[Summary: Nanako and Naoto map out the range of the TV World's influence in Inaba. The Squad splits up to monitor traffic throughout town, and Yosuke makes a big mistake with Souji-kun.]
[6/23: Thursday]
Just as he'd promised, Naoto was waiting for Nanako by the school gates on his motorized bicycle. It was a sleek bike with a blue frame. The frame extended over the rear tire, allowing room for a passenger in the back. A wooden box was attached to the front of the bike, but it was closed at the moment.
Naoto inclined his head in greeting. He was wearing an undecorated metal helmet. His clothes were the same aqua shirt and yellow tie as he'd been wearing on Tuesday. "Nanako-san."
"Shirogane-san!" Nanako enthused. "How are we going to do this?"
The detective handed her a helmet that matched his and then opened the wooden box on the bike. He took out a small LCD television screen and asked her to try putting her hand in it. She did it covertly, since there were other students leaving the school around them. It went through the screen with no difficulty.
Naoto stared at her hand for a moment before clearing his throat and speaking. "We will head west, and every mile we will stop and try until you can no longer... do that." He moved onto his bike and indicated that Nanako should get on behind him. The metal frame wasn't very comfortable to sit on, but Nanako bore it because she was going to be riding with the Detective Prince! She hoped he was a good driver, unlike, well, Yosuke. Oh, man, what if Yosuke saw them...? He'd be so jealous.
...Now Nanako wanted to squeeze up right against Naoto's back! But she wasn't sure she could do it without being creepy. At the same time, if she could get away with it, she didn't care if it was creepy at all.
"Are you ready?" Naoto asked. "You can hold on, if you feel the need."
Did she ever! She put her hands firmly on Naoto's sides. Gosh, this boy had a thin body frame. She'd wanted more time to marvel at the fact that she was touching him, but then he started pedaling.
Despite the bike being motorized, they weren't going very fast. In fact, Nanako didn't really even need to hold on to him, but of course she continued to do so anyway. No point denying it now.
They drew to a stop just a short while later. Naoto handed her the small TV and she put her hand in without any problem, and soon they were off again.
To while away the time between stops, she began to talk to him. "Shirogane-san, are you curious about what's in there? In the TV?"
"Yes?" Naoto moved his head slightly, but kept his eyes on the road. At this proximity, she could see how steely gray they were. Very similar to Souji's, in fact. "Is there something more you have yet to tell me?"
"I said that the TV World is dangerous, but I never really told you why." Nanako went on to explain the disorienting feeling of falling into the TV, and how the fog obscured their vision and tired their bodies.
"I've noticed that," he said. "When running some simple tests on the samples of fog you gave me. Looking at it for too long gave me nothing short of a headache. But when I worked with the glasses on, I had a much easier time. It was very strange, to say the least. I thought it was psychological, but I like to believe that I'm above mind tricks of that sort."
"Yeah, the glasses are important. Without them, we got tired easily in there, like we were trying to jog at a higher elevation than our bodies were used to. A lot of things don't make very much sense in there. The sky, for example, is just a bunch of red and black lines spiraling around in a vortex. There doesn't seem to be a sun, or any light source, but it's still light enough for us to see."
"Red and black lines?" he repeated. He looked up at the sky as if imagining that, but it was a cloudy day. "Our sky is blue due to light scattering. It should not be possible for it to be two distinct colors like that. And spiraling?"
"You can get dizzy watching it!"
He pulled to a stop so that they could test the television once again. While she had her hand in the TV, he asked, "So the danger in this TV World is the exhaustion?"
"It's part of it. The true danger is the Shadows." Nanako emphasized the word so that he would catch that it was a proper noun. "When you enter the TV World, your suppressed emotions can leak out and give rise to a doppelganger, a thing that takes on your form. It's not you, but it is you at the same time."
"That is an oxymoron, Nanako-san," he pointed out. He mounted the bike and indicated she should get back on.
"I-I'm not done explaining it, Shirogane-san!" she protested. She put her hands on his sides in subtle retaliation. "This Shadow comes from you, and so it knows your deepest, darkest secrets, and attacks you with that knowledge. It looks like you, and it surprises you, and you don't want to hear any of the words it says, so you deny it, and then it really attacks with the intent to kill." She explained that it had happened to all of her friends, except Yukiko who had been able to accept her Shadow.
