August 17th, Wednesday, Velvet room
We had all, minus Teddie, made our way to the Velvet Room this time.
"Okay, Yumi can come out now." - Said my uncle - "The investigation is back on..."
"And Naoto seems very pleased with herself about this..." - Said Sayoko, smirking.
"Oh, I took a page from your proverbial book, Uehara-san." - Said Naoto - "You see, I was the one openly stating that Kubo was a mere copycat. I actually took time out of my busy schedule to give interviews to that effect. And, once the police saw fit to once more require my services, I realized I was negotiating from a position of strength..."
"Ohohohoho, nice! How much of a raise did you get?" - Asked Sayoko.
"They tripled her wages." - Said my uncle - "But you are being way too modest. You didn't realize it once they saw fit, you knew this would happen, didn't you? That's why you said it was no sacrifice..."
Naoto just lowered her cap over her eyes, smiling.
"Well, it seems I'm being a terrible influence on you all." - Said Sayoko, giggling - "Guess I should continue!"
"Oh, hey, guys."
That was Yumi, in a yukata no less.
"Making yourself comfortable, I see." - Said Rise.
"This place is amazing. Igor-san and Margaret let me have control of a small area, so I can basically make my house there with whatever I like..." - Said Yumi.
"Well, it did help that you performed a manzai routine with Teddie per day for them..." - Said Yukiko, smiling, though still in Hostess Mode.
"Yumi-chan! The marshmallows are ready..."
That was a very pretty blonde boy with Teddie's voice coming out of Yumi's door, holding a plate with marshmallows.
"Oh! Hi, Sensei, folks!" - he said, cheerfully.
"Teddie... How long have you been here?" - Asked Yosuke.
"Oh, I made a small room for him." - Said Yumi, smiling.
"Oh, please, let this go where I think it's going..." - Said Sayoko, smirking.
"Uh, we don't go anywhere, we just stay here!" - Said Teddie.
"They are just very good friends." - Said Yukiko.
"For now." - Said Chie - "You do realize Teddie's... Uhm... Very innocent, right?"
"Really, Satonaka?" - Asked Yumi, irritably - "Look. I know you and Amagi took your own sweet time to actually get together, and I know Kujikawa and Hanamura were love at first or second sight, but rest assured that, if and when anything at all happens with me and Teddie, it will be with him understanding each and every detail of it. Jeez, what do you take me for?"
"Very well already." - Said Miss Sofue - "Igor, can she remain living here?"
"I shall not deny, Queen, their entertainment value. They may stay, but at some point, for their own good, I shall give them notice to go elsewhere in a week." - Said Igor - "That is due to one reason alone: humans cannot spend all their time between dream and reality. That will take a serious toll on them."
"Still I at least got some time, maybe even to see about getting my own place if I play my cards really right with the exposure..." - Said Yumi, softly - "Well, let's go. I'll play the victim that turned up..."
# - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - #
August 24th, Wednesday, Samegawa river bank
"What are you laughing about? You are laughing about yourselves!"
Soon after that line, the play ended with Yumi in the role of the Khlestakov female Japanese expy, Hanako Yamada, with the audience, gathered there for the show, erupting in applause and laughter. It was a success.
No one seemed to notice that she was about half a foot taller and four years older.
After the show ended and I walked with Mitsuru to congratulate Yumi, I saw her talking to her parents.
"I love you too." - I overheard her saying, to her father, simply - "But I don't trust you."
She then noticed us and turned to us, giving her parents a quick glance; they took the clue and made some room.
"Oh, and there's the couple that made this whole thing happen!" - her mood was now positively beaming.
"I did not make it happen, Ozawa, you and the other actors did; I do not recall being on the stage at any point." - Said Mitsuru, smirking.
"Yet the fact remains that you paid for there to be a stage." - Said Yumi, smiling.
"That was amazing, Yumi-chan! The intensity! The feeling!" - And that was Teddie, right now in his human form, hugging Yumi as she hugged him right back.
"That was just a comedy, Teddie..." - Said Yumi, giggling - "But I'm glad you liked..."
"Ah, the sweet aroma of lost innocence flirting with innocence." - Said Sayoko, smirking as she made her way to us - "Guess I'll have to get the news on all the cute little couples through the grapevine. What a shame."
"Geez, Uehara, what is your problem?" - Asked my uncle as he approached with Miss Sofue.
"That was a stellar performance, Ozawa. I have worked with actual civil servants and your interactions were quite realistic indeed. And I at times wished I were your character..." - Said Naoto, smirking as she came with Kanji.
"I told you, call me Yumi. And don't think you can buy me with flattery... But keep it up." - Said Yumi, smiling - "Now. The cast is thinking of going to Aiya's to celebrate. You're all invited."
