Chapter 19: Learned To Let Go

April 25, 2011

Disclaimer: The Persona series is owned by Atlus and its parent company which is currently Sega. JustCharles owns Reiko Setsuka, but I do own any OCs that I would be using including Dylan, Stephen and Roz. Anything else that I reference is the property of their respective authors.

Yasogami High

After classes had wrapped up for the day; Yu, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Dylan, Stephen and Roz had gathered on the roof.

Yukiko had finally made her way to the roof and she was balancing two bowls with plastic insulation lids over them. "Well, the soba would be yours, Chie!

"I'm starving! How long am I supposed to wait, huh?" Chie exclaimed.

Yukiko sort of rolled her eyes at Chie before she sat down beside Dylan. "Just a few more minutes."

"Anyway, how exactly did you end knowing Chase and Mina?" Dylan asked.

Yukiko did her best to answer the question. "Well, Minako, her brother and Chase were here for intramurals or something like that and they were staying at the inn. Chase and Minato did kendo and Mina played tennis. She was pretty good from what I heard."

"Um, Yukiko, I know it mightn't be my place to ask, but do you remember anything new around when you got kidnapped?"

Yukiko frowned. "Not really. I got knocked out and I don't really recall much before or after that. I'm sorry that I couldn't be more helpful."

"It's alright. I'm sure that you'll remember something later." Chie sounded reassuring.

Yosuke had put an arm around Chie. "It's weird that we still don't know who's behind the murders or the kidnapping. If the culprit's still in Inaba then who could it be?"

"It could be anyone." Stephen spoke up.

Roz rolled her eyes. "That's kind of the point. I think that's why nobody's been able to find the guy. I mean, he's targeting women right? So he's male?"

"He is." Yu wasn't ready to tell them what he knew yet.

Dylan whistled. "We're going to unmask him whoever he is."

"So, are the instant noodles done?" Yukiko asked impatiently.

Wordlessly, Chie had removed the insulation lids and handed the tofu to Yukiko before taking the soba for herself.

Dylan looked over at the tofu. "So, I'm assuming that you're on some sort of health thing, Milady?"

"I wouldn't call it a health kick!" She replied.

Dylan stared over at the bowl before leaning in. "I've never had tofu before, so would you mind letting me have a taste? Please?"

"Would you like to try it?" Yukiko asked.

Dylan took the bowl, ate a piece of fried tofu and handed the bowl back. "That was GOOD! I'm surprised that I haven't tried tofu before."

"I'm not hungry." Yosuke remarked.

Chie nodded. "But I am. You know, I could really go for some steak. That is, if you don't mind spoiling me."

"I don't but I'm a little but short on funds at the moment." Yosuke apologised.

Dylan spoke up again. "So, it's going to be my round again? You guys are lucky that I'm able to afford being so generous. Oh and it's my birthday in three days and I'm expecting something awesome."

"Cake?" Stephen wondered.

Roz smiled. "Well, he's getting his cake and eating it too apparently."

"All this talk about cake is making me hungry!" Chie complained vociferously.

Yukiko looked at the now empty bowl and grinned widely. "Blondie's buying us all steaks!"

"Sure." Dylan sounded slightly surprised.

Yu just sat there watching and observing the rest of the group. They were like what he had remembered but they were also very different. It was just a matter of reconciling the two or learning to let go.

Junes Food Court

The group were enjoying their steaks although they were currently eating grilled steaks rather than filets.

"How do you get the steak so good?!" Stephen exclaimed, mouth full of food.

Yosuke chuckled slightly before answering. "Well, the cows graze on the best grasses. Oh, well, it is Inaba's specialty dish plus the grill is absolutely fantastic."

"Yeah. I don't think my dad's going to mind another few more yen or dollars going off his already large bank account." Dylan joked.

Chie was deep in thought. "I wonder who the culprit is."

"Well, it's not Hiragi and I doubt that the culprit would be female because it's been posited before. Besides, she's got an airtight alibi as it is. I think the killer's been very good at covering his tracks so far." Yosuke observed.

They heard a voice and Dylan turned to look and saw Adachi. "I guess that Inaba isn't such a sleepy little town after all. I'm Adachi by the way."

"I know who you are, so you can just leave me alone. Unless you want to arrest me on trumped up charges again." Dylan growled.

Adachi just gave Dylan a slight smirk. "I'm sorry. I'm Dojima's partner and people have really been following this case. Not that I'd blame them."

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Yu asked.

Adachi's face lit up. "As a matter of fact I do. I'd better not be late or Dojima's going to have my hide. Don't tell him that I was talking about the case!"

"Asshole." Dylan muttered under his breath.

Roz seemed a little bit confused. "So, what happened?"

"Dylan got arrested for Yukiko's kidnapping but he was found innocent of all charges. And Adachi was the detective who arrested him." Stephen explained briefly.

The blonde had pushed back his chair and stood up. "Seeing Adachi again so soon after he wrongfully arrested me has kind of put a sour taste in my mouth. I kind of need to go and blow off some steam."

