Persona 4
Ge-Ni-Us
Genius 3: Drifting Thoughts
"Ieyaru Reiko? Who's that?" He looked up groggily. All he saw around him were monotone gray forms vaguely resembling the shape of humans.
"Didn't you hear?! He completely aced the IQ ranking test in under an hour!"
"An hour?! That's impossible! It takes at least two or three hours even at an IQ level exceeding 180."
Reiko groaned, as he pushed himself to his feet. For some reason it felt like his limbs were made from lead.
"I know... The Ministry of Education is making him take the test again, just to make sure." The voices were coming from a pair of the shadowy forms, Reiko realized. Suddenly a different set of voices chimed up.
"I don't believe it... he finished the second test in under forty-five minutes!"
"I know! And what's worse... he looked -bored-!"
"That kid is a monster... no other way about it..."
Finally on his feet, Reiko released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. His eyes scanned the veritable sea of gray, feature-less figures that seemed to surround him.
"Man... what I wouldn't give to have that kids brain..." Reiko heard the words come from off to his left.
"Damn... just think what he'd be able to do for us in a few years." This time the words came from his right.
"You must make sure to keep an eye on him. That head of his is too valuable to lose." Reiko twitched, casting a glance over his shoulder, at the source of the newest sentence.
"He's perhaps one of Japans most important assets."
"He's a one in ten generations genius."
"He's incredible."
"He's a genius."
'Shut up!' He screamed, or at least he meant to. When he opened his mouth, no words came out. His limbs still felt as if they'd been filled with lead, but he still brought up a hand to his throat.
"What will he give us?"
"I can't wait till he picks a profession!"
"Science... get him interested in science!"
'None of you...know...'The words he wanted to say still didn't come out.
"He's amazing!"
"He can do anything..."
"Shinji, you moron, it's because he can do anything that he gets bored easy."
'....a damn thing....' Reiko could feel the hazy world, populated only by these featureless shades of humans, begin to collapse in on him.
"What? Kendo? Why's he wasting his time with something so useless?"
"How are his science grades?"
"You even have to ask?"
'... about me...' The hazy world went stark white
-o-o-o-o-o-
He felt consciousness return to him. How many times was it now, that he'd had that same dream? 'Stop.'
He took a breath and let it out slowly. 'Control.' He willed his erratic heartbeat back to normal.
It wasn't like he was unaware of the problem. No, it was exactly the opposite. He knew exactly what the shadow that lurked in his heart was. He -was- a genius after all. A little self-psychoanalysis wasn't beyond his grasp. That was exactly why, after all, the shadows had never taken his form in the World inside the TV.
He had long since acknowledged what the nasty thing inside of him was, and he kept it on a tightly bound leash. 'Calm.' He had already accepted his shadow... long before he'd ever even heard of Inaba.
He tried twisting his wrist ever so slightly. But the ropes that bound his wrists behind him didn't budge. The same with his legs.
"Try all you like..." There came a smooth feminine voice from off to his left. It was tinged with amusement. "But escape is an impossibility. Don't you remember the fortune I read?"
Reiko opened his eyes in an almost casual manner, before turning his gaze toward the voices origin. "I remember. I also happen to remember how much of a faker you are."
Sayako smiled confidently. "Such ego... even when you're going to face the gates of hell itself." The woman with two different colored eyes sighed softly, uncrossing her legs, and standing. Brushing back the royal blue cloak she wore, a gloved hand smoothed out the wrinkles in her violet colored long dress. She brushed a hand through her short white hair as she watched her captive. A hand rose to the small braid she wore on the left side of her hair and played with it softly. "I suppose that stubborn ego is one of your redeeming features."
Reiko kept his gray gaze on her eyes. "What are you going to do with me?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
Somehow... Reiko doubted that. His gaze said as much.
Sayako could only chuckle. "Come eleven o'clock tonight. You'll no longer be my problem."
