Disclaimer: The only things I could possibly own in this story are Kasumi, and the Frankenstein work I preformed on the plot. Other than that, I own nothing.


Chapter 13

July 10th

"What do you mean 'midterms are coming up?'"

Thump. Thump. Thump went the back of my head against the wall I was currently sitting against.

"Um, that midterms are coming up?"

I sighed, ceasing my head abuse to glare at Yukari. Currently, the two of us, along with everyone's favorite silent protagonist, and Fuuka, were enjoying our lunch break in the courtyard. Junpei Stick-Up-His-Ass-Iori was nowhere to be found, but I wasn't complaining.

"I heard you the first time. Repeating it will not make it make any more sense to my poor brain."

"Kasumi-chan, it's the middle of the semester." Fuuka explained.

"So, we're taking our midterm exams." The brunette I was still glaring at finished.

With a groan, I continued the slow murder of my brain cells against the school's brick wall. "Bu- But, all I do is sleep or daydream in class..."

"You're screwed."

"No one asked for your opinion, Mister Arisato." My glare turned to the blue haired boy. A thought occurred to me, and I briefly forgot about my current test situation. "Hey… With Junpei out somewhere pouting, it's just us three girls and Minato. …I imagine he looks like quite the player right now."

"…"

"Hah! Minato Arisato's a player!"


After school, as my three friends and I were walking home, I repeated the age-old ritual of taking my cell phone out to turn it on, as it would be breaking several school rules to have it on during school hours. I wasn't expecting any messages, which is why I was so shocked to see the 'missed call' icon flashing.

Naoto Shirogane - 1.

"Nao…" If she tried to call me, that could only mean one thing. Something regarding the case must have happened. Completely forgetting about my teenage travelling companions, I jammed my thumb into the call button. It rang once, twice, then.

"Kasumi."

"Oh, you must have finally put my number into your caller ID. Nice to know you care, Nao~!"

The detective on the other line sighed. "Seeing as I had made the mistake of calling you during school hours, and now, as school would be ending, I am getting another call, it wasn't that hard to figure out."

"So, you're saying you don't care?"

"Excellent deduction."

I rolled my eyes. "What did you want?"

"There's been another murder."

If I had been drinking at that moment, I probably would have done a spit take. "Wha- How- Bu- WHAT?"

There was a slight bit of static on Naoto's end, and I imagined her shifting positions on a swivel chair as she reached for certain case files, her fancy phone pressed between her ear and shoulder.

"His name was Kinshiro Morooka. He was a teacher at Saki Konishi – and the other kidnap victim's – high school."

I frowned, something nagging at my conscience as I processed this information. "A high school teacher? But, I don't understand. Did you know-?"

"Did I know that this Morooka would be the next victim? No, I had no clue. I was… taken off guard."

"Well, you could let me finish my question, know it all…" Was muttered under my breath before I spoke louder. "So, he wasn't shown on TV?" I was still ignorant to the strange, questioning looks I was getting.

"No. He never appeared on television."

"Then how could- and I thought- and WAIT A MINUTE. MINATO, HOLD MY PHONE!"

The sleek devise was transferred from my hand into those of a very confused Minato, my shoes and socks were pulled from my feet, and immediately, my thought process sped up. Now, walking barefoot down the city street was not the most pleasant idea, but who said I had good ideas?

"Right, back. I believe this to be the work of a second killer."

Credit where it's due, Naoto only hesitated for a second at my strange behavior before responding with a sound of ascent. "Yes, I agree. It's just too inconsistent. The body was discovered in the same fashion as the last two, and if not too closely examined, the victim does appear to have ties to the last. Someone could easily believe this was the work of the same killer. But when you scrutinize it, there are simply too many inconsistencies for this to be any more than a copycat murder."

"…That is literally what I just said, in a lot more words."

My younger sister ignored my remark. "When the data comes back from the crime lab, I'll have more evidence to support my theory."

