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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 4, 2010 23:22:39 GMT -5
Atsuro's eyes widened as Atem finished up. "You... you gave it to Malik?!"
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Souji blinked as Izanami used a name unfamiliar to him. He shook his head. He'd never heard the name Philemon before, and Minato had never mentioned a Philemon, so Souji doubted he knew either. So who was "Philemon?"
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 4, 2010 23:41:52 GMT -5
Atem sighed and nodded. There was confirmation there. Whatever version of their world Atsuro knew, he'd seen Malik. In some form or another, he knew Malik.
"It was Partner's choice, I wasn't here at the time. Partner had a good point, if any of us can find Anpu it's him. He takes his duties seriously and is trying to help Bakura. We can trust him with this."
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"I told you I'm not crying!"
"Fine, fine, you're not crying! Anzu, you'd smack me if I was acting this emotional. What's going on?"
"Yuugi... Y-Yuugi and Atem-kun..."
Jounouchi's eyes widened, "Did something happen!?"
He couldn't accept that. Anzu wasn't weak, and that's what bothered him the most. Even before they'd all managed to become friends, she'd been able to put most of the boys at their school in their place. The blond doubted there wasn't much she couldn't handle. She wouldn't have just run out on Yuugi and Atem if something had happened to them. Then what the hell...?
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Izanami had gotten more frosting and patched up the hole in the cake. She put it on top of the middle piece, forming a second strawberry filled layer. She turned no the water and rinsed the knife off before grabbing the store bought frosting and popping the lid off. She didn't say anything until she'd gotten the metallic protective covering off and was frosting the outside of the cake.
"Philemon is a god born from the positive potential of the subconscious. He's been more or less active in your world of origin for well over ten years. Nyarlathotep... Nyarlathotep is the necessary opposite side of that coin, he is born from the destructive potential of the subconscious..." Izanami put the knife down and looked Souji straight in the eyes, "Has he targeted you in addition to Minato?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 4, 2010 23:55:14 GMT -5
"I hope so..." Atsuro said. Great, now he was officially worried for Atem's safety. Even if he was good now, this was still Malik they were dealing with.
"Is that all? I need to get back to the hotel with these," Atsuro said, holding up the bag with the other two cakes as he said so.
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So Philemon and Nyarlathotep were beings born from the potential of the subconscious. Such potential were represented in Persona... So they could manipulate Shadows, from the looks of things. Unless it was suppressing its power somehow, Abel's Nyarlathotep had to be a lesser form of the main one.
"Not directly, no, but Abel was using him to trail me for a while. He seems to enjoy purposefully unsettling me, too. I think it was playing with me," Souji said with a bit of a shudder. He really hated that stupid demon.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 5, 2010 1:59:01 GMT -5
Atem said nothing as Atsuro got out his worry. It was understandable, but Malik had carried proper motivation. The creation of his "Dark" half was unusual, but even he'd gone above and beyond anything Malik would have done. No, Atem wasn't approving of his actions, but he'd seen the way he'd changed. He looked at the bags Atsuro indicated and nodded.
"Thank you," Atem said, "For your honesty, I mean."
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"Jounouchi-kun, do you know?"
"Anzu... jeez, you're a mess... do I know what? If I knew would I be asking you? Are Yuugi and Atem-kun in some kind of danger?"
Anzu shook her head. She took in a few deep breaths. She wasn't going to be able to get anything out if she kept sobbing. She wiped her eyes another time and looked towards the stairs. She wasn't the sort to just be glad if the person she liked was happy. Anzu had to wonder if that made her a bad person. She looked at Jounouchi again. It wasn't fair to worry him like that, and the guy seemed to think there was some kind of danger.
"Atem-kun and Yuugi... like each other..."
"Wait, you mean like those Ryoji and Minato guys?"
"Yuugi said he couldn't go out with me because of it..."
Jounouchi paused. Wait, did that mean... well it was the first Christmas they would have had the chance to. Not entirely true, but Jounouchi didn't exactly know how long Anzu had been carrying a torch for the short teenager. He couldn't know her feelings had grown and solidified in the time following the solving of the Puzzle. He put his hands on Anzu's shoulders and crouched so he could look her in the eye.
"Anzu, it'll be okay."
Oh yeah, that sounded convincing. Man, he sucked at this.
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"I don't know the full details, but it seems Philemon and Nyarlathotep had a bet of sorts a few years back," Izanami was back to frosting the cake, "Something about seeing if humans would self destruct on themselves due to their subconscious. I wasn't following closely, but it seems Nyarlathotep lost."