"Eleven o'clock?" Somehow, Reiko had a bad feeing all of a sudden.
"That's right..." She motioned to the single television set in the otherwise empty apartment room. "Our god...wants to pass judgement on you... himself." The smile on her face morphed into a predatory smirk. "You should feel honored."
-o-o-o-o-o-
Yukiko wandered through the streets of northern Inaba. The few people milling about in the minutes just after noon hadn't seen the boy she sought. She had ended up searching all the way back toward the Amagi in her vain attempts to find something... anything... about Reiko.
Of course, there was always the harsh idea that Reiko may not be anywhere -near- Inaba. But she desperately clung to the idea that he might be. As she dropped off her groceries at the Amagi inn, she turned and left again to head back to Junes.
Why had she felt the sudden urge to find Reiko? Part of her stated the obvious... she was worried about the man she loved. But ever since the events in Inaba revolving around the Mightnight Channel, there had come to be a small voice in the back of her head...one that spoke the harder truth to her.
Every time she'd thought of him, while he'd been in Inaba, there had been a spark of warmth and affection. Even after he left, the spark had remained. But over time that spark of warmth had faded. Now she found herself questioning the idea that she loved Reiko. The tiny voice in the back of her head told her that she didn't know what love really was.
That voice told her she wanted to find Reiko...to find him and find out if the spark she had once felt inside of her would be renewed by his presence. Her right hand idly moved to her left wrist again, a habit she'd developed ever since she'd received the silver bangle from him. 'Maybe... long distance relationships really don't work...'
"No..." Yukiko shook her head roughly. Now wasn't the time to think about her own problems. There was a considerable chance that Reiko was in trouble. She had to focus on that.
As she turned the corner and made her way into Junes' food court, she spotted a winded Yosuke and a calm looking Naoto. No... Yukiko took that back. She looked calm at first passing. But hovering just beneath the surface of the female detective's cool facade was a sense of anxiousness.
"Yukiko-san..." Yosuke spotted her as he took a deep breath. "Anything?"
Yukiko silently shook her head. "Did you have any luck?"
"No..." Yosuke seemed somewhat annoyed.
They were soon joined by Chie and an irritated Kanji.
Naoto blinked in confusion. "What happened Kanji?"
The boy with dyed hair grumbled in a sour manner. "Man... Damn cops wouldn't leave me alone..." His sniff angrily. "Went on n' on bout how I was suspicious an' how I shouldn't loiter..." He folded his arms with a sigh. "The hells 'loiter' mean anyway?"
"It means to hang around." The voice came from off to their left. The group turned to find a glum looking Rise and Teddy.
"Did you find anything Rise-chan?" Chie looked toward her friend worriedly.
"Nope..." Teddy sighed. "There was nothing out of the normal."
"That's good." Yukiko sighed in relief. "At least he isn't stuck in that world."
Chie looked somewhat sad. "I guess we found nothing at all then." There came a reluctant agreement from each of them. "Then I'll call Dojima-san and tell him."
As Chie took out her phone and began to dial, Naoto sighed. Something was off. And that something was eluding her at the moment.
Ever since she had come to know Reiko, as a friend and as a senpai, she'd always been amazed at his ability to remain cool-headed and think every situation through. However, those skills were a common sight in Naoto's line of work. What really impressed her was his ability to follow his gut, and let his memory fall in line afterwards. She thought back to that cold night when their group had been eating at the local Chinese Diner.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Naoto had excused herself from their planning session slash information session slash dinner session. 'Conditions..' Naoto rubbed her hands together. It really was cold outside. 'Who fit all the conditions?'
It really irritated her when there was so little data to work with. Of course, channeling that irritation was exactly what had helped her become known as the Detective Prince. She sighed softly as she heard the door behind her open and close again. She spared her senpai only a glance before she turned her eyes skyward again. "It's snowing... no wonder it's chilly."
