Disclaimer: I do not own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 or most of the characters within this story as they belong to Atlus.
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Veluti In Speculum
Chapter 2: Ashes
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Naoto removed the books from her desk for a tenth time, but honestly, she lost count and had rearranged the surface each time. Where was that picture? She had left it right here last night! It couldn't be gone just like that. She shivered, but then turned, frowning. The window was open. Well, it was October and last night was a bit warmer than normal. Still, she didn't remember leaving it in the least bit ajar.
Knock, knock, knock…
"Shirogane-sama, breakfast is ready."
"I'll be there in a moment Yakushiji-san," Naoto replied, looking up from her bag. Oh good, the copy was still in there, but where was the original? It couldn't have blown away; the evening breeze hadn't been that strong.
She sighed, straightening her clothes. Maybe if she had enough time after breakfast, she could search once more before school, but that didn't stop her from thinking about what might've happened to it.
"Not feeling well?" Yakushiji asked as she descended the stairs.
Quickly, she shook her head, "No, I just misplaced something. I'll find it after breakfast."
"Uhm… actually, Shirogane-sama, I believe your clock was knocked a few minutes off recently," he said, "It's almost a half-hour until school begins."
"… It's really that late? I guess my search will be put off until this afternoon," she murmured, a bit upset. That original drawing… she shook her head. No, this wasn't something to get worked up about. She would just ask Yosuke for the copy back once he posted it.
"What's for breakfast?" she asked, walking into the dining room.
Yakushiji smiled, "The usual. If you want something else tomorrow, I'll see what I can do."
"No, it's quite alright," she replied with her own small smile, "Besides, I must get going soon. No time to discuss a change in meals now."
"Ahah. Just like you, Shirogane-sama," he said, chuckling.
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"You mean the picture was gone this morning?"
"Yes… I believe someone took it even though the window was open in my bedroom."
"Strange... did you get a copy at least?"
"Of course… here."
Naoto reached into her bag and pulled out the copy, passing it over to Yosuke. He nodded and rose to his feet, leaving the food court while the others just watched him go. She sighed, "Who would take a drawing? It isn't high quality nor was it of any value… and apart from all of us present; no one else knows about that boy… hmm, Yakushiji-san did see it though."
"Did he say anything?" Souji asked, raising an eyebrow.
Naoto nodded, "He just wanted to know who it was… no, wait… he also asked if I had told my grampa…"
"Did you?" Rise asked, tilting her head.
Naoto shook her head this time, "No. Besides, he's out of town. Yakushiji-san's words trouble me, but that matter I will discuss with him later."
"Okay! I posted the picture on my MyPlace and LifeJournal so it should receive some notice sooner or later," Yosuke announced, walking back over to the group. He plopped down in his earlier abandoned seat, winking, "By the way, I did get a comment in like thirty seconds for it. It said awesome artwork and very detailed."
"A-Ah… well, being able to draw a profile from memory or description is a useful skill," she replied, lowering her gaze as her cheeks flared.
"… Hey, why don't you do that for your kidnapper?" Kanji questioned. Eyes drew to the small detective who almost looked like she wanted to disappear in her seat at the moment.
She cleared her throat, "Small problem… I didn't necessarily see my assailant…"
"Wait, what?" Chie looked confused.
"Remember, Chie? She said that the assailant grabbed her from behind and knocked her out with some chemical," Yukiko said, "If she didn't see his face, she can't draw a profile."
"Of course… and pegged down to square one again…" Chie sighed, but then grumbled, "How are we gonna get this guy then? He rings the door bell and then gets them all from behind."
"Ah, but the people he targets are on TV. That much has been confirmed by Naoto-kun," Yukiko said, nodding, "We'll just have to keep an eye out of everyone that appears on TV when the Midnight Channel shows again."
"Yes and this time, we'll stop them from getting kidnapped," Yosuke said, smirking. He looked up, but then blinked, "Uh… now that we're swapping through subjects, the Culture Festival is soon. Any ideas of what to do?"
"Can't skip, that's all I know," Kanji murmured, annoyed obviously.
"Hmph… our class still has to come up with something, right?" Souji shook his head, "I'd rather not. Let's just take the default out of this before we embarrass ourselves."
"Embarrass? How so?"
Souji didn't gesture, but he did cast his eyes briefly over to Yosuke. Yosuke, in turn, shrugged his shoulders, "I don't have anything planned."
Naoto shook her head as she heard him mutter 'yet' under his breath.
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She opened the front door to the estate slowly, peeling off her shoes. She stepped onto the foyer, "Yakushiji-san! I'm home!"
No response.
"… Yakushiji-san?" she called again, looking around. She spotted a folded corner and turned, noticing a note on the hall side table. Picking it up, she unfolded it:
Shirogane-sama
Went out for more groceries. Be back in a few hours.
Yakushiji
"Ah. So that's how it is… alright," she whispered, pocketing the paper. She proceeded towards the stairs to head up to her own room and work, but paused. It smelled strangely like smoke in the house. Did Yakushiji light the fire place while she was at school?
