Persona: Spirits In Pixels – Chapter Nine
Saving Kirijo
Good morning, afternoon, evening, whatever time of day guys! The poll has now ended! Thank you for all of your votes, and we have a definite answer...but I'm not going to tell you! The only way to find out is the keep reading on. I know the poll said that it was going to be in this story, but now I've decided to save it for the next story! Not a lot of announcements today, but at least I get to say it early...LET'S GT-R-DONE!
08/01 - Morning - The TV World
The TV world was as menacing as ever, filling everyone with anxiety and uneasiness as they stepped in for the next part of Mitsuru's rescue. The air was heavy as always, and the fog that surrounded every detail of the world they were standing in felt thick against their skin, giving a cold sensation as it breathed on their faces.
Everyone was gathered round, already fully equipped with their weapons and Teddie glasses hanging off their ears. The next phase of the rescue was coming to a beginning. "Geez," Yosuke breathed heavily, "asking around about info on someone we don't know is tiring, let alone weird...coming here's bad enough." Some just rolled their eyes at him, deliberately whilst he was looking.
"I can't argue with you there..." Kanji said after, "...I mean, have you seen how hard it's pissing out there? I practically had to run in that shitty weather just to get weird looks from the locals...now they must think I'm some pervert..." After his complaints, Kanji received a sharp slap on the shoulder by Chie.
"Quit complaining, Kanji...some of us had to do the same as well y'know," Chie spoke firmly to the Kanji as he rubbed his arm in recovery, "besides, we did it for someone's life for crying out loud!" Kanji seemed slightly annoyed after his lecture from Chie, rubbing his arm harder with a moody disposition. "Okay, okay...I'm sorry..." he apologised reluctantly.
The complaints and conversations ended, and everyone was fully concentrated on what's to come. Everyone turned to Yu, since he was the only one who gathered the intelligence on Mitsuru. "So what information did you gather, Yu?" Naoto asked with her signature detective tone. Yu took a moment to recollect his thoughts, and after a while, he cleared his throat.
"From what I've heard, Mitsuru was a descendant of someone who made the Shadows 'a threat to the human race', so it is very likely that she knew about Shadows from the start...but the guy who told me this didn't give me anything on how he or she did this..." Some of the expressions on the others' faces showed curiosity and awe as they heard this.
Naoto jumped into the deduction. "I've done some cases around the Kirijo Group before," she began, "they were a company that used experimentation a lot, so maybe the Shadows were a perfect specimen to experiment on..."
"So wait..." Yosuke interrupted, "...is the Kirijo Group a bad group? If they were fascinated in Shadows...doesn't it seem a tad suspicious to you?" Everyone saw where he was going with it, but Yukiko wasn't so convinced. "Well, if it was only experimentation, then I don't see how that makes them 'bad'..." she argued. "Good point..." Yosuke said with a tilt of his head.
"Senpai, the guy you asked..." Rise looked up at Yu, catching his attention, "...how does he know about Shadows?" Even though Yu already knew the answer, he was still baffled by the fact. "All he said was that Mitsuru told him..." he answered bluntly.
"But here's another thing..." Chie then joined in, "...don't the Shadows only appear in the TV world? Does the Midnight Channel broadcast nationwide or something?" Chie's question caused looks of shock to appear on everyone's faces as they turned towards her. "Did I strike gold again? It's only a guess..." she asked, slightly nervous about the expressions around her.
"That's bear-y scary!" Teddie said with a shiver of fear shaking the cotton of his bear suit. Yu quickly turned to the menacing scene around him. "Chie, you could be right," he spoke with a shaken tone, "if the Midnight Channel is broadcasted this way, we're in deep trouble...especially when there could be so many people watching it..."
"If we don't save her now...before we know it, the Shadows will make a buffet out of the whole nation!" Yosuke spoke after with fear in her eyes.
