Chapter 4: Golden Time Lover
Yuu was standing in a strange place. It was pure white on the ground with a rainbow colored path that seemed to lead deeper into the fog. Around him were several large tea cups and above him was a ceiling made out of gingerbread. In the distance, he swore he could see some apple trees as well.
But he didn't really care about that right now.
He was still confused at that golden...thing...that looked like his classmate which had disappeared before he could really get more than two words in.
"That...couldn't have been Tomoe-san...right?" Madoka asked as she turned toward Yuu. "Maybe it's like what happened with me?"
"Indeed, that was a Shadow," Kyubey replied. "Strange. If it has appeared, I would have thought it would have killed the girl in here and taken a new form by now. Perhaps it only just appeared now since the Shadows have noticed your arrival?"
"What do you men by..." Yuu began but before he could say another world, several creatures began sliding through the walls, floors and ceiling. Several of them looked like two brown robed humanoid figures with blue masks impaled between three TV antennas, while others looked like giant floaing mouths with long slobbering tongues.
"Trance Twins and Lying Hableries," Kyubey explained. "The payment is 180 yen for each one you take down for each of you."
"Then...Madoka!" Yuu said as the cousins turned toward each other.
"Got it!" Madoka nodded as a pillar of blue fire surrounded the two of them.
""PERSONA!""
A pair of cards flew down in front of them before shattering as Yuu enclosed his hand around it while Madoka blew on it, allowing their Persona appear behind them.
Izanagi took the lead while Inahime nocking an arrow on her bow.
The black Persona shot forward like a bullet as it swung its blade down on the closest Twin, splitting it in two as well as cleaving through several of the trees that had been in the way. A second Twin shot towards the Persona, only to be defeated in a single shot as well. One more burst through the second's remains, only for Izanagi to kick it with its bladed geta.
Two of the Hableries charged Izanagi from behind, only for two pink arrows to zip through the air and pierce the shadows and causing them to fall to the ground like deflated balloons.
"Nice support," Yuu said as Madoka flashed him a "V" sign.
"Would you like to be paid now or shall I wait to the end?" Kyubey asked.
"We'll wait," Madoka replied as they ran down the rainbow path. Kyubey had hopped onto Madoka's shoulders so that it wouldn't be left behind. "But this place is really strange, don't you think, Yuu-kun?"
"It looks like a tea set," Yuu nodded. He looked over his shoulder toward Kyubey. "Is there any reason for it?"
"Perhaps it was a strong image of the Shadow or the girl trapped in here materializing itself onto the world?" Kyubey suggested.
"Now that you mention it...that Shadow did say something about 'special friends' didn't she?" Madoka asked. "Does that mean anything?"
"Tomoe wants friends?" Yuu wondered as he thought back to what Kenichi had said about Mami. Perhaps it was because he just transferred or because Mami had been looking very exhausted form the accident, but he didn't see the grace Kenichi had been talking about. "Did you know her before a few days ago?"
"No, I only paid attention to the people in my class," Madoka admitted.
Yuu couldn't fault her for that. He only paid attention to Kenichi, Kirika and Mami in his own class too. He didn't even bother remembering the names of anyone else. Oh, there was that other girl too. Kenichi's friend. What was her name again? Sakura? Kyouko? Was it both?
"Yuu-kun, in front of you!" Madoka's voice shattered his train of thought.
"Izanagi!" Yuu shouted as Izanagi stopped and extended its hand forward, causing a thunder cloud to form in the air and shot a bolt of lighting toward a large group of Shadows, destroying several of them Hableries but the Twins passed through the lightning unharmed.
"Some Shadows are immune to some magic attacks," Kyubey said as a Twin smashed into Izanagi, knocking it, and by extension Yuu, over. "Do take note of that in the future."
"Kuh..."
"Yuu-kun!"
Madoka ran forward to help only for one of the Hableries to pop up in front of her and drag its long slobbering tongue across Madoka's face.
She stood their for a moment, covered in saliva, as her expression slowly contorted into a mixture of disgust, horror and rage.
"I-I-Inahime!"
The pink Persona's leg jerked out, kicking the offending Shadow back into the group as she drew her bow back and fired a single arrow up into the air, disappearing just before it hit the ceiling before hundreds of arrows fell down on the group of Shadows while at the same time leaving a nice arrow free circle around Yuu and Izanagi.
The Shadows seemed to twitch in pain, having been turned into living pincushions, before they sank to the ground.
"Impressive," Kyubey said while Madoka blinked in amazement.
"How did I do that?" Madoka asked as Yuu slowly sat up and looked around him while the Shadows slowly dissolved.
"Five more Hableries and three more Twins..." Kyubey muttered keeping track of the kill count.
"Where exactly are we supposed to be going anyway?" Yuu asked as Izanagi floated back onto its feet. "I've just been following the path..."
"This is the first time I've been in this place so I am not sure," Kyubey replied. "However, the Shadow swarms are getting larger as we advance along the path, so it might be a good place to start."
