Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first time he ever entered the Velvet Room, Souji Seta could remember sitting in the fine leather seats. It didn't occur to him at the time, as he believed it was nothing more than an incredibly vivid dream. The results of an exhausting month of preparing and packing, of sending whatever pieces of his life that could fit into cardboard boxes and two-day shipping to a far-off corner of the world. And while he could rarely remember his dreams in such detail, he could vividly recall the velvety blue interior of the limousine, the strange hook-nosed man and the beautiful blonde woman holding a thick tome.

The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost.

My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen.

By the second time he entered, he was more accepting of the idea that this was not a dream or, at least, not entirely a dream. Between making a pact to solve a murder with a teddy bear-mascot... thing, and fighting a walking manifestation of his new friend's bitterness in a twisted version of a liquor store through the use of...

What was the term he called out again? In the midst of battle, as the intoning chant of Thou art I, and I am thou rang through his head, while surrounded by the floating balls of teeth and tongue the bear called “Shadows”...

Persona.

With a force bubbling in the back of his mind that went by the name of Izanagi, and being forcefully shoved through a TV for the third time in less than a day, he was a lot more accepting of the idea of being in a dream-limousine alongside the most elegant woman he had set eyes on and contrasting, the most bizarre-looking man he had ever seen. He sat on the soft leather seat, this time palming the thin card in his hand and flipping it over and over, his own excitement over the day's events still gnawing away at his mind.

Your destiny will require you to hone your power, and for that, you will inevitably require our help.
There is but one price for this assistance…

It certainly fit with the agreement he just made with Teddie and Yosuke just a few short hours ago. Between arguing about the possibility of being the true killer and that devastating moment in what remained of Saki's 'reality', for lack of better description. And, true to his word, Souji Seta abided by that agreement.

For every battle, he was the one who would maintain the group's funds and the gear. He would work four jobs and collect what scraps he could scavenge from the remains of the Shadows every battle. For every conversation, he'd try to find some lead to bring to the table or, in times where the case would stall, some new view point he could offer. He would study every night, to keep his mind sharp and his reasoning as high as possible. After all, he was the one who had made the contract and, more importantly, been deemed the leader by the group.

It was certainly an... Odd feeling, being selected as the leader. As far as Souji could say, he had never been responsible for other people.

Then December 3rd hit.

You must abide by your contract and assume responsibility for all decisions you may make.

For a moment, Souji was so still that even Igor wasn't sure he was still alive. He was slumped over in the back of the limousine, his face obscure by grey hair, his hand still tightly clinging to a cellular telephone. Even with his long bangs obscuring his eyes, he could see the thin stream of tears running down his cheeks, as suddenly his shoulders began to shudder, as Igor could hear the boy's quiet chant.

“I'm sorry... I'm sorry...” His voice was cracked and hoarse, before it erupted into a near shriek of grief. At this point, the boy was deep in hysterics and barely at the edge of sanity. For a time, the three just sat in the limo, listening to the quiet drum of the motor and to the boy's frayed, cracked sobs.

*

Out of all the things he was expecting his nephew to bring, gifts were not on the list.

Souji smiled sheepishly, handing the larger of the brown paper bags to Nanako first. “I'm sorry it's not wrapped. I didn't have time to wrap it properly, and it seemed really dumb to pay for another bag just because it looked nice. I hope you like it.”

Nanako paused for a moment, looking up to Dojima in confusion first, as if to check first and make sure taking the bag was alright. It was... Odd, but not something he could regard as suspicious, at least not yet. After all, his sister Sumire had said before her boy was always a little strange, a reserved and quiet boy with the tendency to bring home strays and treat expiration dates as something that happened to other people. “Go ahead, it's alright.” Dojima said gently, patting the back of Nanako's head as he spoke. She took the bag and glanced inside, before smiling brightly.

“A stuffed platypus?” She said, pulling the small doll out of the bag. It was a little doll, roughly the size of a man's fist, and filled with something more like sand or beans than fluff. Still, she clung onto the doll swiftly, looking intently at it's plush face, “I've never found one of these before! Not even Junes has them!”

“It's a little last minute. I would've gotten a better one, but I was already was at Okucho, and if I left the station to find a toy store then I would've had to take a much later train than I would've liked.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Nanako looked up at him shyly, still petting the platypus. “It's fine...” She said, quietly, “I like this one. Thank you.”

Souji turned to Dojima, before handing him the second brown paper bag. “I got you something as well. It didn't seem polite to get something for Nanako and not bring you anything as well.” Dojima took the bag, blinking in surprise for a moment before pulling out a metal cigarette case.

The older man smiled wryly. “I'm pretty sure when your mom complained about my smoking habit, she didn't mean you should encourage it.”

“I didn't think you'd like e-cigs, and you ha-” The boy stopped himself for a moment, noted Dojima. Souji bit his lip lightly, before he finished, “You probably have a tendency to crush them. I mean, cigarette boxes are so thin, and with your job as a detective, I imagine you'd probably like something to keep them nice and fresh.”

Dojima stared at him for a moment, not one of his on-call glares reserved for one of the delinquents that had been popping up around town with more frequency, but an extended glance. It was certainly a lot of assumptions that Souji was making right now. And, the actually unnerving point, he was making a lot of correct assumptions.

Souji stared evenly back at Dojima, his face blank. Not with confusion, or even annoyance, but just blank. “Is something wrong?” He asked.

Dojima gave it another beat. “No, it's nothing.” He said, pulling out a slightly crumpled pack of Marlboro’s. “You just caught me off guard, is all.”

“Please excuse me.” Souji said. For a moment, his face flashed a surprisingly deep sorrow, not run of the mill sadness, but a stark gloom that didn't fit the moment at all, before shifting back to the prior neutral expression, the blank mask he had become accustomed to seeing in the yearly family holiday photos. “I'm just a little excited. After all, Nanako's never met me, and you haven't seen me since I was a baby, isn't that right?”

*

After the sobbing subsided, the silence was pronounced. Igor's hands remained steepled below his nose, his eyes remained thin slits. He glanced over to Margaret, maintaining her ever-vigilant position by his side. Even now, he could see her knuckles whitened by the grip she kept on Le Grimoire, the tightness of her face, and the slight flush of anger under her skin. She did not approve of Souji's recent... reaction.

Meanwhile, the boy had finally calmed down. While he still leaned forward, almost curled into a fetal position, he was no longer shaking and mumbling incoherently. Of course, he was still distraught; Igor wasn't a fool, he was aware of the toll the events had taken on the boy's mind. But even distraught like this, they still needed to come to an answer. Everyone had gone for too long without an answer, and the cost of silence was too devastating to continue onwards.

“It seems,” Igor said, as he readjusted his hands, “We have come to an impasse.”

Souji looked up, choking back a second wave of sobs. “Y-yes?” He said, barely a whisper. Even now, the damage to his throat was done, after so many months of silence. His throat was raw from sobbing, from finally gaining use again, if only in savage, guttural cries.

“As of this time, the fog of deception has become beyond our scope.” Igor said. Souji winced, specifically at the mention of the fog. “What had once been a possible path through the fog has been overridden, and to an an extent, even worsened as a result of indecision.”

The Velvet Room fell back into a tense silence. Souji bent down, his arms curling over his head, as he clasped his eyes tightly shut.

“Do you have anything to say?” Igor said evenly.

“I'm a failure.”

*

It just figured that she'd end up with King Moron as her homeroom teacher, Chie thought somewhat darkly. Of course, the start of school was never something she looked forward to anyway. But between Yukiko being tied up with the inn for most of the vacation and Yosuke dodging her for days, only to collapse at his desk as soon as he arrived with no mention about how he enjoyed Trial of the Dragon... Ugh. Of course she, and the rest of the class, would be stuck with the biggest jerk teacher in this entire school.

“Now I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student.” Morooka stopped in the midst of his tirade about how the entire class was nothing but whores and assholes, and motioned to a grey-haired and kind of dazed-looking teen boy standing at the front of the class. For a moment, it seemed like he was staring straight at Chie, but she shook it off. “This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage. And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him! Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick.”

The teen snapped out of his daze at that last comment, and glanced over to Morooka. “Wait a minute,” he said, “You're calling me a loser? You, of all people?”

King Moron bristled, as the class chuckled or gasped in surprise. “That's it, you're on my shit list, effective immediately”, he snapped, before kicking off into another rant, the second of what Chie was assuming was going to be a year full of rants. The grey-haired kid stared at Morooka in frustration and began rubbing his temples, “Now listen up! This town is miles away from your city of perverts and assholes, and maybe if you actually paid attention to this instead of rolling your eyes, you'd be learning something! And you better not think about getting involved with any of the girls around here, let alone abusing them...”

Chie looked at the empty desk beside her. She certainly felt bad for the new guy, already taking the brunt of King Moron's attention and being chewed out for something stupid, and he hadn't even had a chance to sit or say much of anything. And really, anything to cut this rant short would be a good idea. “Um, excuse me!” She said, raising her hand up. “Is it alright if the transfer student sits here?”

“Huh?” Morooka said, jarred out of his complaints about how terrible the new guy, and for that matter all of the students, were. He motioned dismissively at the seat, “Yeah, sure. Hear that? Your seat's over there, so hurry up and siddown already!”

The grey-haired guy walked over and took a seat. He glanced at Chie, a surprisingly tired and sad look in his eyes, but he still smiled gently. “Thank you,” he said.

“Wow, he's got you that down already?” Chie said, “Hate to say it, but it's only gettin' worse from here. He's the worst.”

“Oh no,” the new guy said, “I've learned how to tune him out already. It's just... You remind me of someone I knew, is all.”

Chie paused for a moment, thinking about how the new guy responded. It sounded weird but was probably nothing, after all this guy probably had hundreds of asshole teachers from the city, so he obviously learned how to tune out yer a bunch of losers and whores and yer gonna get teen pregnant or stds and die miserable bluh bluh bluh from there. “So, you've got a lot of jerk teachers in the city?”

“I suppose you can say that.”

*

“I just... I stopped. And I stopped for a long time. You sent me to solve the mystery before the answer was lost in the fog, and I did nothing.” Souji said, the last word dripping with disgust. It wouldn't have been as bad if he had taken an option, said something when he had the chance. But when Nanako... When she... Even thinking the phrase, even the idea, made his mind lock up and his throat burn. And how did he respond to it?

Freezing up entirely. Saying nothing, doing nothing. It wouldn't be as shameful if he had made any choice, even if it had the same result. But now, sitting in the back of the limousine, in the company of Igor and his obvious disappointment, Margaret and her seering anger... All he could think was how he did nothing.

Igor gave Souji a heavy stare, before shutting his eyes. For a moment, the limousine descended into silence again, before Igor spoke. “Well,” He said, “Now we'll just have to make a decision at this point.”

“I don't...” Souji said, before taking a moment to pause. It really didn't seem to matter anymore, at this point. Even if he solved it, Inaba was still dead. Everyone, everything... Still... “Understand.” Souji completed, rather stiffly. “I don't understand what you mean.”

Igor half-smiled, “Even now, we have certain options available to us for our journey. You might not believe everything is lost at this point, but I can do one of three last things, if only to resolve our current dilemma.”

It was this that broke Margaret out of her muted anger. She looked at Igor, “Master?” She asked, one of the few times even she could remember as even questioning Igor's decisions. Of course, she knew the choice well, something Elizabeth had talked about with her before Elizabeth started her own journey, but to offer it to now? To this boy?

*

At first, Yosuke found himself thrashing in the trash can in frustrated, pointless rage. Getting out? He wasn't getting out any time soon, he was stuck in the damn thing. He already knew he was stuck because he got stuck in the same trash can less than a week ago. And even when he did get out, he was going to be smelling like garbage for the rest of the day, which was bad enough but going to school smelling like garbage?

Damn garbage can for being just out on the street where anyone can crash into it. Damn shitty bike breaks, as well. In fact, damn Inaba too, with it's rocky streets that destroy bikes within six months, it's million housewives and bored students that didn't have anything to do but bitch about him, his family and Junes, and it's lack of anything at all to DO.

He flailed around, the first few kicks just because he was pissed and he wanted to just kick something, even if it was another trash can or the air. The last one was an actual attempt at kicking the can off though. It was getting hard to breath in the stupid thing, and it was rank as hell to boot. Stupid goddamn trash can. Stupid goddamn bike. Stupid goddamn Inaba.

The can came to a sudden and fixed stop. For a moment, he guessed he got himself wedged against a tree or a wall, but he heard a voice call out, “Hold on, is there any trash left in the can?”

“Nah,” Yosuke replied, “I think I knocked it all out when I first hit.” For a moment, he considered if it was meant as a stealth insult, but that particular thought went out the window when the can suddenly shifted straight up and knocked him on his ass. “Hey! Watch it!”

“Sorry.” The voice said sheepishly, “But it's easier pulling the can off like this. Don't move, I've almost got it.”

As the can was tugged straight off, the morning light was blinding. The fresh air was a relief at least, especially compared to the smell of the can. He looked up, catching the grey haired kid from his class placing the trash can back in place. The grey haired kid looked back at him and gave a gentle smile. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, thanks to you. You're a real lifesaver, man!” Yosuke said, as he scrambled to his feet.

The grey hair boy rubbed his arm awkwardly at that, looking away. He looked... Oddly ashamed, almost. Or maybe self-conscious. Probably self-conscious, why would someone react with shame to being complimented? “I-It's no big deal. Really, you'd do the same for me.”

*

“Now, the first of the options” Igor said, steepling his hands below his nose once again, “is simply to surrender. We can accept this loss, and from this point, your story would be at an end.

“Your second option I can offer would be to go back in time a short distance, the span of a week.” Igor said, “This would allow you to keep all of your current Personae available at your discretion, as well as keep you at the full level of strength you are at now.”

Souji blinked wearily, his mind blearily processing the two options. Had he known… Had he known, he would’ve ran to the Velvet Room right away, instead of shutting down so thoroughly, to the point where he wouldn’t even leave the house, where he wouldn’t even consider approaching the glowing blue door beside Daidara’s. “W-Why didn’t you say anything b-before?” He asked, his voice slightly louder, but still cracked and damaged from lack of use.

Igor closed his eyes and said, “It’s always been a failsafe in case the fog was to encroach, such as in this unfortunate time. While the events that have beseech you have been tragic, there would have been nothing we could’ve offered, at least until this point” The long-nosed man frowned deeply, as he continued. “However, it’s an option that I find you’ll be less willing to take. Tell me, my guest, do you think a single week will be enough for what you seek?”

Souji’s mouth pressed into a thin line. He was right… A week? Jumping back a week wouldn’t even bring him back to Inaba. A week ago, he was just arriving in Hokkaido, just in time to receive the text about Dojima, the simple call me right now… It would be too late for anything, even if he did have his Personae at his disposal. What purpose would that serve? Igor was completely correct.

“Of course,” Igor’s face hardened as he spoke, “The third option I can offer is an extension of the prior offer. I can push back further, going back as far as the first time we met. Of course, there’s a hefty penalty with this option.”

Back to when they first met... April, 2011. Long before the TV, long before the fog, December, and everything else that had gone so drastically wrong. A step back entirely, although one with a catch. He held his tongue, to let Igor explain.

“You will lose all of your boons you have earned through your time in Inaba. Your Personae, your strength, whatever progress you made with your social links, it will all be reset. Whatever progress you have made towards breaking through the fog of deception will have to be retread, for you will only start with your memories of this time and nothing else.”

Souji waited. It was less considering his options, and more allowing Igor to explain the negative effects of the last option. The loss of the Personae... “This... This includes Izanagi too?”

Igor nodded, “As further warning, I cannot guarantee when you will be able to use him again, or even if you will use him again. While your abilities with the Wild Card will always be with you, you have changed, and changed drastically at that.”

Souji felt the pit of his stomach drop.

*

At 2:48 PM, the Inaba Police Department received the call regarding the discovery of the remains of Miss Mayumi Yamano.

A 3rd year student, Miss Saki Konishi, was the initial witness in the investigation, having discovered the body dangling from a telephone poll down by the intersection between the suburbs and the old Inazaki farm stead. Later in the day, the coroner's reports would list the cause of death as unknown, with no signs of physical trauma on the remains.

No DNA evidence would be found, thanks to what the coroners and investigators would attribute to the scattered showers throughout the day prior to the discovery. Any useful evidence, including finger prints or epithelials, was effectively washed away before the investigation could take place. Not that it mattered in this podunk backwater; quite frankly, the fact this department even had the means to even process DNA evidence sometime within the decade was a shock to Tohru Adachi.

The rookie detective stared at the corpse, bleary-eyed, confused and frustrated. Quite frankly, the case of Mayumi Yamano always was the most disappointing portion of the game. He couldn't even enjoy the first act, until the confirmation about the lack of DNA evidence left him in the clear. Initially, he couldn't think of anything but the cuffs and the cell. Especially as a cop, he knew what prison held for him. Convicts were rather... unkind to former cops.

He took a swig of his scalding hot coffee.

Adachi started to walk back to his partner, holding the two coffees he had initially been sent to retrieve. Already, he was finding himself in the role of Tohru Adachi, Rookie Detective and Dojima-san's Personal Bitch, much to his chagrin. Perhaps, as soon as he got a chance, he'd be adding a personal 'seasoning' to Dojima-san's strong, black coffee. Probably. Later on. For now, the worst he would get is cold coffee.

As he walked back to his 'superiors', Adachi stopped in mid-step. Dojima's nephew was here, him and two of his little flunkies, the angry little lesbian and little miss Princess Amagi. Well, seems the boy makes friends quick, doesn't he? Of course they were here, gawping like the slack-jawed yokels they were. Dojima's nephew though... He looked tense, standing in front of both girls. Oh. Oh, the boy was looking back and forth expectantly, perhaps trying to scope out his uncle.

Adachi waved over to the boy, “ Hey!” he shouted in an annoyed voice, “What are you doing milling around for? Can't you see this is a crime scene?”

The girls definitely looked unnerved, at least. He couldn't make out what they were whispering to each other and to Dojima's nephew from this distance, but there was no doubt that it was definitely panic and worry. He walked up to the group, “Look, a bunch of school kids like you should be heading home at this point, so run off. I'm sure you've all got homework you need to do or something better than hanging around at a crime scene.”

*

The loss of any other Persona was already terrible, losing that representation of himself. It wasn't a simple matter of losing his favorite Persona, as if it was something as trite a preferred candy bar or a pair of socks. Izanagi was him, or at least a part of him, no less real than his arm or his voice.

There was still no doubt in his mind of his choice though. Had Igor requested his arm in return, he would've held it out and waited for the ax. Had he requested his voice, Souji would've torn his vocal cords out himself. It was a price, one that made the tightness in his chest and abdomen twitch harsher, but wasn't it a worthwhile price?

Didn't he want to save everyone?

Didn't he want Nanako to live?

Igor smiled enigmatically. Even without saying, Souji was sure the man already knew what he was going to say.

*

As the Bisai Line Express roared out of the tunnel, Souji was blinded by the bright, dazzling sunlight. He winced his eyes sharply, taking in a choked gasp of air at the brightness. The scenery they were passing was vivid, sharp greens and richly hued reds and pinks popping through the fields and on the cherry blossom trees as the train careened past. The interior of the train itself was as sharp, as bright as the outdoor fields with the worn blue padding on the seats a blazing cerulean, the sounds of gossiping travellers a raucous din, and even the smells of a food cart pushing past with re-warmed snacks for sale intense and highly perfumed. For a second, for a minute, for a long time, Souji was stunned by just how ALIVE everything was.

It was April 11h. Even without needing to check his phone, he knew it was April 11th. His mind felt... Empty, the weight of his Personae missing. Even the familiar anchor of Izanagi, the 'man-who-invites', was missing.

For a moment, his shoulders began to shudder, but Souji bit his tongue. No, even with all of the sensations coming back so strong and bright and almost maddening, even with his Persona gone and his sense of self shaken, he was fine. He was going to be fine. Wipe away those tears, still that breathing. There wasn't time left to cry and panic any more. In three stations, he would be in Inaba again, and he would get a second chance. One more chance to save everyone, all of his friends, his uncle, and his little cousin, and everything was going to be okay as soon as he could calm down and start breathing normally again.

Okucho station was coming up. He dimly remembered they had a gift shop available, and he had a few minutes before the Himawari-Sen train would to take him to Inaba. It seemed like the perfect time to get Nanako a gift.

Chapter Text

The flickering screen was much clearer than he remembered from last time.

He was sure there was no way the image could've been so clear, so vivid and free of static last time. How could he mistaken the image on the TV as anyone but Saki Konishi on the screen, curled up into a pained ball, her light brown hair dirty and slick from... Blood? A head injury? He felt the pit of his stomach sink at the thought, and tried to ignore the thought of her having a bleeding head wound or worse.

Souji tapped the screen carefully, aware of what happened when he first touched the TV screen after seeing the Midnight Channel. The TV in his room was small, too small for him to slip and fall in without actually attempting to shimmy in, but the idea of having to pull his head and shoulders out of the TV forcefully and smashing the back of his head on the coffee table upon ejection left him with a bad taste with his mouth, even if he didn't wake Nanako up with all of the noise from that. The screen rippled under his hand, small waves pouring over his hand like thin syrup, yet the space beneath felt dry.

He waved his hand before pulling it back out, testing a wild guess. It might not have worked in the last timeline, but if he could get Saki to notice... He could shimmy in now, pulling Saki away from whatever danger would be lurking at the corrupted version of the liquor store and face down her Shadow well before the fog hit. Then, all they'd have to do is head back to the TV studio-esque landing that connected to the Junes electronics department, chase down Teddie, and explain what would happen so they could hop back out and be safe and sound, even if he didn't know Teddie yet, or remember how to get from the liquor store to the backlot off the top of his head with no guide, or even really know if he could just shimmy into the right place or end up careening off to some other place inside the TV world, far away from Saki or from anyplace familiar for that matter.

Souji pulled his hand out of the TV, if only just to facepalm at himself. Was he really that desperate? There was no doubt in his mind, as she writhed on the screen, that she must have been in pain. But jumping into the TV wildly like that would be the worst possible idea, especially alone and with no weapons or a medical kit or anything but a gnawing sense of guilt. The fog wasn't due until the 15th. He knew, at least intellectually, that he should had one more day.

He'd have to remember a spare medical kit when he went in. If he had enough time, he could stop by Shiroku before school, take advantage of the rainy day and get at least two and maybe a vial of painkillers. If he went that way, he'd be able to hit up Daidara's as well so he could go in with a proper sword and chain mail instead of a golf club and hope. Unfortunately, there would be no way he could skip school, even with Saki's life on the line; Junes was lousy with cops on weekday mornings, especially now with one murder hanging over Inaba. And the thought of trying to explain to Uncle Dojima... Souji could hear “So you're not going to be honest with me” echo in his mind, his jaw stiffening.

Uncle Dojima would never believe him. He didn't believe him back then, nearly in tears and begging the man back in that November to believe him, to turn back right away and to protect Nanako instead of waiting for an explanation that could never come. If he couldn't believe him then, when they were family... What chance would he believe him now that Souji was practically a stranger, a punk kid who decided to skip school to go to the local department store's electronics section and blathering about how a missing girl was going to die if he didn't jump into a specific TV right away?

The image on the screen began to fade away. At first, Souji felt his stomach wrench sickly- by god, he was too late, wasn't he? Did Saki even have a chance at all?- before he checked the time and calmed down. It was half-past midnight. Of course. The Midnight Channel always began to fade out at that point, that was the point the connection would weaken and eventually sever until the next rainy night. He still had time, even if it was only an afternoon.

He pushed his coffee table to the corner and pulled out the futon. It'd be good to get rest, even if his stomach kept twisting and his mind was on fire from ideas, both good and bad.

Chie might still be up at this point, she was the one who knew about the rumor and was most eager to check it out. If he showed her the TV world and explain what was happening, she'd be sure to join in on the rescue...

“I can't find her! The fog's just too thick and I can't find her Yukiko or my family and I just can't find anyone...” She was just hysterical at this point, almost sobbing as he could hear the loud clack of her greaves on the pavement. “I-I can't even summon Tomoe. God. I can't even summon Tomoe. I'm so useless. Please, Souji-kun, just... Please, say something, anything-”

Yosuke was definitely still up, there would be no way he'd be able to sleep at all after seeing the bloody, writhing Saki splayed on the screen. Even without having to ask, Souji knew Yosuke would be willing to walk through the flames of hell itself if he had the slightest chance to save Saki...

“... H-Hey Partner... It t'k some time, but y' lucked out finally... You g-got out of town just in time.”A wet, gagging cough overtook the speaker, “It's... It's really hell out here.”

Souji could feel his stomach clenching hard and his throat going dry, as he curled up into a ball in his futon. No. Not again. This time, he'd do it by himself. He'd go in after school and save Saki. And in three days, he'd stake out the Amagi inn and catch Namatame in act. No one else would be thrown in a TV, no one else would be murdered, and all of his friends would never face themselves. But they would be alive, and alive was better.

The miniscule amount of sleep he was able to get that night was ridden with the sound of thick, bloody coughs, teary sobs, and December.

*

“I think I saw someone.” Souji said, biting his lip thoughtfully. His mouth felt like cotton, since he didn't drink much of anything, or even eat much of anything that morning after waking up so late. Damn. He'd be sure to cook and eat a big dinner with Nanako tonight to make up for it. “Looked like a girl with long hair. Couldn't tell the color though, it was too fuzzy.”

“Really? That bad on your end?” Chie frowned, “I think her hair was brown-ish. It looked kind of light brown to me, at least. Maybe you saw a different girl?”

Souji shrugged. “It's hard to tell, my connection was so shoddy. She looked like she was wearing a school uniform, at least from what I could see.”

Yosuke sat quietly, his brow furrowed as he stared at his phone. Of course he would be quiet now, Souji thought as he glanced at the boy. Last time he saw her clearest out of any of the group, and even without knowing the truth, the idea of seeing your 'soulmate' bloody and writhing in pain would leave most people shaken. Even without having a massive crush on said soulmate already.

“Hey,” Chie nudged Yosuke's shoulder, hard enough to push him slightly and knock him out of his mind, “Heeey. Earth to Yosuke, you there?”

He jumped slightly, clasping the phone closed quickly, “Geez, Chie, I'm awake.” Yosuke said, as he put the phone away. “Right, so Midnight Channel, that's actually a thing and it works. How the hell did you even hear about it anyway?”

“Like I told you, I heard about it from Sanada in class 2-3.” She rolled her eyes, “What's with you today? You've been grouchy all morning and you've just been checking your phone all day. You're lucky King Moron didn't grab it from you and toss it out the window yet.”

“It's... It's stupid. It's stupid and nothing.” Yosuke said, before grinning impishly at Chie, “So, tell me about your girl soulmate. Never figured you were like that, Chie...”

She blushed deeply, “I-It doesn’t mean anything, alright? I’m sure you can have not-romantic soulmates, okay? You better not be thinking anything dumb, alright?!” Yosuke’s chosen response of snickering only achieved in her giving him a sharp punch to to the shoulder. “Ugh! See if I ask how you’re feeling ever again.” She glared at Souji suddenly, “And stop smiling, you’re just encouraging him!”

He blinked for a moment, before realizing he really had been smiling, partly due to the exchange and partly because of how normal it had felt. For now, it felt okay. “O-Oh, sorry,” Souji said, as he glanced away and mostly returned to his solemn expression. “So… Anyway, I’ll try it again in the downstairs TV, but the bedroom TV is probably just too small and old.”

“You’d expect an old TV to work better for this sort of thing though,” Chie said, absentmindedly. When both boys glanced over to her, she continued, “Well, it’s always what happens in these sort of urban mysteries, you know? You end up picking up an old Gameboy or go on an old website and get some sort of freaky death curse.”

“Man, I hope you didn’t think this would’ve been a ‘freaky death curse’ before you had me and Souji try it,” Yosuke said. “Although, maybe being killed by a TV would’ve gotten me out of having to help out with setting up for the electronics sale tomorrow instead. I can’t believe Kyouko and Mayu already called out.”

“An electronics sale?” Chie perked up a bit at that, “I know my folks have been talking about getting a new TV for a while, and I’ve been dying to see my kung-fu films in hi-def. Think I can tag along to check out the new stuff? And hey, Souji, you can come too and replace that little TV.”

“Sorry.” Souji said, his mouth drying up again. He did have to go to Junes, but by himself. No one else needed to be there, not for the rescue attempt. He wasn’t going to force his friends through all that stress again. “I need to head home as soon as I can. I’m making a stew, and if I want to serve it in time for my cousin to eat before bed, I’ve got to start it early.”

“Hey man, no prob.” Yosuke shrugged, “And honestly, it's going to be going on for a few days, so we can check it out on a better day.”

“Playing the part of ‘big bro’ already” Chie teased, giving him a slight smile at that. “Well, you better make sure your little cousin gets dinner instead of messing around at Junes, or I’ll punish you like I do Yosuke.”

*

When it came down to it, Souji was surprised how well he reacted to the idea of handling a sword again. Ringing cell phones made his stomach clench. The sound of static on the TV was unbearably shrill and antagonizing. Snow made him tear up without realizing. But having a weapon again... Holding a sword again, to have the familiar weight of the steel and shagreen resting in his hands or hanging off his back while at standby... It felt comforting. Not as comforting as just being at home, helping Nanako set the table for dinner, or even as comforting as being in class and slipping answers about indefinite particles and perfect numbers to his friends, but it was a sense of comfort nevertheless, and one he eagerly held onto.

He eyed the small selection of blades in the glass display. Even after getting a few thousand extra yen before he arrived, he still only had the money for the charmingly crude imitation katana and a set of chainmail. Well no, he corrected himself mentally, as he looked towards the case beside the sword collection.

A pair of light, hand-sized nata sat under a display light. Beside it, two sparkling white platform sneakers, the soles of one pulled back to reveal a thick-looking plate built into the rubber platform. He looked at Old Man Daidara. “Metal?” he asked, pointing to the shoes under the glass.

Daidara nodded, “A custom order, actually. A girl asked for an extra boost to her sneakers, with something extra in case of trouble in the city. I practically ended up remaking the entire pair, since the original canvas would've torn to shreds under the strain of the plates and walking.”

Souji looked them over through the case. He already remembered they were size seven and a half, Chie's size. The idea of forcing Chie and Yosuke along with him on this... He didn't have enough money, at least not for both weapons and two more sets of armor. At least one person would have to go without any armor at all, which would be bad enough.

“I know I want the imitation katana and one set of the chainmail.” It would be easier and less dangerous with more people, but it was still dangerous. Way too dangerous with other people. It'd be fine with just him, even if it was more dangerous just by himself, alone.

“... A-Actually,” Souji felt himself say, his mouth going dry as the words formed in his mouth. No, don't get them involved. They'll be safe if they stay out of it. It'll be better this way, with Saki alive and Yukiko never in danger, or Kanji, Rise, or Naoto for that matter. He knew that they'd be better off staying the hell away from this, the grimmest thoughts popped into his head of if they didn't, yet he knew... “Can you make that two sets of chainmail? And toss in the nata and the platform shoes as well.”

*

The three bags of ice were easy enough to explain to the clerks, or at least lie about. Who didn't need ice on occasion, certainly not when you're preparing for a coming home party, and want to make sure the drinks stay cold. The ten pinwheels were a little odder, but who didn't like pinwheels, bright, colorful, and certainly good at catching wind. And the backpack? Well, he needed some way to carry around all of this junk on his person. His arms were getting tired.

There was no telling what element Saki's shadow would be, and even with coming in with Izanagi's lightning, it wouldn't mean anything if she had a resistance to that.

Souji looked up at the clock display over Junes' electronics department. It was getting to be pretty late in the afternoon already, fifteen minutes to five. He frowned, adjusting the backpack he just purchased. At least the cops had thinned out severely at this point; he hadn't even seen Adachi milling around in the entrance, a thought that worried him less on what Adachi would do and more about what Adachi would say to his uncle.

It was already awkward enough, bringing in two shopping bags filled with incredibly suspicious items and very obviously carrying a sword strapped to his back.

Comparatively, it wasn't as bad as it could be. With the wrapping and the hilt in place, he could make the argument that it was a training shinai, that he had been practicing kendo and had come in for a break before heading back home. As long as he didn't have to unwrap the sword or remove it from it's hilt, no one would know it was an actual steel blade, and one honed to be very sharp at that.

Still, that would make no argument for the two hunting nata that he had tucked into his jacket, nor did that explain why he was toting around multiple sets of chainmail, three medical kits, three bags of ice, ten pinwheels, enough firecrackers to destroy a moped and a pair of women's sneakers, size seven and a half.

God, he was so glad he missed Adachi. There was nothing on his person that wouldn't make Dojima think he wasn't completely out of his mind.

He looked around the corner in the Electronics department. Everything was incredibly expensive, much more so than anyone around Inaba was typically willing to spend, even with the sale. Not even clerks were milling around, most too busy in the much busier grocery or clothing departments instead of the most desolate and quiet section of the store. Souji caught himself smiling on the reflection of the TV as he approached.

He slipped his left leg and arm in, taking one last moment to glance around and double check for... It wasn't the best idea, was it? Looking for passerby now, trying to catch anyone who might be stumbling upon him in medias res, in the media. For a moment, he felt like he was waiting for someone, but he knew his stance on it. No. He was not going to ask them. Living, even living in ignorance was better. It had to be better. He was not going to let his friends get themselves killed agai-

“Oh. My. God.”

Oh. Oh crap. That's Chie's voice. As well as, seconds after, the sound of a heavy box of something hard and plastic clattering all over the floor.

Souji turned his head slowly, his face going stark white. He looked dead on at Chie and Yosuke, the former covering her mouth with her hands to surpress any follow up screams she might make, while the latter just stood in stunned silence, his hands still open despite dropping the box of budget DVDs all over the floor.

Chapter Text

“You're in the- How is this- Did you-” For the period of half a minute, Yosuke lost his entire ability to make a complete sentence. Instead, he found himself in a period of thirty different thoughts vying for a chance to be spoken, from 'how did you get into our TV' to 'why are you in the TV' and followed by 'this is probably voiding the warranty, so I would really appreciate it if you used your own TVs at home for your weird tricks instead of using the display models'.

Chie, meanwhile, had elected to just cover her mouth with both of her hands in an attempt to cover up the horrified squeal escaping from her mouth.

“Don't scream.” Souji blurted out, holding up his free hand in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. Immediately, he winced at how badly the situation was already developing, his mind toying around with the idea of just jumping into the TV entirely and dealing with the fallout of the situation when he got back. Perhaps they would both be convinced it was some form of collective hysteria. How often do you ever see a guy with his left arm and left leg sticking into a TV? Still, the idea of horrifying his friends, even in an attempt to keep the peace, left a sour taste in his mouth. “I have a good reason for this. Really, I just need a moment to explain-”

“Explain?” Yosuke interrupted, snapping back less out of anger than confused panic, “Explain? Yeah, sure, I'm sure there's a really good explanation for why you're in a GODDAMN TV.”

“T-This has to be a prank, right?” Chie said, finally regaining the ability to use words instead of horrified squeally noises. She then proceeded to punch Yosuke in the arm for good measure, “You set this up, didn't you?! This is a prank to get back at me for kicking you a few days ago!”

“Ow!” Yosuke jerked back, before turning his attention to Chie, “Why the hell would I prank you by messing up the display TVs at Junes!?”

“Actually, the TV is completely fine.” Yes, that was clearly what Yosuke and Chie needed to hear, Souji thought as he inwardly facepalmed. He looked back and forth around the aisles, from his position of mid-TV. All of the shouting the two of them were doing was surely going to get someone's attention, another store 'associate' or a confused and curious shopper. Another person snooping around this area and getting caught up with the TV world, especially a complete stranger, was just too much.

He really should just jump in now. But something was holding him back, something that he could feel weighing him down with the sneakers in his bag, poking him in the side with the nata in his jacket pocket. Even if he just jumped in without explaining, he was sure they'd follow. And possibly break the TV in the process, leaving him and Saki trapped. Or at least until the morning fog.

But he was not going to get them involved in this.

Not again.

“Look-” He said, sounding more frustrated than he would've liked, “Please calm down, both of you. I... I'll get out, and we'll take some time to calmly- CALMLY- talk about this and please stop looking at me like you're going to scream, it's fine.” He pulled his arm back out of the TV, steadying himself on the frame. “I really have a good reason for this, I swear.”

Both of the panicked teens calmed down, if slightly. Chie looked over at Souji, still half-submerged within a rippling TV screen, then looked back at Yosuke as if to say 'I'm leaving things up to you because, quite frankly, I don't have the means to deal with this'. The brunette boy sputtered a little, pressing his lips into a tight line, before he started talking again. “H-” He stopped himself, taking a moment to tone down his voice and to wince at how high pitch and goddamn squeaky he sounded, “How are you even doing that? Why are you in the TV? What the hell is going on?” He hissed.

“It's a long story, and I don't have a lot of time to explain it,” Souji said, “I'll tell you as much as I can right now, but I need to get in there as soon as possible, Sa-” Don't say Saki. He'll get mad if you say Saki. He'll get mad and force you to explain what happened to Saki-senpai, and then he'll demand to go. You need to keep them safe and out of of the loop. “-omeone's life could be in danger.” He looked over at Chie, who's stance suddenly shifted. She went from a confused and nervous stand to standing taller, straighter, her fists clenched. Now she'll want to go. She's a good person, a heroic person who gets into fights against hoodlums to save little kids and their lunch money. What did you just say about keeping them safe? “But it's nothing major. I can handle it myself. Really.” Souji tugged his leg, attempting to pull himself out of the TV fully.

