Chapter 14
The team assembled early the next morning, smuggling armor, weapons and other bizarre items through the food court as inconspicuously as possible. Kanji typically used whatever was convenient as a weapon. He grabbed a folding chair from the food court and tucked it under his arm. No one would think twice about it, unlike some of the other weapons like Senpai's sword. He had heard that both Souji-senpai and Yosuke-senpai had been hauled down to the police station for bringing a bunch of swords to Junes when they had first gotten their personas. And they think I'm the idiot.
Kanji felt ready to do this, yet he still had concerns about the things that blue room chick Margaret had said. He found it hard to tear his eyes away from Naoto. His necklace was visible, no longer tucked in. She had shortened the chain, which had been much too long for how tiny she was. She caught him watching her and smiled. She seemed confident. He was proud to be dating such a strong woman.
Souji-senpai took the secondary team in first, so the main team wouldn't tire out as quickly. They wanted to finish this today. No sense in dragging it out when Naoki was in trouble. This left Naoto, Kanji, and Teddie at the entrance guarding Rise. It was really boring. But at least they knew what was going on, thanks to Rise's persona. After about 5 floors, the teams switched out. This was it, there was no turning back. Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko took over watching Rise, while the others started climbing to the top, taking out every shadow that got in the way.
The fights weren't easy, but they also weren't unlike what they'd seen before. They were easier than that first night, when the guys went in alone. Was it because Naoki had some special abilities like senpai? Or because this place wasn't as… definite then?
It took another hour to reach the top. Finally, they burst into a room to find Naoki, and Naoki's shadow. Kanji shuddered. He hated this part. Naoki definitely had the kind of baggage that produced a nasty shadow.
"Finally," said the shadow. "I've been waiting for so long… all alone." The real Naoki looked towards the team with lifeless eyes. Then he looked back at his shadow.
"It doesn't matter if they came or not," he said. The shadow laughed.
"Of course it does! All I want is to stop feeling so lonely! I want someone to be my friend. Someone to actually care about me." The shadow sounded somewhat like Naoto's at this point. Kanji was shaken. He moved forward a couple of steps. Souji-senpai flung an arm out in front of him, and Naoto tugged him back by his shirt. He knew this was something that Naoki had to face, but he really hated that he couldn't do anything to help.
The shadow had noticed his forward movement and turned to face him. "You!" it screamed. "Always meddling! You were my only real friend. But you didn't really care at all when it came down to it!"
"I-It wasn't like that," Kanji said softly.
"Oh, but it was! When I needed a friend the most, where were you? Not with me. With your real friends."
"H-Hey! I don't think that!" Naoki shouted.
"Of course you think that," the shadow continued. You are me, and I am you."
"N-No…" started Naoki. The shadow turned back to Kanji.
"And then you had the nerve to come in here alone."
"W-What? I never came in here alone…" Kanji was getting really flustered, What was it even talking about?
"You came here without the one you have the strongest connection with. That is the same as being alone." Everyone's eyes snapped to Naoto. She raised her eyebrows. The shadow continued to speak. "You hurt me, so I wanted you to know how I felt. I wanted you to suffer and hurt the way I hurt. I felt like I was being ripped apart. Dying." Was this what Margaret had meant about 'testing true bonds'? Naoki's shadow had the ability to fatally hurt anyone who entered the TV without the person they were closest to? Did Naoto even count as who he was closest to when he came in here before? He had wanted to be that close to her then, but he would have considered himself closer with senpai at that point. This shadow stuff was confusing.
"No!" Naoki shouted. "I would never have done that! How can you even say that? You're not… you're not me!"
This is pretty much how it always went. It was the reason they had held Kanji back at first. Naoki was going to have to deny his shadow, so they could fight it and then he could accept it. It was a hard fight. Knowing what they knew now, Kanji was really glad that he and Naoto were on the same team. Ted would be able to fix them up at the end. The fight ended faster than he expected. They had had a lot of practice fighting shadows over the past couple of weeks. The shadow fell back to the floor. Naoki had been crouched down, eyes tightly shut during the fight. He opened them and sighed. He walked up to his shadow.
"I know, ok? I know you're me. I know a part of me really felt that way. I was lonely and hurting after sis died, and everyone avoided me like I was contagious. It was especially hard to see someone who I thought was a true friend ignore me." His eyes shifted briefly to Kanji and then back. "But it's ok now, you know? I know that a lot of that was my own fault. I didn't try to connect with anyone. I was afraid. Afraid to go on living when Saki didn't get to. I get it now. I have to live… for her, and for me." The shadow turned into a glowing blue light and vanished, a tarot card landing in Naoki's hand. Then he slumped to the floor.
The team gathered around. Naoki sat up and shook his head. His eyes searched for Kanji. "I need… we have to talk about this. I need to apologize, and explain…"
Kanji cut him off. "Later, ok? We'll talk later. Been a rough day." They helped Naoki out of the TV, and Souji-senpai helped Kanji walk him home. Kanji promised Naoki that he would be back the next afternoon to talk. Then he went home and up to his room. He was having a hard time not blaming himself for what had just happened. I should have been there for him.