A/N: Sorry for not posting in a while... again. But the hardest papers for my exams have passed, yaaaay (also, NEVER READ NOTES FOR SCIENCE SUBJECTS LAST MINUTE. THERES NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR THAT). This chapter shall cover most of the events in Maru-Q Striptease, so have a bumpy or... squicky ride? Eh? Ehhh? /brick'd

Mr Giraffe (Guest) - It'll just get hotter from here on, hahahaha. Well, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter then. I was barely able to write it at all as I had Chemistry, Biology and Physics exams all in the same week... ;w;

The Shadows in this strip joint was tougher than the ones in the sauna, and it was made even harder the moment they stepped onto the seventh floor. The voice of the Shadow echoed through the hall, her cheerful voice laced with distortion. "Wow! I'm so happy you came! But still, I'm a little embarrassed… so I'm gonna turn out the lights!" Just like she said, the dim lighting in the place disappeared as the lights were turned off, leaving the group in total darkness.

"Whoa! It's so dark in there! This is dangerous! Be careful going onward, Sensei!" Teddie warned Yu. The silver-haired boy could only nod as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, letting him see a little of the path ahead. "This is going to be difficult…"

Yet he had no other choice but to keep moving forward. He just hoped that he wouldn't make a mistake that'll risk someone's life…

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

After a treacherous journey through the dark halls of the strip joint, they eventually came across a pair of curtains over a doorway with Rise's voice resonating from the room on the other side. "You came! Okay. I'm ready for anything…"

Teddie gulped nervously. "…Are you ready, Sensei?"

Yu bit his lip, feeling just about the same like the bear. Taking a moment to steel himself, he nodded in response to Teddie's question. He looked at the others. "You guys ready too?" he asked, wanting the others' affirmation before going into this room – there was no doubt that they'll have to fight something in there. Getting a few nods back, he then opened the curtains and let the group enter. There, in the middle of the dark room was Rise's Shadow… with a giant snake-like Shadow behind her.

"Ahahahahahahahaha! Look! C'mon, look at me!"

Before the Investigation Team could say anything, the giant Shadow attacked them.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

It wasn't too much of a struggle to beat the Shadow – it kept using attacks that could inflict ailments on them, and it even had a weakness to fire, so Yukiko's Agilao did much damage to it with both Rakunda on the Shadow and other attacks from Kanji and Yosuke who were chosen by Yu to go in with him for the rescue mission. By the time the Shadow's form was dispelled, the group soon noticed that Rise's Shadow had already ran away... but at least the lights were on again.

"Oooh! It got all bright again!" Teddie smiled at being able to see without being in total darkness once more. "We did it, Sensei! What a relief… we can go now!"

They could continue their journey up now.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

The trek up to the last floor was tedious and difficult as they encountered stronger Shadows all while hearing voices and echoes from the halls, all of them using Rise's voice… to which Teddie responded about them strangely. But at least, now they were at the verge of saving her from her Shadow. What stood in front of them was a doorway covered with the same pinkish curtains, the only thing left between them and Rise. Teddie looked at it in silence for a few seconds. "I think that girl Rise is ahead of here… but I'm not certain."

Yu glanced at the bear, then at the others. "…Everyone ready?"

He got nods from everyone, and so he lifted the curtains to let everyone run inside.

In the large room was a stage where Rise's Shadow was currently standing with her back to a pole… while the real Rise was on her knees nearby, her head hung low. "There it is!" Chie saw the Shadow there.

"Look, the real one's here too!" Yosuke also noticed Rise near her Shadow. Upon hearing their voices, the Shadow laughed giddily with her voice laced with distortion. "Aaahahahahaha! They're all watching! All eyes are on me now!"

"Stop it…!" Rise begged, her eyes shut tightly at the shameful sight of her Shadow.

"Awwww! What's the matter? You wanna show your stuff, don'tcha? How's this!?" The Shadow then spun with her grip on the pole, hanging from it as she began to… grind against it. Rise couldn't bear the sight. "Please… stop this…"

Rise's Shadow chuckled as she stopped grinding the pole, though she was starting to get annoyed. "Oooh, she wants me to stop. That's so funny! As if that's even close to what you're really thinking, you little skank! You're me! And obviously, I'm you!"

