Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

AN: Also thanks to guest who pointed out my mistake. It should be corrected now.

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[06/20 Monday, Junes Food Department, Junes, Inaba]

Rise Kujikawa was going incognito at Junes in order to buy some groceries for her grandmother who had been kind enough to let her stay in Inaba with her while she tried to figure out what she was going to do with herself during this hiatus.

'Oh crap, have I been discovered?' she wondered as she heard a commotion nearby.

Looking to her right she saw a crowd of people all looking at something, before she could get a good look however the crowd suddenly parted and a loud and clearly fake deep heroic voice yelled "FLYING KICK!"

Accompanying the yell was a black haired man wearing a bulky stretched out jumper, he flew backwards after being punched square in the face by another person. The other person was wearing a gentlemen's tuxedo with a magician's cape attached to it, a blond wig on covering his hair and a silver mask adorning his face with a comical smile on it.

"Ah you broke by dose!" The man on the ground cried holding his now bleed face.

"I broke more than that criminal." The masked man stated "I also broke your crime spree."

He then approached the man and kicked his jumper causing items of food, video games and electronic s to pour out causing the thief to panic. A pair of security guards closed in on the thief and desperately looked around hoping for a distraction before his eyes fell on Rise.

Seeing the way his eyes shone Rise gulped as he took a deep breath.

"DOOK IT'S BISETTE!" The man yelled pointing at her sending the crowd into an excited frenzy. However, before the thief could make a break for it the security guards grabbed him by both arms and hauled him to his feet, his broken nose bleeding more and more.

Rise became more nervous as the crowd more and more worked up asking for autographs and pictures when suddenly a loud shout stopped everyone.

"ENOUGH!" Rise looked to see a blue haired young man standing next to a police officer along with store security who was cuffing the criminal. "Everyone go back to your business this show is over get moving."

Reluctantly the crowd dispersed some snapping pictures of Rise or dialling numbers on their phones as they went back to shopping.

"Hold it you!" Rise froze as the young man in the blue hat yelled, she turned around only to see him pointing at the masked man who attempting to sneak away in an exaggerated cartoonish manner. "Space Samurai Y, I'm Naoto Shirogane a Private Detective and you are under arrest."

"And I'm Tohru Adachi Inaba police department." The police offer stated holding out his badge.

"Hmmm…..there is a problem with that tiny detective!" Space Samurai Y stated rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"And what is that?" Naoto asked glaring at the masked man.

"It's THAT YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE COPPERS!" with that declaration the masked vigilante took off running through the store.

What happened next made Rise swear she was in an American cartoon. She watched as the masked man ran through the aisle's with Adachi and Naoto quickly in pursuit in a cartoonish manner. Occasionally the detectives and the vigilante would pop out of different aisles, sometimes she would see the detectives running from one aisle to another while the vigilante would go in the opposite direction in a closer or distant aisle, in one instance she had to stop herself from giggling as the vigilante even started chasing them.

Eventually the two got tired of being made fools of and tried grabbing the vigilante by getting him from both sides. However, as they closed he leapt upwards in an almost superhuman manner and scrambled into a vent on the ceiling, making his escape.

"Ah man, Dojima's gonna chew me out for this." Adachi complained as the young detective next to him pulled his hat down over his face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Having left the commotion behind Rise Kujikawa was now in the elevator heading down to the entrance so she could get home. As the elevator descended she sighed and reached to her the pocket of her purse to call her grandmother, to explain why she was late.

However, when her hand grasped nothing she looked down and saw that her phone was gone.

"Oh no, crap where did it go?" Rise grumbled rooting through her purse to see if the phone had fallen deeper inside "Don't tell me some creep from the crowd snatched it from me."

"Here you go are you looking for this?" a familiar voice asked holding out her cell phone to her.

"Oh thank you very much." Rise said gratefully accepting the phone back.

"Your welcome." It took only a couple of seconds for Rise's brain to catch up.

"AHHH!" she screamed upon realising she wasn't alone in the elevator, indeed standing next to her was Space Samurai Y, the vigilante from earlier. "W-where did you come from?!"

"From there." The masked man stated pointing up at the open hatch atop the elevator.

"W-what do you want?" Rise stammered nervously.

"To get to the ground floor quickly, why else would I take an elevator?" The vigilante answered with a shrug. "I am a superhero; I have things to do that don't include harassing idols." Eventually the elevator stopped and opened its doors. "They on the other hand probably have nothing better to do with their time."

