Chapter 17 / Inquiry

December 4th, 2011 / Daytime
Hospital Lobby

Teddie couldn't be found anywhere, where could that bear have gone to? And why? It was too well timed to just be something to dismiss. However, from what I had gathered all of them had taken my momentary death hard. To the point that they had nearly intended to kill Namatame as a result. Seeing them all here in the Hospital lobby now was more comforting than I thought it would be. Yet I felt more at peace than before, maybe more than I ever had been.

I had been subjected to several tests over the last few hours and in the end Kousaka couldn't find anything wrong with me other than malnutrition from the fact I had been laying on a bed for such an extended amount of time. Which was 28 days...or exactly four weeks. And...I bloody missed finals in that time. So honestly my body wasn't in bad shape. The Doctor said if everything continued to look as good as it did I would be 100% in just a week. So he was releasing me, he couldn't see any reason to keep me. Although he found it amusing that my recovery was just as mysterious as my apparent sickness. Still it was why I was down in the lobby and not in a hospital room. I never thought it would feel great to stand up before...guess there is a first for everything. There was some mild soreness in my muscles but overall I still felt good, as if a burden had been lifted from me. Though I guess the truth of it was that I no longer had somebody invading my mind. Rise moved to my side and wrapped her arm around my waist as she stood next to me. I was surprised how comforting this felt.

This was new reaction too. Not only did I not negatively react to her touch...but I welcomed her touch. I wanted to know how that had changed. Don't get me wrong, I severely enjoyed the fact that I could touch her without shaking...without...of course as I said that I felt my arm shake a little bit. No, I guess...it was still there, what had likely changed was my mind's perception of Rise specifically. I had never had any reaction when it came to my Mom...so that was the same. I had gotten hugs from the others...and had only some mild reactions but I demanded they all hug me regardless. All of them seemed both surprised and happy about it. Rise especially enjoyed this new capacity of mine, because now she could be close to me. And every moment she could sense I woken up she had been at my side. Mom had to basically drag her off last night.

"You okay?" Rise asked me.

I nodded, "It's fine...I can't get used to it if I avoid it right? It's nothing like how it was before," I was done avoiding physical contact because I didn't like how it felt, or rather how I thought it felt. That was mostly just what my brain was telling me it resulted in. It wasn't actually how I felt about it on a conscious level. After kissing Rise...um...several times...I can definitely say there is some physical contact worth doing. But still subconsciously there was still some resistance there.

"Did you find anything in the other world, Rise?" Yu asked and pulling the two of us back into the conversation they had already started but I had been mostly just enjoying being up and moving and not really listening too closely.

She shook her head, "No luck. I didn't sense anything over there. The fog's dense, it might be affecting my readings. I wish I could do better…I'm sorry." She must have done so when I was in the gauntlet of tests this morning. Though I'm sure she was hesitant as she had been adamant about waiting for me before. But she was also worried about Teddie. Things were on an upswing but there was still a lot we needed to deal with.

"That Ted…Don't tell me he really went back to his world this time…We told him over and over that he could stay here…" Yosuke shook his head. Everyone seemed at a loss as to where Teddie was. Had he really disappeared after what had happened to me? There was probably a lot he didn't understand about that place...yet he felt responsible because he came from that world. All of them had been frustrated...me stuck to a bed and no one knew what was wrong. And no matter what there was nothing they could have done.

Yu, as always, took the moment to steer the conversation and calm the group. "For now, we need to think about all the events that have happened recently. Plus it would be a good idea to bring Senpai back up to speed and ensure none of us are missing details."

"Then let's get out of here. The last place we should be talking about the investigation is in a hospital lobby," I gave them all a smile. "Come on, at least you guys can be a little happy about me being discharged from the hospital." Our worries were on Teddie but not everything was bad. I had miraculously came back from the dead. Although that situation was a different cause for concern. But...one thing at a time.

To their credit they all did smile because, well in the way things had been lately, it was much welcome good news…plus there was another aspect that I was well aware of. I had been in the hospital for nearly a whole month…and with something that many doctors couldn't figure out. They didn't know if I would get better or worse…and ultimately things had gotten much worse before it had gotten better. And it was not an easy fight. I had been facing off against things that came before I had met any of them…and likely it would have killed me. No, the truth was, if anything, I owed everything to the Investigation Team. I was saved by them in more ways than I could really count. And Rise…I owed her even more. If it hadn't been for them, I likely would have never cared to fight to live.

It was nice to finally be out of the hospital. Rise had brought my jacket and a few other things from my house because of the change in weather since I had been admitted I wasn't exactly acclimated to the colder temperature. We made our way to the bus stop and before lone we were on the way to Junes. Rise sat next to me snuggled up with my arm. It didn't bother me at all for her to be there or clinging to me. Well, I guess it did a little bit. But I didn't feel the usual urge to pull away from her. If anything I actually felt better having her this close. I suppose being dead for a while was sure to cause some changes. Was it temporary though? Still there had definitely been some change on my psyche since I had woken back up. Likely...it had to be because of what I faced in my mind...the after effects might have been more than I thought.

