Chapter 4: Not to Mention
BlackSakura13: I know, I know...well this chapter should clear it up a bit more.
DemonRaily: I know Ryoji would definitely be much more powerful with the other option, but I chose persona instead to level out power levels and make it fair. As for the returning home thing, that will be clarified much more in this specific chapter. Towards the end...
Nagihachan: I'm glad you liked it. ^_^
Tamer of Memory: Aha! So I've caught someone on my hook! Haha...well keep up the reading, and I shall keep up the updates!!
A/n: I think I might do some pairings later on...not sure yet...Ah yeah, I'm sorry this chapter took so long. We had no internet for awhile.
Mochizuki Ryoji's P.O.V.:
I let out a groan. This could possibly be the groggiest feeling I have ever woken up to. My mind immediately snapped into place. Did I seriously mess up again? Minato! Was he hurt? Where was I? If he got hurt again...I took a deep breath, remembering that he had defeated my shadow self. Where was I, and what time was it? Judging by where the sun was in the sky, I would say it is early on in the afternoon. How long had I been asleep?
I quit panicking, and looked around. I was in our apartment. I tried to stand up, but realized that a needle was poking out of my arm. It was connected to a long tube with fluid; Was this a sick joke?
I heard a jingling sound outside, as if someone was using keys to enter. The door clicked open, and Minato walked into view. "You're awake..." He observed.
"Arisato, what is in my arm?" I asked, voice wavering. The tube like structure was unfamiliar to me, and I wasn't quite sure how to react about it.
"It's called an IV." He answered. "It kept you hydrated so that you wouldn't die from not having any water." He didn't seem surprised about any of it, which made me feel even more uneasy.
"Well can you get it out?" I pleaded. "It's uncomfortable." It really was. I could feel the slightest movement in the tube, under my skin.
"I'm not a doctor. I don't know how." He stated calmly. "The doctor will be here later for a check up." He crouched down by me, and looked me straight in the eyes, seeming to sense my next thought. "Don't worry about Aigis. She's helping pick Rise up from the hospital."
"Rise?" I asked. I hadn't heard that name before. Was that the name the investigation people were talking about? My memory was kind of blurry about the entity of the incident.
"Yeah, I've been in the television world aiding the investigation squad." Minato explained, as if to speak my thoughts.. "I've also learned more about how shadows function there, and about the teddy bear we saw. He's almost like an equivalent of you."
I jerked my head up. "Equivalent of me? What ever do you mean by that?" I asked, cocking me head to my side. "I'm the only me there is."
"Well..." Minato hesitated, listening to what I had to say. He seemed to be trying to find the right words. "Not exactly. What I mean is that I think he's a shadow, but I'm not sure. I think he's a shadow developing a human personality."
"Like me.. ." I finished. "Shadows come from humans, but I reverted backwards. Do you think he will do the same thing?"
"Only time will tell." Minato shrugged.
"Ngh..." I grimaced, pulling my IV out by force. It was really unpleasant after all.
"Ryoji!" Minato exclaimed. "Don't! You could hurt yourself."
"It's not that bad. Really!" I smiled. It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would.
"I'm back." Aigis called, walking through the doorway. "Ryoji-kun has awakened?"
"I'm awake." I said, sitting up, and noticing the blood from the IV hole. "Minato." I said, getting his attention. "Could you get me a band-aid?"
He noticed the blood, shaking his head and signaling over to Aigis.
Aigis fished through her bag, pulling out a bandage and pressing it on. "The job is done." She exclaimed.
"Aigis-chan, how long have I been out?" I asked.
"A week." She replied.
"A week? What help am I to any situation if I have been passed out for an entire week?" I contemplated.
Suddenly we all heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it." Minato announced, standing up and crossing his way over to the door in the other room.
"Senpai! So this is where you live!" A perky feminine voice chimed. A girl pranced into view. She had long brown hair in pigtails, and who could forget that she had the hottest body I had ever seen. She entered the bedroom, and noticed Aigis. "Oh, hey Aigis." She greeted, proceeding to notice me. "Hi! You're Ryoji-san right?"
