Chapter 9: The Canine & the Foggy Revelation

Port Island: Student Dorm

"Kanji-kun! What happened to you?" Yukiko was shocked to see Kanji all wrapped up in bandages. Everybody who was sitting in the living room turned to look.

"Dude the hell happened to you? You looked like you just got out of a brawl!" Yosuke was surprised.

"Are you O.K. Kanji? Did one of those guys from school do this?" Souji asked him seriously. Everyone crowded around him and Naoto.

"H-Hey its O.K. guys ha-ha I just uhh…tripped! Yeah that's it! I tripped on the stairs coming back here ha-ha." Kanji laughed. Nobody believed such an obvious lie. Chie turned to Naoto.

"You know what really happened right Naoto-kun? Tell us!" Chie demanded. Naoto stayed quiet for a while.

She bit her lip. "It is as Kanji-kun says Senpai, he merely fell down the stairs…nothing more…" Naoto look away from Chie.

Chie looked dumbfounded. "Fine! If that's how you guys are then I don't care anymore!" She stalks off and muttered furiously.

"…You guys know that you can tell us anything right?" Yukiko looked slightly hurt and went off to look for Chie.

The crowd around Kanji dispersed, Souji stared at him silently. Aigis… Souji turned to look at her and signaled her to the kitchen.

"'Fess up, what'd you do to Kanji?" Souji asked her quietly, restraining his anger.

Aigis stared at him for a while, and chose her words carefully, "There is no point in hiding that I had something to do with Kanji-san's injuries… But I am sorry Seta-kun, I am afraid that I can't tell you the details."

"Why can't you? My friend got beat up and the best you can tell me is that you're involved with it??!" Souji wanted to shout but he maintained his coolness and took a deep breath.

"I am sorry…but I really can't tell you Seta-kun. All I can say is that all of us are involved in something huge, and preparations needs to be done." Aigis finished and walks off, leaving Souji with his thoughts.


Living Room

Yukiko went downstairs after everyone else had gone up. It was already late but she wanted to get a drink before going to bed. On the way to the kitchen she saw Souji sitting on the armchair.

"Souji-kun what are you doing-" Yukiko stopped. Souji's eyes were closed. Apparently he had fallen asleep on the armchair.

She smiled. "What am I supposed to do with you?" She shook her head. Yukiko looked around to see if anyone else was there and slowly brushed his hair aside.

Yukiko couldn't resist touching his cheeks too and Souji grunted in response. Yukiko withdraw her hands as Souji slowly opened his eyes.

"Yukiko…? What time is it?" Souji muttered sleepily.

"It's already midnight Souji-kun, or at least I think so." Yukiko answered him.

"Hrm…Guess I'll go up to bed…" Souji muttered and stood up. He lost his balance.

"Souji-kun!" Yukiko grabbed his arm and they fell on the armchair together.

"Uhh…" Souji fell silent. They were entangled together on the chair with Yukiko sitting on him.

Yukiko blushed furiously as she was also hugging him. Suddenly another figure appeared in the living room.

"Hey partner are you down here why aren't you up-" It was Yosuke. He stopped dead when he saw Souji and Yukiko sitting together and his mouth hung so low that it could hit the floor.

"Y-Yosuke-kun! It's not what you think!" Yukiko said hastily and stood up from Souji.

"Y-Yeah man nothing happened." Souji added.

"So you guys are in that kind of relationship…" Apparently Yosuke was still shocked.

"We're not!" Souji and Yukiko said together.

"H-Hey don't mind me, you guys go ahead with whatever you guys are doing. I didn't see anything ha-ha-ha-ha…" Yosuke quickly walks away.

"Yosuke!" They said in unison again. The awkward night continues.


Aigis's Room

"Confirmation has been received. Akihiko has indeed made contact with Kanji Tatsumi. Well done Aigis."

"I did not do anything. Akihiko-san was the one who tracked him down."

"Still...Looks like Akihiko has taken a liking to that boy. Did he really beat Akihiko?"

"Yes he did. Kanji-kun displayed a certain amount of courage and strength that I would never believe he could."

"Excellent. Alright, just to let you know I've already dispatched our second comrade to your area. Report to me once they have made contact."

"Understood."

Aigis put down the phone and stared out of the open window. She could hear a howl of an animal. "So you are already here." She smiled.