"So we just keep on moving forward?" Madoka asked.
"We have no other leads to go for so it's probably the best," Yuu agreed before his head shot up. "Madoka! Above!"
Coming from the sky were several white hands which threw what appeared to be several dice towards their group. Dice that exploded on contact.
""SYNCHRO!""
A pair of voice shouted over the explosion as a black and pink blur shot out of the flames over the hand Shadows and started attacking them.
"Cleave!"
"Holy Arrow!"
Like a black phantom, Yuu hopped from Shadow to Shadow, stabbing them in the back before hopping towards the next one while Madoka fired at the ones that still had dice in their hands, causing them to explode, destroying the hands as well.
With the last one destroyed, the two of them fell back towards the ground.
Yuu landed on one hand and both of his knees while Madoka landed on her feet before slipping and falling down on her butt.
"Ouchie..." she groaned as she rubbed her backside.
"Still better than my first landing attempt," Yuu said as he extended his hand to help her to her feet.
"Magic Hands and Bronze Dice," Kyubey explained. "190 yen and 200 yen respectively. Of course, since the Bronze Dice destroyed themselves...I guess I'll just add that to your total."
"Uuu...that was scary...I thought we were going to be burned alive..."
"It's not over yet..."
Indeed, a second wave of Magic Hands and Bronze Dice appeared, almost double the first wave's amount, came charging at them.
"How are we supposed to get past that?" Madoka shrieked.
"Guh..." Yuu groaned. As he jumped over a few dice before they could explode around him. Madoka however wasn't targeted by the dice and instead, the Magic Hands that had tossed the Dice at Yuu snapped their fingers, causing several pillars of flame to surround Madoka.
"Kyaaah!"
"Madoka!"
"You have established a new bond, allowing you to use another Arcana."
A voice resounded in Yuu's head without warning as he felt something inside him roaring to get out.
"Margaret?" he wondered, picturing the pale golden haired woman from his "dreams."
"You who possesses the power of the Wild Card possess the power to wield multiple Persona. Now...let your power burst forth."
Then, a card fell down in front of him, depicting the image of a pair of hands bathed in flame with a pair of eyes behind the flames. The Magician Arcana Card.
"This is..." Yuu gasped before his eyes narrowed. "Persona!"
Closing his clawed hand around the card, a burst of blue fire erupted around him.
A white Persona with a pair of black eyes and a black mouth along with a blue hat and a pair of blue shoes sprung forth. It looked like a little jester made of snow.
It immediately flew toward Madoka and did a little back flip behind the girl, causing several ice shards to surround the flames, stopping them cold.
"Jack Frost!" Yuu shouted as the new Persona turned toward the mass of Magic Hands and Bronze Dice. With another back flip, the Persona cast it's ice spell again, showering the entire swarm with ice shards knocking the Shadows to fall to the ground. "Now, Madoka!"
"Thank you, Yuu-kun!" Madoka shouted back as she formed to arrows in her hands and rushed the Shadows along side Yuu. "It's an All-Out-Attack!"
"Get them!" Yuu shouted as well as the started pummeling the unconscious Shadows without reservation. Though he had to admit, it was a little...scary...watching Madoka run around stabbing the Shadows with her arrows.
Finally, all the Shadows were destroyed, allowing the two of them to catch their breath.
"We're alive..." Madoka sighed as she fell to the ground with both of their Synchro Armors disappearing. "I can't believe it..."
"So it seems," Yuu nodded as he sat down beside her.
"But, that's amazing, Yuu-kun! How did you get a second Persona?" Madoka asked.
"I...have no idea to be honest. I just...felt something burning to get out, and the next thing I knew, the card had fell down in front of me."
"Interesting," Kyubey said as it stared at him. "It's a rare ability you know, to be able to use more than one Persona. You must be a very powerful human, Narukami Yuu."
"I'm just a normal boy," he replied as he stood back up. "Come on, Madoka. We need to help Tomoe."
"Right," Madoka nodded as she stood up as well and the two of them continued their run through the strange place.
Mami hugged her legs in an effort to keep herself warm.
She didn't know what had happened. Just that while she was watching the Midnight Channel that her classmate had talked about and then she was suddenly in this strange and scary place.
She didn't know how long she had been in here. The fog that surrounded the area made it impossible for her to see whether or not it was light out and it clung to her body like a wet blanket. She hadn't eaten since the dinner before watching the Midnight Channel and she hadn't slept in fear of something coming out of the fog. She was miserable, scared, hungry, tired and all alone.
So she had huddled in a corner of whatever room she was in to try and keep herself warm and to hopefully see anything that would come her way.
"Someone...please...help me..." she cried as she buried her face into her knees.
But who could help her? She didn't even know where she was after all. One moment she was in her apartment, alone as her parents were still hospitalized, and the next she was here with no memory of what happened in between.
The image that appeared on the Midnight Channel came to her mind. Her classmate, Kure Kirika had said it was supposed to show a person's soul mate but that couldn't be right. After all, she saw herself on the TV instead of that other figure she saw the other night, the one she was sure was Narukami Yuu.
