Chapter 9
I am butchering dialogue, battles, and s-links to get the novel version respectable. I can make characters more cynical, mean, out of character, and amusing. My character is "special" personality-wise.
I own nothing. Atlus owns it.
Rise is in Inaba. Good times for Yosuke. Mr. Defective makes his return. Maru-Q it.
The Sunday after the Camping Trip was first spent by taking three more showers. Souji still felt like he just couldn't get rid of Moron's vomit. He had a terrible time at the stupid trip. He was thinking to himself, "Stupid Chie and Yukiko. They fucked up the food, came into our tent, and threw us into the damn river. If damn Moron didn't throw up, I could have swum with Yukiko. Even though she threw us in, she would have gotten in eventually." He was picturing her in that pretty little white and red two-piece… suddenly, Souji had to run back into the shower.
He decided to call Yosuke, and hang out with him. It would be something to do for the day before school. "He needs to stop whining about Saki-senpai!" he thought after another day about listening him going on and on about it.
At night, Souji went home. He was sitting down with Nanako, eating something they had made from processed crap… "I really need to start making the dinner here…," he thought. He noticed that another interview had started, or something.
"That concludes Rise Kujikawa's statement about her temporary leave of absence from the entertainment industry," the agency spokesman said, "We're short on time, so if anyone has any questions, we ask that you keep them brief."
A reporter bugged this Rise, "I'm Ishioka from Lady's View. It says here you'll be recuperating, are you facing physical problems?"
"No, my health isn't an issue," the girl said. Souji had seen her before. She was cute for sure. She had that modeled body, and red hair he wasn't sure was natural pulled into pigtails. Souji thought, "Pssh… People who try to make someone who they aren't just… meh."
"Psychological problems, then?" the reporter asked
"What?" the girl was confused. "Reporters are always a pain in the ass," Souji rolled his eyes, as he thought."
"Rumor has it that you'll be staying with your relatives, but isn't that in Inaba where the murders have been taking place?" the reporter berated her.
She seemed distressed, "Huh? Um…"
He continued, "Is it true that they run a traditional tofu shop? Will you be helping out with the family business?"
The spokesman broke it up before Rise got stressed out even more, "No more questions! This press conference is over! Clear the way!
It had erupted in chaos as it seemed everyone wanted a piece of Rise. "Well, I'll give her the innocent look, but against the natural beauty…," Souji thought. Souji had gone to la-la land.
Nanako looked at Dojima, "Is Rise-chan quitting her job on TV?"
He seemed annoyed, "Who knows… But if this is her hometown, then we'll have to deal with everyone who is trying to get a glimpse."
"I'm sure that'll suck for the police," Souji said. He had returned to reality.
"You're telling me. We have enough problems as it is," Dojima sighed.
Souji thought, "He must be stressed about the murders. Not like he can do anything about it anyways."
A Rise commercial came on TV. She was wearing a two-piece swimsuit and holding a can of soda or some sort of mysterious liquid/poison. To Souji, it looked like something Tanaka would sell. "What the hell is that stuff?" Souji wondered.
"I'm tired of diets! And enough with going to the gym. Good enough there's something even I can handle," Rise said
A voice rang out, "Quelorie Magic is made for those for those worried about their calorie intake and body fat. It'll slim you down in no time!" the voice advertised.
Dojima muttered, "Rise Kujikawa, huh? The one good thing is that we had nothing of note, and now we get all the buzz… What's going on?"
"Don't blame us, blame whoever is killing people and throwing them into TV's," Souji thought.
The next day he was walking to school when someone approached him, it was actually two people. It was Kanji and Rion, and Kanji looked tired.
"Good morning, Souji," Rion nodded in welcome.
Souji nodded back.
"Yo, Senpai," Kanji said with a yawn, "Oh… sorry, I haven't completely woken up yet."
"That's okay, I think we're all tired, except for that robot over there," Souji said, pointing to Rion.
Rion pretended to be offended, but Souji just rolled his eyes.
"Oh yeah, the Shopping District seemed different today when I was passing by," Kanji told Souji, "Like, everyone was hustling around a lot more than usual than normal. I wonder what's going on."
"Would it have anything to do with a certain idol coming to her hometown?" Rion asked.
"Uhh…," Kanji said.
"There might be a case behind it though," Souji said.
"That is true. She was on TV," Rion said, "We can not rule out that fact."
Kanji said, "You guys sound like Teddie. It didn't sound like the cops were involved in what was there though."
"They will be involved when riots break out because the paparazzi go insane when she shows her face," Rion muttered.
"Whatever… I'll just ask around school," Kanji said, looking at Rion.
The three talked about various things of interest as the reached school and entered their classrooms. Well, Rion and interesting do not really go together. Then again, maybe metaphysics and the Tokugawa Shogunate are interesting to certain people.
Before class, Kanji joined the five who were gathered around Souji's desk.
"Yo," Kanji greeted them.
"Hey, there he is," Chie greeted him, "You've been coming to school pretty often lately. What's up?"
"I was wondering about that too. I didn't get to ask about that earlier," Souji asked Kanji.
Kanji looked despondent, "It's this thing called the mandatory attendance policy."
Yosuke looked at him, "But man, looking at you reminds me of the school campout."
They looked nervous, "How so?" Rion asked. Souji guessed he meant which part of the campout.
"I thought we were all going to forget about what happened," Kanji told them.
"Oh, sorry," Yosuke said.
"Whatever," Kanji sighed, "So, did you guys see the news?"
"Rise Kujikawa…," Rion said. He pushed up his glasses and shook his head. Rion looked like he didn't want to deal with this, and Souji could relate. Another case to Souji would be disagreeable.
"News? Oh the stuff about Rise Kujikawa taking a break from showbiz?" Chie responded, "I wonder why. She was just getting popular lately."
Yosuke looked at everyone and said, "Just goes to prove that being an idol is tough work."
"I've seen her, but just how popular is she?" Souji asked. He had seen her on TV only a few times. Souji told them, "Nanako keeps it on Junes commercials 24/7"
"I saw her before she was really popular. She's really popular now," Rion mentioned to Souji. He shook his head as he said, "But… I'm not sure why she suddenly got tired all of a sudden." Rion had seen her at a concert a little over two years ago.
"Dude! What's wrong with you, Souji? She's all over the media!" Yosuke told Souji. Yosuke looked at Rion, "You saw here live!?"
"Yeah, so?" Rion responded.
"I saw the telecast last night, and her commercials, but otherwise, nope," Souji muttered.
Yosuke went on, "It hasn't been that long since her debut, but at this rate, she'll be a top-class idol in no time. To be honest, I'm a fan, too. She's such a cutie pie."
Rion shook his head in disgust, "You are creepy sometimes."
"Cutie pie? What are you, 80?" Chie looked at him funny, "But, I think she used to live here, so she must have a lot of local fans."
"Oh great, more people clamoring to get her attention," Souji sighed.
"It's going to be like hell has broken loose every single day," Rion said.
"The news said she's going to her grandmother's local tofu shop, right?" Yukiko asked, "Do they mean Marukyu?"
Yosuke looked confused, "Marukyu?"
