CHAPTER 12 – MEIN WEG
Wednesday, 14th April 2011 – Early Evening – Streets of Inaba
A day had passed and the rain was pouring down on the city of Inaba. The central street was quieter than usual, with the heart of activity being around the Aiya Restaurant and its Rainy Day Challenge. Even the fishermen from the bank of the Samegawa river were gone, scared off by the weather and the recent murder case. Minako was just done from taking a bath in a public bathhouse and walked back home with an umbrella in hand.
She thought about the events of yesterday, and how they managed to rescue Saki Konishi from a dangerous fate. She felt proud, yet anxious as she had back in the Tartarus days. The never-ending tower kept throwing more and more challenging enemies at SEES and the secrets uncovered brought them ever further from a favorable outcome, yet they kept going. Saving the world had come at a great cost for her. While Chidori's company helped her come to peace with that particular trauma, there was never a guarantee any such events wouldn't just lead to the experience repeating itself or in even worse ways.
Saki was now in good care at a hospital sponsored by the Kirijo Group. Minako didn't know of the quality of healthcare there, but knew that Mitsuru would not save on any expense for a persona-related patient.
Chidori had done as she promised and visited the girl from Inaba at the hospital she knew so well, with best wishes from her friend in hand. Once there, she found her in no state to be talked to. Barely conscious, awake yet unaware of the world around her. The former Strega member wondered if that's how Junpei saw her back during her own hospitalization and felt a sadness grow in her heart. Unable to do any good on her word to Minako, she simply left the card on the counter next to her, hoping she'd be able recover soon. Even if she wouldn't, she decided to keep visiting by herself and keep the girl company.
Having received a text regarding the situation from Junpei's girlfriend, Minako hesitated before informing Takeo Suzumi of this. In the end, she settled for a short text stating: "Konishi is safe. I'll tell you more tomorrow."
She decided to tell him the truth. How much of it would have to be omitted for his and her own safety had yet to be decided. Persona powers were nothing but a big headache for everyone involved, she thought.
Wednesday, 14th April 2011 – Evening - Minako Arisato's Room, Inaba
The unplanned rescue of Saki Konishi had not been the end of things, and Minako knew it. Having once been burned by supposedly defeated doom interrupting a celebration party, she was not going to make the same mistake again. She sat in her room, her vision focused on the empty TV screen, waiting for the clock to strike 12 and the device to turn on.
She had been alone today, but was ready to report immediately to her comrades.
The rain had only gotten stronger since the morning, and was now beating hard against the window, with wind sounds adding to the ambience. The hands of the clock were slow moving, but as the second counter completed the full circle, a familiar scene occurred. The TV screen lit up, powering up audibly. The screen showed a place Minako had already seen. A wrecked store full of bottles and crates. No person appeared in the centre of the screen, but she saw something that unnerved her. A corpse laid on the ground at the bottom of a throne, dressed in the same flashy outfit as the shadow they fought, with her broken sunglasses to the side. It was impossible to see whether she still lived.
Unsure what this meant, Minako reported on what she saw on the screen. The only response was one of uncertainty. Elizabeth's card readings brought mixed results in predicting Konishi's fate.
Knowing it was too late to change anything, she waited for the uneventful broadcast to end and headed to her futon, where she quickly drifted off to the world of dreams.
Thursday, 15th April 2011 – Morning – Yasogami High School
It was another rainy morning in the town of Inaba. Rumors were being spread among the student body of the local high school about one of the seniors. It was said, that the girl had disappeared two days ago since the mysterious appearance of a new program on the Midnight Channel. Some have speculated that the body in the background was actually hers and that she'd been kidnapped to some far-away city and killed.
Minako was amused by the rumors but was impressed that despite all, they have not been that far off in some of the details. When someone jokingly claimed that she ran off to star in a bad Yakuza movie, she cracked up. The shadow's behavior felt ridiculous to her in retrospective, acting like a caricature of a criminal not unfitting the description.
Her outburst did not go unnoticed, as she saw a black-haired second-year with a red hairband look at her just a meter away. She smiled, and commented: "Don't worry, I also get those."
She walked away, continuing on her previous path and Minako thought the girl looked familiar. Having no specifics in mind, she dismissed the thought.
Not even in class yet, Takeo Suzumi was the next one to approach her.
"Hey. I got your message." He stated, hoping for her to elaborate.
"Mmhm. Let's do this later. When there's fewer people around."
Takeo didn't like this, and was about to insist, but instead just sighed. "Alright. Come meet me at the Audiovisual room during lunch. We can stay there, or go wherever you want."
Minako nodded, and thought in despair: "What am I even going to tell him?"