The door behind them opened and closed again. "Brr its cold out here." Yosuke rubbed his arms lightly. "Maybe the cold will get my deductive muscles working." He tossed a smirk toward Reiko and Naoto as they all looked up. They couldn't see the sky in the oppressive fog, and even the snow seemed to get lost in it. "Hey..." Yosuke looked towards Reiko's face. "What's the matter?"
Reiko took a deep sigh. He rose his palm to his face, his pointer and middle finger resting on his forehead. It was Reiko's well known 'thinking pose.' 'All the pieces are there...' The information flashed through his mind. 'Who had connections to Saki Konishi and Mrs. Yamano? Who could keep tabs on their group and even approach the Dojima residence without arising suspicion?'He sighed again."It's bugging me."
"Yes.." Naoto sighed as well. "It feels as if the answer is right in front of us."
'Who could move around easily, even with a high police presence?' Reiko's eyes seemed to glaze over. People called him a genius, and he was, but his best tool, at least in his opinion, was his memory, not his IQ. Every image he'd ever seen was frozen in his mind in perfect detail. 'Who fits all the requirements?' The images flashed over his mind, one by one, ever since the start of the murder cases. 'Who would have known what Namatame was doing? Who else could know about the world inside the TV? Who had come to the Dojima residence enough to make it a mundane occurrence to onlookers?'
As the images flew through his mind,one thing began to stand out; He inhaled sharply. Both Yosuke and Naoto turned at the sound. "Tohru....Adachi...." Reiko's voice barely had any volume to it. It was barely a whisper, but the glazed look in his eyes vanished before he'd even finished saying the name.
And suddenly... all sorts of missing pieces began to fall into place for the Detective Prince, Shirogane Naoto.
-o-o-o-o-o-
They had been attempting to collect information on who the true killer might have been. Even if the world blamed Namatame Taro, they had realized the truth. Someone had been manipulating him.
And that someone... had been right in front of them the entire time.
There had been little, if any, evidence to cast suspicion on Adachi. But Reiko had been able to trust his gut feelings enough to go with it. 'Still...' Naoto sighed again. The two situations were completely different. No matter how much Reiko's disappearance bugged her, there wasn't even a case, much less evidence to help validate the feeling inside her.
"Right. Right, I understand. I'll tell them. Alright, Dojima-san." Chie sighed as she closed her cell-phone.
"What's up? Chie-senpai?" Kanji looked at her while crossing his arms.
"Dojima-san says thanks for our help. He said he'd relay the information to Reiko-kuns mother and the local police." She had a sour look on her face. "He also said we should leave it up to them for now."
"Yeah..." Rise had a sour look of her own. "That's what they told us to do back then too..."
"This is different." Naoto's calm voice spoke up. "For now, I think Dojima-san's words are for the best."
"You can't be serious, Naoto!" Yosuke looked at her incredulously.
"I'll make some calls to some contacts of mine..." She took out her own phone and began to dial it. "But in the mean time, I think it best we all head home and rest." The idea helped calm the knot in her stomach somewhat. Why? She wasn't sure.
And she didn't like that feeling
She didn't like it...at all.
-o-o-o-o-o-
It was almost dusk by the time Yukiko saw her family's inn down the road. No sooner had she entered the gates of the Inn than a downpour of rain had decided to fall. She quickly scrambled inside. A wet kimono would -not- help her currently downward spiraling mood.
"Oh? You're back Yuki-chan?"
"Sorry I was out for so long mother..." Yukiko took a deep sigh as she cast off her shoes, turning her head to look at the sudden rain outside.
"It's alright dear..." The elder Amagi looked at her daughter thoughtfully. The girl had always had her head somewhat in the clouds. But, for some reason, she could see that the 'clouds' around her daughters head matched the clouds currently dumping water down on the small town of Inaba."What's wrong dear?"
"It's... It's nothing, mother."
The older woman simply crossed her arms indignantly. "You know, Yuki-chan. You should practice a whole lot more... if you want to start lying to me..."
