Persona: World And Judgement – Chapter Twenty-Five

The Midnight Moriyama

How is it going today guys?! Welcome to the twenty-fifth chapter of the story! Now you might or might not already know, but I've posted something you might like on my profile. So when you're ready, get down to my profile and look on the first update you see under the 'Update Time' heading. I hope you like what you see! Now, since we're done with announcements for today...LET'S GT-R-DONE!

08/06 - Late Night

Only a few minutes left until midnight and everyone was starting to get restless; not just for the Midnight Channel, but also for the Dark Hour that added to their problems. The night they rescued Ken was shock for all when the discorded streets and the ghastly green shades returned to Iwatodai for reasons unknown. But for now, they all had to turn their focus to the TVs, and had to make their safety a priority.

As she walked up the stairs with everyone to their respective dorm rooms, she looked around at the people she was walking with. And when she found that Fuuka wasn't one of the people amongst them, she remembered the call she took on the phone to Natsuki. But what she also remembered was that she didn't come back down to even say her goodnights to everyone. "That's funny..." Yukari thought to herself, "...Fuuka didn't say goodnight..."

When the boys broke away from the group on the first floor, she along with the other girls climbed the stairs to the next floor. Yukari knew Fuuka would be in her room, and after watching the others step into their rooms and locking their doors, she approached Fuuka's dorm, placing an ear on the wood of the door to check if she was in.

On the other side of the door, Yukari heard sniffles and soft whimpers, and immediately knew that Fuuka was the one making those heartbreaking noises. "Fuuka?" Yukari asked for her with a few gentle knocks on her door, "It's Yukari. Are you alright?" At first, there was no response, but the only difference Yukari found after knocking was the weeping noises that were made behind the door.

She knocked again, and after a short while, she found the doorknob slowly turning. And eventually, the door gradually creaked open with Fuuka appearing in between the small crack that was made upon opening the door. "Oh...hey Yukari...I'm fine..." Fuuka croaked, forcing a smile on her face to feign happiness, "...what are you doing up so late?"

Yukari knew she was asking to avoid anyone from helping her, but the tears that stained her face were an obvious sign. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again, getting a sharp and quick nod of the head. Fuuka wiped the corner of her eye to stop another tear from falling. "...Absolutely..." Fuuka muttered, "...I'm feeling rather tired though. I should...just get some rest...goodnight, Yukari." It was all too obvious to Yukari to ignore. When Fuuka slowly pushed the door closed, Yukari quickly held her hand against the door to push the door open again with a gentle force.

"Fuuka, please...is there something wrong?" Yukari asked for a third time as she swung the door wider. As soon as she was asked again, Fuuka looked down to the floor to find another excuse so that Yukari wouldn't have to worry. She wasn't the one who wanted to depend on others to help her; she wanted to do things on her own, even if it meant to make herself feel better when she was down.

But eventually, after finding no excuse good enough, Fuuka gave in to Yukari's will to help and turned away from her. She walked towards her bed and sat on the duvet with her head dropped to the floor with a strain in her neck. She didn't need to say anything; just letting Yukari into her room was enough for a response.

As Yukari stepped into Fuuka's room, she gentle shut the door behind her and turned the lock to keep some privacy. She turned back round and walked over to Fuuka's side, sitting next to her on the duvet covers. "It's Natsuki-chan..." Fuuka mumbled before wiping more incoming tears.

Yukari knew as much, but the way in which Fuuka said it made it sound like more than bad news. There were many morbid thoughts going through her mind, with the worst of what to think. Yukari wanted to ask, but the dreadful thought restricted her from saying. But after a short pause, she had to come out with it. "Natsuki Moriyama..." Yukari said hesitantly, "...did...something happen to her...?"

Fuuka didn't respond for a while, which only made Yukari worry more for her. But after she shook her head, Yukari felt relieved, but at the same time couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Fuuka. "No...she's fine, but..." Fuuka struggled to say over her soft sobs, "...it's...it's just that I miss her..."

