Fate/Reach Out

Chapter 40: Tightly Wound


Velvet Room

Between Kanji's rescue and the welcome dinner for Taiga, it had been a long day that guaranteed a long sleep for Shirou. He barely registered the pillow under his head before he was out like a light, and the next thing he knew, he was hearing opera and sitting in a familiar velvet seat.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room," came a familiar greeting from the man with a big nose.

"Igor-san." Margaret and Marie were there too of course, but the latter was slouching and drawing on a notepad.

"First off, allow me to congratulate you on your progress so far," Igor said. "In three months' time, you have grown a small but strong camaraderie with your fellow Persona users, kept the quiet town of Yasoinaba at peace, and I believe you are even on Margaret's remedial course for magecraft."

"I still can't believe that you two aren't really magi." Shirou admitted aloud, before realizing how arrogant that comment sounded. "Uh, no offense."

"It is quite all right," the long-nosed man said softly. "There are many secrets in the world, and in the space between worlds. There is no shame in being ignorant. Some might say there is a bliss in staying that way."

"Although I'm afraid we have more troubling news to discuss." Margaret opened the tome on her lap and lifted it to show Shirou the current page. A blackened card with the design of a flaming giant. "You've awakened an anomaly in your sea of souls. The Persona Kagutsuchi."

"I… don't remember what happened at the time," Shirou admitted partially.

"That is to be expected," she said. "Normally a Persona is used as an extension of themselves with absolute control. But when a Persona's power overshadows the user, it takes over as the dominant personality."

A Persona so strong it could control him? That was a scary thought, and a major liability. "So what happens now? Can you remove it?"

"If only it were that simple," she shook her head, closing the book. "Personas that bear a special imprint on the user are tethered and immovable unless transmogrified. It is in the name, after all; they represent the truest form of your inner self."

"But that doesn't make any sense! I awakened to Izanagi, and he was removed from my subconscious when you fused him!"

"Izanagi wasn't yours to begin with."

Those words, spoken casually, shook Shirou to his core. The Persona he had when he first awakened in the TV World… it wasn't his own? But Kagutsuchi was? What in the world did that mean? Did he even want to know?

"The gift of the Wild Card is truly a double-edged sword," Igor said softly. "Your personality is malleable enough to accommodate others and support them, and you are free to act however you wish. But that in turn leads to a crisis. What is truly a semblance of yourself if you can pick and choose certain aspects so easily? Can you define yourself without the company of your loved ones?"

Shirou looked away, watching the azure-violet mist move from outside the window. "I… don't know." He never had to think too deeply with these questions before. He just knew he wanted to be a hero, an Ally of Justice, and wanted to pursue that goal. The end result, the center, was all that mattered. Or so he thought.

"Then pay it no mind," Igor said. "The path of a Persona user is one of hardship and growth, and that growth is determined by your own will. The answer, whatever you decide, will come to you in time, so there is no rush."

"Except for the fact that I have a year left until my future is forfeit."

"Well, there's your motivation then," Marie said, looking up briefly from her notepad. "Figure it out along with whoever that mysterious murderer is before Christmas."

"Until then, you must bear the weight of your new Persona's power," Margaret said. "Kagutsuchi will awaken whenever you are under duress, but it will get easier to control as your heart grows stronger. And when you finally find your answer, perhaps you will harness that power in earnest."

"If only it were that easy," he lamented. Most things in life never were. "I think it's morning now, so I'll see myself out."

Igor nodded to him. "Until we meet again, farewell."

Shirou nodded back, and was ready to leave via the door, or let his senses fade to nothing, whichever came first. That is, until a small scrap of paper caught his eye on the floor, just in front of him. It looked like part of a notebook that had been torn off cleanly. "What's this?"

Everyone looked down as well. Marie did a wide-eyed double-take and barreled over to the floor in a sudden brazen panic. She snatched the paper up before Shirou could, forcibly crushing it in her fingers before stuffing it in her pocket. She then shot a glare at him. "Shutupitsnoneofoyourbusinessyoudidntseeanything!"

