April 29, 2013

At the East Entrance of the JR Ikebukuro Station

"Well... This is it."

The words that left Yosuke's lips broke the silence that had descended upon the group since taking a step out of Souji's apartment.

Lined up at the side of the entrance so as to no block the way of other commuters was the group consisting of Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, and Teddie, along with their bags of belongings that they had taken with them to Ikebukuro. The girls had been the first to arrive, which had been of little surprise to the boys, but what did take them aback was the fact that both Rise and Naoto were nowhere to be seen. It wasn't like it was part of some holy tradition that every member from the Investigation Team ought to be present to send off at least one of their own – if that had been the case then nobody could really leave at all – but considering the number of people who were taking their leave for one reason or another, it would've made sense for everyone to be present. Or at least, it did in Yosuke's eyes.

As if sensing the question that was in all the guys' heads, Yukiko offered to explain the absences of the other two girls.

"Rise-chan's down at the police station. The police wanted to meet with her regarding the incident yesterday, and her manager dropped by to accompany her to the station, so she couldn't outright say no to him," she said with a slight wince. "And Naoto-kun got a call about there being a new case that needed her immediate attention, so she can't be here either."

"Man, we're all so busy," Chie answered, rubbing the back of her neck. "Well, I mean, I just gotta catch up with what I missed, but I know the inn must be kinda dying around this time without Yukiko to help tide things over."

At the mention of her name and the situation that the Amagi Inn was most likely facing, Yukiko made an apologetic look.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Kanji mumbled. "I gotta catch up on school stuff and help Ma with the shop. Not that I mind, 'course, just… Busy. Yeah."

"And don't you go thinking Junes is having it easy, dude," Yosuke pointed out, bopping on Teddie's head. "You have a loooong line of customers and neverending preps for the promotion items waiting for you back at home. Dad's expecting you to be handling my job this year too, on top of your mascot duties."

"Aww..." Teddie groaned as he rubbed the offended part of his head with a pout, shoulders slumping.

"I'm sure Rise-chan and Naoto-kun really wanted to come too, Teddie-kun," Yukiko offered her encouragement. "But it can't be helped this time, with so much work cropping up for all of us. It is the Golden Week period, after all…though for Rise-chan and Naoto-kun theirs is just because of recent circumstances."

"...Golden Week, huh?"

Yosuke let out a quiet sigh as he folded his arms, tilting his head towards the sky with a pensive expression coating his face.

"It's weird. I keep thinking about it as a holiday, but now that we're actually saying it out loud... It kinda feels more like a deadline, now."

"I know what you mean," Souji agreed, which, considering it was Souji who was saying it, most likely meant it was prudent to keep the matter in mind – because it could mean bad, bad news if they didn't. "It might only be just a coincidence, but... I can't help thinking that it can't simply be a coincidence, between what happened here and in Inaba during last year's Golden Week, after considering what's happening now. Especially with the Velvet Room becoming visible to all of you."

Yosuke stiffened a little at that, the memory of the conversation the team had yesterday after Souji had brought them to the room that was filled to the brim with blue being brought to the surface of his mind again. He had come clean with the rest of the team about hearing voices way back when he had handed Souji that black fountain pen – which he, and everyone else by extension, now knew had belonged to the old lady who passed away a few weeks back – as well as being able to see the Velvet Room back in the TV world, and how Psyche had reacted to that. To his and Souji's utter surprise, the rest of the team had admitted that they, too, were able to see the blue door, though it had been so faint that they had all thought it was simply their eyes playing tricks on them.

"…It might be because there could be another Wild Card around here."

Souji seemed to be even more firm in that theory after Yosuke and the rest of the team told him about the Velvet Room sightings. However, he could offer no possible explanation for why Yosuke had heard those voices.

"It might be related to what we're dealing with. Or it might not." Souji shrugged, his face the epitome of the word 'stoic'. "I can ask Igor-san or Margaret-san about it, though…"

"Nah, it's fine," Yosuke said, waving it off. "Maybe I was just…tired. Or, something."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry about it, partner," Yosuke insisted, giving Souji one of his trademark winks.

Souji could only stare at him silently in return, before relenting.

"Mm-hm. I can't shake the feeling off, either," Yukiko concurred, snapping Yosuke out of the flashback. "We'll just have to be careful and be on the lookout, wherever we are."

"And keep each other updated on the group chat," Chie added, before wincing slightly. "Well, that's if I don't get caught using my phone again. Ahaha... Ha..."