Well, overall I felt…different. I could only surmise that the whole trial really had changed me in some way. Then again it was like how Philemon put it…he had given me the tools to overcome the ordeal in front of me, but it had been up to me to take those steps. I could have probably just let myself die. Even against Miyuki's wishes…or everyone else. If the same thing had happened to me just a few months earlier…I might have done just that. But I wasn't the same as I was then, I had changed…and now things were complicated. Most importantly…I was determined to start living life rather than just waiting for it to pass by me. Right now, I needed to get my mind back on the case.

As we went into the Junes food court we all took seats and relaxed for a moment. "Thanks for grabbing my jacket, Rise. Man it has either gotten really cold outside while I was in the hospital or I've lost more weight than I thought. Though the doctor says I'm not exactly what I was before, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Of course," Rise said but looked over me as I had referenced my loss of weight. "This isn't going to be too hard on you is it Kayane?"

I shook my head, "Nah, I'll gain the weight back after I get a few decent meals in me and some exercise."

"We should order some steak while we're here. It'll be good for you, Senpai," Chie said but obviously she was hungry herself.

"Should we order food before we start?" Yu asked looking at me. I knew they were worried about me, but it wasn't like I was starving hungry. No that had been this morning, and the doctor had made sure I got plenty to eat. Though the hospital food wasn't exactly the greatest, it also wasn't that horrible when you hadn't physically eat anything in a while.

"No it can wait. I did have a pretty big breakfast," I said. "So let me know what I missed."

"When we confronted Namatame, we were sure that he was the culprit. We were prepared to pin all the guilt on him because of what he had done. However…" Naoto started.

"…there are several things that don't match up," Yu finished. They had as said as much last night when I had confronted them all about what had happened. It seemed the night had managed to calm them all down and clear their heads, thankfully.

"So we all took some time to think about it last night. And looking back at it something about it, just doesn't seem right," Yosuke said with a sigh.

"Let's quickly review the facts. Of all the victims, only two were killed. Ms. Yamano, the announcer, and Saki-san. From the documents we found in the car, we know Namatame had some sort of dealings with them. After that, there were multiple attempted murders, in which we were targeted… It was only when he took Nanako-chan that we caught him in the act, identifying his modus operandi in the process," Naoto gave the general broad strokes.

"When I hear you put it like that, sounds like the dude's guilty," Kanji said from next to Naoto.

"As a result of Namatame's arrest, the police admitted that Mitsuo Kubo was a mere copycat killer," Naoto added. That was the only crime in this whole mess that had made sense. It still left a lot of holes to fill in.

"Okay, that's all well and good, but what were you saying before, Hanamura?" I asked bringing it back to Yosuke's original thought.

"Well, after we left yesterday we talked a bit more. And Naoto mentioned that Namatame has no motive to kill the announcer. That's what's bothering me," Yosuke said.

Actually that made a lot of sense. "Well he was having an affair with her but was there any indication that it could have been a crime of passion? I would say that is unlikely considering they can't determine how she died. If it was something like he got mad at her and struck her…well that would have been evident. But stick someone in the TV? I dunno." I shook my head. I could see that this was quite a loose thread that was hanging over the case, but wasn't there something else I was forgetting about it? Crimes of passion weren't planned, it would go against the very definition of it. And there would have been physical evidence. But there was likely more that we didn't know.

"Right…so he's either completely nuts, or we're misunderstanding something," Rise added from next to me.

"You lost me," Kanji shook his head.

"She's saying if Namatame is sane, then there may be facts about the case we don't know about yet," Yukiko elaborated.

"Sane or insane…Sounds like a play I saw before," Rise mused.

"When he talks about 'saving' people, what does that actually mean? I don't think there's any doubt that it includes kidnapping people and throwing them into the TV," Yosuke looked down at the table between them all.

That was a key point…it's what separated Namatame between being sane or not…at least in our minds.

"Could he mean…saving them through death…? He did call himself a 'savior' and said that the other side was a wonderful world," Naoto seemed confused by it as well.

"So they'll be saved if they die? What a bunch of crap…That bastard should have 'saved' himself. Whaddya think, Senpai?" Kanji looked over to Yu. Yu had remained relatively quiet through the discussion.

He shook his head, "No that doesn't sound right to me. There has to be something else."

"You mean something else that explains his actions?" I asked to which Yu nodded.

"If you think about it normally, it's gotta be him…But there ain't nothin' normal about that world anyways…" Kanji commented.

Yukiko suddenly had a thought that caught my eyes. "Wait, something has been bothering me for a while. When we first encountered him in the TV world, he said, 'You're the ones I saved. Don't worry I'll save this girl too…' So um…if he 'saves' people by killing them, did he save us too? Wouldn't he have failed to save us…?"

