May 14, 2012 (Monday)
Overcast
Chie smoothed down her skirt and adjusted her jacket, stood back from the mirror. The Gekkoukan uniform looked as good on her as it had in the garment bag she found on her bed. She smiled and twirled; the skirt was high-waisted, which gave it a pleasant weight. She was still debating whether or not she wanted to wear her windbreaker when Yukiko knocked on the door.
"I love the bow. It's so cute." said Chie.
"The whole thing is much cuter than our old uniforms. I was getting tired of wearing a sailor collar. Doesn't it make us look more mature?"
"Black is a good color for that. Well, it is a private school, so it makes sense the uniforms would be really nice. You look amazing, Yukiko. Black and red really suits you."
She really did look stunning. Yukiko blushed a little and smiled. "Are you going to wear your jacket?"
"I dunno. I was just thinking about that. What about your sweater?"
"I tried it. It looked really lumpy over the jacket. The material's stiffer than our old ones."
"Yeah. I guess it's kind of warm for that, anyway, huh?"
Yu was the only one down in the lobby. He was eating a breakfast bar and scratching a white Shiba inu behind the ear, the latter of whom had stretched out on the couch with his head on Yu's lap, and seemed quite pleased. This must be the dog Mitsuru had told them about last night-Koromaru? Something like that. She'd said he had his own door and came and went as he pleased, and that he was a very clean, well-behaved dog, so he shouldn't be any trouble. The dorm caretaker used to feed him; that was now their job. Oh, and, he is a Persona user.
Chie sat down next to Koromaru's rump, and he started thumping his tail against her leg. She scratched his hips, and he yawned, stretched, and looked up at her briefly before putting his head back on Yu's lap. Yukiko knelt down in front of the couch and scratched his belly. He turned slightly toward her, yawned, licked, and re-adjusted.
"He so cute! Look at those red eyes!"
Chie slipped her fingers under his collar, which was a bifurcated metal ring with hinged joints on either side of his jaw-her fingertip brushed the catch to remove it-and a large blue gem set into a metal port, under his ear. The rivets bolting the gem into its casing made it look like a submarine window.
Koromaru twisted his head to look at her apprehensively. Chie removed her fingers and patted the top of his head. Mitsuru had said that collar was an Evoker, so it would make sense he was protective of it.
"Is this the magical Persona-using dog?"
Yosuke leaned over Yukiko and scratched Koromaru under the chin. He tipped his head back into Yu's lap, smiled, and murfled.
"You're a cute boy, aren't you? Does he talk or anything?"
Yu crumpled his breakfast bar wrapper and tossed it at the trash can. It, of course, went in.
"Not in human language, no. Aigis can talk to him."
"Does he have complex thoughts?" said Yukiko. "I mean... he's a dog. How is he able to summon a Persona?"
Yu shrugged. "Aigis apparently had complex conversations with him. His Persona is a dog, too, so it makes sense he'd be able to empathize. Maybe there's some sort of doggie collective unconscious. I don't know." He scratched Koromaru behind the ear. "Maybe learning words and concepts heightened his consciousness. You know, like how you have to know words for things to understand them as concepts. George Orwell said something about that. You two look really nice, by the way."
Chie flushed a little and shifted. "You-uh-look really nice too, Narukami-kun."
That wasn't a lie. The Gekkoukan uniform looked as good as his Yasogami one had. Yukiko didn't say anything. Her eyes darkened for a moment as she looked away, but cleared before anybody but Chie would pick up on it.
"Hey, hey! What about me?"
"You look exactly like you always do, Hanamura-kun."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Yukiko giggled behind her hand. "What do you think it means?"
"Hey, no, seriously, what does that mean?" said Yosuke. Chie had started to laugh a little, too. "Hey!"
"Hi, doggie!"
Somebody small and blond barreled onto the couch and hugged Koromaru around the waist. Koro startled up and snapped as Kuma rubbed his face against his flank. Yosuke grabbed Kuma by the collar and pulled him back.
"Kuma! What the hell? You don't just jump on dogs like that!"
"Sorry!" Kuma seemed to be speaking directly to Koromaru, and paying no mind to Yosuke at all. "I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Kuma. It's nice to meet you!"
Kuma grabbed Koromaru's paw and shook it vigorously. Yosuke made a small sound, and Chie tensed, waiting for Koromaru to snap at Kuma again-as any dog would, and nobody would blame him-but Koromaru just blinked and tilted his head. His brows furrowed in an almost human expression of confusion.
"Oh, you really are a Persona user! That's beary cool! I'm a bear but I use a Persona too. Well, kind of a bear. I don't know any more. Not like, a bear like you're a dog. I mean, you come from the real world."
"You can talk to him?" That was Yu.
"Sensei, of course I can talk to him! He's talking right now!"
Kuma was wearing a Gekkoukan uniform, as well-though now the front was matted with white fur. Chie was trying to figure out why in hell Mitsuru would think it would be a good idea to send Kuma to school when he looked down at his jacket and jumped up.
"Eeeep!" He tried to brush the fur off. "It's not coming off!"
"That's static cling." Yu seemed amused. "I have a lint roller. Come upstairs with me for a bit."
They passed Naoto coming down the stairs, who looked after Kuma with an arched eyebrow. She was still dressed in a boy's uniform, though in retrospect Chie wasn't sure what she was expecting. Did she find that uniform in her room like the rest of them?
"Is it really a good idea to send Kuma-san to school?"
"No." Yosuke sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "You guys gotten breakfast yet? What's there to eat around here?"
The kitchenette was well-stocked, and after arguing with Yukiko over why she shouldn't help cook, despite wanting practice, Yosuke and Yu started frying eggs and bacon. Koromaru sniffed the air and kept looking toward the kitchen and wagging his tail, though Yu said he'd already had his breakfast. Kanji finally lurched down, and they were eating and playing with Koromaru when Labrys started yelling.
"All right, all right! Line up! It's time for uniform inspection!"
Everybody looked at her, but nobody moved. She was standing at the foot of the stairs in a uniform of her own, stern, arms crossed. She was wearing black stockings and gloves, and, somehow, her skirt obscured the flares of plastic bolting her thighs to her hips.
"You actually going to school, Labrys-chan?" said Chie.
"I said line up!"
"Dude, what the hell are you talking about?" said Yosuke. "Uniform inspection?"
"It's my job as student council president to ensure the dress code is enforced."
"But you're not the student council president." Doubt caught at the back of Chie's tongue as soon as she said that. "Are you?"
"Not yet. Line up!"
Chie automatically looked at Yu. His face was blank, but after a few moments he smiled slightly and shrugged, standing up. Yosuke made a choking noise.
"You're... not seriously gonna...?"
"We might as well indulge the future student council president."
"Thank you, Narukami-kun!" Labrys said as he stood against the wall. "You're setting a good example for your peers. Outstanding. All right, rest of you, up!"
