Nanako Explains It All

by Angevon

Nanako Dojima is a sixteen-year-old transfer student to Inaba. She awakens to the mysterious power of 'Persona' and then rocks everyone's world. Character Swap AU: Nanako is the protagonist, and Souji is her little cousin. Other changes have occurred as well! [Both 'Souji' and 'Yu' versions are available!]

44. Chapter 44 - Scattering Ashes

[Summary: Freedom. Impulse. Revenge. Orgia. Discourse. Perfection. BRANDY.]

---

[9/3: Saturday]

The next morning saw Nanako feeling much better. Rise's silhouette had been on the Midnight Channel, and Yosuke had even texted her about it (though he'd called her 'Risette'). They were right on the money, though Nanako didn't allow herself to feel too proud of it, considering what had happened with Naoto.

But maybe she didn't look all that much better, because she caught Souji trying to sneak a cookie into her school bag. She'd thought they'd eaten all of them by now, but apparently not.

"I-I was saving it for you," Souji stammered, trying to hide the cookie behind his back. "W-wanted it to be... a surprise."

"Just the fact that you thought of me cheers me up," she told him, picking him up in a sweeping embrace and rubbing her nose with his. "But that's your cookie. Unless... why don't we split it in half?"

The good thing about pterodactyls was that with their big wings, the cookie was easy to split into two big chunks. She wrapped each half of the cookie in plastic and stuffed hers in her skirt's pocket for later.

"By the way, Sou-chan~" she sang while putting the cookie into his backpack. "You can see your partner whenever you want, okay? I know it's been a while."

The boy perked up. "O-oh! Umm... do you think he can go training with Chie-san? Tomorrow... It's Sunday, but... we haven't done that in f-forever..."

"Our training sessions are supposed to be a girl's day out!" Nanako said. "But then again, we've invited Shirogane-san, haven't we?"

"Ah," said Naoto, looking for all the world like it was the last thing on his mind. "If you insist..."

"I don't know." Nanako stroked her chin in thought. "If we all get together for that, we might as well train in... well, you know. But if you wanna be a tough detective, we've gotta build you up some muscle."

Naoto's eyes narrowed, and for a moment Nanako worried about his response, but then he nodded. "Yes, that's true. I won't be taken by surprise again. Yes, I'll join you and Chie-san."

"All right," Nanako said, somewhat uncertainly, because with Naoto's determination, she had no excuse to be lazy herself. Hopefully it wouldn't come down to running with Chie every morning before school. She wasn't sure she could survive that!

"Oh, big sis!" Souji interrupted her thoughts. "The mail... a package came for you yesterday." He hustled to the low cabinet in the kitchen where he'd hidden the package away and retrieved it.

"Thanks, Sou-chan," she said, accepting it.

Ah, it was probably that knife from Tanaka's Amazing Commodities. She didn't open the package. Hmm... should she give it to Yosuke now that he was back on the team? She kind of wanted to keep it as a backup weapon like she'd planned.

But maybe she could use a switchblade or brass knuckles instead. No one would expect better of her, that's for sure.

She went upstairs and set the box on the table in her room to deal with later.

---

Second period was only half-over when the school's PA system sounded out.

Nanako Dojima, please come to the faculty office. Your aunt is on the phone.

Nanako felt everyone's eyes on her, and an embarrassed blush came to her face. What the heck could the woman want? Aunt Seta knew her cell number... The puppet in Mr. Hosoi's hand told her to get a move on, so she headed out of the classroom.

She hesitated before opening the door to the faculty office, scowling at the thought that Mr. Morooka's desk was probably repurposed by now. With a sigh she opened the door and found a school administrator whose name she did not know talking to someone on the phone. The man's eyes brightened to see her. "Dojima?" he asked. "Your aunt."

She nodded and took the phone from him. "Uh, hello?"

"Nanako-chan!" Aunt Seta said warmly. "How are you today?"

"Fine?" Nanako answered in a 'what is all this about?' sort of voice.

"I'm just calling to check up on you," Aunt Seta explained. "After the other day, you understand. The school called me, so I thought I could get ahead and call the school instead."

Nanako smiled into the phone. Aunt Seta cared enough to call like this? She was flattered. "Yeah," she said. "I'm fine. And thanks for the takeout. It was great."

"All right, then. Have a good day at school, all right? Don't hesitate to call if you need me."

"S-sure," Nanako said. "Umm... good luck at work!"

Nanako cradled the phone, feeling happy. She returned to class with a definite spring to her step.

---

At lunch, when the three girls turned their desks together, Nanako turned her own desk to the side, pushed Chie's back a bit with her foot, and then pulled Yosuke's forward, even with the boy still sitting in it. Yosuke looked surprised, but she was smiling at him, and he grinned sheepishly in response.

"Yosuke?" Chie asked, taken somewhat aback at the sight of him interacting with Nanako. "Huh. Welcome back!"

"Yeah, hi," Yosuke said, scratching the back of his neck.

"You're back...?" Yukiko murmured, partially to herself, but everyone heard her.

"Yeah," he said.

"I hardly noticed you were gone," Yukiko added.

"Ouch," he said, but he chuckled after.

"Yeah," said Nanako. "Yosuke's back. I've already got him up to speed. By the way, you know Rise-san was on the Midnight Channel. This time," she began, but then she sighed. "Well, I can't know for sure, but this time the kidnapper should be thwarted since she's out of town and TVs don't work out there."

"They don't?" Yosuke asked.

Ah, maybe she hadn't got him a hundred percent up to speed. There was just so much going on.

"I'll send you a map of the TV World's influence. It's only Inaba that has access to it, apparently."

"I wonder how long the Midnight Channel will keep showing her until it gives up," Chie said.

That was a good question. "Maybe when the TV news stops talking about her," Nanako suggested. "I suppose we'll find out. I mean, we've never been successful at preventing a kidnapping before."

"I'm worried that the killer won't give up that easily," Yosuke said. "Finding her out of town and then drugging her until he's brought her back into town so that he can put her in the TV doesn't seem impossible."

"It seems like a lot of effort just to keep his MO," Nanako said, "but I don't disagree. However, Shirogane-san assures me that he'll know immediately if something happens to Rise. I didn't press him for details."

"I wonder if it'll be over before the school trip," Yosuke mused.

"What school trip?" Nanako asked, wide-eyed. This was the first she'd heard of it!

"Next Thursday we're going to Tatsumi Port Island," Chie explained. "It's part of the cultural exchange program."

"Didn't that place have that weird mind disease a few years ago?" Nanako frowned. "Sounds like the perfect vacation destination."

"Yeah, well, it's not really a vacation. We're going to visit a private school and get lessons there."

"Well, a change of scenery is always nice, and it's not like I'm attached to any of our teachers," Nanako said, but she slowed down as she said it. That hadn't always been true. She sighed. "I wonder if the Midnight Channel airs outside Inaba. Though it might not rain when we're there. Why is this all localized to Inaba anyway? Did something important happen here?"

"Oh, like a mass murder?" Yukiko suggested. "The ghosts of the fallen are causing all this trouble with the TV?"

"Y-Yukiko!" Chie said in a high-pitched voice. "That's terrible! And it hasn't happened! ...Has it?"

"I dunno," Nanako said. "You tell me!"

"And the burial site is Junes," Yosuke said. "It only makes sense with how evil everyone thinks it is. Besides, weird things are always happening there."

"Like a bin of pink speedos moving from the back of the store to the front in the space of an hour?" Nanako joked.

Yosuke gave her a wide-eyed look. "H-how did you...!" he spluttered, and Nanako laughed, guilty as charged.

"Ahem," Nanako said. "So how long is this trip, anyway? Better not be a week or something."

"We leave Thursday and come back Saturday. So we still have Sunday off!" Chie sounded excited about that.

"We'll probably need it to recover. Even a small trip is draining, and that place is a few hours away right?" Nanako hmm'd to herself. "Three days. I don't like being gone three days like that. Not when Rise-san is on the Midnight Channel. Is everyone going?"

"The first and second years, I think," said Yosuke.

"I guess Saki-senpai can keep an eye on things." Nanako wasn't satisfied by that, but what choice did they have? "Say, Yukiko," she said, changing the subject slightly, "I bet you're excited, eh? Tatsumi Port Island is a big city!"

"Oh, yes," Yukiko breathed. "I want to see the tallest buildings they have! And the busiest avenues!"

"We should go clubbing," Nanako said. "A long time ago, I told Yosuke I'd take him—but I never got around to it. Sorry, man."

Yosuke looked uncertain now. "Clubbing, with you? I don't know, Nanako. Knowing you, it wouldn't be a normal club, would it?"

"Heh heh. That's right, I'm taking you to an all boys club."

Yosuke's expression flattened until she told him that she was kidding (even though she wasn't).

"Speaking of boys," Nanako went on. "Don't look now, but a cutie just walked into the room."

Both Chie and Yosuke frowned and glanced towards the door in the back of the room. The guy in glasses was returning from today's lunch date with Kanji. Nanako idly wondered what they'd eaten together today. Naoto hadn't texted her about it today, maybe because of her lack of response yesterday.

"Yeah, glasses are always good."

Nanako whipped her head around faster than anyone could blink, because it was Yosuke who'd just said that!

She decided not to call him out on it, opting instead to send him a sincere smile.

---

[9/4: Sunday]

Nanako, Chie, Souji, and Naoto were at the grassy flood plain preparing to start a long day of training. It was a scorcher of a day, so Nanako had brought a cooler full of ice, water bottles, and sports drinks. She sat on top of it now, kicking her legs. The action was kind of hampered by the long skirt.

"Shirogane-san, you wanna learn some aikido?" Nanako asked. "I mean, I'm not an expert or anything, but I've already taught Chie some."

"Yup," Chie said. "It's been pretty useful on some of the—"

The girl cut herself off, glancing at Souji. He didn't need to know that they fought Shadows!

"The reflex training is great!" Chie rallied on. "One time Ichijo-kun threw a ball at me and I hit it back like this!" She punched the air, shouting something like, "Hwataaah!"

"And then what happened?" Nanako asked. "Did it hit Kou-kun where it matters?"

