Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry about the delay in this chapter. I don't want you to think that this in anyway excuses my tardiness, I would at least like to explain where I have been and why I have been sleeping on the updates for this. I use the term 'sleeping' pretty much literally because I have been super tired recently. Tired of life, tired of depression, tired of working. To make matters worse, I have recently been "suffering" from creative ADHD. I often have times where my brain wants to think about a lot of potential new things. Stuff like the prequel series to this that I mentioned last chapter comes to mind as well a lot of original work and other potential FanFiction ideas for the future.
All in all: I do not want you to think that I am leaving this project behind. I am back on track and busted out a lot of this chapter over the last week trying to get it ready for all of you as well as set me up for the next major event.
Also, to generally respond to the dual inquires about healing and Shima's leg as to hopefully circumvent topic going forward. I was always of the mind that having a Persona sorta shielded you from danger for the most part. Between the fact that they give you resistances and weaknesses, they have moves that require either gauge and having none of either means you can't manifest their physical form, and even in P3 they did not stop your or heal your exhaustion or sickness even with status removal abilities. Ultimately leading to the idea in my mind that the healing spells were actually just replenishing your stamina to extend your use of them in one way by exchanging magic power for physical. Kinda seems like Akihiko in the beginning of P3, Shinjiro in the middle of P3, or any of the Persona-users from P4 that you rescue from the TV World could just have a heal put on them and be good as new.
The following day Miwa and Yuuta met at the library as agreed. The two of them had decided over text that they had two pronged plan for attack. First prong was to look at Inaba. The second was to identify other Persona related events in Japan if possible. The two of them were not sure about what they would find, but they had to find something. Events don't just repeat without some form of rhyme or reason.
"So how do we do this?" Miwa asks uncertainly looking at her computer screen.
Yuuta grabbed a sheet of paper and wrote down some words for Miwa, "Search for phrases like these. Inaba, serial killer, missing people, etc. Try to find articles, blogs, whatever might have been covering the events. I will try to see if I can locate any other instances of events that seem related." Miwa gave him a confident nod and the two of them got to work.
It would be about half an hour before Miwa would interrupt the silence. "So this seems interesting. Yuuta look at this. All of the people at the meeting yesterday except for Satonaka-san had been reported missing back then," Miwa said pointing out the information she had copied down.
"Was there anyone else?" Yuuta asked.
Miwa replied, "Yes. There were two people reported before Amagi-san. But they were the victims who started the serial murder investigation. Other than that, it was Shirogane-san. No more disappearances occured, or at least none that were reported."
Yuuta looked at her notes with a look of contemplation. "It seems strange. They just started and ended all of the sudden. How is that even possible?" he asked out loud. "Was there anything else that seemed odd about back then?"
Miwa sighed, "Not that I can tell. I mean apparently it was a particularly foggy year and people thought that maybe the fog was carrying sickness. People were getting a little crazy or a little like emotionless zombie from what I can tell. There was very little in between."
"Emotionless?" Yuuta asked. He then typed in a quick search and then pulled up a link that had been previously clicked. "Apathy Syndrome. I think that is what people were calling this strange sickness that seemed to be floating around Japan back then. It was characterized by a lack of emotion from people who had it and then they would eventually just stop functioning. Stop eating, drinking, sleeping and would do that basically until they would die. Unless they recovered or had some kind of medical intervention."
"Apathy Syndrome?"
Yuuta nodded and added, "Guess where the only other known cases of it occured." Miwa shrugged. "There were several non-fatal cases at the LMB Festival back in 2012 and a large number at a place called Tatsumi Port Island in 2009. Narukami-san and the group must have solved the case during the LMB Festival. After all, they were performing there for the Risette comeback special."
"Yup and here is a video of it," Miwa said with a grin. The group all looked so young on stage. They helped perform the song Calystegia and then they helped Rise perform a few different songs. Many of them came up and helped her all separately and then there was one big performance where they all danced together. "It is kinda interesting. It felt like a lot of these performance primarily featured her friend and she joined in. Did you notice that?"
"Nice catch," Yuuta commented impressed. "A-anyway let's get back to researching, yeah?" The two continued looking into different matters when they discovered another matter entirely. "Hey, have you seen this Shibuya case before?"
