Case: Yukiko Amagi (Part III)/ "A new FRIEND!" - Chapter 14
{April 17, 2011} {Sunny}
[Dojima Residence, Early Morning]
Yu and Izanagi got up in the morning hours after a rough night of being Yosuke's parents. The young wild card headed down the stairs after getting dressed, and after reaching the bottom he walked a bit inside the kitchen to see Nanako by the living room table with the TV remote and a cold juice drink.
"Oh Good Morning…" Nanako lifts her head to get greet him, he took a step in the room before heading out to meet up with Yosuke and Jiraiya.
"You're up early…" Yu yawned a bit as he was kind of tired still, Izanagi appeared behind him and began watching the two closely.
"My dad woke up early, so I woke up with him." Nanako tells him, she then notices his appearance, though he looked kinda exhausted to be going out.
"Are you going somewhere? I'll be fine by myself." Nanako was pretty mature for her age, Yu really appreciated that when he needed to run around Inaba for all sorts of reasons. Nanako takes up the remote and turns the TV on in the corner, a weather report indicates "sunny weather" for a while... Yu was standing still for some reason.
"Oh, the sun's gonna come out. I should do some laundry. Uh...Weren't you going somewhere?" A curious Nanako noticed that Yu's eyes were closed and he was breathing quietly, it appeared that he fell asleep while standing up, a calm Izanagi then bonked his user's head lightly with a quick hand chop as they had plans for today after all.
"H-Huh?!" A sleep deprived Yu was startled a bit by his Persona's actions. Nanako giggled a bit at his expense.
"Your ghost friend doesn't want you to miss anything, it's okay...you can go." Nanako observed him and the friendly ghost she couldn't see with a small smile.
"Thanks, I'll be back later, okay?" Yu tells her despite already knowing she can take care of the house. He then heads to the front entrance of the home as Nanako continues watching TV.
"Thou should be prepared, why not have a drink on the way to meet Yosuke…" Izanagi was looking out for his user thoughtfully.
"Yeah good Idea, we have a long day ahead of us and we'll meet with Igor right after… so maybe we could talk more about the journey." Yu and Izanagi got outside the home and headed up the drive way to Yosuke's place.
[June's Food Court, Daytime]
Yu was waiting at the round table where he and the team held meetings to talk about the murders in the past…or the future, I don't really care which at this point. He was having a drink while idling talking with Izanagi right beside him as they waited for Yosuke and Jiraiya to arrive. The Junes boy with headphones around his neck and the Frog Ninja following him appeared on the court, Yosuke walked toward the silver haired boy with his hands behind his back, holding something that'll eventually get them arrested…Yu wondered if this part was actually necessary.
"Sorry for the holdup. I found some stuff we can use in the closet at home...Take a look at these!" An excited Yosuke shows his buddy a Katana and a knife in public as a woman sitting nearby begins to stare nervously at the two of them.
"We've got our Personas, but a golf club's not that reliable of a weapon. So, which one strikes your fancy?" Yosuke asks his friend with a smile on his face, Jiraiya observes the two amused as he knows where this is going, Izanagi didn't see what was wrong in the first time… in the old days, people carried all sorts of weapons for many reasons, though he knows the times have changed a lot since.
"The katana." Yu tells him honestly; he also felt about telling him to put those away quickly as he sensed the police would be arriving soon.
"Ahh, you've got discerning taste. This is a Junes exclusive. The blade's fake, though...As for me...Wait, maybe both would be good, too." Just as Yosuke said that, Yu realized he could had that fake sword when was fighting his partner's shadow…there were lots of things on his journey to take a second look at the logic of everything.
"K-Kinda like this!? Or like this!?" What about this? How do I look?" Yosuke asked his partner, striking many silly action poses with the weapons like a "cool hero man would." Yu and Izanagi were getting kind of nervous while Jiraiya had gleeful look toward his awkward user.
"You look good Yosuke!" Jiraiya decided to let him have his fun, though that didn't stop him from laughing on the inside, Izanagi also knew that Yosuke was always someone who loved theatrics.
