Chapter 7
Kotone wakes up cold, which was strange considering how she recalls using Shin as the equivalent of a body pillow. She opens her eyes slowly and carefully where she can clearly make out the now empty space besides her. An ident left over tells her that Shin had left recently. She turns her head trying to focus her gaze under the light of the now risen sun and sees the boy in question sitting on the edge of the bed looking down with a thoughtful yet distant look in his eyes.
"Shin?" she manages to say, her voice not yet awake.
"Morning" he says turning to her and seems to smile a bit at her struggle to keep her eyes open and focused "Did you sleep ok?"
"Yeah" She stretches and lays forward propped up on her hands swinging her legs idly "Just a little cold" she says as a shiver runs across her body making her shake.
He lets out a quiet laugh "Sorry about that, I was trying hard not to disturb you" he says rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm surprised you managed to slip free, I had such a tight hold on you" she says the last part quieter, but he still hears her.
He says nothing, only chuckles a bit louder.
She pouts, "It's not fair you make such a comfy pillow..."
He turns away as heat quickly rises to his face. She notices his sudden action and offers a warm smile as he slowly turns back to her.
Her smile turns instead to a concerned frown, "Are you ok?" she asks.
"Yeah, I was just thinking about something"
She says nothing and only keeps her gaze focused on him. He sighs.
"Takuro needs to know about what really happened to Okazaki" he says holding a firm gaze her way, despite how lost he seemed moments ago instead is a look of resolve.
She nods slowly then lowers her eyes to the mattress seeing Shin's indentation long gone.
"I don't think he'll take it very well"
"He probably won't believe it, but today at school I'm going to tell him"
"I should go with you"
Shin tilts his head to her. At his confusion she decides to elaborate.
"We don't know how he will take it. He might even get angry at you. If he doesn't believe you then me being there might help since I was there too"
He pauses and lowers his head. Moments later he looks back to her and nods, their plan set.
During a break in classes Shin and Kotone call Takuro out to the trees just outside of the school. As expected, he didn't take the words seriously. Instead Takuro moves towards Shin and even grabs onto his uniform jacket yelling further but Shin stares him down not budging. Kotone explained everything they saw at the old stage and about seeing Okazaki's persona. At the end of it all, Takuro let go of Shin and remained quiet with his eyes closed.
He finally spoke, "You two...you are absolutely sure of what you saw?"
Shin nods his look of determination not faltering in the slightest.
"We only wanted to look out for you, you deserved to know what happened to him... you two seemed close" Kotone says meeting the afro student's eyes as they now fall to her.
He breathes in and sighs "Yeah, I appreciate what you did..." he turns to Shin "I shouldn't have taken out my anger on you, you only tried to help"
Shin nods again and places a hand to Takuro's shoulder.
"When I find the guy who did it, I swear I'll-"
"You'll what, hmm?"
The three turn to see a new person suddenly join them, Shin and Kotone both immediately got into defensive stances at seeing the boy in the green and yellow jacket. He looks on at the three with his usual smug look.
"You" Takuro says turning to the boy and slowly letting out a low growl.
The boy approaches and stands against a tree, his hands stuffed into his pockets completing his lazy posture.
"He seemed like a role model type, with his whole 'don't do stingy things'" he noted casually looking off into the distance, not bothered at all by Takuro's growling getting louder and his fists clenching and shaking.
"Shut up!" Takuro says barely holding himself back as Shin keeps his hand on his shoulder while standing in front of him alongside Kotone.
"He fought well. At first" the boy continues "But, in the end I had him begging for mercy" he says and smirks at the three.
Takuro starts pushing against Shin trying to get past him and Kotone.
"Takuro, no" Shin says with a level of authority in his tone "Your persona hasn't fought before, let me and Kotone handle it"
"Persona, that's the things that come out of our heads, right?"
Kotone nods then looks to the boy "You should give up, make it easier on yourself"
The boy's smirk only widens "We'll see who's giving up at the end"
The boy summons his persona and it charges but its advances are blocked as Shin's persona emerges and blocks the trident's path with its massive sword. Shin's persona swings and the boy's persona barely manages to duck under and flip backwards. Kotone's persona Orpheus emerges and swings her harp managing to push the trident wielding persona back. Orpheus blasts a wave of fire that is deflected as the trident is spun rapidly dispersing the flames. Shin's persona quickly reenters into the battle engaging in a melee battle flipping and slashing several times but barely landing any hits until being pushed back by a trident right to the ribs making Shin wince and nearly lose his footing. Orpheus rushes back in and clashes with the blade of the boy's persona.
