babermetrics | IC OVERFLOW AND MISC.

Hey, I didn't wanna put this on any more than you wanted to put that on!

[Whoops. His fingers snap shut, properly hiding his eyes this time; now he actually can't see her. It's awkward to stand like this, but there's literally no option here that is not awkward, so he'll take what he can get.]

And I'm pretty sure if I tried to swim in this I'd be swimming naked within like, two seconds. Not that I'd mind that, but not like this! That's for late nights with close friends!

[Friends you want to get closer to, sometimes.

The longer he's got his eyes covered for real, the easier it is to calm down; he can't see what she's doing or where she's looking either, so it's harder to be stressed out about it. He's not obsessively reading all her reactions. He even laughs a little, after a deep, calming breath.]

Anyway . . . I'm sorry I had to see you like that like this, but not that I saw you like that! That makes sense, right? You know?

[There's a problem with Leon closing his fingers entirely, and that problem is that Rise's footsteps are light and quick as she crosses the sand and reaches up to take his wrist, pulling his hand from his eyes so she can look at him.]

You already saw enough. [The innertubes are readjusted a little better, and now that she's up close--well, okay, now that she's up close it's a lot easier to see him whether she wants to or not but she's keeping her eyes on his face for the most part. She's also not letting go of his wrist just yet either.]

I don't know which is worse, yours or Yu-senpai's. [Oh. Now she just sounds solely amused. Leon's barely covers anything, but Yu's is an actual costume. That is to say it makes sense and she's considering this even for him seeing her like this. (Was that a hint? Has he skinnydipped with other girls before? Ugh, forget it, she'll think about that later.)] What're you doing down here anyway? Most people are further north in the castle.

I, uh, ha ha . . .

[It's not just her proximity making him stammer; he's still a little embarrassed about being caught at this. (Even though it was definitely worth it.) Being up this close to her isn't helping, though—but he's not about to complain about it. He keeps his eyes on her face this time.]

I was just screwing around! Once I figured out how the sand worked, I just kinda . . . maybe I had some energy to burn off, something like that? It just happened! Is it that weird?

[It's weird, right?! Dammit. Well, he's pretty thoroughly distracted now from going back to it, which is okay; he's worked out some of his unresolved baseball tension by now.

So he drops his hand, twisting it in her grasp to try and get a light hold of her fingers.]

What about you, you lookin' for someone? I'll come with! You got me kinda curious about Narukami's trunks now!

[No homo.]

—Not in a weird way.

[Yep.]

[Oh, are we hand-holding now? She's cool with that, even if she's tilting her head just slightly.]

I don't think it's weird. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and dance around my room until Yu-senpai says breakfast is ready. [So no. She gets it. Sometimes you have energy you wanna burn off and the best way to do it is by doing what you're familiar with.] I just didn't know you were really good at baseball.

[But she giggles anyway because...Yu's suit sure is something.] Thinking about upgrading your look? [Another teasing grin.] We got separated after we logged in. [And suddenly she looks incredibly excited about something.] Two of our friends showed up! I could feel them as soon as they were dropped into this level and Yu-senpai has some app or something that confirmed it. We were trying to find them to make sure they got out and into the colony.

[He does fold her hand in his, holding on, because she's letting him, so why not? He sure doesn't mind getting pulled around by her some if it means the casual closeness. And his embarrassment is wearing off; this is almost like a normal conversation at this point. A normal, almost-naked conversation!

He blinks over at her in surprise, though:]

Feel them? . . . He's got an app that you can use to track your friends? Where'd he get that?

[He's kind of intrigued. There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't obsessively check his CereVice for his classmates and other friends, both the ones still here and the ones in the code.]

[So here they are in a private ballway mostly naked and she's tangling her fingers in his while her leader is running around somewhere looking for someone who may or not be in a bearsuit right now, and a boy whose ass is probably in the air.

This is fine.]

There's some boy named Tadashi who made it. It's something you can download and install on your CereVice. Yu-senpai has it and has our friends programmed in it, but I don't need it. [There's a sly smile. She doesn't mind if Leon knows a thing or two about her.] I can sense where people are.

[Completely fine. . . . The bearsuit thing sure is going to throw him off if that happens, but for now he's blissfully unaware, and starts to wander hand-in-hand with her out of the hallway.

