Wednesday, 27 July, Daytime
Souji made a point of at least ordering a drink in order to keep up appearances, but truth be told he wasn't really thirsty. Seeing a full Midnight Channel spot without the blurry "preview" that had characterized earlier incidents had left him a bit on edge. Nanako, fortunately, had not noticed, or if she had she'd put it down to worry for Dojima.
"All right," he said. "Rise and Teddie are on the other side checking things out, so we don't need to wait up for them." He set the soda aside. You all saw the Midnight Channel last night, right?"
Everyone nodded. "Yeah," Kanji said darkly. "Wasn't as creepy as Rise's, but it sure made my blood boil. Little bastard looked like a fish in human skin or something. Just who the hell is he?"
Souji grimaced. "I wish I knew. He almost looked familiar, too."
"Same here," Yosuke said. "I'm dead sure I've seen him before, but I'm drawing a blank on where. Driving me nuts."
"What I didn't get is the way his face showed up so clearly," Yukiko put in. "I was talking to Chie a bit later, and then it hit me: maybe that boy is the culprit."
On the face of it, the idea was absurd. That zombie-like high schooler, a multiple murderer and kidnapper who had managed to evade both Souji's team and the police for months? It just didn't make any sense. On the other hand, it did explain some things.
"It's just a hunch," Chie said, "but when you think about it, it fits."
"Would explain the lack of the blurred preview," Souji murmured.
Yosuke nodded. "The police did say the suspect is a high school student. And that little creep was even taunting the viewers, saying 'try and catch me' and all that. Sure sounds guilty to me."
Souji drummed his fingers on the table. It was starting to fall into place, he couldn't deny that. Still, something about it seemed off. The culprit being a high school student wasn't too surprising; after all he and his friends had their own powers, and teenage killers weren't exactly unheard of.
"Okay, so say there's a high school student," Yosuke said. "We'll call him Shin. For some random reason, he has the power to enter that other world. After a while, who knows why, he starts throwing people into that world, intending to kill them. Since the police can't prove the other world even exists, he's home free. It's the perfect crime."
Souji nodded. "Makes sense so far."
"Now, imagine you're Shin," Yosuke went on. "After the first couple of tries, people stop dying, and you can't figure out why. You want to kill King Moron, but the TV method is out, so you have to do it the old fashioned way. Naturally, the police catch on quick."
"And in a place like Inaba, he has nowhere to hide," Souji finished. I really should give him more credit.
Kanji's eyes widened in realization. "So you're saying he went in there to dodge the cops? No wonder he said 'try and catch me.' You're smarter than you look."
Souji intervened before Yosuke could snap. "All of that sounds reasonable," he said. "Where do we take it from here?"
"We still don't know why he's targeting people who appear on TV," Yukiko pointed out. "If he had a personal grudge against Mister Morooka, though, it does explain one thing."
"But doesn't help in narrowing down his identity," Souji pointed out in turn. "Practically everyone of school age in Inaba hated Sloth-face, including everyone at this table."
"True. Still, if he had a strong enough motive, wouldn't he forsake the untraceable TV method and kill Mister Morooka directly?"
She made a good point. It came across as borderline suicidal to abandon a method that left no trace a mundane police officer would find, but crimes of passion pretty much by definition threw logic and caution to the winds. Especially after three victims in a row were recovered safely.
"I have to wonder, though, what he's doing," Yukiko said more somberly. "With Teddie on this side, he has no way out."
Chie swallowed. "Y-you're not saying he's going to end it all, are you? I mean, he did look pretty depressed, like it was the end of the world."
Souji shook his head. "He looked depressed, but not suicidal," he said. "Besides, since people he threw in have come out alive, he has to know there's a way out, even if he can't find it yet."
"I'm with Souji," Yosuke said. "Missing Yukiko or Kanji would be one thing, even in Inaba. But Rise, a celebrity? No way would that stay under the radar. We can ask the rest when we catch him."
It seemed unreal. They'd been dropped into the case—literally—entirely by accident. Now they were on the cusp of capturing the one responsible for all the chaos. It almost made Souji feel giddy.
A flash of orange caught his eye; Rise, back from the TV world. "How'd it go?" he asked.
She shook her head. "We still don't have enough information to go on. There's definitely someone in there, but we can't quite localize him."
Yosuke nodded slowly. "Yeah, if figured that. Wait, where's Teddie?"
"Still in the other world, seeing if he can nail things down a bit more," Rise said.
"Then it's back to work for us," Souji said, pushing himself to his feet. "We'll scour every square centimeter of Inaba. If he's really in the TV world, and he's the one the police are after, we'll find him. We're the only ones who can catch him now, cliché though it may sound."
It warmed his heart to see expressions of complete unanimity on his friends' faces. That, more than anything else, convinced him that they could and would succeed. It was only a matter of time now before the creep they had seen would be brought to justice.
This should have been easy, Souji grumbled to himself two hours later. Inaba is a small town; someone that distinctive had to have left an impression. Even I thought he looked familiar, and I've only been here a few months.
Alas, it was not so simple. With so little to go on, it was quite an effort to even jog people's memories, much less get anything useful. At least Kanji and Rise had left enough of an impression to have a starting point for a search; this time they didn't even have a name for their target.
"Someone with fish eyes? Doesn't ring a bell," was the response he got from the bookstore proprietor.
"I haven't seen anyone like that." This from the cashier at Moel.
He'd thought about asking Naoto, but discarded the notion. After what she'd said to them at the Junes food court, it seemed unlikely that she would know anything that would help them track the suspect down, even assuming she was willing to share. Besides, he didn't know where she lived, or how to get in touch with her.
Even if it hadn't been summer break, asking around Yasogami would have been pointless. Souji didn't know all the faces at his school, but he bloody well would have remembered having anything close to regular contact with that face. Naoto's statement that the suspect wasn't a Yasogami student was thus easily confirmed.
In desperate need for a break to clear his thoughts, he eventually wandered into Aiya's. He first saw Chie, who evidently had the same idea (she'd once told him she couldn't think on an empty stomach), wolfing down some kind of stew at the counter. A few seats away was, of all people, Saki Konishi's brother, Naoki.
"I'm still looking, I swear!" Chie said when Souji took his seat.
He waved a hand. "Calm down, Chie, I believe you. I came in for a bite to eat, myself. One chicken with rice, please!" While the cook busied himself with his order, Souji leaned close to Chie. "Find anything at all?"
"I wish," she grumbled. "That Naoto kid's right, though, whoever that freak is, he's sure not from Yasogami."
"That's what I was thinking," Souji agreed. He paused when his meal was delivered. "But I'm still sure I've seen him before. A face like that sticks in the mind."
Chie swallowed a huge chunk of beef, her jaw distending enough to make Souji wonder if she was part snake. "Me, too. Nobody else in town seems to have, though."
"It's still early," Souji pointed out. "Leave no stone unturned."
After a satisfying meal and unsatisfying conversation, he headed back down the street, almost tripping over Yosuke in the process. There were a number of police officers about, unsurprisingly, but he wasn't ready to attract that kind of attention, not when he lived with one.
Kanji's mother and Rise's grandmother proved sympathetic, but ultimately unhelpful. Souji dared not reveal his true purpose (though he suspected the elder Kujikawa had an inkling after what had happened with Rise not long before), and the indirect approach was perhaps a little too indirect.
He had a bad moment, though, when he saw his uncle standing near the bus stop, waving at him. Steeling himself, knowing that doing anything else would arouse suspicion, Souji obeyed, taking care to maintain a casual pace and demeanor.
"Ah, Souji," Dojima said. "Out for a walk?"
"Something like that," Souji allowed, keeping his voice neutral.
Fortunately, Dojima took it at face value. "I envy you. You've probably heard how busy we are at the office, from Nanako if nothing else. Speaking of which, have you seen Adachi around?"
Silently thanking his uncle for the idea, Souji shook his head. "Adachi-san? Can't say I have."
Dojima groaned softly, rubbing his forehead. "That figures. Give me a call if you see him, will you? He's probably slacking off again."
"I'll do that," Souji promised, gears already spinning in his head. This could be the breakthrough we need, he thought. Adachi-san won't dare let anyone know he spoke to us.
Still, they weren't out of the woods yet. He hadn't been lying when he denied seeing Adachi, after all. The young detective doubtless had ways of staying out of sight when he didn't want to be found. Especially when he didn't want to be found by his direct superior.
He did, at least, know a few of Adachi's favored haunts. First stop, Junes.
"Yo," Yosuke greeted when Souji arrived a few minutes later. "Here for a break?"
"Already did; had lunch at Aiya's," Souji replied. "Actually, I'm here because of something my uncle said. Have you seen Adachi-san?"
