NOTE: Yes, this is a filler chapter! I hope you all enjoy the chapter and look forward to the next!
I do have plans for a spin off that has nothing to do with any Ben 10 media or Persona media. In fact it would be completely original! It's still a work in progress, because I need to iron out the plot a bit more. I'll hopefully have it posted on here once I've finished up all of Season 1. I hope you all look forward to it!
Review and Enjoy!
Chapter 12: Magical Detectives!
Naoto Shirogane didn't know if she truly preferred the quietness that Inaba has developed recently. Not that she wanted anything to go wrong necessarily, but it was one of those moments where she missed the loudness of her friends. The young detective stopped her walking in front of the Junes Food Court. Her deep blue eyes staring intently at the table the Investigation Team used to call their 'base'.
In her mind she could still picture all of them gathering around the table to discuss plans to solve the case or just to hang out and talk. A soft smile graced her lips from all of her reminiscing. "Enough reminiscing, there are more important things to focus on," Naoto's thoughts drifted back to a conversation from earlier in the day.
"Are you SURE this is real, Grandfather? Aliens being seen in multiple cities? Conspiracy theories like this appear all the time," Naoto said. The young detective held the phone in her ear as she wrote down some notes into her journal.
"Yes, I'm sure. The reports that have been popping up all around news channels recently have confirmed it," Her Grandfather responded.
"Should this really be something that we should be looking into? We don't even live in America," Naoto questioned.
"It'll be fine, and it's not like we'd be getting personally involved. And I figured that this assignment would keep you busy during this dull summer. You did say one of your friends went to America, right?" He asked.
"W-Well, yes, Yukiko-senpai is travelling through America at the moment, but I'm not sure why that interests you?" Naoto said, confused.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm sure you'll find your answers soon. Have fun," And with that her Grandfather hung up the phone. Leaving a confused Naoto sitting at her desk.
"I'll find my answers soon. What could he have meant by that?" Naoto wondered. The young detective was too focused on her own thoughts to notice the small person walking next to her. The little girl smiled brightly and held up a cartoonish magnifying glass with a British dog on it. She pressed the button on it, eliciting a programmed response.
"Stop! Or I'll pop a cap in ya!"
"Eeep!" Naoto jumped at the sudden noise next to her, cursing herself for letting her guard down so easily. Naoto quickly turned her direction to the creation of the voice, only to see a familiar face pouting at the trinket.
"Aw...it wasn't supposed to say that one…" Nanako Dojima whined. She was dressed in a brown and pink detective outfit with a blue and black cap on her head. The little girl noticed Naoto was now looking at her and quickly got into a stance.
"Nao-chan! It is I, the Magical Detective LoveLine!" Nanako struck a pose.
Naoto was bewildered by the scene, having not been with the group the first time this happened. "N-Nanako-chan-"
"LoveLine."
"W-What?"
"I am the Magical Detective LoveLine! Not Nanako!" She responded, quickly.
"Ok, LoveLine, what are you doing here?" Nanako asked.
Nanako stopped posing, and reached into her skirt pockets. She pulled out a small piece of paper with multiple names on it. She adopted her best serious face that she's seen her Dad use multiple times. "There have been reports around the neighborhood of kid's belongings going missing. So, I have taken it upon myself to discover who has been stealing my frien-I mean those citizens' toys!" Nanako explained.
"So, you're searching around Junes?"
"Junes is the best place to search!"
"Or maybe she really wanted to come to Junes," Naoto sweat dropped. "If whoever took the toys came to Junes, then they'd be found easily. The culprit is most likely somewhere else, LoveLive," Naoto deduced.
Nanako's big brown eyes blinked owlishly at Naoto. "Oh! That makes a lot of sense. Where do you think the culprit could be Nao-chan?" She asked.
"Were there any clues that were found at the scenes of the crime?" Naoto asked.
Nanako hummed in thought. "Well, Mai-chan did say that she found some dark red fur around her backyard," Nanako said.
"Red fur? I think I may know who the culprit is," Naoto smirked.
"Really!? Then let's get to solving this mystery!" Nanako pressed the button on the wand again.
"Stop or I'll pop a cap in ya!"
"Not again!"
The two young detectives arrived at the Inaba Shrine. Nanako blinked in confusion at their destination. "The shrine? What could a dastardly criminal do at such a peaceful place?" Nanako asked.
Naoto gave a small giggle at Nanako's use of the word 'dastardly'. "I don't think that's how I'd describe our culprit, LoveLine. Follow me," Naoto led Nanako around to the back of the shrine. Naoto held a finger towards her lips, signaling for Nanako to stay silent. The detective lifted up a small cover from the back of the shrine, within it was a small batch of fox cubs huddling together.
Nanako gasped lightly at the sight of the fox cubs, her brown eyes finding each of the toys littered around the cubs. "The toys," She whispered.
Naoto nodded her head and lowered the covering. "Their mother must've taken the toys to help build her home down here for her babies," Naoto explained.