"...Actually how did you get off the hook for that, Satonaka-senpai? And for your teach' or whoever to even let you leave the school? Ain't that place supposed to be super strict or something?" Kanji asked.

"Huh, what, you mean I didn't tell you guys?" When she received synchronised movements of everyone else shaking their heads as a reply, Chie rubbed the back of her neck and tilted her head to the side slightly with a frown. "You know... I'm not really sure why, either. The inspector-in-charge got a phone call from Naoto-kun while he was still scolding me and then let me off after that. I guess they somehow knew each other and Naoto-kun found out about what happened and tried to help me out? I don't really know, but it's possible, since they're both in the same line of work and all."

"It could be the Shirogane name," Souji suggested.

"Could be," Chie said with a shrug, "but still, it feels kinda...wrong. That's why I think I should at least get back a day earlier than I'm supposed to."

"Well, tell your inspector we say 'Thanks' for letting you come over," Yosuke said with a grin. "And that we really appreciate it."

"No need to remind me," the cadet-in-training replied, breaking into a smile herself, the look of determination and fire that was distinctly Chie flashing in her eyes. "I've been telling myself to do just that the next time I meet him. Not sure how Inspector Suou's gonna take it, but I gotta do what I gotta do. Right?"

The group ended on that note with a smile that was shared by everyone, before they bid their farewells for the time being and went their separate ways once again.

At the Ikebukuro Police Station

On paper Shirogane Naoto was called to Ikebukuro for only one job, which was to help solve the mystery behind one Yagiri Seiji's suspicious death. And the reasons for her being called in were simple: she had worked on a similar case prior to this, and she wasn't considered a stranger to Ikebukuro although she had not stayed here for long due to the nature of her work.

For those same reasons, there were two files laid open on the desk.

In the eyes of her colleagues, they were two separate cases, with the only main similarity tying them together being the fact that Naoto has had experience with such cases before.

And as always, Naoto saw differently.

It had nothing to do with her rather unique position as somebody who was a Persona user. It had nothing to do with her knowledge concerning the existence of other worlds and demonic swords. No, it had nothing to do with those, and it should come as no surprise as to why Naoto couldn't help but feel a little frustrated that nobody at the station picked up on the same thing as she did.

One file containing reports about Yagiri Seiji's death.

The other containing reports about Harima Mika appearing all over Ikebukuro last night, slashing anybody on sight with a scalpel. Including, supposedly, a particular Raira Academy student who had been seen trying to defend herself.

Seemingly unrelated, until one took into account the fact that Harima was Yagiri's girlfriend, was at one point brought in for questioning, had somehow, so conveniently, lost all of her memories concerning Yagiri Seiji not long after that – and had been recently hospitalised after being slashed herself.

In reality, there had only been one case of concern right from the beginning.

Naoto reached for her cell phone.

"Thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions, Kujikawa-san. Your input would help a great deal with our work."

"Ah, it's not a problem at all," Rise said, waving it off as she put on her stage smile.

In return, the corners of the officer's lips curled into a smile that looked stiffer than the uniform he was donning. "Well, there is something else I'd like to discuss with you as well," he said, looking down at his clipboard, "concerning the deployment of some manpower to guard you—"

"What?" The Risette face disappeared instantly. "I haven't been informed about that."

"Yes... Well... It was a request put in by your manager, Inoue-san..."

"He did?" Rise pondered about that, and decided that while it was a very Inoue-thing to do, she couldn't imagine something like that being approved by his superiors back at the agency. And there was no way the station could actually do something like that if they hadn't gotten her agency's official approval as well. "But, how...?"

"That might be a question for my superior who is more well-suited to answer," the officer responded with a curt nod. "So, about the guards..."

Rise politely shook her head. "Please tell your superiors that it's not needed."

The officer froze. "Oh, but, may I enquire why?"

"I appreciate what Inoue-san and the agency are doing for me. I really do. But I don't want it getting in the way of the station's work. You're supposed to be protecting people, and by that I mean everyone in this city, not giving special treatment to some teen idol who just so happened to get caught up in something."

The officer frowned slightly, as tiny beads of sweat started to trace his eyebrows. "But your personal safety is also our..."

"I understand, but I really don't think... Oh!" Rise's eyes brightened, a metaphorical light bulb illuminating over her head as she brought a contemplative finger to her chin. "Hmm... I think I have the perfect idea that can solve both our problems!"

