Author's note: Hey guys... sorry for the delay. I am not gonna delay you much longer with excuses, but I figure I might owe at least an explanation for my absence. So since the last chapter has gone up I went on a small holiday vacation. My work site was shut down and I was let go. I have survived two waves of the same arctic front and ultimately had a lot of motivation problems. But I am back and hopefully here to stay this time. I have started a second FanFic to hopefully keep me motivated called 7 Guardians which is a Kingdom Hearts crossover fic which will be featuring Persona at some point in the future. I have been looking over some of my previous chapters and have seen some grammatical fixes to be made. At some point I will issue those fixes once I feel the motivation to make those new documents on the site.
For those of you who are still here, thanks for your patience. Please enjoy this chapter. ~Noxmad
"You are kidding me," Shima yelled outraged.
The group around him was quiet. It had been a fairly quiet day on the rooftop as Shima came up to the roof in a bad mood. So when he dropped his lunch, his outburst silenced the explanations trying to play catch up with a nervous Takeyoshi who was wearing a ridiculously large pair of sunglasses. Shima stood up and walked over to the edge of the roof and just looked out over the town, a heavy limp plaguing his steps. It was a very heavy limp and the whole group could see it. Shiho immediately ran over to him.
Nanako was worried, but they needed to get Takeyoshi up to date, it had been nearly a week since they saved him and he finally showed up to school. "So do you have any questions on what you have been told so far?"
Takeyoshi nodded and as he pushed his sunglasses back in place, "I don't necessarily think you can answer many of them. They are probably many of the same questions that you have. But let me think." After a moment he shrugged. "I really don't think that there is any question I could ask."
"Well then what are you thinking?" Miwa asked him staring at his sunglasses. When she asked him about when he first showed up she got a mumbled answer involving something he had referred to solar retinopathy and being the one to get the last laugh when his was the best vision of the people on the roof.
Takeyoshi nodded in response to Miwa's inquiry and then tried to stand up like he was going to give a presentation. He then immediately found himself getting nervous and sitting back down. "I don't think the people currently on this roof are an accident. What is the likelihood that three long term classmates, a friend of another set of Persona-users, the school delinquent and the school drop out all end up being involved and chosen, it would seem, by the Mirror World? All of us wounded in our pasts by emotional abuse, loss, physical deformity, death... No one else can get in there on their own. On top of which, we have to conclude that the Mirror World is completely contained within Inaba. After all, there are no incidents known outside of our sleepy little town of people disappearing in an apparent ransacking and showing up dead a week later. Speaking of which, I hesitate to talk about this with it being only a very tentative hypothesis but I have to bring to the table a potential next victim if she ever plays the Mirror Game."
This immediately caught Nanako's attention. "Wait, you think you might know who is in danger of being a victim of the Mirror Game? How?" Nanako asked him, near desperation. She was still cut off from her old sources.
"Look," Takeyoshi replied hesitantly, "I am only bringing this up because the pieces line up, but I am sure there are others who could fit the bill. But with all of us here… I think there is a high likelihood that the next victim could be Yo-chan."
Nanako had not been expecting that answer. It had been a long time since she had spoken, let alone heard, the name of Yo Misaka. "How? Like, how did you come to that conclusion, I mean. Yo-chan? Really?" Nanako asked him.
"Ok, let me explain. Yo-chan is one of our original group, right? When I disappeared, she separated from you two. I tried to keep up with her for a while and even tracked her down a couple times when surveillance camera perusing was my past time for a few months. At various clubs. The farthest out I have seen her was in Tatsumi Port Island. A place called Club Escapade. Mostly though, she just ends up in Okina. However, this is not the only reason I think she will be next. She has been low on money, so getting out of the city has been more difficult for her. The longer she comes down from her lifestyle, the more likely she will be to pursue other activities. The basic connection forming between the Mirror Game and the local crimewave," Takeyoshi explained in detail.
"Can we stop her?" Yuuta asked. "Before she has to go in?"
"Does it help if we stop her?" Miwa asked. "She doesn't go in, she doesn't face up to herself. And even if half the rumors I have heard are true, she might need to face herself."
Yuuta however was ready with a retort, "But she might be saved in real life as much as she could be saved in there. No one should have to face their shadow just to realize they are worth saving."
