Chapter 9: Destiny Averted
Steamy Bathhouse
Charging into the bathhouse, we were immediately met with a horde of shadows. Yosuke reacted quickly, whipped out his Persona and released it, prepared to fight.
"Jiraiya!"
The green frog jumped out, blasting the shadows away with a gust of wind. I quickly pulled my gun out, summoned Izanagi, and started shooting at the shadows. One shot was enough to kill one of them. Damn, this gun is strong…
After I shot two more shadows, I saw Chie being thrown against the wall out of the corner of my eye. Shit! This is bad. She doesn't have a Persona to protect her! Luckily, Izanagi swooped in to catch her before she hit the ground. Yosuke quickly attacked the horde, brandishing his knives and slicing through the crowd, Jiraiya supporting him with wind blasts. Eventually, after enough attacks, the remainder of the horde dissipated.
"Chie-chan! Are you alright!?" Teddie cried out.
"Ugh… Yeah. I'll be fine…" She grunted. As she stood up, she revealed a dark, spreading wet spot on her jacket. Oh shit, she's bleeding! What do we do!? Okay, calm down, Naoto. We can fix this.
"Chie, you're bleeding. Go back to Junes. I'll call an ambulance."
"No way! I'm not going back now! We've come this far, and I'm seein' this through to the end!" She yelled fiercely. She pulled her jacket up a bit to reveal a large, bleeding cut on her side. "This is nothin'! I'm gonna fight!" Chie, you idiot. Do you realize how suicidal you're acting right now!?
Actually… You probably do… Don't you?
"Fine, but stay in the back, and… tie your jacket over the wound." Chie grumbled, but she complied, tying her jacket around her midsection, slowing the bleeding. "If it gets worse, we're heading home immediately, got it?"
"Yeah… Thanks…" Chie spoke, her expression softening. "Let's get going, okay?"
"Yeah," I agreed.
"Oh, wowee! What a beautiful moment! Oh, I'm so beary moved by it all!" Teddie proclaimed, sobbing.
"Geez, Ted, do you realize how crazy you sound right now?" Yosuke asked.
"Oh, lighten up, you dumb bear!" He shot back. Says the bear.
"Hahah! You guys crack me up!" Chie laughed happily.
"This isn't the time for comedy, guys." I said, bringing them back to reality. "Kanji-san's still in danger. We can't be wasting time."
"He's right! Enough laughing at me!" Yosuke shouted. "Come on, let's get going." He took the lead and brought us further into the bathhouse.
Chie… Don't die on me…
We finally made it to the back of the sauna. Sure enough, Kanji was there, and his shadow next to him. Well, at least they haven't noticed us yet… Better be careful. There was nowhere to hide, although they don't seem to be paying attention to us.
"Will you just shut up for one second!?" yelled Kanji. "Whatever the hell you're tryin' to do, it ain't gonna work!"
"Oh, darling~ I'm just trying to get you to accept yourself," the flamboyant shadow responded. "Girls are so icky anyway. All they do is hunt down the studs and chew up everyone else for not being 'man enough.' That's a funny term, isn't it? 'Be a man?' What's that supposed to mean anyway?"
"Would you stop spewing your bullshit? I'm a man, and I like WOMEN!" Yes, because your flaming shadow is so very convincing…
"Stop kidding yourself, honey~ those girls are vicious! 'Oh, you like to sew? What a queer!' 'You don't act very manly.' You see what these girls do? They do nothing but bitch to you, whine when anything goes wrong, and gossip behind your back! That's why guys are so much better… Yasss~ I much prefer men. They're tough, they're loyal, they've got large, throbbing-"
"I said SHUT UP!" He yelled again.
"Oh, great… No one accepts me… Not even myself… Won't someone please just accept me for who I am!?"
"Let's get somethin' straight here, bud! I'm not you! We're nothin' alike!" He's getting really angry now… Maybe we should step in.
The shadow started laughing softly. "Oh, Sweet cheeks~ That's where you're wrong… I am you!"
"Oh, hell no! There's no way! You're not me!" And he said it… Just great. As the words left his mouth, dark energy began to gather around the shadow, transforming it.
