When Nanako got home from the police station, Souji wasn't home. She sighed with disappointment when she found his note on the kitchen counter.
Staying at Rise's tonight. Fridge is full. See you tomorrow.
It sort of figured that the one time Nanako really needed to talk to him, he decided to have a sleepover with his girlfriend. Souji and Rise had been on again off again for years. They always tried to hide it from everyone when things were on. Rise had just officially retired from being an idol and moved back to Inaba. Everyone had been surprised when she rented her own apartment instead of moving back in with her grandma above the tofu shop. Except Nanako. Nanako thought it was pretty obvious that if Rise moved home right after Souji moved home, they were together. And since Souji was staying with the Dojimas to save money (tending bar at Shiroku was barely covering his tuition), it made sense that they would need somewhere to be alone sometimes. Nanako loved Rise, but still, eww.
She was watching her plate of leftovers revolve over and over again in the microwave when she got a text from one of her favorite people in the world. Nanako smiled when she saw his name.
Hey, Nana-chan! What are you doing?! I'm on a break from my shift at Junes! Inquiring minds want to know what the most bearutiful girl in Inaba is doing right at this moment! Luv 3, Prince Teddie.
It's you that's "bearutiful", isn't it? I'm heating up leftovers. Very exciting.
"Oh! That's right. You're BEAUTIFUL! What kind of leftovers?
Okonomiyaki. No one else is home and it's super boring. Wish you weren't working.
Me too! We could eat together! Hey, I know! I'm free tomorrow morning! Want to go out to breakfast with me?! Prince Teddie is paying!
I'd love to. Junes at 7?
Bearriffic! Uh oh, I gotta get back to work! See you soon, Nana-chan! 3
Nanako smiled. Talking to Teddie always made her feel better. She was sure she would see things in a different light after a good night's sleep and breakfast with her favorite bear. After she ate her dinner, she settled in to watch some anime in her room. She drifted off to sleep before making it through a single episode.
In the morning, she met Teddie at the food court for breakfast. Nanako ordered omelette rice, while Teddie had natto with steamed rice. It was the most normal thing Nanako had ever seen him eat. "Do you want coffee, Nana-chan?" Teddie asked.
"Oh, yes, please, Teddie. With milk and sugar." Teddie returned a few moments later with a coffee and a strawberry milkshake. Nanako smiled at him. Now that's more like it, she thought.
"What did you do yesterday?" Teddie asked. "Before the leftovers, I mean."
"Oh, umm… I actually had kind of a weird day," she said. "You can keep a secret, right Teddie?" Teddie raised an eyebrow at her. "O-Of course you can, what on earth am I thinking?" She scooted her chair closer to his so they could talk quietly enough to not be overheard.
"Let me get this straight," Teddie said. "You and this Miu-kun saw Namatame get thrown in a TV and then you went and told Nao-chan?" Nanako blinked. What?
"Well, we saw him get thrown in a truck, next to a TV. And he vanished."
Teddie nodded. "I think that there's something I should show you," he said. They cleaned up their table and Teddie led her inside Junes, to the electronics department. They approached one of the big screen TV's, and Teddie looked over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. "This is going to sound weird," he said. "Touch the screen with your finger." Nanako did as he asked. When her finger went through, she gasped. "It's as I thought," Teddie said. "Quick, someone's coming! We've gotta jump!" Teddie grabbed Nanako's hand and pulled her with him, inside the TV. When they landed, Nanako shook her head.
"What just happened?!" she asked.
"Umm, well, Teddie has a secret, too, Nana-chan. A really, really big one."
"You think?" she said sarcastically.
Teddie nodded, eyes wide. "I've wanted to tell you about this forever, but sensei said that we shouldn't. I didn't like that, but I always listen to sensei."
"Teddie?" Nanako asked. "How is this even possible? We're… inside the TV?"
"You betcha! The TV world is where Teddie comes from!" Nanako was looking really confused. "It's… a long story," he said sadly.
"I… I remember it," Nanako said quietly.
"You do?!" Teddie exclaimed. "Oh, no! We thought you wouldn't. I'm… sorry, Nana-chan."
Nanako put her hand on Teddie's arm. "It's fine. I don't remember much. Just being here, and being scared. I don't remember anything else."
Teddie nodded. "Still sorry." He kept looking at his feet. "This is why Teddie is a bear, Nana-chan!" he shouted, brightening up. "When sensei and Yosuke first found me here, I was in my bearsuit! And there was nothing inside me," he said sadly. "But then, I grew a body! And I came into the human world to be with everyone!" Back to smiling, Teddie was excitedly telling Nanako his story. She felt like her head was spinning. She was still stuck on "grew a body" while he continued to catch her up on all kinds of things. "And Chie-chan helped me shop for clothes, and I wanted to score with Yuki-chan - Oh, not anymore, just back then - and Kanji-chan wanted to pet my fur, but then he was in love with Nao-chan, and Rise-chan let us play a song on stage with her, and Yosuke let me sleep in his closet…"
"Teddie?"
"Yes, Nana-chan?"
"I think that's a little too much for right now. I need some time to absorb this."
"Oh, right. Wait, I forgot to tell you all about our personas! Sensei, and the others, and even me - we had to accept our shadows - that's like the other side of ourselves that we don't like - and then when we did we got personas that we use to fight the bad shadows!"
Nanako frowned. This was a pretty big secret. How had they kept it for all these years? "How do you do that? Accept your shadow?" Nanako asked.
