Saturday, 4-16-11. Weather: Cloudy Morning and Rain throughout the Day
Yu's Saturday morning had an uneventful start. This time, for some insane reason, he had woken up before Nanako and made breakfast after checking his injuries. The cut on his head had completely disappeared, with no traces of it even being there, and the cuts on his legs were just tiny scratch marks now. At this rate, he should be fully healed by the afternoon, and his limp had vanished as well, so walking to school was not a problem.
That was, however, until Yosuke nearly ran him over in a panicked frenzy, shaking him back and forth after abandoning his bike. Izanagi watched, amused at the two teen's interaction, as another Persona floated next to them and waved at Yu.
"Can you see it? Please, tell me you can see them, my mom nearly didn't let me go to school because she thought I hit my head yesterday. I can't be the only one who can see it, right?" Yosuke pulled back and then turned his head to the two Personas and then back to Yu rapidly. "But there are two of them, and the one with the black coat thing was following you so- Please tell me you can see at least one of them."
"A- Are you talking about Izanagi?" Yu asked, pointing to the being that had been with him nearly since he had arrived in Inaba. Yosuke paused and then sagged, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Oh thank god, I thought I was going nuts!" Yosuke tried to grab the other Persona's pant leg, only for his hand to go through the other being. Despite not being affected, they crossed their arms stubbornly and leered down at Yosuke who took a few fearful steps back. "What the hell are they?"
"Well, Izanagi is a Persona, and so is your friend over there." Yu said, pointing to the white-clad figure. "I think they're what we turn into when we're in the TV world."
"So… you turned into that guy when you were fighting the Shadows? Man, I'm glad that the height didn't transfer over then…" Yosuke mumbled. "I think its name is Jiraiya? I mean, when I stopped freaking out I just kind of… knew."
"Yeah, the same thing happened with me. Izanagi's been around since I got to Inaba."
"No way! You've had it following you since the twelfth?"
"About that long, yeah."
"Whoa… but forget about that, more important things!" Yosuke picked his bicycle and slung one of his legs over the seat. "Did you see what was on TV last night?"
"Yeah, I did. Not much to go on, though."
"But if someone's shown up on TV, we can't ignore it. Let's go check it out after school, maybe Teddie can tell us something." Yosuke hung his head. "If it turns out someone was thrown in again, there really might be a culprit behind all this. Even if it is something about that place that's killing the victims, if someone's using that world as a weapon, that's unforgivable.
"We need to find the culprit, no matter what it takes!" Yu's eyes widened as Yosuke's attitude shifted from somber to energized in a matter of seconds, Jiraiya pumping one of his fists into the air. "There's no way the police can do it. Who'd believe that the murderer kills people by throwing them into the TV?"
Yu nodded. "I want to keep my word too." Teddie seemed miserable until we promised to help, and I never go back on my word.
"Totally! A promise is a promise." Looking around, Yosuke moved a bit closer to Yu. "You know, I tried sticking my head in the TV last night, the way you did, and it actually worked. I think I can do it now because I have the same power - Persona, right?"
Jiraiya did a small spin in the air and placed their hand on Yosuke's shoulder, and Izanagi pushed away from the wall and hovered next to Yu, both responding to the question. "So, if you have a Persona, then you can enter the TV world?
"Maybe." Yosuke said, giving Yu a genuine smile. "I feel like, as long as you're with me, I can find the culprit and crack this case. Let's do our best!" Yosuke held out his hand, and Yu took it in a strong grip, smiling at the other teen.
A resounding smash! filled the air, and Yu jolted before everything around him just… stopped. Yosuke, Jiraiya and Izanagi were frozen, the light breeze stopping abruptly as a card materialized above their joined hands. Two hands came from the bottom of the card, a flame jumping above them with a pair of eyes staring straight ahead, the symbol for infinity circling above. The Roman number I was held in the trimming below and a voice echoed through Yu's head.
Thou art I, And I am thou.
Thou hast established a new bond…
It brings thee closer to the truth.
Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Magician Arcana.
Yu's eyes widened, remembering the odd dream of the Velvet room the night prior, and Igor's words came to mind.
"The Persona ability is the power to control one's own heart, and the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own Social Links will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links is what will determine your Persona's abilities."
Social Links… So, it's kind of like making friends with other people? And the stronger my friendship or… whatever relationship I have with them strengthens, then the stronger my Personas will be?
Time resumed once more, the breeze picking up and Yosuke retracted his hand from Yu's, who now acted like he was frozen. Yosuke waved his hand in front of Yu's face, snapping him out of his reverie and back into the real world. "Hey, before we go to school, I wanted to ask you something. When you were fighting my shadow, you got knocked down a couple of times from it hitting you. Would you be okay if I pick you up, if that happens again?"
