Persona 4: I Don't Belong Here

by JustCharles

Can a man find love and acceptance halfway across the world? Or will he find darkness and despair? Charles Waldo, a transfer student hopes for the former in Inaba, Japan. He may end up finding the latter. Persona 4, Golden, Animation Adapted. Yukiko x OC, Yosuke x Chie, Yu x Minako Arisato. Inspired in part by Radiohead's "Creep." Please R and R.

290. Epilogue

A/N: Here is the first of the four afterthoughts to this IDBH saga... The other three are finished, but this fic isn't as I will now begin the task of refreshing all the earlier chapters, which will probably take a bit. After all, there are mistakes and goofs I wish to fix. That said, the other three will be out before year's end.

Also, I updated a little snippet of Last Chapter.

Oh, but this Epilogue right here, it's going to have a few interesting things in it...

Thanks to DualSelf, as always...

(Update: In response to Rosy's review I made a few corrections.)

Epilogue
March 18/22, 2012

March 22, 2012

Shichiri Beach

It was a nice day at the beach. It wasn't really bikini and swim trunks weather, but it was warm enough that someone could wear windbreakers and shorts and go barefoot on the sand. That's what Charles and Yukiko did. Charles wore a navy blue windbreaker and gray sweat shorts. Yukiko wore a red windbreaker and black sweat shorts.

"Yu make it home okay?" Yukiko said.

"Um-hm…" Charles said. "And Mina was peppered by questions but everyone in his family loves her already."

"That's good…" Yukiko said. Then she sighed. "Did he say when he was going to call all of us?" Yukiko said. Charles had received his info from the call Yu had made to the Dojima residence.

"Tomorrow, he wanted to take today and catch up with his sister. After all, he hasn't seen her in years."

"I get it," Yukiko said. "I just wish..."

"Look, you didn't say a lot yesterday but you said the stuff that needed to be said when he left."

"But I wanted to say more. I wanted to thank him personally for helping me see I don't have to do things alone. I can ask for support."

Charles smiled. "He knows. Do you think I got to say everything I wanted?"

"I think you got to talk to him for an hour before you both finally fell asleep..." Yukiko said archly.

"Busted... And granted... But I still didn't get to discuss how different it feel to have my own soul compared to holding part of his. I feel different, and I was curious to see if maybe, he felt different as well. If there was any of previous me in there."

She took her hand in his and put her head on his shoulder as they continued to walk. "I know. You guys mostly talked about your plans for the next year at school and how you expected things to be different."

"I was hoping for a lot less excitement. Tie pull notwithstanding."

"That comment you made opened a door. And gave us a chance to reconnect."

"Which brings me to the burning question. I mean, I saw alternate realities where you didn't take well to my compliment about your weight. So my question is, if you had rejected me for that, who would you have picked?"

She looked at him and said, looking deeply into his eyes. "I STILL would have picked you."

"Really?" he said.

"Why so surprised? I mean, your comment came at a time when I was interim managing an inn AND fighting off the advances of some of my fellow students. Your comment was unique, and your candid, loving tone helped, but I think if I had 'rejected' you, it only would have been from the stress I had been suffering from at the time. Once things cooled off at the Inn, I would have reconsidered things and given you a chance. That's how it would have gone 'the other way'."

"But..."

"Chuck. 10 years ago I was held hostage with a beautiful young boy who already had some shit heaped on him. But underneath my anger at your crying, I grew feelings of love. Then we were parted and we forgot each other everywhere except deeply in our souls. And so, even though the dream never came true of me NEEDING to open that door to rescue you this past winter, I realized that maybe it never was to come to pass specifically, but rather, it's a metaphor: Whenever you're alone and sad and feeling low, I will ALWAYS open that door to save you."

Charles stood there, just looking off into space. "Charles-chan?" Yukiko said. She waved her hand in front of him. "Charles-chan..." she said. "Chuck? Konichiwaaaaaa?"

Charles then smacked his forehead. "Damn me, I should have realized it was a metaphor..."

Yukiko stared st him. Then she giggled and laughed and then Charles laughed as well.

They then kissed, Yukiko on her tiptoes.

"You wanna watch a clean movie, a dirty movie, or just make love?" Charles said after their lips parted.

Yukiko lasciviously licked her lips. "I wanna MAKE a dirty movie. We're probably the only couple who hasn't had 'Thank God We're Alive' sex yet. I wanna do it and film it at the same time."

"Amagi Challenge 2.0? Wanna see how dirty a girl you are?" Charles asked.

"Oh, we all know by now that if I had a middle name, 'Hentai' would be it. Actually, though, you're kind of a dirty girl yourself..."

Then she ran off giggling. Charles did a double take and then chased her to his beach house.

Once they reached the beach house they used the outdoor shower, meant to clean off the ocean and sand, to clean their legs and feet off. Then they dried their feet quickly and then went in the back way.

Charles quickly shut and locked the back door. "Uori still out?" Yukiko asked.

"She's getting school supplies with her friends... She said she'd be back by dinner and invited us to stay at least for that."

"You know we were gonna stay all night..." Yukiko said, as she began leading him upstairs.

"Bedroom first?" Charles said.

"Uh huh..." Yukiko said. She placed her hair and off to the side after removing it and then kissed him again. She then removed his glasses and placed them to the side.

"Should we start filming?" he said as he felt her up. "Or should we just make love first?"

"I don't know… I'm 4 AM horny and I wanna film it this time," she said, smiling and toying with the bottom of his windbreaker. Neither of them had anything on underneath the windbreakers.

She then lift it and he lift hers and then they both pulled down their shorts. Yukiko, as she stepped out of hers, moved her hair back. She then noticed, "Oh, you already put up the spycams… You sleaze!" she giggled.

"Sometimes I don't need our bond, I just need our history…"

"Then let's write this history…" She said as she pressed her body against his and kissed him.

"Let's…" he said.

Both of them kissed and then sank down on the bed, where they made love… passionate and animal-like in their movements, but sharing their love on camera for them to watch at later times. Both of them, confident in their love…

…

They spent a long while together…

March 18, 2012

Furoshi Residence, Tokyo

The Furoshi Building was one that had been in Tokyo since the 1960's, long-standing and proud. It was also Yakuza, and had been since its inception.

Furoshi Saburo was not affiliated wit the Five Families. Rather his family was informally known as the "Sixth Family" because it was said that while he was independent, where the winds blew off of the mountain the Five Families lived on, his family would follow the breeze.

As it stood, he barely tolerated them, and enjoyed his independence when and where he could. He was not a fool, however… He preferred observing the Five and following their lead because any other direction would have led to dissension and death. Since he was allergic to death, it was a good philosophy to have.

That said, he was too busy making love to his girlfriend, a 23-year-old pretty little thing he bedded first on her 16th birthday. She was the daughter of one of the lower families on his organization and her old man owed him a debt or lose face. And he knew this girl had always fancied him.

"Sabu-chan…" she said.

"Naoko-chan…" he replied.

Yes… too busy to hear what was going on downstairs…

A lithe, feminine figure exited a storage closet and softly shut it. She had been there for several hours. She had been surprised to find on the floor plan such a large closet where one could hide in the dark.

And she wanted to hide in the dark.

After all, that's all she had to comfort her.

Her target had been one that had been targeted by others for a long time. Someone who had needed to be eliminated for their crimes.

And so she accepted. Like she always had.

She tiptoed, holding her black ninja boots, trying to be quieter than quiet. She figured she had 20 minutes to eliminate her target and escape via rappelling before anyone noticed her. It would be no effort to kill her target. She had two perfect weapons, one on either thigh, that could fire as quietly as possible to end the life of who she had been hired to kill.

"Furoshi…" she murmured.

As the girl, clad in her black hoodie and black trousers walked through the house, she needed to be quiet and stay in really dark areas. Any hint of light and she was dead. The reason was she was wearing various dark blue leather belts and steel threads across her arm, back, and legs. And was wearing black lightly armored gloves with steel plating on her hands. On her waist, there was a sheath for the tantou she was carrying with the handle on the left side. On her thighs were holsters containing her trusty nailguns. Underneath the holsters were pouches. The right pouch was filled with concrete nails used for her nailgun's "bullets" while the left's pouch held poisonous needles and other stock ninja tools. In this case, a few small shuriken, a couple of combination flashbang/smoke bombs, and a small dagger, the blade dipped in blowfish toxin. A pair of blue cords hung down from each of her shoulder blades. Beneath her hoodie, she was wearing a sarashi and a short white scarf. She also wore a ritual mask. Any light that would hit the dark blue or white, it would give her away. And she needed to not be given away.

Once she killed her target…

She had killed 2 others prior to this night. Effortlessly. Silently. They had deserved to die and she had given them their due.

All because of what they had done to her. The dishonor.

The theft.

All who were responsible...

They would pay.

She quickly and quietly put her boots back on. From here, the carpeting was thicker, softer, and quieter, all the way up the stairs and into her target's room.

She silently made her way up the stairs. Having studied this building for the last 3 days, two from a hotel across the block, she knew where she had needed to get in, get past the few patrolling guards, and get out.

She was no fool, unlike her previous 2 targets, this one had some good protection, so it was harder to kill tonight's target with just a quick shot from her nailgun from a distance like the last two... But, she would persevere.

She got up to the floor her target was at. The moans from the other end was a big clue.

But shit, did he have to make his partner gasp, moan, and mew so loud?! Have some decency!

Then the assasin felt bad that the target and their lover would die tonight. But, no witnesses and no mistakes... She wanted everyone to know who was doing it without knowing her true identity...

She repressed a gasp. Someone was coming from down the stairs. Not running, but definitely quickly. They found something amiss and were doing a check.

She had found the storage closet she'd left unlocked for this floor and slipped in and quietly closed and locked it.

She cursed in her head. They must have checked the cameras and found that there was a loop on the hallways she had recorded and hacked in from the previous night. Well, she had a friend teach her a few days before. This friend thought she was going to kick shit up on TV (She was, anyway) about the upcoming election campaigns starting up and was willing to help out.

Then she heard giggling and hushed whispers. She leaned to the door and put her ear up to it.

"You sure no one will see us?" a female voice that sounded young, almost like a high school girl, said.

"Fuck, no!" a male voice, slightly older, said. "The cameras on this floor are down due to a software check or some shit like that. We can bang here for the next two hours and no onw will miss us… Though we'll have to be quiet…"

The assassin practically HEARD the girl's pout. "I don't know whether to be disappointed with the being quiet or the two hours more…"

For a moment, the assassin was worried they were going to come in here for their tryst… That would blow things for her and them… They were so close… So close…

In fact, she heard them get closer…

"Shit! It's locked… Someone must have found it was unlocked and locked it," the male said.

"Don't you have a key?" she said.

"Not for this floor… Otherwise I wouldn't have counted on an unlocked door. Anyway… There's another room that doesn't lock. The custodial closet… C'mon, Blondie…"

The Assassin wondered why a person would have a custodial closet and a storage closet on the same hallway. But she heard the giggling and then their voices carried down the other end.

The Assassin waited until they were gone after waiting 4 minutes. Then she heard moaning. Quiet, but still could be heard, though sh quickly realized it was from a vent.

"Give it to me you big, hard stud~" The girl said.

"You've wanted this for days~" the man said.

"The boys at school don't know what to do with a girl like me~"

"A girl like you doesn't need boys~ She needs a MAN~"

The assassin heard giggling. "Give it to me… Man~"

The Assassin rolled her eyes and slowly and softly opened the door after unlocking it. Let the rabbits be rabbits. She had better prey to stop.

