Disclaimer: I don't own Persona, I own Reiko Setsuka.

Chapter 35
May 16, 2011

Yasogami High

"The one who was on last night…It's THAT guy, right…?" Chie looked troubled.

The five had gathered around in the classroom. Fortunately, Minako had left for the day already. Though Charles was starting to wonder how she was spending her time.

And what that meant for Yu.

"Tatsumi Kanji, huh? He definitely didn't look like the social type," Yosuke said.

"Now there's an understatement. Isn't he really scary? Did you see the news special the other day?" Chie asked.

"Looks can be deceiving, Chie. He's been a nice guy to me," Charles said.

"Yeah…How come you still have a pretty face?" Yosuke

"Prettier than yours, Hanamura. Anyway, we bumped in the hallway after I had finished texting Yukiko. He got pissed, I told him to calm down and…at that point he recognized who I was and decided it would not be a good idea to piss off his Senpai. It was that day we had lunch on the roof and I joked about traffic. We bumped into each other again last Sunday. He's a nice guy. Little angry at times, but he's treated me well."

"Yeah, Chuck, but that's because he knows who you are and likes you for some reason, making you the exception, rather than the rule," Chie said.

"Well, I saw the special report," Yosuke said.

"You mean the special on biker gangs? I watched it too," Yukiko said. "He wasn't like that when he was younger though…" Yukiko said crestfallen at that last part.

"You know him, Yukiko?" Chie said shocked, because normally, Chie knew everything about Yukiko, or so it seemed."

"Don't be so hurt, Chie. She never knew about Daitaka and you actually having had sex," Charles whispered in a friendly manner to Chie.

She nodded at that. Charles was correct, still…

"Uh-huh," Yukiko replied, not having paid attention to Charles's reassurance to Chie. "But we haven't talked to each other in a long time. His family runs a textile shop, and we've been a customer of theirs for many years. So I speak with Kanji-kun's mother from time to time."

Yukiko thought for a second.

"Oh, why don't we go there now? We might be able to talk to him in person."

"Sounds good. At the very least, we can ask if anything strange has come up lately," Chie said. "I wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley, but I'm pretty sure he won't fly off the handle at his family's store."

"If you guys are so concerned for your safety, then maybe I should just ask him?" Charles offered.

"Well, let's get going," Yosuke said.

"If anything goes wrong, we can count on you guys." Chie said to Yu and Yosuke.

Everybody but Charles then left the classroom.

"Guys? Offer on the table? Guys? Skycap?"

Tatsumi Textiles

They had reached the Textile shop, when they noticed that there was already a guest…

What the hell is Naoto doing here? I lost track of her after the Chief of D's kicked her ass to the curb, because I wasn't arrested.

I was wondering when her and my paths would cross again.

"Excuse me," Yukiko said.

"Oh, come on in, Yuki," Tatsumi Keiko said.

"That's it, I'll be going now," Naoto said.

"I apologize I wasn't more help to you," Keiko replied.

"Oh no," Naoto said earnestly, "You've given me something to think about. Domo Arigato." Naoto then quarter bowed and turned around to leave.

As she was walking out, she was casting a glare…

…At Charles.

"Chuck, what was that all about?" Yosuke asked.

"I-I'm not sure, Yosuke" Charles said honestly.

Why the hell would she glare at me like that? She was eyeing me suspiciously for some reason. Does she blame me for her being sacked…?

Or does she still suspect me?

"But if I see him, I'll ask him," Charles concluded.

"Yuki, you're as beautiful as ever!" Keiko said kindly to Yukiko as if she was Yukiko's aunt or grandmother. "You look more and more like your mother."

"You're too kind, Keiko-sama. Is Kanji-kun here?" Yukiko asked.

"No, I'm afraid he's still not back yet," Keiko replied.

"Oh, all right." Then Yukiko and Chie noticed Yu walking towards a scarf.

"I've seen this scarf somewhere before," Yu said in a low voice.

"Which one?" Chie asked.

It was a grapefruit pink scarf with a snowflake design.

"OOHHH, I know where. It was in that room. In the TV. Where all those faceless posters were!" Chie exclaimed in a low voice.

"Oh, that room. Where I vomited."

"You vomited?" Yukiko looked at him with faint disgust.

"I wasn't feeling well because of my stomach bruises and the freaky nature of that room made things worse," Charles said.