"What the hell is a Marukyu? Is that the name of the place?" Souji asked.
"Marukyu Tofu. Our Inn was serving their tofu until recently," Yukiko told them.
"It's close enough that it'll be a bother for us if we want to get some sleep," Rion muttered, "But close enough that we can keep an eye on it if it becomes a case."
"Oh, that place in the shopping district. I pass that place all the time," Yosuke said.
"Not like you support it, with your Junes," Souji thought.
Yosuke had a revelation, "Wait, does that mean I can meet Rise if I go to her tofu shop?"
"If you can get past her hundreds of fans, and tons of reporters, Yosuke, you can," Rion said.
"Hey, I'll visit too," Souji responded.
"Man, no one listens, but I guess I'll go," Rion said. Souji could tell he could really care less.
Chie looked at them, "Hey, aren't we getting a little sidetracked from the point here?" Chie asked. She didn't want to get off the subject.
"If I'm visiting I might as well tell her about the inherent dangers with being in Inaba," Rion told them.
Yosuke looked confused at what the hell Rion was saying. Souji, however had no qualms.
"You're right!" Souji said. He would be the obvious choice to talk to Rise about the dangers involved with the kidnappings.
"Did you forget about the murders? You two said that were was a connection between that the victims might be on TV. She could be the next target," Chie told them with conviction.
"Come on, it's not like Rise just started showing up on TV recently," Yosuke said, "How could Rise be connected to the incidents so far?"
"But moving to Inaba, and showing up on TV to announce a hiatus all of a sudden?" Rion looked at the group.
"I think I know where you going with this," Souji said.
"I did some research when I was thinking about it," Yukiko said, "It seems she had no personal interaction with Ms. Yamano. They've just been on the same show once or twice."
"She's been an idol for a while now, but she's the talk of the town, thanks to the news last night," Chie said, "And she is moving here, after all."
Yosuke looked worried, "You think she'll targeted next?"
"If our assumptions are correct, yes." Souji told them.
"She fits our little pattern, and it narrows down our killer's methodology even further," Rion notified them.
Kanji looked confused, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Yosuke sighed, "Kanji-kun, listen really closely. If Rise is next, then that let's us rule out our theory that the targets have to be connected with the first case."
"That would mean that the killer's targets are people who have been recently shown on TV," Souji followed up on Yosuke's comment.
Kanji still looked kind of confused, "Huh… uhh… Yeah, okay."
"Well, now we just have to keep a close eye on everything Rise does," Yosuke said. He looked a little too happy, "Let's do it!"
Rion shook his head, "That's only a little creepy."
"Sheesh, he's all pumped up!" Chie muttered.
That day, he answered a question from Mrs. Nakayama on who said "Law is the correct judgment of the State."
He didn't know, so he asked Rion and Rion told him, "Say Socrates, Souji."
He answered with that, and got it right. He decided to hang out with Rion that day. Rion wasn't a smart-ass for once that day. They went to the Teacher's Lounge…
"What are you doing?" Souji asked as Rion picked the lock, "Why? I mean, you would never do this."
"I'm bored… Souji. I know you like to have fun. Don't you want to impress Yukiko?" Rion asked.
"Well, sure," Souji told him.
As Rion dug through the various items in the Teacher's Lounge, Souji sat on the couch. "I'm King Moron, I'm a drunken bastard, and I'm a complete loser," Souji was mocking the man.
Rion said, "I found his hair piece. Let's go!"
"It's a hair piece! You got to be shittin' me!" Souji yelled.
Rion threw it to him. They ran out of the lounge before anyone could see them leaving. "Now, let's go before someone catches us!" Rion told him.
"I can't believe we did that," Souji said as they left the school.
Rion looked at him, "Now, you'll have something to show Yukiko."
"Rion can be cooler than he looks," Souji thought as he walked home, "He isn't always such a hard-ass."
He saw a bag of horseradish, but he thought he would wait for tomorrow to eat it. It was supposed to rain tomorrow. When it did rain, he ate ramen at Aiya's. Souji felt like he could do anything. He knew that he had to watch the Midnight Channel as he went up to his bedroom. There would be no studying or reading a book tonight. That was too bad, he wanted to feel like a Man again.
As he made sure it was still raining, the yellow screen came on. It was a girl that looked somewhat like Rise in a swimsuit. It kept zooming in at her chest and thighs, which wasn't bad at all for Souji. Souji liked a program where it did that. He remembered that Yukiko's Midnight Program did that… Good Times. You couldn't see the face very well, but her hairstyle was distinctly like Rise's.
The phone rang… It was another call from Yosuke.
"Hello, did you see that?" Youske asked.
"No, I wasn't paying attention," Souji answered sarcastically, "Of course I saw it."
"What! Anyways, that was Rise for sure, Rise Kujikawa!" Yosuke was asphyxiating.
"I know it was…," Souji said
"I thought so!" Yosuke yelled.
"Well duh!" Souji said with much, much more restraint.
Yosuke calmed down ",Oh… I guess I shouldn't be so excited. There's a chance she might be kidnapped."
"Yeah, that would suck, wouldn't it," Souji said as he rolled his eyes over the phone.
"C'mon, we should go there tomorrow! What was it called again? Oh yeah, Marukyu Tofu!" Yosuke exclaimed.
"Right…," Souji said
"Dude, my heart's pounding already," Yosuke said. He was getting excited again.
"Don't get too excited," Souji tried to calm Yosuke down.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night."
The phone rang again. It was Rion. Souji sighed and thought, "Finally, a voice of reason."
"I guess we will have to visit Rise tomorrow," Rion said.
"That is the idea," Souji responded.
"It would be unfortunate if she would be kidnapped," Rion said. Souji could picture him rolling his eyes as he said it.
"I don't really feel like running through another area or dungeon," Souji muttered.
"Yeah, It would be a difficultly that could put us in danger. I would rather not deal with it," Rion continued.
"I'd rather not go in again either, Rion," Souji agreed.
"Good night, and get some rest," Rion said.
"I will, good night," Souji said.
Rion hung up.
"Yosuke was way too excited, and as typical, Rion was extremely calm," Souji thought as he went to bed. He knew he'd have to deal with going to Marukyu tomorrow. He dreamt that Yukiko was beating the hell out of Rise for coming onto Souji. It was kind of funny.
In the morning they had to listen to gossip. It was in their classroom.
"Hey, did you hear? It looks like Rise Kujikawa is really here! You know that tofu shop, Marukyu? The owners of that place have the same last name, Kujikawa!"
"Seriously! Hey, I practically live next door!"
At Souji's desk.
"I've been hearing there's a huge crowd at Marukyu," Yukiko said.
"There is one. I passed it," Rion said, "It's a mess out there."
"I'm not surprised," Chie pointed out, "But was it really her on yesterday's Midnight Channel? Didn't she seem a little different?"
"It was her! No doubt about it!" Yosuke exclaimed.
"It definitely looked like her at least," Souji told them. "I guess…," he thought.
"Her curves, her posture, even her beautiful slim legs," Yosuke was listing her attributes. He was in a trance.
"You sound so wrong," Rion muttered. Both he and Souji rolled their eyes at him.