Izanami opened one of the drawers and dug through it. Didn't Souji have a frosting tube of some sort? She stopped and looked up. She'd left that without a full explanation.
"Persona users weren't always limited to one Persona, and that tendency of being associated with gods and demons? That isn't by chance. I suspect whatever exactly happened between the two lead to Philemon having his servants be more careful with the use of Persona. For instance, you. I only granted you the one Persona. I suspect you had some interaction with him or his servants even if you don't remember it."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 5, 2010 2:34:07 GMT -5
"It's not a problem," Atsuro said. He gave a smile before waving goodbye and heading toward the stairs. Abel really considered those guys good friends of his, huh? Atsuro could see why. Even Atem had something really likable about him.
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Souji was listening rather carefully to Izanami's explanation. Well, that filled in a few holes he'd been wondering about, like other Persona users and why he could use multiple Personas. Izanami had only given him one Persona, but somehow either Philemon or someone associated with him had given him the power to use multiple ones... wait a minute.
"By his servants, you wouldn't mean a guy named Igor?" Souji asked. That explained that odd dream with the Velvet Room on the way to Inaba. He'd gotten the ability to use multiple Personas there, that had to have been it. And Minato... Minato had to have gotten his Wild Card from them too. Souji didn't know how, but that had to have been it, though Minato's was still unnaturally strong. Souji had tried summoning multiple Personas like Minato did on Tartarus, but none of his attempts had ever worked. So Minato must have had something that made his Wild Card special.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 5, 2010 14:46:06 GMT -5
"You heard?"
Atem hadn't looked up after heading back into the apartment. He wasn't even facing the main room as he asked his question. Yuugi paid more attention that a lot of people realized, he was just kind enough to not say anything about it. Yuugi seemed a bit surprised as Atem addressed him, but he gave a nervous smile and nodded.
"Enough..." Yuugi shook his head, "We have to go after Anzu! I'm worried about her..."
"You and I are probably the last people she wants to see right now, Partner."
"......." Yuugi looked away. He'd never... actually been in a break up before. The fact that this wasn't technically one wasn't one that crossed Yuugi's mind.
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"Anzu...?"
"I want to be alone..." Anzu said, pulling her arm away from Jounouchi.
"Not happening," Jounouchi gave a stubborn look in response to Anzu's glare, "Look, I know how you helped Shizuka when she was feeling down. Now I'm not saying this is the same thing, but she'd kick my ass if I let you mope around. There's gotta be a ramen shop open around here somewhere..."
"And how do you intend to pay for it. Jounouchi-kun, you don't have a job," her response could have been taken at joking if it didn't sound so upset.
"I'm not completely without money! Just cause I couldn't afford a $60 silver pendant in Egypt doesn't mean I'm broke!"
Jounouchi didn't know exactly how much $60 was. He just knew Anzu had made the purchase for Atem and that the shopkeeper had seemed impressed a foreign teenage girl could afford it. The same reason she had used the money she had saved up to get him and Honda to Egypt with her. She was probably rather broke... she'd spent her savings on something like that.
Atsuro would probably come upon them as they were talking, actually.
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Izanami had gotten most of the frosting on the outside of the cake done. The goddess really was amazing in the kitchen. He was rifling through drawers again when Souji asked his question. There was a long enough pause that he might have thought she didn't hear. She finally looked up after giving an annoyed look at his supplies.
"I wouldn't know, I've only kept a passing eye on their interactions. Nyarlathotep could in theory bring in the fog. I do know that Philemon seems to have a thing for the color blue... You wouldn't have a frosting tube anywhere, would you?"
(OOC: The price of the pendant is never revealed in canon. I based on prices I see of pure silver pendants online and such.)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 5, 2010 19:40:29 GMT -5
Atsuro paused when he reached the bottom of the stairs. He did indeed come upon Jounouchi and Anzu as they were talking, and he took a startled step away from the two of them. He really did not like the idea of getting caught up in Yuugi, Atem, and Anzu's romance troubles. He carefully walked past them with a nervous expression on his face.
"Excuse me..." Atsuro said quietly. This was... mostly not their concern. Yeah. He was just going to head back to the Hotel and leave...
