A/N: Another interlude. Safely back in the real world, Naoto finds it very difficult to get rid of her rescuers.
Seta and his friends were only relevant due to their involvement with the case. Accordingly, Naoto's early contact with them had been limited.
She had, however, frequently observed them sitting and talking together in the food court. This had been her best method of discerning the extent of their interference, though from her position outside she'd never been close enough to hear what they actually said. Instead, she had spent her time evaluating and categorizing them all in terms of the threat they posed. Naturally, Seta had ranked highest. Tatsumi and Satonaka had placed joint second; the first by reason of size and reputation, the second after Naoto had twice witnessed her kicking Hanamura in the same unfortunate anatomical region. Hanamura himself had been third. The rest of the team combined, Naoto had placed a very distant fourth.
In the case of Yukiko Amagi, that had clearly been a grave mistake.
"I did warn you," Amagi huffed.
Naoto, meanwhile, was lying on the bed, face buried in her hat, in roughly the same position she'd been shoved down in.
"You're lucky I'm not Chie. She'd have thrown you out the window instead."
Which needed to be open; the room was insufferably hot. Naoto made a mental note to rectify the situation once she could force herself to stand.
"... Naoto-kun, are you alright?" Two slim hands slipped over Naoto's shoulders and rolled her over onto her back, one of them then moving to her forehead. "You're burning up."
"M'fine," Naoto murmured, willing both Amagi to vanish and the ceiling to stop zooming in and out of focus. "Go home."
"Yes, you've said that already. Several times, actually."
"Why... why are you still here? Why won't you leave?" They had rescued her. That was all Naoto had expected. Back in the laboratory, she had wondered at times if even that had been asking too much; if they had understood why she had disappeared, or even noticed.
But they had. Eventually. Furthermore, they'd bothered to come to her aid - something Naoto had resented prior to the event, and which now left a cold weight in the pit of her stomach.
The bed dipped as Amagi sat down beside her. "Because you're our friend, you're unwell and there's nobody else here. Why would we leave you by yourself?"
Because that was how it had always been; familiar, comforting, terrifying. Besides, they were hardly friends, even if she-
Naoto grit her teeth. Indignant. She was indignant, and Amagi had no right being there. "I... I'm fine. Go 'way," she mumbled, and thumped a fist weakly against the mattress.
"Why are you here by yourself?" Leaning forward, Amagi pushed back a few damp strands of Naoto's hair from her forehead. "I know your parents are... gone, but what about your grandfather?"
"America." Naoto squirmed to one side, attempting to bat away Amagi's invading hand. "And usually... the estate. Not Inaba. I'm... not supposed to still be here."
At the edge of her vision, she caught a glimpse of a smile. "Well, I'm glad you are, and so are the others."
Naoto wasn't. Her continued presence not only demonstrated her failure to solve the case, it had forced her into a situation where a girl she barely knew had barged into her apartment in a misguided attempt to take care of her. As if she had ever required that.
"Don't want to be here," she muttered. "Never stay anywhere."
Amagi hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe you could stay here? We'll need your help with whatever comes next."
The inside of her skull had been buzzing insistently since leaving the television. In the brief silence after Amagi finished speaking, it grew louder, almost resolving itself into words.
Naoto shook her head. The noise faded.
"Of course we will," Amagi insisted, frowning. "Without you, we probably wouldn't have realized Mitsuo wasn't the killer. Or at least, not for a while." Then she sighed. "I just wish you'd told us what you were doing."
Except Naoto had. By the time she had finalized her plan, her initial, instinctive assumption that the entire team was composed of idiots had long been abandoned. She had left them all the necessary clues. What else could she have done?
If they'd arrived when they should, things would be different. Naoto would have kept her composure. Her doppelganger would not have reduced her to a contemptible, raging child. Her mind would be quiet. And Amagi would not still be sitting on her bed, still fussing over her.
More than that, the prince might still be a prince - and Naoto wouldn't be mourning the loss of a nickname she'd never even liked.
She swallowed. "Why... why did you take so long?"
"We didn't know anything about you, Naoto-kun. Not even that you're a-" Amagi stopped short. "Well... Rise-chan, she finds people, but she needs something to go on."
Of course. Ridiculous to assume otherwise. These people barely knew her. Tatsumi was the only one she'd spoken to for any length of time.
"That, and we weren't strong enough at first," Amagi continued. "You definitely did your best to keep us out."
Naoto wished she'd managed it. All those locked doors had counted for nothing.
The buzzing grew louder, like the static of a- no. Like the hum of insect wings, almost. At one point, Naoto swore she heard her name.