It was a familiar topic that they both heard of that day, and Yukari could relate to her along with many others in the group if they were here to see Fuuka in the state she was in. It may have been under different circumstances, but to Fuuka, the sadness she felt could match what Yukari's sadness would feel like. "Oh, Fuuka..." Yukari said, rubbing her back with a soft hand to ease her pain.

"...It's silly, isn't it...?" Fuuka asked rhetorically with a sniffle, "...How one person can be so attached to another...and how distance between the two could make it so hurtful..." Yukari couldn't fully understand Fuuka's dilemma. Fuuka was weeping over a close friend who was still alive, and only the far distance she was away from her made it a problem. Yukari however had been constantly feeling the same mourning feeling for over two years for someone she still couldn't bear to lose.

"I wouldn't think of it as silly..." Yukari said as she lowered her own head to the floor, "...in fact...it's quite natural." She didn't know what else to say; the feelings were mutual. And as soon as Fuuka's mind was set on Yukari's problems, a look of realisation broke through the tears that smothered her face.

"Oh Yukari, I am so sorry! I-I wasn't being fair...I shouldn't have...brought it up..." she greatly apologised, making a greater effort to rub out every last tear that was still running down her face, and gathering the strength to change her mood even though she knew it wouldn't be done that easily. "No, don't worry Fuuka. You have every right to feel this way...it is painful to miss someone sometimes." Yukari reassured her, using the arm she had on her back to bring her into a friendly side-hug.

A long pause was left between the two, only to let Fuuka cry away the last of her sorrows into Yukari's shoulder. Just hearing Fuuka's sobbing made Yukari want to do the same, but the emotions were too normal to even create any tears; she had too much experience with the feeling.

After a long silence, a few more knocks were then heard at the door, followed by a sweet yet exhausted voice. "Hello? It's Yukiko..." said Yukiko as her voice muffled behind the door, "...is everything alright?" As Yukari looked towards the door, her first instinct was the open it, but after having her arm tugged by Fuuka, she looked back to her, seeing the look on her face as if to say she didn't want anymore help. But learning from Mitsuru and Yu's talk when she struggled with her message to the memorial, she knew that Fuuka was only making herself worse.

Yukari sat up from the bed and walked over to the door, slowly opening it to let Yukiko in. "Oh Fuuka, what's wrong?" Yukiko said immediately after stepping through the doorframe, hastily walking towards Fuuka with a look of utter sympathy. And like Yukari did, she sat on the bed next to her and gave her a friendly hug from the side to comfort her.

"She's getting there..." Yukari explained as she closed the door, and then thought she should give Yukiko the run-down on Fuuka's behalf, "...a good friend of hers transferred from Gekkoukan High nearly three years ago...I don't blame her for missing her..."

Knowing what Fuuka was going through, Yukiko could understand her situation perfectly out of her and Yukari. And when her mind was set on it, Yukiko also found a similar story that she remembered far too well to not tell it, let alone to let Fuuka know that she wasn't alone. "That must've been hard for both of you..." she sympathised, "...but I can relate to that..."

Just summoning the memory to mind was quite hard for Yukiko to do, but after a short moment of composure, she gathered the will to tell Fuuka her story. "When I was younger, I found a baby bluebird and decided to keep it as a pet until it grew up. The only time I could let it out was in my bedroom when my windows and door were closed. Come to think of it, I haven't been able to do that for almost a year now..." Yukiko began, already starting to make Fuuka feel a little bit better now that she was hearing the same story from another person.

She continued, "...but one day, when I came home, I found the cage empty and my window was wide open. I knew it had flown away. In the beginning, I felt as sad as you are now. But when I thought it over, I knew that I had to be happy for the bluebird. Do you know why?" After being asked the question, Fuuka gently shook her head. Yukiko answered, "Because the bird was finally free. It had been cooped up in a cage for so long, and when it escaped, it did make me upset at first. But I couldn't help but feel happy for the bird at the same time."

