*Brrrt, brrrt*…*Brrrt, brrrt*
"Hey, Nanako, it's, uh, it's Seta. Is Uncle home?"
_\_Hey, Big Bro! Why're you calling home? Are you in trouble?_\_
"No, no, I'm not in trouble or anything, yet. I was just calling to let Uncle know that I might be home a little late and that'd it be best if he saved the socia- I mean, lecture for tomorrow."
_\_Why?_\_
"I'm, uh, just hanging out. With my friends. Y'know the ones you've only seen like once or twice… Yeah, we're just having a little late night fun, painting the town red, sex drugs n' rock and roll, all that fun stuff." I just said the 's' word... the other 's' word to a five year old. Pfft. And Uncle called me a good influence. "... So, is he home?"
_\_No... He got called away._\_
"Called away, huh? What for?"
_\_I 'unno. He muttered something about a weird guy in a costume doing stuff._\_
"Really! Weird guy in a costume you say!" I repeated with wide eyes for Chie's benefit. "Did he say where?"
_\_No. You weren't gonna look for him too, were you?_\_
"Uh-huh."
_\_Weird guys are weird, Big Bro! Stranger danger, remember?_\_
"Yeah. I guess you're right."
_\_'Sides, Dad'll find him soon._\_
"Yeah, well, alright. Thanks for letting me know about him, I'll be sure to keep an eye out just in case. Good-by-."
_\_Bye, Big Bro! I love you!_\_
"Uh…Iloveyoutoo, bye."
"That was very sweet of you, Seta."
Chie sat on the bench closest to the payphone. Her face the only thing distinguishable in the night as she kept her eyes glued to the screen on her cellphone, waiting for anything that might give us a hint as to where the little furball ran off to.
Tch. Using a payphone. I mean I had to keep my cell free but to think I used one of these things. Surprised I even found one that works. Then again, it's a small town, maybe there's still call for them here.
Heheh. 'Call'.
Chie sighed, looking up from her phone. "Nothing yet, Yosuke and the others said they've had to dodge your uncle, Naoto, and a few cops that are out looking for guess who…But other than that, nothing."
"Nanako looks up to you, ya know." She added after a pause. "It's kind of funny. You're always cynical and sarcastic, and yet you go out of your way to protect her. It's like you're her big brother or something."
"Well, that is what she calls me, I mean she's known me, what, a couple of months?"
I rolled that last part around in my head for a minute as I moved to sit next to her.
"'I don't know why, though, maybe it's because I see something similar between my father and I there. And the less of me there are on the planet, the better." I muttered.
"You and your father don't really get along I'm guessing?"
"Picked up on that, huh?" I asked, smirking. Considering it's pretty much all that my 'inner demons' talk about it would be a difficult thing to miss.
=So when you say inner demons do you mean me or do you mean your demon half or do you mean-=
-I get it, I won't use that particular turn of phrase any more. Too confusing.-
"Look, I know you probably want to try and ask me about him. And I've demonstrated pretty thoroughly how that's a Bad idea with a capital B. So I'll lay out the gist of our relationship in as few words as possible. He's grooming me to be his heir... No, that doesn't cover it. He's constructing an heir from some parts he took from him and my mother that just happens to have formed into me. I stopped having a meaningful relationship with him when I was seven and he started handing me off to assistants to look after. Then assistants of assistants. Now I'm pretty certain I'm just one of many projects that he receives reports on."
"I'm sorry." She said, trying to be sympathetic.
"Please don't say that. It's not possible for you to understand so please don't pretend-"
"HEY!" Chie shouted, suddenly indignant. "I do understand! And so do Yosuke and Yukiko! We all understand after we saw that younger version of you! Just like you understand all of us better than other people can after what you've seen of us!"
…
She's right. "I'm sorry."
Her anger visibly waned. "I know. And I'm sorry too for... you know, how weird I've been lately."
"Well since that was a direct result of how weird I've been lately, I think we can call that one even." I joked weakly before studying my shoes.
"Seta?"
"Hm?" I responded nonverbally, turning to look at her on instinct.
Then she kissed me.
*SMASH!*
Thou art I…I am thou…
It brings thee closer to the truth…
Thou sha-
And then she immediately shoved me away.
-Ahs ouhT
…hturt eht ot resolc eeht sgnirb tI
…uoht ma I…I tra uohT
*!HSAMS*
OW!
I had to rerun the whole scene about three times just to make sure it actually happened: She kissed me, the voice started running through the motions, and then she shoved me onto the grass about half a second later. Yep, it's official; I just got rejected by one of the few girls I actually like. I mean, I've had worse rejections but…sheesh.
"What the hell was that!?"
