Persona: Spirits In Pixels – Chapter Five

One Down

What would it be today guys? Just to let you know that I may be considering putting up a poll soon. I don't know what it would be about, but it seems like something I need to do to progress the story further. Hopefully, the poll will be up soon when I think of a title for it! But for now...Let's GT-R-DONE!

07/31 - Morning

No sun was there to wake Yu and Rise up from their difficult slumber, only to hear heavy rain spit-shining the windows as the raindrops race each other down the dirty glass in free-fall. They already knew what the weather was like, but Yu reached for the remote and pressed a couple of buttons to turn his small TV on to the weather forecast. The TV screen intimidated them slightly.

A female news presenter was heard from the tiny speakers. "-expect some downfall over the next few days as there will be nothing but clouds hanging in the air..." Both Yu and Rise sighed at the depressing forecast and quickly focussed on getting to Junes.

Later on in the day, everyone met up in the TV department. Everyone's hair was damp and their clothes were drenched in the rainwater. Like that forecast said, the rain doesn't seem to be letting up.

Although everyone was gathered, it only made matters worse that they were very exhausted without even a split second of sleep after the news got through to them the other night. They were gathered under the dry roof of Junes, near the television department. "I've never seen rain like this before..." Teddie commented on the horrible weather.

"Yosuke, are you sure you weren't just seeing things?" Chie asked with a tired and somewhat annoyed voice. Yosuke felt the need to have an argument with her, but like the others, he felt too exhausted to even shout at her. "I'm a hundred per-cent sure I saw it..." He said with a fed up tone. "You can even ask Yu about it."

"Chie, he is right..." Yu began. "Even Rise was with me to see it." After a short while of convincing, Chie eventually believed them along with everyone else who went down her line of thinking. "But what the hell? We already got rid of that damn channel!" Kanji complained.

"Well, let's recap..." Naoto suggested, recollecting her thoughts together before saying anything. "The Midnight Channel was a sort of 'window' that others can use so they can see suppressed sides of another person..." She started to explanation off. Rise then joined in. "So in other words, the people watching it had desires of that one person because of them being mentioned through the media..."

While everyone was recollecting memories of the Midnight Channel, Yu looked round to the TV that they originally use to get to the other world and as he turned his head back, he flinched, thinking that he saw a figure stand in the vague sight of the corner of his eye. He turned his head back round to the TV only to find that the figure wasn't there anymore. He shrugged it off. "Maybe I'm just paranoid..." Yu muttered to himself.

"It was created by Izanami, right?" Yukiko asked in refreshment to her memories. "Yes..." Naoto said, giving a pause for thought. "...but Izanami took away the Midnight Channel." Yosuke didn't seem convinced with the idea of Izanami keeping her promise and joined the conversation. "Well, it's obvious that she's messing with us again." he spoke his thoughts sternly. "...Though it is funny that you mentioned it."

Yu wasn't really interested in the discussion and instead looked back round to the TV to see if the figure was standing near it. He used the corner of his eye just like last time to get any certain action from that same place. The discussion carried on.

"Okay, what about Adachi?" Kanji asked the others, a couple of them giving face-palms. "Adachi wasn't the cause of the Midnight Channel, he only used it to his advantage..." Teddie explained. "You are really slow at this Kanji-kun..." Like Yosuke, even Kanji didn't have the energy to argue, so he just accepted it with dignity. "What do you think, Senpai?" Kanji asked Yu, only to find him twisting his neck to look at the TV near the far corner.

"Senpai!" He shouted for him, causing Yu's head to turn back around with full attention. "Huh? What...?" he asked with a startling tone. Yu couldn't help but scratch his head in dopiness.

"Are you feeling okay?" Rise asked him in curiosity. He cleared his throat before answering. "Er...yeah. I'm just out of it today..." he said as he feigned exhaustion with a yawn afterwards, causing Yosuke to do the same. "I feel the same way man...that damn channel caught us off guard, huh?" Yosuke chuckled, getting a slow nod of the head from Yu.

