April 28, 2013
On the street, near the Ikebukuro branch of Tower Records
"Well then... Is there anything you'd like help with? We can send you to a nearby clinic or hospital to get yourself checked for wounds or..."
"Ahh, it's okay. You've helped more than enough already, saving me from that man earlier."
"You sure? I mean, it's no trouble for us, so you don't have to worry about that. And don't mind me saying, but it didn't look like he was treating you all that nicely while he held you hostage..."
"I'm sure," Rise replied with conviction, making sure to pull off an equally serious expression. It seemed to have taken her saviours slightly aback, and she quickly tossed them a wink and a cheerful smile not long after. "I'm more than just your regular teenage idol, you know. I can take things like that no sweat!"
Kadota rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging. "Well, if you say so... But it still doesn't feel right to leave you all by yourself now, after what happened."
"I'll be fine!" the young brunette chirped. "I need to go back to report to my manager anyway. If I'm gone for too long, he might worry about me unnecessarily."
The man considered that for a moment, and then nodded with an assuring grin. "Alright, then. Be care—"
"Well right before you leave, could you please sign an autograph for me?" Walker interrupted, waving a copy of light novel in one hand and a permanent black marker in the other.
Kadota shot him a disapproving glance. "Yumasaki, don't—"
"Pretty please pretty please pretty please? It'd be great if I can have your very own signature on this book! To remind myself of this one time where even the boring 3D world we live in can recreate the beauty of the 2D world successfully! What a feat that is!"
"Yumasaki..."
Rise covered her mouth as she giggled. "It's okay, Kadota-san. This is part and parcel of the idol life, after all." Then she turned to Walker, and her smile became even brighter. "Besides, I can't just turn down a passionate request like that, can I? Especially after all that you've done for me?"
Walker's tiny eyes appeared like they had gleamed and glistened at that. "Ohhh thank you thank you thank you!" he cried out as he passed the aforementioned book for Rise to sign on, and leapt into the air with a whoop when she returned it.
"All right, all right, let's get a move on, Yumacchi. Togusacchi's gonna be pissed if you make him wait any longer," said Erika, who had been watching the entire scene in amused silence up until now. "Ah, but don't take it personally, Risecchi. It's just that Togusacchi's been a long diehard Hijiribe Ruri fan so he's rushing for the premiere of her latest movie, not because he doesn't like you or anything."
"Oh, I understand that perfectly, no worries! Ruri-senpai's the real deal, after all. Teen idols like me admire her a whole lot!" Rise said, beaming. "Well, I shouldn't be holding you all up, then. Go on ahead, no need to worry about me."
"...Be careful," Kadota said as his parting words to her before joining Erika in urging an elated Yumasaki back to where their van was parked.
Rise stayed where she was, waving at them until the van started moving off. Her arms fell to her sides as she heaved a tired sigh.
"Well... What should I do now?" she wondered aloud.
'Inoue-san is probably...no, knowing him he's definitely worried about me. If I don't go back or at least give him a call to say that I'm fine, he's sure to worry himself to death.'
As the young idol considered the welfare and feelings of her manager, her thoughts also began to wander to another issue at hand.
'But... That man. It was only for a short while but when he grabbed me, I heard Kanzeon sing. I'm sure of it, that man is—'
"Rise!"
"Rise-chan!"
"Kujikawa-san!"
"Eh?!"
At the sound of her name being called by a group of people she knew all too well, Rise turned, and at that moment she saw her friends, as well as Celty, jumping off their scooters, bicycle and motorcycle and running towards her.
"Eh? What's... What's everyone doing here?"
"We heard that you were in trouble," Yosuke quickly explained, still looking a touch bit anxious even though Rise was right in front of him, obviously safe and sound. "What happened? Did somebody come save you? You didn't get hurt by that guy, right?"
Rise couldn't help but giggle. "Whoa, Yosuke-senpai, calm down. It was a little scary, but a group of kind people saved me in the end. Look at me, I'm fine, and I'm not hurt or anything. There's nothing to worry about."
"That's great to hear," Yosuke said, heaving a sigh of relief. The others nodded as a form of their agreeing with him.
"But is it okay for all of you to be here? I mean, Anri-chan's still not so sure about the whole Saika thing, right?" Rise pointed out.
"Heh, you think we'd care about stuff like that when one of us is in danger?" Kanji said with a confident smirk. "'Sides, if it really gets right down to it, we can use our Personas to take 'em out without hurting anyone. Ain't gonna let them stand in our way when you needed help."
"...Awww, thanks Kanji~ And thanks to everyone, too!" Rise sang merrily before she remembered what she had been thinking about prior to meeting her friends again, a serious expression settling on her face. "Ah, that's right. I needed to tell you guys something. It's about the man who grabbed me and held me hostage... Um, but I don't think it's really convenient for me to be telling you when we're all standing out here."
Souji nodded. "Alright. We'll find a place where we can all sit down and talk this over. We need to update you on what we've learnt so far too anyway."