"Maybe I should go and talk to him. I'll just be a few minutes!" Yukiko stood up and left as well.

Yu seemed surprised. "I'm guessing that Dylan's had some trouble with the law before. And Adachi has just managed to bring up some of his memories of that trouble."

"How did you know?" Stephen asked.

Yu looked up at the ceiling briefly before making his reply. "Well, I heard a lot about his various travails so I kind of found that out."

"Maybe we could get him a cake?" Yosuke suggested.

Chie agreed with the suggestion. "That'd be a good idea. So, do you want to hang out later? When we're not in Mayonaka I mean."

"Why not?" Yosuke agreed.

The group just had to wait for Dylan and Yukiko to come back so they could go to Mayonaka had have a look around.

United States Embassy, Tokyo

It had been only five days but Mitsuru had managed to gather the rest of SEES or at least the rest of the main team together in Tokyo. Akihiko, Yukari, Junpei, Fuuka and Aigis were currently accompanying her whilst Ken and Koromaru were in Inaba with Chase and Mina.

The various members of the embassy staff were moving all around them as they were flanked by men in suits carrying guns.

After a brisk walk, the group reached their destination and all of them apart from Mitsuru were told to wait outside the room until the meeting was finished.

Calloway was sitting at a desk with cup of coffee a short distance in front of him. He smiled curtly at Mitsuru and offered her a seat. "I didn't expect you to find them all so soon. But desperate times call for desperate measures as the saying goes. And these could be very desperate times indeed."

"Yes. I have informed them of the possibility that there could be another event involving Shadows as there were three previous ones. I assume that you have contacted the other two teams already." Mitsuru's response could have frozen water.

Calloway was unsure as to how to respond to that. "I was going to contact Toudou and Suou when I was absolutely certain of your cooperation. And now I can contact them at my leisure and inform them of the situation. I am sure that they would look quite favourably upon getting another chance to save the world."

"And you're saying that my team isn't?" Mitsuru asked.

Calloway smiled again. "Not at all. I do however, want to be absolutely certain of their commitment to the mission."

"Well of course they are. I contacted each of them and explained everything to them individually." Mitsuru replied.

It was an answer that Calloway wasn't quite expecting. "And they're still willing to reform your team despite the dangers that may present themselves?"

"I wouldn't be here otherwise. As a matter of fact, none of the people standing outside this room would be here if they weren't already fully aware of the dangers and willing to go ahead anyway." Mitsuru's voice turned deadly cold for the second time.

Calloway smirked briefly before he turned his gaze to the door. "No they wouldn't. I don't think they didn't mind the dangers when the Arisato boy was still in the land of the living and I doubt that they'll mind now."

"Now that that's settled, can I go? I've got various arrangements to make and they won't be making themselves." Mitsuru remarked.

Calloway watched as she stood up and pushed the chair out behind her. "I assume that you've changed your mind?"

"I have." Mitsuru had walked away, closing the door behind her.

If Calloway was so inclined then he could have sighed in relief but he decided against it. "All's well that ends well. I wouldn't have agreed to this mission if I didn't think it would."

Of course, he didn't know that there would be a good outcome if things in Inaba got more serious but he did know that a reunited SEES and the two teams of Persona users that had defeated the malevolent entity known as Nyarlathotep would be more than enough to deal with it.

Junes Arcade

Dylan had found himself in Junes' arcade and was currently failing miserably at Castlevania a fact that was somehow made worse by his having somehow managed to get to Dracula in approximately fifteen minutes.

"OH C'MON! You've got to be fucking kidding me! Dracula, you cheating bastard!" He shouted in frustration.

Dylan used to go to arcades a lot whenever his parents would argue or whenever he was feeling angry about something, with Adachi's appearance earlier acting as a very good example. He also had various videogame consoles scattered about his house complete with a videogame room in the attic that wouldn't be used otherwise.

He looked as he'd managed to run out of credits and swore loudly. "Stupid fucking machine. Seriously? Am I that out of practice? Fuck me."

"With pleasure, Blondie." He'd heard a voice and turned around to see Yukiko standing in front of him.

Dylan looked contrite. "I'm sorry about ditching you guys. Seeing Adachi after he'd wrongfully arrested me kind of pissed me off a bit and I needed to go blow off some steam."

"I could've helped with that. Why don't you just tell me what's bothering you?" She moved in closer to him.

Dylan sighed. "After Roz died, I kind of had a few run-ins with the law for about nine months. These run-ins included cautions for possessing narcotics, a DUI and being arrested for breaking into someone's winter house in Vermont. Not to mention a few bogus charges that I don't really want to discuss."

"Your arrest must have brought back some bad memories then?" Yukiko asked.

Dylan grimaced slightly. "If you could call them that. I've dealt with plenty of asshole cops back home and I thought that I was going to be making a clean break coming here. The past is a lot harder to shake than I'd have thought it was."