Yosuke blinked once in surprise, then shook his head. "Not today, no. Dojima-san looking for him?"
Souji's mouth quirked in a half smile. "Yeah. It seems Adachi-san is 'slacking off' again. Uncle Ryotaro asked me to call if I ran into him."
"That sounds like Adachi-san, all right," Yosuke agreed with a laugh. "And he does like Junes a lot, though I don't think he's been around today. I'll call the others, make sure they know to keep an eye out for him."
"Thanks." Souji nodded and wandered deeper into the store. If he was going to be there anyway, he decided, a small grocery shop might be in order.
Evening
Naturally, Dojima wasn't home when Souji arrived, exhausted from his largely fruitless search. He was able to muster enough energy to give Nanako a cheerful greeting, though, and allayed her fears about her father's absence. They made dinner together (or rather, Souji made dinner while Nanako fetched him the ingredients he requested), and enjoyed a quiet meal in front of the TV.
"How was your day, Big Bro?" Nanako asked after a while.
Souji chuckled. "Boring until I ran into your father in the shopping district. Then it was funny; he asked me to keep an eye out for Adachi-san."
Nanako giggled at that; even she knew about Adachi's shirking habits. "Was Dad upset?"
"Sounded more grumpy than anything else," Souji said, chuckling himself. "He's probably used to it by now."
It also explained how a seemingly-bright young man like Tohru Adachi wound up in Inaba. Much as he loved his current surroundings, Souji had to admit Inaba was the back end of nowhere, hardly a place a smart up-and-coming detective was likely to be assigned. Chronic laziness, it appeared, was his downfall.
Which might explain why the murder investigations have gone nowhere, Souji thought, then quickly dismissed it. His uncle was more than enough of a workaholic to make up for Adachi's lackadaisical attitude.
Nanako chose that moment to stifle a yawn. "Sorry, Big Bro, I'm getting sleepy."
It was about time he got some shuteye anyway. Unlike Adachi, Souji didn't have the luxury of slacking off.
Thursday, 28 July, Daytime
Up with the dawn was the order of the day while chasing a suspect. Souji had learned that from his uncle, and now knew just how true it was. He made sure not to leave before Nanako got up, not wanting her to feel too lonely, but he was out the door the moment he was assured of her comfort for the day.
It was just about noon when he got the call. "Yo, partner," Yosuke said. "I just saw Adachi-san walk into Junes. He's on the first floor, right by the elevator."
Perfect. "Thanks, Yosuke," Souji said, quickening his pace. "Keep a close eye on him; let me know if anything changes. I should be there in a few minutes."
"Sure thing."
Silently blessing Adachi's habits, Souji broke into a brisk jog. Sure enough, Tohru Adachi was visible just inside the main entrance to Junes, looking rather bored. Just the opportunity Souji and his friends had been searching for.
"Afternoon, Adachi-san," he said casually. "Slow day?"
He had to suppress a laugh. Adachi jumped almost half a meter straight up, his eyes wide as dinner plates. "What the!? Oh, it's you." He took a deep, steadying breath. "Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack there."
Souji offered a wry smile. "I noticed. So, what's a detective doing at Junes right now? Is it something my uncle should know about?"
It was obscurely satisfying to see Adachi's face turn white as a sheet. "W-What!? Hey, I'm not slacking off here! I just needed a bit of a break, t-that's all." He swallowed. "Look, I'll tell you what's up if you keep this a secret. Seems the kid we're looking for had a part-time job in the shopping district. You can find out more there."
"Thank you for your time, Adachi-san." Once out the door, Souji pulled out his phone and sent his uncle a brief text message. Nothing about Adachi slacking off, of course, just where to find him.
So, back to the shopping district it was. There were a couple of places he dismissed out of hand; he'd never seen a teenager working at Yomenaido Bookstore, and it seemed unlikely Konishi Liquors was in a position to hire anyone at all. Tatsumi Textiles was also out, ditto Marukyu Tofu; Kanji and Rise would have recognized the mysterious boy in an instant otherwise.
That left Shiroku, which he frequented and had never seen anyone besides the old woman who ran the place, Aiya's, and Souzai Daigaku. Whistling tunelessly to himself, he set off down the road. For a town in the midst of a manhunt, he noted idly, there didn't seem to be much of a police presence.
He only briefly dropped by Shiroku, buying himself a candy bar to justify his appearance. Kou and Daisuke were having lunch at Aiya's, but he didn't dare ask them anything; he didn't want word of his extracurricular activities spreading through Yasogami. Being friends with Rise Kujikawa got him enough flak as it was.
At Souzai Daigaku, Souji at last hit pay dirt.
The cashier's face abruptly lost all color in a manner comically similar to Adachi. "You heard about that?" she blurted. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but we don't have anything to do with him. He wasn't with us for very long, anyway."
Souji tilted his head. "Fired?"
"Quit. Couldn't handle it." The cashier shrugged. "You know we serve fresh meat here. Well, he'd almost panic when the meat was cut; just a little bit of blood, and he'd go bone-white. He quit after just a couple of weeks."
"What was his name?"
Another shrug, this time with a helpless air. "I don't remember. You might ask one of his old classmates; he's been handing out pictures lately. He dyed his hair golden brown, so he should be easy to spot. I don't think he's around today, though."
"It's enough," Souji said, fervently hoping his uncle never got wind of this. "Sorry for bringing up bad memories." He bought a couple of steak skewers to make up for the trouble.
Back on the road, he quickly sent a group-wide text, alerting his friends to keep an eye out for the culprit's acquaintance. They had a lot of work to do, but he finally felt as though they were making genuine progress.
Naoto Shirogane was frustrated. Well. Perhaps not the right word. Irritated, exasperated, annoyed, and other words to that effect. That a supposedly professional organization uniformly refused to see obvious discrepancies drove her well-ordered detective's mind to distraction.
Well. Dojima-san was an exception, however irksome he found her involvement. Unfortunately, he was only one man, and not the one in charge.
She briefly considered soliciting Souji Seta's advice, but quickly decided against it. He was certainly trustworthy (one of Dojima's colleagues had floated the idea that Souji was or at least knew the killer, which was possibly the stupidest thing Naoto had heard in years), but given his own circumstances involving him would have been unwise.
Even if he had hinted he and his friends were involved anyway. How that could be remained a mystery.
Sitting outside Souzai Daigaku (blissfully unaware that Souji had visited not half an hour before), absently munching on a steak skewer, Naoto considered her options. None of them were very palatable just then.
Option one: Accept the Inaba police's conclusion that this unnamed high school student was indeed the killer, declare her part in the case concluded, and leave for her next assignment. Completely unacceptable in her mind; there was too much yet to be resolved, and she refused to simply admit defeat.
Option two: Continue working with the police, preferably with Ryotaro Dojima's backing. Awkward, but workable. She'd literally driven Dojima to drink within the last month or so, but their working relationship at least appeared salvageable. The general attitude of the force nonetheless reminded her why her family had long preferred to work outside the system.
Option three: Surreptitiously observe the goings-on of Souji Seta and his friends. Doable up to a point, but after he had spotted her for a girl it was unlikely Naoto would be able to do so completely undetected. Then again, Souji had implied he didn't necessarily mind her presence, though it seemed to cause Kanji Tatsumi some mild unease.
Combining the second and third options seemed the best course of action. Hardly ideal, but "ideal" was not something a sensible detective sought in a murder case. However, it still left the issue of finding Souji and company. Or rather, finding Souji himself. All of the others had more or less regular schedules; Tatsumi, Amagi, and Kujikawa all had close ties to family businesses, while Hanamura was known to work part-time at Junes and Satonaka was often found at the Amagi Inn.
Souji, by contrast, could be quite elusive. Naoto knew where he lived, of course, and they both frequented Yomenaido, but that was by most accounts merely a sliver of his very active schedule. From what she'd been able to glean from residents, he could be found in places as varied as Junes (unsurprising given his close friendship with Yosuke Hanamura), fishing at the Samegawa riverbed, helping out at a local day care, or at times just wandering about with no apparent destination in mind.
Well. No use sitting around. Naoto thanked the cashier and departed. Junes first, she decided; not only were Souji and Hanamura close friends, but their entire group met there rather frequently. That made it a perfect place to search for clues. Feeling more cheerful than she had in weeks, Naoto set off in search of her answers.
Evening
Souji spent enough time in the shopping district to confirm their lead wasn't in the area that day. Knowing his uncle was still searching, he returned briefly to Junes (Adachi had, sensibly, departed) for a brief grocery run and then went home.
The news consisted mainly of follow-ups on the unsolved murders. Souji paid little attention; the talking heads on TV couldn't tell him anything he didn't already know, save possibly the teenage suspect's name. Everything else he knew more about than either the media or the police, a fact he found darkly amusing.