The others murmured their consensus and started suggesting possible places where they could safely gather without garnering too much unwanted attention. At some point Rise excused herself to make a call to her manager to inform him of where he could find her if the need arose and to set his mind at ease.
It was around the same time Rise was about to end the call when Celty, who had been standing and watching them all this while, took out her PDA and began typing.
[Do you mind if I join you all in your discussion?]
She showed the screen to just Souji at first, and he replied in his usual quiet yet assured tone which was enough for his friends to stop their discussion, "You're more than welcome to join us, Celty-san. But..."
[Ah, if it's about Shinra, you don't have to worry. I'll explain to him if he asks.] A pause, and then she resumed typing before showing the full message on the screen. [Besides, there's something I need to find out, myself. And I can't do that if Shinra keeps sticking to me like glue.]
"...It's about that your experience in that empty plain and stars, right?" At the familiar description, Celty flinched slightly. But Souji made no mention of this, and went on to say, his tone gentle and full of understanding despite the directness of his words, "The key to your past might be there and you want to find out more, but you're afraid of what Kishitani-san would think if he knows... Is that right?"
Celty didn't respond immediately. But it didn't change the affirmative answer she gave in the end.
In a private room at Russia Sushi
"...So we ended up here after all," Yosuke, who was the first to break the silence after Souji had placed everyone's orders with Simon, grumbled.
"Well, there isn't really anywhere else we can go as a group on such short notice," Yukiko pointed out, wearing a small, satisfied smile. "It's a good thing Seta-kun knew someone who could get us a private room here. And it can fit all of us nicely, too."
Yosuke couldn't help but moan quietly again, but didn't elaborate on his discomfort with the restaurant he vowed to avoid like the plague and simply glanced over the room as if instinctively trying to confirm what Yukiko just said. The room was just as he remembered the last time he came here: traditional Japanese decor, with appropriate arrangement of the table and cushions complete with matching cutlery and crockery. The nine of them – which consisted of the Investigation Team at full strength as well as Celty – sat around the table, with the four male members on one side and the female members on the other along. Celty herself took up her position at one of the corners of the table where Yukiko was kneeling, primarily to make it easier for everyone to look at the screen of her PDA when she needed to say something, and secondarily because she was the only one who didn't place an order.
At the thought of Russia Sushi's food again, Yosuke resisted a shudder.
Chie did not help matters; with twinkling eyes, she rubbed her hands together. "And best of all, we can get our lunch here too! Aaaahh I can't wait for my awesome beefy sushi to arrive!"
"Can we please stop talking about the food already and get on with the programme?" Yosuke pleaded, which earned him an affronted glare from Chie, in stark contrast to the sympathetic look from his partner and the confused stares from everyone else.
"Don't worry, Yosuke. Simon-san was just in an experimenting mood when I brought you here, but I made sure to order the normal dishes this time. Their regular sushi is really good, trust me," Souji explained.
"...If you say so, partner," Yosuke replied, though still a little doubtful.
"Well then, shall we get our meeting underway?" Naoto suggested.
Rise's eyes brightened at that, her back straightening more as she spoke, "Yeah, that's right! I was saying that I needed to tell you all about the security guard! When that whole thing happened, I was shocked that I didn't really think about it till later, but... Back then, when that man grabbed me, I heard something. It was...from Kanzeon."
The others seemed startled by the news.
"Wha... So, your Persona acted up by itself again?" Kanji asked, to which Rise nodded.
"It did, I'm sure of it. It didn't manifest or anything, but it was definitely picking up something about that security guard."
"Huh... But what could it be?" Chie said, frowning as she thought about the matter. "So far, the only things that triggered our Personas outside the TV world is those Saika children or whatever you call them..."
"Yeah, that's it," Rise hurriedly replied, confirming Chie's guess. "That's what it felt like. I couldn't really get a good look at his eyes to be certain, but that guy definitely gave off the same feeling as Saika."
[But that's... That can't be right.] Celty typed, before she quickly clarified herself. [Ah it's not that I doubt you, Rise-chan, but Anri-chan already absorbed whatever fog there is so all of the essence in the people Saika had cut before should have returned to her by now, too.]
"...Unfortunately I don't think that's for certain, Sturluson-san," Naoto said.
[Why do you say so?]
"Although it is true Sonohara-san absorbed the fog, I believe that the fog that she absorbed is the one that specifically targeted the Ikebukuro populace's memories of Orihara-san, the matter in which Saika's own fog had little – or perhaps even no – direct involvement. Considering the situation at that time, the more pressing issue was to lift the fog that was about to cause the two worlds to merge. If that was the case, then it would be natural to focus on getting rid of that fog over the one produced by Saika."
"I agree," Souji chipped in. "From the way Sonohara was talking, it didn't sound like she had been thinking about absorbing Saika's fog, either. Her main focus was on the more dangerous of the two, and that was the one she took in."
[...That, makes sense.] Celty typed hesitantly, before shaking her "head". [But I still can't really understand why it had to be Anri-chan, at the end of it all. That mysterious person who helped us said it's because Saika is related to fog, and Igor-san mentioned there being a "connection", but...what is it? What is that relation? I mean, Saika being able to take in a fog that's different from the kind it produces is... It can't just be a coincidence.]