"You raise a good point. If he thinks salvation comes only through death, his words make no sense…And another thing, when we confronted Namatame in his hospital room and the Midnight Channel came on, his Shadow said he had failed to save Ikakure-senpai. That was only a few minutes after Senpai had…" Naoto stopped but her point had been made.

"Well, maybe he really was trying to save the victims by putting them into the TV," Chie's comment stated exactly the thought that was now at the forefront of everyone's mind. "C-c'mon, don't get all quiet like that. You guys know I just say the first dumb thing that pops into my head." She laughed nervously.

"It's not dumb at all," I said. "If you look at it that way, everything he's said to us makes sense."

"The possibility that he truly intended to save us…" Naoto was mulling over the thought.

"But he's still the one who threw Saki-senpai and the announcer into the TV, right? Sure, we haven't nailed down his motives, but that doesn't change the fact that he killed them. Or what, you think someone else was involved? What makes you think so?" Yosuke also posed a curious thought. Another culprit responsible for the first two incidents.

"The warning letter…that might be a key point in this," Yu added.

"Warning letter…? Oh yeah…whatever happened to that thing?" Yosuke had forgotten about it.

"There was two, wasn't there?" I asked.

"Yeah. The first one said, 'don't rescue anymore' and the second, 'if you don't stop this time, someone close will be put in and killed.' I think that is what they were," Yu recalled.

"That coincides with my notes," Naoto confirmed.

"Wait, isn't that odd? Would someone who thinks he's saving people by killing them write stuff like 'don't rescue' or 'kill'?" Rise asked.

"I think we hit our stride," I laughed. Everything made more sense this way to me. He had never seemed to have ill intent to Nanako. He had never intended to hurt her. And his assaulting me was more out of frustration. As he probably intended to let me go after what he thought was a danger to pass by. But...his thoughts and emotions had been influenced by the TV world. I was starting to think Namatame was just as much of a victim...albeit a much different kind of victim.

"Hey and the 'will be put in and killed' part doesn't make sense either… If the killer was writing it, wouldn't it be more like 'I'll put in and kill'?" Kanji asked.

"Things fall into place if you think of it this way," I added.

"He…Could this mean…?" Chie looked to the others.

"Namatame wasn't the one to write the warning letters," Yu nodded.

"But only the killer would write such a letter and deliver it to Dojima-san's house, right? If someone else wrote it, which could only mean…" Yukiko stopped herself as she contemplated the meaning behind it.

"Dear God…" Naoto shook her head. "Since this was an unusual case, I was absolutely convinced that other than the Kubo incident, there was only one culprit…"

"That would mean…Namatame really was trying to save his victims…why did he tie up Kayane then when he chased after him?" Rise asked.

"More than likely to keep me out of the way. To stop me from taking Nanako…makes more sense if he really saw his actions as saving her. But it wasn't like he intended to harm me either," I added. "I don't think he was aware of the dangers of the TV world. Or how it would effect him. I think he really believed he was doing the right thing, but the TV world started to mess with his head without a Persona...and that his Shadow didn't appear."

"Everything is exactly the opposite of what it first seemed. In Namatame's parlance, 'failing' would have been the first two cases, when the victims died. If he had used his method twice, and failed both times, he would hardly have continued to use the TV. And yet he did. It all seems to suggest that someone else wrote the warning letters while observing the entire case…" Naoto thought out loud.

"The pieces fit," I said.

"Someone else…Then…It wasn't Namatame that killed Saki-senpai and the announcer?" Yosuke looked unsure of what to think.

"We can't say for certain. We urgently need to speak with Namatame, face-to-face," Naoto got up from her seat.

"I guess we can wait on lunch until later," I shrugged and got up as well.

"How, though? After what happened yesterday, they said they're gonna tighten up security," Kanji commented.

"I have a plan. But there is no time to waste. Let's hurry back to the hospital," Naoto said leading the Investigation Team as they started leaving the Junes Food Court.

I looked at my cell phone and at the time, "Not even an hour and we're already heading back there."

"You going to be okay?" Yu asked walking next to me.

"You mean all the exercise? It's fine, there isn't really anything wrong with me. I'm just going to be incredibly hungry after all this," I said and almost felt my stomach grumbling.

"We can grab something from a vending machine," Rise suggested from my other side as she took my hand.

"I'll survive," I chuckled. "So what was that bit about seeing Namatame on the Midnight Channel?"

Yu frowned, "It was strange…it was goading us on to do something to Namatame. What it said seemed too specific. It wanted us to throw him into the TV. I was angry too but…there were red flags that went up for me when I realized how the timing of it all…It was too perfect."

"But that has to do with the nature of the Midnight Channel, right? And not necessarily the case," I asked.

