A/N: I have no excuses. All I will say, is that this chapter was a pain to write. I actually had it completed two weeks ago, but then I realised that one significant portion of the chapter flowed extremely terribly, so I had to replace it with something else. I might post that deleted scene, if anyone's interested, but it has some spoilers that haven't been revealed here, so ask at your own risk ;)

Thank you all so much for your support. The updates are horribly sporadic, but I am still receiving wonderful feedback about this story from the different platforms it has been published in. Really, thank you! :)

April 27, 2013

"...You know, it's still pretty amazing, however I look at it."

The occupants of the living room turned to look at Shinra, who had broken the silence with a smile.

"I mean, wow. The whole concept about Shadows, Personas, and a TV world? I had a feeling there was more to it than what Souji-kun and the others had said, but I didn't think it amounted to something this intriguing. If I didn't see it for myself, I probably wouldn't have given it much more thought."

Shinra paused, resting his chin on his palm as he faced the black-haired man sitting on the sofa across him.

"And then there's you," the underground doctor said. Seeing the raven fidget elicited another lighthearted chuckle from him. "Psyche-kun, was it? That was quite the display, defeating those Shadow creatures all by yourself last night. Celty and I are really grateful to you."

The young man named Psyche scratched the back of his head and tried to avoid the intense stares from everyone else, like an embarrassed child looking for an opportunity to slip away. "It's nothing, Shin-chan. It's only natural, after all. Though Iza-chan probably won't ever admit it, Shin-chan is someone important to him, so..."

Shinra blinked. "That's...unexpected," he mumbled thoughtfully. He wasn't used to the idea of someone looking like Izaya being honest, for once. Especially when it concerned something so personal.

"Huh? Is that strange? I thought the both of you are friends," Teddie said, tilting his head to one side.

Shinra chuckled sheepishly. "Ah... Well, about that, it's a little...complicated."

Shizuo raised an eyebrow, but didn't make any comment.

Rise let out a giggle. "Think of it this way, Teddie." Her eyes sparkled with mischief as she stole a glance at one of her seniors. "It's kinda like how you and Yosuke-senpai are always like, right?"

Yosuke choked. "Wha-whaaa? What does this have to-"

"But Yosuke is important to me," Teddie innocently cut the brunet off, looking genuinely confused. "It doesn't look like it but I really do try to let him know!"

"Oh I wasn't referring to you," Rise said sweetly, giving Yosuke an expectant look. The rest of the Investigation Team did the same.

"H-hey!" Yosuke exclaimed, flustered. "Why am I suddenly being dragged into this anyway? And besides, since when did you guys get the idea that-"

"The toy, Hanamura, the toy," Chie said, smirking as she revealed one of her former classmate's most recent secrets. "Y'know, the incident in the train on the way here?"

Yosuke's eyebrow twitched at the embarrassing memory.

"Oh yeah, speaking of toys," Kanji spoke up, not knowing the significance of the incident that Chie had mentioned, "what happened to the one I made for ya, Yosuke-senpai? Have you been taking care of it?"

Yosuke shot him a glare while Teddie turned to Chie and asked about that toy incident.

"Ah," Souji muttered, "there was that conversation we had late at night..."

"Dude, not you too!"

The room, which was once quiet and filled with tension, was now brightened with smiles and laughter on the Investigation Team's side. Shinra, Celty and Shizuo could only look on in silent wonder at their seemingly natural ability to change what used to be an awkward atmosphere into one that was warm and friendly so easily.

Just looking at them and watching how they interacted with each other was all the proof anyone needed about their tight-knit bond. Never did Shinra nor Celty once see such a large group of people being on such good terms with one another. The closest they had seen was probably the camaraderie between Mikado, Masaomi and Anri, but even that couldn't compare to the ties of friendship among the adolescents of the self-proclaimed Investigation Team.

'They must have gone through a lot together,' Shinra mused as he looked on with a smile. 'A lot more than one can possibly imagine.'

Celty seemed to have read his mind, for she typed the exact same words on her PDA which she showed only to Shinra. The doctor nodded as a sign of his agreement.

Then he looked in Shizuo's direction, purely out of curiosity about his childhood friend's reaction to such a sight. When Shinra saw that Shizuo was conflicted between feeling frustrated from his encounter with Izaya's Shadow and feeling slightly relieved about the team's attempt to lighten up the atmosphere, he hummed quietly to himself before turning towards Psyche.