"So what are we going to do?" Chie asked the leader which was Yu. He used one of his hands to rub against the back of his neck, tapping into his mind in deep thought. After a short while of hard thinking, he came out of his thoughts with answers at the ready. "I think today isn't a good day to start exploring the TV world since we didn't get enough sleep last night. And what's more, we still don't have a clue about who was on the Midnight Channel." Yu suggested like a leader. Everyone nodded in agreement to his verdict, except for one person.

"But wait, didn't we already say that the person was Saki-Senpai?" Yosuke asked, trying to change Yu's mind about the plan. "We don't know for sure that it's her, Yosuke. Although it did look like her, we need to be safe about this, otherwise we won't know what we're getting into." he explained, only making Yosuke protest.

"Yu please hear me out...I am certain that it's Saki-Senpai. We can't just leave her in there!" he tried to reach out to Yu, but his thoughts were fixed in place. "Yosuke, I'm really sorry. I know you feel, but if we don't have the things we need to make this operation successful, who knows what could happen to us...losing just one of us could make so many problems..." Yu expressed Yosuke's safety, but it only angered Yosuke.

"What are you saying? Are you saying that she isn't any more important than we are?" he shouted at Yu, not listening to what he heard before. Yu's look turned to surprise and worry when his longtime friend said this to him. "I would never think that...she matters just as much as anyone in this world..." Yu tried calming him down, but Yosuke still didn't seem to give up.

"Then let's go after her now! ...Or are you too tired?" Yosuke spat as he shouted. "We're meant to be saving people no matter what our condition is, and here you are, worrying over exhaustion rather than someone's life!"

"Yosuke..." Yu said unable to say any words that would get through to him. Yosuke looked at him with a furious eye, clenching his fists at his sides with gritted teeth. After a long while of silence, he slightly calmed down, managing to keep the angered look on his face. "Fine then..." Yosuke said quietly. "Have it your way..." He turned his body around and walked away from the group with his head lowered.

"Yosuke wait!" Chie shouted for him. "Shuddup!" Yosuke yelled at her as he turned his head a short angle, standing still with one fist still clenched. "Be happy we're going another day! Just don't expect me to forget about this..." He then carried on walking and all they could do was watch him walk out with worried expressions on their face.

Yu's head was lowered in thought that he lost a friendship with his best friend. Rise walked to his side and took a hold of his hand, entwining his fingers into hers. Kanji felt the same way as Yu did, giving a sigh. "Man he's pissed..." he commented. "We're working on the first victim as it's not looking like a good start..."

Teddie turned to Yu with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Sensei. I'm sure he'll come to his senses." he said with an upbeat tone. Even though he thought Teddie was right, he still didn't feel better about it. "I hope your right, Teddie..." he muttered loudly, slightly lifting his head up.

Yu took the time to delve back into his deep thinking and thought over what Yosuke said to him. He felt that he was right in a way, knowing that the silhouette in the TV looked so much like Saki Konishi. He used a hand to wipe his tired eyes with the thumb and index finger. "He is right..." Yu said after coming out of his deep thinking.

"You think so? Not that I'm against him or anything, but what he said did seem a bit reckless if you ask me." Chie gave her opinion with a wry smile. "Though, what he said about putting others lives before our own health is true. Especially with what we do." Naoto said in reinforcement to Yosuke's point.

After pondering over points of view, they all went home through the heavy and horrible rain with not a single word said on the way. Only farewells were said when a person broke away from the group. This carried on until Yu and Rise were the final two left in the group. They walked the rest of the way back to the Dojima residence hand in hand, despite that their hands were drenched from the cuffs of their soaking sleeves.

07/31 - Midday

"My shoes are soaking..." Rise broke the ice during the awkward silence. Oddly, it made Yu a little bit better, giving a brief chuckle. "I've saved up two weeks worth of drinking water in these shoes." Yu joked, getting an earful of laughter from Rise.

Even though Yu felt better after that short moment, the dramatic events that happened with Yosuke just kept bringing him down again. "What are you thinking about?" Rise asked as she saw his expression turned to worry. "I'm still thinking about what happened back there..." he said forcefully not saying another word after that.