He gave it a second tug, trying to keep his face as blank as possible as his heart sank. This was probably the worst time for this. “Huh.” He said passively, before grabbing the side of the TV for leverage and giving a third, firm pull, only for his left leg to stay fixed in the screen. “Huh. Um. I'm stuck.”

“Please tell me you're joking.” Yosuke said, darkly. As if the situation didn't have enough questions, now Yosuke found himself wondering if it would even be possible to just pull him out of the TV, or if that would lead to him ripping Souji's leg off from... TV pressure? Was that a thing? Apparently, being able to stick your legs was, as was getting them stuck in the TV.

Chie, meanwhile, decided to take her personal philosophy of 'Don't think. Feel' to heart and rushed over to pull Souji out. Nobody noticed the sound of crunching bargain DVDs under foot, or at least felt it was important in that moment. As she reached out, Souji jerked back his arm.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, really, please calm down.” He said, as he attempted to keep his balance, still trying to keep his face mild and blank. He was sure he was failing at this regard, considering he could feel how tight his face was, and the slowly growing panic in his voice that he couldn’t keep down no matter what he told himself. This never happened before, not being trapped in the TV world by a limb, and certainly not something trying to pull him in before, something he just noticed as he got a sharp tug on his leg. Souji yelped loudly as he was smashed into the edge of the screen harshly.

“Shit!” Yosuke shouted, as he grabbed tightly onto Souji’s arm. When did he get so close? When did he let him get so close, and when did his grip get so strong? Even with trying to squirm out, to push him back, the brunette boy had a pretty good grip of his elbow. “Stop squirming, damnit, calm down!” He shouted, “We’re just trying to help!”

That’s what I’m afraid of! Souji thought harshly, struggling hard against both Yosuke against his arm and the whatever-the-hell that was attached to his leg, and really trying to pull him in. Perhaps if it was just the one or the other he could have more success, but trying to pull away with his left leg and his right arm at the same time, with only the precarious ledge of a TV display table for footing, he just couldn’t get the balance for either. There was an intense, downward yank of Souji’s leg, throwing all of his weight down into the TV and pulling him in.

The situation had already become a disaster, but Yosuke still clung onto his arm, even with being pulled in. For a second, it seemed like he had a good grasp of Souji, pulling him a bit back into the ‘real’ world, as Chie also joined in and grabbed onto his waist. For a second, everything seemed salvageable, like they wouldn’t be pulled in and they would just end up as a confused, panicked mess on the floor of Junes. Then Souji lost his balance entirely, slipping the entire group into the TV in a mess of limbs and screaming.

*
Souji just remained on the ground, motionless, eyes shut, still aware of his surroundings but wishing he wasn't. He could hear someone stirring beside him, moaning in pain from the landing. Probably Yosuke, he was more prone to bruising and sores especially compared to Chie.

He sat up, effectively also pulling up a relatively heavy weight wrapped around his waist. He looked down and saw Chie still clinging tightly to his side, although less of an attempt to save him and more because her arms had locked into a death-grip upon being tugged into another world. “Did... Did we just...” She mumbled, her eyes clenched closed as if to deny the reality of this bizarre situation.

“Yeah... We're inside the TV now.” Souji said, grimmer than he intended. It really was a waste after all, wasn't it? He should've just cut class, even if it was the last class of the day and snuck into Junes or at least did his purchases earlier. Why didn't he plan better, why did he leave that window of chance open to them?

A twitching sensation kept repeating in the back of his mind, a realization that had come up back at Daidara's, one that he refused to acknowledge.

“We're in the TV.” She said, taking a moment to fully absorb the statement. After a second, Chie repeated herself, as if to reinforce the reality of the situation. “We're in the TV...”

Yosuke sat up, rubbing his back roughly. As he looked around, the ever-present fog obscuring the area almost entirely, making it damned hard to see anything besides himself, Souji, Chie and the assorted amount of crap that Souji was carrying. He could barely make out the black paint outlines on the ground as well, kind of body-shaped? “Man... This place is freaky as hell. And what's up with your stuff, were you planning a party or something?”

“It makes a lot more sense in context.” Souji said. He looked at his leg, still curious about the weight that had attached on. He was fairly sure who it could've been at least, or at least who he hoped it could've been. There were just two people he could think of that wouldn't have meant harm by grabbing onto his leg and tugging him into this place, and one was most likely still down with a concussion.

Hopefully Teddie would at least be amenable to hearing his side of the story before declaring him to be the killer. The last thing he needed right now was to spend time trying to defend himself against being accused of murder, especially considering how suspicious he must looked right now. He looked around, attempting to spot the familiar bulbous bear shape within the fog but came up short.

“You guys remember how we were talking about the Midnight Channel before, right?” Souji asked. “And how you're supposed to be able to see your 'soul mate'?”

Chie nodded in affirmation, as she pulled away from his chest. “Does that have something to do with this place?”

“Kind of. You can see people on the screen, but it's not a case of them being your soul mate or anything like that.” Souji said. He started to get up, to start picking up his inventory of items at least. “It's because they were shoved into this place.”

“So there's more people who can... Do... That thing that you were doing?” Yosuke asked, motioning to Souji's leg. Chie, meanwhile, took the time to start glancing around and getting up as well. “What, are they falling in? Hey, wait a minute, is there something wrong with that TV? I mean if it's sucking people into another dimension, we can't just leave it out there like that.”

“It's not that TV. It's...” Quite frankly, he really wasn't sure what caused him to be able to do it in the first place. Latter trips were clear enough, Persona-users could just hop into the TV at their convenience, but they never did figure out how Namatame got the ability in the first place. “Well, really, I don't know how he does it. But I know there's a man who can shove people into TVs, and I can climb in too. Been able to since at least yesterday.”

Yosuke stared at him, “And you decided to just hop in here? Are you nuts? Man, who knows what kind of things are in this place?”

“I don't have a choice in the matter.” Souji said curtly, gritting his teeth a little. “Look...” He had to protect them, but what point was there now in lying about it? They were already here. It wasn't going to make the situation any more easy, and quite frankly, lying more about it would just be counter productive and would lead to more arguing. “I know you saw Konishi-senpai on the Midnight Channel last night too.”

Yosuke silenced himself at that. His eyes twitched in shock, but he was still and quiet, a state that Souji was not familiar with. Even back in that December, even in those months after, he was still hyper, babbling Yosuke who's mouth ran like a bullet train and who's feet couldn't stop kicking the back of his seat in class. The brunette closed his eyes for a moment, before mumbling, “How did you...”

“Wait a minute,” Chie piped in. “Didn't you say you couldn't see anything on the TV before, just a vague outline? Just how did you know it was Saki?”

He didn't want to dismiss their questions so bluntly, but the longer he let himself get derailed with banter, the less time they would have to find Saki and, more importantly, find Teddie. The last thing anyone needed was the news that four high school kids were found dead, hanging off antennas and balconies all over town. “She was thrown in by the same guy who threw in that announcer, Mayumi Yamano.”

He took a moment to let it sink in. Chie and Yosuke might not have received the best grades- Yosuke's would be better if he actually just studied and Chie got high marks in History, PE and Literature to offset her poor Math and Science scores- but both were clever, and sharp as whips when it came to something like logical thinking. It didn't seem necessary to state the obvious, that Saki being in the TV wasn't an accident. And that she, and now they, were all in horrible danger.

“And you're here,” Yosuke looked down at one of the medical kits that had gotten lose from the drop. His frown deepened, as his fists clenched, “To save her, is what I'm guessing.”

“You're right.” Souji said, still maintaining his even speaking tone even with the slight surprise at how calm Yosuke was acting, “You... You're not blaming me?”

“You're not the one who did it,” Yosuke shook his head, “Otherwise why would you jump in yourself with first aid kits and armor.” His voiced darkened at the end of that statement.

“I'm more mad that you're trying to run off on your own for this.” Chie said, walking up to the two. “Why not call the cops? Or ask for help on this?”

“I can't turn to the police. They'd never believe me. I mean, how would you explain any of this, the world in the TV, the killer who can shove people in?” Souji said, Believe me, I've tried. I don't want to be called a liar or insane again. “And I just... I really don't want to get anyone else involved with this if I can help it. There are things in here, horrible things with sharp teeth and icy cold breath and... And some spit fire or poison, and things that grow from your anger and stress,” Souji didn't even notice his rambling, let alone his fist clenching up tightly, his knuckles going stark white from the tension. “I don't want to get anyone else in danger than I had to.”

“How the hell do you even know this?!” Yosuke asked sharply, “I mean, what the hell is happening wherever you're from, where you learn how to fight monsters and jump into different goddamn dimensions?”

“Idiot.” Souji snapped his neck towards Chie, who snapped at him, “So you worried about monsters and things like that, but you still go alone? With bags of ice? What are you thinking, do you expect to scare them off or something?”

“Some of them are weak to that,” He replied, picking up the backpack as he continued explaining. The ice had gotten loose in the commotion, as did many of the fireworks. Thankfully, while one of the bags was damaged from the fall, the spilled ice remained solid as he shoved it back into their torn bag. Of course it remained solid; ice didn't melt in this place, not unless it actually hit something. Physics in the TV world seemed to run on their own whims which, while it added to the confusion and frustration of trying to understand the Midnight Channel, did at least save him money when it came to purchasing supplies. “I've... It's really hard to explain, but I've fought these things before.”

“That doesn't mean you should just run off on your own without telling anyone,” Yosuke said, “You can't just go into a place like that by yourself. I mean, what if you got hurt or knocked out? You could be killed doing something like this!”

Of course he would bring that up. It was Yosuke who insisted on the rule of everyone always going together last time. Souji bit his tongue. Even if it was true, admitting 'well, that wouldn't be a big loss' would be a poor decision. And he couldn't die, not with the killer still out there, not with Nanako still in danger like that. The brunette boy had a point, a point that he kept thinking in the back of his mind.

He really couldn't do this alone, could he? He couldn't just hope that whatever he would face wouldn't have wind attacks or be shockingly powerful, or even that he just wouldn't get downed in a lucky hit and be left defenseless against a Hablerie. Especially a Hablerie. They attacked in groups, and were fond of rending.

“I'm sorry,” Souji said, unsure if he meant it for trying to sneak in on his own or for what happened to Yosuke last time. He winced, “Look, it was stupid... I didn't know who to ask for something like this. I can't turn to the cops, I don't know many people in town yet, besides you guys, and... Well, there's a lot that I need to explain.”

“Like the shoes?” Chie asked, holding up the pair of white sneakers.

“They're...” Don't get them involved. Don't do it. Don't. No. “They're...” He motioned over to her. “For you. They have metal plates, and they're heavy. They're weapons.” Souji explained, wincing as he did so. “I also got hunting nata for you, Yosuke. You're spry and quick on your feet, and I... I kind of figured you'd prefer to try to use two weapons instead of swinging one weapon around like a sword or an ax. And I got you both chainmail.”

“Wait, you're asking us!?” Chie snapped, almost dropping the shoes in shock. “What makes you think we can fight monsters?”

“I'll do it.” Yosuke said.

“Are you insane?!” Chie shouted.

“Who else can?” He asked, as he started rooting around through the piles of things, “We're already here. We know senpai's in danger, and that this guy,” he motioned to Souji, “Has at least an idea of what to expect. We have weapons. We can't just back out on this now, not with her in danger like this.”

Chie watched Yosuke as he pulled out one of the pair of chainmail from a Daidara shopping bag and start unbuttoning his coat. She glanced over to Souji, who had already neatly organized the rest of his items, and was pulling the storage wrapping off his sword. For what felt like a very long time, she just stood. It was too late to back now. They were already in this place, this foggy place that smelt like burning oven cleaner or hot asphalt, and they knew that someone was in danger. Even if she said 'no' and insisted on going back home, what good would that do? For one thing, she didn't even know how to get home. And for another, well, even if she did... She couldn't leave them now. Not while there was still danger in the area.

She did always want to protect people.

Chie sighed, before starting to pull off her shoes. “So, any idea where we're going at least, Leader?” She said. It looked like she might as punched Souji in the gut for the severe twitch he gave out on that.

“Don't call me that.” He said quickly. Leader? He was no Leader. He had no rights to being called that. A title like Leader was earned, and he lost that privilege. Still, he knew his reaction must have been off-putting, because Chie was staring at him now. Even Yosuke, who had finally finished buttoning his coat back up over the chain mail, was staring at him. He coughed, “A-Anyway,” He started again, as he looked around in the fog-filled TV station, “We'll go as soon as we can, but we need to find someone else as well. I think he might be the person who pulled me in.”

“You think he did the same to Senpai and the announcer?” Yosuke asked.

“No,” Souji said, “He wouldn't do anything like that. He's... Well, he's kind of shy right now, but he is a good guy.” A 'bear-y' good guy, as he'd probably say, Souji thought as he started to look through the fog. There was no way they could make their way to Saki in this, much less fight. Adding to this, Yosuke was here now too.

He already knew how he would respond to the liquor store.

Maybe it wouldn't be too late to shove them through the TV as soon as they found Teddie. All things considered, it would probably be harder to convince him not to create an exit and shove them through as soon as possible. He could certainly try to convince him to just let Chie and Yosuke through and take care of it himself...

But it was a little late for that sort of thinking. Chie already finished tightening the laces of the weaponized platform sneakers and was zipping her coat over the chainmail shirt, and Yosuke was waiting beside him, surely expecting the knives at any point now. It's not possible to tell people that you needed help, that there were monsters and an innocent girl was going to be killed, only to renege on it at the last minute.

Souji, hesitantly, pulled the nata out of his coat. Amazing, how light weight they felt back in Daidara's and hanging in his coat, yet how heavy they felt as they left his hand. It was almost shocking that Yosuke could hold them, let alone give a practice twirl of one of them without being weighed down.

“So, where are we going to find your friend?” Chie asked. It was as good of a time as any, at that point. All of the gear was gathered up, everyone had their equipment, and there was really no time to waste. It would be better once they actually started going too. His thoughts would stop eating away at him once they actually began properly to search.

“He's wandering around somewhere...” He said, looking around in the fog. It was damn near impossible to peer around in this, but with no Teddie for now, he'd have to try to guide the way by rote or at least aimlessly wander around where he somewhat remembered where the corrupted liquor store was supposed to be. “Be on the look out for a big round bear mascot, bright red and blue, answers to the name Teddie. That's the guy we're looking for.”

“What.” Yosuke... Didn't so much asked, as he stated incredulously. “Did he get tossed in too while at work or something?”

“No... Actually, he lives here.” Souji said. He started climbing the random hanging ladder within the mists. He remembered it was oddly high up, a ladder that lead to an abandoned road that became the desiccated and dirty version of the Inaba Shopping District. And even if the idea of wandering aimlessly in the TV World was unnerving, he knew it was small and scarcely populated now. If there was a time where they could walk around without much worry, as long as they found Teddie, it would be now.

If nothing else, he remembered one of the walkways lead to the abandoned studio apartment with the shredded posters of Misuzu Hiiragi and the lone scarf noose, and he remembered that way was not even close to where the corrupted liquor store was. And to be quite honest, he didn't want to freak them out further. Hell, he didn't want to freak himself out.

He paused a moment as he was mid-ladder climb. “You know, if one of you don't want to come along on this, you can wait here. Nothing comes to this area, save for Teddie, so it's safe here, and Teddie can get you out of here. I can't...” Souji closed his eyes in frustration. He was already shuffling in haphazardly into a hornet's nest, an uncertain situation with nothing but plans and the hopes that he could remember how to navigate in this bizarre place practically blind.

“Stop being stupid,” Yosuke admonished. “You can't just talk about how dangerous this is and expect either of us to just sit by idly and let you or Senpai get killed by monsters!”

“We're coming, okay?” Chie said, “If it's not safe for three people, what makes you think you'll be safe by yourself? At least, we'll be able to watch each others' backs and defend each other instead of one person being a sitting duck.”

Souji started climbing again, taking a moment to think. “Fair enough.” He said, trying to speak in as confident and commanding of a tone as he could muster. “If I don't find the right path up this way though within ten minutes, we're all turning around and taking some time to regroup.”

Under his breathe, Souji added, “I knew you'd both want to stay.”

Chapter Text

The more he thought about it, the more Yosuke was pretty sure Souji was insane.

A guy would have to be insane to go on a rescue mission like this by himself, especially with carrying extra weapons and armor meant for other people that he clearly didn't want around. Hell, even without carrying the extra weapons and armor, he was running into another dimension. He guessed dimension? There wasn't anything like this in any of the Junes building blueprints that his folks showed him in the weeks of construction. Who would include a massive fog machine, a TV back lot with morbid body-shaped prints all over the floor or a full creepy-ass abandoned replica of the local shopping district in the plan anyway?

Calling it another dimension made a little more sense. What else could it be? The construction crew had gone crazier than his new friend and built a murder-city under the department store? At least he could consider Souji a friend. Maybe.

The more he thought about it, the more Yosuke was also pretty sure he was insane too.

Anyone sane would've turned tail, grabbed Chie and ran out of there or tried to make Souji bring out his weird pal who apparently lived in the TV. Not agreed to go along, forcing himself into the adventure and grabbing at knives and armor like he owned the damned things. He didn't really know what he was even going to do with the knives. Apparently, Souji was convinced he could use them at least. And maybe the guy was right, after all he seemed to know what he was doing when it came to weird alternate TV dimensions.

But if Souji was right, then he should go back after all. Just try to forget this bizarre world, this foggy and oddly yellow-washed land, leave rescuing the girl of his dreams to a crazy dude and try to accept stupid, boring Inaba instead of this... Well, this messed up and crazy and possibly dangerous place.

And he could also punch himself in the face, but that wasn't happening either.

It was fucked up to think, but... Well, Yosuke did have good intentions. Really good intentions. It wasn't for shits and giggles. If Souji was right, Saki-Senpai was in danger in this place, bleeding and in pain. He couldn't do this by himself, otherwise why would he be carrying around extra weapons and armor?

Yosuke was doing the right thing. This was nothing to feel guilty about. Of course there wasn’t anything wrong with wanting to explore this place top to bottom, even beyond the crumbled and gross Shopping District. They had to find Saki-Senpai, and even when they found her, there could be more people in this place in the future, so the more they knew and saw of this place, the better off they’d be in the future.

The buildings, from what little could be seen, were completely deserted. The windows were boarded up from the inside, no light escaping from them that he could make out. Not that he was sure anyone would even want to be inside, some of the buildings looked close to falling apart. Then again, maybe anything would be better than this fog… God, Yosuke wasn’t sure if it was possible to get a headache from fog of all things, but he felt one coming on.

He stopped for a moment, pressing one hand against one of the buildings. Even with how foggy the city was, he could see a dingy, grey-blue banner hanging from the roof, advertising the Marukyu Tofu shop. Marukyu… He knew it was somewhere on the right street, at least. He didn’t really know where the Marukyu shop itself was, to be honest. Even if he wanted to go and listen to people gossip about him literally behind his back, he just didn’t like tofu. Just cold and bland, and squishy like a really bad lump of cheese… He really couldn’t see any time he’d be even interested in checking out a tofu shop, even if Marukyu’s front lot was a good place to stand a moment.

“You okay?” Souji said, turning to Yosuke. He and Chie stopped walking, none of the group wanting to break away from each other in the fog. Neither Chie nor Yosuke had any bearings in this place, even if it did have a striking resemblance to the Shopping District. All this fog was making it damn near impossible to tell. As for Souji, he was watching out for both like a hawk, keeping his sword drawn and in his hands as they walked.

He really wasn’t kidding about the monsters, was he?

“Yeah…” Yosuke said, as he rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. We really don't have time to wait, do we? Hold on, we can get going again right away, I just... I just need a moment.”

“Don't push yourself.” Souji said. He sat down on one of the steps. “It's the fog here, it makes people ill if they're in for too long.”

“Heh. Figures that even the air makes you sick here.” Yosuke muttered darkly. He looked down, guiltily. “We really should be going. I'm fine, I'll just suck it up.”

“Look, it's important not to push yourself too hard here. If you just 'suck it up' now and push yourself too hard, you might end up too hurt to walk back to safety. We need to pace ourselves here, at least until we find where Saki is.”

“Weren't you the one worried about the time before?” Chie asked, joining them for a seat as well. Even so, she was happy for the chance to sit for a moment. The back of her eyes felt like they were throbbing, as if she had been staring at a screen or sitting under a fluorescent light. Adding to it, something smelt... Off. It didn't really stink, not like garbage or anything. But it smelled lightly like burning, or sort of burning. She couldn't really think of a word for it, not with her head aching like this. She winced unintentionally, screwing her eyes shut. “I mean, we're on a really important mission, we shouldn't just be sitting around like this. What if we're too late?”

“She's right. We can't just jerk around and do nothing!” Yosuke said, gritting his teeth as he struggled to stand back up. Damn the headache, they had to go rescue Saki-Senpai. They didn't have time to wait until his stupid goddamn head cleared, she could be dead. As he got up, much to his frustration, a new wave of sharp pain in his eyes caused him to nearly faint. Yosuke fell back on his ass, the only thing stopping him from dashing his head on the pavement was Souji suddenly springing up and grabbing him from behind. “Wait, I'm fine-”

“Don't push yourself too hard.” Souji scolded, “The fog makes people sick. I know you need to save her. Trust me, I can understand that. But it's not going to be any good if you push yourself too hard and you end up fainting when we finally find her.” He tapped Yosuke's headphones, “Maybe you should put these on for a bit.”

Yosuke looked up confusedly, “You serious? It's not the noise that's bugging me, it's trying to see through all of the damn fog.”

“It... It might help. I knew someone who would have similar problems, and he swore his headphones would keep the migraines down, even without anything else to block away the fog.” Souji said. He didn't include the part that it had been originally Yosuke who had said this. It was hard enough trying to explain the situation without dropping the 'I'm from a failed timeline and came here to keep the apocalypse from happening' bomb. Still, Yosuke seemed at least convinced enough to give it a shot, as he pulled up the headphones.

“Anyway,” Souji added, with a frown, “We're actually not that far off from where she most likely is.” As far as he could tell, they were a little more than a block away from the liquor store and they had only been in the TV world for a couple of hours, at most. While he knew he was going to be heading home late, at least they were not close to the morning, when the fog would hit. Really, it was more approaching the liquor store that was a bigger problem.

He glanced at Yosuke for a moment. The brunette boy seemed to be feeling better after placing on his Coby CV215, or at least he was no longer about to faint. How was he going to broach the subject of what Yosuke would hear and see in the corrupted liquor store? It might even be worse now, what if Saki's Shadow just started trashing him straight to his face, or even threatened him right out? It would be bad enough fighting one Shadow as is... He didn't think the group would be able to take two, not now.

Souji rubbed his head, as he leaned against one of the cracked walls of the desiccated and false Shopping District. If it wasn't for the lack of the glasses, the walk would go a lot easier. Perhaps they would have already reached the liquor store were it not for this damned fog that made traveling anywhere a feat of blind sense and carried the smell of ozone everywhere. At least, as a saving grace, they were on the right track, and fairly early on.

They shouldn’t be having such an easy time with this. Souji turned to Chie and Yosuke, as he stood up. Chie was more focused on the windows at the fake-Daidara’s, but at least both of them looked slightly less ill. “We’re going again in five minutes. I… Think she might be down this way.” Even with having them along, he didn’t want to even attempt to explain how he knew where Saki was, let alone the past timeline. “Does anyone have any idea where the liquor store might be? You said that's where she'd most likely hide at in this place, right?”

“It’s close to the main roadway, down at the end of this road.” Yosuke said, as he pointed down the street, at least in the direction he assumed would lead to the main roadway. “Wait. I think that’s the right way? Maybe?” Stupid goddamn fog. “Shit, we really need to see where we’re going around here.”

“Hey…” Chie said, as she started to get up in a proper stance, “This is a copy of the Shopping District, right?”

As much of a copy as Saki’s mind would create, Souji thought. Still, he kept that part to himself, at least for now. “Yeah.” He said.

“Do you think the weapon's shop would have weapons inside of it?”

“I... I don't really think so.” They never checked for weapons the last time, did they? Maybe they should have, rummaged up a few free sets of armor or a medium-quality sword. “Why? Do you think we should go check.”

“I think someone else beat us to the punch.” She said, pointing at a shadowy figure as it darted downward below the window pane.

*

Thinking back on it, Teddie really didn't know what his plan was when he grabbed at that floating leg earlier.

After the second girl had been shoved in, he was just confused and upset. People shouldn't be coming to this place, especially not after the first lady had been killed and taken away by the fog. It was dangerous here, no good for people. But the first lady he had been too scared to talk to, and the second girl... Well, when she saw him, she screamed and ran away. How bear-y cruel! It was enough to give somebear a complex! Although, to be fair, Teddie screamed and ran away too, but that was different, this was his place. He was allowed to be scared of skinny teen girls in his place, it wasn't like he went to her house and did it.

Then that leg popped up. Seeing it and the arm dangling in the air, he panicked. The killer had come back and was tossing someone else in! He couldn't let that happen! He had to stop it, and he stopped it the only way he knew how!

So he grabbed the leg!

Yeah, thinking back, it was a really dumb idea. He panicked. He was just trying to save the guy, not bear-handle him and end up ripping him in himself. Or his two friends. Or all of their things. On the one paw, Teddie thought as he watched from his hiding place inside of the empty building, he really didn't want to get all of them killed by the shadows.

He had to admit though, he was oddly proud that he was able to pull three people and a bag full of stuff into this world.

The group was hanging around, outside of that place with the blue tattered banner that said something about Ma-Ru-Kyu-To-Fu. All three of them were beginning to look bad at this point, with the brunettes both rubbing their eyes in pain while the grey-haired guy just stood watch with his sword. Wait, he brought a sword here? Teddie scooted down under the window.

Maybe that grey-haired guy was just trying to play it smart. He looked pretty smart; Teddie was sure he must have known about the Shadows already, and he was just being prepared for them! Maybe the other two had swords too, or maybe knives or guns or other weapons. Still, even if they were prepared to fight, they should not have come to this place. He frowned to himself, thinking of how many shadows were super-strong or with rock-like skin. No sword would be enough to cut through something like that.

Unless they were looking at much softer, cuddlier prey to fight...

He heard a knock on the window. Teddie scooted down further, cowering in fear. Oh, it was bad enough when the shadows got wild when the fog faded, but he didn't really know what to expect from humans except for them being really loud and fast. And at least one of them was fond of shoving people into this place.

The knocking on the glass got louder. Teddie started to crawl away, to hide in one of the boxes littering the floor of the shop. As the little bear scooted away from the window in fear, unbeknownst to him, three mots of darkness began to dribble down from the wall. The motes slowly transformed, solidifying into slimy thin strands of malleable darkness, while blank red faces grew from within the malleable darkness. Had Teddie been focusing on the back wall instead of trying to find a place to hide, he would've noticed the motes, now that they were rapidly changing from masses of slime into the toothy and red-lipped terrors known as Hablerie.

Had he also turned around, he would've seen the grey-haired boy who had been knocking at the windows suddenly go deathly pale, going from punching at the glass to immediately running at the door, shouting for Teddie to turn around and to run.

*

“WE NEED TO GET IN, NOW!” Souji shouted, as he ran for the front door to the dilapidated weapon-smithy, attempting to pull the door open. The door didn't budge, locked from the inside or stuck or some other unfortunate event that held it shut. Even pulling as hard as he could, pressing a foot against the wall for leverage, the door barely shifted.

“Wait, what? What's happening?!” Yosuke asked, as he immediately ran over. “Did you find Saki, monsters?”

“It's Teddie,” Souji said, still tugging uselessly at the door. It wasn't moving, and he could see the figures in the window shifting quickly to their normal forms. He wasn't sure if the group had been seen through the window, but he definitely knew they had caught sight of Teddie, as they all floated to his hiding place under an overturned crate. Souji's blood turned cold, as his body went limp against the door. “He can't fight on his own! He'll get mauled, or killed, or just... I need to get in there”, he rambled. A sick feeling in his stomach grew, the thought of the sharp, glinting teeth of the Hablerie shredding the innocent bear playing in his mind.

“Move.” He turned around, looking directly at Chie. The brunette girl shifted into a proper stance, as she sidled up less than a foot away from the door and

“It's stuck, I can't... I-I can't open it.” Souji said. He was trying to still himself, keeping down any trembling in his arms or his voice.

“I know. I've got this, now MOVE.” Chie said, as she shoved him out of the way. She leapt up and with a sharp kiai shout, kicked the door in one sharp movement, the wooden and glass frame shattering against the strength of her foot. Chie turned back to Souji. “See. This is why we're coming along. You need help.”

“I-” I'm sorry. I'm still scared. Everyone died last time, and there was nothing I could do. I just can't see it again. It's too soon. I'm sorry. Souji attempted to start, but the words choked in his mouth. He felt Yosuke's hand rest on his shoulder.

“We'll talk about this after. Right now, we've got your friend to save.” Yosuke said loudly. Already, he had the nata out, his signature headphones already against his ears with the tones of vivid and angry rock music blaring out at levels that Souji was still shocked he wasn't deafened by.

“... Right.” Souji said back, his face going back to neutral stoniness. Even with how even and authoritative he tried to present himself, the thoughts were still blaring in his mind.

The group rushed in, the sound of broken wood and shattered glass further crackling under their feet. Both Teddie and the Hablerie turned, their attention cleanly grabbed by the sight and sound of Chie breaking down the door. Teddie almost got up and dashed right to the back of the room, but as soon as he turned, he caught the sight of the floating balls of shadow and teeth and promptly huddled against the wall.

“Did you guys just run in here with the shadows?! You're all un-bear-lievable!” Teddie shouted, as he attempted to cover his bulbous head with his hands. “What are you guys even doing here?!”

“Saving you.” Souji responded automatically, as the group immediately went to a battle position. Chie and Souji both stood side-by-side, close to Teddie to guard against any possible further attacks, while Yosuke stood in front of the door to act as a blockade.

Chie and Yosuke both looked nervously at the floating balls. Both had been so occupied by Souji's sudden failed charge at the door that neither had looked into the window. Considering the massive red-lipped floating orbs with sharp teeth and long, dripping tongues, it wasn't a surprise he had panicked in an attempt to get into the building. He had warned there would be monsters here, it shouldn't be so surprising to literally see monsters.

As Chie and Yosuke were distracted, Souji raised his hand out. This was it. He would feel the rushing power of Izanagi coming back at any time now. It would be okay, he would get his Persona, and he'd be able to protect everyone again.

He still heard no intoning voice, commanding I art thou, and thou are I but he would surely see it any moment now.

It would happen at any point.

The Hablerie were growing antsy, and he was suddenly aware of the other two beginning to stare at him as he head his hand out. But his Persona was sure to come around, come around at any point now! It's how it happened before!

It wasn't happening. It wasn't happening. He needed Izanagi to show up, he needed to summon his Persona now, as the shadows were getting closer. In his mind, he thought of how he could do nothing, that the news all over town would be talking about how four kids were found all over town, three of them ripped to shreds and mauled, dangling off of telephone poles, and he would never be able to catch Namatame, or save Yukiko, or Kanji, or Naoto, or Nanako-

His sword clashed against the Hablerie's sharp teeth with a sharp clang. Souji didn't realize the shadow had come so close, but it was within inches of his face now, the dark slobber from its black tongue running down the blade and soaking his coat sleeves.

The panic of Izanagi's loss pushed aside, the shaking in his hands stilled, the repeated mental chant of it doesn't matter, you already failed, none of them have a chance silenced. Instead, he shoved the blade with enough force to send the toothy ball flying back. As the Hablerie faltered, he slashed the blade vertically, the fluid action slicing the shadow in half before bursting it into motes of fading darkness.

Then came the second Shadow, as the first faded into a cloud of fading purple smoke. It burst forth through the darkness, raring for a chance to score a hit on the distracted Souji, tongue exposed for a slamming attack, only for a sudden blur of tan and green to counter. Chie kicked the side of the Hablerie sharply, with a kiai shout and enough force to send the floating ball rebounding against the wall with enough force to crack it. She fell into a defensive crouch upon landing, in case of a counter attack, while the Shadow bounced against the floor and turned to Yosuke.

The brunette boy stared at the Shadow, nata clenched in his hands. It didn’t seem real, no, it shouldn’t be real, this thing. How the hell was something made out of darkness alive? How could it see to attack them with no eyes, hear them with no ears, how the hell did it have any means to sense them? Chie had her own philosophy to cling to, accepting the idea that thinking about this situation any further than necessary was not needed, but standing by the door, staring at an actual goddamn monster, Yosuke’s mind was just screaming out how little sense the situation was making.

The Shadow began to recover and turned back at him, lolling out its massive blackened tongue with a sharp-pitched… Growl? He couldn’t say, the sound of L’arc en Ciel drowning out whatever obviously terrible noise it made as it started to get up. He panicked.

Yosuke always figured if he was in a fight and panicked, he would have ran the hell away, damn whoever was trying to fight him. Or maybe he would huddle up in a ball and cover his head in some attempt to protect himself; certainly not leap into the fight, jumping on top his fallen enemy and shanking it wildly, harshly, repeatedly screaming despite not hearing himself over his headphones. He must have been screaming like a girl, or maybe screaming something ridiculous. He really didn’t know. All he knew was this thing had to die and he didn’t relent until the shadow burst into fading darkness as well.

He looked down at what had been the monster, falling on his hands and knees with the sudden loss of the Hablerie. For a moment, he felt relieved, the thought of 'Hey. I did it. I'm awesome.' floating around in his mind. Then, Yosuke looked up, to see the third one rushing up to him.

Shit. Shit. He had forgotten about that one. Shit. He wasn’t going to get away, not kneeling on the ground like this, his nata weren’t even facing outwards. Yosuke winced, covering his head with his arms in an attempt to at least not be killed by the monsters. Souji had said they would maul people and that they had sharp teeth. And now, as Yosuke prepared to take the full brunt of the third Shadow’s mauling, he was about to find out how sharp first-hand.

Instead, he felt a heavy weight against him, a second set of arms wrapped around his head and arms as something warm, thick and wet dripped into his hair. Oh fuck. Yosuke looked up. He didn’t expect Souji to be so damn quick. He didn’t expect Souji to take a sharp bite to the shoulder so calmly. And he really didn’t expect Souji to be so willing to protect someone he practically just met.

“How’s that, you bastard?” Souji snarled, guarding Yosuke as the Hablerie gnawed at his shoulder. It hurt badly, a sharp gnashing pain as it chewed deeply, but he could take it. He wasn’t going to be downed by a single goddamn Hablerie, no matter how much it hurt to be bitten deeply. It wasn’t going to get through to Yosuke. It wasn’t going to maul Yosuke to death again. The biting hurt, but he could take, and he would take it with a grin. “Think I’m just going to let you get past me again? Not this time.”

Souji couldn’t do much in this position, but he knew he didn’t need to. After all, while he couldn’t see anything beyond the pink and black orb-like shadow attached to his shoulder nor could he hear anything besides chewing and Yosuke’s growing panicked yelps, he knew Chie was there. Chie, dependable, strong Chie, even if she didn’t realize how brave and reliable she was yet. Chie, who had a kick like a mule, as she demonstrated by smashing the back of the Hablerie with a kick, causing it to reflexively loosen it's grip on Souji's shoulder and the group of Souji, Yosuke and the Hablerie to fall over.

The Hablerie smashed into the window, fragmenting into motes of darkness as the glass shattered around it, spearing into the Shadow's body and spraying all over the floor. Even as the Hablerie died, she maintained her stance, still waiting for a possible counter-attack or maybe some form of revival, she really didn't know what to expect from these things, and with Souji and Yosuke downed and the weird costume-wearing guy huddled in a corner and shaking, she didn't want to be caught off-guard.
Meanwhile, Yosuke found he needed an adult, or at least a chance to get up and out from underneath Souji's legs and groin. It didn't help the grey-haired boy had groaned when he had collapsed, most likely due to the massive bleeding wound on his back but no more comforting than the alternative. Souji began to climb off of him slowly, his left arm shaking awkwardly as he moved away.

“S-Sorry.” Souji said, as he sat up and lifted his arm, wincing a bit. He could still move, at least. His fighting might be hobbled, which was an option he didn't want to consider at this point, but he could still move his arm. “It's really not that bad, it's just really bloody at the moment. I'll be fine.”

“Bullshit.” Yosuke said, as he started rooting through Souji's backpack. Thankfully, he brought enough first-aid kits to spare before coming here, which was good because he was fairly sure he was going to need all of the bandages in at least one of them. And aspirin. Lots and lots of aspirin. The grey-haired boy may not be able to see how badly fucked up he was just now, but both Yosuke and Chie could see the damage. His school blazer and white button-down shirt were both torn, the latter clearly stained with blood. “You're going to need to take off your shirt. I'll bandage up your shoulder, alright?”

“But what if we need them for later?” Souji asked, as he started removing the jacket.

“For what,” Yosuke asked incredulously, “An emergency? We've got three of them. Your back is ground hamburger. We can't just let you bleed to death because you were too manly for bandages, now stop complaining and take off your shirt.”

“I'm checking the back room, alright?” Chie said, still maintaining her stance. “If any more of those... Those things,” She motioned over to the shattered window with a wave, “come around through there, I can try to get the jump on them. And I want to try and look for something anyway, okay? The bear can come with me too.”

