"Ne, Souji-chan," my angel asked as I held her hand while sitting on the grass. "Who do you love the most again?"

"It's you," I replied. Her tiny hand was warm and gentle, and I never wished to let such warm thing go. "I love you the most…"

My angel giggled as she blushed. It's already fifth times she asked the same question, but I never bored with such question. In fact, I felt really, really happy to hear the same question being asked again and again.

"I love you too, Souji-chan…" my angel said. Both of us sitting side by side, watching the starry sky of night. Then she looked at me again, tilting her head. "Say, Souji-kun. Who do you love the most again?" she repeated the same question, sixth times in this case. I smiled at her endearing innocence. It was a gift from heaven, I was sure of that.

"It's you… I love you the most," I gave her the same answer. Once again, she giggled. Really, we spent our time together doing the same thing over and over again, and never got bored. "Say, why do you love me?" I asked.

My angel tilted her head, noticing the sudden change in our routine. She put her finger under her chin, making a cute pose, seemingly thinking about something. "Because Souji-chan's kind and gentle, and he's willing to play with me," she said, beaming the brightest smile she ever gave to me. My heart skipped in joy as I saw such magnificent sight.

It was a lovely night.

"Souji-chan, why do you love me?" then, it's my angel's turn to ask that question.

"Yuki-chan is caring and beautiful, and she's willing to play with me," I answered and she giggled. Then my angel drew her body closer to mine before she leaned on me. She rested her head on my shoulder. The fragrance of cherry flower could be felt from her shiny black hair. "Yuki-chan, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Souji-chan's a city boy, right?" my angel asked, closing her eyes while resting her head on my shoulder. "Will he return to the city?"

I gulped. The time would come for me to leave this peaceful town, leaving the people I got to know here. And my angel too, I would leave her soon. It was saddening but there should be something I could do. "Yes…" I answered. "But I don't wanna leave you here. I'll tell Papa and Mama to leave me here so I can be with you," I said, giving her a reassuring smile.

My angel blinked, staring into my face. "Souji-chan, will you stay with me, forever?" she asked.

"Yes, forever and ever," I nodded. "I promise to stay with you."

"Promise?" she asked.

"Promise," I nodded.

My angel seemed happy with my promise. Seeing her happy enlightened me too. I gazed up, looking at the countless stars of the night. From the place we were on, I could identify some of the stars. Altair, Vega and some others, especially the two stars. Altair and Vega, Hikoboshi and Orihime, stars of the crossed lovers, I wonder if both of us were the same like those two stars.

"Souji-chan, one day, let's get out from this town together," my angel suddenly suggested. "Let's go to the city and live together."

I was astonished by my angel's suggestion. But it didn't sound so bad at all. In fact, it's a very good idea. "Yes, let's go to the city and live together. Let's build a happy family too," I said.

"Yes, a happy family," my angel nodded. "Souji-chan will be Papa and I will be Mama. Let's have some children too and we'll have a very happy family," she said.

I had to admit that the idea about having children was kinda embarrassing. I could feel my ears and cheeks went red but luckily it was dark. She couldn't see my face clearly. "Yes, a happy family with Yuki-chan," I agreed. "I will be Papa and Yuki-chan will be Mama. Let's have a loving family and live happily ever after."

My angel nodded in affirmative despite her reddening cheeks. Both of us looked up, gazing at the starry sky of night. It was beautiful, just like my angel. I could feel my angel's grip on my hand tightened. Her black hair brushed my shoulder and the scent of cherry flowers entered my nostrils.

I wonder if people die, they could be stars as well. Maybe, just maybe, in the future, there would be two stars, one would represent me and other one would represent my angel, just like the two stars of lovers, Altair and Vega, Hikoboshi and Orihime.

"Ne, Souji-chan, who do you love the most?" my angel asked.

"It's you… I love you the most," I answered.

"I love you too, Souji-chan…"

Prince Arjuna presents…

A Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4 fanfiction…

Fleeting Memories

Chapter 04: The Purgatory

Yosuke felt a little uneasy since yesterday evening, since the time he watched the news. It's about the person who had found the dead body of the announcer, Yamano Mayumi. Despite the blurred feature and changed voice, he knew that it was Konishi Saki, his Senpai who worked part-time at Junes.

