Disclaimer: The only thing I own is my original character.
…
And your soul.
Chapter 18
July 23rd
People get mad at me for the strangest things.
I mean, I don't find anything wrong with singing road trip songs for three hours straight and initiating random games of "I Spy" to pass the time on a long-ass trip from Yakushima to Port Island. But it was for exactly that reason Mitsuru was lecturing me when we finally arrived home.
Honestly, I was so relieved to be out of that cramped train that I completely forgot the lecture as soon as I entered the dorm.
"Couch! I missed you so much!" My suitcase hit the floor as soon as I crossed the threshold and I launched myself at the couch I knew so well. I landed facedown, breathing in the familiar scent of the dorm. Not that I didn't enjoy the Yakushima trip, but god. A girl could only take so much fun.
"Agh, Kasumi, what the heck!" Yukari's voice held a clear amount of annoyance. From the sound of it, she had tripped over my discarded bag. "You can't just leave your stuff here!"
"Psssh, you don't know me! You can't tell me how to live my life!" The cushion muffled my words slightly.
"Shirogane, please take your luggage to your room..." Mitsuru was growing tired of my bullshit; that much was obvious.
"I will never separate myself from this heavenly spot again. Myself and this pillow are in love, and you'll not come between us!"
"Ummm..."
Another loud voice interrupted before anything else could be said about my pillow love affair.
"Man, I'm beat!" It was Junpei, just now catching up with the group. "It seemed to take forever to get back..." The brunette plopped down on the couch I was sprawled on. His rear end narrowly missed my feet.
Fuuka entered around the same time and - thankfully - sat down on the chair adjacent to me. "Yeah, it was a tiring trip. Please rest up so you're ready for the next operation."
"Is nobody going to comment on the fact that Junpei nearly sat on me?" I still hadn't removed my face from the cushion, but even then I could tell the others were tired of dealing with me.
"Yeah, yeah. I don't have any plans for summer break, so I can fight Shadows all you want." The aforementioned Junpei carried on with the conversation as if I hadn't spoken.
"Hey. Don't ignore me."
Again my words were ignored as Yukari joined the slowly growing group in the lounge. "Wow. You must really be bored."
"Sh-shut up, Yuka-tan!"
"Guys, I'm still here."
"Whatever. We just have to defeat those last six, and it'll all be over. The Lost will get better, and everything will be back to normal, right? That's why we have to try our hardest." Yukari quickly switched the mood from light-hearted to serious.
I sighed, sitting up stiffly. "Oh, whatever. Not that anyone cares or anything, but I'm going to my room," no one looked up, "so I guess I'll just..." Like a true ninja, I began creeping towards the staircase, hoping they would continue to pretend I didn't exist.
"Shirogane, your things are still by the door."
'Damn it.'
I groaned and staggered dramatically. "But Mitsuru-senpai, it's heaaaaaavy..."
"I don't care about that. You cannot just leave your belongings wherever you wish."
"Hah, so you say."
"Shirogane."
"Kirijo."
"Pardon me?" Mitsuru's eyes were cold, and she was surrounded by a don't-push-me aura that made me want to do my best to push her. However, her cold eyes held an obvious warning. I could tell following my inborn desire to bother the hell out of people would probably land me in serious trouble. I opened my mouth to respond with a perfectly thought out response that would fit the situation perfectly, but then -
"I'll get it." Minato freaking Arisato stood from his place in the lounge and marched resolutely to where my baggage had been discarded.
"Thank you, Arisato." The senior nodded once before returning to ignoring my presence.
Minato merely glanced at me briefly, dipping his head a fraction of an inch, and I knew I was in deep shit. You see, I had pretty much forgotten about the incident that had occurred between the two of us before Yakushima. You remember the one... The whole 'he suspects I'm doing something illegal or some shit and expects me to tell him just what's going on' incident. I ran a hand through my hair, groaning once again.
"Damn it all to the fiery pits of Hell."
"Yes, I understand." Naoto Shirogane hung up the phone and sighed. It was times like these she really hated her job. Well, no. To be fair, she was fairly sure she liked the capability to truly hate her job. However, she couldn't help but be insanely frustrated by the current state of the case. According to the police department, though they had identified a suspect, they couldn't actually locate the boy. In short, he was missing.