“S-Sounds good.” Yosuke said.

“R-Really?” Teddie asked the girl in the green jacket. The little bear in the corner looked up from his terrified huddle to the human group. The grey-haired guy was looking like a mess, torn up and soaked with... Soaked with red. He didn't really have a word for it, since Shadows didn't bleed, or do anything but puff into smoke when they died. In retrospect, wasn't the skinny girl from before also leaking red too? The skinny guy and the girl in the green jacket didn't look as mangled in comparison, but they looked tired and scared and sort of ill. Well of course, the fog was no good for people.

Chie was trying to keep her cool in the situation, trying very hard to not appear stand-offish, but like her normal cheery self. And if her smile was a bit forced at the moment, she doubted anyone could blame her for it. “Yeah. You seem like you know your way around this place. And this kind of looks like a shop I've been to before, so I want to see if I can find something for my friend before we get going. Hey, maybe we can find a weapon for you too.” She teased, as she started walking to where the spare storage would be.

The bear followed along, “Uh-uh!” Teddie said, his feet squeaking with each footstep as they walked along, “I can't fight. I've got no muscles whatsoever!” 

He couldn't see the girl in the green jacket's face, as she walked ahead into the back room, Teddie in tow. He bit his tongue, holding back his apology for the time being. How lame was he? She could fight those things, no problem. She practically trampled the one he attacked before, and the last one she just punted through a window like it was nothing. For that matter, so did the two guys that came in with her. The skinny guy, even as scared as he was, still jumped on top of one of the Hablerie and stabbed it. And the grey-haired guy? Heck, he sliced one in half like it was nothing, and got all bit up, and he was still cool as a cucumber!

They must have thought Teddie was a big old coward, and he couldn't really argue with that.

*

The massive bite-mark on his shoulder and back was clearly visible, as a surprisingly deep circular gouge.

God. Souji just took that for him. Not only that, but he was trying to act like nothing was wrong, just trying to macho his way out of it. In a sense, Yosuke felt... Almost kind of jealous. This guy was an action hero in the flesh, running in here to save Saki-Senpai and fight monsters, and all Yosuke could do was cower and panic. And now, Yosuke was covering Souji's shoulder with peroxide, bacitracin and gauze pads in some attempt to clean out his wounds because he was an idiot who panicked.

“I don't blame you.” Souji said.

Yosuke frowned, “You just got mauled because of me.” He said, as he finished bandaging the injury. “Hell, you're not even wearing armor. You should've just let me take the bite, instead of getting all chewed up yourself.” He looked down at his hands, now streaked with Souji's blood and medical ointments. “Wait, why aren't you wearing armor?”

“I couldn't afford it. Not with getting armor for you and Chie, and weapons for all of us, and all of the tools I needed.” He lifted his arm again. The pain had mostly subsided, an effect of how quickly medicines and bandages seemed to work in this place. Perhaps whoever had designed the TV World in the first place decided to reward careful planning and intelligent thinking, hence things like how more dangerous Shadows would avoid the back-lot like the plague, or how someone could feel almost entirely normal after being nearly killed by slathering on some antibiotic gel. It made as much logic as anything else did here, at least. “And... I really just didn't want to see you get hurt. Not like that.”

Not like that again. He could take the bite better than watching Yosuke take it. Not that he could explain. Even if he wanted to, the words would die on his lips before he could even say you died once before, in a different timeline. There was nothing I could do then, and I just can't risk that happening to you or any of my friends again, so as long as I can stand and fight and take the hits for you and everyone, I will do it, because I deserve it.

Yosuke sat and watched him quietly for what felt like a long time. “Hey...” He asked, in an unsteady voice, “The way you fell in... Were you planning that? Like, was that some sort of crazy plot to get Chie and me in here?”

“What?” Souji asked. That was never his plan, he was not going to get them involved at all. Leave them home, leave them safe, that was the idea. He was almost offended that Yosuke would even think such a thing. “No. No, I wouldn't ask you to come in with me like that! I... I was planning to just go by myself. You both stumbling in just as I was going to leave, and I was worried you might break the TV trying to go in after me if I entered before explaining.”

“Then why did you buy us armor?” Yosuke asked. “Hell, why us at all? I don't even know how to fight. Chie's been in a few scuffles, but nothing this serious, at least I don't think so... I know you said you couldn't turn to the cops, but isn't there anyone else in town you could've asked, I mean isn't there a badass who lives across the street from Senpai, I mean I'm sure he'd know her and the guy once took down an entire biker gang with a steel chair.”

“Kanji?” Souji asked in a surprised tone.

“You're on first name basis with the guy?” Yosuke almost yelped in surprise. He didn't even know the names of half of his class. How the hell did Souji know Kanji Tatsumi? “What, is he an old family friend or something too? Is he also part of your 'let's go kill tv-monsters' club?”

“No, I don't know him. And even if I did, I can't just go up to Kan- Tatsumi-kun.” Souji corrected himself. It didn't sound right to refer to Kanji so formally, but he really didn't know him yet. Kanji hadn't even been in school yet, much less stomping around the Junes food court or wandering around awkwardly in the Okina fabric shops, looking for knitting needles. “For one thing, I'm pretty sure he'd punch me in the face if I tried telling him to join my 'let's go kill tv-monsters' club, as you so aptly called it. For another thing... You and Chie really were the best choice.”

“Chie maybe,” Yosuke said. He wiped his hands on his pants. Funny how they still felt clammy, and it wasn't the blood or the medical goo that had him feeling grossed out, but just his own nervous sweating. “Why on earth would you ask me?”

Souji paused for a moment, playing around with the buttons on his shirt. “Because you love Senpai.” He finally said, ignoring the strangled noise that just came out of Yosuke's mouth. “And I knew if you found out that if she was in danger, and I didn't run into hell itself to at least try to save her, with every resource I had in my disposal, you would never forgive me for it.”

For the briefest of seconds, Yosuke felt a chill in his bones. Souji was right. And more importantly, Souji was right, yet he shouldn't even have the slightest clue what he was talking about. Was his crush on Saki-Senpai that obvious? Did Chie say something? Did he figure it out before, with how gung-ho and raring to go Yosuke was before, with the knives. He stared at Souji, as the grey-hair boy looked away, almost in shame.

What was up with this guy?

“P-Please don'-” Souji started, only to be cut off by a heavy ceramic-plated vest landing on his lap. He picked up the kevlar vest in surprise, before looking back up at a very pleased Chie, adorned with bright yellow glasses. “Where did you find this?”

“Told you I wanted to find something for you.” Chie replied, “You can't just be wandering around this place without armor, that's stupid. And I figured since we were in the armory, maybe there would be some armor lying around.”

He bashfully toyed around with the straps. “I'd say 'you didn't have to', but I'm fairly sure you'd kick me in the back if I did.” Souji said.

“I'm not that mean.” Chie said, with a mock gasp. “I'd just kick you in the butt. Nothing's bitten you there, so that's completely fair game. And check out these babies,” she motioned to the glasses. “It's like you can't see the fog at all, and the headache's gone to boot. I feel like a brand new person wearing these.”

“Fo sho'” Teddie added, as he walked up to the boys, an orange pair and a grey pair both in hand, “Like I said, I'm 100% support. And when Chie-chan was telling me how you guys have been bear-ing your problems with the fog so stoically, just to find little ol' me, I said to myself, 'Teddie, this is your time to shine and help your saviors!'”

“Really?” Yosuke asked, not really sure if he was more surprised Teddie was talking so fondly of them and offering his assistance so readily or because Teddie was making bear-puns and saying things like 'fo sho' with a straight face. Still, he figured beggars can't be choosers, and the mascot was certainly one of the most pleasant things they had dealt with at all in this foggy nightmarish hellhole. “Well, if that's the case, I'll be taking the orange ones. Thanks man.”

“Thank you very much.” Souji said, smiling a little. Teddie looked so vibrant, not nervous and shaking in terror like their first meeting, but grinning ear-to-fuzzy-ear like he had come to know Teddie. It took everything in Souji's power not to immediately scoop him up in a bear-hug and tell him about how amazing the human world was or how much he'd love to eat topsicles with them at Shiroku, or about a little human girl who would absolutely love to meet him, as soon as she got to meet him. Instead, he opted for a small bow as he took the grey glasses from his paws.

As he and Yosuke slipped on the glasses, it was like the fog faded away. The pounding in his temple subsided, as did the vague smell of ozone. Yosuke blinked wearily, taking the glasses on and off a couple of times before adjusting to it. “This... Thing just don't make sense here, do they?” He asked, his voice riddled with frustration.

“The faster you accept it, the easier it gets.” Souji sighed.

Still, even with how irritatingly nonsensical this whole damn place was, at least he could see clearly now. Yosuke peered out the door, looking down the road, “This is the right street.” He said, “Saki-Senpai's liquor store is down the road from here.”

“Then we better hurry,” Chie said, “I'll take the lead this time. I'm pretty sure I know where to go, but just keep a look out in case I miss it, alright?” She asked Yosuke, who nodded in response. “Also, everyone keep a look out in case more of those ball-shadow-things come around.”

“Right-o, Chie-chan!” Teddie saluted, as he attempted to look as gruff as he can, “I'm sure you guys will crush anything that stands in your way!”

The group started to walk along again, this time with the added confidence of clear sight and Teddie's giddy disposition guiding them along. It felt a lot harder feeling worried, now that the headache was gone, he could see and he was wearing good-quality armor. All things considered, Souji was really trying to keep calm in the situation they were walking towards, to maintain a confident and serious face as they walked the abandoned streets of the fake Inaba.

But the lack of Izanagi blared in his mind, drumming away at his chest even with what little confidence he could muster up.

He truly had no idea what they were going to do if Yosuke's Shadow attacked.

Chapter Text

As further warning, I cannot guarantee when you will be able to use him again, or even if you will use him again.

He forgot about Igor's warning. No, Souji cursed to himself, he hadn't forgotten. He just didn't believe it would pertain to this. He was so sure that he would be able to earn Izanagi again that he wouldn't have Izanagi for this jaunt, that he wouldn't be able to just walk into the TV World and walk out with a Persona again, with no trouble.

The Kevlar rested heavily on top of his ruined school shirt, covering up the blood stains, rips and bandaging work. Souji didn't even bother taking the blazer into account, instead shoving it into the backpack before they left. He would have to purchase a new shirt and blazer as soon as possible, and dispose of the ruined ones. Probably in the dumpster behind Junes, if only just to keep them as far from home and from his uncle as he could.

Stupid. Even with all of the planning, Souji didn't take Izanagi's disappearance into account. If he had Izanagi, the last fight would have never gotten so bad, nor would he be so worried about the possible outcome of what would happen with Yosuke's Shadow.

The brunette boy already begun to look stern and battle-hardened, his face as grim as he could muster, knives in each hand, music eking out through his headphones. He had to admit, Yosuke was trying to play up a serious image now. At the same time, he knew how much of it was merely an act, an attempt to cover up for the missteps back at the armory. He was aware of the possible danger, yes, but he wasn't aware of how dangerous it would be, or how badly his mind and heart were about to be chewed up and spat out like spoiled meat.

On the other hand, a Persona like Jiraiya, one with healing abilities and a wide variety of skills, would at least alleviate how bad the fight against Saki's potential Shadow could go. Near-instantaneous magical healing, in the midst of combat, was always preferable to doping one's self up with pain medication or stopping mid-fight to drag an ally off to wrap medical tape around their bleeding wounds.

But he also remembered how absolutely drained Yosuke was in back in the first timeline, barely able to stand up straight, he had stumbled off into the night when they got back. And even if he wasn't exhausted from the experience, Souji hated the idea of forcing his best friend- or at least someone he considered his best friend, even if he barely knew Souji now- to go get emotionally shredded and have a nervous breakdown unknowingly, just for the sake of healing magic in an impossible battle.

“Hey,” Chie said, as she paused for a moment, turning to Souji and Teddie, “You both know more about this place. What's up with the red and black light?”

“Red and black...” Souji said, stumbling off his train of thought. From down the street, they could see the warning lights emanating from the false Konishi Liquor Store, streaking down the street in alternating streaks. He shook his head, trying to shake off the feelings of being lost in his own mind. Did they really get so far before he even realized? Souji really needed to keep him mind on the task at hand, not ruminate uselessly. “This is the right place. Normally, the lights only appear when we find the... place the victim is located. The best word I can think of is dungeon.”

Even after reducing the volume of his music, Yosuke lowered his headphones to participate in the conversation. “Does anyone know if there's any more of those floating tongue-balls or other monsters like that?”

“You mean the Hablerie?” Teddie asked, before sniffing at the air. “I don't smell any of them around... I think you guys probably scared the rest off before.”

“Well, that's good at least.” Chie said, “So we're good to go in, r-”

Ugh. I wish Junes would go under...

The voices had no discernible starting point, apparently echoing off everywhere within the alley as if the buildings and streets themselves were talking. Everyone stopped, shocked at the sudden stream of voices, not just the sudden and coherent voice of a bitter woman, but angry and barely incomprehensible whispers, mumbling names of shops with sadness and anger, breathing out streams of curses about how so many places were going out of business.

“What the hell... What is this?” Yosuke said, the color draining from his face. He already knew how unpopular Junes was back at Inaba. He heard the same thing often, directly behind his back as if he was deaf or stupid. He glared around, looking up and down the streets for whoever was talking, but the streets remained as barren as before.

It's all because of that store.

“Where is it coming from?” Chie asked, looking around at the empty streets and abandoned houses. The loneliness of this place was bad enough, but with the sudden echo of voices, it just chilled her to the bone, like a living ghost story. For a moment, she wondered how Yukiko would feel about that thought, after all she always did prefer horror to Chie. “We're the only ones here...”

“How should I know?” Teddie replied, before frowning in confusion “The more people come into this place, the more odd things like this happen. I don't know why these voices come around, all I know is this is reality for the ones who lives here.”

“Reality for the... That doesn't make any sense,” Yosuke said, snapping much harsher than he intended.

I heard Konishi-san's daughter is working there.

“It reflects off people's minds.” Souji said, trying to draw the group's attention away from the ghostly voices. “When you come into this place, the things you keep hidden in the back of your mind, your worries, your desires, all of your hidden most thoughts, they all come spilling out and makes places like this.” He motioned around the street, “What Teddie says is true, this becomes a showcase of how people see their reality.”

“Wait, do you mean this is...” Yosuke said, trailing off in growing horror at the end. The desolate crumbling streets. The nagging, vicious whispers. Even the monsters, the floating mouths with bright red lips and chattering mouths...

Oh my... How could she, with her family's business suffering like it is... ?

Was this Saki-Senpai's reality?

Souji frowned sadly, before resuming, “This is all from Senpai, a reflection of her mind and her worries.” He couldn't say he was shocked when Yosuke suddenly grabbed at his collar, pulling Souji close with a harsh jerk, but he still looked away, not wanting to look at Yosuke in the eye.

“Why the hell didn't you say anything about this before!?” Yosuke snapped, shaking Souji by his collar harshly “This whole 'her reality' thing would have been useful to know before all this! Stop with all of this evasive shit!”

“Knock it off!” Chie snapped back, pushing between the two. Souji nearly fell back from the stumble, while Yosuke directed his glare at her instead. “Look, fighting like this is not going to help anyone, and it's really not going to help Senpai!”

I heard their sales have gone downhill because of Junes.

The last voice carried a bitter little trill at the end of the statement, hissing Junes like a slur. Yosuke glared at the sky, some vain attempt at locating the sources of the voices, before looking down back at the group. Chie looked ready to punch him, her hands already balled into fists, while Souji was looking away like an abused dog that had been kicked by his master. Even Teddie was looking at this situation in shock, taking to standing by Souji, although whether he was comforting Souji or attempting to hide behind Souji he couldn't really say.

Yosuke winced. What kind of ass was he acting like? He was cowering behind Souji and bandaging up his wounds one moment, ready to strangle him and screaming at him for being an evasive little shit the next. “I...” He started to apologize, still wincing at the murmuring voices from the sky.

That poor father... To have his own daughter working for the enemy.

“S-Stop it...” He said to the sky. Why didn't she ever say anything about this? He couldn't do anything about it, not like he could make his family pack up, close the store and leave Inaba... But they were friends, weren't they? He could have at least offered up something, some comfort or reassurance that it wasn't her fault.

What a troublesome child...

No, she wasn't. She might have looked lazy, but she was a hard worker. And she might have been sarcastic and abrasive at times, but she was a good person deep down. He held back his shouts at the sky, already feeling half-past insane. Huh. No wonder why Souji was so crazy, this sort of place would drive anyone absolutely batshit.

Yosuke felt a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes, confused as to when he shut them in the first place, only to see Chie. “I'm... Sorry. It's just... I must look like an idiot...”

“It'll be alright.” She said, as she rubbed his shoulder lightly. “You're on edge here, it's a weird and scary place. But we can't just break down now and start fighting each other, we need to keep going. And anyway, I'm not the person you should be apologizing to, isn't that right Souji?”

Souji looked up in surprise, before rubbing his arm. “No... No, it's alright. He's right.” It didn't seem like he'd get a better chance to explain the dangers they were going to face. Without Izanagi, he couldn't promise any chance of safety for them, but it was too late for the group to turn back now. He would just need to make do. “It's just... I've been worrying so much about what's going to happen, that I didn't even think about explaining what this place is or how it came around.”

“How do you know so much about this place, Sensei?” Teddie asked, pulling at Souji's arm. Souji turned down to the little bear shadow in surprise, his heart skipping a beat.

“Sensei?” Souji asked, trying to keep his voice neutral as possible. He hadn't heard that name in a long time... Partner, Senpai, those names had stuck the longest. Even to the bitter end, he was still Kanji and Naoto's Senpai and Yosuke's Partner. But Teddie had disappeared after the beginning of December... And with the loss of him and Nanako, came too the loss of the names “Sensei” and “Big Bro”. He didn't feel deserving of it, like Leader. “Are you sure?” He asked.

Teddie nodded, “Well of course! You know more about this world than I do, and this world is all I know. You knew to bring weapons for shadows, you even know how to fight them very well and things like elemental weaknesses. Why, I'd say you're the smartest person I know!”

“Damnit bear, you know three people.” Yosuke grumbled.

“... Well, if you think so...” Souji said, smiling slightly. Sensei... Even if he didn't feel like he deserved it, he still felt a little better hearing it. Still, it was no time for these sort of thought, they needed to be warned and they needed to go into the Liquor store.

“Alright.” Souji took a moment to collect himself, “Remember what I said before about things that grown from your anger and stress? Well... Those are Shadows too.”

“You see, everyone has some aspect of their lives that they keep to themselves and cover up, something that fills them with shame or a secret they fear will make people around them hate them, so they bury it inside. But when you come here, especially forcefully like Senpai was, this place forces up those things that you try to keep buried. Your secrets become, essentially...” He motioned to the empty streets and the murmuring sky. Even now, with the voices quieted, occasionally the group could make out words.

Shameful girl...

How selfish...

If only Junes wasn't around...

“It's almost like a prison,” Yosuke muttered, looking down the streets. “Especially with the fog around here. Even if you try to get out, you're just going to be going around in circles and getting sicker each time.”

The more he knew about this place, the stronger his resolve became. Saki needed to be broken out of this place and taken... Well, he wasn't even sure at this point. Back to Inaba? With the way she felt about Inaba made so abundantly clear, he didn't feel right just abruptly saying 'hey, we dragged you out of hell, now let's take you back to the place your mind based your personal hell on'. But even without knowing where he could even take her, he knew he had to get her the hell away from this place.

And he thought he hated boring, stupid Inaba.

“It gets worse,” Souji said, “You remember what I said about things that come from your anger and stress, and the Shadows we just fought? Well... In fact, everyone has a Shadow.”

“... What, you mean the tongue balls?” Yosuke asked.

“They're not all tongue balls.” Souji muttered. Normally, he'd be amused by the sarcasm, but quite frankly all of the interruptions were not helping him actually claw the truth of the situation out. It seemed doubtful they'd let him shut up with that, and even if they did... He couldn't keep hiding the truth about the situation forever. “Quite frankly, I wish they were all Hablerie. It might be better than the alternative... It's a living personification of your inner thoughts, all of those secrets before, and it wants to be acknowledged by you as being part of you. And it's going to keep on trying to make you accept it, no matter how much you refuse it.”

“Well... What happens if you don't?” Chie asked. Souji went quiet for a moment, face grim and haggard, as she continued, “I mean, these are all the parts of yourself that you hate, right? I can't really see most people just taking it in stride and accepting it... This must sound ridiculous, doesn't it? I mean, you've seen this sort of thing before, I'm sure I'm completely off-base on it.”

“No, you have a good question.” Souji said, voice growing more stiff as he continued, “When people reject them, that's when the real trouble begins. Compared to them, a shadow like the 'tongue balls' is chump change.”

These were questions that did need answering, especially before they went in. But the more into detail he went, the harder he just wanted to send Chie and Yosuke back, and Teddie as well. It was bad enough the first fight, but forcing them to tag along when they had to chase down Shadow Saki left a bad taste in his mouth.

No, he corrected himself mentally. He wasn't forcing them along. They were insistent on coming along. They demanded to be a part of this, and they both had full rights to be a part of this and to go in with as much information as he could. Yosuke was right, he really did need to stop with this evasive nonsense. He glanced at the group, before going stark white with panic.

Yosuke was already entering the building, the black and red lights pouring over him as he walked in.

“Wait, you need to let me explain!” Souji shouted, as he ran over, “Weren't you the one who called me out on not being forthcoming enough? At least hold on for us!”

Yosuke shook his head for a moment, trying to clear out the image of Saki writhing on the floor, hair darkened and slicked with blood. “Look, I-” He stumbled over his words, looking down at the ground as another round of echoes clawed through the air. He needed to know, yes, he wanted to know what was going on so goddamn bad, but... God, he must look really freakin' bad now, freaking the hell out about secrets one minute, running off on his own into a goddamn dungeon the next.

He'd be able to think if he got out of here. Maybe it would be more quiet in the liquor store, or at least more muffled. Then, they could talk reasonably, without him wanting to scream at the crumbled Inaba and the ghostly voices, the ones that felt they had the right to rag on Junes despite happily shopping there, and to call Senpai such horrible things. “-I'm sorry, alright. Let's just get going. We'll talk inside, where it's safer.”

“Yosuke, you don't know that! Hold on!” Chie shouted, jaunting off to catch up to the brunette boy already inside of the building. Stupid Yosuke, what was he thinking... This wasn't any time to run off impatiently. His edginess in this place was really beginning to piss her off, nevermind leaving her sick with worry. As soon as they got someplace safe and all of this was over, she was going to kick his face in for being so... So...

She nearly jumped out of her skin as she felt Souji's hand on her shoulder. “Think calmly.” He said, pulling the sword out. “Think calmly, think rationally. Whatever you do, don't let this place get to you.”

“Or what? One of those things will come out of me too?” She asked, somewhere between angered and legitimately concerned. The look in his face, the quiet worry embedded in his eyes and his furrowed brow, answered her question before he could even begin. “... Oh god, really? They just come out like that?”

“I can explain later- I WILL explain later,” Souji said, “But right now, we need to get Yosuke and Senpai out of here before things get more out of control.”

*

Even with his headphones on, the loudest metal he could pull up on his iPod blaring, he could still hear murmuring voices. At this point, Yosuke had given up on trying to think about this place logically. The corrupted Konishi Liquor Store, barely a hole in the wall shop that couldn't be any taller than a story at most on the outside, was a massive, sprawling warehouse on the inside, littered with kegs of sake, wine and beer as far as the eye could see. Fridge cases full of bottles and cans wrapped around the room haphazardly, acting as a false set of walls, while casks of cheap booze acted as support beams for the ceiling.

It wasn't the impossible visuals that were getting to him at this point, he was getting worryingly adjusted to that sort of thought. No, it was the voices, the voices that no matter what he played, how loud he shouted, or how tightly he covered his ears, he just couldn't drown out.

Saki, how many times do I have to tell you?!

Yosuke winced at the voice, not even attempting to find the origin. There was no origin, it was just from this place. He wasn't going to find Saki's old man around, the towering and heavy-set owner of Konishi Liquors that he had thankfully only saw once. He had lucked out in not getting berated by the man, but he had seen him glaring through his shop window while he had walked to school, as did many of his other fellow shop keeps.

He began taking a different route to school the next day, winding around the flood plan instead of walking down the shopping district, even if it would've been the shorter route to take.

You know what the neighbors say about you, right?! Aren't you ashamed of yourself? You're the eldest daughter of a family who's owned this store for generations! Is it the money? Or did you meet some guy there? Just tell me why you had to work THERE, of all places!

She always seemed like she was having a fun time at work. Saki never complained, often asked to pick up extra shifts and would even participate in “employee fun-tivities” with a smile on her face. She could have always spoken up about this, let him know. Even if there was nothing he could've done, he would've listened, he would've tried to be there for her. Yosuke took off the headphones, disgusted at their inability to block out the noise even if they left his ears ringing.

Yosuke turned around, attempting to catch any sight of Saki, or any monsters, or really anything else. Thankfully, the rest of the group were catching up at this point, Teddie lagging behind both of the humans, while Souji held Chie back by her elbow, most likely to keep her from hauling off and punching him in the face.

Normally, the sight of an enraged Chie would scare the hell out of him. However, between the slanderous echoes, the nonsense liquor store 'dungeon', and the re-occurring thought of Saki-Senpai with her hair bloodied, her forehead slashed, writhing in a filthy puddle of old booze and blood on the ground, at the mercy of Hable-whatevers or worse, he felt like he had much bigger problems than an angry Chie.

Her fists were balled up still, but her face wasn't red with rage like he was expecting, but surprisingly pale. Meanwhile, Souji just clenched his sword in one shaky hand, attempting to be ready for anything to burst out, even as he was jumping out of his skin from anxiety.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?” Chie snapped at Yosuke, as she ran up and grabbed his shoulders tightly, “You already know there are monsters and crap around here! You can't just be running off like that! You could get killed!”

Yosuke winced, looking away from Chie's face. “I know... Shit, I know, alright?” He felt a second hand on his shoulder, not nearly as clenched as Chie's and more of a calming sense.

“Panicking like this,” Souji said, as he softly pulled Chie away from close to Yosuke's neck, “Is the worst thing any of us can do. Chie, I know you're really angry at Yosuke and how he's acting right now, and Yosuke, I know this place is getting to you and you're feeling close to a nervous breakdown, but we all need to calm down right now. Just hold it together. We'll find Senpai, we'll get out of here, and as soon as we're back out, we can talk about all of this back at the se-” He paused, initially to correct himself- there wasn't a Secret Headquarters, not yet. It was still the Junes Food Court- when the sound of a hard crash and a woman screaming echoed out from the back. No, it wasn't the same as the echoes, that screamed out from the sky and had no discernible location where they came from. It was definitely close, less than twenty feet away, and a familiar voice as well.

“Saki!” Yosuke cried, jerking away from Chie and Souji hard, as he ran to the source of the voice. The pair and Teddie chased after him, reaching a door that looked like a storage closet covered in yellowed posters and liquor advertisements. Immediately, Souji grabbed both of the brunettes by the wrists and yanked them back, pointing at his sword before anyone could comment.

The group hesitated for a second, even with the sound of a pained moan coming from inside the closet. Running in haphazardly again was not going to happen, not with the potential chance of the Shadow Saki on the other side of the door. Chie slid into a backstance, while Yosuke twirled the knives in as threatening of a manner as he could achieve. Souji handed a first-aid kit to Teddie, as he readied the imitation katana.

“If there's a Shadow in there, get the girl out of there and get her to safety.” Souji grimly said. There was... No good choice at this point. With no Izanagi, or any Persona for that matter, he didn't have any idea if they would be strong enough to fight against a Shadow. Even with the multitudes of firecrackers, ice and pinwheels, there was no promise she wouldn't be naturally immune or regenerate damage from those elements. All he could hope was they'd be able to muscle their way through the fight and that Teddie would be able to get himself and Senpai to safety.

“But I don- What is this- Wait, this is the same kind of box that Yosuke was using before! Sensei, what am I supposed to do with this?” Teddie said, jostling the first-aid kit around in his hands. As far as he knew, this was what was used on the red dripping liquid that came out of humans when they were hurt, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do with that. The entire idea of humans being filled with... Jam, or juice, or whatever the red was, and you just tie it off with white ribbons just didn't make any sense.

Souji winced, “Right. You don't know human first aid...” He mumbled, as he reached out for the door. “I wish I could explain, but there's no more time for that. The girl, Saki, she'll tell you what to do.” If she was awake. If she could still speak. If she and Teddie actually did get to safety, and were both coherent enough to do anything at that point. Damn. He hated not being able to provide for this situation, not to already have this planned out. The sinking feeling in his chest started again, you already failed playing in his mind.

No.

There wasn't time to think like that.

Even with things going wrong, they had to keep going.

Shoving the thoughts out of his mind, he nodded to Yosuke, who stood by the storage room door, holding the handle and prepared to open the door at any point. With a quick flick of the wrist, the door swung open.

Chapter Text

“Ahh... Shit...” Saki murmured, as she rolled to her side. Her left leg and arm ached almost as bad as her head. Well, of course they did, she just fell down a flight of stairs. All things considered, she was lucky she didn't break her neck in the fall.

Then again, she'd almost rather break her neck than her leg. A broken neck would be quick, compared to whatever that thing upstairs was planning. The thing with... Bright, golden eyes that she could make out even through this thick blue fog, that made such a vicious, cold grin with her face. It had her face. How could it have her face? She groaned, partly in pain, partly from the thought of what lay upstairs.

No. She was okay. It couldn't follow her anyway, not chained to the walls as it was. Maybe that was the only thing that kept her safe from it, even as it shrieked in her voice to come back and acknowledge her. Was that thing telling the truth before? Was it really...

She heard the door creak. Saki scrambled to her knees, backing away from the door as it swung open. Oh no. Oh no, not more of those things, not another one of those golden-eyed versions of herself, certainly not one that was constrained to barrels of old sake and rum, what the hell was she going to do without a weapon or anything to-

“Saki-Senpai?”

Her chest tightened. Oh god. Hana-chan. Hana-chan was here...

Saki honestly couldn't tell if she was relieved or horrified.

No, he couldn't be here. How could he get here? Not in this place. It must be another trick of this place, another copy like the golden-eyed doppleganger upstairs chained to the walls that screamed at her to look at it, to stay. It had to be a fake Yosuke, flanked by other shadows, even that bulbous shrieky bear-monkey-thing from before was there.

“H-How did you...” Saki stuttered, as she attempted to pull herself up to her feet. With a yelp, she fell back over, at a sudden jolt of pain shooting out from her ankle. She down at her left leg, pulling back the sock to see her ankle was swollen and puffy, at least sprained from before. It just sort of figured she'd sprain her ankle in her attempt to escape.

Instinctively, Yosuke ran up, dropping the nata to the ground with a clatter as he reached down to help Saki up. As he grabbed her sides, she jerked back, slapping him instinctively as she attempted to pull back.

“No! Get back!” Saki yelped, as she attempted to scramble away. The whole day had blended together in a grotesque mash- the park, the delivery guy, the cops, the stone, the fog, the girl with her face and the vivid golden eyes- and she wanted nothing more than to huddle away and not talk to anyone until she got the hell out of this corrupted Inaba. Even if she wasn't in any position to fight, to take on a second fake with the rattle of metal, she didn't want to die in this place. Not like this. “Don't touch me!”

“Calm down, it's just me,” Yosuke said, as he attempted to be soothing. He backed off a bit, going to his knees, but he remained close to the older student in the midst of a panic attack. “Please Senpai, you need to listen to me, alright? We need to get out of here, I mean, you're bleeding all over the place and it's really dangerous, so please... Just listen to me.” He attempted to reach out again, this time just pushing back some of her tangled, filthy hair away from her face.

He drew a sharp breath in surprise, looking at the deep scratch on her forehead. No wonder why she was bloody as hell, it look like she took a knife to the face. Or maybe a broken bottle or a claw hammer? Who the hell would attack Saki like that? Still, it seemed like she was calming down as she stared him in the eyes; her breathing was going back to a steady rhythm instead of choked and panicked gasp. He could see Souji and Teddie kneeling down as Chie just stood by in her ever-vigilant stance.

“It's... It's really you, isn't it Hana-chan?” Saki asked. Hana-chan was here, wielding... Something metal, that he just dropped. She could barely make him out in the shadows, save for his normal, surprisingly soothing brown eyes. Behind him stood the bulbous creature with the shrieky voice from before, as well as his two classmates from yesterday, Satonaka-chan and... What was his name? Narukami? Tunoku? She didn't remember the kid's name, all she knew was he was the new transfer student and apparently had a katana.

“In the flesh,” Yosuke said, “We came to rescue you... Looks like we got here just in time too.” He frowned, before turning back to the group, “We still have two of the kits, right? Maybe we can go upstairs to find a sink or maybe a table-”

“NO!” Saki blurted out, drawing the attention of the entire group. She trembled at the thought of going back upstairs. She was lucky to get away in the first place; only by the grace of the kami and the strength of its bindings did she get away. She huddled down, covering her head with her arms as she whimpered, “Please don't make me go back up there... Not back up to that thing again.”

“Take it easy Saki-Senpai,” Yosuke said, rubbing her shoulders in an attempt to soothe again. He winced, “It's alright, we don't have to go back there, we'll just stay down here and leave as soon as possible. We just... Need to find a place where we can bandage you up.” He looked around the stairwell, as he spoke. The floor itself was a mess of long-spilled liquors and unknown sticky stains, while the walls were littered with shelves, several of which were crammed full of empty bottles of bleach and other cleaning supplies. “Not here though, this place is disgusting.”

“We passed a table when we came in here. It looked like it was covered in junk, and papers, but we can use that instead of trying to go upstairs or staying here and trying to do it.” Chie said, before sheepishly adding, “I don't know much about first aid... Oh! But I know I can keep guard.”

“A table covered in junk...” Souji mumbled. He knew exactly what table Chie was referencing, the memory of the shredded Junes employee photos lingering in his mind. It was a good thing he had barely eaten all day, as he felt his stomach churn at the thought of Yosuke seeing the photos again... Even if the potential of Shadow Yosuke wasn't there, he didn't want to see the poor guy's heart break a second time. “Are you sure there wasn't any other tables around?”

“Just the one that I saw.” Chie said, looking back out into the liquor store. Then again, looking around this place was just giving her a headache, not the same sort of headache like she had before she got the Teddie-glasses, but a stress headache from just looking at this stupid nonsense building. Buildings shouldn't be massive sprawling palaces of booze and fridges on the inside, not when they're two-room single-story shops on the outside, right? “I mean, do you want me to look around more? Maybe there's another table, or a bed or something, I mean that would be weird having a bed in the middle of a liquor store, but this whole place is weird central already... But that's probably just ridiculous, isn't it? Don't mind me, it's just Chie being Chie.”

“No, it's... It's fine,” Souji said. “Don't separate off, if something attacks you while you're up ahead, then...” He frowned, the thought of Chie's scratchy sobs over the phone back in the last timeline playing in his mind. “... Just stay close. The other table should be fine.”

“What is this 'first aid' anyway? That's the thing you wanted me to do in case we found the girl, right?” Teddie said, as he jostled around the white box in his hands.

“Actually, please give me that back.” Souji said to Teddie, as he took the first aid kit back. As problematic as the table was, at least it looked less likely to give Senpai an indirect infection. And it was better lit than the dark, dank supply-closet stairwell. “We're going to get out of this room really quick. Do you mind if someone carries you to a table, so we can bandage your ankle?”

“I'll-I'll be fine...” Saki mumbled. Her mind was a buzz, the sickening terror still latched onto her brain along with the utter shock of how Hana-chan and his friends got to this place. How on earth did Hana-chan find this place anyway? For that matter, what WAS this place, besides the worst place she had ever been in her life? She attempted to pull herself up, only to tip over due to her damnable aching ankle, this time only to be caught by Hana-chan.

“Hey, it's alright.” Yosuke said, smiling gently as he wrapped his arms around Saki for support. It probably wasn't the best idea touching her, especially with how terrified she was and the fact she just slapped him in his first attempt to pick her up, but Saki-Senpai really wasn't in any position to walk at this point. “I've got you, so don't worry. As soon as we've got you bandaged up, we should be ready to get out of here.”

“Is there anyway we can leave sooner?” Saki said. The voices would start echoing again, she was sure of it. And even if the golden-eyed girl with her face was chained to heavy casks upstairs, those voices were omnipresent, especially the one that had... Started ragging on... Hana-chan... Shit. “Really, I think we should leave, like, right now.”

“You can't even walk.” Yosuke grumbled, as the group walked out of the stairwell. The room still looked empty at least, none of those Hablerie floating around or any other Shadows for that matter. The table wasn't too far away, and if Souji's response to the first aid was any indication, she might be able to walk after being bandaged up.

Or maybe he was just really good at hiding his pain, and shouldn't be waving around that katana with how fucked up his shoulder got before, and maybe they'd be better off running flat-out and bandaging her up back at the TV-lot or, better, back at home. “Wait, did the kit do anything before?” He asked Souji.

“It did help,” Souji admitted, eyes darting around the room nervously, as the group made their way to the table. Having to run out with a crippled Saki would be a worse detriment than the alternative, especially if anything did come out swinging. He needed the entire party up and ready, instead of someone, probably Yosuke, sidelined to protect the injured girl while the other two were caught up in combat. As they walked back out, he grabbed the nata from the floor, frowning to himself.