"You better call me as soon as you do- HOLY MOTHER OF EVERYTHING HOLY, WHY IS MY FOOT BLEEDING?"

A horribly sharp pain radiating from the heel of my bare left foot up my leg finally brought me back away from the phone call. A scarlet pool was slowly forming around the four of us.

"Maybe because you were walking down a considerably filthy street without any footwear."

Thirteen words. He literally said thirteen words in one cohesive sentence. My pain considerably lessened.


Naoto could only stare at her phone with a worried look on her face as she exited the tofu shop. Her older sister had been screaming bloody murder about who-knows-what long enough for the detective to stop by Rise's place, question as to the whereabouts of the idol, and leave. At first, she had only been slightly concerned. Kasumi had a tendency to exaggerate her pain. However, she had completed her task and was still on hold. A sisterly feeling of worry tugged at the Shirogane's gut.

"Hey, sorry… I stepped on some glass, cut my foot, made Minato carry me all the way back to the dorm, yelled at someone to fix the gaping hole in my walking appendage, and then they made me clean my own blood from the floor while interrogating me as to why I was discussing killers over the phone – to which I lied. My dorm mates are cruel people, sometimes."

Naoto blinked. She repeated the action, and still Kasumi's statement didn't make sense. "Yes, well, I should leave you to that… I- I'll inform you of any changes to our situation."

"Yeah, I have to… cram for the midterms I forgot I was being forced to take."

A smirk formed on Naoto's lips as she ended the call. Her sister having to study? What was the world coming to?

The moment her phone was deposited and she was brought back to the real world, she came face to face with none other than Souji Seta and Yukiko Amagi approaching the tofu shop. She allowed herself a small grin of satisfaction. So her assumption had been right.

"Ah… I had a feeling you'd come."

"You're…!" The Amagi girl gasped.

"Are you here to ingratiate yourself with Rise Kujikawa now?" Before either teenager could answer the detective's pointed question, two more appeared. If Naoto remembered correctly, they were Yosuke Hanamura and Chie Satonaka. The brunette boy was grumbling something.

" Geez… Why did the clerk even let them charge it to someone else…?" His eyes widened when they landed on the hat wearing 'boy' who moved to stand in front of them.

"Huh? W-Wait, you're that guy we saw with Kanji…!"

"Precisely. I don't believe we've met since I spoke with you regarding Kujikawa - In fact, I don't believe I've ever introduced myself. My name is Naoto Shirogane. I'm investigating the multiple murders that have occurred here. Mind if I ask you a few questions on the subject?" When no one responded, she took that as an invitation. "The latest victim, Kinshiro Morooka… He was a teacher at the school you all attend, correct?"

"S-So what?" The shorthaired girl stuttered.

"The public is focused on the fact that he is associated with the second victim's school… But in truth, that's irrelevant. What intrigues me is the inconsistency." Naoto couldn't suppress a smug feeling when she watched surprise and respect flicker through the teens' eyes. "This Morooka… has never appeared on television. What do you make of that?"

"…How are we supposed to know?" Hanamura stumbled over his lie.

"Well, we'll leave it at that. For my part, I'd like to solve this case as quickly as possible. I'll be keeping an eye on you all. Well then, until we meet again." Naoto's smirk, if possible, only grew as she heard shocked mutters from the group she had just left.


July 11th

I did my best not to limp as I walked to school with Minato. It was odd not to have Junpei there to tie our little group together, but with him acting like a pissy teenage girl for no obvious reason, it was probably better that we left without him.

Anyway, my foot was still aching slightly from my accidentally treading on that glass shard, which was doing nothing for my horrible mood. Nightmares regarding the Inaba murder case had kept me up all night, and I was going to freaking school.

The greeting of a still sullen Junpei at the school gates did not improve my attitude.

"Hey… What's up…?"

Minato shrugged. My own response was to narrow my eyes slightly.

"Uh, exams are pretty soon… Have you been studyin'?"

"Yeah." The blue haired boy nodded.

