CHAPTER 4 – HEARTBREAK, HEARTBREAK
Saturday, 29th January 2011 – Early Morning
It was a cold morning in the town of Inaba. Minako had met with Detective Uchida in front of Ms. Hisano's house, as she came to pick her up to submit her application to attend Yasogami High School as a senior year student.
Dressed in a black blazer, white shirt and Tamaki's old high school skirt, she was fairly underdressed for the countryside winter climate.
"Here, I brought you a jacket. We have a long day ahead of us."
Minako took it without saying a word and just slightly bowing her head.
"Miss Uchida, would you mind if we walked to school today?"
"In this weather? It's like half an hour away on foot. Or do you have something on your mind?"
She nodded at the last question and the detective just smiled back.
"Alright, get in the car. I'll take a detour. You're not a student yet, so we don't have to worry about being late." They both got into the hatchback and Tamaki slowly drove from her parking spot into a larger street. "Alright, what did you want to talk about?"
"I realize I should have brought that up earlier, but it only came to my mind once I saw this place again." Minako looked uncomfortable with potentially undermining the help offered by someone who had given her so much aid already. "I have told you that I have actually been here once before. But what I didn't mention is… I've been to the school as a guest." she added.
"The school? That could be trouble. Do you think you might get recognized?"
The thirty-something woman seemed not that angry at the omission of a rather important fact, which still didn't put Minako's mind at ease. The question was a good one, and one which she asked herself before. She had a vastly different appearance from before her encounter with Nyx and her status as a literal dead-woman-walking began. Her hair was longer, and no longer confined in an elegant bun and lacking of the signature nine hairpins arranged in the shape of a roman numeral. She looked underweight and pale, to the point where several strangers had already voiced concern about her wellbeing. And of course, she no longer wore the uniform of Gekkoukan High or related gym clothes, but a mixture of clothes bought at the Rosa Candida boutique and Tamaki's hand-me-down clothes from the 1990s.
"I think with a few cosmetic changes, like dyeing my hair, I should be fine for now. When my strength comes back fully… They should have already gotten used to me, and I don't think there's many places I can slip up. I had only been here for a couple of days."
Tamaki looked satisfied at the girl's answer, but felt the need to add a little reassurance. She had known Minako Arisato for a short time, but she reminded her of old friends from decades past. Strong and determined to keep enduring, even after what was in all ways a traumatic experience that none of the people in the know had not fully grasped the severity of, except perhaps Elizabeth. Yet in other ways she was kind and caring, offering to take on chores even in her weakened state back in the office. Lastly, as an experienced Demon Summoner, she of course fully had an idea of how much power the girl sitting next to her had. She and Reiko had struggled to save the world from the self-proclaimed Demon Emperor Hazama all those years back, but from what a covert target analysis from her modified COMP showed her, whatever divine or demonic forces intervened in her favor had given her a great deal of potential that could have potentially made that particular conundrum a cakewalk.
"Alright. There's still the possibility to enroll in Okina City, or if you give me a month or so I could arrange something back in Sumaru – Seven Sisters maybe? Ms. Saeko is a wonderful teacher."
"I kinda like this place. I don't know how to describe it exactly, but I almost feel like I'm home, like I belong here. It's strange."
Tamaki looked thoughtful for a moment. "Already?" She made a mental note to investigate legends and myths connected to this place in her free time. She had never received any particular requests originating from this area, but supernatural phenomena and demonic forces might surface in the most unexpected places. "I suppose you'd like to go to Yasogami after all?"
Minako nodded, and hoped that was not the wrong decision, and feeling Eurydice in her heart – she instinctively knew it wasn't.
The duo had taken off the main street of the fast approaching town border, and drove towards the rustic high school in the hill overlooking the central area of town.
Saturday, 29th January 2011 – Yasogami High School, Inaba
Tamaki and Minako were walking down the hallways of the school that had reminded the younger of the two of her room at Hisano-sama's house. Grey walls with worn concrete and a wooden floor, décor that had probably not changed since before the death of Emperor Hirohito, windows with visible scratches on them, etc.
Very few students were walking around the halls, it being past the beginning of first period, and those who did left the two strangers alone.