Chie glanced at Yukiko, who looked back, confused. Kuma bounded up and stood next to Yu, clasping his hands behind his back and straining to stand as straight as he could. He looked almost giddy.
"Yay! Uniform inspection!"
"Oh my God."
Yosuke sighed and pushed up off the floor, and the rest apprehensively followed to the wall. Labrys paced in front of them with her arms crossed, and nodded, satisfied, when they all were in place.
"Good, good. All right, let's see." She stopped at the center of the line and scanned. "...Narukami-kun, tuck your shirt in. Kuma-kun, I know that blonde hair is your natural hair color, so you're fine. Hanamura-kun, take those headphones off your neck."
"Wha-"
"Satonaka-kun, Amagi-kun, I see you've elected to wear your uniforms properly now. Thank you. The shorts aren't standard, but you can't see them beneath the skirt and you wear them in the name of modesty, so I'll let it slide."
It took Chie a moment to realize "wear your uniforms properly now" meant without a jacket, but Labrys had moved on before Chie could protest that she had not made that decision out of any consideration for dress code. She stopped in front of Kanji, who had already crossed his arms and braced for an argument.
"Tatsumi-kun, wear your jacket properly! And no piercings are allowed! And you have to dye your hair back its original color!"
"Shut up."
"Shirogane-kun!" She had already moved on to Naoto, who had also crossed her arms. "I'll let the hat slide, but you're wearin' the entirely wrong uniform!"
Naoto tapped her forearm. "...wrong uniform, meaning...?"
"You are a girl! That is a boy's uniform! Didn't you receive the correct uniform last night?"
"If by 'correct uniform', you mean a 'girls' uniform, then yes, I received that. And this one as well."
"Well, 's not dress code! You're a human female! I can clearly see that."
Naoto hugged herself tighter and turned slightly away. "Don't scan me!"
"Why won't y'wear the correct uniform?"
"I feel like wearing this one today. I'm more comfortable in it. It's more practical."
"That's sexist!"
"How is that sexist? You're being sexist!
"If yer worried about people seein' up your skirt, you can wear shorts like Satonaka-kun."
"Hey!" Chie stepped out of the line. "Don't bring me into this! Let her wear what she wants."
"Yeah!" said Yukiko. Labrys was pressing her mouth into a line. "Why is it any of your business what she wears? She's not hurting anybody."
"Ain't you guys insulted by 'er?"
"Insulted?" said Chie. "Why would be we be insulted?"
"Look," said Naoto. "I feel like wearing this uniform! I won't be restricted to a gender binary."
"Yeah, get off her ass, seriously," said Kanji. "It's a uniform, ain't it? She's even, like, wearing it all proper, and stuff."
"An' you're not, so go upstairs and change!"
"Labrys."
Yu had slid up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She froze, blinked a few times, and looked down, mumbling.
"Would you walk with me to school?"
"Go ahead 'n do it."
Yu looked over at Labrys. She was still staring at the ground, her bangs covering her eyes. She was hunched up; through Izanagi-no-Okami he could feel the electric tension in her shoulders, potential energy tight in servos and capacitors.
"Go ahead and do what?"
"Lecture me. That's what you're gonna do, in'it?"
"No."
They were silent for a few minutes. The sun cut through the clouds. They moved out of the dappled shade of the tree-lined sidewalk into a soft industrial area, all glaring concrete and lawns and freshly-painted metal sheds.
"I'm surprised that you're going to school."
"Why?"
"Well, didn't you say you were going to devote your energy full time to the Shadow Ops until you found the person who hacked you?"
"Well, you guys're goin' to school here, now, right? And you're workin' on the same thing as me." She was silent for a few moments. "I think that's why Mitsuru-san said I should go to school. I mean, can't be that I'm useless, or in the way, can it?"
Ah. There it is.
"Of course not. Mitsuru-san is wise. She wants to help you become a better, more understanding person."
"How the hell's that gonna help catch this bastard? I ain't here to fulfill myself or some crap like that. I wanna be useful."
Yu thought for a few moments. Labrys tensed harder, waiting.
"A Persona is strengthened by interpersonal bonds and self-awareness, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but..."
"There's no other way to learn those things but to experience them."
Labrys thought for a long time. She finally looked up, hands clasped behind her back, her bag bumping against the back of her calves. Her mind quieted; the tension, electrical potential between wires and nerves, dampened. Her heart settled in her chest; the insecurity became a subliminal hum at the fringes of her mind.
"So you really want to run for student council, huh?" said Yu.
"Yup! I've always wanted to."
"Why?"
"I dunno. It just seems like somethin' I really wanna do. I guess I'm overdoin' it, though. I don't know how I'm supposed to do any of this stuff, out in society, you know. The real world. But that's what student council presidents do on TV, and it's their job, in'it?"
"A wise leader doesn't boss people about over every tiny issue. You'll lose respect and devotion that way. You have to learn when to enforce the rules, and which ones."
"But that's stupid! If they're not enforced, why're there rules? Might 's well just not have rules. I mean, if you treat one rule like it don't matter, then people start thinkin' none of the rules matter. You have to change the rule or enforce it."
Yu shrugged. "This is just what I've observed. Pick your battles. And remember the spirit of the law is what's most important. Not the letter."
"Pick your battles..."
Labrys was silent through the strip of shopping arcade buffering Iwatodai Station from the industrial park. The station was packed, though, thankfully, the flow of traffic tended the opposite direction they were going, toward the mainland. Whatever vestigial memory she had of train stations she could derive from her soul-donor was scant, if anything. She stared up the escalator with a pained look of attempted memory, almost nostalgia, and for a moment seemed isolated in the crowd-Izanagi felt the node her memory had created-until Yu gently nudged the small of her back. She blinked and time started again, her eyes cleared, and she continued walking. She seemed to think everything was cool-buying refillable passes from the machine, the turnstiles, the platforms, the urban unification from standardized signs and symbols, all clean lines and postmodern fonts.
The train was loosely full, and they were able to find adjacent seats. Labrys stared out the window on her knees as the train shuttled through a dark port, then slid into the blinding morning light. The ocean reflected like metal.
Yu had been gazing out the window a few minutes when he felt Labrys's attention shift inward, collected to a coherent bundle, from its diffuse spread across the ocean. She kept staring at the ocean, but her brow furrowed, and her lips twitched as though she were trying to form words. Finally, she looked at him and frowned.
"Don't stare at me like that. It's creepy."
"Sorry. I just got the feeling you wanted to say something."
Labrys blinked and drew back slightly.
"You got some kind of weird sixth sense thing going on or somethin'?"
"Not really. I'm just good at reading people."
Labrys turned back toward the window, though her attention was still fixed on him. She stubbornly stared at some fixed point on the horizon.
