Hidden Dark Secret - Chapter 21
{April 19, 2011} {Sunny/Cloudy}
[Inside Yu's dream, After Midnight]
Yu and Philemon were now right outside the martial arts tournament stadium after that fiasco that took place in the last chapter, though the grey-haired protagonist was still pretty upset about that… They stood in what was apparently a parking lot inside the dream world…
"Are you feeling composed now, Yu Narukami? You look pale… if what just happened back there still bothers you, I would like to tell you that it was weird for me too…" Philemon told the chosen Wild Card sounding rather casual about it. The Former Master of the Velvet Room was still appearing to him in the form of Chie.
"C-Can you not wear Chie's face when you're talking… it's kinda freaking me out to hear your voice for the first time coming from my girlfriend's mouth…" Yu asked Philemon as he began to cringe at what he just said. Yu was also unpleased that the eldritch God kinda crashed his dream with the best girl.
In response to his request, Philemon soon changed his body from Chie to his usual form, he had the appearance of a young man with dark hair and a ponytail, complete with his partial butterfly mask that looked like something straight outta the phantom of the opera.
"I honestly thought choosing a form you're comfortable with would be the best way to approach you but I guess appearing as your love interest wasn't the best idea…" Philemon stated the obvious as he looked away from the grey-haired protagonist in contemplation of what to tell him.
"Concerning your journey, you probably have many questions in mind. I have revealed myself inside your realm of unconsciousness as a request from my servants to relieve any trepidations you may have in the search for the real truth, so why not ask away?" Philemon was pretty curt as he spoke with the Velvet room guest.
"Okay… then tell me, why does Adachi Tohru remember everything that happened throughout the year like I do? I want to know if that actually poses a threat to me and friends in our investigation…" Yu inquired to Philemon as he was truly curious to know why this is.
"Do you recall your conversation with Igor about me and the entity that opposes humanity's potential? Well, his name is Nyarlathotep and he chose Adachi in the same way I did for you…" Philemon stated vaguely to Yu who was unsurprising still puzzled.
"Being the God of pure evil that he is, Nyarlathotep decided to annoyingly even out the playing field in my plan for your journey by retaining the culprit's memories and sending him into the past. You'd think this would be an obstacle but in reality, it's actually failsafe move created just for you, Adachi is simply another key you need in the search for the real truth. By making him remember everything, it will make this all easier for you not to mess up again." As Philemon said his piece, Yu began recalling the words Margaret and Igor said to him before about being a key to all of this… but wait a minute… what was this about a failsafe move?
"Wait, you're telling me that you and Nyarlathotep are working together to help me on this? I thought you two were always sworn enemies or something like that, am I wrong?" Yu began to feel like he was being bamboozled as this whole thing could be some sort of conspiracy to mess with him…
"Well, you're not wrong about that... Nyarlathotep and I have our reasons for working together though it was mostly because we were bullied to by someone... but I cannot tell you who as of this moment… besides this someone could be eavesdropping on us right now…" Philemon whispered to Narukami in a low voice, he seemed uneasy about who ever could it be.
"Who? Wait… where is Izanagi by the way?" Yu began looking around his dream curiously but could not find his Persona anywhere in his dream.
"If you're wondering about your Persona, I merely put him outside your mind to rest since he seemed pretty tired… so any more questions?" Philemon stated to him clearly, it's not like Izanagi needed to know this all anyway.
"Yeah I'm wondering about these two girls I've just met a little while ago, Marie and Yumiko. Do they play some important role in all of this too?" Yu mentioned them to Philemon out of speculation, The Eldritch God of good and Time Master cleared his throat and spoke.
"Oh they absolutely do, even more important than you're currently thinking. Still, you have nothing to worry about as of this moment. In the meantime, just relax and stay focused on your investigation." Philemon's answer was pretty short and vague to Yu, but he had figured that Philemon wasn't exactly supposed to be very helpful since it's his story after all. Philemon began taking his leave as the grey-haired protagonist began processing all the information he received from him.
