When I got tired, I decided to head over to the food court for a post-dance practice snack and found everyone gathered around Koromaru, so I went to see what was going on and it seemed they were seeing what tricks he could do.
"Shake, Koro-chan." Rise said, holding out her hand.
"Arf!" Koromaru put his paw in her hand and then took it back.
"Again!" She giggled.
"Arf!" Teddie butted in.
"Don't you "arf" me!" Rise got mad at him. "Just because Koro-chan's cute doesn't mean copying him's going to work for you. You have to establish your own personal brand! Without it, you're nothing in show business."
"Wow...That sounds serious, coming from you..." Chie commented uneasily.
"...Chie-san, are you okay? This labyrinth looks like it's wearing you out." Ken said to her.
"If you're asking whether it's tough or not, yeah, it's super exhausting!" Chie sighed. "I'm so jealous of you, Koro-chan. You're not afraid of ghosts at all, are you?"
Koromaru whined at her.
"...You know how dogs and cats stare into space sometimes when there's nobody there, right?" Rise asked.
"They say dogs can sense movement much better than humans, not to mention they see better in the dark." Ken replied. "Maybe he notices some things that we overlook."
"...! D-Does that mean he can see things that we can't!?" Chie asked in alarm. "W-Well!? Is this true, Teddie!?"
"I don't know." Teddie answered awkwardly. "Um, is it true, Kyo-chan?"
"Why're you asking me?" I crossed my arms and glared at him.
"I-I'm sorry...!"
Later, I ended up hanging out at the games with some of the others, trying my hand at the pop gun before returning to listen to the conversation going on.
"Oh, so you're more of an arts person, Fuuka-chan. That seems perfect for you." Yosuke was saying.
Fuuka giggled. "Do you think so? It's a bit embarrassing, though, because I'm really bad at it..."
"I do fencing. I can't go to every meeting, since I'm on student council as well, but I give both my best." Mitsuru said, confirming to me that they had gotten onto the topic of club activities while I was playing around.
"That sounds hectic..." Kanji looked surprised.
"It's actually more efficient for us to get our combat training in during our school life." Akihiko stated. "That's why I don't plan on giving up my position as captain of the boxing club."
"I see. From how you describe it, it seems everyone from Gekkoukan High belongs to a club." Naoto said.
"There are a few exceptions...What about you?" Mitsuru asked.
"Most of us aren't in one, since we go into the TV world after school." Yosuke replied.
"That, and a few of us actually have jobs, so...There's not much time for them." I pointed out.
"I see...Clubs are such a vital part of school life that it's something of a shame you can't enjoy them." Mitsuru replied.
"Are you in any clubs, Aigis?" Naoto asked.
"Yes. I belong to the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad." Aigis replied.
"...Well, I'm in that too." Fuuka added a bit awkwardly.
"Specialized...R-Run that by me again...?" Kanji asked in confusion.
"It's our mission to exterminate Shadows. It's actually on the books as a formal club." Fuuka answered.
"Seriously?" I asked in surprise. "It's an actual school club?"
"It makes things more convenient...In a number of ways." Mitsuru stated a bit vaguely.
"A Shadow-exterminating club, huh? Should we make our Investigation Team a club too?" Yosuke asked.
"That sounds awesome! Even if we can't join a real club, bustin' Shadows is plenty of enrichment!" Kanji liked the idea.
"Haha, well said."
"You know it!"
"Uh, good luck getting that recognized as an actual club..." I muttered doubtfully.
"That reminds me, my classmate in the handicraft club said that you often look in on their club, Kanji-kun. Why is that?" Naoto asked.
"Wha-!? Uh, not 'cause I was curious about it or nothin'! It ain't like I'm takin' long, sad looks at it!" Kanji denied it poorly.
"Are you hinting that you want to join the handicraft club?" Yosuke asked.
"H-Hell no!" Kanji looked to be blushing a bit.
"You should! I bet they'd be really impressed with your stuff!" I grinned at him.
"...Well, you can never have too much enrichment in your school life." Mitsuru seemed to agree.
"L-Like I just said, that ain't it!" Kanji protested.
We talked a little bit more about clubs before Yu came by and asked if anyone wanted to come with him and Yukiko to check out that door to the music room that wouldn't open. Kanji took the out of the conversation about clubs, Fuuka went to provide backup, and the rest of us split up to go do our own things since Yu said he only needed a small team and it should be a quick trip.
While walking around the school, I ran into Akihiko and held back a snicker when I found out he was still looking for protein in this place. I held back mainly because he looked really bothered by it, but then I got an idea that might cheer him up a bit.
"Hey, any chance you'd wanna have a fight with me?"
"Huh...?" He looked like I had caught his interest, but he was surprised and a bit confused. "What do you mean? Some kind of sparring match?"
"Something like that..." I shrugged. "You remember when we fought Elizabeth in the Group Date Cafe labyrinth? What if we had a test of strength in that room?"
"...You mean a real fight, one-on-one, with my Persona and your Shadow form?" He crossed his arms and couldn't seem to help himself but to smirk a little when I nodded. "Are you really sure you're up for that?"
"I want to test my limits. Fighting against Shadows isn't as challenging when you have others to back you up and they usually have pretty set patterns anyway." I said seriously, despite this being a spur of the moment decision. "I don't want to fight to the death or anything, I just want to see if I can take someone as strong as you on at all."
"You know I won't hold back even if you're a girl, right?"
I nodded. "I don't want you to. I just want to know if my power can even match a Persona user's..."
"...Well then, we should decide on what's at stake."
I tilted my head at him, but after giving it a moment of thought I said, "How about loser treats the winner to a meal?"
"Good enough for me." He nodded and then seemed to be getting fired up. "We doing this now?"
"Lemme grab my naginata and we'll go." I nodded and headed over to Theodore's workshop to pick up my weapon and then we went into the labyrinth to head for that room.
We stood facing each other, Akihiko adjusting his gloves while I held my naginata and shook out my wrists one at a time.
"Anything goes but instant kill spells and ailments. We go until one of us gives up or falls down for more than three seconds, deal?" Akihiko asked from probably a yard away from me.
