[Summary: Rescuing Kanji is no easy feat]
[5/18: Wednesday]
"Did either of you see it? The Midnight Channel?" Yosuke asked Chie and Yukiko before class the next morning. "No? So it's just me and Nanako-san...? Dammit."
"I thought you recorded that," Nanako pointed out.
"It didn't turn out," he said. "Well, the audio is there, but... You know, I don't really want that on my phone..."
"I can't think why," Nanako teased. She noticed Chie and Yukiko's puzzled looks. "Well, anyway, the point is that Kanji-kun has been kidnapped and so we'd better go into the TV World after school and see what's up."
Teddie was excited because he'd detected another human in his world, but his poor 'sniffer' couldn't find out where. He'd wanted them to investigate Kanji to learn more about him, but Nanako simply told him that he was a really nice guy with image and self-esteem issues, what more could he ask for? The no-nonsense tone in her voice suddenly fixed the bear's nose, and they followed him off into the mist until they reached a traditional-looking bathhouse.
"This is awesome!" Nanako exclaimed while they explored the changing area. There were dozens of changing stalls and some stools with towels lying on them. "You know how expensive a bathhouse is? Now we have one for free!"
"You realize there are going to be Shadows in there, right?" Yosuke said. "I can't imagine fighting in there." He pointed with a rather flat expression to a sign that read, 'Men only.'
"It's really hot in there," Chie said, worry in her voice. Yes, they could feel the waves of heat coming from the open bathhouse doorway even from several feet away.
Nanako put one foot on a stool and declared that they should all take their shirts off. "You first, Yosuke!"
The only boy on the team glared at her for a long moment before pulling off his school jacket. He folded it with more skill and care than she expected from him, set it on a stool, and then lovingly removed his headphones and put them on top of the jacket. Then he pulled his white v-neck shirt over his head and set it next to the jacket.
"Yeah," Nanako said, eyeing his bare chest critically, "I didn't expect much."
Yosuke flinched, his whole body drawing back with the action. "Wh-what were you expecting!?"
"I thought you'd be hairier," Chie volunteered, to nods of agreement.
He grumbled a bit, and then Nanako declared, "My turn!" She took off her jacket and tossed it onto a stool without ceremony and then started undoing her blouse's top buttons. Without looking up from her task, she murmured, "Don't get excited, Yosuke. I'm only wearing a sports bra."
"How can that even be called a bra—" Yosuke began, but Nanako suddenly used the stool as leverage to jump into a flying kick that knocked him flat on his back. She kept her foot planted on his chest while she finished taking off the blouse.
"Mm," she said. She rolled her shoulders as she adjusted to the air exposure. "I think this is going to be a fun day. All right. Chie?"
"W-well, I'm also wearing a sports bra."
"Figures!" Yosuke said, then emitted an 'Oof!' as Nanako put her weight on her foot on his chest.
"I don't know about stripping in front of Yosuke," Chie said. Her face was red.
"I've seen you jogging down the road in only a sports bra!" Nanako pointed out. "As part of your morning training!"
"Y-yeah, but that's different. I mean... He's right there!"
Nanako snatched a towel from a stool and dropped it on Yosuke's face. "There, now he can't see." The boy grabbed it and pulled it off, and then put it back on after seeing her glare.
Chie laughed in astonishment more than anything, but finally she took off her green jacket and the blouse underneath. Her sports bra had a pattern—alternating blue and green horizontal stripes which reminded Nanako of Naoto's plaid pants. Her own bra was plain ol' white.
The two girls turned to Yukiko. "I... I wear a traditional bra, but the heat doesn't bother me at all."
"Damn, I need a fire Persona!" Nanako growled. But... being without her blouse felt freeing, somehow. She was okay with the situation as it was so far. Besides, she didn't wanna visit the Velvet Room. One, it was way back at the backlot, and two, she was still pissed at Margaret for punching her.
"It wouldn't be appropriate for her to be shirtless in front of Yosuke," Chie added. Ah, yes, Nanako was aware of Yukiko's reputation as a delicate flower of womanhood... But Nanako wondered if it would be okay if Yukiko was shirtless in front of a girl instead.
