Persona 4: The Original Culprit

"God you're all persistent." came an annoyed growl. "You all just had to keep on playing detective."

"Yukiko is true? Are you really the killer?" came the shrill voice of Yukiko's supposed best fried Chie.

Yukiko didn't turn to face her or her other friends, and she used the term loosely. "Would it really matter if I was or wasn't? The real world and the T.V world will be one in the same soon enough... Will anyone even care once the process is complete?"

"What are you talking about?" Naoto asked. It amused Yukiko knowing the detective prince didn't have all the answers.

"This world were in now will merge with the real one and every living thing will turn into a shadow." Yukiko spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You can't be serious senpai?" Kanji said in disbelief.

"Don't change the subject!" Yosuke said angrily. The girl he was sweet on, Saki had been murdered supposedly by one of his other so-called friends and so was the T.V reporter Ms. Yamano. If She really did kill them, he wanted answers and he wanted them now.

They couldn't see the small grin that made it's way onto Yukiko's face. "Since the worlds going to end anyway I guess I can finally tell you the truth. You found me out after all so I guess you've earned the right. Truthfully it was an accident, I went to her room to confront her after an incident that happened in the lobby of my families oh so famous Inn." Yukiko cranked her sarcasm to eleven when she mentioned the Inn. "Only things got very complicated when I spoke to her."

Everyone started sweating a bit from anticipation, where was this story going? "What happened." Yu asked.

Rise decided to speak up when she finally noticed something seemed a bit off. "Senpai that's not really her, her real body's somewhere else."

The Yukiko in front of them began to flicker like static on an old T.V. "Bravo, the Idol who couldn't do basic math a brain somewhere in that air head." Yukiko let out one of her signature cackles only this time it seemed a lot darker. Soon a red portal opened before her out of nowhere and she walked right through, cackling the whole way.

"Yukiko!" Chie called out as she ran to the portal. She came to a complete stop as the world around them transformed. One minute they were in a fogged up version of what looked like the Amagi Inn, the next thing they know they were in an apocalyptic version of what looked like down town Inaba.

"Downtown." Chie said in disbelief, it looked like something out of a horror movie. She hated horror movies. The sky was blood red and the fog was ever looming around the smashed and mangled buildings. Chie couldn't believe this was in her best friend all along and she knew her friends shared that sentiment.

"Hey guys" Rise called gaining their attention. "Something feels really off about this place, unlike with our shadows I get the feeling she has complete control over this world.

"You know, I really do like this world. It's like I'm a queen, I can actually do what I want when I want without being constrained. The shadows even bow down." Yukiko called from the building above the investigation team. "Inaba is a quiet little town you know. Not much happens so T.V can really help pass the time. I'd seen Ms. Yamano on T.V so many times, a real rising star... To bad her star had to burn out so soon."

(Flashback)

"You're that Amagi girl from earlier, what do you want and why did you barge in here?" Ms. Yamano asked genuinely annoyed.

"Why... why did you come here? Was it to get away from the affair scandal or something else?" Yukiko asked darkly.

"That's none of your damn business!" Yamano snapped.

"I see... just another bitch who's running away."

Yamano gasped in surprise, who did this brat think she was? "I don't have to take this, I'm leaving!"

"Your not going anywhere!" Yukiko yelled. "You don't get to get off so easy! Someone needs to teach people like you a lesson." Yukiko grabbed the reporter by her collar and forced her backwards against the flat-screen T.V behind her. In that moment Yukiko saw the impossible. Rather that the screen glass cracking, Yamano went straight through. Yukiko fell back and starred up at the T.V with wide eyes, did that really just happen?

"I pushed her through the T.V? She went straight through." In a moment of panic Yukiko fled the room, unsure of what just happened. Yet at the same time she felt something she couldn't describe up to that point. Whatever that feeling was, it provided a sense of... Release.

(Flashback End)

"Quite the story huh?" Yukiko asked.

"So that's what happened." Naoto voiced.