"Yeah, we assume that the Midnight Channel shows our inner most thoughts, because that is how it has worked up till this point. But it was a unique situation. Namatame's Shadow self didn't really appear to us while we were in the TV world to save you and Nanako. What we faced was not Namatame's other self. Perhaps because that world was based on Nanako's inner thoughts and not his. I don't know. But when we confronted him, we had the real him…and the Shadow Namatame showed on the Midnight Channel. We made the assumption that what the Shadow was saying was his real thoughts were," Yu bit his lip and looked towards the ground.

"We were all easily swayed at the time," Yukiko added as she appeared next to Yu and took his hand to comfort her boyfriend. "We all thought we had lost you, Senpai."

"Well, you did for a little bit. Still, if I had been there, I might have done the same thing," I said looking over to Rise for a moment. "But we don't deal in 'what if's' now do we, Narukami?"

"I wonder if we'll find out the true nature of that place as we get closer to the true culprit," Yu thought out loud.

"A world enshrouded in fog…that brings out your inner most thoughts…all we can do, is keep moving forward and face this thing head on," I said with a grin. "And this fight isn't done yet. Not even close."


I watched as a police officer walked past me and down the stairs as I went by with the others and approached Naoto and Yu.

"I knew they were undermanned, but I didn't expect things to go this smoothly," Naoto looks a bit disheartened.

"Inaba should never have needed to be well manned to begin with," I commented with a sigh.

"That's certainly true," Yu nodded. "Not how I thought my year here would be, that's for sure."

"Doesn't mean you didn't gain anything because of it," I looked to him.

He chuckled, "Same goes for you, Senpai." He commented as Rise took my arm once more.

"Anyway, there isn't much inside that 'suspicious object' in the lobby. So he won't be gone for too long," Naoto said as she opened the door and walked inside with the rest of the Investigation Team following her in.

I closed the door behind us as it seemed they weren't about to waste any time and got right to the questions.

"It's tempting to think that you were the culprit behind this entire case. And to be honest… there are many in this town who hope you are. But we are here to learn the truth. So please… answer our questions," Naoto was attempting to sooth Namatame, who was clearly shaken up by our presence. I could understand why if what they had told him had been true. All of them…had been willing to kill this man…because I had died.

Namatame did ease up but he simply looked around at all of us and his eyes rested on me for a moment. Then he looked back at Yu.

"Who was the first person you threw into the TV?" Yu asked. Talk about getting right to the point…

Namatame said nothing…instead he raised his hand and pointed straight at Yukiko. If I remember correctly Yukiko was actually the third victim. As long as he was telling the truth…that meant there was someone else…someone who had thrown the first two inside the TV. That also meant Namatame had no idea that this was also the method of how the first two victims died.

"What about the first two girls?" Yu asked.

"They were killed. I couldn't save them," Namatame's voice was filled with regret…that was something that sounded legitimate…it was hard to fake something like that. There was another thing we needed to confirm.

"Is 'saving' killing people?" Yu continued his rather blunt questioning.

Namatame shook his head, "No…If nobody saves them, they'll be killed. That's why I put them in there."

Naoto quickly took the reins, "Then tell me if my estimation is correct so far. After discovering the Yamano and Konishi incidents, you realized an appearance on the Midnight Channel meant certain death. Thus, to "save" her from that fate, you kidnapped Yukiko Amagi…You couldn't let her be killed, so you threw her into the TV, preventing the killer in this world from reaching her…And you repeated the process, as more individuals appeared on the Midnight Channel…It all falls into place. His body is weak, but his mind is sound. He's trying to tell us the truth…"

"Yeah, but if what he saying is true…" Yosuke was looking at Namatame. I could somewhat understand his thoughts…he had a connection to Saki, who had died. He was convinced…as had most of the others that Namatame was the one true culprit. Now there was another possibility…that there was actually someone else…

"There's another killer who murdered the first two victims…?" Rise asked silently from next to me.

"That possibility is why we are here. And I don't think he is lying," I said which for a moment had everyone looking at me. "Regret…is something that is hard to hide."

Naoto nodded in agreement. She must have come to the same conclusion after hearing Namatame's response to Yu's questions.

"Indulge us for a few more questions," Naoto said hoping to ease Namatame.

Yu asked a few more questions to more or less seal in what we had already speculated. Namatame had no knowledge of the warning letters…had no idea about who threw in the first two girls and that he had honestly no idea that the world inside the TV was what it was. And why should he? As far as he knew…that world was safe. Still there were some gaps in our knowledge that needed to be filled. But...there was no doubt...someone else had killed the first two victims.

So after a few more words of exchanges…Namatame began to tell his story of what had happened from his perspective.

"Soon after my affair with Mayumi became public knowledge. I returned to my parent's home, as if to run away from the scandal…And I started drinking heavily to drown my anxieties…I hadn't been able to reach Mayumi at all, and that didn't help, either…" Namatame shook his head. "She'd been disgraced on all the afternoon shows and forced to resign from the program she was on. I caused her so much trouble… I wanted to at least apologize to her, but I couldn't even do that…I lost the will and energy to do anything…Then one day, the rumor I heard some time ago came back to me. Since I had nothing better to do, I sat down blankly in front of the TV and watched my own reflection…And all of a sudden, there was Mayumi."