Rise quickly reacted this and after a display of blue flames and churning colours, Kanzeon was brought out of Rise's psyche, placing the scanning device over her eyes with haste. Unlike last time, Rise didn't struggle at all with finding the whereabouts of Mitsuru's location. In fact, she almost found her immediately after a few short seconds.
As the Persona was withdrawn into the mind, Rise suddenly pointed a sharp finger in the direction of their heading. "She's that way!" she shouted to the fog, alerting everyone as they got ready to run.
Without another word, they followed Rise, hurrying through the invisible fog without a stumble or a trip to slow down their efforts. Through murky streets and dark alleyways, no one was stopped in their tracks, despite the large amounts of deep breaths they needed to carry on.
After long minutes of sprinting, they finally came up to large building that seemed very familiar to the team. The building was more wide than high, and before the entrance was a flight of low marble stairs that shone magnificently against the dim light of the dirty sky that peaked just above the side of the large structure. The windows were tinted and as always there was a portal of a fearful combination of red and black colours at the large doors with the double-paned glass shining it through.
"No way..." Yu said quietly, fixating his eyes on the walls that reflected the sickly green air. Everyone couldn't help but do the same, and after a short time, remember the name of the grounds they were standing on.
"Is this...the Gekkoukan High School?" Yukiko asked rhetorically, knowing too well that it was exactly what everyone else was thinking. "But why...?" Naoto asked herself, loud enough for the others to hear, "Why would Takeharu's inner thoughts be in the form of this school?" Everyone knew that nothing was adding up so far with the surprise of the Gekkoukan High School standing magnificently over the shocked few.
"We might not know now..." Yu began, having thoughts that the answers could lie within, "...but maybe, once we get Mitsuru, she might make sense of things." Everyone knew that it was the only way to go, so they nodded to his suggestion and followed him as he lead them into the entrance of the school.
"I hope she's okay..." Teddie said quietly, but still clear enough for some of them to hear. "She will be okay," Yu reassured him, "I'm not allowing another death..." Everyone nodded to Yu's determination to make the operation a success.
After walking for a dizzy few seconds through the corridor of moving stripes of red and black, they all walked into what looked like the main lobby of the school, looking around at the wide space. Light and dark green colours were painted on the walls and floors of the room, and the atmosphere was heavy, weighing everyone's confidence down to the floor's level.
"Okay, now I'm scared..." Chie commented on the surroundings, putting her hands in her green jacket pockets in fear. She then noticed that she was oddly standing very close to Yosuke. "Do you suppose I could have some elbow room please?" Yosuke complained, instantly seeing a raised fist by Chie near his face.
"Geez, get a room..." Kanji spoke with agitation towards their feud, turning his head as he said it. The fist which was in front of Yosuke's face then swung round to Kanji's, giving him a furious glare as she watched him quiver. "What did you say?" she shouted into his ear with gritted teeth.
Kanji quickly reacted. "I-I said...w-we need to get a move on!" he shouted with an loud voice without intention. "That's what I thought you said." Chie whispered to him coldly, taking her fist away from Kanji's sight. He took a breath of relief before wiping the expression of helplessness off of his face.
"Guys! Shh!" Rise whispered in a shout, placing her index finger against her closed lips. "What? Why are you whispering?" Yosuke spoke with his normal voice, being told again to be quiet by Rise. "Shh! Do you hear that?" she whispered her question, finally getting silence from everyone keep their ears open for anything that would break the silence.
They could all hear a faint voice echo ever so quietly off of the thick walls of the school. Only some parts of the voice were heard. "Father...why did..." The voice sounded female, and tones of misery was heard along with it. "...your life shouldn't...been taken...but...your here..."
"This isn't good..." Yu spoke with widened eyes, alerting everyone to do the same, "...come on! Hurry!" The urgency in his voice, almost made everyone flinch with rushing adrenaline, running with him up the large flight of stairs that lead to the second floor.