"I expected more from you, oh well" despite the lock going on he still manages to look to the three and say "Now to figure who to take down first"
Takuro having enough yells and rushes forward his eyes taking on a yellow glow. The boy's lazy expression hasn't changed but his smirk becomes more of a smile now.
The boy's persona blasts away Orpheus with an energy beam and as Takuro's persona rushes in the boy stops it in its tracks with a heavy gust of wind sending it flying backwards and taking out a few trees while Takuro lays spread out on the snowy ground. Takuro isn't done as he manages to stand back up and his persona now seeming to charge electricity goes back in and actually pushes the boy's persona back, much to his annoyance.
Kotone readies herself, she is going to try something she hasn't done it a long time now. She closes her eyes and focuses on a name, calling forth an aspect of herself from the sea of thy soul. Everyone stops in place as the loud crash of glass shattering echoes in the area and Kotone's eyes take on a bright blue glow.
"Black Frost!" she yells out as Orpheus fades away and is replaced by a large black figure with red eyes and a purple hat.
Takuro is staring wide eyed with his mouth agape, Shin's eyes are widened too but he narrows his gaze recalling something Kotone had said before, the boy though looks impressed.
"Oh, I see it now. I sensed something special about you and here it is. A second persona, hmm wonder if you have any more, I would be nice to take them from you one by one"
Kotone readies herself and Black Frost fires a heavy blast of darkness and hits the boy's persona directly making him grunt and fall to his knees struggling to catch his breath. Black Frost Rushes in and strikes the green persona sending it and its user flying until it stops itself with its trident.
The boy grunts again heavier this time "I see, very nice-" he pauses and falls onto his side clutching his chest "Well it's been fun, see you again" he says and kicks up snow to block everyone's view before taking off in the air with his persona and soon being lost to sight.
Takuro grunts and shakes as he tries to regain control over his persona which leads to Shin tackling him into the snow and gripping him tight, their personas fade away in the distance as Kotone calls back Black Frost to her sea of souls.
"Sorry" is all Shin says as Takuro stays on the ground.
Shin and Kotone head back inside the house and on the way to the room Shin asks Kotone if she will wait for him there, that there is something he needs to do first.
Kotone lays on the bed and a while later Shin walks in the door and lets out a heavy sigh leaning against it.
She scoots over and pats the space next to her and he slowly joins her. She turns to face him, seeing his gaze once again looking spaced out as he stares at the ceiling.
"What did you do?" she asks gently.
"I told Ryo, that none of us are leaving the city. There are things we need to figure out. I told him not to tell me and Jun what to do...that...he isn't our brother" he says the last part in a low breath, his head dropping back down casting his gaze onto the bed.
She says nothing and instead places a hand onto his shoulder and smiles softly at him.
"I wanted to ask you about earlier" he says suddenly breaking the silence.
She says nothing but when he turns to face her, she gives a small nod, and he takes that as a sign to ask away.
"That persona you called 'Black Frost', was it just one you had? I have only seen Orpheus and Thanatos so far, so I just wondered"
"I have a lot of them still, up here" she says pointing to her heart.
He tilts his head and opens his mouth to speak but closes it back.
"It comes from your heart, not your head?" he asks his tone clearly indicating how lost he is.
"Well, really it comes from the sea of my soul" she says placing a finger to her chin in thought.
Shin only looks more confused.
"Don't worry about it" she beams a brighter smile his way "You'll be seeing more later. I just have to find them again"
He nods, content at that.
She takes her arm and wraps it around his and lays on his shoulder. He sighs.
"Kotone...?" he says, his voice coming off a bit shaky, his tone unsure.
"Yeah?" she responds and due to her close proximity, her breath falls onto his neck.
"Why, um... do you do that?" he says and turns his head away slowly, not meeting her curious red eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Being so close like that. Using me like a... pillow" he says and immediately her face grows warm.
"I guess, I just feel comfortable here with you. And, well you really are warm" the heat grows stronger with every passing moment.
Up until then she had just done so mindlessly, and he never questioned it before, she was thankful for that. Now that he has brought it up, she finds herself unable to really explain what she feels.
"Oh..." he says still not meeting her eyes.
"I get really cold, and no matter how much I bundle up I only feel warm when I'm here beside you" she says before she has a chance to second guess herself. Wait. Second guess? She is still doing it, what's going on?
