[A/N Wow, so... There's a lot of reviews this time around! Time for replies.]
Kuoffnet
Not really gonna say much about the turnout of the characters, but there'll be some... oddities. I'm actually unsure of whether I should include Natsuki. Might give her a minor appearance or mention, but not much other than that. Oh – she'll definitely be there when they're investigating Fuuka. No characters from the original P4 investigation team (other than Souji and Teddie) will be appearing. Some supporting characters from P3 (as evident with Rio) will be around. Also, one of these minor characters will be on the Investigation Team (no, not Rio). But who? MUHUHUHAHAHAH! And yeah, a lot of the P3 characters really do fit the P4 roles. Especially with Yukiko and Mitsuru. The "family business" girls.
RaidEye
Glad to see you're on board for the future of this story! I know the P3/P4 relations are a little bit heavy, especially in the beginning, but I'll find flexibility later on. Their origin stories are really hard to tune as they have to fit into the overall plot of P4 without changing the character's original backstory too much. For one point, every character in the Investigation Team has to appear on television. Now Fuuka isn't exactly Risette – and Aigis isn't exactly a child detective. Oh, and Aigis is an interesting subject. I can't have her be a military superweapon or something, so her story isn't very close to her P3 origins. Most of her story is completely original, but I'm trying to keep it similar to her P3 role as "the girl who doesn't understand what humanity is."
Nah, Ketsui isn't based on the P3 protagonist at all. He's just an OC that I made for a different story that I ended up scrapping. I didn't want to tell P4FtS through Souji's perspective, so I used him here.
Fervour
As corny as it sounds, I value your opinions, even if it clashes with some of mine. The review system is the only way for me to get feedback, so please, tell me whatever you want to, even if you think it may offend me.
Yeah, I tried to make Teddie explain some of the Shadow factors, and it probably did take away from the Shadow Ketsui fight. I just want Teddie to be more useful in this story. However, I didn't notice that he was sounding really serious and tutor-like, so I'll make sure he's funnier or more lighthearted in future chapters. I'm pretty sure inflation of the Yen was the last thing on the guys' minds – and they didn't question it because, hey, you'd want some compensation for kicking Shadow ass as well, right?
Yes, Shinjiro is very much like Kanji in that he's a great cook while Kanji is a textile expert. You'll see what I do with the characters when the time comes. I actually didn't plan on Kenji's existence in the story. At all. He's just not a very interesting character in my eyes. However, I'll take that into consideration and may make some changes.
Fuuka's backstory will not involve modelling or being a celebrity. Just to confirm.
Koromaru will be in the story and will help the team fight Shadows, but... in his own way. He also won't have a Shadow.
Short chapter this time, but this day isn't exactly full of explosions anyway.
We had been through a lot in the past few days.
I wasn't entirely sure when we'd get our next piece of action.
I just hoped it wouldn't be any time soon.
Chapter 12: Worries
After Yumi and I said our goodbyes, I headed straight home with much on my mind. Could Rio have thought the same way I did? There's no way... Is there?
I entered the house thankful for the dryness of the indoors. Turning sight, I spotted the evening news on, with a coffee mug on the table. Ken turned around, asking, "Where've you been?"
I answered simply with, "Had sushi."
The boy took a sip. "With who?"
I shrugged. "Is it that important?"
Ken raised a brow. "So a girl then." Bullseye. Smart kid.
"Yeah," I chuckled, "Like I said, it's not important."
I ended up spending about half an hour on my computer compiling all of the information we had on the TV world, the Shadows, and the Personas into a text file. I included facts, descriptions of the Shadows of Junpei and I, speculations on the culprit, and things that were unknown to us, such as what Teddie came from. I e-mailed it to Junpei and Yukari before attempting to rest.
That night, I could hardly sleep. The rain continuously tapped my window, and it was indescribably distracting. After rolling around in bed for what felt like hours, my phone emitted a ping. I snatched it from the nearby table, finding a text from Junpei. "11:58. Check your TV!"
