Chapter 51

June 25, 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.

Marukyu Tofu

Stephen had been the one to escort Rise home, and he paused outside her door as she knocked on it a few times.

"Are you sure that your grandmother's here?" Stephen asked.

Rise smiled. "Of course I am. You probably haven't met her yet though."

"I'd say that tradition's going to be broken." Stephen smiled back.

The door opened and Rise's grandmother opened it and ushered Rise and Stephen inside. "It's very good to see you again!"

"It's great to see you too! Oh, in case I forgot, this is Steve and he helped rescue me!" Rise pushed Stephen forward.

Stephen bowed his head. "It was nothing really. I just helped, that's all."

"If not for your help, she wouldn't be rescued. So, you have my thanks. Rise seems to like you and she talks about you all the time." The old woman smiled.

She left Stephen and Rise by themselves to talk a little more.

Rise leaned over on Stephen. "I guess I'm back for good."

"Hallelujah. You know, I was really worried about you. And it was my idea to go and get you back. Seeing as we're back, and you're safe…."

Rise stood up. "You want to hook up? We only just got back!"

"Sorry for trying my luck. I mean, I wasn't trying to pressure you or anything." Stephen blushed.

Rise nudged him. "That's quite gentlemanly of you. I'm sure it'll happen at some point, just not yet."

"That's perfectly understandable. So, what do you want to do instead?" Stephen wondered.

Rise yawned. "I'm a bit tired, so I was kind of wanting to go to sleep. OH! I almost forgot, we should probably exchange numbers in case you want to meet up or something."

"I'd like that." Stephen replied.

They exchanged numbers and Stephen escorted Rise to her room but he didn't go inside.

Rise gently put her hands on his shoulders. "Thanks for rescuing me. While you can't stay the night, I do have something for you."

"I think I know what it is…" Stephen began, but was cut off as Rise kissed him.

The kiss carried on for a few more minutes before Rise had ended it. "I liked that. You're a really good kisser come to think of it."

"You too. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow just to see how you're doing." Stephen turned around after seeing Rise open the door to her room and step inside it.

Rise heard Stephen's retreating footsteps and smiled to herself. If someone had told her that she'd not only be rescued by her long-time crush but also dating said crush, she wouldn't have believed it. Then again, there were a lot of other unbelievable things that been going on.

She got changed out of her dress and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before getting into bed and falling to sleep almost instantaneously.

Dojima Residence

Yu had gotten home and was busy watching TV with Nanako when he heard a loud noise or rather a succession of loud noises.

"Shit! Mind the step!" Adachi exclaimed.

Katsuya knocked on the door. "Can someone open the door please?"

Yu opened the door and watched as his uncle spilled through it.

"OW! Whose bright idea was it to build a step here?! I could have really *hic* hurt myself!" Dojima slurred.

Adachi hoisted Dojima up. "I have no idea. Getting drunk isn't going to solve anything."

"Oh, pardon me then Mr Smarty-pants, what do you propose we do? It might just solve the damn murders!" The detective overbalanced slightly and almost fell over.

Katsuya followed close behind the par. "Well, there's a leak in the Department, Ryo-san, so it's not as if….."

"What do you mean "leak?"" Adachi glowered at the red-haired detective.

Katsuya held up his hands. "I was only suggesting that the culprit seems to know a lot about the details of our investigation. So maybe someone in the department is either supplying the culprit with information or that person IS the culprit."

"Cram a sock in it you too! Hey Yu, hey Nanako! I'M BACK!" Dojima swayed unsteadily from side to side.

Nanako looked worriedly at him. "Welcome back."

"Sorry, but could you go and get his futon ready? He's probably not going to be getting up for a while." Adachi smiled.

Nanako left the room as Adachi led Dojima to the couch, closely followed by Katsuya who observed everything as it happened.

Katsuya raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming this is a regular occurrence?"

"Well, he's had too much tonight!" Adachi just ignored the question.

Dojima slumped into the couch. "Yeah, well how am I supposed to deal with all this shit? Especially when my nephew thinks he's the frigging Batman!"

"I was just trying to help." Yu interrupted.

Adachi nodded. "Just like Suou, the prefectural police and that Shirogane kid. Nothing seems to work!"

"Because I'm stuck with a dumbass for a partner!" Dojima drunkenly got up and smacked Adachi in the head before slumping down again.

Katsuya bristled at Adachi's earlier comment. "You're forgetting that I DEALT with a similar case, you CLOD."

"I don't have to take this shit from you asshole!" Adachi pushed Katsuya.

The red-haired detective's response was to punch Adachi in the stomach. "Call me that again and the next punch is going to be a lot harder."

"I've always *hic* been meaning to do that, 'Suya! You're such a dumbass, Adachi! Insulting a detective like that! You couldn't even tie his shoelaces!" Dojima laughed, but the sound bore a closer resemblance to hiccupping.

Adachi clenched his fists in anger but still kept calm. "We can't all be blessed with his detective skills, sir."

"I guess not!" Dojima smiled.

Nanako ran back in. "His futon's ready!"

"Great. C'mon boss." Adachi helped Dojima to his feet and brought him to his room.

Katsuya nodded at Yu. "Well, I'd better get going. Sorry about the state your uncle's in. My father was the same way for a while after he lost his job."

