Disclaimer: Six chapters in, and I'm already sick of saying this. I don't own the Persona series, only my OC's and original scenes.

Kasumi: OC's? There's someone else? *Sniffle*


Chapter Six

June 20th

That morning, after showering and gulping down a breakfast that was no different than anything I would have gotten at my house, I found myself dialing my sister's number. I knew we wouldn't have much time to talk, but ever since we had resumed communication between the two of us, I've found it extremely enjoyable to engage in conversation with her. Maybe it was just the lack of contact for three years that had caused me to forget how much fun it had been to talk with her. Well, no matter the reason, I was relieved when she answered on the third ring.

"Hello? Naoto speaking."

"Do you, like, not have my contact information saved in your phone?" I asked, wondering why she never knew whom it was when I called. I leaned against my bedpost.

"Oh, it's you." There was a noticeable drop in her voice.

"'Oh, it's you?' Well, that's a nice way to greet the only sister you'll ever have, little missy/mister/cross-dresser." That last part was just to annoy her.

"You just called me a cross-dresser. Excuse me for not being over enthused to hear from you. And did you notice that it's five in the morning?" Did I fail to mention that? Oops.

"You told me to call you…"
"Yes, I did. Clever observation. I was hoping for a more reasonable hour. Or maybe after school. You did say you go to school now, correct?" She just had to go throwing school in my face, didn't she?

Grinning into the phone as I left my room and headed towards the forth floor, I said, "I found a suitable replacement for my computer, and intended to look up those people you asked me to. I forgot their names, so I was hoping you could help me out, but I guess if you don't want me to…"

"…"

"Hah!"

"Shut up." Naoto was not a happy camper. Though I should know that. She's never been a morning person. In all the fifteen years I've known her, not once has she been in a good mood when she first woke up.

"Hey, you would be a first year in high school this year, correct?" I asked out of the blue as I started up the giant monitors I'm sure I didn't have permission to use in the command room.

"Correct. Why?" Her male-pitched voice crackled.

"Just wondering…"

"O…kay?"

The computer was ridiculously easy to crack into. After a few clicks and a few choice swear words, I was able to get into the Yasogami high mainframe. "See, when I hack to help you, it's good. When it's to fund my pitiable existence, it is deeply frowned on. Why?" I asked.

"Because it's illegal…?"

"But you're letting me do it! You gave me permission to do it! Speaking of, can I change the principal's name to something obscene and not T rated?"

"No, no you may not." Naoto shot down my dreams. "And what does 'T rated' even mean?"

I smiled my Joker smile as I contemplated all the things I could do with easy access to the school's information. "Oh, ya know, like on FanFiction dot net."

"What's Fanf-?" Interrupting before she could finish that blasphemous sentence, I snapped,

"If you don't know, never mind. Who did you want me to look into?"

"Chie Satonaka, Yosuke Hanamura, and Souji Seta."

"Okay… How do you spell Chie? And Satonaka. And Yosuke. And Han-"

"I get it, I get it!" I must have really been getting on my sister's nerves at that point.

I pulled up the three students' profiles and proceeded to stare at them for a few minutes.

Nothing.

No hunches, deductions, conclusions, anything.

I put the phone down after telling the person on the other end to hold on a second, and then peeled off my socks. "Okay, back."

"You just took off whatever footwear you had on, didn't you?" She asked after a brief pause.

"You know how I am with my feet! I can't think if they're being smothered!" Actually, as soon as I removed the atrocious socks, my mind immediately un-fogged.

"There's nothing really incriminating here about these three. Um, okay, here's what I think."

Naoto sighed, clearly please that I was acting semi-normally. "Go on."

"Souji Seta transferred to Inaba at the same time the murders started, but he was also at school the day the announcers body was found. Also, if he's hanging around Amagi and Tatsumi even after their disappearances, that says something. Who would hang out with the person who kidnapped them?"

"This is true, but even so… We shouldn't ignore that coincidence."

"Still…" I hesitated, biting my thumb and feeling like L from Death Note.

"Okay, what about Satonaka and Hanamura?" Naoto questioned.

