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[He draws a ":<" on the ground. Is that his reference?

For now he starts piling up snow on the ground, trying to form a pair of shoes. However, the snow seems to crumble the moment he tries to give it a definite shape.]

Wow, this is harder than I thought!

[???]

Is that supposed to be me?

[He uses his finger and adds a swooping line above the eyes, "):<".]

The first one was too sad.

[He continues trying to clump the wet snow together. It makes him make the exact same face they just drew.]

It's way too wet...

[A snicker escapes Ryoji - it's perfect, you really could see his likeness!

But now it's his turn to look like ":<" as he tries to compress more snow against each other. That's how it works, right?]

Maybe it needs to freeze more? But it's already pretty cold...

I don't suppose you have secret ice abilities I don't know about...

[If only Fuji were here...]

Nope! No ice powers here! I don't think I can use my actual powers anyway - I tried summoning my sword the other day, but nothing happened.

[Not that darkness and slash attacks would be of any use to building a snowman.]

Oh yeah...

Apparently, abilities are taken away from us when we first get here.

[Sano falls a little quiet when he says that, eyes going to the base of his snowman, where he futility tries to make the shape of two knees.]

You can wish for them back.

Really?

[His own hands idle for a moment, deep in thought. The snow in his hands is melting in an pace that shouldn't be possible in this cold.]

I dunno if I'll do that. It might be interesting to live like a normal human for once.

[Sano's head turns, his brows knitting just slightly together. He's surprised...]

It could be dangerous. Are you sure?

[That does give him some pause. His power is terrible and not exactly something he likes having, but if it could be of use to someone...]

It depends, I guess. If I can protect other people as a human being, then I don't need it.

[. . .

[It's how Sano feels too, but he can't quite bring himself to say it, to admit that his powers are terrible, that they cause more pain than good.

[He asks a new question, avoids again, but he thinks it matters. He thinks Ryoji might understand.]

Does this really make us human, though? Are our abilities the only difference?

[Good question. If this place strips all of what makes them supernatural, does that make them human? What defines what is human and what isn't, when they're all the same inside?]

I don't think it does. But at least this way we could pretend, and isn't that enough?

So, you really wish you were human, then...

Yeah!

[The smile he has is blinding.]

I think humans are great. They live their lives to their fullest with the limited time that they have. That's not something I could just do, as a god of death.

[...And momentarily, as it turns into something more distant and melancholy.]

Although I guess there would be problems too if I would just stop existing as one...

[So, they're both gods. A god of death is perhaps more vital to the universal ecosystem than a god of misfortune, but perhaps Sano isn't giving himself much credit.]

I've thought about it too. Once or twice.

Right?

[He nods vigorously.]

Lots of humans wish that they could be special or something more, but I don't think they realize that there's something to be gained from being "normal" as well.

It's that, but...

[He thinks of Haruaki, of course, the only human he really knows.]

Sometimes humans are exceptional too.

[He's right, of course. Pretty much all of SEES is exceptional in their own ways. And that includes the people who aren't human, too.]

They are, aren't they? There's some things that they can do we non-humans cannot.

[Like fight against fate.]

Like what...?

[Not because Sano disagrees, but because he wants to hear it from someone else too, just how amazing humans can be. Maybe it will validate his own feelings. He's all but forgotten the quarter-built snow-Ryoji.]

...You know how gods are supposed to represent something? A title, or a duty they must fulfill? Humans don't get any of that. They get to be whatever they want to be.

[He thinks of Minato again, and of the myriad activities he seems to pick up. Of how different each of SEES are in their likes and dislikes. Yet they all come together for one common purpose.

So he finally voices the thoughts he has this entire time:]

Humans get to fight against fate, and make one for their own.

[Snow-Sano has hardly been built, although Ryoji has been slowly making progress - he's finally working on the legs!]

[He hadn't quite looked at it that way - or maybe he had, just without such eloquence in his articulation. Ryoji's words make perfect sense, click into place among the other puzzle pieces that put together Sano's understanding of the human race. Sometimes, he thinks he's falling in love with it.]

You're right.

[. . .]

Does that make you a god, Ryoji-san?

[He looks at Sano with an understanding that only two beings who found themselves belonging in another place could have.]

That's what they call me, and so a god I became. I am called by many names, but Ryoji is still my favorite.

Yeah...?

[Maybe Sano wonders idly what Ryoji is a god of, but that doesn't really matter, does it? They understand each other - something, anyway.]

Why Ryoji?

[Why Ryoji, indeed? The name just popped into his head, like it's something that's always been with him back when he thought he was just human. Someone else must have named him...like his parents.

He's still not sure if he hates them or not.]

It's because it's the name that represents myself now. I like it when people call me that instead of the names that are associated with who I am as a god or as a Persona.

A persona? What do you mean by that?

The easiest way to explain it is that a Persona is the manifestation of the self. Like a mirror to their soul, so to speak. Humanity reflects mythology, and mythology reflects humanity, which is why Personas take the shape of supernatural phenomena.

[Or a god, in Ryoji's case.]

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