The next day, Golden Week continues with Greenery Day. The first half of the day is extremely uneventful. While eating lunch with Nanako, however, a violent ring erupts from my pocket. "Please excuse me for a moment, Nanako-chan." I quickly answer the incoming call. "Naoto Shirogane speaking."
"Oh, hey, Naoto-kun," the voice I recognize as Chie's says. "I know it's a bit sudden, but I was wondering if you wanna come to the floodplains today and train with me for a bit. I would ask Yukiko, but she's busy at the inn. She isn't really into this stuff, anyway."
"Exactly what is it we're training for?"
"I don't know. Everything I guess. I do laps around here every day when I can. Gotta keep my strength up, you know?"
"Oh, well, um… You see, I don't exercise very much," if by not very much I mean not at all, " so I can't be certain that I will be capable of matching your current skill level in this situation."
"Oh, that's fine. If you don't run a lot, now's a great time to start. We need to keep our strength up for fighting shadows."
"Well, I suppose it is hard to argue against that logic…"
"Great, I'll meet you there in a bit!" She hangs up the moment the last word is said. I put my phone away and turn back to face Nanako.
"Who was it?" she asks.
"That was Chie. You met her yesterday."
"Oh, yeah. She was nice." I'm fairly certain anyone would say that about a person who bought them a soda.
"She proposed that I train with her today at Samegawa Floodplain. Are you going to be alright on your own for a little while?"
"Yeah, I'm going over to Miwa-chan's house soon. We're gonna watch the new episode of Detective Loveline." Miwa-chan. This is a person I have never heard of. Is it okay for me to allow her to go? No, I should leave it alone. Nanako-chan is a good kid; I can trust her to not do anything she isn't supposed to. Dojima-san does seem to trust her quite a lot.
"Well, I suppose I should leave now if I don't wish to keep her waiting."
"Okay, goodbye." With that, I am on my way. It takes only a few minutes for me to reach the floodplains. I quickly spot Chie over by a bench.
"Hey! Naoto-kun!" she calls me over. "Ready to go?"
"I suppose so, but I still am not entirely certain what is expected of me here."
"Don't worry about it," she assures me with a slight chuckle. "It's just a bit of running, no big deal. So, do you wanna run now or stretch first?"
"Wouldn't stretching be mandatory? That is, if we do not wish to be sore tomorrow."
"Yeah, well, I guess that's true. It's kinda boring, though, so I tend to just skip it. Anyway, do you need any help?"
"I believe I can handle stretching without assistance, thank you." I reach down and swiftly touch my toes without any difficulty.
"Alright, well I guess that's what I get for doubting you." The two of us separately do a variety of stretches without saying a word to one another. Though I do enjoy the silence, I cannot imagine Chie-senpai feels the same way.
Knowing this, I decide to make an attempt at starting a conversation. "Do you have any other plans for the remainder of the break?"
"No, not really. My parents work a lot, so we don't tend to go on many trips." Silence fills the air for a few seconds before she speaks once more. "How about you? You got any plans?"
"No, with Dojima-san working, there are not very many options for me to choose from."
"Yeah, I can understand that." More silence comes as neither of us know how to continue on the conversation. This shouldn't come as a surprise to me. Though I suppose my social skills have improved, I have yet to reach the level of skill that would allow me to make proper small talk. This is my fault. She must regret inviting me.
As we stretch a little while longer, a sudden scream comes from my friend. "Ahhhh!" My senses immediately heighten. "Get it off! Get it off!" Get what off…? I scan her trembling body for whatever it is she's referring to. My eyes finally reach the grasshopper atop her shoulder. I quickly swipe it off.
"It's gone now. Are you alright?" Though I know it is quite a common fear, I would have never pegged her as a person who would have any sort of entomophobia, especially one of this caliber.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that, I get a bit creeped out by bugs sometimes." Under exaggeration of the century…
"It's quite alright. There are plenty of other people who feel the same way. I can't say I would react so strongly, but I wound most certainly not be comfortable with such a creature on my shoulder."
"Ha, thanks. But still, I can't be like that anymore." I give her a questioning look. "After my shadow, I've started to think about what it said. You know, about how I kinda depend on Yukiko depending on me. I've decided that I'm done with that. From now on, I'll work hard to get stronger until I can stop relying on others like that."
"Well, that is a wonderful goal. Codependency is a hard to break out of, but it is certainly worth it."
"Codependency… Is that what it's called? Well, I guess I can rely on you to have a word for everything, smarty-pants. Anyway, I think that's enough stretching. Ready to run?"
"As much as I'll ever be. How long do you estimate we will be running for?"
"I don't know, until one of us gets too tired, I guess. C'mon, let's go!" Without warning, she darts past me. Breaking from my temporary daze, I run at max speed to reach her. Finally by her side, I only allow my pace to drop slightly to match hers. She wants a training partner and I need to deliver. I will not allow my lower fitness to interfere with her training.