"H-huh?"

The brunette flashed him an innocent smile; inwardly, Rise was giggling, swelling with pride towards her own plan.

"...Hey..."

"...Hey, have you heard? There's this interesting little game that everyone's been playing."

"It goes like this: you have a group of four people, one standing at each corner of the classroom. Someone starts first, and walks up to the person in front of him, and then he taps 'im on the back. Then, the second person goes on to tap the back of the third person, and the third goes on to tap the back of the fourth, and they go around saying..."

"...Um, I can't remember..."

"Per-something, Per-something...?"

"Ahh, I don't know, the word was too difficult for me to remember...!"

"But I heard it's a pretty fun game! Lots of kids are playing it 'cuz it's s'pposed to show you what you're gonna be when you grow up! I dunno how it works, but that's what I heard!"

"Do you wanna play that game with us? There's only three of us now, so we need one more person!"

"Come on, don't you wanna know what you're gonna be when you grow up?"

"...Huh? Where did I hear that game from?"

"Someone from the class, I guess. And they heard it from another class, who heard it from another class, and another class..."

"Umm... I think I heard him say the name of the kid who first talked about it."

"Uh... Mmm..."

"...Um... What was it again...?"

At an apartment along the Kawagoe Highway

It was supposed to be a peaceful and uneventful day for the both of them.

After the very much-needed talk that had been put off for some time last night, between a headless Dullahan and a certain underground doctor whom she considered her beloved, they had both decided to spend this day in peace and quiet; terms that Celty had largely not been familiar with for a while. Just enjoying each other's company, for one full day, with no disturbances that could disrupt their day together.

Unfortunately, they were not alone, and that made all the difference.

"Shinraaaaaa," Izaya called out in a rather shrill manner; Celty swore she could hear the smug smirk in the man's voice, "where's the copy of today's paper you promised me? I thought you said you'd bring it to me when you're done with it."

"Coming, coming!" Shinra replied, a little too enthusiastically for it to be sincere. It wasn't long before he managed to find the aforementioned newspaper when his currently bedbound – by Shinra's own order and insistence, so he really had no one to blame but himself – friend added another request.

"And how's the delivery for my phone coming along? Did you get Courier-san to go fetch it for me?"

"Hey, don't make my dearie run over to Shinjuku just for that. If you want it that badly, then rest up – as I advised you to – and get well enough so that I can let you go home," Shinra huffed as he popped into the room. "Here, your paper."

"Much obliged," Izaya thanked fleetingly. "Oh in that case, can I borrow your phone again, then? My work is piling as time goes by, and I hate keeping my clients waiting."

"Ha ha, what a perfectly crafted excuse to get me to lend you my phone. Sleep tight, Orihara-kun."

"But I just woke up, Sensei~"

"Yes, and evidently it's enough time for you to turn me into your personal babysitter. Sleep tight, Orihara-kun."

Shinra closed the door shut before Izaya could say anything else, turned back to the sofa and fell forward into the seat with a large sigh.

At the end of the sofa where Celty was seated, she felt the sofa bounce up a little, and waited for Shinra to get into a proper sitting position before she tapped on the screen of her PDA.

[You know he's just going to bother you again if you leave him alone like that long enough.]

Shinra gave a wry smile. "Yes, but I have to strike a balance. If I keep giving him what he wants, that leaves me with very little time to spend with you. But if I ignore him completely, he's just going to keep finding chances to disturb us. He's very good at that."

Celty's shoulders slump in a silent sigh. [It's one of his many so-called skills that I wish he can do without.]

"But it wouldn't be Orihara-kun if he wasn't annoying in the first place," Shinra said, before he fell uncharacteristically silent, as if he had just cut himself off and fell into a deep thought.

Celty tilted her "head" to the side. [What is it?]

"Mm, nothing much," Shinra replied. "Just, well... I was just thinking, what if we're being a little too hasty in making our judgement about Orihara-kun? We keep on saying that that's how he is, and that he won't ever change, but..."

[You're having doubts?]

"I guess you can say that," Shinra admitted, folding his arms across his chest. "From what you told me last night, it sounds like Souji-kun and the others really believe in the idea that Izaya can change, someday. I mean, we all would love it if he can do that, but... At the same time, the rest of us don't really expect him to. Right?"

Celty nodded, slowly, unsure what Shinra was trying to get at. So she kept her PDA untouched, her fingers still, until Shinra continued.

