"Are you sure you don't wanna finish your coffee?" Francis asks Chie as they are about to leave.
Chie looks at her coffee, seemingly thinking about what Francis said as she does.
She quickly drinks it. After a while, she hands the cup to Francis.
"I can't finish this much in such a short time. You wanna drink the rest?"
After he takes the cup over, Francis turns the cup and drinks from where Chie has drunk.
"Is now really the time?" Chie asks annoyingly. The duo then heads out of the cafe.
"I told you. I am fine." Francis tries to reassure Chie as they exit the cafe. Following Chie, Francis soon arrives at a relatively secluded spot.
"Call Margaret." Chie says sternly. Having heard about what happened from Francis, she is now in a rush.
On the phone, Margaret inquisits about the purpose of Francis's call. After hearing Francis' reply, Margaret continues calmly.
"Unfortunately, you are quite far away so it might take a while for us to reach you. Perhaps we can talk on the phone?" Margaret asks politely after hearing what Francis has to say.
Hearing what Margaret has to say, Chie responds. "Ask her if it's okay to put the phone on speaker."
Hearing Chie's suggestion, Margaret suggests she does the same on her side.
Soon, Igor can be heard on the phone. Francis explains what he saw after drinking the coffee.
Igor chuckles hearing Francis' story.
"I believe it is as Izanagi said. You entered your own soul after drinking the coffee somehow. I do not believe I have heard of this situation, and I do not believe there are any harmful effects."
Hearing what Igor has to, Chie breaths a sigh of relief.
Igor then continues with his raspy voice. "The other 'you', however, is a truly curious case. You said it first took the girl's form and then yours?"
"Ya."
Hearing Francis' reply, Igor continues. "I see. I have encountered many Personas, but one that takes the form of another human? This is truly curious. I would warn you to not ponder it, however, as your Persona has warned you against that."
"Understood."
Hearing Igor finish, Chie says politely. "That's good. Thank you, Igor-san."
"Esteemed guest." Igor continues. "Can you humor me?"
Francis replies politely. "Sure."
"You noticed that you were able to wield the strength rivalling a Persona's by yourself. Now, you have a Persona that wields both yours and the girl's form. Tell me, do you observe something?"
Francis ponders what Igor said. He then replies calmly. "Ya. The line between me and my Persona is blurred, at least sometimes."
Igor chuckles. He then continues kindly. "No need to trouble yourself, esteemed guest. I believe the answers will come at the right time."
Both Chie and Francis thank Igor politely.
Before Francis hangs up, Margaret speaks.
"I believe Marie would like to talk to you two."
After a while, Marie's grumbling can be heard on the phone.
"What are you doing making ChiChi worried, pervert? You want me to add scumbag to the list of terrible traits you possess?"
"Scumbag?" Chie responds with tiredness. Her tone then switches to embarrassment. "Marie, did you just call me ChiChi?"
"Ya. I have a hard time remembering anything beyond Chi so I just repeated the sound. It sounds cute so it suits you." Marie says kindly.
"Do you know what ChiChi means?" Chie asks, embarrassment present in both tone and face.
"No." Marie responds innocently.
"It means... " Chie blushes. She then takes the phone from Francis and turns off the speaker. "Sorry, this is embarrassing."
She goes to the side and talks with Marie on the phone. Meanwhile, Francis takes the time to look around.
Okina city reminds him slightly of Tokyo. Both of them are very different from the American cities he lived in.
"Haven't been to a city in a while." Francis mutters to himself in English.
"Wait." He suddenly realizes something. He then thinks back how long he has spent in Inaba.
"Two weeks?" He says with surprise. He then looks to Chie, who is still talking on the phone.
"It's been an eventful two weeks." Francis says blissfully.
"By the way, what does ChiChi mean? I thought it meant father." Francis asks himself curiously.
"Francis, anything else you wanna say?" Chie asks as she comes closer. She turns the phone to speaker mode as she does.
"Can you tell Marie she's cute?" Francis says humorously.
"I heard that, scumbag!" Marie shouts. Although he can't see her, Francis imagines Marie blushing, smiling as he does.
After they hang up, Chie looks at Francis with embarrassment.
"Sorry, I was worried. I needed to be sure." She says guiltily.
"It's fine. I did get to have an indirect kiss with you." Francis says suavely.
