Chapter XI: The Jester, The Mysterious Food X and The Glasses Issue

Normal POV:

Just like his waking up routine in the past, Yu woke up a little late in the morning on Sunday.

After taking a good breakfast made of course by his cousin-slash-little sister Nanako, he headed to the shopping district. The sliverette usually went there during Sundays to get his weekly morning walk. However, this time is different: The determined teen wanted to head to the velvet room to find out answers. Answers that will, hopefully, be given after that unusual and deadly incident he and the 'Investigation Team' (More like teenagers with super powers) had experienced.

Who knows what Mr. Long Nose can tell me… he thought silently before opening the blue door that only he could see. He was greeted by the usual blinding light before finding himself sitting in front of the table that separated him and the two other residents of the Velvet Room.

"Hey there. I pretty much bet you know why I'm here, old man." Yu said, skipping the formalities.

Igor remained silent for a couple of seconds, his head down and supported by his hands covered in his white gloves, before raising it and replying with his usual calm voice "Yes, my dear guest. It is indeed something strange and unexpected that happened in the middle of your journey."

"I don't understand the whole thing: Why did my Shadow appear while I have my Persona already?! Why did he attack my friends by taking possession of my body?! Isn't a Shadow supposed to reflect your true self? I never wanted to cause my friends any harm! So why?!" The angry teen was beginning to lose his self-control, yelling harshly at them and getting up his seat while closing his right hand into a fist.

He soon realized his mistake as shouting would not solve everything. His gazed turned towards his feet while he grimaced.

He finally relaxed his muscles and sat down without raising his head.

"I'm sorry… I'm confused with all this and… that's it." He apologized as he looked back at the residents of the room.

"Don't worry, it isn't your fault. However, you misunderstood a certain point." Igor answered, causing the teenager to give him a questioning look. He thought again about what he just said, but didn't saw the black point in any word. He asked for more explanations.

"What is that point?"

"It is about your Shadow: he never attacked your friends nor did he take control of your body." The confused teen stood there, frozen, his mouth, still open with confusion. All what Igor said didn't make any sense to him yet: he was still blaming his Shadow for all what happened in the TV world.

Igor didn't just stop there and proceeded with lighting his guest's mind.

"The truth about you, losing your reason and turning against your companions, is the clash that occurred in your mind: One of you- your shadow or you – has been rejecting the other. Thus, it caused a problem in your brain and mind."

Yu recognized that he was the one turning back on his Shadow, but he still didn't understand the cause of him getting wild.

He closed his eyes and remembered the moment when he met 'his other self': except the reaction of self-defense from the Shadow, he didn't see any act of aggressiveness or hostility coming from him which was weird. Up 'til now, all the Shadows he has encountered sought for power through their human selves' rejection.

Margaret clearly saw through the silver-head's expression the he was confused. She was the one who, this time, indirectly gave him the answer "Yu-sama, tell me: what is the difference between a wild beast and a human with no control of his mind?"

By assembling Igor's words with Margaret's, the pieces of the puzzle began getting together for Yu, he answered Margaret's question right away "There is no difference: if the human cannot have the control of his actions, he is nothing different from an animal. I think I finally understand what you are trying to tell me."

He paused for a moment, realizing that he going berserk wasn't actually his Shadow's fault. He also had this desire, now; the desire to meet him again and try to hear what he actually have to say.

But, a new fear was born within him. He asked Igor about it "But what if I encounter him again; what if I lose control of myself because of the misunderstanding between us? What is it that I didn't accept about myself?"

Igor didn't quite give him the answer he was searching for which didn't surprise him "What causes the conflict between your two sides, is something that is beyond my knowledge, but at your range if you succeed seeing it."

The Narukami teen just nodded before thanking the old man and the young lady "Thank you for the answers you gave me," he then looked toward Margaret "Anyways, I still have something to do here: Margaret, I have some Personas I wanna fuse, can you help me with this?"

The yellow-haired woman gave him a small nod and answered "Of course, Yu-sama."

