Chapter 12: Preparation and Work
"The young man isn't willing to talk to us, Detective Dojima."
"Alright, give me the case report and I'll see what I can do." The Detective sighed as he received the papers and stared at one of the clocks at the station. The day was ending, and constant harassment from Jack's grandparents started to wear him down. He knew better than complain about his job; a year ago was just as hectic, but the returning peace in Inaba had dropped his guard drastically. He couldn't help but think about how useless he felt during the murder cases last year. He couldn't admit it in front of his nephew but relying on him and his friends to solve a case that the police couldn't do and to save his own daughter held heavy on his mind. The feeling of uselessness was embarrassing. What about now? We couldn't even stop a kid from getting run over...Are we even helping anyone? He stopped at the door to Jack's waiting room. The thoughts lingered in his head but he decided it was best to ignore his personal issues and help the young man he was about to confront. Upon entering the door, he saw a familiar face; the young man he had seen a little over a week ago.
"So...Jack," Dojima walked to the nearby seat across the table from Jack and sat down. "Do you have any idea why anyone would try to run you over?" Jack remained quiet. Dojima scratched the back of his head and gave a loud sigh.
"Daisuke Nagase is in the hospital being cared for as we speak, you can be in ease now." Jack looked up upon hearing the news, letting out a sigh of relief. He gave a moment to clear his throat and looked Dojima in the eye.
"I don't know why, but I believe the man was the same guy who tried to cause trouble at Yasogami before."
"Yes, you're right, he did attempt to do some story about your grandfather."
"So 'cause he had the cameras rolling and I called him out on whatever stunt he pulled, he decided to go nuts?"
"Well from what we learned he became unemployed and had no sort of funding. He seemed to be an alcoholic as well."
"Oh great, some sort of loon." Jack mocked.
"Please watch what you say, Jack. I know you're just a teenager but things you say can put you in more trouble than anything." Jack reeled back a little, realizing the bit of truth that came from Dojima. He already got someone hurt from his actions so he didn't wish to attract any more attention or cause any more suffering.
"Alright," Jack sighed as he fixed his posture and looked back at Dojima, "Is there anything else I can answer?" After a few hours Jack was finally excused from the station. While walking out, Jack couldn't help but stretch from sitting in place for too long. That was horrible, I never want to be a part of that again. Wait...what am I saying? Daisuke got hurt because of me, I should be worried about that. Multiple thoughts started racing across Jack's mind, leaving him completely unaware of his surroundings.
"Hey Jack, you shouldn't be standing out here in front of the police station," called out a voice as a hand was place on his shoulder. Jack couldn't help but jolt from the sudden break of his mental process. Turning around he came face to face with a small surprise. In a police uniform, it was Chie. Jack had to take a second to process what was in front of him; he knew little of Chie outside of class but he had no clue the police hired high schools seniors.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"Uh..."
"I said 'Hey'," Chie shook Jack quiet violently.
"I'm fine! I'm fine! Please, stop!" Once Chie stopped and apologized for her reaction, Jack composed himself.
"I didn't know Inaba's Police Station hired high school students. Unless I missed something from the police bulletin."
"Well, during last summer, Naoto and I had a conversation about joining the Police force. With some help she had convinced Dojima to set up a sort of training program for students interested with working in the Police. It's a little difficult and mainly paper work but I don't mind it."
"So...why did you choose it? I'm just a little curious if you don't mind telling me."
"I wanna protect people. D-don't laugh, I know it's kinda childish."
"I think it's great," said Jack as he gave her a small smile. She couldn't help but be taken aback by his compliment and had to take a moment for herself. Soon after regaining her composure she remembered why she had met in the first place.
"Oh yeah! Yosuke said we should bring you to Old Man Daidara's workshop."
"Old Man who?" Jack asked puzzled.
"What you haven't seen him before? But you've been to the shopping district before..."
"On errands. I never got to spend any time there outside the first day."
"Oh man, guess I'll show you the ropes when we get there."
"My bad then."
"Oh, no worries, it's the least I can do as a friend." She smiled back and Jack felt a small bond between the two. Thou art I… And I am thou… Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth… Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Chariot Arcana... Jack couldn't help but feel a little annoyed from the reoccurring voices but he put them aside for now as he and Chie took a stroll towards the shopping district. Finally reaching the shopping district, Jack and Chie stopped for a short break to get drinks. They didn't spend too much time in the break as Chie lead Jack down the block of the shopping district. As they approached a rather large billboard, Jack noticed Yosuke looking at the different flyers on the wall.
