Solitaire

by Nenilein

One year after the end of Inaba Serial Murder case, the former members of the self-proclaimed Investigation Team are preparing to move on with their lives and go their separate ways. But some can move easier than others and so life can become a battle between the desire to grow and the desire to stay... How to fit all cards into place for the next stage of the game?

4. Chapter 3: The Real Heroine

Chapter 3 - Yosuke:Standby

My fingers were a little cold when I sat down in my chair in front of my desk and took off my headphones. Given the weather we had been having, I doubted I could blame that only on me having been outside for so long today. I guess I just hadn't realized how wound up this whole mess had gotten me. It wasn't just my hands being cold, my heart was pounding like crazy, too. Thank God I had already passed the entrance exams for Meiji U, because if there was one thing I knew, it was that there was no way I could have taken several hours of cram school courses tonight after all that had happened. Right now, I was just glad to be back in my warm, comfortable room...

… My room...

As soon as I had sat down, I took a look around me. The posters on the walls, the holsters and shelves full of CDs, the drawers stuffed with small books and other things - and the, ahem, goods hidden under said stuff - the window, my computer, my sofa and my gaming console... The TV...

It was hard to believe that soon, none of this would be a daily sight for me anymore. Right. My daily life was going to change. This wasn't going to be my room anymore. I was going back. Back to the city. Though... Now that I thought of it that way, it just sounded wrong. No, I wasn't going 'back'. I was just leaving. This was home. And I was going somewhere else. Sure, maybe one day I would be feeling differently about this again, just like right now, I felt differently about leaving Inaba than I would have had two years ago. But right now, this was my reality. Inaba was my real home. And I had only one month left before I would leave it. Not more. Just one month and all my most important stuff would be packed into a suitcase and off I would go. Was that the way Yu had felt when he left last year, too? He would be able to tell me himself soon enough. It was already arranged that we would be sharing a room at the dorms. Shared rooms were a whole lot less expensive than single rooms, so making this decision had seemed like a no-brainer, especially seeing how we were going to the same college. I had already added the dorm's address to my contacts, right into the same slot as Yu's cellphone number. Remembering this, I took out my phone to ascertain the fact once more... Ah yes, there it was. Good. This way I hopefully wasn't going to get lost on the big day. I had already declined Yu's offer to pick me up from the station. I figured he would be busy with moving in himself. Now that I was at it already, I found myself browsing through other numbers he had given me, of people and services around the campus that could become important. I made sure I still had everything right where it should be. Even if Yu and I were going to share a room, I didn't want to end up relying on him for every little thing again, like I used to when he lived in Inaba and we were working on the case. I wanted to be the reliable one myself for once. That was something I had decided on for my own future.

And while we are at the topic of roommates...

I took a glance to the left side of the room. Teddie's side. As always, it was in complete disarray, snacks and magazines piled up into towers so high and uneven that it was mesmerizing and a miracle none of them had collapsed yet. On the makeshift bed inside the closet was Teddie. Usually, he would be lying there, curled up like a ball and tangled into the sheets, but right now he laid there flat, with his legs stretched out and his arms parallel to the sides of his body, fully clothed and on top of the blanket. Of course. He had barely been awake when we got home, too dazed to even speak in whole sentences. It hadn't sounded like just some of his usual whining either. The moment I had brought him to bed, he immediately fell asleep again. What the hell was wrong with him anyway...?

To say I wasn't worried would have been a big fat lie. Sure, with any other person I would just have thought of it as a cold or something and wouldn't have contemplated it too much. But Teddie, catching a cold? It would have to be a cold day in hell for that to happen. Or at least a day with one of these many, many weird reasons his 'nose' would get 'stuffy', when he couldn't properly sense things in the TV World, I guess. But this wasn't like that, was it? The sky was clear and the air relatively dry. No fog or anything along the lines was to be seen. There wouldn't be any of that for a while. Marie-chan had promised us a sunny couple of weeks on television, winking into the camera with such an incredibly lack of subtlety that every last one of us had no doubt that, some way or another, we probably were the reason that Inaba was having this unusually warm February. Maybe she thought it would be a nice farewell present for the ones of us who were leaving. She must have really underestimated how busy we would be until April, making the nice weather more taunting than anything, but, hey, it's the thought that counts.

I kept my eyes on Teddie for a while. The way his chest rose and lowered over and over told me that he at least slept like a normal person. Which was probably good, because for a normal person this would mean a peaceful sleep, right? But was that true for him too? I shuddered a bit when I remembered something Chie had said earlier that day. Right... If something were to be wrong with him, something that we knew nothing about... We wouldn't really be able to do anything, right? ...That was really a scary thought to have. Teddie often gave me worries. But usually they were caused by him being unable to think further ahead than two seconds into the future and the range his paw could grope. Being worried for his health was really a new one. After all, how exactly do you get worried for the health of someone who managed to blow himself up once and came out of it just fine? Maybe that way of thinking was just careless, though... After all, we were friends. No, more, we were family.

It was still a bit odd... to think of Teddie as my 'brother'. But that was the way it was now. Not just because the papers said so, though that definitely helped too. Mostly, it was because it was the way we decided it to be. Not that there would have been much of a choice, of course... As soon as me moving out became a topic, I had to talk about Teddie to my parents. That was really unavoidable. Coming clean to them about how he had nowhere else to go and no family 'left' to take care of him was hard, but the documents that Mitsuru-san had gotten for us at least helped making the situation seem a little less bizarre. As far as that was possible at least. I still got into plenty of trouble for "lying" about Teddie's identity for so long.

My parents had decided on adoption. In the end, they couldn't just let him be. I guess they had come to feel the same way about Teddie that all of us did. Sure, he can be a pain at times... But he belongs here. It wouldn't be the same without him. This house has been his home for one and a half year now, and so has Inaba. We'd been sharing meals and a room and belongings - well, mostly he just took my belongings without asking - and we have worked together and spent our days. I remember that when I told him about my parents' decision last year, I had said something like 'Well, guess I'll just have to get used to having a little brother now', but the truth was that I already had. I just hadn't noticed until it became a topic. That didn't mean I could expect to be called 'Big Bro' anytime soon, of course - Hah, if Teddie had ever given me that much respect, many of my days would have been a whole lot more comfortable - but at least it gave me another kind of bond to someone here that wouldn't just vanish as I go.

