Back from the holiday break, and I hope everyone is doing wonderfully well. :)
Over9000 - Glad I managed to surprise you a bit. I was actually grinning when I read your review for two. I ALSO grinned when I read your review for three. ;)
Catherine - Sorry you had to wait! We're back on track now.
RageCaje - Let's rebuild our detective back to her... mostly normal self, eh?
September 26th, 2011
Naoto took the bowl from Chie with a small nod. "Thank you, Satonaka-senpai."
"You know, I really wish you'd call me Chie." The upperclassman planted her fists on both hips and gave the younger girl a bright smile. "I'm not even that much older than you, I think. And out of the two of us, I know who the smarter person is, and it isn't me!"
She turned and headed back into the kitchen. Naoto watched her leave, then frowned at her food. Satonaka-senpai was correct, she needed to eat, even though her stomach still weakly protested against the idea. Her reasoning 'You just feel sick because you're hungry' did not account for the repeated emptying of her stomach the previous night and morning, but she could not argue that remaining without food could only add to her fatigue. At least I am properly dressed today. What must Amagi-senpai think of me, being around the apartment all day in just my sleepwear?
Her gaze fell back on the food. Well, it did smell good.
She took the chopsticks between her hands, closed her eyes to say thanks and started to pick through the rather plentiful amount of beef and roasted onion to get to the rice. Gingerly picking at it, she listlessly munched, adding a small strip of beef or onion for flavor here and there.
All the while she was being chattered at. Satonaka-senpai seemed determined that they are friends due to the course of happenings. She learned about the other members of the group, mostly about Amagi-san and Hanamura-san. She learned of her senpai's private enjoyment of physical fitness. She learned of a pet dog and how she would love him - apparently. She learned about the latest school gossip and about the struggles their sports teams faced due to lack of members.
It was a rather one-sided stream of questionable information, as Naoto could not think of anything to contribute on any of the topics herself.
She looked up when she noticed an ebb in the relentless input and looked up. Satonaka-san stood before her shelves, reading the jackets and book ends. "Do you enjoy reading, Satonaka-san?"
"Chie. Chie. And, yeah, but, like, more manga and stuff." She picked up something from the mystery section of her shelf and turned the volume over and over in her hand. "I don't have much time to read, so I like if part of the story is already an image, so I don't need to buckle down and think too much, I guess?"
Naoto placed her chopsticks on the rim of her bowl and tucked her legs up beside her. She gave what the girl said some thought. And she had to admit there was a certain logic to it. Reading a book and reading a manga were different, one was absolutely faster. "So your various hobbies keep you too busy to read?"
The other girl slipped the book back and picked up a much thicker volume from her scientific section. "Very, hah! I run at least two hours each day, and not just boring old in-a-circle stuff. You should see me parkour sometime!"
"Parcours?" Naoto pronounced the word in the intended French way, but it did not open any new meaning to her.
"Yeah, where you, you know- Hrm. Have you never heard of city-running? You use the surroundings as obstacles or as assistance to leap somewhere higher?" Her senpai seemed to not notice how she suddenly balanced on the balls of her feet, gently side stepping and nearly hopping left to right.
"That sounds like quite rigorous exercise. It very much explains your build, too."
The hopping stopped and Satonaka turned around slowly, looking quite blank. "My what?"
Naoto shrugged and pointed at her senpai with an open hand. "Your build. Your general physique and athletic statue." The blank look shifted oddly, into mild annoyance, then into surprise and ended up being near a proud gloat. "I can see your hard work. I doubt any of the others in your team could keep up with you. Hanamura-san seems vaguely capable, perhaps, but he would not appear to hold your stamina."
"HAH!" Now she really skipped side-to-side on the spot, her hands raised. "Yosuke can barely dodge what I dish out, he can't keep up with me. Now Kanji, he can."
"Tatsumi-kun?"
"Yeah. He actually sometimes comes out running with me. He's a bit of a lug, but when he gets going, he's not stopping. He's not as light on his feet, but he can run up walls higher than I can, he can do impressive pulls when jumping over tall fences and he usually can keep going longer."
The detective turned her head and stared straight ahead, conjuring up a picture of Kanji Tatsumi. From what she had seen throughout the summer, his upper body strength must be very impressive. His chest and shoulders seemed very well toned and she could easily picture the work and effort he could put forward during physical activities. Pulling his whole body up and over an obstacle was certainly not something that would slow him down much. And his overall frame spoke of well-trained muscle. If he kept his breathing steady, he would have no problem keeping his body well oxygenated.
Chie had stepped in front of her with a sly grin. "Thinking of something?"