To his mild surprise, the pink-eyed doppelganger of Izaya was smiling dazedly at the sight.

With both elbows on his lap and his chin resting on his palms, Psyche was staring intently with half-lidded eyes and a dreamy smile, kicking his legs in the air lightly as if he were a toddler paddling in a pool. From the way he was watching the group, it looked like the raven was deep in his own thoughts. Possibly his own memories, even, seeing how he seemed so happy as though he were a part of them right now. But on top of that, it also looked like he was a little...envious?

Shinra folded his arms, leaning back into the sofa. Truth be told, he had been this interested in Psyche not just because of the uncanny resemblance between Izaya and him, but mostly because Psyche himself was shrouded in complete and utter mystery.

The doctor didn't have the chance to ask when Psyche appeared and saved him and Celty from those Shadows, admittedly because he was far too distracted by said creatures and the might of the Persona that Psyche had summoned. But after regaining his composure and following a logical train of thought, Shinra arrived at a likely though baseless theory concerning Izaya's near-carbon copy. And now, as he observed the other man's behaviour, Shinra became even more certain about that hypothesis.

'But if Psyche-kun really is a manifestation of some part of Izaya's personality,' Shinra paused to frown, 'then doesn't that make him...?'

"Okay guys, back on topic," Souji's cool and collected voice caught Shinra's attention. His teammates quieted down, seriousness painted all over their expressions once more. The grey-haired undergraduate turned to face Psyche, who had snapped out of his daydream before anyone realised it. "Psyche-san, I understand this might be difficult for you, but I hope you can explain to us what has been happening recently."

"And who the hell you really are, and what that bastard is up to," Shizuo added with a low growl.

Psyche simply stared at the two, his hot neon pink eyes darting to and fro before a bubbly giggle escaped his lips. The Investigation Team looked at him in confusion while Shinra, Shizuo and Celty bristled at the familiarity of the raven's laughter.

"Oh! I'm sorry, it's just that you reminded me of someone." Psyche's gaze turned wistful as he directed his attention to the ceiling, staring at it fondly. "Someone I really, really wanna see again..."

Now that was surprising. Izaya? Wanting to meet a specific person as opposed to simply mingling around with the humans he claimed to love so much? Was that a feeling Izaya had been trying to suppress and deny having?

It seemed like there was so much more to Izaya than Shinra had initially thought.

"Psyche-kun?"

"...Ah!" The raven blushed. It was like witnessing some kind of miracle to those who knew Izaya personally. "Oh golly, I'm so sorry! I-I'll make sure to stay focused this time. You can count on me! Yup."

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," Naoto reassured him.

"Um... Well, I guess I'll start by formally introducing myself." The raven leapt to his feet. With both hands folded in front of him, he bowed. "It's nice to meet you all. My name is Psyche. I'm...not exactly a Shadow, but I'm something similar to that."

The Investigation Team didn't seem too taken aback about the revelation, while Shizuo's expression darkened considerably at Psyche's mention of the word "Shadow" - wow, what on earth did Izaya's Shadow do to make him this angry? - and Celty's shoulders tensed in surprise. Shinra would've had said "I knew it" if not for one important detail.

"'Something...similar'?" It was Yukiko who pointed it out.

Nodding, Psyche returned to his seat. "Actually, to be more precise," he said, looking downcast, "I don't even know what I am."

Everyone in the room stared at him wide-eyed. Some in shock, some in sympathy, and some with a mixture of both.

When Psyche realised that the room had gone quiet at what he said, he quickly raised his arms and waved in a fluster. "A-ah, sorry, I didn't mean to surprise everyone like that! I-it's just that... I thought..."

Suddenly at a loss of what to say, the raven groaned and started hitting himself lightly on the head with a clenched fist, muttering gibberish to himself.

Shizuo looked like he wanted to get out and take a smoke and never come back. Seeing someone who was so strikingly similar to Izaya's appearance act like this was getting reasonably hard to bear, even for Shinra. Celty was a little unsettled herself but tried not to show it.

"I know what you mean, Psyche-chan!" Teddie declared with enthusiasm, appearing determined and confident. "I went through the exact same thing, so I know exactly how you feel. So don't feel bad about it! Sensei and the rest of us will hear you out for sure!"

The Investigation Team's shocked expressions readily melted away into reassuring smiles at Teddie's encouragement as they all turned to Psyche and nodded simultaneously. Being on the receiving end of such nice gestures, Psyche was so touched his eyes were beginning to water.