Teddie... My little brother, was one of the things and people I would be leaving behind when I left Inaba. This wouldn't be 'my' room or 'our' room anymore, it would be his. Of course I didn't think he realized that yet. And to be honest, I wasn't sure how to tell him. Stuff like education and future planning... Really, more often than never that was all lost on him. I wondered, when would he understand? How... 'old' did we have to consider him? On the papers, he was almost 16 now. As for his real age... Who knew. We sure didn't. And mentally... Mentally, he deserved to be studied, frankly. That bear was a total mystery, through and through.

I was just debating to myself if it was right to think something like that behind a sleeping person's back - even if it was Teddie - when a somewhat thin, but chipper sound reached my ears.

"Yosuke, do you always watch me sleep, or did you only just now discover how sexy a photo-motif I can make?"

My eyes staring into the distance became focused at once and I saw Teddie's head turned to me, his usual wannabe-chivalrous smile painted on his face. He was still on his bed, but had taken what looked like an underwear model's pose.

...Well. At least he was awake.

"Oh... So you've been up, huh? Well, that's good to know... Anyway, what do you mean by photo-motif? Hell no! Can you please cut out that crap?"

"Huh? So you weren't going to snap a pic? Tsk, really, Yosuke, I think somebody is in de-ni-al here~."

"Snap a pic? What are you-"

I cut short my own sentence when I realized that my cellphone was still in my hand, the camera facing right into Teddie's direction. At once I slammed it into the table behind me and tried to stop my face from turning crimson. Oh, I knew exactly how Teddie was going to relay this little 'story' to everyone else, and I also knew exactly in how much trouble he was gonna be in once he did. I would make sure of that.

"...Please, move," I said in a rather uncomfortable voice once my phone had been removed from my hand and I saw that Teddie was still posing as if we were having a photoshoot for a dirty magazine. He briefly gave me an offended scowl, before he slid his legs to the side and let them dangle off the bed. Sitting up on the mattress, he stretched a little. There were wrinkles on his clothes, but, to my surprise, Teddie did not get to brushing them out right away. Was he still a little dazed after all? He seemed fine enough, but still, given how vain the bear usually was...

"Hmm, that was a night... So, when's breakfast?"

That was the first thing Teddie said as soon as he had sat up, causing me to lean forward, closer to him.

"Breakfast? Dude, you didn't sleep that long. It's only evening!"

"Hm? What do you mean? Isn't getting out of bed always breakfast time?" Teddie's eyes widened a bit. The surprise seemed genuine. Did he really think it was morning? "Not that long? But... How long did I sleep then..?"

He started looking around our room in a disoriented fashion. Like the place had anything to do with the time! Geez, Teddie, you know where you are! Then again, given what had happened, I couldn't really blame him for being a little out of it. On the other hand, he had been doing dumb poses on his bed just a few second ago, so he was probably fine enough to use his brain... Or whatever his equivalent of one might have been.

"Oh, right, I remembear. Yosuke and I were in front of that big building in the city. And... And then there were Shadows! Riiight...! And then... And then... Hm..."

Teddie looked at me in a puzzled fashion.

"What... Happened then?"

"You passed out," I brought it right to the point.

"Hm? Passed out?"

He really didn't remember, huh? I could only sigh.

"After we defeated the Shadows. You lost your balance and had a look on your face like a zombie. Then you leaned on my shoulder, slipped off, and after that you were just out like a light."

Teddie took a short while to process what I was telling him. Then, with his eyes closed and his head tilting to the side and back a few times, finally he seemed to understand.

"Hmm... So I fell unconscious. I see... Hm, indeed... I beary much see it now..."

"...What do you see?" I asked him, following his motions.

Teddie opened his eyes, "I dunno."

"Way to be pointlessly dramatic." Couldn't this bear be serious about anything for just once in his life?

"But I *do* remembear getting pretty sleepy all of a sudden! Hm, yeah... Everything was just spinning around and I was thinking, 'Oh, poor, adorable me, I am going to die now, all alone here with Yosuke! Why couldn't it have been the hottie valkyrie of my dying dreams instead!' "

Apparently he couldn't. I rubbed my face with the palm of my hand and groaned.

"Well, at least you seem to be fine now. That's good. But seriously, you scared us there. Try to be a bit careful for a while now. If you're not feeling well or anything like it, you'd better tell Mom and Dad right away, got it?"

"Yessir!"

At least I had his agreement here. Of course, I didn't know how much it would be worth. Again, Teddie rarely ever thought ahead for anything he did. Chances were he would be fooling around and getting caught up in shenanigans within seconds the next time I turned my back on him. But for now I guessed that things would be OK this way. No matter how upbeat and chipper he seemed, I could hear it in his voice that he was still drained. He probably wasn't going to be going anywhere for tonight at least. And that was a good thing, because it was already past 8pm. Mom would have probably thrown a fit if I had allowed Teddie out that late, especially after what had happened earlier today. The doctors were probably right, even if they didn't know much more about Teddie than we did. For now all we could do was let him rest and watch him for a while.

"Hey... Yosuke?"

I had only just turned to turn on my PC and mind my own business, when I heard Teddie talk to me again. When I faced him once more I, strangely enough, found that his expression had changed. He looked a tiny bit uncertain of something. It was enough to make me willing to listen to whatever he had to say.

"Yeah?" I asked, leaning over the back of my chair. "What's up?"

There was a bit of hesitance in Teddie's eyes. Either he wasn't sure what to say, or he wasn't sure of how to say it. It could easily be the later, given that he tended to go cagey when he didn't have any way to make what he was going to say funny. Well, at least his idea of 'funny'.

"...Do you... know who that voice was?" he finally asked.

"Hm? What voice?" I replied.

My non-answer clearly didn't make Teddie feel any bit less nervous. He became insistent.