"What's that look for!" Chie asked. She was glaring at Yosuke as he was still in a dream trance. She punched him on the shoulder and he recoiled in pain.
Yosuke tapped Kanji on the shoulder, "Anyways, I'm positive, right?"
"Uhh… Are we going?" he asked, "I don't really care about celebrities, but it's not like I have anything better to do. Sure, I'll tag along."
"How about you, Souji?" Yosuke asked.
"Sure, I don't care…," Souji answered.
Chie looked at Yosuke, "Sorry, me and Yukiko have plans. Give us a call if anything comes up." Souji would rather have gone with Yukiko, even if Chie was along.
"Well, shall we get going? But, let's get one thing clear, we are not spectators," Yosuke told Souji, "We're investigators, got it?"
Souji nodded in agreement.
"So, I guess you just ignored me, and are obviously expecting me to come along, no?" Rion complacently asked.
"Well, yeah," Yosuke said.
"Whatever," Rion said with no emotion in his voice.
They decided to head to Marukyu tofu shop, but first… There was something much funnier to see.
"Where is my damn hair piece!?" Moron yelled.
"What? He has a hair piece?" Chie asked.
"Shush," Souji said as he pulled it out.
"No way, you got his hair piece," Yukiko whispered, "He'll expel you."
"How'd you do it?" Yosuke was extremely curious, "I had no idea. I want to know how."
"Rion found it. He broke into the Teacher's Lounge with me, found it, and stole it," Souji replied. He decided to tell the truth. He needed to give credit where it was due.
"That is a good summarization of the journey," Rion whispered.
"Don't let anyone see it, but that is so awesome!" Yosuke said, "This is so cool!"
Everyone was looking at Souji with a new sense of admiration. He felt even more courageous than before.
While they walked to Marukyu Tofu, "I'm so excited to see Risette!" Yosuke admitted, "I know it's for the investigation, but still, it's Risette!"
"Calm down," Rion said, he put his hand on Yosuke's shoulder, "You're creeping me out."
"Yeah, we need to stay focused here," Souji reminded Yosuke.
It was extremely busy around Marukyu's, and it was much more congested than usual. "Damn paparazzi!" Kanji yelled as he saw all the people crowded around, "It's been causing my mother nothing but trouble."
As they came by Marukyu's, Adachi was directing traffic. Souji wanted to break out laughing as the Defective struggled at his job.
Yosuke asked, "Huh? Umm… Mr. Defective? Did something happen?"
"Oh, it's you guys," Adachi responded. He was obviously stressed, "These gawkers keep streaming in with their cars, trying to park in the middle of the shopping district."
"Must be a pain," Souji responded. "All because of Rise?" he thought.
"Why's that?" Kanji asked.
Adachi looked bewildered, "Don't you know? Rise Kujikawa is here. Hey did you see her already? Is she there? Which is it?"
Rion looked at him and said, "So you don't know either, and you'd want to know too."
Adachi stared at him, "Well…,"
"We're asking why a plainclothes detective is here doing traffic control." Kanji was responding to Adachi's questions.
Adachi was nervous, "Oh, well… The Inaba Police Department isn't that big, and we don't have enough staff. Well, I still have work to do, so I'll see you later." He ran off quickly at the gangbuster's questions.
"Crazy loser," Rion thought.
"What a defective…," Souji muttered.
Adachi walked off to control more traffic and probably fall in front of a car while eating cabbage.
Yosuke looked at Kanji, "Dude… You managed to scare off a police defective on active duty."
"I wasn't trying to scare the guy. I was just saying what I was thinking," Kanji told him.
"That's what the scary part is," Souji said.
"It is weird for the police to be here, even for an event like this," Rion said.
"Do you think the police think Rise might be the next victim, too?" Yosuke asked.
"Well… If it was Adachi, I'd say no. If Dojima was here, I'd say yes," Rion told them how he felt.
Just then, a voice rang out from the shop. A very familiar voice to Souji.
"Speak of the devil…," Rion said.
"Alright, clear out, coming through… Hey, Adachi!" Dojima was trying to clear a path to get out of the Marukyu. As he got people to get out of the way, he noticed Adachi was gone, "Dammit, I told him not to leave his post," Dojima shook his head.
It was when he stopped thinking about Adachi and paid attention that he noticed the four of them that he really got serious.
"What are you guys doing…," Dojima was confused, "Hmm… Kanji Tatsumi? Are you friends with them?" He looked straight at Kanji.
"Like it's any of your business," he said quietly. He wasn't going to stand up to Dojima like he would to Adachi. Dojima was made of different stuff than Adachi.
"If you say so," Dojima said, "I'll ask again. What are you all doing here?"
"We came to see Rise Kujikawa. You and I saw that she was moving back to Inaba," Souji replied.
"Is that so?" Dojima answered back.
"Well if an idol's family ran a tofu store… Who wouldn't want to come check it out?" Yosuke asked, "I'm a big fan," Yosuke was rather nervous.
Rion rolled his eyes. Souji tried not to.
"….," Dojima sighed, "Fine. But, remember. She might be a celebrity, but this is her home. Try not to bother them too much."
"Of course," Souji said.
Rion nodded and pushed up his glasses.
"That cop's your uncle, eh?" Kanji asked.
"Yeah…," Souji replied.
"So, what the hell was that about? Are you guys under suspicion?" Kanji asked curiously.
"He wonders why we spend so much time at Junes, and always show up around the kidnapped," Souji replied, "Not to mention that we were arrested once because Yosuke carried weapons into the open." Yosuke looked guilty.
"It would be unacceptable to tell him about the other world," Rion told him.
"If we did, we would look even more suspicious. They'd be tailing us all the time," Yosuke said.
Kanji gestured, "You got a point there."
The people that were looking for Rise or Risette suddenly started moving around or away. They looked rather disappointed. The group took notice of this.
"Man, there's no one in there but the old lady. Risette isn't here after all."
"I heard she really is already here, but it might have been just a rumor. Well, it was fun while it lasted."
Yosuke seemed put out. Well, put out was putting it lightly. He was devastated!
"A rumor!" Yosuke exclaimed, "What, she not's here? Seriously?"
Kanji chuckled, "Hmph… You sound like the world is about to end."
"Shuddup!" Yosuke yelled at Kanji.
"The world has ended for Yosuke…," Souji thought.
Rion just chuckled inwardly.
"Anyways, now that all the people are gone, we might as well check inside. I'll buy something," Yosuke said, but with a slightly less enthusiastic voice.
"You should get some Brofu, Yosuke!" Souji told him.
"Oh yeah… I can't eat tofu," as he looked at Souji.
"So… Just get some ganmodoki," Kanji informed Yosuke.
"Ganmodoki? Is that the kind with a rice cake in it?" he asked.
Everyone else rolled their eyes. "What the hell?" Souji thought, "Rice cake!?"
"No," Rion said.
"There's no rice cakes in 'em. They're sorta like… fried tofu patties with veggies and stuff mixed in, and," Kanji explained ganmodoki to Yosuke.
"Hopeless," Souji thought, "I thought he was Japanese. I guess we really are too Americanized."
Afterwards, Yosuke gave his response, "Ohh… Okay, I think I know what you mean. I think I can eat that."