"No, I haven't and Nanako never mentioned this one. Well that seems obvious now if you look at the date, it happened after the LMB Festival. So who solved this one?" Miwa asked. The two of them looked at the article quietly. "It is weird, all there is mentions of here is the fountain mysteriously catching fire which is believed to have been caused by some kind of petroleum leak. Strange."
Yuuta jotted down the information and unlined the things that seemed important. "So we have two cases that Narukami-san's group were uninvolved with from 2009 and 2012. And of course the Persona Group from just two years ago at Shiho's old school. Now our event here has got to be somehow related to all these other instances right? Argh, this doesn't make any sense. There has to be something that Narukami-san's group knows that we don't and they have made their desire to not share fairly obvious at this point."
Miwa seemed entirely too interested in an article that she was looking into and when Yuuta looked at it more closely, it was an obituary from 2010. It was a photo of a young boy around their age with dark blue hair swept over one eye and a red armband. It was cropped down to just him but it appeared that others may have been in the picture before. "Minato Arisato, a 2nd year at Gekkoukan High School, was pronounced dead on March 5th from severe exhaustion."
"Wait, what?" Yuuta asked reading what she just read aloud. "That doesn't make sense. Teenagers don't just die from exhaustion. If there is anything that TV has taught me, it's just a fancy way of saying they don't know what caused it. Why are you looking at an old obituary anyway?'
"Because he went to the school in the city where the 2009 issue occurred. Tatsumi Port Island. Just a months before his passing there was a cult that called themselves Cult of Nyx. That sounds like Persona related activity to me," Miwa said confidently.
Yuuta had to admit that her logic was sound. "But there is just one problem. We gave all this information here and still no answers as to what it has to do with us. Or what is causing it."
They suddenly heard someone behind them say, "I can tell you that." Miwa and Yuuta both jumped as they turned and saw Nanako there who appeared to be carrying a few books. "I came here to study. I have to keep my grades up but I couldn't help but notice two familiar faces come in here. You guys have been busy." Nanako giggled at their shocked faces.
"What do you mean that you can tell us about what it has to do with us?" Yuuta asked.
Nanako set her books down on the shelf where she got them and pulled up a chair to sit next to her two classmates. "Well, unlike you two I pay attention in class. The day we went to save Shima-senpai we had a lesson on greek mythology. Type in 'Nyx Greek Mythology' and try to follow along. Nyx is the Primordial Goddess of the Night. She mothered Hypnos and Thanatos with Erebus. The Primordials of Sleep, Death, and Darkness respectively. The reason these have something to do with us, is because our Persona's are all Titans who were the entities that took over from the Primordials before the Greek Gods overthrew them."
"Wait, like they are really those titans?" Yuuta exclaimed.
Nanako nodded. "Mine is Themis the Titaness of divine law and order. Then you have Hyperion the Titan of light. Miwa's is Rhea the Titaness of- wait I got this," Nanako said pulling a sheet out from her bag. "Rhea the Titaness of fertility, motherhood and the uh... mountain wilds, I guess. Shima's is Iapetus the Titan of mortality. Finally Shiho has Phoebe the Titaness of 'bright' intellect and prophecy. Basically an oracle from what I can tell. They were among the Twelve Titans who replaced the Primordial Gods who came before them. Gods like Nyx."
"You are not seriously suggesting that there are Gods on earth are you?" Miwa asked skeptically.
Nanako scoffed and sarcastically responded, "No, I am suggesting that our ability to enter the Mirror and summon Titans to do battle is where I draw the line on what is possible. But do you honestly think that it is a coincidence that these people started worshipping the Primordial entity who gave birth to the symptoms of Apathy Syndrome? You know, the condition that caused people to effectively shut down into a sleep like status and die. Not only that, you just got done reading the obituary for a boy who literally did the exact same thing. Like I am not saying that it is Gods, but I am leaving nothing off the table until we know for certain."
Nanako felt her phone buzz and pulled it from her pocket. As she checked the message she received, Miwa and Yuuta thought quietly about what Nanako had just said.
"Huh, I just received a text from Takeyoshi-kun," Nanako commented idly.
Miwa's face seemed to land somewhere between concerned and indifferent, "Really? What is up?"
"He seems to be lonely. He is asking me to bring him a particular newspaper. From Okina," Nanako replied looking at her phone further.
"How long has it been?" Miwa asked. "You know since the last time he came to school?"