"He was your best friend wasn't he?" Rise asked him, feeling the same pain he did. He gave a quiet sigh. "Yes...and he was the first one I made friends with in the first days I came here..." Yu said quietly as he reminisced his thoughts. "It's quite a funny memory, we first became friends after I helped him out of a trash-can when he crashed his bike into it." He gave a chuckle at the memory with a wry smile. "I doubt he would want to talk things out right now...let's get back."

Apart from the loud roaring of the heavy downpour, the rest of the way back was silent, leaving Rise struggling to find a single topic that would cheer Yu up. When they got back, they hung their soaking coats on the nearest hook, shivering as they took them off.

They saw Nanako sitting at the coffee table with the Kotatsu built into it, watching the news reports on the TV. She watched them as they took their shoes off. "Are you two cold?" She asked with a smirk on her face as she saw their drenched clothing. "Just a bit..." Yu joked as he walked with Rise towards the Kotatsu. Nanako giggled with a high-pitched tone. "Well, welcome back!" She gave her welcome with a cheesy grin.

As Yu and Rise wrapped the device around themselves as they sat down at the coffee table, the warm, toasty air breathed through their soaking socks and damp leggings and trousers.

"Is your dad home, Nanako?" Rise asked Nanako sweetly. She got a saddened look in reply. "No...he won't be back for a week..." she said as she looked back the TV, seeing that the weather forecast has said nothing but heavy downpour for the rest of the week. "Oh yeah...he's working on the Minato Arisato case isn't he?" Yu mentioned.

"Yeah..." She sighed. "Something like this happened before...he said he would be away for a week...he was actually away for three weeks." Nanako's story had Yu thinking. "He could be away for longer than that..." he thought as he remembered Elizabeth explaining how it happened.

"His soul became the seal...and his body was left behind. Now that his body's missing, there's got to be a connection there..." A short while passed before he came out of thought.

Nanako then turned back to Yu with an excited smile. "But I know that my big bro is here to take care of me!" she reassured herself, finally giving Yu a genuine smile.

"I'm glad your smiling again Senpai. I love it when you smile." Rise commented happily, letting a flush of red appear on her cheeks. Yu kept his smile on while he used a hand to reach for her hand. As he took a hold of it, Rise couldn't help but put on a harder blush, turning away from him bashfully.

07/31 - Afternoon

"And now for our breaking news report..." said a male news reporter and he looked towards another male next to him to indicate his cue. "The mysterious whereabouts of Minato Arisato's body has now grown more of a mystery today as the Inaba Police force revealed earlier today that the body was not stolen..."

All of the three were shocked as they heard the opening sentence to the report. It almost seemed unbelievable for them. "What the...?" Yu muttered, but was then cut off by the ringing and vibrating of his cell phone. As he took the phone out of his pocket, Rise and Nanako looked at him curiously whilst he read the caller ID. Chie's name was shining in bright letters.

He flipped his phone open and placed it against his ear. "Hello?" Yu spoke into the mouthpiece, causing a panicky voice to fill his ear. "Yu! This is urgent...it's Yosuke!" Chie shouted into the phone.

"Woah, woah, okay slow down, Chie. What's the matter?" Yu calmed her down with a slightly stern voice, standing up and walking away from the coffee table. "Okay...okay..." Chie said in a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She then began to talk slowly with as less panic as possible.

"Yosuke's not in his house, and he left a note behind..." she said more quietly. But despite the volume of her voice, Yu flinched in shock. "Okay, what did the note say?" he asked with a slightly louder tone. "It said..." she began, picking up the note with the crumpling noise being heard through the phone.

"If you won't save her, I will. I have gone into the TV world by myself, and when I come back, I expect an apology." she read the note aloud, causing a slight gasp to slip from Yu's mouth. "All right. Chie, call the others back to Junes and tell them to come immediately." Yu ordered as he took his damp coat off of the hook. "Right!" Chie said with a shaken tone. "Rise and I are on our way!" he said, ending the call afterwards.