She closed the door softly and went down the hall, not believing her luck. She must have accidentally embedded a virus or something and it took the cameras for the floor down. This would make it easier.

She tiptoed her way to the master bedroom on the other end, still not believing a person would have a storage and utility closet near their room. But she guessed it took all kinds.

She looked in the room. Both of the original lovers, her target and their partner, were sound asleep. They must have achieved bliss and fell asleep while the two younger love bunnies were starting up. In a sense, it was a mercy on what the Assassin needed to do.

Since the room and this part of the hallway was completely dark, she could operate efficiently. Given the fact of her victims being plural as opposed to singular, she would not use her tantou to gut the target's corpse post-mortem. Give the couple some dignity.

She took out her nailgun and filled it with two concrete nails. The gun was specially designed so it could fire the nails quickly and quietly.

She pointed the gun. She remembered her first kill. It had made her sick… Until she realized her first target was dead.

The second died and she shed not a tear, nor bring vomit halfway to her throat.

Tonight, she would not mourn the target and asked her gods and ancestors to forgive her for killing the lover.

She fired once.

The nail struck true. But she didn't wait and had fired the other nail.

Buth nails had struck in the victim's head…

Though when the act was done, the assassin was confused. She had heard impact and a gushy sound. The sound of flesh and bone broken to hit the brain…

But it sounded softer than usual. Less wet.

She noticed no movement and decided to take a closer look.

She went over to her target. There was no movement. But something seemed off.

She got a bad feeling… Like this had been too eas-

That's when she had felt the impact to her head.

Sometime later…

The assassin woke up with a nasty-ass headache on and moaned.

She was surprised, though that her mask was on. In fact, all her clothes except her boots and gloves were still on.

"Awake, little girl?" she heard her target say.

She looked up and saw the target and her lover, both alive and wearing evening Yukata. The gentleman was acting tough, well, he was Yakuza, so he could act tough because he was tough. The female looked calm except in the deepest part of her eyes. There was a fear there. Maybe because she thought the Assassin was after her as well.

Or maybe thought the assassin was one for hire…

She wasn't. This assassin was more of a vigilante. Taking away from those who took from her. Because they've taken from others. They had still been taking after they took from her.

She was the one who was saying "Enough!"

She would get revenge on those who took from her… All 13 of them…

…

Including one… One worthy of her deepest hate…

"You're probably wondering why we didn't unmask you… You know, when you were unconscious," Saburo said.

She looked up at him, her eyes curious about that.

"You see, everyone seems to think unmasking a person is this big emotional rush when you think they know who they are and then get disappointed when they don't know who the person is. My thinking is, the person has secrets. Maybe they have a reason to protect them… In your case… I unmask you, I won't get the answers I want…"

"?" The Assassin said.

"Let me put this to you another way. I WILL find out who you are eventually, but I noticed something on your back that caught my interest. So I ask you… Who are you working for?"

"…" she said. She could feel it. She had been stripped minus her mask at one point before her clothes had been restored, though not perfectly. Probably to check for weapons. If she had been a target who had the upper hand then that's what she'd do.

"You know that clan is defunct thanks to Yamata taking over the remains… Who are you working for?"

"…" She said again.

"Listen to me, girly-girl," he said as he got in her face slightly. The beer and sake he'd had (within reason) earlier was still on his breath. "No one inappropriately touched you, despite your nice pair and that body of yours looking so damn tempting. No photographs were taken. The only injury you have is when you were hit by that blackjack on your head. We just wanted to disarm you so we could get answers. You wanna live… You cooperate now…"

"How…?" she asked and then groaned because her head hurt.

Saburo looked at her with a mixture of regret and anger. Regret because he hit her too hard, apparently, but anger that she wasn't playing ball. "Your other two victims told the tale. Except who you are and why you're doing this. We had some garbage bags with some gel packs set up while you were in that storage closet. Paid some teenage broad about your age to bang that asshole guard of mine that acts like his gents are gonna blow up because they're so blue distract you while we made the change. Your whole scheme was blown the moment you hacked in our system the other day."

The Assassin looked down. "I work for no one… Save me…"

The assassin felt no point in hiding it now. She had been too lucky the first two times, but only just. Now she had been sloppy and paid for it. And there was no reason they'd spare her, but she rather die being honest. Let them know her hate rather than keep them in mystery.

After all, there were 10 men that she couldn't take down unless she had some cover besides her clothes and she had none.

But then he grabbed her by her hoodie and said, "You expect me to buy that?! You?! By your lonesome?! You're as old as that blonde we hired! Maybe a little older! There's no way in hell you could have done all this by yourself! You're smart, I'll give you that! But you need funding! Help! A benefactor! Clan Tokugawa had gone down without a fight? I don't think so! There had to be some people who chafed from Danielle Yamata's new rules and hooked you up to be her rival.

The mention of Yamata made her angry, but the Assassin would not budge. "No! This is my revenge for what was taken from me! A long time ago! I plotted and planned this all by myself. Besides, what you're saying makes no sense, if I had help, would I have been caught so easily?!"

"Smart girl…" Naoko said. "She's not here at HIS behest and Tokugawa, despite having a splinter cell, wouldn't have hired her. They use males…" she paused. "Tell me your name…"

"…" the Assassin said.

"You know who I am… You know where I work… While I admit I am in bed with Yakuza, it's because it's a nice warm bed with a nice warm man. Now, did HE send you?"

"?"

"Don't feign things. Two things will set you free. One is your name. The other is your benefactor's name. Tell us these…"

At this point, the Assassin shook her head. "I cannot provide the latter as whomever yo believe hired me, I have not heard, nor have I been hired…"

"Then you'll die… Even if you give us your name…"

"I…apologize, Madam… You are making a mistake… A worse one than I made tonight…acting without more preparation…"

The woman nodded, but she was not satisfied. She went over to where the assassin's weapons were. She picked up a poison needle. "I notice you have these color coded… Tree Frog aka Poison Dart Frog-based toxins?" She then put it down and went over them and picked a moderate blue color-coded one. "Ahh… A species of frog where the toxin is slow and painful… Very painful… Death will be in 90 minutes. This is a very rare species… All the darker colored ones would be too painful for what I need and the brighter ones are either too light or too gentle…"

The Assassin swallowed. The one Naoko had picked up before had been brown and could have killed her in 15 seconds. She knew her Dart Frogs.

"My father was a zoologist…When he wasn't other things…" Naoko said. "Now… You have two REAL choices: Give me no answers… I use this…" she held up the Tantou. "Give me one answer… I use this…" She held up the needle. "Give me both that are satisfactory, and you can leave… Weaponless…"

The Assassin swallowed again. "Aobara…" she said.

"Excuse me?" Naoko said, only because the girl had said it quietly.

"Aobara," the girl said again.

"Aobara…" Naoko said. "But you can't be…her…?"

Aobara was confused. The way "her" was inflected… Was there someone else with her…?

And then Saburo started convulsing.

"Boss?" one of the guards said.

Saburo's eyes started turning an unearthly milky white and he clutched his chest and his mouth was drooling a sickly colored drool.

Naoko grabbed Aobara. "Where is the antidote?!"

"Wha-?"

She felt a backhand.

"My lover must have touched a needle accidentally! Where is the antidote?!"

Aobora knew helping her target save her lover was against her code, but the man needn't die today, especially if it was a mishap at his hands. "The silver one… I made sure to only procure Dart Frog Poisons that could be counteracted by a universal antidote. He was not my target! You were, Madam Ashita!"

Ashita Naoko of the Ashita crime Family and publicly a member of the Diet who had publicly disavowed (but only publicly) her family's legacy, looked at Aobora. "If you're lying, I'll use your Tantou to gut you…"

"I only meant to kill him so he wouldn't be blamed for your death… Since he survived, he earned his right to live…"

"But I still need to die… Shido, you…" Ashita said before she pricked him with the silver needle.

Shido? Aobara thought.

Saburo was still convulsing.

"What did you do?!" Ashita howled.

"Nothing!" Aobara said. "I shot 'you two' with concrete nails and that's it!"

"You liar! Save him! Tell me the truth!"

"I'm sorry…"

"You will be…" Ashita said, about to use the Tantou…

That was when Aobara flipped her chair over and the Tantou broke the handcuffs' chain.

Aobara rolled over when Ashita tried to use the Tantou again and then the men came towards her.

"Stop her!"

After kicking one in the face and using the flat of her palm against another's chest, she went towards her weapons…

And then felt a stab in her side. She knew it wasn't from the Tantou, so one of the goon squad must have gotten close. She winced in pain and left the dagger in her side. That way she wouldn't bleed to death.

She then reached out and picked up a small ball and tossed it on the ground after closing her eyes.

The flash that resulted from the impact was soon accompanied by smoke. Thick smoke.

"Shit! That smells like cat piss!" one of the goons said.

"It's ammonia, dumbass!" another one said.

Ashita was looking for Aobara. Looking for a way to…

She then felt the nail enter her throat, it was quite effective breaching her trachea and causing her to suffocate.

Aobara shot her in the knee with another nail using the special sight for her nailgun. While the creeps were leaving the room due to the smell of the ammonia (which she had laced the smoke's compound with so the police couldn't identify her blood, it was just her and Ashita.

Her original target.

She took her Tantou as she had trained herself to look through the smoke.

"I said I was sorry, and I meant it. He deserved to live after my failure to kill him. You do not. Be glad you are to join him soon…"

Ashita looked Aobara, as if to say "why?"

"I won't tell you that past what I have so far… I will tell you who I am…"

And Aobara gave her real name…

And Ashita's eyes widened and then she felt the Tantou gut her.

Aobara, despite having a blade in her, ran towards the window. She had collected what she needed to. There had been no fingerprints or anything else to identify her on her ninja weapons. The ammonia would bond to her blood, hair, and sweat, making her identity still a secret. She was lucky in these regards.

That and she knew a Yakuza Doctor who treated people on the side if the cash was right. And it was…

She reached the window and jumped out of the 5th story balcony…

Onto the nearby elevated train that just happened to be passing by. The building was always within a good view of it.

She landed and knew that the word would be out for her in that family's organization. And she wasn't going to be able to reach the Doctor by train alone…

"Shit! IF I don't die here today… I'm gonna have to change tactics for a while…"

Aobara knew luck had been with her, but just enough to get away for now… But she had been sloppy tonight. And she needed to do better.

Much better.

So she would lay low and train… Again assuming she survived and after she recovered.

…

But first, she had to survive the long night…

…

Which she did.

March 22, 2012

Sykes Residence

Chris was enjoying her bath. It had been a while since she had one. Actually, she recalled it was the last time it was when she was "consciously" a lass, shortly before Halloween 2010.

It was funny, but in the two months since The Queen had changed Chris back from male to female, she had gotten used to her feminine body again. In fact, she was quite comfortable, which was nothing short of a minor feat.

Oh sure, she had showers since then... But an honest-to-God bath...

She lay back in the tub, placing her feet on the edges, letting the bliss from this bath start to take her away...

There was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Chris said, inwardly cursing. The knock had been a startle and so shifted the water a little.

"It's Teddye. Can I please come in?"

Chris inwardly cursed again. She was enjoying a nice sudsy bath...

"Can it wait? I was enjoying..."

Teddye came in looking beary apologetic for barging in. "I'm beary sorry, Chris, but I can't find my brother."

"Isn't he with Yosuke?" Chris asked.

"No. I called Yosuke and he said Teddie probably wanted to look over home over more and I said, 'Then why are we still well-stocked with snacks?' He rawr-lized what I was saying and is looking around town fur him."

"You checked Mayonaka?" Chris said, putting one hand down in the bath.