After Yu did what he had to do in the Velvet Room, he walked out of the room and found himself in the crowded shopping district, again. He began walking. Where, you ask? Nowhere. He was walking, just to walk, to think about things. It's an old habit of his, without even minding his direction.

As he walked aimlessly along the local shopping district, his mind was lost in thought, thinking about the conversation he had with Igor and Margaret. Yu didn't even realize that he reached the entrance of Junes. Since he was already here, he decided to kill some time there by watching all what they had in stock, when he noticed a familiar presence there: Tohru Adachi, his uncle's bit— …err, partner.

The young boy decided to approach the man who was standing near the elevators. "Well well, good morning, Adachi-san."

The detective turned to face the teenager before replying "Oh! You must be Dojima-san's nephew… Yu Narukami, right?" he paused for a moment then he asked "What are you doing here? Killing time?"

"You can actually say this, how about you?" Yu asked curiously.

"I was checking the goods and it seems it's nothing like what I expected: life here sure is different from the big city…" Adachi said causing the wild card wielder to laugh a little.

"Hey, it's not that bad, after all."

He gave him a look of depression before sighing "You'll notice soon that this town is really dead. Take this—my first assignment here was tracking down a cat. My suit got so dirty and they wouldn't let me expense the dry cleaning bill! Next, I played peacemaker in a spat some married couple was having. I can't believe they've got the police doing that stuff."

Yu couldn't help but snicker about the whole thing "Hahaha, you really are living the hell of a life!"

Adachi let out a nervous laugh before answering "Hah, you can actually say this. But right now, I can't allow myself to kick back; there is that one case that is still unsolved. Man, we still don't have a single clue about this case…"

He stayed silent for a moment before realizing what he said "Oh! Sorry, I hope I'm not making you nervous. You have nothing to worry about; we in the local Inaba police department are on the job!" The detective said, brimming full of confidence and hitting his torso to design himself.

Man, if the police that's 'on the job' is made of persons like him… that is faaaaaaaaaaar from being over. The silverette thought. Right after the moment he thought about that, he felt his head aching.

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 Jester Arcana…

The Jester Arcana…? Yu thought. That's something new…

The young detective turned to the exit of Junes "Well, it's about time I get back to work."

Before Adachi could leave, someone came out of a nearby elevator; it was an old woman. For some reasons, he quickly got behind Yu to hide from her. After she left, he gave out a sigh of relive as he prepared to leave "Now I'll be going, see ya!" before he got out, he turned to face the teenager again and added "Oh, and please, don't tell Dojima-san I was in Junes, okay?"

"Aha! So you were slacking, huh?!" the detective didn't answer and got back to whatever business he had.

The days after this were kind of boring for our young hero: attending class, hanging out separately with the rest of his team… Until that day came.

It was one of those days where he decided to spend his afternoon with Yukiko. She asked him to taste some food she prepared herself, telling him that she wasn't a good cook. Yu, like some naïve kid, told her that it couldn't be that bad… and how he would have loved to kick his own ass, back when he said this.

They went to the Samegawa Flood Plain and sat on a bench. Yukiko took out the bento containing what she prepared. At that moment, the sliverette felt like he was some guinea pig or something like this, not only did Yukiko say that she wasn't a good cook, but she also added that she didn't taste it herself before.

Our young food taster began to analyze the… food? If you can call it like that, that was in front of him: First thing was the odor which could be anything but appetizing. Then, there was the aspect which was… What it was.

Cautiously, he began by taking a bit of the thing that looked like an omelet: It was actually soft… But soon his teeth encountered something hard, too hard to bite. Our poor sliver haired protagonist was beginning to have difficulties not to throw up the whole thing. The smell also didn't help.

Yukiko wasn't an idiot; she clearly saw that her leader wasn't enjoying the meal at all "… You're not about to tell me how delicious that was, are you?"

If you asked me, I would tell you that Yu Narukami is the biggest asshole I've ever encountered (Or wrote as an OOC: I'm kind of responsible for his character). But, believe me or not, he's a real gentleman… when he wants to. So the sliverette tried to get the girl to continue improving her skills without discouraging her "Hey, c'mon: There is always a next time, you know?"