And then, there's Midnight Channel. People said that if someone's watching the screen of television at midnight on the rainy night, one could see the reflection of one's soulmate. While Yosuke tried it, he did see something on the screen of his TV during midnight. Despite unfocused and blurry, he could see it was a girl. And the image of that girl reminded him of someone, but he couldn't tell who that was.

The classes had ended and Souji was still on his seat, putting his stuff into his bag. Other students were busy talking about the announcer's murder and the way she was found, being hung upside down. Yosuke considered asking him about the image he saw on Midnight Channel, so he went to his side, crossing his arms like he usually did and spoke to the silver-haired boy. "Y-yo…" he greeted Souji. "Umm…"

"What's up, Yosuke?" Souji asked, tilting his head.

"It's, uh… it's not really that important, but…" Yosuke tried to find suitable words to say but he couldn't find any. "Well, yesterday on TV, I…" he scowled for a bit before he sighed. "Oh, uhh… never mind. Look, I'll tell you later," he said before he laughed nervously.

Then, a certain petite brunette clad in green sweater came to them, her expression seemed neutral. "Yosuke, did you hear the rumor?" she started. "Saki-senpai's supposedly the one who discovered that body."

Yosuke lowered his gaze. "I wonder if that's why she looked so down…" he wondered aloud. "She doesn't seem to be at school today either."

Then, Yukiko, who had finished gathering her stuff, stood up. "Huh? Hey Yukiko, are you helping out at the inn today too?" Chie asked. Yukiko turned towards them, trying to give them a smile. But they knew that the smile was somehow forced.

"Things are really out of hand right now," Yukiko said. "I'm sorry," she apologized. Then she left, not before politely bowing to Souji and Yosuke.

"Is it just me, or does Yukiko-san seem way stressed out today?" Yosuke said, looking at Chie.

"I guess they're running her ragged…" Chie said. Then she remembered something. "By the way, did you see… it… last night?" she looked at both Souji and Yosuke. Yosuke's eyes widened as he remembered about it.

"Huh? Uh… well, how about you?" Yosuke asked Chie.

"I did! I seriously saw a girl!" Chie enthusiastically exclaimed. "But… my soulmate's a girl? What's that supposed to mean?"

Both Yosuke and Souji were looking at Chie as the girl was taking her time telling them about what she saw last night.

"I couldn't quite tell who it was, but it was a girl for sure…" Chie said, nodding to herself. "Her hair was brown, about shoulder length. She was wearing our school uniform and… she kinda reminded me of someone…" she scratched her head while she said that.

"Hey… I think that's the same person I saw," Yosuke said, noticing the similar patterns about the one both of them saw last night. "I couldn't make out that much detail, though. The image I saw was much blurrier…" he said. Last night, he saw a silhouette of a girl. He could see that the one he saw was a girl based on her body, but he couldn't see it clearly. But, same like Chie, he felt like he had seen that girl before.

"Wait, so you saw it too?" Chie asked. "And we saw a same girl? Does that mean… we have the same soulmate?" she made that conclusion.

Yosuke frowned. "How should I know?" then, he looked at Souji who was sitting on his seat. "How 'bout you, Souji?" he asked. "Did you see it?"

Souji nodded. "Yes, I saw it too. It was a girl, for sure, just like what Chie told us earlier. Then, I heard some strange voice before I got sucked into the screen. Luckily the TV was too small for me to get sucked into it, and I ended up hitting my head instead," he told both of them about him being stuck into his TV. Yosuke and Chie gave Souji their proper 'sweatdropped' expression as Souji told them that.

Yosuke cleared his throat. "It sounds like we all saw the same person," he said. "But weird voices aside, what was that about getting sucked into your TV?" he asked, questioning the credibility of Souji's statement. "Were you that tired last night? You must've just fallen asleep in front of your TV," he said before he laughed, imagining the silver-haired boy sleeping in front of the box.

"That'd be one interesting dream, though," Chie added. "I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic," she commented. "Well, if it had been bigger, the-!" then she remembered something. "Oh, that reminds me. Our family's been talking about buying a bigger TV," she said.

"Oh yeah? Well, flatscreen TVs are definitely in these days," Yosuke said. "Wanna check 'em out on the way back? We're beefing up our electronics department this month," the boy suggested, grinning.

