Author's Notes: And now for something completely different, a nice short chapter. Yes, I do know how to write them – I surprise myself with them sometimes.

Before we get into it, a short word to my lovely reviewers:

codywhite162: I'm glad you liked it! Fortunately, you won't have to wait very long. Enjoy!

Thanks as always to Firion for the commentary and feedback.

Just two more to go after this one, guys. We're almost there.

Chapter 37

Dreams and nightmares were nothing new to Souji. His rainy day nightmares were now familiar in their terror, and the intense splashes of colour and sensation inspired by Yukiko as a counteragent were just as strong now. During the investigation, he'd dreamed of possible solutions to the mysteries and who their murderer was, and all throughout his life he dreamed of grades and exam questions and good meals and vacations, the same as anyone, and they varied in intensity and memorability. Nothing special or noteworthy, really.

This dream was different.

First off, he was aware he was dreaming. Lucidity like this was far less common among his nocturnal happenings, and he often woke up shortly after he realized he was doing it. Here, he could feel himself as himself, even if looking around and moving his hand through the air told him nothing. It was dark and empty, but just as he questioned why he'd be dreaming of nothing, an outline appeared in front of him. Faint at first, then growing in definition as he got closer, he saw a huge tree. It was decades old, with a canopy wide enough to cover a city block and it was so tall that it reached beyond sight. The leaves were thick enough to choke out the sun and cast the gloom he was in.

When Souji looked at the trunk, he recoiled in revulsion. The tree's base and body were black with rot, veins bulging through the bark and pulsing with a heartbeat that carried corruption down into the roots and up to the crown. What parts were living and untainted were enough to hold the weight of the whole, but the decay had infected every branch and stem. Souji knew that the rot was as much a part of the tree as the healthy parts, and he wondered how such a thing could survive. Because it did survive with a steady beat of its heart and a malicious whisper to any who dared look upon it.

He thought of what could be done to such a thing, but then he felt hot. He looked down to see a flash of red and yellow in his hands, a flame that raced around him and flew forward in hunger. Souji knew fire, particularly Yukiko's brand of it, and this was different. What was feeding these flames? Gasoline? Flour dust? Enriched oxygen? He couldn't smell whatever it was, and it didn't have the feeling of a Persona.

The tree ignited at the trunk. It writhed and shook, thrashing about like a living creature, but it was bound by its roots and couldn't get away. The veins pumped hard, racing in frantic agony before bursting like pustules. Whatever fluid that was in those veins ignited and spread with oily fire and choking smoke. The rot caught and burned from bottom to branch while the healthy parts blackened and charred, but heated to a polished sheen to withstand the flames. As the rot burned away, there was a chance for new, fresh growth. Only from such damage could renewal come about.

The puss splattered on him and caught fire, igniting him as well. His veins stood out, pumping black, rotting blood harder and faster before disintegrating and blowing away in ashes. Gleaming muscle showed through his skin before it burned as quick as paper and just as cleanly. Pain didn't register when the heat was intense enough – the tactile nerves were the first to go. The flames spread to his chest and flared up, and when he recoiled and looked up, he saw the entire tree canopy alight, waving and burning and staining the darkness in swirls of red and yellow. Hotter and hotter it got, and when Souji looked down to where his heart beat–

–his chin hit his chest and he was on the couch in the living room of the condo. He looked around quickly, assured himself that he was where he thought he was, and checked his hands and arms. All in one piece, not a trace of fire, but he needed a minute to assure himself it wasn't real – the smell of that smoke coated his nose and lungs.

The past few days came back to him. After giving the information to his mother, he'd made an effort to catch up on his sleep. He'd overcorrected and wound up spending ten and twelve hours in bed, waking up groggy while his body fought for equilibrium. He'd finally gotten back to normal when she called him with a date and time. He'd gone to bed early, but woke up early and decided to not bother Yukiko, instead pacing the living room floor and going over all the possibilities and permutations in his head. This was the day, and he wanted to be ready.

He must have sat down at some point and fallen asleep, but why would he have a dream like that? He noticed the flat screen TV on the wall, a luxury for students on a budget but a gift that Rise wouldn't take back. He thought he saw a flicker in it, beckoning him closer, promising him the same power he'd already given back.

Yukiko came in then, sleep mussed and yawning. She asked how he was feeling and why he was out here, but he barely acknowledged the words. He rose and went around the living room table, stiff and wooden.

