Chapter 2 - Reprieve

AN: I'm back, hope you guys like this.

Today is Yus' funeral. It's been two weeks since he died. The others have tried to comfort me, but I wouldn't let them in. What could they say, or do, that would make me feel better?

Nothing. I've lost the one person that I let into my heart. They have no idea how much it hurts, how much I've cried. They have no-

"We have arrived, Naoto-sama." Yakushiji says from the front of the car.

"Thank you, Yakushiji-san." I say without much emotion.

The funeral goes by in a blur. I spend most of my time making sure I don't cry. I can focus on some of the faces I remember seeing at school or around town. One of the people is giving a speech, talking about how it is almost like a miracle that one person could touch so many in such a short amount of time.

That makes me remember a conversation I had with him. Neither of us were sure if his ability to connect to so many was something that came from him, or was one of the side effects of being a 'Wildcard'. He said that regardless, it didn't change how he felt for me.

The next thing that pulls me out of my thoughts is Yukiko giving me a hug, "I am so sorry for what you are going through. If you ever need to talk, never hesitate to call."

I do my best to return the hug. I know they mean well, it's just that right now, I don't feel like it's time to talk about it with others.

That's when I notice that it's over. Did I spend that much time in my head?

As the people start dispersing a woman with deep red hair in a high-end coat, followed by someone with bright blonde hair, approaches me.

"You're Naoto Shirogane, yes?"

I keep my expression neutral, "Yes. Who might you be?"

"Mitsuru Kirijo. I don't wish to be rude, but is there somewhere we can speak in private?"

I narrow my eyes, "Why?"

She doesn't appear to be disturbed by my tone, "It concerns what happened to you and your friends last year."

I am unable to keep the surprise out of my voice, "How do you kno-"

She raises her hand, "I think we can both agree that this is a matter not meant for others to hear."

I quickly compose myself, "Of course, there is a large hill on the south side of Inaba. On it is an area with several tables, it's rarely used this time of year. I'll gather the rest and meet you there in a hour."

The woman nods, "Very well. Aigis, we're leaving."

The person with her responds in a slightly feminine, too-calm voice, "Of course, Mitsuru-san."

Once they are out of ear-shot, I pull out my phone and dial Yosuke-senpai. He picks up after two rings, before he can say anything, "We have an issue. I just talked to a woman who knew about what happened last year."

The alarm clear in his voice, "How-?"

I cut him off, "I don't know right now, but she wants to meet us. Call everyone else and have them meet us up on the hill in one hour."

"How do you know this isn't a trap?" He asks in a concerned voice.

I shake my head, "I don't. But if it is, I would rather deal with the trap now. If it isn't, then it means we are not the only ones dealing with them"

He sighs "Very well, I'll gather the others. Be careful."

I nearly scoff, "Of course." Hanging up before he can reply.

I'm the first one to reach the meeting area. I look over at one of the tables, remembering it so well. It's where Yu and myself spent a lot of time, whether it was working on a personal case, or just talking.

He was the first one, other than Grandfather, that made an effort to learn about Naoto the person, not make use of Naoto the Detective Prince.

At first, it was strange talking to him about anything that wasn't case related. But, he simply listened to me, never judging me, as I vented, for the way I dressed, or how I talked.

I hear someone coming up the steps. Two people. After listening for a moment. It sounds like one of them is wearing heavy boots. The other is wearing heels.

It doesn't take them long to reach the top of the stairs, revealing it to be the Kirijo woman and Aigis. I glance down at their footwear, Mitsuru is wearing ~10cm heels. And Aigis is wearing older, but very well-maintained, tennis shoes.

Before I can ponder the conundrum, Mitsuru speaks up, "The others on are their way?"

I nod, "Shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

Mitsuru and I sit down at one of the tables, Aigis stands a little ways away from Mitsuru.

We silently observe each other for a couple of minutes, before Aigis shifts into a battle stance, "A Shadow is approaching."

Our eyes snap to Aigis as Mitsuru speaks, "Are you certain?"

I clear my throat, "That would be Teddie. He is annoying, but harmless."

Mitsuru studies me for a moment, "Very well. Aigis, stand down."

Aigis moves back to their previous position, "Understood."

The first thing I hear is Teddies' high-pitched voice, "Why did you let Nao-chan go on her own?" I can't hear the response.

The group comes into view, out of the corner of my eye I see Mitsuru studying them. Trying to figure out which one is the Shadow, no doubt. "It's the blonde male in the white shirt." I say without looking at her.

She gives a thoughtful noise from the back of her throat, "I see."

Before anything else can be said, the others are within earshot.

They all take a seat, Kanji even grabs one of the other benches nearby for more seating.

Mitsuru is the first to speak up, "I'm sure you are wondering who I am, and how I know about last year. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, I am the founder and leader of a group called the Shadow Operatives. Our main duty is to hunt down and eliminate Shadows where ever we find them."

She glances over to Aigis, "This is Aigis, one of the founding members. Leader of the ground missions."

I arch an eyebrow, "Why is that?"

Aigis makes eye contact for the first time, those vibrant blue eyes look into mine, "Because I have the power of a Wildcard," the others gasp, I see a flash of pain behind her eyes, "that makes me the best equipped for anything we might encounter in the field."

Mitsuru speaks again, "I take it from your reactions, Narukami-san was a Wildcard as well?"