With such a tearful expression coupled with a re-brightened smile, the raven thanked them and then tried to start again, "Right… As I said earlier, I'm Psyche. I don't know what I am, but what I do know is that I'm kinda like a Shadow. I'm a part of Iza-chan, but I'm different from the usual Shadows Sou-chan and his friends are used to meeting."

"'Different', as in...?" Shinra probed.

"Well, he's obviously not trying to kill his host or anything," Kanji tried to contribute.

"And there isn't the usual 'I am the true self' stuff either," Yosuke added.

Psyche nodded slowly, looking a little uncomfortable at the notion of doing any sort of harm to Izaya. "And, um, I can use a Persona."

"I see..." Naoto spoke. "In other words, you have a will and personality of your own, almost as though you are a completely separate existence from Orihara-san himself."

"Whoa, hold on. Isn't that just like our Teddie over here?" Chie asked.

"Eh? Is that so?" Shinra replied. They hadn't mentioned anything like that before. If it was true, then there just might be some big discovery about Shadows and Personas waiting to be uncovered, if the fact that more than one such unique manifestations existed was anything to go by.

"Oh, we never did explain, did we?" Yosuke said. "Teddie's a Shadow that can use a Persona. Or more like...a former Shadow, I think."

"...What?" Shizuo muttered. "That guy used to be a Shadow?"

In response to the question, as well as the looks of curiosity and surprise on Shinra, Celty, and Shizuo's faces, Teddie made a large clumsy nod. It almost looked like he was bowing; a seemingly forced but actually natural gesture that Shinra had seen for the first time since meeting him.

"That's right," Teddie answered, looking a bit ashamed of his own roots. Then he turned towards Psyche, and instantly beamed at him. "That's why I know what Psyche-chan is going through. And it was Sensei and the others who helped me figure things out, so I know for sure if there's anyone Psyche-chan can count on, it's all of us here!"

"...I see," Shinra whispered to himself, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

'A physical representation of somebody's thoughts and feelings can somehow develop an ego of its own. An ego so strong that a Persona can be summoned. Because it now possess its own personality, this being that was once tied to its human's inner psyche has become separated from it. That's why Teddie-kun and Psyche-kun aren't like the other Shadows; they've completely lost that aspect of their original nature.'

Deep in his thoughts, Shinra subtly nodded to himself as he pondered further and further about this intriguing matter that had revealed itself before him. Psychology and the like wasn't the paranormal-obsessed doctor's forte, but from observing other people so often out of an unconscious habit of observing Celty, Shinra found himself having the uncanny ability to read someone like a book more than he would have liked.

Besides, Shadows and Personas clearly belonged to the supernatural category, in Shinra's opinion. Supernatural psychology, probably, but supernatural nonetheless. There wasn't anything normal about being able to summon mythological figures to do battle with creatures that came from human thought, and that was what fascinated Shinra so. And having witnessed the power of Personas first-hand did nothing to satiate the desire to know more.

[But wait a minute.] Celty typed, her movements - no matter how slight - catching Shinra's attention. [If Shadows came from humans, then at least we know for sure that Psyche-kun came from Izaya. But then, where did Teddie-kun...?]

"I don't know that, either. I was just...an ordinary Shadow," the blond replied sadly, lowering his head.

The Dullahan quickly made a move to apologise, to which Teddie just smiled and gestured that it was alright, which did little to put Celty at ease. Seeing that, Shinra stroked her back comfortingly, and it made him glad that it helped somewhat.

"Ah, we shouldn't dwell on this topic so much," Teddie suggested. "Psyche-chan, please continue."

Psyche nodded. "Well, I think I should tell you guys more about Icchan. Iza-chan's Shadow, I mean." Shizuo looked murderous again. The raven fidgeted. "Icchan's actually a little like me, except that he probably has the closest ties to Iza-chan out of all of us. He's most like the usual Shadows because of that, but he's still different from them."

"...He has a will of his own as well, then, I presume?" Naoto asked.

"Kinda." Psyche sounded like he doubted his own answer, despite himself. "But it still doesn't change the fact that Icchan wants Iza-chan dead. It's just that, because Icchan is aware of what he's doing, he's making use of it to come up with a way to achieve his goal rather than do what usual Shadows do."

"Why would he do that, though? If he really wanted Orihara-san dead from the start, why didn't he just...you know, pull a berserk mode or whatever on him?" Yosuke then quickly added, "I-I mean, not that I want that to happen, of course. Just...why?"