"At school I'd heard rumors of the midnight channel, but it was through that accident that I discovered what I could do. Yet I was scared, but at the same time I needed to get that feeling again."

"So you used Yamano as a test subject." Yu stated calmly. He was always so cool in dangerous situations.

"No." Yukiko countered. "She wronged me and caused me to snap. A person can only take so much."

"Yuki-Chan... how could you?" Teddie asked sadly.

Yukiko merely snapped her fingers. "Right. before I forget you wanted to know what happened to Saki right?"

Yosuke felt his blood boiling and his fists clenching.

"I remember running into her by coincidence after that tool Adachi had finished interrogating her. It was late so the streets were pretty much abandoned. I remembered seeing an old T.V thrown out in a back alley. She went on and on about Namatame and doofus police men. I lied and said I lost my wallet cutting through the alley. She believed me of course and offered to come with me. I needed that feeling again so when we reached the alley and her back was turned... Well, you can figure out the rest."

To say Yosuke was pissed would be an understatement. The man was livid.

"It was right then I realized what that feeling was. It was the feeling you get when you're in control. Take a good look at my life. Everything was decided for me until the day I died. Taking over the Inn, Where I would live, chosen suitors, Etcetera. For once in my life I felt powerful, for once I actually felt like I was in control of me and not taking commands like a machine."

"You'll pay for this!" Yosuke spat.

"Hey, I didn't know I was actually killing anybody. I had never traveled to the T.V world yet to see for myself. Besides, both those girls played Namatame like fiddle."

"Shut up!" Yosuke screamed.

Yukiko suddenly appeared behind him and the scenery again changed. Suddenly they were all in front of Namatame's home. "This is Namatame's house." said Yu. "What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything. Someone else took care of that for me." Yukiko answered honestly.

"There's someone else involved in this?" Naoto asked.

"Not anymore. He outlived his usefulness. Idiot cop."

"Adachi." said Yu.

"Bingo! Adachi manipulated Namatame for me. I could sense his Arcana, so we came to an agreement. Who knew the village idiot had it in him. He convinced Namatame to hide people away where no one could find them in order to protect them. By saving people from this world you convinced Namatame that he was helping people. Your good intentions only created more problems along the way."

"You put Mitsuo into the T.V too, didn't you?" Yu asked.

"Nope, that was all Adachi. He thought of all of this as a game and was surprised when Mitsuo showed up trying to be the fall guy for the case. If Mitsuo took the fall than Adachi's game would be over and Namatame would stop saving people. He couldn't let that happen so he lied about him passing out during questioning and sent him home. In all honesty though I think he threw him into the T.V just for shits and giggles."

"So that was Adachi's reason. It was just a big game to him." Yu stated.

"Of course it was. A guy as empty as he was needed to rid himself of boredom. Like I said before, nothing ever happens in Inaba. But you had to persist further and because you did Kubo was arrested and labeled as the murderer. Cops don't really care about who's guilty so long as the case's closed, it was clear as day Kubo wasn't the killer... I mean his copycat killings were so mediocre. But Namatame went back to saving people again so I guess everything worked itself out. I even snuffed Adachi."

Everyone stood in silence, this wasn't the same friend they had all spent so much time with. The person in front of them was a monster wearing her face. It was clear there was only one way to final resolve the situation. Everyone summoned there personas and prepared for the climactic clash.

"So were going to fight huh? That's fine. Come Persona!"

The persona appeared as it had many times before only this time the persona wasn't the same as before. No it was much like Yu's, only a tad bit more crimson.

"Before this happens I want to know one thing though." Yu said.

"And what's that?"

"Why do all this." he said seriously.

"Why... Because I choose to."

Author's Note: This is my first attempt at a one-shot and I hope you all find it interesting. I just recently got into the Persona series and I heard that Yukiko was originally going to be the killer instead of Adachi [Spoilers]

Since I didn't see any fanfics where this was the case I decided to write this little one-shot. Enjoy and have an awesome day.

P.S: If there are any persona 4 fanfics where the killer is someone other than Adachi please let me know.

Review and remember to keep reading :)