The principal turned out to be a fairly nice man, if elderly and traditionalist, and accepted the school application supported by Minako's forged papers. He had told the two that "Kotone Shiomi" would join class 3-A under Mr. Hiroshi Sato at the beginning of the school year in April and given them a list of necessary school supplies and textbooks.
He made no remarks about Minako's presence and has not shown any other sign of having recognized her. The two were sent on their way to acquire a school uniform from an affiliated clothes shop in Okina City, as things went about as smoothly as they could have.
Heading outside Minako was spotted and approached by a short-haired girl in the hallway, wearing a green and yellow tracksuit instead of the school uniform's jacket.
"Oh hey, you're that girl from yesterday! Are you gonna be a student here now?"
"Sure am." Minako replied with a smile. "I'm already done with year 2, but you'll see me around from April as a senior."
"Ah, I should call you senpai then!" Chie noticed Tamaki standing next to her, and asked. "Your mom?" To which Tamaki smiled and shook her head. "Surely, I don't look that old yet", she thought.
"I'm Satonaka. Nice to meet you, miss…?"
"Uchida Tamaki. Nice to meet you too."
"Well, it was nice talking, but I should head back. Morooka is probably not gonna be happy if I stay out here any longer. Bye!"
The two resumed heading outside, as Tamaki remarked on the situation. "She seems like a nice girl. And you're making friends on your first day. Not bad."
The two headed back into the car and made their way towards Okina City to do the necessary shopping, where Elizabeth would also be joining them as Minako had just received a message from her on the phone.
Saturday, 29th January 2011 – Commercial Area, Okina City
"My this is awesome. I had never eaten such a small portion of Yakisoba that looked and tasted exactly like those sold at triple seven."
Elizabeth ate her meal with her usual naive and eccentric enthusiasm, while Tamaki and Minako had left the portion half-eaten.
"Yeah, this place isn't the best." Tamaki looked from the window of the eatery at the car traffic outside.
"I disagree. The chef is rather adept at making exact replicas. It is a skill that is quite handy in the art conservation world, or in crime for example!"
"What if it actually is from Triple-7?"
"Then I would be wallowing in disappointment. Alas, such is the nature of life: some restaurant yakisoba is prepared by the golden hands of a skilled maestro, while others' is Triple-7's store brand heated in a Freidyne Device. Without further investigation, one can only speculate about the nature of Schödringer's mystery meal" Elizabeth then said, tone of voice or expression unchanging. "But this was definitely prepared in a microwave."
Minako watched the exchange between the detective and former velvet room attendant unfold with amusement, and was remembered of her dates around the city of Iwatodai and the scenes she tended to cause. It had all culminated in an intimate encounter on a warm July evening, although they had ultimately decided to remain friends. The Elizabeth of today retained many of the quirks of her personality, but had become remarkably well integrated into modern society. She had become knowledgeable about obscure topics in science and technology, could (as Minako found out during her recovery) easily win a game of shogi against a moderately skilled player, and had mastered the use of the internet to a concerning degree. Minako wondered how much of Elizabeth's eccentric behavior was actually genuine at this point, instead of an attempt to show off her quirks to the world.
"Yup. Definitely microwaved." Minako commented as she ate some more of the budget eatery's meal. "Hey Eliza-chan, could I talk to you about something later?"
"Certainly. I can not offer you the privacy of the Velvet Room anymore unfortunately, but this world offers plenty of possibilities as well."
"I could go walk around the shops here for a bit if it's something private. Just give me a call when you're done." Tamaki commented.
"Oh no, it's not private – just a matter that requires a bit of time to discuss, and Elizabeth's velvet room knowledge is kinda necessary."
"Alright." Tamaki put on her winter jacket and stood up, meal half-finished. "Are we done here? We still have a bunch of stuff to do."
Saturday, 29th January 2011 – Evening – Hisano's House
Tamaki Uchida and her aunt were having a conversation with some tea in the downstairs living room, while Minako and her older friend moved to her room. She had gotten some snacks she bought at a supermarket on the way back home and put on a random vinyl from the collection she inherited from the previous inhabitant of the room, as Elizabeth sat down on the carpet, legs crossed.