When she stepped off the elevator and stood at the vigilante's side Rise groaned upon seeing a large crowd of fans calling her name and taking photos with their cell phone cameras' outside the store entrance.

"Oh man, now how am I supposed to get home without all these people following me?" The idol groaned

"Hmm…..your last name is Kujikawa yes?" Space Samurai Y asked still using that fake heroic voice "Any relation to old lady Kujikawa who runs Marukyu Tofu?"

"Yes she's my grandma, but what difference does that make now?"

"Worry not my dear, I simply needed to know where I was going." The vigilante answered "Now I can get you home without any of these vultures following but I need you to do two things."

"What are they?" Rise asked hoping the masked man didn't want anything weird as he lead her out the door causing the crowd to get louder.

"First I need you to trust me."

"…ok, I don't really have anything to lose." Rise sighed.

"Second, hang on tight."

"Hang on what are you…WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Rise screamed at the top of her lungs as the vigilante suddenly grabbed her into a bridal carry and jumped with superhuman ability far above the crowd and lending on the wire fence on the opposite side of the car park.

She screamed again as he jumped even higher and going even further as they quickly left Junes behind.

Suddenly running out of the store were Adachi and Naoto, both of whom gaped at the sight of the vigilante jumping away with the screaming idol in his arms.

"T-that…that's impossible." Naoto cried losing his cool over the superhuman display.

"That was so freakin cool, how did he do that?" Adachi asked supressing a smirk at the look of frustration on Naoto's face as the vigilante quickly vanished from sight.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

It didn't take long for Space Samurai Y and Rise to reach the shopping district, now his leaps had become short as he landed on a rooftop, ran to its edge and jumped again. On the plus side it appeared Rise had stopped screaming but the masked hero got the feeling she was far from pleased.

Leaping over the street to the rooftops opposite, not seeing a certain delivery girl on her scooter looking up at him, he eventually came to a stop outside Marukyu Tofu.

"Here you are, safe and sound." The hero said setting Rise down, somehow she had managed not to drop the groceries she had bought throughout all that jumping, running and leaping.

Rise began taking deep breaths and bent over gasping for breath as she tried to calm down from sudden shock of being carried in such a manner.

"W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY!" Rise screeched at the masked man as she patting her chest trying to slow her racing heart.

The hero stood unfazed and merely waited as the idol took a few more deep breaths before calming down.

"But, you did get me away from that crowd so they couldn't follow me. So thanks I guess." Rise said after she calmed down.

"It was no problem; a superhero should always help those in need." Space Samurai Y declared before turning around. "Farewell."

With that he made another superhuman jump and leapt away leaving a stunned idol behind who walked into the tofu shop after a few seconds of looking in the direction the masked man gone.

She had been unaware that across the street a blue haired girl on a scooter had been watching her. A few seconds after the idol went inside she turned around drove off, headed for the north shopping district.

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Later that afternoon at the Dojima residence Yu had returned home and was eating dinner with Dojima and Nanako.

"That concludes Rise Kujikawa's statement on her leave of absence from the entertainment industry." The agency spokesman on TV said "We're short on time, so if anyone has any remaining questions, we ask that you keep them brief."

"I'm Ishioka from Lady's Views" a magazine reporter introduced herself "It says here that you'll be recuperating – are you facing physical problems?"

"No" Rise denied "My health isn't an issue"

"Psychological problems then" the reporter jumped in clearly trying to get something juicy.

"Wha-?" Rise was clearly caught off guard.

"Rumour has it you'll be staying with your relatives, but isn't that in Inaba where the murders are taking place!?"

"Huh? Um…" Rise was clearly not on top of her game, the reporter was clearly managing to dig into her.

"Is it true that they run a traditional tofu shop" The reporter kept going with no regard for Rise at all " Will you be helping out with the family business!?"

"No more questions" the agency spokesman's said finally stepping in "This press conference is over! Clear the way please."

The press conference erupted into chaos as Rise vanished from the screen along with the Agency spokesman.

"Is Rise-chan quitting her job on TV?" Nanako asked

"Who knows" Dojima said "But if this is her hometown we'll have to deal with everyone who's trying to get a glimpse. The one good thing about this town was that it had nothing of note, and now we get all of the buzz and on top of that a masked loon running around…What's going on?"

Yu didn't visibly react when Cu Chulainn burst out laughing along with Nero, their translucent spirit forms supporting each other as they laughed, while Gawain visibly face palmed in embarrassment. The other persona's all had their reactions varying from amusement to small smirks and emberassment.