They walked into the tofu shop. Kanji, Souji, and Yosuke went up to the counter, while Rion hung out near the back with his arms folded. Rion would wait until they were sure they found the girl before we bug her to death, and Yosuke creeps her out. Souji had half a mind to do that too. He was afraid Yosuke would get more charges pressed on them.
"Let's see here…," Yosuke attempted to look like he was unsure on what he wanted in the shop. As they didn't see anyone who looked like Rise, except for a person shelving behind the counter, "Sure enough,.. The only one here is your typical old lady."
"Morons," Rion thought, "I'm sure Rise will enjoy being thought of us as a typical old lady. Not my problem though. If they'd only look closer at that person's hairstyle and color, but no one pays attention." He wanted to point at the girl in the back of the room, but he resisted. Yosuke could be so stupid.
"Man, why don't you just ask if she's in back?" Kanji told Yosuke.
"It couldn't hurt," Souji said.
"S'cuse me," Kanji asked the person behind the counter.
"That's Rise, you idiot…," Rion was thinking.
An old lady came up to them, "Yes, may I help you?"
Yosuke was shocked, "Wha… Then, who's that?"
"I'm telling you, it's Rise! Damn morons," Rion thought.
A girl in a kerchief turned around to meet them. It was obviously Rise with her flowing red hair. The same one that turned boys' eyes with her "long and luscious legs" as Yosuke called them. She didn't seem as exuberant as usual, but you could see that everyone was still shell-shocked. Rion rolled his eyes.
"… What?" she asked.
As Kanji walked up to her, she seemed uneasy. "Well, who wouldn't be uneasy when someone like Kanji walked you? Maybe… Rion," Souji thought while still thinking about Rise, "Well, she is rather cute. I like this look too. But against… Yukiko?"
"…?" She did seem nervous as Kanji approached.
"Uh… Are you Rise?" Kanji asked.
She seemed a little tired, "Yeah. So?"
Yosuke and Souji moved up to where Kanji was at Rise's answer. Souji didn't really want to bother the girl. If Rise freaked out, it would all be Yosuke's fault. If any doubts were there, they were quelled by her remark. Rion didn't move. No one knew if he even cared or gave a damn in general.
Yosuke was still in shock, "No way! Are you really Risette?" He seemed extremely excited but nervous.
"What do you want?" Rise replied. She was obviously tired of being bothered by media over the past whenever.
"Oh, leave her alone Yosuke," Rion thought.
"Huh? Oh… Sorry, um… Some tofu, please!" Yosuke responded to Rise. He had suddenly realized what Dojima had said about 5 seconds ago.
"Tofu…? Which kind?" Rise asked.
Yosuke had forgotten everything that was taught to him by Kanji in one gaze and a few words by Rise, "Huh? Which one's which again?"
"Memerized, you moron," Souji thought.
"If you're going eat it by itself, you should go with silken. Momen is better for cooking. Depends on how you use it," Rise responded.
"Um…," Yosuke was still lost. The effects of Rise had taken hold of him and shaken him like a ragdoll.
"Poor Chie…," Souji thought. He had noticed the effects of entrancement that Rise put on Yosuke.
"Psst… Kanji, order something," Yosuke whispered to Kanji.
He looked taken aback, "Wha… Why are you making me do it? You already picked ganmo a second ago." Kanji shook his head and said, "Dude here wants three ganmodoki."
"Oh, I see," Rise replied softly.
Rion had walked up before she could leave… "Can you give me a block of momen? I need to use tofu for cooking something tonight," He wasn't as affected as the others, obviously.
"I'll go get them, then," Rise said kind of quietly. Souji thought she almost sounded like Rion in her kind of tired and drawn out voice. If Rion was dead tired, that is. He wondered what Rion sounded like if he was tired. Now that he thought about it, "Maybe Rion is tired".
Yosuke looked at her, "Wow, she nothing like she seems on TV. I wonder if she's just tired."
Rion looked at him as he said, "That would certainly be a possibility. Any kind of person, celebrity, or star in general can be burnt out after a while."
"That would seem to be the case," Souji said.
"But it is really her! I'm so glad I came. Mission Comple… Wait, we haven't done what we've came for yet," Yosuke replied in a overly chipper voice.
"No, we haven't," Souji said, "And you were giggling." He thought, "Dumbass."
"I was not," Yosuke whispered. He started off to Rise, "Umm… Have you noticed anything weird lately?"
"Weird? Like stalkers?" Rise responded.
"Well, that wouldn't be new," Rion said, "We're talking about something a little different."
"Hmm… Are you guys' fans of mine?" Rise asked suspiciously.
"I don't know about all of us, but Yosuke is definitely a big fan," Souji said.
"A huge fan, well we won't go into details," Kanji said.
"You little… Why'd you let that slip?" Yosuke confronted the two.
"Her curves, her posture, even her beautiful slim legs… Ya finished checkin' em out yet, or what?" Kanji asked.
Rion shook his head, "You have to admit Yosuke, you are pretty much screwed."
"Waaah… You're doing this on purpose aren't you?" Yosuke yelled.
"Of course we are, Yosuke," Souji smiled, "You're so easy to mess with. She's such a cutie pie, huh, Yosuke."
"Why you little! I didn't say that! I didn't say any of that!" Yosuke denied all claims.
"Can we finish this now?" Rion asked. He looked impatient and he didn't have his walking stick to lean on. Souji didn't think he needed it really, or why he even needed it. But, if Rion looked impatient, Souji knew they were in trouble.
Yosuke turned back, "Maybe you know already, but it's been dangerous in Inaba lately. That's why we've been investigating some stuff."
"Oh, yeah?" Rise inquired softly.
"It's not exactly safe around here, right now," Souji said, "Do you know about the show that comes on at Midnight?"
"It isn't exactly regularly scheduled programming or anything," Yosuke added.
"The thing that was on last night? The Midnight Channel, yeah?" Rise answered.
"Oh, you know about it?" Yosuke looked surprised.
"So, you saw it last night?" Souji asked.
"I heard the rumors from some friends of mine," Rise told them, "But that girl last night wasn't me. I've never been filmed wearing that swimsuit before. And the bustline…"
"Huh?" Yosuke was certainly shocked a little.
"That would certainly put a smile on his face. It puts a smile on a guy's face to hear about girls openly talk about their bustlines," Souji thought. He got dreamy for a second… "Yukiko…"
"Mine aren't that big," she smiled a little.
"Oh yeah, I see what you mean now," Yosuke said.
"And how would you know?" Rion asked.
"Umm… No… I mean… I'm sorry," Yosuke responded, noticing his gaffe.
"Don't apologize so much...," Rise said with a smile. She was obviously used to this, "You're funny."
"Hey, she smiled," Yosuke looked happy, maybe also because he knew he was out of the hot water, at least with her. Souji had new blackmail for Chie now.
"What is that show about, anyways?" Rise asked the question.
"In actuality, we can't give you a truthful answer," Souji said.
"Well, you know there's been stuff happening, right?" Yosuke asked.
She nodded. Souji thought she might know a little, but next to nothing about the real deal of what's happening. Souji said, "We think the people who appear there are the ones who get kidnapped next."
