Souji was furious. Luckily, Nanako and Dojima weren't home, as they'd gone to Okina and had decided to stay at a hotel nearby. This was fortunate, as Souji was quite literally yelling at the top of his lungs, walking up and down the stairs, banging his head on walls, swearing enough to make any sailor cringe, and mostly acting as if he'd just heard the worst news of his life; which he might as well have. Yu looked thrown; not only had he never seen his brother act anything close to how he was now, but Yu was at a loss for words himself after what they'd just seen. Souji didn't even hear Kanji calling him on his cell, and Yu had to pick up his brothers phone from the Futon where he'd thrown it before starting this…whatever this was.
"Before you say a thing, Kanji, you should hear this" Yu said, and pointed the phone in his brothers direction.
"….and he's got to be the biggest idiot I've ever known! Hell, Teddie's smarter than this chump! I mean, why the hell would anyone put themselves on the spot like that?! He has no freaking idea just how dangerous this is! He's knee deep in this crap, and he knew something would happen! Why the hell else would he come and warn us?! Why the hell else would he have shown up on T.V!? He knew that was the connection, and went and threw himself in the line of fire like this! And for what?! To prove that the case wasn't over!? We already knew that, goddammit!" Souji walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Yu brought the phone back to his ear. "You catch all that?" he asked, hoping Kanji was still on the line.
"...uh…wow…and I thought I was pissed." Kanji said after a moment of silence.
"Well, Naoto is a bit of an idol to Souji after all, and they have been working together since we rescued Rise. I'm not surprised at his feelings, but I never expected him to react this harshly." Yu said, a look of concern washing over his face.
"Yeah, didn't you tell us that Souji reacted real badly whenever someone he cared about got threatened?" Souji, of course, had displayed one of his fear-response rants to the whole team at once in Mitsuo's dungeon, and Yu had explained the situation to the members who weren't there at the police station months ago. Yu sighed, sitting down as he heard Souji continue his tirade downstairs.
"Look, let's meet up at Junes tomorrow after school. We'll probably have to gather some information; Naoto didn't really tell anyone anything."
Kanji agreed, and Yu went downstairs to try and calm Souji down, knock him out if need be. "It's going to be a long night" he thought wryly.
The group sat in one of the rooms, closing the doors on both sides to make sure shadows wouldn't come busting through. They all slumped against a wall or desk, feeling tired. "How many more floors do we have?" groaned Yosuke, rubbing one of his arms to return the feeling to it.
"We…have to backtrack to the research area." Rise said, leaning against Yu as she sat, who had his head tilted back and was breathing a bit heavily. The team groaned collectively.
Kanji sat near Teddie, who was mumbling something to Yukiko about seeing if Energy Shower might make the group feel better. He looked over to Souji, who was sitting by himself in a corner, sweat dripping from his face. The Investigation Team had arrived at Naoto's section of the T.V world after waiting a couple of days to gather some information. Despite the closeness of their work relationship, Souji had been unable to provide enough information to Rise to find Naoto; a fact that Souji had become highly annoyed over. They had fought their way past hordes of Shadows, who appeared to be very strong. The Team was out of practice, and they knew it. Souji, however, continued to push forward, stubbornly refusing to give in. Watching him now, Kanji saw the silverettes shoulders set, and he watched his close friend stand up, pulling some money out of his pocket.
"Fox…" he mumbled, and the animal showed up, as if by magic. He put the offering in the animal's apron, which had a small pouch attached to it, and the fox went around, pressing leaves to everyone's bare skin. The team felt energy flow back through them, and stood up shakily, feeling the need to press on. Souji looked at his friends, jaw set hard. "Let's get back to the research station, and find Naoto." he said, and opened one of the doors, summoning Morpheus to obliterate the enemy behind it.
The group stood before the door. Souji held the card they had received in the research station in his hand. "Naoto-kun's just beyond this door" Rise said.
Souji nodded. "I know" was his quiet response.