"If you have more questions, you could find me wherever close by to ask… and I'll be there to rewind time if you screw up...again. I am one of your guides on this journey after all…" Philemon gave the Velvet Room guest a dutiful nod and disappeared into nothingness as he began to awaken in his bed in the real world…
{Dojima's Residence}
[Yu's Room, Early Morning]
The grey-haired boy opened his eyes slightly to the ceiling of his room, he got up slowly from the futon to find his persona Izanagi still on the couch but he was wide awake for this sunrise…
"Good morning!" A rejuvenated Izanagi told his user with a cheery tone, Yu gave the Japanese God a tired smile because he was still pretty sleepy, he got out of bed and began preparing himself. The two later started talking while Yu ironed his uniform for the school day ahead.
"Hey Izanagi, why were you playing Persona 3 so loudly? Nanako and everyone else heard you from downstairs…" Yu spoke with the persona using his mind in curiosity as he ironed out the creases from his white shirt.
"I apologize but it wasn't me, it was Magatsu-Izanagi's fault…" Izanagi told his user honestly, Yu became perplexed by what he heard.
"Wait…Adachi's Persona? Ah, how come You guys were hanging out together here?" The grey-haired boy was curious to know why the killer's Persona was up in his room with Izanagi.
"He came up here because he didn't want to disturb Adachi and the others, we talked a bit and I realized he wasn't that bad of a guy… he also told me that he does the cooking for Adachi…" Izanagi even began thinking of his corrupt counterpart as a new friend. Yu was baffled by Izanagi's words but ultimately believed him.
"What really? I wouldn't think that Persona of a serial killer would be all that outgoing. Well then, just try not to be so noisy when they come over again…" Yu instructed Izanagi carefully because he didn't want to get in trouble with Dojima about that again, the Japanese God nodded in agreement. (RING-RING) Yu's flip phone started up… it was probably Margaret calling him like she did last time.
"Hello! Just calling to remind you of the importance of Social Links and using your days wisely, because bonds shape your world yadda yadda and all that, okay bye…" Margaret started upbeat during the call but then quickly ended on a lazy note. Yu was puzzled as to why she was half-assing her bit but shrugged it off as her feeling his struggle of literally doing this all again.
"Do thou think she's probably still upset about having to find thy Persona compendium tirelessly inside Igor's huge office?" Izanagi suggested this to Yu, who simply shrugged since he didn't really know.
"Maybe, but I did tell Margaret that I'll make it easy for her by taking Marie off her hands once and a while so I think she'll be fine, anyways let's head to school…" As Yu spoke, he was reminded of his duty to tour his newfound kohai Yumiko around Yasogami High.
"Hey Izanagi, did Magatsu mention anything about the girl that was downstairs with us?" Yu inquired to the Japanese God, he pondered for a moment.
"He said that him and Adachi were looking after her for a while at their place and that she's a really nice girl…that's all I know…" Izanagi revealed this small piece of info to his user.
"This girl really is mysterious indeed… but if she's nice then maybe she's not all that bad…" Yu thought to himself, he decided to test fate. With this little tour he's giving to her, this could be the chance to learn more about her and what she has to do with Adachi… Yu got his school blazer on and his book bag ready. The grey-haired protagonist and his Persona Izanagi began making their way out of the home and on to the path to Yasogami High.
{Yasogami High School}
[1st floor of the main building, Lunch-time]
Yumiko was inside the ladies' room on the first floor. She looked at herself nervously in the bathroom mirror as she wanted to look adorable and appealing because today was the day she was going to spend with her beloved senpai.
"Oh crap! Why am I so n-nervous today!? I-I mean it's been a long time since we spent time together like this but for some reason my cheeks are so flushed and my heart won't stop thumping in my chest… oh God my hands are all sweating too!" Yumiko then tried to cool herself by splashing some cold water on her face using the bathroom sink… but that just got her uniform top all wet.
"OH GOD! Why did this happen in the worst of times!" Yumiko shouted irritably in her mind as she looked down at herself, she put her greatest effort to dry up since lunch-time was almost over. Yu Narukami waited patiently in the middle of the school foyer after having lunch with Chie and Yosuke, wondering what was holding Yumiko up.