I nodded. "Deal."
"You ready?"
"Let's do this!" I felt determined to give my all for this test of strength and transformed, picking up my naginata in my mouth and then waiting for him to make the first move.
Akihiko really didn't pull his punches, and he punched hard, but I was doing my best to keep up with him. I don't really know how long I lasted before he got me with a power charged physical skill that forced me out of my Shadow form and caused me to really struggle to move at all once I'd landed hard on my back on the floor. After I had counted three seconds of struggling, I gave up and just laid there looking at the ceiling.
"...You put up a pretty good fight." Akihiko said, seeming only slightly winded as he came over and offered me a hand to help me get up, which I gratefully took.
"Ah, but I'm not really as strong as a Persona user..." I sighed, wincing a bit as I stretched my sore muscles and picked up my naginata off the floor.
"Hey, that's not true. I've just got more experience than you." He dismissed with a smile. "I gotta respect you, though. You really pushed yourself even when you were reaching your limit. If you keep training, you might actually become stronger than any of us."
"Yeah, I dunno about that..." I laughed a bit dismissively, but smiled at him as I felt a bit better. "But I think it's good for me to learn my limit...Even if it does hurt..."
"Sorry, but I told you I wouldn't hold back."
"No, it's fine. I'm kinda glad to know we've got someone that hits so hard on our side, actually." I replied as he fetched a Goho-M from his pocket.
"And I'll keep hitting the Shadows as hard as I can!" He said confidently and then we warped out of the labyrinth.
While I was sitting in the Nurse's Office with Akihiko, recovering from our bout, Mitsuru came in looking more pissed than I'd ever seen her.
"Are you two compete idiots!?" She hissed at us, but didn't leave room for an answer. "Entering a labyrinth with just two people is dangerous! Akihiko, what would you have done if something happened!?"
"Calm down, Mitsuru. We didn't fight any Shadows or FOEs." Akihiko tried, but she was furious.
"You're an upperclassmen, so you should start acting like it!"
"Um, sorry, Mitsuru-senpai. It was my idea." I spoke up, although I was a bit nervous and probably flinched a bit when her anger was turned in my direction. Her glaring was actually really scary. "I-I just wanted to see if I really could keep up with Persona users and Akihiko-senpai was helping me...I didn't think about the danger...I'm really sorry...It was stupid..." I could hear my own voice shrinking as I looked away from her, but I forced out an explanation anyway.
"...Honestly, I thought you were more cautious than this, Kagayami." Mitsuru sighed, but her voice wasn't as harsh and when I looked to her, she was holding a hand to her forehead while shaking her head with a bit of a softer expression. "But, I can see it wasn't for something as silly as a competition. So, I'll let it slide this time." She then fixed us both with a stern look and crossed her arms. "But I better not hear of any more of this foolish behaviour from our support. You two will not enter any labyrinths without permission again, do you understand?"
Akihiko and I both nodded, but even still, we were subjected to a long lecture about the danger of going into Shadow territory alone and how petty tests of strength were not a good way to encourage growth when they put the participants in unnecessary danger and so on. Mitsuru was quite upset with us, for good reason, but seemed to understand my slight inferiority complex and desire to test my usefulness to the group, so she didn't really punish us with anything but the scolding and lecture. After she let us go, Akihiko and I went to the food court and I treated him to something that was pretty heavy with meat while I ate some simple ramen. We talked a bit about Mitsuru's reaction, but Akihiko seemed both dismissive and acknowledging of her points somehow. He said we shouldn't have an all out battle in a labyrinth again, but offered to spar with me in the school yard if I ever wanted some help with my human form's fighting techniques. He also offered to train me, but I declined that after he mentioned running more than five laps every day. I didn't have a lot in common with him, but I did feel respect for Akihiko and didn't find it too difficult to get along with him in general. I didn't really get a lot of the fitness stuff he talked about, and I didn't have the same passion for fighting, but I think we found some understanding of each other through our fight somehow. Though, I think the fact we came onto the topic of my normal exercise routine of stretches and leg, back, shoulder, and ab working movements that I used to keep my body fit for my dancing and actually agreed that it was good if I didn't want to bulk up too much helped a bit.
Either way, despite my slight soreness from getting throughly beat by someone stronger than me, I felt kind of relieved to know that I could at least put up a bit of a fight against a Persona user. It felt...I guess...Validating? Like I wasn't completely holding the others back because of my status as part Shadow rather than a Persona user. I probably wasn't as strong as they were, but at least I wasn't weak either. And besides that, I now had an idea of what my limits were and could begin to fight more carefully in regard to the weaknesses that Akihiko had told me I'd shown in our battle. Like how I protected my right side a bit more than my left and that made openings, or how I would fall into a pattern of steps when changing positions on the battlefield that gave a clear indication where I intended to go. Stuff I wouldn't have noticed on my own, but Akihiko did. Whether that's because he's more serious about fighting even in his everyday life or because he's more observant about that stuff than I am, I don't know. But I really appreciated his help regardless. I'd probably take him up on the sparring sessions to help improve my human form's fighting abilities too.
Yu gathered up everyone to head back into the labyrinth again and we went through the first door. There was a Power Spot in there, and a dead end. There was a strip of red paper and a strip of blue paper dangling in the dead end.
"The hell? Is this some kind of sick field day event?" Shinjiro asked.
"Of course not!" Junpei answered. "It's more like...those horror stories where you have to pull one of them to survive..."
"If I remember the horror story you're talking about, you're stained with blood if you pull the red paper..." Yukiko said thoughtfully. "And if you pull the blue one, you're drained of blood, leaving you blue with blood loss."
"Yikes, talk about a no-win situation..." Yosuke said.
"Can we just not pull either of them and walk away?" I asked.
"I'm not sure what's supposed to happen if you ignore them..." Yukiko shrugged and looked thoughtful.
For some reason, Yu and Minato seemed to agree on trying to tie the two papers together.
"...So, what now?" Kanji asked.
"...Nothing." Shinjiro sighed. "We should get going. No reason to stand around here anymore."