"...Can I take the towel off now?" Yosuke asked, voice muffled by the cloth. "And can you remove your foot, Nanako-san?"
"Tch! You know you like it!" Nanako said, but she did step aside and let him get to his feet. She noted, however, how he looked at both her and Chie's bras and the flush on his face afterward. "By the way, Yosuke, if you get a boner, although I'll be flattered, I'm totally punching it!"
He seemed too flustered to respond.
"Yeah, but then..." Chie began. Then she blushed and looked away, towards the floor.
"Then what?" Nanako asked. "Don't leave me hanging, Chie!"
"He could say that your hand was on his, his...!"
"I wouldn't!" Yosuke claimed.
"You so would," said both Nanako and Chie at the same time.
Nanako put her hands on her hips and appraised Yosuke. "Yeah, I'll have to kick him instead."
"C-can I stay with Teddie...?" he moaned.
"What, and let you have fun imagining what three hot girls are doing in a steamy bathhouse without you? I don't think so."
"Where is Teddie, anyway? He didn't come inside," Chie noted.
"He said it was too hot," Yosuke said. "His fur couldn't 'bear' it, or something."
In all honesty, Teddie's support was of questionable value. He did a great job memorizing what attacks worked and didn't work on particular Shadows, but the team could do that themselves. It was pretty easy to remember when an enemy was immune to, say, fire. Nanako still remembered how an eagle-shaped Shadow had flown through Yukiko's inferno completely unscathed. It left a strong impression. If Teddie could make predictions, now, then they'd be talking!
"Meh," said Nanako. "We don't need him anyway."
They headed in. After only a few minutes, all four of them were wheezing and gasping for air. The entire place was a bathhouse, which meant that every hall and every room was unpleasantly hot. The air was thick with steam that clung to their noses and throats. Nanako was glad she and the other girls wore skirts; she couldn't imagine walking around in pants like Yosuke was.
Fighting Shadows in this condition… It wouldn't be fun, which was soon proven.
Their first opponent was a pair of dog-faced policemen with round bodies, like they'd eaten too many doughnuts. Their bellies had a huge hole in them, as if they had no insides at all, and a key dangled within the cavity. They carried oversized handcuffs and used them as whips. When Nanako brought her naginata down on one of them while it was attacking Yosuke, the weapon slipped out of her hands due to how slick the handle was with sweat. While she scrambled to pick it up from the ground, the police-dog had turned towards her and raised the handcuffs—and then stopped. It began to tremble like it was coughing, and she realized it was because Yosuke was inside it, trying to pull the key off. With it distracted, Nanako grabbed her weapon and then stabbed it in the face until it dissipated into the ether. The key Yosuke was holding onto also vanished, and, unsupported, the boy fell to the floor, flat on his butt.
She looked at him, and he shrugged his bare shoulders and said, "I thought we could use it as a chest key."
Nanako praised him for trying, at least. She looked across the hall to see how Yukiko and Chie were doing, and there was no sign of their enemy. According to the girls, it had been weak against fire, so a combination of flame from Konohana Sakuya and Chie's stomping feet took it out easily.
Everyone seemed to be holding up okay, despite how rusty they were, but they were all getting sweaty. Yosuke's upper body was glistening, and when he shook his head, water flew off his hair like a wet dog. Nanako raised an eyebrow in interest before catching herself and telling him to watch out, because she'd been hit by that! Her own skin was getting itchy right where the bra straps rubbed against her skin. She almost wanted to take it off and wring it out. It made her realize that they'd be dehydrated soon.
The next battle was with a masked cupid. It shot Yukiko, and Nanako didn't realize the arrow had charmed her until a razor-sharp fan flew right at her face. She barely drew her naginata up in time to block it. Yukiko went into an involuntary giggle fit when she shouted at her, which at least kept her from recovering the fan and trying again. Once Chie kicked the cupid out of the air and stomped it to death, the tittering girl recovered and was horrified at what she'd almost done. Nanako told her it was okay, she could take any punishment. Yukiko fluttered the fan at her suggestively, and everything was forgiven.