Naoto's clever mind was racing at a mile a minute. If the suspect himself had gone missing, does that mean he was kidnapped as well? But the killer only targeted those shown on television, right? No - even that had been thrown into doubt by the most recent murder. And why wait for so long before making another move? She removed her hat, running a hand through her already tousled hair. "Damn it all."
She picked up the discarded phone, dialing the now familiar number.
I shifted from one foot to the next, trying my hardest to pretend I was anywhere else but where I was, which was outside my dorm room with Mister Silent-And-Brooding.
"It's later, you know."
I allowed my eyes to meet his for a moment before turning back to the floor. "So it is. Excellent deduction. Would you like a cookie?"
"Yes. I would."
"Well too damn bad. You don't get a cookie." I smirked slightly, confident in my victory. When the blue-nette didn't stick his tail between his legs and skulk off, overwhelmed by my obvious intellectual superiority, I sighed. "Fine! Fine! Look, it's not like I'm hiding some huge, life-changing secret. It was just easier not to tell anybody because it's kind of complicated."
"I'm listening."
I inhaled deeply and began my story. "Okay, so. My younger and only sister is a cross-dressing detective that lives in Inaba. Oh, she has to cross dress because society doesn't really accept female detectives, you know? So she's this hotshot private detective, and she was assigned to this convoluted murder case. Well, I just said it was convoluted, so I don't need to repeat that. But, yeah. It was giving her some trouble, so she called her awesome, genius older sister for help! So, I've been helping her... Hack into police databases, look into suspects, make obscure anime references, come up with stupid theories... That kind of stuff. But things have recently gotten even more complicated, because everything we thought was true about the killer has just been pretty much thrown out the window, and we really don't know where to go from here. So that's that. The end!"
"...I see." Minato nodded slightly, appearing deep in thought.
I scoffed. "That's it? 'I see'? Not, 'wow, that's such an amazing story, Kasumi-sama!'"
"You wish." The boy chuckled softly.
At that moment, interrupting whatever snarky reply I was going to think up on the spot, my cell phone rang. I blinked; a little surprised that someone would be calling so late. One look at the caller ID, however, explained everything.
"Heh. Speak of the devil, and she shall appear, huh? Just a second, Minato." I pressed talk and was immediately greeted by a familiar voice.
"Could a murder suspect end up playing the part of a murder victim?"
"Come again?"
Naoto's voice sounded exhausted. I imagined she'd been pulling a lot of all-nighters trying to figure out the case.
"I told you before that the police had found a suspect, correct?"
I nodded despite the fact that I was talking on a phone. "Yeah... Why? They've arrested him, surely? It's been a while."
"That's just the thing, though. They can't find him."
"Wait, he's missing? But... Has he been shown on TV a lot?"
"No! The whole thing's been kept wrapped up pretty tightly. But the last victim... He wasn't shown on television, either."
"So... Is this the killer changing tactics, or is the suspect just running from the cops?" I asked, leaning against my doorframe and ignoring Minato's existence as the others had done to me.
Naoto huffed, slightly indignant. "If I knew that, would I have called you?"
My smirk was audible in my voice. "Of course. You love my company."
"Kasumi, this is serious."
"Ugh, I know. Look, summer break starts in a week, so I'll be able to come visit you over there. Or, you know, you could come over here and spare me the trip."
"Sorry, but for the moment, leaving Inaba is out of the question."
"I figured you'd say that. Alright, then I'll head over as soon as I can."
"Thank you..."
I snapped the phone shut after muttering a farewell, turning to face the audience I forgot I had. I grinned sheepishly. "That was her. Looks like I'll be going on another trip sometime soon."
"Ah..." Minato nodded, still with that thoughtful look on his face. "I'll go with you."
"..."
"..."
"...Beg pardon?"
"I'd like to help if I can."
After a few more seconds of awkwardly standing in silence, I broke out into manic laugher. "Hahahahah! Good one, Mina-kun! Wow! Really had me going there! And they say you have no sense of humor!"
"..."
"Holy shit, you were being serious."
July 24th
"Hey, Mina-kun," I greeted everyone's favorite blue-nette with his new nickname that morning at the school gate. For whatever reason, he hadn't walked to school with Junpei and I as usual. I wasn't big on change, so that was mildly upsetting, "where were you this morning?"
