Disclaimer: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 belongs to Atlus and Odin Sphere, while published by Atlus, belongs to VanillaWare. I have no rights to them at all.

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Soul's Nocturne

Chapter 9

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Damn that… shadow thing for attacking Yosuke! Well, it had been going for Chie, but… how could he just do that? Then again, if it had been Souji, all of them would've leapt; Yosuke just moved the fastest. Chie had been trying to keep him awake as the medics rushed in. God, his back was torn up, but he had been lucky to have his spine missed. Kanji sighed and blinked, watching a bird fly by the window.

"Is that bird interesting, Tatsumi?"

"Very…" he replied, but then snapped his head up, eyes widening. The class was laughing as he came face-to-face with the substitute teacher, Mrs. Valentine. Her violet eyes reflected little amusement as she spoke crisply.

"I asked you to read page 35, paragraph 2 in the textbook, but if the sky is more entertaining to you, perhaps I should leave a note so you can enjoy it after school with your teacher." She watched his face pale and shook her head, "That was your only warning. Now, if you don't mind, turn your eyes back to your book and read."

He grumbled under his breath, face red as he looked at his book. Biology of plants, blah, blah, blah, he really didn't want to be doing this at the moment. He had to go beat the shit out of that shadow and find out why it attacked everyone in the first place. Damn thing… he couldn't concentrate. Somehow, though, he did finish reading the paragraph. He had no idea what he just read, but to hell with it. The moment that bell rang, he was going to go after than bastard.

The bell chimed and everyone rose. Kanji stood up quickly and started shoving his way over to door when Mrs. Valentine called, "Tatsumi, I need you to stay after class."

"Huh!? But…!"

"With Kujikawa absent, I need someone to take Shirogane's homework," she replied before he could finish. Oh… well, yeah, that made sense. Other students passed him as he stepped back and walked over to the teacher's desk. Mrs. Valentine was organizing Ms. Kashiwagi's desk, putting her own belongings into a leather bag. She stood up with a small stack of papers, holding them out to Kanji, "She gathered all the assignments for the next two weeks. Shirogane can finish it all at once or just stay on track with class. Either way, she's expected to turn them all in when she returns."

"Yes, ma'am…" he muttered, taking the small stack and stuffing it into his bag. He felt her eyes on him and he stood, frowning, "What?"

"… It's nothing. Please, go enjoy your afternoon," she replied and returned to her bag. He raised an eyebrow, but just shook off the strange feeling and left the classroom. He wondered how the hell he could possibly track down the freaky shadow when he accidentally bumped into Chie. Huh, she must be walking alone again. Yukiko seemed to have a habit of leaving quickly after school. Chie seemed out of it, but raised her eyes.

"Oh, Kanji… uh, going to the hospital, right?" she asked, not looking up at him. Dully, he nodded. What else were they going to do? She turned stiffly and led the way down the stairs and out of the school doors. People whispered nearby about the 'accidents' and the rumors of how they occurred, but they felt eyes on them. Kou Ichijo, Daisuke Nagase, Ai Ebihara, Naoki Konishi, Yumi Ozawa, and Ayane Matsunaga were the only students who didn't whisper or chatter about nonsense. It was weird, but Kanji felt like they were keeping tabs on them for someone.

"Kanji, hurry up!" Chie called back. She had walked some distance ahead from the school gates when he froze. He bolted to catch up and it was silent between them. It was… awkward to say the least. They never really just spoke to each other since the others would always be there so this was a first. Shit, he didn't know how to talk to girls. No, this was Chie. He could come up with something… hm…

"Do you think Yosuke's surgery went okay?"

Kanji jumped when Chie started talking, "H-huh!? O-Oh… Yosuke-senpai? Yea. He's prolly jus' in a room wonderin' where we are. Where's Yukiko-senpai anyway?"

"Yukiko's been going over to Mirren-sensei's house to read some old fantasy books," she replied, waving a hand, "I guess they're alright, but the one I glanced at was about some heartless guy. He killed a dragon that wasn't even fighting back really…"

"Damn, thass low," he muttered, not sure if he should've said something else.

She sighed, "Yeah, it's low, but he was told to do it for some strange reason. I kinda want to find out why, but Yukiko said I was reading it out of order. I really don't care; I was lucky to even read through that page… English isn't my strong point."

"The books are in English?" he asked, surprised.

She nodded, "Yep, but Yukiko can read it no problem. Oh right, we didn't tell you. Mirren-sensei is our new home room teacher. This is her first year teaching at our school. Rise told me you guys have Ms. Kashiwagi."

"Well, she wasn't here today. Must've went chasin' after some guy," Kanji said, "We had sum sub… uh, I think… Valentine was her last name."

"Huh, never heard of her. She must be new, too…" she trailed and then paused, looking up at the hospital. Together, they walked inside, but she walked down a separate hall to visit Yosuke first. Kanji, on the other hand, proceeded down a hall towards the room Naoto resided in. There was a chance she would be asleep so he would make the visit brief. When he reached her door, he paused, staring through the small window. Immediately, he shot back and fell to the ground, scarlet. A nurse was helping Naoto clean up and re-dress, but he wasn't about to check if they were done yet. It was about fifteen minutes until the nurse walked out with a tub of water, sponge, and dirty hospital gown.

Slowly getting back to his feet, Kanji calmed himself and peeked inside, " 'e-ello…?"

"Kanji-kun, did someone fall in the hallway?"