Chie looked happy. "Oh, definitely!" she gleefully exclaimed. "My parents don't know anything about electronics, and I've just gotta see my kung-fu movies on the big screen! Hwa-taaa!" she made a kung-fu pose. Some other students who were chatting to each other looked at Chie before they continued doing their things. It seemed that they already knew about Chie's habit.

Sighing, Yosuke nodded before he looked at Souji. "We've got some pretty big ones in stock. I bet they'd be big enough for you to fit into, hehe," Yosuke said jokingly. It seemed that both Yosuke and Chie didn't believe him at all.

"Maybe I'm just getting crazy…" Souji thought.

Junes, Electronic Department marked the first step of Seta Souji in reaching his destiny. The trio, Yosuke, Chie and Souji went there to see the TV without knowing that their life would change forever.

"Wow, this is huge!" exclaimed Chie while standing in front of a large flat-screen TV. Both Souji and Yosuke were standing by her sides. "And… holy crap, it's expensive! Who buys something like this?" she looked at Yosuke who was crossing his arms.

"I dunno…" Yosuke replied, shrugging. "Rich folks?" he said. "Honestly, not many people shop for TVs here. That's why we don't have clerks around," he explained. Souji looked around and saw no clerks. Well, for a rural town, it was already expected. People in this town wouldn't need something like a large-screen televisions (traditional ones should be enough).

"Yeah, you're right," Chie nodded as she looked around. "Huh, not worth trying then, I guess. Well, at least looking's free," she grinned. Then she looked at Yosuke who also looked at her. Both of them had exchanged understanding before they mischievously nodded. Together, they went towards the screen before they pushed their hands on the screen, trying to make sure whether their hands were sucked into the TV.

"Nope, can't get in," Yosuke concluded. "Figures…"

"Haha, this proves it. It was all just a dream," Chie agreed with Yosuke.

"I dunno, but somehow, I feel a little mad," Souji thought. "Are they trying to mock me?"

"Besides, these flat-screen TVs are so thin, you'd just end up on the other side…" Yosuke added. "Argh, what am I saying?" he groaned.

"Alright, that's it, I'm officially mad. But I won't show them that I'm angry. Somehow, I'm scarier if I'm mad…" the silver-haired boy thought to himself.

"So, Chie, what kind of TV are you guys in the market for?" asked Yosuke, since it was Chie who wanted to have new TV.

"Oh, they said they wanted one that's cheap. You got any suggestion?" Chie asked.

Then both Yosuke and Chie went to see what kind of television would strike her fancy, leaving Souji in front of the large flat-screen TV. While he could hear Chie grumbling about how expensive the TVs Yosuke suggested to her were, Souji was staring into the screen of the television in front of him.

"Was that just a mere dream?" Souji thought. "It was too real to be a dream," he sighed before he went towards the TV, standing in front of it. With a TV this big, he would be able to fit in. He brought up his hand, deciding to check it out. "Well, it won't hurt to check a little."

As his fingers touched the screen, he could feel the sensation of touching liquid. Then his hand was sucked into the screen, much to his surprise.

He wasn't dreaming at all! The thing that happened last night was indeed real!

"Oh yeah, Souji, what kind of TV do you-!" before Yosuke could finish his question, his face briefly lost its colors as he saw Souji's right hand was inside the TV.

Chie noticed that Yosuke's face had briefly lost its colors before she asked, "Huh? Something wrong, Yosuke?"

"T-that…" Yosuke pointed his finger towards Souji. Chie looked behind and same like Yosuke, her face briefly lost its colors as she saw Souji's hand being swallowed by the screen of the flat-screen TV. "I-is his arm… in the TV?" Yosuke dumbly asked.

"Whoa…" that's the only thing Chie could manage after colors returned back to her face. Then she anxiously glanced at Yosuke. "Uhh… is that some kinda… new model? L-like with a new function?" she nervously asked. She wanted to learn the justification of the thing she just saw.

"Hell no!" Yosuke bellowed. Both of them immediately rushed towards Souji.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Chie exclaimed as both of them arrived at Souji's sides. Both of them were equally amazed and freaked out by seeing Souji's hand sticking into the screen. "Did you really stick your hand through the screen?" she asked.