"Sorry," she murmured, mouth dry, uncertain why she was apologizing.
Amagi eyebrows rose. "Oh. Um, I'm sorry too, that we took so long. That's why you feel so bad - the same thing happened to me." She patted Naoto's shoulder. "But we'll all make sure to drop by until you get better."
Few prospects were more horrifying.
Endless invasions, simply out of pity, by people who'd seen her at her worst. Naoto pushed herself up onto her elbows, ready to respond with a detailed explanation of how she absolutely didn't require babysitting, thank you, she just needed to be left alone for the foreseeable future. She managed the first syllable before her stomach lurched.
The consequent stumble she made for the bathroom - Amagi half-carrying her when she realized what was happening - was not one of her most dignified moments. Nor was losing the orange juice she'd choked down less than an hour ago as they left Junes.
But perhaps this would help. It might dislodge the thick knot that had wedged in her throat as soon as the team had run through the laboratory door.
"Don't worry." Amagi had knelt beside her. "It won't last long and it gets much better after the first week."
An entire week? There was so much to do, a new culprit to be found, and-
She jerked again, dry heaving this time. Amagi held back her hair - merely a gesture, given its length - and rubbed her back. Naoto attempted to shift away. The buzzing renewed.
"That... that thing," she managed, arms locked straight against her knees, "that... the blue shape that appeared, what was it?"
"Oh, that's right! Souji didn't tell you, did he?" Amagi frowned. "It's hard to explain, but it's... your Persona."
Persona. Amagi had used the same word back in the nightclub. Meaning she had been telling the truth, albeit in a thoroughly dubious manner. "You... you weren't lying."
"When?"
"The club. T-Tatsumi Port Island."
"Naoto-kun... what exactly did I say? Because I really don't remember-" Amagi paused, eyes widening. "Oh no. I wasn't - was I drunk?"
"No," muttered Naoto, in as adamant a tone as she could muster while still doubled over.
"That would explain why I... oh, no." When Naoto glanced up, Amagi's face had turned an even paler shade than usual, and her hands were wringing the material of her blouse. "My mother cannot know about this. Never. I'll be grounded until I'm fifty."
"You weren't drunk."
Continuing to ignore her completely, Amagi sighed. "I'm sorry. You must've thought I was crazy."
Back pressed against the nearest wall, legs stretched out on the floor, Naoto swallowed hard. "No. I... I thought you were mocking me."
Amagi frowned. "Why would we do that?"
"The police always have." And they were hardly alone. "I saw no reason why you and your friends would be different."
The bathroom was small for one person. With two, they were uncomfortably close, yet Amagi only moved closer. "We aren't police, Naoto-kun." She sighed again, then smiled. "It's funny. I always felt like you were laughing at us. You said we were playing a game, remember?"
Revealing the truth - that Naoto had neither laughed at the team nor ever taken them wholly seriously - was pointless. They had been playing a game, of sorts; they had simply played it more effectively than her.
She tipped her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. More buzzing.
Her eyes snapped open. Opposite, Amagi was staring at her, brows angled in concern. "Are you okay?"
Naoto nodded. Had Amagi spoken before that?
"Can you stand?"
Naoto nodded again, but didn't take Amagi's proffered hand. Instead, she gripped the edge of the sink and pulled herself up, earning a low, exasperated noise that left her wondering if she'd be shoved across a room again. The fact that Yukiko Amagi - delicate, graceful, feminine - was capable of doing so was not lost on her.
She watched the water swirling in the basin, fighting the urge to pass out.
Amagi leaned against the wall. "I wish you'd stop being so difficult."
"You're the difficult one," Naoto muttered. "All of you. Staying."
"What are you going to do? You can't investigate by yourself, and you know the police won't believe what you've seen." Amagi shook her head. "It sounds like they never believed you at all."
Which had been as expected. The police department consisted entirely of imbeciles, all of whom preferred to waste their time on asinine banter, crude jokes and drunken gatherings in bars after work. All meaningless hindrances to the investigation. Naoto had pointed this out several times and been rewarded with mockery and juvenile name-calling. 'Defective Prince' had been by far the least offensive. None of them had mattered. Mere resentment of her abilities.
"They, they called me an interfering brat, impossible to work with. A stupid kid." It came out in an inexplicable, babbled rush - but her head was still buzzing and the room was far too hot. "Then they took me off the case. Said it was over, they no longer needed me. It happens every time."
Amagi shook her head again, this time more emphatically. "It won't now. We need your help."
She was lying. They all were. Why would they- "No, no, you don't. I - I'm not even a real man."
