Chapter 10

A Quick Respite

A joint work between RionAgrias and Kisdota- The Freak Gamer

If I owned Persona… I don't.

Thoughts

Emails… Souji= Seta/ Yosuke= Hana/ Chie= KungFu/ Yukiko= Amagi/ Kanji= Tatsu/ Teddie= Smooch/ Rise= Risette/ Naoto= Shiro

Shadowspeak

Personalities of people are changed slightly due to situations in said world or worlds. So… if it's really off base, get on me about it… if it's a slight change, I am not a punching bag, kiddos. Traveling times are ridiculous enough in Devil Survivor, 30 minutes between prefectures! I'll shorten it a little, but come on…

The –san and –chan jazz and what not will be used by Persona 4 ppls, not in places where you don't hear them. Alrighty?

If you want more of it 'Japanese-ish' or the reversal names… Look, unless you ask me to, this is the story in English. I'll give you what Persona game play gives you, nothing more. Otherwise, I'd be translating my story into Japanese for you.

P.S. How I am making the COMPs work is my business. So...:-p

P.P.S. My poll about the relationships with Souji will affect the story.

Souji felt the warmth surround him due to the singing of a young woman in a long and clinging white dress that came down to her ankles. Yoshino Harusawa had delivered him from Roppongi just in time. Souji had been engaged in an arduous battle with a member of the Shomonkai. He barely defeated him, and it was someone he had to defeat; the tall orange-robed man had deduced that Amane was working with the 'agency' and the Persona-users.

Laliah would have been defeated if I had not knocked out that guy. I hope I did more than knock the guy out; I had to…

The last time Harusawa sent him back to the hole where Yukiko's Castle used to exist; Souji came back to an empty path. He hoped Chie would be there when he returned since she stayed behind to make sure he was okay. Though, the last time Haru sent him back… Souji returned with everyone else, but everybody had already returned to what used to be the TV lobby by the time he had rematerialized in the TV world. It seemed that it was random on when people returned.

We'll have to see if they're even still in the TV world.

Souji still had not perfected his landing from the alter Tokyo back to the TV world as he landed on his right shin extremely hard. Souji grimaced in pain and used his left hand to clench his shin as he pushed himself up with his right hand. He looked from side-to-side, trying to see if Chie was around anywhere nearby. It made Souji feel a little better when he saw a girl with a brown bowl-cut shaking her head, apparently trying to shake the cobwebs out from a tough landing.

"Chie!" Souji called out, a little too loud for a person who was only a half-meter away.

"Hey, Souji…," Chie responded, "You got back alright…"

Souji said in return, "Thankfully… Not all of us were doing as well as you in our fights."

"There were only two of us, Souji," Chie tried to hide a smirk.

"Well… it doesn't matter now; the only thing that matters is that we're safe," Souji replied.

Chie nodded in agreement as she said, "Yeah…"

At that moment, Chie yawned and Souji looked at her into her tired brown eyes before saying, "Let's head towards the exit. I think we both need some rest."

There was no argument from the tomboy as the pair headed from the hole by where Yukiko had once been entrenched when she was thrown into the TV to what was once the lobby.

The only thing on Souji's mind was a good rest on his couch and being able to see his cousin. He always felt bad for leaving her, especially now, with no mystery to solve. The sooner he could fix this… the better.

Souji was always a bit taken aback by the transformation that the lobby area had undergone after Izanami had left. Its foggy overtone and dank, not to mention dreary studio-like décor was transformed into a beautiful springtime garden. It was a beautiful sight, with the small pond and swing in the background.

I thought everybody would have left the TV world by now.

Souji was indeed wrong in his thoughts as he spotted Yosuke waiting for both him and Chie. He could have been wrong, but he thought he saw a look of relief on Yosuke's face when the brown fluffy-haired young man laid eyes on the pair.

Seeing Souji and Chie, Yosuke rushed over to the two of them to converse. He looked not to Souji, but to Chie and said, "You managed to stave them off long enough to help Souji back. Are you alright?"

Souji looked to Chie, and then back to Yosuke; he noticed he was being ignored. Meanwhile, Chie took a momentary glance at Souji before answering Yosuke, "It was no problem waiting for him. We got into a little fight, but we handled it easily before Haru sent us back."

"A little fight…," Yosuke shook his head. He looked at Souji, "I'm sure this goes without saying, but… try and keep us safe." He sighed before looking at Chie again and said to her, "I hope you didn't get hurt."