They fought several other sets of Shadows, too, and by the time they found the second floor, they were ready to collapse from the exertion.
One thing was clear: rescuing Kanji was going to take some time.
Not because they didn't want to rescue him, but because it was too damn hot. As Nanako remembered from a bathhouse she'd visited once, you weren't supposed to stay in a steam room for more than maybe 10-15 minutes at a time, and when a single fight with Shadows could take that long, the going was very slow.
It was frustrating.
Nanako was sopping wet from all the sweat—even her hair was dripping like she'd been in the shower or a rainstorm or maybe even under a waterfall—when they exited Junes. In fact, the entire team looked nothing short of a disaster. Yukiko was going to be bothered by the inn's staff for how unladylike she looked—Nanako asked Chie to go home with her just to support her. Yukiko's Persona might have an affinity with fire, but even she felt it after so much exposure. Besides that, she had been fighting alongside them, more physical exertion than she was probably used to. Yosuke had dried himself off with a towel from the changing room before putting his shirt back on, but the shirt still ended up clinging to his body because he continued to sweat from the ambient heat.
Nanako growled to herself. They didn't make enough progress and they were so tired already. She worried they wouldn't have enough time before the deadly fog set in. "Tomorrow. Can you guys handle it two days in a row?"
The three others exchanged looks. "Yeah," said Yosuke. "We just need a bath." He gave her a lopsided smile. She was surprised at his enthusiasm considering he'd been so apprehensive about entering the bathhouse. Maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit.
Or maybe he enjoyed fighting while topless. That was something she could get behind.
'Bath' was the only word on her mind as she headed home. She probably smelled awful. She didn't know for sure because her own nose was inured to it. But Yosuke had definitely reeked of, well, man-sweat, and Chie and Yukiko had kept their distance from each other when they'd normally walk almost hand in hand. Her hair was probably a wreck, too, but she could hide it in a ponytail.
She was still daydreaming of a nice long soak when she opened the front door.
"Nanako-chan! There you are. And just in time for dinner, too! I was trying to call you all afternoon, but your phone was out of service. Please remember to charge it tonight."
Oh, shit, her aunt was home and waitaminute... Today was Wednesday!
Detective Adachi was appraising her from his seat at the kitchen table, taking in her tired and disheveled appearance, and, perhaps, Aunt Seta's words.
"Oh... What are we having?" Nanako asked politely. Dammit, there went her bath.
"Grilled mackerel with my own broth recipe," Aunt Seta said, raising her chin with pride while she stirred a pot. "Nanako-chan, won't you tell Souji that dinner is soon? He's in his room."
"Please, uh, let me get cleaned up first," she answered weakly, and Aunt Seta nodded.
After washing herself as fast as she could manage and changing into clean clothes—a new bra, blouse, and skirt—she knocked on Souji's door in warning, put on a smile, and then pushed her way in.
Souji was... What was he doing? He was lying on his futon, staring at the ceiling. She looked and there was nothing on it. "Umm, champ, your mom wants you out there."
"Papa's not there..." he whispered without moving a muscle.
Her smile faded and she strode forward to sit by his side on the futon, though there wasn't much room for her. She pulled him up into a hug that he didn't resist. He wasn't crying, just... Damn, she was so helpless when it came to this! What could she do to cheer him up? Did he even want to be cheered up?
"I'm sorry... We're gonna have to go out there," she whispered. "Umm... I know I'm not your dad, but I'll be with you, okay?"
Souji sighed and pulled away from her to stand up. He walked out of the room without waiting for her.
The two adults were conversing at the table. "Ah, Souji, darling!" said Aunt Seta.
"Hey, Souji-kun! Been a while, huh?" Adachi smiled at him faintly and awkwardly.
"Y-yes, A-Adachi-san," the boy murmured, eyes downcast.
Nanako felt bad for both of them. Adachi was obviously trying. He even wore a navy blue tie today instead of that old red one.
"And Nanako-kun," Adachi continued.
Nanako inclined her head. "Adachi-san."
