Author's Note: This chapter's shorter than usual but is a nice break from the massive third chapter. LibraryOfAlexandria11, hope you have fun reading!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights go to their respective owners.

Chapter 4 - Shiraishi Ramen

Runa, Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi arrived at Shiraishi Ramen located in Kameya Alley. There they came across a man with black hair, glasses, a white suit over a purple with a yellow tie that clashed horribly. Though Runa doubted any other coloured tie would help the situation. The man who she recognised to be Tadashi, the wannabe private detective and the boyfriend of Tamaki Uchida, who Runa was looking forward to meet.

"Bluach… O-Okay, I ate the strawberry tanmen… N-now let's get down to business," Tadashi said to the ramen's shop's owner after he finished off an oddly coloured bowl of ramen.

"I was a spy, but that was so long ago… I just run this ramen shop now. Why would I be selling weapons?" The ramen's shop owner countered. She had a white apron and matching headscarf that held her dark hair in place. Her hair however had a punk-like strip of blonde that fitted well with her somewhat edgy appearance. There were shades, metal hoop earrings and the smoke in her mouth that completed the look.

"Why is smoking inside? Isn't against the…" Runa started but stopped herself.

"You're still think it's against the law? I thought we discussed this before, it's not. Besides it's not like it has any long-term side effects," Tatsuya told her.

"Rumours suggest otherwise and how on earth can inhaling smoke be good for you? People die of smoking you know, it's an important issue," Runa disagreed.

"This isn't a debating competition and I'm not fan of it either. Also don't you usually have this debate with Katsuya?" Tatsuya countered flicking his lighter.

I do? Oh yeah… Katsuya smoked in this Eternal Punishment's ending, which I barely remember… Hm, seems like he smoked this timeline too. Well he did, until unawake me told him the chemical composition of cigarettes in her science project last year, Runa blinked.

Tatsuya was about to ask her something when Tadashi finally thought up his reply. "I heard from the Chief and Tamaki that the "secret dish" is the password to getting an under-the-table deal. I must've just ordered the wrong thing… I heard it was something disgusting. What about the sweet red bean gyoza?"

"Did he say "secret dish", Tatsuya?" Lisa piped up.

"Yes, but I don't think it's going exactly the way he wished it did," Tatsuya answered.

"Still… I think that must be the password you need to buy weapons. Let's go ask the Chief what it is!" Lisa exclaimed.

"Surely there isn't any real stock in this weapon rumour," Tatsuya shook his head.

"That lady's always teasing her customers out of boredom. I've known her since I was a kid, so I'm pretty familiar with this place. And I know there's no way you can buy weapons here," Eikichi agreed with Tatsuya.

"Why didn't you tell us that before we walked all the way here?" Runa asked.

"I got distracted by Tatsuya brooding about his motorcycle getting stolen," Eikichi replied.

"Oh that," Runa remembered Tatsuya's expression when they left Sumaru Prison. Priceless… No actually it was incredibly sorrowing, Runa smothered a burst of laughter as Tatsuya started playing his lighter to distract himself.

"So anyway, let's go find a way to ask about these weapons?" Lisa decided.

The ramen shop's owner directed her attention at quartet. "What? You want weapons? You people too? I was actually the third wife of an Arabian oil tycoon, so I don't sell weapons."

Tadashi noticed the four teenagers as well and introduced himself. "Heh… I'm Tadashi, a detective whose beat is the darkness of the city. Come to the Kuzunoha Detective Agency for your all investigative needs. Here, take one of our flyers. Our offices are in Kameya Alley."

"Great sales pitch," Tatsuya snarked as he rolled his eyes.

They all left the Ramen store began to head over to Kuzunoha Detective Agency. They entered the place to be greeted by a giant white lucky cat state. It talked! "Welcome, meow ❤︎. Welcome, meow ❤︎. Welcome, meow ❤︎."

"Aww… How cute is it!" Runa beamed and her eyes lighted up.

Meanwhile Eikichi was caught off guard. "Th-That thing scared me… What the hell is this?"

Runa smiled fixated on the cuteness of it. "An adorable cat…"

"There's your answer from the crazy cat lady to be," Tatsuya commented.

Yep, that's your… Wait… Tatsuya what did you say!? Runa gave Tatsuya a sharp look. He ignored her.

Tamaki Uchida noticed the foursome and welcomed them. "Welcome! Is there something we can help you with?"

Runa eyes went wide. Tamaki… In the flesh… The Devil Summoner and part-time worker at a detective agency. Wow… She had awesome tailored brown suit and a gorgeous black necklace. Her short brown hair complimented her mature yet tomboyish appearance.

"Ah, Tadashi's girlfriend. Still have no clue why she's dating him," Tatsuya whispered to Runa.

"Don't be like that, he could be worse," Runa whispered back.

Lisa meanwhile, answered Tamaki. "Oh, no, we just had a question… Can we see the chief detective?"

