IC Voicemail (MoM)

[ktfod]

You have reached the voice mail inbox of--

[Said very seriously and dryly-] Akihiko Sanada

If you would like to leave a message, press 'one', or wait for the tone. If you would like to leave a callback number, press 'five'.

..

[Beep.]

Comments

[ktfod]

[Yep. Follows. He'll keep in pace with Ken too, not going on ahead.]

Yeah.

[Quite a start. He'll glance over to him but not really shift his expression.]

Yeah. I do.

[amadaman]

I still had my doubts after that. Bringing him up... it felt like I wasn't taking responsibility for what I tried to do. What I did.

[He shakes his head and kicks the ground a little harder.]

That hasn't changed. But it's different now. It wasn't just me. I think he hurt Hiro, too.

[ktfod]

[He's mostly quiet, letting Ken talk. And while the subject's a dark one, it's good to hear Ken taking so much responsibility for everything. Or at least trying to. With that suicide scare though... felt like some steps back.]

Wait- Hiro too? [Aaand now he's back in, turning his head a little with a more intense expression.]

[amadaman]

Yeah. He and Tadashi-san are staying at their aunt's house now, but before that, during our trip, Hiro got into a fight with someone from home. Someone... to him, he was what Aragaki-san was to me. And Hiro tried to do what I did, in October.

Nobody's dead. Hiro's fine, too. But it turned out that there was something else. Someone manipulated him so that he'd do it -- we actually dove into his mind and had to fight it there.

[ktfod]

Hiro... [His brows pinch a bit, looking ahead again with a frustrated and confused sort of anger on his face. What the hell.. so that means.]

Someone's messing with people, and taking advantage of them to get them to act like that? The way you and Hiro did?

This ... person you mentioned, right?

[amadaman]

Yeah. For me, it was different. He didn't use hypnotherapy or anything -- I guess I was easier since all he had to do was talk me into it. That guy... do you know the psychiatrist that keeps asking weird questions? He talked about Personas and Shadows once.

[ktfod]

...Crane? [That was it, wasn't it? He's seen him on the network before.]

[amadaman]

That's him. Doctor Jonathan Crane. I talked to him a few times on the network and once at his office.

I'm not so stupid that I think a psychiatrist that convinces his patients to kill themselves is anything but bad news, but I-- I didn't care so I kept it to myself. Hiro and I both kept it to ourselves. We let it get that far. But there's no way we're the only people he's done or is doing things to.

[ktfod]

Why the hell would you keep that to yourself?

[amadaman]

Becuase what he said was true. What he said about me, what Takaya said about me... even if they weren't right, they were true. And that was my problem. But Crane himself isn't just my problem. Not anymore.

[ktfod]

We still should do something about him.

[amadaman]

That's why I'm coming to you.

We can't tell Minato-san yet. He'll try to solve it all himself. I want to find out more. Get proof on him that he's actually doing this. Will you help me?

[ktfod]

Yeah, I can. Something like information gathering, wasn't my thing before, but now? With that ability the porter gave me, I might be able to help you find out more.

This guy? He can't get away with this. Minato's got the right idea if he'd just go in and solve it, but maybe it'll take a full team.

[amadaman]

It's not the right idea. Nobody should try to go touch Crane alone.

[ktfod]

[A long glance. It's good to see Ken serious about this. And besides... he's right. Especially if this guy's gone after Hiro as well? They have no idea what else he's capable of either. So better to make sure... especially in a world like this where people have the potential to be anything.]

[Some silence as he jogs, feeling the sand give under each step, watching Koromaru dart this way and that over the beach.]

It's good your taking this initiative.

[amadaman]

I've always been a proactive person.

[It's a retort, but not one that that doesn't come with a laugh, though it's not very humorous. Ken knows what Akihiko means.]

There's no more chances to waste.

[ktfod]

[He'll actually give a small laugh at that, smirking over to him. Sure, proactive, he's right after all. Just- no proactive in all the best ways, Ken.]

No, you're right. And we won't.

[amadaman]

He has to be taken down.

[ktfod]

He will. And if not by us, by someone. He's going to mess up more, and others will see. It'll end.

[amadaman]

... We just have to hope his next 'screw up' isn't an intentional one that hurts more than just a handful of potent disasters.

[ktfod]

More than? Is he capable of something like that?

[amadaman]

I don't know. That's why, we can't assume he can't, right? He's good at manipulating people, at getting them to believe and follow him.

[ktfod]

So we have to be prepared then, as much as we can be. But you and I both know this place can really hit you by surprise.

[Though he'll offer a smile here as they keep up the pace. A reassuring one, confident.]

No matter what happens, we gotta keep getting back on our feet, we're the only ones who can push ourselves to do it and get what we need to do done.

[amadaman]

[In the end, this is what works best for Ken. Akihiko pointing out the necessity for them to do things by themselves drives home to Ken that he has the ability to. He's not powerless. It's not hopeless. It'll be okay.

He nods firmly.]

Yeah. We have to. We have to be the stronger ones.