"Yeah, dude. That's not like you, bein' late." Junpei - my only travelling companion - remarked as well.
He merely shrugged. "The new girl decided to pretend to be an alarm clock."
I thought about that statement for a few moments, deciding it made perfect sense. "Ah, well, the life of a player is a difficult one."
"Would you stop with that?"
"Hmm... Nah. Minato Arisato is a player, and I will proclaim it as often as I want."
Junpei just laughed, shaking his head. "Some things never change, huh?"
The exam results were posted at lunch. Fuuka and I braved the sea of students in order to see whether or not we had failed miserably. Okay, so I'm pretty sure Fuuka was confident in her scores. It was really only me worrying about failing miserably.
A crowd had gathered in front of the bulletin board, so it took a little while to fight our way to the front. Once we made it, I held my breath as I scanned the list.
"Kasumi Shirogane... Kasumi Shirogane... Aha! Hey, I'm completely average! Victory is mine!"
After securing my victory, I continued to look over the list, curious about how the other juniors had faired. "Hmm... Fuuka, of course you did awesome... Yukari's pretty average, too... Heh, oh, Junpei... Wait... How in the name of anything and everything holy did Minato score at the top of the class?!"
Not only is Minato Arisato a player, I am now convinced he is not freaking human.
That night, I decided to try and be social. (Psst, this is where you all gasp in shock.) I went down to the lounge and hung out with the rest of SEES like a civil person. Because, despite what you might think, I can actually function like a normal human being.
It was around eleven o'clock when Minato got home, though. He was carrying a bundle of stuff I couldn't quite identify.
"Hey, what's up?"
Instead of answering my totally normal inquiry, the enigma of a boy dropped his bundle on the coffee table before depositing a long, gleaming sword on my lap. I blinked a few times, regarding the short sword, confused.
"I went for new equipment."
"Oh... Wait, dude. This isn't new. This is your old sword."
Minato only smirked slightly. "I got everyone else new equipment."
"Damn it, why do I always get your hand-me-downs?"
I was used to being brushed off at this point, so I didn't even react when Arisato didn't respond to me, opting instead to address Fuuka. "Can we go to Tartarus tonight?"
"Um, sure. No one really has plans. I'll let everyone know."
Holy shit.
Holy.
Shit.
When Aigis joined our team, I knew she was going to be skilled. She was a robot specifically designed to murder the crap out of Shadows.
But hot damn. Seeing her in action was really something amazing.
I fended off the attack of some disturbing book-shaped Shadow with the blunt of my sword. By the time I had dispatched it, our robot companion had wiped the other three out.
"Let's move on." Akihiko, the other member of the party, nodded, and the four of us advanced to the next floor.
I was so caught up in Aigis's amazing fighting that I barely noticed when we entered an entirely new block of Tartarus. This new place gave off a blue-ish light, and instead of being downright creepy as the last floor was, it had a surprisingly normal design. Not that any part of Tartarus was ever normal, but there was a significantly smaller amount of blood on the tiled floor and a distinct lack of faces protruding from the wall.
We were plunged into another battle before we had taken more than ten steps. I sighed, readying my borrowed blade. I had impressed myself by how well I had adapted to the foreign weapon.
"The enemy is weak to Agi skills!"
"Kasum-"
"Don't have to tell me twice, dude." I pressed my evoker to my temple, an action I had gotten used to over the weeks. "Hestia!"
My hooded Persona manifested as usual, raising her lantern. The maragion spell knocked the creatures to the ground. "Now's our chance!"
Our team charged in for an all-out attack. Once the smoke had cleared, no enemies remained to challenge us. I couldn't help but feel proud.
Sure, Aigis kicked some serious ass.
Yeah, Akihiko had awesome lightning skills, too.
Yes, Minato has, like, a million Personae up his sleeve.
But hey! I can contribute, too.
July 25th
Inaba was as rainy as always, something Souji had come to expect and even anticipate. He headed to school with an umbrella over his head. Thoughts of the Midnight Channel and the case filled his head, and he almost didn't notice the approach of one of his friends.
"Oh, good morning, Souji-kun," Yukiko greeted him with a small smile. She fell in step beside him.
"G'morning."