"Souji?"

He reached out, hesitantly, with the backs of his fingers. He didn't want to know, wanted very much to not have this confirmed if he was wrong, but if he knew, then maybe he could–

He touched the screen and stopped. He didn't sink in. He moved his fingers up and down, feeling the texture of the screen under them, and breathed out. Everything was normal. Everything was fine. Whatever his problems, they weren't related to that place.

"A dream," he said to himself and for Yukiko. "It was just a dream."

She came close. "What did you see?"

"I don't know. I don't know if it was anything." He told her what he dreamt, describing it as best he could. Even as he spoke he could feel his arms heating up, irritating his old scars, but nothing came of it.

When he was done, Yukiko offered, "That sounds like a dream I should be having."

"You didn't, did you?"

"No, never."

"Right."

They were uncomfortably silent, not knowing where to take the conversation. A while later, the others got up. Breakfast was made, coffee was doled out, and they prepared for the day. "This is it," Yosuke said, checking his watch for the sixth time in twenty minutes. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"You know what you're doing. Don't settle for anything and get what you want. You've got the cards this time."

Souji smiled at the sentiment. It was the same thing he'd been telling himself since the day before. The others offered similar encouragement, and putting on his business suit felt more like slipping into his old armor, familiar like he'd never left it.

The thought made him smirk. What a life he'd had so far. Now it was time to defend it.


He went alone on the train to where he was meeting his mother. She'd insisted on being there with him for the meeting. "I know his tricks," she'd said. "You'll need that if you're going to pull this off." It was a good point and he couldn't think of a reason not to, so he agreed.

She was finishing up a call when he found her near the entrance. She looked resolute about something, nodding before hanging up. "You look good," she noted with a smile, looking him over.

He got that reaction sometimes, even in his classes. Yukiko had gone with him to pick this ensemble out during one of her visits. Black jacket and slacks and shoes, crisp white shirt and a silver tie to bring out his eyes. He'd washed his gloves just to make sure he wasn't missing anything, and he'd shaved and combed his hair back to complete the look. Sometimes it felt like he was pretending amongst all the black suits around him, but other times he felt himself adopting the role naturally. By dressing like a man of business, he became one. Maybe this had been what Yukiko had in mind, and if so, it definitely worked.

Izumi finished checking him over, even touching his tie – Yukiko had already fixed and straightened it – to make sure he was up to code. "This brings out your eyes," his mother observed. "Good choice."

It still felt strange to hear her compliments, so he nodded and looked at the doors. "Are we ready?"

"Yes. Everything is set."

"Then let's get this over with."

They went through the entrance and hallways like they belonged there. Some of the people even greeted Izumi. She coached Souji as they went, warning him on what to expect as they rode the elevator, never using specific names. Someone in the elevator car caught them in a lull, asking, "Teaching him the ropes, Seta-san?"

"That's right. Better late than never."

"Absolutely." The man looked at Souji. "You've got a good teacher here. Make sure you take notes – lots of us would have killed for someone like her to teach us."

Souji wondered if the sentiment would be the same if they knew the conversation had been about his father. He nodded in reply and said, "I will. Thanks."

They got off the elevator and Izumi led them through the halls easily. These were powerful people who handled billions of yen and made big calls every day, and yet they took note of her passing and nodded in respect. The secretary blanched white as chalk when she saw Izumi, and promptly straightened so quickly that she almost toppled over. "S-Seta-san! I'm so glad to see you, especially after– Yes, ma'am, let me get the door for you."

Souji followed as his mother swept past, giving only a cursory nod to the woman. "What was that about?" he asked.

"Someone bit off more than she could chew," was the reply. "I reminded her of proper table manners and napkin etiquette."

Souji wasn't just what that meant, but he could appreciate that his mother wasn't one to cross. He went over his various plans and lines, recalling what she'd suggested before now and on the elevator. Don't compromise, don't waver, remember that you're in charge. He quelled the twists and rolls his stomach was performing, and almost delighted in the familiarity. He always got nervous before a big fight, always felt sick before his head cleared and everything blended into intent and action. He knew what this was like and he knew he could do it. He was ready.

He exhaled and pushed through the door with his father's name on it. They were welcomed in by silence and closed the door behind them. Before them sat Seta Yuuma, a practiced expression on his face – not quite neutral, but pretty close and giving nothing away.