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"In the pantry," Souji said, motioning toward it. So Philemon had a thing for the color blue...? Well, that explained the Velvet Room. He knew it, Igor was one of Philemon's servants, as was Margaret, most likely. Souji found himself wondering about Margaret's sister, the one who had gone off to free the "blue-haired boy" (who was most definitely Minato). Considering Minato was alive now, it looked like she'd succeeded... But since Minato was still dead in their world, he'd ended up getting deposited here.
He snuck a peek at the cake. Well, he had to admit, she was pretty damn good at this stuff.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 5, 2010 20:04:31 GMT -5
Anzu and Jounouchi both looked up as Atsuro came past. They seemed a bit startled. Anzu tensed up when she realized who it was and forced a smile. Jounouchi looked irritated at what she was doing and grabbed Atsuro and whispered.
"Would you make sure she doesn't run off? I've gotta get this laundry upstairs and I don't want to leave her alone."
Given what Atem and Yuugi had said during that rundown of the past few months, he felt he could trust Atsuro. He wasn't with Abel, and clearly the guy was letting him wander around a bit. Anzu was looking between the two of them, but Jounouchi had shielded his mouth as he talked.
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Izanami smiled a bit and reached up. She had to stand on her tiptoes to get it, but she managed well enough. She was putting frosting into it without saying anything. Souji was deep in thought. She filled the tube up about halfway and was setting about doing some rather ornate patterns on the top of the cake. She stopped and looked up at Souji.
"I doubt you'll find Philemon, even if you look for him. He has a rule of not directly interfering."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 5, 2010 20:21:33 GMT -5
Atsuro flinched as Jounouchi grabbed him before he could slip all the way past. He shifted to looking confused as Jounouchi whispered his request to him. "Oh, sure..." He really needed to get back to the hotel, but he guessed he could wait long enough for Jounouchi to get his laundry upstairs.
He looked toward Anzu and tried to give her a reassuring smile. Somehow Atsuro knew this was the kind of business he really didn't need to be getting into.
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Souji blinked as Izanami addressed him again. He shook his head and looked toward the kitchen doorway.
"It wasn't that. I was thinking about...." He reminded himself that Izanami didn't know about the Velvet Room before going on. "...Something else. Don't worry about it."
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 5, 2010 21:02:11 GMT -5
"I'll be right back, Anzu!"
Jounouchi threw the now unfolded laundry back into the basket and headed up the stairs. She stared after him for a few moments before turning towards Atsuro in time to see his smile. She frowned and sat down on the stairs. She was only wearnig pants because of the season, but she still sat like someone used to wearing short skirts. She looked over at Atsuro after a moment of awkward silence.
"Is K1-san okay...?"
Jounouchi had probably told Atsuro to "keep an eye on her". She wasn't a child, she just wanted some time alone! Although he had a point... if this had been Shizuka she wouldn't have let her alone. Mai was strong enough to handle something like this. Why couldn't she be?
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Izanami looked at Souji for a moment. He wasn't giving her enough credit for something, she was sure of that. She was a goddess, after all. Then again, Souji's experience with gods in the past (herself included) probably weren't held as fond memories. She turned back to the cake made made spots in a way that could serve almost as guides for cutting. She pulled out eight strawberries and pressed them into the spots. It looked like something you could get at a bakery at this point.
Izanami was adding some frosting around the bottom edge when she jerked her head up. A bit of frosting that quite clearly wasn't guided shot off and stuck to the side of the counter. Now if it had just been the one thing, she wouldn't have been too bothered. Souji had told her about Izanagi. But it was more than that. It was something extra to the concentration of demonic energy on the floor above, this one was coming from outside. That specific signature... Masud had carried it.
"That thief... no..." she turned to Souji, "Has my brother gotten a hold of that spiked Egyptian pendant?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 5, 2010 22:34:58 GMT -5
Atsuro's smile became more nervous as the awkward silence continued, finally dropping it after it seemed clear that Anzu wasn't going to say anything any time soon. He looked up as Anzu asked if K1 was alright and grinned.
"He's fine," Atsuro said. "He's been feeling a little ill lately, but it's probably just a cold or something."
He didn't notice the man approaching the building, and he really had no reason to. After all, he'd never really seen Adachi before, and wouldn't recognize that there was something very wrong with him, especially in his stance. He seemed almost full of himself, noble. He didn't seem much like the typical facade Adachi put up.
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Souji looked confused as Izanami looked up. She seemed startled, and the expression on her face... Whatever she'd sensed worried her a lot. Souji was even more panicked as she turned toward him and asked her question.