"Over a year now, he's never asked for something like this before," Nanako answered with a sad sigh. "His parents' divorce really messed up his perception of reality."
Miwa suddenly replied, "This isn't the first time you've done this. Remember when we were in first grade when I was crushing on him. We took him the public notice." Nanako however did not hear what she said next.
"Big Bro? Have you seen the public notice?" Nanako called through her cousin's door. When she was invited in she was surprised to see his friend Yosuke was there.
Nanako's Big Bro looked down at her and asked, "What are you looking for again?"
"The public notice. Takeyoshi-kun was wanting to see it cause it looks like his family did not receive theirs. Miwa-chan and Yo-chan are coming with me, but mostly because Miwa-chan likes him."
Yosuke was shocked by the comment. "Really? First graders are really advanced. Then again, I had my first love then, but I always felt ahead of the game you know?" he joked towards the end. He then seemed to darken and continued, "But right now I don't have any time for that. There is something I have to do first."
"Homework?" Nanako asked curiously. Yosuke cracked a smirk at the comment and nodded.
"Pretty much, exactly that Nanako. You are a real sharp one," he complimented her genuinely. Nanako felt really warm inside as both her Big Bro and his friend smiled at her. She said good-bye and left. A buzzing in her hand ripped the memory out from under her.
"Nanako? You alright? You look like you've seen a ghost," Yuuta asked her with a very clear look of concern on his face. Miwa too looked like she was worried. Nanako had completely spaced out in the moment again.
"I-I-I'm fine. I am going to go get this paper for Takeyoshi," Nanako replied monotonously as she began to make her way for the door.
Miwa and Yuuta watched her go. Yuuta didn't look away until he heard Miwa sniff back tears. "Miwa? What's wrong?"
"I hate it when she looks like that. I can tell that she is going somewhere inside her head but whenever she is there she looks upset and lost. Then almost every time she comes back I can tell she is shaken by something. She has never told me about what is happening in her head when she does that," Miwa commented sadly as tears started to come up. Yuuta felt useless in this situation. So he turned off their computers and fetched some tissues for her. He then led her out of the library.
"Look, Nanako has been there for a long time. When she is ready to open up to us, she will. Eventually, she is going to learn to lean on others," Yuuta told Miwa knowingly. Miwa looked at him with a question on her lips but no desire to ask it. "You want to know how I know? Because she once depended on her Big Bro. Eventually he knew how to be strong by leaning on the people in his life after he taught others to do the same. She'll be like him, I know it."
The trip to and from Okina City was uneventful as Nanako went and collected the paper for her friend. She was finally starting to feel normal and then she arrived at his house. Takeyoshi's house was exactly as Nanako remembered it at first sans one car in the driveway. Nanako had gone to his house on a few occasions as Miwa had dragged her along as an excuse to see her crush. However the longer Nanako stood there, the more the little details started to come to her and she suddenly felt out of place. Like her whole world had been shifted 1 inch to the left without her knowing. The first difference she noted was the blackout curtains on Takeyoshi's window. They used to be airy and white like the others which were now beginning to look a bit more off yellow than anything else. The gardening looked half done as one half the yard was weeded and cared for while the other remained unruly. The pavement in front of the house seemed to have cracked a while ago. Nanako had never seen the place look like this.
She carefully approached the door feeling like the slightest misstep would break the walkway she stood upon. When she got to the door she knocked lightly. After a moment of silence she reached out to knock when the door opened.
"Nanako-chan, you made it," a vaguely familiar voice said from the other side of Nanako's raised hand. As Nanako lowered her hand she saw him. Takeyoshi had always had strong features but they were particularly pronounced. She also saw that he shot up in height increasing the ever growing gap between the two of them. His hair was still short though a little unruly like he had yet to comb it that day and it had been awhile since his last cut. However, knowing what he had gone through and what it did to him, the fact that he hadn't gone completely primal was a miracle. But his features were far too pronounced.
Nanako recovered her sense of self and replied, "I got the paper that you asked for Takeyoshi-kun." Her response was strangely robotic and distant, especially for her.
Takeyoshi looked down at the paper in her hand he slowly reached for it. A small pull and Nanako released her grip on it. "Thank you. Did you, uh, want to come in? Have something to drink?" he offered with a smile trying to ignore her tone.