The Next Day

"Yaaaaawwwwnnn* It's sho' boring when Sensei and the others go to school…" Teddie sighed.

Teddie was already used to work. When the others went to school last year he had used his spare time to work at Junes. Now in the new town Teddie had no idea how to use all of his free time.

Yosuke had lent him his laptop but Teddie got bored of it right away. How was he supposed to use the Internet anyway? So he decided to walk around town and arrived at the mall.

"Ooo, this place is bigger than Junes! I wonder what Yosuke thinks about this place?" Teddie looked around interestedly. He went to the clothes store, the arcades, and finally checked the electronics department. He was wondering how that department differs from the one in Junes.

"Hmm, shiny, no speck of dust detected, up-to-date equipments…Wow! This place is definitely better than Junes! Ha-ha-ha I better tell Yosuke this later!" Teddie laughed.

Suddenly he noticed an odd presence staring at him. He turned to his right and saw a grey-white dog staring at him. It was sitting and staring at him intently. Teddie moved towards it.

"Hey there doggie, you lost?" Teddie asked it fondly but it suddenly stood on all four and snarled at Teddie.

"W-What? You hungry?" Teddie backed away.

All of a sudden the dog leapt and pushed Teddie back. He fell down and all he could see was darkness. Then, there was that odd, familiar sensation of being sucked into nothingness.

"O-Oww, hey what did Teddie ever do to you?" Teddie rubbed his head and looked at the dog.

He then took notice of his surroundings. "F-Fog? And this place…Wait a minute…This is my world! What happened here??!" Teddie was shocked. He recognized his homeland but it was not how imagined it would be.

The pleasant pasture was no more. The sun had disappeared and the light had dim to the way it used to be when the murders started.

Teddie was feeling uneasy with the situation. A sound made by the dog snapped him back to reality. It was holding a knife in its mouth, and it looked ready for battle.

Teddie didn't have anything with him, he was at a disadvantage. "H-Hey just a second there Mr. Dog! I don't wanna fight you!" Teddie waved his hands in front of him.

The dog pounced at him and Teddie dodged reflexively. It turned and chased him around.

"Aaahh! First Kanji now you! Teddie didn't do anything wrong!" Suddenly a flash of blue light came from behind him.

He turned for a split second only to be hit by a ball of flame. Teddie was blasted away.

"O-Ouch…S-Sensei help me…" Teddie was laid down eagle-spread and he caught sight of a beast hanging above the dog.

"A Persona…Darn it, this is all 'beary' confusing for me…" Teddie stood up and staggered.

"J-Just now was definitely an Agilao…Were you just testing me with that fire? Cuz' it didn't hurt one bit! Now Teddie is mad! Rawr!" Teddie puffed his chest up and concentrated.

"Here I go, Persona!" Teddie shouted and from the depths of his soul, Kintoki-Douji came forth.

"K-Kintoki-Douji? B-But I thought you evolved into Kamui???" Teddie was confused but he didn't have time to think it through. The dog had launched another attack. This time it's a bigger ball of fire.

"You sure aren't 'beary' patient! Bufu!" Teddie shouted. His persona shot an arrow of ice at the dog but it dodged too. They exchanged blow after blow but none of their attacks seem to be able to hit its target.

They were both getting exhausted. Teddie knew that he was running out of energy and apparently so does the dog.

"Grrr…" The dog snarled.

"Rawr!" Teddie growled back.

Fire and Ice hit each other and exploded. Teddie took the chance to rush forward and so does the dog. They hit each other at the same time.

Teddie was on one of his knees facing the opposite direction while the dog stood on all four facing the other direction too.

A moment of silence and then…The dog collapsed.

Teddie panted. "Not too smart on your part Mr. Dog hehe… Teddie won…" Teddie gave a victory sign to the dog and smiled. Then he too collapsed.

Then Aigis stepped into the scene. "To be able to even beat Cerberus with his bare hands…" Aigis muttered.

She took out her cell phone and dialed the number. "This is Aigis. Koramaru has made contact with Teddie. The next to be tested would be Chie Satonaka."


Ya-haw! 9th chapter is out! Lol introduce Koromaru in a simple way, i hope the fans won't mind! Nyway thanks to all my readers who support me keep it up! I'll work harder ya-haw! :)