"Why would we care about that?"
"Girls... can't do anything." If the police had known, she would never have worked a single case. Now they almost certainly did. Braced against the sink, Naoto suppressed a shudder. "I can't do anything, not now."
neverlistenalwaysthink
An unwelcome hand gripped her shoulder, spinning her around - and for a instant, looking directly at Amagi's narrowed eyes, Naoto glimpsed something untamed and fierce.
"Naoto-kun," she said, firm and slow. "Chie and I both fought your Shadow, and we both helped clear the way down to the laboratory. Rise was our support in every fight. Without the three of us, you'd be dead."
All of which was painfully accurate.
On some level, Naoto was aware of the exceptional level of ingratitude she had displayed since her rescue. On another, she was dangerously close to a full-on fit of rage - or at least a delayed one, saved up for when she wasn't trapped in her own bathroom, on the verge of being sick a third time. For now, she settled for burying her head in her hands, elbows resting on the edge of the sink.
"I apologize, Amagi-san. My behavior is... " She hesitated, her fingertips pressed against her temples. "I, I don't want to be male. Or an adult. The idea is... ludicrous."
For all the conviction Naoto forced into her voice, the statement sounded more like a lie with every word. The clarity she'd felt after confronting her Shadow had dissipated. Being a man, an adult, being strong and capable... it would be so much easier. It would be correct.
She stared at her hands - slim fingers, small palms - and winced.
"The feelings don't go away, do they?"
"W-what?"
Amagi's voice was even quieter than usual. "Accepting your Shadow isn't a magic cure. Sometimes I still... " She trailed off. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Naoto-kun."
That the rest of the team possessed Shadows was not a concept Naoto had considered. What had they been like?
Tatsumi had certainly seemed odd during their initial meetings; apparently both discomfited by her presence and unusually shy for one with his reputation. Naoto had suspected some sort of complex. Disconcertingly, she couldn't remember exactly why she'd chosen to impart those suspicions to a group of children following his disappearance. Still, the decision made sense. Risky as it had been, revealing her knowledge had allowed her to observe their reactions and evaluate how deeply they were embroiled in the case.
Regardless, whatever inner turmoil Tatsumi's behavior had implied would have been grounds for the development of a Shadow. Kujikawa's might have been connected to her career. But the others - Amagi, Satonaka, Hanamura, and most of all Seta - had no weaknesses Naoto could discern, especially not to match her own.
"Do you think you can make it back to the bed?" Amagi was staring again. Naoto fought the sudden urge to run away.
Instead, she nodded her assent and turned towards the door. "Wh-what was yours like?" she asked, hands pressed either side of the doorway, and forced the tremble out of her limbs. "Your Shadow?"
For a few moments, Amagi said nothing.
Finally, she sighed. "She lived in a castle. Very ornate. And... well..." Amagi drew a quick, shallow breath. "She was wearing a low-cut princess gown and she kept talking about hot studs and her underwear."
Naoto blinked. "Oh."
"You should be grateful for the lab coat," Amagi told her as they entered the bedroom.
Naoto climbed back on the bed and curled up on her side, knees drawn up to her chest. She felt slightly better; Amagi's presence therefore served no purpose. "You should-"
alwaysalonealwayswrong
It wasn't Amagi speaking. It wasn't even human. Simply a variation of the same buzzing sound; something that, given her altered state, Naoto had mistaken for words. Ridiculous.
"We really are glad to have you back." The bed dipped again, somewhere near her feet. "Kanji-kun and Rise-chan were so worried, they went inside the television to get you. They even convinced Yosuke to go with them."
Naoto knew little of the team's methods - she wished she'd been awake to see them fight, to evaluate their strategy - but rushing into battle without a leader was ludicrous. "They... they were unsuccessful?"
"Very. I'd never seen Souji so angry." Amagi hesitated. "Actually, I'd never seen him angry at all before that. He's a lot like you."
Except he wasn't. Seta did not throw tantrums. Presumably Amagi-san was just being kind - but the familiarity of contempt would have been vastly preferable.
"I... I'm nothing like him. My Shadow, the things it said-" She bit her lip, wondering when and why she'd become so absurdly candid.
The fever. That was all. Everything would revert to normal, given time.
Slim fingers pressed against her sleeve. "You aren't alone, Naoto-kun. Not now."
Naoto knew she should say something to that - I don't care if I am, go away - but her voice refused to come. Even dislodging Amagi's hand seemed impossible. Despite her best efforts, her eyes drifted closed; the buzzing in her head finally fading, but never falling silent.