"Well, my aim isn't quite that good," Chie said, rubbing her shoe's toe on the ground bashfully.

"Then I think we have something to work on today," Nanako declared with a grin.

Naoto wore a tight little smile. "I'd appreciate any training,"

"...Can... can I learn, too?" Souji spoke up to ask.

"Of course!"

After laying down foam mats on the grass, Nanako turned on some music from her phone and set them to practice footwork drills until they worked up a healthy sweat. It was dance music because it was kind of like they were dancing!

"I don't think your sensei would approve of Caramelldansen, Nanako," Chie said.

Nanako just stuck her tongue out at her.

"Big sis... this song, it's not in Japanese," Souji observed. "Umm... we danced to this in class once before."

"Show me!" Nanako demanded, and the little boy sheepishly put his hands up to his head and mimicked animal ears with them while he swayed his body to the song.

Nanako joined him and soon all four of them were dancing to the song and displaying varying degrees of embarrassment.

When the song was over, it was time to get serious. Nanako started Souji off with forward somersaults, and he went at it with so much enthusiasm that he rolled himself right off the foam mat and onto the grass. Now grass and dirt were sticking all over his clothes. It was a good thing she'd given him some play clothes to wear. It reminded her of Golden Week. He'd been so afraid to dirty his clothes back then!

"Can you go backwards now?" she asked him when he returned to the mat.

His grin faded into a look of concentration. He carefully fell onto his back... but he didn't have any momentum to turn it into a roll. When she pointed out that he'd have to sit back up and then roll quickly, he seemed intimidated by the very idea, so she demonstrated, first by explaining how he should use his shoulders and not let his head touch the ground, and then by performing the roll herself, not caring if anyone around saw up her skirt—but she ended up falling over halfway through the roll.

"I-I guess it's harder than I thought," she admitted with a grin.

He did a forward roll right into her lap and then gave her a hug to cheer her up. What a darling!

She used to be able to do this no problem, though—she was just out of practice. She carefully pushed the boy out of her lap and told him she'd try again. And this time it worked! She even landed it by ending up on her knees in a kneeling position instead of flat on her butt.

"Your turn, Sou-chan! Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall," she promised.

She hovered near him in case she'd have to help him up, but he followed her example and performed the roll almost flawlessly. Although he was smiling from her praise, he admitted that he didn't like going backwards as much.

"We'll keep practicing," she told him, "and we'll both get so good that it'll be easy-peasy!"

While they worked on that, Chie taught Naoto some of her techniques on the mat next to them. It turned out that Naoto had a surprisingly powerful kick.

"You could do some real damage with these!" Chie exclaimed, indicating the detective's boots.

"Th-that is the intent," Naoto stammered in a way that meant it was totally not. Anyone could tell the soles were thick for the added height.

"Try a roundhouse," Chie suggested. "Like I told you!"

Naoto moved into a karate guard stance as if he was a professional at it, raised his arms, then brought his leg up and to the side. He kicked this leg forward, pivoting on his grounded foot. After delivering the kick to the air, he pulled the leg back and returned to guard position.

Chie clapped her hands. "Something gets hit by that, they'll be on the ground in no time," she praised. "Do you wanna learn some other kicks, or should we work on guarding now? You know, I never thought I'd be a teacher!"

"Why not?" said Nanako. She was taking a break from doing rolls with Souji by drinking a sports drink to rehydrate herself. She made sure Souji was drinking enough, too. Souji was so sweaty by now that his gray hair had become a darker hue.

"Can you imagine someone calling me 'sensei'?" Chie scoffed at the very idea. "That's plain ridiculous."

"Chie-sensei," Souji said. The look on his face was dead serious.

Chie waved her hands and told him not to do that again. She was totally blushing. It was cute.

"You could found your own dojo out here," Nanako suggested. "Though I'm sure it's easier said than done. I bet you'd have to go to school for it."

"There are likely licenses required as well," Naoto added.

"M-maybe," Chie said. "This training is more fulfilling for myself. I don't know if I'd want to make a job out of it, you know?"

"Orrrr," Nanako went on, "you can always teach private lessons at Yukiko's inn. If she ends up taking it over, you could run a business on the side from there."

If she ends up taking it over, Nanako repeated in her mind, remembering how Yukiko hadn't been keen on it a few months ago. Man, she hadn't talked to the girl about that since... since Morooka died.

Chie seemed to be thinking seriously about that, perhaps imagining how that would work. Then she shook her head. "W-well, that's too far ahead! I'd rather we worry about the near future. I mean, we're only second years."

"Indeed you are," said Naoto, the detective who was a first year with a fulfilling career.

"And what do you plan to do with your life, anyway, Nanako?" Chie challenged.

Nanako blinked rapidly. The question had been turned on her, and... she didn't really know!

Before coming to Inaba, she'd wanted to be a detective just like her dad, but she probably wouldn't be able to survive in that world simply because she couldn't stand to follow orders. She was too much of a vigilante, and that would get her in trouble before she even got her license.

She definitely loved music, but she felt like she wasn't as good as her mom at the piano, though she knew her mom would be supportive of her if she chose to pursue that avenue.

She also loved kids, like her darling cousin. She held out her sports drink to Souji right now and let him take a drink of it. Thinking of him, she could also be a teacher, but that would be extra stressful since she'd most definitely try to adopt every kid she met.

"I think I'll worry about it when I'm back in Tokyo," Nanako answered. Though she herself wasn't satisfied with that answer, Chie seemed all right with it, and they went back to training after that.

---

[9/5: Monday]

Nanako was planning to stop by Saki's place—the third-year girl would not be coming on the field trip since that was reserved for the first and second years, so she wanted to spend a long time with her to prepare for her absence.

The plan was cut short when she saw Marie standing outside the big blue door again, looking as asocial as always. She seemed to be scowling down at her own shadow.

Right, Nanako had been planning to take Marie to a doctor about her little episodes.

Or maybe some aspirin would be enough. Heck, Nanako would need some herself at the end of their little date, knowing how frustrating it could be to work with the girl.

But maybe she just needed to give the girl a chance. It had been that way with Aunt Seta, after all!

She walked up to her. "All right, Marie," she said. "Let's go."

"We're going out? Take me to a zoo," Marie requested. "I wanna see an elephant."

"There aren't any elephants in a fifty mile radius."

"How far is that?"

Instead of answering, Nanako took the girl by her wrist and took her down the street. Marie protested a bit before falling in step with her. Nanako didn't say a word until they were at her planned destination: the Inaba overlook.

Shockingly, Marie didn't complain, but she did frown out over the town. "I don't see any elephants! Why'd you take me here?"

Nanako rolled her eyes. "I thought you could use some fresh air, and here's where it's the freshest. Y'know, since you're cooped up in that limo all day. I bet they won't let you roll the windows down."

"And let all that smoke in? Are you nuts?"

"It's fog," Nanako corrected, but then she frowned, because it could be smoke, actually. It wasn't like she'd been out in it. Whatever it was, she was pretty sure it was just there to mask the limousine's true location.

"The fog in our hearts," Marie muttered.

When she didn't continue, Nanako prompted, "And?"

"And what?"

"Sounded like you were writing a poem."

Marie stared at her. "I wasn't."

Nanako sighed. "Well, what do you think of the view?" she asked. "This is it. All of Inaba. You can see my aunt's house from here."

"What are those big balloon things?"

"Junes."

"Joo... ness?"

It didn't look far from their position, but Nanako knew it was, so she didn't offer to take the girl there. Maybe next time. They'd walked a lot already just to get to the overlook, and besides, Nanako was sore from all those rolls she did yesterday.

"Is Joo-ness as boring as this place?" Marie was scowling again.

"Yes," Nanako said quite frankly. "There isn't much to do in this town, but people seem to think Junes is a quality attraction. It's just a store. I guess a store with two floors is exciting, but..." Suddenly she remembered the cutie pie speedos and the dinosaur cookie cutters that she bought there. "Actually, maybe it's not so boring!"

Marie listened with apparent interest while Nanako recounted her amazing purchases.

"What is a 'cue tee pie?'" Marie asked.

That sort of question was more like it! Nanako whipped out her phone and began to show Marie pictures of darling little Souji. "That is a bona fide cutie pie right there," she said proudly.

Marie began to giggle. "Who is that? I wanna meet him. He looks so tiny."

"And cute, too!" Nanako added emphatically. "He's Souji-kun, my little cousin. He's probably still at cram school right now, but sure, maybe some day I'll take you to him."

And Marie could maybe teach Souji poetry! He would probably like that. What would he write about? Dinosaurs as tall as Junes?

Nanako was already trying to come up with something that rhymed with 'pterodactyl' when Marie asked, "Why is it all cracked?"

"Huh?" It took Nanako a moment to realize she meant the phone's screen. "Oh. Honestly, I threw it over the cliff here once! I guess it broke when it landed. It's a good thing there's grass down there. It could've broke more than the screen."

"Why would you do that?"

"I was upset at the time," Nanako murmured, not wanting to think about her mindset back then. "It's difficult to explain, but I didn't think of the consequences when I threw it away. I just didn't want it anywhere near me at the time."

There was a frown on Marie's face as she considered that.

"Anyway, Marie..." Nanako said. "Won't you tell me what it's like to live in the Velvet Room? What do you guys eat? Do you even get hungry? I'm pretty sure time doesn't pass in there. I wonder if I stayed in there for ten years, would I get any older? And who the hell is driving it, anyway?"

"I don't know anything about that," Marie said. "The Nose doesn't talk."

"What, not even a little? You mean he's never even called you 'special'?"

"I've tried talking, but he never answers."

Nanako recalled the 'Silence Boost' aspect of Margaret's Persona request. She could understand Igor and Margaret getting annoyed by all the questions, but she also understood Marie's desire to have answers.

"How did they find you?" Nanako wondered. "Were you hitchhiking?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything about where I came from," Marie muttered. "Oh... but I do have this."

She held out something. Nanako took it from her.

"It's just a stupid comb," Marie explained, "but it feels important."

