6
16, April, 2011
"Someone tell Izanagi to please be quiet," Yuri grumbled the next day.
Her head was pounding and yet, Izanagi thought it would be a good idea to start making a lot of noise. She was already awake before her brother. She didn't need to get up yet, her body certainly didn't want her to get out of bed with how badly it was hurting. The dull throbbing on her legs informed her that her bruises had bruises. Yu simply groaned in response as he woke up.
"What's yours saying?" He grumbled into his pillow.
"It's asking when I'm finally going to get a boyfriend," She grouchily replied, "didn't realize that one of my personalities would be a damn gossip."
"Any boyfriend you do have will have to contend with the Yu Narukami judgement," Yu informed her, "many have tried, and mainly failed…spectacularly."
"Wait…what?" Yuri questioned as she bolted up in her futon and looked at him in confusion.
She immediately regretted that decision as pain went through her body. Why'd Yosuke's Shadow use wind attacks? It created a whole new world of pain!
"Yeah, there were two guys who wanted to ask you out, but I scouted them before hand…" Yu admitted before sending her an apologetic look, "they…they weren't interested in something long term."
"Is it as the Americans say, "smash and done"?" Yuri questioned and Yu snorted at the slightly accented English before groaning.
"Yeah," He confirmed.
"Thank you…" Yuri murmured as she got up to her feet and ignored the loud crack her joints let out in protest.
She headed out of the room, grabbing her uniform as she did. She changed in the bathroom and folded her pyjamas before putting them into the hamper. She stared at herself in the mirror, the long hair framing her face reminded her of their mother. The Hime cut never did look right on her. She ran her fingers through the silky strands and contemplated her next move.
It turned out that putting on her leggings under her uniform was her next move before leaving the bathroom. Yuri headed down the stairs and boiled some water on the stove. She then proceeded to make breakfast and lunch. Ryotaro was the first one down, all ready for work. He gave his niece a nod in greeting before accepting a cup of tea. He awkwardly stood there for a few seconds, and she gave him a curious smile.
"Has school been treating you well?" Ryotaro questioned and he watched his niece think for a second.
"Yes, some of the teachers are strange but they know their stuff," Yuri commented, and he frowned slightly.
"That wasn't exactly what I was talking about, I meant did you make any friends?" Ryotaro pointed out, "Your mother was pretty popular when she was your age, I'm surprised you aren't."
"Some people think it's strange how close I am to my brother," Yuri said, and he narrowed his eyes at the monotone, "Yu's good at ignoring what people around us say, but…I don't think anyone ever said horrible things when he was around."
Ah. Ryotaro figured that Yu was the popular one. Yuri was quiet enough that he had wondered if she would have issues with making friends. Yet, it seemed like she had gained some. He gave a tight smile.
"That's in the past though," Yuri stated shaking her head, "I was planning on applying for Shujin next year, it's closer to the house and an old family friend said I could part time at his café while in school."
"Old family friend? Is it on your dads' side?" Ryotaro asked and he watched as Yuri's face lit up.
It reminded him of Nanako when his daughter was happy. He internally winced at how little he had been seeing his daughter. The murders were keeping the police station busy. He was neglecting his family at home, but he couldn't stop. He had something he needed to do.
"His name is Sakura Sojiro, he was friends with my dad back in their youth," Yuri's answer brought him out of his depressing thoughts, "he now owns a café in yogen-jaya. It's called LeBlanc and he makes some of the best coffee and curry I'd ever had."
"Really? I'll have to bring Nanako there one day while visiting," Ryotaro stated, and she gave him a small smile at that.
"I think she'd enjoy that," Yuri agreed.
"Any idea what kind of clubs you'll do?"
The conversation turned back to school and Ryotaro couldn't help but be amused. Sewing and soccer? He could see the first one, but the second? No, Yuri wasn't a soccer player. She was too wry and not built enough for speed. He could, however, see her doing archery. He suggested that and she blinked in surprise. That…that couldn't be the first time that an adult gave her advice like that. Could it? Judging by her bright smile, it was. He'd just have to keep doing that, while trying to make more time for Nanako.
