Fortune's Fool
Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix
Beta By:
A/N: This is based off Persona 4 after the game, does contain spoilers.
The first call caught Yukiko already awake due to the troublesome dreams she had. Dreams of molten fire and slashing blades, whispers of Father Izanagi's pain. The dreams haunted her into waking up in Chie's room, from where she laid on the fetal position on the floor. These were not the days to be alone. The princess was singing a song in her head, Amaterasu was trying to get her attention, the nightmares were clearly a sign of that.
'Father weeps again. As he once wept before.'
She laid on the floor of the bedroom, a spot that she had spent countless times before as they had grown up together. Chie was off to her usual side, and the comfort of another's presence who understood her was gratifying. Over the years she had seen the development of Chie's room, from a small girl with toys to a teenager. Cute was replaced with functional, yet, stylish as the room matured as Chie herself had. Now there were manuals and books regarding her job as a police officer that lined the shelves under posters of Bruce Lee and Jet Li.
She laid there clinging to her blanket as she tried to go back to sleep, yet there was light outside of Chie's bedroom. The sun was going to rise soon and when it did it would be another day of worrying over Naoto and try to have a normal life. Suddenly an off color bloomed out beyond Chie catching and holding her attention as she sat up. She recognized the vivid red light that indicated her cellphone was going off, though on vibrate. But its color was suddenly accompanied by the softest sound of buzzing, like something vibrating on wood. Chie was sleeping near their phones as they charged and she could see her blond friend roll over.
"Wa' now'?" Chie yawned hugely as she reached for the phone. It was the only gripe, and she didn't ignore the call. Then again she had explained that by being on a cop, she was rarely ever 'off duty'. "Oh... hey Satonaka, Chie speaking... wa'?"
Chie had the phone huddled next to her ear while still laying in bed when suddenly she shot up into a sitting position. "They what? They're 'here'? Oh hell... Ok thanks... No I'm not going to sit around here all day! I have a job to do and I'm going to do it! They're going to regret getting in my way!"
Yukiko was already sitting up, her face lined with concern as Chie gave a quick good bye to whoever and was climbing to her feet. In the gloom of the encroaching morning Chie could see her staring up at the blond, and a stray beam showed the apprehension in Chie's eyes. Without a word Yukiko grabbed her sleeping bag and somehow something seemed different in that moment.
"There are reporters in Inaba, running with a story about a love triangle between Souji-kun, Naoto-kun and Rise-chan." Thin lipped Chie tried to find the words to express the situation without putting her foot through a wall. "Apparently some article that Rise-chan did implied a boy she fell for, and now they're here. They know, they know about Naoto-kun being kidnapped and are trying to find us."
Yukiko stood up for a moment before she bent down and began gathering her sleeping bag. "Do what you need to do Chie, you might need to call Dojima-san and see what he thinks on what's going on. I'll clear this up, so get dressed."
Chie nodded, grabbing her uniform and making for the bathroom, her cellphone already flipped open.
Leaving Yukiko in a slowly brightening room. She could still see the four of them sprawled out on the floor watching movies and eating popcorn. If she tried hard enough she could hear the laughter and giggles of that night when their 'plan' was born. The flung pillows, the whispered words, the idle dreams of the future. Now? Now it felt wrong to be in Chie's room, that was when they were kids, when they could afford childish dreams and hopes. This wasn't the room of a teenager, this was the room of a grown woman, a woman about ready to move out of her parents home and find her place in the world.
They all were, Naoto may have been the first, but that role was thrust upon her due to her desires and the death of her parents. They couldn't go back to those innocent times, they couldn't be kids and she found it hurt. Would they always be friends? Probably, hopefully, but there was no promise that the paths they would take would let them spend time with each other. Laying on the floor in a sleeping bag felt different then it did before and she ached for the thought that it was just Naotos' situation doing this.
She rolled the sleeping bag up, then proceeded to take care of Chie's, wondering if one day she would get the call. How was Naoto's grandfather handling this? How did people manage having bonds with those in the law enforcement community? What if the next time it was Chie? How would she deal with losing her best friend? What if Dojima was the next person? Nanako-chan would be all alone, as well as Souji-kuns loss. How could these people opt to go into a job that could see them dead at any time? How did they face their loved ones with the knowledge that today might be the last day they would ever see them again?
