reveilation | IC INBOX

[Kido will get a phone call at 1:03 in the morning. It's from an unknown number, unless she has the police station in her contacts. Toki's cell phone was confiscated. Once the dial tone stops, before Kido can say anything, Toki's voice is screeching into her ear.]

Neechan! Help! You have to get Rei because she's still here somewhere and she was unconscious and I don't know what they did and they won't tell me!

[ Kido's Lockdown was spent in Akira's dungeon and she'd just gotten home and about to go to bed when she gets this phone call and it all of the sudden wide awake again. She can recognize Toki's screaming, but with the lack of detail, her mind automatically jumps to the worst: Rei and Toki got mugged and they've been kidnapped and somebody did something to Rei and Kido is already turning back outside while she 1) fails at keeping calm, and 2) fails at calming Toki down. ]

Where's "here"?! Where are you guys? What happened?!

[ Does she need her gun, or is Nekogami enough?? A gun can be used against her. She'll stick with Nekogami and if he has to maul a thug, he'll maul a thug. ]

[I want to see Nekogami maul a thug... Toki's screeching continues as fast as he can speak, because there's apparently a time limit.]

We were at the shrine to train and things were really messed up and then Rei passed out on the way back, but Joroko healed her so she's okay, but like, the police were by the castle and they said I set a building on fire and I don't know what they're talking about, but they took Rei too because she was- just get her out of here before she wakes up!

[She may already be awake and freaking out. Toki doesn't know. They wouldn't let him stay with her.]

[ Nekogami might give the shopkeeper's leg a nibble if Kido ever figures out who left that anonymous tip incriminating Toki, but right now her priority is getting to the police station, riding on Nekogami's back with her eye ability activated so nobody will get in her way. ]

I'm coming to the police station right now, and I'll take you guys home. Joroko doesn't know any fire spells, so they have the wrong person- they can't keep you.

Okay! T-take care of Rei first!

[And then there's silence. Joroko may not have fire spells, but the police are looking for traditional signs of arson. Accelerant and a means of ignition. They'll find lighter fluid available anywhere, and the same type of fireworks that were set off at the black cat house over New Year's.]

[ I can't believe the fireworks are going to come back and bite them in the ass. If Kido knew better, she'd leave Terry a message of warning that the police are probably going to come over and check out the house for evidence later, not knowing what sort of grenades or whatever he likes bringing to the dungeons, and that medical room they have is admittedly very sketch.

Hopefully she can head most of this off once she's at the station, which shouldn't take more than ten more minutes. It's not a very hospitable place, largely vacant due to the time of day, but the station is right there with the jail and once Kido gets there, finds Rei and nearly passes out from how much blood there is, she gathers herself and gets Rei cleaned up before talking to the police and explaining her relationship to the two of them, asking where Toki is.

They've got him in the office for the time being since there's only one cell and three would be too crowded, in the middle of discussing whether they can just keep him in a closet somewhere for the night when Kido enters alone; one of the guards is watching Rei, but won't let Kido talk to Toki with her. ]

Tokidoki, it's Kido. They said they're keeping you overnight while they look for evidence, but I'll try talking to them again. They're not believing the alibi of being at the shrine.

[ Almost nobody goes out there, in the forest, unless they're an arsonist trying to escape their crime. ]

Neechan!

[He's very relieved to hear Kido's voice. He's been trying not to argue with the police, like he'd told Ala, but this is much worse than stealing an apple.]

I don't want to stay in a closet! Is Rei okay!? I didn't do anything!

[He's more upset over what happened in the shrine dungeon than being arrested, but it's all blending together.]

[ Closet, what—

Kido reaches for Toki's hands so she can hold the both of them and calm him down that way, almost asking about Joroko keeping him informed about what's going on but summoning Joroko would just prompt the policemen to pull out their guns and start shooting, so neither of them can call for their Personas here. ]

Rei's okay. She's right in the room next door, and I'll take her home soon. I believe you- there's no way you would have set that store on fire. What did they tell you about what they think happened?