The probable culprit's appearance was still nagging at him. He was sure he'd seen it somewhere before, since his arrival in Inaba. For that matter, the dull, slightly raspy voice was familiar as well. The sound of someone whose humanity was in question, or something to that effect.
His cell phone beeped just after he put Nanako to bed. Seeing the caller ID, he pressed the accept key with a feeling of vague resignation. "It's me," he said.
"Evening, Souji," Reika Sakamoto said. "Thought I'd check in with you. I hear Risette is going to your school now. She latch onto you yet?"
"Reika," Souji said patiently, "I've never been able to figure out where you get the idea that I'm some kind of chick magnet."
She laughed. "You really don't see it? Don't you remember the way a bunch of first year girls kept tabs on you last year?"
"Your point?"
He could practically see her shaking her head. "Souji, you can be really dense sometimes, you know that? The mysterious transfer student, doesn't talk much, keeps to himself, of course you're going to be attracting a lot of attention." Reika snickered. "So, Risette latch onto you yet?"
Souji sighed. "Yes, she's hanging out with me; no, we're not dating. I think part of it is I see her as Rise Kujikawa the high school student, not Risette the singer and actress."
"You never did care about fame," Reika observed. "I'm not surprised you're not dating; Risette's a nice girl and all, but she's not really your type."
Souji lifted an eyebrow. "Since when do you know what my type is? Or even if I have one?"
"Souji, how many times did I find you in the library after school?" Reika reminded him. "You've always been a brainiac type, and if you like Inaba as much as you've said, the hustle and bustle of dating a celebrity would drive you up the wall in a month or less."
"Touche," Souji conceded. "Anything else you want to grill me about?"
Reika laughed again. "How is that murder case coming along? I heard there was a third killing."
There was no way for her to know, of course, but Souji still felt a chill run down his spine. "The third victim was my homeroom teacher. Not exactly a popular guy, but I never wanted him dead. Well," he amended, "I kind of fantasized about it during midterms. Anyway, the police have a suspect, but they haven't found him. My uncle is on that case."
"So you're home with your little cousin," Reika said. "Oh, well, at least you aren't bored. Bet you never thought it would be that exciting in a place like Inaba."
"Part of me wishes it wasn't," Souji said dryly. "I was liking the peace and quiet for a change."
"Sure you were," Reika said, clearly not believing a word of it. "Well, I've got some other stuff to take care of. Talk to you later, Souji-kun."
For some time afterward, Souji contemplated the now-silent phone in his hand. How does she still catch me off-balance like that?
Friday, 29 July, Daytime
Most people would have gone to the shopping district first thing, not wanting to miss a vital clue. Souji, however, knew the student they wanted was unlikely to be there so early. With Nanako off at a friend's house for the day, he made a side trip to Junes for breakfast and a quick chat with Yosuke.
He arrived in the shopping district shortly before noon. Sure enough, a high school student with golden brown hair was hanging around near Marukyu. Souji suspected he was capitalizing on the potential notoriety of having gone to school with a murderer. It was disgusting, but there was an upside.
"I know what you're after," the other student said as Souji approached. "Looking for photos of my killer classmate, right? Well it just so happens I'm giving out copies of his yearbook picture. Want one?"
Souji accepted his copy with an absent murmur of thanks. It was indeed their quarry; there was no mistaking the short dark hair and more importantly the fishlike eyes. That same face had looked out at them from the Midnight Channel mere days before. A name was printed neatly below: Mitsuo Kubo.
And just like that, Souji knew where he'd seen Kubo before. That fishy face and dull voice combined with the school uniform in the photo left no room for doubt. He'd crossed paths with Kubo on his very first day of school in Inaba, right outside Yasogami.
His phone was in his hand an instant later. "Yosuke? Get the others together at Junes, ASAP."
"Sure thing, partner," the Junes Boy said. "Hit pay dirt, did you?"
"And then some," Souji said, glaring at the photo in his other hand. "Now I know exactly who we're after. It's time to end this."
Roughly fifteen minutes later, they were gathered in what he had come to think of as the "hub" of the TV world. Souji had his sword unsheathed in case Shadows decided to crash their party, but otherwise he was focused on the photo Rise now held.
"That's him, all right," Yosuke said with grim satisfaction. "No doubt about it, that's the guy we saw on the Midnight Channel. It's settled: he's the killer, and he's in here now!"
Rise was visibly shaken. "He came to our shop before. Does that mean . . . he was spying on me?" She shivered. "So I really was being targeted."
Souji laid a hand on her shoulder. "Take it easy, Rise. That's all over now." She flashed him a brief, grateful smile.
Chie was staring at the ground. "I'm sure I've seen him before. Hmm. . . ." Her head came up. "That's right! Yukiko, it's that one guy!"
"That one guy?" Yukiko repeated.
"The one who asked you out on the first day of school," Souji said. "He just about lost it when you turned him down."
Yukiko's face seemed to brighten for a moment. "Oh, really?" She blinked. "Well, I didn't exactly reject him."
Souji had to force himself not to facepalm. Occasionally, Yukiko felt the need to remind everyone that she didn't always read social cues the way normal people did. From what he remembered, her response to Kubo was an unequivocal rejection. An understandable one, seeing as he was a good deal creepier than a lot of the Shadows they'd fought.
"I remember him coming up to me while I was working," Rise said. "He asked if the biker gangs bothered me, and went on a rant about how bikers can't do anything unless they're in a pack. He seemed to be the kind of guy who keeps talking whether you like it or not, if that makes any sense." She shook her head. "Usually I at least try to be polite, but I was so tired I kinda ignored him."
Souji grunted. "Can't blame you, though it would explain why you were targeted. Dunno why he'd think biker gangs would be anywhere near a tofu shop, though."
At the mention of biker gangs, the others naturally looked at Kanji. "Uh, I was never in one." He grimaced. "That damn special report; so that's how I got roped into this."
"I heard he'd been talking about the announcer's case, too," Chie said. "He'd go on and on about how women who cheat on their husbands should be executed."
Souji rolled his eyes. "Sounds almost like Sloth-face. It doesn't matter, though. It ends here. Rise?"
She knew what he was asking. She closed her eyes, and the bizarre form of Himiko settled behind her, an odd visor-like band appearing over the idol's eyes. The "radar dish" that served as the Persona's face slowly swung back and forth, making an audible humming.
"Found him!" Rise said. She pointed off to the southeast. "He's that way!"
"Then let's move," Souji said.
They took off at a brisk jog, anxious to be on with it but careful not to exhaust themselves prematurely. Souji kept a wary eye out for Shadows; they didn't usually encounter them while in transit, but there was a first time for everything, and he had no intention of being caught unawares.
Another castle greeted them as they skidded to a halt, but it bore only the most superficial resemblance to the one Yukiko had been trapped in months before. Where Yukiko's had been an elegant medieval structure, this castle was very blocky in appearance, like computer graphics from around the 1980s.
The legend above the castle gate drove it home. "'New game'? 'Continue'?" Yosuke said, baffled. "What, is this like some kind of video game?"
"Older than anything I've played," Souji said, taken aback despite himself. "This whole thing looks eight-bit."
"Now what am I not surprised you'd know that," Chie said, half to herself. She seemed more fixated on the bizarre entryway. "Urgh, that bastard! I hereby sentence him to a hundred kicks to the face!"
"Stay chill, Chie," Souji said. "You want a game, Kubo?" he said to the waiting fortress. "Fine. Let the games begin."
The first thing he saw when they passed through the gate was what looked for all the world like another game menu. Two options were displayed, "New Quest" and "Continue." A cursor formed seemingly out of the ether selected "New Quest." This led to a second menu, "Please enter your name."
"Huh?" Rise said, as puzzled as any of them as Mitsuo's name was filled in. "Does this mean the game's starting?"
"Looks like it," Souji said, drawing his katana. "Stay sharp, guys."
It didn't just look an old eight-bit game, it sounded like one, too. The first door they reached opened with a very primitive-sounding electronic clatter, and seemed to "blink" open rather than swing. Light was provided by equally primitive torches spaced evenly along the crude yellow walls. Occasionally they ran across a water fountain.
"Senpai, watch out!"
He spun around, leading with his blade. The Shadows, at least, were more in line with what they had grown accustomed to battling. Stronger, of course, but not particularly groundbreaking, and Souji and his friends were also stronger. His sword cleaved through the first Shadow with little resistance; it wasn't dead, but a solid whack from Kanji's folding chair changed that.
"Damn, this is old-school," Yosuke said, having just summoned Jiraiya to send a Shadow flying into a wall. "Really not sure I wanna know what this Kubo creep's issues are."