"Oh, you have a point there. I'm not you anymore… I'm finally free to be me!"
The shadow fully transformed into a large, muscular man with roses around its body, and two more muscled goons. "Woah! What the hell's goin' on!?" Kanji screamed.
"I am a shadow… The true self…" The shadow picked up two large Mars anchors and swung one straight for him.
"FUCK!"
"Jiraiya!"
Jiraiya shot forward and swept Kanji out of harm's way. He brought him toward us and set him down. "Stay back." Yosuke told him. "Leave the fighting to us."
"What the? The hell are you guys doing here!? What's going on!?"
"Just stay back with Chie-senpai!" I instructed him. "Izanagi!" I shouted as I shot his card, bringing him into battle. With Yosuke and Jiraiya ganging up on one of the goons, I ran to the left and shot the big one. As soon as the gun went off, one of the goons jumped in front of the shadow, blocking it and dealing almost no damage. How did that not work? Guess we need to go with magic. Izanagi launched a lightning bolt, bringing it to the ground. I lodged a bullet in its head and ran to Yosuke, currently trying to stab the other goon with one knife and block it's attacks with another.
"Naoto-kun!" Yosuke yelled.
"Don't get distracted, senpai! Focus on the enemy!"
"Behind you!" Teddie called out.
I instinctively turned around just in time to see a giant fist connect with my face. I flew backward, slamming into the wall. Agh! Shit, that hurt… Agh!
"Naoto-kun!" Chie crawled over. "You okay?" Well, you saw what happened. What the fuck do you think!?
"I've been better. Teddie!" I called to him. "What was that about!?"
"Well, you didn't kill that shadow. I was trying to warn you." I shot it in the head! How did it not die? "It seems to resist physical attacks. Tell Yosuke to stick to magic!"
I got up and ran back to the fight. "Senpai!" I yelled. "You're not gonna be able to stab it to death! Stick to magic!"
"You got it! One wind bomb comin' right up!" Jiraiya then floated up and sent a large gust of wind at all three shadows, pushing them to the ground. Izanagi then joined him above and started sending storms through the wind current. The goons screamed in agony momentarily before dropping dead.
"Nao-chan!" Teddie cheered. What'd you call me? The big one's not strong against physical attacks! It's getting weak Finish it off!"
"Oh, look what you've done! You're gonna regret that!" The shadow immediately charged at me, swinging his weapons. I pulled my gun out and shot, but he seemed completely unfazed. He came very close, weapons pointed at me. I tried to shoot again, but nothing happened. Great, out of ammo… This is it, isn't it? Stabbed to death by a gay muscleman… I closed my eyes, ready for the end.
"Ooooooohhhh!"
It never came. I slowly opened my eyes. Chie stood in front of me in a fighting stance, one foot lodged between the shadow's legs. Ouch… That's gotta hurt…
"You're not layin' a finger on Naoto-kun, got it!" She screamed at the shadow. She pulled back and the shadow collapsed, reverting to its original form. Chie… you saved my life…
"Are you hurt, Chie?" I asked, remembering her previous injury.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just- ugh!" She gasped, collapsing. Oh no… This was a bad idea. Suddenly, the shadow got up again, this time staring directly at Yosuke.
"Y'know… You would make a wonderful boyfriend…"
"What the hell! No way! Get me out of here!" Yosuke yelled, panicking. Didn't we just finish fighting? Why's it getting back up!? Wait a second… He hasn't accepted it, has he?
"Kanji-san!" I yelled to him, crouching from my injuries. "You have to accept it! It's the only way!"
"Like hell I am!" Shit… "Look, that thing ain't me, okay? Well, not completely…" He admitted, standing up and walking to the shadow, punching it in the face, sending it to the ground. "Look here, you. It's not about guys or girls. It never has been. I'm just scared shitless of getting rejected. I mean, you're me, so you've seen how it goes… I just want to be accepted by someone… Come on, get up… I know you're tougher than that…" With that, the shadow stood, nodded and disappeared into light, leaving behind another tarot card. Do all of them do that? Then where did I get mine from?