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[06/21 Tuesday, Junes Food Department, Junes, Inaba]

The next day the team gathered at the food court where they continued discussing the murder case.

"Are you serious Yukiko?" Yosuke asked the Amagi girl "You know Rise's family?"

"Well the news mentioned a traditional tofu shop" Yukiko explained "And I'm pretty sure that its Marukyu we have their Tofu at the inn."

"Oh, that place, so if we go and buy some tofu then I could meet Rise." Yosuke realised "Wait, does that mean I can meet Rise if I go to her tofu shop!?"

"Settle down, this isn't the time for stupid games." Chie growled causing Yosuke to chuckle nervously and raise his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Yeah but if all the cases so far have been people on TV then she could be next." Yu pointed out.

"Yeah but she's been on TV alot, why would now be any different?" Yosuke asked

"Well I did a little research, it turns out that Rise and Ms Yamano have crossed paths before." Yukiko told them. "They've been guests on the same talk show."

"But with all this fuss about her taking a sudden hiatus she's the talk of the town right now." Chie said "And because she's moved here it'll just get worse."

"Good point, if our theory is correct then she fits the criteria perfectly. Which means…." Yosuke trailed off thoughtfully.

"Which means what?" Kanji asked confusion.

"If whoever's behind the killings does go after Rise then we're right the killer is targeting people from here who end up on the news." Yosuke explained.

"It'll also mean that he's not targeting people connected to Ms Yamano's murder." Yu put in.

"Ohhh… Yeah, I get." Kanji nodded in understanding.

"Hey by the way Yosuke I heard that Space Samurai guy was here yesterday and that he ran off with Rise Kujikawa, is it true?" Yukiko asked.

"Oh yeah, he stopped some shoplifter by breaking his nose." Yosuke answered "The guy apparently spotting Rise dressed incognito and tried to expose her and make a getaway in the confusion. Thankfully security nabbed the guy before he could run off."

"And what about him running off with Rise?" Chie asked.

"Oh apparently he led a detective and that Naoto kid on a chase through the store." Yosuke explained with a smirk "Some of the other employee's said it was hilarious watching them run back and for, eventually the guy just jumped straight into a vent on the ceiling, he probably used that to get into the elevator through the lift shaft. After that he just waited for the elevator to stop then he picked her up and jumped off with her."

"From what I heard from some guests who were at the shopping district yesterday, he took her back to Marukyu later, apparently she's safe and sound." Yukiko stated.

"Getting back on topic we still have no idea what the killers motive is on that we're totally clueless." Yosuke sighed wearily.

"Well maybe this guy has some sort of grudge against us." Kanji suggested putting his hand his chest "I mean I know for a fact that there's a shitload of people that hate my guts. So how about you Yukiko is there anyone you might have pissed o-"

"Never." Yukiko said firmly causing everyone to blanche and look at her.

"Come on Yukiko everyone's pissed someone off even if they didn't mean too." Chie said nervously at Yukiko's quick denial.

"Either way we can be sure that Rise Kujikawa is real danger" Yu interrupted putting down the milkshake which he had been drinking.

"So let's stop by Marukyu Tofu tomorrow then" Yosuke said "Purely to keep Rise safe of course."

"Yeah you totally have no other motive Yosuke" Chie snorted

"What the hell does that mean?!" Yosuke demanded standing up and glaring at her angrily.

"You heard me!" Chie yelled standing up and glaring equally as angry.

"Hey guys-" Kanji stood up to end the argument between the two when Yu put a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's just leave them be" Yu said and began walking away.

"Yeah I need to get going" Yukiko said also leaving "Let's go home to together Kanji"

"Ok Sempai" Kanji agreed.

The three promptly left Chie and Yosuke to their argument alone in the Food Court.

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[06/22 Wednesday, Class 2-2, Yasogami High, Inaba]

The next day after classes had ended; the team had gathered together and were discussing what they had seen on the Midnight Channel, as per usual a fuzzy image had appeared on the Midnight Channel it was difficult to make out but it could have been Rise.

"I'm telling you guys that was definitely Rise." Yosuke said insistently.

"How can you be so sure?" Chie asked suspiciously "The image looked too fuzzy to me to get any details out of it."

"I'm totally sure" Yosuke insisted "With those hips, that sweet rack and those beautiful legs that go on forever."

Yosuke then looked at Chie's own legs before a disappointed look covered his face.

"Hey! If you don't like my legs, then don't look at them!" Chie yelled blushing and covering up her legs

"Narukami, what do you think about this?" Yukiko asked

"Her legs are fine." Yu replied honestly

"Ah!" Chie's blush deepened at the statement.