And also, what? Leon shoots her a slightly incredulous look. Does she have powers? Or—?]

What, for real? Like just . . . yourself, you can feel it? Anyone?

[A part of him expects her to say: Just kidding! I just have really good intuition.]

[She almost looks confused about why he's asking her this question, but then it dawns on her.

Oh. Duh. Leon...doesn't know.]

...sort of? I have to know a little about the person first but after that it's pretty easy. [Maybe now is the time to bring up a little bit of a backstory. She can't help but tighten her grip on his hand though as they exit the hallway and move through another part of the castle.]

Leon, do you remember what you saw in that house of mirrors? With me and my friends.

[He's letting her lead, because . . . he's not sure which way north is, to be honest. But he keeps pace with her, and he keeps hold of her hand, firm and reassuring.]

Yeah, 'course I do. It's got something to do with that?

Yeah. [It's weird that she's aware of the fact that his palm is warm against hers and that she's more focused on that than where they're going. Navigation is second-nature by this point.]

I told you that my friends and I didn't really know each other that well before we all became a team, but I didn't really tell you why we became a team. It's...a little unusual? Before I came to this place I didn't think anybody but us would understand, but I think it might be better if I just show you and then explain. It's a part of me I didn't show a lot of people back home, and you can't freak out about it, okay?

[He trusts her to lead them, so he's entirely focused on her story, watching her with interest; even their relative states of undress are temporarily forgotten.]

Yeah, yeah, I promise! Don't worry about it! I've seen and heard tons of weird stuff here . . . I can take it.

[Somehow, she can believe that. They're still alone and it's here she stops him, hand coming up to rest on his chest as a signal for him to halt in his footsteps and she lets go of his hand so she can properly face him. She studies his expression once more (for what, she's not really sure herself) before she closes her eyes.]

Persona.

[There's a sound like something's shattering even though nothing's there and a flash of light that might temporarily blind him, but by the time the whole fancy Persona bullshit's over he'll find that Rise's...you know. Still standing there, just as normal as can be...and Kanzeon's hovering right behind her waiting for instruction. Rise doesn't say anything but she's giving Leon a look that basically says "well????" instead.

So yeah. There's that.]

[Yeah, there's that. But what is that?

He said he wouldn't freak out. And he doesn't; he does take a couple steps backwards in surprise, eyes going wide and jaw dropping. But once he's over the initial surprise . . . it's not like this is threatening in any way. It's just Kujikawa standing there, with—something behind her. Something big, but benign-seeming.

He snaps his mouth shut and meets Rise's eyes again, still looking shocked, but standing his ground.]

. . . Whoa. That's . . . that came from you? This's your power?

[It's roughly the same response she's received from most people who aren't familiar with Personas and she smiles slightly even as she tilts her head back to look at Kanzeon. The Persona also seems amused as she analyzes Leon closely.]

This is my Persona. She's a part of me, kind of a part of my soul? [She would look down but that would just make her even more embarrassed currently so she keeps her eyes locked on his.] Her name's Kanzeon. Everyone on our team can use one, but Yu-senpai can use a bunch of different ones.

[Annnd story time.] What you saw in the mirror was my Shadow. Shadows are born from all of the negative thoughts and hidden feelings people have. My Shadow was created because of all of the parts of me I didn't want to believe were really there, all of the things I didn't want other people to see. The Midnight Channel showed all of those negative parts to anyone who was watching. That's how my friends found me, and that's how we found others. If you don't accept your Shadow as a part of yourself...they'll attack. But if you can defeat it and accept it as part of yourself...[She gestures back to Kanzeon.]

...Yu-senpai and the others saw me and came to rescue me before my Shadow could kill me. The TV world is a pretty dangerous place. Without our Personas we wouldn't have survived at all. It's funny though. We've never been able to summon them outside of the TV world. Cerealia's the first place it's worked besides there.

[He listens to her explanation, mildly astounded . . .

It sounds crazy. But not really crazier than anything else here, and there's an internal logic to it that he can follow and which matches with what he saw of her other self (her Shadow, apparently), which actually puts it a bit above things like wizards refilling water glasses with their magic wands on the scale of things that make sense.

