"Shadow/Higher being"
Chapter 19
It was a nice sight. Clean air, small little waterfall, sunny weather, two girls in swimwear, clean river… yep… Too bad Yosuke and Souji were watching all this in a freezing river. They heard a shriek from above as they watched Kanji fall into the freezing river too.
"Wh-What was that for? I didn't do anything!" Kanji shouted while shivering. They all heard the sounding of heaving from upstream. Chie said that it was King Moron.
"Senpai…" Kanji started.
"Don't say it…" Yosuke said slowly. They scrambled out of the freezing river and went home feeling cold and disgusted.
"How was the camping trip?" Nanako asked.
"Great… made friends with a cop, ate some great food, had a nice sleep, and a great swim."
"I wanna go!"
'No…you don't…'
Yosuke stopped by his house the next day. It seemed that he wanted to hangout so they went to Souji's room. "Hey… how are you holding up…?" Yosuke was shifting his eyes around awkwardly.
"Let's… never mention the trip again. Ever."
"Good idea…" Yosuke changed the subject and looked around the room. "Your room's pretty clean. So you keep the goods under your futon?"
"Of course not! That's way too obvious man. Keep them in sight, but out of it at the same time." He looked to his shelf. Yosuke seemed to find it funny.
"So ever invited a girl here?"
"Huh… never really thought about it. I guess sometime soon?"
"So you're working on it?"
Souji gave a shrug. Nanako came by asking for some things before leaving for her friend's house.
"Well time to take a look at the goods!" Yosuke exclaimed moving towards the shelves.
"…Get out." Souji felt their bond strengthen.
"So, you guys seen the news?" Kanji asked. It was early morning and the investigation team, minus Minato, was gathered around Souji's desk.
"News…? Oh, that stuff about Rise Kujikawa?" Chie asked.
'Rise? The Rise that Michi mentioned?' "Is she that popular?" Souji asked.
Yosuke gave Souji a surprised look. "Dude what's wrong with you? She's all over the media!"
"Excuse me then!" Souji crossed his arms.
"I think she used to live here, so she must have a lot of local fans." Chie said.
"The news said she's going to her grandmother's tofu shop right? Do they mean Marukyu?" Yukiko pondered.
"Probably one and the same." Souji replied.
The team figured that Rise fit the pattern of the murders and figured she would likely be the next target. Yosuke seemed to be a little too excited about the idea of keeping an eye on Rise.
After school, some guy, Souji vaguely remembered from somewhere came and told him to go to the infirmary for a health association meeting or something like that. Souji had honestly forgotten he was in that.
"I heard that Konishi is exempt from homework. Is it true?" A girl in the committee asked.
"Man, that is so unfair." One of the other students complained.
"Can we just get these things done? I rather you not talk like this behind a person's back." Souji was annoyed.
"Er… right…" After that the committee got their work done and parted ways from there. During that time, Souji realized that the Konishi kid from last time didn't show up even once. He shrugged it off and started his way home. He saw the guy on his way out, though. He had a sad expression on his face and told Souji that he was sorry for not showing up. He tossed him a handkerchief because he saw that Souji's shirt was slightly dirty. He then proceeded to walk away.
"Huh… Why are you being so sincere today? Last time we talked you pretty much just shoved me off." Souji asked.
"It's nothing…" The guy left.
"Hi… Souji-kun…" It was Yumi; she seemed to be walking back from the hospital.
"Haven't seen you around in awhile… What's up with that?"
"I just… came from Dad's… that man's room at the hospital. He looked at me and smiled like he was happy. He's nothing, but trouble!" She tried to sound angry, but was as sad as ever. "Why do I have to go through all of this…?"
Souji stayed silent. He couldn't really understand how she felt. She didn't seem to mind his silent response. In fact, she seemed glad that Souji was listening. She went home saying that she had to get some medicine to her mother. Souji felt their bond strengthen.