"Shirogane-kun... refuses to wear dresses, don't she? She always wears men's clothes, she uses 'boku' all the time..."
Yu shrugged. Labrys kept talking.
"It's not that she wears men's clothes that pisses me off. It's that she refuses to wear women's clothes. It's like she thinks she too good to be a girl. Like she's too smart or strong or cool or whatever. I don't know. She treats wearin' skirts like some kind of defeat. Why do people think bein' a girl or bein' girly is something that makes you weaker?"
"It's more complicated than that."
"So you admit that's some of it?"
"That is only a small part of it. Gender is immensely complicated."
"Didn't she start crossdressing because people didn't respect her as a girl or somethin' like that?"
"I think that's correct."
"Didn't she accept she was a girl, an' all that? That's what her Shadow was, right?"
"Whatever gender she decides she is, that doesn't mean she has to act as society's definition of anything. I think she wants to be free of any arbitrary gender rules. "
"Seems like she's doin' it to make a point."
"Maybe."
They were silent for a few moments. Yu finally said, "I think you two are closer in agreeing about this than you think. You're just coming at it from opposite sides."
Gekkoukan High had a store that sold wrapped breads and sandwiches. Yu and Yosuke had been off the queue staring up at the menu for a few minutes when they heard Kuma yelling.
"Hel-LO, fellow schoolmates!"
He jumped between them and braced his arms on their shoulders. Yosuke sputtered and peeled his arm off.
"Kuma! God, shut up! You sound weird."
"I'm here to purchase my scho-ool lunch like the rest of my peers!"
Yu gently shrugged Kuma's arm off without looking away from the menu. This wasn't the first time today Kuma had done this. For reasons absolutely beyond Yu, Kuma had been assigned the same third year class. Though, the more he thought about it-and the more he realized he was the one smoothing over Kuma's general awkwardness-he thought it might be a way of keeping Kuma within watch. So that made him the bear's keeper.
In retrospect, this was a necessity.
Yu and Kuma had been introduced to their homeroom class in the commensurate fashion, as special scholarship transfer students, and though it was a considerably more pleasant experience than being dressed down by Morooka, it had still put him on edge. He had established early they were old friends, as Kuma wasn't likely to be cool around him. The teacher had already been perplexed by the name on the roll sheet-Kumada Kuma-with the surname written in Kanji, and the given name in Katakana. Yu said his parents were quite eccentric, and, as Kuma himself was already evidently 'quite eccentric', this required little suspension of belief.
His introduction, though...
"Hi!" Kuma had stood at the front of the class, bouncing on his toes. "I'm Kuma! I'm a regular ordinary everyday high school student from Yasoinaba. I'm SO happy to be here! I've never lived in a big city before! I'm really excited to learn with you guys and go on field trips and eat lunch on the roof like a normal high school student! I love shopping, and hanging out with my other normal high school student friends, and I really lo-ove the ladies! Oh, by the way, I'm single, baby, so don't be shy about approaching me."
He had winked and blown a kiss off two fingers. Yu wasn't sure if this was more amusing or painful to watch, but after Kuma had listed off his favorite colors, songs, store ("Junes!"), foods, topsicle flavor, and season ("Summer! Beach and babes and summer romance!"), the teacher had cut him off. Two desks had been moved in to accommodate them, lined vertically along the inner wall, and Yu had quickly said he was perfectly fine with sitting with somebody he already knew, and that he really didn't think it would hinder his integration into the student body. So he had Kuma directly in front of him, which at least made keeping an eye on him easy. Kuma was a tightly wound mass of nervous, giddy energy, which radiated off him and tightened Yu's shoulders, and he was bouncingly slightly in his seat all through homeroom. He was trying hard to focus in class; he had his forearms on the desk, clasping a pen and staring at the teacher intently, and nodding furiously whenever the teacher made a point. Yu had glimpsed his notes before lunch; they were an illegible mess, and what he could read was, if not vague, wrong.
How the hell he was going to pass Kuma off as a scholarship student, he had no idea, but bless his heart, he was trying.
In the few minutes they had separated after class, Yu had found Yosuke, and Kuma had found both of them. And now Kuma was mesmerized by the menu. Several of the students in line were staring at him, something to which Yu had resigned a while ago. Kuma was odd. Fine. If he didn't seem bothered by this, at least the less gossipy students wouldn't suspect anything.
"I can't decide what I want," said Kuma.
"Eh, whatever. I'll just go with the cutlet sandwich and the melon bread."
Yosuke moved to the back of the line. While Yu's indecision came from indifference, Kuma's was still of overwhelmed exuberance. His brow was furrowed; Yu could feel his brain was cranking. He imagined it was throwing up sparks.
"You know, you'll have plenty of time to try everything this year. Just make a decision."
"I know! I'll just get everything!"
"What?" said Yosuke. Kuma trotted over to join him at the back of the line. "You're just going to make yourself sick again!"
Yu sighed and followed him.
"Why don't we split everything, so we can each taste some of it."
"Ooh, wow! Sensei, you're so smart!"
His phone beeped. Yu pulled it out of his back pocket and flipped it open with his thumb. Kanji's phone strap was getting a little worn. His stomach mellowed when he saw it was from Rise.
hey bb! i just got to the dorm wanna meet up ltr? theres that clamshell inn you remember from last time anyway its a lil more private if you know what I mean LOL -_o. youll have to get some supplies tho. and theres smthing i rly want to talk to you about so meet me there after school try not to get to destracted till then -_o
"Have I told you lately how much I hate you?"
Yosuke was leaning in to read. Kuma was craning his neck to look.
"Hey, hey, Sensei," he said in a loud whisper. "What's supplies?"
Yu was already thumbing out an affirmative response. He snapped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket.
"Kuma, God damn it, you don't ask that kind of stuff!" said Yosuke.
"I'll talk to you about it later," said Yu. "Keep your voice down."
This was dead opposite of what he wanted to do, but he had to at least meet Kuma halfway to fulfill his request that he not mention, insinuate, hint, allude to, or in any way indicate to the other students that Yu was involved with Rise. If the price for that was giving awkward sex ed lessons... well, Kuma should learn that stuff anyway, right? At least, Yu speculated he might have the need.
At least the awkwardness killed any chance he had of getting an erection, here, in the middle of school, on his first day, and he resolved not to think about Rise until he got out of school. That resolve got him about five minutes into math class. They hadn't had a chance to sleep together since he had gotten back to Inaba for Golden Week, and that made it, what, at least a month since he had sex? Nobody had said a long-distance relationship would be easy, and in addition to just missing her like hell, his adolescent libido was not tolerating it well. So he tried to keep things at most at half-mast and was imagining holding her in his lap, with her leaning back onto his chest and him playing with her breasts-he could feel her nipple against his palm and her flanks against his inner arms-when they were finally released for the day. He took a few minutes to shuffle his notes in some weak guise of organization while he waited for his erection to calm down, but was still wired, as he wanted to get out of the building immediately, without anybody stopping him to talk or ask if he wanted to do something. He was half-jogging by the time he got to the entrance, and managed to pull on his outdoor shoes and leave before anybody could find him. Yosuke and Kuma would blab if anybody asked where he was, anyway. Hopefully they would have the sense to leave him alone unless there was a real emergency.