He says nothing, only lowering his head a bit. She feels a heavy weight in her chest, she knows she should ask but finds herself unprepared for what he might and probably will end up saying.
"Does it bother you...?" she asks, her voice sounding very small and the fear evident in her shaky tone despite her best efforts to keep it level.
It probably did bother him, she thought. She figures he had only allowed her to do so because she was alone and scared. Now that she'd had some time to settle in, maybe he figured things should change. She wasn't expecting him to say what he did.
"Oh...N-no, not at all..." he says quickly, a gasp escaping his lips. Heat rises to his own face, and he ends up turning back to look into her eyes.
His wide greys meet her scared crimsons. Neither move from their position. She falls silent.
"I was just surprised. I don't mind it, and if you're comfortable doing it then..." he pauses then smiles and says "I'll keep being your pillow"
She smiles back and breathes out a sigh of relief getting a small chuckle out of him.
"Tomorrow, do you want to go and see the dorms? Me and Jun will be going over there"
"Sure" she says and soon sleep finds her.
The next day the three make their way to the dorm in time to see Megumi walking out from the dorm.
"Oh, Hi Kotone, Shin, and... Um" she pauses looking at Jun.
"That's My younger brother" Shin says making Megumi look slowly between the two "He wanted to see the dorms too"
Jun bows "I'm Jun Kanzato"
Megumi returns the gesture "Megumi Kayano"
"We don't look alike huh? People say that a lot" Shin says seeing Megumi still looking a bit surprised.
"They shouldn't though, just because they think it" she says.
"You were just thinking it now, weren't you?"
Megumi places a hand to her mouth.
"How's Takuro?" Kotone asks.
"He hasn't left his room, but I get it. Me and Kanaru just were coming up when we saw you three summon those things, personas they call it right?"
Shin and Kotone give small nods.
"I don't blame him" Shin says, his expression falling a bit.
"That's just how he is" Megumi adds thoughtfully "He really cares a lot about his friends"
A silence falls on the four until Megumi speaks up.
"Chikorin is supposed to be coming to Kaehen Park, you should take him there"
"What about you?" Kotone asks.
"I'm going to see my senpai at the hospital"
Kotone pauses, the voice of Igor returning to her head. This could be a good opportunity.
"Megumi, is it ok if I go with you?" Kotone asks.
Said girl looks to Kotone with wide eyes but her face quickly falls into a kind smile.
"Sure"
The two girls wave bye to the boys who now walk into the dorms. But the girls stop to look back and see a man who Megumi tells her is the dorms' caretaker. He has light wavy brown hair and eyes and was walking out with a shovel. Jun curiously asks him aren't dogs not allowed and the man confirms this but not before growing suddenly nervous. The two girls smile at the scene behind them and head out. On the walk back Kotone decides to make a little conversation with Megumi.
"So... who's Chikorin?" Kotone asked after initially unsure of a topic to start off with.
"She's a popular idol. There's also Fukorin a cosplay idol, Mikorin who's a bit more out there, and Fukorin" Megumi notes placing a finger to her chin and looking up to the sky.
"They sound pretty cool"
"Yeah, hearing one of them was coming here just sounded so exciting to me. The idols have such talent, and being able to really fire up the crowds like they do, and inspire the younger people to want to follow in their footsteps"
Kotone tilts her head a bit "Would you want to be an idol?"
Megumi pauses her eyes going wide, then she gives a sort of shy smile which was a bit strange from her as she seemed so confident before.
"Well, I've thought about it... but I don't know if I have what it takes" she says looking more towards the street "What they do is art, I have been in my own practice for a while but I always just did it for fun. But, the idea of making a career out of it did come up from time to time" she says and smiles warmly her eyes showing a slight glint of what Kotone could only describe as hope.
"You should go for it!" Kotone says beaming a bright smile to the pink haired girl.
"Thanks" she says meeting Kotone's eyes "I appreciate the support, maybe someday I can see what it's like-" she suddenly pauses.
She had taken a step forward and suddenly lost her footing. Her foot seeming to slide on some foreign object laying across the sidewalk. Bending down to pick it up Megumi finds it's a wallet, and so she opens it to try and find some ID and ends up letting out a sudden and startled gasp making Kotone stifle a laugh at her expression.
"We should go down to the police station and return this" Megumi says, a sudden determination in her voice and eyes.
Kotone nods and they head out.