"Uh…" Shirou was dumbfounded. Not just at her reaction but her compromising position. Marie was still on all fours glaring at him. She was perpendicular to him, so that meant he could see part of the crease of her plaid skirt just enough to show the curve of her derriere. As well as the lining of her… unmentionables.

Marie quickly realized this, following his point of view. She then flushed a brighter red before pulling her skirt down and standing upright to glare down at him. "Youdidntseethateither! ShutupIhateyoustupidmagicpervert!"

"I-I was just—" he stammered, hands waving, trying to explain himself. But to no avail. She was mad and beyond reasoning. At the corner of his eye, he saw Margaret smiling and waving at him.

"Wake up already!" Marie snapped, and then reared her palm back to strike.

July 3rd, Dojima Residence, Morning

*SLAP!* *BAM!*

When Shirou came to, he was forcibly turned over and collapsed on the side of his bed. With a stinging red handprint over his cheek. "Oww!"

Well, that was one way to wake up from the Velvet Room. He quickly decided to skip going there for the day to give Marie some space.

The noise of his "waking" must have shook the whole house, as he heard a knock at the door. "Big bro? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Nanako, I just… had a scary end to my dream."

"Was it a nightmare?"

"Something like that."

"Oh," said Nanako. "By the way, Chie-chan called earlier and said that her and your friends were coming over at lunchtime. She said something about a cooking lesson?"

That perked him up right away. "Oh, I almost forgot. I better get ready."


Afternoon

Omelets. That was the plan to ease them into proper cooking lessons. They were simple to make, with the main ingredient being an egg. It would be a helpful starting point for lessons as he could give some pointers to correct them for better, more complex dishes.

And yet somehow all three of them managed to mess that up. Worse, they left the kitchen in such a state of disarray too.

After tasting each omelet for himself, he looked over each of the girls, wearing color-coded aprons (red, green and pink) covered in flour and condiment stains. Before them were their omelets that deceptively betrayed how they really tasted. The girls looked back at him expectantly with hopeful smiles.

"Start over," he told them sternly, and watched as their three faces all fell to frowns. Chie and Yukiko looked resigned to being bad chefs, but Rise was flatout devastated.

"Sh-Shirou-Senpai doesn't like my cooking?!"

"Honestly? No. It's a miracle you three didn't burn the house down with your collective failures." That admission crushed their spirits more, but he was not there to hold their hands. He was there to teach them how to cook.

That, and he REALLY didn't want the Dojima household to burn up in any capacity.

Yukiko was still wincing from his words. "Isn't that a little harsh?" she asked.

"Yeah! They can't be all bad!" Chie argued. Her bravado faltered upon seeing how unmoved her classmate-slash-cooking-teacher was. "Can they?"

"Yes, and I'm going to go over why each of them is the case," he said. He turned to the first dish to his right. A pretty golden-brown omelet cut open with red filling and steaming heat. "Rise, your dish easily looks the most presentable of the three—"

"Thank you, Senpai!" Rise chirped happily.

"—But it's like eating lava. You've laced the omelet in so many spices I couldn't feel my tongue, much less discern the ingredients like the foie gras you used in it."

For a moment, Rise said nothing. Then her face morphed into a fragile frown and series of sniffles, surprising the other girls. "Y-You're being a jerk, senpai! My food is delicious! An-and a mature flavor! You're being a- a-… whaaaa-!"

"No crocodile tears," he sharply told her. He had seen her cry before, and this act was clearly set up for sympathy. Realizing it wasn't going to work, Rise sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of her head, tongue sticking out. "And relax. You seem to already have a good sense of cooking since you can make something you would like. But not everyone has the same taste buds, and you need to remember that for when you cook for others."

Rise gave a thoughtful nod, smiling to herself. She looked like she'd take his words to heart, which was good. Shirou then turned to the next person down the line. He looked up and down again, trying to gauge the plain-looking dish. "Amagi, how do I put this? Your food is passable at least, and a major improvement from the curry for sure. But this is also very… boneless."