Thursday, 15th April 2011 – Lunchtime – Yasogami High School
Takeo sat down on the couch in front of the film club's large TV, while Minato stood around refusing his offer to take a seat.
"Thanks for coming here. I'm sorry that I was kinda rude earlier. It's just something that's been on my mind all day since you told me." The bespectacled man felt embarrassment after calming down over the morning classes, but was still eager to hear news about Saki Konishi.
"It's okay." She reassured him, being unconcerned about the reason for his apology. "Are you and Konishi close?"
Contrary to her expectations, his expression didn't change much. "Somewhat. We're friends." He took a pause in silence, even as the noise from outside was making its way into the club room. "We've been for years now."
Minako observed the man and noticed a hint of fragility behind his neutral expression. "How did you two meet?"
"Same as most people here. In School: 7th Grade with Mr. Matsuda. He assigned us a group project and I helped her out a bunch." As she noticed before, his mask was beginning to fall and was replaced by a visible sadness in his eyes. "I've stuck with her even as others turned away. It's not my place to tell what happened over the years, but a lot of people hate her for reasons she can't really do anything about. Her work was just the cherry on top of the cake."
Minako thought once again of that moment when she had brought up the store, and what she saw in the TV World. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle were coming together, but until she'd be able to actually talk to her again it'd remain unsolved.
"She's a tough person, but with all that pressure… I hoped nothing bad happened and tried to ignore all these ridiculous rumors, but…"
"She's safe, Takeo. They're holding her in a hospital in Iwatodai." Minako decided it was time to come clear with the boy, while forsaking formality and adrdessing him by his first name.
"Iwatodai? ...that's like two hours away, why there?" His mind had shut out the first part of what Minako had said and focused solely on the latter. Instead of worrying, he was confused.
"They needed some specialized doctors to take care of her. I've got a message this morning that's she's recovering well, but that's she's still barely conscious."
Takeo did not take the answer well. Confusion turned to Panic and Anger, and he turned to asking a thousand questions.
"Wait, Hospital? Specialized Doctors? In the city? Why do you know about that? How do you even know where she is? What's going on here?"
Minako saw the moment of truth coming and anticipated this kind of response, nevertheless she gulped audibly in a state of greater intimidation than when fighting the average shadow.
"We found her, Suzumi. Collapsed at JUNES. We called the ambulance and they brought her to that hospital. I'm friends with Mitsuru Kirijo, so she'll be well taken care of. Her parents were told immediately as far as I know, and spreading such news would do none of us any good."
He found the answer to be incredibly suspicious and started feeling like an ugly joke at his expense. Some of her claims were even wilder, like her supposed friendship with a CEO. While just an acquaintance, he was beginning to like the exchange student and being treated like this turned that seed of friendship into distaste.
"Right… This is sounding just like another of those rumors." Minako didn't rule out a possible negative reaction, but was disappointed to see it unfold before her eyes. She still had a trump card at her disposal, which hoped would turn his attitude around.
"I'll be going on Friday to visit her with my friend Chidori. If you want, you can come along. I'll pay for your ticket, I've got a rail pass."
"We'll see."
His trust was broken, and he was not going along with an awfully convenient offer to see someone who just went missing, be it a malicious joke or worse. He'd have to do research first, and he figured that the best place to start in would be uncovering any possible connection to Mitsuru Kirijo she might have. Cruel prank, real event or something different, he was going to find out on his own terms.
Thursday, 15th April 2011 – Evening – Minako Arisato's Room
Another day was gone, and the Midnight Channel was active once again. Minako was getting real tired of the bad weather and the consequences it brought. Thankfully, the rain was forecast to be finally gone by Sunday and assuming no trouble appeared on the horizon, she might be finally able to relax.
School, beating shadows in a poisonous world, hospitalized classmates were more than enough worries. They didn't know if the activities of the midnight channel continued unseen on clear days, but the time following her own prior experience with mind palaces didn't suggest that happening.
Lost in her thought, she was brought back as she noticed that today's broadcast had already started. Saki's shadow's room was no longer a focus. The show returned to its cryptic darkness. In the centre stood a lone figure. Likely another woman. Not much of their features were recognizable, beyond a head full of straight, long hair. It was real hard to see, but Minako had a hunch that she had seen her.
Wasting no time, she took out her phone and saw that there was already some activity in her special Inaba chat.
Had a Aigis – Sent, 12:00 PM – I have identified the next target as a student in Yasogami High School. Please make use of this information as necessary. I can assist you in further investigations.
M_Kirijo – Sent, 12:03 PM – Another case in your high school. Aigis were there any connections between the murdered newscaster and Yasoinaba High?