He slid the card down the scanner next to the door, and heard the lock release. The door crept open slowly, slower than Souji would have liked. Finally it opened, and the team stepped in. The room was a lab, with assorted tools and devices scattered around it. In the middle stood a metal bed, with many drills, blades, and other strange devices attached to it. And in front of it stood Naoto and his shadow.
The detective turned as the team entered, as if expecting their arrival. "Ah, it's about time y-." The sleuth never got to finish whatever he'd been going to say. Souji strode over to the boy quickly, turning him around to face him, and slapped him hard across the face before pulling him into a tight hug.
Souji's voice trembled as he spoke. "Never…." He spoke quietly "…Never, EVER pull something so stupid like this again!" Naoto was at a loss for words, and blushed as he tried to comprehend what had just happened, raising a hand to his face where he'd been struck.
"S-Senpai?!" he exclaimed, turning his head to look at the silverette as Souji released him from the embrace, holding the detective's shoulders as he stood at arm's length, ensuring that he had Naoto's full attention.
"I don't care what your thoughts were on the case. I don't care that you felt dissatisfied with the results. You and I found out that Mitsuo wasn't the killer; we'd known it all along. What I care about is your safety. Did you even stop to think what might've happened? This place is dangerous, Naoto, but even without knowing that, you put yourself in harm's way to satisfy a craving!"
Souji's eyes stung as tears fell from his face; he didn't care. Saving people who hadn't known better, who'd been kidnapped without warning was one thing, but the boy in front of him had become a close friend in to Souji, at least in his eyes. The thought that he'd put himself in danger to satisfy some need to prove himself infuriated the teen.
"Your life is more important than that! Did you stop to think about how your friends would have felt if they'd known?"
Naoto looked even more stunned. "F-Friends?" he stammered.
Souji shook his head exasperatedly. "Honestly, Naoto, you're the most stupid intelligent person I know. Yes, friends. You know, the people who are standing here in front of you? The ones who've been worried sick ever since you showed up on the Midnight Channel? We didn't ask you to hang out at the club because you're some famous detective or some pointless shit like that! We genuinely want to be your friend! Didn't you see that?!"
Souji felt adrenaline course through him. He didn't really understand why he felt so strongly about this entire thing. Logically, this was almost expected, given Naoto's stubborn determination on this case. Why was Souji so shaken up? What difference did it make? Another person showed up on the Midnight Channel, meaning that the killer was obviously still loose, not that Souji hadn't known that. And yet, here he was, yelling at Naoto for what he did, actually crying for the first time in years. He let his hands drop from Naoto's shoulders, backing away from the boy a bit to give him space. Yu came up behind him, placing a hand on his twins shoulder, squeezing gently. "Souji-senpai..." Rise said, tearing up at the display of emotion from the last person she'd expected it from.
Yosuke walked over with Chie and Yukiko. "Dude…" was all he could say.
Kanji nodded, and looked at Naoto. "Well, Senpai just let go of everything he's been holding back just now. Whaddya have to say to that? You just gonna stand there or somethin'?"
Naoto shook his head vigorously, and composed his face, masking any emotion in it. "All of that is irrelevant. It's time I left, anyways. I've gotten my answer, and this…child here is useless to me." He gestured behind him at the Shadow, which was sobbing into his oversized lab coat sleeves.
"No! No, don't go."
It shouted as Naoto began to walk away, ignoring the looks of disapproval he received from the Investigation Team. Souji stood quietly, shoulders shaking lightly. Naoto turned back to the Shadow, looking down slightly. "It's useless speaking with you. I need to go back now..."
The Shadow cried out again, begging. "Why? Why're you leaving me here!? Why am I always left alone!? It's so lonely...I don't wanna be alone!"
"Naoto-kun" said Yukiko softly, a gentle hand on Souji's back.
"You wear the same face as me...It's as if you're implying we're one and the same. But the difference between me and you is..." Naoto trailed off.
The Shadow cackled, a stark contrast to its earlier whining. "Why delude yourself? I am you." It continued on, relishing the look of annoyance on Naoto's face.
