Chapter 36: Training Time

May 30, 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 will be using including Dylan, Stephen and Roz. Anything else that I reference is the property of their respective authors.

Blake Residence

Mina got up and noticed that Chase wasn't in their room but he could hear laughter from one of the other rooms and followed the sound until she found Chase sitting in front of his laptop getting a Skype call from one of his cousins. Well, the English one.

"Oi, Chase, is that your bird? If I wasn't going out with Jodie I'd give her a good seeing too. But seriously mate, tell Dylan congratulations on getting betrothed or whatever." She heard Vincent's loud voice resounding around the room.

Chase nodded. "Will do. So, I'm guessing you're coming to visit right?"

"Of course! Jodie's coming too. Aaaaaand the twins, Hunter and Luke. You know, our crazy cousins. They're like a swarm of bloody locusts mate. Been showing them the London nightlife too and Hunter got into a fight with some lad because the lad's girlfriend made eyes at him. I had to go and break it up or it would've gotten too messy." Vincent rubbed his neck.

Chase paused to explain some of the details to Mina. "Basically, Vincent is one of my cousins and Hunter and Luke belong to another set of cousins that I've got. Hunter and Luke can get pretty crazy sometimes like Dylan used to and they're coming to visit along with Vincent and his girlfriend. Which should be fun."

"Define fun." Mina sounded disapproving.

Vincent spoke up again. "Well, the twins want to plan Dylan's bachelor party. And there's a Battle of the Bands in Okina towards the end of the summer so the rest of the Dead for Dead lads are coming over apparently. I'll be pretty much bringing the twins on holiday with Jodie and me before then though."

"Good luck." Chase was being funny. More or less.

Vincent sighed. "Yeah. I just hope that Ibiza can handle them, and that they're not going to do something stupid when they're in Japan. Been meaning to ask, what's the bird who's betrothed to Dylan like?"

"How she looks, you mean? I'm not all that comfortable answering that with my girlfriend in the same room as me…." Chase trailed off.

Vincent chuckled. "Well, the bloke's got good taste. I bet she's one fine bird, and that he's probably stuffed her a few times. Anyway, I'd better get going. See you when we see you!"

"So, he's one of your English cousins?" Mina finally asked.

Chase grinned. "Yeah. His dad's a lord and he's RICH. Like, richer than my folks even."

"He didn't sound very lordly." Mina observed.

Chase made a sort of mirthful noise that resembled a laugh. "That's because he doesn't draw attention to it."

"Because people would take advantage if he did?" Mina wondered.

Chase clicked his fingers together. "Exactly. Although I think that Vince is a lot smarter than that even if he doesn't exactly seem like it."

"That's surprising. We've got a team meeting soon so we better get ready. I think Ken and Koromaru might be waiting for us." Mina suggested.

Chase turned off his laptop before plugging it into the recharger. "And we wouldn't want to keep them waiting. So let's go."

They got ready and left, wondering what would be in store for them at the team meeting and if they'd meet the other teams properly. After all, they'd learnt from experience that anything was possible, even the reunion of the SEES team.

Yasogami High

"So, we're getting a long lunch again? I'm not complaining but I really don't need all that much time to eat." Stephen said in between mouthfuls of food.

Dylan smirked. "I'm not complaining either."

The group, including Kanji, were up on the roof having lunch again. Kanji was keeping quiet and was only speaking when spoken to. Yu had kept mute as was his wont.

"Well, it's because of Kashiwagi-Sensei and her making Biology quizzes and papers part of the grade for her class. At least we don't have that big a work-load in Philosophy and Geography." Yukiko explained.

Dylan's eyes lit up. "Kashiwagi? Is she the really stacked one? You know, like the chick in that Nailin' Palin thing?"

"You haven't heard of Incognito Mode have you?" Stephen remarked sarcastically.

Yukiko coughed. "You know, Blondie, sometimes I wish you didn't talk so much."

"Aw, but you love it Babe" Dylan batted his eyelashes at her.

Kanji seemed a bit surprised. "Are they always like this?"

"More often than you'd think." Roz replied slyly.

Stephen laughed. "Well, they've been going out for over a month and they've been doing it for a good bit of that month. So yeah, they kind of are."

"Hey, what about you and Rise, Steve?" Yosuke asked.

Stephen blushed. "Uh, we're just friends? I think? We do like each other though, or there's a connection."

"But you don't want to rush into anything?" Chie stepped in.

Yu changed the subject to something else. "Dylan, would you mind filling us in as to what your brother and his girlfriend are doing in Inaba? And please don't say it's classified."

"Well, SEES has been reformed I guess so we'll be seeing more of them. Along with those other two teams." Dylan wasn't sure what else he could possibly say.

Yukiko raised an eyebrow. "Oh."

"I'd hate to interrupt but could I just borrow Dylan for a moment?" Yu asked, trying to sound as courteous as he possibly could.