I thought for a minute before listing my deductions. "Satonaka comma Chie. I don't see anything abnormal at all. Lifetime resident of Inaba, average grades, normal student stuff. Hanamura… He recently moved to Inaba, too, but… Hmm… His dad manages Junes. That's the chain that just came over there, right? Maybe Junes is secretly an evil organization."

"Can you take this seriously, please?"

"I am. I'm just saying I don't see anything that could land these kids in jail with charges of being a serial killer. Just… Keep an eye on them, okay."

"Yes, I planned on it."

Just then, a small voice spoke up from the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"HOLY BLUE HAIR!" I nearly fell on my butt in shock as Minato stood and watched, obviously amused. He was fully dressed, with his book bag draped over his shoulder. His hands were shoved in his pockets. His entire body language radiated an 'I don't care' aura.

"…?"

"Umm… Naoto, I'm gonna have to call you back. Apparently, it's time for school, as Minato has decided to announce to me."

"Ah, okay. I need to talk to you soon. Don't do drugs."

"Darn it. Bye." I snapped the phone shut and sent a death-glare to the blue haired boy. "I am totally not doing anything I'm not supposed to do."

He glanced towards the monitors that were still displaying the Yasogami student profiles. Blushing, I struggled to shut them off.

"See! I'm doing nothing."

"Whatever… It's time for school." He had already disappeared before I realized that he had spoken five words to me.

I caught up with him before he had gotten too far, and ended up walking all the way to the school with him. The time was spent in awkward silence, during which Minato listened to his headphones. I mean, he didn't even try to start up a conversation! Jerk… As we entered the gates, we heard two girls gossiping. They were talking about Mitsuru.

"Oh, my teacher told me about Mitsuru Kirijo, the student council president. She's going overseas after she graduates. Probably so she can run the Kirijo Company later...she's so different from us... The funny thing is, I hear she still lives in the dorms. I wonder why... Maybe her parents were strict when she was growing up." Nah, she's just in charge of the demon slaying club stationed there. Though I wondered how they explained the co-ed dorm and everything. Whatever… Not my problem.


"Look, all I'm saying is that if you're going to write, write with proper grammar!" I was arguing to Fuuka about an American author I had been told about a few years ago.

"I think you should give it the benefit of the doubt. You haven't read her work…" She objected.

"Yeah, but…" Before I could continue being argumentative, Mitsuru entered the room, her heeled boots clicking ominously on the tile floors.

"May I have a moment?" She asked, then, without waiting for a response, said, "I would like to inform you that the Chairman will be here this evening. Meet on the fourth floor of the dorm after school."

"Um, okay…?"

With that, she left.

"Well, that was fast." I commented, standing up with my bag. Miss Kirijo was obviously too busy to spend time socializing with us underlings. "You ready to head home?"

"Yep, let's go." The teal haired girl nodded, and together we headed out. We met Yukari at the gates. The brunette then joined us on our epic quest towards the dorm. Once we reached the wooden doors that marked the entrance to the Iwatodai dormitory, we came across something small and fluffy. A white fluff ball barked at us from the steps.

"Oh, hi, Koro-chan!" Fuuka crouched down to greet the dog. He licked her hand in response.

"You know this dog?" I asked, reaching down to scratch his ears.

"His name is Koromaru." Fuuka explained. "We see him around here sometimes." The dog, Koromaru, gave me a friendly nuzzle.

"Awww, you're so cute!"

"Koro-chan, give me your paw." The teal haired girl requested, and, to Yukari's shock, and mine, he actually placed a snowy paw in her outstretched hand.

"…Hm?" At that moment, Minato walked up.

"Oh, hi!" Backing away from the dog, I gave him a wave, which he returned, almost robotically.

"Can I pet him?" He asked.

"Sure!" Fuuka nodded, "Koro-chan, go say hi!" As Koromaru went over to greet our favorite blue haired boy, she explained, "His name is Koromaru. I've seen him sitting on the steps of the shrine."

Koromaru expressed his joy at meeting a new friend by playfully nuzzling Minato's legs. As he stroked the dog, I saw a small, but still present, real smile grace his face. It was the first time I'd ever seen him actually smile like that, and it changed his entire face. He glanced up, catching my eye. Then, slowly, he gave me another rare, real smile.