Please, God, don't let there be a real emergency.
It was a cliché in romance novels that silk sheets feel wonderful against bare skin, but it was a true cliché. Rise was lying on her side, head on her upper arm, gazing at the Velvet Room key in her palm. Yu had dozed off behind her, but, unlike other guys, he had made sure she was taken care of first. He always made sure she was very well taken care of. So every nerve on the surface of her skin was fuzzy, hypersensitive and shot, which made the sheets feel especially luxuriant, and she was clenching her legs to stimulate her hypersensitive clit and swollen lips. This was the pleasant aftermath being fucked, hard, glittery and only sore at the vaginal rim, not aching and pounded and just generally hypersensitive in a painful way. That was the other amazing thing about Yu-no matter how desperate he was getting, he always made sure she was relaxed and soaked, such that she was usually the one begging him to just stick it in already, even if his cock was leaking and straining violent red by that point.
Post-orgasmic euphoria ghosted the surface of her mind, and she was drifting in and out of consciousness-into black, snap-voids, which seemed to consume her for long periods but was actually only minutes-when she felt Yu shift and clench her back to his chest. His skin was hot against her shoulders and her lower back, where the slight paunch on his abdomen fit perfectly, and he slid his arm under hers and fondled her breasts. She giggled and nudged his hand away when he was running the blade of his forefinger on her areola, catching the underside of the nipple. It was way too sensitive, almost itchy.
"Why are guys so obsessed with boobs, anyway?"
Yu shrugged against her back. "They're fun. Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"
She realized he was talking about the key. She clenched the blade between forefinger and thumb so she could stare at the design on the head. She had originally indented to talk to him about this first-really she had-but when he had found her room, she had crushed him into the wall and was kissing him before he had even dropped his bag. Things proceeded predictably from there.
"You have one too, don't you? That's why you can summon all those Personas."
His fingers ghosted over the back of her hand holding the key. "Yeah. How did you get this?"
She told him about the man in the alley, the contract, and being absorbed into another dimension, where she met Philemon. He seemed familiar with all the collective unconscious and destruction of ego stuff, at least. She was still trying to grasp it. She felt at the limits of her mind, vague and far from clarity, that she understood what Philemon had been talking about, but when she thought about what he had said, in the forefront of her mind, she felt insecure about her intuition.
"He said I had a lot of potential to become a Wild Card. Like, since I'm an actress, I'm good at putting myself in other people's shoes. I think that's kind of like what he was saying. What did he say to you?"
"I never met Philemon. I just met Igor's group. They're the Velvet Room attendants. I think that is where this key allows you to go. It looks just like mine. I get the same... feeling from it, too."
"Feeling? Like what?"
"It's hard to explain. I sort of feel like I'm reaching for a doorknob when I reach for the key, and I know that I can get through to the other side."
"Yeah! That's exactly how I feel. I didn't know how to explain it, though. You're so good with words, Sempai."
She kept looking at the key, now trying to sort out what Yu had said and what she understood from it. Yu's arm slid off hers and rested on her flank. He had dozed off, again; his breath was almost uncomfortably hot against the back of her neck. She craned over him to look at the clock. It was only 4:34; they could stay there a couple more hours. She snuggled back down against him and dozed off, the key under her hand. She felt warm and loved and cuddled and just amazingly happy. Any hardships they had to put up with in being together would be worth it.
Hardships, yes. She had also meant to talk to him about Kuma's lovely website and the publicity she had gotten from that. The paparazzi were ruthless. She was somewhat used to it, and had in a way signed up for it when she became an idol, but Yu had never agreed to any of that. A shell of euphoria drained from her head and she dropped onto the pillow. He was always putting up with stuff because of her career. It wasn't fair. He deserved a lot better. Well, he could have pretty much any girl he wanted-she knew the other girls on the Investigation Team, and quite a few others in school, had fallen in love with him-and whatever the hell he had going with Yosuke-but he chose her. He wouldn't have to put up with any of this media crap with any of the other girls, and they were all awesome in ways she could never be, and he still chose her. Still stayed with her.
She squinted when blue light started bleeding through her closed eyes, blinked a few times, and looked up. She had fallen asleep with her hand over the key. A blinding wire of blue light traced the bathroom door, which she could have sworn had been open. She shielded her eyes and slid out of bed. The blue light cut a sharp contrast in the room, which was predominantly reds and pinks, so the door seemed pasted onto the fabric of reality. The glare cut, and she could see the door was indeed closed, and now Prussian blue with gold leaf in symmetrical, butterfly-esque patterns. There was no doorknob.
"Rise."
She had not noticed Yu's approach. He draped a bathrobe over her shoulders, which she automatically pulled on and tied, and dropped the key in her hip pocket.
"What is this?" said Rise.
"It's the Velvet Room door. We should go in."
She nodded and swallowed. Yu grip was steady. Kanzeon's ghost pushed her shoulders, and she felt her drawing her toward the door with a wire of power around her heart.
It's safe. Don't be afraid.
She reached the threshhold and touched the door with her fingertips. She heard a heavy clank, a lock disengage, and shielded her eyes from a sudden flood of blinding light.
Her vision faded back, low, in a dimly-lit, midnight-blue room with the flash of a mirror to her right and bright flowers against a near wall. As her eyes adjusted forms solidified out of the blue, differentiated as independent objects only by subtle shadows in ambient blue light. She seemed to be in a narrow dressing room with a vanity and closet. A long table against the far wall held bundles and vases of deep red and white roses, purple lilac, bundles of tulips, camellia, carnations, hydrangea.
The white chrysanthemum was unexpected. It burned into her eyes, still a burst when they were closed. Her stomach soured.
Remember, you are mortal. Remember, you will die.
"Do not be alarmed. The white chrysanthemum means 'truth' as much as it means 'death'. They are just two ways of conceiving of the same concept."
There were now two people by the velvet couch in the center of the room. Their skin was so white it seemed to glow against the room and their clothes. Sitting was an old man, stooped and rickety with bloodshot eyes and wild, white hair at the base of a bald crown, but clearly of sharp mind. At first, she thought he had some sort of fleshy beak, or was a bird-human hybrid, but she realized that was actually his nose. He wore a subdued, but clean, suit, with white gloves, and looking at him she tasted tobacco and old books at the back of her throat.
The young man standing next to him wore what looked like a bellhop uniform, with a blue sailor cap and double-breasted coat in bright blue, and blue stripes down the outside of black pants. He had swept back his white-blonde hair and seemed, in every way, pristine-white gloves and clean angles and long legs. He was holding a thick leather-bound grimoire by his hip.