"You mean the Ring? Last I heard, an acquaintance of Yuugi's... Malik, I think, had it," Souji said. His eyes widened. "You don't think Izanagi took it from Malik?"
Most likely, Izanagi attacked him and took it. From what Souji had seen of him, Malik wasn't the type to hand that over without a fight. Something must have happened.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 6, 2010 0:02:32 GMT -5
Yuugi had looked antsy ever since Atem said Anzu probably wouldn't want to see them. Atem finally shook his head and walked over to Yuugi. He put one hand on the shorter teenager's shoulder to get his attention and pointed towards the door. Yuugi looked confused.
"You might still be able to catch her if you run, Partner."
Yuugi's eyes widened and he gave a quick nod. Yeah, he had to be there. Maybe she wouldn't want to see him, but it was his fault she felt like this. They were still friends, like they always had been. He'd been wrong about who she liked, but... he didn't want her to be alone. Yuugi opened the door and almost crashed right into Jounouchi. The blond actually fell off balance because he'd lifted his foot up to kick the door. Yuugi managed to catch the basket that fell off balance as Jounouchi caught himself on the door frame. He blinked in surprise and looked down.
"Yuugi?"
"Jounouchi-kun, are you okay!?"
Jounouchi rubbed under his nose and looked to the side, "I was gonna ask you the same thing. Hey, I'm gonna head out for a while. Yo... You two'll be okay by yourself, right?"
"You ran into Anzu?"
Yuugi had been lowering the basket to his side when Atem spoke. He looked over at Jounouchi. He hadn't even caught the behavior difference. He could see it now looking back. Jounouchi had never asked if they'd be alright in the apartment alone. And was he avoiding eye contact? The short teenager looked nervous as Jounouchi sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, and I plan on bringing it up later. But right now, I think she needs someone to talk to. I left her with that Atsuro guy on the stairs."
"Does she hate me...?" Yuugi said.
Jounouchi sighed and brought his knuckle down on Yuugi's head, causing the teenager to wince, "Look, Anzu couldn't hate you if she tried. Man, Mai'd handle this better than I would... you two just hang tight, okay? We'll be back later."
"Thanks, Jounouchi-kun," Atem stated. Yuugi had a small smile as well, although it was a bit pained.
"I'll be talking to you later," Jounouchi stated to the former Pharaoh, leaving before he or Yuugi could question the serious tone of voice.
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Anzu nodded when Atsuro replied. She went back to looking forward. She wondered how long Yuugi and Atem had felt that way. Surely not before Duelist Kingdom? They hadn't even talked before then from what Yuugi had said. So... when? Yuugi had set up that date for her and Atem after Duelist Kingdom. At some point things had changed... Her eyes widened. She had been so involved in her own emotions after Atem had lost Yuugi in that Duel... he hadn't... that reaction. Had that been when it had changed? That seemed possible, but hadn't Atem almost broken over what Malik did to Jounouchi? Dammit, she couldn't make any of it make sense.
She was fighting the tears from coming up again when a door at the bottom of the next floor down opened. She blinked and wiped her face in time to get her vision clear to see... Adachi, that was his name. She stood up and bowed towards him.
"G-good morning, Adachi-san."
If Jounouchi wasn't back soon, she was going to apologize to Atsuro and leave.
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"I'm not expert on foreign artifacts, so I'd assume that's the case. What motivation could my brother have for stealing that..." Izanami was frowning.
Running through the facts, she couldn't think of a one that would explain things. That aspect of her brother thought nothing of altruism. It wouldn't be to protect that boy, so the thief being inside didn't seem an option. He'd go even less to protect the thief after he had aligned himself with her previously. It was possible Masud was dead. But Souji stated it had been with someone named Malik...
"If he got it in his head to steal it, that's an option," she looked at Souji, "Why would he take it, though?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 6, 2010 0:37:55 GMT -5
Izanagi frowned at Anzu and Atsuro, shrugging as he headed up the stairs. He didn't respond to Anzu any more than a simple, tired "...Mornin'...." but he was actually observing the two teenagers. Atsuro's name had come up on the radio before Izanagi had left, so it seemed there had been another incident with Abel, which he was avoiding by doing something involving cakes. Anzu, on the other hand, seemed to be in tears and horribly depressed... ah, so the stupid bitch had finally found out about the Pharaoh and his reincarnation.
He blinked as he sensed something familiar coming from the direction of Souji's apartment. It felt like.... Why the hell was that stupid whore Izanami here?! Most likely she was romancing his stupid failure of an avatar, but.... damn.