Nanako turned it over in her hands. It was a simple one made of bamboo, which meant it wasn't modern. With the advent of plastic, something like this would only be sold in an antique store. "It's not stupid," Nanako said. "Just old. Old doesn't necessarily mean stupid."

"I think it's connected to my past," Marie said. "But whenever I try to recall anything about it, my head feels like it's going to explode."

"Maybe your past was traumatic and there's a reason it's being hidden from you," Nanako suggested. "Igor said he didn't know anything about it, but he might be lying. What is your earliest memory? One you can safely recall? Just the color blue from the Velvet Room?"

"Not the Velvet Room, but that smoke outside. The fog...?" Marie hissed and put a hand to her head as it apparently began to throb in pain.

Nanako waited for the girl to recover, and then handed her back the comb. "You know, Marie... if your past is so painful, there's no real need to cling to it. Think about the future instead."

"The future...? I don't know if I..."

"Yeah. I'll teach you what it's like to live in this world. If it comes to a point where the Velvet Room won't welcome you, you might even be able to live with me. And if my aunt won't take you, I'm sure my friends and I will come up with something else."

"You'd do that?"

"You can work on becoming a famous poet. We'll build a big book of your best poems and sell them at the bookstore! You're a local girl, or we'll claim that you are, and that'll draw in customers. At some point you'll have your own fan club on the Internet."

Marie seemed speechless at the very idea. Her eyes began to gleam, but then the fire died suddenly. "Wouldn't I need to be able to draw on my past to write?"

"Do you draw on it now to write?"

She stared down at her comb. "No, actually. I... maybe?"

Marie began to clutch at her head again. Her body swayed as she cried out in pain and frustration. This episode went on for some time, Nanako just standing there not knowing what to do about it.

Then Marie hurled the comb over the cliff's edge.

Marie staggered forward and latched onto the overlook's railing, gasping for her breath. Slowly, she reached a hand to her forehead. Then she turned to Nanako and smiled. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Nanako felt something in her own head: that voice declaring that a social link had been established. Finally, she thought, and then the card appeared in her mind.

The card's image was a skull.

---

[9/7: Wednesday]

Although Nanako wanted to hang out with Saki after school, she decided she ought to head home and pack for the school trip. She found Naoto and they walked home together.

"Do you really think it's okay if we both go on the trip?" Nanako asked while they passed the school gates. She had reservations about leaving town when Rise's silhouette was still showing up on the Midnight Channel. It had been on again just last night.

"Tatsumi Port Island is only some hours away," Naoto replied, "and although I understand your concern, Rise-san is nowhere near Inaba. She and I have been in contact every day."

"Oh?" Nanako said, curiosity piqued. "Do you call her, or does she call you?"

"She texts me daily." Naoto held up a phone. It was a much newer model compared to Nanako's. "She's very curious about me. She's asked me several questions. It's quite strange."

Nanako held in a snort. "Yeah? What sort of questions?" she asked as timidly as she could manage. "About your family and your job?"

"And my hobbies as well," Naoto finished. "I can't imagine why it would interest her."

She's got a crush on you, Nanako sang in her mind. And who could blame her? Nanako still held a flame for the detective, too—but she wouldn't act on it because she knew Naoto was not interested.

"But you keep answering," Nanako pointed out.

"We do need to keep in contact. This line of communication might not be entirely professional as it has deviated from the main topic, but it gets the job done, as they say."

Poor Rise. She never had a chance.

"So you're coming with us on the field trip," Nanako said. "I think we're staying at a hotel. Umm, are you going to be okay with that?" She didn't know how to ask it tactfully, but there could be some problems with Naoto staying with the other boys.

"Don't worry. I have made my own arrangements. The hotel your homeroom teacher has chosen is... well, quite seedy, to say the least." Naoto smiled to himself. "You're going to enjoy it."

"What kind of girl do you think I am?" Nanako protested.

Naoto's smile turned into a full-on grin.

"You wound me!" Nanako complained. "But damn, now I'm looking forward to the trip. I wish Saki-senpai could come with..."

"Speaking of sordid romance," Naoto said, and with those words alone he had Nanako's full attention. "I wonder if somehow Kanji-kun and his boyfriend will find themselves assigned the same room."

"Oh my god, Shirogane-san!" Nanako breathed. "They're two different years, but... we have to make it happen."

"I'm not certain they would appreciate meddling. Kanji-kun has asked me to stop following him during lunch." Naoto looked embarrassed about that. "My tailing skills need some work, I suppose."

"So that's why you haven't texted me updates in a while," Nanako mused. "Oh, but those boys are totally gonna appreciate this, you mark my words!"

"Well, I won't bet against that. I'm sure you'll find a way to give Chie-senpai and Yukiko-senpai some alone time as well."

So Naoto was aware of that relationship. "Heh heh," said Nanako. "Maybe this trip is just what the doctor ordered!"

"You are forgetting Yosuke-senpai."

"Psh, he can play with himself," Nanako said dismissively.

By then they'd reached the Seta Residence. Nanako unlocked the door, although Naoto also had a key. The two went their separate ways in the living room to pack for the trip.

---

It was an Adachi Wednesday, or would have been had the detective not called and informed the family that he couldn't make it. Aunt Seta was home early regardless, and it ended up a quiet family evening spent playing games with Souji until his bed time. Naoto, too, decided to retire for the evening at that point, leaving Aunt Seta and Nanako alone in the living room.

Aunt Seta went to her room for a moment and then returned with a shoebox. She placed it on the kitchen table and motioned for Nanako to join her there.

"Now Nanako-chan," Aunt Seta began. "I know you often use your phone's camera function... but on your school trip, I was wondering—hoping, really—that you'd be interested in bringing a better camera along."

Aunt Seta opened the box. Inside was a small cloth bag, which she opened to reveal a small but professional-looking camera. She handed this to Nanako now, who hesitated before accepting it.

"I used to be a hobbyist photographer," Aunt Seta explained. "This was my favorite camera. Digital cameras have come a long way in recent years, but there's something about film, so I haven't yet made the switch. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types—oh, but I won't bore you with the details."

Though she said that, the woman looked eager to speak about her hobby. Nanako turned the camera over in her hands and decided the best way to please her aunt would be to ask how to use it.

Aunt Seta's satisfied little smile made the time spent learning how to use the device worth it. It wasn't exactly a point-and-click type of camera, and it had a surprising amount of functions for something that wasn't electronic.

"I used to always carry a camera with me, and extra rolls of film in my purse," Aunt Seta confided.

"Wait!" Nanako said as the thought occurred to her. "Were you the photographer who took those pictures of my dad you showed me a while back?"

The woman began to impersonate a Cheshire cat. "Hmhmhm, well, of course, it was a different camera back then."

"You said you were going to show me more pictures. Did you... did you ever have a chance to find them?" Nanako asked.

Aunt Seta pulled forward another box from atop the kitchen counter. "This album in particular I think you'd enjoy."

Nanako could hardly contain her excitement when she took the photo album from her. What was it going to be? More pictures of dad and his half-naked friends? She bit her lip to try and control her blush.

She opened the album and squealed.

It was her parents' wedding album!

By the billowing white dress Chisato was wearing in the first picture, it had been a Western-style wedding. The veil on her head had flowers tied to it; even back then she'd loved to accessorize. And Dojima was looking so handsome in that tuxedo! It was no wonder the bride and groom seemed to be making eyes at each other in every picture. Yeah, Nanako recognized that look, heh heh.

There were other pictures, too. Nanako recognized a man as Takeshi, her dad's friend, and some of her mom's weird friends, including that guy with an earring. And, of course, her grandparents.

Nanako looked up from the album. "Did you take all these pictures?"

"Yes, actually," Aunt Seta answered with a nostalgic smile. "Chisato asked me to be the photographer. It's more economical than hiring a professional, and I was willing to do it. And the wedding was rather sudden. I don't think they could have found a professional on such short notice."

Nanako felt her cheeks warm. Her mom liked to brag about how quickly she'd captured Dojima's heart. The two had only known each other a very short time before tying the knot. It might have seemed like a recipe for disaster, but... they were definitely a happy couple even to this day. Nanako could testify that!

She went through the album again, and Aunt Seta volunteered some details—mostly her opinions on several of the guests (both compliments and complaints), what she thought they were doing now, whether they were married and had kids of their own.

What Nanako had to know, though, was what the woman wasn't saying. "Umm, Aunt Seta," she prompted. "...Did you get along with my mom?"

"Ah." Aunt Seta stalled for a moment with a sigh. "I will admit, Nanako-chan, that at first I didn't trust her. Ryotaro is my little brother, you understand. He'd never shown interest in marrying before. But when I finally met her... Well, it's difficult to explain, but I knew that she was sincere."

Nanako gently drew her fingers over one of the pictures of the happy couple. Her eyes became wet, because she missed her parents so much. She could only imagine that they were missing each other, too, what with Mom being on her tour...

"Do you have other pictures?" Nanako asked, trying to get her mind off it. "Like... Souji-kun's baby pictures?"

"Oh, yes," Aunt Seta breathed. "But they are buried in my closet. Perhaps another day? I'll dig them out while you're on your little trip."

Now Nanako was looking forward to the end of the trip more than ever!

She closed the photo album and handed it back to her aunt, whose gaze lingered on it for a moment. Nanako almost thought she was going to open it again, but then Aunt Seta sighed and turned away to return it to the box on the kitchen counter.

When she returned to her seat, she suddenly seemed weary. It prompted Nanako to ask something that had been at the back of her mind. "Aunt Seta, umm... you said you 'used to' be a photographer. Why... why did you stop?"

This time the woman's smile was humorless. "I just don't have the time or energy anymore. So please," – she pushed the camera's box over to Nanako – "take as many pictures as you want with your friends."

---

[9/8: Thursday]

Two in harmony surpasses one in perfection.

It was an interesting little art piece in Gekkoukan High School's entrance hall: a blue pyramid and a red pyramid side by side. One pyramid held a sword within it, the other a staff.

Nanako aimed her aunt's camera at the piece and took a picture.