That tender moment lasted until an obnoxious housewife decided to walk up and spoil it.

"Oh, this dog still goes on walks all by himself?" She asked.

"Whaddya mean?" Yukari tilted her head quizzically.

The housewife explained. "He used to belong to a priest at Naganaki Shrine. Every afternoon, the two of them went this way on a walk."

I nodded. "That explains it."

"Well, until the priest passed away…" With that, she had our full attention. Even Minato listened. "Oh, you haven't heard the story? It was about six months ago...the priest was hit by a car while walking his dog. He didn't survive. Ever since then, that dog sits patiently by the site of the accident, and he goes for a walk every day, just like when his owner was still alive... Oh shoot, I have to get going! My son will be back soon!" We were silent as the woman walked away, until Yukari chimed in with,

"Aww, you're such a loyal dog! Good boy!" I don't know if Koromaru found that offensive or what, but as soon as she said that, he barked once and ran off.

"Wait, isn't the Chairman coming today?" Fuuka finally remembered the reason we had come straight home after school.

"Oh! That's right!" We all headed inside to prepare for Ikutsuki's visit.


As usual, there weren't enough chairs to accommodate us all, so I ended up sitting on the floor, in a position similar to L from the anime Death Note. I noticed Minato giving me a weird look that I chose to ignore. The Chairman was standing, his empty chair mocking my sore legs, as he began his address.

"Hello, everyone. I wanted to let you know how my research was going. This concerns those Shadows that have been appearing during the full moons." I raised my hand.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Mitsuru explained briefly about the giant Shadows that have been terrorizing the city outside of Tartarus every full moon since April.

The Chairman cleared his throat, obviously asking for permission to continue. "As I was saying… I want you to listen carefully. It may be hard to follow. Shadows can be divided into twelve categories, according to their characteristics. We've known this for a while. It's like their class, or order. …Now, I've classified the special Shadows we've seen so far, and it's simply fascinating…!" He seemed to get really distracted, caught up in the excitement of his discovery, until Yukari prompted him. "Oh, sorry. Ahem...those four Shadows belong to Categories I through IV, in order of their appearance! They may have looked different from the more common ones, but the classification scheme still applies."

Junpei seemed completely lost and confused. "Is that something we should be excited about?" He asked.

"So…" I frowned, thinking. "That would mean, logically, there'd be twelve in all, one for each class-order-thing, right?"

"Correct, Kasumi!"

"Then, there are eight we haven't seen yet." Fuuka added.

"That's exactly right!" Ikutsuki exclaimed.

It appeared as though Junpei was slowly starting to get it. "Oh, uh, okay… But what are they after?"

"That's a good question, and that's what we haven't figured out yet: their motive. They don't kill their prey; they feed on their minds. It can be considered predation, but is it really? Is there a more underlying intent behind their behavior? The purpose of the Shadows as a whole...that's what we need to consider." The Chairman answered.

Akihiko, who had been silent for a while, added, "This is interesting, but no matter what, we still have to beat the rest of 'em." Mitsuru nodded.

"I agree. That's about all we can do at this point."

Everyone was silent for a moment, mulling this over. At least I was. So, there were eight more giant Shadows we would have to defeat. Of course, I'd never actually fought a giant Shadow, but I imagine they were pretty tough. I wondered about how I would balance that, school, and helping my sister with her murder case. This would be fun, huh?

"Eight more, huh? Lucky us." Yukari said sarcastically.

Fuuka nodded. "According to the data, each one has been stronger than the last, so we better start training harder…"

"What about Tartarus?" The brunette then asked. "Why does it even exist?" The red head hesitated, obviously without an answer.

Minato stood up. "Tartarus tonight?" Does that even count as a sentence? Good god, man, say words! In response, the Chairman glanced at his watch.

"I don't see why not. It would be good experience for Kasumi, at least."

"Yay!" I said, with no real enthusiasm behind it. "But, wait. I need some sort of weapon, don't I?"

"You mean you don't have one yet?" Junpei asked, almost with an air of superiority.

"Oh, excuse me for not stopping by my local deadly weapons store and picking one up!" I snapped. Nobody said anything. "Wait, don't tell me you actually have a deadly weapons store. I was kidding, darn it! Kidding!"