"I understand where you are coming from," Shiho commented. "But I think you are overlooking one thing."
"Senpai?" Both Miwa and Yuuta asked at the same time.
Shiho looked back at her underclassmen. "Shima and I found each other. We helped each other last a little longer than we might have alone. But at the end of the day, we both still played the Mirror Game. And the Mirror Game still chose us. If Yo-chan is to be chosen, then delaying the inevitable may hurt her in the long run," Shiho explained.
"I agree with our Senpai on this one," Takeyoshi added. "She does bring up a very important point that the people who are taken in there, are the ones who seem to need it most. Although, it seems like it may not go well for anyone who does not have the needed support to survive as was evident by the loss of the blogger and one of our former classmates."
Nanako had to agree with their assessment. But she did not like it. Like it normally did, having Takeyoshi made Nanako speak more eloquently than normal, "I have to say that you are more than likely correct. But if that place is designed to help people, why kill them if they reject that help? These shadows only go berserk when they are denied. And they go about it in such a terrible way." The group did not know how to proceed with this line of thought though. They were going to need to think on it more.
"Well in the meantime, I think we should at least try to reach out to Yo-chan. She may be more willing to accept our help if we can get on better terms with her," Miwa suggested. "But, I don't necessarily think she will want to see us. The way our friendship split up was particularly rough on her."
Nanako nodded.
"It definitely didn't help that we didn't fight her pushing us away. Last I heard she dyed her hair blue," Yuuta added.
"Dyed hair?" Nanako commented and she looked over at Shima who was at this point still just staring over the city, favoring his good leg. "Shima? Have you ever run into a girl our age with blue hair?"
Shima turned and leaned against the chainlink as he did as to no put pressure down on his prosthetic. Once he was fully turned around he replied, "Yeah. Before I could find a place to buy the stuff to do it myself, I went to a place in Okina City to get my hair bleached. I think she was a regular there because her dye was faded and they didn't even need to ask her which color product to use to get the blue she wanted. She was dressed like she was ready to go to a club. If her name was Yo, I don't think anyone addressed her specifically by name while I was there."
"Do you think you could try to approach her. See if she is doing alright?" Nanako asked him.
"Maybe. Don't know how much she is going to want to befriend a guy in a wheelchair for the next two or three weeks," he replied slightly bitterly.
"What?" the group all responded.
Shima sighed. "I have been irritating my stump too much. It has caused me to get an infection. In order for the infection to properly heal, I can't wear my prosthetic. I wanted to tell you guys like this before I came to school in the wheelchair tomorrow," Shima explained to them. "I was supposed to be in it today, I just needed the chance to explain to you guys so it doesn't have to come as a shock. Long and short of it is, I am not going to be able to make it to the rooftop meetings for a while. Nor will I be able to be of any assistance in the next rescue mission if it happens any time soon."
"Yo-chan may be a bit flighty, but she has never been stuck up. If you show her you are worth her time as a person, she won't care if you are in a wheelchair," Takeyoshi told Shima confidently. His assessment of Shima was becoming more and more complete the longer he interacted with him. While it was ok for someone like Shiho to worry about him as a close friend, the last thing he wanted was pity from the rest of the group. It must have been the reason he hid his pain from the others.
Shima nodded. "I'll try my best to earn her trust," he replied. "It would be best if she hasn't seen us all around too much. I think it would go over better if it seemed like I was not reaching out to her for you guys. More like I just so happen to be friends with you guys and we ended up in the same place at the same time." They had a plan and that weekend they would put it into action.
Shima sighed as he wheeled himself around the school for the first time since he got to Yasogami High School. He had to get a key for the wheelchair access elevator which he could tell had not been used in years by the stale air in it. The brief stint of coming into the school building had already been his worst nightmare. He just finally got people to stop staring at him because of his cane. Suddenly that can was gone and replaced by a tied off pant leg and a wheelchair. Every single eye in the whole damn building would be on him for that whole… well half-day. It was Saturday after all. His part in the next rescue was coming up after school. This was orchestrated by Takeyoshi who found out, by means he refused to share, that Yo Misaka was going out to Okina City to hit up a hairdresser and then go clubbing. Shima was to go to the hairdresser which was a business on the ground floor of its own building asking for assistance with acquiring product for his hair on an upper level. While it would be unreasonable for the hairdresser themselves to do it. Yo apparently had a soft place for helping people. At least she did, back when Nanako and crew still knew her well.
