori isn't one to talk, given how she sometimes spends her fair share of hours next to Minato's grave- but doing as she does isn't what she wants for him.

Still, she falls into step with him on the way to Shinjiro's grave, expression slightly more grim than usual.]

Or at the very least, bring decent company.

[miseris_socios]

... I know. Just... today hurts.

[The anniversary of things... and tomorrow is the day he was dragged from their world to here, even if he showed up in March instead of October.]

... He died to save me. And while I kind of understand why, and I'm glad... it hurts.

[Not to mention all of his feelings around Yu...]

[floreatnoctem]

I know.

[And she does, but that doesn't make it any easier on him.]

Aragaki was a good person, even if he didn't seem like it.

[She frowns slightly, shaking her head- if only he hadn't been a part of SEES.]

--and then Narukami was your friend's family member, wasn't he?

[miseris_socios]

... Yeah. I...

... I got the key back from my old house. I gave it to him. Because in the future I want to get that plot of land back and fix the house... and I think of him like a brother now. So I told him that he was always welcome in my house.

[But now he's gone...]

[floreatnoctem]

Oh, Ken...

[Chidori knows how much home- what was home to him, once- means to Ken, and it breaks her heart a little more to hear about this. Her hand settles on his shoulder, and she sighs quietly as she squeezes.]

I'm sorry. You and your friends deserve better.

[miseris_socios]

We all do.

[He's quiet for a few moments, and then crouches down, thinking.]

I wonder if... I should make a grave for Mother. I don't know if it'd stay. She never got one, though.

[Action]

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid doesn't know Yu more than in passing, but what he does know is the pain of losing a close friend. It's something becoming far too common in this place nowadays. It's part of the reason he has avoided visiting the graveyard for so long. Even so, after seeing Ken's text, Diarmuid finds himself there. He's not exactly sure how to help the boy, but he does know that pain shared is pain lessened. It is the least he can do after how Ken reached out to him when they were all trapped in the room together.]

Ken?

[His voice is soft as he approaches.]

It's not right we don't even get to say good bye, is it?

[miseris_socios]

[He turns around, and nods.]

... Yeah. And today... mm. In my world, when I was brought here, it was October fifth. The day before - October fourth, so today... was when Shinjiro died.

[oathshackledbird]

This place...has a sick sense of humor, doesn't it?

[Diarmuid steps closer to where Ken is standing, his eyes dropping to the nearby stones.]

I could be cliched and say it just makes us stronger and gives us more to fight for, but that doesn't make the pain of losing them any less. Especially under circumstances like yours.

[miseris_socios]

Yeah.

[He takes a deep breath and tries to figure out how to word things.]

... I know Yu will be fine, but it's still... hard.

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid nods in understanding.]

Still, as horrible as this place is I would rather my friends here where I can protect and comfort them than alone surrounded by death. Strong or not, good or bad, no one deserves to be alone with all of that.

[He pauses a moment before speaking again.]

He was important to you. Would you tell me a little about him? While I saw him around the Tower, I never had the chance to properly meet him.

[miseris_socios]

We weren't always... that close. But he helped me a lot. He was there when we were stuck with Jason while the administrators were fighting each other. He wanted to try to help all of us Persona-users pull together, though the rest of Strega doesn't really... play that well with other Persona-users. Or we didn't used to.

But he cared about people - cares. He still cares, wherever he is. He listens to people. He listened to me. He took me seriously even though I'm young, he helped me figure out things when I was too embarrassed to ask Chidori or Jin, he looked after me when I was feeling upset...

... I wish I had asked him more about himself. I wish we had more time...

[action]

[myblueskies]

[Have a hug Ken, Romeo finds his friend easily once he gets to the graveyard after seeing the network message. He's sad as well, mister Yu was a nice person and had been here a long times and it was really bad that he had gone now and could be in danger because Ruana could hurt everyone even when they were on their worlds.] I'm sorry Ken...

[miseris_socios]

[Ken more or less collapses into Romeo's arms, clinging to him and trying not to cry.]

Today is stupid.

[myblueskies]

[Romeo held him tightly, knowing what it was like to lose a friend, or someone you cared about.] It's okay to cry Ken, when really really bad things happen.

[miseris_socios]

... It's not just that. It's...

Did I... ever tell you what happened on this date when I was nine?

[myblueskies]

[Romeo blinks and shakes his head, holding Ken tighter] No you didn't.

[text/action]

[attheclocktower]

[... she'd been going straight to the graves she always went to for the past couple days. She hadn't looked around at the new graves. Maybe she should've.

Well, it doesn't really matter now, does it?]

Thanks for letting us know. I'll be by later.

[True to her word, a couple hours later she'll enter the graveyard floor. She has to work here today, and so she does that first, watering flowers, brushing away leaves from gravestones, and so on. She'll nod at Ken whenever she passes by.

When she's done though, she reaches into a pocket of her coat and pulls out a shell, one of her favorites from the Tower. And from there, she sets it down in front of Yu's grave. The first of many, to be sure.

The Tower gave no gifts for free, it seemed.]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken waits for her to be done before speaking.]

... Sorry.

[As much as he hurts... Yu meant a lot to other people, too.]

[Action]

[evokingfool]

[Minato doesn't need to answer to the network post. As Yu's roommate, he already knows about his absence first hand. But it seems like Ken reported it first.

Still, without saying much, he made his way up to the forty eighth floor. He did pause to check on a few friends' graves, particularly those from SEES, before he find Ken.]

...Ken.

[miseris_socios]

[He doesn't turn, not yet.]

... Minato. I...

[He finally looks over his shoulder, wiping his face with a sleeve. His cheeks are a little dirty, and his eyes are a little puffy from crying.]

[evokingfool]

[After a brief pause, Minato take a step closer and speak up.]

It's always hard, isn't it?

[He doesn't know how close Yu and Ken are, but their bond must be enough for Ken to report the absence. And to come here to this floor.]

[miseris_socios]

... Yeah. And... today, of all days...

[He can't find the words, can't figure it out, but -]

Why do I keep losing people I care about?

[evokingfool]

Because life can be both beautiful and cruel.

[Minato knows very well how people can come and go in life. One day, they're with them, and they're gone the next.

How they will deal with it is up to each person. Especially in such a hard circumstances like today for Ken.]

And nothing is permanent, even if people didn't plan on this.

Not here...

[justabignobody]

[...But he'll be sitting at the terminal, once he sees this message.

Something had seemed just a little different when he'd gotten up and left towards the cafeteria this morning, somehow it had felt like something was off with the mix of light and dark that he's used to sense all over the tower. Now it's clear what that is, and it has him bowing his head while his hands clench into fists.

Yu - the first and closest friend he has made in this place - is gone. He is gone and most likely, he's been sent back to the destroyed remains of his home universe.

And he isn't safe there, not given what Ruana is planing...

They will safe him. Him and everyone else trapped in their homeworld or killed by whatever had caused their destruction in first place.

They'll restore it all. (They just have to.)

He promises.]