"That's right...if it's Narukami-san, then surely he would save me, right?"
Mami's eyes shot wide open as she heard that strange voice.
It had a distinct flanging sound and she was sure that one of the voices had been her own.
Slowly standing up, she stuck her back to the wall as she called out, "Hello? Is someone there?"
"He sees me as a friend doesn't he? Then he should be saving me. We had lunch together and we talked about random things together and he saved me. That means we're friends now right?"
"Who are you?" Mami demanded, mustering up what little courage she had left. "Come out!"
"Who am I you ask?" the voice asked in a sing-song voice as the fog suddenly lifted a bit, allowing her to see that she was on what seemed to be a giant tea tray with several giant tea cups on it as well as a giant plate with an even larger cake on it. And in front of it was a girl in a yellow-green dress. "Why, I am you after all."
"W-what?" Mami gasped as he hands flew up to her mouth as she stared at the girl. "W-why do you look like me...?"
"I told you didn't I? I am you. The you inside. All everyone ever saw was the graceful and elegant 'Tomoe-senpai' and yet whenever they come to talk to me they never say more than a few words before leaving me all alone."
"No..."
"Ah, it's so lonely...and then, he came. Like a black prince saving the white maiden. Someone who didn't fall in line with such a foolish image and took me as I was. So I became desperate. I agreed with everything and anything his friends suggested in hopes that he would just consider me as a friend as well. Ahh...how pathetic."
"No...I'm not...that's not..."
"Tomoe!"
Mami turned when she heard a voice behind her. There she saw him running up to her along with another girl, his cousin she believed.
How did he get here? Was he here to save her? How long has he been there?
"Ahh, my friends! Welcome!"
Did they hear it. Die he hear it?
"Tomoe, are you okay?"
"Tomoe-san, are you hurt?"
How much did they hear? What are they thinking about? Do they think of her as a horrible person?
They took a step towards her only for her to take a step back.
"No...please..." she said.
"Tomoe?" the boy asked in confusion.
"No...I'm not...don't think of me like that...please..."
"Tomoe-san, please calm down!"
"Don't think of me as what? A lonely little girl taking advantage of a boy's ignorance to stave off her own loneliness?"
"No! I'm not...like that! I'm not...You...you are not...!"
"Tomoe, stop!"
"You're...not me!"
"Kyahahahahahaah! That's right! I'm not you anymore! I am my own person!"
And Tomoe Mami's world went dark.
"Tomoe!"
Yuu ran forward as the Shadows flooded out from around Mami's body, causing the girl to fall to the ground in a dead faint. He slid across the ground once he was close enough, catching her just before her head hit the ground.
"Yuu-kun, the Shadow!" Madoka called out.
Yuu turned his gaze on the fake Mami that had been sitting next to the giant slab of cake.
The smaller Shadows had converged on top of it, causing it to lose its human shell and take on the shape of a stranger creature, much like Madoka's had done.
Though it remained similar to its human form, there was nothing human left about it. Its arms stretched out like ribbons as it swung its body back and forth. The bonnet on its head stretched out so that it became its entire head with only a small white sphere with red polka dots was left of the head. Its waist became so thin that Yuu wondered how on earth it was even remaining upright.
"I am a Shadow! The true self!" it declared as it hopped forward, landing just in front of Yuu and Mami. "Come now my friends, let us enjoy this friendly tea time!"
"Jack Frost!" Yuu shouted as he crushed the Magician Card in his hand, shooting out the white and blue Persona at the Shadow.
"Oh? Will you be my friend too?" the Shadow asked as it shot its arms out at the Persona, only to miss and it weaved back and forth around the arms while cackling wildly. "Oh this is fun...kuh?"
Inahime had appeared behind Madoka and had quickly shot an arrow at the Shadow, knocking it away from Jack Frost as Yuu lifted Mami in his arms and ran away from the Shadow.
"Why are you running away from me? Don't leave me alone!"
As the Shadow screamed, thunderclouds appeared in the sky before lightning bolts rained down upon them, cutting off their escape route.
"So we have to beat it then?" Yuu grunted as Jack Frost was hit by a stray bolt, sending a large shock through his body. "Kyubey, does the contract cover Jack Frost as well?"
"The contract allows you to synchronize with your Persona," Kyubey replied. "Jack Frost is your Persona. Therefore, you can synchronize with him."
"Loop holes," Yuu smirked as Jack Frost appeared in front of him. The two of them clapped the other's hand and shook it. "Synchro!"
A burst of blue flames surrounded the boy and when he opened his eyes, he was wearing a full white fluffy body suit with Jack Frost's hat, collar, and boots.
"I really have no imagination..." Yuu mumbled as he looked down at his hands.
"Don't say that," Madoka giggled. "I think it looks cute!"
"Is now really the time for that?"
"Don't ignore me! Friends shouldn't ignore each other!"
Two more bolts of lightning shot down at the duo but Yuu quickly raised his hand and formed two blocks of ice above them, blocking the attack.
