Author's Note
Yeah, Kiara's back with another story! The last one wasn't all that exciting, and for a while, this one might not be either, but this one's a multi-chapter story that I'm writing using tarot cards. I found a few spreads on the Internet that help writers map out plots, and it's overly fun to play with them.
At first, the story's going to be completely Naoto-centric, but Souji is eventually going to pop in and steal half the spotlight. He feels insecure without it.
By the way, this starts out pretty slow, but it gets exciting later on. The tarot cards have spoken. The Tower will come into play. Heeheehee... Whoa. I'm sounding like Edogawa. Ignore me. Please.
Anyway, I'm gonna stop blabbing and get this story typed up. Enjoy!
-----
The Wheel of Fortune
Chapter 1
The wheel of fortune is unpredictable. For some, the outcome is terrible, no matter how many times they test their luck. For some, the outcome is great on their first try. Fortune works in unpredictable ways, and while the outcome may be unpleasant, sometimes one must accept it.
For a certain Detective Naoto Shirogane, the wheel was as unpredictable as ever. She had recently been assigned an odd case - not that that was uncommon. Ever since she helped to solve the serial kidnappings and murders plaguing Inaba some time ago, she was always called for the odd cases where the culprit constantly eluded even the greatest detectives. She never did let the police down. Of course, that earned her some spite from the detectives who lost their spotlight for a mere child, but there was nothing Naoto could do about that.
Naoto's newest case involved a kidnapper. The victims were never found, the culprit left no clues to whom he or she might be, and there were no ransoms. The only reason everyone knew that there was a kidnapping was that there were signs of a forced entry and sometimes a small struggle. The strangest thing about the kidnappings was the presence of a painting where the victim once was. Each painting depicted the victim doing something in that very room. None of them seemed to hold fingerprints or any other clues.
Naoto, of course, had a few tricks up her sleeve and a "police bear" (as he so dubbed himself) on her side. She managed to pull some strings and get Teddie into the most recent crime scene, an apartment in Port Island where an adult male known as Akihiko Sanada lived. Naoto remembered the name being mentioned a few times in her cousin's letters before he passed away. Frankly, she was surprised the former high school boxing champ had been kidnapped.
Naoto entered, noting that the kidnapper didn't use the front door. There were no signs of it being forced open, and people probably would have noticed someone breaking through their neighbor's front door... Well, unless those people were complete idiots or impaired in such a way that they would be unable to see or hear the events taking place, but the culprit likely wouldn't take that chance unless he was an idiot, and that clearly wasn't the case.
Naoto entered the apartment with Teddie close behind her. The place was in a mess - bookshelves had fallen over, books and papers were scattered across the floor, and various miscellaneous items were littered here and there as well. A small TV was knocked off its stand and bashed in, and there were odd holes and dents in the walls. Naoto had heard that some of the other crime scenes had signs of a small struggle, but the sleuth didn't quite expect this.
Naoto took all this in at a glance before walking over to a couch, which had apparently been knocked down during the struggle. Teddie stuck close to her, somewhat freaked out.
A framed painting leaned against the side of the couch. Its subject was a young man, presumably Akihiko Sanada, sitting on the couch watching TV. He looked to be of a little more than average height, and somewhere between 20 and 25 years old. He bore an interesting, yet purely coincidental, appearance to Souji Seta, leader of Naoto's circle of friends and her boyfriend. Sanada's hair was cut short and was of a white or light gray color, and his eyes were a slightly darker gray. He was wearing a robe and pink bunny slippers, and the sky that was visible through a nearby window showed the telltale signs of morning. Sanada showed a tired expression on his face, but he was smiling, as though whatever was on the TV pleased him.
Naoto studied the painting for a moment longer before turning to Teddie. "Can you smell anything, Teddie?"
Teddie snapped to attention and started sniffing around. He had done this many times before, but something about this case really bothered him, though he didn't quite know what. He sniffed and smelled, starting at a window that was obviously broken into. He accidentally stuck his nose too close and got a splinter caught on it. "Yeowch!"