"These childish gestures are no mere affectation...They're the truth. The fools all say it, don't they...? 'You're only a child,' 'Keep out of our business, kid,' and so forth. No matter how many cases you spend hours cogitating over, no matter how many crimes you solve, you're a child in their eyes. It's your brain they're interested in. The grey matter locked up in that skull. As long as they need it, you're an ace detective! But once you're done, it's back to the playpen with you. You haven't the means to deal with society's two-faced nature...You're just a lonely child."
The Shadow laughed. "Naoto…" Yosuke said; the brunette couldn't help but feel for the Detective Prince.
"I wanna be a grown-up...I wanna be a big boy right now...Then they'll see who I am...I...I want a reason for me to stay..." the Shadow whined.
"That's enough!" Naoto said loudly. "I can find my own reason for living!" The sleuth stomped his foot indignantly.
"Hah...I'm telling you that's impossible. You are but a child. How can you change that essential truth?"
Naoto shook his head, trying to block out the Shadow's words. "S-Stop it" he said.
"At your core, you admire the sort of "strong" and "cool" men who populate detective fiction. But in trying to emulate them, you must know that in truth, you're nothing of the sort-you're a child. There's no avoiding first principles...Admit that you're a child, and admit that there's nothing you can do about it. Now then! Our analysis is complete. Let us begin the body alteration procedure. You have no objections, do you..."Naoto" Shirogane?" The Shadow relished the look on Naoto's face again as he stammered another rejection, seeing the worry that swept across the boy's face.
Souji looked up finally, eyeing the shadow angrily.
"'Naoto'...Such a cool, manly name! But a name doesn't change the truth. It doesn't let you cross the barrier between the sexes. How could you become an ideal man when you were never male to begin with...?" The Shadow laughed as Naoto became ghostly pale, hands fidgeting and knees shaking.
"Wait, WHAT!? Did he…Did I just hear that right?" Yosuke said, bewildered. Souji's eyes had grown wide, and he suddenly had a memory flash before his eyes; a piece of white cloth that looked like a bandage sticking out of Naoto's collar slightly as he…no, she spoke to the group outside of Marukyu Tofu.
"H-He's not a guy?!" Kanji said, stepping back into Yu, who fell backwards onto the floor, not even trying to stop himself. Naoto struggled visibly. "I won't throw a tantrum…" she said quietly. "That accomplishes nothing…!"
The Shadow chuckled in response. "Hahahaha! How often I've heard those words from the adults. 'Throwing a tantrum won't solve anything, Naoto-kun,' and other such bilge! They made you cry, didn't they? Yet here you are, mimicking those same men. What exactly are you trying to justify?" Naoto looked even more shocked. Souji felt his hand twitch; Yu stood up and noticed a fire light in his brothers silver eyes.
"It's all right. You needn't suffer anymore. That's why you're undergoing this bodily alteration procedure to begin with. You throw a tantrum, but it fails to change the situation a single bit...I can quite understand the feeling. After all...I am you." The shadow said, looking Naoto in her eyes.
"That's not true!" said the young girl, stepping back.
Yu's eyes widened. "No, don't say it!" he yelled, but movement from Souji caught his attention.
"Let her get it out." He said quietly, shaking his friends off of him and adjusting his Tonfa, making sure they were on securely. "If we don't, Naoto's just going to keep on hurting." Kanji nodded; Souji had taken the words right out of his mouth.
The shadow turned to face the group, laughing. "As if you know anything about me!" it said, beginning to glow. "Come then, why don't you come learn all there is to know!"
The Shadow transformed quickly. It was robotic in appearance, wearing discoloured forms of Naoto's normal attire, with bits and pieces turned metal in a mismatched pattern. It hovered above the ground, a jetpack allowing it to fly, and it held two odd looking guns in its hands.
What happened next occurred faster than Yu could blink. Souji moved to catch Naoto, telling the team to let him handle this fight. Morpheus appeared as he took his first step, flying straight at the shadow, gauntlets outstretched as if to grab it. Both Master and Persona reached their targets at the same time. Souji caught Naoto as she fell, her legs giving out under her. Morpheus slammed into the Shadow, knocking one of its guns away as it continued its forward motion, shoving Naoto's Shadow through the metal wall behind it. A burst of magic's flowed down the Personas arm, erupting in the Shadows face where Morpheus had grabbed it.