"My, this room looks like it was recently freed from a time loop. Most impressive. Do you think any paradoxes have occurred because of that?"
Minako smiled as she poured some water she boiled earlier into the teapot and once she finished her task she sat down opposite Elizabeth.
"So, I assume you know why I called you here?"
Elizabeth reacted with exaggerated theatrics. "Oh no, woe-is-me. I kneeew it would come to this. Please forgive me Sensei! I did not mean to fuse Theodore with a Pixie again! I won't do it again."
"Wait, 'Again'?" Minako raised an eyebrow at Elizabeth's antics.
Elizabeth was suddenly serious again "Yes, when we were still children. Master Igor fixed him up. Fusion reversal is not easy. I was put in stasis for an entire month as punishment." She took a sip of the warm tea, before taking a deck of tarot cards from her pocket and leaning forward, with an enthusiastic look on her face once again. "You wanted to talk about your persona abilities, didn't you?"
The two conversed an entire hour about the fate of Orpheus, the birth of her new Persona, Eurydice – who was in fact an evolution of her old Persona, born through, as Elizabeth speculated, the re-merger of Minako's acquired nature as the Great Seal born of the defeat of the 13th Arcana "Death" and the almighty being Nyx, and the return of Minako Arisato to the mortal world with aid of Philemon. That is, the return of Orpheus from Hades and rewriting of the ending of the ancient Greek tragedy.
"I must confess that I already heard much of this very recently. Shortly after I arrived to Inaba, I was forced into the Velvet Room to speak with Igor and what I assume is your replacement. A tall blond woman."
Elizabeth had put reassembled the tarot cards into a pile and was shuffling them once again.
"Yes. That's my sister Margaret. I suspected that something similar would happen. Yet it's curious that Igor didn't send Theo instead, but the reasons for that will surely reveal themselves in due time."
"Nothing is meaningless, right?" Minako said, to which Elizabeth nodded and smiled. "I think it's related to the task that Philemon guy gave me. To provide assistance to the current holder of the wild card?"
"That is a reasonable explanation. Igor must have chosen the correct attendant to fit with the personality of the guest of the Velvet Room. It is not unlike the art of diplomacy, whereas knowing thy target's likes and dislikes, wants and needs or taboos not to be broken can determine whether friendship or rivalry will emerge as the result of the encounter. Although I am sad to say that that Philemon-guy has committed miscalculations before, such as that one time his Faustian bet with an evil deity ended with the destruction of an entire timeline. Oopsie." Minako was bewildered at the cheery explanation of the cosmic horror, similar to what she had saved the world from just one year ago. "But the other mistake brought us close together. Igor might not approve of losing manpower, but as you just said – nothing in the Velvet Room is meaningless or without reason."
"Can Philemon be trusted to keep the fall from happening if he is not infallible?"
"Absolutely. The Nyx you know of and Erebus are not Gods, but beings moved by the collective of human minds and society. It's honestly quite trivial to keep them at bay for a being of the master's abilities, though regretfully he had been holding back a lot in recent years."
Reassured by Elizabeth's knowledge, Minako took a sip of the now cold tea and relaxed her tense posture.
After the conversation had shifted to more mundane topics, Minako had bid Elizabeth farewell and they went downstairs to say goodbye to Tamaki.
"Uchida-sama, we must gooooo! The call of the morning rooster draws ever nearer as we intrude upon this domicile."
Tamaki shrugged and faced back towards her elderly relative.
"You heard her auntie. Sorry that we must go now, but I should have time to drop by again fairly soon."
Ms. Hisano looked slightly disappointed, but embraced her niece, let her go and said:
"It's alright dear. Have a safe trip back home, you two."
The four said their goodbyes and Tamaki and Elizabeth left, the detective's car drove off the narrow road, headlights illuminating the way forward in the surprisingly starry night, as Minako and Hisano stood in the doorway, waving to the distance.
"You have quite an unusual friend there." Remarked the old woman to Minako.
"With friends like her, you can move mountains."
Hisano smiled at the girl's answer and went back inside, and she followed.
Back in Minako's room, a piece of paper was left by Elizabeth before leaving for the day. Written in unremarkable handwriting on plain paper was a couple of words and a number.
Yamagishi Fuuka's contact data.