A/N: Yosuke is jamming to his tunes again. The song that I use is from Epica's Deconstruct. It's a really good song if you like orchestral-operatic-femme metal (like me). Everything is, of course, copyrighted by the respected owners.

Borderline of Madness

Part 2: Sauna

Interlude: The Backside of the TV

The Investigation Team sat in their self-proclaimed "Secret Headquarters" (known to the rest of Inaba as the third table on the left at the food court in Junes). Souji was discussing plans for rescuing Kanji Tatsumi from the TV with Chie, Yosuke, and Yukiko when a small "Yip," sounded from somewhere near his feet.

"AHH! Ohmygod, what the hell is that?!" Chie hastily pointed in Souji's direction, knocking her can of soda over in the process. Yukiko quickly mopped up the spill with a wad of napkins.

Souji looked where Chie was pointing and saw the fox he'd encountered at the Shrine. "Hey, it's that fox."

"Yip!"

Remembering the healing leaves, Souji suddenly had an idea. "I think we should let it come with us when we go into the TV."

Yosuke starred at him in disbelief. "Dude, it's a fox."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have to agree with Yosuke. How do we know it won't…you know…eat us?" Chie said. Her eyes remained fixed on the orange furry terror standing at Souji's feet.

"Yip!" The creature let out a small cry of disagreement.

"Does it understand what we're saying?" Yukiko looked at the Fox in wonder.

"Yip!" The Fox dipped his head slightly in what appeared to be a nod.

"I think it does. I saw it at the shrine the other day. He had a bunch of weird looking leaves."

Yosuke shrugged. "So it had an upset stomach or something. Dogs eat grass when they feel sick, right?" He looked to Chie for confirmation.

"What are you looking at me for?"

"You're the one with the dog!"

"How am I supposed to know if a fox eats grass just because—"

"Guys!" Souji's eternally calm voice cut through their argument. "He gave one of the leaves to a crippled old man. It completely restored the man's ability to walk and it made him almost…young again."

It was Chie's turn to stare at Souji in disbelief. "Magic leaves?"

"Yip yip yap!" The Fox picked up a can in its mouth and nudged Souji's leg. The can had a ¥ sign on it. Then the Fox motioned to a small satchel on its back. The bag was stuffed full of what Chie had so eloquently deemed "magic leaves."

Souji shrugged. "He says if we pay a small fee, he'll restore our energy inside the TV."

"A fee?! That's ridiculous!" Yosuke exclaimed. "It's a woodland creature. Why the hell does it need money?"

"Grrrr…"

"I don't know, Yosuke. This sounds like it might be useful." Yukiko knelt down by the Fox. "Can you really help us?"

"Arroooo!" The Fox howled in confirmation and wagged its tail as Yukiko scratched it behind the ears.

"I think we should bring it." Yukiko stood back up, smiling.

Chie shrugged. "Well, if Yukiko's fine with it…he doesn't bite, right Souji?"

Souji shrugged again. "He hasn't bitten me yet."

Yosuke groaned. "Great. Now we have a bear and a fox. It'll be a regular zoo now."

"So, are we settled?" Souji asked, ignoring Yosuke's jibe. His team nodded. "Alright. Then let's go rescue Tatsumi."

The party left the Junes food court and headed toward the electronics department with the Fox following stealthily behind them.

"What do you mean you can't find him? Didn't you just say you could smell that he was here?!"

"Oh, don't yell at me Yosuke. I'm trying beary hard." Teddie frowned and tried to locate Kanji one more time. He sniffed at the air and held his breath on the last sniff. His face began to turn blue just as he let out a dejected breath. "I'm sorry. I just can't do it. I know he's here…I just can't tell where."

"Great. Now you're obnoxious and useless." Yosuke grumbled.

Souji shot him a warning glance. "Yosuke!" He turned his glance on Teddie, softening his expression. "It's ok, Teddie. It was easy with Yukiko. We knew exactly what we were looking for since Chie is such good friends with her."

Yukiko nodded. "It's true. If it had been just Yosuke and Souji looking for me, it would probably have been harder to find me."

Chie beamed briefly but quickly returned her worried glance to the Fox snuffling around near her feet. "Since none of us know Kanji-kun that well, it isn't surprising that we can't find him."

Souji nodded. "Chie is right. We need to talk to someone who knows Kanji a little better. If we can figure out anything about him, maybe it'll help you."

"That's a great idea, Sensei!" Teddie smiled. "See, Yosuke, I'm not useless." The bear stuck his tongue out at Yosuke. Yosuke replied by sticking his tongue out as well.

"Real mature, Yosuke." Chie scoffed.

"What? He started it."

"Teddie, stay here and play with the Fox. We'll be back as soon as we find something out about Kanji." Souji said as he moved toward the stacked televisions that marked the exit to the TV world. Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko followed him as he exited the TV world.

Teddie glanced nervously down at the Fox. "Uhh…hi there. I'm Teddie."

"Yip!" The Fox promptly sat down on Teddie's foot and looked up adoringly.

The Investigation Team had returned to their "Secret Headquarters" in order to discuss "operation get to know Tatsumi by asking other people that might know him" (eloquently titled as such by Chie).

"I think Tatsumi-san is our best bet at this point." Yukiko said in her soft, yet attention-grabbing manner. "She's his mother, so obviously she'll know quite a bit about Kanji. She also knows me, so my asking her wouldn't seem so odd."

Souji nodded. "That sounds perfect."