"You're right on time," he said. "Excellent. I can't abide people who aren't considerate of someone's schedule." Yuuma looked at Izumi. "I'm glad you're here. Souji benefitted from your guidance, I assume?"

"We'll see in a minute, won't we?" was her response. She stood a stride behind Souji and to the side, her back straight and her face an unreadable mask.

"I suppose so." Yuuma looked at his son, a measure of pride and approval in his eyes. "You've come a long way to get here. Good work. I thought that you'd pull this off."

"I did more than that," Souji replied. Start strong and grab the momentum, he knew. Don't stop until you get what you want. "I found some things about your associates, and in return for not making these things public, you're going to back off."

Yuuma wasn't offended by his son's tone. If anything, it seemed to engage him more. "Is that so?"

"Yes. Stop interfering with my academics and my life. Leave Yukiko and my friends alone and don't contact me unless I call you first. Those are my terms, and I'm not accepting a deal."

Yuuma chuckled. "I'd have to know what you have before I can be suitably wowed by it, wouldn't I? Let's see your cards."

"Let's start with bribery, intimidation, and corporate corruption. Two of my friends were investigating some wrongdoings by a few businessmen in Okina City and came across records that implicate Kato Akio, one of your friends, in half a dozen crimes. They were attacked right after they got this information. There's no way it's a coincidence, is it?"

"That's up to the police to decide, but between you and me, I've never liked Kato's methods. He always took things a little too far, like he had something to prove by going the extra mile. I prefer to do things more delicately."

Souji asked, "Do you dislike his methods enough to lose his number?"

"Of course not, but I don't have to like someone or how they do things to see the utility they possess. I like his work and he likes mine. That's what makes us associates and not friends; he would say the same thing."

"Was Kato behind the murder-by-accident of Shirotori Takehiko? I know he worked for you and he conveniently died after he learned something incriminating. Were those NDAs not ironclad enough? Or had he just exhausted his usefulness?"

"I don't recognize the name. If this person did die, then it's a tragedy. But I can't comment on that – I don't know everything Kato gets up to. He's his own person, and I'm not responsible for his actions."

"What about Shirotori's partner, Tani Youta? He worked for you, too, and it sounds like he had a more direct hand in the little projects you hired him for."

"I remember him. Very smart for his age. Very efficient. I don't know what happened to him."

"He's dead. Suicide, waiting for your call because he knew someone was after him. Who was that, by the way? Did Kato send someone after him? Or was it Fujioka Kenzo?"

That caught Yuuma's attention.

"Yes," Souji went on, "I know about him. I know about the strings that were pulled to get him where he is after Iwamoto Masahiko stepped down, and I'm pretty sure I know why, too. You did a lot of work for both of them, didn't you?"

Yuuma said nothing.

"When you tie all this together, you've got a connection of money and corruption, bribes and blackmail, that goes back more than a decade. Tani and Shirotori are dead, my friends were attacked by yakuza, and Takenaka Junko, the mother of another friend of mine, fell into disgrace right on time for Kato to take credit for her work and capitalize on it. He used her and dumped her while he was already married and she's been a wreck ever since." Souji breathed and stared. "This is just the surface of what I can prove. I have more than enough to implicate all four of you in this, and none of them will want this to get out so close to year end. It'll be impossible to change things this late, won't it?"

"You'd be surprised what can be done on short notice, you know. You getting this far is proof of that."

"But will they have the chance to? This isn't just between you and me and it won't be something you can sweep under the rug. All of you have competitors wanting your jobs, and those guys will come for you once they smell blood in the water. I don't believe for a minute that this would go for nothing if it gets out."

Yuuma chuckled. "And in return, you want to hold that information indefinitely as insurance? Leave such a large opening to be used by you or whoever you want, whenever you want? This is the real world of business and politics, Souji – you think they'll walk away from this and let it stand?"

"Between the two of us, I've proven that I'm not interested in your games and power plays. This had nothing to do with me until you got me involved. Stay away from me and we'll call it even. That's the only offer I'm making."

Yuuma came around his desk and stood before them. He looked admiringly at Izumi. "He turned out well, didn't he? Better than I might have hoped. He's a chip right off the block for both of us, wouldn't you agree?"

She watched them both and said nothing.

Yuuma turned to his son. "I'm impressed. Honestly, this is good work, Souji."

Souji was silent.