We decided to return to our investigation and backtracked to go through the other door.
"Hm...? This place is a lot darker all of a sudden..." Akihiko commented when the room we entered was barely visible at all.
"I-It's dark, Zen..." Rei's voice shook a bit.
"Don't let go of my hand, Rei." Zen responded.
"O-Okay..."
"...Narukami. We must take even more caution here..." Mitsuru said to Yu, who nodded.
We proceeded carefully, the red lights flickering behind windows and glass doors giving us something to work with in the dark. We found two doors and went through one of them and came to a dead end with a piece of paper on the ground.
"I'm behind you right now. Turn around..." Is what it said.
"Uhh...Wh-What...?" Chie began to panic.
Minato and Yu decided to turn around, but there was nothing there, so I looked back at the paper with them and saw the writing had changed to "You fell for it, you fell for it" over and over again.
"Reading that piece of paper again? Is something wrong with it?" Mitsuru asked, but the three of us looked at each other and decided against saying anything to the others if they hadn't noticed. I guess the spirit was pranking us...?
We headed back and through the other door, which led us to a treasure room and a way forward. Going through that door, we didn't come across any lighter area.
"Hey, since it's too dark to see our feet...do you think they're around? Like, we've been stepping on them?" Yosuke asked Yu quietly.
"You mean...that?" Yu asked vaguely.
"Do you mean the shiny black roachies?" Teddie asked and began sniffing. "Don't worry! It doesn't seem like there are any here."
"Your nose isn't reliable at all! You don't remember the time they were actually inside you?" Yosuke responded.
"Wait...You mean inside that costume?" Junpei asked.
"I left an ice cream stick inside for just a little while and they gathered in me!" Teddie answered. "Even now, remembering that ticklish sensation gives me..."
"Uuugh..." Kanji didn't seem to like the sound of that.
"...gives me lovely chills down my spine!" Teddie finished cheerfully.
"You've wandered off into some strange territory..."
"Anyway, because of those...things, I had to scrub my entire room clean." Yosuke at least sounded properly traumatized.
"You live with Teddie?" Minato asked.
"Teddie's the one who forced his way into my closet!"
"...Doesn't that still mean...?"
"We...do live together...Dammit, that's not a phrase I ever wanted to use about Teddie!"
"Then I'll dress up as a girl while I'm at your place, Yosuke!" Teddie replied cluelessly.
"How does he take the completely wrong thing from this...?" Junpei wondered.
"When Yosuke gets a girlfriend, I'll make sure to leave..."
"So what you're sayin' is, you'll be there for years." Kanji said.
"Hey, what's up with that!?" Yosuke asked in annoyance.
"Teddie-san. We were told that you lived in the TV world. Why did you decide to leave?" Aigis asked.
"There's only Shadows in there, so I was all alone..." Teddie answered. "But out here, there's Sensei and Yosuke and pretty girls-oh, and delicious ice cream!"
"I see. I met everyone after I was reactivated on Yakushima...So I believe I can understand the fulfilling sensation you feel."
"Ai-chan...That's so nice of you. I learned for the first time after meeting everyone that I was empty."
"Empty...?"
Teddie popped off his costume's head. "But now I've grown something inside and every day is so much fun! It's a bright wonderland!"
"Bright...?"
"You don't see things all bright, Ai-chan? When I'm with Sensei and Yosuke, Nana-chan and everyone else, everything looks bright to me. That makes me so happy and bouncy that I almost wanna cry."
"It makes you cry...because it's fun? This is very mysterious, Teddie-san. I wonder if the time will come when I understand..."
"I'm sure it will! And when it does, let's go on a date, Ai-chan!"
"I refuse."
"Yikes! You won't budge on that, huh!?" Teddie got back into his costume.
"We should get going now! Get yourselves prepared." Mitsuru interrupted.
"Aye aye, sir!"
"Understood." Aigis agreed and they got moving.
"...? What're you doin'? Everyone's about to go." Kanji said, drawing my attention to see he was talking to Ken.
"Oh, right. P-Please go on ahead..." Ken answered, looking a little troubled.
"What's up with your foot?" Kanji asked, looking at his shoe before glancing around. "We need somethin' to replace that shoelace, huh...? Hmmm...There ain't nothin' here."
"Um, I'll be all right..."
"Nah, you'll trip if you step on that. Here, use this for now." Kanji began ripping the hand towel he was carrying.
"Huh!? Um...You don't have to...!"
"My family runs a dye shop. We got tons of junk like this. Here, gimme your shoelace."
"But...I feel bad..."
"...Yo, what're you actin' all bashful for? You're only ten, right?"
"I-I'm eleven!"
"When I was eleven, I'd bring home roly-polies every day and catch hell from my old hag."
"...I don't have anyone to scold me."
"I...oh." Kanji responded awkwardly, then snatched Ken's torn shoelace and sewed the scrap of towel to it with his sewing kit. "Here, all done. It's kinda sloppy since it's so dark, but that oughtta hold for now."
"Th-Thank you...Um...We should get going..."
"Right..." And with that, they started walking after the others.
I followed shortly after them, having been watching the others quietly in my Shadow form.
We activated a shortcut near the stairs before finding two doors in this room and heading through one of them to find a room with a shortcut we couldn't get through on this side before heading back and through the other door.
"It's still dark...but my eyes are starting to get used to it." Akihiko commented.
"...Hey, there's something on the ground here." Shinjiro pointed out a plate with "Reference Room" written on it.
"Reference Room...I feel like we'll find something here." Yukiko said.
"Yes...Let's take extra care in searching." Naoto agreed.
We looked around the room for a bit, then found some piles of school newspapers in a mess on the shelf. They seemed to be filled with articles about school events, but nothing seemed odd about them at first glance.
"...Doesn't look like any of this helps us." Shinjiro sighed.
"A shame. I thought there would be something here..." Naoto seemed disappointed.
"We may need to come back here later. Let's write it down on the map so that we don't forget." Mitsuru told Yu, who nodded.
We headed through the next door and found another metal one.
"Ken-ken...What's it say here?" Teddie asked, motioning to the door's label.
