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You take a heavy sigh as you dismiss Orpheus for what felt like the millionth time that excursion. These constant shadow attacks were getting really exhausting, and you felt that it might be time to take a break as soon as you find the stairs, assuming that this isn't the last floor of the Labyrinth.
"Is everyone alright? Make sure that you all don't get seriously hurt out there!" Your always caring navigator Fuuka said from the entrance, "That goes for you too, Team Yasso!"
"Well, I thought they did pretty well!" Said Rise, the much more spunky navigator from the other group of persona users said, "Especially Senpai, but of course, Team Gekko did great too!"
"Team Yasso?" Retorted Kanji, the burly one from the other group said, "Is that what we are being called now?"
"Do you really want to just be known as, 'the other guys'?" Yukari responded, "I guess you were out of the party when it happened, we had a big discussion about what to call you guys that was not just, Yu's crew."
"Yeah, I agree," Yu Narukami, your fellow 'wild card' and the respective leader of the other group of persona-users, "I thought it would help boost our overall comradery and help with organization, due to how big a group we are. There's a lot of us, so it will reduce the risk of confusion when handing out roles. You remember that whole conversation, right Makoto?" You kind of remember that conversation, but you hadn't paid that level of attention as the whole discussion felt like a waste of tie, then. Frankly, it still does.
"But, if that's the case," Junpei spoke up, "Then why do we gotta change our name too? I thought we had a pretty good thing going as S.E.E.S. and all, so I don't know why we gotta be rebranded as 'Team Gekko' and all. Besides, it kinda just sounds like were a bunch of lizards, with a name like that." You felt a very slight chill at the part about 'a pretty good thing going as S.E.E.S.', and you think most of your teammates felt it too, but none of you had the heart to say anything, as he did have a bit of a point.
"Yeah, I'm not sure I really I want to called 'Team Yasso', either." Said Yosuke, the only other person of that group, not counting Naoto and Yu, that actually could present themselves as being mentally stable at any given moment. "Dosen't it just seem, I dunno, lame?"
"Not this again..." Mitsuru bemoaned to herself, as this is not the second time this conversation has come up, and neither of you really wanted the topic to get dredged back up. "I do concur with Hanamura, however, we haven't been able to come up with a better name than that, so," But unfortunately, the student council president's words got rapidly drowned out by a few more loud mouthed individuals, and you did not quite understand what she had meant to say after that.
"Wait, I know!" Shouted Rei, the eternally hungry, yellow girl without a persona suddenly said, "What about 'Team Yakisoba'?!" Why is it always food and nothing else with her?
"Really, Yakisoba?" Said Chie, looking a little exasperated at that, to be fair, objectively asinine suggestion. "That's the best you could come up with? Not, 'The Weiner's' or something like that?"
"Hell no." Yosuke said, absolutely deadpan.
"I wasn't making an actual suggestion. I still wouldn't want to go with that, either. If we must go with food, I would take 'The Beefsteaks', minimum." Chie replied. Yukiko snickered quietly to that.
"Well, now there's a name that works for me!" Said Akihiko, rather enthusiastically. Of course, Shinjiro just sneered to himself because his former peer had said a singular word. "I think calling you the Beefsteaks is a perfectly great name! A name like that promotes the idea that you all are tough, confidant, and strong, just like me! Plus, Steak, once you trim the fat and balance out the portions right, is an excellent source of-"
"Of course that's all you can think about." Shinji said, completely cutting off Aki before he could say the words you knew full well he was thinking. "Look, maybe they are fine without a big group name. They have gotten this far just fine without one. Heck, they can all be honorary S.E.E.S. members for all I care. Not like it actually makes a difference in the end."
There was awkward silence after that. The suggestion the beany-wearing loaner had made was, in theory, completely reasonable, but, something about these clowns being a part of S.E.E.S. just didn't sound right. Junpei already felt like a bit of an outlier in the group already, and even Mitsuru, the woman you would have expected to be most on board with that idea, seemed to not be too enthused about seeing people like Teddie as her equal.
Rise was the first to speak up. "Well, I still insist that you call us something! Not having a name just seems weird."
Ken, a bit meekly, raised his hand respectfully before saying, "Well, if I might make a suggestion-?"