Yuri let out a quiet sigh as she finished the rice for breakfast and lunch. She paused as a bright blue card appeared in her vision, the design on it was faint but she could barely make out hierophant written on the bottom margin.
"Thou art I… And I am thou…" A voice rang in her head, "thou hast established a new bond…it brings thee closer to the truth…thou shalt be blessed when creating personas of the Hierophant arcana."
Yuri looked to the side as she put Nanako's lunch into a carrying cloth with stars all over it. Was that a social link? Huh. She wasn't aware that she could even create personas. It was going to be interesting when she got around to that. As it was, she was going to ignore it for the time being. She placed breakfast in front of him and got a "thanks" out of him. She grabbed a towel and wiped her hands on it before heading up the stairs to drag her brother out of bed so he could eat something. Yuri didn't need to wake Nanako up, she almost ran into her on the way up.
"Breakfast is ready," Yuri informed her brother.
"Oh," Yu said as he finished buttoning up his dress shirt.
"What, no more buttoning up the blazer?" She lightly teased.
"It's not as comfortable as the one from our previous school, or the one for our next one," He commented, and she nodded in agreement at that.
"It's going to be strange going from a dress shirt and blazer to a sailor fuku, to a turtleneck and blazer," Yuri agreed, "but, I think we're going to manage just fine…now come eat something."
"Wait, did some of your bruises heal already?" Yu questioned and she blinked in confusion.
Most of her legs were still bruised, but the few on her face and hands were healed. It was such a strange occurrence. She wondered if he had noticed that his were healed as well. She shook her head in thought before heading down the stairs with her brother in tow. They quickly ate breakfast and did the clean up before walking Nanako to school.
"Yo!" Yosuke's shout caused both of them to jump, "You two saw what was on last night, right? I couldn't tell who it was, but if someone's showed up on TV, we can't ignore it."
"Do you want to check it out after school?" Yu asked, watching as his sister yawned slightly.
"Maybe Teddie can tell us something," Yosuke nodded, "if it turns out that someone was thrown in again, there really might be a culprit behind all this. Even if its something about that place that's killing the victims…if someone's using that world as a weapon, that's unforgivable."
"Yamano-San could've been an accident," Yuri piped up and they both turned to her, "but Konishi-San wasn't. That was purposeful."
"Man, you put more thought into this than I do," Yosuke pointed out.
"I feel bad for saying it, but I like a good mystery," Yuri admitted before gaining an apologetic smile, "I would also like for no one else to get hurt from this."
"What are we going to do about those shadows though?" Yu questioned, "It's not like we have any weapons on us."
"Leave that to me, I think I have something we can use," Yosuke stated with a grin and Yuri blinked.
"Right, I need to stop at the bookstore to see if they have a catalogue I can order from," She stated and they both wondered why she'd change the conversation like she had, "sorry, I was just thinking about the concept of shadows and the strange places we've come across in the TV world. I think it sounds familiar to the Jung branch of psychology, but I don't know enough about it to be sure of it."
"Why do you even know about it in the first place?" Yosuke questioned, making a strange face.
"Yuri spends a lot of time in the library," Yu stated when he noticed his sister struggling to answer:
"Oh, right, your health would make it difficult to do physical education, huh?" Yosuke muttered, figuring it out himself.
"Yeah," Yuri confirmed before frowning and turning towards her brother, "I wonder why the picture stopped last night when you stuck your hand in."
"Oh, right I was able to put my head in the TV last night," Yosuke informed them, "I think I can do that now because I also have the power of a persona. I wonder if we got this gift from someone so we could solve the case, then again, you managed to go inside the TV without having your persona…I think as long as you two have my back we can find the culprit and crack this case, so, let's do our best!"
Yuri and Yu smiled at that as Yosuke grinned at them. Their vision was filled with a blue card and Yu gained a slightly confused frown on his face as Yuri tilted her head slightly. Ah, so Yosuke was the magician arcana, which made sense. It vanished and they felt like they were getting closer to Yosuke.