"That's...a really good point," Yosuke said. "Marie-chan could do it because she was just reabsorbing all the fog that her other aspects made and released into Inaba. But for Sonohara-chan, it's different. We're talking about two distinct kinds of fog here. ...Unless..."
"Unless they're the same kind of fog in the first place," Souji finished.
At the suggestion of the possibility of such an idea, everyone else started to grow evidently unsettled, some fidgeting in their seats while others could only look at one another with eyes widened in disbelief. Rise, who had been silent all this while, looked at the people around her, briefly evaluated their reactions, and then finally met Souji's eyes with a frown etched on her face and a tilt to the side of her head.
"Whoa, hold on. What's all this talk about Anri-chan or Saika absorbing the fog or anything? Or about the fog that was blocking everyone's memories of Orihara-san?"
"Ah! That's right, Rise-chan doesn't know yet!" Teddie exclaimed.
"O-oh, right, we're so sorry Rise-chan, we got a little carried away..." Yukiko apologised.
"Eh? Oh, no, no need for apologies, Amagi-senpai," Rise replied. She seemed to have the intent to continue reassuring that it was not an issue for her that they should be concerned about, but eventually she didn't get the chance to as the door to their room slid open.
"Hey hey, Sou-ji and friends. Your sushi, I am glad to announce, is here," came the low, accented voice belonging to none other than Simon, whose sudden appearance felt like the refreshing reminder of their being an outside world beyond the dimensions of the private room and a thunder clap coming from nowhere at the same time.
Souji acknowledged the peace-loving thundery presence he had as a friend with a nod and a grateful smile. "Thank you, Simon-san. You have great timing, we were just thinking about having our lunch."
"Ahh Sou-ji, always good with words, yeah?" Simon replied, giving Souji a wide, almost goofy smile, and proceeded to serve the food.
There was a whole assortment of sushi, the variation almost impossible to count with just two hands, filled with everyone's personal orders and a couple of exotic-looking sushi tossed in here and there much to Souji's delight and Yosuke's disgust. There was no helping the look of pure curiosity on Yukiko's face as she caught sight of the results of Simon's experimenting, while Kanji and Teddie were careful not to say anything at this point, and simply kept their dubious stares on the unfamiliar sushi.
Nonetheless everyone thanked Simon sincerely, and the Russian beamed before taking his leave, closing the door to their world once again.
The eight Investigation Team members didn't commence their meal immediately, instead opting to exchange looks and glances in considerate silence. Celty, noticing this, was quick to type up something which she was certain she had told them just before coming here.
[Oh! No need to worry about me. Please, do start eating. I wouldn't have agreed to come here if I'm bothered by something like that.]
It was only at her words that the boisterous atmosphere typically found among groups of youths came alive again as the adolescents all thanked her and paid their usual graces for the meal they were about to partake, and started eating. They allowed themselves a brief period of time to enjoy their food without discussing anything concerning the case or the fog, stepping into their roles as truly ordinary high school and university students; it was almost hard to believe that these were the same people who could look straight at headless people and monstrous entities like Shadows and barely bat an eyelid.
But once they felt they had enough time to themselves, the atmosphere dampened considerably as it shifted back into a mood appropriate for their discussion. They started with giving Rise a quick overview of what had been shared and brought to light when they were in Shinra and Celty's apartment, and Rise in turn made the same connection swiftly and suggested:
"You know, I think Senpai and Yosuke-senpai are onto something. I mean, yeah, the way that person and Igor-san phrased it made it sound like there's two different fogs, but maybe that's not what they meant at all. Maybe what they really meant was...the fog that tried to suppress everyone's memories of Orihara-san came from Saika's fog itself."
"...In other words that fog has split itself off from Saika's own and is under the control of somebody else. Someone who's just like Sonohara-san..." Naoto said.
[Or...or it could be a Saika child who is able to retain a sense of control over themselves, and use Saika for their own purposes. People like...Niekawa Haruna...!]
"Huh wait, there's people like that who can hold back that crazy demon's love without a Persona?" Kanji asked the question that was also on everybody's mind.
Naoto was the only one who wasn't as surprised. "Of course, that makes sense... For people to fall under Saika's curse and be considered its children, fear is an essential factor that allows Saika free reign over its children's consciousness. As long as that fear exists, the children are always at the mercy of their mother. However... If there exists a child who can learn how to control that fear...it's possible for them to regain their will over themselves."
Celty nodded. [Niekawa Haruna's love is what triumphed over that, I heard. It's because of her love and obsession with a particular somebody that she gained control over her own Saika and started the string of Slasher attacks. Anri-chan has the "mother blade", though, so by cutting Haruna-chan again she managed to put a stop to the Slasher incident, but...]
"Maybe what Sonohara-chan did wasn't enough," Yosuke said. "I mean, if the fear factor never really worked in the first place, that Niekawa Haruna person could always break off as long as she has her love. Same goes for any other Saika child, I guess. Love conquers all, after all, or however that saying goes."