Yukiko bit her lip in silence. "Reiko-kun...is missing..." She held back the tears. After everything Reiko had helped her do. After all those times she'd said she wanted to stand on her own and all the times she'd been supported by his mere presence... She -couldn't- be weak now. "And... I'm scared..." She gulped. "And... I don't even know -why- I'm scared."
Her mother's gaze widened... Her daughter was trying her hardest to be strong. She could do no less. After moving forward, the older woman gently wrapped her arms around her daughter. "I'm sure he's just fine."
-o-o-o-o-o-
"Well? How is it?"
"The fog is settling in, Lady Sayako."
"Good" The white haired woman smirked, her blue and violet gaze focused on her captive.
Reiko merely glared back.
She withdrew a small watch and smiled... "Five minutes to eleven. Still..." She quickly stashed the watch somewhere inside her cloak as she walked up to him. "I fail to see how a mongrel like you managed to even step into the presence of a god..." She bought a gloved hand to his chin and forced him to look to the side. "Much less engage and defeat him..."
Reiko narrowed his gaze. 'She doesn't know about them?' Something was off about this situation. There was a slight tingle in the back of his mind, the same tingle that told him something was off when they'd confronted Namatame. She knew Amenosagiri. She knew he'd fought against him. But she didn't know about Persona's?
There was another unsolved puzzle forming in the back of his mind as well... And it was time he found some answers. "I'm much stronger in the other world."
"Oh?" She smirked... "Oh! I see... I think I understand now." She seemed almost... giddy. "You really have no idea at all... do you?"
Reiko blinked... "About what?"
Sayako couldn't help but laugh. "You were able to grasp such a gift... but it -never- even occurred to you to use it outside of -that- world?"
Reiko's eyes widened. She had a point. After all she -had- defeated him with the very magic he'd been able to use in the other world. He gritted his teeth as he heard her laugh again. "How the hell do you even know about what I did?"
"Why...my lord told me... of course!" She said it as if it was plain as day. "Or did you really... truly... believe it was so easy to kill a god?"
Reiko's eyes narrowed. She had no idea. No idea at all, that Amenosagiri was merely a puppet of Izanami.
"He came to me one night. Told me how angry and affronted he was... that a mortal dared raise a hand against him."
Something was wrong. Very wrong. The god that his captor was describing... and the god he'd fought in the other world... they seemed like two completely different beings. The Amenosagiri he'd fought spoke lethargically and with an almost dry sense of reason. After they had beaten him, he hadn't been angry at all. He, like Izanami, had accepted their power... accepted their drive to find the truth.
"My lady..." It was one of the other robe-wearing followers, similar in almost every way to the ones he'd fought in the park. "It's time..."
She nodded and proceeded to the front of the room, where the large flat-screen television lay. As she knelt down to one knee, six of her followers knelt down on both knees and bowed deeply.
Reiko couldn't help the odd sense of irony that came over him as he watched the procession. They were bowing in front of a television. Worshipping it like an idol of old. Deus Ex Machina at it's finest. The Roman poet, Horace, would probably be crying right about now.
But any idle thought vanished from Reiko's mind as the surface of the television began to shimmer, as if it were made of liquid... and not a solid.
He inhaled sharply as a familiar landscape appeared on the screen.
"All hail... our great lord of illusion.... Amenosagiri!" Sayako announced reverently
"Hail! Hail! Hail!" The chorus of cheers filled the empty appartment.
Reiko suddenly had a very... very bad feeling about this.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Hanamura Yosuke took a deep sigh as he collapsed on his couch. With one hand, he rubbed the towel over his head, trying to dry his soaking wet hair. "That did the trick..." A nice warm shower to relieve the tension in his shoulders was perfect.
He was still worried about Reiko. But now that he looked back on it, Naoto was probably right in diffusing their will to keep looking for Reiko. There really wasn't much they could do...