"No… that's not true…"

Then the Shadow promptly began grinding the pole once more. "Ahahahahah! C'mon, look! You can't tear your eyes away! This is me! This is who I really am! Not Risette, the fake celebrity! Look at the girl right in front of you! I'm sick of being some airhead cliché who chokes down everything she's fed and takes it all with a smile! 'Risette'? Who the hell is she? There's no such person in this world! I'm no one but myself! C'mon, look at me!"

"That's not-I…!"

"Well then, I guess it's time to prove it. I'm gonna show it all off! Let my naked truth be burned into your brains!"

At that point, Rise has had enough with her Shadow, getting up and holding her head in denial. "Stop… stop it!" she yelled out. "You're…"

The Investigation Team soon realised what she was about to say. "No! Don't say it!" Chie shouted at her, but she was too late.

"You're… not me!"

Those words have already been said and done.

The dark blue aura around Rise's Shadow slowly began to grow darker with its form, and it only began to grind the pole even faster with the rush of power coming to it. "Heehee, ahaha! Aaahahahahaha! Here it comes! Now, I'm finally myself!" The darkness focused onto the Shadow as it absorbed many other Shadows in the area, forming a monster that looked much like a pole dancer except with Rise's hair, a psychedelic pattern as its skin and a honeycomb screen as its face with a sharp pointed nose coming out of the middle… almost like a satellite.

Kanji gritted his teeth at the sight. Guess there's no way they're avoiding a battle now. "Tch… here we go!"

Now they were thrust into battle with the Shadow.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

Rise's Shadow hung on the giant pole, staring at them with the honeycomb screen. It would even step down to grind its body against the pole before returning to its original pose. "I am a Shadow… the true self… and now, the moment you've been waiting for! It's time for me to show you every last inch of myself! Heehee… and for our guests in the front row… I'll give you extra-special, extra-intense service!"

"Looks like she had issues of her own after all…" Yosuke muttered, now knowing how troubled Rise has been. He soon had a determined expression on his face. "But we'll stop her from going berserk!"

Kanji was a little taken aback at how twisted Rise's Shadow was. To think that his own Shadow was something like this as well… "So I was like this too…? Oh man…"

"Ohhh? You're going to rush the stage? What an ill-mannered guest… maybe you're looking for an experience that's a little more intense!?"

Finally, the battle truly began.

The group first casted debuff spells on the Shadow and buff spells on themselves, while the Shadow began to attack them using fire spells. It seemed pretty much like a pushover at first, and they were soon able to attack her a good amount using physical and elemental spells. Eventually, the Shadow spoke to them in a teasing manner. "Ahahaha! Enjoying yourself? I've got a ways to go until I show my true self… you ain't seen nothin' yet!" The Shadow was now able to cast other spells… but none were particularly threatening.

…That is, until the group attacked Rise's Shadow to the point it was nearly defeated. "What…? I dealt all the exquisite pain and you're still not satisfied? What a finicky guest… you might as well die, then!" The Shadow got off the giant pole and began grinding against it while the Shadow casted a whole new spell – Supreme Insight, crying out in delight once finished. It practically analysed the whole team with it. "No touching allowed. Ahaha!"

Suddenly, they found that their attacks just wouldn't seem to connect, all while they were the ones being attacked by the Shadow.

"I can see everything about you… ahaha!"

"What's the deal here?! Our attacks keep missing!" Chie was getting frustrated at how their attacks wouldn't hit the Shadow. Yosuke felt the same way too. "Damn, it's like it's anticipating our every move…" he murmured, helpless at the fact that they couldn't seem to hit the Shadow no matter what attacks they used. "I-I'm completely useless…" Teddie wasn't too happy as he was unable to help the team with this.

The pulse of a green wave coming from Rise's Shadow alerted them.