"That voice! There was a voice from somewhere when I got dizzy! I know that I thought that it was really familiar, too, but I can't remember who it was now, so..."

He stopped. For the first time since he had woken up, I could tell that Teddie's eyes were focused straight on mine.

"...Yosuke? You... Heard it too, didn't you?"

The way Teddie was looking at me sent chills down my spine. In a way, it reminded me a bit of the eyes of an asylum inmate in a movie, pleading people to believe that he wasn't crazy. I didn't know what to say. Why was he so scared? What had he heard? A voice, huh...?

"Teddie... There wasn't anything," I decided to be truthful. "We were the only ones around. You suddenly got dizzy and collapsed. That's all that happened."

"Ah...Ahh...?"

With his eyes wide like that, Teddie was honestly starting to creep me out a little. What was going on? Sure, people hearing voices when they were dizzy or beat wasn't unheard of. I wasn't surprised Teddie had heard a voice. No, what made it unsettling for me was his reaction to me telling him that there was nothing. He seemed downright... Afraid. I couldn't help but wonder why.

"...Hey, Ted. Are you... Sure you're OK?"

Maybe that wasn't the best thing to ask. After all, if he was already afraid of the fact that he was hearing voices, me talking to him like I were thinking that he had lost his marbles probably wasn't going to make him feel better. But my own nervousness was getting the better of me too now. Unblinking, I stared at Teddie, waiting to maybe hear more about what had actually been going on with him when he fell unconscious after our battle or about the voice he claimed to have heard. But instead, I just got his troubled face staring right back at me and a long, drawn out silence, which consisted of one or two minutes of the two of us just uncomfortably looking at each other. Then, Teddie shook his head a little. The stiff expression of fear on his face disappeared. He forced a smile.

"Hmm... Oh, well... It was probably... Nothing then! Nevermind me! Hee Hee..."

His dumb giggling didn't make him anymore convincing of a liar. Whatever Teddie had 'heard', it was clear that it was still troubling him. But for some reason, he didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it anymore now that I had told him that I hadn't heard it. I wished I could look into his mind and figure out what he was thinking. But I knew that even if that were possible, I probably still wouldn't know what was going on in his head. It was much more likely I'd just be utterly confused at the heaps of moon logic I'd find... At times, I really wished Teddie would make more sense. It would have made it much easier to understand him when he had actual problems. But, alas...

"Well, if you say so..."

I brought my finger to the power switch of my computer.

"Hey... Yosuke?"

Again I had thought I should probably just let the matter rest and return to doing my own thing, but again Teddie prompted me to turn around and look at him once more, exactly the same way as before. I was starting to wonder if I was going to have any time for myself tonight at all, but I didn't mind as much as I would have had I been in any less of a generous mood. It had been a weird day for both of us, right?

"Yeah?" I only turned my head this time around. Teddie was still sitting in the same spot he had been ever since he had woken up, his legs still dangling from the side of the bed.

"So... School break is in a month, right?" he asked and at once his face brightened a good bit. It seemed like he had been keeping an eye on the calendar. "Sensei will be coming over then, like always, won't he? I was thinking, we should probably be throwing an extra big party then! Bearcause last year's Golden Week turned totally upside down with all the this and that we ended up having to do aaaand, we also have some actual celebratory occasions to commemorate this year! I want the mood to be just perfect when I show Sensei my shiny new beary Important Document, after all!"

"Oh... That, huh?"

It figured that Teddie would want to celebrate his own adoption with everyone. That was precisely why I was not going to tell him about the canceled party at Junes. With our current busy schedules, there was just not much of a chance we'd be able to schedule it to a later date. As for Spring Break... Right, I almost forgot that was even something that was happening. Probably because I was so busy with preparations and planning that I didn't even expect to be having much of a break this year to begin with. But Teddie must not have realized that yet.

"To be honest... I think Yu probably won't be able to make it this year," I rubbed the back of my neck. This was a topic I hadn't wanted to brush tonight, but I couldn't just lie at him either, so I tried to be vague. "There wouldn't be much of a point to it, given how busy we're going to be."

"W-Whaaaaaaat?" The shock on Teddie's face was underlined by his jaw taking a dive as far down as a jaw could possibly go down without it looking painful. "B-But! It's Spring Break! Spriiiing Break! Flowers and Cherry Blossoms! Crying into each other's shirts to ease the pain of the dreaded 'exam results'! Pink Skirts! F-Fun times!"

He sounded almost like he was really crying, though his whining was still far too theatrical to trigger any kind of genuine emotion in me. But he kept going, sniffling and moaning.

"L-Like Sensei would ever miss out on experiencing that with all of us! H-Hmpf! That's a really cruel joke to make, Yosuke! You should be thankful I'm still talking to you!"

"I'm not joking! Did you even listen to what I've said?"

That wasn't fair of me. I knew that he had listened. It was my 'keeping it vague' that really wasn't making it better for either of us. Teddie was managing to put some serious strain on my nerves again, but this time I really couldn't blame him. It was really just me not wanting to acknowledge what I had already known. That I would have to tell Teddie about what was going to happen next month. That my vague hope that he had maybe already figured out on his own wouldn't come true. Apparently, Teddie really hadn't caught wind of it yet. ...Seriously? Had it really gone right over his head? C'mon, Ted, you can't be that dense, I thought to myself one last time. You must have realized something going on at least, right? What with all my planning and studying, and running around like a headless chicken? But that probably was only what I had wanted to believe. It was as I have told you before; Teddie never thought ahead. That was something we always had to do for him. But right now, I felt stuck and the words wouldn't come. I really had no idea how to break it to him. Especially now, that we had only one month left.

"Look, it's just... Argh..." I shook my head, desperately trying to stop stuttering. "It's like... Like what I said, OK? We're all going to be busy. There won't be an 'us' this Spring Break. That's all."

...That's all? Really, me? Just this Spring Break? Could I really leave it at that? Would that be fair of me?