Shima had some issues with using his disability like this. However, as long as it was for the good of Yo in the long run, then he would leave his hang ups by the door. The rest of the day went by about as fast as one would assume being stuck in a chair longer than the rest of your classmates. He did his best to avoid the rest of the group only having a brief run-in with Shiho. He offered her a very half-assed smile at the time to keep her from worrying. But soon he would be out of the building and on his way immediately to the train station.
Rolling down the road he took some back roads to avoid the stares of the population. So he finally got to the station. Upon enter he looked down the platform was a very noticeable head of faded blue hair. Shima looked over and it was clear that the girl wearing it was younger than him. That must have been Yo. He rolled further down the platform than he normally would have and put himself near her.
"Excuse me," Shima said as he moved past her and came to a stop to wait for the train.
Yo-chan looked at him and realized he was in a wheelchair. "Oh, sorry. I was tuning out. Wait, you're a student at Yasogami too? My name is Yo Misaka, first year," Yo introduced herself.
"Shima Okazaki, third year," he replied.
"Really? Sorry for being so informal, senpai."
"Don't bother. I'm a delinquent, you don't have to use the honorific," Shima replied.
Yo giggled a little at his attitude. "Ok. Whatever you say Shima-kun," she replied. "Soooo... what are you heading into Okina for?"
"Well I am currently not allowed to wear my prosthetic, I was hoping to go talk to the hairdresser and see if they had anything for my hair. My natural color is starting to grow back in and I can't bleach it without supplies," Shima replied half-truthfully.
Yo frowned and replied, "Oh, that sounds like the worst. I can tell you that the Salon doesn't sell any of the product they use but there is a store down the block and a few stories… up." She did not seem to realize why he was going to ask them. No, it was not until she was saying it to him out loud that she realized. "Ah! I... am so sorry."
Shima tried to hold a somewhat offended face but it disappeared into a chuckle. "It's fine," he reassured her of his lack of offence taken. He thought it was actually really funny that someone could be so disconnected from a situation they were taking part in as to forget about a wheelchair. "If I am being honest, I normally go up to the regular place. I am currently on probation from my prosthetic. Otherwise I would go up and get it myself."
"Well, I am heading to the hairdresser, I can help you get what you need once I go to my appointment," Yo offered.
Shima thought about it for a moment and finally responded, "I don't want to take up your time. But if it's not any trouble, I wouldn't say no."
After a few moment, the train arrived and the two of them boarded together. They sat silently for a moment until Yo finally decided to ask, "Hey, Shima have you been hanging out with a girl named Nanako Dojima recently?"
Shima looked at her and replied, "Yeah, I only just met her a while ago. Do you know her?"
"So, she hasn't mentioned me? I was a friend of hers back in elementary school and middle school," Yo explained. "We had a friend who went away for awhile and our group sorta split up after that. Well some of us did. She and Miwa ended up staying together and Yuuta always seemed to gravitate towards them."
Shima hummed. "Have you ever thought about reaching out to them? You know, I hear that waiting for someone to save you is only a temporary fix," he told her.
Yo simply looked at the floor of the train and answered, "Uh, I don't think they want me. Not anymore."
Shima titled his head at her. "Mind if I ask why?" Yo fell silent at this point. Sore subject. "You color your hair often?"
"Uh-huh! Just the blue and only when it starts to fade. Looks good, right? I especially like the way it looks at the clubs," she answered happily. He pushed his luck that time. But she seemed to not completely close him out. She could be saved, but unfortunately he would not be one of the ones to do it. "You only bleach I take it? Your hair is really bleach blonde."
Shima nodded. "Though the first time I did, my natural hair color was so dark that it came out orange. So I have to bleach it twice to get it to this color," Shima told her. "As you can imagine, my hair is not in the best condition anymore."