"Yeah, of course." Yu said, desperately trying to dim down the blush in his cheeks from being caught up in his thoughts. "C'mon, we might be late if we keep waiting." Yu turned around and began to walk to the high school, Yosuke blazing past on his bike. The entire ride, he wondered why his friend's face had lit up a brilliant shade of red.
"Hey, have you noticed that it's been weirdly windy today?" Yosuke asked as Yu sat down in their classroom. Morooka had yet to show up, and the bell had not rung yet, so the row they sat in was mostly deserted.
"Is it not normal?" Yu responded, looking through his bag as he tried to find the homework he had completed. Yosuke, on the other hand, had an incomplete sheet poking out of his bag. The conversation was abruptly ended by Chie opening the door and rushing into the classroom. Her gaze glanced over the sparsely populated room before landing on Yu and Yosuke, who nervously scratched the back of his head as he remembered what had happened in Junes. The short girl ran over to the two of them, Yu observing that she was lacking an angry expression.
"Uh, Chie!" Yosuke exclaimed, taking a few nervous steps back, trying to maneuver his position so that Yu was in between him and the short tempered girl. "About yesterday… we're sorry we worried you."
"Never mind that, is Yukiko still not here?" Chie asked, shifting nervously as she looked at her friend's empty seat. Yu tilted his head in confusion while Yosuke continued the conversation.
"Huh, Yukiko-san? Uh… no? At least, I haven't seen her today."
"Oh man, what should I do? Hey, is that stuff you were talking about for real?" Chie questioned, looking out at the - now rainy - weather. Chie was really starting to worry about where Yukiko would be, despite her being busy with the Inn, she normally wasn't this late. "You know, all that about how people showing up on the Midnight Channel is related to that other world."
"Oh, we were talking about that on the way here. We're thinking of checking it out later-"
"The person on TV yesterday… I think it was Yukiko." Chie admitted, and Yu and Yosuke both froze. Yu's mind immediately went back to the image he saw last night, and tried to compare it to Yukiko. I mean, the face could work, but I don't know what she would look like in a kimono-
A lady wearing a kimono.
"Yukiko wears a kimono when she does errands." Yu said in monotone, and Yosuke jolted like he was punched in the stomach. "God, I saw her last night when I was walking home from Junes. I saw her with the kimono on and I didn't even think of her being the one on the TV."
"She was wearing it during that interview a few days ago too." Chie continued, her voice rising in pitch as her panic began to take over. "I got worried, so I emailed her last night, but she hasn't responded. I called her earlier in the evening though, and she said she'd be at school today. I-I…"
"Calm down, we get the picture." Yosuke said, keeping a cool head as Jiraiya floated through the floor, trying to pat Chie's head. Instead, their hand phased through her skull, and Yosuke stopped briefly as he processed this before continuing. "You still haven't heard from her?"
"No."
"We figured out that if someone appears on the Midnight Channel, that they're in the TV world." Yu said, regaining his composure. And whenever a person enters, a Shadow of themselves appears and tries to kill them, but that's the last thing you need to hear.
"What's that supposed to mean? Wait, are you saying Yukiko was thrown in there!?"
"We don't know yet for sure." Yosuke said, trying to keep Chie from having a panic attack. "We should check to see if she's safe first, give her another call."
Chie nodded, taking out her flip phone and frowned at the blinking 'NO NEW MESSAGES' displayed on screen. Hitting the 1 button, Chie began tapping her foot as the phone began to ring, only to see her start to shake as she brought the cell phone down. "No good, her voicemail picked up. S-She's not answering."
"Are you serious?" Yosuke asked, panic starting to settle in. "Then is Yukiko-san inside that place?"
"What about the Inn?" Yu says. "It's been busy there, right? Maybe she's just been caught up with something there?"
"Y-Yeah, an errand must have come up, or something. She wouldn't be able to answer her cell if that's the case." Chie said, taking a few deep breaths.
"But would she skip school for that?" Yosuke asked, letting out a yelp of pain as Yu punched his side, sending the other boy a glare.
"Well, I'll give the inn a call. I've got the number here somewhere." Finding the contact, Chie then selected it and waited as the phone rang. "C'mon, Yukiko, pick up."
Chie let out a sigh of relief when the front desk picked up and greeted her, having recognized her number long ago. "Hi, is Yukiko there? Oh thank god, she's there!" Yu could immediately feel the tension in the area drop, and Yosuke tilted his head back and let out a sigh. Jiraiya, now knowing that the situation had calmed down, phased back through the floor and went back to Izanagi, who was showing them around the school building.