He's not talking about Yukiko, is he?

Chie looked at Souji and shrugged; she looked just as confused on what was going on. She motioned for Souji to come on, but Yosuke interrupted and said to the silver-haired leader, "I talked to the others and we're planning on taking tomorrow off. Is that alright with you?"

The tone he's using… I don't think my answer will matter. If I asked them to come, I doubt they would go back to the other Tokyo.

Souji sighed, less in resignation and more in exhaustion as he said, "Sure… no problem."

Souji shook his head as Yosuke began conversing with Chie about something else. He decided he would just leave his old classmates behind. He moved towards the three stacked TVs, but before he could squeeze into the 17" screens… he saw Kanji and Naoto speaking to each other to his left. Souji wanted to get back to Inaba because he felt bad about ignoring his cousin, yet… he felt like he should check up on Naoto.

Souji did not walk straight up to the diminutive detective and shock-blond gang-banger, but he only moved close enough to hear what the two of them were saying to each other.

I don't really like eavesdropping, but…

Souji heard the short girl with the dark blue hat say to the boy with the blond hair, "Why do you want me to come with you tomorrow?"

"I wanna make up for last time, ya know?" Kanji shifted a little uncomfortably. He certainly looked uncomfortable.

Souji had gotten frustrated with him when Kanji confronted him after they left the alter Tokyo the first time. The younger avid sewer wanted advice on how to woo Naoto, but was far too chicken shit on doing so. Any advice Souji had for Kanji; it would have gone straight over his shock blond head.

"So, you want to take me out again?" Naoto questioned, her right arm bent and placed on her hip.

"Umm… y… yeah," Kanji sounded nervous, almost stammering.

Souji wondered what Naoto was going to say. He was surprised Kanji had managed to even choke out this. He wondered how much he had stammered before he started to listen in.

Souji could not exactly see, but he felt that Naoto seemed a little reluctant to answer. After a few seconds, in a soft tone she finally said, "I guess you can take me out again… I don't care…"

Kanji looked like his birthday had come early this year, but Naoto… she really did not look as excited. His nervousness had completely disappeared as he asked, "I'll see you at noon, okay? Junes?"

Naoto nodded and said, "That's acceptable. I'll meet you at Junes."

He doesn't know where she lives. Hell, I haven't been to her house. It's a freakin' mansion, right?

Now that Kanji had succeeded in obtaining a date or something like that with Naoto, he looked past her and saw Souji only a meter or so away. It made him call out to the silver-haired young man, "Hey, Senpai! You're back!"

Before Souji had a chance to answer with a greeting, Naoto turned and met Souji's dark grayish eyes with her dark blue ones. She said in a soft tone, "You're okay…"

"Yeah… I'm fine," Souji's answer was to Naoto, not really to the taller male.

Naoto lowered her hat, "You are so stupid… worrying me like that."

"Sorry about that…," Souji put his head down, apologizing.

Kanji butted in, his voice was sharp and worrisome as he told Souji, "You're bleeding, Senpai."

Souji lifted his head and saw that Kanji was gesturing to the leader of the Persona-users right arm. Souji looked down and saw a somewhat shallow cut above his forearm that was causing bleed to seep down the right forearm. The pain had not even hit him as he watched the blood drip towards his fingers.

I never even noticed it.

The slight wound caused both Naoto and Kanji to move towards Souji. From a closer distance, Souji could see what used to be the small cut that Naoto had suffered on her forehead; it must have been healed by Yukiko before the others left the other Tokyo.

"We need to clean this wound," Naoto said, examining Souji's arm.

Souji tried to brush the detective's worries off and said, "It is fine… don't worry about it." He unsuccessfully waved off Naoto's hand from his right arm as he said, "It's not a deep wound."

"It can still get infected and then it will get septic," Souji watched Naoto roll her eyes as she continued, "Don't complain if your arm falls off."

Is that your attempt at being funny?

Souji closed his eyes for a second before brushing off some blood with his other hand. The smear made a bit of a mess on his right arm. The pain became apparent after he made a second wipe over his wound, swiping over the cut.

Kanji noticed the grimace and said, "That had to hurt. You should really listen to Naoto…"

"I don't have much for you to clean it though," Naoto's voice was not quite a sigh, but it was not a cheery voice.

"Do you know how you got the cut?" Naoto asked, watching Souji press his left hand over the wound to try and stem whatever blood was coming out.