I wiped my dry eyes and noticed that there really was only two minutes to midnight. The rain was obviously still there, keeping me awake. I took in a deep breath and faced the TV.
The sound of signal static was released from the blank TV as it lit up. A silhouette materialized, its face hidden by the fuzzy imagery. All I could tell was that it was a girl and she was wearing some sort of a robe, like a kimono. I squinted my eyes, trying to make out more details.
I looked at my hand. Could I...? Stepping closer to the screen, I pushed my hand into it. My hand disappeared into the screen, but the girl was gone. I audibly sighed before returning to bed, hopefully finding slumber.
I can't say I really did.
The morning of April 16th shed a little light on my eyes. That being because it actually wasn't raining.
I strolled along the Samegawa Flood Plain, appreciating how the sun lit up the short trees and swaying grass. Half-asleep, I yawned and spotted a grey-haired head not far ahead of me. I caught up to the figure as it greeted me with a, "Good morning."
I stretched a sore arm forward, replying with, "Damn right it's good."
Souji chuckled. "Appreciate it while you can. Forecast says it's raining later."
I rolled an arm. "Figures."
A bell rung behind us, grabbing our attention. "Yo!" called Junpei, stopping his bike no farther than a foot from us. Unlike me, he seemed full of energy. "You saw what was on last night, right?"
"I couldn't tell who it was," answered Souji, sounding almost disappointed in himself.
"Me neither," claimed Junpei. "Ketsui, good call on documenting everything."
I yawned. "...What?"
"You know," said Junpei, "The file you sent us."
"Oh yeah, how could I forget?"
"What file?" asked Souji.
"Oh, give me your e-mail address and I'll show you. I threw all our information on the TV world into a text document."
Souji nodded. "We should go there after school. Hopefully Teddie has some information on that girl."
"Yeah, if someone's in there again, we can't let 'em die," I voiced, "If that's the case, then we've got to find who's responsible."
Junpei scratched the short hair under his cap, before he reasoned, "Why can't we let the police deal with the guy?"
I scoffed. "The police won't be able to handle this. They wouldn't believe that there's a murderer that kills people with a world within the TV. Even if we brought cops down there, they'd all have to face their Shadows."
"We're teenagers and your guys' Shadows were incredible powerful," Souji reasoned, "Imagine how many conflicting thoughts lie in the mind of someone who's forty. It has to be us," said Souji.
Junpei sighed at first, but after a second, he raised his head with, "I agree."
At that moment, I realized that I forgot to tell Souji something. "Y'know, I stuck my hand in the TV last night, just like you did, and it worked."
Junpei seemingly flinched. "Same here!"
I rubbed my chin in a genius-like manner. "Must be because we have our Personas."
Souji thought for a moment. "...But I didn't gain my Persona until we were inside the TV."
"...Maybe you were given that power," I said in determination, "So that we could solve this case and save these people."
Junpei laughed. "Well in that case, let's do our best!" He looked up at Souji. "Whaddya think, Captain?"
Souji held a smile. "Let's make it happen."
We made our way into the school, and I exchanged glances with Yumi, who nodded at me with a smile. I wasn't entirely sure of what she thought of me at that point, but it was relieving to know that she no longer wanted a date.
We gathered into our usual segment of the classroom when the door slid open, revealing Yukari. Judging by how frantically her eyes were moving, she was looking for something.
"Oh, Yukari," I voiced, "We're sorry for yesterday."
The girl easily accepted the apology, saying "Oh, forget about that. Have you guys seen Mitsuru?"
Souji looked up in thought. "Kirijo-san? No, I haven't seen her around today."
Yukari looked to the side. "If what you told me was true, then..." she sighed in worry.
I woke up. "Wait, you don't think that...?"
"That person on the Midnight Channel was Mitsuru," she completed my question with the answer. "That kimono looks like the one she wears at the inn, and she wore it during the interview a few days ago, too."