"Mhm?" Naoto's eyes focused and she looked up at the girl before her. "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment."
"Heh, I bet."
"I beg pardon?"
"Well, you're blushing. And Yosuke said when he caught you two in the bathroom back at Escapade, you had made Kanji kneel down for you and-"
The younger girl made a sharp dismissive gesture with her hand. "He was injured, Satonaka-san. Whatever fabrication Hanamura-san made from that, I cannot be held accountable for. I needed to reach a cut on his head and he simply is too tall to do that while he is standing. Unlike any of you, who were supposed to be his compatriots, I actually felt the need to ensure one of my peers was not suffering any possibly severe injuries."
Chie had dropped her crossed arms as Naoto spoke and gave her a surprised look. "Uh, sorry, I was just teasing. And you know what? You're right, I shouldn't have, sorry. Besides, it's Yosuke. He likes to make stories where none are. And back then we thought you were a guy, too, so he just went with it."
"My gender held no bearing at all on my urgent need to care for an injured classmate," Naoto muttered, gazing towards the hands in her lap. "I am not interested in the homophobic tendencies of Yosuke Hanamura."
"Eh, possibly the smart thing to do." The girl looked embarrassed for a moment, then peered at their tea cups. "Hey, you're out of tea again! I told you to let me know, Yukiko will have my hide if I can't get enough liquids into you!"
The younger girl looked up as Chie grabbed her cup and vanished back into the kitchen. How far had that rumor spread? A homo-erotic interest added to the rest of the ever-growing lore about the Detective Prince. Would it be a problem? Harm her? Help her? It could provide relief from the girls trying to 'get with her' and perhaps cause a bit of an ebb from the unwanted attentions of letters and gifts pushed at her.
She also realized that she had been incommunicado for at least three days now. She could consider reaching out to Grampa and see if he had time to reply to her latest email yet.
A knock at the front door pulled her from her thoughts. Before she could even untangle her legs, Satonaka skipped out of the kitchen and ran across to the door. "Got it, got it, stay comfy!"
She head the girl stop at the door, hesitate (possibly looking through the door spy) and make a pleased sound before she opened. "Hey Yu, Rise!" A pause. "Oh, hey Yosuke."
Speak of the devil. More visitors. Naoto sighed. The better she felt, the less it seemed tolerable to have others intrude on her home. And now she wasn't even the one welcoming them in any longer.
"How is she today?"
Naoto leaned forward a bit. She was right here, only meters away, and her senpai causally spoke as if that was no concern of theirs. She could not wait to be back on her own two feet and in proper control of her home. She would start closing doors in their faces.
"Yeah, she's... well." There was movement, then the conversation continued a bit muffled. "Yuki told you, I think, but she's in really bad shape. I mean, Yuki and Rise were nowhere near as exhausted. And ... Hm. Na, she can tell you if she wants, that's not my place."
The detective lifted her head, raising her eyebrows. First Amagi, now Satonaka kept her more embarrassing moments a secret. She had underestimated the girls in that regard.
"Anyways," the other girl continued, possibly from behind the door, "I'm feeding her and trying to get her to drink more, like Yuki asked me. But she's not been much in terms of company, let me tell ya..."
Naoto flinched and clenched her jaw.
"Aw, Chie-senpai, that's mean! She's very private, you know that! Hey, you guys can keep on chatting, I wanna see her!" That sounded absolutely like the bubbly idol.
Who skipped in moments later. "Naoto-kun! How are you doing? Been missing your grumpy face around school!"
"Kujikawa-san," Naoto added drily as a greeting.
The girl plopped herself down in front of the couch and right in front of Naoto. With a radiant, infectious smile, she let her eyes wander over the detective's face for a short while before speaking up. "You know, you really look a lot better, but you do look a bit worn down. Maybe we should get you something healthy. Apples are good when you're ill!"
"I assure you, Kujika-"
"Rise!"
"-wa-san... pardon?"
"Rise! We're pretty much in the same home room, with as many courses as our classes share. You know me, silly. We're not strangers!"
Naoto's mouth opened and closed a few times without bringing out any sound. It would not do! It would not do starting to be on a first name basis with these teens before they even knew one another properly.
...calledhimkanji...
And whatever these random thoughts were, that came cloaked in a high-pitched chirp, they could cut it right out, too! Besides. She had previously only addressed him as Kanji-san to ensure he would understand there was no true ill will between them.
"Naoto-kun?"
"I thank you for the offer, but at this time, I believe we should have some professional behaviour set up between one another. I am new to your social network. It would be presumptuous of me."