They both seemed oblivious, or indifferent, to the fact they were only in bathrobes, and had entered from a love hotel.
"If you look closely, you will see there are other flowers hidden there."
The old man was talking from behind his folded hands. She took a few steps forward and could now see across the narrow room star-pointed flowers growing from bursts of gold amid the chrysanthemum.
"Edelweiss is the flower of strength." The young man was talking now. "You must harbor within yourself great courage that blooms in the face of death. This room reflects the mind of the visitor."
"Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." The old man's voice had an odd inflection. "I am Igor, the Proprietor of this place. This is Theodore, my assistant."
"You may call me Theo. I will be accompanying you on your journey." Theodore gestured toward the couch opposite himself. "Please, have a seat. I have never before had more than one patron visit here at once."
Rise and Yu sat on the couch opposite the coffee table from the attendants. It was plush, silken velvet, and smelled of dried flowers and old incense. Yu was looking the place over, seemingly as confused as she was.
"Where is Margaret?"
"Ah, she will be pleased you remembered her," said Igor. "Margaret has more freedom now that I have Theodore here to help me. He is my apprentice attendant. She will be around. "
"My sisters both wanted to see more of the world outside this room," said Theo. "Apparently, meeting people has ignited in them a thirst for adventure and firsthand experience. I hope I shall have the same experience."
"Uh, well..." said Yu. "No promises."
Igor smiled behind his hands. "Just be yourself, and all will be fine. Now, then. Theo is right in that we don't often have two visitors come here at once. You see, the setting is created by the mind of the person who comes in here. As it is the young girl's first visit, this is the backstage to her journey. Her dressing room. Few people have the honor of seeing another person's Velvet Room. She must deeply trust you for you to have been able to follow her here. Now, then."
Igor waved his hand, and a parchment fluttered to the table. It was the contract Rise had signed in the alley.
"Kujikawa Rise-san, is it? Hm." He peered at her over his hands. "It has been a long time since my master Philemon sent me somebody directly, a long time indeed. You are the second such person to visit us in a very short time. Very curious, indeed..."
Rise looked at Yu, who looked as surprised as she felt. "The second one..?"
"It seems my master has reason to believe a challenge is coming that requires greater flexibility of those who have the power of Persona. But he is asking of me a great deal. Few people naturally possess the ability of the Wild Card. In theory, all conscious beings are capable of that openness, but it comes more easily to some than others. Narukami Yu-san is a rarity. He is a natural Wild Card. His most innate personality is that of flexibility and empathy. I see within you, also, great flexibility and potential. You shall come to this ability more easily than most. Now, then."
Igor waved his hand, and seven cards arranged themselves on the table, across ghost lines of a magic circle. Their backs had the same half-face logo as Rise's key.
"Let us have a look at your future. Do you believe in fortune telling? Each reading is done with the same cards, but the results are always different." He cackled quietly. "Life follows the same principles, doesn't it? Now, then, let's see about your near future."
He waved his hand over the spread, and the uppermost left card flipped itself over. The designs on the cards were in bright colors, bold, cut like stained glass. This card had what looked like a person sitting up in bed, face buried in hands, while an array of swords floated above them.
"The Nine of Swords. Mental anguish. Guilt. But you will notice that the swords of fate over which this person cries are from their dreams. Perhaps your worst fears are just that. Very interesting. Your far future is..."
He waved his hand, and the uppermost right card flipped over. The card showed a human shadow hanging by its ankle, framed by concentric circles of barbed wire.
"The Hanged Man. Your ordeal will continue. But if you have the strength to endure, you will survive it. Very interesting, indeed."
He waved his hand over the spread, and the cards disappeared.
"You have a bond with your Persona, Kanzeon, that can never be broken. As she is closest to your heart, she will always be there for you to call. She is the facade you naturally present to the world. But a trial is approaching that will require you more flexibility of power. If my master sent you here, it must be so."
Igor looked up. A card fluttered from the dark sky and landed on Rise's lap, back-up. She turned the card over.
"It's blank."
"It will fill in when you most need it."
Her stomach sank. Yu squeezed the hand she had rested on the couch.
"The Velvet Room will always be here when you need it," said Theo. "You will find the door in a convenient place. Only those with the key can see it. Now, if you have no more questions, you may go for now. You seem to have been... occupied."
He was blushing. He straightened and adjusted his hat as Igor laughed quietly. So, he wasn't as naive as he seemed.
"Never mind him. He's still new to meddling in human affairs."
Rise clutched the card. The face was blank, grey void in a gold frame, and she sensed no energy from it. It was inert, like a canvas, but in that it held potential. She did not know where to even begin questioning. After a few moments, Yu stood, and she stood next to him, clutching the card in both hands.
"As questions come to you, you can always return. Well then, until next time."
Rise nodded, realized that maybe she should bow, and she and Yu walked back out the door into blinding light.
The clock read 4:40. They could not have been gone only six minutes. Time had to stop when they were in the Velvet Room. Didn't Igor say it existed outside of time and space?
Yu placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"
Rise nodded and held the card out. It hovered over her hand, and she clenched her fist, drawing it back into herself. Yu drew her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head.
"Are you hungry?"
"Starving."
They had to leave separately. Though the Clamshell, despite its name, had a reputation for discreetness (which, ironically, drew out the paparazzi who were hoping for a chance sighting), she would still take no chances. She told Yu to follow her out in twenty minutes. She still had the black wig from the studio, and decided not to wear sunglasses, as that tended to arouse suspicion, and tried her best to look like a flustered high school student. Middle-aged men were always bringing girls in. Nobody would find that surprising.
She stood outside for a moment, chewing on her lip as though conflicted, and looked down at a gift box in her hand (it was actually the box for the shower cap from the room). She finally put the box in her bag and tried to look like she was terrified, but trying to look like she wasn't.
Her shoes crunched the gravel when she stepped into the parking lot. It was typical for a love hotel-high solid walls, slate grey concrete like the sky. Kanzeon grabbed her attention. Something was wrong. There was an unpleasant presence that tickled at the fringes of her mind. She shivered as a shock ghosted through her, raising the fine hairs on the nape of her neck and her forearms. She couldn't resolve the threat. It remained vague, gnawed at the pit of her stomach.
It can't be human. Normal humans can't shield themselves from Kanzeon like this.
She kept walking. Her back knotted up and she glanced at the cars with suspicion. This place was too open. She would feel better once she got out-
"Kujikawa Rise."
She froze and cursed. It couldn't be the paparazzi. But in shock she had made a huge mistake: she froze, responded to her name. It was a split second, but to any paparazzi it would be a huge flag. She turned around, chewing on the crook of her finger. The first flash blinded her. She acted overwhelmed, drew back with her arm over her eyes, as though unused to flashes that intense.