During dinner, Aunt Seta proceeded to tell Adachi about Nanako since she was new to the scene—mostly things he already knew or could guess at, like that she went to Yasogami High. Adachi took it all good-naturedly. He didn't mention that Nanako had entertained him a few weeks ago. Nanako caught his eyes in silent question, and it was apparently going to be their little secret.
"Yes, I hear her dad's a detective in Homicide, too," he remarked. "Maybe she can give me some tips from him, huh?"
"My brother is a bit... hard-boiled," Aunt Seta said with amusement. "I have a hard time talking with him, sometimes, because he's so straightforward. He's always been like that."
"And I'm not hard-boiled?" Adachi teased.
"Half-boiled, perhaps," said Aunt Seta, her mouth curling up.
"Soft-boiled," Nanako corrected with a snicker.
"Nanako!" Aunt Seta scolded, smiling despite herself.
Adachi just laughed. "You're as sharp as Souji-kun, huh?"
Oh? So Adachi knew Souji was a bright kid underneath his quiet hermit nature. Nanako filed that away for review later.
"My dad sees a monochrome world," Nanako described. "Really, the only reason he isn't black and white is because reality won't allow it. You know, one time for class I was supposed to draw my family and I colored everyone in except him. I left him as a sketch. The teachers weren't amused, but my mom was, and, you know, that's all that matters."
Adachi was sniggering. "I can name a few people at the office like that."
"Ah! Tell Nanako-chan about that new person," Aunt Seta requested.
"Ehhh." Adachi sighed in reluctance. "We haven't made enough progress on the case in over a month so the prefectural higher-ups brought in an outsider. Some cocky detective kid... Apparently a miracle worker of some sort. Well, we'll see, right?"
"Naoto Shirogane?" Nanako asked.
Adachi blinked at her. "Yeah, that's the name. The kicker is that he's not even going for the reward. 'The truth is its own reward' he said, or something, can you believe it? I'd work for free too if I came from a rich family. Actually, I probably wouldn't work at all, heh. As it is I'm working for peanuts."
Or maybe cabbage, Nanako thought to herself.
Aunt Seta began to talk about 'something amusing that happened at the office,' and in all honesty it wasn't all that amusing. What Nanako found amusing was that even Adachi seemed to be zoning out while she told the story. His face was definitely glazed. He did laugh politely by the end, though. "Some people, right?" he said.
"I just couldn't believe he'd do that," Aunt Seta said, and went to talk about other silly things that particular coworker did.
This time, though, Nanako became aware that Adachi had given up listening and his gaze was wandering. He looked at Souji, who was apparently absorbing every word his mother said, and he frowned a little. Then he looked at Nanako. He noticed Nanako looking back at him and raised an eyebrow playfully. When Aunt Seta laughed at her punch line, the two of them also laughed, sharing a completely different joke.
It was really too bad Aunt Seta was here; her presence kept Nanako from speaking with Adachi. She badly wanted some insider information on how the Detective Prince was approaching the murder case.
She considered it, and maybe... maybe she could invite Adachi over sometime... Souji wouldn't like that, but he'd have to get over his apprehension towards the detective eventually, and she'd do her best to help.
[5/19: Thursday]
After a long day of barely paying attention in class, Nanako and her squad were walking together out of the school, their ultimate goal Junes and the TV World—but they were interrupted.
"Excuse me, Dojima-san, I'd like to have a word."
Nanako hadn't even seen Naoto standing there by the school gates. The boy had obviously been waiting for her and had no qualms about addressing her in front of her friends. "I told you to call me... Umm..." The more-serious-than-normal look on the detective's face made her cut herself off. "Y-yeah... Uh, I mean, I'm kind of busy, but..." Wait, what was she saying? This was Naoto Shirogane! She turned to her friends. "You guys go on ahead."
"Who is that?" Yosuke asked, but Chie dragged him along and soon Nanako was alone with Naoto. Well, as alone as they could be with other students passing by. In fact, Naoto said nothing until he led her down a more deserted side road outside the school grounds.
"It seems Kanji Tatsumi has gone missing." Naoto said it neutrally, like it was a simple observation.