During that time, the voices kept calling across the halls. "...can finally...at peace...no one can take...away now..." The voices were all the more reason for everyone to turn their runs into athletic sprints, not stopping at all for anything. They all quickly found the next flight of stairs that, they knew, lead to the rooftop.
As they climbed the stairs, the voices started to die away behind the door that stood at the top of the stairs. Yu used a shoulder to force the door open, only managing to bruise it without budging the hinges or breaking the lock. Some others tried the same technique, but all attempts failed, watching the door stand strong in front of them.
"How cheap can you get?" Kanji yelled through the door, knowing that he wouldn't get a response. Naoto pushed to the front of the team and observed the door with a careful detective eye. The first thing she noticed was the lock in the side of the door that was locked securely in place.
"It may be obvious, but it's locked." she spoke worryingly, knowing, along with everyone else, that the door obviously needed a key. "What are we going to do? If we need a key to go through, how are we going to find it?" Yukiko asked, which no one had a clue to answer. "That's a point...we are in the TV world after all..." Yosuke groaned.
"But we haven't got time! There could be Shadows with her on the other side!" Chie forced a point across. At this point, everyone's anxiety rose to new heights, but Yu had a plan.
"Our only option is to break through the door." he said bluntly, expecting looks of uncertainty from everyone, but instead, they all nodded to the option in acceptance. "That's better than looking for a key!" Yosuke spoke as he prepared himself, staring at the stubborn door.
Everyone else did the same, but before they could make any movement, abnormal noises of yells and cries came from behind them. They turned round to see pools of darkness at every angle that then stretched out from the ground like an oozy gel, forming masks of angered and miserable faces onto its black flesh. They were Shadows.
They turned their bodies to face them, looking down the stairs with shocked faces to see a variety of Shadows both big and small, and thin and large. Yu quickly reacted to this.
"Change of plan...hold them off while I get this door open!" he ordered with a tone of a leader and quickly summoned a tarot card into his hand, clutching it to call forth the major archangel, Raphael onto the battlefield. The Persona swooped down the staircase with great speed with the use of his heavenly wings and performed a Garudyne spell to force the nearby Shadows backwards, to get everyone started.
Everyone ran down the stairs and entered into combat with the surrounding Shadows, showing Yu a violent show of an array of different attacks, letting him watch the many Shadows seep back into the ground in defeat. But as each Shadow is depleted, another spawns into battle, making it a bigger problem for the investigation team. Even though they were outnumbered, Rise did the best she could to provide information to the others.
Yu focussed on opening the door and called Raphael back into his psyche to switch to Izanagi. He immediately commanded the Persona to swing its sword of brilliant light at the door, but after a few waves of different slices, slashes and stabs, the only damage it did to the door was nothing more than scratches.
"What kind of door is this?" Yu asked himself rhetorically, quickly dismissing Izanagi to bring out yet another Persona from his mind, which was the Japanese General of the Genpei War, Yoshitsune.
After a quick Power Charge, Yu called forth Yoshitsune's Hassou Tobi, to inflict a greater damage with several waves of a menacing force on the door. Yet again, the attack wasn't enough and the door only suffered a few medium-sized dents, despite the massive force that was pushed against it.
Straight after the attack, Yu ran up with Yoshitsune to the door and chose their own attacks, Yu's being his shoulder and his Persona's being his dual-wielding swords. After a while, the dents grew in size, but Yu's shoulder began to lose strength and the pain started to damage his muscles.
"Sensei, we're getting creamed!" Teddie shrieked in horror, catching Yu's attention. Upon turned round to the scene of the battle, he found that everyone else was being pushed back by an even bigger hoard of Shadows, struggling to keep up with the many that were starting to corner them.
"Are you done with that door yet?" Yosuke shouted with decreasing hope, dodging a Shadow's incoming attack. "I'm nearly there! Hang on!" Yu shouted back, rubbing his shoulder to ease the pain.