Aigis – Sent, 12:03 PM – No. Publically available information claims she graduated in Toyama and there are no related search results of previous visits to the school.
UchidaTammy – Sent, 12:05 PM – I think this might have something to do with Minako's fate. Without knowing the true casue patterns are useless knowledge.
UchidaTammy – Sent, 12:05 PM – *cause
Velvet_2 – Sent, 12:06 PM – Well said. :thumbsup:
Shiomi Kotone – Sent, 12:10 PM - Aigis yeah i saw a girl like that today, what if its her? i'll ask around tomorrow. gn everyone!
Minako wrapped things up for the day and headed to bed.
Thursday, 16th April 2011 – Lunchtime – Yasogami High School
Another day in school was going by, and Minako texted her close allies to meet up later at JUNES. She had been completely alone in class once again, as Takeo avoided her all day. Yet she had a task on her mind, and it was to uncover the mystery of the midnight broadcast.
Asking around school had proven useless at first, as most people she spoke to didn't really want to talk to her or replied with some variation of "I don't know". The closest she got to a confirmation was some people who guessed she could have been the second-year student Yukiko Amagi. It wasn't much, but it was a name and even if a false lead, it could still provide results.
Switching to asking about Yukiko instead, she attracted unwanted attention. A girl with a short haircut and a characteristic green-yellow tracksuit top came over to her and looked at her with a mildly disapproving stare. "Hey Shiomi-Senpai, why are you asking people about Yuki-Chan?"
"You know her?" Minako saw the sudden appearance of an inquisitive Satonaka Chie as a possible blessing in disguise, as she decided to probe for information.
"Yeah, she's my best friend. What of it?"
"Nothing. Actually… I saw a girl on that Midnight Channel thing and some people said it might have been her." Telling the truth was not a dangerous gambit in this situation, Minako thought. There was much curiosity and a revival of the rumors that day, and she'd not stand out in the crowd when playing up her interest.
"Oh yeah, I thought so too. She's still here though. And don't worry about these 'person you're destined to end up with' rumors, I'm pretty sure they're not true." Chie was much friendlier than at the start of the conversation, doubting the girl had any hostile intent, in spite of the suspected incident in JUNES' food court.
"Wait, what do you mean: 'she's still here'?" Chie grimaced at her slip-up and turned red in embarrassment. Yosuke would never let her live it down, especially after their previous squabbles.
"Please, it's important. I too believe Yukiko might be in danger. I might be able to help if you tell me." After a safe gambit, the opponent's blunders can create opportunities for a risky but rewarding counterattack.
"...okay." Chie looked unsure, before finally asking: "Can you fight?"
Anyone else would have regarded the question as suspicious, but Minako had a sudden feeling she knew where this was going. Could it have been the power of the wild card? And with that, she saw a checkmate coming. All she had to do was, not waste it.
With both anxiety and excitement rising, Minako was eager to see this unfold.
Instead of replying and betraying her emotion, she just nodded. But the spark in her eyes worried Chie. Both of them parted their ways and warned their respective comrades of a slight change of plan.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading my story. It is my first writing project of this length, so I apologize for any shortcomings you might have spotted. Feedback would of course be much appreciated and would impact the quality of future chapters.
The titles of this and previous chapters have all been homages to music with at least a topical or titular reference to the focus of the chapter.
Chapter 1 – The Turn of a Friendly Card – Alan Parsons Project (United Kingdom, 1980; Prog Rock)
Chapter 2 – Kuzunoha Detective Office – Toshiko Tasaki (Japan, 1995; Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner OST)
Chapter 3 – Your Affection – Shoji Meguro (Japan, 2008; Persona 4 OST)
Chapter 4 – Heartbreak, Heartbreak – Shoji Meguro (Japan, 2008; Persona 4 OST)
Chapter 5 – Catch the Rainbow – Rainbow (United Kingdom, 1975; Rock)
Chapter 6 – Always the Sun – The Stranglers (United Kingdom, 1986; New Wave)
Chapter 7 – Les Démons de minuit – Images (France, 1986; Pop)
Chapter 8 – Burn my Dread – Shoji Meguro (Japan, 2006; Persona 3 OST)
Chapter 9 – Twilight Zone – Golden Earring (Netherlands, 1982; Rock)
Chapter 10 – Harden My Heart – Quarterflash (United States of America, 1981; Rock)
Chapter 11 – Don't Dream It's Over – Crowded House (Australia, 1986; Pop Rock)
Chapter 12 – Mein Weg – Stern Meißen (East Germany, 1985; Rock)