"Not like we got a choice," Kanji pointed out. "Where to next, Senpai?"
Souji shrugged. "We find the stairs. There's no way this is going to be a one-level area, especially not with the Dungeons and Dragons theme it seems to have going. We're in for a slog." As usual, he didn't have to add.
It took around ten minutes of hacking, slashing, and zapping through more Shadows, but finding the stairs to the next floor wasn't overly difficult. Teddie, to Souji's considerable relief, was an even more capable frontline fighter than he had been as support crew. His Persona was similar to Chie's in that it emphasized ice-based attacks, but he also had some healing ability.
The moment they arrived on the second floor, maniacal laughter boomed around them. "How dare you stand against me for being a rotten orange! I'll make a worthless human like you taste endless pain!" "Mitsuo attacks! Critical Hit! Punishing Hit! Mitsuo is knocked down!"
Okay, what was that?
"Huh?" Rise said, echoing Souji's bafflement. "What's . . . going on here, anyway?"
Nothing good, that's for sure. As far as he could tell, the Shadows were much the same as on the first floor. Nothing of any real note, though they did have a bit of a close call a few minutes in. A bunch of rocklike Shadows with correspondingly high defensive abilities blocked their path, but a showering of Persona magic disposed of them. Eventually.
Some of the Shadows were similar to those they'd faced in Kanji's twisted bathhouse months before. Creatures in warped police uniforms occasionally waylaid them, but they proved quite vulnerable to electrical attacks, allowing Souji and Kanji to destroy them with relative ease.
The next ambush was more costly. "Okay, we need to rethink this," Souji said, watching Yukiko treating Chie's injuries. Those giant hands had done a number on them. "Kanji, Teddie, stick close to Rise; we can't afford to let her get hurt."
"You got it, Senpai," Kanji said, offering a weary yet jaunty salute.
"Just leave it to me!" Teddie agreed.
Souji nodded. "Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, we'll be up front for now. The four of us are strong enough that we should be able to head off anything really dangerous."
He kept a slower pace from then on. Eager though they all were to catch Kubo and bring the case to an end, allowing themselves to be ambushed again would do no one any good. They were in this crazy world to save lives, not get themselves killed.
"Souji," Yukiko said, leaning close as they walked. "You've played some games before. Does this look at all familiar?"
He took a long look at the corridor ahead before replying. Nothing. "Sort of. I've played some role-playing games, but this is a lot older than anything I've tried. The general setup looks like your basic attack-the-enemy-stronghold, save-the-princess kind of plot. Fairly generic."
Yukiko nodded. "So we should expect armored knights like in mine?"
"Don't jump to conclusions," Souji warned. "You wouldn't expect things like homicidal dice—what the!?"
There were five of them, more of the animate boulders that had plagued them since the bathhouse. Nigh-invulnerable to physical weapons, Persona was the only practical way to deal with them. Souji and Yukiko split apart, which unfortunately gave one an opening. It sped past, aiming straight for Rise.
Teddie had other ideas. "Bear-sona!" he shouted, summoning a wall of ice. Souji almost facepalmed at the weak pun, but the results were impressive nonetheless. Cracks appeared in the rock's outer surface, and with a painful grinding sound it simply fell apart, before vanishing into mist as Shadows did.
"Gotta hand it to you," Yosuke complimented the bear. "All right. Let's do this, Jiraiya!"
"Come, Kunohana Sakuya!" Yukiko cried. "Yosuke-kun, I have an idea!"
His equivocal exam scores notwithstanding, Yosuke instantly caught the heiress's meaning. Jiraiya appeared once more, but this times its winds weren't directed at the Shadows, but rather at the fire Yukiko had conjured. Thus strengthened, it became a wall of flame, immolating the remaining Shadows.
Souji whistled. "Fanning the flames," he said. "Good job, both of you."
"I'll second that!" Rise gushed. "Senpai, that was amazing!"
Yosuke actually blushed, to Chie's evident annoyance. Yukiko, less embarrassed, merely took a bow as befitted a girl of her station, drawing a chuckle from Kanji.
There were, thankfully, no more Shadows between them and the staircase. Souji was already considering calling it a day after the next floor, assuming they could clear the whole thing. And "clear" was evidently the right word, given the area's bizarre video game theme.
"Good morning," a female voice said out of nowhere. "You seemed to have slept well last night, enough that the police sirens didn't wake you. I think something bad happened. . . ." The voice briefly trailed off. "Can you get me some coffee from the cafe in the arcade? Thanks." A brief pause. "Did you hear a girl was killed? I don't even feel safe walking through town anymore. Don't let your guard down, and make sure you're not out late, okay?"
Shaking his head at the incongruity, Souji led his team down the hall. In less than a minute, they came to a T-junction with no apparent exit.
"Okay, now what?" Yosuke wondered. "It's a dead end; what the hell are we supposed to do now?"
Chie snorted. "Come on, Yosuke, you give up to easily." She paused. "Then again, I'm just as much in the dark."
"There's an answer; we just need to find it," Souji said. "Let's take a closer look, and stay together. I'd rather not find out what happens if we get separated."
A moment later, he knew staying together was the proper course. They took a right turn, got close to the dead end . . . and everything went white. When the light faded, they were in an entirely different section.
"What the hell just happened!?" Kanji demanded, looking like he wanted to kill something barehanded.
Teleportation. It was an effect they hadn't encountered before, but by this point Souji was far beyond surprise. Besides which, it again fit with the wacky dungeon-crawler motif, a tile that sent the player somewhere else. If nothing else, it gave them a baseline for navigating the floor.
It took them a few false starts, but they soon had the pattern, and the Shadows were no stronger than they had been on the previous floor. Mind-bending though it was, they reached the stairway in less than fifteen minutes.
"All right," Souji said, leaning against the wall. "We've found the stairs. Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm about ready to fall asleep on my feet."
"I hear ya," Chie said. "That freak isn't going anywhere. Let's call it a day."
Evening
No matter how exhausted he was, Souji always had time for his "little sister." Hearing Nanako's cheery greeting as he stepped inside lifted a lot of the day's care from his shoulders. Feeling revitalized, he busied himself helping her prepare dinner. His uncle, he suspected, would not be home until late, if at all.
"Will you be okay for a little while, Nanako-chan?" he asked. "I need to take a quick shower; this heat is murder sometimes." It was even the truth, just not the whole truth.
Nanako, bless her heart, was oblivious. "Okay," she said with a smile. "I have to sweep anyway."
Souji smiled back, again struck by how responsible his cousin was despite her youth. It was no exaggeration, he decided, that the Dojima household would be a shambles without Nanako. She was the only reason the place was liveable sometimes. All she really needed was some cooking lessons.
For the time being, he put the matter of Mitsuo Kubo out of his mind. He'd learned while still in grade school that sometimes the best way to deal with a problem was to not think about it for a while. Sometimes the subconscious came up with surprisingly useful answers.
He'd caught a glimpse of Naoto Shirogane at Junes the previous day. Knowing her, she was shadowing him, or at least trying to, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to mind. It was true she could have turned him and his friends in to the Inaba police, but Souji doubted she would go through with it.
Just as well. If Uncle Ryotaro got wind of it, I'd be grounded till I finished college. Assuming I got in to begin with.
Shuddering at the thought of his uncle's reaction, Souji got the shower running. Tomorrow, it was back to the salt mines.
Tuesday, 9 August, Daytime
To Souji's considerable annoyance, they hit a snag that lasted over a week. First, the Shadows on the fourth floor proved far stronger than anticipated, leaving them woefully unprepared for the onslaught. Souji had been forced to make several visits to the mysterious Velvet Room to ensure his own powers were up to snuff.
Just when they'd overcome that first hurdle, scheduling conflicts struck. Yosuke found himself caught up in a sale at Junes, while the Amagi Inn experienced a rush of summer visitors. With his trusted partner and their primary healer unavailable, Souji hadn't dared risk another excursion, and spent most of the week cursing the tourists.
With the team reassembled, he took out his frustration on the Shadows. His ferocity both with his sword and Persona abilities took even Kanji somewhat aback. Yosuke, who knew him probably better than anyone else (and was well-accustomed to Chie) simply took it in stride. Rise and Teddie, of course, thought it was the coolest thing they'd ever seen.
Regardless, it was enough to carry them to the next floor, which turned out to be merely more of the same, save for the ranting steadily losing coherence.
Rise summed it up. "Does this bastard really think it's all a game!?" she growled. "He's so on my enemies list!"
"I'm with you, Rise-chan," Chie said grimly, delivering a vicious snap kick to a beetle-form Shadow. The creature slammed into a wall and dissolved.