"Because it's fun," Psyche replied without a beat. The cold, automatic answer seemed to make some of the Investigation Team members, namely everyone but Souji and Naoto, rather unsettled. "I'm not like Iza-chan and Icchan, but I'm connected to them, so I know. There's no fun in taking an easy way to get what you want. No sense of pride, no satisfaction to be gained. Iza-chan believes in that, and so Icchan does, too.

"But..." Psyche paused and grimaced, as if struggling to get the right words out. "Icchan doesn't agree with how Iza-chan has been doing things. Iza-chan always does his work when nobody's looking, but Icchan doesn't like that. He wants to come out into the open. He wants other people to know exactly what he's doing."

The raven absentmindedly raised a hand to the headphones around his neck as a sad expression formed on his face. "Icchan wants to be seen," he spoke, gripping onto the headphones lightly. Then, he released his grip, and turned towards Shizuo and said, "That's why he came here, Shizuo-kun. Icchan wanted to appear in front of you because he knew Shizuo-kun would do something to alert everyone else."

"Hang on," Shinra interrupted. "If a Shadow is supposed to represent a side a person has been suppressing, doesn't that mean that there's a part of Izaya that, despite everything, wants to conduct his work in front of other people? But isn't that something he's always been doing?"

Psyche tilted his head to one side. "Not really? I mean, whenever something goes wrong, everyone thinks it's Iza-chan's fault straight away, right? Iza-chan's too obvious sometimes, but he likes and doesn't like it at the same time. He's always been a lil weird." Then he frowned. "Shouldn't Shin-chan already know that?"

Shinra kept silent, not knowing what to say.

Thinking about it now, Psyche was absolutely right. Izaya was known to be shady and made sure to complete his work away from the public eye, and that there was the irony: he was well-known for his job as an information broker. A profession that was meant to be kept under a facade for the informant's own safety, and yet he was famous for it.

Izaya tended to draw a lot of attention, whether unnecessary or not was not for Shinra to determine, to himself wherever he went. It was something Shinra had realised from a long time ago, but he wouldn't actively think of it like he did now. He recalled he once casually concluded to himself that Izaya just wanted his beloved humans to notice him and left things at that without pondering further.

But now with Izaya's Shadow surfacing, everything just became more complicated, necessitating more thought on the matter.

So what exactly was the Shadow meant to represent? If Izaya himself preferred to conduct his work in the dark and yet didn't mind other people knowing about it, then what Psyche said about his Shadow didn't make sense. If he wanted to be seen, then how was that disagreeing with the way Izaya did his work?

While Shinra continued thinking, Shizuo sighed tiredly and said, "That's not the point here. What I want to know is how is that bastard so strong and why he...he..." Shizuo trailed off and didn't continue from there.

And he really, really looked like he was going to grab something and hurl it across the room, so Shinra quietly requested, "Please don't take it out on my house." Nobody except Celty heard him. She gave Shinra a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"A-ahh." Psyche scratched the back of his head sheepishly. His face turning slightly red made everyone else even more confused about what Shizuo had meant. "Yeah, about that? Um, I don't really know how to say it, but basically it's Icchan's special ability."

"What special ability?!" Shizuo snapped, face turning crimson rapidly. Most likely from anger, but then again, Shinra had no idea what exactly happened between Shizuo and Izaya's Shadow, so he couldn't be too sure. "You trying to tell me that something like that can be called a freakin' 'special ability'?!"

Psyche jolted and sunk further into his seat while the others, in particular Celty, attempted to calm the fortissimo of Ikebukuro down, but to no avail. As the blond made his way over to him, Psyche exclaimed, "Wait, Shizuo-kun! I wasn't finishe-uwah!"

"So stop beating about the bush and get to the damn point," Shizuo spoke in a fierce whisper as he grabbed the collar of Psyche's coat. It was somehow even more terrifying than seeing him shout across the room and march towards him.

It was only for a split second, but there was a flash of fear in Psyche's eyes. Shizuo probably caught it, because when Shinra noticed it, he also saw that Shizuo flinched before relaxing a little and letting Psyche go. The tip of the raven's tongue was nearly about to stick out from his lips until he noticed that Shizuo had gone awfully quiet and mellow.

"...Sorry," the blond finally mumbled out after a brief moment of silence.