"I did... No scent of him..."

"Did you..." Chris paused. "Did you sniff the house for him?"

"He's no-bear in the house..."

"Look, if you need my help..."

"No, we think he's at the arcade at Junes, e-fur since Charles showed him the place he spends several hours, Yosuke's gonna check there."

"Then why are you...?"

"I don't know if there's any better way to say this, so I'll just say it: Did you have a fight with Teddie o-fur his flirting yesterday?"

Chris nodded, knowing her mutters about Teddie"paying" would gave been picked up by his sister. For her part, though, Chris looked her future sister-in-law in the eye and said, "I just gave him tickle torture and then I was...careless and he did the same to my feet and we laughed so hard we ended up snuggling and falling asleep. There was just a lecture beforehand, but no fight."

"He must tickle beary well bearcause I just saw your toes curl in memory..."

Chris blushed and nodded. "He's beary good at it. Regardless, Lass, I like your brother too much to hurt him. I..." Chris paused and blushed redder. "I actually love him..."

"But the flirting..."

"It annoys me, but I know he really loves me. He may have seen Rise trying to get a rise out of Mina when flirting with Yu, and thinks it's okay because Kanji thinks it's okay, but that's why I lectured him. To let him know that there is a certain amount of latitude I'll give him."

"And he understood?"

"Sod that! That's why I tickle tortured the lad... So he and I are fine."

Teddye looked at Chris, trying to find any hole in her story, and finding none, she said, "Well, if Teddie calls you, ask him to call Yosuke..."

"I'm sure Teddie's just getting used to Yu being gone physically and is playing some video games or doing something else to prove he can be independent."

"Bear-haps. Anyway, Abby and I will be using the gym downstairs to spar and make love, so please don't interrupt unless Teddie or Yosuke call."

"I won't..." Chris said.

"Then enjoy the rest of your bath... Though didn't you shower this morning?"

"I have sore muscles from yesterday and the shower didn't relax me enough..."

"Ah... Maybe you should get my brother to massage them..."

"I'll ask him once he gets back from whatever he's dove into..."

"He a-bbearantly loves diving into things..." Teddye said nonchalantly and turned and shut the door.

Chris waited a minute after hearing Teddye's bare feet pad downstairs before saying, "You can come up now."

Teddie popped out of the water and suds and took a gasp of air. He was as bear-naked as Chris. "Lord! You okay?!" Chris said.

"I told you Teddye and I bearly need air, but still...!" Teddie said.

"Sorry, but I think your sis suspected you were in here and was testing your resolve. Good thing you're so good at diving…" Chris grinned.

"But how could you keep your bear-ath level?" Teddie said. "Especially when I did a Triple…"

Chris smiled. "Yukari… Since she was in Archery, she always said it was about control and one aspect is breathing. She taught herself how to keep it level. In fact, when I was Christopher and we had our fling, I made love to her while she had a conversation with one of her fellow club members that she couldn't get out of…"

"I bet you were noisy, though…"

"I was HOLDING my breath for dear life. Afterward, she gave me the advice, but I'm not like her in the slightest. Things only worked as well as I did because Fortune smiled on me, not because I'm good at this as her. One mistake and Teddye would have reached in and pulled you out."

Teddie chuckled. Then he sobered. "If Teddye is suspicious, then maybe we should come clean and ask fur fur-giveness…"

Chris pshawed. "Because your sis and Yosuke got worried? IT's not their business if we're sleeping together now…"

"Actually, there's beary little sleeping going on…" Teddie said, grinning.

Chris smiled. "There was a little. The point is, it's our business… I mean, I thought you would have called Yu this morning and you haven't…"

"I made a promise to not tell anyone that we had our furst time as a couple… I made YOU a promise. As much as I'd like Yosuke and Sensei and Charles and Teddye and your whole family to know, it's our rawr-lationship… And I need to prove I'm beary rawr-sponsible and trustworthy…"

"I understand…"

"I don't… I mean…why did you…?"

"Invite you into bed?" Chris said as she sat up. Teddie nodded. Chris stroked his face tenderly. "Because my life is too short… I love you and I want to experience great things with you out of this love. I wanted us to take things slow and I was committed to that until what happened with Izzy and considering it was the sense of dying and being dragged down to Hell before being in a fantasy that gave me some, but not everything I wanted, I figured that I could die at any minute of any day and I realized that I'd rather spend the time with you…as much time as I can… Because it could be my last day on Earth…"

Teddie brushed his hand against her face. "Chris, I don't want to hurt you… But that sounds like short-term, thinking…"

Chris looked at him and then looked down.

"Shit! I'm sorry, Chris… I…"

"…" Chris mumbled.

"You don't care?" Teddie said, repeating what he heard.

Chris nodded. "I know you don't want to hurt me, you're looking out for my well-being, but I don't care what anyone outside of our family and friends thinks. I love you and I know you love me. I'm not suggesting we drown ourselves in lust or anything like that. What I am saying is that we should take things slow, just a little less slow than we have been, just because of everything we've been through."

"I understand… I just want to make sure you're not doing this fur any selfish motive, even if you don't intend it… I'm not as sturdy as Teddye…"

"I know… But you're sturdy enough…" Chris said and she kissed Teddie. "Plus, if I fuck this up badly, Teddye may get stressed and claw me."

"She could, at that... Plus, I may Rawr-gress and we don't want that..."

"God, Chuck was enough to deal with..." She took his hands in hers. "I'm never going to hurt you Teddie, unless you're being a got a need a dose of reality. But this? Here? You and I as an intimate couple? No, you deserve love and kindness and so it would be seriously wrong if me to use and abuse you."

"Ummm... What did all of that mean? I'm beary confused."

Chris chuckled. "Only because I may not have been clear..."

She then passionately kissed him, just as passionately after he had tickled her feet, and to Teddie, the meaning at that point was clear...

She would NEVER leave him.

It was at this point he embraced Chris as he returned the kiss and gave a low, pleasured growl. Chris gave one in return as their kisses became hungrier.

Then Chris adjusted herself in the tub. "Not as hard as this morning, Love... We don't want Abby to freak out from water underneath the tub."

Teddie smiled and said, "Is your bearth control still good?'

She smiled. "I took another pill before our bath, it's still good..."

Teddie smiled and connected with her. "After today, I wish to be rawr-sponsoble, so can we go secretly buy condoms?" Teddie began moving slowly so as to not splash the water.

Even though her breasts were underwater, Chris still sexily covered them with her elbows. "Aye... But only on my non-safe days can we use them, because I want us to be as intimate as possible."

Teddie just nibbled her neck as their hips moved slowly.

...

They spent a long while together.

Meanwhile, Teddye took a drink of Gatorade after sparring with Abby. "Did you have to lie by throwing Yosuke into this?" Abby said.

"I was testing my brother's rawr-solve. I'll apologize fur that once we're done with our tryst."

Teddye quickly stripped off her gym clothes and then did the same to Abby. They then rolled out the futon the kept for such post-workout trysts.

"There's no real way you can do that without letting on that you know," Abby said as she climbed into the futon under the duvet.

Teddye slid in and then climbed on top of Abby. "My turn to Dom." She stroked Abby's hair. "I'm not going to, Lass... You will, bearcause you were the one who inadvertently heard them while I was napping."

"And I did wake you up to 'con-furm'..." Both giggled and then kissed. "All right, we'll open with that."

"We sure will..." Teddye said, and then disappeared under the duvet, kissing down Abby's bare body.

"Ooohhh, Lass, that already feels good..."

Teddye gave a thumbs up and then resumed her work where she was needed most.

Abby gasped because Teddye was beary aggressive with her mouth today, so aggressive that she clutched the one sheet under her body hard.

"That's even better, Lass..."

Teddye chuckled and worshipped her Abby...

...

They spent a long while together.

Tokyo

Niijima Sae was irritated, which was par for the course for her, but today was truly irritating. First, she had a case for Court she was working on and had decided to work at home, which normally wasn't a problem, but today it was raining hard and the sound of the rain, which calmed her when it was a softer downpour, was just making things more aggravating.

And now someone was knocking on her door...

"Thank God at least Makoto's quiet..." The platinum blond prosecutor said as she padded barefoot to the door, still wearing the dress blouse and skirt she wore the two hours she went to work in. Normally she wore a pantsuit, but some days, you need to show a professional skirt.

She opened the door, looked at who it was, said "No way in Hell..." and shut the door in his face hard.

Makoto came out of her room. "Sis, who was that?" the girl's husky voice containing curiosity and concern.

"No one..." Sae said.

"Sae-onee-san, please!" The voice said on the other side.

"You shut the door on Stephen?!" Makoto said.

"I shut the door on a boy who was so stupid, his own nation declined to prosecute him," Sae said.

"You want to lose your job by letting him die in the rain or from the rain?' Makoto said, sounding curious rather than outraged, almost as if she were chained in some way emotionally.

"You want me to lose it by letting him in this house? Plus the scandal to you?"

"..." Makoto said. "...Dad at least would have let him in until the rain stopped."

Sae sighed. Their father, long since passed away, had been a police officer, until he had tragically died. But despite his reputation for being tough, he could also be fair.

"Please!" Stephen said.

"Sis..." Makoto said.

Sae looked at her sister. This situation, ever since she heard about it last month, was not something she wanted to inherit. But when she looked at Makoto, she saw a glimmer of something for a second. Something she couldn't put her finger on.

Sae then said, "Please get some towels..." Makoto nodded, her bare feet padding across the floor.

Sae inhaled to prepare herself and opened the door. "What brings you here, Halsey-kun?"

"I have no one else to turn to..." Stephen said.

"You have other families. You have..."

"My aunt and uncle are away on business in Europe for the next several months and they're still deciding on if they'll turn the other cheek. My cousin on the other side of Uncle's family, Haru, was going to take me in, but Old Man Okumura didn't want the scandal to taint his food business. The Mishikawas moved to parts unknown, the Okubos hired security guards, and the Kotegawas threatened to report me to the police. Add to that, the Sotos who AREN'T part of Clan Nagai only aren't because they embrace thug lifestyle and took me in just to beat me up and rob me."

A rare flash of lightning illuminated Stephen and Makoto who had the towel gasped, while Sae winced.

Stephen not only had long messy hair and some stubble, he had a cut underneath his eye, which Sae knew had to have come from a nasty punch there; he even had bruises on his face neck and chest underneath the ratty t-shirt he was wearing. As well as a cut on his chest that had to have come from a knife.

Worse than that, Stephen smelled bad and his clothes were dirty. (Though Sae believed it was one of the Soto's clothes and they had all his.) He also looked dangerously thin, as if he'd barely eaten.

Sae wasn't happy to see her distant cousin. After what he had done in New York the month before, she would have supported him if he had turned himself in and did his time, but instead, he got off due to the American Political Machine and exile was his only punishment.

Sae filed complaints with the American State Department, letting them know she was displeased with a felony murder suspect being punted to Japan. She got the impression they brushed her off when they thanked her for her concern.

Stephen Halsey should be in an American jail awaiting trial or if he pled out, sentencing. He should not be here at her doorstep begging.

But then his stomach growled.

She sighed. "Come in, and don't use the 'sister' honorific, please, you have no right..."

Stephen nodded, and then collapsed from exhaustion and hunger.

Stephen barely remembered being bathed and fed before being dressed in clothes an old boyfriend of Sae's left behind before he skipped town to escape two other girlfriends he had. All three became friends and all 3 agreed that he averaged as "decent" in the sack. Stephen then collapsed on a couch and fell asleep. He woke up a few hours later.