I must have either rolled on it when it slipped out of the Shomonkai's hand when we fell or he nicked me while we were fighting.

Souji gave a short version on why he thought he had been hurt, "It must have been during my fight with a Shomonkai member."

Naoto looked annoyed. He was warned by her after all, and now he was bleeding. She would probably give her hell at some point. Naoto did look disappointed, after all.

"You idiot… getting yourself hurt," Kanji shook his head. He suggested, "You should go to Marukyu. I know Rise was extremely worried about you, not to mention that they probably have something to clean you up with."

Souji figured out what Kanji wanted in an instant. Kanji knew that Naoto was worried about Souji and the best way to get her attention back on him was to get Souji to leave the TV world so she would start talking with him again. Souji would start talking with Rise, and Kanji would be free to talk to Naoto.

Damn… he's using his brain today, and being subtle about it. I could have gone home to Nanako to get this wound cleaned and my cousin would have fussed all the same, but sending me to another girl like Rise? That's brilliant of Kanji.

Souji had no real reason to argue against Kanji's wishes, as subtle as they were, and said in response, "That sounds like a good idea…" He bit his lip as he kept his left hand over the wound and continued, "I'll go to Marukyu."

Souji turned away before either Naoto or Kanji could say anything else. He could just feel the mood change as soon as he moved and started to shove his body into the group of three TVs. Kanji had already started chatting up Naoto again, but Souji wondered how long he could keep up his newfound confidence. As he pushed his injured right arm into the top TV of the stack of three, he felt an air of uneasiness; he doubted the reluctance was coming from Kanji.

The sun had set in the alternate Tokyo when Souji left, and when the silver-haired man touched down in the Electronics Department of Junes; he found the sun dropping just as quickly. Souji felt all of the effects of being in the other world hitting him as soon as he took a step away from the biggest TV Junes had in stock. The exhaustion rushed over him like a ton of bricks and all of the lactic acid that had built up released all at once. He grimaced at his aching calves and started heading towards the Southern Shopping District where he could meet up with Rise.

He had not been to Marukyu in a while, not to mention it had been a while since he had any good tofu. As he passed by the Moel Gas Station, where Izanami used to work, he remembered the handshake that had given him his Persona abilities. It had been over a year now. Yomenaido Bookstore was selling another series of books that was attracting droves of customers, not to mention the teachers of Yasogami High. He could see the Velvet Room right before he passed the blacksmith, Daidara's. Souji had spent an exorbitant amount of money buying everything from desks to guns for his friends. Daidara should have retired and moved to Hawai'i with all of his money, but Souji was sure he was still hammering away at a forge.

Souji's eyes moved past the hammering of the blacksmith to the wooden building just past it. The two-story building, with its living quarters on the second floor and the tofu shop on the first floor was where Souji first met Rise Kujikawa with a few of his Persona-user friends.

Souji ducked his head underneath the cloth as he entered Marukyu, knowing that it was probably closed, but Souji knew that he would always be welcome in the tofu shop in Rise's eyes. He almost doubted that anyone would be waiting in the first floor of Marukyu, due to the late hour. Yet, Souji's gray eyes were drawn to a girl with long and smooth legs with her dark red hair drawn and tied in a kerchief. She was stocking the goods in the store and appeared to be muttering to herself.

"Souji-kun never came back," Rise said in a pouting voice as she busied herself with putting away some sort of the goods, "Makes me worry…" She opened a box and said, "Then they tell me to just leave and said that they will wait for Souji-kun at the entrance. What if I wanted to wait for him?"

That's cute… she wanted to wait for me. I wonder what else I missed before I came in.

Souji coughed while Rise pulled the first item out of the box; it made her turn suddenly and drop the item when she saw the young man she had been talking about. Before Rise had a chance to say anything in response, Souji said while barely lifting and waving with uninjured arm, "Hey, Rise-chan…"

Rise's turned a depressed face into a large grin as she closed her eyes in happiness and moved quickly around the divider. Rise barely stopped short of Souji's face; he could tell she wanted to place her arms around him. She said in response, "Souji-kun…"

"Are you okay?" Souji asked. He did not want to get too close. It was for the sole reason that he never knew who might be watching.

"Yeah…," Rise responded, "Kanji and Chie protected me, so I was never in any danger."

"I'm glad…," Souji said. Honestly, he was happy that Rise was unhurt, "I knew you wouldn't be harmed."

Rise's smile widened, if that was possible. She asked, "Why did you take so long to get back? You worried me, Senpai." Her last sentence almost had a pouting tone hidden inside.