Dylan noticed Yu practically dragging him away. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"What were you going to tell them? Specifically Yukiko?" Yu's voice took on a hard edge.

Dylan was surprised. "The truth. Or as much as I could without mentioning the fact that my future self or alternate future self is wandering around in Mayonaka. And I can't tell them WHY he's there. Or why I'm there. It's too fucking weird for me."

"It's weird for me too. Especially the memories and the fact that things aren't going as I'd expect them to go. Let's go." Yu turned around and walked out of Dylan's line of sight.

The silverette was followed by the rest of the group except for Yukiko.

She looked at him. "What were you guys talking about?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss it and I don't really feel like pissing him off. He's the leader of the group and there's some things that he wants to keep secret for whatever reason. Plus he wouldn't want me to blab before it's time to." Dylan wanted to at least sound a little mysterious.

Yukiko reached for his left hand and moved it so it was touching her chest before releasing it. "You can trust me."

"I know. They're wondering where we've got to by now." Dylan responded.

They knew that they had to be completely honest with each other, especially when it came to the really important things, including what exactly Yu knows about the murders and the events of the last month. Dylan knew what was going on regarding Yu but he wanted to wait for the right moment.

Entrance, Mayonaka

"It's different when you're coming here of your own volition." Yu explained to Kanji.

Kanji nodded politely. "I'll say."

"Yeah, just don't start hitting on the guys in the group like your Shadow did." Stephen still remembered that.

They could hear the sound of footsteps and could see a familiar shape approaching them.

"Welcome back!" Teddie exclaimed.

Kanji backed away from Teddie. "Is he on the level?"

"Sure! He's harmless." Dylan smiled.

The blonde's smile was matched by Teddie's. "Exactly. I'm not a grizzly. Oh, before I forget."

He handed Kanji a pair of glasses.

"So, I can see the fog then?" Kanji blinked.

Roz considered the question. "You can."

"Before I forget, I kind of want to try something different. Dylan, you're the leader for this training run." Yu spoke up.

Dylan reacted to this development by wrapping his arms around Yu and jokingly kissing the bemused silverette on the cheek. "You've made me the happiest guy in the world! I promise that I won't let you down!"

"Fantastic. Could you let go of me and never do that again? Ever?" Yu requested.

Dylan released his grip with a laugh. "Hah, no problem-o."

"You're a strange bear." Teddie said.

This prompted a wave of laughter throughout the group, Yu even managed to join in with it. He had a sense of humour but there wasn't much to laugh about.

Blake Consolidated Head Office, New York

"How could the share prices of Blake Consolidated be down for the quarter when profits have gone up?!" Gregory raged.

Josh and Alex exchanged worried glances at each other. They hadn't seen their father get angry at them and had only seen him vent his rage at their mother and Robert before turning his rage upon Chase and Dylan.

"We don't know. Some things about the family have come to light and your attempts at covering them up haven't worked." Josh was understandably quite tense.

Alex backed up his brother. "Our investors are worried about your suitability as Chairman and CEO of the company. The board has also said that they aren't comfortable with your leadership anymore."

"Then fire them. You know what, I'll make myself the head of the board so they'll have to take the company from my cold dead hands. I never told you how I took over the company?" Gregory almost whispered.

Fear crossed Josh's face like a cloud before it settled into the pit of his stomach. "You didn't."

"Because I didn't think telling people that I had my parents murdered would have gone well. Besides, everything I did, I did for you and your mother so you'd never want for anything." Gregory smiled.

Alex couldn't keep quiet any more. "So that makes it fine? What are we going to tell people?"

"Weren't you listening to me?" Gregory grabbed Alex by the lapel and smacked his head off the desk.

Alex nodded in pain, cradling his head in his hands while sobbing like a child. "YES. Please don't hit me again Dad."

"You're starting to sound like our loser brothers." Josh mocked.

Alex snorted derisively. "Oh, like he never laid a hand on Mister Perfect. Why are you always seeking his approval?"

"ENOUGH! If I wanted to hear bickering, I'd have gone to a board meeting instead of calling you both here." Gregory slammed his fists on his desk, getting his two eldest sons to pay attention to him.

Josh and Alex apologised, causing their father to give them a look of self-satisfied triumph.

"That's better. That's why you're my favourites. Oh, your duties in charge of the board start today. Josh, you're the Executive Vice-President and Alex, you're the COO." Gregory's smile grew wolfish as he watched them leave.

He'd sent Dylan to Inaba in the increasingly vain hopes of having him bumped off but instead he'd made a match for him. Which was more than he deserved, at least in his increasingly twisted mind.

Kanji's Bathhouse, Mayonaka

"You sure we have to come back here Chief?" Stephen had taken to calling Dylan chief seeing as he'd been temporarily made the leader.