After replacing the camera in its bag, she tilted her head and considered the quote on the placard. Wasn't that the motto for some big corporation? Yeah, the Kirijo Group. The one that ran this private school, actually. The meaning behind that motto—

"Come on, Nanako," Chie said, tugging on her arm. "We're supposed to go upstairs."

"Yeah, yeah," Nanako muttered, not looking forward to the lecture ahead of them. They were visiting a whole new school just to have lessons. What kind of field trip was this?

Though maybe she shouldn't have been so pessimistic, because when they were settled in the classroom, the creepy teacher, a scruffy and lazy-looking guy with glasses, began to tell them a mythological story.

Apparently two gods gave birth to Japan, but one day the woman god died giving birth to the fire god, so her husband went to underworld to get her back. Everything was going well until Izanagi, the man god, decided to take a peek at his lovely wife. The teacher said something about setting his comb alight? Why did he even have a comb? Nanako guessed that was that Japanese equivalent of using a mirror to look behind you, like her mother used to say. Kinda funny how into mythology her mother was, now that she thought about it. Nanako supposed she should be too, what with how every Persona was a mythological figure of some sort.

Anyway, when Nanako turned her attention back to the lesson, the creepy teacher was apologizing for going into a tangent about Jewish golems and then explained that Izanagi put a big rock in front of the entrance to hell to stop the rotting Izanami from coming after him, and to punish him for this, Izanami promised to kill a thousand humans every day. Izanami was fucking metal! Apparently, though, Izanagi said he was somehow going to give life to one thousand five hundred humans everyday to make up for her badass killing. Wait, but wasn't he the man god? Nanako thought the woman god was the one supposed to be giving life to things.

When the lecture was concluded, Nanako had only one thing to say:

"What a jerk!" She slammed her fist against the pristine desk. The teacher, uh... seemed to look at her? He turned his head at least, but his glasses were like a hole to another universe, she couldn't see his eyes at all.

"Hm?" the teacher mumbled, smiling ever so slightly.

"The guy goes into the underworld to get back his wife but then leaves her there because she's ugly? Ugh. Men, amirite?"

There were some nods of approval from the other students, mostly the girls. Oh, but the class rep was nodding too! Nanako sent him a wink, which he pretended not to notice. How cute~!

"Eeeheeheeheehee..." the teacher laughed, sending her chills to the very bone. "Perhaps the story was not meant to be taken so literally," he said evenly. "It could simply mean that that the woman he found in the underworld was no longer the woman he fell in love with. This meaning is somewhat common to myths of old."

"Yeah, right," Nanako scoffed. "Izanagi talked to Izanami and there wasn't anything wrong, right? He only realized something was wrong when he set his comb on fire. So there, that WAS the same woman he fell in love with!"

"You bring up a good point. Humans... and gods, too, it would seem... are often deceived by appearances, not only physical but also spiritual. This deceit is borne from their own worship of appearance, however. Such is the endless cycle."

Something ringed within Nanako's head. She stumbled to the side for a moment, feeling quite dizzy, but she shook it off and resumed the discourse with the teacher. "I agree. People put too much stock into that stuff! They'd rather live comfortably than check underneath for whether something is wrong or not. Everyone would just rather not know."

There was a long moment of silence, during which the teacher, whose name she remembered just then was Edogawa, merely stared at her with a contemplative expression. It was the most intense she'd seen him the entire lecture, not hunched back but proud and tall, though his glasses were as impermeable as ever.

"That being said," he said eventually, "curiosity led to Izanagi igniting his comb. The truth was what he found then. Do take that into consideration."

Nanako swallowed hard, and then it hit her, the ringing in her mind, so strongly that she fell back on the chair and the world seemed to spin around her. What is this? she thought. Is this what Marie feels when she tries to remember? Maybe I caught something from her.

Soon, though, everything was fine again. When she raised her head, Edogawa was staring intently at her.

"In the olden days," he said, "people took this story seriously. Things such as lighting only one fire at night and throwing combs were taboo."

Throwing combs...? Uh, whoops.

"...But to this day people hold festivals near Hana no Iwaya, the grave where Izanami is said to have descended to the underworld."

There was another pause. "Finally, the etymology," he then said. "The names Izanagi and Izanami come from izanau, which means to invite. I had hoped that perhaps you would accept this story today as an invitation to acquire knowledge, and am delighted to see that was indeed the case."

Edogawa stared at her again, this time with his regular laid back expression, which was somehow even more unnerving, but... Nanako did feel that there was something to be taken from this lesson, and so, on her way out, she silently bowed her head to him in respect.

---

After lunch, the students from Yasogami were given a tour of Gekkoukan's campus. The classes had been split into several groups based on their homeroom teacher to make it more manageable for the school to accommodate them.

Classroom 2-2's tour guide was a cute middle-school boy whose name Nanako did not catch. His brown hair was carefully styled up in the front. It made her want to mess it up.

"And here is the persimmon tree," the boy said, walking up to the tree and lightly patting its trunk. "It was planted here in memory of a teacher who passed away. It hasn't produced any fruit yet, but we have high hopes for it next spring."

Nanako wondered how many couples had kissed under it. It was in a secluded little alcove in the back of the school. Not for the last time, she wished Saki was here. She really wanted a romantic interlude all of a sudden...

She made Yukiko and Chie stand in front of the tree and took a picture of them. She made them hold hands, and that sort of appeased her. Sort of.

The tour guide brought them to a baseball field where a game was going on. The kids on the field seemed to be elementary school students. They were coached by a man with a sky blue baseball cap.

"So, umm," the boy said, waving at the field, "Gekkoukan has several different club options for physical education. We have soccer and baseball, an archery range, tennis and volleyball... Indoors we have a swimming pool, boxing arena, and fencing."

"H-how do I transfer?" Chie exclaimed.

Yukiko laughed. "Chie! Your eyes!"

"Wh-what?"

"They're glowing!"

Although Chie was joking, everyone had to admit that Gekkoukan's campus was stylish and new when compared to the ancient halls of Yasogami. Its paint wasn't peeling off the walls, the doors didn't creak like they were dying when opened, their Home Ec club room had more than one sewing machine... The list went on and on.

"Did you go to a school like this back in the city?" Nanako asked Yosuke conversationally while they followed the tour guide to their next destination. "I think my high school in Tokyo is about on par with this when it comes to size."

"Kind of," Yosuke answered. "I don't think this school is normal. We definitely didn't have our own baseball field. We had to share with a rival school. I remember my friends in the baseball club complaining about how the other school never cleaned up the field if they knew we were going to use it after them."

"You were in the baseball club?" Maybe that's why Yosuke hadn't joined a sports club. Yasogami didn't have a baseball field, let alone a baseball club.

"No, I just had friends in it. I went to their games sometimes. I actually had team spirit back then, if you can believe it. Ichijo is nice and all, but I really don't want to play basketball, so I always claim that I have to work when he's looking for extras."

"Was Katsuragi-kun," – she'd barely finished the question and he was already frowning at her just from mentioning the name – "in the baseball club?"

"What is your obsession with him, geez," Yosuke complained. "He wasn't. I don't know if he's in any clubs."

"You're a bad friend, Yosuke," she told him. The thought made her sigh, though, because she was a worse friend. "Have you called him in a while?"

"Yes, actually," he replied, and then he looked embarrassed, like he hadn't meant to say that at all.

Instead of pressing him about it, Nanako told him that she was glad. "I haven't been keeping in touch with my old friends as much as I should," she admitted. "I emailed them all recently, but I know they're still worried about me."

"Being your friends, who could blame them?" Although Yosuke was just teasing, he wasn't exactly wrong, and they both knew it.

"My friends back home are kinda crazier than me," she informed him, somewhat defensively. "Maybe you should meet them!"

"Pass," he said, crossing his arms.

Maybe it was for the best, although Yosuke could stand to have his worldview expanded.

The school tour ended with them back at the school's main entrance, where Ms. Kashiwagi was waiting for them. Instead of waiting for the other classes still on their tours, Ms. Kashiwagi announced that she would now lead Nanako's class to the hotel they'd be staying at. Everyone filed in line behind her and followed her out of the school.

---

Nanako couldn't stop giggling.

It had started when Ms. Kashiwagi turned them down a street called Shirakawa Boulevard.

At first glance, it was a normal city street. Since it was still early evening, things were calm—it'd pick up in just a few hours, when more people were off work. Right now, many of the restaurants and street vendors were just starting to set up shop. The bicycle racks were mostly empty at the moment, but one could imagine how full they'd be later as visitors came in from other parts of town.

Yeah, it was a normal city street until you noticed the conspicuous red lanterns hanging over certain shops. And that was definitely an okama bar over there, Nanako could tell just by looking at the attendant standing outside the door.

Ms. Kashiwagi turned down an alleyway that was filled with trash bags, the walls covered in dirty posters. She stopped in front of a brick wall that had an arched doorway within it: the hotel's discreet entrance. The sign declared that it was the Seaside Clamshell Inn.

It was a freaking love hotel! And for some reason the teacher was pretending that it wasn't, though the woman had a playful look on her face when she reported how cheaply she'd obtained the rooms. Yeah, she totally knew what it was.

For once, Nanako liked Ms. Kashiwagi.

"When did you turn into Yukiko-san?" Yosuke complained.

"We're going... t-to have... so much fun!" Nanako gasped between giggles.

"Oh my god," Yosuke moaned in complaint. "Now I don't want to stay here even more."

"Can't say I disagree," Chie remarked.

"Why do you two have to be so conservative?" Nanako complained. "Places like these serve an important function. Who wants to get freaky when your neighbors can hear you next door?"

"You," Chie and Yosuke said at the same time.

"I have some decency!" she protested.

Ms. Kashiwagi led everyone into the lobby, which was furnished with a couple of vending machines. Disappointingly, they only seemed to have sodas in them. What kind of love hotel was this? In fact, wasn't the lobby supposed to have some sort of way for them to choose which room they wanted? Unless this one didn't have themed rooms. Not all love hotels did, after all.

The teacher left them there to seek an attendant. While they waited for her to return, Yukiko had her notebook in hand and seemed to be writing. Was she... taking notes about this place? The Amagi Inn was a little too far from town to change its business, but maybe it could expand...