"I-is that so...?" Nanako said as equally neutral as she could manage.
"The police are reluctant to consider it a kidnapping, despite the evidence. It seems someone had called on the Tatsumi family at the textiles shop not long after our lunch together on Tuesday. There are signs of a struggle."
"I didn't do it!" Nanako said with a forced laugh.
Naoto didn't smile. "Do you believe that Tatsumi-kun is in the killer's clutches as we speak?"
Nanako assured him that if that was the case, Kanji couldn't be kept down for long. She scowled mostly to herself. Dammit, they had to save him. Hopefully today!
"Sedation can take out even the strongest of wills," Naoto murmured.
He was watching her far too closely! Nanako had to cut this conversation short. "Yeah... I really hope he'll be okay." There, that was simple enough and not suspicious and also a conversation-ender!
"I see," Naoto said. "Very well. Thank you for your time." The detective tipped his hat and then walked in a different direction.
Nanako slowed in her walking to think. She should've asked him for more information about the struggle in the Tatsumi residence, but Kanji needed their help now, and hopefully he'd be able to provide an even better picture of the scene. Besides, she could probably track down the detective at a later date. Or just wait for the detective to call on her again.
When she arrived at the food court, Yosuke asked her what that was about, but she waved him away and led the group into the TV World. On the way in, she noticed that Yukiko had gone without stockings today, perhaps to lessen the impact of the heat. Nanako stared for a bit, letting the girl go into the TV before her. She had nice legs.
With her mind now on such things, at the bathhouse changing room, she told Yosuke he should remove his pants. "Are you serious?" he squawked.
She pointed out how difficult they'd been for him to walk in when they became heavy with moisture. "Really, you're wearing boxers, right? I promise I won't make fun of you, even if they're Featherman themed." And she'd maybe hug him if they were Loveline themed.
He muttered with his face as red as Yukiko's sweater and then turned away from all three of them to remove his belt. He hesitated before dropping his pants, and ended up stepping out of them instead. Then he hung up the pants in one of the changing room stalls.
Boxer-briefs were apparently his underwear of choice. They were black with orange stripes. It made Nanako think of a tiger. Hmm, maybe he wasn't as boring as she'd thought.
He crossed his arms when he realized all three of them were staring at him. "Wh-what?"
Chie sighed. "We're just a little jealous that you can do that, is all."
He opened his mouth as if to protest that they could, but then thought better of it.
With that done, they continued from where they'd left off yesterday. Progress was slow, but they came upon a system that seemed to work well enough. After clearing a floor, they'd go back to the entrance and rest, mostly to breathe and cool off. Nanako had set up an ice cooler at the backlot and filled it with ice and water bottles so that they'd stay hydrated. The only problem was that it made Yosuke have to pee. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about undoing his fly every time. He did have to worry about the girls watching him, though... or at least Nanako, heh heh.
They climbed the next set of stairs and found big double doors blocking the way forward. Yes, they were at the top! Nanako called for one last break and then they were going to go in there and face it. She had a hunch that Kanji wouldn't be able to accept his Shadow on the first try. Too bad, she wanted him to get a stronger Persona like Yukiko had!
"Do you have any idea what we might find up there?" Chie asked. "I don't know anything about Kanji-kun."
"I don't think any of us know him," Yosuke said slowly. "Yukiko, you used to know him, but... he's changed, so... and you girls didn't see the Midnight Channel, so... Err... Nanako-san? I'll admit I kinda don't want to go in there."
"In middle school," said Yukiko, "he was a sweet boy. He wasn't the teacher's pet, but he was so polite and helpful. He liked to examine stuffed toys to see how they were put together. He asked me about the quality of my sweater once."
"Honestly? I don't think he's changed that much," Nanako said. "The key will be acceptance. And I'm not talking him accepting his Shadow, but I think us accepting him."
"R-right," said Chie. She took a swig from a water bottle and then crushed it much like a Persona card. "Let's do this!"
The chamber was tiled and filled with the sound of running water. Throughout the bathhouse they hadn't seen any baths; apparently they were all hiding here.