"Oh," Yukiko said, feeling bad she thought the worst of him.

"Was this Yamano-san's?" Chie continued, a little louder than previously.

"That's correct, were you friends of Ms. Yamano?" Keiko asked.

"Not exactly," Yosuke said.

"She had asked to have that scarf custom made for her." Everybody reacted to that with a start.

"Excuse me? Delivery," A voice said.

"I'm sorry, but I really must attend to this," Keiko said.

"No, it's ok, we really must be going," Yukiko said.

"Very well. Good day, Yuki. And to your friends. Including Charles-kun."

They all looked at him. "Nice speaking with you again, Tatsumi-san," he said. "What? I stopped by last Sunday!"

They all walked out but Yu stopped when he noticed…

"Kanji's right there."

"Shit, let's hide!" Yosuke said.

Charles just stood there with no intention of hiding. Yukiko grabbed him with every intention of him hiding.

Kanji was talking with Naoto. Though since the North end of the Shopping district was quiet for once, the Persona-users could hear everything that could be said.

"You…wanna have a… talk with me?" Kanji asked Naoto.

"Yes, I find you incredibly intriguing," Naoto replied.

"Well, I guess that's cool," Kanji was looking away when he said this.

"I'm very glad to hear that. I'll be waiting for you after school tomorrow." And with that, Naoto left.

"HE finds ME intriguing?" Kanji was blushing. "He's a dude who finds another dude intriguing… does that mean…?"

I think that's very sweet that Kanji thinks that, but I wonder if he would be disappointed to find out Naoto's really a girl.

However, Kanji must have sensed that the team was looking at him, because he turned and then noticed them. He became angry. "Hey, what are you punks lookin' at?"

"RUN!" Chie said and everybody ran…

Except Charles.

I would have thought Yuki would have been a little bit braver.

"Huh, what was their problem, Chuck-senpai?"

Charles had made no effort to hide. In fact, he was approaching Kanji.

"I don't know. But Kanji, I really needed to ask you something."

"Look, can't it wait? I'm not in the mood right now, 'cause I gotta think out some things."

"All right, but can I ask you after you speak with the boy that just left. It's important."

Kanji just looked tired. "Yeah, just…make it quick tomorrow willya?"

"I will," Charles said with a smile.

"By the way, Senpai? You saw that right? What did you think about what he said?"

"I agree, his finding you intriguing is interesting. So I hope for the best."

"I'm glad you're not like those others, Senpai."

"Don't worry about them. Your reputation's preceded you and they were afraid of pissing you off."

"You didn't tell them about…"

"The strap? Yeah, but I said it was a gift from someone but they preferred to be anonymous as they did not sign the card. You didn't want anyone to know you made it and so I won't tell."

"Thanks Senpai."

"All part of the service."

Tatsuhime Shrine

"Man, that was scary!" Yosuke said.

"He looked like he wanted to tear us limb from limb!" Chie agreed.

"He's not going to be easy to approach if his temper is that short," Yu concluded.

They were all catching their breath. Yukiko looked around.

"WHERE'S CHARLES-CHAN?!" She said, sounding very scared.

"I don't know, I thought he was behind us."

"KANJI COULD BE BEATING HIM UP RIGHT NOW!"

"I don't hear any screams of pain," Yu said.

"WHY ISN'T ANYBODY WORRIED?! WE LEFT HIM BEHIND!" Why don't they UNDERSTAND?! He has a disability. He wouldn't last in a fight with an angry, more powerful boy.

"Yukiko, why are you scared? Chuck can take care of himself."

"NOT AGAINST SOMEONE ANGRY LIKE THAT!"

"Breathe, Yuki. It's OK"

She was stunned that someone was speaking, but the other three's mouths hadn't moved. She turned around.

"CHARLES-CHAN!" She exclaimed in relief, and then went over to hug him.

"And you're a dear friend to me, too. Yuki," He said as he returned the embrace. Then he murmured in an attempt for her not to hear, "Though I do want us to be more… I'm still too scared."

He truly loves me, and yet I must carry on this façade of "friendship then who knows…?" for his sake. Because if it didn't work out between us. He would fall apart. I want to build with him so at the very least if things fell apart… HE wouldn't.

"You scared us, you know…" Then she said something she knew Chie would say, but Yukiko didn't care. "Idiot!"