They'd had an entrepreneur among them the whole time. Fancy that!

Then Ms. Kashiwagi returned with a clipboard apparently containing the room assignments. She handed this to the male class rep along with a bundle of keys, made some creepy comment about how her room would be unlocked, told them to 'go wild,' and then headed off to the third floor where she and the other teachers were staying. As it turned out, the second year students were assigned rooms on the establishment's second floor while the first years were on the first.

Nanako sidled up to the male class rep and peeked at the room assignments. They were kind of blank. The students would be left to their own devices, though there were some instructions across the top saying that they had to be segregated by their sexes.

Apparently in charge now, the class rep cleared his throat and addressed the crowd of his fellow students. "All right," he proceeded in a businesslike fashion. "I'm in room 202 with Takkun and Hiyoshi-kun—"

Nanako nudged him. "You can assign yourself any room you want," she whispered. "Why not with Kanji-kun?"

The boy lifted his glasses to peer at her, his face turning red despite his assertiveness. "He's with the first-years," he whispered back, glancing at the other students and obviously hoping they weren't listening in.

"So? Get a room to yourself and invite him up."

"Wh-what are you..." He was fully blushing now, and maybe sweating too.

"You'll thank me later," she said, slapping him on the butt. She then picked up a key from the bundle. "Now... Gimme this room, 204, with Chie and Yukiko. Please," she added as an afterthought.

She winked at him while he was formulating a response, and sauntered away before he could say anything to find her two girlfriends and take them to their room.

Unfortunately, the room turned out not to have any sort of theme. It seemed like this place used to be a love hotel, but was being remodeled into something that wasn't half as exciting and didn't have any right to be in a red light district.

The remodeling wasn't anywhere near done, however. The walls were garishly pink, the bed was shaped like a heart, and there was a big mirror above it. There was a nice big TV, which she touched for the hell of it. Her hand didn't go through. This place was out of range.

She jumped onto the bed, and boy was it bouncy. She hadn't expected it to be a waterbed! She checked out the headboard. Though the tissue box was intact, the condom dispenser was empty. It was probably the first thing the hotel had removed to clean up its reputation. Drat.

"Th-this kind of reminds me of your dungeon, Yukiko," Chie said, stepping tentatively into the room. "The colors, at least."

It was uncertain whether Yukiko heard her or not. She was furiously scribbling down things into her notebook. The light was so muted in the room it was a wonder she could see what she was writing.

"Nothing here has a tiger print," Nanako pointed out.

Neither girl answered, and when Nanako looked up, she found that Chie was totally missing. She'd expected the fairly conservative girl to still be standing in the doorway looking uncomfortable, but soon she heard the girl's muffled voice from the bathroom. "Nanako, you have to see this!"

Interested, Nanako jumped from the waterbed and nearly unbalanced herself because of the bounciness.

The bathroom was almost as big as the room itself, but the primary feature—that Chie was staring at—was a heart-shaped jacuzzi so large that it gave Kanji's bathhouse a run for its money.

"We can all have a bath at the same time." Chie sounded awed.

"Let's," Nanako declared, a mischievous smile growing on her face.

---

[9/9: Friday]

The next day, the students were encouraged to go on scheduled bus tours of the city. However, these tours weren't mandatory, so Nanako convinced the DEATH Squad that they should hang out together and do their own thing instead. They met in the hotel's lobby, where Naoto informed them that Kanji couldn't make it; he was helping 'a certain individual with glasses' organize the students into tour groups.

Nanako grinned. She didn't have to ask to know that the male class rep had taken her advice.

"What are we going to do?" Yosuke asked. "I only skipped out on the tour because art museums aren't all that interesting to me."

"If it was a music museum, now..." Nanako joked.

"I heard there's an awesome beef bowl place by Iwatodai station," Chie said. "We should go there for lunch."

And with that, their plans were made. Since it was a little early for lunch, they hung around Iwatodai station for a while to pass the time. It consisted of a three-story strip mall with a bunch of different stores.

The first store they saw was Bookworms, a used bookstore. Unfortunately, most of their books seemed to be trashy romance novels, the true plight of any used bookstore, though there was some manga in a box. Nanako opened up a volume to find that some kid had used it as a coloring book. It made her ask for actual coloring books, and the old lady running the store eagerly helped her pick out some fun ones for Souji.

Nanako wasn't the only one making a purchase here—Yukiko had found a book with advice on running a business. It wasn't geared towards innkeeping or anything, but some of its information could still be useful, especially the chapter on keeping expenses low. Maybe she could use it as further leverage to convince her parents to remove the mandatory towels from the hot springs.

Right next door to the bookstore was a fast food restaurant.

"It's a Wuck!" Nanako cried at the sight of the teal bird mascot. "I haven't been to one since Tokyo."

"I keep hoping they'll open one in Okina," Yosuke said. "I haven't had any in forever either."

"Oh, they have a Mystery Burger." Yukiko was pointing to the menu on the window. "I'd like to have that."

"B-but beef bowl..." Chie whined. "Guys!"

"Hey, Aiya delivers anywhere, right?"

"Nanako," Chie said, her hands on her hips. "We're not even remotely in the same city."

Nanako grinned at her and pulled out her phone. She ordered a mega beef bowl for Chie and some pot stickers for herself because if she was going this far, she might as well. When she gave the location for delivery, the man taking the order didn't refuse to deliver there. In fact, he hung up right after telling her how much it would cost.

Nanako was a little disconcerted by that—they weren't even charging her extra for the distance—but she shrugged and then led her friends into the burger joint.

They each ordered something from the menu, even Chie though she was a bit reluctant due the name of the restaurant, and took a seat at a big table.

"S-so," Chie began conversationally after their orders arrived. "What's so mysterious about the Mystery Burger, anyway?"

Yukiko contemplated the burger in front of her. "I'm... not sure. Maybe it was made by spirits?"

"Maybe the meat doesn't come from a cow," Nanako suggested.

"Don't say any more, you heretic!" Chie was shaking her finger. Actually, her whole body was kind of shaking, like she was having beef bowl withdrawals.

Fortunately Chie didn't have to suffer for long, because Aika arrived at their table with the delivery from Aiya.

Wait, what!? When her brain caught up, Nanako jumped in her seat from surprise and ended up clutching onto Naoto for support. "Aika-chan?" she squeaked when her voice came back.

The delivery girl nodded. "I'd ask you to leave the bowls," she said, "but since we didn't charge you extra, maybe you could take them back to the beef bowl place a few levels up?"

"Did you come here all the way from Inaba?" Nanako asked.

Aika's answer was a slightly raised eyebrow. "Enjoy your meal."

A stunned silence followed as they watched her leave the burger joint.

Yukiko broke it. "Maybe Aika-chan has teleportation powers."

"Or a really fast scooter," Yosuke followed.

Chie said something, but no one could understand what because she was already stuffing noodles from the beef bowl into her mouth. Apparently the food was as good as ever, wherever it had come from.

"B-but... but even if you took the Shinkansen, you wouldn't get here that fast." Nanako was staring at her pot stickers as if they were alien artifacts.

"Aika-san is a first-year," Naoto said. "She came on the trip with us. She is, in fact, in my class."

Everyone looked at him, even Chie.

"Wow," said Yukiko. "I had no idea the Detective Prince was such a killjoy."

Naoto's face began to turn red. Yukiko giggled, oh, no, it was going to be a huge giggle fit, anyone could tell already. Nanako covered her face with her hands.

But a soft sound followed. Naoto was chuckling too.

Really, who could stay mad at a hyena?

After their meal, they continued to explore the strip mall. Of course they had to get dessert at the sweets shop. There was also the beef bowl shop, where they dropped off Aika's bowls.

They found a manga store called Book On. Considering Inaba's horrible lack of gay comics, Nanako just had to pay it a visit.

When they went inside, they were greeted by a life-size cutout of Red Condor from Featherman advertising the newest volume. Naoto pretended not to read every sentence on the ad. Nanako suggested that he buy the newest volume, but he admitted he was behind so he'd have to buy a few more volumes with it.

"You, on the other hand," Naoto advanced smoothly, "should be picking this up." He handed her a volume of Loveline from a nearby display. Nanako took it, her mouth set in a line. She traced her fingers over the embossing on the cover.

She should get it. Souji would want to know what happens next in the series.

"If you don't," Naoto said, "I will."

Nanako allowed a grin to come to her face. "Big bro. Go ahead. I think he'd like it if it came from you."

"In that case..." Naoto took out his wallet and headed to the checkout counter.

While he was paying, Nanako wandered around the store to find her other friends.

Yukiko was holding up a volume of a particular horror manga series. "Look, Chie! He's got eyes on his fingertips!"

Chie flinched away. "D-don't make me look at that!"

"In this one his head's all twisted!"

"Stooooop!"

Nanako shook her head and decided to search for the adults only section. A store like this had to have one!

It was, of course, prominently marked. She walked past the gross hentai and straight into fujoshi land.

Wait. The gross hentai section. Shouldn't Yosuke be there?

She recalled his reluctance to stay at the former love hotel. Maybe she was misjudging him.

...Or maybe he just didn't want to get caught looking at hentai by any of his friends. Curious now, she followed her ears for the sound of his tinny headphones and found him browsing in the shounen manga aisle. He was rapidly turning the pages of the volume in his hands. She couldn't tell what the manga was, but considering his Persona, it probably had something to do with ninjas.

"Find anything good?" she asked.

He flipped to the next page without looking up from the manga. He hadn't heard her at all. He was totally absorbed.

She scurried back to fujoshi land, and after considering it for a long while, she picked out a boy's love manga, one that didn't have any sex in it, just romance.

She was going to give it to Yosuke later. Who knew? She'd helped Kanji learn more about himself like this!

---

When their shopping was over, it was still mid-afternoon. The kids on the tour were probably still in the middle of an art museum. What else was there to see in Tatsumi Port Island? The Moonlight Bridge was supposed to be beautiful at night, but that was still hours away.

"Rise-san suggests we go to the Paulownia Mall," Naoto said. "It has an arcade and a karaoke club."