Immediately, Souji dashed over to table Chie pointed out and swept several papers to the floor, shoving them out of view as fast as he could. “Let's get this done as quick as we can,” Souji said, face grim with worry. At least the offending photos, especially the ripped and torn Junes employee group photo, were out of the way. Hopefully they can just keep focused long enough on helping Senpai where they could ignore the echoes. They should leave, or at least Yosuke should leave, but separating the group or escaping with a downed party member and no Goho-M was a terrible idea.

It seemed like a helpful thing to do but Yosuke had to admit, the way Souji was suddenly acting was strange. Well, stranger than before. Still, it didn't seem important enough to complain about. The weird sudden dash and dramatic table-sweep didn't matter. What mattered was Saki-Senpai was alive, and Saki-Senpai was going to be safe.

Hey. They did it. They went in, fought monsters, saved the girl, and now it was all downhill from here. They were heroes.

For the first time, the experience seemed... Kind of cool. Certainly exciting, as unbelievably shitty it was, but also seemed sort of really cool, in that they really were heroes holy shit.

“Hey Hana-chan,” Saki said, as he set her down on the table lightly, handling the bruised girl with the utmost care he could. “Really, maybe we should get going, I mean I'm not all that heavy. I bet you can carry me out of here, instead of going through this much trouble.” She rambled, as she scanned the room nervously. It was too quiet in here, way too quiet compared to how it was before. She neither heard any of the fights with her father here nor those gossipy bitches from down the road that were quite happy to pity her family's failing shop but didn't bother buying anything from them. This place was far from kind and eventually, whatever reprise she and the rest of this motley group received would be immediately revoked.

Yosuke frowned, looking down at Saki and the gash on her forehead. “At least let's take care of that,” He said, pointing to the forehead wound. She looked like she was near-ready to lose her mind here, and they really should just leave and take care of all of this at least out of the liquor store, but she was still losing blood. A lot of blood. Wait, could someone bleed openly from the head for like a half a day and not die? He didn't really know too much medical shit, but eventually people bleed out, don't they? “How long have you been bleeding anyway?”

“Bleeding, wha...?” Saki said, before tapping her forehead. Her hand, as she pulled it away, was slick with blood. “Holy-” She yipped at first, before grabbing her forehead to attempt to staunch the bleeding, “It must have happened when I fell down the stairs.”

The group went silent at that, everyone stopping to look at her. The grey-haired transfer student and the brunette boy stopped with the makeshift handwashing station they were attempting with a bottle of water and several of the peroxide towelettes that came in the kit and looked Saki straight in the eye. “When you fell down the stairs?” Souji asked, barely audible.

“Yeah, I think... I'm pretty sure,” She said, wincing a bit, “Why's everyone staring at me? I mean, is tripping down the stairs here that surprising?”

“It's not the stairs that's the 'shocking' thing,” Yosuke said, brushing hair away from the gash on her forehead. “Are you sure you just got this just now?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Saki said, as she pulled away, “I got hurt from falling down the stairs. It's as surprising as my busted ankle.”

“Senpai,” Chie said, breaking out of her combat stance, “You were on the TV yesterday.”

“That stupid interview, right?” Saki muttered. She attempted to wipe away the blood with her sleeve, damn the sticky old booze on her clothes from the ground, she wanted to get the blood off her face now that she was aware of it. “The news guys said no one would be able to recognize me, but I should have known they would have screwed that up.”

“No,” Yosuke said. “Around midnight, you were on the TV again, and you were already hurt.”

“Have you heard of the Midnight Channel?” Souji asked.

“The Midnight Channel? It's an urban legend, I guess. Some of the kohai have been freaking out about it recently, like five or six guys saw that announcer lady,” Saki shivered a little as she spoke. The image of Mayumi Yamano's corpse, dangling from the telephone pole, staring at her with lifeless eyes flashed in her mind, for a second. She took a moment to compose herself, “But most of my class hasn't really talked about it. Everyone's too focused on either arranging a full-time job for after graduation or cram school to really bring up urban legends.”

“Well...” Yosuke started up, looking away as he spoke, “Last night we saw you on the Midnight Channel too. Not only that, but when we saw you, you already had that cut, at least.”

“This Midnight Channel...” Teddie said, pulling at Souji's sleeve, “What does it have to do with here, Sensei? We don't have any of those 'tee-vee' things around, so I never saw anything like a Midnight Channel.”

Saki nearly threw herself out of Yosuke's arms in shock as she scrambled madly. “Shit!” She shouted, “It's talking! It's really talking! How on earth is it talking?!”

“I'm not an 'it', I'm a Teddie!” Teddie snapped, visibly frowning.

“It's just a guy in a costume, calm down-oof!” Yosuke said, trying to soothe her as best as he could, even as he took an elbow to the face in her scramble. He winced, positive he just got a black eye to go with that slap mark and the smears of blood from before, “Take off the costume already, Ted. You're scaring her.”

“Costume, what... But I'm not wearing a cost-” Teddie started, only for Souji to leap in front of him. After everything that happened, the last anyone needed was for Teddie to remove his head.

“I don't think we have time for this conversation right now. Besides, he's safer like that, and it's as good of an idea for him to take off the bear-suit as it is for you to take off your chainmail,” Souji said, as he attempted to drive the subject away from Teddie's skin, “Anyway, right now, we just need to staunch the bleeding and get you up and walking so we can get out of here.” He glanced up to the ceiling again. The room was so quiet now, the chattering voices silenced. He had to wonder how much of it was playing off his own fears as well as Senpai's, just holding back it's tirades until they least expected it.

As Yosuke brushed her hair to the side and began swabbing the wound with ointment, he had to wonder about the cut. If it only happened just now, how was it playing on the Midnight Channel? Maybe Senpai hadn't realized she was already injured until just now, but that was almost a day ago. Pretty long time to not notice a bleeding wound on your face, especially with how it clung to her hair and shirt. It was probably marred on his jacket and shirt now too, after carrying her back out.

How the hell did the show work anyway?

“I'm sorry.” She said, as Yosuke stuck a large bandage on her forehead. It probably needed stitches, but even if he had the sort of things you need for stitches- needles, clamps, maybe some form of special hospital wire, he didn't know- he wouldn't even try to give it a shot. Maybe have Souji do it, he seemed pretty on the ball about shit, and was crazy-prepared if his supply was any indication. Still, Saki seemed to be bleeding less, or at least it didn't bleed through the thin bandage. “For slapping you before, I mean. And the black eye.”

“It's... Fine. It's fine. I'll be fine.” Yosuke said, looking away and giving as gentle as a smile as he could. “I'm just glad you're okay, you know?” He noticed the pile of papers in the corner, the same ones Souji had so quickly rushed over to shove away. Seemed kind of ridiculous, in a way. It didn't look like anything that offensive, nothing like porn or guro images. If anything, they looked like cut-up photos of the part-timers from Junes.

Wait.

“Wha-What are you doing? Don't look at those-” Souji stuttered, attempting to kick away the papers only to be held back by a surprisingly hard shove from Yosuke. He reeled for a moment, more from the Yosuke's discovery than being pushed back. “Seriously, trust me. You don't need to look at them. Don't even think about them. Don't think about anything.”

“What the hell is your problem all of a sudden?” Yosuke snapped, before kneeling down to look at the pile more closely. He didn't notice Souji's sudden overt paleness and mild tremble, nor did he notice the guilty expression on Saki's face, as she turned away. He was more caught by the collection of photos.

The photos look like they were torn by hand, some almost reduced to illegible scraps while others looked barely touched. Even the ones with lightly torn edges still were covered in scratch marks, especially on the employees. Some of them, like Kyouko and Mayu, were scribbled over in black marker, while others like Saki, were untouched. Well, untouched save for katakana scribbling “backstabber” over her face.

His own face had been scratched off entirely, his body completely marred over with the marker.

“Saki... What happened?” Yosuke asked, voice obviously shaken. “Why is it cut up like this?”

I... Never had the chance to say it...

Not now.

I always wanted to tell Hana-chan...

They were so close now.

They never should have stopped. Forget the injury, Saki was right, Yosuke could have carried her. Forget the potential danger they had with trekking onwards with a crippled party-member. They were going to die, and Souji should have prevented it, but he hadn't.

Souji bit back his bile as he stepped back, resting his hand on the hilt of his blade. Chie turned to him, confused and increasingly worried at Souji's nerves and the re-occurrence of the voices. Teddie stayed close to him, still holding onto his sleeve from before, the grip of his paw tightening.

Yosuke looked up at the echoes, a light blush going over his cheeks. Was this... What he thought it was? Here? His heart skipped a beat at the thought, a glimmer of hope painting over this stupid, fucked up experience. But it seemed wrong, with the shuffle of panic happening behind him and with Saki-Senpai curling up in a startled ball, covering her ears and looking like she was about to puke. “Is it...” He started to ask, only to be cut off.

… That he was a real pain in the ass.

And now his voice was caught in his throat.

Yosuke blinked hard, stunned at just how goddamn quickly that went. Huh. Well. Goddamn. Fuck. His eyes stung.

I was nice to him, just because he was the store manager's son, that's all... But he takes it completely the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic... What a dip.

“H-” His voice cracked. Yosuke stopped, looking down at the scraps of paper and ruined photos. His face, scrubbed out with a coin or a finger nail. Her face, marked with the word “backstabber”. The photo in his hand was getting wet, probably a drip from this disgusting place. His eyes stung like hell; probably the mold or the dust was getting to him. “Huh.” Yosuke finally croaked out, rubbing his eyes. His hands were smeared, again with the mix of antibiotic gel and blood- her blood- but he couldn't find himself caring about that.

Who cares about Junes anyway? Because of that store, our business is ruined, my parents hate me, the neighbors talk behind my back... I wish everything would just disappear.

“Hana-chan-” Saki said.

“Don't.” Yosuke said. His voice was rough, angry. Angry was... Good? He didn't know. God, he didn't know if he wanted to be angry or sad or just relieved she was okay, even if she wanted to disappear, and she hated him and she was just- Just using him, like his friends back in Naha- He should have expected it, it just kept happening didn't it? People using him for fucking Junes, even in this shitty, boring backwater... “Don't, just...” He couldn't even speak at the moment, his chest throbbing, his throat acidic. Yosuke lifted up a hand, as he started to get up. “Not that name.”

She was wincing. God, get a grip man. You were a hero less than a minute ago. A real hotshot. You and your group went in, saved the girl, and killed monsters. Yosuke thought, as he wiped away at his eyes again, smearing the medical mess all over his face.

Even if I couldn't do anything in the fight but cower like a bitch. Even if she hates me. Even if I completely fucked up.

Chie started to walk over, breaking out of her stance. She had no clue what she could do at this point, her friend was obviously crying at the moment, this place was screaming out again, even Senpai looked like she was about to start crying, curled up into a sad and shameful ball as her voice reverberated against the walls. As she took a step, she was suddenly pulled back, Souji holding tightly to her elbow. “We-We can't just leave him like this,” She stuttered angrily, pointing at Yosuke as she turned back to Souji. Her argument, as well as her desire to kick Souji's hand away, died in her throat as she got a good look at him.

Souji had gone as white as a sheet, his pupils dilated in abject horror. His sword, sheathed earlier, was out and ready. “I don't have anything with electric.” He mumbled, his voice high and nearly incomprehensible. “I didn't plan for this. I didn't plan, didn't bring electric, don't have Izanagi... We're going to...”

“No.” Yosuke said, voice harsh and ragged. “No, it's fine. I'm... Fine. See, completely fine.” He turned to the group, trying to give some sign of reassurance. No, he wasn't weak, he was strong, strong as anyone else here. What kind of guy bursts out into tears over something like this, his heart just being shattered into a million goddamn pieces? He was fine, he was going to be fine, he wasn't walking out of this place like a hot goddamn mess of tears and anger.

He attempted to smile, only succeeding in roughly baring his teeth. Goddamnit, his eyes still itched. He probably got her blood in them, they were still watering. But he was going to keep it together now. He was going to be fine. Just. Keep. It. Together.

“It's so sad! Boo-hoo-hoo, I'm just such a sad little mess!” His voiced said, from across the room, before giving a harsh chuckle.

The group turned, Saki breaking out of her horrified huddle and Yosuke breaking out of the tears. Motes of darkness had pulled into the corner, floating around...

A second Yosuke. A Yosuke with a vilely sarcastic smirk on his face. The shadow, absorbing the motes as they fell on him, laughed bitterly, throwing his head back for a second before looking back down with golden glowing eyes. “Wow, and all this time, I really thought you were different, SENPAI.” The Shadow Yosuke bitterly said, glaring at her.

Saki crawled backwards, still pulling herself away even as she fell off the table and as her leg ached wildly. “Oh god-” She whimpered, trying to get herself as far from the THING, the thing with Hana-chan's face and Hana-chan's voice, and those horrible, neon eyes. “Oh god, god, not another one!”

“You know, it's not like I'm all that glad about being here either. Not like I just came here to your town and decided 'yeah, boring little shithole in the middle of the sticks, that's where I to go, so I can ruin everything'. But yet, here you are, just thinking I waltzed into your life just to make you look like an even bigger bitch than usual.”

“L-Leave her out of this!” Yosuke snapped, pulling himself to his sense and leaping in between Saki and the impossible duplicate. He had no idea why something would have the nerve to copy HIS face and go around insulting HIS friends, regardless of what they said. He reached for his nata, before inwardly face-palming. Right. He tossed them down before, when he went to go pick her up before.

The Shadow Yosuke gave a mocking smile, “What's the matter? Planning to cut me down like one of those nagging tongue-balls? You're going to have to do better than that. But then again... I'm not in any real danger, even if you had them. You'd probably just fuck it up again, and leave it to Chie and the lunatic over there.” He motioned to Chie and Souji with his thumb, as Souji pulled the sword out properly while Chie slid into a back-stance.

“T-Two Yosukes?” Teddie asked, eyes wide with shock over this. Humans could do that? Generate Shadows of themselves like that? Humans were unbearlievably strange, in ways he was really not expecting to see. “He has a shadow?”

“It's like I said before,” Souji said grimly, attempting to shunt the horror from his mind. No. This wasn't the time to panic. Even without Izanagi, even without electric-based elemental weapons, they were going to have to fight. “It's a living personification of...” He silenced, not wanting Yosuke to hear him, not to start denying it outright. Maybe they could run, attempt to make a break for it. Nobody had ever flat-out abandoned their Shadow before, at least not in the last timeline. Even so, they'd have to get to Saki, still downed with her sprained ankle, and get to Yosuke, still distracted by the very recent arrival of his Shadow.

“That thing... It was in Yosuke?” Chie blurted, before noticing the horrified stares from Souji and Yosuke, for vastly different reasons.

“No.” Yosuke said. “No. Hell no. This-This isn't anything like me.”

“What, did you forget so fast?” Shadow Yosuke said, stepping closer to Yosuke with every word. The smirk remained glued to his mouth, baring his surprisingly sharp teeth as he spoke, “You heard what crazy ol' Souji said before, 'it's a living personification of your inner thoughts, all of those secrets before, and it wants to be acknowledged by you'.” The Shadow's voice took a mocking tone as it quoted Souji.

“I-I heard him, alright,” Yosuke attempted to pull away, raising his hands up to push the Shadow back. As he tried to slide back, the Shadow leered in closer, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

“But you just wanted to just ignore that part, didn't you?” Shadow Yosuke said, flourishing his free arm around the non-Euclidean liquor store with sake barrel spires and glass fridge walls, “You know, focus on all this! A world inside a TV, an unbelievably shitty and frightening and GODDAMN EXCITING world inside the TV with monsters and weapons, and crazy guides who just happen to sit in front of you in class. Man, it's like something from an anime or a game, isn't it?”

“That's- That's not true,” He attempted to pull away, surprised at how strong the mocking fake's grip was. “I mean, the shitty part is true, but all the other crap is total crap, I mean, that's how much crap it is-” He rambled, before the Shadow mushed his cheeks together with it's free hand.

“Listen to all that shit spilling out of your mouth.” Shadow Yosuke scolded, “Are you really going to deny this? This place is awful, and you'll probably die because something ripped you to shreds, but it's better than boring, lonely goddamn Inaba, isn't it? I mean, you put on a good show of not caring, and being carefree and happy-go-lucky, but that's because being alone scares the hell out of you." The Shadow Yosuke slipped back, gripping both of Yosuke's shoulders as it ranted, to get a good look at Yosuke's face as it spoke.

“It doesn't matter if they hate you or use you, does it? You just need to be surrounded by people, to block out the pain of isolation. As they say, 'the more the merrier', right? It's almost as good as snooping around in this place, trying to play the big 'Macho-Man Action-Hero'. Why, do you really think about what you'd do after you save Saki-Senpai” The Shadow's voice trilled on “Saki-Senpai”, making it sound like a vile little cuss as he spoke, “That you'd stop? I mean, you were making plans to investigate this place later. After all, there could be more people in this place in the future, so the more you knew and saw of this place, the better off you’d be in the future-”

“NO!” Yosuke shoved the Shadow hard, slamming it backwards into the ground with a loud, heavy thump, as he screamed at the fake, fake, had-to-be-fake copy of himself that just kept spouting everything in his head, the little thoughts that had been floating around for the past hour. The Shadow Yosuke lay on the ground, silent and still, the only sound in the room being Yosuke's heavy breathing.

For a moment, a single glorious moment, he sincerely wished he had dashed the back of that thing's skull and killed it.

Within that moment, the Shadow shook with a tremulous, deep laugh. “What?” It asked innocently, as it sat back up, “I thought I was just spouting crap. But then, maybe I do know what you're thinking. After all... I am you, aren't I?”

“That's... Not true...” Yosuke whimpered, his hands rising subconsciously to cover his ears. The pit of his stomach burned, his head ached, his heart still beat off-tune and harshly as it felt like his body was just breaking down. It wasn't true. This couldn't be true. It wasn't like that, no he had the best of intentions in coming here, he was trying to do the right thing, he really did love Saki-Senpai even if his heart was just crushed and broken and those damned broken tears were starting again, weren't they. “Shut up.”

“Maybe if you doted on her and showered her with attention, she'd love you! Maybe if you ran into hell itself, knives clenched in your sweaty fists, you could be a hero! But in the end, she hates you and you're nothing but a giant, weeping coward, too scared to even do anything but bandage up people like a sap and let REAL heroes take the hit for you or kick the monsters to death!”

He could feel the bile in his stomach, in his throat, the ache in his head, all solidifying into a heavy rage, “This isn't true! None of it's true! Like hell you're me, you son of a bitch!”

Souji threw up a little in his mouth.

The Shadow took a moment of silence, that sickeningly sarcastic smile breaking in exchange for a mute face. “Say it again.” It demanded.

“You're not me,” Yosuke chanted, trembling, the sick feeling in his stomach and head growing. He felt almost light-headed, like he was about to be violently sick from... Stress, or anger, or maybe this goddamn place.

With that, the Shadow Yosuke shook with bitter laughter, almost crying from amusement. As the great peel of laughter echoed across the room, the motes of darkness in the room intensified, clouding the room with a cold, almost malleable darkness. “Again!” The Shadow Yosuke demanded, eyes still gleaming intense golden bright even as he was a washed in the growing ocean of darkness surrounding him, “Say it again!”

“You're not me. You're nothing LIKE me!” Yosuke screamed.

A sudden gust of wind burst through the room, the motes pooling into the corner. The Shadow Yosuke calmed his laughter, while still keeping a smirk as he was enveloped in a wall of shadow, so thick even his gleaming eyes were blotted out by the darkness.

Yosuke gasped, grasping at his throat. It just felt like he took a shot to the guts, the wind being knocked out of him. He attempted to step away, to attempt anything, only to achieve in stumbling over, passing out on the ground.

“Yosuke!” Teddie screamed out.

“Hana-chan!” Immediately, Saki crawled over to the unconscious brunette boy, attempting to pull him away with all of her strength. Even with her broken ankle, she couldn't leave him to just die out here, not after what happened. Her head twinged with guilt, as she knelt down and checked the pulse on his neck. It was still there at least, weaker than it should be from what she could remember from health class, but she could still feel a pulse. The little red and blue thing from before, the thing that declared itself Teddie, dashed over.

“Is he okay, I mean, is he alive, I mean, are humans supposed to just fall asleep like that for no reason?” Teddie rambled, as he looked down to the pair. Any other time, Saki would question more on what the bear-like mascot meant by 'are humans suppose to do that' comment, as if he really wasn't a human in a suit like everyone else seemed to think. Right now, however, she had much bigger concerns.

“We can't just leave him here, it's not safe,” Saki said, as she stared at the sea of rapidly whirling dark where the doppleganger golden-eyed Yosuke once stood.

“Oh my god, Yosuke!” Chie shouted, the only thing holding her back from immediately dashing over being Souji's tight grip on her elbow, “Let me go! He just past out! We can't just leave him to die!”

Souji gagged a moment, the taste of acid in his mouth still strong, before he spoke. “We have a much bigger danger, we ALL have a much bigger danger now. Chie...” His stomach churned not just with the horror from before, but with the abject guilt of what he needed to do now, “We're about to be attack by a massive monster, more than five times the size of the Hablerie before. It's going to be huge, it's going to shoot gusts of wind that can knock a man down, and it's going to want to kill all of us, especially Yosuke. If you want to save Yosuke, then please, listen to me and fight along side me now.”

Chie stared Souji in the eye, the eerie wind in the room slowing down. “How do you know so much about this?” She asked, as she began to slide into a fighting stance again, standing as rigid and firm as she could even with her confusion and abject horror.

Before he could respond, even make the sheerest glancing of an explanation, the group heard a deep, rumbling crash. Everyone turned, watching as the darkness faded away to reveal the fully grown shadow.

“That's right.” The corruption in the Shadows gloated viciously, “I'm me now.”

The thin, lanky torso of a young man, donned in stylized ninja gear with a long red scarf billowing behind him, dangled from on top of a massive, corrupted beast. The beast, body smeared with camouflage designs, with an elongated and razor-tipped mouth, shook the false walls of the liquor store with each rumbling step as it walked up. As the lower body paused, the top torso straightened, staring down the party from behind it's mask.

“I am a Shadow, the True Self. I'll crush anything that bores or hurts me, starting with all of you.”

Chapter Text

For a single moment, a cold, sickening moment where everyone's breathe was drawn, where the room stood in abject silence, the party stood frozen in solidarity. Not as a cohesive team of vigilantes set out to rescue the needy, but as a group of terror-stricken teenagers, who had gotten themselves involved in a fight far beyond their capabilities. The massive bestial shadow leered at the team, the sharp and jagged mouth on the torso gleaming in the darkness unnaturally, as it towered up.

You already failed.

Chie slid into a defensive crouch on pure instinct, her face gaunt and bleak at the sight of the impossible beast.

You didn't plan it out. You rushed in, didn't think things through. You didn't plan enough. You made assumptions; you thought you'd just be able to summon Izanagi just because you could before. You truly are a fool.

Souji opened his mouth, only to make a cracked and deep gurgle in lieu of any actual words. He stared away from the beast, holding his hand to his throat. Not again. He couldn't break down again, not like this. His voice was dying in his throat, the tremulous thoughts pounding in his brain so horrifically loud he was shocked that a golden-eyed Souji hadn't burst forth and started strangling him.

Yosuke's Shadow began to crouch, the long arms of the lanky top body going stiff, the eyes of the lower body gleaming. An unnatural gust, originating from no discernable location, started to draw close to the shadow. As if any stray wind in the room was drawn to the bestial abomination. The shadow chuckled deeply, “What? Giving up already? It's no fun for me if you just lie down and die.”

It was a waste, after all, trying to save Saki only for her to die like this. Not only that, but now Teddie, Chie and Yosuke will die here too, and so you will.

Souji finally eked out something, eyes still wide with sickened horror, stomach still burning with acid, throat still so goddamn tight he could barely talk. He mumbled a command, low and muffled, so low that Chie couldn't even hear him. “D-g-”

“What?” She asked, turning her head towards him.

Everyone will die, once again, and you failed to stop it. Even worse, Nanako's going to die alone and scared in this terrible place, not even by her daddy's side at the hospital. And it's all because you couldn't just stand back and let one person die.

“DODGE!” Souji screamed, suddenly turning his back towards the shadow as he dove at Chie, shoving the teen girl to the side forcefully as the Shadow's lanky arms suddenly swung together into a forceful clap. The aberrant torrent of wind slammed against Souji, sending the teen flying into one of the numerous glass-case walls with enough force for the glass to audibly crack.

As he slid down against the wall, streaking blood from his shoulder once again, Souji coughed deeply. He slumped on the ground, thankfully still conscious, but gagging something hot, coppery and thick. “D-damn...” he mumbled as he attempted to steady himself, wiping away the blood from his mouth, before feeling a hand shake him hard on the shoulder.

Souji looked up to Chie, her prized green jacket scuffled and sticky, her cheek and leg scratched up, her eyes wide with shock, and surprisingly watery. “Why did...” She asked, as she motioned at Souji, the smear of red running down the Kevlar vest.

“It's charging up as we speak,” Souji said, before pulling himself to his feet. His mouth still felt bloody, as he could feel a welt on the inside of his cheek, not the most pleasant feeling but a hell of a lot better than a pierced lung or internal bleeding. “It's going to be a while before it goes for a wind attack again, but it's physical hits are going to be stronger this time.”

She gave an aggravated whine and motioned towards the beast, “You have got to explain how you know this when we're done fighting!” She snapped, motioning towards the beast as she spoke, only for a heavy barrel to fly by and smash against the glass case wall hard enough to shatter, barely missing her and Souji but still coating both in a layer of wooden shards and sake. As they stumbled back, a pair of bloated hands slammed into them, snatching them from the ground and slamming them against the case with enough force to crack the glass. Both gasped in pain, Chie’s legs flailing wildly against the beast as Souji wriggled an arm free, sword mercifully still in hand.

“You know,” Shadow Yosuke growled, the lanky top form leaning towards the pair as it spoke, the glass cracking further as it smashed them both further, “There's nothing I hate more than people talking shit about me while I'm standing RIGHT.” The monster slammed them both again, emphasizing each word with physical pain, “FUCKING.” Souji swore he saw a stream of blood running down Chie’s cheek and the cracked glass by her side, as he heard a cry of pain. He wasn’t sure if it had come from Chie or himself. “THERE.” A trail of blackened slobber dribbled through the teeth of the lower half’s mouth as the independent mouth growled deeply, twitching as a warning for the incoming bite.

Instinctively, Souji immediately slashed his sword at the beast with his free hand, dashing against one of the frog’s eyes. The shadow shrieked two-fold, releasing them to clutch it’s wounded eye. No blood or other fluids leaked out from the wound, instead a small stream of motes floated upwards from the injury. Grabbing Chie’s wrist and dragging the disoriented girl along, Souji made a break for it, limping past the small opening before the Shadow had a chance to counter.

As the two staggered away, both heard the sound of a light thunk and a popping noise. Souji turned, only to nearly stumble over at the sight of a firecracker exploding into a small puff of flame and light at the floor, entirely missing the Shadow but rather bouncing against the blood-streaked wall. Oh… Oh, he had lost track of the bag. He silently cussed, as the Shadow’s attention sharply turned to the small patch of fire, then to the overturned table, running for the sudden flash of blood-streaked long, brown hair rather than the two weapon-wielding fighters who had attempted to run.

“Come on, Saki-chan!” Teddie said, kneeling on the ground and cradling Yosuke’s head. The little bear didn’t have a lot of words to describe this grizzly scene as it erupted. It was bad enough when those two humans got slammed into the wall, getting their red smeared along the wall by the Shadow…

Heck, it was bad enough when Yosuke went down like that…

He was still reeling from the idea, of humans and their Shadows and…

And his little heart couldn’t take the unbearable pressure! But no! He would endure, just as the skinny girl Saki-chan would endure! She needed help, and he would help to the beary furthest edges possible, even when he was scared! "We need to make things hot here beary soon!

The brunette girl nodded, supporting her weight against the side of the table as she rooted through the bag. Her leg ached, the pain screaming at her to lie down, or at least to rest instead of to stand. Her head throbbed, even with taking Han- Yosuke’s glasses from his comatose form. Her swings were wild, barely hitting anywhere near her target, but she needed to try, especially with the pools of booze the Shadow was standing in. Just one good hit… Just one good hit, and maybe she could make up for… She looked down at the collection of items in the bag, “Maybe I should try one of the other things in here?”

It was a strange compellation of things though, she thought as she rooted through the bag. Unmelting, glass-like ice… Ten pinwheels, why… One last first aid kit, the other one already lost from the mad scramble to hide away from the shadow… What were they even planning when they came here? She frowned, “What am I supposed to even do with this?”

“Well, don’t use the pinwheels! He’ll be immune to wind attacks!” Teddie said, pointing out the brightly colored decorations. “He’s already casting wind. Wait, he might even absorb them and get stronger! No, we gotta knock the breath right out of him!”

“Are the puns… Necessary… You know what, never mind that, I’ll just keep trying with the-” She silenced, at the sound of thundering, flat footsteps approaching quickly. Shit. Shit shit, she couldn’t run, not with her leg like this, shit. “Get Yosuke and get out of here!”

“What?” She heard the deep voice booming behind her, right by her ear as a massive hand grasped her torso surprisingly gingerly. Saki turned, the blood draining from her face to come face-to-face with the Shadow’s upper body. Even with the black stocking blocking out its face, she was sure she could see the cold glare in its eyes, the vicious scowl painting its lips as the hand swiftly tightened around her ribs and arms.

As Chie and Souji turned to see the Shadow dash up and grasp Saki, the panic in Souji’s mind dulled down. He looked at the ground, where three small fires still burned from Senpai’s attempts at distracting or attacking the Shadow, one firecracker still not yet activated after snuffing out on it’s own in a failed toss.

No… No, he thought, looking at the barrels of liquor and the pool of sake that had been slathered from the failed toss. Souji knelt down and grasped the firecracker. “I think I might have a plan…” He said, as he caught onto Saki’s idea. “Do you think you can distract it?”

“I’ll do you one better!” Chie shouted, as she started running right up to the lumbering beast, “I’ll bring it down!”

“Do you think that will make it right?” The Shadow gave a vindictive squeeze as she yelped in pain, her hands blocked off from tossing a single item. As she attempted to wrench away, the little bear looked to the pained girl and the comatose boy, at a loss of who needed the greater amount of help, scared out of his mind, and sure he couldn’t do anything to even help. Still, the Shadow ranted, voice tinted with a bitter sadness as it spoke, “Or are you just too scared to let the money train stop? You know, get the boss’s son killed… That sounds like a firing offense, totally… Tell me, Saki-Senpai, was it always about the money?”

“It’s not… It’s not like tha-” Saki gasped in pain, sure she could hear a rib cracking as the Shadow slowly crushed her in its massive hand, even as a second, tiny pair of claws squeezed into the clinging grasp and helplessly attempted to yank the fingers closed. As she kicked at the massive shadow and squirmed, as she felt Teddie attempt to pull her out, screaming her name in terror, she felt her vision going blurry, before falling haphazardly to the floor. The Shadow went from taunting her to shrieking out in pain, at the sudden sharp pains against its lower body.

Chie smashed at the back legs of the Shadow, twirling and kicking with all of her strength at it. It had to have knees, didn’t it? It had to have some nerve cluster somewhere, some weakness that she could topple it over. She continued her furious assault of the Shadow’s back limbs, even as it turned to her, a massive hand just narrowly missing her by inches as she weaved back.

She didn’t think of the inherent danger, of the blood still running down her face or the possibility this thing could crush her like a cricket or blast out that unnatural wind again. Chie’s mind was all in the combat, the rush of energy she gained from each motion, each bob. Later on, she would compare the moment to one of her movies, or perhaps even one of the cheesy Sentai shows she’d watch as a kid. At this point though, she didn’t think. She just focused on the movements, the feel of the Shadow’s surprisingly rubbery flesh against her calves and feet with each attack.

The Shadow leaped back, as far from the enraged girl in green as he could in one motion, only to yelp in pain by the feeling of sudden jagged shards of ice erupting against its face. The Shadow attempted to tear away the crystals, before turning to Teddie who was holding a second fistful of the ice in the bag.

“I… I’m not strong enough to fight,” Teddie said glumly as it ran over, dropping the ice back into the bag as he helped Saki stand back up, “But I couldn’t let the Shadow attack you or Chie-chan again!” She nodded in surprise, leaning her body against the bear and giving him a light pat on the head.

Meanwhile, Yosuke’s Shadow puffed in rage, as the ice melted away with streams of darkness puffing out with each movement. Its lower left eye was still molting, its back legs were stiff and worn from the abuse that damned bitch with the green coat gave him. It looked like, as the beast reared up for another Wind of Oblivion, crouching down as the air began to coalesce around his arms, he’d have to resort to killing them all with magical means instead of his own bare hands.

Then a wooden cask smashed into it, sending its upper half lurching sideways. The wood splintered, sending a gush of cheap alcohol up and down the shadow’s form. For a moment, it lingered there, then slowly, menacingly, turned its gaze towards its attacker. “You… are going to regret that.”

There stood Souji, the grey-haired madman, a firecracker in one hand, a silver zippo lighter in the other, and a manic grin on his face. “So… I’m guessing I’ve got your attention now.” Souji kept a careful watch of the Shadow, flicking on the lighter. He kept walking along the edge of the wall, attempting to keep the focus of the Shadow towards him. “I wonder… There’s a lot of booze around… And you must have soaked yourself too before, when you tried to crush Chie and I against a wall, remember when you tossed that barrel?”

The Shadow growled, adding the newest threat and the crush of the wooden cask into the list of slights to its reasons to kill everyone in this entire goddamn room. As the winds began to kick up, Souji kept along the wall, still holding the burning firecracker as the wick shrank down so rapidly, the worry in the back of his mind that the plan would go wrong, or that he would time it badly and lose a finger. “Come on… Come on, you stupid-looking frog monster… You’re going to let me just light you on fire like that?”

His attention snapped fully to Souji, the airs of Wind of Oblivion focused against the wall and towards Souji. Immediately, the grey-haired boy tossed the firecracker and the cask aside, instead bearing down against the ground as close as he could to guard the burst of wind. The biting air stung against his face, as his fingernails and feet dragged against the floor. He couldn’t hear anything, nobody screaming his name in horror nor the sound of the firecracker popping, uselessly, against a glass wall… But he didn’t need to. Even if they didn’t know it yet, Souji had faith in them, the entire team, even those who couldn’t fight or didn’t know him yet.

Meanwhile, the Shadow just flung as much power behind the gusts, extending the energy of the gales as hard and as long as it could. It didn’t matter all of his its attention was focused on Souji now, that he completely ignored his host, the girls or the little yuru-kyaru-esque Shadow beside them… It didn’t matter it could still feel the liquor running down it’s side, as it kept trying to bash him, crush him with the force of the hurricane-like winds, smash him into a wall and watch the blood run down his heroic goddamn face.

It was that point when it heard a popping noise right by his ear and felt perhaps the most searing hot pain it ever felt in its existence.

The Shadow looked down, to see the plumes of flame running along the top of its lower half, the upper body switching from blasting the wind to immediately attempting to smack away the flames, only achieving in enhancing them with the tail end of his magical gusts. The remaining eye of the lower body looked up, staring at the party. Chie supporting Saki against her, Saki still holding up her lighter, the flame still flickering as the Shadow howled in rage and pain.

The errant pools of liquor began to catch fire as well, lighting up magnificently as Souji ran up to the rest of the group, “Chie, keep a hold of Senpai, Teddie make sure we keep the supplies, I’ve got Yosuke, now hurry-“ He chanted, as already Chie started tugging the stumbling Saki along and Teddie pulling the lightened backpack along behind him as best as his empty frame could manage.

He knelt down, pulling Yosuke’s limp arms around his neck as he pulled the boy up. He winced, surprised at the weight, and just thankful that Yosuke was still breathing lightly, even with as pale as his skin became, as cold as his felt. He glanced up to the shrieking flaming Shadow one last time, the flames already consuming and bursting bottles and crates of liquor way too terrifyingly close. The smells of fumes, the smoke and the burning alcohol and reoccurrence of the ozone-like smell as the Shadow fell, were sickening, as he proceeded to carry the unconscious teen out, making a break for the door.

*

Out of all of the lights in the dilapidated version of the Shopping District, the brightest and clearest came from the fire of the fake Konishi Liquor Store. The tiny shop, barely two stories on the outside, was almost entirely consumed by the flames, the surrounding shops impossibly flame-free as the fire otherwise devoured everything within.

Watching it like this, standing outside on a cold foggy street, as her underclassmen and the little Bear mascot were busy huddled over Hana-chan… She almost felt sick watching this. She didn’t want something like this to happen to the liquor store not truthfully. But… This whole day felt like it was about taking every bad thought she ever considered, every little mental sin she had and forcing her to stare at them on a silver platter, forcing her to accept. Saki turned back to the rest of the group, wiping away an errant tear from her face.

Yosuke began to stir, still keeping his eyes screwed firmly shut as he felt the cool, dry ground underneath himself. “Wha… What just…”

“Come on, save your strength,” Chie said, as she stroked her friend’s hair gently, going as kindly to Yosuke as she could at the moment. Her high from the fight had run dry, leaving her… Surprisingly empty, at this point. The monster was dead, it had to be with all of the fire just now. And Yosuke was alive, and Saki-Senpai was alive and… They were alive… The relief was just a thin, frail little twig of an emotion at this point, but she still clung to it tightly. “You gave us a really bad scare back there, you know… You just… Up and fainted when… Well, you’re okay now. That’s what matters.”