"I...it's okay!" Psyche was quick to exclaim, withdrawing his tongue at the same time. "I didn't explain myself clearly enough so there's no need for Shizuo-kun to be sorry." He took a deep breath, probably to calm himself down, but the look of unease on his face was proof of its effectiveness. "Well, like I said before, that was Icchan's special ability you saw, Shizuo-kun.

"Shin-chan and Cel-chan and Shizuo-kun might not understand, but Sou-chan and his friends do." Psyche directed his attention to the Investigation Team, his neon pink eyes sparkling with the determination to explain to the best of his ability. "It's like how some Personas work differently from one another. Some do better attacking Shadows, some can heal... You know what I mean, right?"

When they nodded with recognition flashing in their eyes, Psyche continued, "Yeah, it's just like that. See, Icchan's strong, but that's not why he could hurt you, Shizuo-kun." Everyone instantly turned to face Shizuo, appearing stunned. Psyche went on, "Icchan managed to hurt you because he saw your weak points. That's Icchan's specialty. He can tell where your weaknesses are and exploit them or find some way to turn things to his advantage."

"Hey... Doesn't that sound like...?"

The rest of the Investigation Team slowly turned towards Rise as Yosuke voiced out his teammates' thoughts. The brunette didn't seem all that bothered by the stares, but she did frown a little, probably due to certain unpleasant memories she might've had with regards to whatever her friend was referring to.

Shinra's suspicions were confirmed when the famous teen idol's frown eventually turned into a pout when Shizuo and Celty joined in the staring, effectively getting her teammates to look away as fast as they could. It was pretty amusing to see that even a person like Risette had some sort of intimidating side to her that the general public would never get a chance to witness.

Now with a slight blush, Rise cleared her throat and said, "Yeah, yeah, I know. That does sound like what my Shadow did when it went all berserk. But... Huh, that's the first time I heard of someone's Shadow being able to do that when it's not in berserk mode. Though I guess it kinda makes sense, seeing that it's still the same Shadow either way."

Shizuo gave her this look. Shinra couldn't make out what emotion Shizuo was trying to convey through that, but it was a strange look regardless. "Did your Shadow... Uh... Erm..." Shizuo tried to start but couldn't continue. His face was turning red again.

An idea sprung to Shinra's head at the sight, after his mind began piecing the little clues together - Shizuo's particularly bad temper after meeting Izaya's Shadow; Rise's reluctance to remember how her Shadow was like; Shizuo's unexplained blushing at times - but it was such a crazy and unreasonable idea that Shinra couldn't help but smile to himself for thinking of it.

And so, with that bright, innocent smile on his face, Shinra very shamelessly and boldly said, "I think Shizuo-kun is trying to ask if your Shadow had to do something intimate to activate that ability."

Everyone in the room was stunned speechless until Shizuo broke something - probably one of the mugs, Shinra assumed - and growled with increasing intensity, "Shinraaaaaaa...!"

"Eep," Shinra calmly murmured, though he was anything but calm on the inside. Being the sole reason for one Heiwajima Shizuo's wrath was almost starting to make him wish he could take back what he just said. Almost.

Rise leapt to her feet. "Wh-whaaat?" Shaking her head vigorously, she continued to protest, "No, no, it was nothing of the sort, Shinra-sensei! Nothing...nothing like that happened!"

"If you don't count the pole and the stri-GAH!" Chie didn't let Yosuke finish whatever he was going to say, leaving him collapsing to the floor as he wrapped his arms around the region of his lower abdomen. Rise looked like she was caught between anger and sheer embarrassment at what Yosuke had nearly revealed.

Shinra had to fight his habitual itch to carry out medical treatment when Psyche jumped in to explain, "Rise-chan's right, Shin-chan! Most Personas that can scan for information don't need physical contact at all, but the Shadows that can might need it." Then, as if he didn't treasure his own life, Psyche added, "In Icchan's case, the more intimate, the better!"

"Hey, you! You say any more and I'm gonna-!"

"Hold on," Souji interrupted Shizuo as politely as he could, appearing completely unfazed even as the blond shot an intimidating glare at him. "If I may ask, Heiwajima-san, what exactly happened between you and Orihara-san's Shadow? We need the details if we want to figure out what his next move may be."

The former bartender couldn't give a coherent reply.

Psyche grinned. "It's okay, Sou-chan. You don't need to ask Shizuo-kun for that. Because I know exactly what Icchan's going to do."

"You do? Then why didn't you say so earlier? Woulda saved a hell lotta time!" Kanji said, voicing out what most of the people in the room were thinking.

