Author's Note: Short, more like a transition. I may not be able to make long chapters... so please be satisfied with short chapters like this for this fic. XD a chapter a day... I hope I can keep that up till the very end...
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Chapter 3
8 AM
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The cockroach
who is dying
and the woman
who is blind
agree
not to notice
each other's shame.
Audre Lorde – "Kitchen Linoleum"
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"That feeling… I really did want to protect that kid. That feeling wasn't fake at all."
His gray eyes watched her, warming themselves with understanding and friendship. She grinned.
"I want to protect this town, Yukiko… and you too."
X
White.
Chie…
She didn't remember a ceiling this white. Her bedroom didn't have a white ceiling. She didn't remember painting it over either…
"… Chie…"
Where were… the posters? She wanted to see it every time she woke up… Where…?
"Chie..."
Where… was she?
"Chie!"
And suddenly everything came into focus. Her senses snapped back so quickly that she almost froze from the barrage of sounds, smell, and touches. The strong smell of medication filled her nose and her skin felt so sensitive and cold. Her eyes caught the neat cream curtain of the hospital, the white sheet of the bed, and the worried eyes of Yukiko. Hospital room.
"Yu… ki…?"
She didn't have time to say anything else since Yukiko hugged her instantly.
"I was so worried!" She buried her head to her best friend's shoulder, hugging her tighter. "You were out cold… Nobody knew what happened to you, I was so scared… Thank God, Chie… I'm so glad…"
"Y-Yukiko…" Chie smiled, raising her hands and hugged her best friend. "…I'm sor…"
Thou art I…
Ah?
I art thou…
"Agh!" Chie clutched her head. Yukiko released her, looking at her in surprise.
"C-Chie?"
The strength of one… to face one's self…
"Shut up…" Chie groaned, covering her face with both of her hands. It was painful… her head… wanted to… burst… "Shut up…!!!"
"C-Chie?!"
Manifested itself…
Every lamp of the room suddenly turned off with loud sounds. All electricity were cut off, darkness spread as the lights went out. Yukiko stepped back, dark eyes widening in disbelief as she saw the bluish aura she knew so well…
The Persona…
"Dammit…!!!!" Chie bent her body in agony. Noise… It's so noisy… so loud… So… strong… "DAMMIT, I KNOW YOU ALREADY!"
A soft sound of card… Yukiko closed her mouth.
"It… It can't be…"
The ringing sound on her head got louder... Screaming…
"I SAID I KNOW YOU ALREADY!!!"
Chie gritted her teeth.
"SUZUKA GONGEN!"
X
"In rainy night? Yukiko-Senpai really did?" Rise titled her head in confusion, still hadn't woken up fully yet. It was weird enough for Souji to call her so early in the morning—although yes, the time zone is different—and now he said that Yukiko saw the Midnight Channel? "A-Are you sure, Senpai? I thought we've gotten rid of the mist in…"
"Yukiko said there was no mist though… The image was clear, she said."
She blinked a few times. Now she was even more confused.
"B-But can it be something else?" said Rise, completely confused. "I-I mean, there maybe some electricity problem or what so…"
"That may be true…" Souji sounded restless. "… but something had been bothering me. You really didn't feel anything, Rise?"
"Huh?"
Rise blinked.
"Feel… what? I'm not even in Inaba right now, Senpai… Anyway, I cannot use Kanzeon in real life, can I? Feeling anything is—"
"That's why I was asking you…" Souji sighed from the other side. He stopped for a while. "I don't know why but… it seems as if I can feel my Personas, even in real life now…"
X
The power had gone back to light. The lamp shimmered for a few second before turned on like usual, casting lights to every corner of the room. Yukiko stood frozen, clenching her fists when she saw Chie slowly releasing her head. It was over. But…
"H-How?"
Yukiko opened her mouth for words. Chie slowly glanced at her, brown eyes wavered with something.
"How could… you summon…?"
"SATONAKA!"
The door slammed open. Doujima ran in, his coat waving behind his back. His eyes flew to the bed, then Yukiko, then back again to the bed. He looked up at the lamps then back again at Chie. His sharp eyes narrowed.
"Is everything alright?"
His question meant more than her well-being though. Chie pursed her lips; one of her hand fell to the sheet and clutched it unconsciously.
"That… depends on what you mean, I guess… Doujima-san…" She grinned sheepishly. Yukiko watched her. The dark eyes were almost as demanding as Doujima's were. "… Which… do you mean?"