"We have a supplier." Akihiko explained. "But we can lend you something for tonight."

Well, as it turned out, Minato had an old one-handed sword he was willing to lend for the time being. Sure, it wasn't the most powerful thing in the world, but it would serve my purposes. It was weird, actually holding a blade that could kill someone… Or some thing.

"We'll meet at the school in thirty minutes." Mitsuru told us all. "Don't be late." Then, I was left to my own devices. Those devices would be calling Naoto.

"You have thirty minutes." I said when she answered. "Talk fast."

"Rise Kujikawa." Was the first thing out of her mouth. "That's the next victim."

"The pop idol…? But she's not exactly becoming famous through the TV, is she? She's already a celebrity."

Naoto agreed. "No, she's not. However, she's recently come under an abundance of local media coverage, as she is about to return to Inaba on a break."

"Is that our only thing to go on?" I asked. "Fun."

"I know. Kasumi…" And then it happened. Naoto became the little sister I used to play in a tree house with. The same one who needed me to check under her bed for monsters until she was seven. She showed me the face she had buried over the three years we'd been apart. "This case is going to drive me crazy. I don't understand how the killer can leave absolutely no trace of his crimes anywhere! It's like he's an enigma. The fog sets in and then a body shows up, or someone goes missing, and there's nothing to point even the most talented detective to the culprit. I can't take it." With every word she said, her tone became more frenzied, and it was obvious how this was tearing her apart.

"Take a deep breath, Nao. Calm down." I ordered. "Listen, how about I pay you and Grandpa a visit? I can take the train down there, and we can talk face-to-face. We're bound to find something, if it's the two of us, okay"

"Kas… Thank you." Then, as quickly as she had appeared, the old Naoto disappeared, being replaced by the confident new one. "I will discuss this with Grandfather, and find a suitable date for your visit. Of course, we will have to take into consideration your schooling…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll be in touch. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go stab monst- I mean, sleep. I'll see you later." Hanging up, I headed downstairs, where my friends were waiting.

Together, our ragtag band of high school students headed towards the demon infested tower that loomed in the skyline.


The only thing I can say about my first training session in Tartarus is this; Shoot me now. And with an actual gun, not an Evoker. After only an hour, my legs were ready to commit mutiny. I had long since lost track of how many staircases we had dragged ourselves over, or how many creepy and disgusting monsters I had impaled. It was a learning experience, though. I learned several things. One, using a short sword in actual combat is nothing like what you see on TV. Two, I learned some interesting things about my Persona. Her name is Hestia, actually, the goddess of Hearth and Home. A little mythology lesson, she gave up her position on Olympus to allow Dionysus to step up. Just thought that was interesting. ANYWAY, I soon learned that Hestia was weak to ice attacks, so that sucked. But she also specialized in electricity and fire attacks. According to everyone else, she was a pretty good Persona, what do I know?

"I. Am. About. To. Die." I announced as our battered party made our way home. Yukari chuckled.

"You'll get used to it." She assured me.

"I doubt that. I have a lot of stuff to do, so…" The idea of climbing up three sets of spiral staircases was simply nauseating, so, without a second thought, I fell face first into the couch.


~~Author's Note~~

I'm cutting it off there, since I really need to get this up.

Reading over this, I realize that I made a lot of Death Note references… And by a lot, I mean two. But still.

I apologize for not uploading this promptly, but the universe seemed to hate me when it came to writing this. First, I've been so busy with fencing practice, funeral jank, and school projects that I haven't actually had a good opportunity to sit down and write. Secondly, Microsoft Word was being retarded, and kept freezing, making me lose a lot of my work… And then there's the fact that I simply don't like this chapter that much. Not my best work, no. BUT I WILL MAKE IT UP TO YOU! Everyone's been saying they want Investigation Team interaction, and that's coming up soooooon! In a couple of chapters! I know what I want to do now, so that's good.

Also, I know another reason I haven't uploaded in a while. I had a dream that I posted Chapter 6, and EVERYONE hated it… It was horrifying. But whatever. I promise I will write Chapter 7 faster.