"Takeyoshi, can we not pretend that this conversation we are having is anything normal?" Nanako asked with a sigh. "I mean you are already closing the door." Nanako gestured to his hand slowly pulling the door closed.
"Well, what do you know?" Takeyoshi commented as he took his away from the door and stepped forward and out of his house. "Sorry about that, force of habit. How has school been?"
Nanako eased her posture a bit. "It is going alright. Miwa-chan and I are in the same class, I became class president."
This made Takeyoshi smile. "If anyone was going to get it it was you."
Nanako frowned at him and replied a bit more firmly, "Look, I know you are smarter than me, but don't lie to me. We both know this wouldn't be the case if you were still going. So when do you plan on coming back?"
Takeyoshi also frowned as he replied, "No plans yet. Why do you always have to bring that up?"
Nanako became legitimately fumed at this remark. "Is there something wrong with me for worrying that one of my close friends is throwing their future away? Why are you so ok with it?"
Takeyoshi's face darkened. He looked at the ground beneath him as he thought. Nanako was about to turn and leave when he finally spoke. His voice was firm. Nanako understood immediately, this was not a confession, just a statement of the truth for him. "I can't do it. I can't just turn my brain off long enough to do the things I need to do. Leaving my house has become more and more difficult. A common side effect of my condition. Periculophobia is the Latin for it but in layman's terms it is the fear of taking risks. They do not have an actual name for it but they improperly diagnosed me with agoraphobia. Clearly, I can leave my house and the open space is not the part that bugs me. I don't think aliens are coming after me or that there is a sniper in the trees as part of some conspiracy out to get me. I am not crazy. But I can't walk out there knowing that 3% of the population of Japan could die in a vehicle related accident as of just a couple years ago. Did you know that one of the students who goes to our school now was almost one of them? Or the chance of me being killed, while about one-tenth the size is additive to my chances of being hit by a car. How am I supposed to focus on anything?"
"Yes, Takeyoshi. I do know that Shima-senpaI goes to our school now. I do know that he was involved in a major accident. But guess what? He is still going. Despite the fact that he has a prosthetic now. Where does that leave you? Maybe you are afraid of taking risks, but your definition of risk is disproportionate from reality!" Nanako countered back fiercely. Talking with Takeyoshi always brought out her 1000 Yen words even when she was mad with him. "This isn't healthy, Takeyoshi! You are so skinny. What do your statistics say on the chances of survival from starvation?"
Takeyoshi looked away for a moment and finally responded, "Do your realize how dangerous stoves and ovens are?"
Nanako raised her hand to him and showed over the left over burn mark from a particularly bad burn she got learning to cook to impress her Big Bro. "I am! i have seen it first hand Takeyoshi. Yet I still learned to cook. And you know what? With time and experience, the near catastrophes and close calls went away. Learning a skill mitigates risk, that is the entire point of learning the skill in first place."
"Well it isn't like I didn't try Nanako. But not all of us can be like you. Not all of us got to have that 'Big Bro' experience. Big Bro this, Big Bro that. Did you ever think that maybe people wanted to hear about you and not him? You pretend to be brave, but I have to wonder how much of that is you and how much of that is him."
Nanako got angrier at this. "Don't you talk about me like I am not here in front of you confronting you about this, Hada-kun. Don't you dare try to make it out like I have not been the most patient and kind person to you during your parents divorce. You gave up on us! Not the other way around!" Nanako was shouting by the end and could not take this conversation anymore. She turned on her heel and made her way to the street.
"Nanako-chan wait," Takeyoshi called out to her as he tried to follow her to the street but he stopped short of reaching her. Nanako looked at him and simply shook her head and kept walking. Takeyoshi stood there with hands clenched as he tried so hard to move forward that next step. "Damn it." He turned back towards his house and walked back into it.
Nanako made her way down the street and it was not until she was out of sight that she felt the tears sting her eyes. As she walked she saw Ann and Shiho outside of the Suzui family residence. Nanako tried to wipe away the tears but they would not stop coming and soon she knew she was found out.
"Nanako-chan?" Shiho said out loud seeing her underclassman crying in the street. Shiho rushed over to her, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Nanako between sobs and sniffles asked Shiho, "D-d-do you think- that I am only as w-w-worth as much as my Big Bro's time with m-me?"