"Uh-huh… Uh-huh, I see." A smile slowly began to form on Chie's face as the conversation went on. "Ah, uh. Nah, it was nothing, haha. Can you tell her that I'll email her later? Thank you!" Ending the call, she let out another sigh. "She was over at the inn, Umayo-san said that they had a big group reservation and that she had to help out. Yeah… now that I think about it, this has happened before, too. At least once a year. She said she'll be at the inn tomorrow, too.
"For crying out loud, Yosuke, you got me worried over nothing! She was totally fine! And you wer all, "Is Yukiko-san inside that place?" Hmph." Chie crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the two boys in front of her.
"Sorry, but there is a reason we thought that." Yosuke said, looking down at Yu, who turned back to Chie.
"We thought that if someone appeared on the Midnight Channel, it meant that they're already in Teddie's world. So when you said that Yukiko went missing, we assumed the worst. The theory makes sense, and apparently it's not Yukiko because she's still here."
"Let's meet up at Junes after school." Yosuke said. "We can meet up with Teddie and make sure that no one's on the other side." The door slammed open and Morooka barged in, yelling at the other students for them to take their seats, and the three friends remained silent throughout the school day.
"...So after I beat the Shadow, Yosuke got his Persona - who is called Jiraiya - and we left to head back here. Then you threw a rope at us and we both left Junes to go back home." Yu summarized as they stood in the electronics department of Junes, which was crowded with shoppers. Yosuke looked left and right, glaring at nearly anyone that came near them, clearly displeased.
"O-Okay, I think that's more than enough about my sorry escapades." Yosuke remarked, nervously turning to the couple less than five feet away from them.
"If I hadn't seen the place first hand, I'd never have believed a story like that." Chie said.
"Yeah, no kidding. Anyways, we need to know what's going on inside." Yosuke said, huffing in anger as a mother with a little boy passed by them.
"How? By asking that Teddie guy?"
"Yeah, but its way too crowded here." Yu stated. "I thought you said that not a lot of people come to the electronics section?"
"There normally isn't, but there's a sale today and people will naturally look around." Yosuke's eyes widened and he gave a small smile. "I got it! Chie, c'mere a sec." Yosuke moved to the left of the TV, his left shoulder against the edge of the flat screen, making sure that he wasn't touching the screen instead. "Okay, now Chie, face me and go on the other side of the TV so that way we make a wall. Yu, try sticking your hand in and calling him over. I bet that bear's wandering around the entrance anyway."
Now with Chie and Yosuke on either side of him, they were blocking the other customers view of where his hand was going. Anyone passing by in the hall would just see three teens in front of a TV, and the ripples would just look like a weird light trick. Letting his hand go through the screen, Yu made a beckoning motion with his hand, hoping that Teddie was around and that he wasn't looking like a complete fool.
Instead, he let out a muffled yelp of pain as blunt teeth chomped down onto his hand, and he jerked his hand out of the TV. Izanagi flew over immediately, Naginata pointed at the TV in case a Shadow of some sort came through. Yu gently prodded at his hand, trying to not aggravate the reddened skin that showed clear bite marks.
"What's wrong?" Yosuke asked, the question calling the attention of a few customers, which Chie noticed.
"Sh! Not so loud, you idiot! Dude, is that a bite mark? Are you okay?"
"I'll be alright, there's no blood." Yu said, letting out a little hiss of pain and he continued to examine the minor injury.
"Wow, that looks like it hurts. Sheesh, that stupid bear must've done it." Chie turned to the TV, keeping her voice at whispering volume, but maintaining the angry tone. "Hey, you, we know you're in there!"
"Ooh, ooh, is this a game?" Came Teddie's excited voice from the other side, dim ripples of white coming from the screen.
"No, it's not a game!" Yosuke whispered. "Can you sense anyone inside there right now?"
"Who's "anyone"? I'm a lonely little bear like always. This land feels so bear-ren." The bear let out a tiny chuckle at his pun.
"Shut it!" Chie snapped. "So there's no one inside? You're sure?"
"I'm not lying! My nose is running as good as ever!" Teddie protested, and Yu could imagine the animal pounding his foot against the ground of the stage.
Chie let out a sigh, happy that no one was in the world, but still worried over the Midnight Channel's image. "I'm gonna go warn Yukiko anyway. Since she'll be busy this weekend helping out at the inn, I doubt she'd go anywhere alone, but still."
"Yeah, you'll walk with her to school on Monday, right?" Yosuke asked.
Chie nodded. "Sure, I'll go pick her up at her house."