I could only imagine how long he had waited to be able to tell this to someone…someone that would actually listen to him. It must have been hard to think you were the only one that knew what was really going on…to think that you were the only one doing the right thing. That maybe you were the only one that could. Perhaps the Investigation Team might look at itself the same way…the power of Persona gave us something that cops just didn't have. We could fight an enemy that was hard for others to even fathom. I still wasn't sure I should tell them about the fight that happened within my own mind…a fight that if I had lost would have left me dead for real.

"The Mayumi inside the TV looked as if she was calling to me for help…so when I reached out unthinkingly to touch her…My arm disappeared into the TV…as if it had dipped into a pool of water. I was so shocked that I lost my balance and nearly fell face-first into the TV. I was so scared… I couldn't understand what just happened. I thought maybe I'd gone insane. In the end, I decided to think of it as just a dream, and I went back to the city the next day after finishing work. The next afternoon, when I got to work… I was fired on the spot, as I expected. That wasn't what broke me, though…It was Mayumi being found dead. And not just that, but it had happened in my hometown." Namatame casted his eyes downward away from us. "I was dumbstruck, but later on… I remembered the image of Mayumi I'd seen that night. 'Was it not a dream…? Could it really have been an SOS from Mayumi…?' I hadn't touched another TV, because the first time was so terrifying, but I decided to try it again…And I confirmed that none of it was a dream. So that image… Was it something Mayumi showed me, calling for help…?…That's how I felt."

"And eventually…you learned about the Midnight Channel," Naoto supplemented to keep Namatame going.

"I remembered that when Mayumi was alive, she was chasing after a rumor about some bizarre TV program. I'd heard about it before, but I thought it was just an urban legend. But then Mayumi appeared on it, and later turned up dead. The more I thought about it, the harder it became to believe that the two events were unrelated. Soon after that, I came back to Inaba to answer the police's questions. I'd lost my job, and I wanted to know the truth of Mayumi's death for myself. Then, on another rainy night, someone else appeared on the Midnight Channel… It was a girl. She looked like she was calling for help, just like Mayumi. The first thing that came into my mind was, 'Maybe this girl will be the next to die…'" Namatame continued to recount it.

"And that was Saki-senpai," Yosuke provided.

"I'd been following all the news about Mayumi, so I noticed right away that she was the girl who found Mayumi's body. And if my hunch was right, she'd be the next victim. I didn't want her to die the way Mayumi did…So I desperately kept watching… I was consumed with the idea of rescuing her. Then… little by little, her image on the screen came into sharper focus," Namatame was confirming what I was more or less thinking. It meant that he had put it all together much faster than Chie, Yosuke or Yu…since they were the only ones involved in the beginning.

"After I came back, my father couldn't bear to see me in such low spirits, and gave me a job with the family business. I met that girl when I delivered a package to the liquor store…After agonizing over it, I decided to meet her…and told her to be careful. But that same night, on the TV…She looked as if she was being engulfed by some black shape… She was writhing in pain… That's why I warned her…The next day, they found her dead," Namatame still had his head hung…as if ashamed. Maybe he was. "I knew she was gonna be murdered, but I couldn't save her. I blamed myself, thinking there must have been something I could've done…There was no one who depended on me. Nobody at work… Not even my wife. Mayumi was the only one who accepted me for who I was. But she was murdered, and the same person killed another girl…I was… I was beside myself… I couldn't forgive myself for doing nothing!"

"You really did love Ms. Yamano," Chie couldn't help but comment.

"Yes, from the bottom of my heart…Before I was married, my wife made it big in show business. I was happy for her, but it put a strain on our relationship," Namatame spoke honestly. This was not things you would normally tell a group of teenagers. But then again…with everything that had happened…he had probably been wanting to tell someone…anyone all of this. So when the first ones really looking to listen to you...and you knew they understood more about the situation than most...yeah, I'd probably pour my heart out to them too.

"…I think I can kinda relate," Rise said softly from next to me. She was still holding on to my arm and I gave her a curious look. It looked like she wanted to say more about it but opted to stop. I think we were a ways out before knowing if our music career would effect our relationship or not.

"It was around that time when I met Mayumi… She was interviewing our candidate for the next election. She was a big-name announcer, but she only worked with local stations, and her attitude towards work was similar to mine. We both came from Inaba, so she was easy to talk to… I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help getting intimate with her," He continued his recount of the events. "She gave meaning to my life. Soon after Saki-san was found dead, yet another girl appeared on TV…That was you." This time he looked up at Yukiko.

Considering how things had gone for him up to that point...I could understand his frustration and desperation to save Yukiko. Two people had died and he felt he was the only one that had the means of knowing who the victims would be.