So he nods, slowly, as she wraps it up, still adjusting all of that in his head into a simplified version he can remember easily.]

So . . . that fake bikini you, that was like, your bad parts, but you and your friends took her down and you dealt with all that, and she turned into—this, right? Or, uh, her?

[That's a her, right?]

And now she's on your side?

Something like that. [There's a timid smile. It's confusing, she knows.] All of our Shadows were born for different reasons and all of our Personas are different. When our Shadows were born born and when we were held in the Midnight Channel, a dungeon was created for each of us. [A beat. It's…an awkward conversation. She's alluded to it, she's discussed it with some people in lesser detail, and of course her friends except for Naoto were there first-hand. But it's Leon.

She just has to hope this won't make things weird.]

Marukyu Striptease. That was mine. [Which explains why her Shadow was poledancing in a gold bikini threatening to bare it all.] …I didn't choose to be an idol at first, you know? One of my relatives entered my name in a contest and I won. I guess they were hoping it'd help my confidence. [There's that same weak smile.] I wanted to be a better person. I wanted to be someone people liked and have friends, but people stopped wanting to know Rise Kujikawa. After I started my career, people only saw Risette, the girl on stage and in the magazines and commercials. After a while, I didn't even know who the real me was, so I took a break from my career hoping to figure it out. But the truth is? Everything about me is the real me. Even Risette. Senpai and the others helped me realize that.

[And she looks up at Kanzeon one more time.] Kanzeon started out as Himiko, but she changed. I changed, too. She helps me keep my friends safe in the TV world by navigating and being able to sense presences and other Shadows. She helps me find their weaknesses to plan the best battle strategies, too, and sometimes she's bailed us out of really bad situations. I never knew I could be capable of something like this, but it's hard to imagine being without her now.

Kujikawa . . .

[That's—intense. It's a lot. The parts about Shadows and battle strategies and the TV World, he doesn't really get any of that, but it doesn't matter; the part that's about her feelings makes sense, and it's obvious that it's a lot of personal information to tell someone.

He's touched, and he doesn't know what to say to it.

What do you do, when things get serious like this? Leon's bad at it—his skin crawls with the urge to lighten the mood somehow, crack a joke or something, but he doesn't really want that, either. She went and told him all of that. She trusts him! He has to say exactly the right thing, something sensitive and cool, the perfect follow-up to all of that . . .

Ah, screw it. Words are really hard. Actions are easier. He takes a step toward her and reaches for her arm—

And then pauses, glancing up at Kanzeon.]

. . . She's not gonna get mad if I hug you, right?

[A smooth follow-up statement. He lowers his voice almost to a whisper, even though he's not sure why he's doing that. It just kinda happens.]

[It's definitely a lot and it's definitely personal. For once she looks very unsure of herself as she waits for Leon to process everything. She knows how he tends to process things, how he tends to brush serious things off for the easy route sometimes, but...that's not happening. That's not happening this time and when he moves closer she watches him carefully.

(The question would almost be funny, considering their state of dress if the situation weren't so oddly serious.) Her mouth tugs into a small frown before there's another flash of light and Kanzeon seems to disappear back into Rise's form.]

Don't think so. She's really only unhappy with enemies. [Her own tone matches his even if she's not sure why. She looks at the hand reaching for her arm and takes a slight step forward to further close the gap between them.] Are you really that worried?

[Whatever she means, he reads it as "worried about me," and so Leon shakes his head as he steps in to pull her into a hug. Their states of dress, or lack thereof, would make this pretty awkward, yep. But for the moment, he's thinking with the right head, and it's not on that. (For the moment.)]

I wouldn't call it "worried" . . . I dunno, I just . . .

[No, he shakes his head again, hair brushing against hers.]

I'm not worried about you! You're—you're totally together, Kujikawa. I mean, all that stuff, that's all really intense, but you're so . . . you dealt with all that.

It's pretty cool. I guess I'm saying I admire you?

[Good job, Leon. As he pulls her into a hug, she finds it's almost too easy to lean into his chest and allow her arms to loosely follow suit. It's nice, she thinks. Yu's hugged her before of course as have other people, but it's still reassuring. Her earring's probably pressing into his bare skin and her hands probably have a little sand on them, but she's concentrating on his words instead.]