"Yeah, I am actually naturally light haired. I remembered my mom had to prove it was my real hair color to the school when I was younger because the middle school had a no-dyed-hair policy. When I decided to actually start changing my hair color, well I wanted to make it obvious. Luckily for me, Yasogami High has yet to adopt any kind of hair dye policy," Yo explained.
The two of them found themselves in Okina City shortly after. Shima followed her and as he got off the train he found himself slowing to a crawl of a roll. He had never been in Okina in his wheelchair. A small town was one thing, but an entire city when you were sitting half as tall as anyone else was suffocating and he had not even gotten out of the station yet. Yo turned back when she realized he had fallen behind and saw him with a lost expression on his face. She walked back over to him.
"Hey, you ok?" she asked him.
Shima shook himself from his stupor as the world started to feel normal again. "Sorry, I am just not used to being in a wheelchair. The last time I was ever in one was at the hospital where I re-learned how to walk. So you can probably imagine what this is like down here," he tried to play it off as just not being used to it. But he knew he was not selling it. Yo walked behind him and began pushing him forward. "You don't need to do that," Shima told her.
"Hmm, maybe I don't," Yo replied. "But you didn't have to give me the time of day. The least I can do is repay you." Shima had to think on this. Was this really what people could be like? He had spent so much time away from them, but to think that this little community would end up having some of the most genuine people he could ever know.
The two of them made their way to the hair salon. Shima felt the change in temperature upon entering. He was immediately greeted by the lady at the front.
"Well, well, well. Shima-chan. It has been awhile. And you are here with Yo-chan? I did not realize the two of you knew each other," the hairdresser said with a big toothy grin.
Yo answered first, "Ha! Actually we just met thanks to having similar goals today. He came out this way to get product, but as you can see, he is going to need help. I am so graciously donating my time today."
"It was the guilt trip," Shima added in a deadpan pointing to his tied off pant leg. This got a boisterous laugh from the hairdresser. Yo sat down in the hairdresser's chair and Shima rolled himself over to the window to people watch while vaguely hearing . As people passed by he began to roll some thoughts around in his head. He remembered what Shiho had said the day before. 'But at the end of the day, we both still played the Mirror Game. And the Mirror Game still chose us. If Yo-chan is to be chosen, then delaying the inevitable may hurt her in the long run.'
Shima was not sure how much time had passed but he was suddenly aware of someone with vibrant blue hair standing outside the window beckoning for him to leave the hairdressers. He rolled himself outside and Yo took her place back behind his wheelchair.
"So you were spacing out harder than I was at the station. What were you thinking about anyway?" Yo asked him.
Shima shrugged his shoulders and responded, "Rumors."
"Ooh, anything juicey?"
This was the point of no return. "Have you heard of the trend floating around the school? The uh, Mirror Game?" Shima asked.
Yo replied, "Uh-huh. Haven't gotten around to playing it yet. Have you tried it?"
Shima decided to not lie about it. Though he could not tell her the full story. "I have. It was an interesting experience. You should try it, words will not do it justice," Shima commented. He looked up at her behind him. Yo looked down and then with a grin answered.
"Ok, bring it. But once I do it, you have to admit that your Mirror Game showed you me which is why we are here today," Yo teased.
Shima chuckled and replied slyly, "You wish."
The rest of the day went well. She went and got him his bleach, the two of them hung out in Okina for a while longer going from store to store. At one point she had even bought him a dark red hair tie telling him to try wearing his longer hair back sometime. Then they wound up at station again. The two of them fell quiet after a day of conversation.
"Well, this is where I think we go our separate ways," Yo said after a moment. Shima looked over at her with a silent, questioning look. "I've got a party to go to."
Shima turned towards her in his wheelchair. "The club right? Can I ask why you party so much?"
"I dance to forget. Out on the dance floor is the only place I can feel truly alive," Yo replied sadly. Shima however could not fault her for it.
"Stay safe," Shima told her. After she began to walk away he turned back towards the tracks and waited for the train back home to arrive. He had planted the seed. The sooner she could be saved, the better off she would be. This time, they were going to get ahead of the game.
"Miwa?" Nanako called out arriving at the Ito household.
"Nanako, come up to my room. I have got something to show you!" Miwa called back. Nanako made her way through the large house. Soon she found herself up in Miwa's room. When she got there, she was surprised to find Miwa holding a little white jewelry box
"What is this?" Nanako said looking at the box.