Shit, straight to the point! He swallowed and choked, coughing suddenly. Naoto cocked her head, one eyebrow raised at his behavior, but she waved it aside as he regained his breath. She sat stiffly, propped up by several pillows and her lower body covered in the hospital blanket. Her reattached leg rested outside of the sheets, her thigh tightly bound in thick gauze. Her cheek had a sizable cotton patch over the three stitched cuts and her forehead was still wrapped in bandages from the fall. Nervously, he sat down in the chair by her bed, silent, his leg bouncing a bit.

"What happened since I was out?" she asked after five minutes of silence, causing him to snap his head up. Kanji mouth thinned into a line, but he spoke after a moment, recalling everything that happened. He was just mentioning Yosuke leaping back and the creature entering Teddie's room when Naoto stopped him, "That… animal was here last night!?"

"Well, we dunno what it was… but Ted kept yellin' it was his old man. Chie-senpai was about to attack it, but she just froze or sumthin'. Anyway, it tried attackin' her, but Yosuke-senpai got hit instead."

"What's his condition right now?"

"He ain't dead, but he was pretty messed up from that one hit. Docs said he was lucky his spine was missed. They rushed him to surgery and we figured he should be in a room now. Chie-senpai went to visit him," he explained. "Damn thing… I think it killed someone outside of the hospital last night."

"It did. A woman was… wait. Here…"

Naoto raised the TV controller and turned on the news.

"Here we are at Inaba Municipal Hospital, reporting yet another tragic murder. At 8:51 PM, a woman was walking past this hospital when her luck appeared to run out. Police say that Ms. Noriko Kashiwagi appears to have been heading towards the station for a trip wh—"

"Holy shit! Are they serious!?" Kanji exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and knocking it backwards. Naoto raised a hand to quiet him. She needed to hear the rest.

"Ms. Kashiwagi's death is the fourth in a series of horrific murders that have recently occurred in Yasoinaba. The police state that these murders are unrelated to the murders that happened last year and that's evident enough. The victims last time were found hanging from telephone poles and water towers. This time, however, the victims are being found ripped into pieces. There has been word on two victims that have survived… no, we just got word its three now… oh, we have an interview with the Detective… Detective Eto!"

"Huh? Oh, hi."

"Tell me, what are the conditions of the three surviving victims?"

"All three are being hospitalized right now. The first one recently woke up from a coma after being found several weeks ago on the first crime scene. After the third victim, the second one to survive was found near Yasogami High with an amputated leg. The third one occurred within the hospital and we have no status on their condition."

"I see… I heard a rumor that the three are just high school students. Is that true?"

"Unfortunat---"

"Detective Eto! What the hell are you doing!?"

"Ah! Detective Dojima!"

"You don't talk to the media! Get your ass over here!"

"Y-Yes sir! S-Sorry! Gotta run!"

"… Well, if those three victims are high school students, it is unknown who this murderer is specifically targeting."

"… It seems like we can't hold a second-year teacher," Naoto sighed, turning off the television.

"Kinda sounds like that book Yukiko-senpai read… uh, somethin' to do with witches and wizards," Kanji said, scratching his head.

Naoto chuckled, "I think I know what you're talking about… but let's get back to the issue at hand. One, we have no teacher and two, that murderer is still loose. On another note, I need a new gun. That thing shredded mine."

"It did?" Kanji asked, his eyes widening. He propped his chair up again as she nodded. He growled and stood up, "I'm gettin' that red-eyed bastard."

"Kanji-kun, don't be rash! It tears through everything like paper. There's no way you would be able to stop him!" she snapped, shifting sharply. It jolted her leg and she gritted her teeth, lying back down. He moved to try helping her, but paused when she seemed settled again. "W-We have to figure out why it's attacking people… if we don't, t-the whole town is at risk. We're incapable of summoning our Personas and facing it head on will result in death at this moment. T-Those flames… if there was some way of harming it…!"

"It moves too damn fast," he sighed, "Maybe we should call Senpai…"

"No, we shouldn't. We need to solve this. If there was some clue…"

"… The flame thing talks," Kanji said suddenly, just remembering from last evening.

Naoto looked at him incredulously, "What?"

"Well… wasn't a whole sentence, just a stutter… said 'Gwe' and that's it before it attacked."

"'Gwe'? Not much of a lead, but it's a start," she sighed. He nodded, but then glanced up at the clock.

"Damn… uh, sorry. I gotta run. Ma's goin' to a friend's house later and I need to clean the shop," he said, but then paused, opening his bag, "Here. This is the homework. Almost forgot 'bout that."

"Thank you…" Naoto said, "And be careful on your way home."

"… Heh, I'll be fine. You'll see…"

"E-Ehh… hgh…!"

Kanji coughed a fresh spray of blood from his mouth as he held his stomach despite the profuse amount that continued to flood out. With his clear eye, he looked up with gritted teeth as the black flames approached, scarlet eyes watching for any sudden movements. Heh, didn't the damn thing understand he was pretty much dead? He lulled his head back, hitting the wooden door frame behind him as the figure stopped walking.

"… Whe… re…?"

"W-What… the hell are you talkin' about…?"

That wasn't the answer it was looking for. He blinked slowly, just watching it come. He was so exhausted, but it didn't stop him from hearing a crash and rattle of chains, his vision obscured by red and gold. It was brief, an illusion maybe, because he knew no more a second later.

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Me: Hm… I wonder who's next? Review please.