"Tch...this Persona has no weapons...but...Bufula!"
Instead of small ice shards, a giant block of ice formed around the Shadow, freezing her in place.
"Now, Inahime!" Madoka called out as the Persona drew her bow and fired two arrows at the same time, shattering the ice block and pinning the Shadow to a tea cup.
"Ow...how could you? How could you do this to a friend? Fine! Who needs you anymore! I can make better friends now!"
At her words, two smaller Shadows appeared from the tea cup and pulled the arrows out of Mami's Shadow's arm. One was dressed in a pink ballerina outfit wielding a golden bow, the other was in all black like a ninja with a long red scarf around its neck. Both of them had only a one giant eye on their head and was were wearing a hat with a tea cup design on it.
"That..." Yuu gasped as the two new Shadows rushed him. "Guh..."
"That's us...?" Madoka asked as Inahime wrapped her arms around her. "Synchro!"
As Madoka stepped out of the blue flame, she nocked her bow and took aim at the pink Shadow, letting the arrow fly, only for the Shadow to mimic her movements and shoot down the arrow before it got anywhere near it.
Yuu meanwhile was left to deal with the black Shadow on his own. It was surprisingly agile as it kept jumping back and forth, dodging his attempts to encase it in a block of ice, and when it got close it managed to punch and kick him with its fluffy arms, which, surprisingly enough, hurt a lot.
"Kuu...is this how she sees me?" Yuu wondered as the Shadow made another charge. "Izanagi!"
Just as the Shadow got in front of Yuu, a bladed geta shot from behind the boy's head, smashing and cutting through the Shadow, pinning it into the ground as it squirm wildly.
Yuu held his hand up as a cool chill spread across the room.
"Mabufu!"
Izanagi stepped back as Ice shards rained down over the battleground, hitting all the Shadows and destroying the black one.
"Now!" Madoka shouted as the pink Shadow had turned its attention away by raising its arms to block the oncoming ice shards. "The tears of those beyond the endless sky, Arrow Shower!"
She fired a single arrow up into the sky and in an instant, hundreds of arrows came falling down, destroying the pink Shadow as well as turn Mami's Shadow into a big yellow pincushion.
Her head was hurting. There was something screaming around her and it drew her out of her sleep.
Mami opened her eyes and lifted her head up to see a large black humanoid creature kneeling on top of her. She wanted to scream in fright but her voice was caught in her throat as something else screamed.
Turning towards it, she saw something that looked a lot like the girl that looked like her.
Standing in front of it was a boy wearing a white body suit with a blue cap and boots and a girl in a frilly pink dress holding a wooden bow in her hand.
"Gyaaaaaah!" it screamed as it lashed out at them, knocking several arrows out of its body. "Why? Why are you killing my friends? Why? For that little girl? That pathetic little..."
"Because...I am her friend," the boy said as a blue flame roared around him before gathering in his hand. "That's all there is to it. Who cares what her reasons for being it are. Right now, I'm still her friend...that is, if she wants me to be."
"Narukami...san?" Mami asked and the boy turned toward her with a smile before turning back toward the creature.
"Bufula!" he shouted as the creature became encased in a block of ice. The black creature that had been kneeling over Mami suddenly shot towards it, brandishing its blade, and sliced the other creature in two, shattering the ice and causing the two halves that remained to burn in a dark flame, leaving only the girl...no, herself, behind as it hovered in the air, bathed in a soft blue light.
"Tomoe-san, are you okay?" the pink haired girl asked as she walked over to Mami. "Are you hurt?"
"No...umm...you're...Kaname-san?" Mami asked.
"That's right," Madoka nodded. "We came to save you, right, Yuu-kun."
"You weren't that enthusiastic about it in the beginning though," Yuu said as he placed a hand on his hip and walked towards them.
"Muu...I still did it though, didn't I?"
"Narukami-san...I..." Mami began but her eyes flew towards the floating copy of herself. "I'm sorry..."
"It's fine," Yuu said as he pulled Mami to her feet. "You just wanted a friend right?"
"I..."
"Then, let's start over. My name is Narukami Yuu...and you are...?"
"Tomoe...Mami..."
"Then, Tomoe...would you like to be friends?"
"I...yes...I'd like that a lot..."
"And now we're friends. Simple right?"
"I suppose it is...I was a really fool..."
"But it's all okay now!" Madoka chirped up. "I'm Kaname Madoka. Pleased to meet you, Tomoe-san!"
"Thank you, Kaname-san."
Mami saw her other self smile at her.
"You know what that is right?" Yuu asked.
"Yes..." Mami nodded as she walked towards it with Yuu supporting her. "You...are me..."
The girl nodded as a blue light flashed, blinding them for a moment. Then, when the light died down, the girl had transformed into a tall white faceless female humanoid with a brown armor wrapped around her torso from her shoulders to just below her crotch like a swimsuit. She had armored gauntlets and greaves around her arms and legs as well as a chain mail skirt around her legs. She also had had a yellow and green striped scarf around her neck that drooped down to her feet and was holding what looked like to be a musket of some sort.