"U-Um Yosuke, you should really hide those before…" Yu was getting antsy as he noticed a police man in uniform had arrived to the food court and began chatting up the radio on his chest while eyeing at them both, the officer began approaching the teenagers, Yosuke noticed the man and hid the weapons behind him again in a panic.
"Huh…? Ohhh crap, I mean… No! No no no no, this isn't what it looks like. We didn't steal it! Uh, I guess that's not what matters...A-Anyways, we're not doing anything bad! We're just two ordinary kids who like weapons and... Ugh, that doesn't sound right either. Ahaha..." Yosuke mentally kicked himself as he made the situation worse, Yu thought about how there was no way out of this now…he stood up quickly from his seat to face the officer as he spoke out to them.
"Put the weapons down now! We'll listen to your story at the station. Hands where I can see them, too! I said now!" The police man commanded his authority to make the two boys stand down. The personas quickly faded into their user's minds.
"B-But… This isn't…" Yosuke began shaking his head and waving the fake weapons at the officer frantically in a panic, he really wasn't thinking that one through, the officer found him to be a threat.
"Are you resisting an officer of the law!? Y-You're under arrest!" The officer spoke in a shaky frightened tone at the boys, he then braced himself as two officers came up from behind Yu and Yosuke, the officers acted upon them quickly.
"Argh!" A disarmed Yosuke was forced onto the table as an officer placed handcuffs on him roughly, Yu placed himself gently on the table and allowed officers to cuff him as well, the boys were escorted to a squad car outside Junes.
[Inaba Police Station, Daytime]
"I hope thy relative won't scold thou severely…" A concerned Izanagi spoke in his user's mind as the two boys sat in the back of the car, the siren was blaring as the squad car made its way to the station.
"It'll be fiiine…" a relaxed Jiraiya seemed pretty chill about getting arrested in a effort to calm his panicking user.
"Oh man…You sure that they let us go later?!" Yosuke was afraid this incident might spread at school ruining his popularity.
"Trust me… I have an uncle on the inside." Yu told him in a suspiciously calm demeanor to his face, Yosuke was curious about his mood.
"W-Why are you so calm about that!? Are you sure we won't have our social lives ruined?!" Yosuke practically shouted at him in anxiety of the situation.
"Well, what were you thinking when you brought things into a public area that look like weapons? …Just believe me, okay?" Yu lectured him like a parent and ended it with a confident yet gentle smile to his friend, Yosuke observed him and began to calm a bit after, though he was still in fear of the consequences.
"Thou will make a great father someday…" Izanagi off handedly tells his silver-haired user as he cringed at the fact that he was acting as one towards Yosuke, the joking Japanese God chuckled a bit to himself as they arrived at the station.
(Time passes...)
After a while…in a hallway on the first floor of the station…
"…You didn't seem the type to pull a stupid stunt like this." Dojima, uncle and father lectured his nephew Yu while scratching his head in agitation of him.
"You know what's been going on around town. We got men stationed everywhere. For god's sake...You're lucky I was around, or this would have ended up on your permanent record." Dojima told them with a stern tone, both Yu and Yosuke had their heads down in shame.
"We're sorry..." Yosuke apologized for them, a civilian in a nice suit and a policeman passed by the scene as the conversed right beside each other down the hallway, the boys watched them as they began to speak.
"Wait, so the one that disappeared is the Amagi girl…?" The civilian wondered to the police officer.
"Seems like it… but she's just a high schooler, you know. Could be that she decided to run away from home…"
"Hey, did he say Amagi? Then...She really is-" Yosuke was about to go on to tell Yu but cut himself off as Dojima was right there, though he wouldn't believe them anyway.
"Hm? Who's what now?" Dojima grew suspicious as to what they were referring to.
"Oh, uh, nothing." Yosuke brushed off his concern, Dojima went on to say something else.
"I'm sure you've seen on the news that there's an investigation in progress. We're sensitive about certain things. You're free to go. But this better not happen again." Dojima warns the boys and then proceeds to go around them and began walking down the hallway. The boys nodded to each other in understanding and made their way down the opposite end of the hallway to the lobby. Suddenly the infamous culprit himself walked right into the two dumbasses… Oh, I mean our heroes! The boys looked toward the young detective.