"'B-Bone-'?!" The inn heiress stuttered, expressing a sudden flare of indignation. "Emiya-kun, that's not a word you use to describe taste!"

"And that's kind of the point," he coolly told her. "There was no taste. Food isn't something you just eat for sustenance but something you enjoy. You have a favorite food, right? How it smells, how it feels when you bite into it, how you savor the morsel in your mouth before you swallow? That makes you want to eat more of it and come back to it."

He pointed to the plain looking dish she made, of pure yellow-white egg flop. "I did not get any of that from your omelette. You threw everything into your dish, cooked it too long, and came out with a net zero meal. You might as well have served me uncooked rice."

Yukiko grumbled to herself, muttering about how maybe to serve her favorite food. Shirou then turned to the last dish… and probably the easiest to grade. "Satonaka, your food is just awful, and that's probably the nicest thing I can say about it."

"How is that nice?!" Chie immediately demanded.

Shirou rubbed that back of his head awkwardly. "Well, it's not as noteworthy of a failure as the other two." Chie just fumed at him angrily, prompting him to offer more constructive criticism. "I noticed that you followed the recipe book a bit, which is good. But when you saw Rise and Amagi do their own thing, you started to second-guess yourself, and tried to compensate. A chef always has to keep their wits about them in case there's a problem in the kitchen, as there's no shame in taking steps to get better. To be distracted from their dishes is just a recipe for disaster. No pun intended."

Chie's face softened by the end. She stared bitterly at her sloppy mess of an omelet. "We tried really hard, though…"

"Yeah! We even put in our love and everything!" Rise insisted.

"I wouldn't throw those words around carelessly," he told them. "To say 'put your love in it' would mean to incorporate what you love in food, not throw everything in and hope something sticks."

"Is that a real lesson or something you made up?" Chie asked.

"Neither. It's something Sakura told me once."

Yukiko tilted her head quizzingly. "Who's 'Sakura'?"

"She's a friend back in Fuyuki." he said without thinking, and somehow immediately regretted it.

The girls' reactions grew wary and uneasy, as if the room was suddenly covered in a chill. Rise in particular narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "A 'friend', huh?"

"Do you… teach her cooking, too?" Chie asked shyly.

"...yes?" Shirou answered awkwardly. "She's my kohai so I kind of have to watch out for her, right?"

"I-I'm your kohai too, senpai!" Rise cried. "Please teach me cooking too!"

"H-Hey! Wait in line!" Chie snapped. "He said he'd teach all of us, remember?!"

"I agree, although I'd argue that some of us need this more than others," Yukiko insisted darkly.

"The only reason you're here is because you poisoned him, remember? At least I asked to come!"

"More like butting in! Besides, your cooking isn't all that better compared to us!"

"ENOUGH." Shirou voiced his annoyance and slight anger clearly in a single word, cowing the girls' bickering. Letting the tension out from his pinched nose and exhaled breath, he walked over to the kitchen. "Look, just… watch me as I do this. Making an omelette is easy."

He gathered a bowl, fork, and some spare eggs left in a hostler. After cracking and emptying the yolk into the bowl, he whisked them with the fork to blend the two together. "First off, you need to make sure the egg is mixed well before cooking. The yolk needs to be pierced first before blending, so it's easier to just stick with a fork for this than a whisk. A little pepper goes a long way too, but only add that after it's thoroughly blended."

The girls watched him with apt interest, not a word uttered as he cooked. They noticed right away how relaxed and casual he was in his movements. No spills, no mess, and efficiently quick too. He was in his natural element.

"High heat cooking should only be done after lots of skill and practice," he continued, before cutting a bit of butter onto a spare pan. Then he poured the mixture onto the pan too, watching it sizzle around the edges. "The good news about low heat cooking is that it trades off time and avoids sticking. Perfect for practice."

"But wait, don't you have to put the milk in first?" Chie asked, remembering the recipe she read.

