The offices of the SIU were unusually quiet as the secretary phoned up to the office of their director. "Sir? Your 2pm just arrived."
"Ryotaro Dojima? Very well. Send him up."
So the man had made it after all. He admitted, wiping his glasses with a cloth as he looked out to his floor to ceiling view of Tokyo, he'd begun to worry the man might not show. His contacts had let him know the moment the detective had marched, bruised and bloody, into the temporary precinct of Yasoinaba, Seitou Noburo slung over his shoulder two days previous. Such a pity that all their careful planning around using a criminal to do their dirty work, whose knowledge of his targets could be blamed on the cop turned inmate, had fallen apart so quickly. They hadn't even managed half what they'd planned, let alone moved on to the political targets as they'd hoped to.
Still, if they managed to get this Dojima and his persona usage into their fold, away from the Kirijo group, it would have been well worth it. A man able to use powers of this so-called 'metaverse' in the real world was a rare boon, and surely with a few well placed words to keep the detective paranoid and convinced their work was for the greater good, he'd be a much better asset than the petty criminal he'd cost them.
Ah, there was the door….
The two people who walked through were definitely not Detective Dojima. "How dare…!"
The platinum blonde man smirked as he pulled off the brown wig, nodding to the red headed woman behind him. "The good detective couldn't make it, Director. So we thought we'd do him a favor, and come talk to you personally while he's busy with the press conference."
"What press conference-" Mitsuru Kirijo cut him off with a wave, pointing to the TV in the bookcase behind him. The director, still keeping an eye on the two intruders, fumbled for the remote in his desk drawer. It clicked on, right to NHK, where sure enough….
Detective Ryotaro Dojima looked every inch uncomfortable, just as much from the dozens of microphones vying for space in front of him as the worry that if he breathed to hard, he'd pop a button off his dress uniform, which at this point was at its limit fighting a losing battle to stay closed. Hikohohodemi's influence on his body was never going to stay completely hidden, even if they were now in sync.
"...As I was saying, the criminal Seitou Noburo is back in custody, as well as his top three lieutenants."
"Detective Dojima, Detective Dojima! Is it true that part of the reason for Seitou's elusiveness was due to him having contacts within the police force?!" The reporter calling out was a plant arranged by Kirijo's enterprise, her familiar dark short hair and stormy eyes behind her glasses catching his as she pressed on. She was placed to ask just that question to make it seem less like Dojima, the man of the hour, was using his spotlight to drag out the rats that had come to light with Seitou's capture. Whatever her true nature, he was glad she was on their side.
The cold glare that the detective gave the cameras was enough to make many of the reporters take a step back. "Unfortunately, yes. In our subsequent interrogation with Seitou, it came to light that several members of our fine police force had, through their own greed or blackmail, aided the criminal in his evasion of justice. Most of these officers, who failed their sworn duty to uphold the law and protect the citizens of Japan from such a menace, have confessed to their crimes. They are being interrogated as we speak, to make sure that any accomplices are brought to justice and anyone who seeks to use the law in this country to their own gain are dealt with the fullest extent of that law."
"Detective, is it true you brought down the fugitive yourself?!"
...
As the detective stuttered at the attention, the Director kept his expression neutral. All that effort, put to waste. "My, that is a terrible turn of events…."
The head of Kirijo Industries was having none of it. "Three of the officers involved with Seitou's escape recently had their records wiped by someone at this office. One of those officers even claimed he was given direct orders to use the investigation as a means to bench Ryotaro Dojima, and make sure that he was indisposed when Kirijo announced they were looking into stolen research. Research, I would add, that still has yet to be recovered."
"Such a tragedy. I will make sure that such leads are followed up by my most trusted men; as for detective Dojima, you must understand, after the events with his partner, we have to be very careful to make sure that such awful evil wasn't the result of undue influence from his senior partner…."
"I think the events of the last few days, let alone his actions throughout the fugitive hunt would have put that matter to rest. Surprisingly enough, despite his public profile, the detective is happy to continue being just that; a detective in Yasoinaba. The public seems determined to keep him right where he is, too. Despite, I might add, the offer of a sizeable salary and much more ...secure employment, the man even turned down an offer of employment in the Kirijo Shadow Operatives."
A nasty smirk tugged at the Director's lips. "Such a pity."
Mitsuru ignored the jab. "However, he did agree to reconsider should there be another attempt to remove him from his position within the Yasoinaba force." The smirk soured on the Director's face. "Or, if for some unknown reason, didn't allow him to be occasionally loaned out to the Shadow Operatives in times of need." It was Mitsuru's turn to smirk through the wave of auburn hair that framed her face. "As you'd no doubt agree, he is a remarkable detective. One of a kind, even."
"Of-of course. The Special Investigation Unit would be hard pressed to not have one of our best working for our nation's greater interest."
"So glad we could see eye to eye. I'd be so disappointed if the man who ended a national nightmare would have to publicly quit the police precinct he has worked so hard for. Even worse if those who'd he stood up for stabbed him in the back for petty political gain turned out to be somehow involved in this awful mess." She motioned to her companion. "We'll see ourselves out."
She did just that, leaving the director to stew in the silence.
The director knew better than to try and call his associates immediately after such a visit. He instead paged a cleaning sweep of his office for any bugs, while he stepped a private room two doors over to call using a disposable cell phone. "I'm sure you saw the news. Make sure all of our loose ends are taken care of, properly this time. And tell Masayoshi Shido it's his turn. Let's hope his plan to steer the National Diet in our favor is much more successful than this mess."
"...What should we do about the detective? Nothing. He's not worth the effort. And make sure Shido knows that Kirijo is onto their research leak. Isshiki might be a liability." The phone clicked off.
"What a mess. But Rome wasn't built in a day."
Notes:
Gee, some of those shadowy figures seem awfully familiar. But nah, its not like someone's going to abuse the power of personas for another crazy grab for power, right?
Right?
I almost left the story here, without wrapping up back in Inaba, but I wasn't sure if that was worth dragging this out any more than I have. Originally I posted it without the final epilogue, but I realized two things. I wanted to leave on a slightly happier note, and I wanted to break 50,000 words.
Thank you for reading this. This has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears on my part, and unfortunately between all the joys of teaching and some nasty illnesses, I let you guys hang for longer than I had any right too. This started off as a 'Dangit, Dojima needs a persona' fic that became my own little exploration at some of the themes of Persona through someone who wasn't a silent teen protagonist.
Since beginning this fic, I finished Persona 5, started Persona 2 (both Eternal Punishment and Innocent Sin), got a master's degree, got licensed to teach, started teaching full time, got distracted by the Switch, and despite it all still think Ryotaro Dojima is the best thing to come out of the Persona series (even the god awful version from Persona 4: Golden the animation), and managed to finish before the P4 manga did.