Psyche winced. "I know, I know. I know I keep wasting everyone's time, and I'm sorry. But it's..." He paused to purse his lips, before he gave a determined frown. "It's not like there was a good chance to say it, you know! I mean, nobody was asking anything specific, so what were you expecting from me? I'm not as smart as Iza-chan or Icchan or Hibi-kun. They can tell what you want from them, but I can't, okay?"

The room fell silent at Psyche's unexpected outburst. It was like they had just watched a toddler throwing a sudden tantrum and bursting into tears out of the blue; in such situations, Shinra often had a way to calm the child down, but Psyche wasn't exactly an ordinary child, if he could be considered one.

But more importantly, who on earth was "Hibi-kun"?

Yosuke ruffled his own hair, making it even more unkempt than it usually was. "Ugh, this is all so confusing. Okay, first off, let's get a couple of things straight. Basically, what you're saying is, Orihara-san's Shadow has an ability that's like Rise's. But because he hasn't gone all haywire yet, he needs some form of physical contact for that ability of his to work. Are we on the same page here or did I get it wrong?"

With the upset look on his face completely wiped off, Psyche nodded vigorously. "Yup, that's right."

"Alright, at least we got that. Then, you're also saying that Shadow has a will of his own and is trying to use a roundabout way to get what he wants. And this roundabout way involves Heiwajima-san, for some reason, but you know exactly what he's trying to do and why he's doing it. Right?"

Psyche nodded, maintaining the same level of enthusiasm. "Yeah, you got it!"

Yosuke heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, now that we got that outta the way, I guess we can narrow down our questions so that we can make this a lot easier." His fellow peers mumbled in agreement, looking glad that they were finally about to make clearer progress. "Anybody wanna do the honours?"

"How 'bout, who the hell was the guy we saved a week ago? The guy we all thought was suffering from some syndrome thing and close to dying and all that shit. Y'know, the guy who somehow disappeared like he wasn't there in the first place?" Kanji asked, his tone sounding like a mix between sarcasm and anger.

"Oh that's easy!" Psyche brightened up in spite of the evident bad mood Kanji was in. "That's another of Icchan's abilities. He can create all sorts of illusions! But just like his other ability I mentioned, he can't use it to its full extent the way he is now, so Icchan's illusions aren't too good and can't last as long. A week is probably his current limit."

Yukiko spoke, her eyes widened, "Are... Are you telling us that the person we saved is actually just an illusion his Shadow created all this while?"

"Mm, in a way, yeah. See, the Iza-chan you rescued wasn't really Iza-chan at all. It was one of Icchan's illusions. But Icchan can't make any kind of illusion he wants. Not right now. He's supposed to be able to, but now he can only make them if they're already existing somewhere and if there are people who believe they exist."

While everyone else was trying to make sense of what Psyche had said, Naoto hummed thoughtfully and said, "I see... An illusion of something that already exists. In other words, Orihara-san's Shadow is capable of projecting the image of a real object or person into our minds, as far as his illusion-making abilities go in his current state."

"And these projections he's creating become as real as we believe them to be," Shinra added, his heart fluttering with excitement and utmost fascination. "So, we all saw Izaya here, in this world, for the past week because we believed without any hesitation that he was real. That's why when Shizuo-kun saw the Shadow last night and began to question if Izaya was at my house, which influenced me to wonder about it myself, Izaya disappeared without a trace. Or more like, the projection of Izaya stopped existing because we stopped believing in it."

Rise's eyes flickered in recognition at the revelation before they flashed with shock. "So… Then, Orihara-san being caught in a mass of Shadows… If that's supposed to be an illusion of something that's real, then it…really did happen?"

The horrifying idea struck the rest of the Investigation Team members. Psyche's sudden silence and refusal to meet any of their gazes was the only confirmation he gave.

Celty froze. [T-Then, the Midnight Channel that showed up last week...]

"...It was real," Psyche murmured. "It really did happen."

"So... Orihara-san is..."

Psyche shook his head, cutting Naoto off. "Don't get me wrong, Nao-chan. Iza-chan's still alive." He smiled as though it was the only way he could set the others at ease. "I said it, didn't I? Icchan's smart. He just doesn't want Iza-chan waking up any time soon, so he cut off the ties he had with Iza-chan temporarily. It's why Iza-chan has Apathy Syndrome now."

Yosuke's brows furrowed. "Is that even possible?"