"My opponent was a murderer who left no clues to his identity…I thought hard about what I could do to protect her from someone like that. The girl inside the TV looked as if she was smiling at me…And… that's when it hit me. I apparently had the power to go through the TV screen to the other side…Then, what if I put her into the TV and give her shelter there before the killer gets her…? The girl inside the TV seemed to smile at me again…And I thought, no matter what kind of place it might be, it's better than being slaughtered. Once things calmed down, I could just let her out again…" Namatame gave a pleading look at Yukiko and then the others. He had come to a conclusion at that time. In his mind…it was a place only he could get to…so it was a place the killer couldn't reach. Looking at it that way…it made perfect sense. "It felt as if everything was starting to come together in my mind…Could it be… that Mayumi gave me that power, to prevent any more victims from meeting her fate…? Was it my mission to save people? But there was a big problem… If I explained the situation to the victim, they wouldn't understand. I had already tried that and failed miserably. It seemed the only thing I could do was take them away. If that was my mission… I'd just have to do it.…Or so I thought."

"So, since you thought people who appeared on the Midnight Channel would be killed, you kidnapped us in order to save us…" Yukiko muttered loud enough for us to hear.

"Mission!? Give me a break!" Chie was clearly irritated. "You never stopped and wondered about any of this!?"

"I thought I was the only one who could help them… I did call the police, but they didn't believe me. I knew the area well, thanks to my job. I had a large truck, and I could move around without suspicion…I thought my job as a deliveryman would be the perfect cover for my mission. I thought no one else could do it…But… are you telling me that I wasn't saving them…?" Namatame looked for an answer by looking around at all of us and at me.

"If a person is still within the TV world when the fog appears here, they will die. Beginning with Yukiko-san, the people you thought you had been saving were, in fact, in mortal peril…It was my friends here who really saved us all," Naoto answered clearly and without room for interpretation. Namatame didn't look shocked by what she had said but he averted his eyes once more.

"I had a feeling that was it…When I went after that little girl and entered the TV myself… For the first time, I had some doubts about myself. And when he came in after her…I was sure there was something more I didn't understand," Namatame shook his head. "But instead I wanted to believe I was in the right..."

"You refer to Nanako-chan and Ikakure-senpai, correct?" Naoto was trying to keep the conversation on task.

"The police were after me, so I had to get away. But I still felt I needed to do everything I could to save that poor little girl…That's why I went in after her. But the TV world was completely different than I imagined… Such an abominable, grotesque place. I knew that the three of you who I 'saved' went back to your normal lives, so I didn't realize how terrible that world was. I never knew… you couldn't even get out of that place on your own…I thought I was going insane-I probably did. When he showed up…I panicked and ended up tying him up…because I didn't know what else to do. And you know the rest. When I came to, I was lying in a hospital bed," Namatame hung his head.

"You really were trying to save people…" Naoto seemed to be processing everything we had just heard.

"But I ended up doing just the opposite… What a fool. I always wanted to enter the world of politics, and become useful to society…But after losing my job and the woman I loved… all I had left was this power. I convinced myself that world was some sort of sanctuary… And I secretly believed myself to be a hero…" Namatame was admitting to us more than any adult ever would. He wanted to genuinely save all of us…but he didn't understand the situation…didn't know the nature of that world. And why would he? And from his perspective…it had been working. That was why he knocked me out and tied me up in a panic. He wasn't sure what to do…he might even think I would get in the way from saving Nanako for all I had known. But more than likely he was just at the end of his rope and had no idea what to do since he was pushed into a corner. His only thought at that time…was to save Nanako.

"I never doubted what I saw on TV… and believed everything was as I wanted it to be…I didn't think for myself at all… That's why I couldn't protect them. I'm to blame for all of this…" Namatame added.

I could see how part of it was his responsibility…he had kidnapped us and thrown us in that world…that was more or less attempted murder or at the very least, kidnapping. But he had no idea that the end result was that way. No…if I had to put a thought into it…it felt like Namatame had been led to believe in some way that the world inside the TV was safe. It isn't something someone would just try out. Someone…had to give him that nudge…I highly doubted he would have just assumed it was safe in the TV world.

"What's done is done," Yu said more than likely to try and ease Namatame's thoughts.

"I suppose so… But the things I've done are too serious to be brushed aside like that…I have no intentions of running away from my crimes. I'm prepared to face the consequences. Kidnapping is already a serious crime… And on top of that, I put all those lives in danger. I'm sorry…" Namatame gave a small bow to everyone in the room. Well as much as a man can bow when sitting on a hospital bed.

"The Midnight Channel and the other world… You can hardly be blamed for failing to understand them properly. We must apologize to you as well. Had we let our emotions blind us to the truth, we would have piled all the responsibility on you," Naoto added. I wasn't there to see that display…but I could imagine how emotions can blind you. And with me supposedly being dead at the time…had they all really felt so strongly to actually pass judgment on a man themselves? All because evidence didn't really support the charges against him? They didn't want to take the chance of the one that killed their senpai walking away unscathed.