"So, what do you think Morooka is going to say?" Yu questioned and he heard Yosuke groan quietly.
"He's probably going to use the murders as a reason to harass the female students," Yosuke stated, wincing as they looked towards a suddenly distracted Yuri.
"What?" She asked as she felt their eyes on her, "Why are you two looking at me like that?"
"Has Morooka been bothering you?" Yosuke asked.
"It's only been three days at most, he's pretty neutral towards me," She answered, and he sighed in relief, "I just worry that we haven't been given homework yet, I think that means they'll pile it on."
"OH…Oh I didn't even think about that!" Yosuke exclaimed, "Man, that's going to suck if they do that!"
Yu couldn't help but smile at his sister's expression. She worked on homework far too much, it wasn't normal for most people. He remembered going into the library one day when she was sitting in there studying because she had gotten sick the week before. She had been surrounded by books and papers; a pen tucked behind her ear hanging by a few strands of hair. He hoped that she would try to spend more time around their new friends, she deserved to try and be normal.
"I wonder where Amagi-San is," Yuri muttered as they got ready to go home.
"Huh, maybe she's busy with the inn?" Yu suggested and they shared a quick look.
That…that wasn't likely with what they thought they saw on the midnight channel. It was possible that the other girl was in the TV world, but it was also possible she wasn't in there yet. It was a confusing, and worrying, situation. Yuri jumped as Chie ran up to her desk and slammed her hands on the top of it.
"Is Yukiko still not here?" Chie asked, a worried frown etched on her face.
"Yukiko-San? Uh…no," Yosuke answered, "at least, I haven't seen her today."
"I haven't seen her either," Yuri added, "have you tried calling her cell?"
"That was the first thing I tried," Chie answered, sounding even more worried, "is that stuff you guys were talking about for real? You know, about all the people showing up on the midnight channel?"
"Oh, we were about to head to Junes to talk about that some more before further checking it out," Yosuke answered.
"I think the person on TV yesterday was Yukiko," Chie admitted, a small bead of sweat going down her face, "that kimono looked just like the one she wears at the inn, she wore it during that interview."
"I hate the fact that I thought it was her," Yuri grumbled before shaking her head, "do you have the number to the inn itself? It might be busy enough that Amagi-San can't get to her cellphone."
"That's a great idea!" Chie exclaimed giving the taller girl a grin.
She hadn't even thought of that! Yukiko could be too busy to answer her phone, and it wouldn't be the first time that had happened. It was only freaking her out because of the midnight channel and the murders. She fished her cellphone out of her jacket pocket and quickly scrolled through the contacts before stopping on the Amagi inn. She rang them up as Yosuke turned towards Yuri.
"How are you able to remain calm like that?" He questioned.
"It's better to remain calm under pressure," Yuri answered, "I came to a conclusion years ago that it was better than stressing out and then making others stressed."
"Oh, is this Yukiko?" Chie's question caused them all to look at her, "thank god…huh? It's nothing, sorry I left before seeing your email I'll make sure to send you another one later."
"Was she okay?" Yuri asked as the brunette hung up with a relieved sigh.
"Yeah," Chie answered, "she said they had a big group reservation. Now that I think about it, this happened last year as well. She said she'd still be at the inn tomorrow as well."
"That's great, I'm glad she wasn't thrown into the TV world," Yosuke stated while his shoulders slumped in relief.
At Chies confused expression the three took turns explaining what they were talking about. Yu explained Personae, Yosuke the case that was going on, and Yuri attempted to explain the TV world a bit. It was all theory, but her best bet was collective consciousness. It sounded the most plausible.
"Maybe we were wrong about the people showing up on the midnight channel," Yosuke stated as he folded his arms and frowned in thought, "I wonder what makes them show up."
"No clue, I'd need more information to have a theory," Yuri admitted with a shake of her head, "right we heading to the book store before Junes?"