"You've learned the right skills to find the weak spots in someone's armor, and you did it fast enough that you could cause some real damage if you wanted to. That takes talent – not everyone has the stomach or the connections for this line of work, but you do. You should be proud."

"Stop flattering me. I'll use it if you make me, and I'm not going to bend or cut a deal."

Yuuma smiled. "Everyone negotiates. Even the gods. Life is a collection of advantages and compromises to get what we want. Don't look at me like that, I don't make the rules; I just play by them."

"You mean you use them to your advantage."

"That's what you're doing right now, isn't it? Playing the game at our level even if all you want is to get out of it?"

"My reasons are different from yours."

"What are my reasons? What insight do you have into them?"

Souji's eyes narrowed. "You're doing this to test me. Maybe you think you're doing me a favor, but you aren't and you wouldn't back off, so I'm telling you that this ends right now."

Yuuma looked pleased. More than pleased; he was practically giddy. "You even have the delivery down. Steady and serious. This is perfect."

"Quit joking with me. I will blow the whistle on this and light up your whole house of cards."

"I don't doubt you. You want something badly enough to come this far, so I do believe that you'll go all the way."

Souji didn't like how that sounded. "I'm hearing a 'but' in there. What do you think you have up your sleeve?"

"You're prepared to do whatever you need to in order to achieve your goals, right? No compromises or deals?"

"That's what I said."

"Even over the reputation of your friend, Hanamura?"

Souji froze. Out of all the names to pull out, he never expected Yosuke's. Immense focus was the only thing that kept his face and voice steady. "What do you mean?"

Apparently it wasn't enough. Yuuma smiled proudly, but there was a cunning glint in his eye. "You're friends with someone who has that name. Yosuke-kun, isn't it? His father is a Junes manager."

"What is a Junes manager to you?"

"He had some business partners some time ago. Two men with, shall we say, a checkered past."

Souji scrambled, then he recalled what his friend had told him. Just some guys at work talking big about stuff that went nowhere. "A house bigger than what he could afford," Souji murmured with horror, then he bit the words down before more could escape. "I trust him. Whatever you think you have, it was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing. One of those men is dead, the other one has a warrant for his arrest, in part for suspicion of murder. There's also suspicion of some close connections to the yakuza – money laundering and smuggling of contraband, to be precise. The police don't seem to know about the third man, but they'd be quite interested in a thread to pull on if they knew just how connected all three were."

"That's crap. I met Yosuke the first few days I was in Inaba. I've been to his place and met his family. If his dad was under suspicion of anything, Doujima would have raked him over the coals."

Yuuma shrugged. "A small town police detachment with limited resources? With the murders that were happening? Your uncle is competent, no question, but I'd say that he was otherwise occupied. Either way, we both know that suspicion is enough to make people act differently, especially when the pillars of the community are concerned." He smirked. "The memory of the public is very short when they feel justified in their beliefs. What would they do if such an upstanding citizen were believed to be a criminal? Who would work for such a man? Where could he even hide from a past like that?"

"You…"

"Does your friend know about this? You've proven quite skilled at inspiring loyalty in people, so I'm sure he supported you right up to now, but what's your move? Will you be the reason those suspicions get out?"

Souji couldn't speak. He knew it was a promise, not an empty threat. People believed what they wanted to, and lies spread like a virus while the truth trailed along like the cure. Using convenient omissions and the information apparatus he'd seen through Youta and Shirotori, it would be nothing at all to destroy someone's life and get away with it. Especially someone without the resources to fight back.

He looked into his father's eyes and was reminded of his own resolve: to end this charade and have his own life, no matter what.

No matter who he had to go through.

But did that include his best friend?

"There is an alternative to such information getting out," Yuuma went on. "A way that we can both get something."

"Souji," Izumi warned.

"He can make his own choices," Yuuma cut in, glancing at her. "It is his life, isn't it?"

She said nothing.

"You've proven your aptitude and ability here," Yuuma said to his son, "and it's impressive. You're better at this than some of the people I work with, and I don't say that lightly. You'd go far in this line of work." He held a hand up, forestalling any responses. "But of course there's a chance you don't want to end up here. I can't say I understand – we should make the most of what we do best and be accordingly reimbursed for it – but if you want to follow your own road, then I will respect that for the time being."

"Just for the time being, huh?" Souji answered dully.