Satonaka and Narukami entered the living room at that point. The girl was a few steps behind the young man and it seemed like she had a light flush to her cheeks. Naoto tsked to herself. Maybe he had called her out on something and she had Kujikawa let her be distracted. Whatever it was, her chance was past.
With them also walked in another young man. Hanamura's shaggy auburn hair, looking freshly tussled as always, fell past his ears even though he seemed to try and force it back with his hands right now.
"Yo, Naoto-kun!"
"Narukami-senpai, Hanamura-senpai. Welcome." That should suffice. They had invited themselves, they could not truthfully expect her to go out of her way for them. Some minimal politeness might also bring across that they could not make themselves truly at home here.
Where Hanamura immediately wandered around, rudely inspecting her living space, Narukami stepped behind Kujikawa and stopped. She looked back with a giggle, leaning against him. "You look exhausted, Naoto. I heard you have some problems sleeping?" He stopped, giving her an opening to reply.
Naoto looked into his eyes a moment, then ducked away. The shadow of one very rough nightmare welled up, making him glower at her, a demanding hand outstretched...
He continued when she did not speak up. "I know some of the others had problems as well after awakening their Persona."
Brief replies. Do not make them welcome. She settled for a nod. Her eyes wandered to the other boy, who just fished one of her books out of the shelf.
"I also understand you'd rather have us not take care of you."
Another nod, more distinct, still watching Hanamura. And wincing when he stuffed the book back, but in the wrong place.
"I see. You do realize why we cannot do that?" He hunched down on his heels, holding on to Kujikawa's shoulders. She giggled. Naoto gave her a confused and slightly irritated glance. Wasn't she being friendly with Tatsumi-kun...? Narukami had continued speaking and she refocused, trying to keep up. "...to your own devices. We're the only ones who will understand. No police officer, no doctor, no parent can help in this. All we have is each other." He gave the idol's shoulder a squeeze and she happily nodded to Naoto; who in turn watched the interaction with interest. They are trying to play me. Is this going to be good-cop-bad-cop?
"He's right, you know," Kujikawa added, as if on cue. "Seriously, can you think of anyone besides us who'd believe you? What would you tell them when they ask you why you were gone or why you're feeling ill? That you were gone for two weeks, stuck in a TV at Jun-"
Naoto shot to her feet. "What?"
She heard Satonaka groan "Oh geez, Rise..."; saw Narukami narrow his eyes - and even Hanamura seemed to pause.
Kujikawa looked from one to the other and very quietly said, "Oops."
Naoto patted herself down. Phone... where is my phone... She stumbled out of the living room, into her bedroom and all but fell on the bed, reaching for her night stand. She pulled her phone from its charger and flipped it open.
Apps... Calendar... oh dear gods.
When she was about to thud hard to the ground, she felt two strong arms catch her and redirect her to her bed. A voice, as if miles away, said "Oh man, I am so sorry, I totally forgot..." while another female voice, familiar, closer, gently showered her with soft words. "Let me just take the phone... there we go, I'll put it right here, okay? You're okay, Naoto-kun. I know this is weird, but trust us, everything is okay, school is taken care of, and we sorted it out. No one reported you missing, Yu checked already. No reason to worry yourself, okay?"
"How... how is that... even remotely possible," she breathed. Naoto stared blankly ahead of her and her thoughts turned into the proverbial 'unstoppable wild horses'. Weeks? I have been missing for weeks now? How could any person go missing for weeks? How could the police not react to me being missing, being gone from school for this amount of time? They would have known I had been taken by someone. They would have started to look for me! Naoto Shirogane missing during a live investigation, they would not-
Staring blankly, shuddering all over, she curled up on her side. She heard distorted murmurs, felt light hands pat her here and there, but everything was drowned out in the storm inside of her.
Weeks. How is that even feasible? Dehydration would have killed me in that time. Other physical markers would have shown themselves. If it had been weeks, then how can I still function, still reason at all? I should be dead. I should by all rights have ceased to be, seeing I have no memory of consuming nutrients or liquids in my time with the clo- the shadow.
Grampa! She scrabbled at her bed, her pillow, she had her phone here only a moment ago, where was it?
Hands took her wrists and she heard through her panic a soft voice. The voice said something. And then something ... actually, the same thing, again.
And again, this time with her shoulders being shaken. "NAOTO!"
Taken aback, she tried to squirm out of the grasp, only to have it tighten on her. "Why..."
A hand brushed a pigtail out of her face. "Man, you had us getting real worried this time. You curled up and totally spaced out, as if you were, like, not here."
Naoto stared unseeing into the worried face of Rise Kujikawa before mumbling, "Shock."