"Maybe Yumiko's lost somewhere? …Nah, I'll just wait here for her…" Yu thought to himself diligently as regular students walked by him, suddenly a small finger quickly tapped on his shoulder which made him jump in surprise. He turned his head over to see who it was.
"H-Hello Narukami-senpai! Are you ready to show me around school for a bit…?" Yumiko smiled brightly at her upperclassman, though she looked like was dunked inside a water tank you would find at some cheap carnival, little wet drips fell from her winter uniform and onto the wooden floor of the school.
"Uh…are you okay, Yumiko? You don't look very well… I think you may have a fever. Here let me see…" Big Bro Yu had noticed his kohai's cheeks were rosy for some strange reason and proceeded to check her forehead with his hand carefully, he also had moved his face closer to hers to see if she was indeed sick. Yumiko started feeling the soft…nice…touch of his hand but then realized her senpai's face was too close that it was making her feel even more uneasy. (oh the irony…)
"S-Senpai I'm fine, really! L-Let's just get going with our date-ImeanTOUR!" A panicking Yumiko waved off his concern. The blushing grey-haired girl moved quickly away from Narukami's face and turned her body away from him… she started fanning herself to calm down and not get all sweaty in front of her precious senpai as other first year students walked by them and began whispering in interest of this display.
"You sure? Well, don't push yourself too hard… I don't want my kohai to get sick…" Yu then framed a sincere smile on his face for Yumiko and planted his hand gently on her shoulder. The grey-haired girl's heart started fluttering in awe after seeing her senpai's genuine worry for her well-being… Her nervous state of mind suddenly started feeling tranquil inside too.
"Y-Yeah… I'm very sure senpai! Come on, Let's go!" A cheery and lightly blushing Yumiko then quickly hitched her arm around Yu's and started dragging him to wherever they were going for lunch-time.
"I'm quite surprised by how much she looks like thou, with the exception of those particular red eyes she has…" Izanagi commented in interest after getting a good look at the girl's face up close from within the realm inside Yu's head.
The two 'not twins' started in the first floor of the main school building. Other students who were watching the odd pair walk around began discussing if they were related due to the striking resemblance between them. For the first stop of the tour, the grey-haired protagonist led Yumiko to the school's faculty office just beside the foyer of the main building.
"This is the faculty office, this is where you ask school staff for help in finding your class number and any info on clubs or extra-curricular activities that you're interested in…" Yu carefully educated his observant kohai with slight enthusiasm in his voice.
"Okay got it senpai! …so is this place where the teachers eat and sleep? It's looks kinda small…" An innocent and precious Yumiko looked inside the sliding door window of the office in curiosity. Yu was pretty dumbfounded by her proclamation but admitted that he was rather entertained by her strange unfamiliarity with regular school life.
"…" Yumiko waited for her senpai to answer her question but then realized that it probably sounded weird to humans and became visibly embarrassed by her own words. Yu with a rather amused face, patted Yumiko's head lightly to comfort her humiliation but it was too late…
"Hehe, I use to think that way too…" Izanagi started laughing heartily at the girl's curiosity in Yu's mind. The two Yasogami students eagerly continued their tour of the school. They went to the nurse's office just down from their previous stop.
"This is the nurse's office, if you get sick or hurt at school, this is where you would go for assistance." Yu showed the room to his Kohai, Yumiko looked around the infirmary with visible interest…
"Can theses healers of students cure awful curses or cleanse evils from the soul? No…? (sighs)…Is that also weird to say too…?" A pretty worn out Yumiko inquired Narukami-senpai right beside her in order to not humiliate herself again.
"Hehe no, but you probably play too many RPGs for your own good." Yu began chuckling to himself as the grey-haired girl started fuming because he was playfully teasing her. Despite the fact that Yumiko does not know what an RPG is… Within Yu's mind, Izanagi felt a little sorry for Yumiko and her plight but still had another good laugh.
"You big meanie…" A visibly angry Yumiko uttered quietly, she looked away in a childish manner from the currently laughing protagonist as her face began to glow red in shame. The two continued on to the practice building of Yasogami High.