Kanji broke in for the first time in ages, "I know this is sudden, but we're not lying."
"This is the reason for which we came," Rion answered.
"We thought you should know about it," Yosuke said.
"We wanted you to be prepared," Souji looked at her.
"I think she gets the picture," Rion muttered.
Rise said to them, "Huh… So, that wasn't a dream. I was tired yesterday, but I couldn't sleep. And it was raining, so I decided to try that rumor I'd heard about. Hmm… Alright, thanks. I'll be careful."
She prepared their tofu and handed it to them after placing it in separate bags.
"Here you go, three ganmo. That'll be 600 yen," She told Kanji, Yosuke, and Souji. To Rion, she said, "Momen, 400 yen. There's extra tofu in there for everyone… A little thank you for worrying about me."
"Whoa! Seriously? Thanks!" Yosuke said.
"Yosuke-senpai, you can't eat tofu, right? Want me to take yours?" Kanji asked.
"Hell no! I always eat what people give me," Yosuke retorted.
Rion shook his head, "Ignore them please," he told Rise.
While the boys were heading home, Rise was being grilled by Dojima and the slave, Adachi.
"Thank you very much. Your receipt's in the bag," Rise said to the pair.
Adachi said to her, "Seems like the crowds are thinning out, so we'll be leaving now. If it gets rowdy again, just give us a call at the station."
"Okay, sure," Rise replied.
Dojima wasn't quite satisfied, "Uh, hang on a second. Sorry, but there's some things I would like to ask you," She pretended to look somewhat confused, but he went on, "You do know that there have been multiple violent cases around here, right? Have you seen anyone suspicious around?"
She just said, "Not really… It's been like always."
Dojima went forwards after not really believing her story, "Like always… Well, you're an idol, so I imagine you deal with fans, paparazzi, and stalkers quite often. What made you take a break from showbiz?"
"Does it really matter?" Rise seemed resilient not to answer that one, "I just needed a rest."
Dojima asked, "And have you registered for a school yet?"
"I'm planning on going to Yasogami High. It was the closest." It was stated frankly.
Dojima stated, "I don't mean to alarm you, but… You do have some things in common with the recent victims. That's why well…"
Rise butted in, "I might be kidnapped, right? I've been told that before. Don't worry, I'll be careful."
They looked surprised, both Adachi and Dojima at her statement. They did not expect her to know that.
"Huh…? Someone told you already?" Adachi asked.
"It was four guys… They were wearing uniforms, so I think they were high school students," Rise answered.
Dojima looked at her, "Did one of them happen to look… How do I put it… Did he look something like a gang member?"
She nodded and Adachi said to Dojima, "Wait, you think she's talking about your nephew, and his friends?"
Dojima and Adachi asked Rise about a few more things and then left Rise alone, thankfully for the idol.
They were still in the tofu store as the partners conversed to each other.
"…," Dojima was thinking as he said, "Something smells here, and it isn't your cabbage. The recent disappearances… Between those and the two homicides, there's too many questions and no answers. To tell the truth, I followed my detective's intuition and came here to warn her. How could high school kids who know less than we do beat us to the punch? Were they just making up an excuse to talk a famous celebrity? Or …," He was still thinking.
"Sir?" Adachi was asking.
"Yasogami High…," Dojima said, "The second victim, Saki Konishi, and the two other students who were missing for a while…"
"I guess the investigation of the ones involved with the school hasn't turned anything up either… Aren't we going to be in trouble if this keeps up? The prefectural police will be coming soon…," Adachi was rambling.
Dojima cut him off angrily, "They're the least of your worries! Keep your head in the game!"
It was dinner at the Dojima household. There was tofu up to the ceiling. "There is so much tofu…," Souji thought, "Dojima must have bought some too. That can't be good. He probably suspects me"
"We sure have a lot of tofu," Nanako said.
"Yeah, it tastes great," Dojima said in a very complacent tone. It was much worse than Rion when he was displeased.
"Oh shit, I don't like the tone of that voice," Souji thought.
"You visited Rise Kujikawa today. What did you talk about?" Dojima asked.
"Nothing, really…," Souji said, "We just talked, and got tofu."
"Nothing, you say," Dojima said, "Well, I want you to know about the cases. This is a job for the police," He sighed, "I shouldn't have brought this up."
Nanako seemed oblivious, "You guys met Rise-chan?"
"Yeah…," Dojima said with a sigh.
Souji nodded, "We did."
"Are you… fighting again?" Nanako asked. She looked sad.
Dojima tried to calm her down, "Of course not… Here, hurry and finish your dinner."
It was extremely tense throughout the night. Souji knew he would have to watch the Midnight Channel again because it was raining. Even if Rise said it wasn't her, he needed confirmation. He had an inking that it was actually her. "Not her bustlines. That's amusing. It sure made Yosuke go crazy. I think Rion will even make fun of him for that. Even though Yosuke has second thoughts about Kanji, I believe him. I do wonder… when is the last time Rion has taken interest in someone? I'll have to ask him. He freaked out about the kid Kanji was with as much as Kanji had, though it might have been for something completely different. Anyways, I should ask him about Rise…," Souji had a lot of thoughts on his mind as he waited for the yellow screen.
The person on the yellow screen was clearly Rise Kujikawa, and she was waving at the screen.
She was still wearing that swimsuit, and it emphasized her chest and thighs even more this time. Yosuke called again and boy was he excited. Souji just sighed when he saw his number on the phone.
"Hey! We were right about it being Rise Kujikawa!" Yosuke nearly screamed in glee.
"I guess we were," Souji responded.
"The one on tonight seemed a lot creepier than the real Rise, but you could see her face," Yosuke said.
"Yeah, it was like they were trying to make her a pin-up," Souji said.
"Should we get together tomorrow?" Yosuke asked.
"Yes, as soon as possible," Souji said.
They hung up. Souji almost wished that Rion had called instead. He could have used someone who would jump around for joy when they called.
They decided to meet at Junes in their "headquarters" after school.
Yosuke started the conversation with his usual, I'm playing second banana, but I never shut up attitude, "So, on the Midnight Channel last night… That had to be Rise Kujikawa. It even showed her face."
"Even with the supposed miscalculations that Rise told us about, it is hard to rule out that is in fact, Rise," Rion said. Souji listened to Rion. He might have been a smart-ass, but he was one who was right.
"So now we know one more thing. The ones that the culprit's are targeting are…," Yukiko was talking.
"They were broadcasted on TV before appearing on Midnight Channel and living or coming to Inaba," Souji replied.
"Exactly, so we can rule out the assumption that all of victims are related to the first victim, Ms. Yamano," Yosuke said, "I took a peek this morning, and she was still at her shop."
"Well, that was still totally creepy," Souji said.
"So you don't believe that the Midnight Channel show will appear until our victim is thrown into the TV?" Rion told them.
They nodded in agreement with him.
"Teddie said before it might be the victim's own creation upon entering the world," Yukiko said, "I didn't understand it at all at first, but now I feel like it may be true. The one that appears on TV is your other self. Maybe the victim's true feelings are shown unconsciously."