"I'm sorry. I was going to ask Kanji, but I think he has other things on his mind. So I'll ask him tomorrow."

"I think we should run surveillance on him," Yosuke said.

"Is paying attention to me when I AM around EVER a consideration?" Charles asked exasperated.

"We just wanna know what business that younger boy had with him," Yosuke said. "I didn't say you couldn't ask, Chuck. Besides, aren't you curious what he wanted to talk to Kanji about?"

"Yes, Yosuke. I actually am…but I just think it may be a private matter and Kanji, like everybody else, deserves privacy."

"You don't want Kanji to be kidnapped do you?!" Chie asked.

"Well no, but…"

"Then we have to keep an eye on him! And also his family's store!"

"Why the store, too?"

"I was thinking the same thing. You see that scarf in there may mean that Kanji's mother may fit the victim profile," Yosuke said folding his arms.

"In fact, I would say the same thing," Yukiko said. "My mother would fit it more, since she directly dealt with Ms. Yamano."

Yosuke continued, "And Kanji's mother knew Ms. Yamano."

"So wait…You guys are saying that the murderer is trying to get their message across via the kids?" Charles asked.

"That's why we have to split up and stake out both Kanji and the store!" Chie said

Charles just shook his head in defeat. "All right, even though Yukiko and Yu haven't said anything either way, I can tell on their expressions you two win. BUT…I insist that Yuki and I stakeout the store. I'm not going to spy on Kanji, and obviously after today, Yuki-chan's going to want to keep me where she can see me…Umm, I am getting it right to use '–chan' for 'dear friend' aren't I?"

Yukiko just looked at him and then said, "Yeah, it's OK…Charles-chan." She smiled at him.

"All right, I think that's agreed then. We'll meet up tomorrow."

"Ummm, Yukiko, could I have your number for the investigation?" Yosuke asked.

"Ohhh, I see, so this was your plan all along?" Chie said in disgust.

"Her number is the only one I don't have, and the Y section of my contacts needs filling out," Yosuke said in his defense.

"While we're on the subject Yosuke, could you stop calling me late at night just to tell dirty jokes?" Chie asked annoyed. It makes you sound like a pervert."

"Hey," Yosuke said in annoyance, "I'm trying to have a conversation with Yukiko here."

"Ummm…I just remembered. I need to buy some tofu for dinner," Yukiko said in her "space case"' manner.

"She didn't even hear a word I said." Yosuke was now grimacing.

"Welcome to my world. And Yosuke… please make sure you only use her number for the investigation…because you're my friend and I would hate for friends to betray my trust."

"I HATE YOU, NARUKAMI, I FUCKING HATE YOU!" The flashback persisted.

"Charles, could you stay with me a moment, please?" Yu asked.

Yosuke and Chie had left.

"All right," Charles said with a frown. "I'll text you later, Yuki."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Chuck. We're going to be busy tonight as there is a business group coming in from a large Concern from Tokyo. We don't have an exact ETA, so I may be up late."

"All right…You don't need any help?"

"No, I appreciate the offer, but it's just that one group and all we would need to do is checking them in and show them to their rooms, and get them dinner if it's early enough. You'd be wasting your time."

"All right, then. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Mata ne…Charles-chan."

Charles walked over to Yu. "So what's up?"

"Charles…I don't know how to explain this, but I hope someday you can forgive me for what I'm about to tell you. It's…about Yukiko."

Charles just stared. Then he smiled. "Ohhh, sooo you can't fight it anymore. You've got a crush for her too, and now you want to tell me I have no chance and you'll be dating her."

"What! NO! I'm not going to get in your way."

"But you do like her."

"As a friend."

"Then I don't understand."

Yu sighed, "I thought I could deal with this, since you were so happy, it stopped bothering me for a while. But now. After what you told me… I can't keep it from you, you deserve to know."

"Know what?" Charles asked, smile no longer playful, but still there.

Yu sighed again, "This is not my first time in Inaba."

"I figured that. I figured when Ryo-san said he changed your diapers, he did it sown here, rather than go up to wherever you and your parents were living. They would use Inaba as a Maternity sabbatical."

"No, Charles. THIS is NOT my FIRST TIME in Inaba."

Charles didn't understand… Not at first

But after what Yu told him next…

…

Charles would never look at Narukami Yu the same way again.