"I can only imagine. See you around, Katsuya." Yu waved as the detective made his exit.

Nanako yawned. "Good night, Big Bro!"

Yu was alone now. In a sense, he was always alone regardless of whether there were people around him due to his knowledge about everything that was going to happen. He couldn't tell anyone about who the culprit was, even though the culprit was in the house and had brought his uncle home.

Keeping secrets was always a difficult thing to do, in most circumstances. Yu knew that keeping what he knew a secret was even more difficult. And he knew that there'd be far reaching consequences if he kept everyone in the dark.

Amagi Inn

It had been a good few hours after Rise had been rescued and Dylan and Yukiko were celebrating in the blonde's room at the Inn. They'd been so busy, in fact, that they didn't notice Stephen return from escorting Rise home. Or they pretended not to notice.

"Is that Steve?" Dylan sat up in the bed.

Yukiko sat up as well. "I think so. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Sex? I'm pretty sure we're well into the 4th round. Besides, we might as well get as busy as possible before my dad gets here." Dylan stretched, putting his arm around her.

Yukiko was taken aback by the suggestion. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, he's got some weird double standards. I mean, he'd get pissed if I went out every night but he was going behind Mom's back just as much. He's coming here for pleasure and business, and I know for a fact it's both because he's got contacts in the Yakuza and all that." Dylan followed this with a short, bitter laugh.

Yukiko leaned into him. "That sucks. I can't imagine what that must have been like. Living with someone like that, I mean."

"Terrible. And it only got worse after Rob moved out. Rob would always defend Chase and me, and I missed that when Rob went and joined the army. Think he ended up being a Navy SEAL but he doesn't talk about it that often."

Yukiko drew up part of a bed sheet over herself. "PTSD?"

"No way! He loves being in the military and he's told me that he'd prefer that to sitting behind a desk every day for the next 30 years." Dylan grinned.

Yukiko exhaled. "Huh. By the way, was that strip club story true?"

"Oh yeah. He came home from one of his tours of duty and it was my birthday, so he took me to a strip club to celebrate. Unfortunately, this bouncer goes "Oh, sorry sir, I don't care if it IS your brother's birthday you can't bring a kid in here" and Rob starts talking about how he's a Navy SEAL. THEN, the dumbass actually wants proof and Rob kicks the shit out of the guy in front of everybody in the club, breaks the bouncer's arm, buys everybody drinks and tells the cops that the bouncer tried to glass him. And he managed to bring 6 strippers home with him. Got the photos to prove it." Dylan tapped the left side of his head knowingly.

Yukiko laughed. "WHAT?!"

"I'm being serious! Rob's a badass. Hell, Chase can even attest to that." Dylan trailed off, but this was only because Yukiko kissed him.

She smiled. "Let's get back to it."

Dylan agreed and kissed her back, drawing the sheets up over them as he did in one fluid motion.

Inaba Outskirts

Tatsuya looked up and he saw Katsuya and Baofu waiting for him.

"So, did you guys find anything out about the culprit?" Tatsuya asked.

Baofu pushed his sunglasses up his nose. "We did. The culprit is closer than we think AND he could be involved with the investigation into the murders and the kidnappings."

"And Katsuya's already figured it out, I assume." Tatsuya mused.

Katsuya assumed a pose of quiet reflection before answering. "I have. However, I don't think it'd be wise to voice my suspicions at this time."

"I'm assuming that's because whoever it is will accelerate his MO along. Sudou wasn't nearly as smart as this guy. He might have been a complete psychopath but I don't think he could have pulled off hiding in plain sight. It just wasn't in his nature." Tatsuya reflected.

Katsuya agreed. "Whoever we're dealing with is incredibly patient. He knows that we're on to him, and he knows that the other teams know what we know."

They were interrupted by footsteps, and turned to see Naoya approach them flanked by Kei and Reiji.

"Well, I can safely assume that Narukami's team is to be trusted. Even if he knows more about the case then he's letting on." Naoya crossed his arms.

Kei thought about what he was going to say before arriving at a conclusion. "Perhaps that's because his uncle is one of the detectives investigating the case."

"Or he and his friends have Personas. Which they do." Reiji interrupted.

Katsuya nodded. "Of course. Narukami and Blake are very interesting people, I must say."

"I suppose they are. Even if Blake's father has been some sort of eminence grisé that was backing Kandori, Sudou and Ikutsuki. The man even kidnapped and trafficked children for Ikutsuki's experiments and Lord knows what else." Baofu spat.

Reiji appeared downcast. "I met Gregory Blake a few times. He always seemed friendly to Taka, but…."

"He had other motives." Kei speculated.

Tatsuya thought about it. "He probably did. Apparently, he's going to be visiting Inaba soon and he's bringing all his entourage with him."

Naoya snorted derisively. "Call his associates what they are. They're the scum of the earth."

"Naturally. There's even a war criminal in the bunch, Marek Kosilich, the Madman of Belgrade." Katsuya remarked.

Kei was sceptical. "Wasn't he on trial for war crimes?"

"He was. Perhaps Gregory Blake bought him his freedom." Baofu shrugged.

Tatsuya looked around. "We'll have to tell the others about this, naturally."

With this agreed, they went their separate ways and returned to Inaba.