i. video (un: la.fleur.élégante)

[jardinnoir]

[The girl on the other end of the feed looks a bit troubled, but manages a smile nonetheless.]

Hello, everyone. My name is Haru Okumura - but I would rather be called Haru, if that is okay. I'm... a newcomer here, so I'm afraid I only know a little bit about what's going on. [She's still sorting through what she was told upon arriving.]

I'd like to get to know some of you, if that is possible. I'm a high school student, myself, in my final year. I enjoy tending to the garden I had on the rooftop of my school, and I also like reading in my spare time. [She pauses in thought, and then realizes she forgot something.] Oh! They also offered me a job related to gardening here, it seems. I haven't accepted it yet, but I plan on doing so once I get acquainted with the situation here.

I-I hope that we can become friends. [A beat.] And if someone knows of anyone that went to a school named Shujin Academy, please let me know. I'm... particularly looking for someone named Akira Kurusu.

[She offers a final wave before concluding her video.]

Comments

video (un. lifewillchange because I forgot that before!)

[phantomqueen]

I see. You're quite a few floors up then but that's still not so far away.

[That's good. At least if there's an emergency they're almost in the same place already.]

From what I've come to understand, they won't notice anything wrong. After all, I've been here a couple of months now and Akira was already here then. Also...

[Well. Better to get this out now.]

Both of us remember different things as the last thing we remember before we got here. I don't know how, but I'm further ahead than he is. What's the last thing you remember?

[Because this will make or break some of the theories she's been building.]

video (fff it's okay!) (also p5 endgame spoilers! kind of)

[jardinnoir]

Yes, I am very glad to know that. [A few floors is nothing compared to how far away everyone normally was, after all.]

You have? But I just saw you before arriving here... does that mean... that this is a place that has different rules on how time works?

The last thing I remember... we were going into the Metaverse and entering Mementos to try and change everyone's hearts. But while we were going there, somehow I wound up here instead of Mementos. Some people have tried to tell me how I ended up here, but none of it makes any sense.

[phantomqueen]

So you're around the same time as he is, then.

[Which is easier in that she knows what not to say, but she can't say there isn't part of her that wishes Haru's answer had been different. She's used to keeping tight-lipped about things but to not even be able to share with the Phantom Thieves? That's something she's finding a little harder.

Not to matter. Haru had asked a question, and Makoto can at least try to answer.]

That seems to be the most logical explanation. At first I thought it might be related to cognition, that our world was creating replacements because we expect each other to be there. But that doesn't make sense with what you just told me so that leaves some sort of time issue. Possibly alternate but very similar timelines, somehow.

[jardinnoir]

I am? What about you, Mako-chan? Are you from after that, or before? Or... would that mess with time if you were to tell me?

[This is all really confusing to her, as it probably is to Makoto too.

And as much as the thought pops into her head, she decides she doesn't want to go down the road of thinking if this is 'her' Makoto or not -- specifically, the one from her specific timeline. Makoto is Makoto, even if she might be from an alternate timeline. She's still her friend.]

Time and timelines seem really confusing to think about... especially with how things work in our world.

[phantomqueen]

I'm from after. Only a day, but...a lot happened in that time. Nothing we couldn't handle though.

[Which is downplaying the situation rather a lot but that's the best Makoto can think to do while she's not sure anything she could tell them would actually help them any.]

Things are definitely more complex than they first seem. Different worlds, different times...all we can really do is get by and take the chances to learn more when we find them.

[jardinnoir]

Oh... that is well, then. [Considering what they were doing... Makoto's words bring Haru relief. Whatever happens, they can handle it. Just like always... well, almost always.]

If there really are people from other worlds here... I would definitely like to meet them. I want to learn as much as I can.

[phantomqueen]

Well, you're already living with some of them. Which...doesn't always mean easy to get along with. Oh and there's this youth group that works on various things around the place, not so long ago we were helping to clear out this abandoned amusement park. So there's plenty of ways to meet people.

[Heck even Makoto, awkward as she is, has managed to make some friends.]