"Wait, 'Rise-san'?" Yosuke was frowning. "You mean Risette?"

"I mean Rise Kujikawa," Naoto corrected. "She, in fact, dislikes being called 'Risette' casually. We are what some might call 'pen pals.' I told her about our trip and it seems she has been to Tatsumi Port Island before on a music tour."

"Before you get excited, Yosuke," Nanako added, "it's just for the case. Anyway, Shirogane-san, did you say karaoke? We should do it!"

"I-I can't sing at all," Chie protested.

"We can do a duet," Yukiko said. "I'm sure it'd be fun."

"I'm down with it," Yosuke said. "The arcade sounds fun, too. I wonder if I can beat any of the top scores. I'm pretty good at some of those fighting games!"

The Paulownia Mall was on the other side of town, so they had to take the inner city train to get there. As the train passed over the bay separating the mainland from the man-made port island, there was a breathtaking view of the ocean. They could've gone to the beach instead, but no one had packed anything for that, and considering the time of year, it was probably very crowded.

Perhaps the greatest thing about the mall was that it was indoors so they could beat the heat. Other people had the same idea, too, and as the afternoon turned to evening and the schools let out, it became a little too crowded at the karaoke club, so they left it after their sixth song.

"I... I kinda need to use the restroom," Yosuke said when they walked down the stairs from the karaoke club. "Did anyone see one? It was too dark in there."

They glanced around the mall but there weren't any signs indicating a restroom. There was, however, a small alcove behind the stairs. Nanako followed Chie into it.

"Umm," Nanako said instinctively.

There was a large and intricately designed door at the end of the alcove. It was transparent and glowing with blue light.

"A dead end, huh?" Yosuke remarked. "Only a couple of potted plants."

Nanako hadn't even noticed the two potted plants situated on either side of the door. The Velvet Room key felt heavy in her pocket all of a sudden, like it was itching for her to use it.

"You can go in one of the plants," Chie suggested. "We'll turn our backs so no one will know. You did it in TV World that one time."

"N-not when there's a police station right next to us!" Yosuke protested.

"That won't be necessary," Naoto said, ever the voice of reason. "We can stop at the coffee shop here. I'm sure they have a restroom inside, and we can all use some refreshment after all that singing."

They headed into the Chagall Cafe and shuffled as a group up to the counter. As they peered at the chalkboard behind the counter to decide on what to order, something in particular stood out.

"Pheromone Coffee?" Nanako said. "...I want it."

"I was going to suggest you order something for me while I use the restroom," Yosuke said, "but I just changed my mind."

"Yosuke Hanamura, Fun Police," she teased, and he crossed his arms and gave her a flat look before heading off towards the store's restrooms.

"They don't have a Mystery Coffee," Yukiko remarked with a frown. "That's on the menu at the branch in Okina."

"They do not!" Chie said. "It's the 'Owner's Original Blend.' Just because you don't know what's in it doesn't mean it's mysterious! And haven't you had enough mystery-named foods for one day?"

They were at the table awaiting their orders when Nanako's phone began to ring. She took the call outside, and it turned out to be Kanji. He was done helping out on the tour and wanted to know what they were doing. She told him which train stop the mall was on and that they would be at the cafe for a while longer if he wanted to meet up with them.

"Yeah, I'll be there!" Kanji said.

"What about your boyfriend?" Nanako asked.

"He's sleeping in the hotel room."

Yeah, I bet he's tired, heh heh, Nanako thought. "We're going to be staying up late," she warned.

He promised he was up for it and then hung up. She put away her phone and returned to the others, informing them that Kanji would be meeting them soon.

"So the whole team will be here, huh?" Yosuke remarked.

Nanako smiled somewhat sadly at him. Yeah, the whole team... It was nice to have it back together.

The drink orders arrived. Only Nanako had ordered the Pheromone Coffee. Yosuke had a chai tea, Naoto had an ordinary black coffee with a lemon slice on the cup's edge, Yukiko had an ice cream sundae, and Chie had an iced coffee.

The Pheromone Coffee was good. Really good. "H-how's everyone's drinks?" Nanako asked neutrally, trying to distract herself. Her face was heating up. Her whole body felt warm. It wasn't unpleasant, but...

"Just the right amount of spice," Yosuke reported with a too-dreamy smile.

"The lemon is so subtle as to be almost entirely absent," said Naoto. "It's perfect." Was his face rosy, too? It was difficult to tell.

Yukiko just mmm'd, and there was some stray vanilla ice cream on her upper lip. Nanako stared at it, licking her own. When Chie took a napkin and wiped Yukiko's face with it, Nanako found herself panting.

"How's your drink, Nanako?" Yosuke asked.

With Yosuke's baby brown eyes on her, Nanako was reminded of that time in the bathhouse, and...

"Uh, are you okay, Nanako?"

She began to chuckle to herself. "This coffee..." she said, "is making me horny as shit."

Everyone stared at her as she unconsciously began to fan herself.

---

A short while later they were outside the coffee shop, awaiting Kanji's arrival. He'd called again from the train station and would be at the mall soon.

"What are we going to do when he gets here?" Yosuke asked. "You wanted to visit that bridge, right? It's late enough now."

"We should go to a strip club," Nanako announced. "There are plenty by our hotel."

"No!" Chie put her hands on her hips and glared at Nanako. "We know it's just that stupid coffee talking."

However, no one else said a thing.

Chie turned her glare onto the team. "Guys! Back me up here. Yukiko!"

"I... I kind of want to know what it's all about," Yukiko admitted. "For business reasons, of course. But I am curious about how much strength is needed for pole dancing. I'd like to see that up close."

Yosuke was blushing so hard that Nanako thought he might pass out at any second. "W-won't the guys there creep out on you girls?"

"No worries," said Nanako. "We'll go to a gay strip club!"

"I have never been to such an establishment," Naoto said. "Interesting..."

Chie blinked hard and then rallied on, "But wait, they'd never let us in! We're just students."

Nanako smacked her own head. "Crap! I forgot my fake ID back in Toky—errr..." She cut herself off in the face of the look Naoto was giving her.

But perhaps she'd misinterpreted it. "Rise-san mentioned Club Escapade to me in one of our correspondences," Naoto said, "if that would suffice instead. It's right next door."

It was just a few feet away from the fountain they were standing at, as it turned out. Its sign consisted of gothic-style black lettering with a neon pink background. Nanako had to admit that alone made it look promising.

And weren't they lucky, because Kanji arrived while they were still staring at the door. "'Sup?" he said in greeting.

"Kanji-kun! How'd the tour go?" Nanako asked. She looked him up and down. He was wearing a black tank-top with a blazing skull on the front and some tight-fitting jeans. It was a good look for him... or maybe the dirty coffee was still talking.

"I got a couple'a keychains for my ma," he said, bringing one out from his pocket and holding it out. It had a cartoon representation of the Moonlight Bridge on it. "She collects 'em."

"Nice! Are you ready to party?"

They went inside the club and it was... not as happening a joint as one would expect for a Friday night. There were only four people on the dance floor and the singer at the stage wasn't accompanied by any musicians despite the fully-functioning drum set right next to her. There were better singers at the karaoke place.

Too bad there wasn't a piano.

"A gay bar would be more fun," Nanako said. "Just saying."

"Haha," Yosuke said sourly. "Maybe it's better this way. We need a break, and it might pick up soon enough."

Naoto split from the group to talk to the bar's attendant. Nanako worried for a moment that he was checking the bar's license to sell drinks. What a time to focus on his job, huh? But as it turned out, he was getting them a pass to the VIP lounge above the bar!

"How did you...?" Nanako asked while they were being led up to it.

Naoto took out his phone and tapped it. Ah, his connection with Rise was really coming in handy.

The VIP lounge was much nicer than the dance floor. The lighting was so muted that for a moment Nanako thought it was a UV blacklight, but sadly it wasn't. There were long red leather couches against the walls and a few glass tables with candles on them. They sat and ordered some exotic-sounding drinks from a menu when a server came by.

"What the heck is a Gargleblaster?" Chie asked.

"Don't ask what it is," Nanako advised, "just order it. Hmm, Fuzzy Navel... I think that has peach schnapps."

"Just a TaP Soda for me, man," Kanji said, and he didn't change his order even when Nanako nudged him hard in the ribs.

"Sex on the Beach?" Yukiko said. "That sounds naughty."

"I bet Nanako's done that," Yosuke muttered.

Nanako tried to kick him under the table, but ended up kicking the table's leg instead.

After everyone ordered, Nanako remarked that she was surprised the server hadn't asked for their IDs.

"Although the drinks are named after alcoholic beverages," Naoto said, "this establishment only serves non-alcoholic versions. It's been that way for quite some time. It's actually helped business since the mall's primary visitors are high schoolers."

"No booze?" Nanako said. "You're joking."

"I'm not," he said. "I don't condone underage drinking, either."

Killjoy, she thought, though she wasn't exactly for underage drinking herself. But her team needed something to loosen up with. They'd been so uptight about her 'hot' coffee earlier that it was almost like the bathhouse trips had never happened.

"Yeah, okay," Nanako said, nodding her agreement. "Why don't you all start playing a game or something? It's my turn to use the bathroom."

"There's one by the entrance," Yosuke told her. "Right where we came in."

He'd probably scoped it out, just in case he needed it himself later. He probably would. Alcohol was a diuretic, after all!

Because she wasn't really going to use the bathroom, of course. She left the club and headed right for the little alcove that housed the Velvet Room door. She took out her key and entered.

"Igor," she said, cutting directly to the chase, "I need to borrow some brandy. It's for Social Links."

Margaret actually laughed at her.

Igor almost imperceptibly raised an eyebrow at Margaret.

Margaret returned it with a frown.

Heh, Nanako thought. Was she actually going to win this? She knew 'Social Links' was the important keyword to use, but... this was Igor's expensive brandy they were talking about!

"Perhaps if you could... demonstrate your dedication," Igor said.

"What do you want me to do?" Nanako sat primly in her seat, all ears.

Margaret drummed her fingers over the Persona Compendium, apparently thinking. "Yes..." she murmured, more to herself than anyone present. She brought her steely gaze back to Nanako. "Fuse me Soma, the Hindu god of inspiration and the lunar cycle. Make sure it has Tentarafoo."

