(My favorite girl character, and now I really hope people have played a dose of Persona)


Your class was canceled. Your teacher sent an e-mail that he would be busy that day, and he told you to study at home. Your study habits were usually good, but you were more concerned about last night. Emi's missing friend was in that class and you had no way of finding out if she was all right.

Not knowing where Emi resided, you felt the only place to ask for information would be Rage's stand at the carnival. You stopped when you discovered there was a new... girl there. She wore a skirt with red bandaged arm warmers and matching boots, but your eyes were diverted to the fact that she had large red and black bat wings and ears. You couldn't see her hair; it was covered under a hood. Was it a costume or was that all real...?

"Souji!" you heard Rage shout. "What's up?"

You greeted him and noticed you must have offended the bat girl by staring at her too long.

"That's Zukin, by the way," he said. "Yeah, I guess you guys haven't met. She's from Japan like the rest of us."

She bowed to greet you. "I'm Devil Zukin, but I'm accustomed to being called Zukin. I've heard your name is Souji Seta."

You nodded, and then you remembered why you came here in the first place. You asked Rage if anything happened to Emi's friend. His face went dark.

"They um... they found her. She was killed."

You were shocked, though Zukin showed no sign of surprise. Her face was blank to begin with and didn't change.

"I was just telling her that and my dream," Rage continued, "and she said she had the same one."

"I don't believe it was a dream," she said. "I believe it was something we saw on television. But other than that, it doesn't make any more sense to me than it does to Rage-sama."

You frowned, frustrated. How was it they could both see the Midnight Channel and you were unable to...?

"I guess I lied to you," Rage started, "about when you asked if I'd seen her on TV. Cause if it wasn't a dream, she really was on TV."

"The television program was strange," Zukin commented. "Don't you think Emi deserves to know this, Rage-sama?"

Rage sighed. "They were friends. I don't wanna tell her anything else that's gonna bring her down."

You wanted to ask Rage if you could see his television, but you were nervous around Zukin, having just met her. Her red eyes were suspicious of you, though you weren't sure why. You waited for her to leave first.

"I believe she is entitled to know," Zukin told him, "now that we know what happened is real. I won't tell her if you want to be the one."

"Yeah, I think I'll tell her, just not today."

The girl nodded. "I will leave you alone. Thank you for sharing your information with me." She got a running start and leaped into the sky. With a large flap of her wings, she was airborne and gone.

"Sorry you gotta start your school year here on a rough note," Rage said.

You told him not to worry, but you needed to see his television.

Rage gave you an odd look again. "I... guess you can. I'll leave here at around 8:00. Meet me here then and I'll show you my house. You can meet my roommate if he's home, too."

You nodded and pondered if you should simply tell Rage everything about the mystery in Inaba. If you could successfully get in his TV, it would be time to tell. You told him not to tell Emi anything, then decided you would go back at night.

Rage knocked on the door to his apartment. When there was no reply, he grumbled and pulled out his keys. You assumed no one was home, which was good... you didn't want everyone to know your secret unless you could trust them.

Rage opened the door. "Well, this is my home," he said. "I don't do a great job cleaning it, and neither does my roommate. I think he's at work tonight. If you're still interested in my TV, it's over there," he continued, directing you to a small television a few feet in front of the couch in the main room. Curiously, you touched the screen...

And your hand fell in.

Part of you wondered if Rage noticed...

"Whoa!"

He did.

"Did you just break it?" he asked angrily, yanking your wrist out of the screen. He calmed down when he noticed there was nothing wrong with his television. Noting this, he put your hand back in. His did this about two times before asking "how are you doing that?"

You asked him if he wanted to hear a long story.

"Sure... why not?"

You sighed, pondering where to start... and then you told him about Inaba. You described how you and your friends progressed with the mystery; the Midnight Channel showed who would be kidnapped and thrown into the television next, there were multiple culprits and misunderstandings, but your group saved each other from being killed in the TV world by Shadows.

"No way... Emi's friend was killed in the TV?" he said with regret. "That's why... man, if I knew what was going on when you asked me I could've-"

You told him it wasn't his fault. Surely, if you had told him sooner there was something you could do.

"But you need a bigger TV to fit in, right? I don't think mine's gonna work... you know, we should check out blondie... I mean Yuni's mansion. She's gotta have a bigger TV than mine. But there's a bunch of things that don't add up... didn't you say they appeared on TV before the Midnight Channel? I never saw her, and Emi woulda told me if she was on TV..."

You also told him that it was odd that you were unable to watch the Midnight Channel from your television.

"Really? There must be something special about Zukin's TV and mine. Nobody else has told me about their TVs doing anything weird... then again, Zukin's the only person I know who stays up till midnight all the time." He sighed. "Well, I'm glad my roomate's not here to hear all of this anyway. We'll keep this between you and me, but I'll take you to Yuni's tomorrow to go check out her TV. Is that cool?"

You nodded and agreed to visit Yuni tomorrow.

You felt a faint bond forming between you and Rage...

You were locked in your own dimension as you felt the power this new link gave you. You were unsure what this meant; you had already mastered the powers of each Arcana in your last adventure, but you were sure you could count on Rage from then on.


(That, my non-Persona-playing-friends is a Social Link. Definitely something to watch on YouTube if you haven't played the game. -nod-
I'm not sure how I'm gonna have them work, honestly... something like 5 ranks is the max rather than 10 or something. 10 is just way too many for a fic that's already long. xP)