"Thank you..." Sae said as she ended a phone call. She saw he was awake. "You need to rest, Halsey-kun..."

"Do you have to distance him that much, Sis?" Makoto asked. Sae inwardly sighed. Makoto was a very bright girl, but she didn't understand how the world worked sometimes.

Not like Sae did. Sometimes she felt it was like a gamble…

She pushed the thought down and said firmly, "Stephen. If you're looking for shelter past this storm, I cannot grant it… I have a reputation as a top prosecutor. Something that I've attained despite some older wags thinking a woman can't cut it. If it comes out I've taken in a family member who participated in egregious crimes in America… It'll harm me and It'll harm Makoto…"

"I wasn't looking for a place to stay… Just out of this weather, some food, some money, and some clothes… assuming you were unwilling to get the police to get my stuff back…"

Sae folded her arms. "I have a Detective… friend… She and a few officers managed to 'convince' the Sotos to return your stuff. Considering that they had ended a phone call just as the police came in, either there's a leak or someone blabbed to the Nagais and the Nagais, worried, got in touch with Danielle Yamata at the top of the food chain, who rabbied for you… And said you were not to be touched. In fact, when your name was dropped, they said it was verboten to say it."

"I had nothing to do with it… Other than being Dylan Blake's half-brother and him being Danielle's Brother's friend."

"I figured as much… that's why I laid all my cards out rather than accuse you of something…"

Stephen looked away. "I shot the guards that had armor on and made sure my bullets were not armor piercing rounds. The chopper was never mentioned to me, I just had to act like I knew about it because if I had chewed out Sergei like every instinct screamed at me to, then Gregory would have prayed on any dissension between me and Sergei, perceived or not… The only death I wanted on my conscience WAS Gregory's… Not…" Stephen closed his eyes in pain. "Not that cop's…"

"Makoto, please get Stephen some food, I daresay the sandwich and apple he had earlier would not be enough…"

"I'll have to go to the store…" Makoto said, wanting to hear, but knowing this was deep stuff and was best discussed in the form of legal matters.

"Please do…" Sae said. She gave Makoto some money and Makoto left, looking a little concerned.

Once Makoto left, Stephen said, "She's a good young woman… You're right to try to keep her at arm's length from me in a familial sense… Which is still closer than where Dylan has me… He wants to kill me, or so he said. I think he's just hurt that he got the same punishment politically…"

"I think it's more than that… I also think…" She slapped him in the face. "Why the hell didn't you come to me once you found out Gregory was your father, Steve?!"

"Like you could have done anything…"

"I'd have investigated him, for starters… Believe it or not, Gregory Blake is one of the few big Foreign Surnames in this nation and I want to make sure if he does business here, it's cleanly… But I would have needed your help, some New York-Tokyo connection."

"I see, so it would have been to make your office look good…" Stephen said, more troubled than sarcastic.

"I would have taken you in the moment your mother died… You know that… But now…"

"Even though I've been exiled rather than convicted, I'm still guilty…"

"Stephen, I think one of the common misconceptions is that presumption of innocence is supposed to exist outside a courtroom. It actually isn't supposed to. It's just politically correct to insist it be so."

"That's because of Juries and Voir Dire… That's why all trials should be bench trials."

"And would a judge, as sole finder of fact as well as finder of law excuse what you did last month…?"

He shook his head in agreeance to her point. "No… I SHOULD be sitting in jail… I should be waiting for my parole, execution, or being shivved. Instead I'm exiled. I'm a nomad… I have nothing… And I understand it's my fault… I mean, there's no guarantee Aunt and Uncle will even risk their reputations to take me in…"

He looked at his cousin. "But I fucked up… I know that… I deserve to rot in Solitary confinement for 23 hours a day for killing a cop who did nothing to me, but was doing his job." Then Stephen's face turned defiant. "But Gregory? I won't regret it. Please don't explain to me about justice or the law because I believed in it. I believed in the Rule of Law. I had high hopes that he was going to have his ass handed to him on a silver platter and he was going to eat crow… But no, his comeuppance never came… because he activated his temporary, but effective 'poison pill'… He deadlocked the New York State Senate…"

Sae's eyes widened. She didn't keep a close eye on American politics, especially at a state or local level, but when one hears of an executive crisis for a U.S. state the same time as a legislative crisis, one takes notice even in Japan.

"That's right… He convinced 30 Republicans and 2 Swing Democrats to remove the Majority leader, just to get investigators off his back. And he did it in such a way that even though all evidence SCREAMED it was him, his 'puppets' said it was things other than him and he had little to do with it. Maybe in practice it was a few words, but he was a big part… And the message was clear… Without him, New York State was nothing because HE was THE State of New York. And that's why I wanted him gone. I was going to be the man who cured cancer…" Stephen sighed. "Or so I thought… The scalpel took down other people… People I didn't want on my conscience. That cop and Sergei… It should be me in prison… or even if God was fitting in a sense of irony, dead… So I deserve your condemnation, Sae-san, I deserve your contempt… But I'm not going to ask for me being placed before your career or Mako-tan's potential. I'd never do that to her. Just money, clothes, and food. I'll find a job. A roof. Somewhere rural. Somewhere where Stephen Halsey is not a name which will live in infamy, just the name of some foreigner… Some kid who may someday deserve a second chance… Not at killing Gregory… But at life… I tried… I failed… Let God strike Greg down when He chooses. I just want to be as far away from him as possible."

Sae heard that. Some parts angry. Some parts sad. And Makoto came in during that speech, after all, the local mart was only a minute away. "All they had was ramen, the lightning earlier took out their power…" Makoto said.

Sae nodded and went to a file folder in her briefcase. She opened it and murmured as she read the contents.

Then she spoke to Makoto. "Does your school have room for one more student?"

"Umm… I'd have to ask Principal Kobayakawa… I think there are two vacancies, but one's being filled by that transfer you mentioned…" Makoto said.

"Then that class will be filled if he approves, and I would ask that he approves…"

Stephen looked at Sae, Makoto, and then Sae again. "I'm sorry?"

"There's a student from Inaba who had gone to the Yasoinaba Academy and then was arrested for battery and even had a civil case brought against him and his parents. He was given probation and will be starting at Makoto's school Shujin when school starts again. He says he's innocent. The case says otherwise but this file said that he's at a critical point in his life where he could go back into criminal behavior or he can reform and be productive to society…"

"What does this have to do with me…?"

"I will not have a cousin of mine be a laborer when he needs to finish school… Plus, I can sense a sincerity in you that you have given up on your hate and want to rebuild yourself…"

"I want to… because I want to make it up to Dylan for what I did to him."

"Then if you want a second chance, I'm going against what anyone expects and will help you… But here are the rules, Steve… Curfew is 22:00, but you have to have done your homework first and I or Makoto are going to check it. You will attend every class unless you are sick or the school has excused you. You will help around this house… You are not lounging here. If you can find a part-time job that doesn't interfere with your studies, then I will approve it and extend curfew to 22:55. But if you screw up, you're out… No money from me. The clothes on your back, and enough food for two days."

Stephen's eyes widened. "Sae-san, please, I do not deserve this…"

"You deserve a second chance," Sae said, her tone brooking no argument. "You deserve an education and a chance to make up for the grave mistake you made… And I can see it from here you want to change. I'm going out of my way to make it happen… And for God's sake, Steve, drop the '-san' I'm taking you in."

"But… Yours and Mako-tan's reputat-"

"Makoto and I will be up front about this. We're going to publicize this, and I do not mean in have a lavish press conference way. Leave that to the bastard you biologically call 'father'. He's good with those. Makoto will tell her principal and I will tell my superiors. After all, you've already received punishment from the United States of America. Scrutiny should be the furthest step from there, not condemnation."

"Tell that to the cop's family… I could try… Maybe 10 or so years from now… Maybe even 20… Hell, even 50… And they would still want to see me burn…"

"Only if you willingly go back into that fire that killed their husband, father, and grandfather…"

Makoto looked at Stephen and at Sae. She was surprised that Sae would do this… But then again, perhaps it would be better to keep an eye on him… So that if he slipped up again, then Sae could legitimately say she did all she could…

…

That didn't actually comfort Makoto… And for a second, some instinct almost bade her to interject.

…

Almost… Instead, that instinct was pushed down again and she instead said, "Will he be sleeping on the couch?"

"No, we still have the spare room… He sleeps in there. Tomorrow, take him to Shujin to show him around and get him registered."

"The Principal hasn't even said yes yet. I haven't spoken to…"

"He'll say yes… Stephen's story will interest him…"

Right… Interest in him in how he can enhance Shujin's reputation… And if half the rumors behind the scenes I've heard in whispers about are true, then I'm not sure Stephen will thrive… but aloud, Makoto admitted, "It will…"

There came a knock at the door. "Ah, the good Detective is here…"

The door was opened and a woman with a gray raincoat over her dark charcoal suit held a large duffel bag out. "One Halsey bag… and an officer is bringing his suitcase…"

Stephen noticed Sae's grateful look, and it looked a little…

Nah… I'm not going blow things by even IMPLYING it, he thought.

"Arigato for getting them back, Detective…?" he said.

"Konan…" the woman said.

"Konan?" Stephen said.

"Yes. With a 'k'… and a lot of snickers…" She said dryly.

"I'm not one of them…" Stephen said honestly.

"Of course not… Still, I'll be the person 'supervising' you… You deserve a second chance, but if I get a hint you're blowing it, I'll haul your ass in…" Konan said as the suitcase was brought in.

"I'm not going to blow it…" Stephen said.

"Only one kid got into trouble close to the deep you got yourself in that said that and achieved that. Some lied. Others tried and failed. You'll be in Column B, most likely… Prove me wrong by ending up in Column C…"

"I will…" Stephen said with conviction.

…

"As God is my witness, I will never fuck up again…"

Café L'Amond, Okina

Uori sighed. Her friends had ditched her. She knew why.

She had been a bit of a downer when they had met up. The 3 other girls had gossiped about their boyfriends and the sex they were getting.

She admitted what had happened the month previous. It was there things went downhill a bit.

"Why though?" Uori said as she wore her light purple sleeveless windbreaker, gray shorts that complemented the windbreaker, and her sandals. "Why would they ditch me?" asking about the abstract part. Since the immediate why was known.

"Perhaps it's because you're not one of them, Love…" a voice said. Uori sighed.

"What do you mean?" Uori said innocently.

A young woman in a black suit and skirt with white blouse and dress sandals sat down at Uori's table. "Don't play innocent… You're not good at it."

"That makes me human already…" Uori said.

"Not enough for them…" the woman said. "It's time for you to come back…"

"I told you, I'm not coming back."

"You don't have a choice," Uori's acquaintance replied.

"Says who?"

"Uori..." the woman replied and platonically took Uori's hand into hers. "You know who..."

Uori gently removed her hand from her acquaintance's. "I left for a reason... Two..."

"And how do you think they'll react to the truth about you? The real truth..."

"They're too kind. They won't reject me." Uori loomed firm on that.

"Are you sure?"

Uori nodded. "Besides, I resigned. Legitimately. I'm mortal now."

"No, you're not. Resigned or mortal…"

Uori was angry. "You know the rules, Lucy! Once I resigned…"

There is the exception where if you're drafted to return, even if you have resigned or retired, you MUST return."

Uori shook her head. "That's never been an absolute! You know that, Lucy! Dammit!"

"Careful with your language…" Lucy said dryly.

"Why? What is so important that I be 'drafted'?"

Lucy sighed and took off her glasses. "Orochi-no-oni is still gathering strength… And it looks like we're going to need everybody…"

"For what?" Uori said.