Chie looks at him with sad eyes and a rigid smile caught between two bushing cheeks.
"Is something wrong?" Francis asks with concern.
Chie takes a deep breath.
"You are oddly cheerful." Chie says with tiredness.
"Oh, it's just…" Francis pauses. "Ya, you are right, Marie cheers me up for some reason."
"I see." Chie responds with slight sadness.
As if realizing what's wrong, Francis asks Chie kindly.
"Can I hug you?"
Chie looks at Francis with panic.
"Maybe hold your hand?" Francis quickly asks in a panic.
"Hug is fine." Chie replies while blushing.
As Francis embraces Chie, he says kindly.
"Sorry, didn't realize that would make you jealous."
"I…" Chie pauses. "Sorry for getting jealous so easily."
"I like you being jealous. Just don't want you hurt because of that." Francis continues gently.
On the train back to Inaba, Francis teaches Chie the words 'phone', 'coffee', and 'town'.
By the time they reach Inaba, the sun is starting to set. The couple look at one another as they walk around town.
"Let's spend a bit more time together." Francis says, to which Chie nods.
The two make idle conversation whilst walking around town, learning more about one another.
"I think you are way better at this than I am." Francis says humorously, prompting a chuckle from Chie.
'Well, I get around a lot." Chie says proudly, walking with powerful steps and swings as she does.
"Thinking back, you don't really have a lot of friends that's not related to the TV, do you?" Chie asks curiously.
"Well, I spent most of the two weeks with you." Francis replies.
"Ya. I guess that's fine." Chie says bashfully, her steps and swings shrinking as she does.
As they are about to go home, Chie raises a question.
"What does 'Meri' mean?" Chie asks.
"Which 'Meri'?" Francis asks with confusion. He then remembers. "In front of the cafe?"
"Yep."
"Uh…" Francis stammers.
"Is it perverted?" Chie asks meanly, with a frown matching her tone.
"No, this one's actually romantic." Francis responds humorously, causing Chie's face to become more friendly.
"Good." Chie says, a hint of bashfulness in her voice.
Francis takes a deep breath. "It means marry. I...uh… wanna marry you." He explains in Japanese.
Chie looks at Francis for a bit, her expression indiscernible.
"Chie?" Francis asks awkwardly.
Chie then looks away and takes a deep breath. She then walks next to Francis and holds his hand.
"Can you walk me close to my place? I wanna talk about something." Chie says sternly.
As they walk, Francis asks awkwardly.
"Chie, what's wrong?"
"I can tell you later…" Chie replies weakly. Due to the poor lighting, Francis can't make out her facial expression.
They soon come to a residential area.
"Let's talk here."
Chie's line brings Francis to a pause. Despite holding her hand tight, Francis stares at her with worry. Chie looks away, seemingly finding the right words to express herself.
"I just feel like there is a gap, no, multiple gaps between us." Chie says calmly while her gaze matches Francis. As she does, Francis listens attentively, though he is feeling lightheaded.
"For one, you seem way too comfy, reliant even on the TV world. It just feels like you are almost useless without that world, without Personas, without Shadows."
As Chie speaks, Francis feels Chie hold onto his hand tightly.
"I can't say I blame you. I feel excited while wielding my Persona in there too, but I feel like I have a life out here."
Chie pauses and looks away..
"I.." Francis blurts out, prompting Chie to look at him. "Never mind. Is that all?"
Chie responds with an apologetic tone.
"I suppose it is kinda my fault. You were ready to leave that world behind, and I dragged you back in. Sorry."
"It's fine. You wanted to save Yukiko." Francis says kindly. As he does, he feels his other hand fumbling with his pants.
Chie smiles weakly. The smile fades and she keeps talking with a composed tone.
"You are just pretty awkward outside the TV, when you have no Shadows to challenge you, and that is slightly disturbing, really. I don't mind it, just it irks me at times."
Her eyes convey what seems to be sadness as she talks. She pauses for a short while to breathe, Francis waiting on her as she does. After breathing, she continues.
"But you know what, I don't mind that aspect of you. After all, I…" Chie pauses, grinning as she does. "You are a nice guy. Though that aspect of you is still disturbing."
Chin grins at Francis, slightly blushing. Despite that, her eyes still droop. She then looks away.