Yukiko found herself without an answer as she stood in the bedroom. But she would find an answer one day, she supposed. Perhaps when they found Naoto-kun she would receive her answer, until then...
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"How are we going to move about? They're on the streets waiting for us as it is. I'm amazed someone hasn't arrested Kanji-kun for bashing any," Yosuke noted over the phone to Yukiko.
"Not yet," Teddie reported from his phone. One in a chair the other the couch the boys had found a way to network out to the the rest of the team. They had not left the house, while Yukiko was driving back to the Inn, having parted from Chie before the girl went to check on Naoto's apartment.
"Any word online from Rise-chan's fans or detractors? Any sign of how big this could get? Maybe this will fade in a day or two?" Yukiko asked, as she turned onto the main street leading to the Amagi Inn, even as a few people glanced twice at her. Reporters trying to make sure they were hounding the right girl she supposed.
There was a pause over the line, as Yosuke went about working on the computer to look at updates. "Nothing. Though it looks like they're beginning to try to get descriptions of us for better tracking. Heh, if it wasn't so serious I'd be flattered that we're getting the spotlight."
"I've got a few that seem to now be following me, but I know there are those at the Inn."
"Why not change directions? Go see Kanji-kun instead?" Teddie asked, his head tilted to the side.
"Why Kanji-kun?" Yosuke asked, glancing over his shoulder at Teddie. The bear seemed in rather deep thought at the moment.
"Maybe... Maybe this Bear can be of use," Teddie looked down for a moment before focusing on his phone. "Kanji-kun? How big is your tv?"
Yosuke dropped to a proper sitting position staring in shock at Teddie before relying the instruction to Yukiko.
"The television?" She asked.
"Teddie? Are you suggesting we use the Otherworld to travel?" Yosuke asked, amazement coloring his voice.
"Yeah, if Kanji-kun and Yukiko-chan are together in the Otherworld, then I think I can find them more easily," Teddie offered, his brows furrowed as he thought hard on it.
"Yukiko-chan go to Kanji-kun's, we're going to see if Teddie can find you in the Otherworld," Yosuke instructed, excitement and hope filling his voice.
"Is that safe though? The Midnight Channel will show us with so many people focused on us as it is," Yukiko pointed out. But she did as told, turning the car towards Kanji's home.
"But not if we avoid being there when the Channel comes on. We can't 'stay' there, but at least we can get together, maybe our otherselves can help. Mine won't shut up about Izanagi killing his own son," Yosuke pointed out.
"Mine won't stop singing about Izanagi crying," Yukiko agreed.
"Kanji-kun says that they have a big screen, and we can use the one in the living room," Teddie offered. "We'll have to move fast though, so we avoid the Channel, which means I have to find the path beary soon."
"What do you think your Otherself and mine are trying to say?" Yukiko asked, wishing confirmation more then anything else.
"That we need to be with Souji, whatever is about to happen, we need to be there to hold him back from doing something he, or we, may regret."
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"So you mind telling me what you're doing here?"
Munch, munch, munch.
"What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Like you're blocking traffic."
"Well then, I guess I am. What you going to do about it? Arrest me?"
Chie sighed, crossing her arms across her chest and staring down from where Hanako Ohtani was sitting. Right on the front stoop of Naoto's apartment door with an economy sized bag of chips in her hands and another right next to her and a mega sized soda. She stood there sizing up why Hanako would plant herself right in front of Naoto's door. "No, I'm not going to arrest you, but I would like to know why you're sitting here of all places with food. You should know by now that she's not here."
The sound of chewing was the only answer she got for a long time, causing Chie to start to get frustrated with the whole thing. "I need to get in there, to make sure no one touched any of her things."
"No one was in when I got here," was the only answer Hanako gave. Stone faced like a pissed off fat budha this one.
She wanted to blurt out that she wanted to check for herself, that she didn't have time for Hanako's games. But even as she opened her mouth, another thought rose up in her. Though it stepped outside of her normal response to an obstacle, and could she even realistically Galactic Punt Hanako, she leaned back against the guardrails and relaxed her posture. Good Cop, Bad Cop.
She waited for a while, until half the bag was empty...
"I came here to pray."
Chie's head jerked slightly back in surprise as she heard that, her eyes focused on Hanako more intently.