"So that means... Sonohara-chan was just doing the same thing as she did to Niekawa Haruna-san. Taking back control over the part of Saika that had split off. That's why everyone else was left in the same state as before," said Yukiko, as a frown formed upon her features. "But... If that's the case, why couldn't that mysterious helper just tell us the identity of the Saika child? Sonohara-chan didn't have to go to the other realm to absorb the fog, she could've just gone straight to the person responsible and stop them...right?"
"Amagi-senpai made an excellent point," Naoto agreed, resting her chin on a contemplative finger. "Sonohara-san herself said that the fog she absorbed felt like it came from a separate entity, though she didn't dismiss the similarities between it and Saika. There must be more to this alleged connection."
"And whatever it is, it's letting Saika children go wild without Anri realising it," Rise added. Then her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Oh! That's right! I remember now, that man said something! About who he's working for!
"That's incredibly useful to know," Souji said, giving his kouhai a small, reassuring smile.
"Who? Who is it, Rise-chan?" Teddie asked.
"Um, lemme think..." The teen idol took a moment to gather her thoughts and get a clearer picture as she tried to replay the incident in her mind. "It's something about...being accountable to a boss other than me. That boss is...the head of the Dollars, or something like that."
[Wh-what?!] Celty typed and flashed her screen at lightning-fast speed while everybody else – with the exceptions of Souji, Yosuke, Naoto and Rise – was still in the midst of wondering who or what the Dollars was in the first place. She was so flustered that it almost looked as if she was going to shout her heart out at any moment. [But that...that can't be. No, it's impossible! The head of the Dollars had nothing to do with that, I'm sure of it!]
Souji blinked slowly, and being the first to recover from the shock of seeing the Dullahan react in such a manner he broke the silence, "Celty-san...knows the Dollars and its leader?"
Celty flinched and recoiled, and for the next couple of seconds she glanced around the table and briefly met everybody's eyes before her shoulders slumped.
[I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get that worked up. It's just... I've been in this city for a pretty long time, so I roughly know and get along with a lot of people while I've been here. The Dollars has been around for the past few years, and it's become the talk of the town almost everywhere. So...yes, I do know about the Dollars.]
"What kind of group or organisation is it? Don't tell me it's like the yakuza or..."
"Don't worry, Satonaka, it's nothing like that. Basically the Dollars is a colour gang. Some consider it colourless, since it doesn't have a colour-based group identity that other colour gangs do, but whatever colour it is it's still a gang. Other than that, I don't know anything else about them. I only know as much as what my partner here told me," Yosuke explained, nudging his head towards Souji who acknowledged what Yosuke had said.
Celty didn't add to that explanation, neither did she correct it in any way, so the Investigation Team took that as all they needed to know about the Dollars and left it at that for the time being. Instead, she went back to the more important issue that was being discussed at the moment.
[Well... You can call the head of the Dollars an acquaintance of mine. That's why I can vouch for their character. I'm certain they had no involvement in Rise-chan's being taken hostage. Please trust me on this.]
"Ah, I see, so the Dollars' head is Celty-san's friend," Chie spoke, looking slightly ashamed as did the rest of her friends.
"In that case, it's okay! We'll trust Cel-chan's friend!" Teddie declared, smiling brightly.
The others weren't as quick to accept it, however. And understandably so. Celty took the chance to explain the nature of the Dollars and how exploiting it could easily implicate the boss of the gang in things he wasn't directly responsible for, bringing up a few examples and how it all eventually forced the leader's hand in correcting the way the organisation should be operating. When they heard about the drastic measures that same leader had been planning to undertake, and the very possible outcome of those measures if a close friend hadn't arrived on time, the Investigation Team realised their disrespectful error and apologised for their oversight.
"Well, at least now we can be sure to rule out the Dollars' head as a possible culprit," Rise highlighted.
"Yup. So basically, there's some sort of special connection between Saika and the fog that was wiping everyone's memories clean of Orihara-san, and the person behind that particular fog is someone other than the boss of the Dollars," Yosuke summarised, before he brought up another possibility, "Do you guys think...this person is that Malevolent Entity's accomplice or something along those lines?"
"It's extremely likely," Naoto said. "After all, the previous time we encountered that Malevolent Entity, it mentioned that it required the assistance of an unknown party to put Labrys-san through the TV as well as hack into and take control of Labrys-san's body. It's not impossible that it might have needed some help once again, for this case we're currently looking into."
"...Like putting Orihara-san through the TV," Souji pointed out, trying to link everything together, "or releasing a fog to specifically suppress everyone's memories of him."
"And maybe even...killing Yagiri Seiji in the first place," Yosuke continued the thread, "and spreading those rumours to make it all look like the Inaba case all over again."
"Exactly," Naoto affirmed with a nod.
[But why would anyone even want to work with someone like that? What could they be trying to achieve by killing Seiji-kun and going through all this to get rid of Izaya? And dragging Shizuo into this, at that...]
"Heiwajima-san's involvement... That's it! That's what they're going for!" Yukiko spoke with heightened confidence.
"Whaddya mean, Amagi-senpai?" Kanji said.