Those words alone were enough for Yukiko to be relieved. She also promised her friend that she would work as hard as she can to increase her capacities.

That night, since it was rainy, Yu decided to watch the MC just to make sure there was nothing. Just like last time, there was nothing on the screen.

Hahah, I'm dying to know what kind of face the culprit is making, right now… The teenager thought, silently laughing.

The next day, there was some good news awaiting our friends: Kanji was coming back to school! They all decided to meet on the rooftop after school. And when the moment arrived…

The four members of the investigation team were waiting for the new comer to get here, which didn't take long. Kanji walked toward the little group, looking nervous for some reasons "H-Hi there!"

Chie, loyal to her usual idiotic self, said something completely random "Haha, where'd the manners come from?" she was kind of right: even if Kanji was taller than the four of them, he still remained their Kouhai: a year younger than the rest of the team, actually.

"Well… I didn't know you guys were my senpais," said Kanji, making all of them laugh before getting back to the serious matters "Uhh… Thanks a bunch. Though I don't really remember what happened…"

The team asked Kanji about the blue-heard boy's identity which led to negative answers from the tough guy who didn't even know his name. The formal delinquent also voiced the difficulties he had for interacting with girls, and how he felt more at ease around guys.

"All this was in my head, after all. So uhh… Our family's run a textile shop for generations… Oh yeah, you already know that. My parents are kinda weird… They say stuff like 'Dyes are one with the universe' and 'Cloth is alive' that's the kinda house I grew up in. So I've been interested in sewing and stuff since I was a kid. But the second I say stuff like that, people look at me funny. Girls make fun of me… and the people in the neighborhood treat me like I'm some zoo animal, so I was sick of everything."

Everyone was listening to Kanji, but no one was relating to him as much as Yu did: the sliverette could definitely remember all those times he spent alone, away from both his parents who were 'too busy' (what a lousy excuse) to pay enough attention to him, and away from the kids his age who had 'cooler' ambitions than becoming detectives and who wouldn't lay a finger on ANY kind of book with white pages and black words.

"Man, forget all what I said. Huh, you all just listen to me, going on and on with my personal issues… I must look really lame, right now." Kanji said, looking down to his feet.

"No, dude. There are always moments when you have to voice your thoughts: that's why friends are made for, after all." Yu replied, seeing himself through the tough guy.

"Heheh, y-ya think so…? Anyways, I never talked about any of this stuff before. Maybe it's 'cause I never had anyone to tell it to. When I think more about it, the girls weren't the real problem; I was just afraid of people in general. But it's all in the past, now." Everyone saw this as a good beginning for the young teen.

"By the way, do you remember what actually happened before you got inside the TV? Y'know, after you had your talk with the other guy." Yosuke asked.

"Huh? Well, I went home… And then, I was gonna sleep it off in my room… Wait, I think someone came… but it's just a feeling; I'm not sure if someone actually came though." Kanji couldn't remember what happened to him, too. It was like the culprit had some special abilities to make his victims forget all what happened between the moment he kidnaps them and the moment they are already inside the TV world.

"By the way, are you guys playing detectives or something? 'Cause if you need help, know that I ain't gonna rest until the bastard who put me through this is caught, and then I'll make him pay!" Kanji said, offering his help to the small group who happily accepted it.

"Okay, you're in! But know one thing: there's no turning back and this isn't a game." Yu said wanting to make sure that his Kouhai was willing to take the risk.

"Y-Yes, sir! I'll put my life on the line for you guys." answered Kanji immediately.

The team then decided to introduce the newcomer to Teddie. But, not before he and the young sliver haired leader stuffed their faces in front of their shocked friends.

"Umm… Partner… Shouldn't you and Kanji be listening to what we have to-" Yosuke tried to tell his leader, but the sliverette would NEVER put anything before his meal.

"Shul uf, Yoshke! It'sh chof time!" Yu muffled as his mouth was full of food.

Once the duo was done 'eating', they were able to fully focus on serious matter at hand: the investigation "So, I think you'll be able to understand the whole thing once we get inside of the TV." Chie said before everyone headed toward the other side of the screen, making sure nobody else was seeing them, of course.

