psycholawgy | ic contact;

[ She'll never be like him, her athletic skills suck... even if she's been working on it.

Inaba herself is pretty casual, dressed up in a black trench coat and jeans but as she wipes the sweat off her brow she manages a smile and a nod, catching her breath. ]

Yeah. ... Yeah, tea would be nice, actually.

Just stay here for a while, then. I'll be back soon.

[ she heads towards the door, and looks back at inaba before she leaves her room. ]

Make yourself comfortable.

[ off she goes to the pantry to grab some tea, and she comes back around five or so minutes later with some black tea that tastes like berries, milk, honey, and two cups. ]

Sorry, did you wait long?

Alright, thank you.

[ She nods in reply, relaxing herself as she rolls her shoulders, taking a seat at the nearest chair before shaking her head. ]

No, it's fine. [ And then, she smiles, albeit a melancholic one. ] Thanks again.

Don't worry about it.

[ she takes a seat across inaba. ]

What can I do for you?

I wanted to talk.

[ She clears her throat, taking some effort to slowly switch languages -- more specifically, to English. It's slightly accented and slow. ]

You don't mind if we do that a little... do you? Just don't talk too fast. My English is pretty decent since I've studied it since I was young, but it's... you know. Not that great. But I don't want to talk about this in Cerealian. Since it's personal.

[ she'll talk a bit slower, then. ]

Alright. I don't mind talking. [ athena gives inaba a hospitable smile as she places her hands on her lap, totally looking calm to help with the atmosphere. ]

I'll be listening to whatever you say.

Alright.

[ Just give her some time to think on how to say this. ]

I'm... going to confess something, first. The truth is, I know you're a nice person, Athena, but I've always been scared of you ever since I learned about your ability.

[ Regardless of how even her voice seems to sound, or rather, how much she tries to make it sound, she's slightly terse. ]

[ oh... her brows furrow, her look concerned. she places a hand by her own heart, not exactly sure how to react to that. ]

I've- never heard anybody say something like that before.

[ she laughs amiably. ]

But I guess it's because I never really told anybody when I was younger. I guess they would be scared, too.

I just don't like having people see right through me. Like no matter how happy I may act or seem, I'm worried all the damn time.

[ She manages to pull that curse out in English and just sighs, running a hand through her hair before shaking her head and sighing. ]

But that isn't the only thing I came to talk about. I... wanted to talk about some personal things. I want to get it of my chest. You're one of the few people I trust with this kind of crap, honestly.

Well, I'm glad you trust me.

[ that really does make her happy. ]

You can tell me anything.

[ She can't help but laugh a little at that. Yeah, even though it's supposed to be hard to trust others? Lately... she's been trying to make a turn around. ]

Alright. Let me tell you a story -- but first, a question. Do you believe in the existence of souls? I mean, I don't want to assume either way.

Kind of, [ she says, canting her head to the side. ]

I know somebody who can channel souls of the dead. And I didn't meet her here, too. She's from my world.

... That makes things a lot easier. Well, the basic story is that... I lied about my world. It's not as normal as I'd like people to think. Back home, I had my soul in another person's body before.

Ripped out of my own and placed in another. While the other person? Was either in my own, or an entirely different person's body.

[ she remains calm despite widget showing as surprised. ]

That's a common... occurrence where you're from?

[ She shakes her head, a little quietly. ]

It's not. It was something that only happened between the five of us. And before I started high school, things were normal enough.

[ she vaguely remembers being told that inaba was part of a club. she just nods. ]

And, what happened when the souls were exchanged, or something?

Ah, well... we were residing another person's body, basically. All thanks to that entity that forced us through that. Fuusenkazura- ah, well, that's the Japanese name for it. I don't know the English name... for, hm. Cardiospermum?

That's the scientific name for it.

A heart... something?

[ she puts a finger on her chin as she thinks. she's not very familiar with the word. ]

But you're Himeko Inaba now, right?

I am now. That phenomenon has long since ended. [ It feels like it's been ages, but in reality, it's only been a year and a half. ]

It's not the only thing I've went through, however, and I've always been worried that I might lose my memories if I told anyone outside our group about this.

[ well, that's a strange thing to worry about. ]

Why is that?

Because the phenomena aren't supposed to exist in the first place and talking about it is taboo. Taichi, he... he actually forgot, once. About the club, about me. He didn't tell anyone.

Rather, he... experienced a contradiction. But we're not supposed to tell anybody. Or else face consequences.

I see.

What else?

What else... well, the other phenomena, they affected me greatly. Like, there's one that left gaps in my memories. There's hours on end where there's just blank.

Oh... [ athena doesn't know what to say about that. she's definitely never studied a phenomenon like what's happened with inaba, so she's unsure as to how to handle this whole situation. but she'll try her best; ] I'm sorry to hear that.

Is there no way to regain your memories?

I know what it's like to have memories repressed, but actual gaps like that caused by something supernatural...

It's okay. I know what happened, I just... don't remember it.

[ She laughs, a little hollowly. ] Besides, it would probably be weird to remember it.

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