"What the-!?" The brunet stared at the Shadow in shock. "That power… I think it's scanning us! Ohh, this is not good!" Teddie was now starting to panic. Kanji glanced at the bear, not knowing what he meant. "When you say 'not good', what exactly does that mean!?"

A bright glow soon emanated from the Shadow's form. "Woohoo…! Analysis complete! Okay, here comes my counterattack! See if you can dodge, hmm?"

The group tensed up at the mention of a counterattack. Was this Shadow serious?!

"S-Stop it!" Teddie yelled at it, but his attempt was useless as the Shadow unleashed a blow that levelled them all. Everyone but the bear fell down, especially Yosuke who was flat on his back. "You gotta be kidding…" he spoke with a pained grimace. "How're we supposed to win…!?" Chie murmured, wincing at the pain of the attack. "A-Are we… going to die…?" Yukiko weakly asked, which the answer to it seemed obvious… "No! You guys can't die!" Teddie shook his head. His face soon fell as he looked at Yu. "What can I do…? Sensei…"

The silver-haired boy managed to smile reassuringly despite the pain in his body. "It's… up to you, Teddie…"

"There must be something… something I can do… am I going to be all alone again…?" The bear muttered to himself, holding his head. "No… that's not what I want!"

Another pulse of a green wave passed through the group from Rise's Shadow. "Shit! It's winding up again…!" Kanji was in no shape to take another blow like that, just like the rest of the team. "I… I…" Teddie was struggling to come to a conclusion while all this happened. At the same time, a bright blue glow emanated from the Shadow's form once more… "Okie dokie, here we go again! Goodbye… forever!"

"Aw shit… it's coming!" Yosuke shouted in alarm, their impending doom now mere moments away. Unexpectedly, Teddie went to stand in front of the group once he heard those words. "M-My body's moving on its own! Wh-Why am I stepping forward!? Wh-Whoaaaa! I-I feel like I'm going bear-serk!" He was soon resolute in defending the team from the blow. "Grrrrr! I-I'll do it! Take a good look… at Teddie's last stand!" An aura akin to fire started to surround him…

Even the Shadow was shocked at the sight. "Huh…!? This high-energy reading… is it coming from that weird thing…!?"

"Teddie! What the hell are you doing!?" Kanji yelled at the bear, but his words went unheard as Teddie let out a deafening roar with the fiery aura around him growing ever fiercer. "Roaaaaaaaaawr!" He ran towards the Shadow as Yosuke called out to him… and a blinding flash forced everyone to look away. Once the light faded out, all that was left of the Shadow was its original form on the stage, while Teddie… he wasn't looking too good. Once the team got on their feet, they quickly ran over to the bear who was now literally flattened thin like a sheet of paper.

"Teddie! You idiot… you coulda died…" Kanji was genuinely worried for the bear.

"Did I… did I help…?" Teddie asked weakly, his voice cracking.

"You didn't just help, you saved our lives!" Yosuke told him.

"Neat…! I'm so glad… I didn't want to be alone anymore…"

"Teddie…" Chie looked at the bear sadly as she heard those words. Teddie slowly tried to get himself up. "Ngh… urgh…" …Then he saw how flat his body was now. "Wh-what in the world?! Nooo… my fine, silky fur… I was so proud of it! Waaaah…" Well, seems like he's acting like he usually would. Yosuke just watched as the bear was devastated at how he looked. "Looks like he's gonna be just fine… I guess."

The teenagers soon ran past Teddie to check on Rise since he seemed okay, shocking the bear as they did.

"Rise-chan!" Yukiko looked at the dark brunette with concern. Rise was slowly waking up after all that happened. "Mm…? Where… am I…?" She sat up, feeling weak. "I'm sorry… it's all my fault…" she murmured, looking up guiltily at the people who just saved her. "No harm done," Yu told her with a reassuring smile. He's in no better shape like the rest of the team, but that easily was overshadowed by the success of saving another victim from this twisted world.