"Who knows? It may be even more complex than that," Souji said.
"Do you think so?" Yosuke asked.
"I'd believe it," Rion said. He pushed his glasses up with his pointer finger. Souji knew it had to be a nervous twitch.
"But… We see them on the Midnight Channel before they disappear. You know, when it's still really fuzzy and you can't tell who it is. How do you explain that part?" Chie asked.
"It always happens before the person disappears, like an advance notice," Yosuke explained.
"Or like a ransom note. But who are they announcing it to? And for what?" Chie asked more questions. She tapped her foot on the ground in annoyance.
"I dunno, ask the killer. There's a bunch of stuff we still don't understand," Yosuke was confused.
"We can't rule out the fact that the weave behind this is far beyond what we already know," Rion explained, "It may be a warning, but could be something far more complex than a simple warning." "Yet, who would the warning be for? What if…," Rion was talking softly to himself.
Souji shook his head, "I am not sure…"
"Is it possible that we see those images for the same reasons?" Yukiko asked.
Chie asked, "Huh? What do you mean?"
"If the Midnight Channel shows the victim's true feelings… maybe it does the same for the culprit," Yukiko conjectured, "Maybe what we are seeing is the culprit's true intentions."
"Then, it would have to be far more complex than that," Rion butted in, "Why include only two people's…," He went back into thought. "If it were the culprit's true intentions… It would be very complex and he would have to hold grudges or reasons, which would not make viable sense, or something far more intricate."
"I guess it's a possibility, Yukiko. I'll let Rion work on his theory till he can figure it out." Yosuke said, "The killer can throw people into the TV after all, which means they must have the same power we do."
"So, they could possibly have a Persona," Souji said.
"That's true, and scary," Chie replied, "So when the killer thinks, I'm going to attack someone now, that's what we see them on the TV."
"I don't know about that," Yukiko said, "Complexity is the issue, like Rion was saying."
Yosuke looked and said, "Well if we're gonna go that far with it, we might as well say that's the basis for that entire world."
"The TV world, the opposite of our own, and the reflection of our personality," Souji muttered.
"Like it's the mix of the minds of the victim and the killer… or maybe everyone's," Yosuke said.
"Yes, everyone's minds…," Rion thought, "That might work… The theory behind that would be extremely hard to work out though.
"It definitely could," Souji said.
"As usual, nothing makes sense to me," Chie said with a sigh, "Hey, Kanji-kun, you still with us? You haven't said a word yet."
"Whaa… Well, umm…," Kanji was sleeping.
"You weren't sleeping, were you?" Chie was annoyed.
"Of course not, I was lost in thought," Kanji said, "Yes, lost in thought!"
Chie sighed, "I wish I knew what the world was all about. Teddie's explanations have so many maybe's in them that I don't understand the first thing about it."
"What can you say? It's not exactly the easiest place to understand," Souji soothed the situation.
Yukiko looked at them, "Why would the culprit throw them into the TV in the first place?"
"They have to know at this point that people die when thrown in the TV. It could only be for a chance to kill them," Souji explained.
"A TV is a good way to do that," Yosuke said, "The police can't prove anything about the crime if the killer threw someone in the TV."
Kanji finally talked, "Murder, huh? So the killer's got a grudge against certain people? Well there's a shitload of people who've got my number."
"Yet, Yukiko, and now Rise? Maybe to stalk Rise, not kill her," Rion shook his head, "Unless it's getting rid of competition, but it'd be taking it a little far."
"Anyone hate you enough Yukiko-senpai that they would try and get rid of you?" Kanji asked.
"No," Yukiko said frankly.
Chie looked at her and said slowly, "Uh, Yukiko… There's always that slight chance and you just don't realize it… Haha."
"There are no common grudges in this case though," Souji said, "I can't tell at this point why."
"Well, the good thing is, we have another shot of getting ahead of the killer. We can leave that motive aside for now," Yosuke told them, "Once we catch 'em. We'll make 'em talk. The only thing we can be sure of right now is that Rise is in danger."
Chie looked happy, "Wait… We get to do another stakeout?"
"Yeah, we get to catch them this time," Souji said.
As they left, Souji asked Rion something.
"What in the world were you talking about?" Souji asked.
"As Yosuke said, the minds interwoven in the pattern of why the TV shows what it shows may be far more complex than it seems. I want to find why it does so, and how it does so," Rion continued, "Furthermore, the yellow screen may even be far more complex than a ransom note. As to whom it shows it for, and what it means for which person. We use it, but others may see it for other reasons. Others see it as a soul mate, but who else may interpret it as something else?"
"I'm smart, but I'll leave you to that for now," Souji said. Souji thought about it. It made sense in a way, but he thought he'd need some more ramen before he got the whole picture. "That's why Rion is here…," Souji muttered.
---
So, they went to Marukyu Tofu for the stakeout, but first they went to Shiroku to get the supplies to get ready for their stakeout. They were scattered around Shiroku, trying to decide what foodstuffs to get so they could catch the murderer.
"We gotta go with donuts and milk," Chie said.
"What are we, cops?" Souji asked.
"Uhh…," Chie wasn't sure how to answer.
"Hey… There's no better meal than that for a man on a stakeout," Yosuke told Chie. He then said, "Oh, and throw in some disposable diapers."
"Why?" Rion looked at him.
She exclaimed, "For what? They don't even sell those there."
"What have 'em at Junes," Yosuke said.
"This isn't Junes, Yosuke," Souji said, "Are we going to be there for two days?" He shuddered at the thought of using disposable diapers. He believed the others did too.
Chie gave Yosuke the look, "Too much information."
Kanji had just walked up to the five of them who were discussing those disposable diapers.
"You guys finished yet? Let's hurry up and get going," Kanji told them.
They were paying for their food and thankfully, no disposable diapers when Adachi, the defective, spotted them while he was entering. When he noticed them, he pretended not to and turned around. They noticed the defective, and looked straight at his back.
"What are you doing here?" Souji asked. "What is Mr. Defective doing here!? If my uncle sent him…," he thought.
Adachi looked nervous, "Oh, uh… Well… I'm doing legwork." He looked down and muttered to himself, "Ugh, what did I do to deserve babysitting detail?" When Yosuke looked at him funny, he said, "I mean it's nothing major. It's not like Dojima-san ordered me here."
"So, he did order you here," Souji thought. He shook his head, "Well… he knew we talked to Rise."
"So what are you kids up to? Buying snacks?" Adachi asked. They all knew why he was here. It was rather evident on his faces.
Obviously, not on one of them…
"We were just about to head over to the tofu shop to see Rise-chan," Yosuke told the bumbling defective.
"Oh… I see," Adachi said. He was awfully quiet in his tone of voice. He suddenly got more exuberant when he said, "Hey! I'm on my way there too!"
Chie looked at him, "Oh, then why don't we go there together?" She looked at the others expectantly, "C'mon, he's a detective on active duty. Not a bad guy to have around."
"He'll find a way to screw it up," Souji told Rion, "He's a defective!"
Rion nodded in agreement.
Adachi looked puzzled as they headed over to Rise's tofu store. He looked nervous.