Then it vanished, taking the form of card depicting a crown over a distinctly feminine shape with the number three on it as it floated into Mami's chest. Mami's strength to face herself has been made manifest, allowing her to obtain the façade used to overcome life's hardships, the persona Kichijoten.
"What is this?" Mami asked.
"A Persona," Yuu replied as the black creature landed beside him as his clothes suddenly turned back into the school uniform.
"A Persona?"
"That's right," Madoka nodded as her outfit changed into a school uniform as well while a pink creature appeared behind her. "Your new power."
"My power..."
"Oi, Tomoe!"
Mami's legs suddenly felt weak and she lost her balance, causing her to fall backwards into Yuu's arms.
"That girl has been in here for approximately seventeen hours," a third voice that Mami didn't recognize said. "She is without a doubt, exhausted. Perhaps it will be best if you all left for now."
"We should take her to the nurse's office at school!" Madoka was saying. "Good thing she's still in her uniform or it might have raised some questions."
"Right, let's go!"
"Before you forget. Today's bounty is ten thousand and twenty yen for all the Shadows you destroyed. An excellent harvest."
"T-TEN THOUSAND YEN?"
"This is way better than a part time job..."
"It's a good thing the nurse doesn't ask many questions," Madoka said as she and Yuu were sitting around Mami's bed in the nurse's office, eating some snacks that they bought from the cafeteria.
"Yeah," Yuu nodded as he took a bite of his melon bread. "Especially since you don't have your crutches with you."
"They're probably still in my apartment..." Mami replied as finished off a sandwich that Yuu gave her.
"You must have been really hungry," Madoka noted. "That was your fifth one."
"Eh, it was?" Mami asked as she looked down at the wrappers in the trash bin. "Oh dear..."
"It's fine," Yuu said. "We got paid recently so everything is on us."
"Paid?"
"You know, those Shadows?" Madoka asked, receiving a blank look from Mami. "Ah...right...those creatures that appeared in the foggy world."
"Oh..."
"Yeah. We have someone that pays us for each one we defeat. Apparently, we beat enough that we got paid ten thousand yen...each...not that we went in there to make money of course. We didn't even know about being paid until we were already in there looking for you."
"I see...where exactly was, 'in there' anyway?"
Yuu held up his hand for a moment as he peeked outside the curtains around Mami's bed to make sure that the Nurse was still off running his errand and that they were still alone in the office.
"It's a world inside the TV," Yuu replied.
"Inside...the TV..." Mami repeated slowly. "You are not joking are you?"
"No, it really is inside the TV," Madoka said. "Remember when we watched the scary movie Katou-senpai told us about? That was when Yuu-kun got dragged in."
"You too?"
"Yeah," Yuu nodded. "I think it was right after the movie. I remember hearing the clock strike midnight and then I think I saw the Midnight Channel."
"I remember that...that was...you wasn't it? On the Midnight Channel back then?"
"Maybe," Yuu replied. "I certainly never did any of those poses though."
"What are you talking about?" Madoka asked. "You watched the Midnight Channel before?"
"We were talking about it a bit in class," Mami said. "That was how our classmate told us about it because she heard us talking about it..."
Mami suddenly went quiet as she turned away from Yuu who raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Ahh...Tomoe-san..." Madoka began but Mami quickly waved her hands frantically at her to silence her. "I see...Tomoe-san is a girl too after all."
"Well...she's definitely not a guy," Yuu replied, unconsciously moving his eyes down before quickly bringing them back up.
"That's not what I meant!"
"Really? Well...anyway, the Midnight Channel seems strange. I show up and then get pulled into the TV then Tomoe shows up and she gets pulled into the TV..."
"Do you think they're a warning sign for who might be dragged into the TV?" Mami asked after clearing her throat.
"Perhaps," Yuu nodded. "Though I can't say that they're warnings since Tomoe and I were pulled in right after seeing it."
"I wonder what it really is then," Madoka said as she placed a finger on her chin. "I wonder why Yuu-kun showed up one day and then Tomoe-san did. Other than being third years and in the same class, you two don't really have much in common...I think."
"Why indeed," Mami wondered as she and Yuu turned toward each other, before she quickly turned her head away away prompting another confused look from Yuu.
"So, what do you want to do now, Tomoe?" Yuu asked.
"What I want?"
"Madoka and I are going to keep going into that world to try and find out what is causing people to be pulled in," Yuu explained. "Since you also have a persona, that means you can come in with us, if you want to of course."
"What exactly is it that you're trying to do?"
"I have no idea. For now, I'm going to keep watching the Midnight Channel. If it really does show the next person who is going to be pulled into the TV then I want to make sure I can go save them before they get killed."
"Narukami-san..."
"I don't want to be a hero or anything like that. But, if I can do something to help people in trouble, then I should help them."
"But...it's scary isn't it?"