"What? No!—!" Yosuke said shocked "…Dude, on this, we disagree."

A vein bulged in Chie's head for a second before she kicked Yosuke in the stomach sending him flying off the desk he was sitting on.

"Asshole!" she yelled.

"Hey guys are you taking this seriously?" Kanji asked with an annoyed sigh.

"We are" Yu and Chie said in unison.

"Then that Tofu shop, let's swing by." Kanji suggested.

"Good idea but Yukiko and I have to go to faculty officer first so we'll catch up with you later" Chie explained

"Ok then let's go" Yosuke said excitedly as he finally recovering from Chie's kick.

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[Shopping District, Inaba]

"Just so you know, this is all about the investigation. We can't get all hung up on meeting Rise," Yosuke said as the three guys walked to the tofu shop.

"Uh huh, and who are you trying to convince me or yourself…?" Kanji asked with a scowl.

Eventually they reached Marukyu Tofu however there were a bunch of students from Yasogami there taking pictures of the building with the cameras in their cells.

"Man…there's a lot of freaky fans here…" Yosuke complained.

"The same thing could be said about us…" Kanji pointed out.

When crowd cleared out the four approached but paused when they saw a sign on the front of the store that read 'Out of tofu…'

"WHAT?! I came all the way to see Risette and it says they're out…?!"

"What's the big deal, I thought you were allergic to the stuff…?" Kanji said.

"It's the principle!" Yosuke said. "I came here to see Risette and I'm not leav-OW!"

Yosuke looked to see Yu's hand raised having slapped the back of his head. "Dude what was that for?"

"Yosuke, focus!" Yu commanded him. "We are here purely to make sure she's safe, nothing else understand? You are not to draw attention by asking for an autograph am I clear?"

"Y-yeah ok." Yosuke sighed.

Then he opened the sliding door and barged in.

"Hello? Anybody in here?" Yosuke asked weakly.

Out from a back room a girl came out wearing a white apron over white trousers and an orange shirt. She had a white scarf over her head.

"Didn't you guys read the sign…? We're out of tofu…?"

"It's Risette, it's actually her…" Yosuke said with disbelief.

"Say, you Rise?" Kanji asked bluntly.

"Just straight out with it huh?" She said, scratching her ear and looking down at the floor. "So are you here to get some tofu…?"

"Six gamnodoki please." Yu ordered.

"Six gamnodoki it is" Rise sighed wearily.

"Chick's got a real attitude," Kanji muttered.

"Can you really blame her?" Cu Chulainn asked appearing in spirit form "It must be a pain in the ass to have fans butting into your life twenty-four seven."

"Good point." Kanji conceded.

Yosuke meanwhile was admiring Rise's rear as she got the gamnodoki…

"Oh…I'm so glad we came…" Yosuke said with a cat like grin on his face. "Our mission is accomplished."

"We still have work to do pervert." Nursery Rhyme stated shattering Yosuke's perving.

"Huh?" Yosuke froze up like a deer caught in headlights when he saw Nursery Rhyme glaring at him.

"Excuse me but has anything unusual happen here lately?" Yu asked getting to the point.

"An acceptable start I suppose." Nursery Rhyme said with a sigh.

"What like a stalker…?" Rise replied.

"Yeah, have you heard of something called the Midnight Channel?" Yu asked.

"You mean that thing on TV last night? Yeah I saw it…" Rise told them.

"You actually watched it?" Yosuke asked surpised.

"Yeah, but the girl on TV wasn't me… I've never worn a bikini like that and her boobs were larger than mine…"

"Oh yeah…" Yosuke said, looking at Rise's chest before getting cuffed over the head by Kanji this time. "Ow damn it!"

"Down, boy…" Kanji sighed.

"Look there's a really good chance that whoever appears on that gets kidnapped." Yu warned as politely as he could.

Rise inhaled in shock.

"Look I know it sounds weird, but we're not lyin' or yankin' your chain." Kanji explained

"What are people doing around here? Beat it." A familiar voice said from outside.

Yu, Yosuke, and Kanji tensed up, albeit for different reasons.

"Excuse me? We…" Another voice said as he entered. It was Adachi. Behind him was Dojima…who visibly started at seeing four boys and a girl with Rise.

Dojima stared at all of them. Yosuke and Yu looked uncomfortable while Kanji was facing away.

"Hi… How's it going?" Yosuke said, scratching the back of his neck.

"What are you all doing here?" Dojima asked in a displeased, almost accusatory tone.