Rise stood up immediately after Yu slipped his phone back in his pocket, quickly grabbing her coat. "Where are you going?" Nanako asked with a blank look, as if wanting them to stay. Yu and Rise were stopped in their tracks by that question and exchanged looks, looking at each other as if to ask if they have an excuse.

"Urm...Yosuke...broke his foot!" Yu eventually came up with an answer. Nanako then thought for a while on how someone could break their limbs in a TV department at Junes. No idea cropped up and she let them go. "I'll be back soon, Nanako. Don't you worry." he reassured her with honesty in his eyes. She gave a cute, vigorous nod to her older cousin and watched them rush out of the door, and into the heavy shower.

They ran through giant puddles and slippery sidewalks along the way, avoiding less stops as possible. Even though their vision was blinded by the rain rushing into their faces, they eventually found their way to Junes without having to look up.

As they entered Junes and ran towards the TV department, everyone else was already there, completely soaked as they were, standing under an air vent to dry off. "Senpai, Rise! Your here!" Kanji called for them with the same look they had on his face.

"Is everyone fit enough to go into the TV?" Naoto asked, getting nervous nods of the head from everyone. Yu turned to Teddie. "Do you have our supplies, Teddie?" he asked, confident that has. "Of course Sensei! I've left them in my world in a special secret place!" Teddie emphasised with huge gestures.

"Where are they?" Yukiko asked Teddie, only to get a shake of the head. "Uh uh uh! That'll be telling the secret!" he answered with a cheesy giggle. Some of them made a sigh at his stupidity.

"Should we get going now?" Rise asked Yu, ready and willing to go back to the TV world. "Yeah, let's go." he answered to everyone, leading them to the large, widescreen TV that sat near the far corner.

Once they walked over, Yu was the first one to climb into the TV, feeling the screen squeeze his body slightly as he crawled through it. He stopped halfway to look at the scenery while using the edge of the screen to support. The flowing shapes and outlines of TV screens travelled at a slow speed past Yu, giving him a chance to watch it in peace.

"Senpai, you stuck or something?" Kanji asked as the screen muffled his voice. "Yeah, just taking my time..." he answered him without taking his eyes off of the worrying view. He could just make out Rise's giggle from behind the screen. "Take all the time you need, Yu. I'm just enjoying the view from here." she said with a seductive tone, startling Yu slightly. He looked back to see that his backside was sticking out on the other side. "Ah, right..." he said in embarrassment.

Suddenly, he lost his balance on the edge of the screen and slipped off of it. "Wh-! Hey! Woooooooooaaaaaaaah!" he cried out as he flailed while plunging into the thickness of the fog. Everyone heard his scream trail off as he fell deeper and deeper into the TV world with a startled look on their faces. "Senpai!" Rise shouted in worry.

After a long while of free-falling, Yu finally made it to the end of the portal, being spat out from the group of TV's that were stacked on top of each other. He fell onto his front, slightly rolling onto his side in the process. He quickly picked himself up and looked behind him to see the landscape, which shocked him to the core.

07/31 - Afternoon - The TV World

His last adventure earned him the scenery that was full of greenery, hills and blossom trees that would be as peaceful as the spring scenery. But now, the TV world was plunged back into the murky fogginess of the abandoned studio. "No way..." was all he could say with the look of devastation on his face.

Soon after, a vague shouting noise was coming from the group of TV's, catching Yu's attention. As he ran towards it, the shouting was getting louder and louder, even though he was stood in one place. Suddenly, after the shouting reached the peak of its volume, Kanji was thrown out of the bottom TV legs first, landing on his back.

"Woah! Forgot how fun that was." Kanji said with a chuckle following after. But soon after he came down, another few screams were coming from the TV. Both of them knew that the girls and Teddie were coming down. "Get ready." Yu said to Kanji, standing on one knee for support. Kanji did the same and they both held their arms out, ready to catch them.

Rise was the first to come out of the TV, being caught in her hero's arms. "Oh! There you are Senpai." she said to Yu as if it was a greeting. As she stood up, Chie was immediately thrown out by the TV, but she was, just in time, caught by Yu and Kanji. The third to come out was Naoto, needing no help to stand her up from that huge fall. The next was Yukiko with Teddie following straight after her, causing both of their bodies to collided with Yu and Kanji into a bundle.