"It says "South Building". We'll probably need a key for this one too. Let's look for the South Building key." Ken responded.
We then continued on through the next door. From there, we went through two more doors before fighting some Shadows and found another dead end with a bulletin board.
"...Is this a dead end?" Akihiko seemed unconvinced for some reason.
"You don't see any hints or anythin' hidden here?" Shinjiro asked.
"Not really. Just an ordinary dead-" Minato started, but Yukari cut him off.
"Okay, okay! So let's hurry up and go! Please!? There's stuff dripping here...!"
With her urging, we went back and through the only door we'd found. In the next area, we found another locked door that was for the "Lab Storage Room" and then came across a dead end that held some kind of panel on the wall.
"Hmm...It's hard to see in this darkness, but it seems to be a switchboard." Naoto said.
"Does that mean we might be able to turn the lights on!?" Yukari asked.
"L-Lights! Warm lights! And food! Hot, steamy food!" Rei looked eager for that to be the case.
"I-I doubt that one switchboard can provide all of those things..." Naoto shook her head. "But if we can get the lights on, we may be able to see a few things we couldn't in the dark."
"Let's ask Fuuka." Minato suggested.
"Oh, um, it's hard to tell how the machine works from here..." Fuuka spoke up over the comms. "But I'm certain it's the source of power in that labyrinth. It doesn't seem like electricity is reaching that switchboard, though...It won't do any good to use it now."
"I see..." Naoto said, then seemed to notice something. "...? Look here. There's something written on the note!"
"Go to the Reference Room to operate." is what the note said.
"The Reference Room...We should find more information there."
"Alright! So let's go check it out!" Junpei cheered.
"The Reference Room...? I remember coming across that on our way here." Yosuke commented.
"Wasn't there nothin' but stacks of newspapers there?" Shinjiro asked.
"That's what I recall as well...But we may find something if we take a more careful look. Let's go, shall we?" Naoto said, but Yu decided we should explore the area a bit more before heading back there.
We went through a door and explored a bit, fought some Shadows, and found a Power Spot before coming across another bulletin board.
"Looks like a dead end." Minato commented.
"Is it just me, or are there a lot of dead ends here?" Ken asked.
"I've heard that they intentionally set up dead ends in haunted houses." Naoto replied.
"Why is that? It seems inefficient." Aigis seemed confused.
"C-Can we stop standing around and talking? Let's go!" Yukari interrupted nervously. "U-Um, it's not this way, so is it that way...? Wait, could it be the other way...? Uhhhh..."
"...So that that happens." Naoto answered Aigis with a bit of a sigh.
"...I understand now." Aigis nodded and we backtracked and actually went to the Reference Room.
We all looked through the newspapers again.
"Hm? This article...There's something curious written in it." Naoto seemed to have found something and Yu looked it over.
""Mysterious Light in the Dark School Building"..." Yu read it out loud. ""Residents nearby have informed us that lights were on late at night in the old, unused school building. If you know of anyone who entered at night, or have seen any suspicious persons, report it to a teacher.""
"That sounds creepy..." Yukari mumbled uneasily.
"Yeah, but so what? What does it have to do with us?" Kanji asked.
"Sorry, what I meant to bring your attention to is what's on the back." Naoto responded and Yu flipped the paper over.
""First step is to the east. Then two to the north, two east, two north, and three to the west. Two to the south, one to the east, two to the south, and then one west to where you started."" Yu read.
"...I wonder if it's telling us to follow that path." Yukari said.
"That's what I assume." Naoto replied. "There's a wall to the east of where we are now, so I take it this isn't the place it's talking about. We need to find somewhere that lets us walk that path...Hopefully we've already drawn it on the map."
"I'm not sure I can remember all this, though..." Teddie said.
"Yeah...It's a little long to memorize." Akihiko agreed and looked to Yu. "Do you think it would be easier if you wrote it down?"
"I already did." Yu answered blankly.
"Ha, smart thinking. Well, it's not like this article is going anywhere. We can always come back if we forget."
With that, Yu and Minato took a minute to look over the map, then we headed back to a hallway where we started at a dead end, circled around a hallway following the steps given, and then ended up back at the dead end again. While we were following the steps a piece of paper suddenly appeared on the ground at Yu's feet.
"...What is that?" Ken asked.
It was dark and hard to read, but Yu said it read, "Continue on..."
"...What?" Mitsuru said a bit tensely.
"The hell? Sounds like someone's watching us." Shinjiro muttered.
"Tch, I don't care if it's a ghost or a monster! Show yourself and come at us!" Akihiko said loudly.
"D-Don't call it out!" Yukari protested.
"I believe we are on the right path." Naoto said to Yu. "Yet there's no knowing what might happen. Let's proceed with caution."
Yu nodded and we continued on. Then, we were interrupted by another paper Yu picked up.
"Wh-Who is it...? Who's putting these here?" Rei asked anxiously.
"...Are you scared?" Zen asked her.
"O-Of course I am! We don't know who's doing this!"
"I see. I don't really understand...Yu. What does this one say?"
""Soon..."" Yu read off the paper.
"...I'm certain we're on the right path. Let's proceed with caution." Naoto repeated, so we continued.
Then, once we got back to the starting point, there was a weird sound.
"Oh...! Electricity is flowing to the switchboard now!" Fuuka told us.
"Ah, we must have followed the correct path as written on the back of that newspaper." Naoto replied.
"It's still dark, but it you use the switchboard, that should turn the lights on."
"Okay. I'm scared...but it'll be way less scary with the lights on!" Chie seemed happy to hear that.
"Yeah!" Yukari agreed.
"Yeah!" Rei looked happy too.
"I'm really not fond of the dark, so...Yeah!" I jumped in as well, smiling with them.
"That sure cheered some people up in a hurry..." Junpei muttered.
We ignored him and headed back to the switchboard.
"Let's try operating this switchboard." Naoto said and Yu turned on what seemed to be the main power switch, which caused the lights to come on. Or, at least some of them.
"Look, the lights!" Yukiko stated the obvious.
"Oooooh! It's like beams of light pouring into my heart...!" Chie seemed really happy.