"Oh man…" Yosuke sounded excited and freaked out as well. "This is for real! That's some magic trick, man! So, how's it work, huh? What's the magician's secret?" he asked, eagerly trying to learn how in the world Souji managed to do the unbelievable act. Both of them were staring at the silver-haired boy astonishingly.

"Maybe I can put more than just an arm," Souji thought before he moved to put the upper part of his body into the screen. Scarily, it worked, much to the shock for both Yosuke and Chie. Souji could even hear Chie screaming in panic.

"Hey, don't do that!" shouted Yosuke, flabbergasted by what Souji was doing. "What're you doing?" he asked. He had to make sure that none of clerks or customers came.

"Oh my God!" Chie was panicking.

"There's empty space inside," Souji spoke with echoed voice because half of his body was inside the screen. But it didn't help them much.

"W-what do you mean, 'inside'?" Yosuke asked, starting to panic like Chie.

"W-what do you mean, 'empty space'?" Chie asked. She was trembling in panic. Her head couldn't comprehend what kind of thing she was seeing just now. It was beyond comprehension.

"Umm… and it's very spacious here… kinda strange…" Souji continued.

"What do you mean, 'spacious'?" Yosuke asked.

"I mean, what's going on?" Chie was utterly freaked out.

"Holy crap… I think this is all too much for my bladder…" Yosuke winced in pain. He seemed to be on his limit.

"What the-? Are you gonna pee your pants?" Chie exclaimed.

"I've been holding it in all day! I haven't had a chance to go," Yosuke's expression was truly in pain while trying to prevent his bladder from bursting (haha). "Argh, can't… hold it… anymore!" he quickly ran for bathroom.

But then, he returned, still holding himself from bursting (haha). His face was in terror, added by his pained expression from holding back from bursting (haha).

"Shit! Customers, they're coming!" Yosuke said under his breath. His eyes were teary while holding back himself from bursting (haha).

"What? But we've got a guy half stuck in a TV here!" Chie exclaimed. "What're we gonna do?" she was almost crying while panicking. Both of them ended up being a couple of idiots who couldn't manage to solve the problem, running around like idiots. Then they ended up hitting Souji from behind, tackling him towards into the screen and…

"What the-? Wha- WHOA!"

They ended up falling into the TV.

Where am I?

I found myself in a very alien place, a place filled with fog. It almost frustrated me that I couldn't see anything with the fog obscuring my vision.

I wanted to get out.

My head was hurt, like it's going to split open at any second.

Please… please anyone…

Can you let me out…?

Oh god… please let me out…

What was this place?

"Souji-chan, are you scared?"

That sweet, pleasant voice sounded like a lullaby to me, preventing me from descending into madness. I could see a silhouette within the fog before I saw the one I wanted to reach the most.

"Are you crying?"

It was my angel. My sweet, lovable angel, she had come to save me. She offered a hand to me, wanting to pull me away from this sickening fog.

"There's no need to be scared, Souji-chan. I'm here. I'll protect you," she said, smiling. Her black eyes were looking straight at mine and before I could realize it, tears flowing out from my eyes. I wanted to embrace her, my lovely angel. So I stepped forward, going for her, trying to reach her.

Only to see her being surrounded by a ring of fire before her whole being was consumed by the scorching hot flame. My angel then reduced into nothingness in the inferno, much to my utter horror. I felt weak and unable to properly stand, like my feet had already melted.

"No, don't leave me! Don't leave me! Please don't leave me!" I cried. "Aaargh, stop screwing with my head, damn it!" I shouted in frustration.

Souji quickly snapped out from his trance state and found himself falling. Yosuke was below him (for unknown reason) and he quickly twisted his body so he wouldn't injure him upon landing.

Bap!

Dump!

Bam!

"Argh!"

That was Yosuke who had Souji landing on him. Luckily Souji had positioned himself correctly while falling so both of them, especially Yosuke wouldn't be injured by the impact. Chie also seemed to be alright after the fall. While all of them were grumbling in pain, Souji stood up, asking them, "Are you guys alright?"

"Uh… I'm alright…" Yosuke grumbled. "Man, you're heavy…"

"I take no offense on that statement, Yosuke," Souji said.

"Glad to know," Yosuke responded. Then he looked around. "Actually, what is going on here?" he asked.