"Shouldn't you kids be spending your Christmas doing things like making out?" Izanagi growled as he walked toward Atsuro and Anzu. Great, just what he needed. Izanami.
Atsuro looked toward Anzu and his face got red. "Hey, I don't even know her!"
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"Malik was supposed to be taking the Ring back to Anpu. It's possible Izanagi was trying to kill Anpu, and ran into Malik while trying to kill him. I don't think Izanagi can throw Adachi off like he tried to me... he might have taken the Ring to keep Adachi quiet since it has Bakura's soul in it," Souji suggested. "If he's got the Ring, I doubt Anpu's dead. But at the same time... Malik wouldn't have just given that Ring up. He'd have tried to fight..."
Which meant Malik was probably lying seriously hurt around here somewhere. Possibly dead. Which was not good.
"What should we do? Do you think we should go try and take the Ring from him now?" Souji asked.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 6, 2010 1:10:39 GMT -5
Anzu bowed again as "Adachi" returned her greeting. The man seemed exhausted, but if he was a police officer it was understandable. Plus, he'd been so worried about Bakura and the group hadn't gotten a word one about him yet. She looked towards the stairs and was turning around when Adachi made his comment. She paused and waved her hands in a panic at Adachi. She'd heard the growl, but assumed he was simply tired from work.
"W-we aren't in that kind of relationship!"
Jounouchi turned the corner as Atsuro and Anzu ran each other over with their comments. He paused as he saw Adachi. He gave the man a neutral expression. For everything Atem and Yuugi had said he'd pulled, this world still considered him a police officer. Not that Jounouchi had the world's biggest problems with punching the jerk out, but he had helped save Bakura. He stepped to the side and lifted his hand towards Anzu and Atsuro.
"Yo, thanks," Jounouchi turned his focus to Anzu, "Anzu, are you ready to go?"
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Izanami had nodded was Souji explained things. There was the occasional word put it, but it was all to let Souji know she was listening. She didn't know this Malik person Souji kept mentioning, but odds were that he was dead. She wouldn't have any idea, that name sounded Arabic, putting it well outside her jurisdiction. Given the rest of that group, it wasn't impossible he was Egyptian.
What should they do? Izanami didn't answer Souji with words. She very calmly put the frosting tube on the counter. She then very calmly put the kinfe she had been spreading there. She almost didn't seem aware of Souji's presence. She then turned towards the door that Souji was only about half blocking and very calmly made to slip past him. She planned on anything but calmly killing Adachi.
It would force him to return to Souji, but that was a better option than the latter. That aspect of Izanagi... even the more complete aspect his true avatar held could have killed this avatar at her shrine. Tadoru Mana was not a true immortal, she was merely kept alive by Izanami's powers. If "Magatsu" Izanagi were let to wander, both she and Souji would die. Souji didn't seem to understand it, but Magatsu Izanagi would be willing to make him watch his friends die for being such a nuisance. And the simplest solution was Adachi's death.
It was probably a good idea for Souji to stop her...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 6, 2010 16:39:08 GMT -5
Izanagi only gave an amused smirk at Atsuro and Anzu as their comments ran over each other. Humans. He walked past the two as Jounouchi came downstairs. He hardly noticed the blond. As it was, Anzu and Jounouchi didn't even matter in the grand scheme of things to Izanagi.
"It's no problem," Atsuro said to Jounouchi. He gave a wave toward the two of them as he continued heading down the stairs.
Izanagi was keeping an eye on Souji's door as he walked toward Adachi's apartment. If Izanami was in there, and she was as infatuated with Souji as he thought she was, she would likely try to kill Adachi just to get rid of him. If she tried that, he'd just let Adachi take control. After all, hadn't a certain demon said he would protect Adachi?
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Souji was confused as Izanami slipped past him and turned toward the door. What was she doing...? His eyes widened as he realized, and he ran after her, grabbing her arm before she could open the door.
"We're not going to kill Adachi! There's got to be another way to get him out!" Souji yelled. He didn't like Adachi, not after what the man had done. But he wasn't going to get Adachi killed because of Izanagi. He was Izanagi's avatar, this was his problem. Adachi was only mixed up in this because his Persona represented Izanagi's negative emotions.
"Look, Izanagi's mad at me because I got mad at him that one time. Maybe if I can talk to him without him trying to kill me for once, I can stop all of this without anyone else dying!" Souji suggested.
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