I do my best to not let my emotions show, "Yes, although, he was not the one that gave it the name 'Wildcard'. He said that was given to him by another."

She nods, "That makes sense. It was the same for our former leader."

Suspicion seeps into my tone, "I thought you said you were the leader and founder of the Shadow Operatives?"

She nods again, "I did, and I am. But we have been doing this since I was still in school. Despite the fact she was one of the younger members, we made her the leader because she had the power to switch Persona. We didn't start the Shadow Operatives until I was out of school, by that time she had passed." She clears her throat, "But enough about that. If I may ask, how did Narukami-san fight beside your group?"

I look over to Yosuke for him to take over, since he has been in the group the longest. He nods.

"Against the 'rank-and-file' he used one Persona that had access to all the elements in their low-level forms, to make openings for the rest of us. Against 'boss-level' enemies, he would use his wide array of Persona defensively to make it harder for rest us to have our weaknesses exploited."

Mitsuru steeples her hand in front of her face, "That is almost exactly how she fought." She says in a quite voice.

I decide to speak up again, "If I may put forth my own question, where were you during the events that happened last year?"

Mitsuru snaps out of her thoughts, "We didn't even know Shadows might have been involved until the second body showed up. By that time, we were already moving on information of a... weapon on the northern islands that could have helped us against the Shadows. And since no one else died for some time, it wasn't as pressing. We didn't even piece together what happened until six months ago. For that, I am sorry."

Yukiko speaks up for the first time since sitting down, "If you know everything that happened last year, why are you here now?"

She looks over all of us, "Three reasons. The first is to apologize for not intervening. The second is to see if we could get your accounts of the events last year. And third, we are here to see if Shadows had anything to do with Narukami-sans' death."

I feel my pulse pick up, "Are you saying it might not be an accident?"

She shakes her head, "I don't know, but we have come across Shadows that have fought through the sole use of ambushes and traps."

A mature female voice calls out from the tree-line, "I can answer that concern." What is she doing here?

We all turn to the voice as Aigis gets back into her battle stance.

At first all we see is a faint blue mist, then Margret steps out of the mist.

Wearing the same small smirk she almost always is, "Now, now, Aigis. I mean you no harm"

I hear a gasp from Aigis and Mitsuru, "How do you know me?"

Margret gave a sad smile, "My sister, Elizabeth, talked about you from time to time."

Mitsuru frowns, "If she is your sister, does that mean you are not human either?"

Margrets' golden gaze lands on her, "Very good, but that's not why I am here. Yu did not die from Shadow involvement."

I study her before speaking, "How can you be so sure?"

She locks her gaze onto me, "Because I have spent everyday since his death going over the wreckage with my powers, trying to find the cause. There was no trace of Shadows, no human explosives, and not enough wood rot or rust to cause to the overpass to collapse."

I feel my heart plummet, "So, you have no clue how it happened?"

She slowly shakes her head, "I never said that. I only figured out the chain of events that caused it last night. It started with a thunderstorm you had here two months ago, during it, one of the bolts struck a support beam. But there was very little visible damage that could be seen from a distance, so it went unrepaired. Then last month, a train with a heavier load than normal left Inaba. Furthering the damage to the beam, making it almost hollow. After that, it was slowly weakened by every train that passed, until it could no longer take the strain."

Her gaze sweeps over all of us, pausing only briefly on me, "I am sorry to say, this was an accident that no human could have prevented, or foreseen."

I barely am able to hold in my emotions, "I take it, that's not the only reason you're here?"

She looks back to me, "I would expect nothing less from you. You are correct, there is one more thing I am here for. There is something that has appeared in the TV world."

Mitsuru crosses her arms, "You don't know what it is?"

Margret shakes her head, "Not entirely. I do know it is not a Resident of the Other Side, like myself. It's not a Shadow, or one of the Sargari," I hear Mitsuru repeat the word to herself, "it almost feels like a human. But no portals have opened up from this side for almost a year now."

I frown, "I thought your kind were forbidden from interfering in the human world?"

She nods as she starts walking back to the tree-line, "You are correct again." She fades into the mist, "Consider it my gift to you, Detective Prince." The mist fades with the last word.

They all look me, "Do ya know wha' she's talkin' about, Naoto?" Kanji asks.

I shake my head, "I do not. But we do need a plan of action." I look pointedly at Yosuke.

Slowly the rest of the team looks at him as well.

He glances between everyone, "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

Teddie hops on his back, "Weren't you always going on about being his partner?"

Yosuke turns a light shade of pink, "Don't say it like that! Besides, I said from the beginning, I am no good as a leader. I say it should be Naoto-kun, since she was closer... to... him." He drops his gaze, and says in a quite voice. "Sorry."

I let out a hard sigh, "How about Rise-san and Teddie take Kirijo-san and Aigis-san to the TV world to see if you can learn anything about what's there. Depending on the situation over there, we go in two or three days. Giving us enough time to gather what we need, and for those that wish to, give Kirijo-san the information she wants."

I look over everyone, "Is this acceptable?"

The rest of the team gives their agreement.

I look over at Mitsuru, "Where are you two staying while here?"

"We're booked at the Amagi Inn for a week."

I nod, "Good, I'll be by there tomorrow to give you the information."

I leave, just wanting to get back to my room.

AN: I'm sorry about the 'funeral scene'. Of the multiple tries at that scene, that was the only one I was somewhat ok with. See you guys next time. And remember to leave a review.

Next time we head into the TV World.