Kanji had been looking at Dojima, before facing away a second time.

"Kanji Tatsumi…" Dojima said in a suspicious manner noticing Kanji for the first time.

"We're here to get some gamnodoki…!" Yosuke nervously laughed. "We're gonna go now…"

Yosuke put the money into Rise's hand and the four quickly left escaping Dojima's scrutiny.

"I'm Detective Adachi of the Inaba Police Department…" He said holding up his badge. "We have a few questions for you…"

"You're a detective?" Rise asked.

"Look, I'm sure you've heard, but this area has been a little dangerous lately…" Dojima said. "So…what made you decide to take your break here?"

"It just seemed like the best place…" Rise said looking uncomfortable at the question.

"I'll be honest…And I don't mean to scare you or anything but…" Dojima said.

"There's a chance I'll be kidnapped, right?" Rise said bluntly.

"What?" Adachi said.

Dojima's suspicion was aroused and he raised an eyebrow.

"Those guys who just left warned me that might happen…I'll be careful, okay?"

"Really? They warned you about that…?" Adachi said.

Dojima looked even more bothered by this knowledge.

"I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse me, I have more stuff to do…" Rise said.

"Wait, we have more questions…" Adachi said but she ignored him and went into the back.

The two detectives went to their car; Adachi was looking at a poster of Rise dressed in a policewoman's uniform that was being used to drive up female recruitments into the police force. It said, "Protecting today so we can have a safe tomorrow…"

"Well, since she's in town we could have used some help from the top brass at the prefectural office to help out…" Adachi said before noticing that something was bothering Dojima. "What is it?"

"I came to warn Rise based off a gut instinct without any hard evidence… How could a bunch of high-schoolers without the inside scoop figure it out and beat us to it?" Dojima wondered rubbing his chin thoughtfully also unaware of the small grin on Adachi's face.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When they were out of the shop and down the street Yosuke stopped his two friends.

"Ok, can you guys quit smacking me, it really hurts." Yosuke complained.

"Well you were making look like frigging weirdo's senpai." Kanji stated.

"Yeah besides we didn't hit you that hard." Yu said shrugging his shoulders.

"Didn't hit me that hard? It felt like I was going to get a concussion." Yosuke griped

"Oh come on we only slapped you like this." Kanji demonstrated by slapping a street light with the same strength he had slapped Yosuke on for the metal to crumple and dent at the force of the slap.

"Oh crap, look what you did." Yosuke gulped as he saw the pole of the street light deform partly at the smack causing the top to lean backwards slightly.

"M-maybe no one will notice?" Kanji hoped.

"Let's get out of here." Yu suggested walking away very fast.

"I'm all for that let's go."

"Right behind ya."

The three quickly took off hoping no one saw what had just happened. As they ran off Aika stopped her scooter near the street light and got off. She watched the three round the corner and looked around. The Shopping district was basically deserted and thankfully Dojima and Adachi had gone the other way down the street when they left the tofu shop.

Acting quickly, she placed her hand on the damaged street light and chanted quickly under her breath. If anyone had been watching it would have been as if time had reversed itself as the top of the street light righted itself and the dents made earlier simply filled back out as if nothing had happened.

"Troublesome." Aika sighed as she took her hand off the street light and looked in the direction the three boys had ran off.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A few hours later after Dojima and Adachi had left Yu, Yosuke and Kanji returned to keep an eye on Rise. Sure enough she walked out of Marukyu Tofu she was wearing a pink sleeveless shirt over a gray t-shirt and had blue shorts and platform sandals on.

"What are we stalkin' this girl for?" Kanji asked.

"Because…if we stay in the shadows like this, then maybe we can find the guy who's after her…" Yosuke answered. "Be on the lookout for any suspicious characters…"

"Senpai, the only suspicious characters are us…" Kanji pointed out looking at Yosuke like he was an idiot.

"What exactly are you four doing out here?" Chie asked coming along with Yukiko and seeing the boys position.

"You look quite suspicious," Yukiko commented.

"Are YOU the killer?" Yu asked Yosuke with a deadpan look.

"Piss off!" Yosuke said with annoyance as he sweatdropped.

Rise stopped off at a magazine stand and flipped through a magazine. Soon everybody was behind a car and across the street. Aika arrived with food after Yosuke had gotten hungry and had taken everyone's orders.

"Here you go," Aika said.

"Wow! You do deliver anywhere!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"Just leave the bowls when you're done," She replied.

"I had the extra-large," Kanji said.

"Roast pork is mine!" Chie said.