They all agreed to that and went their separate ways for a few seconds. Yuri needed to get a paper from the main office so Ryotaro could sign it. She was going to try out for the archery team, but needed to have a guardian sign off on a form allowing her to. It might allow her to rejoin PE again. She hadn't had a PE class in years. Yuri was pulled from her thoughts as an arm roughly yanked her into the first floor girls bathroom. Her feet slid a bit on the tile and she blinked at who had done it. Two girls, third-years judging by their badges, we're giving her matching glares.
"Can I help you?" Yuri questioned.
"Why are you always so close to Yu-kun?" One asked.
"Yeah, it's so creepy!" The other exclaimed.
"…He's my twin?" Yuri stated, her tone making it sound as though she thought they were stupid.
It wasn't that. No, she was used to people coming up with these types of conclusions. It was the first time that someone had gotten physical with her. One of the girls grabbed her by the front of her uniform and dragged her down to be eye level with her. Yuri found herself hating her height for once. And it wasn't because she had to make her dresses due to it, she enjoyed learning how to make Lolita dresses.
"Stop being so close to your brother," The first girl sneered and Yuri gave her a blank look, "no wonder you're a second year at your age, you're stupid."
Well, at least it wasn't a hard r word this time. Her uniform was released and she was shoved away when a few first years entered the restroom. Yuri gave them all kind smiles that showed her shy nature and they greeted her in kind. It was always the older girls that gave her and her brother a hard time. She swiftly made her escape and got the form she needed. She checked her arm for a bruise and found a relatively nasty one forming on her upper arm. She ran up to her brother with the form against her chest and bumped into his shoulder. He smiled in greeting before holding out her school bag so she could put the form in there, if he noticed her stiff movement then he didn't say anything.
"Do you like reading, Yuri-Chan?" Chie asked and the silver haired girl blinked before looking at her new friend.
"Y-yeah," Yuri admitted feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.
"What are you acting so shy for?" Yosuke teased and that seemed to make it worse.
They entered the book store and Yuri quickly found an employee to ask about a few books on psychology. The others were in the manga section. Yu picked up one he thought his sister would like and hid it under another. It would be a gift for when she got back from Iwatodai. He had a good feeling about the twenty-fourth and he didn't know why.
"That's a good sign," Yu softly informed their friends, "if she's comfortable enough to be shy around you, then she's starting to open up a bit. She was like that initially with our uncle and cousin but she quickly got over it."
"Why now?" Yosuke asked, "She wasn't like this yesterday."
"Because it shows that she trusts you two," Yu answered smiling slightly, "I can't blame her for that, you guys would be her first friends."
"Really? But Yuri-Chan is so nice!" Chie stated.
"It's hard to make friends when your constantly in the hospital," Yuri softly explained, startling the two, "it's all right, I'm not mad that you guys are curious."
"I'm going to pay for these, be right back," Yu told them, scurrying off to pay for the books.
"Hey, why don't I add you on my phone?" Chie offered to Yuri, "That way if something happens I can get a message to you guys."
"That'll be great," Yuri stated.
They brought their phones out and gave one another their numbers. Chie looked at the contract name for a few seconds before putting a small emoticon of a Lily. It made sense with that being the translation of Yuri's name. Yosuke gave Yuri a pleading look and they exchanged numbers. He had the same idea as Chie. Yuri just put their names until she got a bit more of their personalities. She was a tad boring. At least Yu had a fun contact name, she called him Big Bro in English.
"Right, let's head to Junes," Yosuke stated as said brother came back.
The walk to Junes was filled with small talk about the weather. Yosuke and Chie were starting to get to know the twins really well. Yuri was better at Rhythm Games and rpgs while Yu was better at fighting games and mmos. They both enjoyed strategy games, and it typically ended up in a draw if they played against one another.
"One of these days we have to get together and play a game or something," Yosuke stated, "I'd like to see Yuri-Chan in action with a rhythm game."
"With how good I'm feeling maybe I'll be up to trying a dancing game at an arcade," Yuri added, "I want to double check with the doctor in Iwatodai before trying though."