"Really…? Thank God…" Rise then got up to face her Shadow that was still on the floor. "Here, stand up," she gently said to it. Her Shadow soon slowly got up, a blank expression now on its face as it faced her. She began to talk. "I'm sorry… you must've been in a lot of pain up to now. You're part of me, but I kept refusing to admit you existed… I was trying to figure out who the real me was. But I realize now that I was on the wrong track. There is no 'real' me. It just doesn't exist."

Nearby, Teddie was becoming troubled as he heard those words. "There's no... real me…?"

"You… me… even Risette… they were all born from me. All of them are… me." Rise continued on, speaking out her true feelings. Her Shadow then nodded with a small smile on its face, before fading out. In the Shadow's place was a Persona that looked like a woman wearing a white gown, except that its head appeared as a large satellite and in its hands, it held a head device. The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest… she has faced her other self, obtaining the façade used to overcome life's hardships – the Persona Himiko.

Soon, Himiko became a tarot card and faded back into the depths of the dark brunette's heart.

Rise then turned to face the Investigation Team before she suddenly fell onto her knees as exhaustion hit her hard. "Rise-chan! Careful!" Yosuke tried to keep her steady. The idol looked up at him… and recognized him from that day he came with Yu and Kanji. "I'm all right… hey, you're the one who came to the store, right…?"

"Oh, yeah. And these guys came with me."

Yosuke stepped back, letting Yu introduce themselves briefly to tell her who they were and what the team did. Rise smiled, thankful that they went through all this to save her. "I thought I recognized you guys… thanks, everyone…"

"We'll explain everything later, but for right now-" Chie stopped talking as she glanced at Teddie, to which she was surprised by what she saw. Yukiko was confused at her best friend's reaction. "What's wrong, Chie?" she asked her. When she got no response, she looked at Teddie with the others. There, they saw the bear saying the same thing over and over, as if a cloud of despair fell over him. "There's… no real me…?" he said it in such a shocked way that Kanji was kind of worried about it. "H-hey, Teddie…"

"No, get back!"

The team looked at Rise in surprise as she got up. "Something's coming out of him…!"

…A distorted, deeper voice spoke from somewhere. "Real? Me?" It chuckled deeply. "Such foolishness…"

Right behind Teddie emerged his Shadow, which looked like himself in his regular form… except much bigger and terrifying with its eerie yellow eyes peering brightly against its darkened face and the dark blue aura surrounding it. Everyone except Teddie who remained unaware was startled to see it appear there. "What is that thing…?!" Yosuke stared with wide eyes at the Shadow looming over Teddie. It didn't take long for Chie to realise what this could only mean. "D-Don't tell me… is that the other Teddie? Teddie's hidden thoughts!?"

"I believe so, but it seems like there's more… I felt some powerful presence intervene…" Rise told her. Teddie was getting nervous at the tense air that grew among them. "Wh-What's going on!?" He attempted to turn around, his flat body giving him some difficulty. Once he did, his gaze immediately fell onto the sight of his Shadow right behind him, nearly making him fall as he yelled out in shock. "Wh-Whoaa!"

Teddie's Shadow began to speak, its voice much deeper unlike the real bear. "The truth is unattainable… it will always be shrouded in fog. Though you reach through the murk and the gloom to grasp something, you have no means to know it is the truth… in which case, why…? What sense is there in yearning for truth? Close your eyes. Lie to yourself. Live in blissful ignorance… it is a much smarter way to exist."

"Wh-What're you talking about!? I don't understand a word you're saying!" Teddie retorted. "You're just making it sound difficult because I'm not that smart! How rude! Maybe you can't tell, but I'm thinking as hard as I can!"

"It is those efforts that I am calling useless. You are hollow. Empty. At your core, you know this… you just cannot accept it. So you seek an alternate form… a denial of your nature. You have no lost memories. If you have forgotten anything, it is this truth."

"Th-That's… a lie…" Teddie held his head in denial, taking a few steps back from his Shadow.

"Shall I spell it out for you? You are but a mere-"

"I said shaddup!" The bear tried to strike his Shadow, but was merely blown back without even a hint of movement from it. "Teddie!" Yukiko yelled out in alarm. Now it was just the rest of the Investigation Team with the Shadow, who looked at them with that grim look on its face. "It is the same for you all… you undergo suffering because of your search for the truth… this world is filled with thick, heavy fog… how can you find something when you know not what you search for?"