Chie called all of them that night to remind them to watch the Midnight Channel since it was raining tonight. Souji vaguely made out the shape of a feminine figure. Souji would be lying if he said that he didn't think anything of what he saw. Basically, in simpler terms… IT WAS AWESOME! Souji hadn't seen anything like it since Yukiko's crazy hormones. Yosuke called soon after. Apparently, he had the same thoughts too. Can't blame him, they were both guys after all. He was sure that it was Rise Kujikawa. They agreed to investigate the next day after school.
Souji got a call from Minato saying there was something important they had to discuss. Souji told him that they were going to do some investigation on Rise first. Afterwards, they would have their talk. Minato agreed to meet up with them by the tofu place. Chie and Yukiko had their own plans, so they left investigating up to the guys.
The four of them headed to the Shopping District after school where they spotted Adachi standing behind a crowd of people directing cars away from the shop. "Huh? Um, Mr. Detective, di-" Yosuke started.
"His name is Adachi, you know." Souji interrupted. Yosuke gave Souji an annoyed look.
"So, did something happen?" Yosuke continued.
"Oh, it's you guys. These gawkers keep streaming in with their cars, trying to park in the middle of the Shopping District. Probably cause Rise Kujikawa is here."
"So why is a plainclothes detective doing traffic control?" Kanji asked.
Adachi seemed a bit intimidated by Kanji, so he hastily finished his explanation and left. Soon after, Souji saw his uncle step out of the shop looking annoyed.
"What are you all doing here?" Dojima asked suspiciously.
'Naturally that would be the first thing my dear uncle would ask…' Souji thought. "I guess we came to see Rise…?" Souji shrugged.
"…Fine. Remember, she might be a celebrity, but this is her home. Try not to bother them too much." Dojima finished his piece and left in search of Adachi.
"That cop's your uncle, huh? What the hell was that all about? Are you guys under suspicion?" Kanji asked.
"Well they did take us in once…" Yosuke said.
"It was all Yosuke's fault by the way." Souji replied. "I mean who the hell waves lethal metal objects around?"
"Okay, okay, I get it." The crowd around the tofu shop had begun to clear up when Minato arrived. The crowd complained that Rise wasn't there. Yosuke seemed the most disappointed, but they went inside to buy some tofu anyways.
There was one person inside that they saw and she was working in the back, so they couldn't tell who it was.
"'Scuse me!" Kanji called out to the person in the back.
"Yes, may I help you?" It was Michi. She came from the side as she approached them. "Souji-chan, how nice to see you again and you brought friends with you."
"Good afternoon." Souji greeted back politely. At this point Yosuke realized that if the old lady was here then the other one must be…
"…What?" The girl in the back replied flatly. Yosuke seemed to be in shock, so Kanji took over.
"Are you Rise?"
"Yeah. So?" Yosuke instantly snapped out of it and ran forward. Minato stepped forward to talk with Rise as well. Souji stayed behind to converse with Michi.
"Sorry about the disturbance. I know the last thing you want is for people to flock around your granddaughter."
"Nonsense. It's quite alright. I wanted you to meet her eventually. Your friends seem to have a good head on their shoulders. Please go speak with my granddaughter; I need to do a few things." Michi turned and left.
"So yeah…" Minato started as Souji came up behind him. "Yosuke seems to be making a fool of himself. Rise doesn't look too happy does she?"
"Not at all. Maybe she's stressed from showbiz or something."
Rise went to get the tofu that Kanji had ordered. "H-Have you noticed anything weird lately?" Yosuke was still trying to calm down.
"Weird…? Like stalkers? Are you guys' fans of mine?"
"I wouldn't say 'we', but yeah, dude here's a big fan." Kanji said pointing to Yosuke. You are awesome Kanji.
"You little…! Why'd you let that slip?"
"Her curves, her posture, even her beautiful slim legs… Ya finished checkin' them out yet, or what?" You are better than awesome. What's better than awesome? Epic? Almost Kanji… almost. Either way, he got Yosuke riled up. Yosuke mentioned the Midnight Channel, and she already seemed to know about it.
"Wait… What? You mean you saw it last night?" Yosuke replied in shock.
"I heard some rumors, but that girl last night wasn't me. I've never been filmed wearing that swimsuit before… and well the bustline… mine aren't that big."