"War…"

Uori sighed. "Surely you have others…"

"We do, but you were really good at your job."

"I was. Things change."

"You're right," Lucy said. "For starters, I've let go of my anger for Charles. Once I was transferred to Earth to oversee matters…"

"'Oversee'? I thought Take's spell…"

"We cannot take action. We can only observe. At any rate, once I came down, since the spell to make sure no one recognizes me past you is in effect, I checked up on things after my suicide. Chuck was right. My so-called 'friends' ratted me out and then blamed him because they hated him and they hated me once they learned I was a lesbian. And then they played like they sympathized with my pain, bad-mouthing him while twisting the knife in. And they were so convincing. Because I was so desperate to be 'out' and accepted. And do you know how I found out?" Uori shook her head. "Because one of them confessed at my grave. Her life became hell for her and thought I had cursed her. Relationship problems. Health Problems. Money problems. And she wondered why I decided to make her life miserable and not the other three. How little she knows about how karma works. Regardless, I left her and hoped things would turn out better."

"She didn't kill herself, did she?" Uori said.

Lucy put her glasses on. "No, I checked up on her recently and things have improved for her. She thought she suffered because she was the most ambivalent person. She was just experiencing life…"

"And what did that story have to do with me?"

Lucy chuckled. "It's exposition. It has to go SOMEWHERE."

"Lucy, I'm not going back because I think it's rather cavalier of the Crystal Palace to force me to resign…"

"'Strongly convince'…" Lucy corrected.

"…And then call me back just because they've been hemmed in," Uori finished, "And I bet 'All sins forgiven?'"

"Your file would be updated upon reactivation from 'Restricted Duty' to 'Probation'…"

Uori snorted. "That's not much better."

Lucy glared. "You know what you did... You know how big a mistake that was…"

"And I'd do it again! For her! And for him!"

"You knew what was going to happen and you tried to interfere…"

Uori repeated the same words.

"Last chance, Uriel! Are you coming back or not? With the understanding that not could have dire consequences…"

"Not. I don't care if Woden and Zeus themselves come down from the Palace and bellow at me to return. My resignation was accepted by God and He understands why that is. I care about Charles Yamata and Amagi Yukiko with all my heart. As a friend. They've been kind to me in small ways that haven't been aware over the previous year. That's why I did it. I owed them a debt and I wanted to repay them. As a mortal. Not as… As what I was… Because it wasn't fulfilling. It wasn't me… I want to live as a mortal girl. So please… Whatever vestige of above that is re-blooming in me… Take it away…"

Lucy looked sad. "I can't…"

"What do you mean?"

"Uri…Uori… The kind of being you were before your punishment, the nature of it… If there is danger… your original nature will shine through… Your only option to not invite trouble… Serious trouble from Orochi-no-Oni…was to go back home."

"This is my home…" Uori said.

"No… It's not… You're abandoning Paradise… Just for a piece of Earth…and while I'm glad you have platonic love in your heart for them, even though you tried hard to also have a relationship with Shiro… You're just not going to be any true part of either world."

"If guilt is supposed to make me change my mind…" Uori said.

Lucy stood up. "No. You've made your decision. Not so much with words, but with conviction. But there is a price to pay… And you may not be fully aware of it until the proper time…"

"At which point, there'll be blood and fire covering the earth and I'll be wailing and gnashing my teeth because my friends are dead…"

"Yes… Most likely…" Lucy said. Then she sighed and offered her hand. "Take care of yourself…"

Uori, after a moment and a wary glare, gamely shook it. "You too, Lucy…"

Lucy then sadly smiled and disappeared.

Uori felt a little cold and then decided to go back home.

…

Because she knew now she needed to make a decision…

…

An important one…

…

But will her friends accept it?

Sykes Residence

Will was reading a book on the back patio, drinking his coffee. It was a mystery, but he was frowning at it the last 20 pages. He sighed and skipped to the end.

"Called it. It was the politician's not visibly ambitious Chief-of-Staff. Another one I figured out too soon… This sodding author is just not trying anymore…"

"Maybe you should change authors…" A voice said.

Will looked up, his heart skipping a beat at the sound of his love's voice…

And then saw it wasn't Marie, but rather… "Greetings, Izzy… I thought you were finding yourself in this world…" he said warmly.

"So… you're not wary of me…"

Will shrugged. "Way I see it, you're my love's sis who's trying to make up for all the pain she caused."

"Which is why I'm here…" Izzy said. She was dressed in red t-shirt, black skirt, and red stockings that went to her thighs. "I'm wanting to make things right with Adachi-san and Namatame-san, but I don't know how…"

"You don't…" Will said, point-blank.

Izzy sighed. "I had a feeling you were going to say that, but I'm wondering why…"

"Adachi was already damaged before you even shook his hand. Plus, he'd probably laugh at you… Not believing you…"

"Or he could… Do to me what he did to your aunt if he did…"

Will paused and said, "*Technically*… But that's a worst case scenario. I'm thinking more about he'd kick you out if he did believe you, but no matter what… Don't with Taro-san… Because he's healed mostly from Ms. Yamano's death. And any gift you give, any gesture you make, in his mind, will not make up for the pain he's suffered from the loss of her. It will just cause bad feelings and I don't want you to regress into a mustache twirling villainess…"

"Yes, better to leave that to Abigail…" Izzy quipped. She sat down in the other chair, took her shoes off and put her knees to her. Will noticed she had multi-color painted toenails underneath her stockings. They looked pretty, but then focused on her discomfort. "I just wish I could fix the damage…"

"Even bringing her back would make things worse… Not only for her… But for Amiko and I'm sure the long-term Atsuko as well…"

"Plus there's Ami's Mom to consider…" she paused. "William… when I was younger… much younger and so much in love with my brother, everything was simpler… because doing good… only did good… Doing harm… Well, it did harm… But now… It seems that the idea of doing good, may not always be good…"

"That's called the view of adulthood… And yeah… Doing good can do harm or vice versa… All you can do is hope that when you're doing good, you're doing good… or at least if you're doing harm, it's necessary for the good result…"

"Yeah… I've been going around, observing things in your world… And I don't want to accept that as a majority opinion in life…"

"What do you mean, Lass…?" Will said.

She inhaled. "Even though I broke up with my brother-husband, I still wanted to grant the wishes of humans… at least until I sent the hag and she came back in a body bag… But then humanity moved away from good=good and went another direction, and when I went along with it and Marie didn't… It was a heady experience. And so when humanity wished for negative things… they lost their way… or so I thought… You and the others ARE following the way I once was… And so you've earned your right to explore your potentials… But I just wish there were more of you guys out there… I don't…" She paused. "I don't want to lose hope in humanity again…"

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it platonically. "Izzy… I know you've probably ventured a little outward from Inaba and have probably seen things that make you wonder if you made the right decision or if you should be a Sith Lord again, but I'm telling you right now, that while you're tempted to cross back into the abyss, keep on fighting… Because only you can realize that you have the power to help humanity as well as hurt it… And you've done enough hurting…"

"You've also done enough holding of hands…" Another voice said.

"Shit, Sis… you don't call first?" Izzy said, jerking her hand back. Will was just bemused.

Marie shook her head. "I didn't know I was coming out here… Until I decided I was…"

"Lass… Wat are you wearing?"

Marie was wearing glasses, as well as a dress blouse and black suit jacket and professional skirt combo, as well as high-heeled pumps. "My work clothes…"

"Work clothes?" Will said after he and Izzy looked at each other.

"Yeah, I have a job…"

"Doing what?" Will said.

"That's for me to know and you to find out..."

"Ohhh~ A mystery..." Will said, excited.

"Sis, he seems excited..." Izzy said.

"Very excited..." Marie agreed.

"I'll leave him to you, then..." Izzy said, putting her shoes back on.

"You don't have to leave just because your sister showed up."

"Oh, I'm coming back... She just wanted some alone time... I can tell from here..." As she walked past Marie, Izzy heard something out the side of Marie's mouth. She chuckled and walked off.

Will noticed that Izzy's behind was swaying kind of seductively, though...

He quickly shook himself out of it and said, "Paid intern at a Kirijo site or subsidiary?"

"Nope..." Marie said.

"Teacher and you're lying about your age and credentials...?"

"I need your help in forging credentials, but you can do that later."

"Lawyer?" he asked, piqued.

"Nope..." Marie smiled. "And no more guesses for now." She sat down on his lap, removed his reading glasses and kissed him passionately.

"Lass..." he said, looking longingly at her.

"I'm gonna be busy for while, Will... While it's a job that will let you see me every day, I'm not gonna be around in Inaba all the time. And I realized, as sanguine as you are about me roaming the world... I wanted to make sure you would still wait for me..."

"And so you got me a keepsake to hold onto… I already have your comb…"

"Yeah… and don't lose it again… No… It's something more important… A memory I wanted to give to you… among maybe other things…"

"And that is?"

"'I think Charles calls it… 'One for the road…'" she said.

His eyes widened in understanding and then they kissed again.

It seemed like a blink that they were in his sanctuary from outside and in between kisses and caresses, they removed each other's clothing…

"Can you keep the glasses on?" he asked.

"God… Please keep yours on too…" she said.

Both of them finished stripping off everything but their glasses. They then looked at each other. Their hearts racing and trying not to breathe hard.

"Lass, are you sure you want to be waved into home?"

"The third base coach has had me there long enough… I want to score a run…" she said.

"I love you Kasumi-no-Mikoto…"

"It's 'Kasumi Mariko' now…" she said. "Professionally…"

"You're not a… 'professional', are you?"

She laughed rather than got angry. "NO! No, I'm not like that… You can pay me if you want, but I'll have no other clients… No, it's a legit job… One suited to the abilities I still have… But I don't want to discuss it… I just want to be with you today… before I start work in a couple days…"

She pushed him down onto his bed. "And I love you, too, William Oliver Sykes…"

She then sank into the bed and kissed him. Will returned the kiss and put her on her back before bringing the covers over them.

"Do you want me to wear protection?"

"No, I took my pill before I came here… I mean, I may be a deity, but I still have human biology… I want to feel YOU…" she said.

He kissed and caressed her and then, he connected himself with her. She winced a little.

"Sorry… It's probably been a while…" he said.

"At least a couple centuries… And don't worry… He wasn't memorable…"

"I hope I'm memorable…" he said as he began to move.

"Shh… No words… Just memories… Something for you to hold onto me and for me to hold onto you while we're apart…"

He nodded and kissed her as they moved together underneath the covers, physically consummating their relationship…

…

They spent a long while together…

Charles's Beach House

Charles and Yukiko were dressed only in Yukata, sharing ice cream, though Yukiko made sure her Yukata was really short in the legs… So much so one could see her thighs.

"You sure?" Charles asked.

Yukiko nodded as she got a spoonful out to feed him with and brushed her right foot on his leg. "After lunch, such as this is… It's time…You've felt it… Just like I have…"

"I just… I thought we were going to do this when things were more ready," he said before she put the ice cream into his mouth.

"No time like the present… Besides, I think she'd want to know we know."

"That's true… And there's no risk of being hurt, because they *are*…"

Yukiko interrupted. "We'll still gave her a choice on this…" She sighed. "I wish this was something I could come to my parents with…"

"I think your Mom will freak… Your Dad, too…" Charles said.

Yukiko chuckled. "He's not available, assuming he and Mom were willing to accept this decision of ours. Gone to Tokyo again…" she then ate a spoonful her offered her and Charles noticed her look.

"It still bothers you, even after all this time?" Charles said.