"I heard about Nao-chan being kidnapped, and came here to pray that she would return here safely. Then those jerks showed up. They wanted to get into her apartment, but it has tape on the door and I figured that it wasn't going to be allowed. I told them to get lost, and when they kept trying I sat down, too big to climb over and too heavy to move. Scrawny bunch of losers."
Hanako's eyes were fixed on a point in the distance, while Chie began to kneel down, all the animosity gone from her. Hanako's voice was tight as she continued. "That's when the insults started. They started asking if Nao-chan was a transexual or transvestite, if the kidnapping was even real because there were rumors that she was on shaky ground with her boyfriend. That maybe she is just hiding so he won't leave her, and to make Risette look bad. I don't know what the hell was their problem, bashing Nao-chan like that. They were saying that marriage dates are being circulated for Nao-chan, that she's going to get married as soon as one is selected."
Chie shook her head, Hanako was brave for sticking to her post, but those reporters were really just too much.
"But then again, what would a fatass like me know, right?"
Chie's head snapped up and she found Hanako looking at her.
"After all, we're made to feel ashamed of our bodies when we're ugly."
Chie blinked in surprise and felt guilty as she saw the accusing stare coming from Hanako. "I don't have a super model's body, I don't look like Amagi-san or Risette, so of course I don't have any feelings. I'm just a stupid mass of fat eating my life away, no way anyone is going to find me beautiful or want me. So I told them that. I told them to go follow their shallow little pin head princesses and leave us real girls alone. Nao-chan understood what it meant to be valued only by your physical appearance. She didn't judge me a fat slob, didn't talk down to me because I'm overweight, she didn't avoid being in my presence like she was ashamed to know someone who weighs more then what some stupid stick on a runway does!" Her voice was choked as she talked, and Chie felt increasingly bad for her previous behavior as well as for what Hanako must have just endured. "You go around calling us names, making fun of us, treating us like dirt. You make us hate you and ourselves, then you get pissed off when 'we' show you the same exact treatment you showed us all our lives?"
"Ohtani-san..."
"I can see how this is going to end. You'll find Nao-chan cold and dead somewhere, then that stupid idol will make a grand show of grief. She'll go and offer 'all' her support to Souji-kun because it's all about 'his' loss. She'll make nice talk, and then one day they'll get married while Nao-chan is buried in a cold grave marked some kind of freak to the masses. Just so they can put Risette on some pedestal of virtue..."
"That's not true, she won't die. We'll find her before anything like that happens!" Chie cried out, tears running down her face as she leaned forward and hugged Hanako. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Chie wasn't sure what she was sorry for, whether it was for what Hanako just endured, or because she could see some of that ugliness that Hanako spoke of in her memories.
They sat there for some time, crying out the pain they hadn't given voice to until then, crying over their mutual worry over a detective missing out there in Japan. It wasn't until the phone rang with a call from Dojima that she bothered to break from her hug. Leaving Hanako to her resolved sentry duties, she began to walk along the path down to her car.
"Yes, Senpai?"
"You ok Satonaka-san?" Dojima's voice gruffly asked from the other end of the phone.
She wiped the tears even as she nodded, "I'll be ok, heard anything yet?"
"Yeah, they got the guy who kidnapped Naoto-kun in custody in America at the moment. Seems the guy was paid to kidnap and drop her to another location for someone else."
"A hired hit?" She asked when she reached the lobby of the apartment complex and saw something that made her freeze. "Senpai? Let me call you right back..." She hung up the phone before taking the steps two at a time. "Hey you! I thought I told you to get away from here!"
That guy from before, the one who tried to steal Naoto-kun's guns! He stood there, straight back and guilty looking.
"You better have a great explanation of why you're here and near Naoto-kun's mail box!" She barked out in a good rendition of Dojima when he was mad.
The young man stood there holding a large envelope in his hands and for a moment looked lost as he looked at her. Then he seemed to have reached some resolution as he suddenly held out the envelope towards her. "My pride as a detective in training, isn't so high that I can't see my mistake. I'm out of my league and I can only hope and pray that we find her body in time."
Chie stood there frozen for a moment, her eyes wide in disbelief then the tears began. 'Find her body' not 'find her', her body, whatever was in that manilla envelope had something to do with him being here. Chie fell to her knees, the wind knocked out of her sails. "Damn you. Damn you to hell if that's true."