Standing before them, facing his Shadow in its fundoshi, was Kanji, looking both dazed and confused. "The hell's going on here?" he muttered.
"Oh, darling, guests!" The Shadow noticed them and strode forward. "Mmm… Ladies, did you not read the sign? 'Men only'... Oh, but there is a man, and would you look at that, he is ready to par-tay!"
The Shadow slowly looked Yosuke up and down, purring, noting in particular his boxer-briefs. Yosuke squeezed his legs together and hunched his body to make himself look small, as if he could hide in plain sight. The Shadow shook its head and clicked its tongue. "He's not our type at all."
Yosuke sagged in relief. Nanako had the feeling he had been about to run and hide behind her.
The real Kanji stared at them. "The hell are you doing here? What is that... that thing... with my face?"
"Oh, to be called a thing!" the Shadow wailed in over exaggerated disappointment. "Darling, I am you, I know all about you. How girls frighten you like no other!"
"It ain't like that!" Kanji shouted.
Nanako thought of intervening, but she decided that like Yosuke, Kanji probably needed this. Telling him he had to accept it, well... in front of all of them, it wasn't going to happen.
She signaled to the others to prepare themselves as Kanji vehemently denied his other self.
As Kanji collapsed, the Shadow drew power to itself and grew into a very muscular man with a wreath of roses around its neck. It carried two large metal Mars symbols, one in each hand. Its face even had makeup on. The symbolism… was a bit much.
Two slightly smaller—they were still taller than anyone on the team—but equally muscular monochrome man-like Shadows appeared at either side.
There was an urgent problem: Kanji had fallen right in the midst of the enemies. Nanako immediately ordered Yosuke to help her drag the boy to the sidelines and asked the girls to watch their backs. Yukiko fired up her Persona, and Chie caught one of the Shadows' attention and began to lead it away from the group.
The other Shadow focused on Nanako even as she was pulling Kanji out of danger. It was... god, it was huge and hulking and only wearing underwear, like Yosuke, and it kept stopping to flex its muscles every other step, but unlike Yosuke it actually had muscles to flex.
It was gaining on them. Nanako let go of Kanji to bring up her naginata, but before she could attack, Yosuke had rushed forward and sideswiped the Shadow, cutting at its arm with his dagger. The Shadow angrily turned and ran after him, leaving Nanako alone with Kanji.
She wouldn't be able to move Kanji on her own—he weighed too much. They were probably far enough away from the battlefield, though. She and Yosuke had managed to drag him between two of the baths.
"Ngh... The hell's going on?" Kanji mumbled. He tried to lift his head.
Apparently he wasn't unconscious! "Kanji-kun! Are you okay?"
"S...Senpai...? I can't get up," he said weakly. Probably his Shadow still running rampant was taking some of his energy. Nanako glanced over the battlefield. Her friends seemed to be holding their own for the time being.
"Kanji-kun," she said briskly. "Let's talk about you. You're confused about whether you like girls or boys, huh?"
"What... Y-you got that wrong! 'Course I like girls!" Kanji growled.
"Do you see what's going on out there?" She lifted Kanji's head so that he could see the battlefield. Well, it was actually pretty hard to tell what was going on. Chie's Persona was swinging at one of the musclemen, Yosuke had whipped up some wind that spread rose petals from Kanji's Shadow through the air around them, and Yukiko had thrown her fan and missed and was now trying to pick it up.
Nanako pointed out the primary Shadow and told him that it had come from him.
"No friggin' way," he muttered.
"You know, Kanji-kun. It's okay to be confused. But also... it's okay to like boys!"
"I don't!" he shouted, and Nanako winced because at the same moment Yukiko was caught by one of the Mars symbols and flung into one of the baths right next to them. Hot water splashed over Nanako. Her bra was already soaked from sweat, but the warmth made it far more unpleasant.
"Listen, Kanji-kun! Because I... I like girls!" Nanako declared. "And boys, too. And everything in between! I'm not picky."
"She really isn't," Yukiko confirmed. "She's always talking about threesomes. It's quite shocking. She seems so innocent!" She pulled herself out of the bath and summoned her Persona to dry herself off with its fire.