"Are you talking to me?" She was squeaking. She stumbled backwards and tripped. The flashes had stopped long enough for her to see three men advancing on her, one with a massive camera, one with a video camera, one trying to hold the boom steady. The video camera's light was red. "What are you doing?"
"It's no use. You've as good as confirmed who you are. We know it's you."
She stood and dusted herself off, never taking her eyes off him. "What are you talking about? Are you trying to scout me? I don't do stuff like that!"
"It's no use trying to leave separately. We know you sent a text to Narukami Yu asking him to meet you here."
Her stomach dropped out. "How did you get that information?"
"Oh, so it is true."
"We saw you eating a chocolate coronet earlier." The other men were starting to ask questions. "Does this mean you're letting yourself go now that you've found a man?"
"Wha-what the hell kind of question is that?"
"So you really aren't so innocent after all, are you?"
"You have a lot of young girls as fans. What do you think of the example you're setting for them?"
Another camera flashed behind her. She scrabbled around, scattering gravel. Another group was blocking the only exit. She squeaked and backed up, trying to look terrified and confused, more than livid. Flash. Flashes from all sides. How did she not sense them?
"What the hell are you assholes doing here?"
That was the first cameraman she had faced. One of the guys in the other group yelled back.
"Back off. We agreed this area was our turf."
"We didn't agree on shit! We are not passing up this tip."
Tip?
Now the fear and confusion wasn't so fake. They had closed in. They were way too close for her disguise to be of any use anymore. Somebody grabbed her wig, grabbing a fistful of her real hair in the process, and yanked. She screamed. It felt like he was going to yank her scalp off.
"Get your hands off me, asshole!"
She reached behind herself and grabbed the man's wrists, but he was far too strong for her to do anything. The man jerked sideways, hard, and she screamed as he half-dragged her to the ground, but he released her. She pulled the wig the rest of the way off and clutched her scalp. Yu was standing over the man, panting and rubbing his fist. The man was clutching his ear. He scrabbled backwards and tried to stand.
"Don't move."
Flashes. Booms bounced above them. Rise cursed. Yu had taken the bait. They were currently photographing a livid student standing over a groveling photographer. His knuckles were split. He licked the blood off. His voice was calm, but he was shaking, burning cold. The man tried to get up, and Yu's pupils contracted as he lunged forward, drawing his fist.
"I said DON'T MOVE!"
"Yu, stop!"
Her stomach dropped out as soon as she said that. She had identified him. She swallowed and scrambled to her feet, gravel fell out of the cuffs of her jeans, and grabbed Yu's free arm. He did not look away from the photographer.
"I'm all right. This asshole isn't worth it."
"He assaulted you."
The man spat on the ground. "Prove it, you little shit."
"Our word isn't enough?"
"Stupid slut freaks out when she gets nailed and accuses us of assaulting her. Tries to make herself look like the victim. All women do that shit when they get caught."
Yu lunged to his knees and grabbed the man by the collar. The flashing intensified. Rise was clenching her teeth with rage, but the reality of the situation was keeping her from losing it. They were going to ruin Yu's life, because of her. She had to get him to stop.
"It's none of your fucking business what she does with her body. Her body is her own. "
The man tsked and spat on the ground again. "You say that because you're the one getting to fuck 'er."
"So, what's it like to have sex with Risette? Is she as perfect as she looks on TV? Does she have any birthmarks?"
"How does she really look without makeup?"
"How did you talk her into sleeping with a nobody like you? Are you blackmailing her?"
The other photographers had started chiming in. They closed in on Yu, still snapping pictures, and Rise backed away from the circle. This was bad. Damn it, Yu, why do you have to lose your temper now?
"How wild is she in bed? What can you talk her into doing?"
"Has she let you in through the back door yet?"
"You know we'd pay good money for any pictures or videos you have. You'd never have to worry about money again."
"What I choose to do in bed is none of your fucking business!"
The shriek echoed off the concrete walls. The paparazzi turned to stare at her, shocked enough to stop snapping pictures for a few seconds. Yu stepped over to her.
"Why do you care? Is your life so pathetic you have to go around asking these questions?" Her voice was still rising, cracking. Yu put his hand on her shoulder and hissed for her to lower her voice, but she ignored him. "I may be an idol, but I still have a life! Would you want people trying to pry into every part of your life? I am not public property! Why do you act like I'm accountable to everybody?"
"Sweetheart, it's just a job." The cameras had started flashing again. The man talking was holding a boom over her. "I couldn't care less what you do with your time."
"Why would you take a job where you ruin people's lives?"
"The money's good. Especially when we get stuff like this."
"You vultures." Yu's protective grip on her shoulders tightened. Something was tickling at the back of her mind again. She turned just before another clot of paparazzi jogged into the complex and Yu drew her closer. He was shaking now.
"Hey!" That was the first cameraman who had spoken to her. "What the hell are you clowns doing here? Get out!"
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
They all looked up. Kuma was standing on the wall with his hands on his hips, puffed up with enough bravado that Rise knew he was going to do something incredibly stupid.
"Kuma!" she shrieked.
"You pizza-razzi are harassing my friends who have committed no sin greater than being in love. As an ally of beautiful women in love everywhere, I won't stand for it! I am a soldier of love and justice in a furry suit!"
Please don't do the arm thing-
He did. "I am Kuma! And in the name of Mayonaka TV, I will punish you!"
Kuma jumped off the wall, overbalanced, and landed flat on his arse in front of them. He scrambled up and dusted himself off.
"Now I'm really pissed off!" He was trying to crack his knuckles-clearly something he had picked up from Kanji-but it wasn't working. The paparazzi were still stunned. One of their faces lit with recognition, and he started poking at his smartphone. "I heard all the rude questions you were asking! That's now how you're supposed to talk to a lady!"
"Kid, she ain't no lady. Do you know where you are?"
"That's him!" The guy with the smartphone pointed at Kuma. "The guy who made that original website! Kumada or whatever."
"That's right! And I'm not gonna let you hurt my friends!"
"You are all trespassing." They all looked up again. Naoto was standing on the wall where Kuma had been. "The pictures you took are proof of that. They're all obviously from inside this parking lot. Get off this property, now!"
"What the hell is going on?" yelled one of the paparazzi.
"Do you honestly think we give a fuck about that stuff, kid? Try and sue us. Our clients will defend us."
Naoto jumped off the wall and landed in a crouch. She ran up to Yu and spoke in a low voice.
"Everybody uses digital media nowadays. Send out an electromagnetic impulse and destroy their data."
Rise's heart rose as Yu's eyes opened in realization. Oh my God, Naoto-kun. I have never loved you as much as I do right now.
"Can he summon his Persona out here?" said Kuma.
"Izanagi!"