"Whoa… Pardon me." Adachi spoke to them in slightly exaggerated surprise, he was holding a cup of hot coffee for Dojima. His and Yu's eyes met, both appearing to have intense hatred for one another, Yu suspected the killer would be aware but…for what reason? Yosuke wondered what was up between them… Izanagi sensed the other version of himself inside Adachi's mind, the God also began wondering what his other self was like outside their battle despite being enemies …even wanting to know what were his hobbies in curiosity. Jiraiya appeared behind Yosuke without his knowledge and made an obscene gesture with his finger at Adachi.
"Hmm… Aren't you the kid staying at Dojima-san's place?" Bastard Adachi asked Yu with a sly smile on his face as Yu begins to have a cold expression on his own, Yosuke ignored the intense atmosphere to ask about their hot friend to the young detective.
"Oh! Uh, can we ask you something? It's about Yukiko-san...I mean, Yukiko Amagi of the Amagi Inn. Did something happen to her?" Yosuke wondered to him, Jiraiya snuck back into his mind.
"Huh? Oh, umm...Well let's see, if you're friends with Ms. Amagi...Keep this between us, okay? We got a call from Ms. Amagi's parents yesterday evening saying they couldn't find her anywhere." Adachi almost forgot what to say, thankfully case notes were there to remind the bastard.
"Since it was the weekend, the workers at the inn were extremely busy, and no one saw Ms. Amagi around that time. Oh, but that doesn't necessarily mean this is a case just yet! But, people have been turning up dead on foggy days, so we're really sensitive to stuff like this. By the way, did she say anything to you guys about maybe going through some hard times?" The Reverse Fool asked the two with a quiet tone.
"Uh...? Hard times?" Yosuke was perplexed by what he said, Yu admitted Adachi was half right at the time about that…just half right.
"Well, that announcer, Ms. Yamano, was staying at the Amagi Inn before the first murder. Seems Ms. Yamano had some harsh words for the manager about the staff's attitude towards guests. The stress of it caused the manager to collapse. And with Ms. Amagi being the manager's daughter...She must've felt pretty strongly about the incident, y'know." Adachi continued speaking in a slightly quiet tone.
"By the way, did Ms. Amagi ever hint that she might be leaving the house? 'Cause if not, there's been some theories floating around that she's laying low for some reason or another... Crap, I think I've gone too far. You didn't hear that, okay?" A panicked Adachi tells them as Dojima suddenly yells at him from afar.
"Adachi, what the hell are you chatting with civvies for!? And where's my coffee!?" Dojima demanded sustenance for the long work day.
"S-Sorry! I got it right here!" Adachi played his rookie cop role to him very well, even having his usual panicked tone for Dojima.
"Psst! Forget I said anything! Please!" Adachi then winks playfully to Yu like a complete bastard would and walks toward to where Dojima is, Yu knew that he would have to confront Adachi later in private to see if he really knows about the world changing back to the beginning. him and Yosuke began walking towards the lobby again, Yosuke pondered on the words the young detective said about his friend Yukiko.
"Hey… Does that detective think that Yukiko-san-" Yosuke was surprised by Chie who was wearing an open green sweater.
"There you are! Sheesh, what're you guys doing!? I've been looking everywhere!" Chie finally found them, she walked a long way to the station after having seen them be put in a squad car.
"Uh, well, there was a slight misunderstanding…we'll tell you about it later." Yosuke tells their tomboy friend but Yu knows the truth won't be brought up that it was actually all Yosuke's fault anyways so he does it himself.
"It was this guy's fault for bringing weapons into the food court." Yu innocently tells Chie who began to not understand what the heck what was going on in Yosuke's mind.
"What, Yosuke?" Chie expressed but was not surprised, questioning a guilty Yosuke.
"Anyways, something's up with Yukiko-san!" Yosuke diverts the attention from himself to more important matters.
"Huh? You know already!?" I kept calling her cell, but she didn't pick up...So I went to her house, and it turns out Yukiko really did disappear! Chie expressed worry to them with her voice.
