Chapter Text
"Slow down!" Yosuke bellowed down the corridor after Chie, but she was beyond them, disappearing into the castle.
"So much for not leaving us behind this time…" He whined.
Yu grunted something like agreement, as the two jogged after Chie, followed by Teddie the bear costume, whose squeaky feet set Yosuke on edge. Yu wasn't looking where they were going, again he was fiddling with translucent pictures of monsters in his hands, so it was up to Yosuke to guide him, and he tugged his sleeve as they rounded the corner.
"C'mon guys! Yukiko's been in there for days, she needs us now!" Chie shrieked back over her shoulder, diving through a door to her right.
"Chie - watch out!" Teddie squeaked from his hiding place in Yu's shadow - but he was too late. As she had looked over her shoulder Chie had smacked straight into a shadow, hard enough she was knocked to the ground. From the black blob burst a sinister dolphin, and without a standing opponent the Pesce helped itself to free hits.
"We know these ones, it's wind! Go Yosuke!" Teddie piped up as it smacked Chie in the face where she lay, then spun itself around, and a tingly wave washed over her but lost energy before it reached the others.
"What was that, Ted?" Yosuke shouted as he summoned Jiraiya to blow it away.
"Er, sparkle waves? Chie's attack might be down…" He bumped his head with his fist, but Yu shrugged, and he and Yosuke piled on the Calm Pesce without Chie, and scattered black shadow-goop across the floor where it had been.
"Please wait a moment, I need to sort my cards again…" Yu tucked his golf club under his arm and reordered some shiny pictures, flicking one into the air where it dissolved. Yosuke shook his head, and stretched a hand out to Chie.
Despite the minute she'd had to recoup, Chie was still laid on the floor, eyes lightly crossed. She flexed her toes slowly in her school-shoes, and waved her head like a charmed snake, a stupid grin on her face. She shook Yosuke's hand as he offered it to her.
"Hi Yosuke, how's it going?" She breathed easily - her voice sounded utterly odd to him, too deep and… old? Or just less young?
"Er, fine, thanks? You feeling alright Chie? Can you stand?" He looked her up and down, but saw no injury. Chie tugged herself up, pulling too hard on his arm and making him wobble.
"Yeah, I'm great. I'm having a good day. Are you having fun?" She breezed, hands in her pockets and a goofy smile still stretched on her face.
"I'd be better if you quit running off - and looking at me weird…" He huffed, sliding his knives over each-other. Chie put an arm over his shoulder, and pressed her head close to his, which once again tested his balance as her weight rested on his side.
"Hey, I'm sorry, man. I'll hang out with you more, don't wanna make you sad!" She waved slightly with him, and Yosuke wriggled out of her hug.
"Nope, something's up with her. She's all loopy; is this a concussion, maybe?" He motioned for Yu to look at her. Yu pocketed his cards, and inspected Chie: tipping her head back, he watched her droopy eyes move, following his finger.
"She seems okay, maybe quick heal to be sure?" He mumbled, and Yosuke summoned Jiraiya in response, who spun on the spot, washing healing energy over Chie.
"Don't worry, guys, I feel fine - what'dyou wanna do next?" She blinked languidly at them. Yu frowned, flicking his eyes to Yosuke and his broken watch.
"We're finding Miss Yukiko. She's in here somewhere, remember?" Teddie chirruped, as Yu began to jog, turning his attention back to the corridor around them and the shadow ahead.
"Yukiko? Awesome! We've got to go say hi, she's such a laugh!" She hummed as she spoke, and Yosuke's eyes snapped with realisation.
"You're not squeaky, that's it! I never noticed, but you're normally all… shouty at me, like you're mad. Why aren't you mad?" He jogged, tugging her along by the hand.
"I'm mad cool, does that count? Woah, why we rushing Brosuke?" She snickered, staggering as she tried to stroll but he yanked her into a run.
"Shadow! Watch out!" Teddie called, and Yu smacked it with his club.
Two sad-faced hands and a raven popped out, and Yosuke and Yu assumed battle stance.
"Hey, squishy things. What's your deal?" Chie chortled, bending down to inspect the hands. Yosuke huffed and tried to blow them away.
"Wind's not good against these ones, Yosuke! Ice will work!" Teddie called. Yu frowned at Chie, who rolled on the balls of her feet absent-mindedly.
"Chie? Will you please shoot a bufu at that one?" He pointed with his club at one of the magic hands, who strolled on their fingers anxiously, clicking at each other. She shrugged.
"Sure, if you like." She whistled to Tomoe, who appeared to be lounging back, and barely waved hand to shoot ice through it.
"And the other one, if you would?" Yu pushed, taking a calming breath.
"Geez, what's your deal, not like it's done anythin-"
"NOW, please." He barked, and she rolled her eyes at him, and froze the other.
"Thanks, now can you kick the bird?"
"Is it still my turn? Wow, okay." She shrugged again, then bounced on her toes cheerfully; "And Satonaka coming up on the side, is she going to get the ball?" She backflipped into the air and kicked the raven to the ground. "She does, and she scores!" She giggled, missing Yu's cue to attack.
"Wait for me, guys!" She barrelled into the pile on, accidentally stamping on Yosuke as she went. The shadows dissipated, and Yosuke howled, holding his crotch.
"And the crowd goes wild!" She hooted with him, performing a victory lap around the battleground.
"What the hell, Chie! Get a grip, we could get seriously hurt!" He whined, trying to claw himself up.
"Oh yeah." She stopped, her mouth hanging dimly.
"Yosuke's right! Chie, you need to take this beary seriously!" Teddie called, trotting over to them, hiding behind a potted plant he had found. Chie burst out laughing.