They entered the first floor of the structure from the courtyard that separated this building from the main school building.
"And here is where you would find the clubrooms of the school, so do any of them catch your interest?" Yu asked his young kohai as she began wondering down the practice building hallway while looking at the classroom markers in curiosity, she found one that caught her eye… Home Economics…
"What's this place senpai?" Yumiko began looking through the window to see many Home Ec students making sweets in the school-owned ovens and others cooking exquisite dishes to absolute perfection, it also smelled really good in there... the grey-haired girl wondered if she had what it takes to master such a difficult craft to win her senpai's heart from future contending suiters… She would try her best. Yu looked to see what she was looking at and noticed the marker on the classroom…oh GOD!
"Oh, you want to learn cooking huh? Or do you already know how to?" Yu looked composed for his Kohai on the outside but he began screaming loudly 'no' over and over again like a madman in his mind as he did not want to taste Mystery Food X: Yumiko Edition. He really hoped that she would answer with the latter.
"A-Actually, I don't but I want to learn in order to impress someone I know…" Yumiko began blushing and turned her head away from her senpai's face while smiling nervously. She tapped the tip of her school shoe against the wooden floor like a school girl madly love. Yu observed her behavior closely and began having more war flashbacks about his bonding with Yukiko and her cooking… he does care for her feelings but… no just no.
(RING-RING) The school bell indicated that lunch-time was over. Yu then walked the young girl back to the first floor of the main building, he wondered which of the classrooms was hers…
"Hey Yumiko, do you know which first year classroom you're assigned to?" Yu asked his kohai beside him in the hallway as various students began returning to their rooms for class time again.
"I believe its room 1-2…" Yumiko told him in response, it seemed like she wanted to say something else to him, she fidgeted a little as she wasn't use to speaking with humans on a normal basis.
"Th-Thank you Narukami-senpai, I had a lot of fun today with learning where to go at school… let's hang out again sometime!" Yumiko exclaimed to the tall grey-haired protagonist, Yu respectfully nodded to her in agreement.
"Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Hunger Arcana."
Izanagi proclaimed this dramatically in Yu's mind, even coming out of his user's body for emphasis in this event. Yu thought The Japanese God was overdoing himself a little than usual. Yumiko tried her best not to chuckle at her beloved Izanagi's silliness… She waved goodbye to Yu and headed inside her classroom.
"Hunger? Never seen this tarot card before… and by the looks of it, it's the same number as Strength…" Izanagi curiously examined the card from within Yu's mind.
"It's probably from the Thoth Tarot deck which is pretty strange since none of the other cards are from that deck, this certainly is an eyebrow raiser… but then again, Philemon did say not to worry about her… I'll have to trust his word…" Yu pondered deeply as he returned to his classroom on the second floor of the main building.
After leading this school tour for the new first year named Yumiko Shirasagi, the grey-haired protagonist decided to rejoin the basketball club after school simply to hear his good friend Kou talk about how much He Loooves Them Balls again. After his initial practice meeting with his sports club companions, Yu decided to go home for a bit…
[Shopping district, Evening]
As Yu and Izanagi had more freedom to explore Inaba at night, they decided to take a trip to the shopping district in the South for some late night gemstone trading for junk out of lady Shiroku's garage. After trying to bargain with the hostess due to the rather outrageous prices she has for her stuff, Yu decided to take his business elsewhere to the north part of the shopping district. The annoyed grey-haired protagonist walked up road of the shopping district in the cold dark night with Izanagi beside him, they soon came across Yosuke and Jiraiya curiously standing just outside the Konishi liquor store at the peak of the uphill road… Yu approached his buddy for a chat.
"Oh Hey Yu, my shift ended early today, so I was just wandering around. If you're bored, maybe you wouldn't mind talking for a while?" Yosuke formed a smile on his face to his new pal.
"Man, You're one unlucky guy. As soon as you transfer here, this murder stuff starts. That normally never happens here! In fact...normally, nothing ever happens here. Well, let me know if you find yourself bored. If you don't mind having me around, I'll hang out with you whenever you want." Yosuke seemed desperate, but the grey-haired boy kindly took him up on the offer.