"Because the truth has to exist. Even if we don't know it, it's in this world, somewhere," Yu answered it with no hesitation. It was why they started to tackle this case, to save the victims thrown into the TV world, find the killer and thwart them before they could kidnap anyone else. His answer meant nothing to Teddie's Shadow, however. "Obtaining the truth is simple. All you have to do is believe that it is the truth… then I will grant you one truth… you will all die here. You sought the truth, only to find death…"

Promptly after saying that, the Shadow's aura began to darken heavily. Another fight was imminent…

"Dammit… how are we supposed to fight something like this without Teddie…?" Yosuke gritted his teeth. Teddie has always been the one to give them support from afar, but now it was the bear's own Shadow that they were dealing with, and said bear is currently out of it. "It's all right… get ready, everyone," Rise told them, shocking the rest of the teenagers. "Hey, don't tell me you're fighting with us! You can't take it!" Chie said to her, but Rise wasn't backing out of it now. "I'm okay… I should be able to take that bear's place! It's my turn to save you all!"

With that, she summoned her Persona… and the team was thrown into another battle with the Shadow that will soon become their toughest battle yet.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

Teddie's Shadow had grown gigantic, a hole in the floor where it emerged. In this form, it appeared almost like its bear suit was deteriorating with the head part of it having two holes where its eyes would be, revealing glaring sky blue eyes that peered at the team from the hollow darkness inside of it. Yu would've admitted to feeling somewhat shaken at the sight if he hadn't seen much worse before. After roaring, the Shadow spoke with its deep and distorted voice. "I am a Shadow… the true self… I shall give you the 'truth' you claim to hold so dear… the inescapable fact of your death here!"

Chie almost couldn't believe it. "Was that creepy thing really inside our Teddie…?" she wondered, surprise evident on her face. Yosuke felt guilty for not noticing how troubled Teddie was over this. "I guess he was a lot more troubled than he looked… we have to save him!"

"Foolish beings! Accept your end with dignity and grace!"

Now, the battle finally began.

It didn't take long for the team to realise that Teddie's Shadow was resistant to ice as it used Mabufula after casting Mind Charge onto itself, which was always an occasion to guard themselves from the attacks that followed after. Hell, it was much tougher than Rise's Shadow… so Yu had to carefully plan out their attacks after casting the usual bunch of buff and debuff spells. Much to his shock, the Shadow even knew some other spells – Marakunda that made their defences weaker, and Foolish Whisper that caused them to be mute for a time so they couldn't summon their Personas.

Essentially, it was already a tough fight.

Somehow they managed to pull through and get in some attacks to damage Teddie's Shadow, and things just got harder from that point on as the Shadow spoke to them again. "Stop this futile struggling. Even if you resist, it will all come to naught…" It went into the hole it emerged from for a moment, before coming out with an arm raised up, concentrating a giant sphere of energy in its paw… Rise was a bit worried about it. "What…? I have a bad feeling about this…"

Nonetheless, they seem to have gained a chance to pull attacks on the Shadow without being hurt back. Once they did, Rise called out to them to warn about something. "It's… it's going to attack! Get ready!"

Yu nodded as he heard that and looked at the others. "You heard her. Guard yourselves!"

They guarded just in time as Teddie's Shadow used Nihil Hand, slamming them with the energy… but they were left unscathed as a result. Guess this was another trick up the Shadow's sleeve – they must not underestimate its abilities as they continued to attack with knowledge on how to completely nullify Teddie's Shadow's new attack. The huge Shadow grew more infuriated at how the battle was going. "What…? How can you summon such strength for such a futile endeavour…?!" it questioned as it stared at Yu.