Nanako hid her disappointment. Fusion? She wasn't very good at that, and she wasn't even in the TV World to find new Personas or train old ones. She didn't know how to make that, and she didn't have that much money on hand, just what her aunt had given her for souvenirs.

...Maybe it was a good thing Naoto had bought that Loveline manga for her.

She set her mouth in determination. "Can you tell me what arcana it's from...?"

She also asked to borrow the Compendium along with a page of the notebook she'd given Marie and a pencil. She sat at the fusing table across from Igor and pored over the compendium, first noting which of her Personas even had the Tentarafoo skill. She'd have to work from that as a base.

The good thing was that Margaret and Igor would tell her what every combination of the Persona cards she currently had could produce. The bad part was the 'currently had' aspect. They couldn't predict a fusion result by looking at the Personas' entries in the Compendium alone. She'd have to purchase the actual cards from it, and there was a chance the card she'd buy wouldn't even help her.

Sweat collected on her brow as she tried her best to figure out the pattern to fusion. Queen Mab and Oni made a Setanta. It was a soldier boy with a blue scarf and a bowl cut just like Souji's. He was cuuuute. Even if she failed Margaret's request, at least she'd made that.

She really didn't want to fuse that away... Hopefully her wallet could take the hit!

"One more thing," Igor said while she was debating summoning out her Jack Frost again. "We can perform four-way fusions. There are some Personas that can only be made this way."

"Using four cards, huh?" Nanako continued to frown down at her cards on the table. This was getting even more complicated!

"They work differently from three-way fusions. There is only one combination to produce them." He went on to explain that Neko Shogun needed four specific Personas.

She tilted her head and gave him a look. "When can I fuse five cards together?"

"Ah," Igor said. "I'm glad you asked. In fact, that's open to you now as well. And so is six-card fusion, although these Personas may be too strong for you to handle at your current strength of heart."

"If you can do that, why not all my cards?"

"All power has its limits."

Yeah, yeah, she thought with a sigh. "Wait!" she said suddenly. "Is the Soma one of these?"

Igor's grin seemed kinder all of a sudden.

---

"All right, I'm back, you guys—what the heck is going on here?"

Nanako had returned to the VIP lounge to find Kanji doing a headstand on the center of one of the tables.

"D-don't think I can... k-keep it up... much longer..." Kanji whimpered.

"It's all right, dude," Yosuke said. "Want some help getting down?"

Kanji's arms were shaking from the effort of keeping himself balanced there. Yosuke took hold of one of his legs and helped lower him down into a crouch and back to his feet.

"No, really. What the heck?" Nanako asked again.

Yukiko began to giggle, and Nanako had her culprit right there.

"We're playing—what is it? Queen's Game?" Chie shook her head. "There are these chopsticks, and one's the queen who orders someone else to do something, but you don't know who it is until you've already said. Yukiko was the queen this round and ordered #3 to do a handstand for as long as they could."

"Sweet. Let's keep playing. But after you guys all have had a drink!" Nanako pulled the bottle of brandy she'd earned (at the cost of her entire souvenir fund) from under her arm and set it on the table.

"What is this?" Naoto was alarmed. "And where did you obtain such a thing?"

"Relax," Nanako said. "I won't force anyone to have a drink. But I sure as hell want one." She found her non-alcoholic Fuzzy Navel and poured a healthy amount of brandy into it. She downed it all in one go, too, though it made her gasp.

She knew Igor would have the good stuff!

When her friends continued to stare at her, she added, "If you guys don't have at least a little, I'm gonna drink the whole bottle myself."

"It can't hurt," Yukiko said, somewhat hesitantly. "We're all friends." She handed her half-finished cup to Nanako and had her pour some into the cup.

"Y-Yukiko!" Chie said, scandalized. Nanako just gave her a look, and Chie pressed her lips together and then asked Nanako to pour her some, too.

"This is really not a good idea," Yosuke muttered.

"One drink is not enough to put any of us over," Nanako said. "...Probably."

Yosuke sighed... and then handed Nanako his cup. Kanji soon followed suit. Nanako looked at Naoto after that.

"Maybe one sip," he said, a strangely curious look on his face.

Nanako handed him her cup to take a sip from so as not to ruin his drink. He sipped it very daintily.

"How is it?" Nanako asked.

"...feels like my insides are burning," Naoto muttered. He paused, then added, "I could get used to this."

"You're already one step closer to your dream of being a hard-boiled detective!" Nanako said with a grin.

Naoto shrugged off her comment by picking up the stack of chopsticks on the table and shuffling them systematically. He held them in one hand and hid their marks with the other. Nanako reached out and took the nearest one. It was not the queen's chopstick.

"Oh, I'm the queen again," Yukiko said with a small but delighted giggle. "This time I want #1 to tell us about their first crush! Who's #1?"

Yosuke rolled his head on his shoulders with a grimace. "Yeah, all right. It was my second grade teacher. She was nice, okay?"

That was surprisingly cute, and everyone told him so, to his acute embarrassment.

In the next round, Kanji was the winner. He stared at his chopstick in surprise.

"Make it good, Kanji-kun!" Nanako encouraged.

"Err, umm... try to lick your elbow," Kanji said. "Uhh... #5, that is."

"I don't think I can even do that," Chie said, staring down at her left elbow.

"That's why he said 'try,'" Yosuke said. "Come on, do it!"

Chie gave it a good try. She twisted her arm this way and that, like a dog chasing its tail. She even growled. At some point she unbalanced herself and fell across Yukiko and Nanako's laps. She ended up with her waist over Yukiko's lap and her head on Nanako's.

"Yeah, I think that's enough," she gasped up at Nanako, exhausted from the effort.

Nanako brushed her fingers through Chie's short hair. It was her only chance to be able to do something like this! Well, she'd tried in the bath last night, but Chie's hair had been wet then, and...

When Chie tried to sit up, Yukiko held her down. "Stay there for the next round," Yukiko said, her words slurring a little. Her face was as pink as her flowery Persona's clothing. Ah, so she was a lightweight when it came to alcohol. Good to know... Nanako filed it away into the back of her own slightly fuzzy mind.

Having Chie's head in her lap made it hard for Nanako to pick her chopstick in the next round when Naoto held them out to her. She ended up choosing the nearest one. Maybe that was a good thing because it made her the queen.

"Heh, all right," Nanako said, poking Chie's head with the chopstick. "I want #2 to strip off a piece of their clothes!"

"Nanako!" Chie scolded. She tried to sit up again, but Yukiko purposely held her down, so she gave up.

"Hey," Nanako said, "it doesn't have to be anything important. A sock is fine... if you're part of the no fun zone."

"This game does seem to be escalating," Naoto remarked. "Not that I'm complaining. It is rather fun due to the random factor."

Nanako glanced at Naoto and realized that starting them stripping might be a bad idea.

Except that in the periphery of her vision, Yosuke was totally taking off his shirt.

"What?" he said when all eyes were on him. "I'm used to it. You girls have seen this before, anyway."

"It wasn't impressive back then, either," Nanako said with an exaggerated sigh.

"C-come on," he protested. "I'm way more muscular than I used to be." He tried to flex his biceps and it wasn't unimpressive, actually. Maybe he'd been training over summer.

He kept his shirt off after that. When Chie accidentally knocked over her drink while picking her chopstick in the next round, it ended up being used as a rag to wipe the mess up with.

"Gonna reek like alcohol," Yosuke muttered. "What'll my mom think?"

"That you had a good time, hopefully!" Nanako said. "Who's the queen this round?"

"Me, actually," said Chie. "Can I get up now?"

Yukiko finally relented and Chie sat up—but Yukiko immediately grabbed onto her arm and kept her close.

"Geez, Yukiko," Chie complained, but her cheeks were rosy and she wasn't unhappy about it at all.

"Order..." Yukiko said, "order them to... to tell us a ssssecret about themselffffs! Do it do it!"

"No more drinks for Yukiko, okay Nanako?"

"Heh heh," Nanako replied. "Just give your order, honey."

Chie stared at Yukiko while she thought for a long time. Then she shrugged. "Tell us a secret, #3."

"The active ingredient in alcohol is ethanol," Naoto said.

"I said a secret, not trivia! And something about yourself."

Naoto chuckled. "Very well. I am aware that many people associate me with my cap. But my grandfather has his own unique hat that his father handed down to him." He took out his phone and showed everyone a picture.

It was a boy's school cap, black with a silver band, sitting prominently on a desk in someone's study.

"It's his prized possession."

"That's kinda neat, I guess," Chie said. "All right, next round!"

Chie turned out to be the queen again.

"Man, I've never gonna win," Yosuke complained. "Everyone's had a round except me!"

"What about Shirogane-san?" Nanako pointed out.

"He had a round when you were at the restroom. He was one of the first."

"I missed it?" Nanako sighed in an exaggerated way. "Oh well. What's your order, Queen Satonaka?"

"#4 has to to 50 jumping jacks!"

"Oh dear," said Yukiko. "I don'... I don' think I can... stand up that long." She swayed in her seat.

"Damn," said Chie. "Does that mean this round is a bust?"

"Make her tell a ghost story instead," Nanako suggested.

"NO! Don't even joke about that!"

"Som'one say... ghosts...?" Yukiko seemed to perk up suddenly.

"#4 has to give Chie a kiss," Nanako said.

"Nanako!" Chie protested.

Yukiko blinked, trying to focus on her chopstick. Then she grinned and began to kiss Chie right on the lips. It was a long and sweet one that Chie couldn't break free of—assuming she even wanted to.

When Yukiko resurfaced for breath, Chie hid her face against her girlfriend's long hair, apparently too embarrassed to face everyone after that.

"Heh heh," said Nanako. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Nanako collected Chie and Yukiko's chopsticks for them for the next round. They were almost too busy clinging to each other to participate. She ended up picking out chopsticks for them and herself as well—but none of them were the winners.

"Finally I'm the queen!" Yosuke shouted, holding up his prize chopstick as if it was a lottery ticket worth millions. "Oh, man... what should I ask?"