"You're not me!" screamed a sharp cry of the same voice behind the door. Yu's eyes widened as the feeling of shock coursed through his mind, and then shortly after, frustration was written on his face.
"That's it!" Yu shouted to relieve his feelings and quickly called back Izanagi back beside him. He then gave one last try to break the door open with his shoulder, only that his initial Persona was there for that bit of strength that could better his chances.
He then ran forward, facing his shoulder towards the door with the Persona gliding alongside him, shouting in rage as he sprinted. Yu closed his eyes tightly before he bravely crashed into the door with every bit of power in his sprint, as did Izanagi.
This was the action that finally opened the door, but it was also an action that used up every bit of his strength, causing him to fall to the ground upon impact. Izanagi was immediately dismissed after it happened, as if he smashed into dust like broken chalk.
Yu, after a long while, recovered his strength and got up to one knee, catching his breath in deep breaths. Everyone else eventually ran out of the door and quickly shut it behind them to end their confrontation with the Shadows, joining Yu in catching their breaths.
Rise walked over to him and helped him up to his feet. "Are you hurt, Senpai?" she asked, observing his shoulder to immediately find a large bruise covering his arm in a dark purple colour. "Let's just say that was the first time I got beat up by a door..." Yu joked, putting on a smile of reassurance to keep his mind off the pain.
"Well, now that we've got it open, where's...?" Yosuke asked, but then stopped mid-sentence as he turned his head towards the right side of the rooftop. Everyone did the same and gasped with him as they saw their cause of shock in the corner of their eyes.
A figure was stood near the edge of the rooftop, looking down at the view that consisted of murky streets and static wind turbines. Everyone was slightly relived to this the person, seeing the aura of white outlines around him and that he looked exactly like the silhouette on the Midnight Channel. Even though they could see the back of him, they knew that it was Takeharu Kirijo.
With nerves building up, they approached the spirit slowly, keeping a short distance away from him. "Takeharu..." Yu called his name quietly, getting slow turn of his body as a response. His expression showed sadness and vacancy, similar to Konishi's expression as a spirit. "Why are you here?" he asked calmly, indicating his question for reason.
"Your daughter...is she here?" Yu asked with a tone of urgency. Takeharu's expression changed to troubled, and his head was lowered and turned with losing hope. "...You mean her Shadow?" he asked Yu back, getting shocked and worried looks.
Upon hearing about her Shadow, they already knew what had become of Mitsuru, lowering some heads. "If it's what we think you mean...then yes..." Naoto answered reluctantly.
"I brought her here..." Takeharu spoke with a slight whisper and shaken tone, "...I'm the reason she came here...in this place of discord..." mouths were open with sympathy as he continued. "...I still linger in the back of her mind...and now she and I know...that this place is a sign...a sign of The Coming..." Yu's eyelids were pried open with utter shock as the mention of the phrase sprung back into mind, relating thoughts of devastation to it.
"Please sir, calm down," Yukiko spoke immediately afterwards to stop the negativity passing through his teeth, "you'll be at peace soon...but we need to know where Mitsuru is."
Shortly after, a short evil giggle was heard from where the door was, turning everyone's heads rapidly towards the source. They found another figure walking towards them with high-heels stomping the ground with every step.
The figure was a female, and she owned long and wavy, silky hair that shone a beautiful shade of red. She was an adult and wore clothes that seemed stylish and fit for a fashion magazine. She wore a tight, sleeveless turtleneck shirt that shone as white as snow along with skinny trousers that hung just above the ankles. But like every shadow, her eyes were of a bright yellow. Her arms were folded as she walked forward.
"Mitsuru...Kirijo?" Yu asked for her name hesitantly, standing his ground for any unexpected movement. "The 'true' Mitsuru..." she answered with a smirk. Everyone heard the uneasy tone of Mitsuru's voice merged with her Shadow's. "No..." Rise spoke, both hands clutching her chest with fear, "...her Shadow's taken her over!"