"Hey, did you see the weather report?" When Souji shook his head, she continued. "The rain's going to lift in the afternoon, but they say it's going to rain all day tomorrow. Wouldn't it be a good idea to check the Midnight Channel? Just in case? The culprit is already wanted by the police, but he's someone the police can't handle to begin with."
Souji nodded, "Yeah, let's check it out."
"Yes. Let's let everyone else know, too."
I was leaning against the wall outside class 2-E that afternoon, scrolling through my phone's calendar. Summer break started tomorrow, so I was hoping to decide when I was going to head to Inaba - excuse me, when we were going to Inaba. For whatever reason, Minato seemed determined to go with me. Maybe he didn't trust me? Or maybe he's just a weirdo.
Yeah, let's go with weirdo.
"Hey."
The expression 'speak of the devil' was becoming way too relevant to my everyday life. "Yes, Mina-kun?" I glanced up to meet the apathetic gaze of my dorm mate.
"About that trip to see your sister..."
"Yeah...? Lemme guess. You've come to your senses and don't want to go with me anymore?"
He smiled slightly. "Not quite."
"Damn. So close."
"Could it be after August second?"
I frowned, glancing down at the calendar still pulled up. "I mean, sure. Yeah, that's cool if you're determined to go. But why so late? Does Mina-kun have a date scheduled~?"
"There's a kendo tournament that day."
"Ooh, sounds exciting. Can I come to cheer you on? I'll make a giant, flashing neon sign and everything!"
"...That's not necessary."
"...Why must you spoil all my fun?"
"...Hello!" I nearly froze in shock when I arrived home that evening to be greeted by an elementary school kid's voice. It came to my attention, however, that the dorm wasn't under siege by pre-pubescent kids pretty quickly. "My name is Ken Amada. I'll be staying here for a while. I'll try to stay out of everyone's way, so don't mind me." Oh yeaaaah... I remembered the conversation we had had with Ikutsuki that felt like ages ago.
"Nice to meet ya, Ken!" I smiled, though I was unsure of myself. I'd never interacted with children that much. After an admittedly awkward encounter with the kid, I headed to my room. Once I arrived, I shut the door and pulled out my phone. I dialed Naoto's number without hesitation.
"Hello?" She picked up on the third ring.
"Hey, Nao. About that visit? Um... It might be a little while. I mean, no more than a couple of weeks..."
There was silence on the other line for a moment. "May I ask why the delay?"
"Well, I have an obligation on the second, so I can't leave before that-"
"An obligation?"
"Heh... Yeah, sorry. And then I'll have to leave after the full moon. Soooo... After the sixth of August?"
Naoto's voice seemed devoid of energy when she answered me, and I instantly felt guilty for putting the meeting off like that. "Why after the full moon?"
"It's a really long story, Nao..."
"...I understand, Kasumi. Just, please come when you can."
"I really am sorry."
"It's fine."
July 26th
The rain showed no sign of stopping that night. Souji stared out his window pensively. He knew there was a possibility something would appear, but he couldn't fathom what it might by. Excluding the suspect, there hadn't been any disappearances around town. No one of note had appeared on the news, either. He bit his cheek in thought as he sat himself in front of his switched-off screen.
Whatever he was expecting to happen, it certainly wasn't he got. Instead of a vague, static-y image, Souji was immediately greeted by a perfectly clear picture. A young boy, no older than any of his friends, stood in front of what appeared to be a castle. His blank stare seemed to fix directly on the viewer.
"...You all think you can see me?" The boy - he was frustratingly familiar - spoke in a monotone voice. "You all think you know everything about me? ... Then try and catch me."
Just like that, the image vanished.
Immediately, Souji's cell phone began to ring. He had a good idea who was calling.
"Hey, did you see that?!" Yosuke didn't even wait to be addressed. "Who was that guy? I don't know him… Have you ever seen him on the news or some television special? He seemed really gloomy... Like a zombie..."
Yosuke's musings were quickly replaced by a shrill background noise - a squealing that sounded like 'Yosuke! Yoooooooooooosuke!'
"Alright, alright! I hear you! Sorry, I'm going to give the phone to Ted." Souji nodded, forgetting for a moment that they couldn't see him.
"Sensei! It's me, Teddie!"
"Hey, Teddie."