"Oh, it's very very scary," Madoka replied. "The same thing that happened to you happened to me. A Shadow that looked like me appeared in a place that looked like my house and tried to kill me too. But Yuu-kun beat it up before it could, all by himself. Like a real veteran."
"I just do what comes naturally," Yuu insisted.
"Even if you say that, you can use two Persona and Synchronize with both of them," Madoka countered. "That's really amazing!"
Yuu realized that the conversation was going to go in a circle if he kept arguing with her so he remained silent and turned back to Mami.
"So, what do you think, Tomoe?" Yuu asked. "I suppose Madoka and I are doing fine for now, but if you want to help us, we'll be glad to have you."
"After your leg gets better of course,"Madoka said quickly.
"If...if you think I can be of help..." Mami said slowly. "Then...I'll do it."
"Then welcome to the team," Yuu said as he extended a hand out to her.
Mami stared at it for a moment before looking up at Yuu and taking the hand.
Barely a second later, the nurse finally returned.
"Ugh, finally found them..." the nurse sighed as she produced a pair of crutches. "Really now...why in the world were they on the complete opposite end of the school?"
She walked towards the trio and handed Yuu the crutches.
"You just seem to be exhausted, Tomoe-san. A good rest at home for a few days is all you need. Since you two found her and brought her here, why don't you two help Tomoe-san back home?"
"Yes Ma'am," Yuu nodded. "Are you ready to go, Tomoe?"
"Yes," Mami nodded as she took the crutches and Madoka helped her to her feet.
The walk out of school was...quiet for lack of a better word as the rain beat down around them.
At least, between Yuu and Mami. Madoka was doing most of the talking to the blonde and Yuu was only halfheartedly listening, more interested in remembering the directions to get to Mami's house so that they could take the reverse to head back to the school and eventually get home.
However, one question brought his attention to the two girls and away from a strange blue butterfly.
"Are your parents okay?" Madoka asked.
"Yes," Mami replied immediately. "Though they're still in the hospital."
"They're not...paralyzed are they?" Yuu asked.
"No, but they're still weak from the crash," Mami replied. "They're asleep most of the time but we did talk for a bit last night before...you know...I got pulled into the TV."
"So you're by yourself right now?"
"Yes..."
Yuu didn't consider that. He supposed that's why Mami had asked if he wanted to walk home together. Great, now he felt bad for declining.
Mami lived in an apartment only a few blocks from the school. Yuu was surprised at how close it was.
"Wow, this is a pretty big building," Madoka said. "I think it's bigger than Sayaka-chan's! Which floor do you live in, Tomoe-san?"
"I live on the third floor," Mami explained.
"Does everything in this city have to be so big?" Yuu asked as they followed Mami to the elevator.
"Really?" Mami asked. "I think this is fairly normal..."
"That reply again...the people in this city have skewed perspectives..."
The elevator door opened once they reached their desire floor and Mami turned to the cousins.
"Then, I'll see you two later then?" Mami asked.
"Of course," Madoka nodded.
"Be sure to rest up, Tomoe," Yuu said.
"I will...and...thank you both again."
The cousins nodded as the elevator doors closed.
"It's a good thing we were able to help Tomoe-san, isn't it?" Madoka asked.
"Yeah..." Yuu said as he let out a small cough.
"Are you okay, Yuu-kun?"
"I think I talked too much today..."
"You're right. I think today was the most you've ever talked since you came here."
"..."
"Yuu-kun? Are you okay?"
"..."
"Uh oh..."
Friday, April 17th: Foggy
"It really did become foggy," Madoka said as Yuu simply nodded, wrapping his scarf around his neck and mouth a bit tighter. "I don't think Sayaka-chan and Hitomi-chan are going to wait for us today. It's dangerous standing around in the fog after all."
Again, Yuu nodded in reply as he took out his phone.
"Losing your voice really is troublesome isn't it?" Madoka asked as her phone rang. "Hmm? 'Madoka, stop trying to make me talk...' Ah...sorry..."
Yuu didn't say anything as he closed his phone and slipped it back into his pocket.
The burning fire in his throat was irritating him to no end. This was the first time he had ever lost his voice too.
Madoka's parents had no idea what to do but Tomohisa had suggested that Yuu should just avoid using his voice for a while and hopefully it will come back eventually.
Well, at least he won't be called upon in class today.
"Oh, Kaname-san and Narukami-san?"
The cousins turned around to see Mami coming out of the fog behind them.
"Good morning, Tomoe-san!" Madoka said. "Are you sure you're okay to go to school?"
"Yes, I feel much better now. I missed class yesterday so I thought I should definitely come today."
"I see."
"Hmm? Is something wrong, Narukami-san? You look angry."
"Umm, Yuu-kun lost his voice right after you left," Madoka explained as Yuu pulled out his phone again. "So...he's hasn't been exactly...happy for the last several hours."
Yuu held up his phone for Mami to read the message he typed out.
"It hurts even when I eat,'" Mami read. "Oh dear...I heard that it helps if you drink lots of water."