"Maybe...maybe that's one reason why he hasn't changed all these years."

'...?'

"It's okay, I'm just speculating aloud," Shinra said, sensing Celty's confusion. Then, with a wide and cheerful smile that could practically reach the corners of his eyes, he shifted closer and closer, until their shoulders touched and Celty could feel the human warmth of Shinra's body radiating off him like a ripple in a pond. "So then, since we're finally left alone now..."

Out of pure instinct, Celty leaned back, away from Shinra's face. However, as the seconds ticked by, she slowly relaxed, and remained perfectly still as the brunet advanced closer, not too quickly but not too slowly either. His breath was as warm as the complex whirl of emotions he invoked in her, emotions that she didn't think she was capable of having. If she had a functioning heart, it would have also probably gone dead from working too hard pumping by now.

And then she remembered.

They were not alone in this apartment.

And a door that was left unlocked could be easily opened on both sides.

Celty leapt from her seat, leaving Shinra to plant his face on the sofa.

[L-let's have a game on the playstation!] Celty quickly typed out, almost practically shoving the screen in Shinra's face when he sat up. She barely gave him enough time to read the message before she walked briskly with a strange gait to the drawer to grab the controllers and the sparse collection of games they had kept there. She laid the games out on the table, and stiffly pointed to each and every one of them. [Y-you can pick one!]

Shinra let out a chuckle, readjusting his glasses. "Okay, okay, I guess we have time for a game or two. Hmm, let's see... How about this one?"

[It'll do.] Celty replied, grabbing the game Shinra had just picked up without as much as a glance at it, and went over to pop it into the game console.

"What's gotten into you, my dear? You're being so adorably nervous," Shinra laughed as the Dullahan made her way back to her seat, clutching onto the game controller as if it were her lifeline.

'Nothing, it's nothing,' Celty responded, shaking her "head". Even though she was fairly sure that Shinra knew the answer.

"If you say so," he replied in that infuriating knowing tone, but he didn't probe her any more than that, and focused on playing the game. It frustrated her, sometimes, how well Shinra really understood her, and how little she understood Shinra in return.

They were just about to go through the cutscene right before the monstrous boss battle when Celty saw the screen of her PDA light up.

'A message...?'

She turned to Shinra, who was honest enough to look a tad bit dejected, but set the game to the pause menu and flash her his usual bright smile regardless. Celty nodded, and so reached for her PDA without any qualms.

Izaya very impeccably and very suspiciously chose that particular moment to call for his personal doctor to the room again.

Shinra heaved an exaggerated sigh, and then reluctantly excused himself to attend to his patient.

"Yes?" he said, with false sweetness lacing his voice. "What do you want now?"

His acquaintance from middle school was smiling that infuriatingly twisted smirk of his, chin resting comfortably against the back of his fist with his arm nicely propped up on the desk while his other hand was busy holding up the newspaper Shinra had just passed to him not too long ago.

"Your Courier-san sure is fortunate, isn't she? Compared to this pitiful young lady who's been so unduly apprehended by the cops last night, your Courier-san is having the time of her life here instead."

"What are you talking abou—"

'Shinra!'

Even though his beloved lacked lips to transmit her voice, Shinra could hear her call as clear as crystal in his head as if she was right there yelling in his ears.

Shinra and Izaya both turned in the direction of the door, where they could spot a familiar black figure dashing towards the entrance of the apartment.

"Eh? Celty, where—"

'Sorry, I need to go! We'll play again later!'

"Ahh Celty wait at least let me give you—"

The door slammed shut.

"—a goodbye kiss...?" Shinra finished his sentence dejectedly, arms falling limp by his sides.

Izaya snickered. "You sure you want to do that while I'm around and make her feel embarrassed?"

"But I can't just not hug or kiss her for who knows how long just because you're here!" Shinra whined, scrambling his hands through his hair. "It'll drive me crazy if I don't touch my darling at least once every 24 hours!"

"Heeh, you're more of a pervert than I thought," Izaya murmured. "Besides, haven't you already technically touched her last night when the two of you excused yourselves and never came back to check up on poor, bored me?"

"Oh, and you would know what went on between Celty and me last night?"

"Of course I do. It's not that difficult to guess when I didn't see either of you until this morning."

"You really don't... Ah, forget it. I don't want to play the part of your Shadow and tell you what you obviously don't want to hear again." Shinra shook his head.