"There might be a point where something else comes up. Perhaps I'll need your help, or maybe there will be a project that's outside of my ability to control, and you'll need these skills again. It would be months and even years down the road, I imagine, and you'd be free to do as you want until then. What you do when the challenge arises, though, that will be up to you."

A choice. A purchased reprieve. He would have the chance to finish school, probably get married to Yukiko and have more resources by then. He'd be better equipped for another confrontation like this. He'd be able to find more dirt, chase down that perfect piece of information that would get him out. Next time, it would be different.

But would it? Having those resources would mean working for them, earning them through labor and favors made and traded. The price for that would be time and work in this field, splitting his attention between that and the life he wanted. Was that really security, or was it a lure for an even bigger challenge because he'd proven he could handle it?

He could protect Yosuke and Yukiko this way. He could bear the load if it meant those he loved would be safe. He'd done it before, hadn't he? Hadn't that been the lesson that the Shadows and Izanami had taught him? He was strong, and he could handle anything because he was strong.

But even if he pulled it off, was that really freedom? Had he, they, come this far just to make deals and settle for second place? Maybe it wasn't a good choice, but in the face of what lay before him, wasn't it at least a choice? Something better than nothing?

Souji fought with his instincts and the reality of the situation, a dozen thoughts in a hundred directions in the flash of a second. He saw the knowing, expectant look from his father, felt the distant silence from his mother, and knew only isolation as the ground fell from beneath his feet.

He opened his mouth to speak, looked for the words, and–

–then the office phone rang.

Yuuma looked momentarily irritated. He reached across his desk, picked up the receiver and then pressed it down, disconnecting the call. The heavy silence came back, and he didn't say anything. He clearly knew he didn't need to.

The phone rang again, seeming more insistent this time. Izumi stepped forward. "You might want to get that. I wouldn't want to interrupt you from something important."

Yuuma gave her an annoyed glance, then answered the phone this time. "This is Seta, what's so–" He straightened. Someone on the other line was very not happy. "Fujioka-san. I wasn't expecting– What? Slow down, what do you mean? How can you be getting… calls about…" He looked over, not at Souji this time but at Izumi with growing realization and horror. "I'll look into it and call you back." He hung up on the shouting voice, then stepped forward, anger burning yellow hot in his eyes. "What did you do?"

"I spiked your wheel," she answered firmly. "Yours, Fujioka's, Iwamoto's, and especially Kato's."

"What's going on?" Souji asked, feeling suddenly small in the face of whatever was about to blow out at the seams.

"You wouldn't dare," Yuuma insisted.

"I did," Izumi replied. "I figured you'd have a card like this to play, and I knew it would hit Souji where it hurt. You wouldn't have let it come this far if you didn't have some way of getting what you wanted. I've seen this happen, remember? You went through the exact same thing. I wasn't going to let it happen again."

"What did you do?"

When she spoke, it was with an unflinching gaze toward her husband. "I took what Souji told me and everything I dug up on my own and leaked it to some very interested parties. The police, some competitors of Kato's, a few others who wanted a chance to go after Fujioka." She glanced at her son. "You were waiting to use that as a bargaining chip, but you can't win like that. You have to be ruthless or three steps ahead to win here, so I took the steps for you. You were right – there are plenty of people who will go for an angle when they know where to stick the knife."

Yuuma's eyes narrowed. "You're bluffing. Any information you have would implicate you as well – you were as much a part of those jobs as I was. You finally got past being seen as a woman in the office and you've spent your life getting this far. This is what you are, and what you have been since we first met. Everything you have is tied up in your career and you know what would happen to it if you actually went through with this. You're not going to throw all that away."

"Aren't I?"

"No, because if you did that you'd burn every piece of credit you've gotten up to now. Never mind being stonewalled, you'd be filth to everyone you've ever worked for, the woman who used her husband and then cratered him the moment it was convenient for her." He drew himself up, far surer of himself again. "You'd be blacklisted for life. You'd never work in any corporate circle in this country again. In any country again, not with the connections you know we have. You'd be such a pariah that people wouldn't even look at you to spit on you. And then what would you do after that, hm? Work tables? Knit in the countryside? Change your name and hope no one remembers you? You live and breathe in this world, Izumi – you'd go crazy in less than a month."

"You're probably right." She stared right back at him, as unyielding as rock. "But I guess I'll find out, won't I? I'll let you know what happens."