Chie had backed away to the farthest edge of the bench and she was staring at me. Well, she was staring at a point of me, but it felt more like she was staring at me just so I wouldn't break eye contact. She looked as if she couldn't tell whether to gauge what I was most likely to do next, or just flat out run for asylum. It was like to her, I was some sort of monster or…
Or…
Chie was scared of me. Or at least, that other part of me, which makes two of us.
I tried my best to soften my stare. "I mean…just…just…forget that. Forget I said anything, it was stupid, I'm sorry."
I got up and sat back down on the bench. I glanced at her and saw her figure rising and falling irregularly. She'd gone back to staring at her phone's screen, but it was obvious that she wasn't really looking at it, the backlight kept dancing around her face because of how hard her hands were shaking, and eventually, she dropped it.
"No!"
I hadn't even moved for it.
She stared for about a full minute, picked her phone back up, and then pulled herself into a little ball.
=Well, ya better do something, cutter.=
-I'm thinking.-
=No you're not.=
-How do you know that?-
=Because I'm not telling you how stupid of an idea it is!=
-Just let me do this on my own, I already have to deal with your voyeurism at every other moment of my life, it'd be preferred if it wasn't also in one of the most important conversations I'm about to have.-
=Don't count your chickens, mate=
I turned to face Chie, and put my hand out, palm up. "Chie, give me your hand."
I heard some sort of muffled noise from her; I guess it's a polite decline.
"Chie, I know how you feel about…" I gestured vaguely, "this. But I need you to trust me, give me your hand."
A moment passed, and there were a few failed attempts, but I finally got her hand gripped in mine.
-Soul Graft: Left arm.-
Chie flinched visibly as the change occurred.
"See? I'm completely in control. It won't hurt you. It might not be... I might not be... It's not normal but it's a part of me. And there is no part of me that would ever hurt you."
She unfurled a little bit more for a better look at it. It's one of the few times I've pulled out my grafted hand without some shadow's internals hooked in the other end. So I got a chance to do my own scrutiny:
Black pinstripes ran down the entire length of the sleeve. Further up, at the shoulder, gold pads, ingrained with "イザナギ" were placed on both sides. I did my best to keep the metal claws as far away from Chie as possible.
She took the hand and put it to her face; she ran it down her neck and placed it on her shoulder. She held it there for a moment and then she flipped it over and started stroking the palm.
She looked me in the eyes.
"Do you believe me now?" I asked.
Still gripping the palm she nodded. And then she tugged at it and pulled me in for another kiss.
*SMASH!*
Thou art I…I am thou…
FUCK YEAH!
-(-)-
"I'm home."
"Welcome home big bro!"
"Sensei!"
I turned away from my excavation of the fridge to actually get a look at what was going on in the living room. Nanako's voice had been a surprise, but not unexpected. She was probably waiting for her dad to get back. Teddie's little squeaks had been much more shocking, however.
You'd think someone on the run from the cops wouldn't be the kind of person to sit down to a tea party.
But, no, there he was, sitting there nibbling away at a pastry (I'm making how he eats the first question I ask him after how the hell he got here). And sitting next to a smiling Nanako.
"You know," He began, "this isn't my first party tonight, or my second even!" He smiled at this fact. "I think my second party was my favorite, because I got all these cool things!" And he unzipped his head to reveal that he'd stuffed his interior with glowsticks. I had to physically look away, it was painful.
"It was kind of weird, though..." He went on, after he zipped his head back shut. "There were already lights there, but I think, they were broken. They were always constantly flashing, so I guess that's why they gave these out. I didn't stay long, this guy came up to me and started yelling at me about all the shadows he saw, and then he took a nap. So I got out of there and then Nanako found me in her backyard, and I'm here now!" He beamed. How the hell does he stay that happy?
"Do you want one?"
-(-)-
"So, yeah, that's why Teddie is sleeping in my closet."
_\_Uhhh…Okay…_\_
After politely disengaging Teddie from Nanako, I brought him up to my room and dialled Yosuke to call off the search.
"I think I'm just gonna have him stay here, I doubt he'll let go of Na-NononoDON'TTOUCHTHAT!" A loud crash and a model I spent a week building is in pieces. So much for that hobby. "He won't easily let go of Nanako now that he found out that she likes to play with him. Not to mention, I'd hate to be the one to tell Nanako that I have to take Teddie somewhere else. The hardest part'll be convincing my Uncle that it's just some toy…"
"…Speaking of Uncle, did he ever catch any of you?"
_\_No, we were almost spotted by Naoto, but I managed to sneak us out of it._\_
I ran my fingers over the bridge of my nose. "Let me guess, you tried to sneak everyone else out in a cardboard box, right?"
He scoffed, like I offended him. _\_'Tried?' When you sneak within the confines of enemy territory, there is no 'try' there is only victory!_\_
"Yeah, well, great. It's been a long night, we can talk about it more tomorrow, Liquid Snake."
There was a sigh from the other end of the call. _\_Yeah, I'm gonna let everyone know they can go home and we can talk tomorrow, see ya._\_
"Yeah, see ya tomorrow."