Shiho could not believe the question that she heard. Nanako Dojima, the girl who led a group of teeneagers into a hellish world to save a perfect stranger, was crying her eyes out wondering what value that she had? Shiho's heart broke for her underclassman and she wrapped her own thin arms around her. "Come inside, Nanako-chan. Let's talk in my room," Shiho said trying to soothe her. Ann got the door for them as Shiho led Nanako upstairs to her room. As they passed, Shiho passed Ann her phone and gestured for her to call the group. When Shinho finally got Nanako up there, she helped Nanako to the chair that had been a staple all the times people visited and then sat on her bed across from the crying underclassman.
Shiho stayed quiet for a moment hoping the rest of the group would show up soon. While she knew they could not just sit in silence there forever she carefully considered her words. "Why would you think that way, Nanako? What brought this up?"
Nanako struggled to compose herself in her chair as she tried to answer, "I just had the realization that my relationship with my Big Bro might be the only reason I've done anything since I met him. What does that mean for me?"
"What is so wrong with that?" Shiho asked curiously. Nanako looked at Shiho curiously tears still streaming down her face. "Do you think your Big Bro got that way on his own? Do you think I would be here like this now if it were not for you and the others? What is wrong with that?"
Nanako could not quite stop the tears yet. "But how am I supposed to be a good leader for us if all I am is the bond I had with my Big Bro?"
Shiho started stumbling over her own thoughts. But luckily for her, a knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. Opening the door, Miwa walked in and then rushed over to Nanako. "Nanako! What happened?"
Miwa was followed by Yuuta. After a few moments and some muffled cursing, Shima found himself up in the room. Shiho was suddenly very aware of how little room there was in here. Nanako explained what happened when she delivered the newspaper to Takeyoshi. Shima seemed to fume but he kept his cool while she finished. Nanako had finally started to calm down by the time she was done. However she had more things she needed to tell them.
"So there is something I need to tell you all. About when I was younger and Big Bro was living here. Something I have been very hesitant about sharing with you because I haven't really been sure how to talk about it yet, " Nanako started.
Yuuta guessed out loud, "Does it have anything to do with why you have been spacing out lately?" Nanako nodded.
"Well, while I really want to kick the shit out of this Takeyoshi, kid…" Shima started he looked at Nanako earnestly, "I am all ears."
Nanako took a steadying breath. "As Miwa may remember, there was a period of time when I was in first grade when I got really sick. So did my dad after he got in a car accident. Well what you would not know is that I went missing for a little while. Big Bro and his friends were Persona-Users who had to save themselves and other people from this place they ended up naming the TV World. This was where I was back then. I had been kidnapped by the senator from back then Taro Namatame. I only remember bits and pieces of it, but I remember being really scared. Then I remember being at the hospital and… dying." Nanako hesitated and the room became very tense. "For a while now. I have been having vivid flashbacks to those days. Remembering things about him and the things I had gone through. I still remember the moment I died. I don't remember so much from when I came back to life. But these memories have been scaring me. It is almost like I am going back and reliving it. They scare me to no end and I can't make them stop. So when Takeyoshi challenged me about my existence and how much of who I am is really me, I realized just how much Big Bro's presence in my life defined who I am now."
Miwa was the first one to speak after Nanako's story and she spoke confidently, "Y'know you are still Nanako to me. Before and after you were Nanako to me. So you seemed a little happier than normal. A little braver than before. There is nothing wrong with that."
Shima nodded and added, "Akira told me something the other day. That leaders like him and you were like a canvas waiting to be painted in by the people around you. Why would you becoming stronger and fuller from the people in your life ever be a bad thing?"
Yuuta jumped to his feet, "Yeah even the heroes in the shows like Featherman work together."
Shiho smiled genuinely, "Of course. Why would we ever think less of you for feeling stronger for the reasons you made us feel stronger?"
Nanako looked at the people around her who continued to see all the positives in her that were being buried by the doubts. But their encouragement did help her realize that maybe the greatest gift that she had was that her Big Bro gave her the foundation she had now. With a happy look on her face, her doubts began to fade from her mind and she leapt up to hug her friends. Shima was able to manage to get out of the way in time but the other three all joined in wholeheartedly.
Nanako would not let herself feel this much pain the next she butted heads with Takeyoshi. He found a way under her skin this time. But next time, she was going to make a point. Though the sound of sirens could not escape her ear. She just hoped that it was not for the reasons they normally heard sirens nowadays.