When Yukiko had finished her story, Fuuka's tears finally came to a halt even if they were still moistening her cheeks. Seeing this made Yukari all the more hopeful for her and when she approached the two to sit down next to Fuuka, she put on a friendly smile for her. "You see? You don't have to feel this way. Natsuki broke free from her cage didn't she? To see her ill father?" she asked, getting a somewhat confident nod of the head from Fuuka. "I...I guess so..." Fuuka replied hesitantly with a weak smile.

"You've got us as well," Yukiko added, "everyone in this dorm is your friend as well. So you've got them to think about as well." But as soon as she said this, Fuuka's smile faded in only a matter of seconds, and even when she wanted to say something, no words came out; her mouth quivered as a forceful act to say something, but there was nothing. Yukari and Yukiko noticed this and only felt awkward within the situation the three were in. They could only shrug it off and pretend like it never happened.

"I think...I think I'm feeling a bit better now..." Fuuka said with a husky tone, "...thanks guys..." Yukari and Yukiko gave a smile and a nod to Fuuka even though they were slightly put off by her inability to say anything upon talking about everyone else.

They both stayed with her a short while longer so that they will know that she is ready to go back to sleep again. After that short while, Fuuka let out a huge yawn that seemed contagious enough to make the other two yawn in unison with each other. They then stood up from the bed and wished Fuuka a goodnight before making their way out of Fuuka's door.

08/07 - Dark Hour

But then, after just closing the door, a muffled screeching of static noise was suddenly heard from around the corridor. As the two girls both listened and looked around cautiously with startled expressions, the sound seemed to be coming from the other dorm rooms. But the thing that made it worrying was that it was also coming from Fuuka's room too. "You don't think..." Yukari whispered to Yukiko with the dreadful thought of what the noise might be stuck in her head.

"Nat...suki...?" Fuuka's voice said quietly through the wood of the door. And as soon as they heard her voice, Yukari and Yukiko quickly turned the door's handle and burst through the door, looking directly where they thought the noise was coming from.

But as they both thought, the TV screen shone a ghastly green colour that overpowered the white and black fuzzy colours of the white noise screen. The TV buzzed and flashed that caused painful sounds to enter the hearing of those within earshot. It was everything they couldn't help but find inevitable; the Midnight Channel.

They then looked back towards where Fuuka was sitting. Fortunately, they found her still sitting there, but the expression she had on her face that watched the screen of the TV was bland and almost pale with an emotionless disposition. They ran to her, knelt down to her and tried to get a look of her face. But when they looked into her eyes, they were horrified.

The navy blue eyes that were once hers were diluted into a brighter and more greener colour that matched the Midnight Channel's colour scheme that was being broadcasted on the unpowered TV. They tried to shake her shoulders and they tried talking and shouting for her, but no response was given. It was if she was a zombie, just sitting there out of her mind.

After a while, it was hopeless for them; they couldn't get to her. And when they followed the direction her eyes were looking in, they found the sole reason why the Midnight Channel was having an effect on her. On the screen was yet another dark silhouette that, this time, resembled the body of an adolescent girl. The hair of this girl seemed to be hanging from both sides of her head and some of it was wrapped up into a small ponytail near the middle of her head. Yukiko had no idea whatsoever of who this silhouette was, but when she looked at Yukari, she saw the look of shock on her face.

"Wait..." Yukari said when she examined the silhouette further for confirmation, and when she finally knew who it was, the shock showed a greater expression on her face, "...that's Natsuki! Fuuka's best friend! But why?" Yukiko had no idea what Yukari was talking about, but Yukari felt that there was no time to explain.

Then, a sudden burst of static was heard from the side of the three. And when Yukiko and Yukari looked towards the source of it, someone was there, standing in the darkest shadow in the room. The figure slowly walked out of the obscurity, leaving sounds of heavy footprints to vibrate through the floor-planks with an uncomfortable resonance. And when the light of the TV screen shone of the figure, the hood of a trench-coat was seen. It was one of the boy culprits.