Souji gave her a small smile, "I had to meet with someone, someone who might be able to fix our Compendium." He called it 'our' Compendium only for the reason that he shared how it worked with everyone else and they were now working together on trying to put it back together. Rise was carrying the Compendium in her large purse-like bag when they traveled into the alternate Tokyo, as well. Souji continued talking to Rise, "I also had to protect Haru with Chie long enough to get sent back."

Rise nodded, listening to Souji's explanation faithfully. It was only after he finished did she notice the cut on Souji's right arm.

"You're injured!" Rise's mood changed the instant she noticed the wound. Though, she did not really notice the cut as much as the swaths of dried blood around the lower parts of his arm. Though the bleeding had all but stopped with the pressure Souji had put on his arm with his other hand, plenty of red covered his arm. It made Rise say, "Why didn't you tell me that you were hurt!"

"Because it doesn't hurt too much…," Souji shrugged. The pain from the cut was only a bother when he put pressure on the wound; there was no actual pain from the open wound itself. He continued to try and reassure her, "It is nothing to worry about."

Souji knew that it was downright pointless to try and dissuade Rise from worrying tremendously as she moved behind the divider to a washing sink and undid her kerchief, revealing her long dark red hair; it was unhindered by her usual twin ponytails. Even though she had been in the TV world and had been in ponytails and tied up; the way her hair shimmered and was displayed when she undid the white cloth was immaculate.

She must have brushed her hair when she got back to Marukyu.

Souji could hear the sink being turned on, the white cloth being drenched in water, and then wrung out. Rise hurried over with the damp cloth and whispered as she placed the cloth on his right arm, "Hold still, Senpai…"

Rise slowly washed off all of the smears that were left over by Souji's speedy attempt to not only staunch the bleeding, but remove the dripping blood from his arm. Souji winced slightly as Rise lightly moved the cloth over the cut. He knew that she was trying to be gentle, but it hurt all the same. Souji saw her face as she was working; it was unlike before. Gone was the wide smile when he entered Marukyu; she now had a look of gentle caring and compassion. It was like a nurse was taking care of a patient.

I've never seen this side of her…

As Rise finished wiping the blood, she lightly tied the kerchief around the cut, not unlike Souji had done only a few hours before with Yukiko's ribbon around the innkeeper daughter's ankle. Souji looked up just in time to see Rise tell Souji, "All better, Souji-kun?"

Examining a now clean and was at least somewhat bandaged in an extremely kind gesture, Souji responded, "Thank you… Rise-chan."

Souji's response brought a gentle smile to Rise's face. She pursed her lips after a second and said softly, "Just being able to help you, Souji-kun… it means so much more…"

Souji knew at that moment, Rise wanted something more than to just stand close to him. It was… the fact that Souji did not know what he wanted that forced him to say, "I… I need to go."

He could hear the sadness in her voice as she said, "Huh…?"

"I haven't seen Nanako-chan since this morning. You know? Little sis?" Souji said, "I sort of just abandoned her when I left for Junes and I feel pretty awful… just terrible about it."

Rise looked downright disappointed as she said, "Oh… I understand. Say hi to Nanako-chan for me."

"I will…," Souji said.

Souji felt almost as bad about turning around and leaving Rise behind as he did leaving Nanako behind this morning. He rushed through the rest of the Shopping District as quickly as possible, ignoring the Shiroku Store and various other stores that had been shut down due to Junes's iron fist. Souji barely noticed Tatsumi Textiles, the thought of Kanji meeting with Naoto tomorrow barely crossing his mind.

The faster I get home… the better…

Souji's pace into the Residential District was at the same tempo he had been taking in the Shopping District. He reached the Dojima Household at a record pace, making up some of the time that was spent at Marukyu.

Souji slid the door open and found the TV on, but Nanako was sleeping on the couch. There was food on the table… food for two. Souji did not know if it was for Dojima, Souji, or both of them. However, he knew one thing. It was that Nanako was obviously waiting for someone to come home. The guilt that had welled up in his chest for leaving Rise behind and abandoning Nanako for going into the alternate Tokyo magnified to a new level when he saw his cousin.

I can't wake her… she looks so peaceful.

She was sleeping soundly against one of the pillows. Souji did not want to move her, but he dare not wake her. He wanted to spend time with her… make up the time he had lost by going into the TV, but he had lost even more by taking so long. It was terrible.