"Maybe we'll find out more on tonight's Midnight Channel. Cross your fingers that this is all just a misunderstanding." Yosuke said, taking his phone out of his pocket and flipping it open. "What's your cell number? I'll call you when I watch it tonight." Yu nodded and took out his phone, the two exchanging numbers. As Yu put away the flip phone, Yosuke lifted his up and snapped a quick picture of Yu, who blinked rapidly in response to the flash. The other boy gave a wide smile before putting back his stoic demeanor. "Alright, don't forget to watch tonight."
The three nodded, leaving the store, not noticing how Jiraiya and Izanagi lingered behind them for just a second before waving and parting ways.
There was no large news report on, Dojima had arrived home only a few minutes ago and had gone to bed immediately, and Nanako was out cold. Yu let out a sigh as he shut the curtain behind him, rain pattering against the windows in the dark room. The clock on his counter ticked over to Midnight, and the TV blared white noise for only a second before switching over to a TV program.
A TV program starring Yukiko.
Yu jolted, TV remote falling from his hand as he stared at Yukiko (if it wasn't Yukiko, it was someone who looked a hell of a lot like her). She wore a pink princess dress that showed her shoulders, pink arm-length gloves holding onto a microphone.
"Good evening!" Yukiko exclaimed. "Tonight, Princess Yukiko has a big surprise! I'm going to go score myself a hot stud! Welcome to not a dream, not a hoax, Princess Yukiko's hunt for her Prince Charming, and I came prepared!"
Yu felt a fluorescent blush cover his face as the camera cut to Yukiko gripping her crotch in a suggestive manner, and then to her breasts. He had to cover his mouth to restrain himself from making a noise that would wake up Dojima or Nanako. "I've got my lacey unmentionables on, stacked from top to bottom. I'm out to catch a whole harem, and the best of the lot is gonna be all mine! Well, here I go!" The camera then cut to a wide shot, showing Yukiko running into a stone castle, statues of horses rearing up on their hind legs standing on the wall. Just as she was about to enter the building, the program ended, and Yu was left standing in his bedroom with Izanagi leering at the TV behind him.
Yu wasn't certain how long he stood there before the ringing of his cell phone snapped him out of his stupor. Yosuke's number blinked on the screen, and he picked up, Yosuke's panicked voice coming through the speaker.
"Hey, did you see that? That was Yukiko-san for sure! It looked like her, I mean, she even said her name. But didn't the stuff she was saying sound weird?"
"I haven't been here that long, Yosuke, but Yukiko is definitely not the type of person to just say that on TV." Yu replied, pacing back and forth in his slightly cramped room. It wasn't that there was a lot of stuff in there, it was just that the room was small.
"She looked like she was on some low-budget TV show, was it like this before too?"
"If you mean with Saki, then it looked like a low-budget horror movie. Try calling Yukiko, if she's okay then she should pick up."
"Y-Yeah, I know. Uh, crap, I don't know her number!"
"Then call Chie!"
"Okay, yeah, I'll do that. Tomorrow's Sunday, so let's meet up at Junes first thing in the morning!" Yosuke said, ending the call. Yu put his cell phone back in its charger and went to bed, head filled with upsetting thoughts.
Chie was happy that she had memorized the quickest path from her house to the Amagi Inn before she was six, because if she hadn't, she would probably have gotten lost by now. Her legs burned as she forced herself to run the entire way, barely registering her cell phone ringing in her jacket pocket as she picked up.
"Chie!" It was Yosuke. "Look, did you watch the Midnight Channel? Do you know where Yukiko is?"
"Don't know, running to Inn, going to check, gotta go!" Chie said in between her pants, seeing the lights of the Amagi Inn just over the hill. She ended the call abruptly, sprinting up the slope and ending up at the back door, pounding away at it. After nine knocks, Namine Umayo opened the door and saw an exhausted Chie Satonaka on the doorstep.
"Chie, wha-"
"Is Yukiko here?" Chie panted, holding the door frame. "Please tell me she's here!"
"She isn't at your house?" Namine asked. "She hasn't been at the Inn for the past few hours, so we thought she went to blow off steam with you."
And it was in that moment Chie felt her heart break into a thousand pieces, and she fell to the floor sobbing.
Aaaaaaand now hiatus. Since I have a Memorial Day weekend, I might be able to get up chapter 8 up next week (maybe), but then there will be tests and regents and common cores and I just hate school so badly.
So yeah, sorry it's short, but chapter 8 is going to be great and then hopefully 9-11 will be just as good (because action and fighting and yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay). Happy holidays to anyone that has them!