"I guess from your point of view… people did stop dying once you started 'saving' people. The more you did it, the more you really believed you were preventing their deaths…" Yosuke pointed out. And it was a good point…it had turned into a cycle because both sides didn't hold all the pieces together. As a result…more people were turned to victims…and more things were pulled onward as a result.

"I'm… such a joke… I'm sorry… I'm getting a little tired…" Namatame said and took a deep breath. Not surprising considering how much talking he had just been doing.

The door slid open and I turned to see a police officer walking in, "Wha-!? What're you all crammed in here for!?"

"My apologies. We'll be leaving now," Naoto quickly said as we all started to move towards the door.

"Wait…" Namatame said which made us stop and look back at him. "I beg you… Please find whoever's behind this… You children are the only ones who know about that world…"

"Don't worry. That's our plan," Yu said and offered Namatame a comforting smile.

"It's all clear now. He never committed any murders…It was another party who threw the first two victims into the TV," Naoto stated as we all stepped out into the hall.

We learned a lot about the case…we knew why we had been taken…but that still left the first two victims. If our cases and the copycat killer all a separate case…there was still the warning letters to consider…there had to be a criteria that the killer would meet.

We made our way down the hall and I was stopped by my doctor, who happened to be coming out of a patient room.

"Ikakure, is everything alright?" Kousaka was of course wondering why I was back in the hospital.

"Yeah, I've gotten a fair amount of exercise today…both physical and mental. Just had a little business to finish up here is all," I said smoothly. "I wanted to thank you again for your hard work and helping me."

"Us as well," Yu added and bowed to Kousaka as did the rest of the Investigation Team.

"Thanks for saving our Senpai," Naoto said.

"You're welcome. But you should really be more proud of Ikakure. It was his sheer will to live that brought him back, nothing else," he smiled before disappearing into a different patients room.

"My sheer will to live, huh?" I said as I remembered the ordeal within my mind that I had to go through in order to make it back to the land of the living. PPhilemon had only given me the tools to fight...it had been my choice to actually make my way through each door to fight the Shadow at the end. "Yeah, I guess that is part of it."

We passed by my room and I took a moment to look into it. Just not long ago I had been there…lying motionless for so long while my life wavered on the edge of death…in a fight that the others couldn't see. My fate...and those of my friends was what was at risk. While we had been fighting...Miyuki had said that if my fate had been sealed...so would have been the fate of my friends. What would have happened? Would they have thrown Namatame it and pin all the blame onto him? Maybe they would have been satisfied with that for a time. But eventually, it would have came back to haunt them...and the guilt would eventually break some of them. And over time...maybe all of them. Still Yu had remained calm...had took the time to think about it. And he had saved the Investigation Team from making a mistake in the heat of the moment.

"This was the last place we saw Teddie, right? He was really worried about you, Senpai," Chie said looking over at me.

"For me?" I blinked for a moment.

"You know…Teddie has never had to deal with that kind of pain before. Losing a friend is not something anyone can easily deal with. But I wonder if Teddie had an especially hard time with it," Yu thought out loud. It wasn't like I had spent much time with Teddie...but more than likely, Yu was right. Teddie didn't know how to deal with loss.

"Still, how can he flake out at a time like this when we have to find the real killer?" Kanji seemed irritated but it was obvious he was worried for Teddie as well.

"The police consider the matter closed, with Namatame arrested. We'll have to do all the investigation from here on out. Let's revisit Saki-san and Ms. Yamano's incidents and see if we can turn up fresh details," Naoto proposed.

"But it's been over six months…Wouldn't the trail be cold by now?" Chie seemed doubtful.

"You'd be surprised what people remember after a long period of time has gone past," I shrugged.

"We're the only ones who understand what's really going on. And you never know. People might remember some things now because they've had so much time to think about it. Let's split up and talk to people all over town tomorrow. We'll meet up in the evening to discuss our findings," Yosuke said and everyone was quick to agree.

"I hope we can find out something about Teddie, too…" Yukiko added.

I couldn't help but feel the same. If Teddie had left because of my death…then he doesn't know that I'm alive…and that he had gone away for nothing. Then again…I really had died…not that it is unusual for someone to be able to be resuscitated but…losing a friend…yeah I knew very well how painful that was. It is one of the worst feelings in the world to have. To think that all of them…had felt that pain…although for a short time…I could scarcely imagine what it had been like to see them during that time. The emotions they all had when confronting Namatame...yeah it wouldn't have taken much to convince them to do something...drastic.

I knew I was lucky to have all of them in my life…that was why we needed to solve this case and find the real killer. The bonds I've made in such a short amount of time…and even the relationship I have with Rise now…it was all something that I needed to protect.