Guess I'm not the only one in a bad mood. "King Frost, put them on ice!" Souji shouted, crushing a card in his fist. The deceptively-comical Persona obeyed, freezing another Shadow almost completely solid. A savage blow from Kanji finished the job.
"All right, keep pushing," Souji said. "We don't dare exhaust ourselves, but we also can't afford to wait much longer. Let's move."
Seventh floor, and Souji found himself having flashbacks. It was considerably darker, which called to mind ugly memories of a trick Rise's Shadow had pulled. Limited visibility was always a bad sign, and the glasses they all wore didn't exactly work as NVG.
"Dammit, now what?" Yosuke groaned, sounding more exasperated than anything else. "What's that Shadow have waiting for us this time?"
It took no more than a few steps to find out. Souji reached the middle of an intersection, and without warning found himself facing another direction. He took a few cautious steps, and it happened again. After a third try, he felt slightly dizzy, forcing a temporary halt.
"What a pain," Kanji muttered. "I can barely see straight."
"I hear that," Rise grumbled. "My Persona is the only reason I'm not motion sick."
Souji closed his eyes, thinking. The bizarre effects of the intersections aside, the floor appeared to be reasonably straightforward. Kubo wasn't there, but it was different enough that he wanted to make a thorough search. Something there was important, he could feel it.
"We keep moving, but take the intersections slowly," he said at last. "Keep your eyes open, guys; we're more likely to be ambushed in this light."
The going was at least a little smoother after that. Shadows still had a way of coming out of nowhere, but Souji and his friends were more alert, so they weren't as dangerous as they could have been. The only real hitch was when an armed Shadow got too close to Rise, but Kanji and Teddie were able to head it off.
Which was when another complication presented itself.
"Is it just me, or is there something seriously not right about that door?" Chie said, eying it nervously.
Rise pressed her lips in a grim line. "It's not just you," she said. "I can sense a powerful Shadow beyond it. No sign of Kubo, though."
Souji sighed, readying his blade. "No choice," he said, and kicked the door open.
A single Shadow greeted them, a darker version of the "hand" types they'd encountered before. Far tougher, though; it barely flinched at Souji's first strike, and promptly slapped him. If it hadn't hurt so much, he would have laughed at the sheer absurdity of it all.
"Not happening, freak! Go, Jiraiya!"
Yosuke's wind spell bought time for Yukiko to aid Souji. The coolness of a Dia spell washed over him, allowing him to clamber to his feet. Glaring at the Shadow, he crushed a card in his fist, summoning Izanagi to throw a bolt of lightning. The resulting thunderclap was obscurely satisfying.
The Shadow did not retaliate directly. It snapped its overlarge fingers, and a second Shadow, similar but colored the more familiar white, appeared next to it.
"Just great, more of them," Chie growled. "Tomoe!"
Souji expected a shard of ice. Instead, Chie's power was directed at him, and he felt a surge of power in his limbs. Giving her a brief smile of thanks, he lunged for the second Shadow, a vicious chop that reduced it to smoke and ichor in an instant. Out of habit, he flicked the blade, removing the Shadow bits.
"Not bad, Senpai," Kanji said. "Let's go, Take-Mikazuchi!" A second lightning strike, albeit not as powerful as those Souji could unleash, stunned the dark Shadow for a precious instant.
Teddie was swift to take advantage of the opening, first freezing it with his Persona, then swiping his claws through. It actually made a sound then, a piercing shriek that made Souji want to cover his ears.
"Damn, that hurt," Yosuke grumbled, shaking his head. He glanced at Teddie. "So much for 'got no muscles,' right?"
"I did a lot more than just grow a new body," Teddie retorted.
They never change. "Yukiko! Burn that thing!"
"On it!" the heiress said. "Come, Kunohana Sakuya!"
If there was one thing Yukiko Amagi knew besides healing wounds, it was burning things. The fire spell was only mid-level, but it was enough to engulf their opponent. Souji had to hurriedly step back and switch to a more fire-resistant Persona just to avoid passing out.
"Phew," Souji said, wiping his forehead. He stepped past the Shadow's remains to the object it had been guarding, a rather cliché-looking treasure chest. Inside was an orb of pure black, some kind of crystal by the feel of it.
"You think it's important?" Chie asked, peering around him.
"With the theme in this place, probably." Souji pocketed the orb. "Let's go."
The next floor greeted them with a nigh-incoherent scream, but was otherwise unremarkable. It took them longer than they would have otherwise, but that was mainly due to the energy they had already expended fighting that guardian Shadow. The team made it through without any major incident.
"All right," Souji said, leaning heavily against the wall near the stairs. "If Rise's senses are right, Kubo is on the next floor, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm not up to what we're likely to face."
"I hear that," Chie said, hands on her knees. "That last one did a number on me."
Souji nodded. "That's what I thought. So for today, we'll head back and rest. Don't make any plans for tomorrow, though." His eyes hardened. "One way or another, tomorrow Mitsuo Kubo is going down."
The others nodded in unison, grimly determined to end it.
Wednesday, 10 August, Daytime
It was time. Knowing what they were likely to face, Souji had made everyone triple-check their preparations. He himself had paid an extended visit to the Velvet Room, ensuring he had the best possible Persona arrangement. They would leave absolutely nothing to chance if they could help it.
"This is it," he said. "Everyone ready?"
"You know it, partner," Yosuke said. The others nodded, resolute.
Here we go. Souji drew out the bizarre orb he'd found the day before. Pure darkness, pitch black, flowed from it in waves. The darkness seeped through the tiny gaps in the final door, and for a moment all was still. Then, with the primitive electronic sound they'd heard countless times during this final search, the door swung open.
Right on schedule, he saw two of Mitsuo Kubo. It was different from usual, though; most of the previous Shadows had been easy to tell from the real person. Whether it was "Princess" Yukiko's exaggerated dress, the other Kanji's bath towel, "Risette's" swimsuit, or Evil Teddie's sheer size, there was usually an obvious clue.
Not so this time. The only real sign was a faint dark haze around the Shadow.
"You Mitsuo?" Kanji snapped. "Hope you're ready to pay, bastard!"
Kubo ignored him, focusing entirely on his own other self. "Everyone gets on my nerves!" he snarled. "That's why I did it!" He was gesticulating wildly. "What do you think of that, huh!? Say something already, dammit!"
The Shadow made no reply, only a soft sigh that was more felt than heard.
"Nobody even thought of me after the first two," Kubo went on. It was impossible to really tell from behind, but Souji had the distinct impression of a manic grin. "That's why I went after that bastard Morooka! I killed them all!"
Again, the Shadow made no reply.
Kubo was finally beginning to crack. "Wh-What the hell are you so quiet for!?" he demanded.
At last, the Shadow spoke. "Because . . . I feel nothing. . . ." The voice only sounded vaguely like Kubo's, almost electronic in tone.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Kubo said. "Make sense, dammit!"
Chie blinked, confused. "Huh? Which one's the Shadow?"
Took the words right out of my mouth, Chie.
"I . . . have nothing," the Shadow said. "I . . . am nothing. And you . . . are me."
Souji tensed, knowing what was coming next. Sure enough, Kubo exploded. "What the hell are you saying!? I'm . . . I'm not nothing!"
At this, Yukiko let out an alarmed yelp. "No, don't! If this keeps up. . . ."
Kubo spun around. "What the . . . how the hell did you get in here!? Who the hell are you!?"
"Who we are doesn't matter," Souji said icily, drawing his sword. "What matters is we came in here for you. Are you the one who killed those people?"
Kubo broke into the most disturbing laughter Souji had ever heard, including from previous Shadows. "That's right!" he said. "I'm the one behind everything! Not this stupid imposter!" He turned back to the Shadow. "You hear that, bastard!? You've got nothing to do with me! I don't give a damn what you think! Get the hell out of my sight!"
He faced Souji and his friends again. ""And the same goes for you idiots! Why'd you chase me all the way here!? I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!"
Souji slid smoothly into a fighting stance. "You're welcome to try," he said, his voice even but with a hint of menace lurking beneath. "You'll find we're a lot different from your last victims."
The answer came not from Kubo, but from his Shadow. "So . . . you don't accept me." The all too familiar wave of darkness obscured the area, knocking Mitsuo Kubo off his feet. In place of the human-like Shadow was . . . a baby. A floating baby with a ring of what looked like computer code over its head.
What the?
"Dammit, here we go again!" Yosuke said, brandishing his knives.
Rise took a step back. "Get ready, everyone! When we take him down, this case is as good as solved!"
If it hadn't been for previous Shadow encounters, Souji would have wondered what on Earth a floating baby could do to threaten them. As it was, he just waited to see what the other shoe was. What they got was bizarre even by his rather elastic standards.
