-Summer Day 5-
"So..." Teddie spoke up in front of a tentative investigation team.
His blue eyes darted between the dreary expressions they took on and bit his lip, "Nothing came on last night." he confirmed, emphasizing every word, making a popping noise with his lips at the end.
"Just static..." Yukiko sighed poking at her food.
"Yup." Yosuke nodded.
The team was quiet today. They were unsure of what to do, leader missing and no clues to his whereabouts. If this was anything like last year, then they only had a certain amount of time to find him and get him out. But there was no more fog, so how were they to tell when that time would be?
"So I guess we just keep waiting or..?" Chie cut herself off with a groan, they were truly stuck in a rut.
"Normally, after we've beaten our opponent and rescued our target, I would say yes... But as we know, senpai wasn't there." Naoto scribbled something down on a notepad, however she held it at an angle where no one could see what she was writing exactly.
"Well if we wait, he could die, if we go in what then? We'll be risking our lives? Nothing we haven't done already." Kanji crossed his arms and leaned back.
He seemed lost in thought but scratched his head absentmindedly, "Maybe there's something we missed there, maybe some kind of clue that we overlooked. I mean we were pretty beat yesterday, we didn't exactly give the place a thorough search."
"That's... A possibility?" Yukiko set her utensil down and straightened up.
"Exactly!" Kanji seemed more sure of himself now, "There's gotta be something we missed, there just has to be, I mean it was dark in there, we could have passed right by it and not even have known." he smiled confidently.
"So then you want to go back?" Teddie rest his chin on the table casually.
"You got any better ideas?" was his reply.
No sign of disapproval.
"Well then," Naoto shut her note pad, "I suppose then we're going on yet another follow-up mission. Let's all go home, gather our supplies, and meet back here. We won't be doing any extensive fighting if we can help it, we're simply going over what we may have missed." she instructed with a nod of agreement from the rest of her teammates.
Yosuke noticed Teddie give a violent shudder before everyone sat up.
"Yo Ted, you ok?"
Teddie in response nodded, "Y-yeah. I just... Got a beary bad feeling about today." he pouted.
Yosuke sighed and shook his head, helping Teddie up by the arm, "Come on man, don't jinx it please."
At that Teddie gave a soft giggle and left with Yosuke to his home where their weapons were carefully concealed.
- o O o-
Naoto chewed on her nails in thought, a bad habit she had developed, as she walked down the streets to her home. The notes she wrote down in her notepad didn't add up in any sense and so she was left back at square one. This was a difficult mystery to crack, but if what Kanji said held true, even the smallest clue could be vital in determining the mystery.
That was what she hoped for desperately to the point of not noticing just where she was going. Brushing shoulders with another person wasn't as severe as colliding with them, but to her, being clumsy in thought was uncharacteristic of her. With a quick deep bow and a flustered apology she then straightened up to a young man, perhaps only several years older than she.
"Oh, it's no problem. You're fine really." he assured her.
The young man looked to be in his early 20's, with medium length brown hair, bangs parted in the middle. He was fairly tall with slightly tanned skin. His narrow eyes were a light brown. He wore rather formal clothes, perhaps here on official business, with an un buttoned suit, white shirt underneath, and a sky blue tie.
Naoto would have been lying terribly if she didn't admit he was attractive.
Just as Naoto was about to take her leave (mortified that she hadn't been watching where she was going) young man stopped her briefly,
"I'm sorry to bother you, but could you direct me to the Junes shopping center, please?"
Naoto hesitated stupidly before slightly stumbling over her words before blurting out the directions.
The young man gave her an odd look (which only flustered her further) and with a bow of thanks, seemed to hurry off in the direction she had come from.
How mortifying! How could she simply zone out like that! Mentally scolding herself severely, Naoto hurried home, this time taking extra care to watch who was in front of her as she walked.
Now as a detective, there were times Naoto found herself traveling to different far away places constantly. However there were plenty of places she could stay. It was nice to travel, but there would always be business that needed to get done. Besides, her only true home would be here in Inaba, even if her grandfather lived someplace else, he was never too far away.
But sometimes it got lonely at home, but it was nice to sometimes be by oneself. Her pistol was never too far, in fact she had multiples everywhere (In this case she went with her strongest one which she kept at her bedside.) And so it was time to go back and meet up with the others. Per usual she might be the last one there considering she lived the furthest away.