"Some do, some don't," Shirou answered. He continued to stir the omelette a bit in the pan with a spatula now. "It depends on what you put into it, but the point is to learn how to make a basic omelette first."

There was something tantalizingly interesting in watching a chef cook; the transformation of common everyday ingredients into something new and delicious. He didn't have the flair of technique any of them (especially Yukiko) expected of an experienced chef. Rather, the only trick he did was flip the pan a bit to make the omelette jump too. He made it sound and look so easy, explained each step with more hook than any Yasogami teacher could ever hope to do.

...so why couldn't they do the same thing?

"-And that's how you make an omelette," he said, presenting the meal on a plate before them. They stared at it with wonder… and then confusion.

"It looks about as plain as Yukiko-senpai's," Rise noted. Sure, it had a golden shine to it, but there was nothing noticeable that could make it desirable to eat like her own.

"I'd say it looks more like some big pile of scrambled eggs," Chie argued.

"But, wouldn't that mean it's actually crumbled? Erm, 'scrambled'?" Yukiko asked.

"Appearance in cooking is one thing," Shirou told them. "Usually the main deciding factor is the taste."

The girls exchanged looks. Part of them still felt scorned from having their own cooking graded poorly. There was still a bit of denial of just accepting Shirou as the better cook. It smelled so good though...

"Aren't you guys ready yet?"

From the opposite side of the house, Nanako and Taiga had spent the day watching cutesy anime shows and the newest Magical Detective Loveline episode. Nanako was invested, but Taiga looked very bored slouched on the couch as her eyes kept wandering to the kitchen.

"Just about," Shirou said. "I'll make some more, but feel free to help yourself to what's available."

"FINALLY! FOOD!" Taiga cried as she barreled for the kitchen. She stood over the counter and looked over the assorted omelettes with muted excitement.

Nanako stared between the four plates with wide-eyed enthusiasm. "Oh, this all looks so good! Which one should I try first?"

The three girls exchanged awkward looks. They had been so confident before, thinking at least Nanako would love the meals they prepared. And to Yukiko's credit, she felt she did better than last time. But after the dressing-down Shirou gave them, they wanted to put their meals anywhere but on a plate. Not necessarily the trash yet, but just not in the open.

Taiga might not get what was going on, but she was far from ignorant. And reading the room, she knew that the girls were not good cooks. Letting Nanako-chan try theirs first-hand was probably a bad idea for the poor girl, so she stepped in quickly. "Let me try first, Nanako-chan! I'll find the best one for us to share!"

"Okay!" Nanako accepted innocently. She watched as Taiga pulled out a spoon and dug into the first omelette, to which Rise let a confident smile grow on her face. Om-Nom-No-... silence. Then a faint whistling as Taiga's face glowed bright red.

"BWAAAAAAAAAH!" Taiga roared, suddenly breathing fire to the shock of everyone. She jugged a glass of water immediately to douse her mouth. "TOO HOT!" she screamed before chugging a second gulp. Rise lowered her head in shame.

After Taiga cooled down, she tried the second dish. Her face relaxed, but then she took another bite… and another, and another, licking her lips longer each time. Yukiko subtly leaned in to wait for the verdict.

"Too cold and lifeless," she declared, pushing the plate further away. Yukiko frowned and leaned back in her seat.

At the third dish, Taiga took a single bite… and then immediately spat it out to the side. "Patoowie! Not right at all!" Taiga did not see Chie stare at her with a stern, indignant frown.

Fine, their dishes sucked, but surely Shirou's wasn't that great, right?

By this point, Taiga had a look of defeat of having tried three bad omelettes before going to the last one. Her spoon picked up a small piece and lopped it inside her mouth. Her eyes bulged, and then closed as a catlike smile grew on her face, complete with an audible, euphoric moan as she nibbled the spoon for all its morsels.

"Ooooh yeah, this one is juuuust right~!" she swooned before scooping up a second, bigger, spoonful. She had no doubt who made this one. "Nanako-chan! Try this one! It's the best of the lot!"

Nanako walked over and took a big spoonful herself. If possible, her grin of wide-eyed wonder grew wider and cuter. "Mmmhm! You're right! It's delicious!"