"We had the large Tanmen…" Yu said taking his bowl.

"Hey keep your paws off the steak and rice…" Yosuke said quickly grabbing his bowl afraid that Chie might take it.

"The tofu ramen's mine…" Yukiko said taking her bowl

"Everybody back, the lunch special is for me." Adachi said taking his own lunch from Aika.

"Umm…did someone order a detective with their lunch?" Yosuke asked surprised that he never noticed Adachi before.

Aika ignored the situation, got back on her scooter and left to make more deliveries.

"Dojima told me to keep an eye out on…AH! I mean, I overheard you placing an order while I was doing IMPORTANT legwork for Dojima! Just good timing…" Adachi said with a nervous laugh as if he wasn't aware he that none of the group believed him.

"This totally blows. Eating with a cop is bad for my digestion…" Kanji muttered.

"She's leaving…" Yu said after noticing Rise finishing with the magazine.

"Great, let's get going!" Yosuke said, putting down his steak and rice.

"But the food…it just got here…" Adachi complained.

"C'mon, Yukiko!" Chie said.

"At least let me eat my tofu…" Yukiko protested stubbornly.

"Yosuke…" Chie said as she noticed something.

A man had just come out of an alley near the tofu shop. He wore a headband and had a backpack on; he definitely had a suspicious air about him. This was most likely because he was actually trying to be sneaky in the poorest manner possible.

"Could that be him?" Chie finished.

"Sure looks like it. After him…" Yosuke said.

Kanji finished his food and was praying towards the empty bowl by clapping his hands together.

"Ahhh… That totally hit the spot…" Kanji stood up and looked at man Chie had spotted "As for you…"

Kanji ran towards the suspicious guy.

"Come here…" Yosuke said.

The guy noticed several high schoolers running towards him. He ran before the blond one reached him…

"Come back here…" Kanji yelled

They ran past Rise, much to her confusion.

"I'll guard Rise!" Yosuke said.

"Dream on!" Chie growled grabbing Yosuke and dragging him along.

"Narukami! Keep an eye on her…" Yukiko said giving chase with the others

"Me?" Yu asked pointing to himself as the others ran off.

"Slow down you punk, so I can pummel your scrawny ass!" Kanji yelled angrily.

"No… don't do that… I'm a cop! If the suspect gets hurt. It'll be MY ENTIRE FAULT!" Adachi yelled in a panicked voice somehow keeping up with the teens.

"I'm confused." Rise said watching the scene with Yu sweatdropping at what was happening.

The others kept giving chase but despite being scrawny the suspicious man could certainly run fast. There was a highway with fast going cars coming up and he seemed intent on taking his chances with the cars.

"D-don't come near me!" The man yelled glancing backwards into the traffic.

"Shaddup!" Kanji yelled angrily "What kinda idiot would listen to—"

"I-I'll do it, you know! What're you gonna do if I get run over!?" The suspect cried apparently more than willing to throw his life away than get caught.

"Wh-What...!?" Yosuke gulped.

"Master if he dies then any hopes of answers will be lost forever." Diarmuid pointed out.

"Now what do we do?" Chie asked nervously, she had only learnt the basics of her masters Presence Concealment technique and even if she knew more she'd blow their cover if she used it front of this guy and Adachi.

"Lass, I think I have the answer but its gonna hurt." Drake stated

"I'll take anything you can offer right now." Yukiko mumbled to her persona.

"Your body is still adapting to have a heroic spirit join with your soul, but if you circulate your prana into your legs I'll be able to loan you my speed." Drake told her "The Rider class is renowned for its agility, mine might be B rank instead of A but it's still fast enough to catch him."

Yukiko nodded in affirmation and focused, she felt her prana and began channelling the strange energy into her legs. Within seconds it felt as though legs had been set aflame, she took a single step and the world seemed to blur, before Yukiko knew she was directly in front of the man and abruptly grabbed shirt and yanked it with such force than he flew over her shoulder and onto the ground behind her.

Kanji, Chie and Yosuke took the opportunity to pin the man while he was down.

"Hey leave me alone I'm just your average Risette loving fan boy," the suspect insisted.

"There's nothing average about murdering people douchebag" Kanji yelled keeping the man pinned.

"Murdering people?!" the guy said incredulously. "What are you talking about…?"

"Save it for the station, pal…" Adachi said with a grin "MAN! I always wanted to say that." He then saluted the teens. "On behalf of the police…thank you for apprehending the killer."

Adachi walked away with the suspect in cuffs.

"So that's it… It's all over now?"