Tamaki nodded and called for the chief. Lisa took the lead in explaining that they met the Joker and their related inquiries about the weapons and the secret dish. Tatsuya, Eikichi and Runa taken seats on the couches and listened. Runa still couldn't believe she met the Tamaki. The chief and Tamaki quickly told her the rumour was just that and nothing more.

"Aiyah! Then the rumours about the secret dish and the weapons dealing… You guys spread those just to tease Tadashi," Lisa realised.

Tamaki clarified further. "We didn't spread them exactly… We just told him, and Tadashi ran his big mouth."

Eikichi grimaced. "I knew it was something like that… Anyway, it's not like rumours can magically come true. Like Joker. He must have alway existed."

"Can you give us any more details? We're investigating Joker too," Tamaki requested.

Lisa, Eikichi and Runa glanced over at Tatsuya expectantly. Tatsuya gave a 'why me,' sigh prior to standing up to explain how they met the Joker and what happened. "We had the exact same weird dream with a man named Philemon, he told us that rumours are coming true. To test out the theory Lisa and Eikichi's associates played the Joker Game, for if the Joker actually did show then maybe the dream was true in some respects. The Joker came and he using these crystal skulls turned Eikichi associates into Shadowmen. However the Joker spared Lisa as he had some sort of vendetta against her, Eikichi, my sister and myself. We fought the Joker with these spirits that the man in the dream called Personas after the Joker summoned demons to attack us. However since we did not know the reason behind the Joker's vendetta he spared us but promise to send more demonic assassin after us. We needed weapons to defend ourselves against whatever the Joker has in store for us, as Lisa mentioned."

Runa shifted awkwardly in seat and bit her lip while simultaneously she tried to forget about what happened. I don't need to think about it, right now, she told herself.

Chief Todoroki, a heavier elder man with grey must ache and hair was listening with Tamaki, his employee. He wore black pants, a mossy dark green shirt under a brown woollen vest and thick rimmed glasses. A tie that was nostalgic of old texan movies that Runa watched on weekends when she bored and lonely for five minutes before she decided another hour of video games would be more fun.

Chief Todoroki then nodded. "I see… The unusual incidents lately would make more sense if rumours were indeed becoming reality… Well? Do you want us to spread the rumour about what the secret dish is?"

"Yeah! If rumours are coming true, we can spread rumours that work in our favour!" Lisa exclaimed.

Chief Todoroki took this as a money making opportunity. "I'll do this one for free, but I'll need you to file an official request. Order is important no matter what you're trying to accomplish. We do things by the book here."

"I'll do it. I have a bit of money left over from that translator job I took last Golden week," Runa volunteered knowing her wallet was in her pocket. Her unawakened self have a nice habit of being very frugal. No one rejected Runa's offer and Runa went over to the desk Chief Todoroki indicated.

"Just write down the rumour you wish to spread here and any additional details here. The simpler the better," Chief Todoroki gave her an modified version of a form that was used in his Devil Summoning investigations. She noticed that from the lingo here and there; it reminded her of Soul Hackers slightly.

Runa wrote down the rumour she wished to spread: the ramen shop owner is an ex-spy. The additional detail she wrote down was that: the ramen shop owner also sold real weapons.

When she was done Chief Todoroki spoke to her. "I'll spread that rumour for you gratis. It's the one you want?"

"Yes, sir."

Chief Todoroki waited a moment before Runa realised why… She hastily got her wallet out. "Um… How much?"

"6,000 yen shall do," Todoroki answered.

Runa didn't know if she had that much it had been awhile since she used yen. But as soon as her hand reached inside her wallet, money materialised in her hand causing her gasped and drop her wallet. Chief Todoroki gave her suspicious yet concerned look. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, sorry sir. I just almost got a prick by pin. I don't know how that got in here, though. Hm, oh well," Runa picked up her wallet with some embarrassment. This time when the money materialised in her hand she didn't allow her shock to show instead she just acted mortified about herself dropping her wallet. It wasn't very difficult to do, her cheeks were very warm and she could imagine Tatsuya laughing at her on the inside. She then counted the money which turned out to be the exact amount she needed she gave it to Chief Todoroki. "Here. Sorry again about the wait and everything."

"No need to apologise, it happens to everyone," Chief Todoroki smiled and waved away her apologies. Then once he had taken the form off her hands. "Go see for yourself. If the rumour's came true, ordering banana char sou ramen should get you weapons."

"Wait… Should we really be taking advantage of the rumours coming reality? I just get the feeling this will turn out to be a double-edged sword that's all," Runa seconded guessed herself, still throw by the whole being able to summon money from thin air notion.

"Let's have them spread the rumour. We have to take any advantage we can get. Besides, you've already signed the form," Lisa voiced her opinion.

Eikichi joined the conversation. "Is this really necessary…? Shouldn't we go after the guy instead of hanging out here?"

"And defend ourselves with what? Just using our Persona and our keen wits worked out so well last time," Tatsuya countered.

"There's only one of you in the world… That's just plain common sense. But who can prove it? It's the same way with rumors. They can't be proved, and yet… Would it be so strange if they started coming true?" Chief Todoroki rambled on while Tamaki suggested they wait here, while she and the chief spread the rumours.