"As it should! Your big bro made this, no question!"

"Wow! Really?!"

"Of course! He's a great cook, remember?"

The two continued amiably while praising Shirou and the food. The Yasogami girls could only stare between themselves and the plate dejectedly, with the plain truth staring right at them.

Shirou was the better chef, and even a third party preferred his dish over theirs. Looking it over again, they wished they had obtained some of that omelette for themselves when they had the chance.

"Done," Shirou announced, sliding the plate in front of the girls. "Try a bite."

It looked just the same as the last plate, but somehow more tantalizing than ever. A brief moment's hesitation, and Yukiko reached for the first spoonful. Chie and Rise were soon to follow, and all three took a bite nearly at the same time.

...Wow.

There… really was no comparison.

It was so mouth-watering delicious from the first bite, and made them want to eat more. He probably used less ingredients than any one of them, but managed to refine it so well that it might as well be cuisine.

Chie and Yukiko shared lamented glances. Oh, how they regretted not letting Shirou cook the curry during the camping trip! And Rise found herself caressing her own cheek as she chewed as much of the omelette as she could to get every last bite in.

Shirou waited patiently as they ate, taking satisfaction and pride in their delighted faces. Hopefully this was a good first step to convince them how to properly cook from now on. Not that he minded cooking for them every now and again, perhaps for school lunches. "So what do you three think?"

"It's delicious!"

"Best omelette ever!"

"Please marry me!"

The last of the responses was what caused Taiga to spit out her drink. Nanako was the only one startled by the spit take, as everyone else was just as baffled by the outburst. Taiga turned to them with eyes rage-white. "WHICH ONE OF YOU SAID THAT?!"

Chie, Yukiko and Rise, staring at her like pale deers at headlights, all pointed amongst themselves. They were seated by the kitchen sink left to right. It was hard to tell which one actually said it because while two sets of fingers were pointing in one direction, they were all too close to see who. Taiga gave them each the stink-eye, trying to discern the odd one out.

"Marry… oh, I've been meaning to ask you something, big bro."

Shirou felt both relieved and apprehensive that Nanako broke the tension. Regardless, he smiled at her and gave her his full attention. "What is it, Nanako?"

"I've been thinking. You not only know Sakura-chan back home, and that other girl who Tiger-nee said gave you your bow, but Chie-chan, Yuki-chan and even Rise here." Nanako tilted her head in curiosity. "You have a lot of girl friends, don't you, big bro?"

One could hear the summer cicadas click outside, and the tension grew worse than the outburst earlier. Shirou could feel pointed, worried stares from his female teammates centered on him. "Uh... I guess so?"

"Which one is your favorite?"

Oh god, her too!? "I, uh… can't quite say yet."

"You are not convincing anyone." He was going to have words with Angel later...

Nanako continued her innocent probing. "So you're not worried about their cooties?"

"Excuse me?" What was she implying?

Taiga was suddenly all smiles as she knelt to the youngest girl's height and patted her head. "Oh, Nanako-chan, cooties is just a made up word by silly boys who don't understand romance!"

"Oh," the girl said, easily impressed. The two were now being corralled back to the couch, carrying one of Shirou's omelettes to eat.

"And there's no need to worry about Shirou being with a lot of girls at once for long!" she added jovially. "Because if he does, then he'll be forced to move in with your mother in heaven! And we certainly don't want that."

Shirou gulped, and he swore he heard at least one of the girls doing so too. Somehow Fuji-nee made a threat to his life sound so subtle and yet so teasingly sweet to Nanako's ears. At least suspicions on his love-life had been put on hold again.

"L-Let's clean up!" Chie declared suddenly. "I mean, we have plenty of… well, not so much good but… we're good on food and we certainly shouldn't overstay our welcome here!"

"Yeah, I have a lunch rush at the inn coming up!" Yukiko added quickly. The two of them took their failed dishes and dumped them in the trash without a second thought.