"Ask your victim to take a double shot," Nanako suggested. They still had some brandy left that needed to be used!

"Make 'em sing the national anthem," Kanji said.

"You missed out on karaoke, Kanji-kun," Nanako informed him. "We already did a lot of singing."

"I know," said Yosuke. "#1 has to take off their bra for the rest of the night!"

"What!?" Chie yelled, pulling away from Yukiko. "That's going too far, Yosuke!"

Yukiko began to snicker. "'Sides... Wh-what if #1's a... boy...?"

"Okay, okay, I'll come up with something else." Yosuke held up his hands to fend off Chie's wrath. "Don't hit me. #1 can... err... Nanako?"

Nanako's hands were under her shirt as she worked on undoing her bra. "It's not a big deal," she murmured. "There." Her hands emerged in their proper places from her shirt, and one was clutching her bra. She began to swing it around idly on her forefinger.

Everyone was staring at her, except Yosuke whose eyes were caught on the bra, watching its every movement.

"What? It's just the same thing as my strip request!" Nanako shrugged. The material of her shirt felt weird now that it was directly against her breasts, but she'd live.

"Yeah, but he specified a bra," Chie said.

"Yeah, and I said he could strip off a sock and he ended up taking off his shirt! Look, I'm not a dick who thinks this is about embarrassing others. It's about having fun! It wasn't like he asked to feel me up or anything."

"I don't know why I asked that," Yosuke said sheepishly.

"You were thinking with your other head, probably." Though Nanako noted now that Yosuke was the one who'd drunk the least out of all of them. He probably wanted to keep his wits about him.

Yosuke didn't answer that, though his body did by producing a nice rosy blush on his cheeks.

That blush darkened when Nanako suddenly settled the bra on his head. "What are you—?" he protested, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he tried to see what she was doing.

"Hold still, silly!" Nanako ordered. She pulled out her camera and snapped a quality photograph.

"D-don't blackmail me!" he cried. He began to claw at the bra, trying to pull it from his messy hair, but Nanako had strapped it under his chin, so he only succeeded in pulling it over his eyes.

"I'm not." She laughed. "It's for Souji-kun. Remember? With that bra, you're just like the picture of him in my phone!"

Yosuke stopped struggling to peer at her. "Seriously? No, somehow I believe it." He sighed and shook his head. "Help me out of this, will you?"

"Now you know the struggle of being a girl," Nanako muttered while she freed his hair from her bra.

"Here, here!" Chie agreed.

"But if you're ever going to bring a girl to your room, you should learn how to unhook one yourself."

Yosuke sent her an exasperated look before falling back into his seat. He took a long drink after that, as if he deserved one. Nanako rolled her eyes as she collected the chopsticks to begin the next round of their game.

This time Naoto was made queen.

"Hmm," he said. He hesitated before speaking. "I... want #2 and #3 to sing the Featherman theme song together."

"Which season?" Nanako asked. "First?"

He nodded.

"Uh, I don't think I know all the words," Kanji said.

"Neither do I," said Nanako. "It's all right, we can hum past the parts we don't know! And... I guess you're gonna get some karaoke action anyway!"

Kanji smiled at her. Maybe he'd really missed being with them. "Let's do it, Senpai!"

Their duet was a total mess. They ended up humming the entire theme completely out of sync, but by the end, everyone was laughing, except Naoto who was just smiling and shaking his head.

"All right," said Nanako after that. "I think this should be our final round. It's almost midnight, and I think we're all getting tired." Yukiko definitely seemed to be about to fall asleep on Chie's shoulder. "And I still want to see that bridge!"

She collected the chopsticks and they all picked one. And Nanako ended up as queen again.

"#5 needs to dance for us," she ordered. "Any kind of dance. Just do it!"

Naoto stood up from his seat, looking very thoughtful. He held his arms out stiffly at his sides, and then...

Then he began to do a robot-like dance.

Nanako clapped her hands in glee, and Naoto began to laugh out loud, possibly to stave off his embarrassment, as he continued his 'dance.'

His laugh was so cute!

"Perfect, Shirogane-san!" she told him when he sat back down.

He didn't acknowledge her compliment, but he was definitely still smiling, and maybe that smile even grew wider.

And after that, while Naoto was picking up the chopsticks, they decided to have one more game.

No one spoke up to say they were the queen.

"Uh, someone's got to be it," Nanako said with a frown.

"What... are we doing again?" Yukiko asked.

Chie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, look, it's Yukiko. She's the queen, again."

"Yes, I am a queen, my prrrrince," she purred.

Chie took the queen's chopstick from her. She turned it over in her hands, glanced at Nanako, and then glanced back at it. "All right," she said. "I want... #1 and #3 to kiss."

"Is that all?" said Nanako.

"You made Yukiko kiss me, so... I want someone to kiss you!"

"The joke's on you," Nanako said, "because I'm not either of those numbers."

"...Oh," said Chie, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry, guys."

"Yeah, I'm #3." Yosuke held out his chopstick as proof. "But who's #1? It's not you, is it, Chie? I mean, you took the queen's but you had your own, so..."

"Do you think I'd choose myself?" Chie countered.

"Uhh, Senpai?" Kanji said, his voice rather meek. "It's me."

"Kanji," Yosuke said. His tone didn't have any discernible emotion, and a moment later he shrugged and leaned towards Kanji, but the boy shied away. Yosuke gave him a confused look.

"I... I can't," Kanji mumbled. "Sorry, Senpai."

"Wh-why not?" Yosuke asked. He sounded like he might be offended.

"I already have a boyfriend," Kanji said. "So... I won't kiss anyone else."

Yosuke blinked. "Huh," he said.

"Yeah," said Kanji.

"I didn't know that," Chie said. "Where did you meet him?"

"Okina City. He was just sittin' on a bench, and..."

"Love at first sight?" Yosuke was frowning, but he didn't seem upset, just surprised at this turn of events.

"Naw, we just got to talkin', and well... Now we're together. I was helping him with the tours—he's a second year—it's why I wasn't with you guys earlier."

"I thought that was your homeroom teacher's fault," Yosuke said. "Well... I'm happy for you Kanji. And you know..."

"Yes, Senpai?"

"If he treats you badly, let one of us know. Nanako will kick his ass."

Nanako laughed. "I would, too! But I think it'll be okay. I checked him out and he's a sweetie."

"I bet you did check him out," Yosuke teased.

She smiled at him, because he was totally right. "Say," she said. "If a kiss on the lips is too much, how about the cheek?"

"Ah, it's all right," said Yosuke. "It's not like I wanted to kiss him!"

"That'd be okay, Senpai," Kanji said.

"Well..." Yosuke hesitated. He glanced around at everyone present. Then he bit his lower lip and nodded. He leaned forward and gave Kanji a peck on the cheek.

---

[9/10: Saturday]

Nanako woke up to a woman's voice shouting at her. When she finally blinked her eyes into focus, she found it was Ms. Kashiwagi.

Ignoring the teacher's words for a moment, Nanako attempted to sit up, but her legs were being held down by... Oh, Yukiko was sleeping on her. Ah, that's right. So tired after their party, they'd all kinda collapsed into the same waterbed at the love hotel. That was definitely Yosuke's head on Yukiko's belly, Chie's arm over his chest, Kanji half on and half off the bed... There was the reek of alcohol, too, probably from Yosuke's shirt, and maybe Yukiko's because she'd been sort of spilling it on herself after a point.

"What happened here?" Ms. Kashiwagi demanded.

Nanako rolled her head on the waterbed mattress to face her. She worked her very dry mouth for a moment. Smiling and thinking of Mr. Morooka, she said, "Can't you tell? We obviously had a quality orgy last night."

Ms. Kashiwagi seemed at a loss for words.

"Sorry we didn't invite you," Nanako added.

The teacher recovered in that moment. "Your mother is going to hear about this!"

Nanako sighed, then scrounged in her pocket and found her phone. She navigated to her mom's entry and pressed the call button. "Hey, Mom! Everything's fine. My teacher wants to talk to you. I'm gonna give her the phone!"

Ms. Kashiwagi stared at her, but then she snatched the phone out of Nanako's hand. "Dojima-san? Yes, it's about your daughter..." She walked out of the room, talking animatedly on the phone.

Nanako grinned to herself. Then she sighed and began the laborious process of waking up, first extricating herself from Yukiko. Where was her bra, anyway? Nanako hadn't put it back on when they left the club because it would've been too much effort. Oh, there it was. Hmm... she wasn't going to ask why it was wedged under Chie's arm. Chie stirred when she pulled it out.

"Wha... Nanako...?" Chie murmured.

"Help me get the others up. We still have time before the train, but we ought to think about getting ready."

Chie sat up suddenly and surveyed the intertwined bodies around her. "Wha... what did we do last night?"

"What didn't we do?" Nanako teased. "Don't worry. We all just slept." I think that's all, she added in her mind.

Ms. Kashiwagi stormed back into the room, a strange look on her face. She handed the phone back to Nanako and then abruptly about-faced and left the room.

Nanako put the phone to her ear. "Mom, you still there?"

"Yes, honey." Her mom didn't sound upset or tired or anything, which was a good sign. "Your teacher is not happy with you."

"She's the one who had us stay in a refurbished love hotel."

There was a bit of a pause. Then, "Honey, there's just one thing I need to know about last night."

Nanako swallowed. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Did you use protection?"

"Mom!"

Chisato laughed, and Nanako found herself blushing. "I know I didn't have to ask that, honey. I'm glad to hear that you and your new friends are getting along so well."

"Y-yeah... me too," Nanako said, smiling as she watched Chie start to wake up the crew.

---

[Author's notes:

Dusk Clark - ahhh I couldn't make Yosuke go evil! I love him too much, haha
Yami-no-Raiden - November of last year or the year before? Yikes, this fic has been going on that long... ;; uh, anyway, thank you for taking the time to review! I hope we continue to surprise you in the future :)

This might've been the longest chapter yet. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave a review!

Next Chapter: Irons in the Fire

The Marukyu tofu shop has some great ganmodoki. Just saying.]