"Yeah, I think I am going to veto that one, right out the gate!" Yosuke said rather more forcefully than anything he had said before, "You blew your chance already, you tried to convince both our leaders to go with some stupid Sentai name! There's no way I'm going to go with that sort of kiddie crap! We're people who are fighting to stop a real criminal, not some hokey Neo-Featherman ripoff!" He actually sounded a bit agitated.
"KIDDIE?!" Ken said, incredibly defeated, having been pushed in his most sensitive area.
"I liked it!" Yu said, also showing more emotion than he normally defaults too, "I thought it was unique, and Makoto didn't mind it!"
"Did I...?" You retorted. Ok, you don't remember agreeing to that at all!
"Yeah, you said, 'I don't care', with the same lack of genuine interest you always did. That usually means that you are unopposed to whatever, I thought." Yu asserted.
"He tends to do that." Yukari said looking down at the ground. "I don't think drawing from Featherman for inspiration is a horrible idea, though. Hey, wasn't Rise supposed to be some model in your time, or something?"
"A music idol by the name of Risette!" Risette chimed in, snapping thoroughly into her teenage J-pop star persona, "Though, don't forget that I am taking a break to finish high school right now, but if you guys are from the past, I could tell you about some of my best shows so you could see me live, once we manage to get out of here!"
"Backstage passes, here we come!" Junpei cheered back.
"Actually, my manager has made a strict ban on anything of the sort being allowed, regardless of venue." Rise said more calmly, acting more like her navigator self, "Not since that time I was featured as the halftime show of a baseball game, and some freshly-drafted slugger was caught sneaking into my green-room to spy on me with excuse that 'he could go wherever because it was his home stadium.'" I then saw the look of momentary recognition come across her eyes, and she drifted to a more thoughtful expression. "You know, come to think of it..."
"Huh? Think about what?" Junpei said.
"N-never mind, it's nothing!" Rise quickly shut that line of inquiry down then and there.
"...Anyway, as I was saying," Yukari continued, trying to not dignify the previous exchange, "I was going to suggest the group name of, 'Risette and the Rosettas' or something, but, you know what, that is just as dumb."
"Actually, that's not that bad!" Idol-girl said, her projection suddenly sliding really close to Yu, "What do you think, Senpai?"
"Uh, me?" He said, taken aback. You and me both, Yu, you and me both. "Uhhhh, maybe once your back on stage for real?"
"Allow me to weigh in on things." Naoto interjected. Finally, somebody who could insert some normalcy back into this conversation and get us back on track! "All these names are very on-the-spot and lack any real depth or meaning. If we want a proper name, we'd need something that speaks to our group as a whole, on both a broad as well as deeper level. You are called 'S.E.E.S.', but the full name is supposed to be 'Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad', is it not?" Or... perhaps not? Why do you ever get your hopes up about these things? "It then stands to reason that we should be looking from something that has an abundance of meaning, instead of going with the first thing we think of on a whim. If nothing else, even if not particularly deep, it should symbolize who we are first. So, why not call us the 'Seekers of the Truth'? Or, maybe just the 'Investigation Team', if that's more snappy."
"You know what? I kinda like that!" Yukiko said. Chie also seemed receptive, and even Koromaru gave a rather encouraging bark of approval.
Yu, yourself, and Mitsuru all seemed to be on the same wavelength that one or both of those names would probably be best, but unfortunately, somebody else just had to butt in before any of you could rubber stamp that perfectly reasonable conclusion.
"A name that speaks to who we are?!" The loud, brash, annoying, if cheerful and competent-in-combat bear costume Teddie just had to shout loudly, makeing the whole lot of you jump in response, "Then I have the most Bear-iffic name for us to go with! Henceforth, you shall refer to us as 'Teddie's Kuma-patiots of Love'!"
The thought of that name, in conjunction with how absurdly out of left field it was, made you gag, and you rushed to fish a Dr. Salt Neo out of your inventory to get the taste of bile out of your mouth as soon as possible. Yukiko started cackling hysterically while multiple members of your own group backed away, clearly regretting having ever associated with this other group of Persona-users in the first place. Even Teddie's own teammates seemed revolted, and Zen, the quiet spiky fellow without a persona and Rei's self appointed guardian, actually perked up at how insane a suggestion that was.
"No, no, I think we're already good, Teddie," Yu said, talking to the bear directly, "I don't think any of us want to go with that!"