"Because this isn't a 'futile endeavour'…! We'll beat you if it means saving Teddie!" Yu answered with conviction, a fiery spirit blazing in his silver-grey eyes. Teddie's Shadow growled and raised an arm to strike Yu with its claws strongly using a new attack, causing the boy to cry out and collapse in pain while his world turned into a whirlpool of colours all around him. He could hear the shouts of alarm of his teammates, the chorus of slashes and buzzing sounds playing in his ears. Once his head cleared up, he was soon aware of Yosuke helping him up. "Here… you alright, partner?"

"Y…yeah…" The silver-haired boy slowly nodded, his eyes widening when he quickly noticed that the Shadow was charging up for another Nihil Hand attack. "We need to put our guard up, quick…!"

At the warning, the team managed to guard themselves again in time to nullify the attack, receiving no damage despite the impact being made on their bodies. "Good call, Senpai!" Kanji complimented the leader with a grin, unintentionally flustering Yu easily. "T-thanks. Let's keep going." Yu quickly broke his gaze away from the blond, trying his best to focus at the battle in spite of the spreading fire in his face.

They still had a battle to win, and so they kept on attacking the Shadow. Teddie's Shadow merely became more aggressive in its attacks as it was in its last spurts of its energy. "Why do you still resist…?! Even should you win, naught but suffering awaits!" It swiftly did the same thing it did to Yu a while before on Yosuke and Kanji, making the two dizzy. Then it charged up, readying itself for one more Nihil Hand attack. "Kanji! Yosuke!" Yu looked at the boys worriedly. He could only hope that they would get up soon to guard the incoming attack as he was forced to attack the Shadow alone while ordering Yukiko to heal them all using Media.

To his luck, both Kanji and Yosuke got up just in time. It took only a moment for them to realise that they had to guard themselves when their eyes landed on the orb of energy Teddie's Shadow was concentrating in its paw, immediately raising their guard with Yu and Yukiko just as the Shadow attacked them, but it was nullified once more. "Okay, let's get it with all our strength now!" Yu told his team, seeing that the Shadow was now barely hanging onto the edge of the hole. With their combined effort, a final hit on Teddie's Shadow was dealt… and the Shadow roared in agony before it fell onto the edge, darkness pouring out of the holes in its suit which left it… empty.

Soon, the hole and the huge form of the Shadow blew away as dust to reveal its original form, bearing the same emotionless face again.

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

The Investigation Team gathered around Teddie who was getting up, still flat like cloth. Rise was barely holding up, exhausted after the fight.

"Was that part of you, Teddie…?" Yukiko asked him softly. "Even Teddie had a hidden side…" Chie murmured, still surprised at what they just witnessed. The bear turned around to see his Shadow there, now silent. "I… I don't know who I am…" Teddie spoke slowly. "I've thought a number of times… that maybe there is no answer… but I'm here… I live here…"

"You're not alone, Teddie…" Yu told him, looking at the bear with a gentle expression as Teddie turned around to face him. "Then… I don't have to do this all on my own…?" he asked the silver-haired boy. Yosuke gave him a casual grin. "Dude, we'll help you figure it out," he said reassuringly. "I'm sure we'll find out about you, as we continue investigating this world," Yukiko added, smiling at the bear. At the support the team was giving him, Teddie began to cry happily. "Y-You guys…! I'm… I'm one lucky bear! Waaaah…"

As Teddie turned around to face his Shadow, it began to glow a bright blue. "Is that…?" Chie's eyes widened. "A Persona…?" Yosuke was surprised too, as with the rest of them. Teddie approached his Shadow as the courage of heart to support one's friends has been made manifest… his Shadow soon turned into a Persona that had the appearance of a bulbous red boiler with stubby limbs in a blue cape which carried a tomahawk missile in its arms. It then turned into a tarot card before fading back into the depths of Teddie's heart, him having faced his other self and obtaining the façade used to overcome life's hardships, the Persona Kintoki-Douji.

Then, Teddie looked at the others. "Is this my Persona?" he asked with awe. Rise smiled at him despite the tiredness she felt. "I can sense strong power from it… it's awesome, Teddie…" she said with a voice that was almost like a whisper. Her strength soon gave out and she fell down onto her knees, worrying the team. Chie was shocked to see that, going over to Rise in concern. "Whoa! Are you all right!? Oh yeah, your Persona just awakened too! I'm so sorry… you must be worn out."