"So the TV World has a psychological element to it as well," he mused. "I recall you said that the world forms these dungeons that are based on the victim's psyche."
"There are other Shadows, too," Nanako added, "normal Shadows that aren't doppelgangers. They're like monsters, but they come from human minds too. Or at least, that's what we think. Like, Kanji-kun has problems with the police, and his dungeon created Shadows that look vaguely like policemen. They're what's dangerous—they attack people, and unlike the doppelganger Shadows, they can't be reasoned with. If you can't destroy them, they will kill you."
Naoto's eyes widened and he slowed in pedaling. "Do you mean to say that every time you go into the TV World, you are fighting for your lives? Did I send you into danger in asking you to map it out?"
She shook her head. "The Shadows tend to stay in the dungeons, so we were fine. Not only that, we aren't defenseless. I mean, I have Izanami and my naginata. I know how to defend myself."
"You have what...?"
Nanako laughed lightly. Yeah, this was going to take a while...
"So your Persona is with you right now...?" Naoto asked.
They'd mapped out half of Inaba. The cut off point had been outside the city limits, in the middle of a field with some leafy crops in it. While riding with him, Nanako had told him all about Personas, Shadows, Teddie—almost everything. Now they were at the top of a cliff that overlooked the town. The buildings far below them were casting long shadows; the sun was starting to set. They were stopping for the day and planned to finish the job tomorrow.
"Yep. I can feel her there," Nanako said, tapping the side of her head, "along with the others, but I can't bring any of them out here in the real world."
"You should try it on a foggy day," he suggested with a wry smile. "Perhaps the fog is a catalyst."
"Yeah, but we know it's not the same fog."
"That's true..." He sighed and shifted his weight against the guard rail. "To think that someone is selling weapons to high schoolers. That sounds both highly dangerous and highly illegal."
"Don't forget the armor!"
"Of course. May I ask why a naginata? There are weapons with more stopping power. A gun, for example." Yes, she had noticed early in the ride today that the detective was packing heat. The boy's gun holster was hidden under his aqua shirt.
"Well, guns are definitely illegal!" she said. "I wouldn't ask Daidara-san for that. I don't know if he can make a gun, anyway... but knowing him, he probably could. Anyway, the naginata just felt right. Like I used it a long, long time ago, or something. And I'm pretty good with it! Well, when I'm not dropping it, heh."
"Your skill with a naginata must be a sight to behold," Naoto murmured. "Forgive me if I don't ask for a demonstration."
Nanako laughed and patted his shoulder in a friendly way. "I'm surprised you're so reasonable about this! You know, Shirogane-san, I wonder what your Shadow would say."
"I have my own insecurities," he admitted, "but with luck, they won't surface anytime soon. I don't intend to be a target. I must admit that the TV World fascinates me, but I would still prefer to stay in the realm that I know."
"I'll take care of the TV World, I promise!"
She saluted him, and as he looked back, that shattering sound filled her head. Fortune. She decided that instead of messing with the Detective Prince, she'd rather keep watching the sun slowly disappearing behind the faraway mountains and enjoy the moment with him.
[6/26: Sunday]
The plans to watch traffic had been delayed to Sunday due to a heavy thunderstorm taking place on Saturday. On the bright side, although the Midnight Channel had aired, no one had been depicted on it—only a blank screen. According to Yosuke, there had been nothing of interest in the news lately: no TV interviews or special reports.
Nanako split everyone into teams: Chie would go with Yukiko and stay near the road by the Amagi Inn. Yosuke would take Souji and observe the vehicles near Junes and its parking lot. That's right, Souji was on the case now, too.
"What do you think, partner? You wanna hang out with me all day?" Yosuke asked. In lieu of an answer, Souji took his hand, and then they were off to Junes, their appointed location.
Yep, Nanako thought, watching them go—it would be a fun day out for him!
She turned to Chie and Yukiko and told them not to get too distracted. Chie frowned at the comment. "What do you mean?"