"During that time, didn't the Malevolent Entity list down three reasons for choosing Orihara-san? The first was because of his 'unstable heart', the second to declare war on all Persona-users, and the third was to see what would happen to Heiwajima-san, who had 'partially awakened potential'," Yukiko said, reminding everybody of what the Malevolent Entity had revealed before she moved on from there to explain her conjecture, "Of these three, the one I can't really understand is the final reason. If the Malevolent Entity had truly wanted to see if Heiwajima-san would be like Labrys-chan, it would've had its accomplices throwing Heiwajima-san into the TV at around the same time they did Orihara-san. But nothing like that happened, not even an attempt. Sure, maybe they thought Heiwajima-san was too strong for them to handle but that's not the case at all. I mean, Heiwajima-san mentioned that the Malevolent Entity who posed as Orihara-san's Shadow managed to overpower him, didn't he?"
"That's very true," Souji agreed. "The time-space in Ikebukuro is distorted enough for the Malevolent Entity to manifest here. It could've restrained Heiwajima-san while letting its accomplice push him in. That had always been an option. But...the Malevolent Entity didn't do that."
"So then, what? It was gonna involve Heiwajima-san later but changed its mind along the way?" Kanji wondered.
"That's gotta be it," Yosuke said. "I mean, Psyche-san said it before. That Heiwajima-san wasn't supposed to get involved this early. Not that I really trust that guy's words, but when you think about it now that statement makes sense. Something about Orihara-san must've changed that Malevolent guy's plan a little."
"But what could it be?" said Rise, with a thoughtful look. "Finding out their relation with each other? Orihara-san's Shadow? The complicated dungeon that came about because of Orihara-san's principle in life? Just plain because the more the merrier?"
"Mm, those are all quite likely, but I'm thinking about something else," Yukiko admitted with a tinge of shyness, before she followed up with determination, "It's to declare war. Like what the Malevolent Entity said."
"A...war?" Teddie echoed, puzzlement evident in his youthful features.
"Yes, I believe it's to create and declare war against all of us...and by that I mean including Celty-san, Heiwajima-san, Kishitani-san, and so on." A pause. "That Malevolent Entity had been planning to declare war against us from the very beginning. It probably knew about Heiwajima-san's partially awakened potential, and decided to leave that for it to settle later, once it was done with Orihara-san because it could then take its time with trying to steal Heiwajima-san's Shadow from him and find its vessel. But it took longer than expected in dealing with Orihara-san...because we managed to interfere just in time. Before this happened, the Malevolent Entity was already displeased with us not performing the way it wanted us to, and so it decided to accelerate its plan instead."
"It turned the tables around and made use of Psyche-san and his friends in order to involve Heiwajima-san early, so that it could have a chance at taking a bit of extra power for itself and take a step closer towards finding its vessel. And in doing so, it would drag all of us in further, even non-Persona users, because it wanted to involve as many people as possible in order to create this grandiose war it intended to declare," Souji added, catching onto Yukiko's main point quicker than Chie wolfing down her beef sushi earlier. "The question though, is why it decided to use Yagiri Seiji in particular, and why it needed everyone forgetting about Orihara-san, even to the extent of twisting their perception and giving them an illusion of having lived a life without Orihara-san there."
"And why it's keeping Harima-chan alive and making it look like she did Yagiri in," Yosuke said, a slightly grim expression settling in place.
[...I can't offer any likely explanations for most of the doubts you've all raised, but... If the Malevolent Entity's true motive is to create a war, then I might understand why it wanted Izaya out of the picture now.]
Celty's fingers hovered over the screen of her PDA before she resumed typing.
[It's to finish what Izaya started.]
At an apartment along the Kawagoe Highway
"Coming, coming~!" An excited, innocent yell from across the living room resonated throughout the empty apartment as Shinra sprinted towards the door. "Celtyyyyy is that you? I thought so, since you left your keys behind in your hur—oh, it's you."
The underground doctor immediately deflated the moment he opened the gate and saw who it was that had been standing outside and pressing the doorbell, the pitch of his voice going lower and sounding almost monotonous.
Shizuo scoffed. "Yeah, it's me. What, you got a problem with that?"
"Huh? What? Who's got a problem? Definitely not me!" Shinra sang innocently, opening the gate with exaggerated zeal which made Shizuo roll his eyes. He waited until Shizuo was halfway through the pathway leading to the living room before sticking his head out to look for any traces of Celty arriving, and his shoulders sagged with a sigh as he closed the gate shut and made sure everything was nicely locked.
Shinra reluctantly followed Shizuo back into the living room, but wore a bright smile despite himself and said with high-spirited cheer, "So why are you here at this time of the day, Shizuo-kun? I don't recall owing any debts to your company."
"Work ended early," Shizuo replied simply, looking around. "Not that many debtors to chase after anyway. Where's the kids?"
"Hm? Ahh, you mean Souji-kun and his friends." Shinra took a seat on the couch. Shizuo followed suit. "The meeting got cut short, I'm afraid. Someone posted on the Dollars forum that something happened to Risette – I mean, Rise-chan – so they all went down to see if she's alright. My darling went along with them but she hasn't come back yet."