"Oops! Sorry guys!" Yukiko apologised, trying to get Teddie's weight off of her back. "That's okay...we're just losing breath, that's all..." Kanji breathlessly said, quickly getting both Yukiko and Teddie off of his body.

They picked themselves up, and like Yu, everyone was shocked at the drastic change in the world after last time. "What's going on here? Why has it changed back to this dump?" Chie asked, hoping that someone has an answer. All she got was a shake of the head from some people.

They all heard the noise around them. Dead silence was the only thing that was heard around them, and not one sound was made during that eerie and unsettling period. "I've forgotten how creepy this place was when it was like this..." Yukiko commented on her surroundings, fidgeting with his hands behind her back.

"Okay Teddie, show us to our supplies." Naoto said to Teddie. "Sure thing, Naoto-kun! All of your stuff is right this-" Teddie stopped mid-sentence as he turned round, looking in horror at what he saw. "What?"

As he ran towards what he saw, everyone followed suit, finding that their supplies were in Teddie's bear costume. But strangely, the costume zipper was undone and it was tattered in some places. "My fur! My beautiful fur! ...what cruel being would do this?" Teddie shouted dramatically over the top.

Yu and Naoto crouched down to look at the costume with a careful eye, to find things out of place. As they looked through the supplies, everyone's items were there, except from Yosuke's Kunai and his glasses. "Yosuke's been here..." Yu deducted.

"Yes...his glasses and his weapons are missing from our supplies." Naoto explained to the group. This made Chie grit her teeth. "That boy is such an idiot!" she shouted in anger.

"Rise, do you know where he is?" Yu asked Rise, indicating her cue to call forth her Persona. "Let me check..." she said, holding out her hands to cause a card in a blue flame to rise up from her fingertips. Upon grabbing the card, and sound of smashing glass was heard. This surround herself in an eruption of a swirling wind of blue, causing a large figure to stand behind her.

The figure was female, and she had a satellite dish for a face as well as her hips. Her robe had black and white striped patterns, reaching from top to bottom, and a strange red device that she held, covered the eyes of Rise. It was Rise's Persona, the chinese goddess of mercy and compassion, Kanzeon.

"Tell me Kanzeon...where is Yosuke...?" Rise said with a quiet and calm voice, tapping into her Persona's power. The humming of Kanzeon's aura was heard as she obeyed Rise's command. A long silent while passed before Kanzeon was dismissed at Rise's request.

"He's that way!" Rise confirmed, pointing in the direction Yosuke supposedly was. Yu knew very well where she was pointing and put on a look of worry as he thought about it. "...Crap...he's gone to the liquor store..." he muttered his thoughts worryingly, but also loudly so everyone could hear.

"The liquor store...oh yeah...the Konishi family business..." Chie remembered. "Is there anything special about that place?" she then asked Yu, who had the horrible memory stuck in his head.

"The liquor store was made from Saki Konishi's inner thoughts..." he began, pausing before he mentioned something else. "...and it was where I fought Yosuke's shadow..." Some gave a slight gasp at the thought of it.

"D-Don't worry about that now..." he continued. "...let's get our stuff and get going." With their goal set, everyone picked out their correct gear from Teddie's costume and readied themselves for what they were about to walk into, especially when Yu was about to enter the TV world's liquor store for the second time.

"Leader, are we ready?" Naoto said after reloading her pistol. Yu gave a stern look towards the foggy path they were about to walk on, pushing his glasses closer to his eyes with two of his fingers. Everyone looked at him as if he was a hero, waiting to hear an answer from him.

"As ever." Yu said confidently. And with that, he lead the team through the invisible thickness of the fog, investigating the thrills of the TV world. Walking through, everyone knew that Yosuke will be in safe hands.

And there you have it! A longer chapter! Like I said before, the poll (if I think of one) will be up soon, so stay tuned! Until then...CYA!