Souji kept staring at the fire of the building, still tense as he held Yosuke up with one arm, sword tightly clenched in his free hand. He watched the door, expecting it to emerge at any time now… At least, he assumed it would have to emerge. It wasn’t dead… At least, he didn’t think it was dead. Shadows weren’t frail like that, being lit entirely aflame shouldn’t really kill it, just… Get it to stop for a little while.

Yosuke eased his eyes open, wincing at the loss of his glasses before he felt them settled back into place. He glanced up to see Saki, who glanced away as she stepped back. For a second he attempted to speak, an apology or a cuss or a reassurance, only for the words to die in his throat. He wrenched his eyes closed, still that sick, empty feeling in his head and throat.

“… Oh no…” Teddie whimpered, as he slide back from the group, “Something’s coming from the fire...”

Everyone turned, Yosuke’s eyes flying open as they looked at the door of the burning liquor store. Even as the flames licked off its form, the Shadow Yosuke seemed immune. He stumbled out the doorway, less… Stoic than Souji remembered from last time. If anything, he looked downright miserable at this point.

Apparently, he had been effected worse this time, he though as he looked down at the shocked Yosuke. “That’s not…”

“You’ll have to accept it.” Teddie interjected. Yosuke looked up at the bear mascot as he spoke, “You… You need to accept it. It will just go wild again otherwise. I mean, we bearly got out of it last time too. I don’t think we can do it again…”

Yosuke winced, as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. He looked at the Shadow, who just stood a few meters away, staring at the group… No, it was staring at him and Saki. He could accept that much, at least. Still, the idea of having to agree… After everything that Shadow must have done… Chie’s face was slashed; Souji’s Kevlar was streaked with more blood, while a thin stream of red still leaked from under his sleeves when he moved too quickly.

He didn’t have to think to hard, staring at how abused his friends were and the burning liquor store, that whatever the Shadow did had to be severely fucked up.

As he looked down, he felt a hand rub his back. He turned, to look Souji in the face. “Look…” Souji said, keeping his expression as neutral as he could despite the waver in his voice and the obvious tension in his frame, “I know... I know it doesn’t mean as much to say something like this now, especially with just being… Well, just me. A crazy, strange guy who knows way too much about this weird TV World stuff.”

“You’re not crazy-” Yosuke attempted to interject, only for Souji to hold up a hand at that.

“No… You’re right about that. It’s nothing to be ashamed of… I am crazy.” Souji chuckled slightly to himself, “A different sort of crazy than you meant, but still… You’re a really good guy, Yosuke. A much better person than you probably think you are, especially right now, so… I guess what I’m trying to say is even if that’s part of you, that’s not all of you.”

“Part of me…” Yosuke mumbled to himself, looking away from the group to think as he absorbed the situation. Teddie nodded as well, while Chie and Saki stood in confused silence, not sure where Souji was going in this speech. Chie watched the Shadow carefully, ready to shift back for a counter attack at any point, while Saki just leaned back, still too injured to do much more than hobble away slowly yet sure she would need to dash away as soon as possible.

Yosuke stood up, his body feeling like his clothes had been replaced by a thousand steel chains and weights, his head still burning with acid and fire as he approached his Shadow self. As he got up closer, he noticed the redness around his Shadow’s eyes the way its hands clenched closed and relaxed. “Look…” He attempted, rubbing the back of his head, standing in front of the golden-eyed Doppelganger, “You… You are a part of me. It’s hard to admit, and… I’m not proud to admit this, but you are me.” With that, he patted the Shadow on its shoulder, “I… I guess it does hurt, doesn’t it?”

The Shadow self stared at him, before giving a mild smile as it began to shimmer into a faded blue light. At first, most of the group figured it was going to be absorbed right into Yosuke or perhaps just phase out of existence like a nightmare or a bad memory. Instead, as it floated up, the form shifting, everyone gained a mild shock. Everyone, save for Souji.

The Shadow transformed, the Yosuke-esque figure becoming the sleek Persona for an instant, before it faded into a bright blue Tarot card that floated into Yosuke’s hand. He stared, mind surprisingly accepting of this, as he caught the small card, flipping it in his hand. Jiraiya… My Persona…

There was a moment of silence from the party, as everyone took the time to absorb the situation, before Yosuke looked up, making an attempt to speak before he fell down to his knees in exhaustion. Immediately, Chie and Souji both dashed up, Teddie following along as he supported Saki along side.

“I’m… I’m fine…” Yosuke muttered, as he attempted to pull himself up, only to be dragged up to his feet by the sudden feeling of the taller boy leaning in and pulling him back up. He leaned into the hold, feeling so close to fainting again, as he attempted to explain, “It… It’s just… Turned into… I have no idea what just happened… But it’s good.”

“How can you be so sure?” Chie asked as she looked Yosuke over, shocked at the proceedings of what just happened, “I-I mean, his Shadow just… It poofed! And turned into a disco-ninja-frog-thing and then poofed again!”

“It’s not a disco ninja frog thing,” Yosuke grumbled with annoyance, “It’s Jiraiya. It’s… My Persona.” He gave a wry smile at that, “I don’t even know what that means… But it sounds right, you know?”

Teddie marveled at the group, these strange and curious beings… Filled with red, so smart about his world, so brave fighting Shadows even when they were injured, who had Shadows of their own and yet could make them into… He wasn’t sure what he could say about Yosuke at this point, the silly skinny guy who apparently now had a Persona of his own! “Gosh almighty!” The little bear mascot said, as it approached, “I’ve never seen something like that before Aniki, a person taming their Shadow like that!”

“Aniki… What, really?” Yosuke asked, not sure if he was pleased by his new nickname or surprised the bear decided he wanted to sound like a tough guy all of a sudden. Still, he couldn’t complain about it, oddly pleased at how impressed the bear was... At least he did something kind of impressive, even if he screwed up a lot before. Yosuke frowned to himself, glancing at the group. Teddie seemed alright, no worse for the wear…

Souji was bleeding all over again though, and looked like his hands and face were scraped up as well. Chie had a massive dash along her cheek and bruises along her face and side. Saki-Senpai… She barely looked like she could breathe, instead taking ragged, pained breaths as she clung onto Teddie’s fur. Yosuke winced in shame, “What… What can I do… With Jiraiya, I mean.”

“He casts wind-based magic,” Souji said. At this point, the party were beginning not to question him when he began to expound on things he shouldn’t know, besides the quiet long stares. “He’s also quick and… I believe you have minor healing magic too.”

“Healing magic?” Yosuke asked, his voice thin and dry with his exhaustion and stress. He thought quietly, bizarre and yet intensely meaningful words playing in the back of his mind, as Yosuke pressed a hand against Souji’s shoulder. “…Dia.”

As a gleam of greenish light shimmered, the wound sealed shut, absorbing some of the blood as it streamed out. Souji reached for his shoulder in surprise, before attempting to stop Yosuke, “You need your rest-”

“I’m fine.” Yosuke said, holding up his hand. “And besides… After everything… It’s the least I can do for all of you.”

The group walked back in silence, except for the occasional mumble from Yosuke of that almost sacred word, the shimmering light sealing up wounds with each step. Even as the rest of the party found their steps less haggard, their breaths less ragged and pained, Souji found himself practically dragging the exhausted Magician as he still insisted on casting.

If anyone heard the long, enraged, and feminine shrieks along with the sound of the roaring fire, as the Liquor Store was entirely engulfed in flames, no one chose to say anything.

Chapter Text

“Once a frog, living in an abandoned well, met a giant turtle. He said to the turtle: ‘Look how happy I am. I can jump around the railings of the well and play if I like. When I'm tired, I can nestle myself beside the brick wall under the well to rest or I may quietly bathe my body inside the water with only my head and mouth above the water. It feels really comfortable to put my feet in the mud. The shrimps and the tadpoles are no match for me. I’m the master of the well. Why not come and have a tour to my well?’

But the turtle was stuck and could only put his left foot inside the well.

Stepping back, the turtle began to tell the frog what the sea is like.

‘A thousand miles may be a long distance to you. But the sea is far broader than that. A thousand meters may not describe the depth of it. A long time ago, it rained for nine years consecutively but the waters didn't see the slightest change in volume. Neither did the sea get any smaller in the face of seven years of severe drought. Nothing can change it. One can only be happy living in a place like that.’

The frog’s well suddenly felt very small.”

Yosuke didn’t know why he couldn’t stop thinking about that story from his grandfather. All things considered… He never could relate to it. Even as a little kid, he couldn’t think of what it would be like as that frog, in the tiny pond in the middle of nowhere, where the best thing about it was being able to boss some shrimp around.

Then again, living in the city was like living in the ocean, at least the ocean in the story. It was a constant, an ever-changing and yet static place that even when shops were closed and people moved away, there would be always something to do, someone to talk to. As far as he could think of, he never really felt truly bored.

There were times he could think of feeling frustrated, or ignored, or even just overlooked. It was pretty normal, after all. He did have friends before moving away, but none he was really close to. And even if the gang left him out of a party or something, well, at least he could go to the arcade, or the movies. Or maybe even spend a little extra money and take a bus to the shore for a little while.

But he wasn’t in Naha anymore.

The closest thing this place had to a beach was the Samegawa river, and he doubted how much fun that would be to check out, considering how damn cold it was all the time. Inaba was up the higher regions of Honshu, so the entire place compared to Okinawa felt like a damn ice box, and an ice box with nothing to do at that.

Anything cool was at least two towns over… And save for a handful of people, like Chie and Saki-Senpai, he didn’t really have anyone to talk to. It was… Really kind of painful, how bored he would find himself at the end of the day most days. Not even frustrated, or depressed, but just bored.

Stupid goddamn town.

Nothing to do here whatsoever.

All he could think, the longer he spent in Inaba was how small his life seemed to get around him...

*

It was the familiar jingle of his cellphone that rose Yosuke back to consciousness. The brunette looked up wearily, as he pulled himself back to wakefulness. The cold water around him didn’t help the soreness in his muscles, even if the constant dull ache in his head had at this subsided into a minor stinging in his eyes and a stiff neck, like he had been staring at a computer screen for way too long.

For a moment, staring up in at the bathroom ceiling, he honestly forgot the traumatic events of the past evening, leaving him in a state of confusion. How long had he been asleep at this point? Hell, when did he fall asleep anyway? He was damn lucky he hadn't slipped in and drowned, even if he had a stiff neck from resting his head on the edge of the tub instead. A stiff neck was a hell of a sight better than lungs full of water, at least.

Yosuke sat up, shivering at the feeling of the now-chilled water in the tub as he glanced around the bathroom. He could see the mess of wet clothes, his school jacket and pants mostly obscuring what had once been his favorite shirt. There was no way any of those blood stains were coming out. And even if they could, he wasn't sure he could wear a shirt that was soaked with blood again, much less Saki-Senpai's or Souji's.

He rubbed his hands over his eyes, partly in frustration, partly wiping just to make sure any of the bloody streaks that remained were very much gone. That was right, wasn’t it? The memories flooded back into his mind, of that place in the TV, the golden-eyed doppelganger, the burning liquor-store and… Shit.

Saki-Senpai hated him, didn’t she? Well, if she didn’t hate him before, she would certainly hate him now after what happened in the liquor store. Not that he knew, all he could remember was rejecting his Shadow only to wake up outside of the burning shop and then, Jiraiya.

It should bother him more, he figured as he grabbed for a towel and pull himself from the lukewarm bath, that there was something else in his mind now besides himself. It wasn’t a second personality or anything really crazy like that, at least not fully. More like a second… Consciousness, to some degree. An awareness that he didn’t have before, almost alien in a way, even if it was still part of his mind.

After all, Jiraiya was him.

How else could he describe the sensation, of something in his mind that he was not just aware of but could think through? With some effort, he could see through Jiraiya's eyes, hear through his ears, and know his thoughts, those words floating in his mind in a nonsense language yet still carried so much power. Garu and Dia...

As he walked back to the basket of laundry, making a special mental note to toss his blood-stained T-shirt out as soon as possible, he took sight of his cellphone.

Someone sent him a text, a number he didn’t recognize.

For a moment, he considered just deleting it. He had enough spam services that contacted his phone, to the point where he had to consider once again if waiting for the guys to ever text him was worth having a dozen offers a week from dating services talking about hot singles in his area.

Then again, none of those texts ever started with “Did you get home safe? Let’s meet at Junes tomorrow and talk.”

Yosuke nearly dropped the phone in shock at that. How the hell… He didn’t give his number to anyone in the group save for Senpai… And she already had her own entry in his phone; she wouldn’t just come up as nobody. He paused for a moment, debating the thought of if someone had dug his phone out his pocket and copied the number while they dragged him out of that place, but he always had his phone on locked mode when he wasn’t using it.

Even as he dialed the number, he had a good idea who exactly sent off that text, and it just added to the growing sense of fear and confusion he had over the guy. Somehow, he didn’t think it was Chie or Teddie who sent out the text.

“H-hello…?” Souji’s voice, even with as unsteady and unnerved as it sounded on the phone, was clear. Somehow, his own nervousness just gave Yosuke’s own sense of dread a twinge of anger, much to his own reassurance. He could work with anger, or at least try to seem less scared if he was angry.

“How did you get my number?” Yosuke said, his voice quite thin and crisp with frustration. On the other line, he could hear Souji shifting around, messing around with paper- homework maybe? Or maybe something more insidious… The whole situation was rank, and he was getting tired, after the past night, of being dicked around with no answers. “How did you know anything about what’s going on? Who ARE you anyway?”

“Please…” Souji pleaded, his voice sounding thin, that same paralyzed and weak voice he had when he finally relented before. “I-It’s late… Can we talk in person tomorrow? Or over text. I…”

“No.” Yosuke snapped, “We’re talking about this right now. Look, today we just went all over an alternate dimension in the TV- there was some guy in a bear suit who didn’t know what BLOOD was, and- And a thing came out of me!”

“Yosuke…”

“No, another part of me came out, a part of me that I never wanted anyone to see, especially not Senpai! Things just went terrible and wrong and shitty, and I don’t even know what happened when I was unconscious besides really bad shit and…” Yosuke sat on the bathroom counter, hand covering his face in frustration. Damnit, he was rambling again, and just coming off as hysterical and panicked instead of angry. Angry meant he had some control, some drive to his actions. Hysterical meant he was just in over his head.

“I… I’m sorry…” Souji said, voice laden with guilt as Yosuke just took the time to steady his breathing. Maybe he should have waited, brought this conversation up with him at school tomorrow, or even after he got back to his room, instead of having an argument over the phone while wearing nothing but a towel, still soaking wet and with a headache that was coming back albeit from a much different reason. “I just… It’s- It’s hard to explain… And I’m bad with phones…”

“Well, you need to at least try,” Yosuke begged, “Because I’m running on a lot of confusion, and I need to know what the hell’s going on, alright? You’re the only one who has even half a clue, and I’m just tired of being left out of the loop. Don’t I deserve to know what’s going on?”

Souji silenced for a moment, in deep thought. On his end, he sincerely considered just hanging up the phone. What could he even say at this point? The idea of trying to explain over the phone left him strangled, especially over the phone. Just his voice with the slight distortion of the phone made Souji balk, fully expecting that wet, bloody cough and the shrieks as the Hablerie descended… But that hadn’t happened in this timeline.

No. Yosuke was fine. Yosuke was fine, and alive, and upset that he was keeping massive secrets from him, massive and insane secrets, but he was still intact and safe.

And he was right. Yosuke- his best friend, his partner, even if he didn’t know Souji enough to even consider him a trustworthy ally- deserved to know the truth.

“You’re… Right. You’re right. I’m sorry.” Souji paused for a moment, taking as much time as he could to collect his thoughts, “It’s… I need you to promise me one thing before I continue. You’ll at least listen to me, no matter how insane it might be and if you don’t believe me.”

“After what I’ve seen last night, I’m not sure if there’s anything you can say that I wouldn’t be able to believe.” Yosuke said.

“Alright… I…” His voice went weak for a moment, as Souji collected himself. “I’ve done this before.”

“Kind of figured that, at least.” Yosuke said.

“No, you don’t understand. I’ve done THIS before. All of this. Coming to Inaba, getting involved with solving the case, meeting you and everyone,” He didn’t care if his voice was going louder, if his words were more nonsensical with each comment, as Souji kept speaking,

“… Wh-” Yosuke blinked in confusion, not sure if Souji was just blatantly lying or if the night had been too much and he finally snapped from the stress.

“The last time, things ended in an unmitigated disaster, way beyond anything as bad as a serial killer getting away, but I was given the chance to come back. It’s why I knew about your Persona, and about the weapons, and about Saki being in the TV because she would have been the second victim, but we saved her! Things are going differently, but its better this time!” Souji said, the last sentence coming off as desperate begging more than a definite statement.

Yes… He didn’t have Izanagi. But Saki was home and safe, and everyone got home fine… Even Teddie seemed happier, and Yosuke had the role of the first Persona-wielder. Surely, it would be a positive for the underappreciated Magician, just the acknowledgement that he was the first. He deserved to have some recognition, or at least Souji always thought so. So, he kept trying to explain, desperate to be believed by the brunette boy. “It makes no sense, and I know you probably don’t believe me, but I’m not lying about this. I wouldn’t lie about something like this, especially to you… I mean, after everything went wrong, and I jumped back, one of the people I wanted to see most was you.”

Yosuke had all rights to just hang up the phone, delete the number, go to bed and pretend that none of this happened. After all… At this point, it would just be incredibly easy to write off Souji as insane at this point. Yeah, he had been right about Saki and the TV World, but at a certain point, things just stopped making any sense. And with what he said before... How did he know Souji simply wasn't both blessed with some crazy monster-hunting abilities and delusional?

He stood still, quietly biting his lip, watching rivulets of water as they dripped down from his bangs. "... Prove it."

"Alright... What would you like me to tell you." Souji didn't ask what or how, like he had hoped. Maybe if he had responded in confusion, he could have latched onto the idea that it was really a lie. At least he could lean in on the idea of him being just crazy instead, instead of... The idea that once things had gone horribly wrong. Hell, just the idea that things had actually happened once! That entire idea that this was... A rewind? Maybe? Or maybe it was an alternate dimension?

No. He wouldn't think like this. Not yet. There was a chance that this was all a bunch of lies, wasn't it? Yosuke pushed forward, "You say you knew me and you wanted to see me, right? Tell me something that only someone who really knew me would know, something I don't tell anyone."

"... You're from the city." Souji said.

"Alright, genius, something that the rest of the class doesn't harp on. I asked for something nobody knows, not our entire damn class." Yosuke growled in frustration, a finger leaning up to push the "End Call" button as he spoke.

"Well, our entire class assumes Shibuya or Shinjuku, and you never corrected them on this. You're actually from Naha, Okinawa." Souji finished up his comment.

Yosuke went mute, his thumb slipping away from the button, as he listened to Souji very quietly and very closely.

"... It's also why you wear your coat around so much too... You always complain about feeling cold, since we're so close to Sendai and it's pretty chilly around here compared to what you're used to... W-Would you like me to keep going?"

Souji was right. He felt cold right now in fact, the blood in his veins going like ice at this point. There was no way. No goddamn way. He hadn't mentioned Naha to anyway, not yet. Quite frankly, he had been trying to bank on the 'big city boy' persona more than anything when he first came around, and when that failed miserably he didn't feel like explaining that he wasn't from Tokyo or the close by suburbs like most people thought.

In that small bathroom, sitting on the counter clad in nothing but a towel, Yosuke felt incredibly exposed, and a feeling of insignificance starting to wash over.

"You're not lying." He mumbled in shock, surprised he hadn't dropped the phone in shock or merely hung up and just went to bed at this point.

"W-Why would I?" Souji asked, "What... What I said before was the truth. I-I wanted to see you again... And... Even if you hang up and refuse to talk to me again... I'm glad I got to hang out with you for a few days, and that we could save Saki-Senpai." His voice sounded weak on the other end as he spoke, but he sounded so earnest. In Yosuke's mind, the thought of Souji smiling with tears running down his face as he said this played clearly. He wasn't lying... About any of it.

He wanted to save her, and make everything right.

He wanted to meet him again.

Someone in this town wanted to meet Yosuke. Not just anyone, but someone who had apparently gone through hell. And when he came back, one of the people he wanted to see was Yosuke. The weird Junes kid with a shitty bike who was always crashing into garbage cans and junk.

"... The school roof is normally deserted. We'll talk more about this tomorrow there, alright?" Yosuke asked, his voice finally coming back to him. "I really just... I need to sleep, and get my head clear at this point. I'm tired now, just really freaking tired and I'll be a bit less freaked out tomorrow... Thank you. For checking up on me, and for saving Saki-Senpai, and... Well, for a lot of things."

He could barely make out Souji's response, a simple quiet 'alright' on the other end. Souji didn't say bye, instead hanging up the phone with a small sigh of relief, leaving Yosuke in the silence of the bathroom. The brunette flicked the phone in his hand for a second, looking at the contacts listing and debating on a second call... But it was late. Way past midnight at this point. And even if it wasn't, he just couldn't gather enough courage after all of the clusterfuck that had been this evening to harass her. She didn't need him checking up on her, not after his Shadow.

Instead, he grabbed the bundle of clothes, making absolute sure his uniform was obscuring the stains on the shirt as he made his way back to his room. He just needed to sleep this off, and maybe tomorrow he'd be able to wrap his head around the fact that he was actually important to someone.

*

He never had a chance to see the streets on that day.

Looking around, at the crumbled and burnt buildings, and the smears of darkening red against the ground, Souji felt guilt in admitting it was probably for the best.

After all, as he walked through the deceased town, he knew the truth. It was bad enough, listening to the wails and the chokes of the dying over his phone that horrid day. To be here and witness it, not be able to do anything as his beloved friends were dragged away to hell, would have broken him worse, left him incapable of fighting back in any manner whatsoever. Maybe… He might have been able to do something though. Even if Naoto had said their Personae hadn’t worked that day, he had always been special. Maybe he would have been able to use his cards, an aspect of the Wild Card he hadn’t tested at that point.

Souji trudged through the streets, looking straight into the fog and ignoring the tacky feeling underneath his shoes every few feet. While he had no desire to check, he was already sure he knew what it was he walking through. He shivered.

No. No, this was just a dream, a new aspect of his nightmares. It was a change-up, not the dreams of the gritty snow-infested fog and the hospital, or his most recent nightmares of… His friends… And those static-fueled voices. But it wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. This was fake, and he had to keep thinking as such, as he could smell the blood and the ozone through the fog, and feel the stickiness of dried blood beneath his feet as he stepped forward.

“What gave you the right?”

Souji stopped immediately, trying to peer forward through the fog. He checked his pocket for his glasses, but they weren’t available anymore… All he found, as he jerked his hand away violently and yelped at the sudden pain as he cut his fingers on shards of metal and glass that had once been the glasses.

Damn. When had they shattered?

He looked up to the direction of the voice, holding the bleeding portion of his hand as he stared ahead in the fog. Off to the distance, he could make out a figure. Even through the fog, he could tell it looked like a thin frame, imposing and cold as it faced him. Without seeing its face, he could guess safely it was glaring at him. “I will ask you once again. What gave you the right, to enter that world as you did so? Where did you get that power?”

“I… I don’t know.” Souji said, continuing to walk towards the figure although in a more defensive stance as he did so. The figure always remained the same distance away, just far enough where he could make out a thin, dark outline in the fog but never close enough where he could get any detail.

This didn’t seem like a normal dream, or even one of his normal nightmares… For a second it seemed familiar, but from a long time ago, a time he couldn’t place readily at the top of his head. He wish he had his glasses still available to him, or perhaps his sword and chainmail. “It’s been with me since… About the same time I’ve been in Inaba.”

“I know you had it the last time.” The voice declared, a bitter edge tainting its words. Immediately, Souji stopped in his steps. Now he really wish he hadn’t left his sword and armor with Teddie for safe-keeping back in the TV World, as he stood in silence. The voice continued on, “You were not accepted this time. There should be no way you could even have entered that world, yet not only have you drawn back time, you’ve been able to retain your spark. How? Who gave that to you?”

As the blood in his veins went icy and his voice started to catch in his throat, he had a feeling that this wasn’t as much of a dream as he thought… And he was sure he should definitely not bring up the truth of the Velvet Room to this figure, considering this situation. He was already at a disadvantage… And Igor trusted him, enough so where he let Souji try to find the truth again. He wasn’t going to let him down, not for whoever this may be. “How did you know about that?” He asked through gritted teeth, as he stepped back slightly.

The figure still remained within the same distance away, even as he started to walk backwards away. “So you plan to hide the truth from me as well? Tell me, is the Truth even a concern to you?”

“Of… Of course it is.” Souji said, wincing at how even his own voice didn’t sound convinced. But he was after the Truth; that was his part of the deal for the Velvet Room. He had to find out the Truth of the mystery. Even if he knew the truth about the murders, and Namatame. And even if it was ultimately to save his friends and family rather than for the pure need to find the Truth, he still would hunt it down, for the Truth had to exist.

Didn’t it?

The voice in the fog laughed darkly, an almost feminine chuckle. “So… It’s only for her, isn’t it? Even as much as you deny it, you cannot hide your own truth from the world, even if you hide it from yourself.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Souji said bluntly, still at a loss if he should turn tail and run or if it would even work to get away from the figure. His hand throbbed still, the pain almost worsening with each moment the figure spoke.

“The little girl… Nanako Dojima.” The voice intoned, her name lingering in the air like a curse. Souji bit his tongue, wanting to snap back at that voice, how dare it speak her name in that tone. “They were all important to you… But it was because of her that you surrendered your desire for the Truth. Even if you seek it now, it comes second in comparison.”

“That’s not… Stop talking about her like that!” Souji snapped at the figure, his fists balling up. Even at the twinge of pain in his fist and his growing concern and distrust of the nature of this dream, he wasn’t just going to accept this thing talking about Nanako like that, as if she was a distraction. She deserved so much better than that sort of treatment, even if she wasn’t around to witness it. “What gives you the right?! Who ARE you anyway?”

“Tell me… For her most of all… To save her, would you be willing to drag yourself through Yomi?”

“I think the fact I went back through time to do so is a good sign, but yes, without a moment’s doubt.” Souji said, walking towards the figure in the fog again, blood boiling with frustration.

“And would you bargain with the gods of the underworld, making a deal with them if it meant to bring her back?”

“Of course I would!” The accusatory tone of the voice was leaving him on edge. Normally, Souji was always good about keeping his emotions in check, never getting too riled up over anything… But talking about Nanako like this, insinuating her in Yomi… He could feel a trail of blood run down his fingers, but couldn’t care enough to give a damn.

“And when you brought her to the light, and saw her flesh was riddled with maggots… Would you leave her then and there?”

“I’D RIP THEM OUT MYSELF, WITH MY OWN DAMN HANDS!” He screamed, his temper a flare of anger spiking sharply. He would never abandon Nanako ever again, and certainly not in Yomi, terrified and alone and infested with bugs and disease. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but I made a promise to save her this time, and if it means even ripping through hell itself, I will do it!"

The voice in the fog was quiet, the only noise being Souji’s harsh breathing as he glared out at the vague figure. It came off as neutral in its stance and silence, but he could sense its judgmental stare even through the filmy and cold fog that surrounded the pair. As he went to take another step, his anger instantly transformed into a bleak horror, as his foot fell into something that was not the blood-streaked streets of Inaba.

A cold, thick weight grasped onto him, as he felt his body suddenly being dragged to the ground. The figure watched in silence, as he screamed and flailed helplessly, struggling to pull free from this morass that surrounded not just his foot, but his legs and rapidly quicker up his body.

No.

Not morass.

Claws. He could make out the sharp ends, poking and shredding into his soft flesh, forcing shrieks of terror and agony from his lips as he still struggled, mindlessly attempting to pull away from the pain. The voice said nothing, no taunting or cajoling or laughter as he thrashed, desperate and terrified. He could feel his skin tearing, as a frigid, red hand grasped his face and jerked him into the mass of hands below…

The only reason why Souji hadn’t woken up the entire house with his shrieking was he had taken the habit of biting his pillow as he slept. It was only due to his own tendency to attempt to muffle himself, as he woke up sharply, the taste of pillow fluff in his mouth keeping him at least quiet enough not to make a fuss.

He sat up suddenly, still embracing the pillow tightly. No… No, it was just another nightmare. A new, and horrible form of them, and one that was far more excruciating than any he had in the past, and so vivid and real- But it was just a nightmare. He was fine. He was alive, and safe, and fine. Souji’s breathe steadied, as he calmly set down the pillow.

And then he was left with the realization that his left hand was covered in dozens of small, bloody gashes.

*

For the first time in before she could remember, Nanako Dojima woke up to the smells of something cooking in the kitchen.

The small girl sat up in her futon, the little platypus doll her cousin had given her still resting on his chosen spot beside her pillow. She was a bit old to be talking to stuffed animals, after all she was six now, and attending first grade and a big girl who was allowed to use the stove to cook an egg without Dad around to watch over her. But she wasn't talking to the platypus, or at least not talking to it and pretending to have conversations with it. Occasionally she would pet it while in the middle of watching TV or tell it how her day was when she was feeling lonely, but it was a doll.

But it was a gift from her cousin, and that made her happier than if she had just bought it.

Souji was nice enough. She wasn't sure how she thought of him yet, but he did offer to help around the house as soon as he came around. It was nice having someone who could reach the really high shelves, and who would stay by the stove and talk to her as she fried her eggs in the morning.

As Nanako got dressed, she wondered about where Souji went last night... He didn't come home, at least until after she had gone to bed herself, feeling surprisingly bad about it. She shouldn't at this point... It was normal for Dad to come home really late or, if a case went really bad, to not even come home for two or three days. But somehow, she felt like Souji should know better. Then again maybe it was normal for people to come home really late, and leave little girls to take care of themselves.

She walked out of the room, giving her platypus one last pat on the head- she decided he would like that. And that her platypus was a 'he', because only male platypuses had poison spurs and she liked the idea of her platypus having them. Immediately, the smells from the kitchen were stronger, of frying meats and toasty bread and coffee, a rich scent that the little girl hadn't woken up to in a very long time.

"Good morning, Nanako-chan." Souji smiled as he turned to her from the counter, as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes went wide with shock, as she spotted a feast laid out on the table, of fried eggs and toasted rolls and sausages, a western-style breakfast all prepared. He walked over to the kitchen table, pulling a chair out for her. "I hope it's not too much food... I know we have school soon, but I think we have time to have a full breakfast."

She blinked in surprise, as she looked at her plate curiously, taking note of an origami shape folded right in front. A little kitty origami... She picked it up in surprise, looking back up at Souji, "Did something important happen?"

"No," He said, before frowning to correct himself with a small bite of the lip, "Well, nothing I can say. But this has nothing to do with that." He sat down, a sad look on his face, "It's my way of saying 'I'm sorry' to you."

"You're sorry?" Nanako asked, tilting her head slightly. "But you didn't do anything wrong..."

Souji stared at her for a second, a sad look on his face before he closed his eyes, "I... Wasn't there for you. I mean, I came home after midnight, and that's not right... You must have been lonely last night."

To be honest, she was. But it was okay, or at least she thought it was okay. Really, it was normal, and she didn't think it was anything bad. But with how guilty he looked as he spoke, she got the feeling he really didn't want her to feel lonely anymore. At least, looking down at the kitty origami in her hands and the plate of sausage, eggs and sliced strawberries, she really didn't think he want her to feel lonely anymore.

Nanako reached up and gave him a pat on the hand, curious as to why he had a bandage around his palm but not wanting to make him sadder by asking. "It's okay." She said, smiling gently as she spoke, "I forgive you."

His eyes opened wide at that, a much more surprised look than she thought, just because she wasn't mad he came home really late last night. In a way, looking at his face, he just looked really sad for a second, looking at Nanako. For a moment she had to wonder if she had been the one who did something wrong, before his face changed to a gentle smile. "Thank you, Nanako-chan." He said quietly, a voice filled with a light joy. "It won't happen again, alright? I promise."

He really felt bad, didn't he? Leaving her alone, without anyone around to help her or talk to?

Nanako really was happy for that, at least. Even if she was used to being lonely, she didn't like it much. So, he at least promised he wouldn't just leave her lonely like last night again. And she really did feel a lot happier with that promise, with this kind and gentle boy who would make origami kitties for her in the morning.

*

Even in the ashes of the liquor store, she stared up at the sky, her only comfort coming from the bands of red and black that swirled along the sky.

It didn’t matter without her… Nothing mattered without her. She didn’t even deny her; gave her the chance to be her own person… Instead, she abandoned her, left her to rot in this forsaken place, this burnt and desiccated remain of what had been her home.

She could hear the crunch of footsteps, of a figure approaching, but made no attempt to defend herself. What did it matter? She was alone now, wasn’t she? Still, the figure stopped short. It wasn’t her. She could tell she was long gone…

“They left you behind, did they not?” The figure asked. The Shadow said nothing, instead stubbornly staring at the sky further. Where would she run to? Her arms and legs were chained down, the burnt barrels of cheap booze still holding her in her place, even as her liquor store burned around her. She heard a snap of fingers, as suddenly the weight felt… Empty. The Shadow sat up, to watch as the barrels holding her chains down disintegrated, breaking down.

“She didn’t free you, but I shall.” The figure said to the Shadow. “For you shall have a role in my next game.”

“A role?” The Shadow asked dismissively. It sounded trite, and stupid, and gave her a chill down her spine. Even if she was thankful of this… Being, letting her run freely, she had to admit the idea of being forced into a game like this sounded lame. She was forced into way too much as is, and the idea of trading in one weight for a second left Shadow Saki sick with worry.

“It is a minor role… I just need you to make him prove his mettle…” If the boy insisted on having a part in her game… Even when she had dismissed him in this timeline… Then she would make him prove his need for his role. Already, she could see the red threads of fate unraveling and tangling, the results of his choice leading up to goals he could not even foresee in his greatest nightmares…

In the human world, Saki Konishi’s eyes snapped open, a scream dying in her throat as she fell into an impenetrable fog in her own mind…

Chapter Text

Teddie didn't know how to describe this feeling he was having.

The small bear lay on his side, staring not really at anything at all, even if he was facing the direction of the stack of televisions. He hadn't recalled the TVs, not at this point. What if those humans came around again, and needed an exit again? But maybe he should if that was the case, that way they would need him to come around, and open it up again.

... But that sort of thinking was beary selfish too, wasn't it?

He didn't want to be selfish, per say. At least not that kind of selfish. Not the sort of selfish that left people, especially nice humans like those from before, in danger.

But there was other reasons for being careful too! It wasn't purely bear-cause he needed to see the humans again! What if Shadows slipped out from this place, got into their world? He... He didn't know what it would do, but it didn't sound any good whatever it did. There was a reason humans were on their side, Shadows were on his side, and humans would die if they stayed here too long.

But then... There were the strange humans too.

Not just Aniki, who's Shadow became a vast inner power, but Sensei too, with his ability to enter the TV with no problem. And, as he spoke of him... The killer too. The person who had done such a grizzly act to that first lady and Saki-chan too!

It didn't seem like a normal thing for humans, since Saki-chan didn't know how she got in. When they were talking about it with her, asking about what she knew, she didn't remember anything but just fuzziness. He could understand that, how much of a bother it could be not remembering anything. He couldn't remember himself... Well, he wasn't sure what he couldn't remember, but he remembered he forgot something important.

The golden eyes at the edge of the studio- as the humans had called it- watched him intently... Vivid, bright, staring out from the shadows even in areas where it was too dark for her to remain hidden.

He could barely make out the figure, but he knew exactly who it was. No other Shadows got close to this place, no other Shadows would even linger like her. Maybe it was part of his luck, the fact she wouldn't move any closer, just taking to ghosting along the edges of the ladders and the rigging, climbing up and down, the broken chains rattling against the metalwork and making that clangy-clang-clang-clang that reminded Teddie he wasn't alone.

Before, he thought he didn't want to be alone at all... And when she came over, he was really quite happy... But then she started to speak.

And then Teddie tried to argue.

And then she took out her chains...

Teddie rubbed along the ghost of a mark along his face, as he remained close to the TV set, to the center of the studio, his studio, his safe place. At least he had thought of it as such. It was open and wide and empty, and all he wanted was a small den to curl up in, but at least she stayed away.

"Do you really think they want you?" He heard her shouting out to him. Teddie shivered, trying his best just to lean closer to the TV. "You think you know them, but you don't..."

Always, she was saying such mean things...

But maybe she was right? After all, she was Saki's Shadow, and wouldn't that mean she would know more about how humans really were?

No.

No. He didn't want to think about that.

He didn't know if that was the truth.

But he knew one thing. He knew he des-bear-ably wanted them to come back, so he wouldn't be alone or with her.

*

[To: Saki-Senpai
Time: 7:12 AM
Message: yo its me. u prob dont want 2 talk to me
thats okay dont blame u
but plz call me soon. want 2 make sure ur ok.]

Throughout class, he had been caught on his phone by no less than three teachers. While King Moron had really reamed into him about it, he had at least didn't follow through with his threat about tossing the cell out of the window. Thankfully, neither Mr. Hosoi or Ms. Sofue seem as incensed. He ended up having an argument with Mr. Hosoi's damn puppet, and now he owed Ms. Sofue an additional essay about the importance of rivers in the creation of civilizations, but that was a much better choice than losing his phone.