"We might be able to see some new things now. Let's keep our eyes open as we walk."
We walked a little before Kanji stopped. "Huh? There's something under the table..."
"It better not be a human bone or something..." Yosuke responded uneasily.
"Eek...!" Mitsuru seemed frightened by that thought.
"Nah...I think it's a key." Kanji said.
"I-I see...Hanamura!" Mitsuru glared at Yosuke.
"I-I didn't mean anything by it! I was just worrying out loud, not trying to scare anyone..." Yosuke defended.
"From now on, those who make careless comments will be executed! Is that understood!?"
"Hrgh...sorry..."
"Mitchan, are you scared of bones?" Teddie asked.
"N-Not necessarily...but if you think about them, they are eerie." Mitsuru seemed a little flustered.
"I knew it...You and I are a perfect match, Mitchan! After all, my X-rays are totally empty! I just so happen to contain none of what you're afraid of!"
"...That's eerie in itself."
"Oh my!"
"...Tatsumi. Show me that key."
"Oh, right." Kanji handed the key over to her and it seemed to be for the Lab Storage Room.
"It escaped our notice because it was dark, but now we can proceed. You hold on to it, Narukami." Mitsuru gave the key to Yu.
We then headed over to the locked door and went through, where we encountered one of those baby FOEs and found out it wouldn't go under the lights, so we were able to get around it by using that. In the next room, we found a key to the South Building and headed back to unlock it and move on. We ran into another FOE we had to get around to get through the next door. There was a long hallway that we went down, but it ended in another dead end.
"Tch, those FOEs...Maybe it's a baby, but it's not the slightest bit cute." Shinjiro muttered, drawing my attention to a conversation going on between the others. "Why don't we just get it a pacifier to suck on or somethin'..."
"So even you think babies are cute, Shinjiro-san!" Yukiko said with a smile.
"What, did you think I was some kinda monster or somethin'?"
"Oh, I-I'm sorry...It's just that you look just like a vampire from a movie I saw a long time ago. I didn't expect you to like babies. ...Wait! Are you saying you like babies because they have fresher blood!?"
"What the-!? Why the hell would you think that!?"
"Damn...I've never seen Shinjiro-san forced on the defensive..." Junpei commented in surprise.
"Don't underestimate Yukiko. She may not look it, but she's crushed the hearts of countless guys." Yosuke told him.
"Sh-Shin-chan...Is it true...? Do you...drink baby blood?" Rei asked.
"...Well, I suppose I do give off kind of a mean vibe. Guess I can't really complain about how people see me." Shinjiro sighed, grimacing.
"Um...I believe in you, Shin-chan!" Rei tried to cheer him up.
"Oh, uh..."
"'Cause Fuuka told me about you!" Rei added. "You're actually a really good cook, and you make Koro-chan his food...I understand why now...It's all so you can fatten everyone up and their blood tastes like gravy when you suck it up!"
"The hell!?"
"Rei-chan, we need garlic! Bring some garlic cloves!" Yukiko encouraged the ridiculousness.
"Garlic!? I, uh...I only have garlic donuts!" Rei said in alarm. "Wait, I already ate them! How about my breath? Do you think it would work if I breathed on him!?"
"I think we're gonna need more pacifiers, so I can shut these two up." Shinjiro muttered to Minato.
"Um...I don't think babies are cute, so...Doesn't that make me the monster here...?" I asked uneasily, my face scrunched in confusion as I thought about it.
"What the hell're you on about now?" Shinjiro looked to me with the same exasperation he had for the two still talking about ways to ward off vampires.
"Am I...The weird one...?" I muttered, more to myself than anyone else. "I mean, I guess I am in this group, but...I really can't stand babies...And I'm a girl...So, that makes me a monster...?"
"Oh, you don't like babies, Kyoka?" Yukiko asked me as we began walking back from the dead end.
I shook my head. "I really don't. They freak me out..."
"But you're a girl. I thought all girls had at least a bit of affection for them..." Yukari said to me with a bit of surprise.
"Um...I guess I'm weird? I mean, don't most girls want to have kids too...?"
"You mean you don't?"
I shook my head. "Having a baby...Looking after one...Ugh, I really don't want to do it..." I shuddered a bit. "Ever."
"Huh. Maybe it's just because we're too young." Chie shrugged.
"Pretty sure I won't get over it even when I'm older..."
The conversation died then, though, since we had started to lag behind and the eerie atmosphere made us want to catch up with the others quickly.
We went through another door.
"Hm? There's a poster on the ground." Akihiko noticed and we stopped to look at it.
It said, "Don't run in the hallways! Avoid being a Sorry Shigeto!"
"Ooh, that takes you back. Remember those posters? Stuff like, "Say no to snacks from strangers!"" Yosuke smiled.
"Snacks!? Yo-chan, you have snacks!?" Rei asked.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, nope. It's just a slogan for little kids." Yosuke told her. "There's a bunch of them. "Toys are better when you take turns!" "Mind your Ps and Qs!""
"Hm, hm...I see..."Juice and eggs with no whites are part of a balanced breakfast...""
"There's no such slogan!"
"No egg whites!? But they're an important source of protein!" Akihiko missed the point.
"That's hardly the only thing wrong with what she said!" Yosuke told him.
"Oh, I remember one!" I spoke up suddenly. ""If the candy wrapper's already open, don't eat it!""
"What? Why not!? How can you waste precious candy!?" Rei asked me in shock and I couldn't help but give her a concerned smile.
"Sometimes I worry that Rei's too innocent..."
"Everyone! I've been sensing the presence of an FOE in that room!" Fuuka spoke up suddenly to warn us. "I don't know where, though...I think you should follow the poster and don't run here."
Despite being told that, I guess our fast walking was considering a "run" and a freaking huge doll thing sprung up in front of our faces.
"Nooooooo!" Yukari screamed as some of the group ran a bit away from the thing.
"Didn't we decide not to run? What good would it do us to run now?" Zen stopped us.
"Dude, that time it was totally understandable!" Yosuke protested.
"Y-Y-Yeah, I-I a-a-agree...I-I-I'll l-let it slide..." Chie stammered, shaking as she had a death grip on my arm yet again.