Next thing they knew, Runa, Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi were waiting for at the agency for a good 15 minutes. Runa knew it was impossibly quick in the game but still waiting was so boring. "So… When do you think they'll be back?"

"You asked this five times already I don't think asking another…" Tatsuya paused.

"Hm? They're back!" Runa jumped over the back of the couch she was lying excitedly.

"You're full of energy," Chief Todoroki observed.

"So how it go? And tell us before she spontaneously combusts," Eikichi requested.

"The rumour's spread! Now just watch it unfold. Oh, but make sure that clown doesn't hear what the secret dish is, okay?" Tamaki delivered the news.

"Yes! Thank you!" Runa hugged Tamaki that caused the woman to laugh. "She's always like this?"

Lisa and Tatsuya nodded while Eikichi shrugged. Runa announced it was time to go the ramen shop and left. The three teenagers followed and told her to be careful.

The quartet arrived at Shiraishi Ramen again, there they debated which one would eat the dish of banana char sou ramen. Tatsuya borrowed four straws and shorten one. "The one who gets the short straw loses and eats the dish."

"Seems fair," Eikichi guessed. Runa knew that attitude did not last long as she knew that Eikichi lost the game in Persona 2 although they never specified what the game was.

"Let's draw straws then, Runa you hold them while the rest of draw. I'll go last," Tatsuya handed her the straws.

Lisa drew hers first, then Eikichi drew his and swore. Lisa grinned. "Got the short straw, huh?"

"Unfortunately yes…" Eikichi complained.

"Alright, order up. You lost the game," Lisa dragged Eikichi to the the restaurant's counter while Runa threw straws in a bin.

"Why me…? One banana char sou ramen, Ma'am!" Eikichi begrudgingly ordered.

"I wonder how pork and bananas would mix together with ramen," Runa mused.

"If you want to find out, you can take my place," Eikichi offered eagerly but Runa declined the offer.

The ramen shop owner however was carefully watching Lisa, Eikichi, Tatsuya and Runa. "I knew this day would come, Eikichi… These weapons are on the house, as a farewell gift. Hmm… Let's see… Eikichi, you a Standard case. Mr Cool here gets a Misericorde… For the taller girl some Leather Gloves and for the other girl, I'll throw in a Metal Bladed Naginata. But rules are rules. You have to eat what you ordered, or I'll pretend this never happened."

Eikichi paled as the shop owner went away and then returned with the ramen. The banana smelt awful with the other flavours but Runa wished Eikichi luck. That was met with a angry glare.

It took awhile but Eikichi finally finished his ramen. "There! I choked it down! Take that! Blurgh…"

Eikichi then swallowed some water that Tatsuya gave him a glass of before he could become even more pale and ill. The shop owner handed the weapons over to Tatsuya who in turn distributed each weapon to the person in the group it belonged to. Thankfully the Naginata came with a cover which Runa could strap to her back, although she did notice that she somehow misplaced her backpack at some point during the afternoon much to her disappointment.

There goes the advantage of her unawakened self's items. Runa just hoped her Naginata would work on demons and that she wield it properly. Kozy interrupted Runa's self-doubt session as she entered the room. "Big news, everyone! I talked to someone who witnessed Principal Hanya with a mysterious masked figure!"

"Haime!? Really? I wonder if that's Joker… Let's go back to Sevens, Tatsuya! Hanya might know something about Joker!" Lisa determined.

Tatsuya agreed and Kozy reported. "I'll keep researching the relationship between the Joker and rumours."

"Thank you, Kozy-senpai," Runa told her before she and the rest of her fellow Persona-users rushed off towards Seven Sisters High School.

Unawakened Runa's ramblings in her journal...

Today I had a dream... It was odd, there was room of clocks, all their ticking was impossibly loud. Then suddenly they all shattered at once and I felt relieved but then the gears keep turning. The sound become louder and louder. Then their was a voice, someone telling me to wake up. So I did but when I awoke their was no one there. The voice echoed in my head, telling to me wake up even after I awoke. I was probably still half asleep but I got the feeling that the voice didn't mean to wake up from that dream or from that sleeping on the usual level. It sounded as if I was meant to wake up on a more specific level. And that's not the only weird thing, I keep noticing this blue door in Kameya Alley. No one else has noticed it though. I'm scared... Am I going crazy, what is with these symbolic dreams, these weird occurrences and why is it that when I learn something at school, I know for certain I knew before despite i being impossible. The same thing with names, I enrolled at Sevens but I knew the names of people before I even met them. If I'm not going mad, then... What is it and why me of all people? What is so special about me and why is it I feel the constant sense of deja vu nearly every second of everyday? I have so many questions but no way to answer them.

Runa Suou? Is that who I really am or is there more to this than what I know?

Thanks for reading and next time, is when the group of Persona-users venture to Sevens to investigate Principal Hanya's connection to the Joker. So in few days time the chapter will come unless I die or something... It might take awhile if something like that pops up.