The "baby" muttered something incomprehensible, and with a series of electronic chirps it was covered by overly large, brightly colored pixels. It took a moment for Souji's mind to resolve it; when the image finally clicked, he couldn't stop himself from gaping just a little.
It looked like nothing so much as a very primitive video game character, complete with armor, sword, and shield, all in the same style.
"What the hell?" Yosuke said, sounding more incredulous than anything else. "Is that thing supposed to be a game character? How insulting can he get?"
"I am a Shadow," it said. "Come, I'll end your emptiness."
Not happening. Souji led off with a bolt of electricity, gambling on the Shadow at least being distracted by the light show. A sword slash to its leg resulted in a small explosion of pixels, but did little damage. Teddie, right behind him, cut into the same spot with his claws.
Naturally, Kubo's Shadow wasn't about to let such an attack go unanswered. Its sword swept in a shallow, descending arc. Souji was able to dodge most of it, but had to hurriedly parry. Teddie wasn't so fortunate, catching a glancing blow to the side that knocked him flying. He landed with a pained grunt, but was on his feet quickly enough; apparently that costume had some padding.
Chie took a flying leap, actually bouncing off the Shadow's sword to deliver a vicious kick to its head. It tried to bash her aside with its shield, but the martial artist was too nimble, managing to squeeze in a second albeit not as devastating kick before landing on her feet next to Yukiko.
"Impressive, Chie-senpai!" Rise gushed. Then, "Kanji, watch out!"
The warning came barely in time. Kanji wasn't able to get out of the way entirely, but he had just enough of an opening to summon his Persona, which took the brunt of the attack. Yosuke was charging in an instant later, Jiraiya's wind boosting his speed.
Kubo's Shadow, surprisingly, ignored the knife thrust, instead turning its attention to Yukiko. Whether it recognized her importance as their healer or not, its next move was devastating. A cartoon-style bomb appeared over her head and detonated in a puff of smoke.
She was on her knees when the smoke cleared, visibly gasping for breath. "Sorry . . . Souji-kun."
Dammit. "Yosuke, help Yukiko," Souji snapped. "Teddie, Chie, see if you can freeze that thing in place for a few seconds. Kanji, try to stun it."
"What about you, partner?" Yosuke said anxiously, already bending over Yukiko.
Souji glared at the Shadow. "I'm going right for the head."
He set himself, then kicked off at a run. The Shadow slashed at him, but its movements were hampered by Chie and Teddie's ice attack. An attempt to swat him with its shield was similarly impeded by Kanji, and then he was in the air, bringing his sword down on the primitive character's head.
It dissolved in an explosion of blocky pixels, leaving the baby within to fall to the floor.
Souji wasn't going to let the opening pass. He slashed through its torso, drawing some kind of ichor, only to be knocked several meters back by a telekinetic strike. He stumbled, catching his heel on a rock, but was able to regain his balance.
"It's still vulnerable," Rise said. "Hammer that thing now, before it can rebuild its shell!"
Close range is tricky because of its telekinetic abilities. That leaves Persona. "Guys, hit it with elemental attacks. That should at least soften it up."
"You got it, partner," Yosuke said. "Jiraiya, go!"
Chie stepped up at almost the same instant. "Tomoe, now!"
It was, Souji had to admit, an impressive effect. He'd seen Yosuke fan Yukiko's flames; now he found a snowstorm could be just as devastating. Squinting against the blowing ice crystals, he saw Kubo's Shadow turning a rather disturbing shade of blue, almost as if the freak had frostbite.
And then frostbite was suddenly the least of its worries, as Yukiko and Kanji struck simultaneously, the fury of lightning and fire dissolving the ice in an instant, without giving the Shadow the slightest respite. It let out an inhuman sound of pain and rage, lashing out with a telekinetic blow that staggered Kanji, though he stayed on his feet.
"Here it comes, guys!" Rise said. "The shell is reforming, and I think it's stronger than before!"
Great. Just what we don't need.
"Stronger" proved exactly right. Thus far its attacks had only hit one of them at a time. The "Gigadyne" spell it unleashed struck them all, with Yosuke faring the worst. Souji and Kanji were mostly unaffected, while Chie staggered a bit but was able to remain mostly upright.
While Yukiko attended to Yosuke, Souji set himself again. "Izanagi!" he shouted, crushing a card in his fist. On cue, the masked phantasm released a bolt of lightning, visibly staggering even the Shadow's "complete" form.
"Don't let up, guys!" Rise said. "It's weakening!"
That was all Souji needed to hear. He unleashed a second blast of electricity, then lunged forward with his blade. Parrying a clumsy slash, his own weapon bit deep into the Shadow's leg. Then Chie was there, giving him a boost for another strike at its head.
Once again, the crude shell exploded in a shower of pixels, leaving the freakish baby to fall to the floor. Visibly weak, it barely even moved as Kanji stepped forward to bash it over the head.
And just like that, it was over.
The only reason Souji didn't immediately fall to his knees was an unwillingness to show weakness in front of their target. The fight with Kubo's Shadow hadn't been particularly long, but it was certainly grueling, especially after what they'd already been through.
Kubo himself, naturally, had no such compunctions. "Ugh, dammit," he gasped, pushing himself upright. He looked at the now-quiescent Shadow, then back at Souji and his friends. "Just who the hell are you, anyway?"
Didn't you already ask that? "You're the killer, right?" Souji asked, keeping his voice calm but cold.
Kubo let out a hollow laugh. "Yeah, that's right. All the cases . . . all on me." He threw his head back triumphantly. "That's right, I did it! Not just that bastard Morooka, either, that stupid announcer and the Konishi bitch, too! It was all me!"
Souji felt a sudden, very strong urge to run his sword through Kubo's stomach. It wasn't just Kubo calling Saki Konishi a "bitch," though that certainly didn't help (Yosuke was visibly trembling with rage). It was the sheer callousness of it all, Kubo's utter lack of any sense of what he had done.
"You don't have a clue, do you," Souji said. "You have no idea."
Kubo laughed again. "So what!?" As if on cue, the Shadow vanished in a puff of black mist. "See!? Even he gets it!" Seemingly spent by that one exclamation, he fell to his knees like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Let's get him out of here," Souji said quietly. "I know it's tempting to just leave him," he said, glancing at Yosuke, "but we're better than that. Besides, if it's left unsolved, Inaba will never really settle down."
There was something surreal about hauling Kubo into the electronics section at Junes. Souji and friends gathered around the fugitive as he half-sprawled on the floor, wheezing for breath. Kubo seemed smaller in the real world, smaller and more petty.
"Where . . . am I?" Kubo gasped.
A banal question, but understandable. "The real world, the electronics department at Junes," Souji said.
Kubo clutched at his head. "Why . . . what happened? The TV . . . urgh. . . ."
"I can see you're pretty confused, but we have a bunch of questions for you," Teddie said. Still clad in his bear suit, he glared at Kubo. "Why did you throw those people in? Answer in ten words or less!"
Kubo let out a half-hearted snort. "Who the hell are you? Get outta my face, you freak."
"Freak!? Grrrrrrr!"
Souji raised a calming hand. "Enough, Teddie. So, Kubo, did you really do it?" He left the honorific off deliberately.
"I already told you," Kubo said, groaning. "Get off my back, willya?"
"Why. . . ?" That from Rise, her usual energy completely absent. "How could you do something like that?"
Chie's fists were clenched so hard her knuckles were audibly popping. "Three people are dead because of you, you bastard!" she snarled.
Disturbingly, Kubo started laughing again. "Everyone's talking about it, right? I'm the talk of the town. I did it, all by myself!"
Yosuke inhaled sharply, a quick, hissing breath. "You . . . you just wanted the attention?" His voice was soft, but so tight it sounded like he might snap at any moment.
"Why us!?" Yukiko demanded. "How did you kidnap us!? Answer me!"
Kubo looked up at her, smiling dazedly. "You're Yuki, right? Now you want to talk to me? Pathetic." He shrugged wearily. "Nah, I didn't care who. Everybody's the same."
Yosuke almost went for his knives at that, his expression so murderous that even Souji took a half step back. "You . . . didn't even care!?" His shoulders shook with fury. "Gotta be . . . kidding me. . . . You killed Senpai over nothing!? You son of a bitch!"
It was Kanji's reaction, though, that was truly terrifying. He took one menacing step forward. "I hope you're ready to get what's coming to you," he said. His voice was much softer than its usual growl, which was all the more frightening.
"What? You gonna kill me?" Kubo seemed unconcerned by the prospect.
Yukiko, not so much. "Kanji-kun!?"
Kanji gripped Kubo by the collar and hoisted him up. "Kill you? You really think it's gonna be that easy, bastard? Fat chance." His voice was still low, soft . . . deadly. "What you did, there's no going back. You're gonna own up to your crimes and pay for every last one of 'em. And you're not gonna be allowed to kick the bucket till you understand exactly what you did!"