"Let's go home, Kayane," Rise said pulling my arm with her.

"Yeah…I'm sure Mom is waiting with dinner. I'm sure if she had her way she would lock me up in the house for a few days," I chuckle a bit as I also hear my friends laugh with me.

"I'm surprised she didn't demand you to come straight home after being released from the hospital," Chie laughed.

"Oh she did," I commented.

"Really? How did you manage to not be dragged home then?" Yu asked.

I merely pointed over to Rise, "Ask her."

"I…um…told her we started dating and that if I felt he needed to I would take him straight home. Which is all true," Rise quickly explained with a blush overtaking her.

"Congratulations, you two," Yu smiled looking specifically at me.

"Thanks, I guess," I scratched the back of my head. "Still to think you and Amagi-san dated for so long and hiding it from everyone. How did you manage with both school and the Investigation?"

"Yeah, how did you manage that?" Yosuke contributed clearly curious over the same thing.

"It isn't that we were hiding it intentionally…it just kind of happened that way. It never seemed like a good time to bring it up with everyone," Yu obviously wasn't sure exactly how to word it. "I didn't mean to deceive you guys or…"

"We know that, we're just teasing," Yosuke laughed.

"It's hard to think about yourself and your own needs when you are looking into a murder case…or people being thrown into the TV. But all of this serves to remind us how important our relationships with others are…or maybe to realize what we didn't before," I said as we stepped out into the late afternoon air as the sun was beginning to set. "Thanks to all of you…I know that by shutting people out of my life that I really haven't been living for a long time. It's the reason I can even have a relationship with Rise now. I only had to nearly die twice to realize it."

"That isn't funny," Rise said from next to me.

"No it isn't," I shook my head. "However, I think something that extreme was the only thing that would have gotten the message through to me. I'm glad you were all there to save me."

"This isn't over yet, Senpai," Yu said.

"No…but I think we are getting close," I smiled at all of the Investigation Team. "And I know with all of us together…we'll find it."


A/N:

Well, there are a lot of questions that are asked here...and most of it you've seen before. The main plot of Persona 4 is going to be front and center for the next few chapters. I suppose there isn't any getting around it. Hopefully it's different enough for people to keep interested. Granted there is still a long ways to go before this Fan Fiction comes to an end.

I think people don't realize how easy we can be swayed to do something...horrible. Something that we may never have done under normal circumstances. In this story I put Rise squarely in that position. In the original game Rise was pretty far removed from what the killer has done, either than being kidnapped herself. But she wasn't around when the murders happened...and really she is actually of the Investigation Team the most emotionally removed from the whole situation when you analyze it. For one, she is an Idol and she doesn't live in Inaba. Her Grandmother does, but most of what we are told, she doesn't normally live with her Grandmother. Her parents are definitely still around. And that's a subject that isn't even touched as to why that is. But my point here is that other than her Grandmother...she knows absolutely no one in the town. She has no attachments and even though she is definitely in the mind of helping her friends...the only thing that made her connected to it was Nanako. I know it could be said that for all of them...but of the group the only ones that have not been in Inaba long enough to have more emotional ties to the area are technically Narukami Yu and Teddie, well and Kujikawa Rise.

Honestly out of everyone in the group...Nanako's death would have really only pushed Yu, if anyone to want to kill Namatame. That scene always felt weird to me because thinking about it...it was too easy of a jump to make. And not necessarily a believable one. At least not as believable to me. I know people will disagree. I guess it would be tempting to know you had the perfect murder weapon and bring justice to someone you think would not punished for their actions. And because I wanted to tie in the greater plot of the entire fan fiction...I thought it would be a good place to shake things up...not only that but put Rise in a very hard place she had never been in before.

Relationships are rough...relationships with someone that has experienced physical and mental trauma is even more so. Although I'm sure Rise has thought about that, I don't know if she is fully aware how hard...and how frustrating it can be. Kayane isn't going to just one day be better. Even with his new found comfort in being close to Rise, there is still a lot of other problems he has to overcome. Not to mention making sure he doesn't revert in any way. There will be arguments and problems on the road ahead. But those moments are what make a relationship stronger. Because the best relationship is not one where there are no disagreements...but the relationship that continues to communicate and work through anything that happens.

I'm probably making this sounds more complicated than it is. But I've been working overtime at work...and also working six days a week so you'll have to excuse me if my Author Note makes no sense. (Don't worry I'm doing my best to not let it affect my release schedule) All I wanted to point out is that...we can all be pushed to the edge if the right motivation is provided. And Rise...she had more motivation...and I think it scared her. Whether she lets it show or not is a different matter. But if she's hiding it for the sake of Kayane...it will lead to one heck of a problem for the two of them later on. I guess we'll see.

Anyway, Thank you all for reading. I really do appreciate how people take the time to read my story. I hope you continue to enjoy it as we move along and I will see you next week with the next chapter.