"...Ohh, so that's who Risette is," Shizuo mumbled. Shinra couldn't hold back the laughter bubbling in his chest.
"You mean to tell me that you had no idea Rise-chan is Risette? But Shizuo-kun she's already appeared alongside your brother in a movie once! Surely you must've seen that one already, since you always catch Kasuka-kun's movies?"
"I wait for the DVDs. It makes me glad to see that he gets a lot of support from his fans, but hearing crowds of people squealing and crying every minute of the movie annoys me. I think the DVD form of the movie you're talking about hasn't been released yet, so I haven't seen it."
"Ahh, I see. So that's how it is." Shinra nodded to himself. "Now that I think about it, you're right. The DVD for that particular movie hasn't been released yet. Ahhh that means I can't get Rise-chan to sign on it for me yet. What a pity."
Shizuo gave a non-committal grunt. "...Anyway you said Celty hasn't come back yet?"
"Yes!" Shinra howled melodramatically, bringing both of his arms high up in the air. Shizuo instantly regretted asking that. "It's been two and a half hours and she hasn't messaged me even once! Nor has she replied to any of my text messages! And then Anri-chan had to suddenly take her leave and she said it's because Celty told her something important that she couldn't ignore. Can you believe it? My Celty is ignoring me!"
"Oh, so that Sonohachi girl was here too."
"Sonohara, Shizuo, it's Sonohara. And don't brush off my pining for Celty like it's not really that important to you! I'm sharing my personal feelings with you as a friend here, you know," Shinra huffed.
Shizuo awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with a gruff sigh. "I don't know how to say this, but... Maybe Celty just needs to be alone for now. Like, away from you. To sort of sort out her thoughts a bit, I guess, and she can't do that if you're pestering her twenty-four-seven."
"Sure, if it's that I definitely understand. Normally I don't mind giving her some space, because I know she needs some privacy, but we haven't had much time to ourselves ever since a certain idiot," Shinra made sure to cup his hands to emphasise on that particular phrase as he looked in the direction of one of the doors, "very nearly got himself killed and dragged us all into it."
He didn't a reply, no witty comeback that Izaya was well-known for making. It wasn't like Shinra expected one anyway, so he simply kept smiling, satisfied with himself.
Shizuo stole a glance in the same direction, and he let his eyes rest on the door for a moment before turning back. "So, uh, how's the flea?"
"He woke up a few hours ago," Shinra informed. "Running quite the fever, though. His headache seemed pretty bad too, so I gave him something to tide over a bit. I think the whole ordeal really wore him out, but he doesn't seem keen on going back to sleep for some reason."
"Hasn't he slept enough already? I know he needs rest but it's not good to be sleeping too much."
"In normal situations, yes. However, this exhaustion is anything but normal. Souji-kun's friends who went through a similar experience all said that it took them at least one or two weeks to fully recover from it, and they spent most of that time sleeping. In Izaya's case, he must be even more worn out than any of them were."
"Hmm..." Shizuo mumbled. "Did he say anything about...everything?"
"Well, he did say a few interesting things," Shinra replied, folding his arms. "I think you'll be surprised to know that Izaya expected to be targeted from the very beginning."
"...The hell?" Shizuo growled. "And the flea just let it happen?"
"Haha about that? Izaya suddenly took on a pretty serious expression and told me that he didn't. It's more of, he expected it to happen to him, but wasn't as prepared for the outcome as he initially believed, and there we have it."
"That's no different from letting it happen," Shizuo retorted, raising his voice. "The flea could've died. Does he even realise it? He almost died for real, and all because he dropped his guard and gave the damn Malevolent Entity thing or whatever the chance to get at him?"
Shinra shrugged nonchalantly. "That's the way he is. Izaya banked on the chance that whoever targeted him was human, that's why up until our dear Anonymous-san revealed itself he simply let things be, even if it meant putting his own life at risk. Most probably, he thought he could've just adjusted to the situation accordingly, so he didn't have a backup plan in case the situation blew up in his face – which it did, evidently."
Shizuo didn't hold back the snort. "The flea's dumber than I thought."
"I don't really appreciate being called 'dumb' by a Neanderthal such as yourself, Shizu-chan~ Has nobody taught you good manners? Or is your brain too underdeveloped to retain what you've taught?"
At the sound of a familiar voice that clearly wasn't Shinra's, the former bartender sharply turned around while Shinra perked up and raised his head, their eyes widening slightly as they landed on the sight of the raven-haired man standing by the doorway and leaning against it with a plastic smile tugging on his features which were considerably paler than usual.
Despite that, Shizuo clicked his tongue as he got to his feet, sliding his hands in his pockets. "Haven't you heard of this saying? A true idiot is the one calling other people an idiot. So if you think I'm really as thoughtless as you think I am, then there's nothing wrong with me calling you dumb, right, Iiiiiizaaaayaaaa-kun?"