"Hot springs, duh," said Nanako. "I know Yukiko's invited you before."
"Sheesh, Nanako!" Chie said. "Is that all you think about?"
"Yes," Nanako replied, and stuck her tongue out at her playfully.
Chie shook her head and then took Yukiko towards the nearest bus stop.
Now Nanako was alone; Naoto and Kanji had already been off before the group met. They were going to watch traffic across the bridge over the Samegawa.
She sighed. Her task was the central shopping district... Gas station part-time job, go... It was great that she could earn money while investigating, but...
Izaya didn't seem to be present, and the gas station was fairly busy compared to how it was during the week, so Nanako actually had to do her job and pump gas and clean windows and whatever else the customers wanted. Every time a truck stopped by, she found it on her clipboard which held a copy of the list of trucks in Inaba and marked the time, the direction the vehicle headed off after stopping, and what service the driver had wanted.
"I think your shift is over, my friend. And yet you're still here."
I'm not your friend, Izaya-san. "I was hoping to work a double shift," she claimed. "I bought a birthday gift for someone this week and I need to make up the money!"
"Is that so? Well, I could always use your assistance..."
With Izaya around, it was much easier for her to give attention to her clipboard—she had missed a truck earlier, despite her best efforts. However, she caught Izaya looking over shoulder once, and she didn't really know how to explain what she was doing. Her impromptu explanation was that she was working on a school project. He seemed incurious after that.
The job had been rather uneventful until she overheard a couple bickering over the beer the husband had bought from the convenience store. She was cleaning the window of a car when she noticed that Izaya, who was working across from her, had stopped in mid-wipe. He was shooting the arguing couple an unfriendly look. "They won't remain together much longer," he commented.
"If they get drunk together, it might be okay," Nanako said. "He did buy a lot of alcohol, after all."
"I wonder how long they've been together," he mused.
"Well, I don't see any kids."
"As if it matters. Even the most loving of partnerships can end in bitter betrayal," Izaya finished.
He wasn't listening to her at all. Nanako watched in fascination as Izaya quietly reminisced.
"Men are terrible," he muttered.
"Uh, Izaya-san...?"
"Revenge is a dish best served cold, don't you think?" His red eyes glittered strangely at her. She sensed that he might be testing her.
But even Kanji had said his goal in capturing the killer wasn't revenge. "Justice is more important," she told him.
"Oh? And if the vengeance is justified?"
"I... I think I need more details, Izaya-san," she said carefully. "What happened to you that you'd want to get revenge for?"
"To me?" Izaya shook his head and chuckled. "It was just a question. I was... curious how you'd respond."
She didn't believe him for a second. She wondered what sort of betrayal he'd been through. Business or romance? It was hard to say. She couldn't imagine him in a relationship with anyone she knew.
"It's easy to pass judgment, Izaya-san," she finally said, "when you aren't the person who's been hurt. I could tell you to let it go, that revenge would only lead to more revenge, but I'm not sure I'd even be able to do that myself, depending on how hurt I'd been."
He smiled at her, and for once it seemed more smile than smirk. "You're honest, Nanako. I like that. It'll be interesting to see..." He trailed off as a scooter approached.
"Aika-chan!" said Nanako. "You need gas?"
The helmeted girl on the scooter nodded. "All the way."
After servicing Aika's scooter and seeing the delivery girl off, Nanako returned to Izaya's side, but the man was done talking. He seemed to be brooding. She tried chatting with him about the weather, but all he did was scowl at the cloudy sky. "No rain today. You should have been here yesterday. The storm was glorious."
"Yeah, I kinda stayed home all day," she said, "and did my homework. Rain's fun to listen to, made it relaxing, I'll give you that much. By the way, Izaya-san, I think if you glare at the clouds long enough, you might be able to intimidate them into raining."
He pulled his gaze from the sky to look at her, and then burst out laughing. His entire body shook with such force that he had to hold onto the nearest gas pump to keep his balance. Tears began to roll down from his eyes as he continued to laugh.
Uh, her comment hadn't been that funny!
"Oh, dear," he said while wiping his eyes. "Ah..."