"Hey!" Chie called out.
"Hello." Jack waved.
"Oh Hey, I didn't expect Chie to find you so soon. I gotta say sorry about what happened."
"I guess word goes by quick. Didn't think I'd spend my entire Friday at the Police Station." Jack scratched his head as he spent a brief moment reliving the experience.
"Hey, don't stress yourself out," Yosuke sighed.
"Give him a break. Daisuke saved his life from a psycho. Though I really hope he's fine."
"Anyways...we needed to tell you something. Ever since your Shadow disappeared during the fight, a few of us have been ill at ease. The weird tremble and unusual roar made us worry even more. I also realized we're way out of practice without Persona. So starting this weekend we'll be heading to the TV world for training. We'll need to get you geared up for the expeditions in the TV world."
"Geared up? Like actual armor and weapons?" Jack gave Yosuke a curious look as he explained that in the Shopping District there was a metal works shop. Much to Jack's surprise, a set of samurai armor was on display nearby the bookstore he was at the first day he came to Inaba. As they approached the shop, he couldn't help but smell the mix of iron and smoke coming out of the store. The smells became stronger and the sound of hammering metal could be heard in the background. Upon observing the room pieces of armor were set on stands and weapons set up on walls. With further inspection, Jack noticed close crates of what appear to be fireworks place to the side away from a roaring fire. Nearby the fire Jack saw what he believed to be an elderly man working on something that looked like a sword.
"Hello, Master Daidara!" The man looked up and Jack could see his face more clearly. He was clearly balding and wore what appeared to be a towel tied on his head. He had short orange hair and dark orange hair and wore a white shirt and pants with a brown obi. The most noticeable feature was the large X-shaped scar over his face which fed into Jack's curiosity but he figured it'd be better to not poke into the man's privacy.
"Ah, hello Ms. Satonaka, welcome. Mr. Hanamura, it's nice to see you again. It's been quite a while. Hm...who's this? A new friend?" Master Daidara stared down at Jack, his sharp eyes questioning the new man in front of him.
"Yeah, his name is Jack Motou. We're here to look for some gear."
"Hello." Jack bowed quickly as he looked around at the shop. He saw many kinds of weapons, such as cestuses, axes, swords and many more. He couldn't figure out what to choose so he closed his eyes and picked a weapon at random. Opening his eyes, and to his relief, he was holding on to a sheath with a katana. No blood, no problem. Jack chuckled and he held the sheath in his arm.
"A katana?"
"H-huh!?" Jack was surprised as Yosuke showed up behind him.
"Yu used to use a katana himself. Though it was longer blade so he had two hand it."
"Well I think one-handing this will be fine. Besides, the sheath feels good as well I'm sure it'd be fun to use."
"A sheath and a katana?"
"What? It seems fun and unique."
"It's definitely unique." Yosuke tried his best to hide his bewilderment but Jack saw it clearly.
"Hey Jack, you'll need this." Chie came to the two with what looked like another Yasogami uniform. Jack was confused for a moment as she gave it to him. He noticed it
the difference immediately. It weighed much lighter than the standard uniform and the texture felt same but it felt durable as he stretched it a little.
"What's with the uniform?"
"Last year we had asked Master Daidara to make better uniforms for all of us. We had to procure the materials ourselves but this stuff is much tougher and won't get ruined like the regular uniforms. It's practically armor."
"That's...actually pretty cool."
"Isn't it?" Chie couldn't help but smile at these super clothing.
"Uh Jack you know you have to pay for it all right?" With Yosuke bringing up the fact he had to pay Jack suddenly realized it'd be strange for him to pay a decent sum of money and explain to his grandparents why he has a weapon, the clothes would be harder to explain when his grandfather personally had his set up in his room.
"Hmmm...I guess I should sneak the uniform home but the katana would be a problem."
"Yosuke could hold it." Chie smiled.
"Wait! Why me!?"
"You held the weapons at Junes before."
"W-well we didn't need them anymore and I was able to find storage."
"Wouldn't be trouble to hold one more."
"I'd be grateful for the help." Jack nodded to him.
"Alright fine but you better make sure you pay for it."
"Well, I better get a job."
"WHAT!?" Yosuke and Chie were both taken aback by Jack's statement.
"Yeah I was wondering where to get a job but never got around it..."
"Oh man how are we gonna get you to pay for all this..." Chie immediately faced Yosuke yet again. He immediately started shaking his head no.