"Ah, but to be finally admitting your lowly brute-like nature means that you are actually self-aware to some degree. That means you're developing at last. How wonderful," Izaya replied condescendingly, sounding very much like a peppery nursery school teacher forcing himself to praise the children he despised with every fibre of his being.
The terribly false and sarcastic cheer struck a nerve within Ikebukuro's Strongest, the fingers on his right hand instinctively twitching and threatening to curl into a fist. But the blonde eventually held himself back, mentally commanding his hand to relax and his arm to remain where it was, hidden in his pant pocket, and sent a small smirk in his nemesis' way who actually looked mildly baffled.
"I dunno, Izaya, do you really mean what you just said? 'Cuz if you do, then doesn't that mean I'm becoming more human? Are you really okay with that?" Shizuo asked, a little teasingly, a little seriously, a little curiously.
In truth, the conversation was making him recall what one of the many fleas that formed part of Izaya's personality – the prince named Hibiya – had said to him, and the revelation had left him shaken in a positive way, opened a floodgate spilling a serene sort of consolation deep within his entire being at that very moment. Even now, as he remembered that event and replayed it in his head, the same feeling started to seep and swirl into the depths of his gut, like there was a tiny goldfish being released into and allowed to road freely the vast pond known as his heart.
But it was gone as soon as it arose, too slippery to get a good grasp on and swimming away too far for him to even reach for in the first place. Never mind the fact that some aspect of Izaya was the one who dropped the bomb on Shizuo – such a description would also be apt for describing Izaya himself, something Shizuo had yet to decide what that meant to him. It was a feeling just like that.
Izaya seemed rather displeased – disgusted would not be an exaggeration either – at Shizuo's words, but made sure to wear his usual smile and was about to make a retort when Shinra stepped in-between the both of them, ending what would have surely erupted into a fight where petty taunts and innocent furniture being tossed and scrambled around the apartment in the exceedingly near future. And Shinra was not keen on the idea of having his beloved return to a home destroyed beyond recognition.
"Alright alright, that's enough," Shinra cut in. "There's always a much better time and place for the two of you to settle whatever it is you're arguing about, but definitely not now and certainly not here while I'm still in the building so let's just let it be for now. Okay?"
Then, without giving either of them enough time to reply, the underground doctor turned to face Izaya directly, fixing a professionally stern look on his friend. "Anyway what do you think you're doing, Orihara-kun? You're in no condition to be getting up and walking about, surely you know that better than I do. If you needed something, you could've just hollered, you know."
"I'm just trying to get a bit of exercise. Is that so wrong?"
"Considering the state of that your body is in and the possibility that you might just collapse any time because of that and there'll be no one to help you up because of your refusal to inform even your own attending doctor, I would say yes."
"Hehhh, so I can't even make simple decisions like that on my own? I need to consult you if all I want is just a bit of exercise? Aren't you being a little overbearing, Shinra?" Izaya challenged, releasing his hold on his temporary support as he strained himself to take a step forward.
As he attempted to do so, Shizuo, who was the silent observer for this conversation, noticed that Izaya barely even achieved much distance with that step. His leg was trembling violently, wobbling about like a plate being spun on the tip of a splinter all around its base, yet the limb itself remained perfectly stiff, in the sense that it looked too heavy for Izaya to lift up.
And so Izaya took a dredging, stumbling step forward. To be more precise, he was sliding forward, by no more than one or two centimetres. Then, as if to prove Shinra's point, he buckled.
Shinra managed to catch him in that split second moment, and heaved an exasperated sigh as he tried to help Izaya back up and get him to stand as steadily as possible. "Still think I'm being overbearing?" he teased.
Izaya averted his eyes, giving a dry chuckle. "Well then... Could you at least let me borrow a phone or laptop? Lying awake in bed with nothing to do is not exactly what I would call a very interesting experience, and I should be checking if I missed any important work while I was occupied."
"So that's what you clumsily tottered out for? You could've just said so. Hmm but I don't recommend you to keep yourself awake and busy when your body is obviously in need of more rest."
"I'm feeling fine."
"Mm-hm, so fine that you nearly fell to the floor and you look like you're about to keel over again at any time."
"That was only because I've been confined to the bed for so long. And the supposed tiredness you firmly believe I have is due to the fact that I haven't eaten anything in a while, so naturally I wouldn't look like I'm in the pink of health. Nothing some food and exercise wouldn't fix," Izaya reasoned, using anything that could sufficiently cover up and explain his exhaustion other than the true reason behind it.
"You're not fooling anybody, flea," Shizuo cut in. "Shinra said you oughtta be resting. So go and rest."
"Oh?" Izaya turned in his direction, sounding viciously sweet. "But didn't Shinra just say that I know my own condition better than anyone else? If that's the case, then why is it when I say I clearly don't need any rest, the both of you insist on otherwise?"
"Shizuo-kun, if you can take care of this idiot for me, please," Shinra said, gesturing to Izaya who was given little opportunity to protest as Shizuo grunted and picked him up by the back of his shirt and carried him back to the room.
"Hey hey, at least offer to give me something to eat first—"
"Rest," Shizuo explicitly stated again, dropping Izaya onto the bed like dumping a bag of garbage out of the house. "Shinra and I will do something about food. In the meantime, get the hell back to sleep."