"Yeah, I can't really think of anyone else who'd really know much about him." Yosuke frowned in thought. "It's not like he comes to school that often. And even if he did, I doubt he'd make very many friends with his 'get bent, punks' attitude."

"What about that boy he was with the other day? You know, the one we followed?" Chie asked Yosuke.

"Oh, you mean that short, skinny, weird kid? I don't know. They didn't look like they knew each other that well."

Chie shrugged. "It was just a thought. Off-base as usual."

Souji shook his head. "Actually, you may have something there. Why don't you two go walk around the riverbed and see if you can find the kid? Yukiko and I will go talk to Tatsumi-san."

"Right."

The four split into their pairs and set off in different directions.

The slender detective fidgeted in the close air within the textile shop. He was quite concerned with Kanji's apparent absence. They had scheduled to have another conversation today after school, however Kanji had not shown up at the designated meeting place. If Kanji had truly vanished, the detective's suspicion linking a victim's television appearance and their subsequent kidnapping was spot on…as expected of course. As he spoke to Kanji's mother, he resisted the urge to fan himself with his hat. The room was hot, but fanning himself with a hat was not only unprofessional, but far too feminine a gesture. Best not to give any doubt.

"You are certain that Kanji-kun did not return at any point that evening? If he were running away I—"

Kanji's mother smiled kindly at the boy. "Oh, Kanji wouldn't runaway. He sometimes takes off by himself for a little while. It isn't that unusual. Now can I offer you some tea…?"

"I apologize. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Naoto Shirogane. And no tea, thank you. I have business to attend to."

"Of course. If you happen to see Kanji, please tell him that his mother has his favorite supper waiting."

I seriously doubt I will be able to tell him that. Your son has most likely been kidnapped and may be dead. "I will. Thank you for your time, Tatsumi-san."

Naoto opened the door to exit the hot textile shop only to bump into something. Looking up, he noticed it was a silver-haired boy wearing a Yasogami High uniform.

"Excuse me." He adjusted his hat and hurried out the door with barely concealed embarrassment written on his face.

Souji stared after the slender boy as he hurried away from the shop. "Yukiko, was that the boy?"

"Huh?" Yukiko looked at him oddly. "What boy?"

"The boy that Kanji was with. Was that him? The one with the hat?"

Yukiko squinted after the hastily retreating figure. Before she could answer, Souji had already set off after him.

"Hey!" Souji called after the boy.

Upon hearing the shout, the slim boy stopped and turned around to face Souji. "Yes?"

"You were hanging out with Kanji Tatsumi the other day, right?"

Naoto would have been suspicious of such questioning if the silver-haired boy hadn't had such a disarming attitude. "Yes. I conversed with him briefly following the conclusion of school yesterday."

"Well, I'm a…friend of his. He seems to have disappeared. I haven't talked to him for awhile, so I was wondering if you noticed anything odd when you spoke with him."

A million alarm bells popped up in the detectives mind: he paused briefly before saying friend (meaning he is most likely lying), how would he know that Kanji and I spoke if he has not talked to Kanji recently, if he was a friend of Kanji's wouldn't he know if something odd was going on? All of these objections to the silver-haired boy's question seemed moot when he spoke a second time.

"I'm concerned something has happened to him. I need to know if anything strange was going on."

The silver-haired boy's eyes were full of some secret motivation, but not a devious one. He may have been lying about his relationship with Kanji, but he was not lying about being concerned. Naoto noticed something unspoken. The boy seemed to say: "I know what's going on. I can help him. I just need to know what you know." For some reason, Naoto didn't analyze those thoughts any further.

"I noticed that he seemed somewhat…uneasy around me. When I told him that he was a strange person, he reacted oddly, immediately becoming quiet." Naoto shrugged and adjusted his hat. "I feel that he must harbor a complex of some sort."

The silver-haired boy's eyes briefly seemed to light up. "Thank you, for your help. You've been very useful…"

"Naoto Shirogane." Useful!

"Thank you, Naoto-kun."

And with that, the silver-haired boy left without so much as introducing himself. Naoto stared after him, a frown pasted on his face.

"Something is odd about that one. I'll have to keep my eyes open." The detective continued his walk home deep in thought.

Yosuke sat with Chie at the "Secret Headquarters" waiting for Yukiko and Souji to return. They'd found no trace of the weird skinny kid at the floodplain, and Yosuke was getting irritated with Chie…for making him want her so badly. It was easy to pretend that he was just irritated with her, since that was the kind of relationship they had.

Why don't you just say something then?

Yosuke mentally admonished his persona. "Shut up, Jiraiya. You don't know anything about women!"

Of course I don't. I am you after all.

"Fuck you, Jiraiya."

He slid on his headphones in an attempt to block out his persona. The song that came up in the shuffle was some soulful ballad. Yosuke grabbed his i-pod and quickly switched the music to something much more loud and angry.

If we could see ourselves, the mirror would reflect insanity
Instead we camouflage the flaws that lie within
Condone the suffering we witness as we mingle casually
We need to right ourselves, or else we will derail

How fitting, Yosuke though. How goddamn fitting.

Chie tapped him on the shoulder. "They're back."

Yosuke slid off his headphones and looked up as Yukiko and Souji walked up to the table.

"I had the great fortune of stumbling upon Naoto Shirogane, the boy Kanji was talking with the other day." Souji smiled. "He said that Kanji may have a 'complex' of some type. I think that's enough for Teddie to go on."

Yosuke nodded and smiled. "Alright then, let's go rescue Kanji!"

They headed back towards the electronics section, this time determined to find Kanji.