The Shadow lashed out with a kick, removing the Persona and forcing it back. It flew up fast, circling around Morpheus, and pointed its gun at Souji, who was holding an unconscious Naoto in his arms. Morpheus flew at it, forcing its hand up as it fired, causing it to narrowly miss its target. The team began to move forward as the Shadow and Morpheus began their duel, but were blocked by the sudden appearance of many shadows.
"Damn, we gotta help Souji!" Yosuke said, slashing in front of him, causing two shadows to disappear, but four more took their place.
Yu swung his katana in a wide arc, Izanagi doing the same at his back. "There's too many to break through. Focus on protecting yourselves for now!" he yelled, forcing the shadows in front of him to retreat backwards momentarily.
Shadow Naoto flew up, forcing Morpheus to follow him into the air. "Morpheus, Bufudyne!" yelled Souji. The Persona complied, sending multiple bursts of ice flying at his target as if they were being shot from cannons. The Shadow deftly evaded the ice, firing its own magic back at the Dream-lord. Morpheus was struck multiple times by fire and lightning, causing it to recoil, but a shot of ice replenished its energy, and the Persona took off, slamming its left fist into the Shadow's stomach. Reaching up with his right hand, Morpheus grabbed the shadow by the neck, wrapping his large hand around it, crushing the Shadow. "Assault Dive! Now!" yelled Souji hoarsely, moving back as more shadows began to advance upon him; he couldn't use his Tonfa while he carried Naoto.
The Persona looked down quickly, seeing its master in danger. He firmed his grip on the Shadow, causing it to scrabble uselessly at the Persona's armored hands. Morpheus quickly brought Shadow Naoto in front of him, and flew down at high speed, directly at the Shadows threatening Souji. The two hit the floor hard, a small shockwave obliterating the nearby shadows. Morpheus then picked Naoto's Shadow up; the being was still struggling to continue fighting, firing off blasts of fire at Morpheus' face. From behind the wall of Shadows, Yukiko saw Morpheus flying around, releasing the Shadow as it tried to avoid the searing flames.
"Amaterasu! Red Wall!" she yelled, directing her Persona to assist Souji and his Persona. Souji saw one of Naoto's fire attacks connect, but leave little damage on his Persona.
"Thanks, Yukiko!" he yelled, and then turned his attention back to the battle at hand. He directed Morpheus to send another volley of ice at Naoto's Shadow, hoping that it would have some effect. Morpheus raised his left hand, calling ice to fall upon the Shadow from above. At the same time, he lowered his right hand, slowly raising it a bit as he created a pillar of ice below the Shadow. He slammed his hands together, crushing the Shadow between two walls of the powerful magic. As the ice disappeared, Naoto's Shadow fell down, but began to stand once more, Naoto's characteristic stubbornness showing through.
Souji smiled darkly; the image of extremely powerful light coursing through his mind. He called out to his Persona, falling to his knees as he felt a massive amount of energy drain from him, managing to keep from collapsing through sheer willpower, the need to protect Naoto overwhelming his exhaustion. "Morpheus! Megidolaon!" The Persona brought his hands up into the air, balling them into fists. A blinding light appeared above him, collecting into a massive ball of energy, larger than the previous spells Souji had cast. Moving swiftly, Morpheus brought his hands together, and threw them down in front of him like a hammer, and the spell went flying directly at Naoto's Shadow. It exploded on contact, crushing the Shadow beneath it, and obliterating the other Shadow's nearby, but left the Investigation team and their Personas unharmed.
Opening his eyes, Souji saw Naoto's shadow return to its human form, and felt Naoto stir against his chest. The sleuth slowly opened her eyes, confusion crossing her face as she tried to remember where she was. "Where…" she began, looking up at Souji. Her face flushed as she realized where she was, and she reached up, looking for her cap so as to hide her face. Souji smiled, glad that the ace detective was alright, and set her down, picking her hat up off the floor where it had fallen during the battle.