- o O o-
Teddie and Yosuke, who of course lived closest to Junes, arrived before anyone else. Teddie was already in his bear battle suit and entertaining some children to pass the time. In the past, Yosuke's father never questioned why there was a young man in a bear costume roaming the store, nor did he question when Teddie began to work there with his son. Teddie just stuck and somehow became the official store mascot. And heck, his father never complained, the kids loved Teddie and he could be a hard worker when he needed to be.
It might have been embarrassing to admit that Yosuke actually liked having Teddie around. Despite his annoying tendencies it was nice to see a familiar face while working. It was nice that Teddie was the only one who didn't attempt to take advantage of him unlike how people had done in the past. Those days were over for Yosuke, he'd become more assertive in the past year and he wasn't bothered by anyone (namely those two girls who always complained to him).
Rise and Kanji were next to arrive together since the tofu and textile shop weren't very far from eachother at all.
"Hey guys, welcome back." an energetic Teddie waved before being tugged away by some kids.
"Hey." Rise waved back but did not take a seat, "Yosuke-senpai, I'm going to go check the other side, to you know, make sure there really isn't someone else over there." she smiled sheepishly and twirled a lock of curling hair.
With a nod Yosuke allowed her to go to which Teddie declared that he would go too, to protect "The lovely Rise-chan"
"Aw thanks Teddie, you know I always do my best when you're there to support me." she giggled.
Teddie followed her after saying goodbye to the kids (Who were reluctant to let him leave) and waddling quickly to catch up to her long strides.
Chie was next to arrive, pumped and spunky per usual. It was nice to have her energy around to perk the team up.
Naoto came next, looking rather surprised (and a bit happy) that she wasn't last.
And finally Yukiko hurried in to join them, huffing about how the bus from the Inn was running a tad late.
"Well now, everyone ready?" Yosuke sat up and removed his headphones, silencing the song he was listening to.
"I'd say we're ready as we'll ever be." Yukio nodded to herself confidently.
"Where's Rise and Teddie?" Chie glanced around behind Yosuke who turned on his heel and went to the electronics section.
"They're just scoping ahead for us, they should be done by now." he yawned nonchalantly.
Naoto fiddled with a button on her shirt, "I see..." was it because they mentioned other people there? It felt as though Rise was out to prove herself for some reason. But it was best not to jump to conclusions just yet.
As they walked into the electronics section, Rise was waiting by the TVs, however she looked rather uncomfortable. Before Yosuke could call out a greeting, it became apparent that she was talking to someone. To Naoto's surprise, it was the young man she had met (bumped into) on the way back. Rise turned her head to them and gave a sigh of relief louder than intended.
"Hi guys!" she chimed, her voice was the voice she used when on TV, the fake overly cheerful happy voice.
The young man looked their way and locked eyes with Naoto before seeming to nod to himself in confirmation.
"I assume you all are the group Dojima-san told me about." he muttered more to himself than the team as they approached.
"Annnnd... Who are you?" Chie placed her hands on her hips and overlooked the young man who remained calm as a cucumber under her scrutinizing glare.
"Suou. Tatsuya Suou." he replied curtly, "I'm the one Dojima-san called to take the place of Satonaka-san," Chie stiffened and he noticed, "Which I assume is you." he nodded to her.
She glanced to the ground, "Y-yeaah."
"May I ask what you're doing here? Shouldn't you be at the station?" Naoto stood forward, taking the most assertive position of the team.
The Suou officer gave a small chuckle, "I'm just doing what Dojima asked me to do. Strict orders."
- o O o-
It was hard to miss the disappointment and anger that showed on the elder man's face as he seemed to already be tossing his worth out the window.
"You're not the one I asked for. I specifically requested Katsuya Suou, not you."
Painfully blunt.
"Well excuse me sir. My brother is busy with cases of his own." he stared back with a gaze almost as sharp, "And I mean no disrespect by this sir, but considering that we usually work closely together on cases and the low scale of this one, be glad somebody showed up at all."
Equally blunt.
Dojima glared at the younger man with an apparent scowl.
"Fine. I just have one job for you."
"And that would be?"
Dojima sighed, "The group of kids that my nephew was always with. I want you to watch them. I know they know something, but I don't want them getting hurt. Just tail them for a bit and tell me what it is they do."
Tatsuya frowned in displeasure, "I don't babysit kids."
"Believe me." Dojima picked up his jacket and swung it over his shoulder, "That's the last thing you'll be doing." he chuckled before exiting the room leaving a slightly confused Tatsuya with files on every one of the investigation members.
- o O o-
Chie gapped and covered her face in an exasperated sigh. Gee, thanks Dojima-san for taking the trust she thought they had and throwing it right out the window and into the garbage.