X
"Going out so early… what's the call about, Yousuke-kun?"
Yousuke's mother placed her hand on her cheek, looking at her youngest son that was taking out his yellow motorcycle. It was early in the morning. It was summer though, so the sun was already out, but thin mist was still hanging by the atmosphere—the trace of last night's drizzle. Yousuke grinned at her, jumping to the seat of his beloved vehicle.
"A friend of mine's at the hospital," he said, starting the motorcycle. "Amagi said Chie was out cold last night in a mission."
"Ara, that's bad…" Yousuke's mother looked concerned. "What happened?"
"Well, I haven't heard anything new yet," Yousuke rubbed his cheek with his forefinger. He raised his eyebrows and gave a wide grin to his mother. "Maaa! Falling suddenly was something that Chie might do anyway! I'm sure she's alright. Anyway, ittekimasu!"
X
"The thing that… came out of me is… a Persona," Chie looked down at the sheet as she talked. She didn't dare to look up to meet her superior's gaze. Doujima's eyes turned sharper. "I… I'm not sure about explaining it though…"
"Say whatever you know," forced Doujima. He gritted his teeth. "That thing… That thing disrupted the electricity whenever it came out. The black out just now was because it came out again, right? The same happened when it came out by Samegawa."
Chie didn't need to answer. Yukiko looked at her with uncertainty. She touched Chie's hand slowly, giving a silent reassurance. Chie wasn't the only one with a Persona… she couldn't be blamed for everything. She got to say something.
"Doujima-san…"
"A Persona… shouldn't be able to come out in the real world," Chie's voice cut off Yukiko's. She tugged her best friend's hand without breaking her eye contact with Doujima. "It will only come out in the TV World."
He wouldn't believe. And that was right.
Doujima's eyes narrowed in disbelief. He had heard this 'TV world' thing since years ago from these kids and his nephew, but it was totally insane. Who would actually believe that there were a bunch of teenagers being able to go inside a TV and apprehend a criminal in it? He gritted his teeth then sighed.
"Then why did it come out now?"
Chie and Yukiko looked at him in shock. There was no change of the seriousness in his voice but it was clear that he was trying to understand it as much as he could. He watched them then asked again.
"Why did it come out here?"
Chie bit her bottom lips, averting her eyes.
"I… I don't know either, Doujima-san…"
Doujima looked at her for a while, as if contemplating the truth, then turned to look at Yukiko.
"You know Persona too, don't you?" Yukiko tightened her jaw from the question. "Do you know why?"
Yukiko's grip tightened on Chie's hand.
"I… I don't… I'm sorry, Doujima-san. We're as confused as you are."
"I see."
Silence followed after the last statement. Doujima watched them both in a moment that felt like eternity. He finally closed his eyes and turned around. It was then when Chie remembered something.
"D-Doujima-san!"
He stopped his steps.
"W-What happened to the woman we found? I-Is she…?"
"The victim was 30 years old woman named Minami Eri," answered Doujima without turning. He slipped a cigarette to his mouth. "She was barely alive and still unconscious. She had multiple bruises and wounds. The multiple stabs were thought to be a beast's bite and she got a frost bite on her legs. The black liquid was coming from her wound and more from her eyes like a tear, with no one knows why or even what that liquid was."
He glanced at Chie and Yukiko from his shoulder.
"Why she could get a frost bite in the middle of the summer… is something that not even doctors could understand."
X
Tokyo, 8 a.m.…
Ring… ring…
The sound rang throughout the whole house. It was wonderful how something as small and thin as a cell phone could produce such loud sound that managed to agitate almost everyone. A while later the bathroom door flew open. A soft scent of shampoo drifted to the neat bedroom, filling it with pleasant floral fragrance. She wasn't in a hurry. The caller seemed to be quite persistent; it was no need to rush.
Tightening her bath robe, she took the phone and glanced at the small screen.
Strange. From an unknown number.
"Hello? Shirogane Naoto speaking."
Loud sounds of traffic were heard in the background, but it was not the case. There were also sounds of… fanboys?
"N-Naoto-kun?" the familiar high pitched voice made her almost sweatdropped. Ah. Suddenly fanboys sounded logical. "T-This is Rise! Are you free right now? There's something I need to discuss with you."
Naoto narrowed her eyes then looked at the clock. Rise calling her early in the morning was not a common thing.
"Just tell me where to meet up."
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To Be Continued
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