The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest… Kanji has faced his other self. He has obbtained the facade used to overcome life's hardships, the Persona Take-Mikazuchi!
He stared at the card in confusion. "So, anyone gonna tell me what just happened? And what this card is? And why you're all wearing glasses?"
"We'll tell you another time. We need to get out of here first. We've got this one to take care of, too." I gestured to Chie, still on the ground. Please tell me she's still breathing. I picked her up in my arms and ran out of the bath house, everyone else following behind.
Evening, Junes Electronics Apartment
"Did we just leave through a TV? The hell's goin' on?"
"Be quiet, Kanji-kun." I commanded. I quickly picked up my phone and called an ambulance for Chie. Her wound was getting worse and she hasn't moved since defeating the shadow. "Yosuke-senpai, take him home and explain it to him. I need to stay here until the ambulance shows up."
"You got it, Naoto-kun." With that, escorted Kanji out of Junes. Come on… How long does one ambulance take?
"Hey! Look who's here!"
I turned to the voice to see none other than Adachi-san, carrying another bag full of cabbages. Great… Just what I needed now. And what's with all the cabbages!? Do you ever eat anything else!?
"Adachi-san… Fancy seeing you here."
"Oh, me? Not really. I'm always hangin' around here." He admitted. "So, what happened to her?" Shit, think of something, quick!
"Got injured while horsing around here. Nothing new for this one."
"Ah, I see…" He muttered something to himself, then turned to me again. "So, how's the search for Tatsumi-san goin'?" Oh shit! Did he see us leave the TV world?
"We've been able to track him down and bring him back home. My question is how he disappeared from his home in the first place. Weren't you and a group of officers supposed to be keeping an eye on him?"
"Wait, what!?" He asked, shocked. Adachi-san, you incompetent fool… Why you're even on the force still is beyond me… "Oh, right! That…" He laughed softly. "Yeah, there's not much to do in a textile shop, and I couldn't exactly leave my post to go to Junes, so… I kinda, sorta fell asleep." Of course you did… Why am I not surprised…
"I would be shocked if it were anyone else." I sighed, exasperated. I then heard the ambulance sirens going off outside. About time they showed up… "I have to go now. Don't stay here too late." I said as I walked out the door, giving Chie to the paramedics before heading to Dojima-san's home. It's late… I'll visit her after school tomorrow.
Dojima Residence
"Well, you were out late. How's the investigation?" He asked, sipping a cup of coffee. I took off my shoes and walked up to the table, sitting down and drinking the warm cup of coffee waiting for me.
"We don't have a killer yet, but we have rescued Kanji-san from danger." Dojima-san immediately did a spit take and stared at me, wide-eyed.
"Are you serious!? Did you actually rescue him!?"
"Yes. He disappeared yesterday, but I was able to find him and bring him back home. The killer probably won't go after him again anytime soon."
"Oh, Shirogane-san, I knew you could do it!" He yelled. Do you really have to react so loudly? "Alright, we're celebrating tomorrow! We thwarted the Killer's plans!" Oh come on, are you serious?
"Dojima-san, you really shouldn't-"
"Nope! We're celebrating our- er, your victory tomorrow, and that's that!" He cheered. Sighing, I finished my coffee and returned to bed, exhausted from the days events, leaving Dojima-san to celebrate on his own.
?
"See? What did I tell you?"
"I still don't trust her."
"She saved an innocent life! Why shouldn't we trust her?"
"We haven't even met this girl yet, and we don't know her true motive. She showed up right when he disappeared, and that can only mean one thing."
"Yes. One thing indeed. But what that one thing is? No one knows."
"That's… not what I meant. Forget it. I can see there's no convincing you."
"If the time comes where she must be put to death, I know you have the strength to do so. Until then, we must simply observe."
I'm not going to just sit here and do nothing while she's planning who knows what!"
"Fine, be my guest. All the experience you've accumulated up till now in this one room is sure to serve you well in the outside world you know nothing about."
"…"
"No? Very well, then. We shall continue with the plan and observe."