"I am my own self now," she spoke, growing her grin, "I am finally free from the boundaries that life had restricted from me. The work, the company and the death of my own father...I loathed it all!" Everyone jolted at Mitsuru's change in tone, but Takeharu could only turn his body back round to the rooftop's edge.
"But this place...a sanctuary for life's escape...I can now live in what humanity and myself saw as Paradise..." The words that she used perplexed everyone who heard them. She turned to her father. "And my prayers had been answered...I can finally live this life with my father still beside me..."
Takeharu was silent and left the silent air hanging before opening his lips. "Please, Mitsuru...come to your senses..." he slowly spoke, uncontrollable of the shaking in his hands, "...it won't do you good to stay here...your desires will swallow you!" But Mitsuru ignored her father's plea, turning back to the gang with folded arms.
"So leave us be...let us be happy..." she spoke sternly with a dark eye fixated on the startled faces. They all came out of their state of shock and returned the glare. "Mitsuru, you are only deluding yourself to think that this place would do you any good," Yu spoke up to her, "what you desire is not your happiness...and your problems will only stay with you. You must understand that..."
Yu's words only angered the Shadow, and her eyebrows lowered with fury. She unfolded her arms and placed them at her side, lifting her head up afterwards. A dark shroud then lifted from the ground around her, absorbing into her being with a growing strength. "Your words are futile...and the barrier you create with your own will is a nuisance...!" Mitsuru shouted as her expression showed hatred, "...if you are the dam that stands in the way, then I will be the current that breaks through to reach freedom!"
She instantly threw her arms out, causing a gale of bursting strength to whisk everyone off of their feet to the ground. They all lifted their arms up to their eyes to prevent the brilliant light, that emitted around Mitsuru's body, from blinding them. When the light eventually faded, everyone lowered their arms and saw horrible image of the Shadow that Mitsuru had become.
Her Shadow owned her luscious red hair and her golden eyes, but apart from those qualities, the rest of her image was completely different. Half of a red mask was placed on her face which matched the colour of the lipstick on her lips, and her skin turned as pale as snow. She wore clothes that were reminiscent of a gothic frock and a chest-plate that covered from her breasts to her hips. Black gloves and tights covered her pale skin and her boots were long and pointed at the toes.
Everyone picked themselves up to stare in awe and quiver with fear as they marvelled her new appearance, looking up to her tall and proud self. "I am a Shadow...the true self..." she said as everyone gave a concerned expression to those familiar words, "...I will not return to that life of damnation, my Paradise lies here!" she yelled as she brought out two giant swords as weapons, both of them being different to each other.
Before anyone could make another move, the roof below them shook and quickly shook harder to make everyone fall again to their knees. But despite the shaking of their vision, they could clearly see what was happening.
The school's structure below started to break apart and rise from the grounds that stood hellishly, yet magnificent as it stood taller than the roof. The walls and floors of the interior and exterior of the school started to change shape and size, and after a large amount of rumbling and unstable shaking, it stopped instantly.
Everyone looked around in awe at the new surroundings, and Mitsuru as the centre of it all. "W...What the hell happened to the school?" Kanji asked with a wildly shocked look. But after a while, they ignored it and turned their attention back to Mitsuru.
Rise quickly summoned Kanzeon and started observing Mitsuru, and almost immediately, she found a resistance. "She's a strong one guys. Don't use ice-related attacks whatever you do!" she provided to everyone. "Aww, that's no fun!" Chie shouted back to Rise, knowing that her Persona uses those attacks.
Everyone else quickly ran into a spot, surrounding the Shadow as they readied themselves for whatever will come. Yu made the first move by calling forth a mythological figure of the Ulster Cycle, Scathach onto the battlefield.