"…Seriously? Like I care..."

"Dude!" I snapped, annoyance pushing me over the edge. "Minato did absolutely nothing to you! But ever since the full moon, you've been acting like a teenage girl with hormone issues! I guarantee your problems aren't as big as you make them out to be with your pouting, so snap the hell out of it!"

I stormed away before I could get a reply.

Wow. Did I really just explode like that?


Wanna… go… to… sleep… Tired of Mitsuru talking... so... much…

"…So, that's what happened on the night of the seventh." Finally, the redhead seemed to be wrapping up her report to the Chairman. I stretched from my seat on the arm of the couch.

"I see." Ikutsuki nodded. "They're getting tougher… But it's not all bad news. I called this meeting because-" But he never got to finish, because at that moment, Yukari spoke up.

"I'm sorry." She didn't sound sorry. I quickly realized what was coming, having to suppress a groan. She was going to confront Mitsuru about the information I'd/Fuuka'd gotten her, wasn't she?

"Before we go on, I'd like to ask Mitsuru-senpai something." She is. Of course.

"Me…?"

"Since I joined, so many things have happened...I went along with it without really understanding what was going on, but now I need to know. I'm gonna ask you straight out... You've been hiding something from us, haven't you, Senpai?"

And queue the collective gasp of shock. "You act like you don't know anything about the Dark Hour and Tartarus...but they're related to that accident ten years ago, aren't they?"

Junpei tilted his head to one side. "What accident…?"

"There was an explosion near our school, and a lot of people died...it must have been big news back then. You know about it, don't you?"

The third year sighed, looking defeated. "…Yes."

That only fueled Yukari, who seemed to inflate with anger. "Luckily, no students were injured. But around the same time, a large number of students were recorded as absent. Seems like more than just a coincidence."

"What do you mean?"

"I dug up some old school records-" At this, I had to cover a snort. Who dug up some old school records? "-and found something interesting. The students who were absent...they all collapsed suddenly and had to be hospitalized. Sound familiar? You know, like those girls who bullied Fuuka."

Mitsuru was speechless, with an ashamed look on her face, and still Yukari wasn't done.

"There has to be an explanation! What really happened on the day of that accident? The Kirijo Group built our school, so you must know something! Tell me the truth!"

"...I wasn't trying to hide anything from you. It just never seemed relevant. But..."

"It's alright. It's not your fault." Ikutsuki assured her.

"…Alright. I'll tell you the whole story. The Shadows have many mysterious abilities." She began the tale, and I resigned myself to a long night. "Some research indicates that they can even affect time and space. We think of them as our enemies, but what if we could somehow use them to our advantage?"

Use them… To our advantage? Like, as weapons, or to channel their energy?

"They would be a source of unimaginable power, wouldn't they?"

Yes, but surely you couldn't control that power.

"Fourteen years ago, one man pursued that line of thinking… He was the former leader of the Kirijo group, Kouetsu Kirijo… …My grandfather."

So her grandfather caused that incident?

"My grandfather was obsessed with the Shadows. He wanted to harness their power and create something extraordinary."

"Harness their power…?" Fuuka repeated quizzically.

"He assembled a team of scientists, and over several years collected a significant number of Shadows."

How, I wonder. Tartarus wasn't around, if this story relates to its formation, so those Shadows had to come from somewhere… Ugh, my head hurts…

"He what? Damn, that's freaking crazy!" Junpei spoke what most everyone was thinking.

"However… Ten years ago, during the final stages of the experiment, they lost control of the Shadows' power. Consequently, the nature of the world was altered."

"That's how…" I trailed off.

"Yes. Tartarus, and the Dark Hour."

So, because of that explosion of the Shadows' power, it altered time and space itself...

I wonder if the data's come back from the Crime Lab yet…

"By their account, the mass of Shadows they collected split into several large ones and dispersed. These are the Shadows we've been encountering on the nights when the moon is full."