She scratched her head at him. His laughter was... creepy, but it cheered her up somehow. Like the sun had suddenly pierced through the clouds, even though it totally hadn't. He was such a weird guy, but not that bad, not really.
As the afternoon wore on, the traffic began to slow down, and soon enough she received a call from Naoto requesting her to collect the data from her friends and bring it to him. She sent a group text to everyone else to meet at the flood plain. Since she was already at the shopping district, she brought some takeout so that they could have an unplanned picnic.
She found Chie, Kanji, Yosuke, and Souji standing near the picnic table, apparently discussing their results. She joined them and asked for a report.
Chie told her that Yukiko had stayed at the inn. "There wasn't much traffic out there, honestly. It's a bit far from town. But here's what we got, anyway."
Nanako took the checklist from her, and yeah, there weren't too many trucks marked on it. But she didn't care if the results didn't pan out—since the culprit had struck twice there, the Amagi Inn was a very important location.
She turned to Yosuke next—Kanji didn't really have to report to her since he'd been working with Naoto, and she'd see the detective later.
"We had to move a little bit away from Junes," Yosuke said. "It bothered my dad to see me around but not working for him. He didn't want to believe that I was babysitting, even with the evidence."
"Hmm... Souji-kun, did you have fun?" she asked.
"Y-yeah!" the boy said. "I told him all about the t-rex that's big as Junes!"
"Kid loves dinosaurs," Yosuke said with a smile. "He did get restless after a bit, so we walked around. He can be bossy, too, did you know that? He wouldn't follow me, I had to follow him!"
"D-didn't want to go where you were going..." Souji murmured.
"I guess he doesn't like going near the police station," Yosuke added. "I thought we could go around there since it's on the same road that Junes is on, but, err... Nanako?"
"The... the police station?" she repeated. "You were going to take Souji-kun to the police station."
"Well, it's a busy enough place, so I thought, err..." He stopped, puzzled at her furious expression, and then it finally dawned on him. He took a step back. "Oh! Oh crap! I... I didn't mean to..."
"Yeah," Nanako said. "Yeah, whatever."
Souji was looking down at his feet. She gently took him by the arm and led him to the picnic table and sat down with him. She wrapped her arm around him with one hand and silently began to pass out the takeout boxes with the other.
Chie gave Yosuke a hard look before taking a seat. Kanji glanced between them in confusion, then shrugged and took his box and sat next to Chie.
"W-well, umm," Yosuke said, standing there awkwardly. "We ended up going north a bit instead, closer to our school. The warabimochi truck came by and I bought him some." He sounded like he was asking if he'd done at least something right.
"Did you get the truck's number?" Nanako asked, not looking at him.
"I... I did, actually," Yosuke replied emphatically. "But I kinda doubt the culprit would use such a conspicuous truck."
"If it's the guy I'm thinking of," Kanji interjected, "he's been selling warabimochi out of that truck since the dawn of time."
"And Souji-kun, did you like the warabimochi that Yosuke got you?"
The boy nodded. "It was sweet and... I liked it."
"Well, I guess that's good," Nanako said with a sniff.
"Wish that dude would come by now," Kanji said. "It's the greatest!"
"Just eat your hiyashi chuka!" Nanako growled. "I bought it for you myself!"
"It doesn't have enough meat," Chie complained. "You ordered from Aiya but got a chicken dish? Nanako, you really are something special. I mean, chicken's fine, but I'd rather have beef!"
Nanako glared at her, but Chie had a teasing smile on and was totally eating the food anyway. She was trying to lighten up the mood. Nanako shook her head and yelled at everyone to eat, too pissed at Yosuke to really care.
[AN: Warabimochi is a sweet snack that's most popular in the Kansai region of Japan. It's apparently like a jelly and often eaten during the summer months.
Thanks again kuroXIII and emelian65 for leaving reviews~
kuroXIII - yes, I can't resist making Yosuke and Souji-kun become friends, hehe...
emelian65 - I really don't know, but I think it has more to do with the game's plot getting in the way than anything. Like, the developers wanted Ken to join the party, but they didn't want child Nanako to join, so they just made it so that she couldn't.
Next Chapter: Creamy Skies
Nanako checks in with Saki-senpai, among other things.]