It wasn't supposed to be like this.
Chie Satonaka was pretty sure that the average adult's day began like this: wake up, snooze the alarm, wake up for real this time, eat a complete breakfast (she prefers hers with grilled fish), and head out to work where things would continue in a curious but mostly predictable manner until lunch. While these steps would of course include the odd interruption or change they were still generally low on the danger scale of safe to definitely life-threatening. Her very first day on the job was meant to be filled with boring paperwork and observation. She would get to meet her new partner and begin the lengthy journey of lifelong camaraderie. They would meet, argue, strike up a rivalry, and eventually grow so loyal that their inevitable parting would be retirement, decades down the road.
Jun Ishida, her partner of barely three hours, was lying motionless about a yard or two away. His blue shirt was stained with red.
Chie's legs were shaking. She'd conquered the TV world, conquered the Grand Prix, even survived the Climax. The end of the world no longer scared her. Yet here, crouched behind the convenience store counter she was petrified. Here her contact with Tomoe was throttled. She had no experience to call upon. In the real world she was vulnerable.
Her radio crackled, sputtering to life. With clammy fingers she clutched it in her panic, making it silent. She was not alone. The broken glass that lie just outside her hiding place crunched under a heavy boot. Earlier the gunshots had shattered one of the drinks coolers that displayed many bottles. They were still here; waiting.
She tried to catch her breath, to find her center. It was her first day and damn it she was going to get out of this. She thought of Yukiko and Yosuke, Kanji and Naoto, Rise and Teddie. She thought of Souji. Even in a situation like this he would know how to come out on top.
The radio spat again this time muffled by her skin. She sucked in a breath as she reached for her firearm. She wasn't even meant to have one authorised to her until her probation had passed. Ishida had convinced her to carry it when the call had come in. It didn't matter that she was more comfortable with her own fists and feet than with a gun, she would get out of this. Another crunch, a whispered hush of nervous words. The perpetrator was on edge. She could do this.
With the radio speaker peeking through her remaining free hand the noise once again reached her ears. Less of a crackle this time, more like a voice. No... it WAS a voice.
"-Satonaka-kun- Chie-"
Her heart leapt; not only a voice but one she knew!
"Master!" she choked, trying to keep her tone low. Relief flooded her senses but she refused to let it consume her; to do so would be her undoing. "But you're supposed to be off duty..."
There was a terse chuckle on the other end.
"-You're caught up in your first hostile situation and that's your only concern?-"
Akihiko's voice was low and soothing. The fact that he could laugh at all filling her with confidence. "Well, someone has to stop you from working too hard..." Her hushed tone was coarse with emotion.
A pause, silence. There was a rustle in both the store and over the comm line. The force outside and the culprit nearby planning their next moves.
She would not stay helpless during the clash.
"- Yeah," he answered finally, timbre all soft. "-I look forward to that lecture later-"