"Looking at your files though, I could see what he was getting at. Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa, and Naoto Shirogane.. You've all gone missing at some point last year and then suddenly formed this little gang right here." Tatsuya motioned to all of them, "Also, reports of you coming and going to and from the electronics section and being gone for several hours." he looked over each of them, "I doubt you all keep coming here for the great sales."
"It's none of your business where we go, it's just out little hang out is all." Yosuke didn't like the way this guy was looking at them, his gaze was sharp and unsettling and his indifference toward them was almost mocking.
"Because the electronics section is totally fun." he turned around to look at the TVs. Maybe if it were near where they sold the video games and all that maybe he'd understand, but the TVs? Not a likely place for teenagers to meet up at constantly.
Yukiko happened to glance over to the side to notice Rise looking rather wide-eyed and distressed as she attempted to inconspicuously scoot over to the side. Why this was she wasn't sure .Leaning over just a tad however, revealed that Rise was trying to cover the TV with her body as a stubby fingerless Teddie paw poked through and wiggled energetically searching for something.
Yukiko took a sharp breath through her nostrils and bit her lip at the sight and she straightened up, glad that for a moment Suou was being occupied by Yosuke making up a believable excuse (Which Suou looked like he was having a hard time believing.)
Unsure of what to do,Yukiko gently nudged Chie's leg with her foot and carefully inclined her head to silently address Rise's dire situation. Once Chie realized this, it set off a chain reaction as Naoto was alerted, who alerted Kanji, and all but Yosuke noticed. The team was stiff with anticipation, hopefully Teddie would just go away and the threat would be nullified. However, for the investigation team, such a hopeful thought was impossible.
Rise let out a shriek as Teddie grabbed onto her skirt and began to alerted Tatsuya to her general direction, and the whole team could have screamed out dramatically, as he had to bear (Teddie pun intended) witness to Rise being pulled into the Tv. She was desperately clinging to the edges of the screen as her entire bottom had been engulfed inside, a little more of her disappearing into it with each pull.
Tatsuya paused for a moment to take in the information before his body kicked into gear and he rushed toward her and took hold of her arms and began to pull her out. The more of her he managed to free, the more Teddie's paw became more clear and visible which in all honesty seemed to freak him out (as if a girl being sucked into a TV didn't do that already.) Unsure of what to do Yosuke panicked and fretted over the situation and when he heard some couple with a child coming around the corner he flipped.
With a cry of frustration Yosuke gathered Yukiko, Chie, Naoto, and Kanji in one conservative swoop and ushered them all toward Tatsuya and Rise before shoving them all collectively through the screen and diving in himself shortly after just as a family glanced over hearing a commotion, but seeing nothing but a selection of TVs at various prices.
It wasn't their most graceful of landings, their very first arrival being the worst, but that didn't soften their impact any better. Rise however had the softest landing, having a cushiony Teddie to land on. Everyone else not so fortunate. There were several groans, whines, and low curses as each one individually sat up and managed to pick themselves up from what could have been a serious injury.
Now the whole team in itself went unperturbed (save from having a rather unpleasant fall.) however, when Tatsuya picked himself up he seemed rather dazed, wide-eyed, but otherwise oddly calm about the whole situation. He brushed off his jacket and straightened his tie, scanning the area almost too calm for the team's liking.
"As a cop I thought I'd seen it all," he nodded to himself and sighed, "But this is definitely a first."
"Well you're taking this surprisingly well." Chie groaned as she leaned back, her back giving way to several unpleasant sounding pops.
Tatsuya for a moment had forgotten the kids were there. Turning to them he let out a calm sigh and rubbed his shoulder which he was sure he landed on wrong.
"Well I wish I could say I was dreaming right now, but I doubt that's actually the case." was his reply before his gaze suddenly turned sharp and he crossed his arms, "So any of you care to explain what's going on here?" his voice making it sound more like a demand rather than an inquiry.
"Yeah we would right now," Kanji waved his hand at him, "But it is literally a long story and we're kind of busy right now."
"We'll explain things when we get back, but for now you have to go." Yosuke tried to push Tatsuya in the direction of the TVs which led back out into the real world, however he failed to do so as Tatsuya merely avoided him.
"And I should leave now why?"
"It's dangerous."
"I'm a cop, I can handle myself."
"That doesn't matter, you're in danger here." Yukiko pleaded trying to reason with him.