Nanako shook her head. "We can't take the toys back, then. It would be wrong to disrupt her babies, right?" Nanako asked.
"That's correct, Nana-LoveLine."
"I'll have to tell everyone that they can't get their toys back," Nanako frowned. She gasped when she felt Naoto's hand patting her head.
"I'm sure they'll understand it, especially if it's you telling them, Nanako-chan," Naoto smiled.
"Yeah! You're really good at this detective stuff, Nao-chan!" Nanako praised her. Naoto blushed from the compliment.
"It-it was nothing, Nanako-chan. This case of ours was a nice distraction," Naoto said.
"Distraction? From what?" Nanako asked.
"I-It's nothing that you need to worry about, Nanako-chan," Naoto dismissed. The little girl wasn't deterred in the slightest.
"It's bothering you, Nao-chan, so that means that I do need to worry. Big Bro, always said to help the people you care for when they're distressed," Nanako huffed.
Naoto chuckled lightly, seeing Nanako use Yu's advice to help people. Naoto sat down on the shrine steps with Nanako sitting next to her. "Well, it's just that my Grandfather asked me to investigate something regarding something happening in America," She explained.
"In America? But, that's like SUPER far!" Nanako exclaimed.
"Yes, which is why it confused me. Apparently there have been reports of aliens popping up around America and he believes that it may be connected to us somehow," Naoto explained.
"Like, the TV thing last year?" Nanako interjected.
"I don't think it has anything to do with the TV world, and Grandfather wouldn't know anything about it," Naoto sighed.
"Why not just ask Big Sis? She's in America, right?"
"Yes...now that you mention it, Chie-senpai and Yukiko-senpai have been exchanging emails with each other since she left. I should've figured that there might be some clues between the two of them!" Naoto got up from the steps. "I have to get going, this was fun, Nanako-chan!"
"Good luck, Nao-chan! Tell Chie-chan I said hi!" Nanako waved goodbye.
"I will!" Naoto took off away from the shrine.
Nanako watched the older detective leave with a smile on her face, happy to have been of help. Her Big Bro and Dad would be so proud of her!
"You want to see my emails with Yukiko-chan?" Chie questioned.
"Yes! If that wouldn't be too much of a problem," Naoto requested. Chie shrugged and took her phone out of her pockets.
"Sure, just don't look at anything that you shouldn't," Chie opened up her email and gave the phone to Naoto.
"Thank you, Chie-senpai!" Naoto carefully took the phone. She scrolled through the emails, scanning through the messages until something caught her attention. It was an image of some sort of grey ghost with an hourglass symbol in between the slit on its chest. If Naoto was being honest, the thing really creeped her out. "It almost looks like a Shadow, but that's impossible. Shadows can't exist outside the TV world, so what even is this?"
"Uh, Chie-senpai, do you know what this is?" Naoto showed the picture of the ghost to Chie.
The karate girl flinched at the sight of the ghost. "I-I don't really know. Yukiko-chan sent it to me to scare me, but she never explained what it was. I just figured it was from some weird sight," Chie answered.
"I see…" Naoto didn't feel like dismissing it as such. Something in the back of her mind telling her to keep looking deeper. So, she continued scrolling through the messages until she arrived at another picture. This one consisted of a young boy who looked to be a bit older than Nanako, with brown hair and green eyes. He was caught in a fishing net and was glaring at the camera in irritation. However, what caught Naoto's attention the most was the bulky watch on the boy's wrist. The object had the same hourglass symbol as the ghost in the prior image.
"Chie-senpai, who is this boy?" She asked, showing the image.
"Him? Oh, that's Yukiko's little cousin Ben. Apparently he's like a mini Yosuke. Terrifying, I know," Chie giggled at her own little joke.
Naoto didn't laugh, she was too engrossed in the image of the boy's watch. "Why are those symbols the same? Are they connected? And if so, then Grandfather was right. Something weird is once again connected to Inaba."
"ACHOO!"
"Bless you! Are you alright, Ben?" Yukiko asked.
"Huh? Yeah, just felt like someone was talking about me or something," Ben shrugged.
"Who would waste their precious time thinking about a doofus like you?" Gwen asked, shocked.
"Shut it, dweeb!" Ben got directly into her face. Both kids growled at one another before breaking into another name calling argument.
Yukiko sighed, watching her cousins break into another argument. "At least things are starting to get back to normal."
Chapter End
NOTE: I hope this filler wasn't too boring for you guys. I wanted to give the Tennysons a bit of a break after what had happened last chapter. This was also another little insight on life in Inaba, albeit it not a lot.
This was also my first time writing Naoto and Nanako, two characters I plan to write more of in the future. Tell me what you think and what I should improve on with them.
Naoto won't be making a move immediately, because she doesn't have any strong proof on the aliens being Ben or as to how they would even be connected to him. However, she is putting the connection together. She's a lot more intelligent than the rest of the Team, so she'd figure it out a lot faster than they would.
The next chapter will be The Alliance!