*Click*
-(-)-
Alright, so not only do I have to worry about everything else under the sun. Now, I have to be incredibly paranoid that Teddie will start touching my stuff while I'm at school.
Life. Is. Gooooood.
And then the kid in that stupid afro started talking to me.
"Yo!"
I had only wanted a little time for myself, just me and my lunch on the roof. That was it. I did not need to deal with more wacky personalities today!
"Well as I live and breathe! If it ain't the cat I've been lookin' for just walks on past like he owns it all! Been here two months and he's already standin' strong like he belongs!" Oh I so hope that rhyme was accidental.
He ran up to my spot near the fence, his globular mound bouncing with each step (that thing has to be fake, I swear. I don't even think people from the 70's have had afros that big).
"So what's going down, my brutha?" He sat down next to me.
"You know everyone thinks you deal drugs in the bathrooms, right?" I replied, nonplussed.
"Well, if you're gonna act like some jive turkey, then I guess I'll be takin' my 411 on the murders somewhere else."
I immediately stopped and tugged him back down next to me.
"Alright, you can stay, what do you know?"
"Now, hold up. I'm not digging your vibes. If you want me to give ya the scoop, y'all have to answer one of my famous, mind-bending riddles."
"What."
He cracked his knuckles and popped his collar... that was already popped.
"Alright, this here's a categorization puzzle, but it ain't baby school. 3…2…1..."
I was almost certain he was going to cry 'let's jam', but I can't be certain. He started in on his riddle so I painstakingly dragged my attention back to him.
"Skateboard's in group A."
"Go-kart's in group B."
"Egg-timer's all up in group A."
"Alarm clock is strictly in group B."
"So…who does protractor ride with? Group-"
"A, all the ones in group A require outside force."
He seemed to deflate a little when I answered so quickly.
"Fo' sho'!" He said. He must never meet Teddie. The horrors they could commit together would drive me to murder. "Uh, anyway. I was searchin' for all the info I could on those murders. When suddenly, I was noticin' a pattern. The guys in the idiot box were guys from the idiot box!"
"So you just kept that information to yourself?"
"No! I ain't no bogart, but I was in it for a little of that cash they were offering to anyone who had some info. I was about to give it to the Man when some cheese-eater told 'em that I had it and cleaned me out. Can you believe it? I can't think of anyone who knew that I had all that."
Clearly this guy had nothing novel to give us. I was packing my lunch when he placed his hand on my shoulder.
"But seriously, though." His whole demeanour shifted at this point, he voice even sounded a little deeper. "That ain't the only thing I put eyes on. Funny thing how each o' those who got on that Midnight Channel ended up in yo' runnin' crew. See, I'm thinkin' I got the knowledge on what y'all is doin', ya dig?"
"Oh, is that right?" I asked, sarcastically.
"I can answer in a count of three, my extra soulful brutha."
"Per."
"So."
"Na."
My jaw worked soundlessly for a few seconds, before I decided on the best way to respond to that. "Alright! This is getting beyond ridiculous now! The creepy dude who decided to mindfuck me last year, the metalworks guy, and now the weird afro kid all have persona! What's next? Are the cops with magic powers next? Maybe Yukiko's stalker! Or the principal!"
"Woah woah! Peace, man! Ain't no need for the harsh vibes! I just wanted to let you know, you need me? I got yo' back!" he told me, slapping my back for emphasis.
"Don't do that. So you want to help us fight?" I asked, taking a step away for personal space.
"Naw, man, I'm a lover, not a fighter." He said, waving his arms. "But I tell you what, I know people. So you need somethin'? Somethin' that ain't so easy to find? I can deliver."
"So the crack about dealing drugs..."
"Ha ha! Well I ain't sayin' that but... Well I ain't not sayin' that either, ya feel me?"
"And your persona? What does it do if it doesn't fight?" I asked.
"Well how 'bout we make it another riddle, my riddle-brutha? I'll say I 'get things goin'' and you can get back to me when you figure it out."
"Hey, Seta!"
The 'funky' student walked off and put up the 'keep it touch' hand signal as he reached the door. Looks like I'll keep calling him Funky since I didn't get his name.
"What's up?"
"They're assigning groups for the camping trip, it's first come first serve. Come on!"
-(-)-
A/N: Another chapter. And it didn't take months this time! This arrangement is working out!
Bit of a difference in opinion between myself and TntS on Funky Student's dialogue. I thought the way he wrote it skewed too modern. Words like 'dawg' and 'blood' were apparently used in the 70s but are still used today and I figured using them would lessen the effect. On the other hand, the way I wrote it (as seen in this version), he claimed read more like something... a bit on the racist side. And accurate to circa 1880. I'm paraphrasing, mind.
So I'm looking forward to people's opinions on it.
Thanks for reading!