"In fact... There probably won't be an us until at very least Golden Week..." My voice was shaking a little. Right, I had gone too far now. There was no going back now. I hadn't prepared myself at all for it, but now, I had to go through. "And even then... That's only Golden Week. It won't last long either..."

"Hm...?"

Of course, Teddie had realized how much I was struggling to bring out what was on my mind. Gone was the overdramatic expression on his face again, replaced by that eerily worried look that simply didn't suit Teddie at all. In my ill-fated attempts to be careful about what I was saying, I had somehow managed to pass my dread right on to him.

"Busy...? What do you mean, Yosuke? But... Spring Break is holidays! We're always together with Sensei during holidays, right? What do you mean... No 'us'...?"

Teddie's voice was becoming slower and slower as he continued to speak. Clearly, he was beginning to catch on. It looked like there was no getting out of it anymore. I had opened that can of worms and now I had to deal with what was coming out of it. I took a deep breath and got it out.

"Teddie... Yu is going to be busy settling into college, and Chie and I... We're leaving Inaba at the end of next month."

---

Chapter 3 - The Real Heroine

Light, Camera, Action! Scripts, roles, stage directions. Producers, Directors, Actors. Reality and Fiction. Great emotion and hot action.

It seemed so glamorous to the observing eye, the work of an actor, the idea of taking on a different role and identity and playing out their story, creating something to be enjoyed, looked at and watched with empathy, something that would bring fame and acknowledgment. But as so often in life, the actual work of an actor was nothing like the romantic ideal. That's not to say that it wasn't good work or enjoyable work, yet Yukari couldn't help but find herself contemplating the technicalities that most people probably never knew about.

She also swore to herself that if Junpei called her in the middle of work to ask her what scene they were on now and if he could get spoilers to brag to his baseball boys with just one more time, she was going to text him a Feather Pink Arrow to his butt.

"I said NO! Forget it!"

"Oh, c'mon, Yuka-tan, not even one tiny hint? Just between you and me!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I could lose my job for this kind of stuff?"

"Look, you can make it totally ambiguous! I thought we were pals!"

"And I thought the sentence 'I will be fired' wouldn't be so hard to understand, but obviously, I've been underestimating you. Congratulations, Stupei!"

" -Ack! That, again? You wound me, my friend!"

Yukari walked her way down the studio hallways as she continued to argue with Junpei over the phone. It was a good thing they were on lunch break right now because, frankly, she didn't want anyone on the set to catch wind of this kind of embarrassing conversation. With every word coming out of the speaker, she just wanted to groan. It was always the same with Junpei, he would call under the pretense of it being important and then go on to prove to her anew what an eternal kid he could be. She wouldn't have minded as much had he at least had anything actually important to say, but so far, it did not seem as if that were the case. It made her seriously regret not having canceled the call the moment she saw his name flash on the screen.

" ...Seriously, though, Yuka-tan. There's something we gotta talk about."

Oh? Was that actual seriousness she heard in Junpei's voice there? Could it be that he was actually getting to the point now? Provided he ever had one to begin with?

" So, you know how we're both, like, special operatives? I mean, just part time, and all, but..."

"Yeah?"

Yukari tried to speed up the process. Her lunch break wouldn't last forever and as far as she was concerned, Junpei had yet failed to convince her that this conversation was actually going to be relevant to her life.

" Well, it's just... There's something... Like, the other day... Don't get me wrong, I was thinking, hey, maybe I should go to Mitsuru-senpai with that first, but it didn't seem right, you know? Ah, I guess you probably don't know. I mean, I didn't even tell you yet, but... What I'm trying to say is..."

At this point, Yukari really wished she had some gum to chew on her. She was getting rather bored with all this not-making-sense.

"Junpei," she said. "Look, my lunch break only has 60 minutes. If there's really something you need to tell me, I'd like you to speed this up a little and tell me quickly, or-"

Raising her own head a little was enough to make Yukari stop in her tracks entirely. What she had wanted to say, she didn't know anymore. The surprise at what - or rather, who - she was seeing in front of her, just ten meters down the corridor, left a far stronger impression on her mind. And obviously that sentiment of surprise was reciprocated, as Yukari found the four eyes of two other young women on her, equally as wide as her own. She lowered the phone from her ear.

"...Rise-chan? ...Shirogane-kun!"

"Takeba-san," Naoto greeted back, her initial surprise quickly changing into a smile. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Ah, Yukari-chan!" Rise was perky as ever. She ran right up to Yukari. "Are you on break? Wheew, I guess that means we made it on time."

Yukari's reply came with a nod and a smile,

"Yeah! I was actually just on my way to get some lunch... Well, if there's still some left, hopefully. I got... Sidetracked a little."

Speaking of her distractions, the cellphone in her hands was still very busy transmitting the static-loaden voice of a certain baseball coach into Yukari's reach.

" Hey? Hello? Yuka-tan? What is going on now? Hey, is that Risette? And Nao-tan? C'mon! Don't just let me hang like this!"

A sigh. Right. Phonecalls didn't cancel themselves. Still, at least now she had the exact kind of excuse to end it that she had needed all along. Lucky her.

"Oh, Junpei, I'm so, so sorry, but that red button is soooo tempting, I just have to press it."

" Wait, what now? Red button... Hey!"

It had taken him two seconds to realize what she meant. The exact two seconds she needed to flip the phone in her hand put her finger in place.

"Sorry~! And bye~!"

" At least tell them 'hi' from m-!"

Junpei's complaint never finished. The line was already cut, and the speaker silent, as Yukari preferred it to be. She briefly wondered if maybe she wasn't being a little mean to Junpei, but considering her experience with past times he called her while she was on the set, she had probably made the right decision. As much as she considered him a good friend, he really had only a vague concept of 'there being a certain time and place for certain things'. When Yukari turned her attention back to the two girls with her, she found that they seemed a little dumbfounded.

"Huh..." Rise tilted her head a little, not quite sure what to make of what she had just witnessed.

Meanwhile, Naoto was brushing some of her hair over her eyes, as if to hide them, "That was... Certainly a way to end a call, I suppose."