Yukiko looked at him a little unhappy. "I'm glad Dad does it to meet with the few investors the Inn has and all that… but when I turned 16, he missed my Sixteenth birthday party… All because one investor demanded a report. I almost grabbed the phone and yelled at the investor…"

"Why didn't you?" Charles said.

Yukiko sighed. "Because I was the dutiful daughter… At least he made it up to me… But it still hurts…only a little… I know he loves me and I'm not going into one of your pity parties…"

"Careful…" he said and they both giggled and gave each other another spoonful of ice cream.

"Yukiko…" he said. "I think we should finish eating this bare and then…"

"You guys…" Uori said, coming in, kicking off her sandals.

"Tabled for the moment…" Charles quickly finished. Yukiko giggled, especially after he fed her some ice cream.

"I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?" Uori said.

"Just us eating… What's up?" Yukiko said.

"Well…" Uori said. "I was wondering if I could talk to you guys about something…"

"About what?" Charles asked.

"Can I sit at the table here?" she said.

"Sure, just don't mind our legs brushing against each other's and yours are collateral…"

"Then I'll take it in the spirit it was intended: between you two…" Uori said. "I need to know... I need to know what the definition of friendship is?"

"What do you mean?" Yukiko said.

"You guys let me stay here as your housesitter/guest/roommate/whatever, even though you had no reason to. I mean, I'm sorry I embellished things with Mom and about what broke down between me and Mom… But you're doing me a kindness. A kindness I don't deserve…"

"But that's what friends do… They do because they want to…" Charles said.

"Yes… But I owe you guys more than that…"

"?" Charles and Yukiko said.

"You see, when I started the school year last year, Mom and I had a fight, and so she cut me off financially for a couple of weeks. I was eating as little as possible, rationing what food I had left." Yukiko and Charles looked appalled. "But then one day, when I had so little food, you guys offered me your bento…"

"I'd made too much and you were looking hungry. But that wasn't at the start per se, that was…" Charles said, before trailing off.

"I know, Late April, when you were gearing up for that first basketball game. And you probably don't think it was much… but to me it was a lot. The gesture, not the food. And then occasionally, you two did other small things that made my Spring bearable."

"Uori, if you're talking about the time I gave you my spare uniform top because you only had one or the time Chuck helped you out with a few homework questions because we'd had Kashiwagi's class for the day and you were about to and didn't want to be unprepared, then we'd do that for anybody…"

"I know… But to me… I treasure them… Because they helped me through things…"

"Uori… What is this about…?" Charles said.

Uori looked at Charles and Yukiko. She was about to say something. Then stopped. Then began again. "Would you think less of me if, hypothetically speaking, I did something that would be considered wrong by certain authorities, but would have helped you…"

"Uhhh… That's overly specific, Uori…" Charles said.

She blinked and then chuckled and waved her hand dismissively. "I didn't mean I had done something… I was using the phrasing 'I did' in future tense. But seriously…"

"It's still overly specific," Yukiko said.

"Is something going on, Uori…?" Charles asked.

"No," she smiled reassuringly. "I'm just… I'm just trying to avoid having you guys lose faith in me. I want to repay you for everything…" She looked down at her hands. "And I don't want it to happen in a way that you could dismiss my actions as 'The Road to Hell is paved…' and all that."

Charles and Yukiko looked at her after looking at each other. "So, this is nothing specific?"

"No," Uori said.

"Then why ask?" Charles said with a warm smile. "We have your back… I've learned in this last year… after several times of my being dense and giving into fear and stupidity…that no one will abandon me… So I'd be a schmuck if I believed that again and a triple schmuck for doing that to you or anyone else."

Uori looked touched at that. "T-Thank you… I was just worried… If I did something… Something that would help you guys or any other friend out where my intentions were good but some people would think were wrong…"

"Uori… Are you feeling pressure from your impending job…?" Yukiko asked.

Uori relaxed. "Exactly. Thank you… I was fumbling there… I was worried that things will come up and there will be a situation where rules vs friends will come up and despite no corruption, choosing friends would be shameful…"

Charles raised an eyebrow. But then he shrugged. "That's why you'll have the whole council. You can't do this by yourself, nor would I ask or expect you to. So we WILL support you… No matter what…"

Uori looked a little wry at that. "We'll see how things go… But, thank you guys…" she said.

Then she padded barefoot to her room and then closed the door.

"What was that about?" Yukiko asked.

Charles sighed. "I think a few things her Mom said got to her and only today is she putting stock on the possibility that they may be true. They're not… But Uori has to deal with that… But she won't be alone…"

"No, she won't…" Yukiko said. "Because she'll have all the help she'll need…"

"Yeah, so she has nothing to worry about…"

Uori had her hands on her door as she heard them and wished she could be relieved at Charles's words, but she couldn't. She lied to her friends. It hurt. But she lied…

…

Because she had been about to tell the truth and found she could not…

"No. You've made your decision. Not so much with words, but with conviction. But there is a price to pay… And you may not be fully aware of it until the proper time…"

She had been prepared to tell them everything… About why she left… About…

She looked at her full body mirror and her nudity.

She was a beautiful girl… but how could she explain, despite resigning, her wings and halo had returned?

"I can't tell them…" she sobbed. "I want to warn them… About what's coming… And I can't… I can't even tell them I caused the windstorm that tried to prevent Will from reading the QR code… Tried to stop the whole thing with the Queen… even though Angels are told not to interfere with history unless absolutely necessary…

The wings and halo faded back in and she put her clothes back on.

"Please forgive me, Chuck and Yuki… Please forgive me for my sin…"

She then lay down and quietly cried to sleep for a nap, but she was not weak. Lucy may have subtly imposed the "price" on her or just delivered the message as subtly as possible, but she knew… and because of that, Uori vowed she would find a way to tell her friends the truth.

…

After all, her wings weren't clipped…

…

That thought comforted her as her nap began.

Sykes Residence

Teddie and Chris were watching a movie and occasionally kissing. After the bath they had had one more tryst and called it good until they went to bed.

Teddye and Abby were looking at wedding plans and rubbing each other's feet with their feet.

James and Naoto were actually at her place, as she was practicing her keyboard for a concert she was invited to play at, invited by one of James's estranged friends. However, she practiced nude, as it relaxed her nowadays when she played piano. James just watched her play, smiling.

Meanwhile, Will and Marie were just laying together, talking and kissing after practicing for the Mile High Club.

"Oh, I haven't felt that good since the night Nagi and I consummated our marriage…" Marie said, her head and arm on his chest.

"I'm glad we stopped long enough to get your 'credentials' done… Still, a job like that is perfect for you lass… But what about school?"

"I want to be self-taught… After all I've LIVED history…"

"True, but…"

"And Izzy's going to be learning about the world… Gaining context…"

"How…?"

"By staying in Inaba…" Marie said.

"I thought she wanted to tour the world…" Will said, not surprised Marie was telling him this, at least the fact she was the one instead of Izzy… What she was telling him was the surprise. "That phone call you two shared change all that?"

"No… I think your talk with her changed all that… She was too presumptuous and so going out further than Inaba… She wasn't fully ready…"

"So she'll going to school and stuff like that… Lass, she wasn't the you with amnesia… No offense…"

"None taken… It's actually more of a personal reason…"

"And that is?"

"I want you to teach her as much as you've taught me… This whole last month… I wanted to learn so much from you and you taught me so much… But now… I want you to teach her… Teach her about this world…"

"I don't know what I can do different…"

"Just be patient with her… She's kinder now, but she still has an anger underneath… An anger she's fighting… I've sensed it. As much as she wants to deny it, it's there…"

"It's not against us or her former love, is it?"

"The latter… I think his rejection of her still hurts… And I know this because his rejection of me still hurts. I've gotten over it. She never has and is just starting…"

"Because you're afraid... not of her, but for her… You want to make sure she doesn't go back down that dark path."

Marie nodded. "She deserves happiness. She deserves a life."

"Then I'll help her attain both…" Will said. "Provided she doesn't seduce me…" He was referring to the seductive wiggle of Izzy's rear.

"She's just a tease and I put her up to that. She'll find her own way, including her own love…"

"Well, I'm glad you found me…"

"That's because you were looking for me… And we found each other…"

She then kissed Will, letting him know through the action that he had her total faith and confidence he would help her sister…

…

They spent a long while together…

A Few Hours Earlier…

Hachinata Psychiatric Correctional Facility

"How are you doing today, Ryoko-chan?" Hashimoto's assigned psychiatrist, Dr. Asshole What'shisname, asked.

She didn't say anything… She didn't want to…

"Now, now… You can't better if you won't let me help you…"

"I don't want your help… Don't need it…"

"Well, you seem to want something…" he said.

She looked out her barred window.

"Ryoko…" he said in a conspiratorial voice. "You surely want something…"

"…" she said.

"I'm sorry…?" he said, not sure he heard her.

"Power…" she said, a little louder but still not looking at him.

"Power?" he said.

"Power…" she said.

"The power to conquer your pain…" he said.

"No," she said, and now she was looking at him. And he didn't think that was A Good Thing… "The power to get out of here. The power to find my enemies and to crush them… The power to walk around this world with complete fucking abandon… That's the power I want… Are you going to give that to me?"

"No…" he said.

She then got up aggressively and backed him into a wall and then slammed her arm and hand on the wall next to his head. Then her eyes looked coldly at him.

"Then die…" she said calmly.

Fortunately, he got the hell out of there and decided he would become a pizza maker for the rest of his life, or at least that's what he told the administrator as he ran out.

"Dickwad lightweight…" she muttered.

A voice chuckled from the hall way. "I sense a desire for power…"

"Well, Captain Obvious heard my speech and yet she's…" Hashimoto said.

"Quiet…"the voice said.

Hashimoto was annoyed and walked to her door. While it was locked, she could look through the Plexiglas window on it and saw a woman with red hair.

"Itomori Anzu… You want power…" the woman said. She was dressed in, what Hashimoto saw, was a black uniform jacket over a white blouse and red tie over a black skirt and black stockings and black pumps. Her posture and clothing was almost like one of those Nazis Hashimoto secretly idolized. Oh, the scandal that would have caused if *that* little nugget got out.

"Sieg Heil!" Hashimoto said, doing a Nazi Salute.

"Quiet…" the woman said. "I'm talking to her, not you…"

"But she'll never talk…" Hashimoto snickered. "Now, you and I… We can talk about power…"

"Anzu-san… I'm Cordelia… I can give you want you want…"

"I told you… she's not going to…"

"Y-you can…?" Anzu said.

"She speaks!" Hashimoto said sarcastically.

"I know what happened with your brother… I know how he died… And how his commander lied…"

…

"It… It wasn't his commander's fault… He… He was ordered to conduct the exercise even though there had been warnings… But he had to obey people in the government… Including that man with the tinted glasses and goatee… Shodo… Shudo…"

Cordelia smiled. "Yes… You can get revenge on him…"

Anzu looked away. "No… Not him… There's something about him… Even the power you're offering… It won't work…"

"Which is why you should give it to me…" Hashimoto said.

"*You* are a sexual predator and the power would ill suit you… No…" Cordelia said.

"I'm not asking…" Hashimoto said.

And then Cordelia said a word, and once Hashimoto heard that word, she was in unspeakable pain and collapsed to her knees, trying to get a breath.

"I don't want to hurt the commander… or the men above him… Too much risk and karma will get them… But his comrades…" Anzu said.