Yu clenched his fist down, a card shattered in blue light, and Izanagi rose behind him. The paparazzi looked shocked. Some of them were moving on to terrified. Yu thrust his hand out, and Izanagi followed him, gathering electricity that arced across his fingers. He clenched his fist and a concentric wave burst out. Rise felt the shock a few seconds after the wave had passed through her. The paparazzi had reflexively ducked, but cautiously began to poke their heads up.
"What the hell was that?" one yelled.
"Your electronics have been fried." Naoto's voice was calm, but she looked quite pleased. "Now get the hell out of here."
"What?"
They all started checking their equipment. There were yells of shock, then growls of rage. They were all glaring at Yu and Naoto now. Kuma made a small quailing noise and backed up toward them.
"I think you pissed them off."
All three factions were united now in blind rage. Rise braced herself for the inevitable charge, but they didn't move. They all straightened, glowering, but something was wrong. Yu's grip on her wrist twitched; he clearly realized this as well. Something dark and terrifying was sublimating off of them, clotting into a dark mass above their heads. The light was inverting. Space was distorting, and she felt a sheer wave pass through the parking lot, flipping the dimensions. The sky was now blood-red, and the perspective warped. The wall stretched at least twenty meters into the sky, still slate gray cinderblock. The cars had swollen, hunched menacingly, and the hotel itself was nauseatingly staggered. They all backed into a circle as the black form lurched, surged higher, and started to take a slightly anthropomorphic form.
"Kanzeon!"
The Lovers card shattered over her palm, and Kanzeon stood behind her, lowering the ring over her eyes. She could see the statistics, now, analysis and fluctuation. The black mass was throwing off terrifyingly high levels of power.
"This space is really unstable. It's dangerous."
"What's that over their heads?" said Kuma.
"It's a massive malevolent power coming out of them. I think their rage is collecting into a shadow."
"None of us has weapons," said Naoto.
She registered the flashing warning on her screen before she could open her mouth. The mass sent out a massive shock wave. Kanzeon barely had time to generate a forcefield around her, which took the brunt of the shock, but the wave still slammed her into the ground. Yu, Naoto, and Kuma were blasted back. Kuma and Naoto smashed into the wall meters apart with a sickening crunch. Yu landed on his neck. Rise finally gasped around the blow to her chest and screamed, ran over to Yu and collapsed to her knees. She lifted his head as Kanzeon placed the analysis ring back over her eyes. He was gravely injured, but still alive. She shrieked his name and started sobbing. Naoto and Kuma were badly banged up and knocked unconscious, but they were in better shape.
Another attack is coming from the left!
She looked up and thrust out a forcefield that cut the wave, but still knocked her back, dragging Yu by his shoulders with her. The forcefield was strongest at its source, in front of Rise and Yu, but took some of the edge off the hit to Kuma and Naoto. She was starting to black out. She caught herself on her hands and tried to focus, looked up at the mass of shadow-men rooting the target to the ground. They were powering up again. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands, summoning a healing force, but she was weak, and Kuma and Naoto were on the edge of her range. She opened her eyes as Kanzeon screamed for her to watch out, but the field was up late this time. She slammed back into the wall, grunted, and slid down. Her vision slowly returned.
Kuma and Naoto might hold on for a little while. Yu was going to die. The data fizzed out and distorted; Kanzeon was also badly hurt. None of them could take another hit.
No.
Her eyes were blurry with tears, though she was too tired to sob. She tried to move forward and fell onto her hands.
It can't end like this! Not after all we've been through! Not now!
Why can't I help them? I'm so useless! Why am I always the one being protected?
I can't send up forcefields forever. They're not tired at all. We won't last. I have to attack them.
She reached for the Wild Card in her blood, but she was blind with panic and exhaustion. Her brain was too shot to hold on to any idea, any Persona. Even Kanzeon was slipping away. She started crawling toward Yu, collapsed, and reached for him. Her heart was going to rip itself in half.
Don't go where I can't follow! Please!
The shadow was powering up again. She closed her eyes and screamed, silently, directing that violence inward.
I'll follow you into hell! Just don't leave me! I'd rather die than be without you!
She was standing close enough to the pyre for the flames to scorch her cheeks. Burning ash drifted snow-like onto her nose, her face, into her eyes, onto her bare arms. Her heart was burning with that fire. She could see the outline of the body, where the flesh has burst and oozed-the flesh she knew intimately from their marriage bed-and cracked, the fat starting to sizzle.
She had seen burnings before. She knew the body would split, the bones would crack, the marrow turn to ash. Every split in her husband's body she felt in her own. But she could not force herself to look away. Her eyes were too dry from the heat and sobbing to close.
She closed her eyes and dropped deep down into herself, suddenly calmed by decision. She felt her father's ignorance and hate as suffocating flame in her chest, but with her resolve, it calmed to a banked coal she held close to her heart. It flared, and its power blushed along her arms, singing hairs. Her chest cleared, as if a clean rain had fallen.
It's my fault people dishonor him.
It's my fault he's going to be slandered like this.
"Let me be reincarnated the daughter of a man I can respect."
Her father realized in the instant before she lit, a spark suspended in time, and his eyes widened as she ignited.
"I'd rather die than be without him!"
With burning would come release. Her soul would spin out into the sky with her ashes, and maybe, she'd be reborn to meet him in another life. She grasped the burning wood, refused to let go with the first pulse of agony, and started to climb up. The soles of her feet and her palms had charred off. She was standing on open muscle, gaping wound, and the blood boiled off the splintered wood.
"I'd rather die than be without you!"
Rise opened her eyes. She was floating in a void. There was no pull of gravity to orient her. She uncurled and stood, looking around. She was utterly alone.
You are not alone.
She turned and gasped. Another woman was standing across from her. She blazed, dress and hair charred-black, flames smoldering in the creases, reflecting off the gold in her hair and on her wrists. The lower half of her face was masked, but her eyes were uncovered.
Rise reached out to her, and, mirroring her, the goddess reached for her hand. Their fingertips touched. She saw herself reflected in her eyes, experienced as her the pain of loss, the guilt and rage at the way they had treated her beloved that led her to ignite herself. A flutter of an eyelid back, and she was all of the women who had jumped into the flames rather than lose half of their heart, so together they would ascend to the night sky.
She focused back. This woman who was a reflection of herself stared for suspended moments.
"I am thou. Thou art I. Call my name, and I will lend you my power."
Rise nodded. Power was burning up through her, from her heart and the pit of her stomach. It blazed through her veins to her fingertips. The goddess nodded. Rise knew her name, as she knew her own, recalling it from the depths of the unconscious.
"Sati!"