"I guess we've got no choice but to go now. But that aside, the cops are saying some weird stuff. They think Yukiko-san's hiding to "lay low…Apparently Yukiko-san's mom collapsed because that announcer lady bitched her out. They think that gives her a motive, and the fact that the announcer died right after makes her even more suspicious..." Yosuke tells Chie what he heard from the young detective.
"What!? They think Yukiko did it!? What the hell is wrong with them!?" Chie angrily shouted at Yosuke but not Yu for some reason…
"Dude, don't snap at me! Yukiko's the victim here, dammit, not the suspect..." Yosuke showed worry for their friend as well. The two were both agitated at the situation, Yu stepped in for them to focus.
"Look, we need to save her." Yu expressed to them seriously, he needed to act as their leader once more, his persona agreed with him on his choice of words.
"R-Right! That's the important thing!" Chie geared up happily to the silver haired boy, the spunky girl felt she was ready to save her best friend Yukiko, though Yu knew it wasn't the only reason Chie wanted to save her... and he couldn't guide the girl out facing her other self later on, it pained him to stand by and wait for that to happen to her.
"With the police totally on the wrong track, we've gotta handle it ourselves." Yosuke tells his buddy who nods in agreement with him.
"I'm going too! And that's final! I'm going to save Yukiko no matter what!" Chie expresses her desire to them stubbornly without knowing the real dangers of the TV World.
"Are you gonna be all right? But man...They just confiscated our weapons. We can't go in empty-handed." Yosuke wondered what they were going to gear up with, Yu knew a spot where to find weapons and so did Chie.
"Weapons? I know just the place! C'mon, follow me!" Chie tells them of a spot she knew, surprising only Yosuke who began thinking all those movies were going to her head. A determined Chie runs outside the station to lead them to the place, they follow her quickly. Izanagi spoke in Yu's mind.
"I'm ready to save them both… are thou feeling well about Chie-san?" Izanagi sensed his user's feelings toward the energetic girl's fate of facing her own shadow…
"I need to at least let her know that everything will be alright …I want to tell her something before we go in after getting back to Junes." Yu ran behind Chie, he gazed up at her running form, she was determined to go in no matter what danger awaits them, he needed to say something special.
[Old Man Daidara's Metal works, Daytime]
The weapons shop Chie told them about was filled with all sorts of shiny medieval weapons aligning its walls, displays of different types of armor were spread out all over the store, a lit fireplace roared on behind to the right of the register where old man Daidara stood, he had red thinning hair that was connected to the mustache he had but what was really noticeable about him was the "x" scar across on his face.
"Here we are!" Chie tells them enthusiastically as they stood to in the middle of the shop due to being cluttered with sharp things, Daidara as Yu knew him was an artist with a passion to create fine weapons.
"Wh-What kinda shop is this...?" Yosuke looked out as a spear was pointing out to his face from the clutter.
"A metal works, I guess? They sell all sorts of metal crap, like katanas and stuff." Chie replies to his curiosity, he was pretty skepitcal.
"Doesn't that seem weird to you!? Why would you know about a place like this anyway? Oh, I get it. You watched one too many kung-fu movies, and..." Yosuke was about to go on at Chie for filling her head with movies."
"It's not that at all! I overheard some guys in our class talk about it. They said this place sells weapons and armor. Here, this one looks good. But it might be too heavy..." Chie looks at display of a large piece of chest armor. Yosuke wanted speak out to her who may go Leeroy Jenkins but Yu knew that was a forgone conclusion.
"I' dunno, Chie...I still think it's too dangerous. I know how you feel, but-" Yosuke was cut off by Chie turning around to lash at him with emotion, he was taken aback by her action.
"You don't! …You don't know shit about how I feel! Yukiko might die from this, for crying out loud! I'm going, and that's that!" Chie angrily spoke in a sad broken tone as she tried to keep her composure up about the situation, her head was down in gloominess... and here comes Yu who decided to diffuse the tension between her and Yosuke.