"Oh, that was just Junpei," Yukari rolled her eyes and tugged away her phone. "Nevermind him. What are you girls doing here? I thought they said we weren't shooting any more scenes with your character in them for a while, Rise-chan?"

"Yeah, that's true, the reveal of Golden Dove's identity isn't due for filming yet, but the director called me in for some test shootings. He said he wasn't sure about some things in the script and wanted to see me try performing them live first, before deciding what to keep and what not." As Rise explained, her eyes wandered over to Naoto. She eventually put a hand on her friends' shoulder and grinned. "And Naoto-kun here said she had something to talk about with you, so she tagged along!"

"Hm? With me?" Yukari replied. That was something she hadn't expected to hear.

"Ah, yes. That is correct." It was a little uncomfortable to Naoto to be forced along with Rise's swift pace like this, but she stayed calm and kept smiling with the other two, as she nodded her head and attempted to explained. "For a reason I would rather not disclose out in the open like this, I contacted the Shadow Operatives Headquarters last night. As I did, I was informed of a certain... Incident that happened at these studios last week."

The young Detective's words caused Yukari to stand up straight again and adopt a somewhat more serious expression.

"Oh... That..."

Of course she knew what Naoto was talking about. It was just that she hadn't expected to be asked about it here and now, of all times and places.

"Would it be alright if I asked you a few questions about what happened that day?"

Yukari reacted a little slowly, mostly because she wasn't sure what exactly Naoto's reasons were to try and get involved in this. In the end, however, she nodded.

"Yeah, sure... If my Senpai sent you to me, I'll try to tell you everything you need to know..."

But why she needed to know it... That was a question Yukari was definitely going to ask herself. So much was sure. It wasn't that she didn't trust Naoto, but the fact that she had contacted Mitsuru and the other higher ups in the first place gave Yukari a bad feeling. Was this a larger scale incident than they had thought?

Of course they couldn't discuss such matters during lunch and so Yukari was granted a good half hour during which she could put her mind on other things. She took to just chatting with Rise about trivial things, like work and their opinions on the other actors. Then Rise asked her if she knew if Fuuka had been doing well lately and Yukari replied that, yes, Fuuka seemed fine, if not a bit busy with her studies. Yukari then went on to ask about Chie and Yukiko. The conversation over a couple of chicken sandwiches and a bowl of rice continued that way, with Naoto only occasionally chiming in.

It wasn't until Rise was called away for her test-shootings that Yukari went to find a calm room to occupy with Naoto alone. She still had a little time left before the filming of her own scenes would resume, so now was the right opportunity to speak to Naoto in peace.

"So, there we are..."

The sound of Rise's voice reached them from the next room. Though the rooms used for regular in-door filming were sound-proof, they went with another chamber for the tests, meaning that, though it was muffled, they could still hear some of Rise's lines through the walls. Yukari frowned a little. So much for not spoiling the show to outsiders. Even though Naoto was only allowed here because Rise had brought her along in first place...

"Ha Ha..." Yukari's laughter was awkward. "Sorry about the noise. Hopefully you don't mind being let in on the 'deep, dark secrets' of unaired episodes of a children's show?"

Naoto shook her head calmly, "It is quite alright. I don't mind the spoilers. It was actually rather obvious that the Golden Dove's true identity was Mihato Kanasaki."

Yukari's eyes widened, "Huh? You actually do watch the show?"

"Um... W-Well..."

At this question Naoto's face suddenly turned crimson. Yukari understood that she must have hit something of a weak point there and laughed, "Don't worry, I don't think it's embarrassing or anything. I'm actually pretty flattered! I'm always glad to know that there's some friends who enjoy what we're doing, too."

"I-In any case," regardless of Yukari's motivational words, Naoto seemed in a hurry to change the topic as quickly as possible. "Regarding the incident you were involved in... If I understood Sanada-san correctly, you were assaulted by Shadows?"

"Hm..."

The smile on Yukari's face had disappeared again, replaced by a look of worry. She seated herself in front of Naoto.

"Before I say anything about that... Can I ask you a question first?"

Naoto nodded, "Of course, I see no issue with it."

"Alright, then..."

There was some hesitance in Yukari's actions. It was less that she didn't know what to say, and more that she didn't want to come across as jumping to conclusions. Then again, was there any other word for what she was doing? Maybe not, but she liked to believe that she had a good reason for her suspicions.

"You said you called at our headquarters and they told you about what happened here, right? I was wondering, why did you call the HQ in first place?" She paused. "Could it be... that something happened over in Inaba as well?"

Immediately, Naoto's eyes wandered to the side and Yukari understood. Her bad feeling hadn't just been paranoia after all. She held her breath.

"There was... an incident," Naoto admitted. "Nothing in comparison to last May's case, of course, but Yosuke-senpai and Teddie ended up having to combat a group of Shadows in Okina yesterday."

"Okina?" Yukari repeated surprised. She had been sure if anything had happened, it would have been in Inaba again. Why Okina, all of a sudden? Then again... This film studio wasn't exactly close to any places that had previously been involved with Shadow-related issues either. What did that mean?

"That is why I am here," Naoto continued to tell Yukari. "I wanted to hear from you about what has happened here and compare the recounts to what I was told by Yosuke-senpai. If it turns out that both incidents were caused by the same phenomenon, we may be able to find clues regarding what may have caused it. At least that is what I was thinking."

"Clues, hm?"

With her eyes closed, Yukari thought about the situation a bit. Did Naoto know that Yukari's incident hadn't been the only one reported to the Operatives so far? Yukari knew that Mitsuru had been working on dissecting a huge pile of similar incidents in her office. Genius Detective of not, if Mitsuru, with all that many cases to compare, hadn't come to a conclusion yet, would Naoto really be able to figure out much more with information on only two of them? Regardless, Yukari wanted to help. What made her unsure was the sneaking suspicion that there might not be that much she could do to help to begin with, at least not right now. There were a few things she still wasn't qualified to talk about.