Unfortunately, leaving the matter there, he should have realised based on his own understanding of the information broker named Orihara Izaya, would only pique the man's interest more, despite his warning. "'Really don't'...what, exactly? Don't leave me hanging there, Shinra."

"It's not for me to tell," Shinra said, putting on his best professional voice of a strict, no-nonsense doctor as though he was issuing out a strict order on his patient.

"You're being awfully mean to me recently, Shinra. Not that it's unlike you, but, really, it's more like you're being meaner than usual."

"And whose fault is that, exactly?"

"Case in point." Izaya's grin only grew at the sight of the underground doctor's irritation. "It's quite refreshing to see you actually being annoyed for real, I must say. Is it because you've been expecting to see the slightest bit of change in me and you're disappointed at what you find? Ah but isn't that contradicting yourself? I mean, right before that, you said I wouldn't be me if I wasn't annoying."

"...So you were eavesdropping after all..."

"So which is it? Are you or are you not disappointed?" Izaya pressed, being rather enthusiastic about being that annoying self of his for this conversation. Which Shinra was not keen on having while Celty was away, Izaya was deliberately being like this, and Shinra himself could sense he was steadily being provoked by his middle school acquaintance whom he was supposed to be able to see right through.

"I'm disappointed," the brunet answered, "that you still haven't told me what it is you called me in for, exactly."

And Izaya blinked, those copper-coloured eyes of his seeming to glint despite the lack of lighting in the room, a sort of shimmer that spelled trouble if it was seen in Orihara Izaya's eyes. The informant's plastic smile was back in place as he handed Shinra the paper.

Shinra took it, a faint suspicion growing when he noticed that Izaya didn't even say a word, and looked down at the heading of the article printed on that page that Izaya had just passed to him. His eyes widened, understanding settling in, explaining his future wife's frantic rush out of the house just moments earlier.

Slasher suspect spotted in Ikebukuro last night – High school girl: possible accomplice?

It was the first name that appeared in the article. A name that Shinra hadn't expected to see.

"Sonohara Anri," he heard Izaya say it for him.

Shinra looked up from the paper only to be greeted by the sight of Izaya smiling like he had just won a petty sort of bet.

"It would be perfect if she gets locked up in a cage where she belongs for this."

And oh how glad Shinra was, for once in his life, that Celty wasn't around to hear that.

At the Ikebukuro Police Station

"We...can't go in to see her?"

The one who had just spoken those words quietly, under his breath in disbelief, was Masaomi.

Standing next to him was Mikado, whose eyes kept darting back and forth his childhood friend and the police officer standing before them, behind the counter. At some point his attention drifted to the officer's colleagues, and he would look away immediately when he found himself meeting their eyes even for a split second.

The police officer let out a soft sigh.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I have to go by the book. I'm really sorry."

"But, but why? She's our friend, sir... I mean, Anri wouldn't even harm an ant. She can't be the Slasher's accomplice, there has to be some kind of misunderstanding. She's being set up, she must be terrified, sir. At least let us go in to see her?"

"...Hold on, have you two perhaps misunderstood something?"

"Huh?"

Masaomi blinked, as did Mikado.

"As far as I'm aware, my colleagues assigned to the Slasher case are only asking your friend more questions about what happened last night. Once they're done and if there's nothing suspicious, they should be letting your friend go."

"R-really?" Mikado finally found his voice.

"Well, I can't make any promises. It'll depend on what my colleagues can dig up."

"Then there's nothing to worry," Masaomi said, wearing one of his trademark grins, the air around him obviously no longer as heavy and dense as it had seemed just moments prior, "because Anri didn't do anything wrong. Right, Mikado?"

"Th-that's right," Mikado replied, unable to hold himself back from smiling as well.

The police officer nodded slowly, a corner of his lips twitching to a polite smile as though it were on reflex.

"Well, if there's anything else..."

"Ah, thank you sir, but that's all the two of us came for. We'll just wait here until the questioning is over. Is that okay?" Masaomi asked, though Mikado knew him well enough to know that even if the officer denied his request he still would've found some other way to hang around in the area until Anri was released.

Thankfully, it didn't have to go to that extent because the cop nodded.

"There shouldn't be any problem, the station is pretty quiet today. But we're still on the lookout for the Slasher, so as long as you don't interfere with our work it should be fine."

"Yes! Thank you sir!"