"Yeah, let's hurry outside!" Yosuke told them, and the team nodded in agreement. So, they quickly helped the idol out of the place…

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

They stopped for a moment at the studio to check on Rise's condition. Admittedly, it was refreshing to be out of that striptease place… the purple was almost nauseating.

"Are you feeling okay, Rise-chan? We're almost outside," Yukiko asked the dark brunette gently. Rise nodded, her shoulders heaving with exhaustion. "I'm all right… I'm more worried about Teddie…" she answered in a near whisper, which made everyone look at Teddie who was still pretty much like a thin piece of paper, swaying in the air on his flat feet.

"You okay there? We gotta go back for now…" Kanji then asked him, a bit worried for the bear. "I wanna be alone for a while," Teddie told them, surprising the team. Yosuke looked at him with shock. "H-hey…"

"My beautiful fur is all rough and coarse… and my nose hasn't been working too well either…" Teddie then suddenly jumped in the air, letting himself fall onto his back like paper. Once he landed, he began doing… push-ups. "So while I wait for my fur to grow back, I'm gonna train hard! Nobody can stop moi! Here goes! Huh!"

Everyone just stared at the bear, wondering what's gotten into him.

"Wh-What's gotten into you…?" Yosuke tried to question him, but Teddie just cut him off, still doing push-ups. "Don't, talk, to me, please! One more set! Huh! Huh! Another one! Huh! Huh!"

"Leave the dude be…" Kanji told the others, seeming to understand why the bear was doing this. "Comes a time when a man's gotta stand on his own two feet."

"Uh, I'm not sure this is really one of those times…" Chie replied, looking at Teddie with a raised eyebrow. Yukiko spoke up, seeing that they've spent enough time talking here. "Well then, Chie and I will take Rise-chan home."

Yosuke nodded in response to that. "Yeah, she'll need a lot of rest. We can talk after she regains her strength."

"Well, um… good luck, Teddie!" Chie bid the bear some words of encouragement uncertainly. "Just kick back and wait for my wonderful comeback! Peace out!" Teddie told them, continuing to do his push-ups. "Good luck, Teddie," Yu added, smiling at the bear. He had to respect the determination Teddie had to do this… even if he wasn't sure of what the result would be. Everyone else began to walk towards the stack of TV's on the stage to leave, and the silver-haired boy stared longingly at Kanji as the blond left with the others.

He told himself that he would get rid of this crush one way or another… but somehow, this heat just grows ever warmer the more he saw and fought alongside Kanji. It's... perplexing.

Letting out a quiet sigh, he just put on a calm smile while he approached Teddie. "I said this before, but… I can sense something special about you, Sensei," The bear then informed him, grunting as he did his push-ups. "There must be something that only I can do… that's how I feel when I'm with Sensei. That's why I'm gonna get stronger! To find my special thing! Raaaawr!" He looked at the boy with fire in his eyes, and Yu nodded at him with a supporting grin. "You'll do great, Teddie. I'll be looking forward to your progress."

Right then, the Star Social Link became stronger.

"Here goes! Huh! Huh!" Teddie now focused on his push-ups even more, so Yu decided to leave him be and left the TV world. He needed a break after seeing all that pink, fighting hordes of Shadows and also fighting two Shadows that were the other selves of both Rise Kujikawa and Teddie… what a day. At least Rise was saved – now they had to wait for her to recover… but will she be able to provide new insight into this case?

~*~*~*~*~*~…~*~*~*~*~*~

As evening fell onto town, Yu and Nanako were having dinner while watching TV.

The sound of the doors sliding open got Nanako excited as she stood up. "He's back!" As she ran to greet her father, what she saw made her stop in her tracks. The silver-haired boy looked at her with confusion when he heard Adachi's voice from the small hallway that led to the doors. "Whoa, there! Careful now, Dojima-san."

"Ow! Dammit…! Who put a shtep here!?" That was definitely Dojima's voice… but he spoke with such a slur.