Psyche "hmm"-ed as he tapped his chin with his index finger. "Well, think of it as a Shadow going berserk, but without turning into the bigger and stronger versions of themselves!" He paused to frown. "I can't really explain it very well, but you know what I mean, right?"

Then, without giving the Investigation Team a chance to respond, Psyche's eyes lit up. "Oh, right! That reminds me." He looked in Shizuo's direction. "Shizuo-kun, you didn't say anything to make Icchan mad, did you? I mean, Icchan's real strong, but not when he's the way he is right now, so he shouldn't have been able to hurt you badly unless he's really, really angry. It makes him stronger, you know? Though he's not so good at controlling it."

Despite everyone's common fear of offending the fortissimo of Ikebukuro, all of the occupants in the room didn't hesitate to give Shizuo a questioning and curious look as they waited for his answer. In a sense, it was pretty ironic; the way Psyche said it made it sound like he was talking about how Shizuo was like on a regular basis as opposed to something that was born from Izaya.

Trying his best to ignore the undesired attention, Shizuo scratched the back of his head and grunted, "...I might have said something."

Psyche sighed and muttered something in Russian - or at least, it sounded like Russian - under his breath. Everybody could only look at him blankly. Naoto, on the other hand, seemed slightly unimpressed at what Psyche had said, but otherwise didn't respond or say anything indicative of her possible understanding of the language.

"...Never mind. Icchan's sensitive like that. It's not Shizuo-kun's fault. I think." Psyche made the switch back to Japanese without any warning. "Okay, I talked about Icchan's illusions and what he did to Iza-chan, right? Is there anything-"

"Oh, oh, what is he gonna do next? And why does we wanna drag Heiwajima-san into this? I mean, they're not exactly the best of friends or anything," suggested Chie. Shizuo looked appalled at the idea of him and Izaya being anything other than enemies.

"Mm, it's just like what Icchan said before he left," Psyche replied, sitting back down on the sofa. "Icchan's waiting. He's already done what he came here to do, so he's gone back to the Forest. But for his plan to carry on, he needs us there. That's why he's waiting. Then about Shizuo-kun..." A pause. "Um, I don't think I should say it. Iza-chan and Icchan would get mad if I do. But-but it's not anything bad! I promise! It's just that... It doesn't seem right if I say it."

It was yet another vague answer, but Shizuo surprisingly accepted it with just a shrug. Perhaps, like the Investigation Team, Shizuo had realised that it was something very personal, and that it was probably something Izaya himself needed to hear as well, so he didn't probe any further. Or maybe there was no point in trying to do so if Psyche was unwilling to share it even after revealing so much already.

Either way, nobody questioned Psyche about it. Instead, Yukiko asked, "But what did he come here to do exactly? It must've been something very important if he was willing to go to such lengths to hide it from us."

"It is, it is," Psyche answered cheerfully, in a manner that was strikingly similar to Izaya's. His energy, however, died down as he continued, "But you see, that's what Icchan came to do. To pull Shizuo-kun into this. But Shizuo-kun ne? He's not supposed to be involved just yet. Icchan knows that, but he still wanted to try. That's why when I realised what Icchan was gonna do, I came here to stop him." He smiled wryly. "Hehe, it didn't really work, huh."

"Okay, stop right there," said Shizuo. "Last night, you and that other flea were talking about something like that too. Something about how the other flea's not supposed to drag me into this just yet. So, what, you guys can see the future or something? Or know what's gonna happen?"

Psyche didn't give an immediate reply. Instead, he spent a few moments remaining perfectly still, as if he had been fearing that very question, before he sighed and removed the headphones that were hanging around his neck. The thin, neon pink cord attached to the left headphone followed its movements gently, while the other end of the cord remained buried in the left pocket of Psyche's white coat.

"I dunno about Icchan, but for me it's because of this," the raven said. "Whenever I listen to the music that's playing in here, I can get an idea of how the future's gonna be like. And it's not just that, too. Since I'm a part of Iza-chan, the music that's playing changes depending on his mood, so I can tell how Iza-chan is feeling by listening to this."

"Whoa, that is suh-weet," Yosuke couldn't help but comment, his eyes sparkling with rekindled zeal.

"Ehh, no it's not." Psyche puffed his cheeks, the sight of which nearly made Shinra burst into laughter. (To think he could actually live long enough to see Orihara Izaya pout like that. He should've taken a picture; oh the blackmail potential.) Thankfully he managed to restrain himself, and the laughter came in the form of a snort instead. Celty elbowed him lightly.