Masaomi grinned and gave a salute, which made the officer chuckle a little. Mikado could only smile at such a sight.

The two then stepped away from the counter and headed for the empty seats within the station. They picked the seats that weren't too conspicuous, and yet offered them a wide enough view so that they would be able to see Anri when she was allowed to go, and quickly sat down.

"Thank goodness, it seems like Sonohara-san will be alright."

"Yeah, sure is a relief, huh? Man, that newspaper article was so misleading, calling Anri the Slasher's accomplice..."

He took pause as a frown crossed the former Yellow Scarves' leader's features, and leaned closer towards Mikado whose smile had vanished once he saw what his friend was doing, and continued speaking in a lower, quieter voice.

"For a moment, I thought someone was catching onto her, a bit."

"...Stop it, Masaomi. Someone could be listening," Mikado replied. The coldness in his own voice stung even himself, and he felt his throat closing in on his own breath.

"...You're right. Sorry, I wasn't thinking straight."

With that apology said, Masaomi moved away, until the normal distance between the two of them was restored.

Mikado pursed his lower lip at that. He hung his head low, staring at his hands resting on his lap.

"I... Masaomi, sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Hey now, what're you apologising for?" Masaomi said with a weak chuckle. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Mikado looked up, meeting Masaomi's eyes. "But..."

"Mikado would never be wrong," Masaomi said firmly, resolutely. "You got that, Mikado? You would never be in the wrong. So there's nothing for you to say sorry for."

"Masaomi, but that's... I should have said it in a nicer—"

"You don't have to do that," Masaomi cut him off.

Baby blue eyes widened slightly.

"Masaomi..."

"I don't get it... Why are you holding yourself back?"

"...Eh?"

"You're obviously worried. I mean, I am, too. Not just about Anri, but about all the stuff that's been happening. Televisions switching on by themselves on rainy nights, Yagiri's passing, the Slasher going around cutting people up again, the thing with Risette yesterday... And now, someone's trying to frame Anri for something she didn't do. Something strange and dangerous is happening, and Anri is... She's being dragged into it.

"But you... You were just showing your concern for her, I know you were, that's why I don't blame you. Yet now you're sitting here and apologising for not sounding nice enough? Even if you're fine with doing that, it doesn't mean I am."

"Masaomi, hang on, I have no idea what you're trying to say anymore..."

The blond, however, shook his head.

"You do. You know exactly what I mean."

And Mikado couldn't bring himself to deny that any further.

He knew, of course. He knew exactly what Masaomi was driving at. There was so much that was being said that Mikado wasn't sure if he was reading between the lines correctly or if he was just complicating the meaning behind Masaomi's words, but it was clear as day that Masaomi was no longer just talking about the tone that Mikado had used on him just now.

At first glance Masaomi might seem like an impulsive airhead who lived day by day joking around and trying to pick up girls, but there was a reason somebody like that could become the Shogun of the Yellow Scarves, and so it sent a bit of a thrilled shiver down Mikado's spine to listen to Masaomi speak right now, and to be on the receiving end of his closest friend's scrutinising gaze.

Mikado returned the favour by narrowing his eyes slightly and softly, and by admitting, "...I thought Masaomi doesn't want to see me getting worried."

"You're right, I don't," Masaomi replied, folding his arms across his chest. "But that doesn't mean I want you hiding it from me and pretending you're a-okay when actually you're not. Haven't we gone through this already?"

"We did," Mikado confirmed, responding a bit too quickly for even his own liking. "We did. That's precisely why I don't want you to see how anxious I am over what's happening. If you did, then you'd only get worried for me too, and I don't want to put you through that all over again."

"Mika— Don't tell me..." Masaomi had choked halfway through saying Mikado's name, almost as if it pained him to even say it. Then he shook his head again, taking a deep breath before he exhaled it out slowly. "No, never mind. Let's just... Let's just put that aside and talk about fun things."

"Masaomi…"

"I know, we can talk about that new RPG game that's just been released."

"RPG?"

"Yeah, that one. The new one, you know which one I'm talking about, right?" Masaomi cracked a smile. "I'm thinking about buying it, and I know you've already got a copy, so I wanted to have an honest opinion from a fellow gaming buddy before I fork out my savings for it. So tell me, Mikado. How far have you gotten into the game? ...Is it any fun?"

"New RPG game… Ahh, that one."

Mikado pondered about the question, eyes rolling up to his left as he placed a finger on his chin and hummed thoughtfully.