Cordelia nodded. "They betrayed him most of all…"

"They were supposed to have his back, but they lied in the inquiry, and said the accident was Onii-chan's fault… It wasn't his fault… I asked Uncle Ken to arrest them… and he apologized and wished he could but he said he couldn't…"

Anzu's face then contorted into deeper pain. "Those men lied! They lied to get better assignments! They sold him out to advance!" Anzu finished, saying the same things before she freaked out violently and she had voluntarily decided to check in. She had hoped that she could use the calm quiet of the facility to help ease her into accepting her brother was gone and while it was sad, she could heal enough to go on and live…

But then people outside her parents and her Uncle Ken stopped visiting her. Even those men would leave and snicker about the things they said, as if she were a fool before they stopped…

"I want the power to make them pay… pay back my brother's death… in blood…"

Cordelia smiled wider. "I can give you the power to do so… but in exchange, I need you to do some favors for me and my comrades…"

"These favors… They won't involve harming innocents or my family, will they?"

"No…" Cordelia said honestly. "Only people who need to pay us back in blood or could be a threat to innocents…"

Anzu looked at Cordelia. "You promise? Please promise me…"

"I promise…" Cordelia said.

"Last chance…" Hashimoto said, getting to her feet. "Give me the power… Or I'll take it off your corpse…"

And then Cordelia gave her a glare so fierce that Hashimoto was on the floor convulsing, foaming at the mouth.

"Aren't you going to call for help?" Anzu asked.

"If she dies… She dies…" Cordelia said calmly.

Anzu looked at her. "Please… don't kill her… Please let her learn from this…" Anzu's eyes were wide with pleading.

Cordelia nodded after a pause. "I've reversed the effects… But whether she will learn… You should not have let me spare her…"

"Thank you for doing so… What do I have to do?" Anzu said.

"Agree to my terms, via signing this contract…" Cordelia opened the door. It was never locked in the first place, but Anzu usually left only when she felt like it.

Anzu looked at the contract. All it said was…

I Chooseth to Serve of Mine Own Free Will…

Anzu looked at Cordelia and then wondered if she could trust her… But this woman was offering her something… Something that could remove the stain of dishonor from her Onii-chan…

She signed her name.

"Arigato, Anzu-chan…" Cordelia said. And then she took Anzu by the hand…

Anzu blushed, feeling the touch of another girl… The touch was warm and soft and caring… She never told anyone she was… That way… But it was like Cordelia knew.

A Red Door appeared.

"Anzu-chan… You won't need your clothes where you're going…"

Anzu looked at Cordelia. "You'll have clothes for me where we're going…?"

"Yes, and a new name… Scarlet…"

"I like that name… But… C-" She blushed. "Could you remove all your clothes too? I d-don't like to be n-n-naked by m-*myself*…" Anzu said.

Cordelia smiled and kissed Anzu on the forehead. "Sure…"

Hashimoto got up to her knees and watched as both females stripped out of their clothes. Once bare, this "Cordelia" took Anzu by the hand again and opened the door for both of them. Hashimoto banged her door with both hands, begging to go with them.

The two nudes only had eyes for each other as they stepped through.

And then the door closed and disappeared, like it was never there, much like Cordelia's clothes did, Anzu's the only ones left in the hallway.

Hashimoto began to cry and pound the floor. Pounded as hard as she could.

She had been found unworthy…

She…

It was unfathomable…

Unbelievable…

How could she be rejected?

She didn't know…

Even as the questions came hard from the administrators and the police and her own lawyer regarding Anzu's disappearance over the next several weeks, she knew one thing…

She would get power… And she would kill Yamata, Amagi, and this "Cordelia…"

She would make Inaba BURN…

It was only a matter of time…

Somewhere

"Time… It's a funny thing…" the Demon said. "Mutable… Malleable…All that's been done to this point…"

"Pales in the face of the fact that you have lost our bet, Nyarla…" Philemon said.

"Oh?" Nyarlathotep said, bemused. "I sincerely doubt that I've truly lost…"

"Charles Yamata proved Heroic in the end…even though he 'killed' Yu Narukami… He made the sacrifice… You thought he would kill Yu and bask in it…"

"I had a hope, Phil… Can't blame a guy for trying…"

"I certainly hope you have no more wagers…"

"Well… There's this little thing in Tokyo…"

"Leave it alone… I'm monitoring it… I even know how it's hitting 'close to home'. I'm letting it play out. I don't need to bet on that one," Philemon said.

"Pity…"

"And here's a larger pity… I'm done with wagering for now…" Philemon said.

"Really? But you've loved our bets…" Nyarlathotep laughed.

"Yes… But I think you were trying something under my nose again… IF you've had any plans to use those alternate timelines that were created by our bet, forget it… I've made sure those timelines are all in an isolated cluster, divested from this timeline. The moment Charles was revived."

Nyarlathotep whimpered. "You figured it out…"

"Of course I did… Nothing escapes my notice…"

"Nothing?" Nyarlathotep said. "Sumaru City…"

"You used a bait and switch on me, but I've grown wise to your little tricks… The bet is over… I won… And you must uphold your vow not to interfere with human affairs."

"Best two out of three?" Nyarlathotep asked.

"No…" Philemon left.

Nyarlathotep looked perturbed. He had planned to manipulate things so he could use the various timelines he had created through the bet to stage a grand battle of good vs. evil… But that fell through now.

Instead, he had to work in another plan… The Plan B he worked into the bet.

That's when he chuckled.

"Rule the First when gambling with a Demon… Do not leave until you hear him actually concede… and since I did not concede…and this Rule is binding… I can still play…"

And then he laughed… The game was not over… No, it had only begun…

Fields of Gold, Mayonaka

Charles had called it that after the song by Sting because it fit what Teddie's and Teddye's world had looked like before the fog had come and when it had receded again. Sure, the grass was green and there was a forest and a lake and all that, but wouldn't it figuratively fit? Charles said so and filibustered for 10 minutes before Yosuke groaned that Charles had won because nobody could come up with anything better.

Fortunately, the rule the SoT had of not going in alone did not apply here as there was a clear path to this area and since it was peaceful, things could work out okay.

Yukiko and Charles were just sitting there on the grass, looking out on the lake.

"Yen for your thoughts?" Charles said.

"Oh, just wondering if we're making a mistake. Last minute wondering…"

"Are we?" Charles said. "We can abort…"

"No… I've thought about this and it's like I was getting at before Uori got home. I want us to be together with someone we care about…"

"So you have no problem…?"

"None... for me… But for 'her'…You can't predict how she'll react…" Yukiko said.

Charles nodded. "Yukiko-hime's kept the fact we know from 'her'… hasn't she?"

"Yes, and Yukiko-hime will be relieved she won't keep it a secret anymore."

"I do not know why we're here… There are no Shadows…" Magatsu Izanagi said, showing up.

"We wanted to speak to you…" Yukiko said kindly.

"And something else…" Charles said.

Magatsu Izanagi narrowed her eyes. "I should know what it is you're thinking… Why is it I do not?"

"Because you kept something from us…" Charles said.

"And that is…?"

"I thought it was you at first in Phoenix. It made sense, rising from the ashes and all that…" Charles said. "But when Yu and I fought each other… And Izanagi stabbed you in your guys' fight and that's when I knew… you were back…"

"Waldo-kun… You are mistaken… That girl is dead and in Oblivion…"

"Is she?" Charles said. "I returned, Yu's sis returned… Why won't you admit *you* returned?"

Magatsu Izanagi floated backward when Charles and Yukiko went towards her.

"Why pull back?" Yukiko said. "He's lamented not saying goodbye to you twice and so now he's got… '1 More Chance' and you're not giving it to him?"

"Because you are making a mistake… You're thinking she has returned to you and think you can seduce her into your planned threesome… I'm afraid, as much as I like and respect you both, I'm not *that* kind of girl."

"Oh, really?" Yukiko said, dubious, but warmly smiling.

Magatsu Izanagi sighed. "Perhaps I *should* reveal myself… If only to stop you from making a mistake…"

She then reached up to her mask and pulled it off her face.

While she did have red hair, she was not Siobhan.

Charles and Yukiko looked stunned and a little embarrassed.

This was a girl who looked about as old as Rise, Kanji, or Naoto, though her hair was cut short and even more boyish than even Naoto ever had hers. In fact, it was Victorian Period Boyish, which was borne out by the working-class accent the girl spoke. "I'm Gwendolyn Miner… Please call me Gwen…"

Charles and Yukiko assumed that while Gwen knew Japanese, she was more comfortable with English. They exchanged a look and Charles said, "Gwen?"

"Yes… I was… a Persona User back in London in 1890… But then I died because I failed. This is my penance… Being your Persona…"

"But, Gwen…" Yukiko said. "What did you…?"

"I failed my friends… I failed my Bonds… I failed My Queen… Victoria… But please… don't ask me about it because the sting is too fresh… And it doesn't help that I'm in a world that I don't recognize. A world that seems like the wonders of Verne brought to life… I…" she looked away in sadness and put the mask back on. "Please… Not now… Your friend is dead, I am sorry to burden you with that knowledge and knowledge of me… I was not ready… Despite my earlier statement…"

"You don't have to hide behind a mask…" Charles said.

"But aren't I one of your 'masks to deal with everyday hardships'?" Magatsu-Izanagi aka Gwen said. "So shouldn't I be silent in my pain?"

"No, Yuki and I are your friends, Gwen…"

"I do not reject your offer of friendship… But I cannot get too close… That way… I won't cock things up again."

"Was your mistake that bad?" Yukiko said.

"Better… Better I had stayed in the coal mines… Alone and friendless. Then I wouldn't know the feeling of hurting a close friend. It's a pain I wish I never wanted to know and that I never wish to feel ever again…"

She then said, "Please respect my wishes…"

"All right, Gwen… I will…" Charles said.

"Thanks, Love… And I meant that in the platonic sense, Yukiko-san… Believe me… Unlike you, Ai-san, Suzume, and the departed Siobhan… I find him objectively attractive, but he's better platonic friend material for me…"

"Thanks for the clarification," Yukiko said.

Gwen then faded back into Charles's mind.

"She's feeling very sad, isn't she…?" Yukiko said.

"She is… And we assumed too much it was Katie, still alive…" Charles sighed.

"Is it possible that she's…?"

"No, this is not a dodge… This truly is a girl from the Victorian Era, but I don't know how or why she became my Persona… As for Katie… That Psychic Flash may have been wrong and I just *wanted* it to be her."

"But you're going to respect Gwen's wishes, right?" Yukiko said.

Charles nodded. "I think there will be a time where she will open up… But I'm going to live with the fact that there are a lot of unanswered questions, in order to spare her extra pain. And if you're wondering, yes, I can trust her. Because I doubt they would bond people as my Personas if there's not a potential for good in them."

Yukiko nodded. "Yes…" Then she frowned. "But you're developing a real harem here…"

Charles snickered, albeit with a little sadness. "Katie's not here, Uori's dealing with her breakup and Phoenix is someone else… I don't know who… But she's not Katie… But I'm glad we didn't make a mistake…"

Yukiko walked hand-in-hand with Charles back to the exit TV. "IF it HAD been Katie, I would have gone through with it…"

"I know, I would have as well…"

"So I guess we're still searching for our girlfriend…" Yukiko said.

"Yeah… But maybe it's better it's not now… We still need time…"

Yukiko nodded. "But for Siobhan, it would have been just right…"

"Yeah…" Charles said.

There were no words as they shared a short kiss and kept going on their way… Unaware that something was about to happen that would drastically change things for the both of them…

Yamayuki Family Headquarters

Karumota Hitachi got off the elevator leading to his boss's penthouse and walked to the ornate thick oaken door and knock.

"Come in…" Okeshiro, the head of the family, said.

"Sir…" Hitachi said formally with a bow.

"All-business, I see… Not even curious as to why I summoned you…"

"I AM curious, but I did not wish to waste time and breath on 'You summoned me, Sir?" Hitachi replied.