"You don't know how terrible Iza-chan's mood swings can be sometimes. It's the worst," Psyche continued to complain as he placed his headphones back around his neck. The urge to laugh was getting harder to control. "All those images and sounds and everything would fly around everywhere! Ugh, it always gives me a headache whenever that happens. It's so unfair that I'm the only one who has to deal with it. Un. Fa. Ir."

"'The only one'?" Naoto echoed. "If I may ask, what do you mean by 'the only one'?"

"Oh! I haven't told you guys?" A broad smile found its way to Psyche's face, excitement clearly written all over it. With a leap from his seat, he went on, "You see, you see, there are other people who are kinda like me. They all came from Iza-chan, just like I did. And they can use Personas, too. I'm not as strong as they are, though... And it seems like I'm the only one who is connected to Iza-chan like this, so whenever they wanna know what I saw, they'll come and ask me."

Shinra nodded in understanding. "I'm guessing that the Hibi-kun you mentioned is one of them?"

Psyche giggled at the mention of his fellow peer's name. "Yup! There's also Rocchan and Saku-chan, and maybe a few more even we haven't met yet."

"Eh? So many?" Yukiko spoke.

'Fascinating,' Shinra mused, trying to process and fit this new bit of information into his earlier hypothesis. 'Having that many different manifestations of aspects of his personality, all imbued with a will of their own... This is certainly beyond the typical situation I've been told about. The question is, how?'

That was something Shinra had entirely no leads about.

"...Great. Just what I needed. More fleas," Shizuo grumbled, holding his forehead in one of his hands.

Psyche, however, didn't seem to pay any attention to it. "Hmm well I don't know if there are that many of us since I've never seen anyone else except for Hibi-kun and Rocchan and Saku-chan and Icchan, but Hibi-kun said there are, so there's gotta be more."

Shinra chuckled. "Psyche-kun must really admire Hibi-kun a lot, if you believe in what he says this much."

"Of course I do! Hibi-kun is super duper smart!" Psyche replied without any hesitation, his eyes glistening with said admiration. "Hibi-kun knows everything Iza-chan does, and even more! And he's not just all brains either. You'll know when you see him, he's that great!"

[We'll be seeing him? Is he coming over here, then?]

"Nope~" Psyche sang, shaking his head. It seemed that being reminded of someone he was close to had brightened up his mood by a mile. "Hibi-kun's smart and all, but he can't find a way to leave the Forest just yet. Same with Rocchan and Saku-chan. Icchan probably did something to keep them in. But me? I have my headphones, so whatever Icchan did, it didn't affect me.

"That's why Hibi-kun told me to come here. To help you guys and guide you through the Forest so that we can stop Icchan."

Rise's eyes widened slightly. "Is that why I couldn't pick up anything when we went into the TV these past few days? Because the Shadow tried to stop people from entering or leaving the fortress, and that involved blocking me out again?"

Psyche blinked and tilted his head to one side. "'Fortress'?" he repeated, as though the term itself was foreign to him.

"Y'know, that place that looked like some kinda gigantic wall when the inside's actually all glittery and stuff? It got caught on fire for some reason, though, but thinkin' about it, it mighta been an illu-"

"But... There's no such place anymore," Psyche cut Kanji off simply, his words earning him shocked looks and stares.

"Uh... We are still talking about the same TV world, right? I mean, isn't that fortress a part of the TV world? And since the Forest is technically the TV world, then...doesn't that mean blocking the Forest off is like blocking the fortress off?" Yosuke said.

"You're right, Yo-chan, but that's not the problem here. See, this fortress you guys keep mentioning... It doesn't exist anymore. That fire Kan-chan said? It was real. It wasn't an illusion."

"But... But why? Why did the Shadow do that?" Yukiko asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Psyche gulped, turning slightly pale. Then he diverted his attention away from the large group of people in the room, keeping his eyes glued to the floor as he held his hands behind his back and tapped a foot against the ground. If he could only use one word to describe how Psyche looked like now, Shinra would say, without any hesitation:

Frightened.

He was frightened.

Psyche was, undoubtedly, being the perfect picture of a child who had learnt of some terrible secret that he was reluctant to share about.

"...Ne," Psyche said after a moment, raising his head slowly to meet everyone's gaze. "That big flea-like Shadow you guys fought the other day... Do you still remember it, I wonder?"