Teddie looked thoughtful for a moment. "Now that I think about it, sensei didn't have to accept his. It was like he didn't have one. And you and sensei are family, and when you were here before - sorry, Nana-chan - you didn't have one either." Teddie took a deep breath when he finally stopped.
"I'm not sure I follow," Nanako said carefully. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but it seemed important for her to understand this.
"Back then I thought you were just too young to have a shadow. But now I think maybe it's because you're like sensei!"
Now it was Nanako that was thoughtful. "So you think maybe I already have this persona thing?" she asked.
Teddie, who had been frowning, broke into a big smile. "Yes! I think that you do!"
"So how did Souji find out about his?"
"It was when Yosuke had to face his shadow. Sensei just summoned his like he'd always had it, even though he'd never done it before," Teddie replied.
"Ok," Nanako said, letting out a breath. "So how do you summon it?"
"Oh!" Teddie exclaimed. It's beary easy! I just close my eyes and concentrate, it feels like that 'meditayshun' thingie, and then I just open my hand and my card comes up. And then Kamui pops out behind me!" Nanako just stared at him for a moment, wondering which question to ask next. "Here, I do it just like this!" Teddie added, closing his eyes and taking a breath. A blue card flickered into his hand, and suddenly there was a huge, round creature behind him. It looked a lot like… well, Teddie. Teddie's bear suit, but with a superhero cape. "See?" Teddie asked excitedly, looking over his shoulder. "That's Kamui! He used to be Kintoki-Douji before he evolved."
"O-Oh," Nanako said. Every answer she got from Teddie led to a new question or twelve. "Umm, hello, Kamui."
"He says hello back! Oh, now you try, Nana-chan! Let's see if you can already summon your persona!" Nanako swallowed. This seemed like it was going to be hard, and Teddie looked so eager that she hated to disappoint him. What if she didn't really even have one of these things? She closed her eyes and breathed in a deep breath, trying to clear her mind. After about five breaths, she opened her eyes as she felt something skim across the palm of her hand. A blue card appeared, and when she turned, there was a beautiful goddess standing behind her. Teddie started to speak.
"She's -"
"Amenouzume," Nanako finished.
"Right!" Teddie said with a happy smile. "The goddess of dawn. Let me see if I can scan her." Nanako stared in awe at her persona while Teddie concentrated for a moment. "I think that her strongest thing is going to be dark magic. But she probably has some other abilities, too. Oh, Nana-chan! She's so pretty! Almost as pretty as you!" Teddie gushed openly. Nanako smiled. If anyone else had been here she'd have probably blushed. But it was just her and Teddie, and she knew that Teddie never held back his feelings around her. It felt nice knowing for sure what he thought of her, although she didn't always know what to do with that kind of information.
"So… what happens now?" Nanako asked quietly.
"That's the part I'm not too sure about," Teddie answered honestly. 'When sensei and the others got their personas, someone was killing people by throwing them in the TV. I don't know what's going on this time, or why it would have to do with you. Why didn't the blue room lady just ask sensei to help again?"
"Who's that?" Nanako asked.
"Umm… I only met her a couple of times. I think sensei could give you a better answer since he spent lots of time with her."
"Okay," Nanako said. "Do you think we should go back now?" She was going to have to hunt down her cousin and get some answers. And she figured this was something Miusagi should know about. They saw what happened to Namatame together, so did that mean he had these weird powers, too?
"Yes," Teddie said. "But - wait! Nana-chan," he said, looking at the ground sadly. "You - You still like me now that you know, right?"
"Know what?" Nanako asked curiously. She had no idea what he was worrying about.
"About Teddie! About how Teddie isn't, well… human."
Nanako took his hands and made him look at her before she spoke. "I've always known that there was something different about you, Teddie. Those things are part of the reasons why I like you so much. You're my favorite person in the whole world," she said. She blushed slightly and turned her head to the side when he started to sparkle at her. The sparkling could get overwhelming at times. She didn't fail to notice that he seemed to only do it to her, these days.
"Oh, Nana-chan!" Teddie exclaimed, throwing his arms around her in a tight hug. "You make this bear so happy!"
"Beary," she mumbled from inside his embrace.
"What's that, Nana-chan?" Teddie asked.
"I make you beary happy," she said seriously. Teddie looked at her and they both started laughing.
"You are absolutely correct! Now, we should get out of here before it gets busy in the electronics department," Teddie said, grabbing her hand and heading for the stack of exit TV's. When they were back in Junes, Teddie handed her a pair of pink glasses. "I, umm, made these for you," he said.
"What are these? Made them when?" Nanako asked.
"Oh! They're glasses to wear in the TV. It makes it easy to see through the fog. And I just made them, right before we came back out."
Nanako raised an eyebrow. "I didn't see you make anything," she pointed out.
"It's just a Teddie thing, Nana-chan!" he said defensively. "Just make sure you always wear them in there, ok?"
"Thank you, Teddie," she said, standing on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. It was crazy that he was already this much taller than her. Teddie's height hadn't changed the whole time Nanako had known him, until her recent birthday when he claimed he'd wished to be 16 too, so he wouldn't get left behind. That weird little fact was starting to make a little more sense now. It had only been a few months, and he easily had 4 inches on her. "I have to go now, I'll see you later?"
Teddie pressed his hand to his cheek. "Yeah, absolutely! See you soon, Nana-chan!" She laughed as she walked away, watching him jump up and down and wave with one hand while still holding his cheek with the other. That boy is just too adorbearble, Nanako thought.