"I finally got to see the Midnight Channel with my own eyes. Now I know exactly what's happening. That guy's suppressed emotions are resonating with the other side, which are picked up by the TVs over here. It's clear now that it's not being filmed by anyone. Mystery solved! But that kid... He must already be inside the other world! What're we gonna do?!"
Finally given the chance to respond, Souji said, "We're going in." It was the obvious, simple answer.
"Gotcha! I knew I could count on you, Sensei!"
Hearing the trust in Teddie's words, Souji felt the familiar tug on his heart he'd grown so used to. The shattering of glass and voices in his head failed to startle him as the Star social link advanced to rank three. He shook his head slightly, impressed that the link leveled up so easily on its own. He supposed that was one of the things that made Teddie so unique.
"That's enough, Ted! Give me the phone!" Yosuke's loud voice then replaced Teddie's. "Hey, how could he be already inside!? What happened to the blurry image that we usually see in advance? And did you hear what he said? 'Try and catch me'..."
"I have no clue."
"Now that I think about it, he looked like a high schooler. ...Hey, could he be...? Nah, I better not jump to conclusions. Let's meet up at headquarters tomorrow. Alright, later!" Souji knew what his partner had been implying when he said that. 'Could he be the suspect?' There was a good possibility he was the killer they'd been searching for. The taunt he gave was warrant enough for that assumption.
Moments after his call with Yosuke ended, Chie's name flashed on his caller ID. He recapped all that had been discussed for her as quickly as possible and headed to bed, the face of the killer still pressed in his mind.
July 29th
After a day of stressing over a murder case, it was nice to fall into a blissful sleep.
That is, it would have been nice, if I hadn't been awoken during the Dark Hour by Fuuka's distress call.
I practically fell out of my comfortable bed when I heard the broadcast.
"I detect a Shadow! Please hurry to the fourth floor!"
I was instantly awake, however, when I finally processed her words. What was a Shadow doing outside of Tartarus before the full moon? I threw on my Gekkoukan jacket over my kitten pajamas as I rushed to the meeting room.
The other juniors, Aigis, and I arrived at the same time, and we entered together. We were greeted by Fuuka and Mitsuru, the former seated at the bank of computers and the latter pacing a few steps behind her. There was no sign of Akihiko.
"What's goin' on?!" Acting as the spokesperson for everyone present, Junpei barked out a frantic question.
"There's a Shadow in the city. Yamagishi found it by chance." Mitsuru explained clinically.
"But... The moon isn't full yet..." Yukari was just as confused as I was, tilting her head to one side. I yawned, the only way I could express my agreement in my tired state.
Fuuka responded with, "Actually, it seems to be just a normal Shadow. However, it is outside of Tartarus..."
"It's near Naganaki Shrine. Akihiko went ahead since he was in the vicinity. I'm sure he can handle it alone, but let's get ready just in case."
We all nodded in understanding and prayed - at least I did - that we wouldn't have to go into battle. I wanted nothing more than to crawl back to bed and dream of dancing pizza and soda fountains.
A few minutes passed while we waited restlessly, and then -
"I'm here. Sorry, but I think you guys should come right away." We finally heard back from Akihiko. He sounded unhurt, if not slightly out of breath.
"What's wrong?" Mitsuru asked immediately. "Is it a powerful one?!"
"No, the Shadow's been defeated. In fact, it was defeated when I got here." At that, the seven of us exchanged confused glances. "The little fella's been injured. I wanna save him if we can."
No one really knew how to respond to that, but the transmission cut out there.
"Ummm... Little fella?" Despite our confusion, we left immediately.
When we arrived, the sight we were greeted with was horrifying. A familiar shiba inu was collapsed by the steps of the shrine, covered in blood.
"Koro-chan! Are you okay, Koro-chan?" Fuuka gasped, running to its side.
"Doggy, no..." I muttered under my breath. A hand on my shoulder caused me to jump. Minato gave me a sympathetic look, gray eyes for once not quite devoid of emotion.
"You know this dog?" Mitsuru seemed surprised.
Yukari spoke up when no one else did, "Yeah, everyone around here does. We have to help him!"
I stepped forward, tired steps unsteady but sure. "We should try and stop the bleeding first. Let's see... You're supposed to apply pressure."
"Kasumi, do you know what you're doing?
"I honestly have no freaking clue."
"...Okay, then."