"To be honest, I am still not sure what exactly happened," Yukari began to explain. "We were in the middle of shooting a combat scene, when suddenly all the lights went out. At first I thought it was a blackout, but then I realized that almost all of the other people, except for one of the other actors, had vanished. Before I knew it, we found ourselves under attack by some Shadows. I summoned my Persona to drive them off, but they overpowered me for a bit."

There was a pause. Obviously, Yukari had some issue putting the next part into words. "I, um... Found a way to use my Persona to get the upper hand after all. But the boy with me saw it all. When the lights came back on, nobody realized anything had happened. It looked like the two of us had just fallen down while trying to perform our stunts. I asked him not to tell anyone about what happened, and I don't think he did. I mean, even if he did, who would believe him? The next thing I did was call Mitsuru-senpai... And that's the whole story, really. Nothing happened after that, thank God. But it was still pretty freaky..."

Naoto nodded, committing the things Yukari told her to memory. She took notice of how Yukari had stayed vague about how exactly she had managed to gain the advantage over the Shadows, but Naoto decided to focus on a different part of the testimony first.

"You said another actor remained with you, conscious, even when all other human life in the area had vanished. Can you think of a reason why he didn't disappear along with everyone else?"

"Well," Yukari glanced at the ceiling. "Back when the Dark Hour still existed, people who were conscious during it were usually either Persona Users, people with the potential to become Persona Users, or they had been dragged into it by the voices of Shadows. I asked that boy if he heard any voices, but apparently he didn't."

"And he didn't summon a Persona during the assault either, if I understood you right?" Naoto asked.

Yukari nodded.

"I see," Naoto let the information she had been given process in her mind. "So it's possible he is a person with the potential to become a Persona User naturally, who hasn't developed the ability... Is this how I am to understand you?"

"I know, it must sound confusing," Yukari admitted. "But I know that people like that exist. It was the only safe way to get a Persona back before we averted the Fall. I used to be like that myself. It was only when I met Mitsuru-senpai and the others that I actually learned how to summon mine... There are also some specially trained people in the Kirijo Group who can stay awake during the Dark Hour, but can't summon a Persona. Of course, now that the Dark Hour doesn't exist anymore, there isn't really a way to find people like these that easily."

"But these incidents have similar properties to what you all called the 'Dark Hour', just like the incident that happened last year in May. So naturally, these kinds of individuals would also remain conscious during them..."

"Yeah. That's what Mitsuru-senpai said, too."

With her hands in a pondering position, something Naoto's gaze darkened. A worrying idea must have come to her mind.

"That might mean that people not able to properly summon their Personas might end up involved in these incidents," she mumbled, more to herself than to Yukari. "In this case, there may eventually be casualties. This is troubling news..."

Yukari understood Naoto. The same thought had beein n on her mind for a while already. The idea that somewhere, right now, time might be stopped for somebody who has possibly never seen Shadows before and they would just find themselves thrust into battle without any means of summoning a Persona to defend themselves was like something out of a horror movie. They were Shadow Operatives. It was part of their duty to protect people from this kind of danger. But they were only human. How to fight against something they couldn't predict? In Naoto's eyes, Yukari could see she didn't have the answer either. At least not yet.

"Can I see the boy you mentioned?" Naoto asked. "I would like to take testimony from him as well."

"Ah... Naruya-kun?"

Naruya... Naoto only needed to hear the name to know that Yukari was talking about Naruya Yokomoto, the suit-actor portraying the current iteration of the Blue Featherman Ranger, the Blue Swallow.

"I don't think he would mind, but... I think he's got a tight shooting schedule today. It might be hard to get ahold of him. You could try during the next break, in two hours. If you've got the time to wait that long, that is."

"That is quite alright," Naoto replied. "Incidentally, my schedule for today is rather empty. I will wait. Thank you very much for your cooperation, Takeba-san."

Naoto's thanks came with perfect timing. Just a moment after she had finished talking, the speakers in the room made an announcement mentioning Yukari's name.

"Oh, that's my cue." Picking up her things, Yukari made for the door. "Sorry, I've got to get back to work now. Talk some more later?"

"Yes. I will be waiting."

Naoto watched as the other young woman left the small room, leaving her alone at the table and in relative silence. Of course, from behind the wall to her left, she should still hear Rise's voice, as she continued to say the same lines, again and again, in many different ways, but aside from that, Naoto found herself in solitude. Not that she minded. She had found that, while having companionship and dialog was a wonderful thing, there were many times when she very much preferred to be alone. Moments when she needed to contemplate something were one such situation.

She began to mentally sort through the information she had received, comparing and contrasting it with what she had heard from Yosuke the day before. The common points were undeniable. A sudden stop in time, disappearance of all human presence except for two certain individuals, an assault by a group of Shadows and the area returning to normal as soon as the Shadows were eliminated by a Persona User. As for differences, there were a couple Naoto had noticed, though she was not yet able to discern what exactly they meant. Firstly, there was Yukari's mention of having been overpowered by the Shadows at first. This very much stood in contrast to how Yosuke had described the Shadows he and Teddie had been faced with as 'small fry'. Yukari Takeba was a seasoned Persona User with more than four years of experience. It was very unlikely that Shadows described as 'weak' by Yosuke Hanamura would be able to overpower her, especially considering that Yosuke's and Yukari's elemental affinities were rather similar. It followed that the Shadows Yukari had fought must have been different from what Yosuke had found himself in combat with. Further, in Yukari's case, a person not known to have Persona Abilities ended up involved. Of course, this discrepancy had already been explained away... Then, finally, and also most intriguingly to Naoto, Yukari had not mentioned anything regarding either her or the boy with her, Naruya Yokomoto, losing consciousness upon the world returning back to normal. This was interesting, since it meant that out of four people who had been subjected to the phenomenon, only one had collapsed. And this could be especially relevant, given the fact that the one person who did collapse was Teddie...