"Are you Rise?" I asked, guessing.
"Have you heard of me?" She asked.
"From Minato." I replied.
"Oh, I see." She said, sounding even more interested. "Well that's me." She said, nodding. "Rise Kujikawa, nice to meet you Senpai."
"And you as well." I said, nodding. This girl was much more beautiful than both Yukiko and Chie combined.
"Well...I just wanted to let you know that I was back. I'll be at school tomorrow!" She smiled. "Thank you Senpai!"
Minato nodded, as if to say your welcome. "Souji did more of the work." He stated. "I didn't want to interfere as much, so you should thank him."
"You're absolutely right!" Rise agreed, still very perky.
"Well if that's all, then would you mind me asking for your number?" I questioned. "I'm going to be on the investigation squad too, so if you need help I'll be there for you."
"Alright," Rise agreed, writing down on a piece of paper. "Read em and weep!" she giggled, and stood up. "Well Senpais, I should go now. Bye!" She waved, before exiting back out the door.
"So that's Rise?" I concluded. "She's very beautiful."
"She's an idol," Minato informed me, "but don't bring it up. She's on break from that stuff."
"Is that so?" I replied. "That explains her looks."
A draft blew through the room, forcing my hairs on end. "It's a shame we couldn't afford heating." I muttered. "It's really cool outside after all."
"I'm sorry." Aigis said, looking down. "I cannot afford better with our budget."
"It's not your fault." I comforted. "This is only temporary right?"
Aigis nodded.
"It'll have to be a bit longer than temporary." Minato announced.
"Why?" I asked.
"We are going to stay, and help our classmates solve this murder mystery. I don't want to see people die." Minato confessed openly.
"Hey, don't we have school in the morning?" I pointed out. "I may have just woken up, but I'm still tired, so wake me in the morning, okay? I need just a little bit more recovering time."
Minato nodded as if to agree with me.
I stood up, grabbing some clothes and going into the bathroom to change. After slipping into my pajama top, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I stood there staring for a few seconds. I really didn't feel safe around myself. That incident revealed to me the deepest inner thoughts of my soul. Thye could have been there, but I never reveled in them.
I stared long and hard into the reflection of my eyes. Sometimes...sometimes I would get so caught up in having fun with Minato and Aigis that I would forget my situation, and feel completely human. Maybe that was right. Maybe that's what I was supposed to do.
Heaving a sigh, I slipped into the rest of my pajamas. Maybe it was okay to feel human every once in awhile.
Yukiko Amagi's P.O.V.
"Goodbye mom!" I yelled, bowing respectfully at the door of our inn. I hurriedly slid the door shut behind me. I tried to be early to school, so that I could maybe get some studying in beforehand. I peeked up into the sky. The sun was really shining today!
I smiled inwardly. The weather people said that there wasn't going to be rain for a long time, erasing our worries.
An idea struck my mind. We should go to the headquarters today to celebrate everyone's being healthy again. It was only right, right? I noticed Chie walking up ahead of me. She turned around, grinning and waiting up for me. "Yo, Yukiko. Ryoji-senpai and Rise-chan are supoosed to be back in school today right?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "I'm pretty sure that's right." I fixed my headband, and gave Chie a wide smile. "We should hurry up and see if either of them are there today." My skirt gave a small flicker as a light breeze surrounded me. The breeze felt good with this kind of weather.
We heard a familair uncertain squeak. We turned to see Yosuke rode his bike past us very shakily. After giving a yell, his bike crashed into a fence. "Nice moves." Chie snickered.
Yosuke grumbled, sitting up and looking in pain. "At first it only acted up when the ground was slick, but now it can't even steer right in good weather." He frowned, rubbing his head where it must've been hit.
"Maybe you should just get a new bicyle." I offered.
"Gee, you think?" He snapped. I guess he wasn't in a good mood, because he was in pain.