I'm honestly impressed.
Yosuke closed his eyes. "Why!? Why did she have to die because of this bastard!?"
While Chie moved closer to their distraught friend, Souji had his cell out. To his relief, it was Adachi who picked up; he wasn't ready to explain to his uncle just how he'd found the killer when the police could not. After a terse exchange, Adachi promised to keep Souji's involvement confidential, and treat it as an anonymous tip.
And that's that.
After Kubo was led away, Souji and the others adjourned to the food court for a well-earned rest. As leader, Souji decided to for once bank on his family connections (more precisely family bank account) and pay for everyone's drinks. It seemed like the right thing to do.
Somehow, that didn't prevent a sense of letdown.
"At least Adachi-san seemed happy," Chie offered after a long silence.
"Uncle Ryotaro tore a strip off him after the peeping tom incident," Souji said, nodding at Rise. "He was probably relieved to have the actual culprit this time." That drew a few chuckles.
Chie sighed. "Still, he did all that for the attention. I mean, it wouldn't have been okay if he'd had a solid reason, but still."
"Lot of messed-up people out there," Yosuke said. "Still, we caught this one. Our job is done. Kinda sad, really."
To his own surprise, Souji felt much the same. Looking at it more closely, though, it made sense. Chasing after the killer the police were not equipped to find, rescuing people from their own subconscious, for the first time in his life, Souji had actually felt like he mattered. It was hard to give up, even for the sake of making a small town safe.
"My world will be peaceful again," Teddie said, sounding just a bit wistful.
Yukiko smiled. "I'm happy for you," she said. "We went through a lot."
"Like scoring with guys!" Teddie said with a grin.
Souji was just taking a sip of his drink. At Teddie's rather tacky remark, he choked and lapsed into a fit of coughing. Even so, he couldn't miss the poisonous glare Yukiko shot Teddie's way; had they been in the TV world, there was little doubt their ursine friend would have been on fire.
"Huh?" Kanji said. "Uh, what's that all about?"
Yukiko turned her glare on the delinquent. "You don't need to know that. I'm sure you'd like us all to forget the sauna incident. Right, Kanji-kun?"
Souji covered a smile at the deer-in-the-headlights look on Kanji's face. It was true that Yukiko was very difficult to provoke, but when it did happen, the wise man got out of the way. Kanji, it appeared, had yet to learn that lesson.
"That reminds me, you still haven't said what Yosuke's was like," Chie said.
Well aware he was treading on dangerous ground, Souji opted for the vaguest answer he could think of. "Pretty much like the rest," he said.
"And let's leave it at that," Yosuke said quickly. "Weird thing is, nothing happened with you."
Rise's eyebrows went up at that. "For real? Is there something special about Senpai after all?"
"Sensei is da man!" Teddie piped up, apparently unfazed by Yukiko's glare.
Please, enough. Souji couldn't quite speak up, not wanting to dampen his friends' enthusiasm, but the whole thing was more than a little embarrassing.
"Guess we won't be calling you 'Leader' anymore, now the case is solved," Kanji said, sounding a bit depressed.
Chie looked down. "Yeah, it is kinda sad."
Sad, but at the same time Souji was happy the others felt as he did. Going through all that insanity together actually meant something. Maybe the case was closed, but the changes it had brought would last a lifetime, cliché though it sounded.
Rise perked up. "Hey, why don't we have our own celebration?" she said. "In show biz we always have a wrap party when we're done shooting. It's a lot of fun, and gives us some closure."
Chie grinned. "Hey, that sounds great. Let's go all out!"
"How about Yuki-chan's place?" Teddie suggested, sounding a little too excited for Souji's peace of mind. "Hot springs, geishas, the works!"
Please, no. Knowing you, there is no way that would end well.
Yukiko, thankfully, demurred. "I don't think that would work right now," she said quietly. "This is the busiest time of year for us, so the inn is usually full."
Yosuke looked at Souji. "How about your place? If your uncle doesn't get all suspicious at least."
"Uncle Ryotaro probably won't even be home until at least tomorrow," Souji said with a laugh. "He'll be too busy getting Kubo squared away. It's fine. Besides, Nanako will be lonely otherwise."
"And hungry," Yukiko said. "Hey, why don't we make dinner together?"
Souji froze, his eyes meeting Yosuke's in shared horror. Despite their further adventures since, the school campout was still fresh in both their minds. The campout, and the chemical weapon (Souji wasn't sure it qualified as "food," exactly) Yosuke had dubbed "Mystery Food X."
Not that. Anything but that.
Rise, oblivious to her senpai's terror, looked from Yukiko to Chie and back. "Oh, are you guys good at cooking?"
"Well, yeah, sort of," Chie said. Her tone was not reassuring.
Yosuke was having none of it. "W-What are you saying?" he stammered. "Have you already forgotten the tragedy of the school campout!?"
If there was any justice in the universe, that alone would have stopped the girls cold. Sadly, they were out of luck; Yosuke's protest served only to get Chie's back up. "We told you that was an accident!" she said sharply.
"She's right," Yukiko said. "We got a couple of ingredients wrong is all!"
More than a "couple." Pretty sure you don't put coffee and chocolate in curry.
Yosuke closed his eyes. "Please, I'm begging you, don't do this. I don't need another trauma to deal with. . . ."
Mere begging, however, was unlikely to change any minds in a group of such strong-willed people. Chie looked more determined than ever, while Yukiko wore a look Souji had seen only once before, while they were fighting Teddie's Shadow. It did not bode well.
"Hey, I'm a good cook, too!" Rise piped up.
Why does that not reassure me?
"I'll make something for you, Senpai," she went on. Given that her fixation on him occasionally creeped him out, Souji was not even slightly calmed.
And then Teddie had to go and make it even worse. "Ta-da! Teddie has a great idea!"
Oh, no.
"Let's have a cooking battle! The winner will be crowned Iron Cook Inaba!" the bear said proudly.
Unnoticed by all save Yosuke, Souji slumped forward, his face buried in his hands. This is insane. This is more insane than any Shadow battle we've had! Did Reika put a curse on me or something?
"A cooking battle?" Yosuke repeated, eying Teddie uneasily. "Now I'm even more worried."
You and me both, partner.
Chie stood. "Woo, I'm all fired up! To the grocery department, on the double!"
"You sure?" Rise asked with a falsely-sweet smile. "I'd win hands down. You really want to do this?"
Groaning, Yosuke looked back at Souji. "Dude, listen to me. For the sake of our stomachs, you have to cook something, too. Help us, Souji Seta! You're our only hope!"
"Fine by me," Chie said. "Nanako-chan can be our judge."
Not if it's another helping of Mystery Food X. With a sense of profound unease, Souji got up and followed the girls downstairs, Yosuke trudging dejectedly along with him. I have a very bad feeling about this.
The feeling had only intensified a few minutes later. Souji thumbed the speed dial on his cell phone; if they were going to cook up something at his place, it only made sense to ask what Nanako wanted for dinner. Though Kanji and Teddie babbling on about being tasters did not bode well.
"Anything's fine," Nanako said over the phone. Souji repeated it for the others.
Yukiko smiled, shaking her head. "She's just being modest. Go on, ask again." Souji did so, still feeling a sense of impending doom.
". . .An omelet," Nanako said after a moment. "An omelet with fried rice."
Souji nodded to himself and repeated her answer. Yosuke, he noted, visibly sagged with relief. "Excellent choice," the Junes Boy said. "With something that simple, it's a lot less likely we'll wind up with a second helping of Mystery Food X."
For his part, Souji was not so sanguine. Given what the girls had managed to do with something as simple as curry, he wasn't at all sure an omelet would turn out any better. There was a gleam in Chie's eye that he definitely didn't like, and Yukiko's usual goofiness was completely absent.
"All right, let's go," Chie said, and the girls split off. In different directions, adding to Souji's unease.
Yosuke noticed it, too. "Uh, if they're all making the same thing, why are they splitting off to different parts of the market?"
Souji shook his head. "Honestly, I don't want to know. I'm going to keep it simple, Asian-American soy flavor. Nanako-chan should be able to eat that without a problem."
"Got it partner," Yosuke said. "I'll get what you need; back in a few."
Souji spent most of the next ten minutes wondering what fresh disaster was about to strike. Granted he was probably doing Rise something of a disservice, never having sampled her cooking. Then again, he'd thought Yukiko would have been a good cook, prior to shopping for the campout. Assuming either way was dangerous.
And they're back. Yosuke set his bag in the cart, eying the girls' purchases uneasily. Especially Rise's. "Foie gras!? Since when do you put that in an omelet?"