"I've had enough...I've been startled so much here that it's wearing me out...I can't go on!" Yukari looked miserable, but not to the extent Chie did.
"Sheesh, who cares about that thing? Let's just run through there." Kanji said.
"No! I can't run because I'm too scared! So no running!" Rei protested.
"That's not why we're not going to run, though..." Yosuke muttered.
"Well, it's good enough reason for me to hold back." I sighed, although I was a bit shaky myself.
"Rei has forbidden it, so no running. If anyone scares her, then I will show no mercy." Zen stated seriously. "Understood? Now, let's go. Slowly."
As we walked slowly, the damn things kept popping up in front of our faces and scaring the crap out of us. It got a bit old after the third time, though Chie and Rei were still almost in tears from being so scared.
"Noooooooo!" Chie screamed when it did it again, in the way of our path to the door.
"Is it coming at us!?" Akihiko asked, getting ready for a fight as we didn't creep back away from it for once.
"Wait, Aki. It acted like this before, too. I don't think this kind is gonna come after us." Shinjiro told him. "We don't have to worry about running into it if we take it one step at a time. It's not that big a deal."
"Oh...So it's not coming at us..."
"The hell do you sound so disappointed for?"
"Shinjiro-san is right. If we mark where these FOEs appear, they won't pose much of a threat." Naoto said to Yu, who nodded and he began making notes on his map. "That "Don't run in the hallways!" slogan we saw earlier must have been in reference to this. Anyway, let's continue to use caution as we go."
So, we carefully made our way around and found some switch on a wall.
"Hmm...This has to be a light switch, right...?" Yukiko asked.
"Let's turn it on." Chie replied.
"Turning it on sounds good." Yukari agreed.
"Yep. Turn it on." I nodded.
"We're turning it on, right?" Rei asked.
"What's with the echo in here?" Junpei asked with a sigh.
"Light did help ward off the baby FOE, so it may be worth a try...I leave the decision to you, leader." Mitsuru looked to Yu.
"Here goes." Yu shrugged and flipped the switch.
The doll FOE behind us then vanished when the lights came on.
"Oh! I'm not getting any FOE readings at all in that room anymore!" Fuuka told us.
"I see...It doesn't seem like they simply went into hiding, either. It may be a type of FOE that can't exist outside of the darkness." Mitsuru said. "Whatever the case, this will surely help us reach places that were inaccessible up to now."
So, we moved on, although we were still careful just in case, and made it to that door we were headed for earlier. In front of that was another bulletin board with construction paper with shapes drawn on them posted on it messily.
"Oh! I've seen these in my math book before!" Ken said. "I think they were called...the nets of a cube?"
"There's marks on these. Are they dice?" Teddie asked and sniffed. "Suddenly, memories of playing board games all by myself at Yosuke's house are flooding back..."
"All right, all right. I'll play with you next time, sheesh..." Yosuke sighed at his dramatics.
"Weird. The squares that would be for 5 and 6 are blacked out..." Akihiko pointed out. "...I guess it doesn't matter. Let's keep looking."
Yu took a moment to write something on his map before we continued. There was a hallway and a door, so we went for the hallway first.
"...Hey." Yukiko said suddenly, stopping us.
"What's the matter?" Ken asked her.
"Was it just me, or...did you hear footsteps behind us?"
"No...I didn't hear anything." Akihiko answered.
"Me neither..." Ken added.
"To be honest, I can't tell since there's so many people walking..." I shrugged.
"Deliver us from evil...Deliver us from evil..." Chie had apparently taken to repeating cliche lines.
"Deliver us some pizzas...Deliver us some pizzas..." Rei was chanting nonsense too now.
"If it's bothering you, do you think we should turn around?" Akihiko asked Yukiko.
"Well, at times like this, when you turn around...there's usually something there..." Yukiko replied calmly.
"Deliver us one cheese wheel! Deliver us fromage bleu!" Rei's orders got more strange with her panic.
Minato and Yu decided we should turn around and, of course, it was Shadows. Although, I have no idea how a couple of Rainy Pot Shadows were making footstep sounds at all. Either way, we fought them off.
"See? There was something behind us." Yukiko said.
"We could've been in trouble if we'd ignored it..." Ken commented uneasily.
"C-Can I stop munching now...?" Rei asked.
"Oh, yes, you can. The scary thing is gone now." Yukiko replied to her with a smile.
"I'm so glad...I was scared, Yuki..."
"There, there...You were very brave." Yukiko lightly patted her head and we returned to our investigation.
We found a door and another dead end with a bulletin board that held no useful information on it.
"So much for that, huh?" Akihiko asked.
"Oh well..." Teddie said. "I guess I'll use this salt to keep the ghosts away for now. I cast out the Shadows in the name of Teddie...!"
"...Where'd you get the salt from?"
"It was piled up in that corner over there. Do you wanna do the exorcism with me, Akky?"
"If this place was a sauna, we could cleanse ourselves, but...Since it's a haunted house, the salt might come in handy. You should keep what's left, Yu."
"Right." Yu took the salt from him and we backtracked to go through one of the doors.
"Careful, everyone! There are FOEs hiding in that room!" Rise warned when we stepped into yet another dark room.
The stupid dolls popped out at us again while we were traversing the room, then we heard a strange noise suddenly, like a switch being pressed.
"What's going on!? Yamagishi, Kujikawa, report!" Mitsuru ordered.
"U-Umm...It doesn't seem like it was anything dangerous." Fuuka answered.
"Has anything changed? Try looking around." Rise suggested.
"Easy for you to say. It's so dark here that I can't tell what I'm looking at..." Shinjiro muttered.
"But if we don't understand how the room is laid out, we won't be able to make any progress." Naoto responded.
"Looks like those ghost FOEs are here too. Careful, Yu."
We walked around some more before hearing another thing like a switch being pressed and then came across a door with a sign that said, "If you wish to proceed, step in the correct order." on it.
"Step in the correct order...Must be talking about those panels that sunk down and clicked." Akihiko said. "And we just have to step on those? Let's hurry and get it done so we can keep going."