"Thank you for your concern," he smiled softly, "But if you kids can hold your own here by yourselves, I'm sure I can do the same."
Rise huffed in irritation as she placed her hands on her hips, "You don't get it. We're special. There are monsters here that only we can fight!" he declared stubbornly.
What bothered her most about this man was the fact that the moment she met him she had sensed something odd about him, and now that they were in the TV world, he definitely gave off an unnatural aura. If It was good or bad though had yet to be seen.
"Is this where you all had been going during the murder case last year? I believe Dojima Said something about that." Tatsuya ignored Rise completely and then looked to Teddie, "And this is?" he looked at is as though Teddie had a human forearm growing out of his forehead.
"I'm Teddie." was his chipper reply.
Suddenly Rise stormed over and gave him a harsh shove, causing Teddie to fall over onto his back like a helpless turtle,
"What the heck Teddie?! Why were you pulling me into the TV? Didn't you get the hint?!" she hissed angrily, her face red with anger as she fumed.
"Ohnooooo..." Teddie wriggled in lace, limbs flailing in the air, "Rise-chan was taking so long I thought she might have been in danger, and I heard a different voice talking to Rise so I was just coming to the rescue!"
Tatsuya looked down at the floor of the TV, frowning at the crime scene flooring and the bodies outlined on was taking this all too well.
"Suou-san,we seriously insist that you leave this place. We're not kidding when we say you can get seriously hurt and some things can happen that you may regret." Chie tugged on his sleeve to bring him out of his hypnotized gaze.
He glared at her with a deep disapproving frown, "You kids are really desperate to get rid of me.I wonder just what you're hiding in here. If anything it only makes me that much more curious to stick around."he pulled his sleeve away and walked over to the edge of the platform.
"Ugh, why are grownups so stubborn and persistent? They never listen!" Yosuke groaned.
Tatsuya rolled his eyes, "Hey, I'm just looking after you kids, for the time being until this Dojima assigns me a better case, you all are my responsibility." he called out as he peered over the edge, uneasy about how high they were, was there even an end down there?
"Well we appreciate the concern," Kanji muttered sarcastically, "But we don't need your stupid supervision, you'd only just get in the way."
"H-hey where are you going?!" Teddie cried out as he managed to roll himself at an angle to where he noticed that Tatsuya was gradually edging his way out of the small entrance area.
He gave a visible jolt and turned around for a split second before looking back, "Oh.. I just thought that.." he seemed confused as he looked over the edge before giving a shrug and returning to the group of teenagers who stood in a wall formation before him.
"Ok, we've been nice until now, but Suou-san, do no make us use force." Naoto crossed her arms firmly.
Their aggressive stances came as a shock to the young officer as he was not expecting such a straightforward advance from them. However he relaxed and gave something of a confident smile,
"Yikes, you kids are willing to use force on an officer? That won't bode well on your records."
"It's for your own good." Rise advanced a few steps but stopped abruptly when Tatsuya raised his hands in defense,
"Ok ok, I'm sorry I'll go. But I'm going to want an explanation later ok?"
Naoto gave a nod, "We'll do so at a later time."
As Tatsuya made his way to the TV set exits, Teddie peeked behind him and frowned, eyes staring intently at something. At that moment an agonized scream ran through the area, it's echo making it sound as if it were from a distance. It came so suddenly at such a volume that everyone visibly jumped, Yosuke's headset clanking to the ground noisily.
"W-what was that?" Teddie shivered, cowering behind Kanji who to looked uneasy.
"He-heck if I know!"
Officer Tatsuya reached behind his belt and whipped his gun out from it's holster without a moments hesitation. To the surprise of the team, he was ready, prepared, and he seemed undeterred by such a sudden screech. Then again, he was a cop, so he must have had moments similar to this before in his life, it was a strictly professional stance and-
Woah wait where is he going?
H-hey, no what did we just say?!
Get back here!
Before even Yosuke who prided himself on his speed was too slow to register that Tatsuya had bolted off in the direction of the howling, loading his gun and prepared for action. However once it finally clicked, he didn't even shout, not a word he just chased after him as fast as possible.
"Th-this isn't good, why did we just let him run off like that?!" Rise cried brushing the hair out of her face as she ran, "I don't sense anyone else here but us, it has to be a shadow!"
Kanji threw back his head and growled, "Oh fuck us with a rake!"
Naoto huffed as she ran but gave a tried chuckle nonetheless, "That sounds extremely unpleasant, let's try and catch him before something worse happens!"