Yuu nodded as he pulled a half-empty water bottle out of his bag and showed it to Mami before taking a sip from it.
"That's good then," Mami nodded as the three of them continued their walk to the school. They were walking up the ramp to the gates when Mami spoke again. "Umm...I hope this isn't too out of the blue...but would you two like to come over to my apartment after school?"
"To Tomoe-san's apartment?" Madoka asked and Mami nodded. "What do you think, Yuu-kun?"
Yuu placed a hand a hand on his chin in thought before typing out, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Mami said quickly. "So please, consider it?"
Yuu thought about it for a few more seconds before he finally nodded and Mami beamed at him.
The school day passed quickly to Yuu as he had been excused from Physical Ed and from answering questions in class thanks to his loss of voice. Though he found it rather boring and he hadn't been able to ask questions on things that had been confusing to him.
"Your apartment looks amazing, Tomoe-san!" Madoka said as the three of them sat at a triangular glass table on some cushions. Mami had also got out some cake and tea for them, which Yuu had helped her with. "And this cake is amazing! Where did you buy it?"
"Actually...I made it," Mami replied bashfully.
"Eh, really?" Madoka gasped. "I'm so jealous...I wish I can cook this well..."
"Would you like to practice together then?" Mami asked, only for Yuu to choke a bit on his water. "Narukami-san? Are you okay?"
"I just don't think that's a good idea," Yuu typed out quickly.
"Geez...it was just one time..." Madoka said softly. "Why are the men in my family better cooks than the women?"
"Tatsuya isn't."
"Tatsuya is three! He can't even reach the stove!"
"My point still stands."
"You cook Narukami-san?" Mami asked, as that was the only thing she got form the conversation.
Yuu responded by holding his fingers a little bit apart from another.
"Is that right...? May I try some of your cooking one day?"
Yuu simply shrugged noncommittally.
"Uuu...I wanna be able to cook too..." Madoka cried.
"Well my offer still stands, Kaname-san," Mami said but Yuu frantically shook his head "no."
"Stop being mean! It won't happen twice!"
"Um...what exactly did happen?" Mami asked curiously.
Immediately the two of them froze up.
Madoka then turned her head away while Yuu grabbed his water bottle and tried to down as quickly as he could as if something had crawled into his mouth and he was attempting to wash it out as quickly as humanly possible.
"Was it...really that bad?"
Again, another round of silence spread across them save for the sound of Yuu constantly chugging his water bottle as if trying to drown himself with it.
"Um..." Mami began, trying to think of a new topic. "Oh, can you explain more about those...Persona to me, Kaname-san?"
That seemed to get the two out of their stupor as Madoka began explaining everything to her again.
"I see..." Mami nodded. "So I need to meet with this Kyubey first."
"Pretty much," Madoka said as she poured herself another cup of tea.
"And how do you call your Persona again?"
"Oh that's easy," Madoka said as she clapped her hands. "You just imagine a card falling down in front of you and...eh?"
Madoka lowered her hands as she looked up.
Mami blinked as she looked up.
Yuu spat in his drink as he looked up.
A small blue card with the number one fell down from the ceiling and spun around in front of Madoka's face for a few seconds before disappearing as quickly as it came.
The three of them stared at the empty space in front of Madoka for several minutes before the pink haired girl finally spoke up.
"Did...that just happen?" Madoka asked slowly.
"Huh?" Mami asked turning toward Madoka. "Was that not supposed to?"
"I don't...know?" Madoka replied as Yuu rubbed his eyes. "I always thought that Persona could only be summoned in the TV World."
Yuu held out his own hand as the Magician Arcana fell down on it and rested there for a few seconds before disappearing again.
"Probably not a good idea to break it," Madoka said as Yuu shook his hand as if it had suddenly caught on fire.
"Why not?" Mami asked. She had been hoping to see what their Persona looked like now that they wouldn't be completely covered in fog.
"Because fire comes out when we do."
"I see...please don't break it then."
"T-then...does this mean that we can summon our Persona out here?" Madoka asked. "Should we ask Kyubey about it?"
Yuu thought for a moment before nodding as he pulled out a pair of glasses.
"Where's your TV, Tomoe-san?" Madoka asked as the two of them stood up.
"The TV?" Mami asked as she got to her feet as well. "It's over here."
She led them to the dining room where a large flat screen TV was resting on a white stand. Yuu walked up toward it and held his glasses up to it before tapping it with his hand, causing the supposedly solid screen to ripple like a puddle, before crawling through.
He thought he heard Mami let out a gasp behind him but didn't pay much attention to it as he appeared on the stage where Kyubey was sitting and looking at him.
"Back again so soon?" Kyubey asked. "You're certainly hard-working aren't you?"
Yuu simply shrugged his shoulders as he stuck his hand back through the TV and felt someone grab it. He then pulled his arm back through, bringing Mami along with it with Madoka coming through right behind her.
"This...really is inside the TV..." Mami gasped as Madoka helped support her.
"You are...ah, the human who was rescued yesterday," Kyubey said as it walked up to Mami. "Are you here to make a contract too?"