"Okay, but stay behind us..." Yu tells her with a slightly worried expression, he wanted to protect her as well…
"Psh, I'll be fine! My reflexes are second to none!" Chie brighten ups confidently for Yu so he wouldn't need to worry about her safety. A sweat drop appeared on his head as he didn't know that his say didn't even matter…he would protect her nonetheless though.
"Listen...I'm not kidding around. You don't know what it's like in there! If you're not gonna listen to our warnings, we're leaving you here! If you insist on coming, just make sure you have something to protect yourself." Yosuke warns Chie about the dangers she's putting herself into, she gives into his concern.
"Alright..." Chie pouted, she began looking around for something as the other two talked.
"Now what should we get? Hey, Yu. Mind picking out something for me, too? You're our main asset in battle right now, so I think you should choose whatever makes it easiest for you." Yosuke walked up to his buddy and handed over some cash. He received 5000 yen from Yosuke to use but he already had a large sum of money in his wallet, new game plus indeed… Chie finishes up her search after buying whatever she was going to need for journey.
"I got my stuff all picked out! How about you guys?" Chie asks them.
"You know, if we wear this stuff around town, we'll just get picked up again. But it's not like we can waltz into Junes with a sack full of gear and expect no one to notice, either..." Yosuke pondered on how to deal with that...here comes an impossible idea.
"Why not conceal them under our uniforms? I don' think people would notice." Chie suggests this inexplicable good idea she had to her two friends.
"Okay...Let's try that." Yosuke believes her as Yu always wondered how the hell that worked out for them.
"Alright, let's split up and get ready. The store'll be crowded until the afternoon sale ends, and if we walk around together, the cops might get suspicious." Yosuke explains the plan of action, Chie nods over to Yu with a focused expression.
"Then I'll see you guys at the Junes food court!" Chie agrees with Yosuke's suggestion, the two nod right back at her in affirmation. Yu goes up to old man Daidara to buy stuff as Chie heads outside and waits for them to finish up.
"Have you come to see my art? Please, look around. Take your time." The old artist tells him from behind the register.
"let's see…" Yu picks up two sets of chain mail, an Imitation Katana and a pair of Hunting Nata for himself and Yosuke.
"Nice…" An excited Yosuke takes up the pair of newly purchased knives, he playfully tosses one of them in the air a little. Jiraiya watched him fondly.
"Don't cut yourself." Yu warns him as he puts away his plastic sword in a toy sheath. The two head outside the store…
[Shopping District, Daytime]
After saying goodbye to Yosuke and Chie who then proceed to go back to their homes to prepare themselves, Yu headed down south and then suddenly the Velvet door appeared on the wall between the weapons shop and the book store, Yu with Izanagi in mind head over to it as the key in his pocket begins shining a bright glow of blue, Yu entered back to the endless limo ride through the fog, he sat down for a chat with Igor, Margaret, and someone new...
"We have been expecting you..." Igor greets Yu from his usual seat, Margaret was by her master's side and had apparently found the Persona compendium for Yu, it was on her lap. Yu then noticed a strange unfriendly looking dark-haired girl, she had on a blue hat and some trendy goth clothes and she had a book bag around her chest. She was sitting on the opposite side of Margaret, Yu's persona stayed quiet in his mind for this...
"Since You already know my purpose to you… I have time to tell you something new that I have felt in the Midnight Channel that may prove a threat to your journey… a dastardly powerful shadow has showed up and will try to kill you wherever you go inside the TV, and if you proceed to fight against it in your current state, you will die." Igor tells him seriously.
"What? Is this shadow that tough?" Yu was concerned for the whole team as they needed to head in their later.
"Yes, it has haunted my past guests and it will come for you as well since you're a persona user." Igor explains a little more.
"What makes it hunt only for persona users?" Yu wondered to him.
"The Reaper… is the physical embodiment of hate and insanity inside a soul who hasn't returned to the sea… The hate this soul possesses manifested from a fatal encounter with one similar to yourself such … and so like a curse, The Reaper attacks those who were like him as a sort of revenge." Igor told him this awesome lore or over the top guess.