"Teddie does this world really work that fast when someone falls in here?" Chie looked back to Teddie who waddled as fast as his stubby little legs could possibly carry him,
"I don't know! Maybe?"
Yosuke did recall that his and Chie's shadow appeared shortly after they began to explore the TV world despite the fact that they had only been in there less than an hour. If that was the case, then this could end quite horribly. They had to catch up to Suou-san and stop him before he made a decision he would regret.
The strange thing that occurred to them was that he was heading in the direction of the circus tent. As the trees sprang up and the puppets hung from their limbs, Tatsuya didn't even hesitate to take in his surroundings, unlike the team who only flinched for a moment before pushing them aside hurrying.
"Suou-san, please, wait!" Yukiko called out pushing a branch out of her way.
"Give it up Yukiko, I don't think he can hear us." Chie paused to avoid a branch deftly hitting her in the face.
"Augh, and THIS is why we told him to leave, this is what we were trying to prevent!" Rise thrust her hands out in front of her as if presenting the situation.
"Well what's done is done." Yosuke huffed, "We better hurry before a shadow appears."
"If it hasn't already." Teddie pointed out toward the tent to alert the group that Tatsuya did indeed stop in his tracks, if only for the reason that his path was blockaded by none other than himself.
Kanji rubbed the bridge of his nose, "And this is where the rake comes in."
Wearing a bright red jumpsuit with a large black X across his chest, Tatsuya's shadow did not seem malicious at first as he swayed slightly, looking up with melancholy shadow was different in that unlike their typical shadows with the golden eyes, Suou's eyes burned a bright red.
Yukiko was the first to make a move, "Suou-san, listen to us right now, whatever it says, it's the truth, just accept it and move on." she pleaded.
A moment of silence wore on as it seemed Tatsuya didn't hear her, his eyes too transfixed on a younger identical version of himself, and yet he looked so his concentrated gaze, the shadow finally looked up at him with tired sunken in eyes,
"Do you remember?"
Barely above a whisper.
"Remember what?"
"Suou-san don't-"
"You know what I mean. I know you do."
This was not going in a good direction, not at all.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The shadow gave a scornful laugh, "Don't kid yourself, you know the dreams you have, those nightmares. Do you need a reminder about what you've done?"
Tatsuya flinched.
"That wasn't... Me."
"Yes it was."
Red flag, serious red flag.
"Suou-san don't deny it, whatever it's saying is true, believe us." Chie hurried and put her hand on his shoulder, bringing him out of some thought filled void.
To this, the shadow laughed.
"Yes, yes, of course I'm telling the truth, why would I lie to myself?"
Tatsuya swiftly turned back, "But it wasn't me! That was someone else!"
His shadow tsked scornfully at him, "Blaming someone else for YOUR sins? No matter how you look at it, it was your fault."
"That wasn't me!" Tatsuya covered his ears, pain etched on his face, "HE was the one who screwed everything up, not me! It wasn't me and you know it!"
He was simply laughed at again.
"It was you and WE know it."
"You might not remember, but those memories are imprinted into your mind and soul. You know that one day, everyone just seemed different to you! Why do you think it pains you to see your own brother with his fiance? Why does her face look so familiar to you, why does it pain you to see her with him? Why are you agonizing over the young man who works at the flower shop? You've never seen him before in your life and yet you know him from somewhere! Why do you know these people's names before you've even met them?! You know why, you just refuse to remember when you see the images of their dead corpses flashing before your eyes!" his shadow screamed at him in rage."
Tatsuya fell silent, disbelief in his eyes as he practically tore at his hair.
"No.." the slightest trembling whisper, "You're not-"
Chie then promptly slapped her hand over Tatsuya's mouth to keep him from uttering those fatal words, "What have we been saying?!" she hissed into his ear, "It is telling the TRUTH." she accentuated grimly.
Tatsuya pried her hand of his mouth to give a scowl at her, rubbing his face where her palm made contact as it stung slightly.
"You don't believe me. You're still denying it." His shadow reminded.
Tatsuya frowned and looked to the investigation team, all tense and weapons brandished for a battle. He then turned his eyes to the shadow and for a moment sadness flashed over it's eyes. It was if the shadow itself didn't want to believe it but..
"You're right..." he finally breathed out, "I have been having strange dreams, more lately than ever before. But these dreams are always so consistent I thought they were more like-"
"Memories." Tatsuya's shadow finished for him with a sad smile.