"Oh, me too!" Rise followed suit to empty her dish before waiting behind them in line to wash the plates. Shirou took this moment to untie his apron and hang it by the stove handle. He needed a bit of a break dealing with another round of love-life questioning.

Still, why the hell did that keep coming up!? Just because he interacted with the fairer sex several times didn't mean he was some "harem show protagonist", did it? What happened today was just an odd circumstance. They were all friends first and foremost.

Besides, I have plenty of male friends! I have the Social Links to prove it! Magician and Star. Counting the Hierophant link with Doji-nii, that's three male bonds! And for the females I know personally are Sun and Justice. Then, Chariot, Priestess, Lovers… Empress… Aeon… Does Hermit count?

Okay, maybe those weren't good examples. Fuji-nee's Sun aside, all those links were from Inaba. I must have made more friends in Fuyuki! And no, coworkers and family don't count.

Let's start backwards this time. I know for certain that only Sakura and Mitsuzuri are my female friends. As for the male ones, there's Issei, and… and… well not Shinji anymore. Wow, I have even less friends in Fuyuki than Inaba, and I've only been in Inaba for three months. Then that means…

Shirou's head banged off the stove with a dull thud, startling the girls but he didn't notice or care. The shadow over his eyes hid the wide-eyed horror of his epiphany. Oh Izanagi my life really is a harem show, isn't it? The only thing that could make it worse is if half the men I knew were secretly women in drag!


Meanwhile, somewhere in Inaba…

"-choo!"


July 8th, Junes, After School

It had been almost a week since Kanji's rescue, and the team relaxed on their reprieve. Whenever Shirou wasn't making the rounds around town (or getting harassed for dating advice), he was hanging out with friends or family. Giving Taiga a tour around Inaba, while also remembering to show the new "sights" to Rise later. Training with Chie by the riverbed while discussing moving plans with Yukiko. Spending the night talking with either his uncle or younger sister. Working at Moel, or very rarely filling in part-time at Junes (like today).

By now Shirou felt he had a good feel for Junes like the back of his hand. When not heading to the electronics store, or the food court, he would sometimes swing by the grocery department for some good deals, or marvel at the many specialized departments that truly showed why Junes was outperforming the shopping district stores. Not to mention all the sales they promoted for frugal shoppers. However, Junes refused to sell weapons or medicine without any sort of prescription notice, so there was no reason for the Investigation Team to take their business there.

And Shirou didn't feel comfortable with the idea of working there when he had a job at Moel already. Still, he was willing to step in because Yosuke needed help. It was especially true as he looked increasingly tired as the work day went on.

It was only after their shifts ended and they were resting at the desk that he inquired about it. "Are you okay, Yosuke?"

Yosuke let out a long dejected sigh that sounded more dour than usual. He was staring at his phone longingly, waiting for a call or text to happen. "I'd be lying if I said I was. It's just… Sacchin hasn't called back all week."

"What?" Shirou was baffled. Yosuke's girlfriend struck him as the clingy type, and should have jumped at the chance to have him all for herself. "You two were practically attached to the hip all of last week, though."

"I know, it's weird!" Yosuke said. "One day she just said that she was going to be busy doing some errands, and hasn't returned any of my texts or calls since. I also tried checking up at her place and there wasn't anybody home. Not even her brother."

"That is concerning," Shirou scratched his chin in thought. Her whole character was a mystery, from her sudden appearance in Inaba to how peculiar their meeting was. With the urgency of saving Kanji looming over them at the time, he didn't think too much about it. But maybe she had tried to use magecraft on him at their first meeting? "I wonder…"

"Wonder what?' Yosuke asked. His face then started to pale as he came to a grim realization. "Y-You don't think she might have gotten caught by the killer, right? Like what happened with Saki-senpai?"

"There have been no new rumors going around since Kanji, so I think we're in the clear there." Shirou reasoned. "We'll just have to keep an eye out for her in the meantime."

"Y-Yeah, she'll be fine," Yosuke agreed, if mostly for his own benefit. Shirou didn't have the heart to tell him that he was suspecting her as the culprit.

