[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/684ddb45-4fc1-4da4-89c5-42f0263bd666.png[/img][/center][right][sub]April 10th—Afternoon[/sub][/right][hr]
Emi stayed quiet and listened to Kinoshita’s explanation, nodding along absently as Nakano arrived and added her portion of the story. She didn’t know much about this Yamamoto boy aside from his father’s influence on the school, but it wasn’t like a powerful man’s son to behave outwardly badly—and even if he did, she would surely have heard about it before now. No, assuming it wasn’t just a few cruel words that were taken harshly by a sensitive girl, this had to be a recent change; one among many, it seemed. A year ago, she would have taken this information to her friends as grounds to scout out the school for Shadow activity, but now? With the mirror unyielding and no one to turn to, Emi wasn’t sure what to do. 

She perked up when Naomi spoke up, brow furrowing with concern. [color=E5C4CD]“No, we can’t go rushing in and punishing people ourselves. Nakano-san is right, it could be dangerous and we're not equipped to deal with that. Besides, we’re not teachers; we might be the Student Council, but we still don’t have the authority to independently discipline fellow students like that,”[/color] she reminded her fellow councillor. Turning in Kinoshita’s direction, she added, [color=E5C4CD]“If you’re really that worried about what happened, then you should go report it to the Principal, but…”[/color] 

Emi trailed off, chin in her hand as she thought. The signs were undeniable: this [i]had[/i] to be shadow activity, she couldn’t think of any other way to explain it. But without a team who understood the issue to consult with and very little background information with which to reference, she was feeling much less sure of her conclusion than she’d like. 

[color=E5C4CD]“Would you say that this is a new development?”[/color] She asked suddenly, not addressing anyone in particular. [color=E5C4CD]“Not just Yamamoto-san, but everything. The Principal says there’s a rise in delinquency, but since when? How long has it been going on?”[/color] 

She tapped her cane on the floor in thought for a moment, but suddenly snapped her head back up, holding her hand out to her fellow councillors. [color=E5C4CD]“I need you three to tell me everything you know about the recent rise in agitation. Anyone or anything acting out of the ordinary, and where in the school it happened, if you can.”[/color] Her tone was urgent, and her demeanour changed, suddenly more confident than she was before; a little closer to her old self, with some extra determination to boot. [color=E5C4CD]“I might have an idea as to what’s going on, but I’ve been gone too long to know for sure. But if I can figure it out… I might have a solution.”[/color]

It was a gamble. A huge one, in fact. Emi still wasn’t sure how much she wanted to divulge—about the Shadows, corruption, Personas, any of it—and honestly, every last student in the school would think she was crazy no matter how little she revealed. But a terrible feeling that she’d seen this all before nagged too loudly in the back of her head to ignore any longer. There was a good amount of hope that this could lead her to her friends, too, and she’d be a liar if she claimed that wasn’t a good part of her motivation, but regardless, something needed to be done. Corruption bleeding over into the real world threatened everybody, and someone had to deal with it, sooner rather than later. 

Even if she had to deal with it alone. 

[hr][right][sub][@Entityx] [@Hero][/sub][/right]