"That'd be the carpenters, Sir. C'mon, don't take your anger out on the house. That won't solve anything."

Adachi and Dojima soon emerged from the small hallway, the latter's arm hung around the younger detective's shoulders to support him. Yu got up, surprised to see his uncle actually… drunk. The familiar stench of sake hit his nose hard, but he wasn't at all affected by it. The older man greeted his daughter drunkenly. "Whooo… I'm hooome. Nanako! I'm baaack!"

Nanako's smile fell as she saw the state her father was in. "W-Welcome back…"

"Oh, hi Nanako-chan. Sorry, but could you go get his futon ready?" Adachi asked the little girl. Nanako nodded wordlessly and ran off to do that. The young detective went to help his partner to the sofa, where Dojima slumped into his seat. He couldn't even sit straight… was he that wasted? Adachi could only scratch his head with a sheepish look. "Phew! I think he had a little too much to drink, haha."

"How else…" Dojima spoke up, but paused as he hiccupped. "…am I supposed to deal with this crap!? Friggin' fancy-talkin' kid… I've… I've been in this line'a work… since you were all learnin' yer times tables!"

"The prefectural police sent in special investigational support. 'Cause you know, we haven't really made any progress on the serial murders since they started in April… haha. So this 'special support' is supposedly a hot-shot detective from a well-known private agency…" Adachi explained to Yu who was looking confused. "But you shoulda seen the look on my face when I met him! He's only a kid your age! I hear he's a pretty sharp cookie, though."

Hm, young detective in town? Yu was too tired to think deeply about it… and now he has to deal with this shit.

…He shouldn't think like that about his uncle. The stench of alcohol, it's…

"Awww, he's a brat like any other. Ain't nothin' he can do to help," Dojima complained, hiccupping again. "He goes on and on about deductions and… deductions… heh. Ace or no ace, the prefeckshure oughtta be more careful about giving us brats to babysit… condes… condescendin' bashtards…" He was seriously drunk. The heavy flush on his face was a no-brainer to his condition.

"The kid said, as long as he can be of assistance in solving a difficult case, he won't require a reward. Well, you can imagine the shine the higher-ups took to him after that. So we can't exactly turn him down…" Adachi added. "Adachi!" The older detective yelled at his partner with a slur, but the younger man immediately tensed up in response. "Gah, sorry! Me and my big mouth…"

"You run your jaw like this is all shome kinda joke… it's your fault to begin with, for jumping the gun and hauling in that Peeping Tom!"

Adachi could only scratch his head awkwardly. "Oh… haha, um…"

Then Dojima looked at his nephew. "And you! You'cn take your share of the blame, too… always wandering around crime scenes whenever somethin' happens… you better be good or I'll haul you in if you do somethin' like back in your junior high!" The older man practically scolded the silver-haired boy, to which Yu bit his lip at being reminded once again for his mistakes. "…My apologies, uncle…" he murmured, staring at the floor as he tried not to let his emotions get the best of him.

At that moment, Nanako ran into the living room. "His futon's ready."

With a nod, Adachi went over to his partner. "Alright, Dojima-san, up and at 'em. Nanako-chan got your futon all ready for you!" he told him. Dojima just mumbled something incomprehensible as the younger detective helped him to his room, leaving Yu and Nanako in the living room. They both watched the two adults go upstairs… then Yu glanced at his cousin, who was frowning a bit as she looked back at him. "…Sure does stink like sake in here…" she commented. Yu nodded in agreement. "Yeah… it does."

That's because it is sake. There's no denying that smell, and it made him unwittingly recall the sweet and strong taste that came with it. How it made his throat burn the moment it slid down, made him forget his troubles for a while, even if he was totally delirious by the time he drank bottles of it with his former gang… and the ache of a hangover was worth the great ecstasy of having a night's out and getting drunk with the people he thought understood how he felt about society and people. It always was. But he can't go back to the way he was before.

Swallowing his saliva, he bid Nanako goodnight and went up to his room quickly before his body could start shivering heavily.

Withdrawal was never a fun experience to feel.