"Are you Kyubey?" Mami asked.
"That's right. I'm Kyubey. I work here. What's your name?"
"Tomoe Mami. Nice to meet you, Kyubey."
"You too. Are you here to accept the contract?"
"Yes. I, Tomoe Mami, accept your contract."
"Then, please summon your Persona."
Mami nodded as she closed her eyes, allowing her Arcana Card, The Empress, to fall down in front of her as she placed one hand over the card and the other below it.
"Persona!" she shouted as she crushed the card between her hands and scattered the shards out in front of her, causing her Persona, Kichijoten to appear behind her.
The Persona turned toward Mami as a soft purple light flashed around her.
"Huh?" Mami gasped as the light died down. "What was...huh?"
She looked down at her cast and slowly shifted her weight on it.
"Tomoe-san?" Madoka asked.
"It...doesn't hurt..." Mami said slowly as she leaned on her foot. Then, feeling a little bold, she took a step away from Madoka and jumped. "It doesn't hurt...!"
"Oh...it seems that your Persona has some healing abilities, Tomoe Mami," Kyubey said as the girl stomped her foot happily. "But...you've been quieter than usual, Narukami Yuu. Is something the matter or do you simply have nothing to say?"
"Yuu-kun...lost his voice," Madoka explained.
"How does one lost their voice?" Kyubey asked as it tilted its head to the side. "I thought a human's voice comes from the vibration of their vocal folds?"
"I...um...?"
"Umm...can you do anything for Narukami-san?" Mami asked as she turned toward Kichijoten.
The Persona looked down at Mami before turning to Yuu as a yellow orb flashed around Yuu before vanishing without a trace.
"W-well?" Madoka asked as Yuu brought a hand to his neck.
"I can talk..." Yuu said in surprise.
"Wow, amazing!" Madoka said clapping her hands together. "That will be very helpful later on!"
"Yeah. Thank you, Tomoe," Yuu nodded.
"Well then, back to business," Kyubey said as it sat itself in front of Mami."Holder: Tomoe Mami. Terms: With the power to fight Shadows, find out the cause for the unrest. Time limit: None. Power granted: Synchronization with Holder's Persona."
"Synchro!" Mami called out as she knelt down while Kichijoten placed a hand on her shoulder which she then grasped with her own. "Kichijoten!"
The persona vanished and bathed Mami in a blue flame as she stood up and took two steps forward, allowing her shoes to change into armored thigh-high boots, her yellow school uniform to turn into white one with a brown corset with a small feather beret on her head. She also had a black long waist cape with white vertical stripes that stretched down to her ankles and armored greaves along her arms.
"This is..." Mami began as she looked down at herself.
"Contract Synchronization Armor," Kyubey said as a pair of purple sunglasses floated into Mami's hands. "Once you synchronize with your Persona, you become much stronger and faster than a normal human and you can use your Persona's abilities as if they were your own."
"We wanted to ask about that," Yuu said. "For some reason, it seems that we can use our Persona outside of this world. Is that your doing?"
"I have no control over what happens outside of the terms of the contract," Kyubey replied. "The only abilities you've gained is the ability to fight Shadows on equal terms."
"Then...I can use my healing powers on the outside?" Mami asked and Kyubey nodded.
Immediately, Mami stuck her hand into the exit and disappeared through it, leaving the cousins alone with Kyubey.
"I guess she's going to her parents?" Madoka asked as Yuu smiled.
"Looks like she'll be fine," Yuu said simply as the two of them exited as well.
Chapter's End Corner
Harouki: Shorter chapter this time folks as there really wasn't much to cover after Mami's timely rescue by her one and only hero. Overall, I am extremely dissatisfied with this chapter, but I can't really think of anything else to do.
Sayaka: So...Persona being summoned outside of the TV World?
Harouki: Let's just say that I need this to happen and move on.
Sayaka: All right, I can accept that. Tell me one thing though.
Harouki: Yes?
Sayaka: Why the hell didn't I appear AT ALL during this entire chapter?
Harouki: Because my beloved Miki, you were not important to the current plot. This is Mami's arc.
Sayaka: But I could have had at least ONE line couldn't I?
Harouki: Nope sorry. In other very late news...Persona 4: The Golden will be coming out on October 30th in the US for the Playstation Vita. It will feature new , new cutscenes, and new characters! It will also let you build that god damn Snow Man with Nanako! I wish to marry this game. The new opening, Shadow World, is also pretty damn awesome. I'm addicted to it.
Also, like Persona 3 Portable before it, it will let you dress up your characters in costumes as they run around the dungeons...including... Yuu's special clothing during the school festival. Fans...You know what I am talking about. High Cut Armor makes a return as well.
Unlike P3P though, you will be able to actually see your main character run around just like the Playstation 2 version.
Will this have an affect on the Fic? It already has. You just won't see it until much, much later. Uhihihihi...
Sayaka: That is a disturbing and sickening laugh...
Harouki: Perhaps. See you all next time.