"Well, umm, We'll be going now!" I said hurriedly, dragging Chie with me.
"Someone is a crabby pants today." Chie stated, pointing at Yosuke.
"Exactly why we leave him alone." I answered. "So he doesn't give us a hard time too."
"I see." Chie said, nodding in agreement.
When we arrived at school we didn't see Rise, however, Ryoji and Minato where already in the classroom though. "Ryoji-senapai!" I called, "We're glad your back."
Ryoji looked up smiling. "Ah, hello." He said, smiling. He seemed in an awfully good mood.
We took our places, and made it through King Moron's lectures and such. The school day passed, and all of us ended up heading over to headquarters. What we saw there, we wouldn't have seen coming if we tried.
Seta Souji's P.O.V.
I stirred my straw around in my soda watching the crushed ice inside topple over istelf in the sticky liquid. Rise's rescue was a complete win, oh yeah, and Teddies. Speaking of which... "We should check up on Teddie." I suggested. "We haven't seen him since the incident anyway."
"That's a great idea." Everyone agreed.
We headed over to the electronics area, and heard some people gossiping on the way. A woman wearing an apron, who most likely worked in the food courts was whispering to a clerk. "Their's a guy in a huge teddy bear suit walking around the electronics department." She gossiped.
The other woman began to whisper something back.
"Don't tell me..." Yosuke started.
We turned a corner, and sure enough, there was Teddie. He seemed completley zoned out in a massage chair. He looked up. "Oh hey sesnei! This is awesome!" He gave a cheesy bear-like smile.
"Teddie, how are you in our world?" I questioned. "And you're all better."
"Well, duh, same way you get to mine, and I know! I've been training super hard! Man, it's pretty hot in here" He chimed.
"Is this even possible?" Chie asked.
"I dunno." Kanji replied. "Well since your here, wanna head over to the food court with us?"
"Absolutley!" Teddie cheered.
This was pretty unexpected. Who would have thought that Teddie could come over here? We all bought seconds on soda, and Teddie got one too. "You don't need to prove a point with a soda." Yosuke offered.
"But it's so hot in here!" Teddie pleaded.
"How can it be hot in there? You're hollow!" Yosuke objected, being the last to sit down.
"I'm not hollow anymore!" Teddie objected.
"Like Hell, you're not." Yosuke retorted. "I saw it myself! You're hollow."
"No! Like I said! I'm not hollow anymore!" Teddie objected once more. "Gah! It's really really hot in here!" He began to unzip his head. I almost objected, because kids would freak out if they saw a hollow headless talking bear. All I could do though, is stare with intense curiousity.
To my surprise and amazement, there was seriously something under there! Under Teddie's head was another head. The head of a blonde teenager with bright blue eyes! "Just what exactly is he?" Yosuke gaped. "You built youself a body!?"
I glanced at minato and Ryoji. Why didn't they look surprised?
Teddie, or who I'm pretty sure was Teddie, grinned and took a drink. "Ahhh!!! Much better!" He sighed.
"Dude...you really Teddie?" Kanji asked.
Teddie smirked. "So...do I have a chance with the 'scoring a hot stud' thing now?"
The girls remained quiet. Yeah, it was Teddie. "Well, we should get him some clothes." I pointed out. "He can't wear the bear suit the whole time."
As we stood up to go do just that I hear Ryoji mutter, "So it's true. He really is just like me."
A/n: All right! Human Teddie!! Thank you for being patient. School's had me buckled down, so I couldn't updatw! -insert tear here- Yes, this chapter was much more light hearted. I vastly enjoy humor, and can't keep away from it too long, so blah.
Chapter 5 preview:
Teddie is just like Ryoji on the shadow to human deal. This is comming as quite a shock. Well, on top of that, King moron is gone? That's just terrible! Well, there goes the prime suspect. Whose this other kid then? Is this guy the killer!?!? ---I know, bad summary. If you've played the game, you already know. Yet, those are next chapter's contents! After that we can get to the class trip!!!! ---has been waiting sooooo long for this.