The Aeon card shattered over her hand. She drew the power into her fist and flung it into an arc, as Sati did before her, and the sheet of fire crashed into the shock wave. The backdraft from the neutralization almost threw Rise back, but she braced herself and gathered power into her chest, pooling it into her hands. The Shadow was re-grouping. This was her chance. She yelled and thrust every last bit of power she had through Sati, and collapsed as a torrent of flame smashed into the line of puppets. The field around them wavered, weakened, and Kanzeon yelled in her head that now was her chance.
"Open!"
The sky ripped open. She stared up at the clouds and the red bleeding over them, and sensed the rest of the team was outside, trying to get in. The dimensional rent split down the dome over the wall, where it tore open red sky and slate until it hit the height of the original wall, so that it was notched like a rampart. The shadow roared, and the rent started to knit back closed over their heads, following the arc of the sky. Rise screamed for them to hurry up. Chie and Kanji vaulted over the notch while Yosuke stopped on the wall, helping Yukiko climb up. The rent zipped over Yosuke's head, and Rise's heart fell out until Labrys shoved both of them over and dove through herself. They crashed to the ground as the red sky sealed over the last strip of clouds. Labrys landed fluidly, rolled and pulled out her axe, and ran after Chie and Kanji.
Rise's arms finally gave out, and she folded as Sati faded, with the Aeon card floating where her chest had been. The card drifted down to Rise, who caught it with both hands and hugged it to her chest.
You saved us. Thank you. Thank you so much...
"Was that a new Persona?" said Yosuke.
"There's no time! You have to defeat that shadow before it charges up again!"
Yosuke dragged Naoto's body next to Yu's, with Yukiko close behind him, and she collapsed to her knees to examine them as Yosuke ran off to get Kuma. Amaterasu hovered behind her with blade-wings arced around them. She closed her eyes and touched Yu's shoulder, and he started to glow as Yosuke heaved Kuma next to Naoto and ran off. Rise closed her eyes and collapsed against Yukiko's shoulder as the warmth spread up bruised bone and diffused through muscle and skin, dampening nerves, clearing her head of tension. Yukiko hissed, and Rise opened her eyes; she was sucking on her teeth, brow furrowed.
"What is it?"
"Kuma-kun and Naoto-kun aren't too bad, but Yu-kun is very badly hurt. He needs to go to a hospital."
"You can't help him?"
"I can keep him stable. Labrys-chan contacted Mitsuru-san and the others before we jumped in here. They should be here soon."
Rise rested her head on Yukiko's shoulder and watched the battle. They were silent for a long time. Yukiko finally spoke.
"Did you... summon a new Persona?"
Rise nodded and told her in brief what had happened-about Philemon, and Igor, and Sati. Yukiko listened silently with wide eyes. The battle continued in the near distance, an obscuring, boiling mass cut with sickles of light, flashes of lightning, flashes of silver, up-bursts of wind. Finally, she spoke.
"Wow. That's... kind of like what Yu-kun can do, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Igor-that guy in the Velvet Room-called it the Wild Card. And Philemon said all this stuff about being able to empathize with people who aren't like me would give me the power to summon more Personas, because they're archetypes, or something, but anyway, if you can put yourself in their shoes, and understand how they felt, you can kind of... contact them, I guess."
"I always thought Yu-kun was the most understanding person I'd ever met..."
Rise nodded and closed her eyes. She did not know how long she dozed, but woke when she felt a release of energy, and the red sky started shattering like glass. It ripped itself apart, and they were in the Clamshell parking lot again. The paparazzi were passed out in a heap. The four combatants looked shattered, bleeding and drained, but were still sturdy. Mitsuru was leaning against one of the cars, arms crossed. They all moved toward the injured party. Kanji yelled when he saw Naoto and dashed over to the group, crashed to his knees and slid his arm under her shoulders to lift her.
"Naoto! Wake up!" He shook her gently. "Naoto!"
"She's going to be fine," said Yukiko. "Stop shaking her."
"Oh my God." Chie stopped next to them and bent double, bracing herself on her knees and panting. "Yu-kun!"
"They need medical attention," said Mitsuru. "There is a hospital a few blocks away. It will be faster to carry them."
Kanji stood with Naoto in his arms. Labrys picked up Yu, and Yosuke hefted Kuma onto his back. Yukiko helped Rise stand as Mitsuru stared at the heap of paparazzi, hands on hips. Her expression was unreadable.
"You guys go on ahead. Labrys should know where it is. That information should be in her databank."
She pulled out a phone and speed-dialed somebody, was waiting when Yukiko gently nudged Rise along. Kanji and Labrys were half-running far ahead, and Yosuke was straggling behind, frequently stopping to adjust Kuma.
"Fucking... figures. The biggest guy gets to carry the smallest girl."
"Yosuke-kun."
He scowled at Yukiko, but she would not stop glaring at him. He sighed and hefted Kuma higher onto his hips.
"I know! I'm just saying. Jeez."
Rise looked back. Mitsuru was standing with her hands on her hips over the fallen men. She nudged one with her toe. It was difficult to tell from this distance, but it looked like she was snarling with contempt.
Author Notes
"Boku" is the Japanese male version of the pronoun "I". Naoto uses this pronoun. If you choose the romantic route with her, she will ask you at one point if it bothers her that she says "boku"; in the English version, she asks if you wish she spoke with a higher voice. Naoto is an example of a "bokukko", a Japanese trope for which TV tropes has a good summary.
Inherent in the love hotel is that they offer short stays (measured by the hour, or afternoon), as their advertised function is to provide a private place for sex. One of the appeals of love hotels is the promise of privacy. Parking lots are usually behind high walls, and often the hotel will provide covers for license plates. Many have no windows. Money is exchanged anonymously for keys. If there is no actual person exchanging the money (who would be behind an opaque glass), one can purchase keys at a kiosk. Thus, it's feasible that the hotel staff would not notice a ruckus in their own parking lot. Hotels aren't supposed to sell keys to underage kids, but inherent in anonymity is... well, anonymity. Their popularity is even more understandable when one considers that living spaces in Japan tend to be quite small, and extended families often cohabit a confined space with paper walls. From what I have read buying condoms underage is no problem, and I think one can get free condoms at health clinics. Hormonal contraceptives (the Pill) are an entirely different and unique story in Japan, with their own set of stigma and difficulties in obtaining, but that is for further discussion later in the story. Apparently love hotels are a good option for travelers, as they tend to be rather low-cost. And you get to enjoy whatever weird decor the room has.
The Tarot deck in the Persona games only has the Major Arcana illustrated, and the minors are presented much like playing cards, as pips (i.e., ten of swords would be ten swords in a pattern). I like to imagine Igor has a fully-illustrated deck. There is as much rich symbolism and nuance in the Minor Arcana as in the Major, and that inherent value is not intuitively grasped when they are presented as pip cards. The illustrations on the Major Arcana cards are loosely based on the symbolism of the Rider-Waite deck (the most famous and 'standard' design most people think of when one talks about Tarot), so I assume those of the Minors would be as well.