Yukari and Yukiko immediately stood up and stood in front of Fuuka with arms slightly spread at their sides to defend their friend. The hooded boy just shook his head when they did this, and placed a hand on top of the TV. "Distance is a most cruellest separation. But tonight, it shall be no longer a problem..." the boy spoke to Fuuka with a low and menacing tone, "...a close friend should never be a faraway friend. So go. Your safe haven awaits you, and so does your friend..." Every word was a lie, and Yukiko and Yukari knew it.

They both looked behind them to check if Fuuka was still okay, but when they did, she wasn't there anymore. The only thing there was the dip in the bed covers where Fuuka sat. Looking at the empty spot made the girls fear for the worst, and when they looked towards the TV, the shock they then experienced nearly paralysed them.

Fuuka was already stood in front of the TV, but even more so, she was already beginning to climb through the screen. The girls instantly reacted, making a short sprint towards her with their hands and muscles at the ready. "Fuuka, no!" they shouted in unison when they both dived in to rescue her from a traumatising fate.

But in almost fractions of a short second, the whole of Fuuka's body slipped through the TV screen just when Yukari and Yukiko were about to grab her, leaving ripples to remind the two of their failure to pull her out in time. "FUUKA!" they both yelled at the screen, both in self-frustration and in helplessness.

Suddenly, a loud slam was heard at the door, turning both of their heads towards the ones who came through. The first person they saw was Yu followed by the rest of the group with determination in their posture. Yu was looking around the room, and the first thing he found was the trench-coated boy was was standing in the corner of the room where the TV and the girls were. "You!" he shouted as he rushed towards him with a clenched fist at the ready.

The boy just chuckled when he watched this happening, standing in his casual stance as a sign of mockery. "Ha! And another one bites the dust!" he shouted with derision. And before Yu could even throw his fist, the boy buzzed out of view with a static outline flashing in his place as he vanished in an instant, making Yu as angered as all the other times the boy did this.

A short while passed, and everyone took a moment to calm down and reflect on what happened. For Yukari and Yukiko, it was a horrible experience. And for Yu and the others, they could understand their disturbance. "Are you two okay?" Yu asked Yukari and Yukiko, putting his hands on their shoulders to comfort them from the shock they had endured.

"It's Fuuka..." Yukari said slowly after composing herself, "...that guy took her...she's in the TV now!" Most of the group knew, but even so, losing Fuuka was a great shock to everyone; Fuuka was one of the group's supporting teammates. Yu didn't need to say anything, everyone knew that they were about to enter the TV again.

In fact, Yu wasn't inclined in any way to say anything; he was put off by the fact that another extremely valuable teammate and friend was captivated by the TV world. And to make things worse, he saw the battle ahead of them with a degrading hope, in the knowledge that some tactical support was lost.

Everyone saw the struggle that Yu was having, which made them worry slightly. But Yu had only one fixed thought in his head, and he turned his head round to the others with no second thoughts interrupting him. "Get your Evokers and glasses at the ready. We should depart. Now."

Ooooh! Tense cliffhanger! I'm getting myself all excited now, and I hope you all are too! Fuuka, huh? What do you guys think is going to happen? Anyway, keep reading and reviewing, and you will hear from me again in the twenty-sixth chapter! My god, TWENTY-SIXTH?! So, until next time guys...CYA!

Next Time... [Midnight Channel broadcasts...]

BGM: Backside of the TV - Persona 4 OST

Yukari: ... The gym... Do you think she'll be in there?

Mitsuru: Going by Fuuka's previous experiences with the school, the gym if by far the best guess we have.

Junpei: I always say that I hate school... but this just takes the cake...

Shadow Fuuka: Natsuki-chan... we're best friends... don't you want to be with me...?!