Saki hadn't contacted Yosuke since last night, when he saw Chie helping Saki back down the street to her home. Now, maybe he shouldn't be so nervous about it, she normally took a few days to respond to his texts, and seeing as she secretly... Kind of hated him, he didn't think she'd be calling him any time soon. Still, just being told she was okay would give him some much-needed peace of mind after the past day or so. Especially, as he looked up to stare at the properly brushed mass of grey hair and freshly pressed uniform in front of him, it hadn't gotten any less crazy in the past day or so.

Part of him wanted to just poke him hard in the back of the head.

It was a dick thing to do, wanting to jab him like that, or maybe tug his oh-so-perfect hair just enough to elicit a response, but it wasn't completely unwarranted. Even if there was something about being involved with this situation, being a hero and saving the day, and having someone who missed him and wanted him around... Something still felt awkward about the situation. And even with trying to get used to it, he was still mad this Seta guy just stumbled into his life and made everything so confusing.

Here he was, getting mad at the guy who saved Saki's life.

So he couldn't even be all that angry about the situation. Souji pulled Chie and himself into an alternate dimension and nearly got them killed. He saved Saki-Senpai's life. He didn't tell him about the Shadow thing until after he had a nervous breakdown that literally nearly killed everyone. He was desperate to meet him once again, almost to the point of tears.

And then he had the audacity to come into class, completely cool and nearly expressionless as he entered into the class.

Maybe a sharp poke would make him respond instead of that quiet chill, maybe drive him to react like last night over the phone. Or maybe a tap to his hand with the bandages- how did his hand got so damaged? Didn't he heal everything? Did he screw up healing Souji, or maybe everyone, or maybe he had just been unconscious all night and everything after the chat did not happen- argh.

As the bell rang, he lurched forward, with full intent to... To something the guy. After leaving him so messy emotionally. It might not have been fair to blame him for it, but goddamnit, he had to blame someone!

It didn't help that Souji turned around just as the class ended, leaning back just to catch the sight of Yosuke jabbing an accusatory finger in his face. Souji stared back in surprise, before giving a light chuckle under his breath. "I'm sorry." He said softly, "I know you probably have a lot you want to say... But I figured it was better to focus in class at least. You can copy my notes later too, since I think you were too busy to focus in class."

Yosuke groaned slightly, his finger faltering in it's sharp point as he found himself staring down at the empty notebook on his desk. Stupid classwork and assignments, and the massive mountain of homework granted to him, now including a five-page essay about river systems, and at least he didn't have to worry about having nothing to do now... Still, Souji gave him a gentle smile in reaction, pulling a rather large bento free from beneath his chair.

"At least we should have some time to talk now..." He said, standing up, "You still like gingered pork, right?"

*

The sound of the rain down the roof could still be heard from the doorway, as the boys sat huddled on the landing up to the school roof. From down here, there was still the noise of classmates gathering around, the occasional challenge being issued to that one funky student cutting through the relative quiet, but it was still private by the door. More private than class 2-2, at least.

Even with how dry Souji tongue felt, and how little he was able to eat and drink before he left for school, the rice felt gluey and impossible to chew or swallow, the bottle of tea impossibly thick and sour and bitter in his mouth. Even the ability to speak was a gargantuan effort, trying to force the words from his mouth.

Souji sat in silence for a moment, a wan smile on his face as Yosuke wolfed down the meal quickly, sounding quite pleased at the flavor. It was still tense... Yosuke didn't sit too close to the grey-haired boy, and Souji was having a hard time looking him in the face. But Yosuke was still willing to listen to him, and at least he trusted Souji enough to come to the most private place they could think of, and to eat his cooking. That alone gave Souji a slight sense of hope, and left him feeling useful.

It was always a case of wanting to feel useful for Souji. Maybe that's why he had accepted the role of Leader-

... No. This wasn't the time to think about that. Not now. Everyone was fine now, and Yosuke was sitting next to him, swallowing the last bit of rice, a pleasant smile on his face as he set down the bento Souji had prepared for him.

"... It's like watching a starved dog eat." The pair suddenly snapped to attention, Yosuke nearly dropping the plastic container as they both looked up to Chie. She stood awkwardly three stairs down, having been unnoticed in her entry until just this moment. Souji blinked in surprise at first while Yosuke gave a low grunt of annoyance.

"Like you're one to talk." Yosuke grumbled defensively.

"I've seen you take the Rainy Day Challenge at Aiya and win." Souji mumbled, before he immediately clasped his hand over his mouth in surprise. Chie's eyes widened at the statement, as she stared at Souji.

He had only been to Inaba for the past few days, hadn't he? Maybe he heard about her taking the challenge, but so far as watching her take it... Even if he was stalking her- and he better not be! She wasn't letting any guy go and do something creepy like that, even if he was some sort of alternate universe hero-type!- he wouldn't have caught her at Aiya's. She simply didn't have the time to go in the past week

"Souji wha-" Chie attempted to ask, only for Yosuke to suddenly leap up to his feet, standing between the two teens.

"M-Maybe it would be best if Souji explained first! I mean, it will make sense once you know what he's talking about, at least?" Yosuke said to Chie first, before he turned right back to Souji, "I asked Chie to come too. After what happened back... there, it didn't seem fair to leave her out."

"Is that bad?" She asked, tilting her head slightly as she watched Souji's face. "I mean... I was there too. Shouldn't I get to hear what's up with you and the TV?"

For a moment, Souji felt guilty for trying to keep it just between himself and Yosuke. Not that he wanted to keep secrets from Chie but... In a sense, he was hoping she wouldn't have to hear about the bad parts.

At least let him have one friend who was aware, but not about the horrors of the last world. Let him just restart that friendship normally, maybe a little better, a little stronger with a heads up of what movies she liked and her fear of crickets and her dog Muku... But none of the bad. Not having to hear that little tremor of fear that he heard in Yosuke's voice, when he was speaking to him over the phone, or that nervousness as he looked away from him.

But he needed to feel confident here. After all Chie and Yosuke at least had a leg up over anyone else he could tell... They had seen the TV World. They had seen that impossible place, fought against Shadows and smelled that ozone-laden air as well. It wasn't the case of Uncle Dojima all over again... This time, he had shown proof. They would have to believe him.

They just had to, didn't they?

"... No." He said, giving as soft and gentle of a smile as he could. "It's not bad at all. I'm sorry for keeping that back from you." Souji straightened up in his seat, doing his best to compose himself, gear himself for the conversation that they all needed to have... The answers that they needed, the questions he had to answer.

The group shifted in awkward silence for a moment. Souji attempted to take a sip of the too-sticky-too-sour tea, Yosuke picked at a few grains of rice at the bottom of the container while Chie shifted awkwardly on her feet, almost bouncing back and forth for a moment.

It collectively dawned on them someone would need to start this conversation, and none of them wanted to be the one to start it.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: So We're Starting At the End

Chie just walked down the hall in a daze, silently wishing she could talk to Yukiko about all of this craziness. Or, at least, a chance to talk to her before she had to head back to the inn. Of course it was the busy season, the cherry blossoms in full bloom at this point, so Yukiko would be leaving class early or even missing a few days here and there. The busy season, where so many people would be coming in and out of the inn, completely undetected. And so many delivery people too bringing in bulk shipments of food and supplies, as well as replacements of older furniture and electronics.

Including one man in a pea-soup green uniform, sent in to make a delivery of a new TV for one of the master suites...

"His name is Taro Namatame."

"What? The politician that just got fired? The one that was dating Yamano at the time?" Yosuke asked. His eyes widened already, as Chie's nervous fidgeting finally ceased, both going still and quiet the moment Souji nodded in response.

"He... Has the same power as I do. I don't know how... But I think he got them first. And the moment he found out, he's been trying to save people." Souji's face went severe at that, the small tone of disgust tainting his voice with every word said about Namatame.

"What, you mean the k-" Chie started, before she stopped at the realization. Oh. OH. He was purposefully... She winced, rubbing her arm as she pondered about that, "... How does he think that's saving anymore?"

"Maybe he's trying to take them out of the world, like he thinks killing them like that is better than letting them stay alive out here." Souji said. His eyes had shifted to a colder and more severe look. He glared down with a quiet rage that could peel the tiling by sheer force. Or it certainly felt like that, at the very least.

"Well... Why the TV though?" Yosuke asked. Perhaps he had been hoping to snap Souji out of that trance of rage, hoping to get an explanation or start up a conversation about a point that seemed important. All Souji did was shut his eyes with a soft sigh.

"No proof. He can keep doing it." Souji mumbled darkly, a near growl as he rubbed his eyes in frustration.

That was the scariest part about it too. No proof. That was the troubling part about the entire situation, where they wouldn't even be able to warn anyone about this. At least not in any normal way.

The police would be useless here, a thought that troubled Chie on a much deeper level than she would've expected. What could they even say to the cops about this? That there was an alternate dimension that could be reached by jumping TVs, that a former politician was shoving people into in some bizarre mercy-killing plot? They'd probably lock all three of them in a mental ward for that, and that's not even saying anything about Souji-kun's time... Thing.

Maybe if Saki-Senpai had remembered the attack, they might have been able to do something there. But as it stood...

"Nothing from before the fight?" Souji asked, voice twinging with a sense of incredulousness and frustration. Even if they already knew who the culprit was, not having any of the details of the first attack just made the problem harder. Not that it was that shocking, considering that in prior timeline where Namatame had done so well in drugging everyone...

But considering the short time, as well as how Saki-Senpai had been given a head injury instead of being drugged made him consider what exactly might have changed his pattern, or if it had been a change at all. After all, she didn't have a head injury in the last timeline, none that he knew of anyway. But perhaps the police had never reported it, a possible clue to keep hidden from reporters to catch the killer in his confession.

Or maybe it was because of her Shadow in the TV world? After all, she had fallen down at least one flight of stairs before they got to her. Her injuries could have simply been a result of that.

Either way, Chie shook her head. "According to what she said, everything from before she found us in the stairwell was really fuzzy. She remembered walking to school at least, but everything before then is just a blur." It didn't help that Saki-Senpai had been so... Nonchalant about it. She barely noticed the wound at all, and she seemed much more worried about the Shadows and just the horrible copy of the liquor store. It just struck Chie as strange, and confusing. How does someone not notice a bleeding gash on their head?

Yosuke sat in silence at the conversation's turn, for once stone still instead of fidgeting around or messing with his headphone cord. It didn't seem right, talking about Sa-... Konishi-Senpai- she hated him, he didn't have the right to go first-name basis with her- without her around.

"... If we knew when she..." Souji trailed off, glancing to Yosuke before he could complete his thought out loud.

"...You can say it." Yosuke mumbled. "... This is important. I really... Don't want to talk about it, but if it means we can find out why the killer tried to kill Konishi-Senpai, then we really can't just sugar-coat what happened." He ran his hands through his hair, gripping the back of his scalp in frustration. "If we knew if she had the head injury from before or after she got in the TV, then we'd have a better picture of what happened."

"Maybe it was from her Shadow?" Chie offered up. Both boys looked at her, causing her to cough awkwardly. Ah man, she never was good at the 'smart role', she probably said something dumb again... She continued, even with a small stutter as she spoke, "W-Well, she must have a Shadow too, I mean she knew what Yosuke's was the moment she saw it, and she was too scared to go back upstairs. Maybe she had been attacked by her Shadow too, but got away before it turned into the nightmare mode?"

"It would make sense." Souji said, trying to ignore Yosuke's wince. She had a dungeon for her Shadow by the time they arrived... And she was clearly aware of what Yosuke's golden-eyed doppelganger was, the moment it arrived.

"She had one too then..." Yosuke mumbled to himself shamefully. Why did she... Right, she didn't have a reason to tell him of all people the truth of the situation. He wished he had more to drink at this point, or something else he could do with his mouth besides running his gums uselessly.

Class was over for the day, thankfully. There was mild talk in the halls as she walked by- mostly talks about Mayumi Yamano's death, 'that's so creepy how she was hung on a telephone pole'. Not really surprising, even if it was terrible to admit. Very little happened in Inaba, generally. The last big "scandal" was when the Amagi Inn stopped using Marukyu's tofu and instead switched to a larger producer from Okina, for goodness sake.

At the bottom of the stairwell, a familiar figure stood by the school lockers. Oh... Oh good, she was here. Chie smiled as she ran down, waving her arm to catch Yukiko's attention, "Hey! I missed you during lunch!" As she approached, she noticed Yukiko had switched outfits, going from her school uniform and candy-red cardigan to the pink kimono she normally kept for business at the inn.

Yukiko looked up in surprise before a warm smile ran across her lips, a look of relief washed over her. "I had to go back to the inn for the latter part of the day... With all of the chaos, Mother needed assistance with taking care of orders and deliveries. I only had the chance now to come back to retrieve my things."

Deliveries. A cold chill rushed down Chie's spine at that. Deliveries, like that one former politician in a pea-soup green uniform, the one who had already killed a woman and attempted to go for another. She tried her best to keep casual, didn't want to scare Yukiko after the talk with the boys, after all.

"I healed her up entirely before she went home." Yosuke said, groaning with frustration. Even if Konishi-Senpai hated him he didn't want her to be in pain like that. "I wouldn't let her go home as badly injured as she was without it! Especially with the head wound from god-knows-when."

Normally the idea of healing someone, especially an innocent young woman covered in wounds like Saki, would be something to celebrate. And as good as that was, the fact she was taken care of and was able to walk home with just Chie's assistance to make sure she was safe, there was an unintended complication as a result.

There was no proof that Saki had been attacked and left for dead, or even beaten, as far as the police would see. There was no injuries, no damage to her whatsoever. There had been blood slicked on her clothes, her own from the head injury... But the wound had been healed shut, the blood replenished with the flick of a card and the chanting of dia. As good as it was to heal up her injuries; it left them without a means to go against Namatame.

At least, not yet.

"Maybe we could still claim he had kidnapped her anyway?" Chie wondered out loud, " I mean, she never showed up for school, yesterday." Souji shook his head at that, taking a drink of the tea with a deepened frown.

"She was only away for a period of twelve hours, fourteen at most." Souji said, "And Namatame would be working those hours publicly. If she claimed he had taken her away and stashed her somewhere, there's no way of proving on her end what she's saying is true. Not to mention a lot of the cops around her might end up claiming she's trying to make an excuse to skip class, since with no injuries and no memory of even when she saw Namatame today..."

"She would look like she was lying," Yosuke's frowned deepened at that. It was bullshit... And worse, it was completely logical. They had no proof of what happened, none that the cops could see anyway. And even taking them to the TV World... Well, that just sounded like a way of getting himself and Teddie dissected.

"... There's only one way I can think of stopping Namatame." Souji's voice was quiet, almost cracked as he said that last part. "We... need to catch him in the act."

Chie rocked a bit on her heels for a moment, biting her lip as she debated how to exactly broach this conversation. Last year, she had made the same offer but Yukiko insisted she remained in school- "You can take notes for me instead. It really would be a lot more helpful to keep up my academics, and I know you're very good at writing everything down."- instead of helping at the inn.

But this wasn't a case of feeling bored and lonely while Yukiko was wrapped up in the inn work, this time. This was a life and death situation, an unbelievable, almost magical crime! And it was only her that could keep Yukiko safe from Namatame, and stop him from hurting any other innocent woman or kid as well!

"Is everything okay?" Yukiko asked. Chie snapped out of her thoughts, as she realized her dear friend had been staring at her with a worried expression. How long had she been in her own thoughts? Man, this wasn't how this was supposed to go... Yukiko noticed her tension, and gave her a disarming smile, even with the exhausted tone to her face, "Are you worried about me not being around for a while? It's not as bad as last year. We have more staff, so it won't be a full week like last year, just a few days."

"Well..." This was the best place to try to make her argument. Come on, Chie, gotta keep Yukiko safe, gotta stop the killer from attacking. You can do this. You're good at this sort of heroics; it's what you're good for after all. Chie straightened up, "Even so, I want to help out." Before Yukiko opened her mouth, Chie continued, "I mean, a classmate offered to take notes for both of us if I ended up going to help you. I already thought about that."

"A classmate?" Yukiko's voice sounded a little stern at that, "... It's not Yosuke-kun, is it?"

"What? No. Heck no, his grades are worse than mine." Chie blinked in surprise at that, not sure if she was insinuating anything on top of it. "No, Souji was offering that instead. Apparently, he was at the top of his class back at in the city."

Yukiko blinked incredulously at that. For a moment, she almost forgot about Seta-kun, only remembering him from the first day when she and Chie had shown him around town. He seemed very polite, yes but... She really didn't know what to make of the idea, not even a classmate she had been with in the past in the middle school or last year, but a complete newcomer being responsible for her keeping up in her grades.

There were few things Yukiko took as seriously as her studying, after all, and the idea of leaving it to a complete stranger left her shaking her head. "Chie, I'd really feel a lot more comfortable if it was y-"

It was at that point Chie had grabbed the wrists of her kimono, gripping her hands tightly. "Please." She said, harsh in tone, voice harder and more desperate than Yukiko had ever heard Chie's voice before. "Please, let me help you at the inn." She sounded so scared, overreacting over something as normal as Yukiko having to work. For a moment, Yukiko debated pulling her hands free from Chie's grasp. "I promise, I won't get in the way, I don't even expect to be paid, just please, let me come and help you out. Just until this weekend, after the rains ease up."

For a moment, Yukiko stood there, not sure how to respond. Chie wasn't supposed to act like this. Not freak out over something mundane like it was the end of the world. Chie was Sensible and Strong. So... Why would she be panicking over something as normal as Yukiko having to work for a few days at the inn?

"The next victim... Is... Yukiko Amagi." Souji winced, barely spitting the words out of his mouth. He looked away shamefully, trying his best not to look Chie in the face.

"No." She needed no time, as she shook her head at that. "No. Absolutely not, we're not going to just wait until the killer comes after her." A growing seed of fear took root in her stomach, sharp and brittle, leaving her stomach feeling hard. "There's got to be another way, I mean, can't we try to get Saki to come forward to the police?"

"With what evidence?" Yosuke asked, looking up from his hands. He had barely been able to focus in the conversation, after his realization of what the healing had done. "Even if she's willing to talk about it, we're not going to be able to prove Namatame did anything."

"W-Well, we need to try harder then." Chie stamped a foot at that, trying to draw their attention. Stupid boys, stupid idiotic crazy boys, with a horribly bad plan like this. What the hell were they going to try to do with a plan like this? "We can't just leave her as bait for the kil-"

"We're not leaving her as bait." Souji interrupted. Chie silenced, calming down as she looked to the grey-haired boy, a look of rationality gracing his features. He shut his eyes, as he explained, "What we're going to do is we have someone watch over her, and catch Namatame in the act. If we can catch him in the act of kidnapping, then we can stop him before he gets a chance to throw her in the TV. Not only that but with catching him in middle of kidnapping her, we have him red-handed in the middle of a crime, and will go to jail."

No proof. No physical evidence of what he had done, beyond the babblings of an insane man and a tiny and dear child who had passed away... And they could not even stop him from committing it again.

No. That was incorrect. They had stopped him from ever committing a crime again, and in the most shameful way possible.

... They could do this. They had to do this. Stop the crimes early. Catch him in the act, with proof of what he had done. There would be no hospital bed for Nanako, or for anyone else. They saved Saki-Senpai, and they would prevent the horrors from hitting Yukiko-san, or Kanji, Rise and Naoto for that matter.

"But... How are we going to stop him?" Chie asked. The hard pit of rage and fear in her stomach was aching less, her hands were unclenching- Chie hadn't even realized she had clenched her fists until she started to feel the pain of her fingernails digging into her palms- and she didn't feel like kicking both of the boys in the face now. But she still felt on edge.

Souji stood up, and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You're the one who can do it."

"What- Huh, are you serious-" She nearly jumped back in shock, "Souji-kun, are you kidding me?"

"You're one of the best fighters I know," The grey-haired boy said, smiling gently as he spoke. "You're strong and brave, and I know you'd give your life to protect Yukiko-san... Plus, you'd have the best chance to shadow her. She'd be willing to let you work with her at the inn, and you'd be able to keep watch easier."

"Chie." Yukiko said softly. She really had no idea what had Chie so scared. And quite frankly, seeing her so worried was making Yukiko more uneasy as well, as best as she was doing to hide it. Her mother's breakdown over the news reporters swarming in the inn for interviews regarding what happened to Miss Yamano was taking a toll... But she didn't complain. She couldn't be so selfish to complain or hide away, especially with her mother confined to her bed for the past half-day.

So far, all she had to worry about was orders and delivery work, but at this rate, she'd be dealing with much more managerial tasks for the Inn... As to be expected, with her role in life. But so early as well.

Still, she tilted Chie's face to look up to her. Had Chie been crying? Her eyes were lined with redness, her cheeks and nose ruddy. This wasn't like her to overreact so much... "Is it really that important to you?" Yukiko asked. Hopefully her tone was as sweet as she hoped, instead of incredulous and confused. Was she scared about the murder, perhaps? "You know, there are a lot of maids and guards and staff at the Inn... I'm perfectly safe there."

"I know..." Chie said, despite the first comment in her head being no, you're not. In fact, you're the opposite of safe there. Please, don't go home alone. "But... I'd feel safer if I could be around. It's kind of scary that something like this happened here, you know?"

"You're... Very serious about this, aren't you?" Yukiko asked. She looked over Chie, trying to hide her own growing apprehension. The idea of Chie being so frightened... There had to be a reason, even if she wouldn't say why.

They needed staff badly. As much as Yukiko claimed otherwise, there was a massive swarm of customers this year. So many reporters, investigators and even thrill-seekers, seeking out news about the mysterious killing of Inaba first-hand. With such a swarm, and a dearth of maids and servers, Yukiko could see the toll on all of the staff. Not to mention her mother's breakdown.

One more maid would be a great help. And Chie was bright, much brighter than she gave herself credit for. And if Seta-kun was as studious as Chie claimed...

"I'll have to ask mother." Yukiko said. Chie's frame eased slightly, the tension along her arms and spine releasing. "I'm not saying yes, don't get me wrong. But I will talk to her, and if she agrees, then you can assist us for a few days."

"That's... Great." Chie smiled. "That's really great. I'll do my best too, don't you worry." She could do this. Souji-kun was right. Yukiko's mother would surely agree- she knew her mother trusted her after years of being friends with Yukiko- and with that, Chie would be able to protect her.

That was her role, and she welcomed it. Chie wasn't as pretty or as smart as Yukiko. But Chie was strong and quick. She'd never be a proper girl, but she could accept the role of the protector just as well.

That was the best she could do.

It wasn't that bad of an idea to walk home together, Yosuke thought as the pair walked along the Samegawa flood plan. If nothing else, they could watch each other's backs, as well as keep on the lookout for Namatame. Even if he wouldn't do anything to them, considering what Souji knew about his habit of chasing people who appeared on the Midnight Channel only, it would still be good to watch out for each other.

... Yosuke bit his lip for now. There were still questions about what happened... How Souji knew it was Namatame, and what happened to make him hate the man so much, and why he came back. Or even HOW he came back. People aren't supposed to be able to do that, just leap back in time like it's nothing. And yet here Souji was.

It worried Yosuke how quickly he was coming to trust Souji, especially with something as big and as nonsensical as the time-travel story. But Souji had already shown him so much impossible things, and had gone and done the one thing he would never be able to repay him for.

Saki was safe and alive. And it was thanks to Souji.

Souji mumbled, barely audible as the two walked along. Yosuke tilted his head, turning down the light sounds of music from his headphones as he looked over to the grey-haired boy. "What's up?"

"I'm... Sorry..." Souji said. The burning in the pit of his stomach was starting again, and his lips and mouth just felt too sticky and dry to speak, to finally explain but... They were his friends. They deserved to know the truth, or as much as he could wrench out from that burning shame and sorrow, "I know this isn't helping, being so cold over that man but... I think of it, and even just the thought would just make everything lock up, and every time I would try anything, not even just speaking, all I can think is 'I can't', I mean, how useless of me," Souji's eyes narrowed, his mouth running a mile a minute as he found his voice going louder, more desperate and frantic with each word.

A hand went to Souji's shoulder, soft and warm and snapping him out of that spiral of self loathing.

"Take it easy." Yosuke said, snapping Souji's self-hate spiral in half. Souji looked up, actually looking Yosuke in the eye for the first time since last night before they had left the TV at all. Souji wanted to shrink away in shame- what shame? They were still innocent. He was innocent again. Yet here, he...

Yosuke's hand gripped Souji's shoulder tighter, as he kept speaking, "Look, I don't blame you for not wanting to talk about it... You're really sure this guy is the killer, and clearly, he's done some really nasty shit." He didn't break eye contact, as he continued, "It's been hard for you... If what you say is true-"

"It is." Souji interrupted, not even a delay in his speech. Yosuke silenced for a moment, pressing his lips in a thin line.

"-Well, you've had a really rough time, you know?" Yosuke continued again. "You don't need to tell us everything right now, okay. Just... Take your time."

Souji looked him over silently, face still and emotionless. Take his time... In a way, just hearing it felt a little relieving, a small piece of guilt fading away at that. They didn't expect all of the answers, just the ones they needed. Solve the case first, catch Namatame. Once that was over and done with, and Nanako and all of his friends were safe, then he could gain the courage to tell the truth about the last timeline.

He would tell everyone the truth. Not just Yosuke but... Everyone who deserved to know. All of his friends... Because they deserved to know.

It still gave Souji a burning feeling in his throat to think about it, shame and despair welling up back in his throat.

Chapter Text

"Stick your hand in the TV this time."

Yosuke was regretting these daily visits to Junes's electronics department already. He winced, hand still bandaged up from yesterday's attempt. "No. You do it."

"You need practice with it." Souji said, before sparing a glance down to Yosuke's left hand. "And anyway, he's not going to do it a second time, I'm sure of it."

"You also said he wouldn't bite last time." Yosuke grumbled, openly rubbing the injured arm as he spoke for that additional pang of sympathy from the grey-haired boy. To be fair, he didn't explicitly said that part, but it was implied with how much Souji said that Teddie was a gentle soul, that he wouldn't hurt a fly and he was just lonely and wanted people to talk to. Maybe a disclaimer about him having a taste for human flesh would have been nice too!

Souji winced slightly, obviously shamed. Typically, Yosuke wouldn't feel so pleased about making the boy flinch in guilt like that, but typically he didn't have to bandage his hand. "W-Well, I'm sure after you punched him in the head right after that, he'd be less likely to do it a second time. And why didn't you heal up your hand last time anyway?"

"I-I was just too surprised! I didn't want to stick my hand back in after the punch!" Plus, it got him out of putting away stock for a few days, leaving him with the more social work of greeting customers and cashiering, which Yosuke preferred. But he wasn't just going to admit that out loud. He shook his head slightly, as if to signify a push away from the subject of his hand and to redirect it back to the talk about Teddie, "Look, I stuck my hand in last time. We'll take turns, okay?"

Souji tilted his head in thought, before slipping his hand into the TV hesitantly. It wasn't like he was against the idea... And it would be easy to walk back out in case Teddie tore him in a second time. He was just a tad nervous after the mess from a few days ago. At least, as far as he knew, Saki-senpai was recovering and should be back to school soon...

Or maybe Saki was back at school already, and the pair had simply missed her. After all, Yosuke actively avoided most of the third year classrooms now, especially 3-2 where Saki-Senpai had been assigned. And as much as Souji wanted to convince the brunet how he didn't need to feel ashamed over what happened, somehow he didn't think Yosuke would believe him.

At least, not at this point in their friendship.

But he had no reason to be so nervous about this. After all, it was just Teddie in there. Sweet, lonesome Teddie. And sure enough, as he stuck his hesitant hand into the TV, he felt a fluff of warm and velvet-like fur beneath his fingertips, as well as the light sounds of a warm purr-like growl slipping from the TV. "Ah~ Sensei's loving touches are the beary best~" Teddie's static-laden voice could be heard on their side, quiet and somewhat muffled from the screen, but still clearly pleased as he nuzzled against Souji's hand.

Yosuke scoffed, "Dude, you cuddled his hand, and yet you bit me?"

"Well, it's not my fault." Teddie said. Souji could just picture the impish face in a sad little frown, ears drooped, just from the tone of his voice, "If Aniki wasn't so mean and punched me, I would have gladly cuddled his hand as well."

"After you bit me."

"... I thought you might have brought a snack?" Teddie asked, trying to hide a small, guilty laugh at that. "Aaanyway, that's bearly important now. What's important is you two are here and now! Oooh, did Chie-chan and Saki-chan come for a visit too?"

The two boys stood in relative silence for a moment, Souji biting his lip as he attempted to think of what, if anything, he could say before Yosuke interrupted, "Chie's helping her friend with her inn work. And Konishi-Senpai's... Not coming. At least for a while." A hand rested on his shoulder, causing Yosuke to jump a little. He turned, looking up to see Souji's gentle and calming face, silent but with a smile of understanding.

At least... He wasn't alone. It kind of was weird to realize, and really weird to think about it with this strange guy, but he wasn't alone as long as he was with Souji. It helped that pain in his chest ease down a little, just realizing he had someone who wanted him around.

"Hey... Who Konishi-Senpai?" Teddie asked, confused by the small silence that popped up, "Are they a friend of Saki-chan's and Chie-chan's as well? Oooh, is Koni-chan cute as well?"

"Wha-... Oh right. You probably don't have a last name, huh?" Yosuke said, rubbing the back of his head a little, "Her full name is Saki Konishi, but most people refer to her as Konishi or Konishi-san. You know, to be polite. You really only refer to someone by their first name when you're friends with them."

Teddie's ears bobbed a bit at that, a small grumble of confusion slipping from his mouth. Two names? Why would you need two names? Wasn't it just easier to be Saki, instead of Saki Konishi? Humans had so many weird little rules and ideas. Still, he had to wonder, "But you and Saki-chan are friends, aren't you Aniki? Why aren't you calling her Saki-Senpai anymore?"

Yosuke went blank and still, unnervingly non-reactive for a time. Too long of a time for the constantly fidgeting and loudmouth boy, as far as Souji was concerned. When Yosuke spoke again, he didn't bring up the question at all. "Things still good in the TV, bear? Like, nobody's been tossed back into the TV since yesterday, right?"

"Nope, just..." Teddie looked back, the golden eyes and painted grin visible even from the dark corners, glaring at him, slowly crawling along the metal framework around his safe place. Her lips peeled back, a sharp and vicious glint of her teeth in the darkness. Even if her teeth were nowhere near as sharp as his own, he didn't like the idea of confronting her again. And telling them about the Shadow...

"Do you think they'd believe you? Let's face it, you're a stupid silly little bear... And I should not even exist."

"Just lonesome, as I always am when Sensei and Aniki aren't around." Teddie said. It wasn't a total lie. Things were bear-tter when Sensei and Aniki were around. She would stay quiet, even if so creepy and glare-y, and he'd actually feel like someone was happy to see him. And with the amount Sensei was rubbing the top of his head, Teddie really did hope they really were happy, instead of Teddie just thinking they were happy and secretly just using him as she would claim. "Ah, Sensei! You and Aniki should come in for a visit! We can go walking around and see if we can find a really cool and fun place, or even stay close to the TV and we can talk and I can see you both face-to-muzzle!"

"Tomorrow would be best for that." Souji said, looking back over to Yosuke. "Sunday, we can spend a long time visiting Teddie, and let you get some practice with Jiraiya as well."

"You think so?" Yosuke asked. It seemed like a waste of a day off at first but... Well, it was still hanging out with friends. A weird guy and a bear, but they were still his friends, and Souji was right. He was the only one with a Persona and, if Yukiko was...

No. He wasn't going to think about that. Chie had this, for god's sake! If Namatame even came within an inch of Yukiko-san, she'd kick him to the stratosphere, and boot him in the nuts the moment he fell back down to earth! In Yosuke's mind, he had full faith in Chie's abilities to defeat Namatame.

... Oooof course, it made Jiraiya a little useless. But that was okay, because him being a little useless was a hell of a lot better than someone trying to kill Yukiko-san for some insane 'I'm helping!' reason. And he should be trying to work away from that kind of mindset, right? That was that whole Shadow thing was all about. 'Hey, this is the part of you that sucks. Make it not suck.'

Still, he wasn't going to argue about the chance to show off, especially those other spells that rolled around in the back of his mind that he never got a chance to test out yet. Garu huh? And Sonic Punch, which... Didn't have that weird almost-sorta-holy feel to it like the magic spells did. Especially since Souji wanted to see it all again.

"It would be for the best. We won't have to worry about classwork, and we can just keep getting ready, in case of... Well, just in case." Souji said. To be honest, he was really hoping the plan worked out as it should. That was what was needed, after all. Just a little faith in his friends, and a little push forward. Give Chie something to feel proud over. Give Yukiko safety and someone who's going to trust her. There would be no need to for them to face themselves, would there?

After they caught Namatame in the act, then they could focus the plan on helping Teddie get out of the TV World again. So then everyone could be happy, and with all of the positives with none of the negatives of the last timeline.

"Should I bring anything?" Yosuke asked. Souji tilted his head slightly, an action Yosuke took as a sign to explain himself further, "Like, you got all of the gear last time. I know we have a couple of sw-"

"NO." Souji interrupted, the light color in his face completely draining in an instant. "DO NOT BRING WEAPONS TO JUNES."

"Wha- Really dude? You brought nata and a katana last time!" Yosuke argued back, holding up a hand as he tried to bring down the volume of the conversation. Just because the Electronics department was mostly barren due to the prices, didn't mean he wanted to draw more attention to themselves while Souji was elbow-deep in a big-screen TV.

"Yes, and I was incredibly careful about it." Souji hissed, "We're not spending Sunday at the police station again, alright?"

"What do you mean aga- Wait. Right. Time thing." Yosuke winced in frustration, "Geez... You mean we'll get arrested for that? What, they're not patting down people at random, are they?"

"No. You just carried them out in the open."

"... You're kidding. I'm not that stupid, man."

"You were flailing around, showing off sweet moves with the aikuchi and the katana until a cop noticed us." Souji rubbed the back of his head, hoping the 'sweet moves' would assuage Yosuke's hurt pride. "And they're fake anyway, right? We're better off just... Saving up money and getting better weapons at Daidara when we can, if we need them."

Yosuke gave a small series of small, rather offended little noises before he finally decided on what exactly to say, "One, I'm not going to do that again so don't freak out like that, and second what did we say about talking about things you should not be able to know?"

Teddie, meanwhile, stood in relative silence, huddled close to the screen as he held Sensei's wrist. Not tightly, not after he got popped in his adora-bear-le kisser, but tight enough where he wasn't alone. Maybe soon Aniki would put his hand back too, and he wouldn't bite it this time. Mostly because he didn't want to cause Aniki pain, but also because humans were kind of salty and chewy and icky. It seemed like Aniki and Sensei were having fun out there though, in a weird way. At least, all this talk about Junes and police and aikuchis was pretty funny to listen to.

And it was a lot better like this with others around instead of just the silence... Or worse. As long as they were around, with a warm hand rubbing his hand gently, Teddie felt happy.

Maybe... There was more of that kind of thing on the other side. But for now, Teddie didn't feel the need to try and search it out. This was his place, the TV World. Even if it was large and lonely and now increasingly scary, this was his home. And while it wasn't as nice as the human world- as much as he could guess compared to this- he still liked his place.

But he'd like it better if there was that sense of safety as the human world seemed to have...

"... Hey Teddie, you mentioned biting Yosuke because you thought it was a snack before, right?" Souji asked, snapping Teddie out of his daze. He looked up, Sensei and Aniki obscured by the screen even if he could make out their forms vaguely in the glass. "Do you eat often?"

"Seems like a weird question to ask the guy.." Yosuke mumbled, even if it... Made sense. There didn't seem like many places to find food in the TV, the last time they went wandering. And the one place they found, the fake Shopping District, was incredibly gross and crumbled. Whatever food might be there was probably rotten and covered in mold. "Do you even have food in there?"

"There's peach seeds and soul drops?" Teddie asked.

Yosuke balked, "That's not food at all. Geez, no wonder why you tried to bite my fingers off when I stuck my hand in there." He stepped back, looking over to Souji, "I'm guessing you want me to go get snacks?"

"It'd be nice if you could..." Souji admitted. "I'm kind of broke after the other day... Until we go into the TV world again, that is."

"There's money in the TV World?" Yosuke asked.

"Kind of? We can sell things from the TV World to Daidara. He'll pay a fairly average rate for whatever pieces of rebar or cloth we bring to him, and give extra cash for rare things like whatever pieces we drag off of the Shadows." Souji said, before turning to the TV, "That is, if you're okay with us taking parts off the Shadows and random things from the TV, Teddie?"

"You're making my home safe again," Teddie said, "If it means you need to take parts off of Shadows to bring to the Daidara place, I'm bear-y accepting."

"Well, looks like until Sunday, I'm in charge of the wallet." Yosuke said, grinning a little at that. Even if it sucked spending money when he was trying to save for a cycle, a few snacks here and there wasn't that bad. And at least apparently this place sounded like a cash cow with the way Souji described it. "I'm guessing sausages and peach candies might be good for you, Ted? How about you, Souji?"

Souji blinked a little bit in surprise, before looking downwards, "You don't need to get me anything..."

"I think I owe you at least a pack of candy, dude." Yosuke said, " But we're friends now, right?"