When they got there, they took their respective positions. Yukiko and Chie were talking outside the tofu shop and Kanji, Yosuke, and Souji were pacing across the road; Rion was standing outside the door with his arms crossed. Rion did seem to scare people away though just as well as Kanji would. As the three stopped momentarily, Yosuke got angry. "Don't stop! The culprit might get suspicious!"
Kanji was annoyed, "But, we've walked past here like a thousand times already."
"It does seem rather futile to do the same thing over and over, Yosuke," Souji said.
It was at this point that Adachi had walked out of the tofu shop.
"Come on out, you bastard! We're ready for you!" he sneered.
"Well, that was commanding," Rion muttered.
Yukiko had noticed something and pointed, "Oh… Look!"
They all looked over by where she was looking and pointing. It was off to the side and at a telephone pole.
There was a man with a purple backpack, wearing blue jeans, and an orange sweatshirt climbing the telephone pole to try to get a look at Risette. He was making slow progress because he kept slipping on the damn thing.
"Who's there?" Adachi yelled.
The man noticed the detective and the others and slid down the pole as fast as he could. The whatever he was, then started running away from the seven of them.
"He's getting away!" Souji said, "Go catch him, Rion."
"Fine…," Rion started sprinting, and he soon blazed past the rest of the group to get to the culprit.
"Get back here!" Kanji yelled as he chased them.
Everyone joined in the chase with Rion in the lead.
"Stop running, dammit!" Kanji commanded as the chase continued. Rion was gaining ground on the man and so were the others.
Cars and larger vehicles were passing by as they chased the man. Rion slowed down for a second to look and then kept up the chase.
The man was scared as he passed the gas station and was now near the street. He nervously said, "Don't come near me!"
Kanji wasn't going to take it, "Shaddup! What kinda idiot would listen to…?"
"I'll do it, you know. What are you going to do if I get run over!?" the man yelled.
While the others were confronting the man, Rion was slowly flanking the man from the side in a way no one could see him. He was currently just past the pumps at Moei.
"What!?" Yosuke asked. This was getting out of hand. He didn't know that Rion was circling behind the man.
"No!" Adachi didn't want this to get out of hand either. He was nervous, "If the suspect gets injured, the police will be held responsible. They'll get really angry, and… Umm…"
"I'll do it, I swear! So… Get out of here, and stop chasing me!" The man was serious.
Hey, what should we do?" Yosuke asked.
"Umm… We need to take him down, but if we push him into the cars…," Souji said, "Wait a minute," He saw Rion. "We need to distract him for Rion," Souji told the others quietly.
"Okay, on my mark!" Yosuke said. At the exact moment, he yelled at the backpacked man to distract him, "Look over there! A martian!"
As the man looked over, Rion came streaming from the side as Kanji and Yosuke struck from the front. Rion's body collided with the man at the legs and waist as Kanji and Yosuke struck him at the waist and chest.
"Ack…," the man said as he hit the ground.
The man was encircled by the group on the other side of the gas station as he was brought to his feet. Yosuke and Kanji was glaring into his soul. Rion took a good look at him, and suddenly rolled his eyes.
"How dare you assault an ordinary citizen like that?" He pointed at Rion and the others.
"Shut the hell up, murderer!" Kanji yelled, "We're taking your punk ass in!"
The man was confused, "What? Time out! What do you mean, Murderer?"
"It's no use playing dumb!" Chie exclaimed.
"Wait a second!" the man tried to explain, "I just really like Risette, so I wanted to take a peek into her room. Look, see! All, I've got on me is a bunch of cameras."
"Great, we've caught a damn pervert," Rion muttered, "Waste of time."
Souji suddenly realized something, "So that's why Rion rolled his eyes…"
Adachi wasn't listening, "Yep, you're the culprit alright. No two ways about it. Alright, I'll take it from here," He pulled out his badge and told the man, "We'll hear your story down at the station. Oh, how I've waited to use that line."
"No one ever listens to me…," Rion thought.
"Please, let me go! I haven't done anything wrong," the man said, "I know for a fact it is not a crime in this country to take secret pictures."
"You're at least a pervert," Rion thought.
Adachi butted in, "Hey, don't you understand what's happening here? You're under suspicion of murder. Come with me! We'll talk about this later!"
"This is screwy," Souji thought, "This is taking far too long."
The man was cuffed and was going to be taken away by Adachi.
"Wow that went better than I thought. What a coup!" Adachi told them, "I gotta thank you guys for all the help you've been. Well done!"
"Oh… sure!" Yosuke said happily.
"But you really should stop getting involved in this stuff. It's dangerous. I know Dojima-san was worried sick," He looked at the cuffed man and said, "C'mon, let's go!"
The man looked worried as they walked away.
"Is it really over?" Yosuke asked.
"I think the rest is up to the cops," Kanji said.
"Looks like the killer was a pervert, just like we thought," Chie said, "Wait, does that mean the case is closed? Seriously? Awesome!"
"In actuality, I highly doubt that the correct suspect was captured. We should check on Rise because, I for one, am not convinced," Rion admitted freely.
At that, they walked back from the gas station to the tofu shop.
"Well, if we have caught the killer, we should let Rise know," Yosuke said.
Yosuke went into the shop to check on his favorite singer, idol, and model.
"Any chance to see Rise, and her legs, he goes to see her," Souji chuckled.
"Of course," Chie muttered kind of sadly. Souji definitely noticed that.
Rise's grandmother came out to meet them. Souji did not see Rise.
"Oh, hello. Would you like some tofu?" she asked.
"Oh, hello, Umm…," Yosuke wanted to look past the grandmother.
"Oh, did you come to see Rise?" the grandmother asked, "She seems to have gone out, unfortunately."
"Oh shit," Rion thought, "I knew this was the wrong guy."
"Huh? But wasn't she just here?" Yosuke asked.
"We captured the wrong guy," Souji thought.
The grandmother told them, "She does that sometimes. She'll just wander off without a word. You must forgive her. She's quite worn out, in a lot of ways."
"She left, without saying anything?" Yosuke asked worriedly.
"Sounds like she was taken away," Souji said.
"C'mon, you worry too much. She must have just stepped out," Adachi told them to calm the group down, "I mean, we've caught the guy."
"What are you talking about?" the man in cuffs said.
"We'll discuss it later," Adachi said seriously, "If you'll excuse me, I've got to take this guy in for questioning."
"Quit wasting our time," Rion thought, "That detective could not catch a cold."
"Man, I can't wait to see the look on Dojima-san's face," Adachi said with glee.
Yukiko looked worried, "She left without saying anything. Does that mean…"
"I think she was kidnapped," Souji said, "We should look for her."
"She couldn't have gone too far!" Yosuke was panicking.
"Yeah, I agree," Chie nodded.
"Well… in any case, we need to hurry. Adachi did waste a lot of time by rambling," Rion said, "I'll grab my motorcycle and see if I can find her."
They all started searching for Rise in the surrounding area as Rion grabbed his keys and went screeching off on his black sport bike.
They returned a short while later, none of them with Rise.
"I can't find her anywhere. What about you guys?" Chie asked.
The rest shook their heads as Yukiko told them, "None of the neighbors have seen her. Maybe we're just not looking in the right places. But where could she have gone to?"