And with that said and done Shizuo stepped out of the room and closed the door shut behind him, leaving Izaya alone once again in the room he had been staying in for so long it could very well already be his second home.
"...That Shizu-chan... He sure surprised me with what little wisdom he thought he has, but in the end he's still dumb as a rock after all," Izaya murmured to himself, smirking wryly as he recalled the earlier conversation before Shinra pulled the caring doctor card on him.
"So he honestly thinks that by accepting his own beastly nature and gaining a Persona he's becoming more like a human? ...What a preposterous proposition."
The smile on the informant's face turned even colder, his features hardening as he sent a narrowed glare to the ceiling.
"I said that...to mean that he is finally turning into the monster he truly is. The true monster that would admit that he is a monster in order to they win the hearts and sympathy of humans and trick himself into believing the illusion that he, too, can live like a human. Nothing more than that."
As Izaya clarified himself to nobody in particular, he shook his head and left it at that before he turned his bitter smile into a refreshing grin, his mood taking a turn so quick it was as if the fury he just felt directed at the beast known as Heiwajima Shizuo never existed.
"Well then... Let's get to work, shall we."
The raven-haired man continued to speak to the air, pulling out a phone from one of his pockets.
'At first I thought that being stuck like this for the time being would put me at a greater disadvantage, but it worked out nicely for me in the end.'
Izaya snickered to himself as he tapped on the screen of the smartphone.
'It won't be long until that doctor who's moonlighting as a detective realises that he's missing a little something... But, with Shizu-chan here for company, Shinra is probably going to keep prattling on and on until his dear loved one is back, which might keep the both of them busy for quite some time...'
"Good," Izaya breathed in a satisfied whisper, "very good."
The screen displayed the interface of a chatroom he had grown to be extremely familiar with over the years.
"Alright then..."
Izaya scrolled through the chat log, his inbox, his private logs – simultaneously skimming and combing through everything that he could get his hands on that could update him on what had happened in his absence from the city where his beloved humans dwelled.
He started with the day and the exact time at which he was called out to attend to his business, went past everything he could find, until he came upon the records of the private chatroom he shared with a particular high school boy. It was made up of a jumble of sentences and questions, and ended off with an honest cry of disbelief and amazement, fear and curiosity all at once.
"...I see. So that's how you've played your move."
The corners of Izaya's lips curled in further to form a frigid, corrosive smile.
Yet at the same time, his eyes glinted and shone ablaze as though there were a flame of pure excitement and euphoria burning bright in those fittingly auburn eyes.
"Well then in that case, it would be rude of me if I don't come up with a countermeasure of my own. After all, two can play at this game, and it's not one where I intend to lose."
The informant pressed the "lock" button on the phone and looked out of the window, narrowing his eyes to slits as if the mere sight of a clear blue afternoon sky offended him.
"Isn't that right... 'Kanra-chan'?"
A/N: A heavy chapter this time round... Most of the future chapters will be rather heavy, I think, as the characters get more and more involved with the villain(s)'s plans (nope it didn't resolve with the ME's disappearing act in the previous arc! :D). This semester is also pretty trying for me, so updates might be slower till the sem's over with chapters that are proofread and edited in a hurry, so there might be some mistakes or weird phrasing... So sorry about that!
I'll also take this chance to officially announce that this story will have a sequel as well as a spinoff. Yup, I've finally decided to go with this ambitious path to expand this crossover into a mini universe. (Too many ideas...!)
Initially the spinoff was considered a sequel as well, since it'll take place after Gameplay's events, but the focus is entirely different and there will be very little references to the events of this fic - though those references will spoil some Gameplay events - so I've decided to term it as a spinoff. To give you a rough idea of what it is going to be like, it was actually supposed to be a standalone, new fic focusing on Naoto, who will be tackling a particular case that's been unsolved for years: the case of Chisato's death. And the reason for her taking up this case, is because of something her grandfather (and now a certain information broker as well) told her...?
I've had the idea for this fic for years, it's going to be building on a headcanon of mine so I'm pretty excited to finally see it being realised. My decision to link it to Gameplay is because most of the IT haven't really gotten much development in this fic, so I want to use this spinoff to depict the new challenges they're facing (e.g. Chie in police school, Yukiko as the new manager of her inn) as much as I can which I can't really go into for Gameplay because that would be rather distracting. I think this gives the overall crossover 'verse - which I really need a name for ahaha - a more cohesive picture. It'll be listed in the Persona series category, 'cuz even though Izaya and some Gameplay events get a mention they're more for setting the stage and won't be having much purpose to the plot other than worldbuilding. It'll be driven entirely by the Persona characters.
The direct sequel will be focusing on the DRRR cast instead, but it'll still be listed in the crossover category because some of the P4 characters will still be around and playing a bit of a role. I can't give a synopsis because that would be a huge spoiler hahaha I'll reveal more when this story comes to an end! :)
Long A/N, so sorry about that. Thank you all for all your support thus far! :D