"It's simple...if we knew what order to step on them in, that is." Naoto responded. "But for now, we haven't any idea as to what the correct order might be. We must figure that out first..."
"If we don't know yet, should we start stepping on 'em at random?" Shinjiro asked.
"That would eventually work, but it's not very efficient. If only we had some clue where to begin..."
"You raise a good point. We should make gathering information our first step." Mitsuru agreed. "There may be somewhere we haven't checked yet."
So, we backtracked and found a switch to turn the lights on and make the FOEs go away while we searched for clues. We couldn't find any inside the room, so we headed back to explore an area through a different door we hadn't entered yet.
"I can hear a piano from here too!" Teddie pointed out when we heard the lullaby coming from a room we were walking past.
There didn't seem to be anything useful in that room, so we explored the area outside it a bit more before hearing the sound of the floor creaking.
"Yamagishi, what was that sound?" Mitsuru asked.
"I don't detect any Shadows. Maybe it was caused by something nearby?" Fuuka answered.
"Was it this?" Kanji asked, then pushed down with one foot and made the noise again. "The hallway at my house is old, too. It makes sounds like this sometimes."
"I see. I've never heard the sound of a floor creaking before...Yet it seems to be a cultural touchstone." Mitsuru said thoughtfully.
"Touchstone...?"
"Narukami, mark this place down on the map. We don't know what we may be in for."
"Okay..." Yu noted it down, then we moved on.
We ran into a baby FOE and led it around to the door with the music coming from it to put it to sleep, then we carefully made our way around it and avoided the creaking floors so it wouldn't wake up at a bad time and attack us. Then, we tried to pass by the area it was blocking and another FOE appeared and it took some effort to get them both to sleep and stay that way while we made a break for the next door. Well, except for the fact we had nowhere to step but a creaky floorboard and had to book it before they caught up to us, but whatever, we made it.
In front of the door we came in, there was a piece of paper posted on the wall. It said, "1, 2, 3, 4." The 1 and 2 were written in white letters on a black background and the 3 and 4 were black on white.
"Hrmmm! These numbers...!" Teddie said.
"Are you tellin' me you know what they mean!?" Kanji asked in shock.
"They make no sense at all!"
"Don't get my hopes up like that, dammit! ...I don't get it either, though. Maybe we should write 'em down."
"...Hm? These numbers..." Naoto said thoughtfully.
"You think this is the right order for that door we found?" Yosuke asked.
"Yes, that seems very likely."
"The right order...Were those switches numbered?" Akihiko asked.
"No...I don't recall seeing any such numbering on them." Mitsuru replied. "So the next mystery we face is which one we consider to be #1."
"...It makes no sense after all!" Teddie concluded.
"You know, the FOEs in that room were a little strange. They weren't in our way or chasing us." Yukiko pointed out.
"That is true. They didn't seem positioned in order to block our passage." Zen agreed.
"Why don't we go back to that room? The answer should be there." Naoto suggested and Yu nodded.
We got some armour from a chest and activated a shortcut before heading back to the four rooms with the switches. When we got there, we turned off the lights and took note of how many FOEs were in each of the rooms, then once Yu took note of which ones seemed to be three and four, we turned the lights back on and had to guess which the remaining rooms were. It only took two tries to get it and open the door, between fighting some Shadows. Once we stepped on the last switch in front of the door, we heard a clicking noise.
"You heard that sound just now, right...? It sounded different from when we stepped on the switches. I think it was something unlocking." Ken said.
"Perhaps that door from earlier has opened. Let's go and check." Zen suggested, so we did and it was open.
Through that door, we activated a shortcut and explored the area a bit. We came across yet another dead end.
Chie sighed, looking down. "How much longer is this labyrinth going to go on?"
"Woof." Koromaru barked at her.
"Oh, Koro-chan...You're the only consolation I have for my weary soul..." She said, petting him.
"What about me? What am I to your soul, Chie-chan?" Teddie asked.
"You're a...bad aftertaste?" Chie answered thoughtfully.
"A-A bad aftertaste?"
"Arf!" Koromaru wagged his tail.
"Oh, that bark was so cute! Do it again!" Chie giggled.
"Arf!"
"Grrr...Curse you, Koromaru...Stealin' away all the girls' affections for me..." Teddie continued to delude himself.
"Challenge him." Yu suggested, although I was pretty sure he was joking that time.
"A showdown...! That's it...! I want you to help us see this duel through to the end, Sensei! I'm going to make this a request. I'm counting on you!"
"Great..." Yu muttered, sounding a bit sarcastic.
We went on and found the stairs shortly after. We headed down them once Yu had drawn out his map. The atmosphere on the next floor was a bit different, although it was still dark.
"This display seemed like it was set in a school, but now it looks more like a hospital." Yukiko commented.
"Oh, that's just great..." I muttered sarcastically, feeling unnerved by the setting change.
"Ugh, Yukiko! I was trying so hard to pretend I hadn't noticed!" Chie cried. "An abandoned school is scary enough, but an abandoned hospital is even worse!"
"Hey Chie, I know what'll cheer you up!" Yukiko said with a smile.
"Wh-What is it?"
"You know how there's a mirror by the landing at school? When you climb the stairs while looking at your reflection in it, they say you start hearing a voice. It goes, "Nine, ten, eleven, twelve...""
"Wh-What're you talking about!?"
"There's supposed to be 12 steps on the stairs. But when you count along with that voice, there's a 13th. When you step on that step, you must not look at the mirror by the landing, no matter what. Because if you do, then reflected in it, you'll see-"
"Gyaaaaaah! Waaaaaah! Waaah!" Chie covered her ears, shaking. "I can't hear you! I'm not listening!"
"Oh? I thought a story about our school would be less scary than a hospital story..."
"They're both scarier! And it's a hundred times worse when you tell them in a place like this! You're gonna make Rei-chan cry!"
"...Nothing..." Rei mumbled quietly, seeming apathetic.
"Huh? She actually seems okay...?"
"I hear nothing I hear nothing I hear nothing I hear nothing I hear nothing..." She repeated.