"Sorry. Let me think how to express what I wanna say." Chie apologizes, looking back slightly before turning away again as she does.
Chie takes a deep breath and continues calmly.
"I just feel like you are running so ahead of me in our relationship. You are already thinking of kissing me, marrying me, when I am still hesitant to start dating."
Chie says, her composure slowly breaking as she does.
"That gap scares me."
Chie says with a voice laced with fear.
Francis freezes, staring at Chie, uncertain what expression he carries. As he does, he feels his heart beat rapidly, combined with a sense of tiredness in his head.
He suddenly feels Chie tug at his hand. As he does, he notices Chie's expression changing to fear.
"Chie?" Francis asks with concern.
Chie pauses. She then looks down. While doing so, she asks fragilely.
"Does that turn you off?"
"No! No it doesn't!" Francis shouts out in panic.
While Chie looks shocked, a grin appears on her face afterwards. She blushes while that happens.
"Can you walk me home?" Chie asks bashfully.
The rest of the walk is silent, though the two continue to hold hands.
"Today was a lot of fun, despite what I just said." Chie says weakly in front of her house.
"See you tomorrow. Take care." Chie says while grinning.
Chie then looks away from Francis, prompting Francis to avert his gaze as well.
Despite their gazes not matching, Francis feels Chie holding tightly onto his hand.
"Oh, I need to let go." Chie says awkwardly.
She continues to stare at their hands. Meanwhile, Francis looks at Chie.
"Chie." Francis speaks up calmly. Hearing this, Chie lets go.
"Sorry."
Chie says calmly before she heads into her house.
At night, Dojima manages to leave work early.
As the three sit and watch TV, Dojima brings up a question.
"Do you have any plans for Golden Week?"
Nanako looks at her father with surprise. She then asks with a tone matching her face.
"You mean we can spend time together?"
"Well, we might be able to." Dojima replies hesitantly.
"Yay!" Nanako cheers. "I wanna go to Junes!"
"Junes?" Dojima questions with fatigue. "We can go there anytime you know?"
"Everyday is great at Junes~" Nanako sings cheerfully.
"What about you, Francis-san? Please come along!" Nanako asks cheerfully.
As the two stare at Francis, he feels tiredness wash over him.
"Did something bad happen again?" Nanako asks with sadness and concern.
"Uh…" Francis stammers and pauses. While looking at Nanako, he tries his best to muster a smile. "It's nothing big. But ya, I can go with you guys!"
"It's okay if you don't want to…" Nanako says weakly.
"Well, not like I have anything better to do." Francis says weakly while trying to be humorous, chuckling as he does.
After Nanako goes to bed, Dojima stops Francis.
"Did something happen?" Dojima asks sternly, glaring at his nephew as he does.
Francis averts his gaze. Dojima swiftly apologizes, his tone softer this time and his face softening as well.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to be mean. I just get used to talking to people like that. Plus…" Dojima pauses. He then continues with awkwardness while looking down.
"Sorry. I am not good with teenagers."
Francis stares at Dojima, certain his eyes are wide right now.
"Actually, let's talk." Francis says with a weak smile.
Francis decides to tell Dojima what happened with Chie, omitting the parts related to the TV.
"Girl problems, huh?" Dojima sighs. As he does, Francis notices his smiling slightly.
"I am pathetic, ain't I?" Francis says miserably.
Seeing this, Dojima responds kindly. "You are still young. Give the girl some time, and yourself some time. From what you said, she really does adore you. Maybe that's why it's so scary for her."
Francis looks at him sadly and asks curiously. "What do you mean scary?"
Dojima answers with sadness. "You don't have to be a girl or young to experience loss."
Francis pauses. As he does, a thought hits him.
"Where's Auntie?" He asks.
Dojima's eyes widen. They then narrow once more before Dojima looks away.
"Dojima-san?"
Dojima looks back to Francis. As their gazes match, the former speaks kindly.
"Get some rest."
As Dojima speaks, Francis spots a weak smile on his face. Seeing this, Francis pauses. He looks down, contemplating as he does.
"I know that smile." He says to Dojima calmly.
He then walks up and leaves. Before going up the stairs, he pauses.
"I wore it too many times."
Thou hast formed a bond, a weak bond, that shall grant you strength pertaining to Personas of the Hierophant Arcana.