I really didn't know what I was doing, my sleep-addled mind still a little fuzzy. Hell, the only reason I knew to apply pressure was because I'd read so much as a child.
"Man, this dog's one tough fighter." Akihiko's words dragged me out of whatever thoughts I was absorbed in. "He defeated the Shadow all by himself."
What.
"Wait, does that mean... This dog's a Persona user?!" Again, Junpei spoke what we were all thinking.
"He says, 'this is a place of peace. So I protected it.'" Aigis spoke up, and it didn't really click in my brain that she'd just translated dog-speak until Junpei questioned her on it. "Canines do not have their own language. However, speech is not the only means of communication."
You know what? I am so done.
The dog's a Persona user.
Aigis can speak dog.
Okay.
Yeah, I'm just going to go to sleep.
I'm done.
August 2nd
"Excuse me, pardon me. 'Scuse me. Get out of my damn way."
Through a weird combination of asking, threatening, and cursing, I eventually found a seat in the crowded stadium. The day had finally come - the day I got to watch Minato kick some serious ass in the kendo tournament. The few days after Koromaru had been injured passed in a kind of blur. I was relieved to know the doggy would be okay, and besides a few trips to Tartarus, nothing really worth noting had happened.
So it was with glee that I headed to the tournament. It was a welcome break from the monotony of summer break. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to construct a flashing neon sign, so Minato would just have to survive without one.
I watched the first few rounds with only mild interest. I really didn't know how the sport was supposed to work. As far as I could tell, it involved swinging sticks at each other and not getting hit. I figured, since Minato had trained so much in the Tower of Hell, he wouldn't have any problem destroying the competition.
...After the tournament...
"Minato. Arisato. Get your butt over here."
The blue-haired boy turned around questioningly at my angry approach. He was still in his kendo gear, face glistening with sweat.
"You've been beaten, stabbed, cut, electrocuted, frozen, burned, blown away, had death and holy fire cast upon you... " I advanced with every word, jabbing my finger into his chest, "yet you lose to some high school student?! I am disappointed in you, Mister. Disappointed."
"Hey. I did the best I could."
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk."
August 5th
My phone woke me the morning before the full moon with its annoying ringtone.
"Who wants to be killed...?" I grumbled, flailing my arm to my right until I found the device. I shoved it to my ear and muttered something into the receiver that could pass as a greeting.
"Kasumi."
I sat up immediately at the familiar voice. "Oh, hey, Nao. What's up?"
"I figured I should inform you... The killer has been apprehended."
If I hadn't been awake before, I definitely was then. "Wait, what?! Really? How?!"
"Yes, really. I must admit; it surprised me as well. Especially when I realized exactly who had turned the culprit in. Can you guess?"
"Those kids from before?"
"Precisely."
"Then, I guess this means the case is solved. Hurray?"
Naoto sighed. "It would appear. However..."
"You don't think it is, do you?"
"Too many pieces aren't adding up. Why was there such a long gap between the murders? Why was the third victim's cause of death so easily identifiable while the other two were never confirmed?"
I smiled to myself. "Well, I've already bought those train tickets. I'll head over anyway in a few days. We can brainstorm together, alright?"
"Thank you, Kasumi."
~~Author's Note~~
*Nicole bursts forth from the darkness surrounded by an aura of blinding light*
Umm... Hi? Wow, it's been a long time. A really long time. Like, almost a year?
I'm so, so sorry. Does anyone still care about this story anymore? I don't blame you if you don't.
I could give you my sob story, but I'll spare you that. Just, I was dealing with some serious emotional issues. Then school started, the emotional issues got better. I had midterms, sunk into depression again, then rose out of it triumphantly when I started playing Persona 4 Arena. (Seriously, it's beautiful. Amazing. If you haven't played it, go do that now. Tears were shed.) Then I played P3P again and decided, screw it. It's time to get down to freaking business.
Anyway, I'm trying to get on a regular update schedule. Two chapters a month, hopefully. I missed writing for this story.
Also, Minato can't be silent all the time. He wouldn't be able to function that way. He's gotta talk sometime.
I really don't know how well this came out, as it's now... 2:48 in the morning. But it's something. Hopefully I'll be back in the swing of things soon.
And thank you all so very much, from the bottom of my little heart, for the 90+ reviews. Seriously, I get back on this account after months of inactivity, and BAM.