"Th-Thank you…" she said, placing the cap back on her head as Souji handed it back to her. She then pulled it down over her face as she had tried to do before, and turned to face her Shadow. "I lost both my parents in an accident. I was still young, so my grandfather took me in. I was inept at making friends...so I spent my time reading detective novels in my grandfather's study." The Shadow whimpered quietly as Naoto spoke.
"When I grow up...I'm gonna be an awesome, hard-boiled detective...!" it said. Naoto smiled gently.
"My parents were proud of their job. I had no qualms about following in their footsteps...An inherited occupation can feel stifling to many, but I welcomed it. I yearned for the day I could be a detective myself...Perhaps I inherited that desire from them as well. I was always alone...Seeing that, my grandfather must have believed it was his duty to help me realize my dream. I secretly aided my grandfather with his clients...And before I knew it, people started calling me Junior Detective. At first, I was delighted. But not everything went so smoothly..."
"What was that you said about 'You're only a child...?'" Yukiko asked.
Naoto nodded. "Not everyone welcomes my collaboration when it comes to solving cases...My status as a "child" was sufficient to offend many of those whom I worked with. Were that the only issue, then it would have resolved itself with time...But though I will one day change from a child to an adult, I will never change from a woman to a man..."
Yukiko looked at Naoto, another question on her lips. "Do you not like being a girl...? Is that why you always dress like a boy?"
Naoto nodded again. "My sex doesn't fit my ideal image of a detective...Besides; the police department is a male-oriented society. If they had the slightest "concrete" reason to look down on me, no one would need me anymore..."
Kanji shook his head. "You don't know that" said the ex-punk.
Souji came up behind her, placing a hand on the girls shoulder, causing her to jump slightly. "That's definitely not true…" he murmured, squeezing her shoulder gently.
"Hey...You must know already that what you yearn for isn't to become an adult or become a boy..." Yukiko said.
Naoto smiled a bit at the innkeeper's response. "You're absolutely right." She said. She looked down at her Shadow. "I'm sorry…I kept ignoring you, pretending you didn't exist. But you are me...and I am you. You've always been inside me. What I should yearn for...No, what I must strive for isn't to become a man. It's to accept myself for who I really am..." The Shadow nodded, grinning widely as a young child would, and disappeared.
In its place hovered a small persona, dressed in a blue boy's suit, a mask with red eyes glowing from the eye slot on its face, White and Blue kite wings on its back, and a long blue beam sword in its hand. Naoto gazed at the Persona in wonder, a tarot card that read "Fortune" in her hand. "Sukuna-Hikona…" she murmured in delight. The Tiny God nodded, and zoomed over to Souji, whirling around the silverettes head a few times before disappearing.
Naoto began to fall backwards again, but Souji was there, picking her back up. "Easy, detective…" he said quietly, supporting the girl's weight with one hand on the small of her back, another grasping her shoulder. Naoto leaned into Souji, unable to support her own weight at that moment.
"Thank you…" she mumbled, looking at the assembly of people around her.
Rise came over to Souji, whispering into the teen's ear. "You probably should carry her, Senpai. She's in no shape to walk right now." Souji nodded; he'd been planning on that anyways. As Naoto tried to take a step forward, she began to fall once more. Souji caught her again, this time picking the girl up and placing her on his back, carrying her piggy-back style.
"Wha- I don't need help!" she said, trying to squirm out of the youth's grasp, but Souji's strength prevented her from escaping.
"Naoto, just shut up and relax." Souji said, looking back at the young sleuth and smiling gently. Naoto blushed a bit, then sighed as she leaned forward, resting her head on Souji's shoulders. The teen nodded, satisfied that his friend seemed comfortable, then looked his comrades, who, although battered, were smiling, happy that they'd succeeded.
"Let's go home" Souji said, and began to walk towards the stairs, unaware that Naoto was smiling as she laid on his back.