"We're not going to judge you for it so you don't need to worry about that." Yukiko was doing her best to reassure him.

He wondered how he got so lucky. Maybe someone up there liked him. "I wouldn't say that I'm worried. I'm more cautiously optimistic."

"I don't really see that side of you all that often." Yukiko teased.

Dylan rolled his eyes. "Alright. Oh and you missed me getting my ass kicked by the lord of the undead, also known as Mister Vlad Tepes Esquire also known as Dracula. I don't suppose you'd want to stay here more than you have to."

"Maybe not. Why don't we go and get a Play Station 3 and some games for it? You could view it as being an early birthday present if you'd like." Yukiko suggested.

Dylan sounded a little bit sceptical. "What about my other present? Can I get that early to?"

"Nope! However, I can assure you that it would be well worth the wait. After all, my Golden Giant wouldn't expect anything less." Yukiko knew exactly what she was doing.

They exited the arcade with Dylan keeping a close eye on Yukiko's form.

Junes Electronics Department

Dylan and Yukiko had managed to meet up with the rest of the group who were looking at them with varying degrees of impatience except for Yu who just seemed mildly amused.

"Where were you guys?" Chie sounded both curious and impatient.

Yukiko had mercifully decided to answer that one. "Well, I found Dylan in the arcade and he just needed a little bit of time to himself that's all."

"Ah." Stephen responded.

Dylan had decided to speak up. "So are we going into the TV now or what?"

"Sure." Yu put on his glasses with a flourish.

The rest of the group put on their glasses and jumped into the TV. Yu noticed that Dylan and Yukiko were holding hands while Yosuke had an arm around Chie as they jumped.

Entrance, Mayonaka

The landing had been safe and fairly uneventful. Yukiko stood up and stared around the room in awe.

"So this is the inside of the TV!" Yukiko gasped.

Dylan just made a little noise in his throat before saying anything. "Yep. This is where the magic happens as you might say."

"Pretty much." Stephen agreed.

There were footsteps before Teddie had appeared seemingly from out of thin air. "It's great to see you guys, especially you Yuki-Chan! I hope Dylan doesn't mind if I call you that though!"

"I don't think he does." Yosuke demurred.

Yu nodded slightly. "He doesn't mind if he just uses it as a nickname, not a term of endearment."

"I guess. So, has anyone else disappeared since Yukiko got rescued?" Roz asked.

Teddie crinkled his nose and shook his nose. "I don't think so! The grizzlies are bear-y quiet after all! I wonder what brings you here if there aren't any grizzlies around."

"We just want to have a look around." Yu answered.

Chie had a question of her own. "Why do you have so many pairs of glasses just laying around?"

"You never know who might need them. It's bear-y good to be careful after all." Teddie nodded his head sagely at them.

Yu suddenly had a thought. "So would you mind taking us to where I summoned Izanagi for the first time? There's an errand that needs taking care of."

"Oh! Well, if that's the case then we shall be quick about it!" Teddie jumped up and summoned a portal to Mayonaka's version of the shopping district in Inaba and the group jumped in along with Teddie.

Twisted Shopping District, Mayonaka

The shopping district, or at least the Mayonaka version of it, was quiet.

"Jeez. I wonder if this place gets any better the longer you're away from it." Dylan wondered aloud.

Yukiko laughed a little at Dylan's attempt at humour. "I'm not sure. It just seems really quiet, that's all."

The rest of the group was silent until Yu had led them to where Yosuke had faced his Shadow and stopped in front of the building.

"If you excuse me, there's something that I need to do." Yosuke said sorrowfully.

He walked into the building alone while the group watched him.

Roz raised her voice. "So what happened here exactly? I'm up to speed on everything for the most part but I need someone to catch me up a little."

"Well, Yosuke faced himself and he accepted the parts of himself that he couldn't accept before." Yu explained in the simplest way he could.

Chie was deep in though. "Like the rest of us? If that's true, then why do you and Roz have Personas despite not facing your Shadows?"

"I'll take this one. Yu's fully self-actualized I guess and you get to confront the aspects of yourself that you didn't quite like when you're dead. It gives you a lot of time to think about things." Roz responded ruefully.

Yukiko looked around her. "I guess it would give you time to think. That being said, I've learnt a lot about myself these past two weeks and I'm grateful for those lessons. I wouldn't have gotten together with Blondie otherwise."

"AHEM!" Dylan coughed, his face turning a little bit red.

After waiting approximately fifteen minutes, Yosuke came out carrying a pair of wrenches before putting them in his pockets.

"Thanks for waiting for me." He sounded sad for want of a better word.

Yu gave Yosuke a sidelong glance. "Don't worry about it. That's what friends are for right?"

"I suppose so. Let's go home. I don't think there's any point training without weapons is there?" Yosuke asked.

Yu chuckled. "Probably not."

They looked as Teddie summoned a portal that would take them back through the TV and back to Junes and Inaba. Well, until they either had to go and train or come back to rescue someone.