"You're bringing us something when you come back, right?" Chie asked with a grin, just joking with the other girl.
"Of course, I can probably find something for everyone," Yuri said, her tone showed that she hadn't forgotten about them.
They entered Junes and it was odd going into the air conditioned building while it was a bit humid outside. Yuri knew that it was going to be horrible that summer. Good thing they had brought a dehumidifier with them. They would spend quite a bit of time in their room if they could manage it. With their friends? It wasn't likely.
"We need to know what's going on inside," Yosuke muttered as they walked up to the TV.
"How? By asking that Teddie thing?" Chie questioned.
"Yeah, too bad there's so many customers around…I forgot about our electronics sale," Yosuke stated, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Does that mean the headphones and MP3 players are on sale as well?" Yuri asked, hoping that the one she had been looking at was on sale.
It came attached with a lanyard, and that lanyard had a pastry design! She had so many dresses that could go with it. Yosuke's nod solidified her getting the MP3 player. She just needed to find a pair of headphones that she liked. Maybe something that slipped over her ears, but not covering them completely. She thought she saw a pair that had one side longer than the other so it could rest around the back of someone's neck. Yuri would think about it while they talked to Teddie…or rather, tried to talk to Teddie.
"C'mere a sec!" Yosuke stated and the other three curiously looked at him, "Why don't you try sticking your hand in and calling it over? I bet that bear's wandering around the entrance anyway. Chie, Yuri-Chan make a walk with me."
"Right, let's huddle," Yuri said and Chie nodded her understanding.
If anyone were to look at the group, they'd see a couple of friends talking about a TV. But, the group was silent. Yuri nervously watched as her brother put his hand into the TV and moved his arm. He was trying to motion enough to get Teddies attention. He flinched and let out a pained sound before yanking his hand out of the TV.
"What's wrong?" Yosuke asked.
"Woah, are those teeth marks?" Chie questioned as Yu did his best to hold back tears, "Are you okay?"
"I think I'm gonna cry," Yu stated, wiping at his eyes.
Whatever had bit him, had a strong bite. He was used to roughing around, playing soccer was a good example of that, but being bit like that had hurt more than any of his broken bones over the years. He walked up to his sister and she gave his shoulder a gentle pat.
"Oh don't cry," Chie softly said before frowning at the TV, "that stupid bear must've done it."
"Teddie we know it's you," Yosuke hissed.
"Ohhh, is this some kind of game?" Teddie asked, sounding completely unaware of their action.
"No it's not a game," Yosuke answered before lowering his voice when a few people looked over at them, "can you sense anyone inside there right now?"
"Who's "anyone"?" Teddie asked and Yuri made a face, "I'm a lonely little bear like always…this land feels so bear-en."
"So there's no one inside?" Chie questioned moving closer to the TV, "You're sure?"
"I-I'm not lying," Teddie said, seemingly buckling under pressure from Chie's seriousness, "my nose is running as good as ever!"
"I'm gonna go warn Yukiko anyway," Chie informed the others, "the inn will be busy this weekend so I doubt she'd go anywhere alone."
"Yeah, you'll walk with her to school on Monday morning, right?" Yosuke questioned.
"Sure, I'll go pick her up at her house." Chie confirmed.
"Maybe we'll find out more on tonight's midnight channel," Yosuke said.
"I hope not…" Yuri stated, "Because that meant someone was able to get to Amagi-San even with us being on alert."
"Right, I'm off!" Chie stated, "I'll send you a message, Yuri-Chan if I find anything out."
"Okay, see you later, Chie-Chan," Yuri nervously said, a little unsure if she was acting the right way with a friend, "I'm going to pick something up while the electronics sale is still happening. Let me know when you guys are done."
Yuri hurried off into the depth of the electronics section and quickly found the MP3 player she'd been eying. She grabbed it before heading towards the headphones. They really did have the cord resting against the back of the neck with one headphone being on a longer cord. They were a bright yellow and she found that she liked them quite a bit. She headed to the register and placed the money in the tray after she was told the total. She needed to find a job to do. Maybe she could do some English translating? She also needed to open up her commissions, she just hadn't gotten around to it. She held the bag of her goodies to her chest and hurried back to her brother.