"Yeah…We solved the case…WE ROCK!" Chie said.

"It's possible he was just a fan" Yukiko said with a doubting tone massing her now burning legs.

"Wait…did I really get kidnapped by a wimp like that?"

"No way" Yosuke glared in the direction Adachi had left with the 'suspect'.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[Samegawa Flood Plain, Inaba]

Later on Yu had brought Rise to the Samegawa Flood Plain to get away from what was happening

"Are you sure we're safe here?" Rise asked Yu.

"It's the best vantage point we could have," Yu replied.

"I'm used to this…having stalkers…" Rise said.

"Yeah, but wouldn't be better if you weren't used to this… or had stalkers?" Yu asked.

Rise sat down and looked at a magazine with her picture on the cover. She looked through pages of her in swimsuits and before tearing a page out.

"The girl everyone's making a fuss over…isn't the real me. It's just 'Risette' the idol…" Rise said bitterly folding up the page as Yu sat down to her left. "She's just another packaged product they've created to sell…"

Rise made the page into a paper airplane and threw It, the plane flew for a short distance before falling to the ground.

"Nobody actually sees the real me," She said with teary eyes which she closed trying to hide her pain… "Ever!"

Yu decided to cheer Rise up. He took a page from the magazine and made an origami crane.

"Wow…impressive!" Rise said taking a page and tried it herself…

"Wow you suck…" Yu said bluntly when she showed it to him.

"Real smooth." Cu Chulainn chuckled.

"HEY! That wasn't very nice…" she said glaring at him.

"Sorry" Yu apologised cursing his bluntness.

She tried again and presented a better one.

"See, I can do it if I try…" she said

Yu responded by placing a smaller one to place next to hers.

"That's really cute!" Rise giggled.

Yu slightly smiled and pulled out his phone when he felt it vibrate in his pocket. It was a text from Yosuke that read: Partner… The killer (?) has been caught…Hurry back with Risette!"

"It looks like the coast is clear…" Yu said.

"Yeah…and it's getting dark..." Rise said getting and starting to walk up the hill before pausing. "Hey, you never told me your name…"

"I'm Yu… Yu Narukami" Yu said introducing himself.

"Hi…I'm Rise…" she introduced herself.

"Oh yeah I think I heard that on the news last night" Yu chuckled

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Later that night Yu was alone in the bedroom…. well alone if you didn't count the assortment of Heroic Spirits lazing about the room in spirit form. The Fool looked out the curtain and shut it after a few seconds of watching the rain fall.

The clock then struck midnight. The unplugged TV turned itself on. The image was less grainy this time. This time they clearly saw Rise on a stage with a pole in a bikini. Then TV abruptly turned itself off.

"Naturally that scrawny man was not the culprit." Semiramis sighed.

"That's not good" Yu sighed "Well it was stupid of them to just assume that a scrawny guy like that could be the killer. He looked like he'd have a hard time lifting a small TV never mind pushing a person into one."

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[06/23 Thursday, Yasogami High Roof]

During lunchtime the group had all gathered on the rooftop to discuss the case.

"Did you see the Midnight channel?" Yu asked

"Yeah I saw it and I caught a glimpse of her in the store this morning on my way here to school" Yosuke said. " It looks like that crazy variety show only starts to get going and become clear once they enter the TV"

"Maybe it's the person's shadow self-that's responsible for creating that program" Yukiko suggested "Like they're somehow projecting their thoughts to us in the form of a TV show."

"Yeah that could be but why does that fuzzy image come on before they enter then?" Chie asked.

"Maybe it's the killer's way of putting some sort of message or warning out there." Yu suggested.

"But who exactly is he trying to warn?" Chie asked "and why do that?"

"It is not uncommon for serial killers to leave warnings or taunts when they are feeling unstoppable." Semiramis told them. "So it is possible you are seeing who he plans to target next because he feels like no one can stop him."

"Wouldn't that mean that the stalker we nabbed earlier wasn't our guy then?" Kanji said glumly resting his face in one hand.

"Took you long enough to figure it out." Nursery Rhyme snarked.

"The only thing we know for certain is that Rise Kujikawa is in real danger," Yu said.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Much later after classes were finished Yu was closing his shoe locker when he noticed a familiar girl in a female summer uniform with high white socks walking by.

"Rise?" Yu inquired.

"Oh… Narukami!" She greeted.

"What brings you here?" Yu asked.

"Oh… I registered for this school in one of the first-year classes. You go here, too?"

"Yes, I'm a second-year…"

"Well then, that makes you my Senpai…so I trust you to show me what you know…"

"I'll do that…" Yu chuckled.