Naoto sighed, readjusting her navy blue detective's cap as she walked over to the whimpering Teddie. "How many times must I tell you to be careful?" She looked over his nose, detecting a splinter embedded painfully in it. Luckily for her, it wasn't up one of his nostrils this time... But it was stuck pretty deep into the tip. "This could hurt a little," she warned before quickly grabbing the splinter and sharply tugging it, effectively getting it out while causing Teddie to yelp in pain.
A police officer, who had been keeping watch outside, cautiously opened the door. "Is everything alright in there?" He appeared unnerved.
Naoto and Teddie turned to face the officer, the latter having a small bead of blood on the tip of his nose. "Everything is alright," Naoto told the officer. "My helper was simply having issues."
The officer nodded and closed the door again, resuming his duty.
Naoto sighed and turned back to Teddie. "Alright, wipe your nose and try that again."
Teddie nodded. "Yes, sir!" At that, Naoto wanted to kick him, but she refrained from doing so. After all, he was a huge help when it came to solving crimes, and he may not be so willing to help out if she "abused" him, as he would so eloquently put it.
Naoto watched Teddie sniff around a little more before turning her attention back to the painting. There was something strange about it, aside from the fact that it showed the kidnapper to be something of a stalker, but she couldn't figure out what. She knew from experience to trust her instinct, and she made a mental note to arrange for photos of all the paintings, if not the paintings themselves, to be handed over to her.
"I got something!" Naoto turned around to see Teddie excitedly following an invisible path. The childish Shadow was always eager to help out. "Okay, okay. He's a guy... He broke in through the window, and he was all like "Grrrrr!" And he attacked that Akihiko dude! Ooh... I think the guy who broke in was wearing some nasty-smelling cologne. It's kinda 'Teddious' smelling anything around that!" Teddie laughed a little at his own joke.
Naoto rolled her eyes. "Teddie... Your puns are rather... Unbearable." Oh god, he's rubbing off on me. Just shoot me now...
"I'm beary sorry you have to go through all that," Teddie countered.
"Don't you mean 'bearly' rather than 'beary'?" Naoto shook her head. They were wasting time. "Anyway... You say the attacker was male and wore cologne, correct? Can you detect anything else?"
Teddie sniffed around a little more. "Hmm... Nope, that's all I can smell. Whew! That stuff is nasty! Reminds me of Yosuke's used socks."
Naoto walked around the apartment once more, taking note of every detail, before allowing Teddie and herself to leave. Naoto had arranged for a week's stay at a hotel (not on Shirakawa Boulevard, thank you very much), which would be more than enough time for her to finish her investigations on Port Island. She would later continue her work at the Shirogane estate.
The two headed back to their rooms at the hotel and prepared for sleep. Teddie had requested - rather, begged for - adjoining rooms, and his reasons surfaced that night.
"Nao-chaaaaaaaan..." Teddie whined through the locked door between their rooms. "Tell me a story!"
"Sleep." Naoto's voice sounded tired as she raised it loud enough that Teddie could hear it.
"I want a bedtime story!" Teddie continued to whine incessantly. "Tell me a bedtime story, Nao-chan! Please?"
Naoto buried her face into her pillow and covered her head with the bed sheets, trying to block out the noise.
"Nao-chaaaaaaaaan!"
...The covers weren't helping, and they were making it hard to breathe. Naoto sat up, growling. "Did it ever occur to you that you could be bothering someone?"
"Well, that wouldn't be a problem if you just told me one little bedtime story!" Teddie shot back.
Naoto sighed. Maybe if she just stayed quiet...
"Nao-chan, Nao-chan, Nao-chan, Nao-chan..." Teddie chanted.
"If I tell you a story, will you let me sleep?" Naoto was quite annoyed with the prospect, but arguing was clearly futile.