"Dammit, today was just the worst!"

A loud shrill cry came from one of the two female Junes employees at the far end of the empty food court. The gaudy looking, student-aged girl continued her rant, adding, "If I had known today would be so busy, I would have called in sick."

"I know, right?" her snooty friend added, just as loud. "I mean, 500 yen is barely worth a bonus. At this rate I'll never save up for my graduation trip."

"Think we can ask for more? Hanamura's son is right over there."

They looked over to Shirou and Yosuke's table, unaware that they had been listening to them. A moment later, they looked away with evident fear. "Well, I don't see his new girlfriend around," the gaudy one remarked.

"Think it's safe to try?" the snooty one asked.

They stared back at Yosuke for a moment longer, before unbridled fear forced them to look away again. "O-On second thought, let's not. It's not like he'd actually do anything to help."

"Y-yeah! And he'd probably complain to her after. N-Not that we're scared of her or anything!"

"Right! 'Cuz we're not!"

Yosuke snickered to himself. It didn't take much for Shirou to discern that these two were the problem workers mentioned the other day. Clearly whatever Sacchin said to them was well deserved and still left a mark.

"But seriously, we need more money," the gaudy one affirmed, as the two resumed walking through the court. "I might have to ask my parents to help pay for my graduation."

"Why not just get a guy to help pay for it?" the snooty one suggested. "That's what Saki did last year, right?"

Like a switch, Yosuke's good humor fell, replaced by a despondent look.

The gaudy student chuckled. "Funny story how that turned out. She apparently got together with a college guy and left with him. Before long, she came right back like a whipped dog, saying she'd save money and skip town her own way."

"Does that mean she got dumped?" the snooty student asked.

"Dunno, but what I do know is that she started working here for money…"

By now the two had walked far away that their loud gossipping couldn't be carried over. Shirou had half a mind to go over and give the two a piece of his mind, but didn't want to leave his friend in a shocked state.

The magus didn't need Pixie to tell him exactly what was wrong. Yosuke might have a girlfriend now and be trying to move on, but he still cared for and missed Saki. The fact that she died hating him only made the guilt inside him feel worse.

"Yosuke-"

"I know what you're gonna say," he cut him off. "And it's fine. It doesn't matter. It's all just hot air, not going to let that get to me."

Yosuke was clearly hurting, from how he was grinding his teeth to trying to find the words to say. But he kept up a brave front. "We… we're the only ones who can avenge Saki-senpai, and protect people like Sacchin from this ever happening again," Yosuke said. "We're special. We're the only ones who can do this."

"...yeah, you're right," Shirou agreed. It surprised him to hear Yosuke sound this serious, this driven, to solve the case and protect the town. He never thought he would meet anyone else in his life willing to take the risk.

Yosuke chuckled, clearly relieved a little bit. "I don't know if it's luck, fate, or destiny, or even something else entirely. But I think it was a very good thing that someone like you came along, Shirou. I doubt I could have gotten this far without you, much less mature past the kid in me inside the TV."

"Da da da daaaaaa~!"

His Personas always seem to find the right word to end on, and Shirou felt just that much more accomplished hearing Pixie sing.


July 9th, Evening, Shiroku's

Taiga giggled with an intoxicated face as she stepped out of the shop-turned-night-bar and waved goodbye to the owner inside. "Thanks for the booze, Shiroku-bachan! I'll be back tomorrow~!"

Old Lady Shiroku was practically unrecognizable from her morning appearance, now sporting heavy make-up, hair-spray, and a red rubber dress. She barely gave her new favorite patron a glance as she cleaned one of her glasses. "Just don't get lost, Taiga-chan. It's raining hard tonight."

"Kaaaaay!" she replied amiably as she started to leave with nothing but a thick raincoat to protect her from the elements.

She had grown to really like Inaba in the short time since she had moved over. Everyone liked to gossip, so she learned a lot of stories from people after a few consecutive nights of drinking. Stories of the man scared of cats, the ghost lady collecting bugs and fishes, and a little errand boy trying so hard to get a lonely girl's attention.