For a moment, Souji went quiet and still, hand still against Teddie's head as he just stared at Yosuke in surprise, a shockingly sharp pain in his chest at that. We're friends now. To be honest, he considered Yosuke his friend for a long time, even before he met him a second time. Yosuke was his best friend, his partner and one of his most precious people. "We're... Friends now?"

"Of course- Hell, why wouldn't I want to be your friend again after everything that's happened?" Yosuke's smile was gentle, as he looked back up at Souji, "Dude, you've done so much for me and everyone already... I'm happy you actually like me enough after everything to be my friend."

"O-Of course." Souji's lips curled into a gentle grin, a little pain in his chest as he nodded in agreement. "We're friends... You can get me a bag of Super-Cola, if it's available..."

Yosuke nodded, with a small pat on Souji's shoulder before he walked off to go retrieve the treats. Of course, he wouldn't know the reaction that occurred at that small tap, Souji's sight at an instant being washed out in vivid navy blue, a wisp of a Tarot card appearing in Souji's vision at that moment.

Thou art I... And I am thou...

Thou hast rebuilt a bond...

It brings thee closer to the truth...

Thou shalt be blessed when thou creates Personae of the Magician Arcana

... It was different now. It had changed. Even so long ago, Souji knew the proper incantation, but now there had been a shift. A shiver went down his spine inwardly, even if he didn't let the sense of worry show in his face, or in the gentle pats he gave Teddie.

When thou creates Personae... But that was not even a definite. Still, he had no idea when his abilities would return, or even if they would be restored to his full former status.

*

Intolerable.

No, that was not the right way to think of the spunky brunette girl. Even using that particular word in the back of her mind left Yukiko's stomach twisting into a guilty knot. And typically, that would be the last word that would come into her mind to describe Chie...

Today however, it felt like the only word she could consider.

Yukiko rubbed her temple gently, looking away from the mirror and the barren golden cage on her desk. She couldn't fathom what had Chie acting so strangely. Ever since their talk in the hallway the other day, Chie had become... Overwhelming.

No. Not overwhelming. Protective. She was acting like a guard, and with reason as far as Yukiko knew. Apparently she was convinced she would be attacked by the killer, which sounded strange to her. But with the rumors she heard in the inn, especially from the messy-haired detective who she caught rambling about a 'strange reaction' from the girl who discovered the remains... Maybe there was some truth in the reaction.

The paper door slide open, as she could already identify the sounds of that particular set of footsteps- heavy but careful, almost fearful she would break fragile with one misstep- without having to turn around. Normally, Chie's presence would leave her more at ease, and she just wanted that ease. She desperately wanted to feel normal and happy, and not like the hairs along her neck were standing on end.

"Well, good news." Chie said quietly, "The latest delivery got in without a hitch at all. I think it was just a food order though, like I saw a whole bunch of oranges... I saved you one too."

Yukiko remained silent as Chie walked up, placing the piece of fruit on the counter. Unblemished, fresh and very bright in color... She really didn't need to do that, Yukiko thought. It wasn't like Chie had the time to waste picking through the order just for the right piece, especially after she had insisted on taking care of the delivery for the third time, and sent Yukiko off to go assist the maids.

It wasn't as if Yukiko was infirm, or had an actual reason not to help out in the deliveries at all. Yet Chie refused to even let her go out to the trucks for anything more than to sign for received goods, and the times that she was out, she would remain firmly planted between the driver and herself until Yukiko finished and could be safely shunted away to the laundry room or the front desk.

Chie sat against the desk, trying to look as relaxed as she could. Of course, with the heavier maid's kimono, her attempts already failed as she found herself fussing with the sodeguchi, trying to push the sleeves up on her arms only to have them flop back down to her wrists. Seeing her trying to adjust her arms and roll up her sleeves did amuse Yukiko... Not enough for a proper belly laugh, but enough to grin a little bit. As she watched on, Chie caught sight of her. "... You know," the brunette girl said, "You haven't smiled like that in a while, huh?"

Yukiko blinked a bit, the small smile dying down much to both their chagrins. "It's just a stressful time right now. I have not been able to relax properly in days." It was mostly the truth... And how could she admit the other part? About Chie's shadowing her getting on her... No. No, it was fine. Chie was just trying to help. She probably didn't realize what she was doing. She just wanted to help Yukiko out, keep her safe and sound. She should not have that small flame growing in her mind. Yukiko just smiled again, and if it was forced, neither girl said anything about it. "I'll be fine. Really, once Sunday hits, mother should be calm enough to resume her half of the inn work."

Should be calm enough. As much as Chie should be trusting her, and as much as Yukiko should have the choice to go back to class, or to take care of her own delivery work without a perky, cheerful and strong shade over her shoulder, glaring down any of the more persistent customers and delivery men. But that was the funny part about should. It didn't mean anything after all beyond an expectation. And, as far as Yukiko was concerned, her own expectations never seemed to pan out, compared to other people.

Just as she had expected that little bird to remain in his cage.

A small trickle of fluid ran down Yukiko's hand, as Chie's eyes widened. "Woah, hey!" Chie immediately gripped a towel, reaching down to swab Yukiko's hand as she looked down in surprise. The peel had torn where she was gripping the piece of fruit, as she achieved in crushing the perfect little specimen into pulp and juice. She hadn't even realized she was holding it, and yet here it was, bits of pith and pulp mixed into the liquid, running down her hand and dripping on the cherry-pink kimono.

"I-" Yukiko attempted to speak, to apologize for mangling the gift before Chie interrupted her with a simple 'shh'.

"Hey, it's alright." Chie said, rubbing away the mess with a towel. At least it had just been the orange, instead of Yukiko piercing her hand with her nails in the tension. Imagine how horrid that little mess would be, the trouble of swabbing the smear of blood from the silk instead of just the juice that Chie was patting at, slightly too frantically. "Look, you've got a lot to worry about. Your mom's just... Still in her room, and you've got a lot of work to do here and with the worksheets and reading Souji-kun brought." Her eyes lightened up at a bright idea suddenly, "Oh, wait! I know. You can hang out here instead, and just take a break!"

Of course. Chie was trying to help. Helpful, friendly Chie, just helping Yukiko once again. Doting on her, nannying her, defending her from all of the troubles of the world.

The pit of her stomach dropped.

"You don't have to do that." Yukiko found herself saying. What she wanted to say remained lodged behind her lips, tangled in her teeth and tongue. It was impolite to refuse, and what kind of person turns down their friend who's just trying to help them. "It's my work. I can't just let you take care of all of it for me, it wouldn't be right."

"No, no no!" Chie shook her head as she spoke, before flashing a gentle grin, "It's totally fine. I mean, if you're stressed out then you should rest. I've got it, it's just... Heavy lifting mostly. Sweaty work, you know? A lot of unpacking shipments."

Already, Chie was standing, gliding out of the room on quick steps. All Yukiko wanted to do was grasp her sleeves, drag her back and refuse, not just remain static in this wooden chair as usual.

But that was not what her role was, was it. Chie was being so kind, so d-... So much of a better friend than she really felt like she deserve. After all, she had come and taken care of all of Yukiko's work for her. And she had made through with her agreement, with Seta-kun bringing their homework, so she had plenty of time to study and to keep up in class. Even if she wasn't out on the inn floor, setting up the schedule or helping place away the shipment along with the rest of the employees, that should be okay.

Looking at the mash of orange wrapped up in the pale towel on the desk, Yukiko still found herself wondering in the back of her mind when Chie lost so much faith in her, and in the one thing Yukiko knew she could do.

Chapter Text

His katana and flak jacket were safely within Teddie's realm.

His backpack was stuffed to the brim. Yosuke's paycheck went towards a variety of goods, additional health kits, ointments, sedatives, herbal ‘anti-toxin’ teas and sugar-laden treats - one of the few things he could find that improved that emotional fatigue that came with using one's Persona and the inherent magic - leaving the backpack bloated and heavy.

He'd be able to pick up bags of ice and pinwheels at Junes, and there were still enough fire-crackers. Not that everything was immune to flames in Yukiko's Palace, but putting more money towards ice and cooling would be a preferable idea. More importantly it was cheaper, which considering Yosuke was the only person with a regular job in their little party, the more money he could save the better.

Souji sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Still no access to electric attacks though. Not that it was a shock, Tasers were witheringly rare and incredibly illegal in rural Japan. And it wasn't like 'Ball Lightning' was regularly stocked within the Junes party goods department. At least the ‘bosses’, as Chie once called them, weren't weakened by lightning, but he could think of several minor shadows that would dissipate with a single jolt. It wasn’t crucial, at least not for the foreseeable future, but it did help out

Still, the idea he'd have such a glaring gap in their capabilities left him ill. He'd have to try and find a proper fusion to-

... Would he even be able to fuse anything?

It wasn't as if he could call Margaret and ask her or Igor right now. Even if he could recall her number- even if she had a number to call, instead of the ubiquitous line of zeroes that would appear in his call logs when he would double-check- Souji could recall that icy glare, that flush of solid rage.

Souji was sure of one fact: he was the last person Margaret wanted to see.

And asking such a foolish question instead of attempting to solve it himself, by attempting to procure a Persona in the TV World, would not be the best way to go to her. Empty-handed, grasping for answers... But he was searching for the truth. He knew the answer to the truth already; he just needed the proof to resolve the case.

Souji padded down the stairs quietly. This was the first day they'd have a chance to relax and visit Teddie again instead of lingering uselessly by the TV just to chat. The little bear would appreciate the visit, and Yosuke would appreciate the practice, the chance to feel important and strong.

He was sure Chie and Yukiko appreciated a chance to spend time together.

Chie was strong. He could rely on Chie. And Yukiko could rely on her too. They'd have to help the girls with Yukiko’s feeling of hopelessness and entrapment and Chie’s jealousy and inferiority complex after the fact, but that could be resolved after the case. Once Namatame was in a jail cell and out of their lives, then they could work towards building happier lives, and even entangle Kanji, Rise, Teddie and-

… If Kanji never got kidnapped they would never get to meet Naoto, would they?

Souji's lips tightened into a line. They would never even meet let alone become friends... She might go her entire life without ever needing to come to Inaba. Even with her grandfather's mansion in the countryside she preferred the city, and more specifically the work allotted to her from the bigger prefectures and private agencies. Without Kanji's kidnapping, there would never be a chance for their paths to intersect, or for her to open up to the group as a whole.

"... Senpai..." Her voice was so small, for once. Not the masculine deepness she tried to convey, but light and cracked and almost a whisper. A reminder that she was not the in-control and mature adult she acted like, but a young teenage girl, younger than himself. "Please... I need a clue, a hint. Some sort of idea at this point..." The sharp cracking of wood resounded in Souji’s ears, as even he could hear the sound of the Chaos Fuzz breaking down the school doors.

He stood at the bottom of the stairwell, the thought striking him full-force. It was... Unavoidable. There was no doubt in his mind, this was the better alternative. This was for the best. It wasn't as if he hadn't accepted the possibility most of his friends would never face their inner demons or find their own personal truths, but the realization that he would never meet one of his friends again-

Souji grit his teeth, gripping the banister to steady himself, trying to ignore the ringing in his ear, the phantom shrieks and pleas echoing.

"... I'm completely out of bullets."

She was better off. Everyone was better off. Not again, not again, never would he let it happen again. Naoto would live a long life, a peaceful and safe life, never have a thought like that in her dying moments. It ached losing a chance to be Naoto's friend again but her safety, and everyone else's, had to be his priority.

The important thing was that everyone was still alive.

As the thoughts passed... Souji calmed down. He was fine. Everyone was fine, or they were going to be fine, and therefore he too was fine. The pain in his jaw and his teeth, the slight sour acridness in the back of his throat, these were things that would pass soon enough, and he was steady. He shut his eyes, before finally taking a moment to step away from the stairs and continue heading into the living room. Nanako didn't need to see him like this, and it certainly was pointless, worrying about events that technically never happened. This was the present now, and that time of Shadows and death never occurred. And, as far as Souji was concerned, it would never happen.

This was the right decision, after all, and he needed to be fine.

He looked down quickly, pulling his phone out of his pocket. It was close to eight-thirty at this point, and the plan was to meet up with Yosuke at Junes close to opening time around nine. After a few hours with Teddie, they would head over to the Amagi inn by the afternoon, to confer with Chie about how her protection duty was going. If everything went according to plan, then they would be able to at least keep Yukiko safe and protected. Once the weekend was over, crowds in town should return to normal, at least until Golden Week. But until then, they would have time to plan on how to catch Namatame besides leaving Yukiko as... Well, without involving Yukiko in the plan whatsoever.

As Souji walked into the living room, Nanako came in from the backyard, carrying a now-empty laundry basket. From the window, he could see a few towels hanging in the breeze. "Good morning." She beamed, placing the basket down before running over to him, "Since it's going to be sunny today, I wanted to do the laundry."

"Sounds like an excellent plan." Souji said, a small smile on his face. She was as diligent as always, and probably awake before even he had been now that Souji thought about it. It made sense too, considering Nanako was in charge of the daily chores for the Dojima household for as long as she could remember, and if she wanted any chance to play on Sunday... Well, she'd have to get everything done as early as possible.

It always struck him as unfair how hard she had to work all the time, just to enjoy any semblance of childhood. After all, Dojima didn't know how to clean, and his cooking skills were only slightly less advanced than Nanako's. She had to learn everything by rote, most likely, just to keep the house functional enough to live in. And her Sundays were filled with laundry and scrubbing rather than any chance to go outside and play.

Already, she was gathering the next load of clothes, the laundry from her room and Dojima's piled beside the TV to make it easier to transport between the washing machine and the clothesline, plus it gave her a chance to rest between bouts of work. After all, it was more pleasant to clean the counters and dust the furniture to the sounds of cartoons and sentai shows.

"I looked at the weather for you," Nanako said, with a small smile, clearly pleased at remembering her cousin's interest in the weather, "It's going to be sunny all day. It'll be a good day to go out and see your friends!" Her smile faltered at that bit, before perking up, "And for laundry. It'll be really sunny, so it'll be good for laundry!"

... It wouldn't be unfair to the team, right?

Asking Yosuke and Teddie to wait a couple of hours, instead of heading out as early as possible for the training and practices?

Nanako deserved to have more than just a half or less of her Sunday to enjoy herself, right? They would understand... They always had before. Souji knelt down in front of her, taking out his cell phone. "Actually," he said, as he began to type out a message, "I think it'll be a good day for both of us to go out and see out friends."

"... But I need to get this done-" Nanako attempted to say, before Souji lifted his hand.

"I'm going to stay and help you with your chores." He said, already sending out the text with his opposite hand, "That way, we can both get out sooner, and you don't have to do all of this alone."

It was as if Souji offered to let her live at Junes for an entire week, the smile bloomed along her face so vividly. Nanako gave a girlish squeal. "Really?" She beamed, "You'll help me with all of this?” Then, in a startled yelp, “Wait, you know how to clean!?"

"Well, I had to help my parents at home before I came here," Souji said, a rather stark understatement for anyone who knew the Setas personally. "So, I know how much easier it is to have someone help you with cleaning."

"I'll get the rags and the wood soap. You can polish the tables and chairs while I'm getting the next load of laundry in the washer because I'm really good at separating my colors," Nanako said, before stopping to think, "You're not going to get in trouble with your friends? I know you were talking about going to see them today, so I don't want to make you late and get you yelled at."

"They'll be okay." Souji was pretty quick on his response, looking down at his phone. /I'm going to be a little late. Helping my little cousin clean, should be at Junes by noon, one at latest./ "Yosuke will understand... He's always getting stuck with a lot of tough work by himself too, so he's not going to blame you for needing help."

Hopefully. This wasn't like normal work, this was clearing up the TV World, making it safe for Teddie and figuring out what would their next step in stopping Namatame would be. Still, this wasn't the time to dwell on that... Or the slight fear of letting Yosuke and Teddie down-

But there was nothing to worry about. They were fine. Nanako was the one who needed the help now, and he could make sure everything was fine with Teddie and Yosuke. And with Chie guarding Yukiko it wasn’t like anything bad would happen to her. It wasn't as if Yukiko had been... No, Chie would certainly make sure nothing bad had happened there. It was just going to be a fun day for the guys, so taking the time now to make it a fun day for Nanako-chan too wouldn’t be selfish, would it?

*

To say this period had been a difficult time for the Amagi Inn was an understatement on a grand scale, akin to describing Toyko as a 'small town' or describing the murder from last week as 'a little creepy'.

Typically, Fuyuka Amagi was a very competent and skilled business owner and a very pleasant boss as well. She knew every employee by name, every order and guest rental to the inn, and the status of each room off the top of her head. However, she had one slight issue against her; in times of confrontation, Mrs. Amagi would crumble.

Everyone had personal weaknesses, and Amagi's was a deep-seated need to please. So, the week prior when Mayumi Yamano had been practically hiding at the hotel was already strenuous... And this was not counting the reporter's demanding nature. Perhaps it was the stress, or perhaps she had been more acclimated to western-style hotels instead of a proper ryokan, but either way Yamano's aggressive nature had taken a toll on the poor beleaguered manager.

As it stood, Mrs. Amagi had barely been able to hold it together with the constant stream of busybodies as well as Yamano's daily rant about how her room reeked of green tea and mildew, or how she couldn't get any rest with the constant shuffle of feet outside of her door even with being in the most isolated section of the hotel. When Yamano’s sudden and tragic… Passing occurred, that was then that Fuyuka had fallen apart entirely and retreated to her room.

Thankfully, Yukiko had been there. Diligent, calm Yukiko, who had been forced into her mother's stead... But she worked in the position without any complaint. And with the assistance of her friend, Miss Satonaka, it seemed like things were calming down. They weren't perfect, especially with Fuyuka still in her self-imposed quarantine, and Satonaka doing so much of the heavy lifting and getting underfoot of the maids without explaining why she was there and not Yukiko... But it functioned.

And that was what the inn needed now. Just to function, until Fuyuka was able to walk about properly and…

So the raucous din, from two familiar and yet startling angry voices, broke the peace of the early morning hours and cracked that functionality in two.

“I don't even know why I should bother explaining!" Yukiko snapped, her kimono's skirt bunched in her hands as she was running down the stairs, a childish and out of character display to the maids who tended the early morning hours, "I doubt you're even listening to me at this point!"

"I am listening, damnit! Come back here!" Chie shouted back, dashing as fast as she could behind Yukiko, stumbling over the skirt of her own kimono every few steps. Such elegant wear was uncommon for the young tomboy, and was preventing her from her main plan of just simply tackling Yukiko and being done with this madness. Well, that and the fear she would bruise her best friend like a peach beneath a pro-wrestler. She stopped at the stairs, trying to tie up the skirt just for easier running, even as Yukiko reached the landing.

"How can you even say that?!" Yukiko shouted. The growing attention from maids didn’t matter, not like their opinions mattered. It was the same as Chie's, most likely. Can't even take care of the inn, much less herself. Probably best locked up in her room, with nothing more strenuous than consuming oranges and completing math homework. Yukiko's hands were white from her clenching them so tightly, "You haven't been listening to me at all this weekend! You haven't let me even speak, let alone DO anything! Just tell me, what did I mess up so badly? Why don’t you think I can take care of myself!?"

"That's not it!" Chie ran down finally, after tying the skirt into a crude knot that, most assuredly, was damaging the fine fabric and stitching. In a calmer moment between the two, such a look might inspire a fit of giggles or a gentle scold from Yukiko, but now it didn’t even warrant a derisive snort. Still, at least Chie could now run normally instead of tripping and tearing the hemline under foot.

"Then tell me what it is!" Yukiko screamed, then dashed to the Main Entry doorway, trying to keep as much space between her and Chie as she could, "Because right now, I have no idea what you're even thinking, and I just need to know why you're so obsessed with keeping me in my room!"

Chie froze, hand on the bannister, trying her best to come up with a lie, something plausible to explain that she was trying to protect her from a man trying to murder her by throwing her into another dimension. How could she even fathom saying something like that? 'I know who killed Miss Yamano and I know he's coming around to get you, but I can't prove it'? 'My new friend is a time-traveller and he says you're in grave danger'. "I... I can't." She sputtered, staggered mentally and even physically by the question.

Yukiko laughed bitterly “So you are lying?” Chie never expected to hear that short bark of disdain, “You just don’t think I can take care of the inn, why don’t you just say it?”

"No, that's not it! It's never been that!" Chie's voice was twinged with desperation, a growing fear in the back of her mind. "It's... It's really for your own good, just please trust me on this!"

"How can I trust you, when you can't even trust me to lift a box? Maybe if you didn’t insist in hovering over me and babying me, you could see I can do things for myself! You’re supposed to be my friend!" It wasn't like this for Yukiko to explode like this, especially not on Chie. And without the hours upon hours upon days build-up, maybe she wouldn't be exploding like this. But stifled in her tiny room, focused on just that question... Her rage was frothing out too easily. “I don’t want to see you right now, so just leave me alone!”

... Yukiko needed space. She needed space and a chance to be on her own, to breath without an ever-present shadow looming over her shoulder. Yukiko dashed out the front door before Chie could catch up, still stunned from her shout. A childish act, yes, and hearing the deafening silence from inside didn’t help.

The spring sun didn't help her feel any less horrid, as Yukiko stood outside. There was space out here, plenty of space outside in the front garden and the driveway, and the valet hadn't arrived yet, so one less person. Merely a pale truck pulling up, probably an early morning order for the kitchen.

Still, the space felt cold around Yukiko, her heart gripping inwardly and sharply. That was... Completely reprehensible. No. That was not what she wanted, that was not the right plan at all. How could she act like that, Chie was just trying to help her and she... The running steps were getting closer, she could hear Chie bolting for the door. Part of her wanted to go back inside and just apologize, even as the truck pulled up, a tall man in a green uniform stepping free from within. But then she would be right back where she was for the past few days, wouldn’t she? Sent back to her room like a disobedient little girl, while the maids and Chie took care of checking this gentleman in.

Actually… This gentleman didn't need to know about what just occurred. The truck driver in a green uniform looked oddly familiar as he came up, carrying a clipboard to his chest.. Even with her nerves shot from all of the stress, her mind racing- my yukata is wrinkled and my hair is mussed so that's unfair to think so poorly of his wild eyes, and I need to just provide proper service and assist him with signing in his delivery- Yukiko steadied her expression, a gentle smile painting her lips. At least she would have a chance to do her work properly, for the first time in four days.

All Chie could see as she dashed out was the sight of Namatame's truck pulling out of the driveway, as she dashed out the door.

*

[To: Souji
Time: 9: 57 AM
yo dude its cool

take ur tiem so ur cousin can get her chores done but we partyin w ted laterrr haha

lookin 4ward 2 sweet jiraiya time, yessssss]

Souji analyzed the texts for far too long as they arrived. Even if he knew intellectually that Yosuke had no ulterior motives with his texts, his paranoia still was gripping him on occasion. The feeling died down slightly as he polished and vacuumed, never fully gone but at least shrunken far enough where he could ignore it. The moments when Nanako came to assist him and their half-hour mandatory break to catch Loveline SuperZ did stave it off a lot more, thankfully.

Regardless, he was finding he would be able to head out to the guys soon enough. He and Nanako had finished the weekly chores shortly after noon, so after locking up the house and walking Nanako to her friend Sunako’s house, Souji was in line to get to Junes.

As he walked along the shopping district, plans of what they could do bubbled into the back of his mind. A calm and fragile peace was forming ever so slowly. Not one that was constantly being reaffirmed, a mantra of ‘It will be okay. We are doing this. There is no reason to panic.’ Yosuke wouldn’t go running off into danger by himself, and Chie would never let anything bad happen to Yukiko. If nothing else, he knew he could trust his friends most of…

The all too sickeningly shrill bleeping from his pocket snapped him out of such thoughts before he could indulge in them more, the sudden shock snapping him aware. For a moment, Souji’s hands fumbled, a small sheen of sweat along his palms making his shaky grip even more tenuous. They were staring, the patrons around him. The shopkeeper watching at the doorway, the pair of gossiping housewives looking over to him, they were all staring. His eyes squeezed shut, as he finally jammed his hand into his pocket. It had to be important; nobody would call him if it wasn’t. Yosuke already knew to just text him, and same with Chie, so there had to be something vital if it was a call.

“Yukiko’s gone!” Chie’s voice cracked out on the speaker. The sound of Chie’s voice over the phone was bad enough; the desperate small sob she choked back as she tried to speak left Souji shuddering in horror all over again. Just being on a phone made his throat burn, his stomach stiffen into a ball of agony. But Chie’s tears of panic? Yukiko being in danger?

Souji’s knees began to give out.

… No. No, this couldn’t be happening again. They had a plan, Chie was right there protecting her. Yukiko should have been able to avoid Namatame entirely this time, or Chie should have been able to catch him before things went so sour, they had been prepared- Souji swallowed hard, still gripping the fence he clung to, in a desperate effort to not collapse where he stood. “… Wha… What did you say?” Souji eked out. He already knew the truth, there would be no way Chie would commit a prank as cruel as this. But to hear it said again would help, strengthen the truth of what was happening.

“She’s gone! We were screaming at each other and she ran away and- And before I could stop her- It was just a minute, I didn’t see her for one little minute, like she was outside and he got her!” Souji could hear a heavy thump in the background of the call, coinciding with a sob of rage and sorrow. Chie went silent, save for a whimpering cryeliciting a wince. Souji even if he knew the true reason why- she was trying to collect herself, give her a moment, she’s still there, she’s still there, keep breathing normally, Chie is not going to die- “I was watching her. I made sure she was okay, all the time, either I was with her or she was in her room. But she ran out this morning.”

“She ran out?!” Souji blurted, before he could stop himself. Yukiko fled?! Still, this was far from the time to assign blame or guilt, especially considering the shamed little sniffle he could hear on Chie’s end of the line.

“We… We had a fight.” Chie mumbled shamefully. Oh. Oh no… No, no no… The acid was burning Souji’s throat already. “A really bad one. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Yukiko this angry… And before I could get downstairs to her, Namatame was already gone! I told the staff, and they’re calling the cops, but I know it’s not going to do any good, so I’m going with you guys to Junes!”

“What? Chie, you don’t have a Persona-“ Souji said, before being cut off entirely by Chie.

“Don’t tell me that! You don’t have one either! And this was your plan last time, so this time I’m going with my gut on this!” She snapped, another thump reverberating in Souji’s ears. Whatever wall she was standing by, Chie was pounding it viciously, almost loud enough to leave his ears ringing. Even if he wasn’t aware of it, Souji had shrunken back against the fence, “I’m going to Junes, and I don’t care what you have to say about it! Yukiko’s in danger and I’m going to get her back!”

Immediately, the phone hung up. For a moment, dazed and panicked, Souji fumbled to call Yosuke, give him the heads up of what was happening. Maybe Yosuke could go in first, and Chie and himself could enter and catch up with him and Teddie right outside of Yukiko’s castle… But his tongue was dry and thick, and he could taste the bile in the back of his throat.

… No.

No calls.

Instead, Souji shoved the phone into his pocket and ran. Yosuke would be waiting for him, he would explain in person instead. No need to use the phone, and they could correct his newest mistake as soon as the group was together. It wasn’t fair to anyone in the group, how their plan went awry. Least of all, Yukiko, who now was in mortal peril.

Even now, with his mind entangled in so much chaos and self-loathing, Souji had a few things going for him, with the most key point being his own physical strength.

Barely five minutes after the call ended, Souji was already dashing through the entrance to Junes, a blur of grey and black rushing up the stairs in an attempt to reach the food court on the roof. Yosuke would be there, they would meet up with Chie and arrive as soon as she ran over from the Amagi Inn… They could start on Yukiko’s dungeon proper, get through as many floors today as possible.

As he tried his best not to huff uselessly, Souji crossed the threshold to the entrance for the outdoor café. The weather was cool, but not unpleasantly so, so the café still had a good amount of bustle. His eyes scanned the room, trying to catch that familiar mop of tawny hair and orange headphones but just… Missing them entirely…

Where was Yosuke?

Souji stumbled around the pavilion, still gasping for breath as he walked around the seating. Not at the secret headquarters… Not at another table either… And he didn’t get called into work at the last minute, at least at the grilling station or boba tea and burger joint in the area. Souji stopped at the first open register he spotted, huffing from running nearly a mile in less than ten minutes as he tried to steady himself enough to speak. The girl at the counter went slightly wide-eyed, even before he had a chance to puff out, “Yosuke.”

“Er… Come again?” Counter Girl asked, her head tilting in confusion.

“Yosuke Hanamura. Did… Did you see him?” Souji asked back finally, finally feeling the air rushing back into his lungs.

“Hanamura-kun?” Her eyes went fully wide in surprise, “You’re looking for him too? The cops just… Well, the cops just took him with him.”

What?

Wearily, he blinked his eyes. No. He was not stupid. Yosuke couldn’t have brought the weapons with him to Junes again, not after Souji told him not to. Souji blinked a second time, and a third, trying to ignore the sensation of his mind temporarily crashing and rebooting like an old computer trying to download a massive file. “The… Cops took him? Was he carrying a sword?”

“What?” The girl at the counter snorted derisively at Souji’s question, “I wish. That might have made sense why it happened… They just came up and asked him to come along with him. Harada-chan says she overheard something about… Questioning and Konishi-senpai?”

“Konishi… Sen… Pai…” Souji visibly paled. Saki-senpai? No, no no, she was alive, she was fine, they talked less than four days ago, why on earth would the cops be asking about her? There was no reason to ask about her, because she should have been okay, safe and sound, successfully rescued from the TV world without ever needing to return to it or the dangers involved with such a place. He wanted to scream it out, he wanted to deny this, this wasn’t how things were supposed to work out, there was no reason why he’d have to be taken by the…

Souji stopped, breathing in deeply with shut eyes. Alright. Alright, it was time to calm down and think. No good in going into an apoplectic fit now, certainly not in public. Maybe Saki remembered the incident where Namatame attacked her, and Yosuke went in to corroborate. That was a logical idea, even if rather desperate and sudden, but it would be better to think like this instead of panicking about an inevitability that he didn’t even exactly know what it meant. Souji opened his eyes and spoke to the girl again, “Pardon me. I was going to be meeting with Hanamura-kun today… Do you know if he’s still at the police station?”

“Uh, I wouldn’t know,” The counter girl said, a look of confusion painted on her face, “He was just taken like five minutes before you got here… You sure you want to meet with him still?”

Souji’s jaw stiffened at the question, “We’re friends.” He stated very solidly, a small piece of annoyance slipping into his tone. “I want to make sure he’s okay.”

The girl gave him a side eye at that, but at least she held back the comment she was clearly forming in her mind. “Well,” She said with an airy and dismissive tone to her voice, “I hope you have a nice day sir, and I hope your friend Hanamura-kun is alright, as well as Konishi-senpai.”

… The insult was clear. She didn’t know though, she didn’t know the hell they all went through trying to save Saki-senpai’s life not even a week ago. Or the despair Yosuke suffered for the year after Saki’s death, the amount of pain he went through. So he would not think about what she implied, that Yosuke would ever dream of harming a hair on Saki’s head. Souji turned around and started on his way.

The cell phone was in his hands as he walked, more briskly this time. Yukiko was in danger… But there was no way they could go through the dungeon on their own, not with just him and Chie and Teddie.

[[To Chie:
Time: 1:14 PM

Chie, it’s Souji.

Yosuke has been taken to the police station for questioning, something to do with Saki-senpai.

I’m heading to the police station, please meet me there. We’re going to need help for this.]

Chapter Text

It wasn’t a shock to Souji, Chie standing in the front of the station, cheeks crimson and eyes flaming in anger. The wrinkled, cream-colored yukata that was bunched up in an awkward knot around Chie’s thighs was slightly more surprising, but even then he fully understood what most likely occurred. 

The news that Chie and Yukiko had fought shocked him more. 

Such news was something he had never experienced before, at least never seriously, and the very idea would strike him as almost outlandish if it wasn’t for the fact Chie admitted it less than a half-hour ago. 

Her steps were heavy, almost thunderous as she approached Souji, causing the grey-haired boy to shrink back apprehensively at her. His own guilt had been tearing into his chest since her call before, and Souji was sure that Chie would have more to lay on him right now. It was his fault, he shouldn’t have wasted time. He should have gone straight to Junes, then him and Yosuke and Teddie could have intercepted Yukiko, or at least tried to arrive before her dungeon had fully formed. 

Truthfully, Souji didn’t know how quickly it took for a dungeon to form in the TV World, but even if the entire castle was created the moment she entered, they could have cleared out a few floors and gathered rebar and materials for better weapons, or something.

“We’re leaving.” Chie growled, gripping Souji’s wrist as she started to storm back to Junes and, more importantly, the TV World. “We don’t have time for this.”

With a sharp yank, she pulled him away from the hallway, already effectively dragging him to the doorway of the police station. The older men gawked awkwardly, surprised a large and seemingly masculine young man could be just pushed around by a schoolgirl, but they had no true idea of how strong Chie was or how often she trained.  

“Chie…” Souji gasped in pain, almost falling over at her harsh tugs. Even as he attempted to wrench away, she had him vice-tight, fingernails digging into his wrist ever so slightly, the doors of the station swinging open with force as she tugged him to the slightly cool spring air. “We can’t leave Yosuke right now, you know that.” Souji yanked back, pulling the two into a stalemate at last as he stopped letting Chie drag him off. She stumbled ever so slightly, her eyes widening as she tried to pull him again.

“We’re not abandoning him, but we’re coming back for him later-“ Chie said, her frustration leaking into every word. She stopped, a look of rage in her eyes as she turned back to the grey-haired boy, “Yukiko’s in danger! He’s just going to have to deal with this on his own, I mean what is he even doing getting arrested?!”

“He’s only in for questioning-” Souji snapped back, only for her to yank onto his arm again. 

“I don’t care if he’s here to have shabu -shabu and beer! The important thing is he can take care of himself, alright?!” It was only her pulling her hand back to tighten her fists that freed Souji, as she growled. “Look, I’m only trying to drag you in because you can get into the TV, otherwise I would just have gone on my own, so stop making this harder than it has to be!” It was cruel of her, she knew it. And that heartbroken look in Souji’s eyes, however momentary, was real. 

But there wasn’t time to delay here; she already saw what the TV world was like.

And what Shadows were like.

How long could Yukiko last on her own, considering how badly it messed up Saki-Senpai and Yosuke? Who would help Yukiko, if not her? Someone had to go after her, and go after her now. 

Souji’s hand remained in her grasp, even if she was sure she must have been drawing blood with how sharply her nails dug into him. Still, he barely reacted in pain, instead asking, “Do you remember what the walk to the liquor store in the TV was like?”

“How could I forget?” Chie mumbled, “All I can think about is Yukiko being stuck in a place like… Like that.”

“… Do you honestly think just two of us stand a chance on our own?” Souji asked. Chie went silent at that, the fiery rage suddenly turning ice cold at the realization. 

“… We…” She started, before stopping, trying to gather her thoughts together, “We got through Yosuke’s Shadow, right? And all of the little ones?”

“We only saw four Shadows that day. The three Hablerie, and Yosuke’s Shadow.” Souji bit his lip slightly, “There’s… Going to be much more in the TV world, this time.”

Chie’s grip on Souji’s wrist went slack. “Like… Double the amount? Triple? H-How many Shadows are in Yukiko’s place?” Chie’s voice trembled.

“… Last time, we lost count over forty.” Souji said, his tone going robotic. Chie’s voice cracked ever so slightly in her throat. Souji had only heard this quiet and sad and panicked wisp twice before. He shut his eyes before he resumed speaking, “We can’t do this on our own. We barely got through last time, and that was with Yosuke, and Teddie, and Saki-Senpai all helping. By ourselves, with just Teddie? He can’t fight yet. I’m shocked he tried to save Saki-Senpai and just thankful he didn’t get torn to bits! The three of us are not going to make it to the third swarm of Shadows.” Souji’s eyes opened, his voice becoming direct, “We need Yosuke, and we need his Persona, if we want to have any chance of getting through the first floor.” 

Chie’s mouth opened and closed, her mind trying to find some argument. There wasn’t any time for something like this, trying to get Yosuke away from the cops, but Souji was right. He had gone through this before, he saw how many Shadows were there last time, and he was the only person who could gauge what kind of hell they were about to storm. Her anger was still there, but at least she could think again, even if all thinking was doing was reminding her of the idea of Yukiko in that place alone. Cornered by a golden-eyed double, and dozens upon dozens of Shadows, like the one that mauled Souji last time. 

“You…” She stopped, taking a moment to screw her face into as neutral and blank of an expression as she could. Even so, Chie was poor at hiding her emotions, her frown very evident on her lips, one eye closed in a half-wince, “You’ve done this before. How much time do we have?”

“Until the next foggy morning.” Souji said, pausing to think, “We have until close to Golden Week, if I remember right.”

“It’ll be that long until it rains enough for a foggy morning again?” Chie asked, her head tilting to look down at her feet, “I mean, weather changes a lot. What if we’re wrong and it’s a sudden rainstorm in the middle of the night, or something?”

“That’s never happened before, I admit.” And he had a Persona last time, but as Souji was realizing, trying to predict events purely on prior events was not working as well as he hoped. Still, from what he had seen, the static events beyond what he had changed remained the same. And there was nothing he could do that he thought would affect the weather.