The phone rang again. Yuuma's certainty cracked just a bit. "You wouldn't…"

"I did. It was the best answer to the problem and I took it, no matter what it meant for me." She stepped forward, head held high. "But do you know what? I wouldn't have. I knew you and Kato were into something dirty, and I helped anyway. I would have again, because this job is my life and I know how the game is played – we do whatever it takes to win. I could have ignored what Kato did to Junko when she told me about it – she's her own person and she has to own her bad decisions. Such is life. The deals with Fujioka, the projects you used Tani and Shirotori for, that's the price of business and nothing more. I could forgive all this because you're my husband and because we were always a team, climbing to the top together, no matter what." Her voice cracked at this last sentence, a flash of emotion that was then suffocated by the coldness of her voice a second later. "But you came after our son, Yuuma. After my son. No one, not Kato or Fujioka or Iwamoto or the gods themselves hurt my son and get to walk away."

Souji said nothing. What could he say in the face of such a show of emotion and steel will? Yuuma said nothing, trying to compute what the odds were that he'd just been beaten. The phone cut out, then began to ring again.

"You should answer that," she advised one last time. "I think you're going to have some busy days ahead of you." She sidestepped him and set her wedding ring on his desk, letting the sunlight catch the simple gold band. "My lawyers will be in touch regarding the divorce. Don't expect them right away – I know you'll have other things going on."

"Izumi…" Yuuma fumed.

She turned her back on him and nudged Souji around. "We're done here. Let's go."

"Wait! We're not done yet! Souji! Izumi! Izumi!"

Their names cut off from the door closing and the phone's ringing.

They went down the hall as smoothly as they entered, but people were already murmuring to each other and pointing at Izumi as she passed. She ignored them as she led the way to the elevator. They got in and anyone who was in it got out once they saw her. Word certainly traveled fast.

"Get your notes together and send a copy to Uchiyama," she advised as the doors closed. "I gave him and my people what I have, but you've got the full picture. He'll need it if he's going to make the most of the situation."

"Right," Souji answered numbly. He sent a text to Kou to courier all the evidence to the police, one of the contingencies he'd set in place.

"The next few days might be hard, but the worst of it will pass pretty quickly. Those people will be too busy with their house on fire to do anything to you."

"I should tell Yosuke about this. Just in case."

"I'll talk to his father. I don't have the same baggage that you do and I can make my case better. You just focus on being with Yukiko-san and getting your life back on track. That was the point of all this."

Souji said nothing. He was still back in that office, stuck on the decision he didn't have to make.

They reached the ground floor and caught the train. A few stops passed in silence, but Izumi looked over and asked, "Want a drink? I'm buying."

Souji had no words. All he could do was nod.

The place they went to was the sort that salarymen frequented all over the country. Simple, accessible, and not too crowded yet. Souji didn't notice what the decor was like or what the drink selection was or even what meat was on the grill. He simply followed her to an empty table alcove and sat. His mother waved the waiter over and ordered for them: "Two double whiskeys, straight. What're you having?"

Souji went with his usual cocktail. They said nothing as they waited. When the drinks came, Izumi fired one straight back, then the other before the waiter could leave. She ordered something a little more normal then and shook her head as though to clear it, or maybe to give the booze an extra kick. "Just right. I needed that."

"He was bluffing, wasn't he?" Souji asked, finally processing everything that had happened. "He was lying to get under your skin when he said you'd never work again if you blew the whistle."

Izumi leaned back in her seat. "He wasn't lying."

"You've got more cards to play then, haven't you? A backup plan? Contacts or someone who owes you a favor that can help you, something like that?"

"Not anymore. I used everything I had to make this happen. I couldn't go after someone like Kato or Fujioka without throwing everything I had on the table, and I wouldn't have been any use to you if I'd gone for half measures. That meant pouring the gasoline and burning the bridges myself." She twisted her glass. "Those are the stakes when you play to win. Your father knew that and he's always been a very good opponent. He knew how to stop you and push you onto the same road he went down. By yourself, you had no way out if you'd stuck to his rules, but the rules only matter if someone like me doesn't break them."

Souji tapped the table, working through the details. "You wouldn't have had the time to send that stuff out after we got there, so… you sent it out before the meeting?"

"First thing this morning."

"How did you know things would go this way?"