I'll just put her to bed. It is all I can do.

Souji, as gently as he could, picked up his cousin, and started up the stairs. When he saw her shift slightly, Souji stopped going up the stairs. Did he want her to wake?

When Nanako stopped moving, she had actually nuzzled up against Souji's shoulder… Souji started up the stairs again. He turned in the other direction of his room and entered Nanako's room. Nanako's room was just as neat as his own, if not neater. It definitely had a feminine touch; it was actually decorated, considering someone had been living in there for over a year. Souji moved around the table in the center of the room and ever so softly, placed her in the futon on the opposite end of the room. Souji sighed in resignation and regret before turning away. Moving around the table and heading to the door, he went through the door and made to close it. As he started to close it, he whispered very softly, "Good night, Little sis…"

As Souji headed downstairs, Nanako shifted slightly and whispered, "Good night, Big bro…"

When Souji reached the bottom of the stairs, he walked over to the table with the prepared food. They were pre-made, but they had been prepared by Nanako. He took one of them, and put it in the fridge to preserve it for later. It could be eaten by Dojima if he came home later tonight, but he doubted that his uncle would be home this night. After placing the meal in the fridge, he took a fork and knife and moved back to the other meal. It was cold, but the care was there. It caused a pang in Souji's heart, regardless. The stuff on TV was complete garbage and as soon as he finished his meal, he turned off the box and threw away the remains.

After dinner, Souji headed to his own room. He sat on his navy blue couch for a minute, trying to make sense of what was going on his head. It was hopeless; he was an idiot.

Rise… Naoto… Yukiko says she still likes me after everything and I know Chie likes me. This sucks… since I'll probably alienate everyone after all five of these 'worlds' or whatever the hell these places are. I mean… look how jealous they got when we met Yuzu… Haru… I mean… Yukiko tried to use Haru against Rise. Chie tried to beat the shit out of Yuzu for making comments about me. The only person they haven't killed yet… is me. How long will I survive? Maybe I should have become a monk? I bet one of them will call me in about five seconds and I won't be able to turn them down, only for the reason that I need continuity between as many of them as possible.

Souji was knocked out of his thoughts by a buzzing sound.

Shit… I forgot I put it on vibrate before I left… I'm goddamn psychic.

Souji's cell was 'ringing' and Souji flipped it open and checked the caller ID. He did feel like he was psychic when he saw that the caller was none other than Yukiko. He pressed the answer button and put it up to his ear.

"Hello?" Souji said.

"Hello?" the feminine voice on the other side responded.

"Hello, Yukiko… How can I help you?" Souji asked.

"Oh…," Yukiko had forgotten for a second that Souji already knew it was Yukiko due to the Caller ID and responded, "I'm sorry I left before you came back. I needed to get back to the inn."

"It's okay…," Souji responded, "Don't worry about it."

"I wanted to stay…," Yukiko sounded regretful over the phone.

"Don't worry about it," Souji repeated. He asked again, "Do you need anything, Yukiko?"

"I… I was just wondering… umm…," Yukiko suddenly sounded more nervous than she had in a while, "If you wanted to go out for a bit tomorrow."

What do I say? Do I want to do this? I don't know…

Souji moved the phone away from his face for a moment to sigh and think. He put it back after contemplating and said, "I'll meet you tomorrow."

"Really?" Yukiko brightened, "Great!"

"When?" Souji inquired, "Where?"

"How about around noon? The bus stop by the Shopping District?" Yukiko asked.

Souji shrugged in the safety of his own room and said, "Sure…"

"Okay… see you tomorrow!" Yukiko said cheerfully.

Souji responded, "Have a good night…"

Souji flipped his phone back and put it back in his pants pocket. He took out the silver COMP of his shirt pocket and put it on the center table. Souji knew he was unsure about what he wanted and he was definitely unsure about going out with Yukiko tomorrow. It was just more time to relax. It was also more time that he would not, and could not spend with his cousin. Souji kept shooting himself in the foot.

There was one thing he wanted before going to bed and dealing with everything; going out with Yukiko tomorrow, leaving Rise behind because he could not say to her about his indecisiveness, and everything else in-between. The one thing he wanted was a hot shower.

I have been rambling lately. I am not trying to play favorites with Souji's girls, just trying to spread them out. He is indecisive with them. I have new ideas in my head and it might be messing with my writing, not to mention if possible… I am busier than ever. If you have questions, ask.

Auf Wiedersehen