"On the condition that you are not paying for our meals, I accept." - Said Miss Sofue, smiling - "You did, after all, say you intended to gain your independence, yes? Saving money is the first step."
"The second step? Knowing how to negotiate..." - said Sayoko, smiling - "Come on, let's go..."
"Naoto's success really went to her head, didn't it?" - said Rise - "Well, I'll check with my old contacts for roles Yumi might play..."
"I shall make some calls as well." - Said Mitsuru as we made our way to Aiya's.
# - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - #
August 24th, Wednesday, Aiya's
"Today you are invited, Nakamura. My treat." - Said Mitsuru - "This is your success as well."
Aika nodded and served us all with her usual expressionless face, which changed to the cheerful, congenial self after she served herself and sat besides us; she had moved some tables around so we had the room to sit together.
"So, did the play go well?" - Asked Aika, smiling.
"Yumi kicked ass!" - Said Kanji.
"Yep. And now that we're done with the play... We should go to that world tomorrow..." - Said Yumi, pensively - "I do need to train..."
"You... Wanna go out and fight shadows?" - Asked Chie - "I didn't think you would actually join us in combat..."
"It's how you guys train, right? Besides, I have a lot to gain." - She said.
"You might die in that world." - Said my uncle - "Would you be that willing to throw your life away after having gotten a new lease on it?"
"Says the guy with a daughter." - Said Yumi - "Look. This isn't some sort of a suicide attempt. This is me trying to get stronger and more skilled with my persona. And trying to make money, which there is to be made, there. Also? In order to act, a person has to have decent physical fitness. It's why I took up bojutsu."
"Besides, I will protect her, Dojima-san!" - Said Teddie.
"All right, already." - Said my uncle - "And you have some mouth on you..."
"Nothing wrong with some guts." - Said Sayoko, smirking.
"To be fair, Dojima-san having a daughter has no bearing on whether or not your choice is wise." - Said Naoto - "But, then again, you do seem to have considered all angles. And I do believe this is not petty escapism..."
"Oh, it is escapism too." - Said Yumi, shrugging - "But it's escapism with some other decent reasons. And I know that I might die. But, then again, so do you all. Did that ever stop you?"
"Not even against Nyx..." - Said Mitsuru, pensively.
"The cult?" - Asked my uncle - "But they were human..."
Aika shook her head.
"Not the cult." - She said - "But this is your story, Kirijo. You should tell it."
And Mitsuru told us how she had fought this eldritch being and about the Dark Hour.
"You fought a goddess?!" - Asked Yumi, wide-eyed.
"At great cost." - Said Mitsuru, sighing - "Three people I very much hold dear did sacrifice themselves... But it was necessary."
"Necessary?" - Asked Yumi.
"The world would have ended had we not." - Said Mitsuru, no pride in her voice, just loss.
"You saved the world. Eight billion people. You saved... everyone. You saved us all..." - Said Yumi, trying to grasp it and having the same difficulty grasping it as everyone else.
"A number is too abstract." - Said Miss Sofue, herself dazed - "And I understand why these memories pain you. But I shall tell you something that will help you focus, Mitsuru-san."
"And that is?" - She asked, her voice more tired than anything I had ever heard.
"You saved Nanako." - Said Miss Sofue, smiling, as she hugged Mitsuru.
Who proceeded to cry on Miss Sofue's chest, softly, but liberally, all that she hadn't cried during that time, that time in which she had to be strong enough to fight a deity, and then she hadn't cried afterwards, because there was still work to be done, there would always be, and because she couldn't put a face to her achievement anyways; the world was too big, billions too abstract, for anyone to understand, so it was much easier to forget she saved them and to distance herself from what she lost in doing so.
Nanako was more than concrete enough.
Miss Sofue just smiled sadly and held Mitsuru while she soaked her coat.
# - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - #
August 24th, Wednesday, Samegawa River Bank, late night
No one else was by the river; I and Mitsuru had come to see the stars while everyone else finished their meal.
Mitsuru spoke first.
"I apolog..."
Mitsuru's apology was cut short by me kissing her deeply, holding her as tight as she deserved and needed and feeling the usual unknown arcana pang.
I broke the kiss.
"No one will judge you. Everyone knows they owe you their lives. And, most of all, they are all your friends." - I said.
Mitsuru blushed.
"I... do not think I have ever cried in front of my friends..." - She said - "Even those that fought by my side..."
"And not a one of them would judge you either." - I said - "Mitsuru..."
I then looked deep into her eyes and kept going.
"You will never have to carry that weight alone."
Shortly afterwards, we noticed a tray with two steamy hot bowls of nikudon and two cans of soda carefully placed on one of the rocks.
Of course we hadn't heard anyone come by or leave.