-o-o-o-o-o-
Naoto sighed as she looked up from the plush chair in which she sat. Her television sat silently over the roaring fireplace in her grandfathers mansion. Her eyes were glued to various stacks of paper. They were official records concerning one Ieyaru Reiko. The government was really keeping a good eye on him. Grades, transcripts, known hang-outs. Everything before he came to Inaba was well documented.
He must not have told them his whereabouts during his time in Inaba. Naoto smiled softly. She could only imagine the how hectic things had been when they had realized he was gone. 'It's was probably similar to what's going on now...'
There was absolutely nothing peculiar in the papers... and that fact served only to tighten the knot in her stomach, instead of loosen it.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Yukiko sighed softly. Her mother always knew. It didn't matter wether it was a bully at school in her youth, or even the rare bad grade from her high school days. Her mother always knew when she was troubled. And she always knew just how to help her. It was rather odd she realized, as she slid into her nightgown, that her mother and her friends all said the same thing.
And as each one of them said the same thing, she felt the unease inside her slowly release its grip. She was still worried... extremely worried... about Reiko. But at least now she'd managed to calm down somewhat. As she brushed her hair and tied it back for the night, she looked outside.
'Fog...?' She disliked the fog now... but only because it brought back a flood of memories. Many of those memories , while enlightening, had been quite painful. She shook her head, before standing and moved toward the kitchen. Maybe a small bit of milk would clear her head.
The hallway was dark, her mother, the maids and the kitchen helpers had all gone home or to bed by now. She shuffled as silently as she could manage toward the kitchen and poured herself a small glass of the white liquid. Quickly putting the carton of milk back into the fridge, she closed the door and moved out into the hallway.
She had to pass the common room to get back to the hallway that eventually led to her room, and it was just then she noticed the blaring red light of the alarm clock that sat over the television set. In the otherwise completely dark room, the steady red light displayed four numbers that Yukiko had come to think of as cursed. 12:00.
For some odd, inexplicable, reason, she suddenly felt the urge to touch the television set. She shuffled toward it slowly, almost as if she were in a daze. Just as her hand reached out, however, a light began to shine in the screen of the television set. A television set that should have been off. A television set that -was- off.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Yosuke stood up, his mouth agape. The towel fell from his nerveless hand as he looked at his small television set that stood on the dresser across from him. The image was fuzzy at first, but there was no mistaking it... His eyes darted to his alarm clock, then out his window and into the foggy night. His gaze returned sharply to the TV as the image began to sharpen. "It.... can't.... be...."
-o-o-o-o-o-
Naoto sighed, setting down one binder full of papers and picking up another. There had to be something... something somewhere that would help her find out a possible place Reiko might be. Her concentration, however, was promptly destroyed by the whining sound of a television searching for a signal.
The iconic sound cause a shiver to run down her back. You rarely heard that sound on modern TV sets. Her eyes slowly rose up and they were greeted by an image she most certainly did not want to see. "The... Midnight....Channel..." Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what it was she was watching.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Yukiko felt cold. She felt like all the blood in her body had been drained. The glass of milk left her nerveless hands and clattered to the floor, spilling its contents. But Yukiko gave it no thought.
She was too busy focusing on the TV set... too busy focusing on the figure being displayed -on- the TV set. She took a shocked step back, her face as pale a white as the milk that was running across the tile floor.
"Reiko....kun..."
-o-o-o-o-o-
A/N: Hiya everyone.... /hides from the flying tomatoes...
Do you hate cliffhangers? Good! Means I'm doing my job.
I should warn everyone not to get used to this SUPER FAST pace of updates... it's HIGHLY unusual. Especially for an otherwise lazy writer like me. I write when the muses tell me to pretty much... They're the ones in over drive... I'm just the one suffering from lack of sleep! Why can't they strike at a decent hour?!
Oh well... it's worth it...
R&R as ya like... --KW