"Geez, guess this revenge has been going on for some time… So, what does the shadow look like?" Yu asked Igor for the shadow's appearance to know when what to avoid.
"The shadow wears dark garments and a bloodied sack over his head …it also appears with a missing eye." Igor describes the Reaper to his guest, who shuttered a little at the image of him.
"I know who to really avoid then… and back down like a huge coward that wants to live…" Yu expresses to him truthfully since he's the leader of the group, he thought the Reaper may actually be targeting him the most. Yu after stopping his thoughts, he looks over at the unfriendly girl and he's pretty sure that he hasn't met her before at all.
"Margret dear, will you introduce our new employee to our guest?" Igor gestures to Margaret, playfully referring to the unfriendly girl.
"Employee?" Yu was perplexed about the unfriendly girl joining them in this place…it went pretty quiet in the room instantly.
"…" There was some awkward quietness between them all. The unfriendly looking girl glared at the boy who began to have an uncomfortable look on his face due to this prolonged silence…
"...Marie?" Margaret urges her to speak up and talk with Yu…for some reason.
"Yeah, I can hear. Nice to meet you." Marie speaks in almost bored tone to him. Yu was slightly put off by her attitude but he had a smile to disguise himself.
"Uh…Why are you here?" Yu asks her in a forced polite tone...
"…Dunno. It doesn't matter." Marie displayed dismissive attitude and was sure helpful for info, Yu thought sarcastically.
"Excuse her. This is Marie. Her soul is still very young and-" Margret spoke in a tone like she was babysitting this girl but was ultimately was cut off Marie.
"Shut up! Don't tell him any more about me than you need to..." Marie spoke rudely to Margaret who just brushed it off like it was nothing.
"...As you can see. She may be brusque at times, but please understand that she is only an apprentice and forgive her for her impoliteness." Margaret explains for him to feel no bitterness towards Marie, he had the feeling that they would all get along like some big happy family, sarcastically.
"Got it." Yu decided to give her a chance to become good friends…best of friends!
"Marie will be dealing with "Skill Cards." Using these cards will allow you to provide your Personas with new powers. Also, I am sure she will help you form a bond between yourself and the "outside world." Marie will contact you at a later date. Please feel free to speak with her here when you wish to use her services." Margaret explains Marie's purpose in the Velvet room.
"Looks like we've struck gold, Izanagi! I guess no more of seeing what the tarot cards spit out randomly all the time…" Yu was pretty glad about that in his mind.
"I have a hunch that this abrasive child might turn out to be sort of important, let's get on her good side...though she scares me a little for some reason." Izanagi spoke up and admitted to Yu that he was also a little put off by Marie as well.
"Oh by the way I have your Persona Compendium right here!" Margaret successfully found his book with a proud expression on her face, she opens up the page with his name on it, Yu was dumbfounded by what he saw.
"…Kenpachi Ramasama?" Yu spoke the name that was clearly on the book page. it looks ...like she was mistaken, the proud expression Margaret had on turned into a broken a smile, even a strand of hair shot up from her head in stress, Marie was slightly amused by this show...the velvet attendant begins to whine in agony of having to go back in that huge office...
"We will meet again and this time we will have your Compendium…for sure." Igor spoke tiredly with a bitter frown on his face from all this, Yu felt bad that he didn't just keep his mouth shut.
"So yeah, all those incredibly useful and vitally important Velvet Room services you just got told all about? Can't use them yet! Bye! Have fun storming the castle!" Marie cheerfully with a wave of her hand, she casted the guilty-looking grey haired boy and his persona out of the room and back into the real world.
Author's Notes: Man this took a while to do! due to a lot of important school work. I decided to cut this sequence into two chapters because it was a lot to write and I wanted it focus on Chie and Yukiko in castle. Please Review for any errors! I have a friend working with me to get this going!
Side Notes for Future chapters in the works:
-The Next Midnight Channel Boss with Yosuke and Yu.
-Teddie gets the group in a jam with the reaper.
-Yu will use a creepy red horse guy for the battle against Yukiko's Shadow...for reasons.
-Jiraiya will confront his crush...totally.