"Well, if it's any consolation," Chie forced out with such an extreme strain that made it impossible to tell if she was lying through her teeth or just forcing herself to be reasonable, "Kuma-partiots, on its own, is far from the worst suggestion you have ever made!"
Teddie's eyes lit up. "You mean I have finally won you over with my Bear-illiant and ursa-spireing intellect? Yes, Chie-chan, I will-!" And at that moment, Yosuke backhanded the bear with all his might, and nobody including yourself made any attempt to stop him. The animate costume fell over, dizzy and dazed.
"So... did we actually decide on a name or not?" Kanji said, finally. Has he been listening to a single word of this conversation?
"No, this whole endeavor has been one gargantuan waste of time." Shinjiro said, enumerating the words we were all thinking.
Fuuka projected herself into the middle of all of us once more, looking prepared to say something, a bit of concern on her expression evident inspite of the staticy apparition, but unfortunately, one more person spoke before she did.
"Solution possessing; finished." Somehow, you had completely forgotten about Aegis this whole time! "A name is required by the other group, one that does not necessitate us, S.E.E.S., from having to choose a different name. However, testing shows no alternate name can be agreed upon by the other group. Conclusion: The other group of Persona-users will not be getting their own name in that case. Therefore: I say that if we are to be known as S.E.E.S., then we should refer to them as NOT-S.E.E.S."
It took every last fiber of your being to not say, 'I don't care', in response to that. Under no circumstances would you be ok with letting her, for even a second, think you were asking her to register these fine ladies and gentlemen as... that. A very eerie silence hung over the lot of you, and it seemed as though what she had not gone unnoticed by anyone present, save Teddie, and the two non-persona-users.
"Hey, Zen?" Rei asked after a moment, breaking the silence.
"Yes?" Zen said, the mans deep, calming voice relied.
"What is a NOT-S.E.E.S.?" She asked, slowly. Oh, you poor, sheltered child.
"Huh? I don't know." He responded. Oh, to be as ignorant as him!
"Is a NOT-S.E.E.S. something you can eat? Is it a food?" She said, visibly starting to psyche herself up. Uh oh.
"I said, I don't know!" Zen said, a bit more forcefully, at least looking like he understood from context that, whatever it was, it was not exactly good. "Maybe it's something only people with Persona's know about."
"Oh, then Ken!" Rei said now bright and cheery all over again, repeating her last question to her peer and the dog.
"Oh, uh..." Ken panicked, "I don't think that's something you are going to want to eat." He eventually said, after a lot of stuttering and trying to find words that didn't exist for the grade-schooler, while Korumaru just whined.
Rei, dissatisfied, turned to Shinji! He, better than you would have been able to anyway, managed to pick up the momentum that Ken started well enough, "Er, yeah, um, something like that. It's a rare food, one that you might only find once in your whole life." He noticed he was only exciting the girl, who was back to scarfing down whole corn-dogs in anticipation, "But, it's a really bad food, like, the-worst!"
"Really?" Rei said, a little disappointed.
Naoto, ever the quick thinker, swapped in for Shinji at the perfect time. "YES! It is the worst food ever created in the history of mankind!" She said, clearly not used to lying so blatantly like this, but making a convincing enough cover story regardless, "If you had tried to eat the other girl's cooking, that already would have been so incredibly horrid to even such a wide pallet such as yours; but the NOT-S.E.E.S. is far worse than that! They say if you eat it, it is so bitter, so repulsive, so utterly rotten that you would never be able to get the taste out, no matter how many Takoyaki and scoops of ice cream you ate! Whatever you do, don't eat one. Understand?"
Rei went from looking like she was waiting for the positive catch to all that negatory fluff, to looking personally insulted when she realized Naoto had nothing more to add. "Z-zen?" she eventually said, grappling her guardian by the hand and and clinging to it closely.
"Yes"
"I... I don't want to eat a NOT-S.E.E.S."
"Ok."
It fell quiet again for a moment.
"So, yeah, on second thought, Team Gekko and Team Yasso are actually perfect names." Yosuke said rather quickly, when he finally did speak up. Yeah, that's probably for the best.
"So, are we sure we don't want to go with Teddie's Kuma-" Teddie started to say.
"LET'S STOP TALKING NOW!" Both you and Yu shouted loudly in protest! Never in your life had you ever felt so in sync with a person until that moment!