She smiled without humor. "Your father became this good at the game because this was how his parents tested him. Exactly the same thing, and at first he operated the same way you do. Promises became compromises until they got what they wanted. Little changes became bigger and easier until he was just like them. I thought it wasn't so bad when you were born, but when he tried the same thing on you, I knew where he was going. I wasn't going to stand by and do nothing."

Souji admitted, "I didn't know my grandparents were like that. I don't remember much about them at all, actually."

"I told you as little as possible about them for precisely that reason. If it wasn't tied to their careers then they didn't have much use for it, and I didn't encourage their attention. It was why my plan worked – your father couldn't conceive that a mother would go this far because his didn't. When he was in your situation, she was in on the act and encouraged it. She absolutely never would have jeopardized herself for him – the price would have been too high for her."

It was odd, thinking of his father like this. Not as a parental figure or as an opponent, but as a human being formed by his past experiences and influences, for better or for worse. Seeing the forces that had made him into what he was, there was room for sympathy for such a person. Souji shook it off – he wasn't ready for that yet. "Why didn't he stop you? He had everything worked out with me, with Yosuke's dad, so I figured…"

"He did. I resigned so that he couldn't drag down my company, but he'll still bring up every dirty job I worked on and go after them for hiring me. I made an immunity deal with Uchiyama for when my name comes out in the files, because it's going to. Your father said I'd be a pariah, and he'll make sure of it if it's the last thing he does. My friends and colleagues will pretend I don't exist by tomorrow morning, I won't see any of my pension, and I'll probably have to fight to get my last paycheck. I doubt it will be worth the legal fees. Your father had all that in place to keep me out of your fight, well before we ever set foot in his office. The way he planned it, the most I would have been able to do was advise you or he'd bring down everything I worked for." She chuckled dryly. "He thought the threat to my career, my livelihood, and my life's reputation was enough to stop me."

It was chilling hearing someone speak so cavalierly about their life like this. "What will you do now?"

"I have no idea. I can't work here anymore and the rent would make me homeless in no time. Maybe your father was conservative on his estimate of how long I'll last without a job. I guess we'll find out."

"How… how could you do that? Did you hate him and this was the last straw?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. I was married to him for longer than your entire life. You don't walk away from a commitment like that without some good reasons and a few bottles of hard booze. But he crossed the one line I wouldn't stand for, so it was pretty easy once I made up my mind to do it."

"That's not what I meant. If this isn't a dream or some elaborate trick, then you just torpedoed your entire life and everything you've been working toward. Even I can tell you'll never get it back. It's everything to you. How could you let go of it like that?"

She looked at him, direct and open and honest. "Because it was for someone that meant more to me than myself. I thought that was obvious."

"I… I don't…" The walls closed in on Souji, and he felt weightless and trapped in the dark. He'd been here before, in the face of tremendous loss, only this time there wasn't a goddess to blame and a Persona to bring his friends back. This was the real world, and there was no rewind button. "I don't want someone hurt because of me," he choked out finally, the burden he'd been carrying around since Izanami finally acknowledged and named. "Things happen when people try to help me. I don't want that on my conscience."

Izumi paused for a moment before answering. "You were ready to do the same thing for Hanamura's son, weren't you? To sacrifice yourself for your friend? How is that any different?"

Souji looked up at her, silent.

"You'd do the same thing for Yukiko-san," she went on confidently, "or for your children when you have them. You'd sacrifice for them and think nothing of it, and that's why you have such good friends. But that road goes both ways. Sometimes people are willing to give things up for you, too, whether you expect them to or even want them to or not."

"They'd give up what they want and love for me. That loss doesn't go away after the fighting stops. They're still hurt or fired and sometimes they can't take it back. How am I supposed to live with that?"

"By living well and honoring that sacrifice. You know this. You're already doing it, so don't look so surprised. That's part of loving people and living life – you have to let them do things for you and take the hits and bear the weight beside you. That's the price of being free. That's what you, and they, worked for, isn't it?"

Souji couldn't answer. The last piece of the lesson he'd failed to learn from Inaba finally clicked into place. It hadn't been about preventing the deaths of his friends, but about bearing the loss and respecting what they'd been so ready to sacrifice themselves for. The weight of that had been immense back then, so much so that he'd been running from it until now, and it took someone who had no idea about the investigation or that place to point it out to him. What did that say about him? Who was he if he could only gain something through the loss of others? But all his certainty and anger, all the vitriol he once had toward this woman, now twisted in his mouth. In the face of what she'd given up, his problems seemed impossibly small.