...thanks. [What else can you say to that? She hums a little under her breath, like she doesn't entirely agree.] I couldn't have gotten past it without my friends. I still didn't really know what I wanted to do until a few months ago. I missed being on stage and I wanted to make my fans happy again. But I can do that while still being me, can't I? [Another pause.] When I came here, no one knew who I was. That made all of my friendships with people even better.

[She stops again before pulling back just enough to look up at him.] You're one of the only people who knows all of this so...it means a lot that you're okay with it.

[He is willing to overlook just about anything for a hug like that. Leon squeezes her gently, then loosens his grip when she starts to pull back, letting his hands drift down to rest against her sides. And even though he's a bit less starved for touch these days than he was in the months when he first got here—he's got closer friends now, he has people he can sling an arm around as they walk or lean up against on the couch and feel a little less alone in the world than he used to be—he's still reluctant to let go entirely. A part of him still needs more, and it's not even the part of him noticing they're both practically naked and that Kujikawa's really, really hot.]

Heh . . . did you think I was gonna freak out? I guess that's fair, 'cuz I was pretty surprised! I probably would've freaked out a few months ago! Stuff like this, it doesn't happen in my world. But since I got here, a lot of people have showed me a lot of weird stuff, so I'm starting to get used to it. . . . And it's pretty cool.

[He smiles down at her, warm. (Not as much down as usual. He's starting to notice that; it feels weird.)]

Uh, so how does she work? That's how you track people, right?

[To her credit, she's also not entirely pulling back either. She's still in his grip and she doesn't seem uncomfortable in the slightest. It happens when you're used to dishing out casual affection. If Leon can hang with that, then it's for the better.]

A little! It's still pretty weird. When I first saw Yu-senpai and the others using their Personas it was really hard to understand what I was seeing until Himiko was born. But I guess you're right. There were even other Persona users here that we didn't know about until we came here! And other people I've met have really different powers, too. [Kaz…Merlin…Kashuu being a sword. They're all different.

But that expression definitely helps and she laughs gently, pushing at his chest just a bit in a way to suggest she doesn't want to move but she has to to show him how Kanzeon's powers really work. When they're separated again it takes no time for her to summon the Persona once more.]

Kanzeon sort of works like a satellite. Since I can pick up on energies of people and everyone's energies are different, she helps me track them down and see what direction they're pointed. [She perks up a bit.] Since I know what to look for with Yosuke-senpai and Teddie, it should be a piece of cake! [She gestures to the gold headband in her Persona's hands, too.] It's like having a third eye…she expands my vision and allows me to read energies and monsters really easily. That's how we beat a bunch of the Shadows we had to fight and how we found people in the Midnight Channel. Before I joined the team Teddie was helping since he can sniff them out, but as my Persona got stronger it was easier for me to help out.

[She pauses before she remembers something.] Oh! Those are the friends I'm looking for. Yosuke and Teddie. [Obviously.]

[He steps back when urged and watches her do the summoning thing again; now that he's expecting it, he's mostly surprised by how effortless she makes it look. It's just like, bam! Suddenly there's this goddess behind her. A crazy techno-goddess. Leon nods when Rise mentions she works like a satellite, because she also looks like one, and it's . . . weirdly comforting. He can't even begin to imagine how it must feel to have your vision expanded or read energies, but he knows how a satellite works. (Kind of.)]

So . . . she like, picks up on their signals, and you can feel that yourself? Inside you? People's energies, huh . . . it sounds pretty cool.

[And he can't resist being curious about this:]

You oughta tell me what I feel like sometime! Maybe when we're not lookin' for your friends, though.

[She pauses, half-nodding in agreement to tell him he's on the right track but mostly rewarding him with a smug little smile.]

Are you really sure you wanna know what you feel like? It might surprise you a little bit.

[Is Kanzeon smiling too? It's entirely possible that the Persona's floating behind Rise with a closed-lip smile and watchful eyes.]

. . . Is it a good surprise?

[This is the problem with surprises! He only wants them if they're good! Though his curiosity has the better of him now anyway—still, it'd be ideal if it were a good surprise!

He laughs it off, waving his hand.]

I definitely wanna hear it if it is!

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