Miwa with a big smile told her, "Think about it. Last time you saw it, it might have been a different color."
Nanako gasped as she remembered a little pink box. "You mean...?"
Miwa smiled and nodded. "Our friendship box. My parents had taken it from me during our… disagreements…" Miwa began trailing off as she explained. "Bitch-fest. We will call it what it was. They took it away from me during our bitch-fest. But now that we have really sat down and talked, it is getting cleared up."
"I haven't seen this thing since…" Nanako began to trail off as she realized. The last time either of them had looked into this was before Takeyoshi's mental breakdown. Before their friend group had been scattered to the wind.
Miwa nodded and with a sad sigh admitted, "I still haven't looked inside it. It would not feel right without Yo-chan." Nanako nodded in agreement. "Do you think we have to let her be taken by the Mirror World? Is there no other way?"
Nanako sighed and answered, "I really don't know. I think that there could be. It would be dishonest if I said I have not been going back and forth on the idea in my head. What Shiho-senpai said makes a lot of sense though. Yo would not be a potential victim of the Mirror World if she did not need it."
"But how can we be sure if we don't try?" Miwa asked near desperation.
Nanako shook her head, "Miwa, if I told you before all this happened that you needed to talk to your parents about your future, would you have done it?"
"I might have…" Miwa said defiantly. Nanako gave her a look. "Let me finish. I might have told you to get real and blown your advise off."
The two of them looked down for a moment. "I'm afraid too, Miwa. The possibility that we fail always comes to mind every time we have to go in there. But we are the only hope these people have. Just because we know it is Yo-chan this time, does not mean that we would have the same opportunity for anyone else. We treat this like every other case, then we start working on trying to stop this from having to happen again," Nanako told her friend passionately.
"You know, you make this seem really possible when you say it like that," Miwa replied honestly.
Nanako just gave her a cheeky smile. "Well how else am I supposed to lead if not confidently?" Nanako asked. "When we get her back, we'll all open this and start again. The whole group."
"Yeah," Miwa said back happily. The two of them spent more time together before Nanako decided to head out and start making her way back home. On her way, she came across Yuuta sitting out at a small park.
Yuuta seemed to be thinking hard about something and did not even hear her approach. "Hey, Yuuta-kun!" Nanako called loudly as she stood next to him. Yuuta jumped from his seat and looked at her slightly panicked.
"Oh, Nanako-chan," Yuuta realized. "How long were you there?"
"I just got here," Nanako reassured him.
Yuuta just nodded and sat back down. "Sorry for tuning out. I just have a lot on my mind," he said to her.
"Is it about Yo-chan? Cause I just got done consoling Miwa about this. I got this topic on lock," Nanko said confidently. Yuuta just sat quietly looking at his feet. "What's wrong?"
Yuuta looked at her and said, "My stepmom is sick and hasn't been able to work for the last week. I am trying to be responsible and take her place as the primary caregiver until she is better, but I know that she is working herself to death at this rate."
"Oh," Nanako commented. "I am so sorry. Have you thought about picking up a second job? I know that Big Bro was working like 5 part time jobs while he was here."
Yuuta looked down again. "I am already working 3 now. I am going to have to skip one for going after Yo," he admitted sadly.
Nanako nodded at the realization. "Go ahead and do the job that night. Todoyashi, Miwa and Shiho can handle it. You gotta take care of things here, right?" Nanako offered.
"Are you sure, Nanako-chan?"
"Of course! Yuuta-kun, I would never want you to feel like you have to prioritize these missions over your family or personal life. We do this because we can and if your mom is sick, then right now you cannot. The health of your mom and your making money is just as important as this Mirror World business," Nanako told him as she gave him a hug.
Yuuta hugged her back and said, "Thank you. You have no idea how much of a weight that is off of my shoulders. And while she won't know, my mom thanks you too."
Nanako just smiled and nodded.
*Fun Fact: I actually learned that this was a thing. Many people in Japan are proud of the dark black hair. This dark hair pride has caused many schools to implement anti-hair-dye policies. However, more interestingly is that the demanding proof of lighter natural hair colors was actually something that was reported on and how I found out about this whole rabbit hole.