Okeshiro chuckled. He ran his hand through his gray hair. Some had mistaken him for the Commanding Officer from Ghost In a Shell, only older and grayer. He pshawed at that and said with a laugh, "I'm 6 inches taller… Plus I don't have his bitchin' goatee…" While Okeshiro was older than the other heads, he maintained a youthful lifestyle with diet, exercise, and sex with willing teen-aged girls. Plus video games, movies, and music. After all, it's better to be hip right before you had to be square… "Any news on Yamata-san…?"

"Whatever allies she has, they've backed off on your holdings, sir… But you didn't need me to tell you that."

Okeshiro nodded. "No, Karumoto-kun, I did not. What I needed was an explanation…"

He took out a folder Hitachi recognized as a police case file. A HOMICIDE case file. "I expect you demanded me here to rebuke me…"

"AFTER the explanation," Okeshiro said, looking unhappy. "After all, this was your brother-in-law…"

"I am aware, sir…" Hitachi said. Okeshiro tossed the file down in front of Hitachi and it showed Hitachi's brother-in-law. A slightly obese man with a greasy beard and face to match, his black hair messy on his forehead. There was one bullet to his head that was visible in the pictures.

"Is your wife?" Okeshiro asked pointedly. "Or your daughter?"

"Which one?" Hitachi said.

Okeshiro scowled. "Careful… *She* doesn't know…"

"Shouldn't she? Shouldn't she know that because of the debt this… victim incurred, she was separated from her twin sister because he had no money?"

Okeshiro looked at him. And then, by the bitterness in Hitachi's voice, Okeshiro realized what that last part meant. "He had a child after all?!"

"Yes… When I was here in January while you, your consigiliere, the other captains, and I were trying to scramble from Dakamoto's attempted blackmail of this family…"

"Which he failed at. He was a complete failure… I respected his sister more…"

Hitachi clenched his jaw, but said, "True… she was worthier of respect in some way… Regardless, one day when I went out for a smoke… Something I hadn't done for years… I saw him… My brother-in-law… He was paying a woman…"

"For her child…"

"Yes… Though I did not know that at first. Ironically, she owed us some money in a small loan debt."

"Yes, which you paid for on her behalf… Something else I wanted to discuss with you…" Okeshiro said.

"I'll get to that. When I told her I didn't mean her any harm, and wished to help her out of her debt and to get the kid into a better neighborhood, I saw my nephew by marriage… And she explained to me he had been born 3 weeks before the twins had."

"And you were incensed…" Okeshiro said.

"I was livid… Not at the woman and my nephew, no… He's trying to get a scholarship for Golf… This kid's quite good…"

"And so you took it upon yourself to remove him… Your brother-in-law…?"

"He made it clear to them he didn't want a relationship with them… Plus, he still owed you money… as well as the other families…"

"Which is why I must have words with you because I made it clear, after you asked me to, that he was not to be fucking touched and that included you!" Okeshiro said. "While you may be a captain, you have no right to countermand my authority! Do you know what it looks like when a man takes revenge on a welcher? Personal revenge?!"

"I believe there is a saying… 'It's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission…'"

Okeshiro stood up and backfisted Hitachi. "I should have left you to the police! Instead of pinning it on Danielle-kun's people!"

"Had you done the former, while I'm sure I would have been revealed as living a double life and embarrassed and even dishonored my wife and the daughter I kept… Make no mistake… A move such as cutting me loose to the police would have also allowed me to tell my story… A story of where a man owed you a lot of money and you were going to kill him and in order to spare him, as begged to by my wife, I offered you my services… My… 'Special set of skills'… in exchange for his life. But in order to make sure I wasn't playing you, you 'adopted' my first-born twin as your own… Something she doesn't know…"

"'Second-born…' Let's get that straight… Your first-born was sickly and you tried to palm your second daughter off as your first… In fact, if it wasn't for the fact she looks exactly like your firstborn past the hair and eye color, I'd say 'my' daughter was a twin of the 'Detective Prince' Shirogane…"

"My family's line and Shirogane's line both intersected and detached generations ago… this was a genetic vestige… Nothing more…" Hitachi said honestly. "But still, sir… that story would have done you ill as well as I… turning me over to the police."

Okeshiro chuckled. "Plus, you are too valuable to me to be sitting in prison… I should have hired better investigators. I had your family business, your brother-in-law, and his promise to give up his first born had he had one, in my hand. He covered up the third, and because his whimpers were fueling the growing desire to kill him… I gave all back to you… In exchange for one daughter… I have raised her well… She wants for nothing…"

"Except maybe the unknowing desire to know the truth. I've seen the reports… She's fighting at school…"

Okeshiro waved dismissively. "Hitomi-chan is just frustrated… Within the last year she has wanted to venture past this comfortable sphere after her trip to Vermont and I'm trying to protect her from those who would harm her…"

"Does that include me?" Hitachi said.

"No. As I was saying, she's rebelling, thinking she's a prisoner… She's not… She's being protected…"

Hitachi looked at his boss with narrow eyes. "Deal or no deal… ANY harm comes to Hitomi, and the deal is off…"

Okeshiro was about to backfist Hitachi again, but Hitachi caught the arm perfectly.

"In fact, I believe I've done enough… paying for my brother-in-law… But I made a promise… In writing… Hitomi is your adopted daughter until she comes of age…"

"At which point she may not choose to be with you and you're out of line not taking another backfist…"

"Killing that bastard gave me my dignity back and for the record, my wife knows what I did and while she's angry with me, she knows, given this deal and all the things her brother had done, she will weep only for a time…"

"Let go of my arm or I'll change my mind and come after your precious firstborn…"

"You even try it and I WILL kill you!" Hitachi said.

He released his boss's arm.

Okeshiro looked at his captain. The one who by a deal with the devil, had served faithfully. "Perhaps I have been too rash today… I have Danielle-kun on one side. I have dissension in the ranks, and no, I'm not referring to you, because of a loss in profits the last few weeks as there were other murders."

"Other murders?" Hitachi said. "Surely, sir… Surely you do not think…"

"No… At least I don't want to… I knew only your brother-in-law was you because of how coldly efficient you are compared to these others… But considering the name…"

Hitachi saw his boss's hand on a pile of file folders. No wonder why Okeshiro pinned blame on Dani's group so efficiently. The police had thought Hitachi was the serial killer. He opened a file after gesturing for permission to look at it. He looked at it and put it down. He pulled out the next one, looked at it, and then put it down. He looked at yet another one…

All of them had the same signature… "Aobra" … Blue Rose… Not literally, but they had been killed with a white concrete nail and then gutted post-mortem with a Tantou…

"Th-That's the nickname you gave Hitomi. When I was at her Sweet Sixteen birthday, missing my other daughter's… I saw you call her that… and that wasn't the first time…"

"I… don't want to think it's her… But I can't question her… Not without proof…"

"And you need me too? Investigate my own daughter…"

"While I can concede her rage episodes… And I can tell that this is a revenge-fueled murder from these pictures… I am hoping…" Okeshiro looked down, head in pain… "PRAYING… That this is not Hitomi…"

"She's never met these men and woman, has she…?"

"The men were fathers of her classmates at school. Classmates she's been fighting with…"

"So she's already been questioned…" Hitachi said, downcast.

"Only by the school. She thought I had something to do with it and am being flamboyant… Then we had an argument…"

"Surely there was more…"

"I heard her come in late a few nights ago… She had been…injured in some way, but when I demanded to see things, she punched me in the face and ran into her room."

"And you did not discipline her?"

"How can I, when I don't know if she's involved with the killings, or if she's just getting into fights at night?"

"Say 'You're Grounded'… At least for the punch to the face… That would have proven she's not involved…"

"So simple, Hitachi-kun, and I thought of that… before I dismissed it as I've grounded her before and she snuck out anyway and we both pretended she didn't. I've tried to be firm… But her anger… She slaps back a firmer hand…"

"And so you want me to investigate without even Hitomi knowing…" That wasn't a question.

"Please… Not only for yourself and your family… But for me… Because despite what you may think of me… I've tried to parent her much as you have with your other daughter… I've tried to do right by all of you…"

"I understand…" Hitachi said, not wanting to concede any ground to this… this slight excuse for a man… But he did grudgingly admit that despite his hatred for Okeshiro, and for what Okeshiro had made him do and had done to him… Okeshiro was a man of his word and deserved a little respect because of what he had done for Hitachi.

"I shall attend to it immediately… Though perhaps it would be best if I made my initial inquiries from Inaba… As my other guise…"

"They won't suspect you?"

"No… I have my ways…" Hitachi said, sadly smirking. He then bowed to Okeshiro and left.

Okeshiro sighed. "AobAra-chan… Have I failed you?"

While the jury was still out on whether Okeshiro was a good parent or whether Hitomi was guilty of these crimes, it seemed at the moment she had another agenda…

In her room, Hitomi, a girl of 17, looked at her bare body in her full length mirror and nodded approvingly at her continual beauty.

"Good, the wound healed from the liquid bandage given me by the Doctor…" she said. And indeed, Hitomi didn't have a scar from the other night. She then stepped back a bit.

"This is me as I am now…" she said as she admired her nudity a little more. She may have hated many things, but never her or her body.

But then, she went to the clothes she had secretly ordered. There was a place in Okina, a long distance it felt like for her, where they sold school uniforms for the various ones in the prefecture.

After putting on her underwear, she put on the winter uniform for Yasogami High School. First the skirt, then the top. She had the alternate that was going to start being used when school opened in a couple of weeks, but she wanted to wear the one she figured her twin sister would be wearing more frequently.

Oh, yes… She had known about her being given up for adoption by Hitachi, and about her sister… She didn't know all the circumstances… Her father was evasive on details, thinking that he could protect her again…

He couldn't protect her… Not even from the truth… The truth she knew in her heart.

Her birthright was given up to save her second-born sister's ass. SHE was favored… Not Hitomi… Hitomi was strong and her dear parents couldn't have that… Too independent… They wanted their daughter to inherit the business.

And yet, it amused her that her birth father helped her "father". And what was even more amusing was his alias. Karumota Hitachi. Read Western, it would be HitacHI KARUmota. "Hiding in plain sight" as it were. And yet only she and her father knew the complete truth...

So whenever the right opportunity presented itself… Hitomi thought as she put on the hair piece she would wear when the time came… She would switch with her twin… Unwillingly on her sister's part… And bring the business down around her birth parent's ears and then blame the twin publicly, but ensuring privately, in a way that they will take the secret to their graves… that it was Hitomi… Their first born… That destroyed them…

…

And maybe she would also kill her twin's boyfriend while she was at it… What a putz…

…

Though he was easy on the eyes, and did want to have a few rolls in the hay with him before she killed him.

…

Hitomi softly laughed and put in and on the final accoutrements she needed to look like her sister.

As she looked in the mirror, she smiled darkly. Perfect. With the hair piece and colored contacts, as long as she could ACT like her sister… No one would know the difference… Not even her baka putz boyfriend…

That's why she started now. She would practice, when and where she could, at being her sister. The Inaban slut that stole what was rightfully Hitomi's…

In fact, she needed to try right now…

And so she spoke with the same posture, voice, accent, inflection, and smile as her twin sister…

…

"Greetings, and Welcome to the Amagi Inn…"

The Beginning…

A/N: Even though I made the corrections I felt the need to spell it out here. Hitachi Karumota is Hikaru Amagi and Hitomi is Yukiko's blue-hair and eyed (same shade as Naoto's) biological twin sister. And Yukiko has no idea...