Immediately after stepping out of Yu's psyche, Scathach performed a Mabufudyne spell on the Shadow, causing pillars of crystallised ice to form and smash into needles of icicles around it. But even though the attack didn't do any damage, Scathach continued to attack the Shadow.
Mitsuru gave an evil laugh at Yu's attempt. "I am as cold as the ice you throw at me, it won't work!" she shouted with a grin. "I know!" Yu shouted with a returning grin, turning towards Yukiko, "Yukiko, do it now!"
"I'm on it!" Yukiko shouted in response with a nod of her head, running up to the Shadow and calling forth her Persona, Amaterasu, to dance out of her psyche with her colourful bird-like wings to perform a Maragidyne spell on the Shadow whilst in her distraction. Upon the fiery impact, Mitsuru screamed out in pain as the burns were inflicted. Since the fires were spread around the battlefield where the pillars of ice were, the ice melted into a large puddle of water.
Mitsuru turned to Yukiko with a vengeful look on her face. The Shadow gave a stomp of her boot, causing the large puddle around them to instantly turn to ice, freezing everyone's feet into place. "Ah crap! I'm stuck!" Kanji yelled, seeing that everyone else was in the same situation.
Whilst everyone was struggling to break free, the Shadow took the opportunity to perform another Mabufudyne attack. The pillars of ice returned, breaking through the thick layer of ice surrounding the area and pushing everyone out of the ice with a large impact of rising icebergs. Fortunately, everyone only suffered a few cuts as a result. Yukiko was the only one who was knocked down since she was weak to fire-related attacks.
Mitsuru made the next move by rushing to everyone one by one, using the layer of ice as an advantage. She glided along the ice like an ice-skater, executing different spins and turns to everyone down whilst in their defence, using her skill in duel wielding.
She took another opportunity and used an uncanny skill, Marin Karin, on Yosuke who, after being inflicted upon it, became a victim to her charm ailment. The pupils in his eyes formed into shapes of love hearts. "Wow...she is so beautiful..." he spoke without intention, swaying his body back and forth as if he was drunk off of love.
"Yosuke, snap out of it!" Rise shouted to him, unable to get his attention. Chie watched the love-sick Yosuke gazed upon the Shadow with a feeling she never had for him before. She then turned back to Mitsuru with a furious eye. "Hey, knock it off!" she yelled to her before making the next move.
Chie called forth her tarot card and gave a rapid swinging kick to bring out Suzuka Gongen from her mind. The Persona ran forward and jumped up to Mitsuru's eye-level, swinging and slashing her body with her double-blade. For the final blow, Suzuka Gongen performed an Agneyastra attack to the chest, knocking Mitsuru to her knees.
After her Persona was dismissed, Chie ran up to Yosuke and grabbed his shoulders, trying to get a look of his face. He was still enchanted by the Shadow's spell. "Yosuke, Yosuke!" Chie shouted to his face, only getting a love-drunk smile and eyes that were still fixated on Mitsuru.
"I think I'm in love!" Yosuke shouted with a squeal, without embarrasment. Strangely, for Chie, Yosuke's words hurt her inside, and the feeling couldn't be shaken. This was all new to Chie. "Stop that! Quit it will you?" she shouted again, shaking him some more to get any response or attention. But still nothing.
"Chie, focus on getting Yosuke back...!" Yu ordered, being interrupted by a Bufudyne spell and dodging it, "...we'll deal with Mitsuru!" Chie nodded to him, still trying her hardest to get any response.
Naoto jumped into the battle, but she didn't call out Yamato-Takeru. Instead, she took her chances and used her pistol while the Shadow was still down, strafing with every bullet shot. The bullets were loud and sharp, but even though they were shot to the face, they only ricochetted off of the half-mask that she wore.
The Shadow reacted to this by quickly standing back up from her fall, rushing towards Naoto with the elegance of her ice-skating. Teddie quickly ran towards her and bravely pushed her out of the way, calling forth Kamui in the nick of time, to bounce off Mitsuru's sword attacks with its belly, causing her to lose her balance yet again.