Rise was about to go out the door when she noticed a large crowed of paparazzi outside the school gates.

"The press wasn't here when I got here… I wonder who told them…" Rise said dejectedly.

"I know of another way out…" Yu told her.

They went out the door that led to the Practice Building…but then Yu made a left and led Rise by the hand to a secret opening in fence that Kanji had showed him once.

"This is like a TV drama…" Rise giggled.

They made their way to the shopping district however by the time they got to Marukyu Tofu the press was there as well.

"We can't get by those press people either…" Rise said even more dejectedly.

"Rise…" Rise turned around to the familiar voice to see Inoue her former manager.

"We need to talk…"

He lead both of them to Tatsuhime Shrine so that they could talk without any crowds gathering.

"I didn't want to let you go without talking one last time…" Inoue said.

Yu just stood there and listened silently knowing that this was a private affair.

"Look, Inoue … I'm not going back… I want to be more than a doll that has her life scheduled for her without being allowed to breathe…"

"Rise…the role for that movie you were supposed to be in… it was given to Kanami…" Inoue told her looking sad.

"Kanami? You mean… Kanami Mashita?" Rise asked stunned

"I'm going to represent her now… to the best of my ability…" Inoue nodded in confirmation then turned around and started walking away. Then he stopped and slightly looking back said, "You were like a daughter to me… you were the best…but now… I have to move on…and Kanamin will be at the top in half the time it was for you…" With that Inoue walked away leaving a hurt Rise behind.

"Why… does this bother me? I'm out… this shouldn't bother me…" Rise stammered as she felt a stab of pain in her heart.

"It hurts to let something close to you go, even if it is for the sake of moving forward." Yu stated causing Rise to look at him in confusion.

"My parents are always travelling, their work takes them everywhere, sometimes even to other countries." Yu explained taking a seat on a nearby bench, Rise took a seat next to him wishing to hear more. "One of those trips they had to take me with to England I think, I can't really remember I was only six or at the time, and I was really lonely, I couldn't speak the language so none of the kids would play with me. But that all changed one day when Alice appeared to me. She looked to be about two years older than me and wore a Victorian era dress with a mass of frills and a looped skirt, she looked like a child's doll come to life because of her porcelain-white skin, she had these big pink eyes full that looked so sad when I looked into them. "

As he recounted the memory a smile crossed the Wild Cards face.

"When she spoke I could understand her, I was amazed but I didn't care how it was possible, she asked if she could be my friend, I instantly said yes. We'd talk and play games, like hide and seek and tag, and she'd read stories to me from books from the library even though I couldn't read English at the time. She was cold to touch but I didn't care. I was so happy to finally have a friend and told my parents about her, they acted strange whenever I talked about her, eventually they called a friend from the church a priest named Risei Kotomine. When they were talking I listened in, I was too young to understand a lot of what they were talking about, but I did understand that they were going to get rid of Alice and they were going to make me forget about her."

Yu let out a sad breath and kept going.

"I ran to find her and tried to warn her but she just smiled and accepted it, despite my pleading she didn't try run or get away, instead she just took my hand in her freezing cold ones and promised never to forget our time together and she made me promise the same. After I did the priest came in and what happened next is a blur. When I woke up my parents interrogated me about Alice, I pretended to have no idea what they were talking about and they seemed relieved and just left me be. After that I never saw Alice again, it hurt like nothing else having to move forward, it felt like I was leaving her behind. To this day I don't know what Alice was, if she really was a ghost, someone I made friends with or something else. Either way, I knew I could never forgive my parents for taking her away."

"That explains my appearance." Nursery Rhyme sighed appearing in spirit form. "My form reflects the desires of my master, in your case my form is identical to your long lost friend."

"So... what did you do?" Rise asked nervously.

"I distanced myself from my parents, not that they ever noticed. What I did do was treasure the bond I had made with her and all the memories that came with it." Yu stood up and stretched "If you want my advice Rise Kujikawa, think back on the precious memories you've made through your career and hold them close to you. It won't make the pain your feeling hurt any less but I guarantee it'll make the road ahead a lot easier than if you just tried to leave everything behind."

With that Yu walked away down the shrine steps leaving Rise Kujikawa alone with what he had said to her.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

AN: I wanted to do another Velvet Club scene here, I wanted to make it a recurring thing but sadly I am running low on ideas, so if anyone has any idea feel free submit them, if I do include an idea into a Velvet Club scene I will gladly credit whoever suggested it.