Souji replied, "How about a TV?" None of them got his sarcasm.
"Dammit, this can't be good. I hope I'm wrong," Yosuke said.
Kanji tried to remedy it, "Well, we did everything we can. No use griping about it now. The weatherman said it's gonna rain tonight, so let's just keep our fingers crossed and tune in."
"Let's make certain that no one misses it," Souji told it.
When he returned he got his usual, "Welcome home, big bro," from Nanako. He was starting to really appreciate it. "It's making me feel good," Souji thought, "Too bad I have to watch the Midnight Channel. I bet Rise's is going to be crazy. At least she's cute." It wasn't much solace right now. Souji headed upstairs after eating a flaming bag of wasabi to watch the Channel. It was still raining when the clock hit midnight and the screen wasn't yellow.
A vivid screen, a purple background, and Rise walked into the picture. She was wearing the "swimsuit" she said she had never worn before. She started talking to everyone and was looking seductive. Seductive… just like the yellow screen was showing her before.
She was waving around and pushing her fingers around and her legs were spread across as she stood.
"Maru-Q! Push Risette! Good evening, good evening! I'm Rise Kujikawa! This spring, one young girl levels up to be a high school idol… Yay! So today, I'm gonna celebrate by pushing the limits of Standards & Practices. Does everybody know what time it is? Showtime! Show what, huh? Hmhmhm… Everything!" Rise's voice had jumped from excited to happy to soft and secretive. Secretive and seductive, "Ooh, how embarrassing! Is this too hot for TV? Well, if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing all the way. I'm gonna bare it all for you!" She had run off, turned around, and gotten jumpy, "Heehee… Stay tuned!"
"What the fuck!?" Souji said to himself. He hoped Nanako hadn't heard his voice, or had seen the show by mistake. If she saw this show, that'd be a disaster. If she had seen any of the shows, any of them would have scarred her for life.
Yosuke called him. He was probably freaking out by what he saw.
"Hey, did you see Risette on TV?" Yosuke asked half in shock, half in creepy excitement.
"I did. It was a disturbing show," Souji answered.
"Is she serious about baring it all?" Yosuke asked.
"We have to take it like she is," Souji said.
"Is it me, or are the shows getting crazier and crazier?" Yosuke asked.
"The shows are getting out of hand, but we do need you to calm down," Souji told him.
"You're right; I'm starting to get the hang of this. Her Shadow self is probably doing whatever it wants to right now," Yosuke calmed down.
"I know, but it couldn't be helped," Souji agreed with Yosuke.
"But man… We couldn't prevent the kidnapping this time either… even when we knew who the target would be," Yosuke said forlornly.
"I know, this makes twice in a row we've been unsuccessful. This time we were much closer," Souji shook his head as he said that.
"That detective from this afternoon was no help at all. I guess we will have to do everything ourselves," Yosuke said.
"Don't we always?" Souji asked.
"Anyways, see you tomorrow," Yosuke said.
"Goodbye," Souji responded.
Yosuke hung up.
Rion called after that. Souji expected this call.
"Looks like we have another problem on our hands and this one is much worse," Rion said.
"Yeah, even if we succeed it could be messy," Souji said.
"Well, we will just have to use your gung-ho mentality to hurry it along," Rion told him.
"Of course," Souji said.
"Yosuke will be disappointed," Rion said.
"I'm sure he will be. How about you?" asked Souji.
"We need to save her, but how we save her, and how fast we do so is completely up to the person in charge," Rion seemingly shrugged over the phone.
Souji rolled his eyes and thought, "He's so damn righteous." "Right, so you were right on having the wrong guy," Souji confirmed with Rion.
"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case. I would rather have preferred that it was the correct guy, but it obvious the criminal was not apprehended. He would not appear in plain sight, like so. We will have to figure something out," Rion said. Souji could understand. He would rather not have to go after another kidnapped person.
"Meeting tomorrow on how save Rise will be our first priority," Souji told him.
"True. Then I will meet you tomorrow. After we save her, or if he or she is there at the scene; we can worry about our killer/kidnapper," Rion finished.
Rion hung up and Souji went to bed thinking on how they save Rise. It was a nice dream though. "Baring it all, huh." I can see why Yosuke would like that."
School was a boring affair. No one was looking forward to school, and they headed to the TV world after that. Teddie was facing away from them as they entered it, and looked troubled.
"Hey Teddie, you okay?" Chie asked.
"I wasn't crying." Teddie responded. Teddie was sniffling.
"What?" Souji raised an eyebrow.
"Everyone was having fun out there. You forgot about me. I was abandoned," Teddie moaned as he fell to the floor.
"No, we would never do that," Chie tried to calm him down.
Yukiko tried to do the same, "I'm sorry. Were you lonely?"
"I was bored. It made me all listless," Teddie replied, "I'm a useless bear. I don't know what I am. I couldn't figure it out. No one would come visit me. Then I thought I heard voices from your world. They were all having so much fun. I was so lonely that I tried to cry. But I couldn't…"
"Well, you are hollow inside," Yosuke said.
"That's pretty cruel, Yosuke," Souji responded as he tapped him on the head.
"Shut up! Quit saying I'm hollow!" Teddie yelled.
Yosuke yelled back, "Don't snap at me. This is your world! You're the one who said you just wanted to live here peacefully and made us try and find the culprit."
Chie walked forward, "C'mon, I'm sure Teddie is just tired from thinking so much, right?"
Teddie walked towards the railing, still sad and said, "When I'm alone, I think too much. It makes me even lonelier. I was so sad I thought my chest would burst and cotton would fly out."
Chie and Yukiko went and rubbed the bear to make him feel better.
He turned around and said sadly, "Can I try scoring with you two someday?"
"Uhh… not if I can help it," Souji thought, "I'd beat you down."
"Sure, go right ahead," Chie said, obviously being lighthearted and joking.
Yukiko was a little less forgiving as she said scathingly, "Can we please drop the whole scoring thing?"
"Anyways, can we ask you something Teddie? How is it over here?" Yosuke asked, "Did a girl called Rise Kujikawa show up? Can you sense anything?"
"We believe that someone else has been thrown in," Rion told him.
"Rise Kujikawa? Hm…," Teddie said out loud.
"You can't tell? Your nose has been losing its edge lately," Yosuke told the bear.
"I'm a pretty shabby bear," Teddie replied, "Soon, I won't be useful at all. Then, I'll be thrown away."
"That's not true, Teddie," Souji said, "We'd never throw you away."
"I can… Stay with you all?" Teddie said, tears of joy in his eyes.
"Okay. Then we'll go look for something that'll help you on your search, like last time," Chie said.
"I can't tell for sure. But I can kinda sense someone in here. I think I'll be able to find her. I just need some kind of hint," Teddie told the group.
While the others went off, Teddie talked to Souji by the far end of the plaza.
"There's a lot of things I don't understand," Teddie told him.
"We'll figure it out together," Souji responded.
"Thank you beary much. You're really kind, Sensei!" Teddie replied, "I'll try even harder from now on!"
"I'll be waiting here," Teddie said.
They left the TV world, and Souji cursed himself... he had to find more clues.