"Hey, Kanji. Just to let you know: We all came up with the theory that the people who appear on the regular channels shortly before the rainy nights are the one that are targeted." Yu informed Kanji about their discoveries up 'til now and how the case was advancing so far.

By the time they arrived in the 'Safe Zone' of the TV world, they found Teddie who immediately came to welcome them. Kanji also seemed to remember him "Ah, yeah… I kinda remember this thing. Didn't think it was a bear, though." He pause for a moment before asking "Hey, why IS it a bear?"

"I don't know, I've been wondering about this for awhile." Replied Teddie. For some reasons, Kanji was beginning to get excited.

"I-It's kinda cute… M-Mind if I pet you?" Kanji tried to come near the blue bear and lay a hand on him, but the latter moved backward and yelled at the tough guy.

"No touching allowed, mister!"

Teddie's reaction offended Kanji a little "Wha-?! Don't give me any lip, bear! Huh… Anyways, I've been wondering. You were kidnapped too, right, Yukiko-senpai?"

"Hm?... Oh, right. It was a moment before you."

"So like, this means you came out to everyone too?" innocently asked Kanji.

"T-That's… um…" It looked like Yukiko took Kanji's words the wrong way since she instantly slapped him (A/N: poof that the guys aren't the only ones having dirty thoughts most of the time…)

"Aw! M-My jaw…" Kanji groaned in pain, massaging the spot where he got the hit.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to hit you so hard… I'll be more gentle next time…" Yukiko said apologetically.

"More… Gentle…?" repeated Kanji in a dreaming tone.

"So, Kanji got Yukiko now…" said Yu before addressing directly Teddie "That leaves you and me, big guy. The duo of singles." But, Yosuke corrected him immediately.

"The trio! You forgot about me, partner!" The sliverette looked at the Magician arcana wielder before replying.

"Did you forget about Chie?! That's mean, you know?" the Fool said, provoking them.

"W-What do you mean?!" shouted Chie who was violently blushing. But Yu just ignored her.

"You should look out Yosuke: you could hurt your girl's feel—" The young leader never finished his sentence since Yosuke approached Yukiko and said "Oww… C'mon, partner! You know that I prefer being around girls like Yukikooo~" He was beginning to get closer to the Priestess when out of nowhere, her best friend, the Carnivore, crushed his head with a hammer that read on it: 100t. (A/N: If you can figure out from which anime I took this running gag, then you really are amazing!)

Everyone watched the whole thing silently before Teddie finally broke this silence "…Oh, Kanji! Here's your pair of glasses! To celebrate you joining the team."

The Emperor took them and wore them… Just to notice that they were different from the others': these were the ridiculous pair that Yukiko loved sooooo much. And it seemed like she wasn't completely unknown to this business.

"It looks perfect on you… Snrk… Ahahahahahah!" Yukiko took back her hyena attitude.

Such a laugh from the hyena didn't go unnoticed by our sharp-eyed protagonist who used his usual medical quote

"Neeeeeeeeeerd!" which ended being as effective as always.

"I had a normal pair ready for you. But, Yuki-chan insisted on this one. She wouldn't budge!" Teddie said in an act of self-defense.

Kanji didn't seem to appreciate the joke; he quickly took the other pair of glasses the bear was holding and was surprised to hear everyone laugh at him

"You took my spare pair… Kanji, you must really like those!"

The voice of Yosuke coming from under the ground could be heard. He was laughing too "Hahahah! I can imagine the whole thing from here! Haha—ouch! My neck!"

After the newcomer got familiar with the new environment and Yosuke recovered from the hammer attack he got from Chie (And deserved), everyone got out of the TV world and Yu decided to pay the residents of the Velvet Room a visit. However, today he got some surprises.

First thing, Igor was nowhere to be seen. And then, he saw Margaret talking with an unfamiliar young man.