Kanji saw this and immediately brought forth Rokuten Maoh, swinging his blaze-shaped sword to bring down a Maziodyne spell attack on the Shadow, causing her to lose balance and fall back down to her knees.
Everyone was ready to get the jump on the Shadow all at once, but Chie was still giving vigorous shakes to Yosuke. But not even the hardest of her shakes could snap him out of it. "Chie, is he okay? We really need you both right now!" Rise called for Chie, but she didn't reply.
"I hope no one is watching..." Chie whispered to herself, unaware of everyone who was indeed watching her. Chie took a short while before doing the unthinkable. She brought his drunk head towards hers and pressed her lips against his, closing her eyes to hide her pleasure.
Everyone was completely stunned to see this happening, giving gob-smacks and comical looks of shock. The only thought going through their mind was the mystery behind how two of the most bickering of the group finally end up like this. The tender moment passed and Chie's lips eventually left Yosuke's, looking into his eyes for any change.
His body stopped swaying and his drunk attitude with it. As Chie looked into his eyes, she found that the pupils, after a blink of his eyelids, returned to their normal, spherical shape. He found that Chie was stood in front of him and scratched his head with a groan. "...What happened? Did I pass out?" he asked, unaware of what just happened between him and Chie.
She didn't know what to feel for Yosuke at that time. She felt happy that he came back his senses, but because he still didn't have a clue about how Chie felt about him, she felt the opposite.
"Come on, hurry!" Yu called for the two with a desperate wave. "Wha...o-oh! Okay, coming!" Yosuke shouted in answer, running with Chie back to the battlefield, lucky to know that the Shadow was still down.
Just as they both reached the others, everyone sprinted with them towards the Shadow, dealing a huge wave of furious swings and slashes of their weapons. With every hit dealt, Mitsuru gave a cry out in pain and agony.
As the wave ended, Mitsuru didn't give in. Instead, she stood back up, struggling to do so. Yu used this to his advantage. "Yukiko! Again!" he called for Yukiko a second time, standing with each other to call out their initial Personas.
Both Izanagi and Amaterasu rushed towards the Shadow, and when they were half-way, they both unleashed one last Agidyne spell on the Shadow, causing a large inferno of dancing flames to force Mitsuru back with a gigantic force. With this attack, only the Shadow was knocked back.
But remarkably, the real form of Mitsuru was left behind, crying out in utter pain as the Shadow was ripped from herself. The large waves of fire ended, and everyone ran up to Mitsuru, helping her up to her feet which she still struggled to do.
"Mitsuru...are you okay?" Yu asked her, instantly shooting her head up to him. She looked around herself and only saw faces that she never saw before. "I'm...fine..." she began with a groan, "...but...who are you?"
"Worry about that later," Chie spoke with hands on her shoulders to comfort her, then turning her to the Shadow that they risked their life defeating. "we've got something bigger to deal with..." Mitsuru looked up at the large Shadow that stood in front of her and gave a gasp, knowing that it was once her.
But after a while, the Shadow suddenly shrunk and transmogrified back into the form of Mitsuru, kneeling down in defeat as it looked up to its host. "That...was me?" she asked the others, getting a nod from Yu as she looked towards him.
Mitsuru then looked back to the Shadow, almost having sympathy for it. She walked up to it and knelt down to its level. "I thought you weren't me from the start...you were the part of me I wanted to hide ever since I was introduce to my father's work," she spoke with her suppressed side, like a conversation between two sisters, "I longed for a normal life like everyone else...I wished that work wouldn't have been a huge majority of my life...but I know that I can't escape that..."
Everyone could imagine how Mitsuru would have been living up to this point, and their mouths opened with genuine sympathy at the thought of it. She continued. "...but now I know that I'm not alone..." The thoughts were then cleared by those spoken words, "I mean, everyone at home...they own the same lives as I do."