"Yeah." a nodded reply, "And when I saw these people before I just thought it was serious Deja Vu. But when Katsuya first introduced his finace Maya to me I-.. I couldn't understand why I cried when I first saw her." his shoulders began to shake, "And the boy at the flower shop, I don't understand how I knew his name or why I couldn't bear to be handed those flowers he loved so much.. Jun.." he took a deep breath and steadied himself, "And not just them, the rock idol Eikichi Mishina, and pop idol Lisa Silverman, I knew them the moment they appeared on TV, but I never knew why until I began seeing them in my dreams and I..."
"Doomed them all." his shadow.
"Right again.." he gave a pained laugh.
His shadow gave a smile in return.
"So maybe these memories might have been left behind from another me, and maybe in a sense I did do all those things, but I'm not going to make the same mistakes he did, this time I'm going to protect them." he stated boldly to himself and his shadow which earned him a rather relieved smile.
"Don't make promises you can't keep now, Red Hawk."
Tatsuya laughed, "The thing about mistakes is that they're not as bad as you think, so long as you're willing to learn from them."
and at those words, Tatsuya's shadow smiled the brightest it had when they first saw it and nodded in acceptance, before emitting that familiar warm blue light and fading into something much more beautiful. Tatsuya's persona, tall, bright flaming red streaked across white with luminescent blue eyes carved into an ornate red mask. It gave off a warm familiar feeling to Tatsuya who welcomed Apollo back with open arms as it soon took the form of a card.
"Haha,never thought I'd see you anywhere outside of my dreams." he smiled to it and let it disappear.
When Tatsuya turned his back onto the team their mouths were agape with relief and amazement.
"You had a Persona?!" Rise eventually cried out in disbelief.
Tatsuya scratched his head and placed a hand in his pants pocket, "I guess so yeah, I've always sort of known it was there but I just thought it was a dream." then his smile fell, "I shouldn't remember this though. If there is one thing I do remember, it's that I'm not supposed to. I think that's the mistake the other me made." he sighed.
"And when do we get an explanation about all this?" Yukiko twirled her fan around in a circular motion.
"Right around the time when I get an explanation about all this?" Tatsuya shot back waving his arms to indicate the whole inside of the TV world.
"Touche." Yosuke nodded and gave a deep huff of air, "Maybe you should go though before you get yourself into even more trouble."
Tatsuya frowned almost disappointedly, "Now that I have Apollo back I'm sure I can hold my own…" he shook his head with a sigh of defeat, "But yeah, I am mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted, maybe a nice nap would do me some good." he closed his eyes and rolled his shoulders.
"Me and Teddie will see him back out, how's that?" Chie offered with a relieved smile.
"Thank you Chie-senpai." Naoto bowed slightly.
As Tatsuya passed the group however, he turned to Yosuke with a rather mischievous smile like he just remembered something, "Oh and don't worry about me holding you back, I kicked Hitler's ass once you know."
And with that the investigation team was left frozen in stunned silence, Rise's mouth hanging open before she chased after him, "I'm sorry how old did you say you were again?!" she called out loudly in shocked disbelief.
It was silent for a moment before Yosuke spun around in the direction, Chie, Teddie, and Suou-san left. "Wait, WHAT?!"
For the fastest one on the team, Naoto was surprised how slow he was to finally register that.
- o O o-
"Ok I still don't get it, who was that?"
"I don't recall seeing him before either and yet he is very similar to our guest in terms of abilities."
"Ah yes, I don't think I've ever mentioned him to you Margaret, he was at one time a previous guest of the Velvet Room, long before you or your siblings came here."
"Is that so? Really?"
"Indeed, like all our guests before he endured his own hardships and made his own mistakes. Perhaps he has finally atoned for them. Master will be most pleased to hear this."
"Master?"
"You mean there's someone else besides you running this joint?!"
"Of course, I am here merely to serve my master and to follow his wishes."
"Yikes, how deep does this whole operation even run?"
"Quite deep."
"I'm interested in knowing how he will play a part in all of this."
"As am I. I never expected to see him here, what a delight! How easily the strings of fate get tangled among one another, this could influence the outcome of this trial greatly."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"..."
"...Oh..."
AN: So yeah I debated this chapter for the longest time, not sure if this is where I wanted it to go.. But Persona 4 has a lot of references and cameos of Persona 3, so perhaps why not a cameo of Tatsuya Suou, Persona 2's first protagonist? It makes sense right, since in Persona 3 it stated that he followed his brother's footsteps and became a cop as well, who's to say he wouldn't be transferred to Inaba? I'm sorry, this is only going to get more confusing from here on out. Turn back while you have the chance...