Rise either didn't notice the dig, or ignored it. "Quite an eye you've got there, Yosuke-senpai. It's a must-have for my special omelet!" She giggled. "Don't worry, I'll let you have a taste. Or maybe spoon-feed you." That last was of course directed at Souji.
At that instant, Souji knew he'd been wrong to cut Rise any slack. He wasn't overfond of liver to begin with; putting it in an omelet of all things offended every culinary bone in his body. The rather creepy "spoon-feed" line didn't help.
"I heard last time you choked down something so awful that there were no words to describe it," the idol went on with an exaggerated sigh.
Yosuke's response was anything but exaggerated. "It was horrible," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You poor dears," Rise said, shaking her head. "Who would do such a thing?"
Naturally, the other girls were less than amused. "Uh, Rise-san?" Chie said, her voice full of false cheer. "This is the only chance you'll have to gloat. Got it?"
Yukiko's expression was unusually stern. "I'll crush you in one strike!"
This just keeps getting better and better, Souji thought. Forget how it tastes; are the girls going to be able to avoid killing each other?
Kanji reappeared then, holding a bottle. "Wow," he said, looking at the girls. "You look like you're ready to enter the Ultimate Frying Championship."
Yukiko pointed at the bottle, alarmed. "Kanji-kun, that's alcohol!"
"Huh!?" Kanji did an about-face, looking just a bit shell-shocked.
Souji couldn't restrain a facepalm. We're doomed.
Evening
It was very likely the liveliest the Dojima household had been in years, even more than Adachi's occasional visit. Certainly the most crowded, with Souji and the girls all bustling about in the kitchen. The different omelet recipes they were using (though Souji still wasn't sure what the others were making qualified as actual omelets) resulted in a strange but fortunately not unpleasant combination of smells.
He could hear Teddie and Nanako at the living room table. "It's finally over," Teddie was saying. "They kept their promise."
Nanako, perhaps fortunately, wasn't listening. "It's really Rise-chan!" she said, excited.
That's right. This is the first time Nanako has seen Rise in person. Nanako knew Souji was acquainted with Rise, of course, but the idol had never actually visited their home before. It was only natural that she would be so excited.
He only dimly heard the rest, lost as it was in the clatter of egg beaters and hiss of the stove. His omelet was almost ready; off to his right, he saw Rise adding the foie gras, along with a truly improbable amount of spice. Yukiko, by contrast, seemed to be restraining herself for once. Seemed.
Maybe she's keeping it simple, he thought, recalling her experiments with miso soup. His dish now finished, he slid it onto a plate to cool, and made his way over to join Teddie and Nanako.
"I've made another promise, with Nanako-chan," Teddie said as he approached. "She wants to play more often."
For a moment Souji just stared. What's he—oh! "Well, of course," he said, setting the plate down. "It's not like we were going to force you to leave, now that everything is settled."
"Listen to the man, Ted," Yosuke agreed. "'Sides, you've got a job at Junes now, remember? Can't exactly just walk away from that."
Teddie seemed about ready to burst into tears. "Y-You guys. . . ." He choked, unable to continue.
"It's reeeeaaaaaddddyyyyy!" Rise's voice sang out. "Incoming food! Outta the way, Senpai!" She brushed past Yosuke, drawing a brief yelp of pain.
And now the moment of truth, Souji thought. Yukiko's and Chie's omelets looked normal enough, albeit with a faintly disturbing odor in Chie's case. Rise's, now. . . . Souji covered a frown. Is that thing glowing? What, did she make a quick trip to Fukushima when we weren't looking? It looks radioactive!
"So, who's going first?" Rise said, looking from one to another.
"Might as well," Kanji said. He dug into Yukiko's rather plain-looking omelet, to Yosuke's visible alarm. He took a bite, frowned, took another.
Yukiko tilted her head impatiently. "Well?"
The delinquent had a very puzzled look on his face. "It tastes, uh . . . boneless?"
"That's not a word you use to describe taste!" Yukiko snapped.
Wondering what the fuss was about, Souji took a bite himself. He could immediately tell something was off, but he wasn't sure what; it didn't have the lethal quality of Mystery Food X. Then it hit him: he wasn't tasting anything. Not good, not bad, nothing. He couldn't even taste the ingredients.
"It's, uh, it's like plain oatmeal," Kanji offered, nonplussed. Yukiko merely sat bat in disappointment.
Nanako appeared to disagree. "I think it's good!" she said, which appeared to cheer the inn heiress a little.
Chie let out a harrumph. "Try mine next! I guarantee it'll be a hit."
Needing no further urging, Teddie reached out and scooped some up. He chewed for a moment, an unusually thoughtful look on his face. A moment later he swallowed and, in a bizarrely cheery tone, said, "Wow, this tastes awful!" He pushed the plate at Yosuke. "Here, Yosuke, you try some."
"After you say something like that?" Nevertheless, Yosuke took a bite. "Yeah. Yeah, I get it."
With a feeling of trepidation, Souji sampled the alleged omelet. It does taste awful.
Her curiosity getting the better of her, Yukiko made a try. "Oh, yeah, they're right." She almost doubled over laughing. "They're totally right; it tastes awful!"
"Well, it's a big improvement over the curry," Yosuke said, evidently trying to smooth things over.
Chie folded her arms. "Yeah, that makes me feel so much better." She made no attempt to hide her sarcasm.
Nanako, of course, disagreed. Or at least appeared to. "This is good!"
That just leaves the radiation hazard. Rise's omelet was still glowing, to Souji's carefully-hidden dismay. Just how much spice did she put in that thing? And what kind?
It was Yosuke who took the plunge, visibly nervous at the prospect. The moment it touched his tongue, his face flushed. "I . . . can't give this to Nanako-chan," he said, gasping softly.
"Ooh, you can't bear to let anyone else have some?" Rise teased.
Pretty sure that isn't why, Rise-chan. Sighing, Souji took a bite. And instantly regretted it; the alleged omelet was more like lava in his mouth. He felt a dull ache along with it; the much-vaunted foie gras was completely undetectable. It was in some ways as bad as Mystery Food X.
Yukiko, again curious, took a bite before any of them could stop her. Her dark eyes went wide for a moment, then she made a very disturbing choking noise and toppled over. Souji couldn't tell if she was actually unconscious, but the barely-perceptible shaking wasn't a good sign.
Kanji summed it up. "Sure enough: one strike."
Rise covered her face. "Your palettes just aren't refined enough! I did my best, really!" She started sobbing.
This turn of events was something none of them were prepared for. Privately, Souji thought it might be an act; Rise was experienced enough to pull it off. Which didn't help him figure out how to deal with it; this particular issue was rather outside his experience.
"I think it's great," Nanako said; she'd taken a bite without anyone noticing. This time, however, she was clearly faking it; her face was flushed, and her breathing irregular. She was still taking it better than Yukiko had.
Rise immediately stopped bawling . . . confirming Souji's suspicions. "See, Nanako-chan likes it!"
This did not go unnoticed. "Wha—crocodile tears!?" Chie said incredulously.
One omelet remained. For the first time since the whole mess had started, Souji was feeling confident. He watched expectantly as Nanako raised the fork to her lips, and smiled when her face lit up. Soon the young girl was digging in with gusto. Within minutes, it was gone with barely a trace.
With the dishes all put away, they gathered again by the small table. Some happier than others. "We're still hungry," Yosuke said darkly.
"Then have some of that awful-tasting omelet for all I care," Chie shot back.
"I've got a better idea," Yosuke replied, standing. "You know that festival they're holding in the shopping district? How about we all go? Nanako-chan, too."
Souji's cousin perked up. "Huh? I can come?"
He smiled. "You're always welcome, Nanako-chan," he said.
"Yay!" she cheered.
Souji, having learned to expect chaos, couldn't help wondering just how it was going to go wrong. It was almost comical, how the simplest things seemed to have a way of turning out completely insane. No matter. With Mitsuo Kubo in custody, he would take things as they came. He'd faced worse.
"Festival food always tastes better, even when it's the simple stuff," Kanji said, echoing Souji's view on the subject. "We'll finally get something edible." The girls all glowered at that.
Yosuke grinned. "It's settled, then. 20th of this month, guys, don't forget."
Bringing out his cell to mark the date, Souji mused that it would be hard to forget. His last Summer Festival had been rather dull, but that was largely because Reika Sakamoto was his only real friend at the time. This year promised to be much livelier.
Part of him wondered if that was a blessing or a curse.
Author's note: Really late this time, I know. Doesn't help that, unlike in 3, almost nothing happens during the summer in 4. Granted there's a silver lining, means I should be able to get to the stuff I've really been anticipating that much sooner.
Either way, I hope this one was worth the wait. ~D.S.