Dylan shrugged. "Why not? We need to keep training and there's lots of Shadows to fight. Plus this is the best place."

"I agree with Dylan. I'd have to come back here at some point and the sooner I do that the better." Kanji kept his arms folded.

The group then made their way into the Bathhouse after agreeing to follow Dylan. Kanji had a little bit of catching up to do, but he was more than capable of holding his own against any of the Shadows that they encountered.

They finally made it to the room where they fought Shadow Kanji only to find a different Shadow standing there. This Shadow strongly resembled an overweight cop except with a large hole through its middle.

"Be careful Sensei!" Teddie exclaimed.

The Shadow, or rather the Intolerant Officer turned his attention to the group. "HEY! I thought I told you punk kids to stop trespassing!"

"Kiss my ass! GOUTO-DOUJI!" Dylan called forth Gouto-Douji who just looked at the Shadow.

Stephen took out his hammer. "Seconded! HO-MUSUBI!"

"You're not going to have all the fun!" REIKO!" Roz called Reiko Setsuka into action before twirling her Bo staff around.

Yukiko fanned herself before calling Konohana-Sakuya. "Let's go, KONOHANA-SAKUYA!"

"This is going to be fun! TOMOE!" Chie cracked her knuckles, seeming summoning Tomoe.

Yosuke tossed one of his wrenches in the air and caught it. "You got that right! JIRAIYA!"

"It'd be rude to keep you waiting." Yu called forth Izanagi with a smile.

Teddie pointed at the Shadow. "Sensei, that's a strong grizzly! Be careful!"

"I always am, Ted." Yu calmly unsheathed his katana.

Dylan held his axe out sort of like a baseball bat. "Fantastic. Let's get this thing, whatever it is."

Yosuke quickly cast a wind spell on the Shadow, causing it to drop down to its knees and becoming vulnerable.

Unfortunately, the Shadow got up and directed a wind spell of its own at Kanji. Roz promptly got in the way of it however, sparing the newest member of their team any harm.

"It's tougher than it looks… SHIT!" Dylan swore as the Intolerant Officer hit Yukiko with an ice blast, sending her to her knees.

Luckily she recovered and cast Media on the team by way of healing them.

They heard an explosion as a skeleton wearing black boots, black trousers, and a black shirt with a golden "Sheriff" badge on it, and bandages over one of its eyes had appeared. The skeleton just grinned and levelled its revolvers at the Shadow before firing heavy blasts of ice and wind at it in quick succession.

The Intolerant Officer couldn't survive those blasts, but the skeleton had disappeared as well. Kanji stepped forward and received an Iron Plate that he could use as a weapon.

"That was a close shave Sensei!" Teddie exclaimed, not wanting to mention the skeleton to Yu. Or anyone else.

Some things weren't mentioning.

Junes Lobby

Upon their return to Junes, the group each went their own ways with Dylan looking for video games and DVDs.

He arrived in the lobby only to find Adachi standing there.

"What do you want? Did you come around to wrongfully arrest me again?" Dylan asked.

Adachi gave him a pleasant smile. "Not at all."

"So, what? You're sniffing around for any trace of a perp?" Dylan asked a different question.

Adachi seemed a little chagrined. "We haven't found anything yet. Besides, nothing happens around here anyway. It's not like New York."

"It's not but I don't mind a little bit of peace and quiet." Dylan smiled, pretending to be friendly.

Adachi didn't pick up on the pretence. "You try tracking down a cat because it ran away. Not only have that but the higher-ups had no clue how to proceed with the case so they've got outside help."

"Gee that's too bad." Dylan inspected his cuticles.

Adachi turned around. "See you around then. Oh, congratulations on your betrothal. I'm sure you'll both be very happy together. If it lasts."

Dylan headed back to the inn mainly because he didn't want to keep Yukiko waiting. Stephen and Roz were doing their own thing so they were busy enough without him.

Amagi Inn

"I've got something to tell you….." Yukiko began.

She was in Hikaru's study, and her father was sitting at his desk looking through some old files.

"What is it?" Hikaru asked.

Yukiko coughed. "It's about me and Dylan. We met before he came to Inaba during our trip to Vermont last year and we kind of hooked up as he'd say. I hope you're not too upset."

"So, you weren't being entirely honest with me? Or he wasn't? Before you say anything, I'm not going to cancel what arrangements have been made." Hikaru was disappointed more so than angry and it showed.

Yukiko breathed a sigh of relief. "I suppose I should tell you about the letters too. I did write to him about a decade ago during some court case but the letters just got sent back to me."

"Thanks for telling me. I'll have to have a discussion with Dylan about this and I promise that I won't harm him." Hikaru smiled.

He let Yukiko leave the room before calling Dojima and Takeshi. Hikaru just wanted to be sure that he was making the right decision letting the betrothal go ahead. There were some things that he had to consider.