"So, what took you so long in getting your paper?" Yu questioned.
"Just a slight altercation," Yuri answered, "people jumping to strange conclusions because of how close we are."
"Ew," Yu winced as he realised what kind of conclusions that people jumped to.
"My sentiments exactly," Yuri stated, grinning slightly before letting out a light laugh, "now, what do we want to make for dinner tonight?"
"Let's just do instant ramen," Yu suggested.
"But Nanako-Chan needs to eat more vegetables," Yuri stated as they exited Junes.
Yu shook his head at that and Yuri lightly jabbed him in the side. It was raining again, and they pulled out their umbrellas. The rest of their walk home was silent as they delved into their thoughts. Yuri's attention turned toward the sparse traffic on the road. A delivery truck passed by them and she could've sworn that she recognised the driver from somewhere. She simply shook her head, she was being paranoid.
"Welcome home!" Nanako greeted them as they walked in.
"We're back," Yu stated and Yuri faltered slightly.
How long had it been since she was welcomed home? She couldn't remember. She was the one that usually did the welcoming. A soft smile appeared on her face as she removed her school shoes and headed inside. Nanako was sitting under the new blanket, it covered the top of her head like a hood. Yuri thought the sight was adorable.
"How was school?" Yuri asked their cousin.
"Oh! We learned our multiplications today," Nanako happily informed her, "I found it really easy."
"Your smart, I think it's a family trait," Yuri jokingly told her with a small wink.
That seemed to make Nanako happy. Yuri got up and started to boil water for the instant ramen and set three eggs to boil. Once it was all done she set the ramen in front of her cousin and brother. She sat down with her own and watched the quiz show with Nanako. There was a difficult question being asked and she didn't know the answer. It was still bothering her even when they went upstairs to watch the midnight channel.
"It's really bothering you," Yu commented on amusement.
"I swear I know the answer but I can't remember," Yuri huffed, "it's maddening."
"You might remember," He shrugged and she shot him a dirty look.
They got their futon's ready and turned towards the TV. Yuri nervously held onto the hem of her pyjama shirt and stared at the blank TV. The rain was hitting their window and she spared it a quick glance. It was coming down pretty hard. The high pitched sound of the TV turning on caught her attention and she looked back at it. To see Yukiko dressed in a pink ball gown holding a microphone with a heart on it. Her mouth opened in disbelief. That didn't look anything like the Yukiko she had started to know.
"Good evening!" Yukiko chirped, "Tonight, Princess Yukiko has a big surprise! I'm going to score myself a hot stud! Welcome to "Not a dream, not a hoax" Princess Yukiko's hunt for her prince charming! And I came prepared!"
"I've got my lacy unmentionables on, stacked from top to bottom! I'm out to catch a whole harem, and the best of the lot is gonna be all mine! Well… here I go!"
Yukiko ran towards a castle that was on the background as Yuri stared at the TV screen in utter disbelief. Lacy unmentionables? That…that couldn't have been Yukiko. She blinked, snapping herself out of her stupor and grabbing her cellphone. She needed to call Chie, maybe Yukiko was safe at the inn. She quickly dialed up her new friend and held the phone to her ear as her brother called someone as well.
"Yuri-Chan! Yukiko is missing!" Chies exclamation caused Yuri's eyes to widen slightly.
"We just saw her on the midnight channel," Yuri informed her, "we'll meet up at Junes tomorrow, so we can figure out a plan to save her."
"Right! I'll be there bright and early!" Chie informed her.
Yuri nodded at that before softly saying good bye and turning towards her brother. Everything was going south, and quickly. They were going to need their rest. Especially if they were heading into the TV world, though it hadn't been as bad when they had awakened their persona. Izanagi let out a happy sound and Yuri rolled her eyes. Leave it to her persona to be happy go lucky. Her expression became worried as her brothers snoring filled the air. She hoped that Yukiko was all right.