After explaining what happened the two girls find themselves meeting with the vice chief of police as they are involved the chief has been missing. Pretty soon, they find themselves met with an interesting proposition.
"You want us... to help with the event?" Megumi asks.
Apparently, the police department had been looking for a replacement for Chikorin. That had led to Kotone and Megumi being brought up as a possible choice alongside Kanaru who had been found and suggested by the tall cop from the karaoke place who they learn is Ito's partner and is named Narasaki.
"What will we need to do?" Kanaru asks.
The vice chief moves his gaze across the three girls and notes aloud "You three don't look all too different from Chikorin. We can have you all changed immediately"
And just like another officer apporaches from the side with a grin and ushers the girls to where the chief uniforms are as well as well as some space to change. Once they were all in uniform, they took a moment to look over each other.
"Woah, these look so cool" Megumi gushes with a bright smile as she twirls around getting a feel for the look.
Kotone nods "Yeah, do you feel like an idol Megumi?" Kotone teases.
Megumi gains a small pinkish hue to her cheeks "Well... Yeah, sorta" she quickly shakes off the embarrassment and turns to Kanaru who is looking unsure at her uniform "Are you ok, Kanaru?"
Kanaru raises her head quickly meeting Megumi's concerned green eyes and says "Oh, Um yes. I just... don't know about all this, it seems so sudden"
Megumi places a hand to Kanaru's shoulder and smiles "It will be ok, we'll all tackle this together, right Kotone?"
Kotone moves over and places her hand to Kanaru's other shoulder and nods "Definitely" a look of equal determination in her eyes.
Heading back to the main office the three girls overhear a big discussion. It seems some criminals have kidnapped the sons of an important figure and are demanding a ransom at the event with no police activity to be done for risk of the kids being harmed. It seemed like the whole operation with them was going to be called off, but Megumi had other plans. She pushes the door open surprising the room full of police.
"Please wait a moment. We'll do it" she says with Kotone and Kanaru right behind her backing up her words.
"What are you all doing here?" the vice chief asks.
"We overheard you talking, sorry" Kanaru says quietly.
"We can't forgive People who kidnap kids for money and so we will do whatever we can to help stop them"
"You won't just have one, you'll have the three of us and we may be weak alone but together we're strong" Kotone adds in.
"I admire your ambition, I really do. But this is crazy, you can't do this" the chief stresses.
"Aren't the three of us chiefs for the day?" Megumi asks.
The vice chief looks ready to argue more but the older cop from before named Ito jumps in and suggests they do it, bringing up the tactical advantage of keeping the event going as to avoid any suspicion. The chief seems to understand Ito's reasoning and despite him not wanting to admit it, he knew deep down the chief himself would make the same call.
Shin, Takuro, and Jun arrive at the event and stand in the front of the crowd and have a clear view of the three girls on the stage wearing uniforms and carrying mics.
"Attention... everyone!" the one girl announces who had a familiar head of pink hair "Drunk Driving is a crime!"
"It's... a crime" another girl spoke in a softer voice with a head of blue hair that definitely seemed familiar.
"If you drink at all, don't drive it isn't worth the risk" the last girl spoke up sporting auburn hair that seemed too familiar "Even if you drink a little, don't try to get home yourself"
"They always think they'll be fine, but that way of thinking is what causes so many accidents!"
Takuro couldn't take it anymore and voices his thoughts aloud hoping it wasn't just him.
"Hey Shin, don't those girls look like Megumi, Kanaru, and Kotone?" he asks.
"Huh? Really?" Shin says, returning his gaze to the girls.
Kotone spots Shin in the crowd and their eyes meet. She gives him a small wave and winks his way. He quickly turns his head away feeling a heat rise to his face. She lets out a silent giggle at his reaction.
"10 years ago, here in Ayanagi. There were many crimes and accidents, all taking way people's friends and family" Megumi continued.
"So, that's why..." Kanaru says "We need to be more considerate about what we do, we all live in this city together so we must do our best to cherish the lives of others and ourselves"
As the three boys watch on, Shin turns to Jun and sees a distant look in his eyes making him quickly gain concern on his own features.
Jun doesn't seem to notice this instead looking around and muttering various words which draws Takuros attention as well. The words are:
Kidnap. Here is the trading place. The children are the hostages. There won't be any mercy.