"Well, I don't know how the story ends, so I can't tell if I'm still at the beginning, or in the middle, or nearing the end of the game... But I think it's safe to say I'm still at the beginning, so I can't really tell if it's all that interesting yet."

Masaomi let out a half-sigh, half-chuckle. "Well, that's go—"

"But…"

The blond blinked, flinching slightly. "But…?"

Mikado turned to face him with a smile, chuckling nervously.

"To be honest I'm not all that familiar with the rules of the game, or what I'm supposed to be doing, so that's why I'm still kind of stuck, I guess. That's why I'm thinking of using a walkthrough, or something… But it's a bit embarrassing to admit that I'm only at the beginning and I already need a walkthrough."

Masaomi stared at him for a moment, his eyes slowly growing wider and the colour in his face fading by the second.

"M…Mikado…"

"Eh? Wh-what's wrong, Masaomi? You don't look so good…"

"…Whose walkthrough are you thinking of using?"

"Huh?"

"Whose walkthrough are you thinking of using?" Masaomi repeated his question.

"I…"

"Is it one that was written…by that guy?"

"C-come on, Masaomi, you're starting to sound a bit scary."

"Mikado, please. Please, just be honest with me for this, just this once. Please."

"Masaomi…"

"Please," Masaomi begged again, his eyes unwavering even though his breathing was starting to sound a little bit hitched and erratic.

Mikado bit his lower lip.

"…It's not," he replied.

"…You're sure?"

"Yes," Mikado answered. "At first I thought it was… But it seems like I was wrong."

"…Okay," Masaomi sighed. "Okay, that's… Well, I don't want to say that that's good, or whatever, but… Anything's better than having it written by that guy."

Mikado decided against asking, for the umpteenth time, just what it was that that guy had done that made Masaomi react in such a hostile manner whenever he was brought up or mentioned in a conversation; the only thing that Masaomi would ever say was that that man could never be trusted, and nothing else beyond that.

"…Still…"

"Hm?"

Masaomi turned, regarding him with a steely gaze.

"Whether it was written by that guy or not… I still don't want you referring to any walkthrough written by anyone. Hell, it would be perfect if you stopped playing the game now, but I know you better than that. Which is pretty weird, since you always used to be a real nervous wreck who would follow my lead when we were kids. Now you're just a nervous wreck who can stand up for yourself at times."

"…Eh? Is…is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Masaomi laughed, and then, after a short while, so did Mikado.

"Just remember our promise, buddy," Masaomi said, swinging his arm across Mikado's shoulders. "And never forget – you're not alone. Okay?"

Mikado smiled, and muttered a word of gratitude, all the while pretending Masaomi's words didn't weigh as heavily in his heart as the arm of lead seemed to be as it pressed against his shoulders.

A/N: The last scene with Mikado and Masaomi was originally part of the next chapter, but I decided to move it here instead because I think it would be more effective if I placed it in this chapter. That's a bit of a hint for what's going to come right after this haha

Also - after 30 over chapters I finally reveal the name of Chie's inspector lol And yes, it is indeed a Persona 2 reference. That's why the inspector knew about the existence of Personas and the like - the inspector is none other than Katsuya :D I have this little headcanon that Katsuya and Grandpa Shirogane have worked together on a case before, and because Shirogane was so impressed with the way Katsuya handled it Katsuya became like a protege of sorts to him. It's also partly because it took place around 1 to 2 years after the accident that killed Naoto's parents, so Shirogane also sort of viewed Katsuya as a son, in a sense. Katsuya, having heard of the Shirogane name, has immense respect for him, and it had been one of his dreams to meet Shirogane in person, so he felt really honoured that he could learn from Shirogane. When Naoto later expressed interest in detective work, one of the people Shirogane brought her to meet and learn from was Katsuya, and that's how the two got to know each other. I wanted to reveal that it was Katsuya in a much earlier chapter...but it...totally slipped my mind orz

For the past month or so I've been planning out the sequel so that I can have a much clearer direction for this 'verse. I've been looking into various mythologies and Jungian psychology, and I think I have a good idea of where I want to take the sequel, but, being the indecisive person I am I haven't really settled down on it because I'm the kind of person who gets a bit anxious about whether it would be well-received and I would have the tendency to think there has to be a better idea that I haven't thought of yet. I'm going with it for now, though, but if I do hit upon another idea, I'll let you guys know :)

Thank you all for your support! :)