She walked down the hall, pushing the door to the living room open and stared at the fireplace. The room was sweltering, pungent with the odor of burned wood and paper. He was probably ridding of litter since it was a burning day, but the ash in the fireplace made her uneasy. Creeping forward, she knelt down, raising a hand over the hearth to test it. No heat emanated from the remains so she pulled the grate aside and lowered her hands into the black remains.
Splinters of burnt wood and soot covered her hands while she scavenged, picking out small flecks of paper. The embers were all out and the pieces she picked just fell apart in her hands, reducing to flakes. She barely made out old newspaper remains and remnants of shredded reports. There was nothing in this pile at all that drew her immediate atten—
This didn't get burned…
Undeniably, it was a piece of the picture, more so, the eye from it. If Yakushiji had done this… Was there something wrong with her trying to find out who this person was? It had to be her grampa's orders to sabotage her work, but what was wrong? It was a personal case to her. For what reason would her grandfather impede her progress? This had never happened before, except…
"Shirogane-sama, what on earth are you doing?"
Naoto gave a start, looking back quickly. Yakushiji was standing at the doorway, several Junes grocery bags in his hands, a bit shocked to find her there. She had to think fast, "Oh, well… I smelled smoke and wanted to find out the reason. I forgot today was a burning day and it appears that a few things slipped past the flames."
An almost discomforting silence fell and at once, she knew the lie had obviously fallen through.
"Oh… I see. Well, you better clean up. I'll have dinner ready in a few minutes," he replied after staring at her for a few minutes. He turned and departed from the doorway, leaving Naoto ready to gawk. Either Yakushiji was messing with her or he actually bought it. She shook her head and looked back at the paper. It didn't matter now; it was beyond salvaging.
She set it down in the ashes before rising to her feet once more, grabbing a broom off the brick mantle and sweeping everything back into the fireplace. Nudging the grate back before the remains, she reset the broom and picked up a box of matches.
Striking one, she tossed it, watching the flames rekindle and consume the remainder of her picture, hands balling into fists. Who? That's all she wanted to know was who that boy was. If her grandfather didn't want her to know, there was more to this…
With no fuel, the fire was already dying. Naoto turned on her heel, sighing as she walked out of the door. She moved up the hall and climbed the stairs, drawing off her hat to brush her hair back. She paused, noticing a corner jutting out of the brim. It had been a while… she had forgotten it was even there.
Her fingers hooked into the brim, pulling out the object which she unfolded. It was horribly crinkled, but the image of her parents, standing in the gardens of the Shirogane Estate, looked back at her. Mid-twenties and her mom was already pregnant. Her flawless face had a beautiful smile adorning it and twinkling, crystal blue eyes. Her high peach cheeks were framed by indigo blue hair that flowed down to her shoulders and several strains were braided upon her head like a crown. In contrast, Naoto's father had a small, but loving smile, charcoal-blue eyes intense against his pale skin. His black hair was short and mostly covered by his officer cap, a family heirloom that she had only seen her grandfather wear now.
Naoto stared for a moment longer, but then sighed, folding it close and reading the back.
She froze, eyes widening.
She unfolded the photo and turned it over. The date… the date was wrong.
"1992 – March"
'March 1992? But what does that mean? A miscarriage?' Naoto wondered, staring at the date. Her grampa never said anything about this, but then again, her parents died when she was four. She had only looked at this photo periodically when she was five and then just left it in her hat when she turned six. The subject never rose again and her grampa never spoke about it. What did any of this mean?
Everything she knew… was it a lie?
Why did her grandfather keep quiet?
She walked into her room, pacing, annoyed now and tossing her hat upon her desk, clutching the photo tightly. 1992… 1992… nothing happened in 1992; nothing of importance that she could recall in any family albums or history books. It was just a year she wasn't born; not even conceived. She looked up at the mirror, eyes widening as the boy looked back at her. He was frowning.
"Tell me who you are," he whispered, eyes watching her closely.
She frowned, her brows furrowing, -"What do you mean?"-
"Tell me the truth. What do you know?"
-"I'm the fifth in the Shirogane lineage of detectives."-
"I told you, tell me everything."
-"I told you everything."-
"... There's so much more that you have yet to understand," he sighed, shaking his head. She blinked again and found he was gone, her reflection back.
"Tch! What are you saying…!?" Naoto hissed under her breath, glaring at the mirror. Oh sure, she just recently recalled this guy and now she was arguing with him. Where did he get the nerve…?
Knock, knock, knock…
"Shirogane-sama, supper is ready…"
"Ah, I'll be down in a minute," Naoto replied, startled at Yakushiji's knocking. All this thinking and she had forgotten about dinner. Her clothes were still covered in ash. She sighed, setting the photo down, and peeled off her jacket. The pondering would have to continue another time.
Yakushiji-san… you can't leave any evidence for her.
She walked into her bathroom, the sink water running as she scrubbed her hands roughly, and black water poured down the sink.
Burn it, tear it, lock it away… you will have to search her entire room.
Naoto closed the door to her room and walked down the stairs.
Yakushiji stepped out of the shadows as she entered the dining room. He moved quietly, entering her room, and finding the abandoned photo of Naoto's father and mother on her desk.
Nothing can be left for her to find out.
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Me: Ah, the second chapter was a road block. Now that that's out of the way… review please.