"How about you just work for me then?" All three jumped back in surprised. The three had not noticed that Master Daidara had manage to get behind the group while they were distracted.
"W-what?"
"You heard me, I could use the help in moving the material around. I won't ask you to mess with fireworks or make anything but I could use the help. You'll pay off the sword and the uniform that way and I'll give you a real pay once it's done."
"I guess..."
"It sounds like a good idea to me!"
"Yeah, it really seems like it." Yosuke and Chie both shared a glint in their eyes that made Jack realize there was no way to deny this work. He sighed and bowed respectfully at Daidara.
"Okay, I'll help." Daidara gave a hearty laugh and patted Jack's back.
"Good choice, my boy! Welcome to my shop." Before Jack knew it, the voice came again and he learned that the Arcana Strength had become available to him. This is a bit much... Jack though as the world came back to normal.
"When should I work then?"
"I'll start you in a week. I'm all good at the moment but once work begins, I expect much from you."
"Alright then." As the three bid farewell, Jack noticed something in the corner of his eye. A large blue-velvet colored door was lightly lying against the wall between the book store and the metalworks shop. Jack couldn't help but feel drawn towards it. It couldn't be... couldn't it? Jack thought as he stared at it. However, Chie and Yosuke led Jack away to view other stores of the Central Shopping District. He made acquaintances to the shop owners of the Shiroku Store, Marukyu Tofu, the Chinese Diner Aiya, Souzai Daigaku, Tatsumi Textiles and finally the Tatsuhime Shrine. Jack couldn't believe how much more of the town he had missed on his first trip here and thanked Chie and Yosuke. Eventually, he bid his classmates farewell he proceeded to walk back to the shopping district. He decided that the blue-velvet door had to be the same as in the chapel; it was stuck in the back of his head and he needed to deal with it. As he reached the door the Velvet Key in his pocket suddenly reacted. So I wasn't imagining it... Jack thought as soon as a blinding light overcame his senses. He found himself in the same velvet blue chapel. Jack couldn't help but shudder as the coffin had remained open. He went towards the altar where Igor and Margaret sat, waiting for him.
"Ah... Our guest has finally arrived." Igor smiled at the young man.
"Well, I have a few more questions. It seems to be the only thing I get when I come here." Igor and Margaret only chuckled at Jack's statement. They obviously held the answers Jack wanted so he wasted no time in asking.
"Well I've obtained the power of "Social Links." I'd like to know what that entitles me to."
"They are manifestations of your bonds with the people you hold dear," Margaret answered without hesitation. "While you only hold a small fragment of such a power, it will grow and flourish if you treat those bonds with care. You have obtained the power of the Wild Card and as you know, you are zero and yet limitless."
"I see...so my friendships make the power greater? It seems...unethical. Who would form friendships to obtain power?" Words that normally unnerve most folk failed to the pierce the stoic expressions of the two Velvet room attendees. A moment of silence fell between the three as the voice continued to soothe the place with its singing.
"Think it not a form of power," Igor spoke up breaking the silence, "but a symbol of your bonds with people. Bonds are some of the greatest things humans can have with one another and you've created some beautiful ones in such a short time. As our honored guest, I suggest you nurture these bonds for they'll be the light to reveal all there is to your past and your future."
"Eh...well..." Before Jack could continue he heard something faint call out to him. Before he knew it the same light that brought him to the Velvet Room took him away.
"..ack..ack...Jack?" called out a voice. Jack's conscious immediately returned as he turned towards the source of the voice. Standing there with a book in hand stood Detective Shirogane. She stood there puzzled at the fact that Jack was looking at the Velvet Door, in her perspective a wall.
"Uh...Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah. I'm fine sorry, I just doze off sometimes." Jack forced a smile towards Naoto in order to calm her down. Though he was certain she didn't buy it, she is a detective after all, Jack persisted until Naoto gave in. With a small sigh she took a few steps forward and turned back looking at Jack.
"Well, if you're fine, then I won't question your condition any further. However, we do have homes in the same direction so walking together would be...um...beneficial for us both."
"Yeah sure..." Jack and Naoto walked awkwardly in the same direction home with Naoto occasionally making sure Jack didn't doze off. Upon reaching Jack's home he bid her farewell as she walked off. Jack spent no time apologizing his grandparents and taking the rather harsh lecture from his grandfather. As soon as he was excused, he went straight to bed to sleep, he couldn't help but feel that these travels through the TV would be more than he bargained for.