"Ah…" Chie let out a sigh of relief. "So… uh, we're still alive, right?" she looked at both Yosuke and Souji.

"It seems to be it," Souji nodded. "Are you guys alright?" he asked. He wanted to make sure that none of them were injured after the fall (especially Yosuke. Souji fell on him for God's sake!).

"I think my butt's cracked now…" Yosuke grumbled again. "Thanks to you, pal," he sarcastically said while leering at Souji.

"Of course it is!" Chie said furiously. It seemed that the fall wasn't a nice trip for her.

Then Yosuke looked up before he said, "Whoa!"

"W-what now? Did you wet your pants?" Chie asked.

"No, stupid! Look around!" Yosuke shouted.

Both Chie and Souji looked around and found themselves in a rather strange place. It was a place similar to a studio and was filled with fog. "Is this… a studio?" Chie wondered aloud. "All this fog… or is it smoke?" she wondered about the fog that filled the place, which hindered their visions. "There's no place like this in Inaba, is there?" she looked at both Souji and Yosuke.

"Hell no…" Yosuke replied with bated breath. "But man… this place is huge…" he said with awe. Souji silently agreed. With the fog around the place, it gave them an impression that this place was indeed huge.

"What're we gonna do?" Chie asked, trembling in fear.

"Let's look around for a bit," Souji suggested.

"Huh?" Chie was confused.

"Search for a way out…" Souji added.

"Y-yeah, t-that's a good idea, and-…" then Chie stopped as she realized something. "Huh? Wait a minute. Which way did we come in from?" she asked to both Yosuke and Souji. "I don't see a way in… or out!" she cried.

"W-what? That can't be right! H-how could that be?" Yosuke exclaimed.

"I don't know! Don't ask me!" Chie retorted, almost crying. "I can't take this anymore! I wanna go home!" she whimpered.

Annoyed, Yosuke grumbled, "Okay, so how?"

"Let's all calm down…" Souji suggested. He remembered his kendo instructor to think thoroughly to solve a problem. "Take a deep breath, guys."

"Y-you're right. Okay…. okay," Yosuke agreed before he took a deep breath. "I'm calm now. I'm calm now." he said. "Let's calm down and think about this. All right, so we need to find a way out."

"Is there really a way outta here?" Chie asked, seemingly skeptical. She had somehow calmed down a bit.

"We got in… so we must be able to get out somehow…" Yosuke said.

"T-that's true, but…" Chie looked down.

"If there's no exit, we're trapped, so let's cross our fingers and look around," Yosuke said before he looked at Souji. "Isn't that right, Souji?"

"Yes, let's have faith," Souji nodded.

Thus, three of them ventured deeper into the foggy world, without direction or destination. They were helpless and practically relying on their lucks to find a way out, even if there's one.

Three of us were searching for the way out around the place, despite the thick fog. The fog hindered our vision and somehow, the fog made us felt rather sick.

"What is this place?" Chie asked. From her expression, I knew that she was exhausted. "It feels different from we were before."

"It looks like we're in some kinda building, but…" Yosuke who was standing beside me scowled. "Damn, this fog's so thick, I can hardly see…" he grumbled.

"Are you sure we're not wandering farther away?" Chie who was standing behind us asked. She was worried and I could hear that from her voice.

"I can't be positive, but we've gotta trust our instinct a little," Yosuke said, glancing at Chie.

"I know, but…" Chie sounded hesitant. I glanced behind and saw her face was rather pale. It seemed that the condition of this place was too much for her. But we didn't have any choice other than to continue forward. I looked at Yosuke who nodded at me before both of us continued walking forward. "H-hey guys, wait up! Don't leave me here!"

I didn't know what could be waiting ahead, but we had to continue walking to search for a way out, or we would be trapped in this foggy purgatory.

And I felt like this place wasn't a safe place, after all.

To Be Continued

Note: Hello, it's me, Prince Arjuna! Sorry for this late update! I was enjoying my holiday, you know? A sweet, pleasant holiday before another new hellish term (urgh), please excuse me, alright? Anyway, thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter, I am happy for your helpful comments and forgive me for some errors I made, especially when I put a wrong document for chapter one, and now, it's already fixed. This chapter is good to be reviewed. Until then, jaa~!

Prince Arjuna (2011)