They were all curious as to who's 'lives' she was talking about, but they still listened. "Even though I am somewhat ashamed of it...you are me. And now that I've faced myself...I can live at peace now." Mitsuru gave a warm smile to her Shadow, and her Shadow returned it, giving a nod to her before it dissolved into a comforting light that absorbed into Mitsuru's body, returning her strength to overcome her hardships.
She turned back to the others and walked up to them. "I must thank you for rescuing me." Mitsuru said with gratitude. "Ah we didn't do much!" Yosuke said cockily with modesty.
"We're just glad to know that your all right." Naoto spoke with a grin. A familiar light was then seen at the edge of the rooftop, turning their attention to it. Takeharu was stood there, looking at Mitsuru.
"Father..." Mitsuru spoke quietly as she walked up to him. She stopped in front of him, and then gave a quick shake of her head, shaking off the look of sadness that was upon her face. "...I won't run and hide from my concerns anymore. And I know that it will be hard...but I am ready to accept your death..."
After hearing those words from his own daughter, Takeharu put a finger to Mitsuru's chin and lifted it up gently, showing his smile to her one last time. "That's my girl." And after a short tender moment, Takeharu slowly vanished into the light of the blocked sun.
Everyone approached her with deep sympathy. "Are you okay?" Teddie asked quietly, almost in a whisper. Though unexpectedly, Mitsuru turned around and a small smile appeared on her face, spreading the expression like a virus to everyone else.
"Actually...I'm fine. Thank you." she thanked everyone for a second time with deep gratitude. But then, after a split second, Mitsuru fell to her knees, straight away making everyone concerned. "Are you sure you're okay?" Rise asked as she helped her up to her feet with a few others. "Don't worry, I'm just exhausted..." she answered with a croaky tone, managing to lift her own head. "We need to get you out of here, and fast." Kanji suggested.
"I remember the way back. Though if it's not too much trouble, could you walk me back?" Mitsuru asked, getting a definite 'yes' from everyone around her. And on that note, they all followed Mitsuru's directions, listening with intent ears to her instructions.
Yu turned to Yosuke and couldn't help but smile at him. "What?" Yosuke asked him, only getting a larger grin from his best friend, "Why are you looking at me like that?" Yu sensed the uneasiness in him and gave a chuckle.
"Don't you remember anything that just happened? I mean, Chie..." Yu began, only to be cut off again by Chie who gestured her desperate plea to not tell him about the kiss. "Hmm? What about Chie?" Yosuke asked him again with a look of curiosity on his face, showing him his clear signs for feigning disgust.
"Er...nothing..." he turned away from Yosuke, ending the conversation as he completely forgot about it. "So what did happen?" Yosuke persisted for answers from Yu. Chie could only overhear Yosuke's anxiety for the truth, trying to keep her distance from him. The feeling of sadness filled her heart as she watched him walk, hoping that he will know what that feeling was in time.
After a long while, Yosuke gave into Yu's ignorance, giving him the chance to talk to Mitsuru. "Mitsuru, there are some things I'd like to ask you..." Yu spoke formally to her. Mitsuru raised a hand to stop any more words from passing Yu's teeth. "We shall ask questions later. But our energy grows short..." she suggested.
For the rest of the way, the thick fog continued to cause problems for Mitsuru, surrounding her and her familiar paths with a visionless air to mislead her into dead ends. Everyone did their best to guide her through.
But what really counted to all of them was that another person lives another day as a victim of the TV world. And as they helped Mitsuru to return home, all faces around her were beaming with smiles, like they could shine through the thickest of fogs.
WOW! You don't know how much my fingers are aching right now! I think I kept my promise about a longer chapter, and I'm sure you'll agree too (Sorry if I'm being modest...)! Anyway, keep reading and reviewing, and if you want some updates, you are all free to take a gander at my profile. So until next chapter guys...CYA!