"What?"
A calm, male voice spoke from outside her room. "Means she got so startled by what you said, that her mind could not cope and shut down."
"Oh Naoto-kun. I'm so sorry. I thought they had already-
"It is vital that I get in touch with my grampa. Please."
"Sure, sure, uhm, we... we'll be outside."
The detective nodded mutely, then called out: "Thank you, Rise-san," as the girl left the room.
The idol turned and smiled. "Keep callin' me Rise and everything will be okay!" She all but skipped outside.
Naoto listened to the others file out one by one and she heard her door shutting.
I will not lose control now. I have my home secured and to myself. This all has a logical explanation. I will not overreact…
Calmly talking to herself, Naoto got up on shaky legs, ignoring the tremor that ran through her deepest core like the plucked string of a harp and walked back into her living room. She slowly knelt before her table. Pulled her laptop out from the drawer underneath it. Plugged in the power cord. Nice and methodically. Each movement calm and with purpose. This is a misunderstanding and I can easily clear it up.
She stared at the screen of her laptop as it booted. Her lock screen showed the time and date. September 26th, 15:26 o'clock.
After entering her password (twice, due to shaky fingers) she watched the machine start up her email, browser and bookmarked pages, a VPN tool to log into different law enforcement databases and into her server at the estate.
Unread Emails: Two.
Voice Mail directed to home server: Two.
One email contact was from Dojima. One from Grampa.
One voice mail was from a US phone number. One from a local Inaba number, perhaps Dojima as well.
She leaned away from the table and slowly placed her hands on her legs, slumping slightly. Even through the cloth of her slacks could she feel the iciness that all but radiated from her fingers. A lump started to form in her throat, hot tears of anger welled up in her eyes and the tremble inside of her still tried to break free.
She wanted to hide. She wanted to sleep till this nightmare was over. What in the world had she gotten herself into? Television sets? Shadows? Mysterious illnesses?
theycanexplainletthemintheyarewaitingforyou
'Be quiet.'
Naoto wasn't even sure what she was addressing, or if she was speaking to herself. Whichever it was, right now it was distracting her and she needed to focus.
She sat up straight, shifting her feet to have her heels support her and push her up. I am a Shirogane. I will not be overwhelmed by simple, undeniable facts.
Setting her jaw, a small frown on her forehead, she reached for her laptop. She would deal with Grampa first.
Not reading his email, she didn't trust that lump still trying to build in her throat, she simply opened a new email form and sent him a polite but brief message. She apologized for making him wait, cited non-descriptive involvements and promised an answer soon.
After sending it, she hesitated a moment before copying that message and sending it to Dojima as well. It was simple enough to possibly cover both issues, and if the local detective had found out something thanks to her disappearance, she could still deal with that in a little while.
Her hands came to a rest to each side of her laptop as she stared into thin air, trying to sort out what the next immediate need was.
A knock reminded her that the teens were likely to be outside still. Through the door she heard the sound of a muffled conversation before she tuned them out again. If she waited long enough, chances were they might leave.
All her physical mail is stored at a postal office mail box. She should make plans to check into that.
If she had been missing for two weeks, she could also contact the high school's faculty and inquire after missed lessons. Kujikawa-san had mentioned a cover story, so she first needed to find out what her alibi was.
Further she needed to find out how two full weeks could just up and go missing!
letthemintheycantellyou
'Be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate...'
The knock repeated, louder, and a muffled voice repeated "Naoto-chan?" followed by a small yelp. Hanamura. Of course, he could not be trusted to respect my dignity, as already proven in the past.
A second knock, and the raised voice of Satonaka. "Naoto-kun? May we come back in, please?"
The detective closed her eyes and sighed softly. By now it would be rude to ignore them at her door.
She got up and opened the door, her eyes flickering from Hanamura to Satonaka. She saw no one else.
Before she could form the question, Hanamura shrugged. "Rise said she wanted to go study or something and Yu said he had plans, too..."
"I see. Well, if you wish to leave as well..."
A moment of quiet, as Satonaka and Hanamura exchanged glances.
"Well, I had planned to stay here either way," Satonaka started, "not sure if Yosuke wanted to hang out. Might be nice to get to know everyone?" She gave Naoto a hopeful smile.
Naoto crossed her arms. Uncrossed them. Pursed her lips. Eyed the teens. This was her chance to tell them politely but firmly she would prefer privacy. But it was also Satonaka, who had helped her with last night's... unpleasantness. She could also use the time to try and cross-examine the two teens against one another about the questions boiling in her mind about the days she had been missing.
She nodded and stepped aside. "Please. Can I offer you tea?"