"Bear-y! I love it! Yukiko's gonna love that one! I gotta tell her that - no you've got to!" She picked Teddie and his plant up, giving him a big hug.
"Am I scoring? Is this scoring a hot stud?" Teddie breathed in wonder, and Chie laughed harder.
"Hell yeah, I'm a stud - thanks Teddie Bear!" She ruffled his fur and smacked a kiss on top of his head. Yosuke stretched out, dia-ing himself, and scowled.
"Snap out of it, Chie! This isn't fun, we have a job to do!" He cried, and smacked her lightly on the back of her head.
"Ow!" She giggled; "I guess that's fair, I trod on you." She snickered again, and bent down to face his jeans; "Sorry, Yosuke's nuts."
He shrank away from her, covering himself; "Why are you being so weird? It's like you're not freaked out by anything!"
"Yeah, I'm doing great. What's the prob?" She bounced.
"If we can't work this out, we will have to go home for now." Yu sighed, grinding his teeth. He passed her a fizzy drink, which she chugged, and burped.
"Thanks! I'm sorry, you seem real tense, big guy. I'll do what you say, alright?" She downed the rest of her drink, hiccoughing: "Man, I got bubbles in my nose!"
Yu shook his head; "That was supposed to make you recover from an ailment. I guess I've wasted it." he sighed, and lead them on.
"Ailment? I feel great! I'm so happy, everything's so light and easy! I could just stretch out and- oh yeah, sorry, you're leading the way!" She mused as she skipped after them. Yosuke shook his head.
"Woohoo! One more time!" Chie cackled as Yu put a plaster on her chin.
"I think I like her better when she kicks me." Yosuke mused, cracking his back as they stood on the stairs.
"There's a really big shadow behind that door! And I think Yukiko's there, or is it her shadow?" Teddie scratched his head. Yu nodded: he held Chie's head in his hands, pointing her face at his and demanding her gaze.
"Chie, it's really important to me that you focus, pay attention, and watch out. Can you do that? For me?" He pierced her with his sternest grey eyes. She blinked at him and smiled sweetly, then took his face in her hands and pressed their foreheads together.
"'Yu' got it, dude! This'll be a cinch!"
"It might not be. Concentrate!"
"Concentrate!"
"And listen!"
"Yeah, listening!"
"And we'll get Yukiko!"
"Yu-ki-ko! Yu-ki-ko!" Chie chanted, as they kicked the door open, revealing Yukiko's shadow and her henchman. At the sight of the copy's yellow eyes and wicked smile, Chie recoiled, crouched, and her eyes hardened to stone.
"Where's Yukiko! What have you done to her?" She shrieked. Yosuke quietly held a triumphant fist.
"Welcome back, anxiety…" He muttered, and Yu nodded grimly, as they started battle with the Avenger Night.
Shadow Yukiko's pealing laugh had sent Chie into fury; she smacked and whacked the shadow with a tirade of flying kicks. She didn't need Yu's guiding calls to tell her to, or Teddie's encouragement to go for broke. She yanked Yosuke up when he fell with a violence he missed dearly:
"Get up, you moron! We have to win!" She spat as she tugged his arm, and he grinned and saluted her.
When the Knight finally subdued into dust, Chie kicked the ground and flipped, her body teeming with excess adrenaline.
"C'mon, you two! Level up, so next floor up! We have to go!" She bounced on her tiptoes, and Yosuke nodded.
"Hell yeah, I missed you Angry Chie!" He tried to put an arm over her vibrating shoulder, but she threw him off.
"Quit messin' around!" She called, but Yu shook his head, still spinning through cards.
"I need to head back to consolidate, we'll use one of these Wormholes."
Chie groaned; "C'mon, we can't waste time-"
"Chie, we have to rest. You know that." He fixed her a hard stare, and she stopped bouncing. Yosuke snorted.
"Not so calm now, huh Chie? We should keep one of those fish around, maybe it'd do you some good in the real world."
She held her arm across her chest and winced, but followed the others out the wormhole.
Chie's leg bounced as she sat on the ground at the TV entrance, while Yu wavered in and out of existence in the blue corner. Yosuke was leaned back against his schoolbag, playing snake on his phone.
"My high scores don't get saved in the TV world. It's so unfair." He whinged, but she only grunted in response, watching Yu. Yosuke sighed, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You're really just like that, huh? You have to learn when to chill out, Chie." He shook her slightly, and she folded her arms.
"If I'm relaxed, who knows what could happen? Yukiko went missing because I wasn't paying attention, I…" She gulped, and kissed her teeth as she thought. Yosuke grimaced with a hint of pity and a lot of understanding.
"Hey, I'm scared sometimes too. A lot of the time, actually, especially since here happened. But you can put your guard down while we're all together. It's fine, we're fine, and she's fine." He spoke slowly, with a rhythm and a smile, and she wavered lightly along with him.
"We're fine, she's fine." She repeated, and took a deep breath.
"How do you feel?" He asked, and she laughed too loud to sound happy:
"Stressed as hell. Saying it didn't make it true." She bumped a shoulder onto his, and he chuckled too.
"Well, we can try. C'mon, chill out with me!" He crossed his legs, shut his eyes and breathed loudly, humming a low note. She snickered, but joined him, but couldn't shut her eyes without feeling panic lurching in her stomach.
She thought she might have been getting there, but then heard the raspy sound of Teddie joining their zen-song an octave higher - she yelped.
"Wha- how long have you been there?" She spluttered, and Teddie shuffled away.
"I'm always here! I live here! You're not a very nice hot stud, Chie!" He squealed as she made to swipe at him. Yosuke snickered.
"That's not very 'Chilled Chie' of you. Shall we bring her back out?" He jibed, earning a glare and a light whack.