After ignoring the few qeustions sent his way, Jun finally speaks directly to the two beside him "Everyone around here may be in danger, be careful. But... none of your take out your persona"
A sudden tension fills the air, it seems like something major is happening on multiple areas at once. Yet, not long after it seems to fade away as Jun says one more cryptic sentence out loud.
"You're Kidding" he says, his eyes widened.
The moment passes and girls deliver their final messages over their mics.
"And there you have it from your cheifs of the day. Mikorin" she says with a small blush on her face.
"Kakorin" Kanaru says with an equally flushed face.
"And Kotorin" Kotone adds with a bright beaming smile to the crowd as they erupt in cheers and claps to the three who all pose in salutes.
After the event, the three girls are met with a small group of people who seem to be fans of theirs.
"Eh? You want autographs?" Megumi asks with her head tilted.
The crowd nods and one guy tells Kotone that if she were to make a CD, he would definitely buy it, even requests for the girls to appear at another major event.
The boys watch as this happens.
"That really is them" Takuro says to no-one in particular.
Shin smiles as Kotone catches his eyes again for a moment before she quickly turned back to a fan seeming very excited to speak with her, he turns back to Jun looking out into the distance. He asks what Jun was talking about but gets no response.
The girls spot the president being reunited with his boys and as the family shares a group hug, they can't help but smile amongst themselves at everything working out in the end.
The group are walking together as the sun is setting, they pass by a balloon cart with a tall bear in a red shirt looking out into the water past the rails. Shin approaches the bear and tries to get his attention.
"Excuse me" no response "Excuse me!" he says a bit louder getting the bear's attention.
The bear nods and slowly moves over to the cart, but pauses as Shin gives one more request.
"Um, if it's possible... I'd like a light blue one" the bear says nothing but seems to wordlessly acknowledge him.
The group leaves walking along a path surrounded by trees. Shin with a light blue balloon, Megumi with a yellow, Kanaru with a red, and Kotone with an orange.
"Why a balloon, Shin?" Takuro asks.
"Is it weird?" Shin responds quietly.
"I think it it's fitting, weirdly enough" Takuro teases.
"Is that so"
"I think it's really cute" Kotone suddenly says beaming a smile to Shin who's walking besides her.
He places a hand to the back of his head, feeling heat rise to his face again.
"How did you two become chiefs for the day anyways?" Takuro asks.
"We found a wallet" Kotone says indicating her and Megumi
"I lost my way" Kanaru says.
"I wonder what the real chief does when the chief for the day shows up" Takuro lifts his head in thought.
"Who knows?" Megumi muses.
Jun walking in back turns and gazes back to the bear leaning against the railing, his mind wondering but he chooses to ignore the musings.
Getting back to the house the three go in and find Ryo isn't there, but they decide to go to sleep anyway as it is getting late.
Kotone falls onto the bed and ends up falling asleep immediately. Shin going to see Jun.
A familiar piano theme plays through Kotone's ears as the familiar Velvet Room comes into view with Igor sitting at the desk.
"I see you are making some progress in getting to know some of the others" he says with his ever-present smile, though with how his eyes are curved it appears to be his attempt at showing it is more genuine.
She nods, a smile of her own graces her face.
"You have also summoned a new persona from the compendium, so after all this time despite your inactivity you still understand how to call forth the power from your own seal of thy soul"
She nods again.
"In time you will gain your entire arsenal, who knows what you may face and what personas you may require. Though I will give you a word of warning. To truly utilize the compendium, you must call forth the power from your previous bonds. You may try to shut them out, but one day you will need to remember. Not just for your sake, but for everyone you will come to know now"
She lowers her head. She knows what he says is true, she knows she will have to face her past and bring back old memories no matter how hard it may seem. There had been lots of good, but despite that she only sees the pain of remembering a lifelong left behind her.
"In time you will work past these troublesome thoughts of yours and understand that while one journey may end, the start of another takes it place though the road may stretch onward into the unknown you mustn't forget to look back and see where you once walked and with whom. But for now, I will leave you be and send you back to where you are needed most"
At that Igor's voice trails off.
She is no longer in The Velvet Room but instead in a true slumber, dreams of the day coming back to her. Of her new friends. Maybe, just maybe she can do this.
Shin walks in and sees Kotone asleep but notices her shivering. Recalling what she had said before, he carefully climbs into bed beside her and wraps her into an embrace careful not to wake her. He notices she stops shivering immediately and a smile comes across her face. He smiles back despite her being unable to see it and lays back soon finding sleep himself.