"We-ell, you have to tuck me in and sit on the edge of my bed and tell me a good story and give me a kiss on the forehead and say 'Good night, Teddie' and..."
"And hold a gun to your head?" Naoto was not doing what Teddie just suggested, and no amount of whining could make her.
"Aww, you're so mean, Nao-chan!" Naoto could just imagine the pout Teddie must have had on his face. "But pleasepleaseplease gimme a story! And not though the wall, you don't talk loud enough.
Naoto sighed, standing. "Fine..."
"Yay!" Naoto could clearly hear the thump-thump-thump-fwump as Teddie ran over and jumped into his bed gleefully.
Sighing again, Naoto unlocked and opened the door between their rooms, then proceeded to sit in a chair next to Teddie's bed.
"Yaaaaaaay! Storytime!" Teddie gave Naoto his big, carefree smile. "And it's not a weird story from Yosuke this time!"
Naoto yawned. "What kind of story would you like?"
"Something with action, adventure, romance, and Teddie!" Teddie grinned. "Ooh! Pirates! In outer space! With Teddie!"
Naoto blinked in confusion. Pirates? Outer space? ...With Teddie? "Uh... That's rather... Odd..."
Teddie used puppy-dog eyes. Critical hit, extra attack. "Space Teddie pirates... Please?"
"Alright, alright..." Naoto yawned again. "Once there was a pirate named Teddie..."
Teddie fell asleep by the third word, snoring softly. Naoto sighed, thankful that she didn't have to continue. She quietly turned the light out, went to her room, closed the door, flopped down unceremoniously onto her bed, and fell into a pleasant, dreamless sleep.
-----
Naoto awoke the next morning to an odd sensation in her back. She deduced that someone was poking her, and her response was to mutter, "Five more minutes..."
"Nao-chan, you slept past your alarm." Teddie's voice was close to her ear.
Naoto sat up so quickly and suddenly she knocked Teddie off his perch on her bed. Looking around, she found that she hadn't made it very far when she went to bed - she had been curled up at the foot. She sighed as she saw the time on the alarm clock. Nine o'clock, a full two hours later than she had set her alarm.
Naoto stood and helped Teddie up. "Teddie, go back to your room and get ready. Today is going to be a long day... And perhaps a late one as well."
Teddie nodded and left, courteously closing the door behind him. Naoto got dressed quickly, then took a comb and headed to the sink in her room. She watched her reflection in the mirror behind it as she quickly ran the comb through her hair, making herself at least somewhat presentable. Afterwards she put her hat on and knocked on the door to Teddie's room. "Are you ready?"
The door opened and Teddie stepped into Naoto's room, as sparkling and smiling as ever. His white, ruffled shirt and black pants, as well as his bright blond hair, were a direct contrast to Naoto's dark, primarily blue attire. Naoto nodded her approval and the two left the hotel, headed for Paulownia Mall and the police station.
On the way, Teddie decided to ask his friend some questions. "So, what're we doing now?"
"I am going to question various acquaintances of the victim, all of whom had spoken to him not long before the incident. I am afraid you will have to wait elsewhere, as the details are to be kept confidential," Naoto explained. I can't get him any more involved in this case... It's far too dangerous as it is. "There is an arcade nearby. I will give you some money, and-"
"Aww, you don't have to do that, Nao-chan!" Teddie interrupted. "I took some from Yosuke before I left!"
Naoto was silent for a moment. "...You know, normally I would have you arrested for that. However, I will act as if I never heard."
Teddie laughed sheepishly, then changed the subject. "So, uh... Who're you gonna talk to?"
"Will you not speak of this to anyone?" Teddie nodded, and Naoto continued. "Very well. Their names are Mitsuru Kirijo, Junpei Iori, Yukari Takeba, Fuuka Yamagishi, Ken Amada, and..." She paused, remembering the final name, which was quite the oddity. "...Aigis."
Teddie blinked. "That's a lot of people."