Even after all of that, Yukari still found more to say. "Wait a minute...if what you said is true, then why did our school turn into Tartarus?" She thought for a moment, then gasped. "…Don't tell me… That's where they conducted the experiment?"

"…Yes."

"Then… those students who were hospitalized…"

"I'm afraid it's just as you're thinking. Port Island must have been an ideal location for them. It was a highly populated area, and the Kirijo Group had influence there. They could do as they pleased..."

You'd think it'd be worse if it were highly populated… So many more risks.

Naoto is probably still at the station working…

"As you guessed, the experiment ten years ago was conducted at Gekkoukan High School."

"…Does that mean… All we've been doing is cleaning up their mess?"

We have such a big mess to clean up in Inaba….

"You lied to us!"

God, her voice grates on my ears.

"You knew too, didn't you, Akihiko-senpai? They've just been using us! Or do you not care as long as you get to fight?"

Shut up already.

"That's not true. I have my reasons…"

Akihiko does, so does Mitsuru, so does everyone. Even you had ulterior motives for joining SEES, I'd bet anything.

What are the killer's motives? The copycat killer's?

"Think what you'd like...it was my decision not to share that information. I'm sorry...I never intended to deceive you. Convincing you to join SEES was my highest priority. As absurd as it may seem, only we –with our Personas – can fight the Shadows."

So there, Yukari.

"How could you…?"

Is she still going at it? Yukari, maybe it's something that you can't understand.

"Besides, some of us were never given a choice… I…"

Mitsuru sounds close to tears. And are you really going to open your mouth and spew something else? Aw, what the hell? I've already exploded once today. Let's set a record.

"Yukari… kindly shut up." The brunette turned to face me, looking mad and confused. "It's not Mitsuru's fault, don't you understand? So she didn't tell you the whole story. Oh, boo hoo. Poor little baby. She wasn't the one who said 'Hey, let's try to harness the raw power of the Shadows, even though we don't know what the hell will happen. The people in the past did that, and they paid with their lives. All that's left now is to 'clean up their mess.' There's nothing left we can do, so quit your bitching!"

Have I mentioned I've been under a lot of stress recently?

Ikutsuki was the one to finally break the tension I had expertly created. "It's been ten years since that incident. No one knows why these Shadows suddenly returned. But since they're active, at least we can find and destroy them... Do you realize what this means?" No one spoke. "What if I told you that those twelve Shadows are the cause of everything?"

Akihiko realized what he meant first. "Then, if we defeat them all, Tartarus and the Dark Hour will disappear…?"

"Exactly! That's what I was going to tell you earlier. See, it's good news, isn't it?"

It seems this whole demonic tower incident is going to resolve easier than a completely non-paranormal murder case… "Really?"

"There's evidence to support it. Now, our true battle begins."

Yukari said nothing, just stared at the floor in silence. Hopefully she took my order to quit her bitching to heart. Because I really prefer to be happy-go-lucky, and not cranky-go-evil.

"Regardless of what's happened in the past, we must fight to protect the people. The Shadows are gaining strength...we can't afford to just wait for them. And there are many mysteries still surrounding Tartarus. Why did such a gigantic structure appear in the first place?

The answer must lie within it."

~~Author's Note~~
Duh duh duuuuuuh!

Wow, Kasumi's in a pretty foul mood for the second half of this Chapter, isn't she? I think the stress of trying to deal with two games plots are finally getting to her.

Kasumi: Getting to me? Pshaw, I'm perfectly fine! Why wouldn't you think I was fine?

In all honesty, I like Yukari and all, but she bitches waay too much for my tastes. Especially in The Answer… Ugh.

Investigation team~! Whoo~ Expect another visit to Inaba from Kasumi sometime soon. …ish. I honestly have no real clue.

Anyway, thanks to those of you who have reviewed/favorited/alerted this story. They make me happeh~ And sorry if the style I was going for towards the end with Kasumi's thoughts didn't work out well. I was experimenting.

Until next time!