Interview? "What interview?"
Souji explained, "The other day, some reporters asked about Mayumi Yamano's presence at the Kirijo Inn. They also mentioned Mitsuru-san taking her mother's place as the inn's owner in the future."
"Yeah," continued Yukari, "I got worried, so I called her last night, and she didn't answer. I called her earlier in the evening, though, and she said she'd be at school today. I just... I..."
"You haven't heard from her since?" Junpei asked.
"...No."
No way Mitsuru was kidnapped. No way. "W-wait, we can't just assume that she's in there. Try calling her again."
Our group stayed completely silent as the tones played. Once, twice... three times.
"She's not answering..."
"So, Mitsuru-san is inside that place?" Junpei asked. "Why would the killer target her?"
Yukari's voice darted. "No! That's not... She must be busy with something. You know, like an errand or something...!"
"Hey," I grabbed her attention, "She might be helping out at the inn. She doesn't use her phone while she's working, right?"
"That must be it!" Yukari exclaimed, locating the inn's number on her phone. "C'mon, Mitsuru, pick up..."
"Mitsuru!" her voice gasped in relief before she walked off to have a girly chat. She returned after a minute, telling us, "She was over at the inn. Apparently they had a big group reservation and she had to help out." She closed her eyes in satisfaction. "Now that I think about it, this kind of thing as happened before. She said she'd be there tomorrow, too."
She attacked me with her voice, "Ketsui, your stupid e-mail got me worried over nothing! She was totally fine!"
"I'm sorry... But there was a reason for that assumption."
"Huh?"
Souji took over. "We thought that when a person shows up on the Midnight Channel, they're already on the other side. It made sense: People would show up on the TV because they were in the TV. But since she's still here, that brings up more questions."
I sighed in discomfort. "Yeah, let's ask Teddie."
"Alright," said Junpei, "We'll meet up at Junes after school. That sound good?"
The four of us arrived at the electronics department of Junes, which was oddly busy at the time. I turned to Junpei, asking him, "Why are there so many customers?"
Junpei sighed. "I forgot, there's an electronics sale going on."
I spotted a couple looking at monitors across from where our TV was. "Alright, well... Souji, stick your hand in and try to signal Teddie to get over here. We'll make sure no one sees you."
Souji did as instructed as Junpei, Yukari and I stood around him. A few seconds later, he flinched and drew his hand back.
"What's wrong?" Junpei asked, almost panicking already.
I scanned over the top of his hand. "What is that, a bite mark?"
Souji said, "I'm fine," calmly as ever. "Must have been Teddie."
Yukari leaned toward the TV and whispered, "Hey, bear, we know you're in there."
Ripples in the screen were visible as the bear excitedly answered, "Oh, oh, is this a game?"
Junpei sighed. "Can you sense anyone inside there right now?"
"I'm a lonely little bear, like always," his voice replied, "This land feel so... bear-ren."
"Clever," I chuckled, "So you're sure that there's no one inside?"
"I'm not lying!" answered the bear, "My nose is as good as ever, and I definitely don't smell anyone."
"Alright," said Yukari, "Thanks, Teddie."
Souji turned to her. "I want you to warn Kirijo-san, anyway."
"Okay," she answered, "I'll walk her to school on Monday, too."
"If it's still raining again tonight, we oughta check out the Midnight Channel," stated Junpei.
"Souji, give us your number. We gotta stay connected," I explained, "Oh, and I need your e-mail, too."
We all exchanged numbers with Souji before calling it a day.
When I got home, Ken was reading the paper. "Can you believe that they still haven't found anything on those two deaths?"
I sighed. "Yeah, it's really depressing, huh?"
He discarded an orange jacket before flicking the TV on. "How skilled can a murderer be that they can't even pinpoint the cause of death?"
Knowing the truth, I didn't want him worrying about that. "Don't think too much about that crap, man. That kind of stuff keeps people up at night."