Teddie's collapse could not have had anything to do with his Persona Abilities. Two other Persona Users, as well as one person not able to summon a Persona did not collapse under the same conditions. And though mental instabilities could not be ruled out as a cause for being affected by the sudden shift in reality the way he was, Naoto knew that Persona Ability was a sign of a certain level of mental stability in most cases. Naoto had been told that Teddie had been perfectly able to summon and control his Persona just minutes before his losing consciousness. If the collapse had really been related to his mental state alone, Naruya Yokomoto, a person not yet capable of summoning a Persona, would most likely have collapsed as well. Which meant that there had to be another criterium in play. Naoto already felt that she had a suspicion regarding what it could be. After all, given what they knew so far, this was a phenomenon that only seemed to affect Teddie in such a manner. And there was only one trait Teddie definitely did not share with any of the other subjects in question...

(I will have to talk to Teddie,) Naoto decided. (As soon as possible. Thank goodness it shouldn't be too hard to meet his rather lax schedule.)

Naoto found herself thinking of her friends. Wondering what they might be doing at the moment, considering where they might be this time of the day. How far might Yosuke and Chie be with their preparations for their continued education by now? Did Yukiko already know when she would be scheduled for her months of inn-keeper training? Kanji should be at his part-time job as an arts and crafts teacher at the daycare right now. Was he doing well? Was Teddie in good spirits today, or still tired? Yosuke had told her that Teddie had woken and appeared to be just fine the evening before, but he also made some hints regarding him acting 'off' in some ways, that Naoto couldn't fully understand.

What was Yu doing? How was he faring in the city? Naoto had no worries for his academic success, but she wondered about other things. Did he have other friends there? People he could speak to about his worries? She understood that it could be hard as a transfer student who only entered the class during the final year. And Yu barely ever spoke about himself. He was too occupied with others, it seemed.

...Her thoughts had drifted off far too much from the actual case at hand. Naoto stretched a little and attempted to refocus her mind. That was when, quite suddenly, chills went down her spine.

And then, the room's lights died out.

At once, Naoto's eyes snapped wide open. Far too familiar was the heavy, oppressive feeling that was beginning to overtake her, she watched anxiously as the color drained from her surroundings, making room to a grey, cold feeling of emptiness.

"Is this...?"

Naoto leapt out of her chair, kicking it aside in the process. She made for the door with wide, quick steps. The silence surrounding her only hardened her suspicion. Not only had the electric humming of the various devices constantly operating in the studio facility stopped entirely, there was no sign of human presences. It stayed the same when she stepped outside, into the corridor. There were no people and no light. It was a feeling just they way Yosuke had described it. 'Dead'.

Naoto-kun!

A voice echoed in Naoto's mind, causing her to turn to the door to her left and shout.

"Rise-san, I'm right here!"

Just on cue, the door flew open, revealing a Rise Kujikawa who was downright throwing herself out of the room. An expression of horror was on her face. Naoto dashed to her side.

"Are you alright!?"

"DUCK!" Rise screamed right into Naoto's face. Before she had any time to understand what was going on, a beam of energy came shooting out through the door. Rise's hands shot flat forward into Naoto's chest, pushing her out of the way as Rise leapt. In the blazing light, Naoto caught a glimpse of Rise's Persona, the six-armed Kouzeon, creating a force-field to lessen the impact of the blast. When the radiance dispersed, Naoto could finally see what was behind the door: A group of four Shadows, charging right into their direction with the clear intent to cause damage.

Rise had Kouzeon surge forward and grab the door, smashing it shut.

"...This won't hold them for long," she observed quite accurately. "We have to fight!"

"Did you have an opportunity to analyze them?"

Naoto got back onto her feet and into a defensive stance. She did not have her gun on her, but that did not mean she was not ready to summon her Persona as soon as required. Rise stood right by her side.

"They've got a couple of resistances, but nothing we can't deal with," Her eyes remained focused on the door. "I'm gonna round them up, you go and take them out!"

"Agreed!"

Naoto's nod was all the cue Rise needed. She returned it.

"Alright then! Ready? Three, two, one... GO!"

Kouzeon let go of the door. That was the moment it burst open. All four Shadows leapt outside in grotesque manners, ready to tear into the two friends they had elected as their targets. Rise, however, was prepared. Even if she went into this just as unarmed as Naoto was, this did not mean she was defenseless. With a deep breath in, which she held for a second, she waited for the exact right moment... Then let out a sound. It wasn't a scream. It was much too clear and even for it. It was more like a note. A note, amplified and magnified by a multiple through Kouzeon's capabilities, channeled and aimed directly at the enemy, sparing Naoto the effects of the disruptive soundwave. It froze the Shadows in their tracks, causing them to cringe and curl up and produce noises that could only be interpreted as screams of agony. This was just the chance the girls had been waiting for. Getting a slight cue from Rise, Naoto focused.

"Yamato-Sumeragi!" she summoned, and the sword-wielding, crimson-clad figure appeared before them at once.

With a whim of her mind, Naoto enveloped the area in a radiant light. Just as Rise had predicted, the Mahamaon spell devoured the enemies and cleared them out immediately, leaving behind nothing but the remaining echoes of Rise's soundwave. For a few second, the two friends stood side by side, just trying to catch their breathes, more from the shock than from any exhaustion.

"...It's not over yet." There was a serious expression on Rise's face. "I can sense more... From the main studio."

Naoto's face went a little paler when she heard this. She had been dreading this...

" That is where Takeba-san is... We have to go, now !"

"Alright! Follow me!"

Rise and Naoto dashed down the corridors, the few Shadows that threw themselves into their way quickly disposed of by their Personas. The light-based spells they used on their way seemed to be drawing a trails of shining fragments of radiance behind them as they ran, but Naoto could have cared less for the way they looked right now. Getting to their destination as quickly as possible was on the forefront of her mind.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Yukari Takeba to be able to defend herself, quite the contrary. But she also knew how difficult it could be for a single Persona User to focus simultaneously on commanding their Persona and guarding a person. No, it wasn't Yukari's wellbeing that Naoto feared for. Yukari was skilled and she would be alright. But where Yukari was right now, they were currently filming new scenes of Feathermen: Second Victory . Which meant that the other actors currently filming should all be present in that same room. That was why Naoto knew that there was most likely one other person with Yukari at this moment. Someone who would be entirely incapable of defending himself. By the time they arrived at the main studio hall, the noise of battle from within it was already echoing far. It sounded so intense, fear that they may already be too late grew within Naoto. When they stood in the open door, she had to find that fear hadn't been entirely unfounded. What they were faced with was far from a hopeful image to look at.