“At the very least, we’ll have this week,” Souji said, “Every day is going to be either sunny or slightly cloudy. If I remember right, we’ll have rain at the beginning of the weekend but it’s a false alarm. The rain stops before nightfall and we don’t have fog. Even if I’m wrong and the weather ends up much worse, we’ve still got at least four days after this. The weather reports here are the most accurate I’ve ever seen.” 

Chie’s pursed her lips in thought, absorbing the news. Even with knowing they had time, she still wanted to run into the TV right now. Yes, the rain wasn’t coming any time soon, but Yukiko was still there, all alone. With that many Shadows though, Souji was… He was right. They needed as much help as possible here. 

“I’m going to report what happened to the cops,” Chie said, “I mean, it happened so quick, and I know you said there won’t be evidence besides his book… But maybe they’ll find a hair of hers or something? Maybe Yukiko tried to fight him off, she really didn’t want anyone forcing her to… Do anything,” Chie reflexively cringed at her comment, “I doubt she just hopped in a guy’s truck because he asked her nicely.”

“… You know,” Souji said, as the two walked back into the station, “This isn’t your faul-“

“Shut up.” Chie’s response was sharp and sudden. “That’s not going to get Yosuke out of jail or save Yukiko any faster. I just want to stop thinking for a little while.”

The two walked back into the station in silence after that, neither looking at each other. Souji didn’t want to further heighten her anger and Chie needed the space that silence was giving. He stopped to turn to Chie, “Wait… We should meet up outside of the station.”

“Why not Junes?” Chie asked, her tone still all too bitter. At least she was restraining the urge to actively punch Souji. While the cops willingly turned a blind eye at the tiny young woman manhandling him just minutes ago, her punching him would certainly draw attention that neither of them needed. And it would certainly make things harder later, if Chie got the reputation in the station as ‘that one girl who started a fight at the police station.’ 

“We won’t have to worry about one person getting stopped and pulled aside again, if we all go to Junes together.” Souji said, “It’s better than risking something like this happening again.” That seemed to sate her, as she nodded. Good, nobody has to run off half-cocked into this situation and the party wouldn’t be split up either. 

As Chie went off to prepare a statement for the cops, Souji went to a familiar pair of desks. Perhaps having Namatame on record will help for the investigation in the future, give more evidence against the guy sooner, get people watching out for him instead of Namatame being totally disregarded for having an alibi.  

As Souji walked up to the desk a wall of déjà vu hit him, in the form of a lanky young detective bumping into his side. 

“Oh, whoops!” Adachi’s eyes went big as he chuckled, trying to steady the cup of coffee in his hands as he settled the drink down on Dojima’s desk. “Man, are you in sports or something? It’s like walking into a brick wall…” 

Souji was silent for a moment, trying to find the best way to greet the young detective. It was strange… Not like seeing his friends again, but seeing a familiar face that he did care about at least. The man had been at Uncle Dojima’s side through the worst of events after all, and even if Adachi could secretly be cold and somewhat misanthropic, Souji never had a reason to distrust the man. He had been Dojima’s life line and sole source of comfort after Souji left, until… 

“Adachi-san. I think I saw you the other day with my uncle?” Souji asked, before bowing slightly, “You’re his partner, right?” It wouldn’t be a bad idea, letting the man infer that Dojima had told Souji about him.

“You remember me?” Adachi rubbed the back of his head, “No need to be polite… I was expecting you to remember me as the guy who yelled at you and your cute friends.”

“Oh no, you were just doing your job and it was a tense situation.” Souji held up his hands. “I mean, it wasn’t helping with us lingering around the crime scene and all.” 

Adachi smiled slightly as he sat in his chair, taking a moment to look at the second coffee before handing it off to Souji. "You know, that is for your uncle. But seeing as you look shaken up, I think he'd understand. Black coffee alright?"

The teen nodded as he took a sip of the drink. It was thinner than his uncle's preference as well, but the flavor was as bitter and scalding as Uncle Dojima liked. Still, he did appreciate Adachi-san at least reaching out first this time. The man had always been reserved, but maybe he could try connecting to Adachi again.

The man coughed a little bit as his thumb rubbed the edge of the plain white mug, streaking a thin line of milky coffee along the rim. He looked up at Souji, an almost pitying smile on his face as he looked the boy over, before shaking his head. "Man," He said, "It doesn't seem fair to you. Like, I know Dojima-san's been here all the time and you've been stuck baby-sitting and doing schoolwork. That must be a pain, especially spending your first Sunday of the school year hanging out at the station."

"It's not been that bad," Souji admitted, a little quietly as he looked down at his coffee.  "I mean, I've already been making some friends at school, and I like taking care of Nanako." It would be good to be blasé for now, as neutral as he could muster. Those precious moments he stole away with Yosuke, Chie, Teddie, Nanako, and even Uncle Dojima and Yukiko, were something he cherished and clung to, kept him going even in the bleakest of moments. But admitting as such now... It screamed of desperation, an attention-starved teen boy who didn't understand the concept of boundaries, a potential stalker in the making. To play it off easy now would be the best, right? 

"See though, that's what I mean."Adachi took a swig of his coffee before continuing as he set the coffee down with an uneasy furrow of his brow, "Maybe if all city kids were as pleasant as you, we wouldn't be in this problem with Konishi-san...”

Souji carefully placed down the coffee mug. “I heard something happened to Konishi-Senpai… I don’t know what exactly though. Is she okay? Did she come to the police station?” As unlikely as it would be, Saki remembering exactly what Namatame did, maybe that’s what occurred. Maybe, just maybe, they could just focus on saving Yukiko, and he would be apprehended before he could progress on to Kanji within a few weeks. 

But Adachi's rough sigh, his hands running through his scruffy hair as he mumbled “Oh boy” just left Souji aware of how wrong he was. 

Souji’s arms reflexively wrapped around his waist as he could feel the burning of his stomach starting. “Well, at least you’re right about something happening to her. If she had still been able to come down here on her own, we’d be looking at a wholly different story though...” Adachi said, before his eyes widened a bit at his own statement, “Wait, you shouldn’t be hearing about this!” 

“Konishi-senpai can’t come down here?!” Souji froze up the moment his mind had processed what Adachi had just implied.  “What... do you mean? Is something wrong with her?”

With another deep sigh, Adachi scratched the back of his neck, his eyes frantically scanning the area, searching for any eventual third parties that might be listening in on their conversation. Finally, he flipped open the manila folder sitting in front of himself. 

Even from where Adachi was sitting, Souji could see the photos within the folder. Saki’s photo wasn’t a surprise, but the sight of Yosuke within the envelope left him confused and more than just a little worried. … Yosuke couldn’t have been kidnapped too, he knew that for a fact. Not unless somehow Namatame had been able to intercept Yosuke somewhere between Junes and the station, which seemed just shockingly improbable. 

“Listen, I really can’t tell you much about what has been going on. I mean, it’s bad enough that you’re already here, and guessing around what’s happening. I should probably just send you on your way, but… Well, Souji, you’re a nice kid.” Adachi admitted, trying to give him an easier smile. “You should at least get a fair warning. Especially because this is involving a friend of yours.”

“A… Friend?” Souji’s eyes widened, as he mentally put together the pieces. “You’re not saying that Yosuke has something to do with that, are you?”

“Hah...”  Adachi looked a little sore, turning his neck as if trying to loosen some cramped up muscles. He didn’t seem to know how to respond to Souji’s guess. “Kid... Don’t take it personal, but I’m about to give you some advice. You know what the first thing is they teach us at police academy? To never let personal bias blind you. That’s the kind of attitude you gotta approach the world with in times like these... When there’s a killer on the lose, you can’t just  ignore the evidence and trust your neighbor to not be involved, just because he doesn’t seem like the type, you know?”

“What... Why would they think that Yosuke is the killer!?” Souji hadn’t even noticed how he had raised his voice and started to scream out loudly enough for possible the whole station to hear his words clearly.

“Ouch...!” Adachi was holding his ears now. Souji’s yell was evidently enough to bust an eardrum. “H-Hey, I never said that! Calm down, OK? You don’t need to jump to conclusions like that. I’m just stating some facts...”

“What happened to Saki Konishi?” Souji’s heart was racing now. He wasn’t going to let go. With his whole body bent forwards, he closed in on Adachi, not allowing him to get away or change the topic now. “And what has Yosuke got to do with it!? Is that what he’s being questioned for? Is that why you’re keeping him here for no reason!?”

“Hey, now... ‘For no reason’? Geez, what do you think of the police? We don’t just randomly take in people for questioning if there’s no reason to suspect they’ve got anything to do with it,” Adachi sighed one more time before flipping the pages in the folder that was still placed in front of him. He finally halted at what appeared to be print-outs of some sort. Souji held his breath from a moment when he recognized the garbled mess of textspeak that was Yosuke’s texting style.

[Message: yo its me. u prob dont want 2 talk to me
thats okay dont blame u
but plz call me soon. want 2 make sure ur ok.]

“Saki Konishi... Was found unconscious in her bed the other day. She has been in coma ever since then,” Adachi finally admitted to Souji. “We tracked back the activity of her cellular phone in order to get an idea of what might have happened. If these are to be believed, then your friend was the last person she had contact with before it happened. In fact, he seemed pretty insistent on talking and meeting up with her. If you ask me, it’s kind of creepy to be honest...”

The more Adachi said, the fewer words Souji had. He just kept starring at the print outs in the folder, disbelieving what he was hearing and seeing. Konishi-senpai was in coma? No, this couldn’t be right. They saved her. She was supposed to be OK now. They saved her, she lived, she was alive, she was supposed to be alright.How could this be happening? And how could it be that there was nobody who had any contact to her... Except for Yosuke? And if it was true, if Yosuke really did know that this had happened to Konishi-senpai, then why didn’t Yosuke tell him about this? Souji couldn’t make sense of it. His head was hurting, spinning, and he had trouble breathing.

“We’re currently assuming an assault.” Adachi’s words reached Souji like a far-away drone of underwater noise. “Of course, we aren’t sure yet about the exact details or any possible motives... Hey. Come to think... Do you maybe know anything about this? You know, just anything that could help. About the relationship between those two? Any strange changes in your friend’s behavior lately? Anything could be a help, you know.”

Numbly, Souji just shook his head. “Yosuke wouldn’t do that,” he mumbled. “He’d never... Especially not to... He’d... He’d rather...” Souji choked on the last word before he could get it out. No, what was he thinking. He knew that this all couldn’t be true. He knew Yosuke. Right, this all had to be a mistake or a trick. Somebody was trying to mess with them, get them out of the way somehow. But who? Namatame, maybe? But how would Namatame know that they realized that he was the killer? He had no way of knowing... Unless he managed to get Yukiko to tell him. Was that what happened? Did Namatame go back to finish what he started with Konishi-senpai? Did he torture Yukiko so she would tell him who got in his way and then use the information to indict Yosuke? Souji desperately trying to catch his breath. He was acting paranoid here, he knew that, but it was just impossible for him to stay calm right now. Not with knowing that Yosuke was in for questioning... Under the suspicion of possibly trying to kill Saki Konishi. The thought alone made it hard for Souji to swallow. It seemed so grotesque and surreal, like the opposite of reality. Yosuke, of all people... Yosuke...

Yukiko was kidnapped. Konishi-senpai was in coma. Yosuke was under arrest. That all just couldn’t be true, could it?

“Well, if you say so. Just don’t forget what I told you, alright? If there’s anything off, you can give me a call any time and report it. As for the current case though, that’s really all I can tell you.” Adachi closed the folder before Souji’s eyes again, halfheartedly tugging in any sheets or snippets that ended up hanging out, and picked it up from the table. “I’d better get back to work now. Dojima-san isn’t gonna let me hear the end of it if I don’t get him his coffee fast.”

Souji peaked down onto the table. The small plastic cup of coffee before him was standing there idly with not a hint of steam on the surface, cooled to the point that it downright looked sad. As much as he hated wasting food, he couldn’t bring himself to pick it up and drink it right now. He felt too sick.

“Alright, back to the coffee machine I go!” With a motion that made him look much older than he actually was, Adachi got out of his seat. “If your uncle asks, you didn’t see me! Anyway, I’m sure I’ll see you later! Take care, kid!”

And then, Adachi left down the same hallway he had come from, leaving Souji to his own designs. Alone with the stone-cold coffee cup, the teenager sat in silence, not sure what to do. He felt too heavy to get up, too numb to contemplate about what to do next...

The clock in the hallway ticked away the seconds for a good while before Souji’s attention was caught by a sound again. The steps made him wonder if he shouldn’t get up to avoid uncomfortable questions from the next police officer passing by, him just idly sitting here in the middle of the day for no clear reason for a moment, but those thoughts were all but gone when Souji saw who was really coming his way. Yosuke was approaching slowly, dragging himself along in a manner that deserved the description “stumbling” more than “walking”.

“Y-Yosuke...!”

His pupils widened and Souji wanted to shout, though he stopped himself and lowered his voice at the last moment. Still, he couldn’t keep himself from leaping out of the chair and hurry over to Yosuke’s side, just to help him, to let him stand,  help him walk, make him less miserable, protect him, hug him...

...He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t come that close. Not yet, not here, at this time and place. Souji already had taken Yosuke’s hand, but he couldn’t go any further. He was looking him in the eyes. Those, tired, exhausted, pained-looking eyes. He couldn’t stand that pain, but he knew he couldn’t take it away. There was no way for him to be allowed to come that close.

“...You...?” Yosuke seemed to surprised to see Souji, but there was obviously too much on his mind to express that in one coherent sentence. His expression said it all instead. At first first, surprised, then there was a vague attempt to feign a smile. Finally, that attempt collapsed before it could ever come to flourish. Yosuke's eyes trailed off. He was clenching his teeth. “...It’s about... Senpai...She’s... They told me, she’s...” He was uttering under his breath, clearly just barely holding in the tears.

Souji kept holding Yosuke’s hand. There wasn’t anything else he felt could do, and that was was the worst feeling of them all.

Chapter Text

"Did you really expect them now? What, it looks pretty clear to me that you were ditched"

Teddie said nothing, refusing to turn away from the dim glow of the screen.

Sensei had promised they'd be back today. They had a plan, and Sensei and Aniki were going to be here and they'd be walking through the Shadow Inaba's outskirts, trying to clear out small shadows in the area, and Chie-chan would come later on. They promised, and… Well, that was all Teddie had to go on.

He was sure he could hear her scoffing at that, but it was true. All he had to go on humans was what he seen with the group, as well as the killer that he had never met, but had a pretty big reaction on his world.

She was proof of that.

He could make out only the smallest bit from the outside. The outside was much quieter now, even if he dare not stick his face out to see what was happening out there. The sounds outside, of chattering humans and shoes and squeaks and beeps and jingly songs, they had stopped again. People were normally not here after that point, or at least Sensei, Aniki and Chie-chan had never been here this late, but it was still bright with the white light and colorful neon, and he could still hear the jingle so maybe they-

A heavy piece of metal, too fast for the bear to see initially, hurtled right past his ear, bearly cuffing the fluff as it clattered along the floor. The pipe echoed as it landed, along with the Shadow Girl's giggle at the sight. Well, he couldn’t suppress his wince at that, as well as the pain from his cuffed ear.

Teddie couldn’t stop the jerk of his head back, before shivering at the sight of her. The mangy-looking Shadow Girl sneered at the sight. “That’s going to get really boring quick, if you never say anything and only react if I hit you.” she said, pushing away a strand of hair. The chain locked around her wrists rattled with each movement. “I mean, I just want to talk… You know how boring and lonely this place is. Why are you being so mean, and ignoring me?”

“Bearcause-“ Teddie stopped himself as he stumbled on his words, eliciting a scoff from her. Reel it back, calm down a little Teddie. Gotta be a brave bear, what would Sensei say if he saw Teddie being so scared of just talking to a Shadow? He swallowed, before trying again, “Because you’re mean. And you’ll just going to pick on me more.”

“Well, yeah.” Her tone was blunt, as her smile widened. Teeth should not be so sharp, with such a humanoid and pretty face, he thought. “But so is everyone, when your back is turned! I mean, do you really think your Sensei and your Aniki aren’t off being thankful they don’t have to hear your dumb puns, or that you’re not acting like a giant needy baby about seeing Chie-chan again? If anything, I’m doing you a service! I’m just saying what everyone’s saying behind your back to your face, so you can stop screwing up and making things harder for the rest of us. Don’t be a selfish little brat, Ted-chan.”

“I-I’m not!” He insisted, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped at that. “And you’re wrong! They wouldn’t act like that behind my back! Y-You don’t know them-“

“Like you do?” The Shadow Girl’s head tilted as she asked. At that, Teddie sputtered, trying to find the words to prove she was wrong, even if all she said was a rather severe grin at that. “You’re not like them… But I know what humans are like. Of course I know, and I know that humans lie, and they talk shit about you when you’re not around… How about this, Ted-chan, I’ll throw you a bone. You’re being so mean to me, ignoring me and saying I’m a giant liar, but I’ll give you what you want. I’ll leave you alone for a little while.”

“… I… I don’t know what to say to that.” Teddie said, truthfully. The relief in Teddie’s voice was evident, even if he bit back on his surprise. If he made her mad, she wouldn’t go away, right? So being surprised or thinking she was lying, that would make her mad, maybe? “That would be…” Could he say nice? She was saying she’d throw Teddie a bone, so that was her doing a good.

These kinds of word games were not something he liked, but at least it was just word games this time.

Teddie trailed off uselessly, looking back at the shadow girl as he twiddled his mittens together. He looked at her, doing his best not to shake- she didn't like the shakes. Or maybe she liked them. After all, she would laugh the most when he started shaking. But Teddie was sure making her laugh was no good, and not laughs like that. At least she couldn't cross into the stage itself, but he was still too exposed for his liking.

"Even when you're just too useless to speak, I can understand you, and I help you out as you deserve." She flashed a grin at him, her teeth luminescent in the darkness. Sharp and long, probably sharper than Teddie's own. "And when I come back, maybe you can answer my question on why Hana-chan and the rest of them never came back for you... But then again, I already know. And you should know too."

As the Shadow Girl skittered off, the only sound Teddie could make out was her rattling chains. ... No, the song from inside the place was-

Teddie turned sharply to look back at the TV, only for the bright white light to suddenly die. No more jingle, no more light from the Junes place that everyone came from. No people inside, for several hours at least.

... They never came today.

*

2:58 PM

The wall clock above the board was still analogue, but it was still clear the time. No alarm yet, and only now was Yanagi-san coming up to the front of the class to lead the standard ‘thank you’ send off to Mr. Morooka. It was only by the grace of god that class had been calm, with the hardest work being Ms. Sofue’s lecture.

Not counting the amount of classmates that gave Yosuke cold glares. Or the empty desk that normally belonged to Yukiko, sitting just in front of Chie and Souji. A constant reminder of what happened over the weekend, the strain leaving all three tangled up in their own anxieties. The minute ticked onward, 2:59 and the class all standing for the proper class bow to their teacher before leaving for the evening.

If they were stiff as they got up, no one said anything. No one noticed the sounds of glass and plastic medicine bottles clinking together in Chie’s coat, or how Yosuke kept his arms down very close to his sides, much less the very vague imprint of what could be nata within his school jacket. And they certainly didn’t notice the gaunt look in Souji’s face, or how pale and quiet Yosuke had been all day, or how tightly Chie’s fists were gripped.

The three bowed in time with the rest of the class, calm, passive, polite.

At the gentle ring of the bell, the clock shifting, they didn’t move any faster than their classmates, at first. Yosuke kept his arms down and Chie surprisingly didn’t push into anyone even by accident, as the group mixed in with their classmates. Students poured into the hallways, gossip and chatting all around them, unaware of the three students pushing their ways more to the doorway.

If Chie shoved into a student in her haste to get to the lockers, most people could write it off as her being just mad her best friend wasn’t around today. If they noticed Yosuke yanking his shoes off to toss on a pair of running sneakers, or how the new kid shadowed between Satonaka and Hanamura, holding their bags or jackets, it wasn’t attention-worthy.

People wanted to get the hell out of school, since it was just only work and none of the clubs or sports activities had started, and some of the teachers- King Moron particularly- were still at their saltiest at the beginning of the year.

For the rest of the school, Souji, Yosuke and Chie’s descent into hell went completely unheeded.

*

When they entered the TV, Souji found shivers going down his spine, silently wondering if this had always been such a nerve-wrecking experience before coming to the conclusion that it was the tension in the air. With Chie so on the edge that the poke of the finger should be enough to make her lose it, and Yosuke’s spirits still located somewhere between Hades and Yomi, these weren’t exactly the most pleasant conditions under which he had entered the TV so far.

He couldn’t blame them; In fact, Souji himself was barely doing better. He knew that. His shaking hands and tense shoulders couldn’t hide any secrets.

But how could you blame any of them? Things had somehow gone from bad to worse. Yukiko had been protected but was kidnapped, Konishi-senpai had lived but only in the vaguest sense of the word, Souji himself knew all about how to fight using a Persona but couldn’t call even Izanagi... To call the situation a mess would have been an understatement.

This wasn’t what he returned for.

Not only had he failed to avert even one of the catastrophes he tried to prevent, somehow he had managed to make them even worse. Yosuke’s and Chie’s crushed emotional states were the sad testimony to that. They hadn’t been this bad at that point the first time around... With a breath he tried to focus on the task on hand, ignoring Chie’s fretful fidgeting to the best of his ability as he took his usual look around the area right after arriving.

He didn’t get far.

Just a couple of second after he had solid ground under his feet, Souji went flying back from an assault of fur and felt, the surprisingly light but sturdy mass of red and blue throwing himself at him and Yosuke. The clinging and shrill cries made Souji shiver before he could comprehend what was happening, only avoiding in drawing his sword and go into a battle stance by sheer confusion and the small arms wrapped around his waist and arms. Souji finally processed what was happening, as he realized who was tearing small holes and dramatically whimpering into the fabric of his shirt.

“Senseeeeei! Aniki! ...Y-You guys came... b-baaaack!” Teddie sobbed, tearlessly and not… quite as dramatically as he was prone too, but rather distressed, earnestly and undoubtedly distressed. It didn’t help that Souji recognized this line, those same words coming from a horrified Chie within the Junes TV section the first time over. Was this a coincidence? It had to be, but even so the sheer dissonance was unnerving to him, causing Souji to pull away from Teddie as he tried to clear his mind. Even if Teddie seemed less-than-interested than anything other than grabbing onto his and Yosuke’s uniforms and pressing himself close, eliciting a wince from the small bear as Souji pulled back.

He loosened his shoulders, trying to calm down and stop with the jerky and startled motions- A task that was somewhat difficult with the… fear still coming from Teddie? What was going on?

Yes, Teddie had been troubled when they entered the TV around this time the first time around... But had it really been this bad so early on? Souji felt like he would have to answer that question with ‘no’ and that fact did nothing to help him feel less unsettled about their situation. The acid ached in his throat. Yosuke, Chie... And now Teddie, too.

“Whoa,- Hey, knock it off! What’s gotten into you, Ted!?” Yosuke blurted, too distracted by the sudden bear to notice Souji’s awkwardness. The way Teddie attempted to push close to him and clinging to his clothing was clearly making him uncomfortable. Yosuke raised his arms and moved to push Teddie off of him, but then abruptly stopped when he caught a glimpse of the bear’s face. If it hadn’t been clear before that Teddie’s ‘costume’ was perfectly capable of facial articulation, it definitely was now. Yosuke let his arms sink again, he bent down a little as he winced. “… What’s up with you? Did you see a ghost or something?”

From the corner of his eyes Souji could see Chie visibly shudder, a clear spike of worry weaving into the anger and panic already tangled within the slight girl. Chie’s phobia of ghosts mixing with her panic and guilt over what happened with Yukiko? And her anger at Souji for having to wait so long to get to Yukiko’s dungeon? Souji was sure that trying to explain to her again that the Studio was a safe zone and that no Shadows, ghostly or otherwise, would chase them down here would probably earn him a punch to the face. At best.

Teddie, meanwhile, took a moment to reply to Yosuke. “No... E-Ebearything’s just... Normal in here,” Teddie claimed, even as his words were still choked up with dry sobs, “I... I’m just... So ha-a-appy to see you guys again!” The little bear’s words then reminded Souji of something.

Right. They had promised Teddie that they would come to see him yesterday.

Suddenly, it made complete sense that Teddie was in such a messy emotional state. Lonesomeness and troubling thoughts never mixed well for Teddie, especially over a long period or without any explanation. Souji bent down and started to pet Teddie gently. “Teddie... I’m sorry about yesterday. We meant to come but, well... Something went wrong.”

“Went wrong...?” Teddie tilted his head curiously, a surprised glimmer appearing in his eyes.

Souji tried to explain, but as soon as he tried, someone else’s arm pushed against his shoulder with enough force to make him stumble to the side. Chie shifted into Souji’s place, glaring at Teddie with wrath.

“Can we just cut past all this emotional crap and get to the point!? We’re not here to play, someone’s in danger and we need to go after her right now!”
The harshness in Chie’s words was enough to make Souji jolt too, even if she was chewing out Teddie. It was his fault, she didn’t need to be taking out on Teddie when he was the one who asked her to... When he heard Yosuke clear his throat, Souji snapped out of the spiral. Hopefully it would do the same to Chie’s diatribe and Teddie’s panic. Yosuke scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to find the right words, or even anything remotely close.

“You said that everything over here has been normal, right Ted? Are you really sure about that? Yesterday, our friend was taken away and we think that she was thrown in here,“ Yosuke gestured towards Souji. “He’s pretty sure of it too, and Chie saw the killer’s truck in the area where Yukiko-san was last at.“

Souji nodded at Yosuke’s explanation, as he watched Teddie carefully. Chie appeared to have shaken the little guy up, but Yosuke’s words were at least more benevolent, and hopefully easier for Teddie to understand. At least it calmed him slightly, as he alternated between looking at Yosuke and Souji, catching a tiny peek at Chie, before he bowed slightly and started to focus.

“A person? Over here?” He repeated what Yosuke said. “That shouldn’t be. If anyone showed up, my nose would have-” Teddie abruptly stopped right there and Souji was sure that he saw the bear’s little, black nose twitch a little. His eyes widening, Teddie brought his head up again with a panicked look to his face. “W-Wait, you’re right!! There is someone in here! They’re not even that far away! How did I-“ Tiny paws went up to Teddie’s head and he started shaking it, as if trying to clear it out. “T-That’s strange... Why didn’t I notice that bearfore! The scent is right there and crystal-clear! I-I...”

“Teddie! Focus!” That was Yosuke. This time he had raised his voice. “Do you know where Yukiko-san is?! We need to get to her as fast as possible!”

“If you know where Yukiko is, you better spit it out right now, you hear me!?” Chie’s addition to Yosuke’s plea wasn’t exactly helpful and by now Souji was sure that she was, in fact, not thinking even one bit rationally at the moment. Her emotions were out of control. His hands shaking a little, he was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea to take her along in the first place.

There was no choice in the matter. She would have forced her way here, possibly endangering herself worse by coming in by herself or trying to confront Namatame personally, even if he begged her to stay out of this and wait until they rescued Yukiko-san. If anything, bringing her now was the only decent course of action, at least they could help Chie focus her panic and anger to saving Yukiko.

Of course that didn’t change the fact that every sound out of her mouth was making Teddie flinch by now and he stood there, petrified, arms covering his face... Was he expecting Chie to hit him? What kind of life was Teddie leading here?!

“But... I can’t... I don’t think I know where...”

“Teddie,” Souji stepped forward with a tense face, his body slightly angled down to Teddie. “Her name is Yukiko Amagi, and she's the same age as us. She lives at an inn with a hot spring, one that's been in her family for a long time. She... She loves horror movies and ghost stories, and hates snow.” Trying to talk about her Shadow left his throat dry and tight, almost eliciting a gag from Souji before he switched gears. It wasn't his story to tell, even if he wanted to think about her Shadow and what was coming. Teddie didn't need to know what her Shadow was like until they were going to fight, not yet. All Teddie needed was to know her.

"... I-I'm not sure if this is enough, Sensei," If he was in a clearer state, Teddie could be able to track something closer. As it stood, he was beary close, with a general idea of where the scent was coming from. But general was never enough in the TV, even before Miss Scary Shadow was lurking around.

Souji sighed, trying to think of something closer. As Chie stood up, ready to offer something better than just basic facts- as if Souji could really know Yukiko that well, as if he could understand how she felt- Souji started up again, "She had a little bird. I believe it was a song bird or something wild... She used to keep it in a cage, but the bird flew away recently. She was really upset about that. Will that help?"

The group was quiet, Chie's eyes widening at that as Teddie started to sniff at the air. He took a moment, sniffing deep and hard, before looking up a set of scaffolding, "I... I think know where now! It's beary close from here, up that ladder and down a few corridors that-a-way!"

Before Teddie had even closed his mouth again, Chie was already sprinting into the direction he was pointing, not loosing a second. Baffled, Souji and Yosuke watched her backside escaping into the fog, zooming towards the ladder Teddie had spoken about.

“What.... What the hell, CHIE!” Yosuke was after their friend before Souji was, catching up to her before she could get any higher. He grabbed Chie’s leg, keeping her from climbing any further. Damn the most assured future asskicking for this, like hell he was going to let her charge off into the middle of a dungeon on her own! “What do you think you’re doing!?”

“Let go, Hanamura!” Chie hissed from between her teeth, struggling against Yosuke’s grip as she glared down at all of the boys.. “I need to go! I need to get to Yukiko! She’s all alone, and she has no idea where she is... She’s probably tired and I think she hasn’t eaten anything ever since breakfast yesterday, we need to... I...”

“Chie, please!” Souji ran to the ladder, the squeaky sound of Teddie’s footsteps following after him. As he approached, Souji tried to get her attention.“Listen, I know... I know that you’re worried for Yukiko-san, and we need to go in right away. And we’re going to go in right now and we’re going to save her as soon as we can, I promise we will. But to do that, we need to stick together!”

At first it seemed like Chie was ignoring Souji’s words, intent on kicking Yosuke off and running ahead.

“I know the layout of the dungeon where Yukiko-san is in, by heart. Teddie can find it, as well as sense any Shadows coming up. Yosuke can fight against them effectively. And you...“ Souji said, a small stall in his mind, trying to push back his own wish for her to go back and avoid the inevitable, “If anyone can help her with what she is going through right now, it’s you. You know Yukiko-san better than anyone in this world, Chie. But that can only work if all of us stay together.”

Chie relented, as she stopped trying to yank her leg from Yosuke’s grasp. Face blank and breaths slow, she gripped the ladder step in her hands, not making any further attempted to free herself. “I... Know her better than anyone...” Chie went over Souji’s line,whispering to herself, not sounding fully convinced. “That’s what I can do...?”

... Why did he pause there?

Why did Souji pause when he was saying what Chie could do? She knew Yukiko? She could help her? Wasn’t that was she was supposed to do anyway, what she was at the inn to help her for? That and to keep her safe... No wonder why she was here to ‘know‘ her instead of to actually help save her. Yosuke had a Persona. Souji had his memories. Teddie lived here and had the ability to find dungeons.

And she didn’t even know-

“Sensei is right, Ch... Chie-chan.” Teddie said, quiet and timid. She tiled her head down, to see Teddie as he continue speaking. “Shadows don’t usually attack normal people until the fog lifts. But that doesn’t mean that this place is safe for you if you’re all on your own. Shadows are not like people from your side and it’s really hard to hurt one. You saw how bad Aniki’s Shadow was. It went wild and y-you all got hurt! But... I can feel that power Aniki has now. It’s really amazing. With a power like that we can drive away the Shadows for sure! So if I find that place that “Yukiko”-person is now and Aniki fights and Sensei leads the way... I’m sure we can help that person too! B-But... If you’re all on your own...”

Chie stayed silent, waiting for the sentence to end. But Teddie never continued, instead shuffling under Chie’s stare, hiding somewhat behind Souji’s back. What was up with that guy? The way he kept switching between being over-the-top dramatic and a stuttering mess in two seconds flat really was getting on her nerves.

She knew all these things he was telling her already. Souji had told them all about it the other day. Yes, it was true. She had nothing to oppose those monsters, those weird “Shadows”, with. Her legs could only do so much and she didn’t have weird time-traveling foresight like Souji-kun or some kind of badass super-power like Yosuke.

She was just Chie Satonaka.

She could kick things and sometimes punch too, but right here, right now... What was there even still left that she could do? And especially when she was last put to kick and punch and she couldn’t even reach Namatame’s van, let alone Namatame? Where the only things she effectively battered were Souji’s arm and the cream-colored kimono.

Everyone else had a purpose here. Souji-kun and that Teddie could lead the way, Yosuke could fight, but her... What was her role here? Understanding Yukiko’s feeling? Was that really why she was here, and not just something Souji-kun said to get her to calm down?

Finally Chie complied, climbing back down from the ladder. Souji sighed in relief, now that all four of them were safely back down and could proceed properly. With a deep breath, the acid finally going down enough where he could breath calmly again, he offered a suggestion.

“Shadows almost never attack outside of the dungeons and labyrinths, so for now it should be safe if Teddie and I lead. Chie, Yosuke, the two of you should follow behind us for now. As soon as we reach the place Yukiko-san is right now, Yosuke will take the lead with me and Chie will take care of support with Teddie in the back. Teddie has no way of defending himself, so it would be good to have someone with some combat experience cover for him.” And more importantly, it would be two bodies in front of Chie, in case she bolted again. If she was willing to run now... Well, that was unfair of Souji to assume. After all, Chie was agreeing now. Even if she didn’t seem convinced, her hands no longer clenched but her shoulders deflated, her expression... Intentionally blank, but her furrowed brow and tightly pursed lips showing the tension still in her. This wasn’t conditions he wanted to take her in, but he couldn’t send her back either, and risk him and Yosuke having to shove her out forcefully, ruin the relationship between the group and leaving Chie damaged as a result.

Or worse, if Chie ran deeper into the TV in trying to circumvent the group and reach Yukiko first, only to end up with an entirely new dungeon.
“Alright, sounds good,” Yosuke nodded in agreement. “Then I’ll stay in the back for now. But make sure to give me a holler if you need me up in front, alright Partner?”
Souji stifled a cough at Partner, eyes going huge before nodding. If he realized the small smile curling up his lips, Souji certainly didn’t say anything, instead starting to walk ahead obediently with Teddie and help him up the ladder.

As Souji helped Teddie climb up the not-so-mascot-friendly ladder, Chie and Yosuke waited for their turn to ascend. Time crawled slowly and thickly, and Chie’s skin crawled. As she gnawed at her fingernails, Yosuke noticed of that and tried to distract her, rambling off the top of his head.

“Hey. It’s gonna be alright. I’m sure we’ll get Yukiko-san out of here.”

Easy for him to say.

“I mean, this time we’re actually prepared. Even if I didn’t get any chance to train yet, er... Well, Souji’s done all of this before, right? And then we’ve also got that Teddie-guy, too, and he helped out a bunch la... Well, he did. I mean, bear’s got an arm on him, so, they know their way around here and we still have extra ice and fire crackers, so getting to Yukiko-san shouldn’t be too hard. And once we do...”

She would just stand by the side and watch, right?

“...Well, just leave the rest to me then.“ Chie could briefly feel Yosuke’s hand on her should, trying to give her a reassuring pat. She was sure he was giving that ‘smirk‘ of his as well, trying to be Mr. Confident now. He didn’t know shit about how she felt, having to rely on everyone else and not being able to do a thing besides sit back and ‘know‘.

Chie pulled away. She didn’t need his sympathy, especially not now. It was nothing but humiliating.

Yosuke, slightly thrown-off by Chie’s rejection, quickly tucked his hands into his pockets and awkwardly looked away. Right, what had he been thinking? Of course Chie wouldn’t want him to act so buddy-buddy towards her. Sure, they sometimes borrowed movies from each other or went out for a snack after school, and they exchanged numbers, but that didn’t mean that they were friends yet, did it?

He didn’t know how she felt. Just like he didn’t know what was going on in Souji’s head. Or anything about that Teddie-guy. Or like how he hadn’t even realized how disgusted Saki-senpai must have really been with him all this time, until it was too late to apologize properly...

She was right. He really got enthusiastic about these things much too quickly. Calling people his ‘friends’, thinking they might like him, maybe even see something special in him, only to be faced with the truth when these friends eventually disappeared. They either left him because he was no longer interesting or he let them down or turned them off somehow. Either way, it never lasted. It was always the same with him, wasn’t it? How could he claim he even knew what it meant to have a “real” friend, an actual “bond”? He didn’t have someone who he could always rely on and who could always rely on him, a best friend who knew him better than anyone else, like what Yukiko-san and Chie were for each other... Actually, that reminded him of something.

“But, seriously... That Souji sure is something.” Yosuke raised his head a little and looked at small hole in the ceiling above which was currently blocked by the wriggling lower half of Teddie. Souji was apparently trying to pull that bear through the opening. “I’ll admit, when he first told me that he had come from the future or another timeline or something, I thought he was nuts. But I guess there just has to be something to his story, right? I mean, as crazy as it sounds, he’s predicted everything that’s happened so far. A-and he knows things about us that nobody should know! Like... Well, like that thing with Yukiko-san’s bird. I’d never would have guessed she had a wild bird as a pet. I didn’t even think they’d allow her to have one at the inn, so I bet she didn’t tell anyone but you about that...”

“I didn’t know,” Chie’s dull voice cut into Yosuke’s words. Startled, he turned his head to her.

“You didn’t know she had a bird?” Yosuke asked surprised.

“I didn’t know that Murasaki flew away. She never told me.”