Of course, there was a lot of talk about the murder case. But without anyone actually showing up dead since the Konishi student a few months ago, interest had died down a bit. Some speculated that the killer had gotten cold feet and skipped town, with any disappearances being a coincidence. More thought that they were trying but failing to kill the new missing students, and waiting for the opportune moment.

It wasn't much, but Taiga felt like she was on the right track. Almost like she was being guided by another butterfly. Like hell I'm going to let Shirou handle this on his own.

So absorbed in thinking about her new gossip material, and slightly stumbling in her steps, she didn't notice the other person she was passing by until they bumped shoulders. "Ahh!"

"Gah!" he grunted, snarling at her under his umbrella. "Watch where you're going, you, you... young lady!"

Taiga scowled at him. "Same to you, you hunchback beaver!"

"Oh, like I haven't heard that one before," said 'beaver' rolled his eyes. He was just as tipsy as she was, if not more from the brief moment he fought upchucking his booze. "Iiii don't have time for this! Young girls like you *hic* should go straight home to the books, not screwing with boys on exam week!"

"Who are you, my dad?" Taiga said. She didn't know what was more insulting: being accused of being a young student or an easy girl.

"I might as well be! Now go home already, missy!"

Taiga's mood soured further, and knew she couldn't stand being around this man for another second. "I'm going, I'm going!" She briskly walked further down the dark street. She had recently rented a place for herself and it was just a short walk away from the shopping district and Dojima's house. She was so looking forward to a shower and bed right about now.

"Good!" the drunk man nodded, watching her for a moment before lumbering forward. He didn't get far before he noticed another person further up the road, standing under the streetlight by the shrine. "And that goes double for you too!"

The young figure in the rain didn't move, but as he lumbered forward, the drunk Morooka could make out the kid he'd seen once or twice by the skewer stop, Souzai Daigaku.

"You...you're that Kubo kid, ain't ya? Think you're hot stuff because you go to a cram school, *hic* while pestering girls at Yasogami High? You're damn lucky you're not in my school, because I'd have your ass expelled faster than you can say the Junes catchphrase!"

The boy didn't move or react as the teacher got closer. It got him more riled than usual. "Well? Got nothing to say, you smelly orange?!" Morooka stalked closer. He knew that he shouldn't bother the annoying little brat, but he was drunk and more than a little cranky. Not getting proper respect had a little to do with it too. "I'll see to it that your worthless future is ruined, you hear me?!"

"No one is going to miss you when you die."

Kinshiro Morooka did not have a moment to question the new voice, let alone scream, when he felt his neck be punctured by something sharp.

He could only watch in horror as Mitsuo Kubo's smile grew wide and giddy, as if watching something morbidly amusing. He wanted to run. He wanted to scream. He wanted to at least punch the brat's face in, but his entire body failed him. There was a sickening warmth from his neck while everything else turned cold.

Morooka's voice cracked weakly as if he was being choked, struggling to look at what was wrong with his neck. He saw a young girl leaning down from behind, kissing his neck- no… biting it. Enough to draw blood. Even suck it down a bit?

When the girl pulled away, her lips and cheeks were bloody, idly being licked at with her tongue. "Not very filling, but that should be enough. Finish the job, Mitsy!"

Finish? What are they-?

"RAAAAAAH!"

SKLCH!

Morooka's body was flung to the ground as he felt another sudden pain in his body. This time from the screaming fish-eyed brat lunging at him with a knife embedded in his abdomen.

This… was this some kind of joke? Dying by a pair of young teenagers with a vendetta towards him? Was this occult or something?

No one would notice him, or save him. He could only stare up at the rainy sky and the two teens looking down at him. The boy seemed to have a bit of panic in his eyes, while the girl regarded him with cold indifference.

"I… I can't believe it! I actually ki-!"

"You did it, Mitsy. You're finally a hero."

With that, in the cold dead of a rainy Inaba night, King Moron breathed his last breath.