The amount of Shadows in the studio was startling to the point of seeming overwhelming even to the two of them. While Naoto had been prepared to join battle immediately, now she found herself unsure where to attack first, which left her hesitating. And Rise, too, took a step back when she saw what was happening inside.

"YUKARI-CHAN!"

To say Yukari was in a predicament would have been a huge understatement. She wasn't just surrounded, she was basically buried under Shadows, warping around her body in many shapes, dragging her down as if trying to suffocate her. She could barely move, and yet, her Persona was floating in the air, just a meter above her, making desperate attempts to free its owner by blasting Garu spells into all directions. But in the end, Isis was merely an extension of Yukari herself. If she couldn't see where she was aiming, she couldn't hit. And it wasn't only Yukari who was in peril. On the other side across the room from her, curled up on the floor and clearly in pain, there was a teenager with dark hair, wearing a blue Featherman Uniform, much like Yukari's own. The odd position Naruya Yokomoto's left leg was stretched out in didn't mean anything good either.

Naoto and Rise exchanged glances, before charging into the room in two different directions, Naoto going for Naruya and Rise going for Yukari. It was a large hall and the distance between them and the two victims of the assault quite great. Enough for Shadows to get into Rise's way as she was still on the move. A couple of Dancers lunged at her and took her off-guard.

" Ack- Stay away!" Rise yelled, summoning Kouzeon. " Don't touch me! "

Kouzeon successfully pushed back the Dancers with a good hit, but in the time she had managed to do so, several other Shadows had already closed in on her. Rise gasped. Behind the wall of Shadows that was building before her, Yukari's struggle was beginning to look more and more futile.

Though Naoto fared somewhat better, her luck didn't last for long either. She had to come to the annoying realization that several types of Shadows in this room were, in fact, not vulnerable to her light and darkness spells, forcing her to switch her tactic and resort to Megido-type magic instead. But these skills burnt through her stamina like a 100 meter sprint. She had no idea how long she would be able to last like this. So she put as much efficiency as she could into every single spell she cast and, finally, cleared a 20 meters radius close to the wall of Shadows with a well-aimed Megidolaon. She reached the boy on the floor, and slid to the ground, recalling every bit of knowledge regarding first aid she had in her mind and figuring out what to do.

"Yokomoto-kun!" she called in an attempt to test if he was conscious. "Can you hear me!?"

"Ungh..." The boy definitely didn't seem to be in the best of conditions, but he was clearly conscious when he opened his eyes and looked at Naoto. In fact, there was something resembling a smile on his face. "Ah... Huh?"

He saw Naoto's face and made a sound almost like laughter. Naoto didn't understand. What was there to laugh about?

She didn't get much time to consider it. The very next moment, the first Shadows had already bridged the very temporary safe-zone Naoto's Persona had created. Just one turn of her head and Naoto realized how careless it had been to assume she would be able to treat the boy right here and now. With all the focus she could muster in her mind on such short note she called Yamato Sumeragi to her and made it block the incoming charge of Shadows. But that was all she could do. The moment Naoto attempted to cast another spell to give herself space to breathe, she realized she couldn't focus anymore. She had used up too much of her mental energy.

She froze in place, Naruya's head still on her lap, she realized that from this point on, blocking incoming attacks would be all she could do. She had maneuvered herself into a dead end... Hadn't she?

"Don't worry."

The reassuring voice startled Naoto. She took a moment to realize who had said it. When she looked down, she could see Naruya smiling at her.

"Feather Pink will save us..." he continued. "She's... The real deal, you know..."

"Feather Pink?" Naoto had trouble thinking straight and took a couple of seconds to comprehend. "You mean... Takeba-san...?"

Naruya just kept smiling.

"Feather Pink... Will save us..." he said once again.

There was a lack of understanding in Naoto's eyes. How could he be so sure? Wasn't he aware of Yukari's current situation? Didn't he know that she was struggling to do much of anything for even herself right now? But when Naoto turned her head to look to Rise's and Yukari's side of the room, she came to see something she would have never believed to be possible.

" Ghh... N-Naruya-kun! "

At first, she only saw that Yukari's eyes were covered and her limbs were restrained. That was why she still hadn't taken notice of the fact that Rise and Naoto had joined the fray. Not that it would have changed much. Rise was still desperately trying to fight her way through the never-ending ocean of enemies herself. But she wasn't making progress fast enough.

Only with a daring dash she managed let Kouzeon ram straight through the Shadows with enough force to make even just as much as a dent into the giant, black mass that was keeping the pink-clad Persona User tied to the floor. Rise gasped(,) exasperated. She believed that it had been for nothing, that this tiny hole would just close up again and Yukari would continue to be devoured like before. But that was when something about Yukari's situation did unexpectedly change after all, just from that one, tiny hole, that allowed Yukari to see, to pinpoint where she was, and most importantly, to locate her Persona. Isis' erratic attacks and movements stopped. And at once the Persona dashed straight for its owner.

What happened next was... Energy. A pure burst of energy, washing through the room, warmly, with a blueish glow, Yukari right at the source of the radiance.

"W-What...?" Naoto was stunned. But thankfully, this disturbance in her focus didn't put her into peril. All Shadows in the room were just as stunned as she was. The most stunned, however, was Rise. With Kouzeon straight in front of her, she only stared into the light coming from Yukari, her eyes wide open.

"W-What is this...? I've...never before..."

She couldn't go on. The energy Rise was picking up was high enough to force her to put her hand to her head for a moment, to support it. It was an unusually big reading for a Persona User.

Only Naoto kept watching, her mouth open.

"Feather Pink... Will save us," she heard Naruya's voice say again. "The real Feather Pink will... Protect us all..."

Naoto had nothing to say.

It was when Yukari Takeba started sprouting wings before her eyes that she realized what 'finding a way to get the upper hand' had really meant.