"Dude, she's gone way off the deep end." Junpei said.
"I-I'm sorry! I was just trying to console Chie..." Yukiko apologized to Rei.
"C-Console...?" Minato repeated, looking unconvinced of that.
"I-I am, totally, fine...I can't, have, Yuki, laugh, at me..." Rei said almost robotically.
"I, will not, be outdone, when it, comes, to, robotic speech patterns." Aigis responded.
"Why would you even need to compete!? And how are you losing!? I-I mean, why aren't you consoling Rei-chan!?" Yosuke asked.
"It must be tough being so aghast all the time." Yukiko said to him.
"You're pretty aghast most of the time too, so why are you slacking off now?"
"Why react at all? You could just leave these things be." Ken pointed out.
"No way. Leaving things be is the harshest thing you can do to someone! This is me being nice!"
"Wait, not lettin' stuff slide...that's bein' nice?" Kanji asked.
"Nah, I bet you're just born that way." Yukari said.
"You know, I bet the same thing's true about you." Yosuke responded.
"Stop it." She looked downward.
"Oh...So that's what I was sensing." Minato said blankly.
"Seriously, don't go there." Yukari told him.
"But Yosuke is a kind man! He's made of one-third kindness by volume!" Teddie said. "The other third is made up of Junes."
"Uh...?" MInato looked a bit lost. "Isn't there another third left?"
"Hrm? Sensei, do you know what the last third of Yosuke is?" Teddie turned to Yu.
"Junes." Yu apparently wasn't paying much attention at all, since he was doing something with the map.
"No, Teddie already said that. We covered the Junes part of me. If you add yours and his, that's two-thirds, which is way too much!" Yosuke told him.
"But you're fine with it taking up a whole third..." Yukari commented.
"How long are you guys going to keep this up? It's about time we got going." Akihiko said impatiently.
"Oh, right. I guess we should go...much as I'd rather not..." Chie answered.
"Much as I'd rather not either...Hrgh..." Rei looked reluctant too.
"...Hey, Senpai. I've got somethin' I wanna ask you about..." Kanji said to Yu suddenly as we were getting ready to move on. He then lowered his voice to a whisper. "There's somethin' I wanna talk about with this kid-I mean, dude, but I dunno what to say to him...I'm not sure I can say it right...Like, what if I say the wrong thing, and his feelings get hurt? It'd be fine if this was nothin', but it's pretty serious...Like, an important talk between two guys...And...Uhh...? ...What were we talkin' about?"
"Stay calm and it'll be fine." Yu told him.
"I-I am calm! I just lost my train of thought for a sec! It gets all jumbled up in my mind...I ain't good at talkin'. I'm pretty sure you know that already..."
"You just think that."
"I'm just...thinking that?"
"Don't worry, Kanji-kun." Yukiko was apparently listening in too.
"Whoa! W-Were you listenin'...?"
"You guys were stalling even after it was time to leave, so Yukiko and me came to check up on you." Chie answered.
"Kanji-kun...It's true that you're not good with words. But even though...Or maybe, because that's true, you say things more sincerely than anyone." Yukiko told him. "Things you've said hit me full on in the chest, much stronger than if it had been anyone else. I think that being good or bad at speaking doesn't matter when you're trying to convey something important. It's only how strong your feelings are for that person that matters. If you're that worried about them, I'm sure that'll come across to whoever it is."
"Yukiko-senpai..."
"You'll be fine, Kanji-kun. Have some more self-confidence!" Chie told him.
"Chie-senpai...R-Right!" Kanji looked determined now.
"...So, does this mean you're going to confess your love? Hmmm!?" Yukiko asked excitedly.
"C-Confess my love!?"
"To Rise-chan!" Yukiko said and I had to hold a hand over my mouth to keep from snickering. I guess I wasn't the only one who thought about that being a possibility for the future...But I'd never say it like that! Then again, Kanji and Yukiko are surprisingly similar in some strange ways...Ack! I shouldn't think about my friends this way!
"To...Rise-chan?" Chie looked surprised too.
"What?" Kanji asked, not half as flustered as he would've been if she had said Naoto.
"You'd be perfect for each other! You two get along through thick and thin, and you're a pretty striking couple!" Yukiko said with a smile.
"Uhh...Instead of listing everything wrong with what you just said, let's get going for now!" Chie changed the subject and ushered Yukiko away with her.
"...Wait, wha-!? Hey, wait! Get back here, dammit!" Kanji shouted after them.
"Just leave them be." Yu told him.
"We can't just leave 'em be! This is Yukiko-senpai we're talkin' about! A-Anyway, we should go quick. It's gonna be a huge headache if Yukiko-senpai comes back again..." Kanji decided and they both started walking toward the others.
I was about to join everyone else, but I noticed Rei was still looking really uneasy and Zen seemed uncertain what to do.
"...Hey, Rei." I greeted her as I walked over slowly, so as not to startle her too much.
"O-Oh, Kyo..." She jumped a little, but tried to smile at me.
"This place isn't great, is it...?" I muttered, glancing around the eerie hallway, then looking back to her utterly anxious expression as her eyes dropped to the floor, I tried to think of something to help her out. "...Hey, do you want to ride on my back while I'm a coyote again? You must be pretty tired from walking all this way, so..."
She looked up at me with a bit of a lighter look in her eyes. "I can lay in your soft fur again...?"
I nodded to her and smiled a bit sympathetically. "You can hide your face in it if anything's too scary, too, if you want."
"O...Okay." She nodded and then looked to Zen. "Y-You'll stay nearby too, right...?"
"Of course." Zen nodded to her and then gave me a bit of a complicated look. I think he was appreciative, but also felt a bit bad that he couldn't help Rei too much when she was scared.
"Then, let's get going." I nodded to them and transformed, then laid down so Rei could climb up onto my back with Zen's help before we began to walk with the others through the labyrinth, Zen staying near my side and keeping an eye on Rei as she gripped onto my fur and I think was only peeking at our surroundings.
We only explored a little bit of the third floor before Yu decided we should head back. After a trip to the Nurse's Office, we were all left to our own devices.