"Thanks. You know, we could hang tomorrow if you got time…" Yu suggested to his magician friend while trying to think if this event happened in the last cycle, things really have change in the world.
"Hehe, Sure let's get some food together!" Yosuke seemed excited to hang out tomorrow, Yu wondered if these chats could be helpful in bonding time with his friends.
"So tell me, did you bring everything with you from the city? Yeah, when I moved here, it was such a pain unpacking everything that I was using one of the moving boxes as a desk..." Yosuke wondered curiously about that… Jiraiya and Izanagi decided to chat about some stuff a short distance from their users…
"Hello Jiraiya, how are you?" Izanagi asked his buddy next to him as they looked over their small town together from the peak of the uphill road in the shopping district.
"I'm okay… I guess…" Jiraiya seemed gloomy as he was hanging his head in a sulky manner, Izanagi found his mood to be quite unexpected.
"Are you sure? …Still thinking about what Orobas said inside the castle about your wife you can't seem to remember at all?" Izanagi curiously inquired to his sad-looking frog friend.
"Yeah, I still cannot recall much of the past before being awakened as Yosuke's Persona… You know, sometimes I wonder if I'm really Jiraiya… I feel there's something more to me and I know that because as I was transfigured into some guy named 'Susanoo' in the last cycle… I wonder if that's the 'real' me… I tried searching for this Susanoo guy on Yosuke's computer but can't really find anything about him other than he was a God of Storms…" Jiraiya wondered this about himself, Izanagi always felt that name was familiar to him for some strange reason…Susanoo.
"Just remember that Tomoe and I promised you to help rediscover your past… it's strange that I don't feel that way too, I've always remembered being Izanagi… but we can start the search for your true-self tomorrow if you like…" The Japanese God told his frog buddy in a comforting tone of voice.
"Thanks Izanagi… you know for an old guy, you're still a pretty cool dude…" An earnest Jiraiya honestly spoke his feelings towards his pal despite knowing the God's sensitivity about his age…
"I-I'm not that old! I'm pretty sure I was born at least after the dinosaurs…" Izanagi was very sure about that or least appeared to be…
"Crap, how long have we been talking here? We should both be getting home… Oh yeah! Here, have this. I've heard it's pretty good. Well, see ya!" Yosuke quickly handed an average cough drop to his tall grey-haired buddy and started heading home with Jiraiya after a quick farewell… Yu began wondering why just a single cough drop and not a couple of them instead? Ah who cares… He began heading back home with Izanagi.
{Sea of Souls}
[The Land of Shadows, unknown exact time] [Credited to my editor Amouren]
How long had it been exactly? How long had it been since she had last seen the outside world? She had since lost count of the eons as She looked out at the constantly shifting landscape of the astral sea from inside of her cage… this infernal cage, imposed upon those who deemed him a failure of a guardian to the grand deity of this realm.
Even after all this time inside this cage, it still disgusted her to think that those in the world of humans, thought themselves greater than the gods they once worshipped for so long, especially in this...modern era. With the Shadows created by those as old as time itself being overpopulated by… the vermin and ungrateful mortals… Just thinking about it caused her cage to shake and rumble with a sort of thunderous fury.
But… she couldn't let this distract her. Because of the foolishness of those on the outside tinkering with the strands of time… for reasons she did not quite understand… she found that the shackles on his cage loosed a bit. All he had to do was be patient... and wait for the cracks to appear wide enough for her to seep his influence… into the real world. She didn't care how long it took… she had plans for the imperfections known as humanity. And she was a very patient shadow…
Author's notes: Sorry guys, College work caught up to me so I focused on that but It's all good now! Report any errors to me that I missed somehow!
-My choice for Yumiko's Arcana is based on the decisions she makes in the story as it progresses plus I thought it was a waste of a perfectly good Tarot Card since Adachi was already the Jester.
-Yumiko's classroom was originally going to be shared with Kanji. I changed it for funny scenarios in the future.
-If you don't know, The Sea of Souls is where the entities and SMT demons live in the Persona universe.