"I seem innocent?" Nanako gave her a funny look, and then a completely different look because with the light from the fire on her... wow! And to see her hair and clothes so wet...! Nanako blinked and turned back to Kanji. "Uh, but the point is that even though other people might not like it, what matters is what you think! You told me yourself not to take crap from anyone! You gotta take your own advice."
Kanji just looked at her.
"You like boys, you like girls, you don't know what you like," Nanako went on. "It's okay. Maybe... maybe we can be friends and we'll find out together, huh?"
"Nanako has helped Chie and me," Yukiko said. "We're really grateful to her. She'll help you, too. Umm... I think they need me." She ran towards the battle and summoned her Persona to refresh Yosuke, who'd slipped on the wet floor when trying to avoid an attack.
Nanako looked, but she couldn't see Chie anymore. Yosuke had returned to his feet, but was now being ganged up on by both Kanji's Shadow and one of the musclemen. When he tried to escape, he took a punch to the gut and crumpled to the tiled floor. Kanji's Shadow began to aim the pointy end of one of the Mars symbols right at his crotch.
"Err, if you could accept that," she said, "it'd be really great...!"
"Senpai... Yeah... I think I got it." Kanji pulled himself up to his feet. "Stop it right now!" he shouted, waving his arms at the Shadows.
To Nanako's surprise—and Yosuke's good fortune—Kanji's Shadow, still in its monster form, actually stopped. "D-darling!" it squealed. "You've reconsidered?"
Kanji stomped forward to stand right before it. He glared up at it. "Yeah. Maybe I ain't certain what I want... I'm just sick as hell of being judged. Idiots always thinking I'm a gangster or some shit... I want people to like me for me."
The Shadow blew him a kiss and then transformed into a Persona in a flash of light. It was a large black mecha with a skeleton painted on its body. It carried a massive metal lightning bolt reminiscent of the Mars symbols.
"Take-Mikazuchi, huh... Senpai..." Kanji fell weakly to his knees.
Nanako stepped towards him, but Yosuke was already there helping him back to his feet. Huh, that was fast; she hadn't even seen Yosuke get up! "Nanako," he said, "let's get the big guy out of here."
After finding Chie—she'd been at the very far end of the chamber since that's where she had lured one of the musclemen—and ensuring Yukiko was all right, they returned to the backlot. Nanako was about to go back to the bathhouse's changing room to recover her blouse and school jacket when she saw Yosuke guide Kanji through the exit TV and then crawl through it himself. His boxer-briefs caught on the TV's frame and were nearly pulled off. Nanako gave his butt about a six and a half out of ten.
"Yosuke, you might wanna come back and get your clothes!" she called through the TV.
"Oh, crap!" His voice was muffled like it came from far away.
She scanned the sky and kept one eye on the TV stack. She'd always wanted to see from this side what it looked like when someone came through!
"B-Boss!"
"Not now, Teddie," she said, not moving a muscle. "This is important."
"But Boss!" The bear moved in front of her, waving his stubby arms and thoroughly blocking her view. "Boss! That's a really small shirt! What happened to your normal clothes?"
"Teddie, I swear to god—"
"You rescued someone, yes? I smelled him here, but now he's gone! Did I miss him? Oh, I wanted to meet Boss's new friend! I made glasses for him, just like you asked!"
"Huh? Ted? Where have you been?"
"Yosuke! Where are your clothes!?" the bear cried.
Yosuke was already through the TV. Nanako sighed to herself. This particular mystery would apparently remain unsolved for now.
[AN: After this, we really can't go back to the innocence we had before...
It's part of my headcanon that Yosuke has tiger-striped boxer-briefs and wears tiger-striped pajamas at night. I don't know exactly where that idea came from, but he likes the color orange, so... heh.
And yeah, our Nanako is special. A running joke my coauthor and I have is that the primary ship is Nanako/Everyone.
Next Chapter: Suspicious Prince
Nanako visits Kanji to learn about his kidnapping. Coincidentally, so does someone else.]