[ She's guessing not much, considering the state of panic he was in on the phone, but maybe they explained the charges and """evidence""" to him while she was on the way. ]

Okay, okay...

[He's trying to calm down, because Kido wouldn't lie about Rei being okay. He wants to be there when she wakes up, and that won't be possible.]

T-they said that there was a witness and he saw me set off fireworks in the store room and that I drew the Vassago symbol on the floor and lit it on fire too!

[Apparently, he's part of this cult, as claimed by the shopkeeper.]

[ She can imagine Toki doing these things, while at the same time believing he wouldn't, not as he is now, and not with Rei there who would maybe play with fireworks indoors but never in a store nor purposely light property on fire. ]

How are you supposed to draw the Vassago symbol if you can't see... [ I mean. He could memorize it and draw it, but the whole thing is just weird to pin on a blind man. ]

I'll talk to this witness of theirs if I can, and see if they just somehow made a mistake. They must have seen somebody different. [ She looks over her shoulder at the guards standing at the doorway that give some semblance of privacy while at the same time reminding her she has none and they will listen to everything. It's just as well. ]

Anyways, that's the gist of what I heard too. But the witness who called in didn't say anything about blood. They definitely would have mentioned it if they saw you and Rei... What did you tell the police about that? You're both covered in it.

I know, right!? I don't even know what it looks like!

[He'd never seen the graffiti to begin with, as it was around the time wedding preparations. The police didn't tell him the name of the witness, or which store it was. Even if they did, Toki wouldn't know it was the same store he'd been accused of vandalizing with Terry.

At the mention of blood, Toki's voice is quieter and he grips Kido's hands tightly.]

I...

[Are they close enough to hear? Probably. He can't talk about what happened at the shrine dungeon. It was just a vague "training" excuse for being there. Rei will have to give Kido the details. Toki made a stupid claim when questioned about the blood, because he was panicking.]

I told them I didn't know how it got there.

[It's likely been attributed to a cult sacrifice in the notes.]

[ That is the single most suspicious thing anybody can say, even if it's the truth, because blood doesn't just show up out of nowhere and Kido finds herself glancing over at her shoulder to where Rei is next door- the guards turn too, when they see her glance, and she immediately regrets doing that, anxiously rubbing her thumbs on Toki's hands to help herself shake it off. ]

Maybe Rei saw. I'll need to get her home before they harass her about it... Neither you nor her are hurt, so you can imagine what that looks like.

[ With the lack of injury, it doesn't look like their blood, so if they're covered in it, it must be somebody else's. They do not need more false murder charges against them. ]

I know. I'm sorry. It just came out.

[There is no way this place has DNA testing either.]

Bring her home, Neechan.

[Rei doesn't need to wake up in the police station.]

It's not your fault. I would've said the same thing, probably... There's no good way to justify it.

[ There's probably some rudimentary forensics lab with DNA testing, but why go through all that trouble when these two punks are probably guilty? Maybe Kido can pressure them into doing the tests, but for now, she does have to bring Rei home first. ]

Will you be okay staying just a while? I'll bring Rei home, and then I'll talk to the police, but I don't know how long it'll take to convince them. I haven't had much luck with Seto and Jiro either.

I'll be okay.

[It's better to comply with the police at this point, as the Persona users are already detested. It will just further the opinion that they're all murderers if he tries to escape or something.

He'll cry as soon as Kido leaves, though.]

[ How are we going to get Toki out of this one... I'll think about it. For now, Kido gives his hands one last squeeze before letting him go. ]

Alright. I'll be back in a couple of hours- before morning, for sure. I'll be here. Try and get some sleep if you can.

[ It's going to be a sleepless night for her, though. The police probably don't want to talk to her a dead o'clock in the morning, but too bad. She's not going to wait the full 9 hours for everybody to sleep before trying to get Toki out; she wants him out as soon as possible, all her efforts to no avail. ]

IC INBOX

1/4 - very early morning

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