Naoto nodded. "Yes..." She stared ahead thoughtfully. "Do you remember the document I spoke of some time ago, regarding Personas? Interestingly enough, they were from a Kirijo Group. I believe the Kirijo I mentioned is affiliated with them.
"Whoa, really?" Teddie was surprised. "What were the chances of you meeting up with someone like her?"
Teddie and Naoto entered Paulownia Mall, the latter sending the former to the nearby arcade before heading to the police station. "I am Naoto Shirogane, here to question the acquaintances of Akihiko Sanada." She showed the officer on duty her badge and was led to a room where a young man, probably around 20 years of age, was playing a handheld video game. He was sitting at a small, plain table. A dark blue baseball cap covered most of his very short, dark hair, and his eyes were a midtone gray. He had a surprisingly well-kept goatee on his chin. His attire consisted of a short-sleeved black shirt, blue jeans, and black shoes.
Naoto sat across from the man as the other officer went back to his duties, leaving them alone, as Naoto had requested earlier. "I must ask you to put that aside for now," Naoto said.
The man looked up, as though surprised by Naoto's sudden appearance, then turned the game off and set it aside. "About time you showed up! I was getting bored!"
Naoto prepared a notebook and pencil. "My apologies. There were a few complications. Anyway, my name is Naoto Shirogane. I was recently assigned to this case in hopes of getting this done quickly. Please introduce yourself."
"I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya." He grinned. "I'm the coolest guy you'll ever meet!"
"...I seriously doubt that. After all, it is hard to top Souji-kun and Minato-kun." Junpei looked rather surprised at the mention of Minato's name. "I take it you knew Minato Arisato?"
Junpei nodded. "You kidding? He was my best friend."
Naoto nodded as well. "He was my cousin. Moving on, how long before the kidnapping did you last speak to the victim?"
"I was hangin' out with Akihiko, Ken, and Mitsuru a few hours before," Junpei replied.
Naoto jotted down a few notes as she asked her next question. "Where did you all go?"
Junpei thought for a few seconds before answering. "We were hangin' out around... Port Island station. Near the flower shop, cuz I wanted to get flowers for my girlfriend, Chidori."
Naoto nodded. "Afterwards, did any of you go to Sanada-san's home?"
"Nope. Said he had somethin' important to do."
Naoto looked interested as she wrote something down. "Did he mention what he was going to do?"
Junpei shrugged. "Nope. But he's with the police, so I bet it was some police business."
Naoto nodded. "I see... Were there any other peculiarities during or after the time spent with Sanada-san? Remember, even the slightest of details can be crucial."
Junpei thought for a little while, then shook his head. "Nope, I can't think of anything."
"Very well." Naoto wrote one more thing in her notes, then put her pencil down and looked up. "You may go now. Please send Kirijo-san in."
Junpei nodded, standing. He was about to leave when an idea struck him. "Hey, are you gonna give me updates about Akihiko and the case? Cuz we can trade cell numbers..."
Naoto tore a sheet of paper from her notebook and wrote down her cell phone number. "How clever..." She handed it to Junpei, who gave her a confused look. "Asking a woman for her contact information under the cover of a case..."
Junpei's eyes widened. "Whoa, seriously? You're a girl?"
"The police force refuses to believe it." Naoto shrugged.
"Damn, I'm losin' my touch. Hey, when all this is over, wanna head to Shira-"
"No." Naoto shot Junpei a death glare. "You fail to realize that I carry a gun at all times..."
Junpei laughed nervously. He quickly gave Naoto his phone number, which she wrote down next to his name on her notes, before leaving the room. Naoto sighed as the door closed. Hopefully the information from the others would prove useful...
-----
Just a final author's note...
If anyone's willing to beta the story, I'd love it. I'd ask my dear sister to, but she hasn't quite gotten very far into Persona 4.
Alas, I'm a lazy bum. I haven't tried looking for anyone myself.
Anyway, I've got chapter 2 written, but I'm probably going to wait a little while before typing it. I have my reasons.~