His dream made sense now. The corruption on the tree needed no explanation, but he wasn't the one to burn it down and be consumed in return. It had been an act so selfless and severe that there was no taking it back no matter what was said or done, and yet it was done willingly and without any reservation. What could he say to that? What could anyone say?

Souji didn't know how long he stayed in his own head. He was interrupted by his mother finishing her drink and getting to her feet. "I've texted Yukiko-san to come get you. I feel like you need her right now. Go home and get some rest. Everything will be easier tomorrow." She got out of her chair and embraced him awkwardly. He returned it, but didn't know if he said anything. By the time he thought to, she was gone, and a few minutes – hours? – later, Yukiko was beside him. She held him up just by being there, and when she asked when they should go, he rose and followed her. It was dark out by then.

The others were waiting by the door when they got home. They asked, in their own ways, what had happened since Kou had gotten the message, but all Souji remembered saying was, "We did it. It's over now." Something must have shown on his face because no one asked for elaboration, or maybe they did ask and he didn't hear it. Yukiko guided him to his room and sat on his bed with him. She knew something had happened, that it had been more than a meeting. He took her hand, then hugged her close and lay down while his mind swirled.

The rest of the night passed without words. Her warmth and solidity, that unmoving presence he could always count on, anchored him while he drifted on thought and memory. He revisited what he thought he knew and wondered if he really knew anything at all. He returned to that fight against Izanami, looked at it with clearer eyes, and felt the void that had been left behind and could now be filled. And finally, he felt newborn, naked and uncertain. After so much energy and time spent pushing against his family's influence, he didn't have to anymore. Without that familiar pressure, he was overbalanced and staggering with only his girl to hold him up.

As sleep finally found him, he was orbiting the simple, powerful fact that he was free now, and he wasn't really sure what that meant.


Izumi stepped into her dark apartment. She'd been glad to have brought the most valuable of her possessions with her when she left the house before – clothes, sentimental mementos, a copy of the family crest. Laws of personal possessions notwithstanding, she wouldn't put much stock in seeing whatever she left there in one piece ever again.

It should have hit her by now, the enormity of her decision. This was it. There was no 'work tomorrow' for her because tomorrow didn't have work in it anymore. Not in her usual place, not ever again. She'd expected terror or loss, some sort of emptiness where the thing she'd put so much of her energy lay for decades. But it hadn't hit yet. Maybe it was delayed and needed a little while to really sink in. She couldn't credit it to the booze – it was good, sure, but it was hardly enough to knock her over. Maybe it wouldn't hit until she took stock of everything she couldn't do anymore.

She wondered instead if it would even hit at all, if she'd made her peace with this outcome weeks ago and she knew she could sleep with no regrets.

Once that thought crossed her mind, she brought out her phone. The first text she sent was to Junko simply saying, It's done. The second one was to Ryo. He knew today was the day and he'd be pacing by now.

I did it, she sent to him. Souji should be safe now.

A few seconds later, her phone went off. "It's over?" her brother asked.

"It looks like it. I've done everything I can."

He exhaled. He knew what going this far had meant to her, but he probably wasn't expecting her to follow through with the plan.

Given her track record in the past, she couldn't blame him.

"And how are you?" he asked.

"I don't know if it's sunk in yet."

"I've talked to some people on my end. Nanako and I are coming to visit you."

"Will that be okay with your superiors?"

"If I tell them the truth, it will be, and besides, they can't stop me from visiting my sister. I want to make sure you're okay and talk to you about some things anyway."

"Things like what I'll do next?"

"Yeah, that too."

That was her brother; whether she wanted it or not, or even if she thought she didn't need the help, he would push his way in and carry the load with her. Izumi knew better than to argue, and she didn't feel like doing so this time. "All right. I look forward to seeing you. Both of you."

"I'll be in touch. Take care."

The call ended and she smiled. She'd have something to look forward to, like the chance to show Nanako around the city. She was still expecting the reality of her situation to sink in, but if it hadn't by now then she wasn't going to wait for it.

Tomorrow was a new day, after all, and with so little in the way now, there was no limit to what she could do. That meant visiting Souji, talking to Junko, or looking to whatever her future held.

When she wound down and turned in for the night, she felt warm.