"Oh… I see what you mean now…"
'Nice Yosuke. Brilliant.'
He stuttered an apology, which Rise found to be funny and making Yosuke ecstatic as a result. Yosuke ended up explaining a little about their investigation to Rise. She gave them a little bit of extra tofu as thanks for worrying. They decided to leave the shop since they did their investigating already and nothing came up yet. Minato dragged Souji to the Velvet Room after they bid goodbye to Yosuke and Kanji.
"Okay, so what is this all about?" Souji asked, looking around at everyone present in the Velvet Room.
"There… was an incident while you were away on your school trip." Minato started. "Some guy claimed to have known me in my previous life and well…" He recapped the events of his battle with Shakku.
"He had a Persona and he was able to summon it in this world?"
"Somehow he was able to without an Evoker or any means of summoning it. The other thing is the power that he unleashed when he was backed into a corner. He pulled out a card and crushed it as you guys would when you fight in the other world. It was an incredible, unnatural force. I would go as far as to say an evil power. Without Thanatos' timely intervention, I wouldn't be here talking with you now."
"Wait… this card…" Souji reached into his pocket and pulled out the Persona card he had found during his school trip. "Would it be something like this?" He heard gasps around the room. "Guess so…"
"I had sensed a great change in you when you first entered the Velvet Room today." Igor had his eyes closed in concentration. "You have been tainted by the card's power…"
"But… I haven't used it or anything yet…" Souji became nervous.
"Perhaps, there is still a chance for you yet…"
"Can I see it?" Minato asked.
"No, don't touch it!" Margaret hissed. "Once you've made contact with it, you can no longer turn away from the power it holds."
"I've heard of Personas being awakened purely by one's negative desires. A Persona is a façade of yourself that braves hardships. These Personas are born when one has faced or resolved to overcome their inner darkness. These other Personas however, are not born by facing one's self, but by bringing forth their inner darkness. They are made through despair, greed, and of course, hatred." Elizabeth explained.
"You must somehow get rid of it before you are lured into using it." Igor warned. "However, do not merely toss it away. Doing that will only further spread the corruption like a plague."
"How can I? The other thing I noticed about it is that it always reappears no matter where I put it. On the day I found the card, I had thrown it away and when I looked for it, I could not find it. When I got home, I found it in my pockets and no matter what I do, it always reappears no matter where I go…"
"You must not let its power sway you. The Black Tarot will act upon your greatest desires until you are tempted to use it."
"That's what you're calling the cards now?"
"Indeed. Personas that are born from one's negative desires are much like Shadows. They seek to kill others in order to awaken a personality of their own. Unlike Shadows however, these Personas will completely drain all human personality. They feed upon untapped Persona potential and successfully kill both host and Persona leaving their bodies in a horribly transfigured state." Igor explained.
"Okay, fine. So what do I do then? I'm screwed or something because I picked up this card, right?"
"Perhaps you can resist its beckon and learn to control it… but do not intentionally try to do so. More than likely, you will be consumed."
Souji became silent. There was nothing he could say or do. He'd have to do the best he could at the moment. He left the Velvet Room and walked home nervously.
"You should keep an eye on him." Igor said to Minato after Souji had left. "There's no telling what he can do. His destiny is an intriguing one. Perhaps his destiny will also end with his death and… if that should happen; it should be by your hand. Do you understand?"
"How could you ask me to kill someone, and my friend at that? It's not in me to do such a thing." Minato was appalled.
"You do not want him to turn against you. He has great potential and he may become much more powerful then you once were."
Minato sighed. There seemed to be no other choice. He'll avoid it… if he could help it.
Patcheresu: Oh yeah I did respond to that. At that time I wasn't sure what you meant. I was thinking something along the lines of skills, but wasn't sure.
Kaizer23: Thanks, though it'll be awhile until Minato actually encounters anybody familiar to him. Be patient though.
Thanks everyone else for the continued reviews! I appreciate it whether it is deserving or undeserving.
Betaed by RionAgrias!