It was a young boy around his age. He was some inches smaller than him, but he was well-built with a pale skin and spiky dark-gray hair with some fringes in front of a crimson headband that was covering his forehead. As for his eyes, they were of a red that was matching his headband. He was wearing a black tank-top that revealed his developed muscles and some blue pants with a yellow belt. He also was wearing a pair of dark boots. For some odd reasons, he wore a white cape which had some kind of shoulder guards.

What drew more attention in this young man was the big and thick sword behind his cape that he carried with a black scabbard and a gray strap that went across his chest.

The conversation occurring between Margaret and the unknown boy drew Yu's curiosity.

"I think that will be enough Shadow Gems, for now; I did my part of the job and I'm counting on you to do yours." The red-eyed teen said.

"Of course, Misaki-sama. You can expect it to be ready after a day in your world… Oh, Yu-sama. Were you here all the time? Please, forgive me for not noticing your presence." Margaret said, as she finally noticed the confused teen standing in a corner.

"Well then, bye, Margaret!" the young man, now known as Misaki, said with a smile while making his way to the door.

"Farewell, Misaki-sama."

As Misaki arrived near Yu, he stopped and looked at him; his red eyes meeting the leader's gray ones as if he was reading his mind through them. They stayed like this for a moment before Misaki finally left, but the silverette was pretty sure that he heard him say something like 'I see…' before leaving the Velvet Room completely.

"Umm… Yu-sama. Are you alright?" Margaret's voice caused Yu to jump backward and then reply awkwardly.

"Y-Yeah! I'm fine." The young Persona-user realized that he has been staring at the door, asking himself countless questions about the presence of someone else than him in the Velvet Room.

Yu sat near Margaret and first asked the question that must be asked in those rare situations "Where is Igor?"

"The master said that he had some business somewhere."

"And who was that guy I just saw?"

"He is another guest here, in the Velvet Room. I am not allowed to tell you more about him; if you have questions regarding him, you will have to ask him straight."

After that, there was a pause before Margaret resumed the conversation "However, Yu-sama, you must know that nothing meaningless happens in the Velvet Room: your encounter with the other guest and our meeting here alone is tightly linked to your fate, so let me introduce myself again…" Yu looked at her confused: Why would she introduce herself again, out of the blue?

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. I am Margaret. I am the one who rules over power, invited here after my predecessor's sudden disappearance. You may be the first person who has been welcomed here by someone other than my master. The Velvet Room is inseparable from the heart of its invited guest… The shape of the room and its residents are selected by my master, based on the number of guests and their destiny… Shall we chat? I feel that is what I am called to do."

As Margaret talked, Yu notice that she was slightly different from usual: She was smiling and looked at him gently… And you know what this mean, kids? Voices in his head!

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 Empress Arcana…

"You have several social links already… You know more than anyone that you strengthen them after each meeting and each exchange of words. But sometimes, the heart is shaken more by a single action than a thousand words. Today's meeting might be classified as that single action. I look forward knowing you better *giggle*."

After that, Yu got out of the room and found himself in the shopping district again. He thought about what Margaret told him a minute ago before he realized something

"Goddamit! I left Margaret have a speech and I didn't even made a comment?! Man, it's so out of character for me… Could it be that the others are having a 'bad' influence on me?" his thoughts were soon interrupted when he looked at the sky and saw it was getting late.

"Shit! If I wanna avoid getting in troubles, I should hurry!"


That should do it for the 11th chapter. Thanks to Defog2000 for editing it, do not forget to check his stories!

In the end of this month, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will be out for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in English! It's still a shame that the P3 protagonist still is guarding the Seal while everyone is having fun in the Arena (even Junpei, Yukari, Ken and Koromaru are there… And let's not forget Adachi, even if he's a DLC character!)

Again, enjoy reading and have a good day (or evening, depends on when you read this)!

Defog2000: Speaking of Persona 4 Arena Ulitmax… LETS BATTLE!

KeyToUnivers: Huh? No…! Wait! SERIOUSLY!?

Defog2000: I'll KICK YOUR ASS! *Summons Persona* ITACHI!

KeyToUnives: Well then, but you should be way more worried about your own… *Summons Persona* HADES!