I work hard to match her speed as much as I can, cursing myself every time I fall behind, no matter how small the gap. In doing so, I go way beyond my physical limit. How long have we been running? 10? 20? 30? Has an entire hour passed without my knowledge? No matter, the time has no effect on my running. I just need to run. There is no way I will be a burden on her training. What did she call this, just a bit of money? No big deal? Is she insane?
Nevertheless, the running continued until my legs could take no more abuse. My speed begins to decrease dramatically, reaching what one could barely call a jog. Chie is quick to notice and stops. "Are you okay?" My body gives a cry of relief when I finally come to a stop, almost falling to my knees. This does not go unnoted. "Here, c'mon." She comes to my side and pulls me over to a nearby bench. I gratefully sit down, letting out heavy breaths for my desperate lungs. Chie sits beside me. "Jeez, you didn't need to push yourself that hard."
"I-I didn't want to hold you back, but I suppose I'm not as fit as I had previously imagined."
"Are you kidding me!? You did awesome, especially for someone who doesn't run much. We were running for a good 45 minutes and you didn't fall behind once!"
45 minutes, huh. It felt like an eternity. "I'm sure it was more endurance than anything else, not exactly skill."
"So, with endurance like that it doesn't even really make a difference. Jeez, if I'd know I would have stopped a while ago. I guess I just wanted to see how long you could go."
"45 minutes, evidently."
"Nah, you probably could have gone longer if you picked the pace. I probably should have let you do that and follow it. Sorry."
"No, Chie-senpai, you're perfectly alright. But I will more than likely never do this again. Perhaps next time we could run for 10 minutes. I should have no difficulties maintaining your speed then."
"Next time? You wanna do this again?" She sounds confused.
"I see no reason why not. If I am to be a member of the police force, I will need to be in top physical condition as well as mental."
"Alright, great! We can come back here tomorrow morning while were still on break."
"Okay, that sounds reasonable. As of right now, I don't believe by body could handle much more 'training'. Why don't we go elsewhere? With this amount of exercise, I'm sure both of our bodies are craving proper nurturance."
"Right! C'mon, we both need meat! Let's go to Aiya's." Launching into action, she quickly stands, pulling me up by my arm. Without losing her grip, see pulls me alongside she does so, a voice speaks in my head.
Thou art I… And I am thou…
Thou hast established a new bond…
It brings thee closer to the truth…
Thou shalt be blessed when creating
Personas of the Chariot Arcana
Ah, here we go again, I suppose.
We don't make it very far on our way to Aiya's before a voice interrupts us. "Chie? Figures I'd see you up here," it says. The girl dragging me stops abruptly before turning to face the speaker.
"Takeshi? What do you mean…? And what are you doing here, anyway!?" How strange, her behavior is both angry and friendly simultaneously. I didn't know that was even possible.
"Dude, I was just walking by and wanted to talk." His gaze moves from Chie to me as I make every attempt to say out of the conversation. "So, you get a new training buddy?" he asks, obviously aiming the question at Chie though his eyes never left me.
"N-No, not really. This is the first time we've really done this."
"Really? I would expect you to be up here all the time. What happened to you being 'king of the hill' or whatever you used to call yourself?"
"W-What!? I was never…" She cuts herself off. Her voice is higher than it was previously, a feat I didn't even know was possible.
"What, trying not to embarrass yourself in front of your new friend?" Chie's eyes fall to the ground.
"Perhaps you should be a little less rude when addressing a friend of yours," I say, viewing it necessary to put an end to his mockery.
"What!? N-No, I didn't mean it like that…! Sorry." He walks past my friend in order to get closer to me. "I'm Takeshi Kouno. I've known Chie and Yukiko since middle school. Speaking of which…" he turns back to Chie, "how has she been? She got a boyfriend yet?"
"No! And she doesn't need one, either," she responds, sounding more aggressive than usual.
"Fine, fine. Jeez, what's with you today? I just wanted to know if she's available. Hey, maybe I should try her again." It's not hard to notice Chie's anger rising, but she withholds any comments that enter her head. "Anyway, I should go now. See ya later!" Right hand in his pocket, he walks up the stairs and out of the floodplains.
"He most certainly went out of line with his final comments," I break the silence.
"Yeah, can be a bit rude sometimes… Or most of the time. I mean… I think he means well, but he's defiantly pushed more than a few buttons, especially with Yukiko. He's always staring at her. I'm sure he means nothing by it, but so many people look at her like that, like she's some sort of prize. I decided a long time ago to protect her from those sickos. But, like I said, he didn't mean any harm. We were all friends, but I guess we just drifted apart." She looks back up to the stairs. "We should go to Aiya's now, I'm starving."
After showing my agreement, we quick journey to Inaba's only Ramon shop. Reaching our destination, I am surprised to see multiple police officers in front of the restaurant. I half jog over to them with Chie close behind. "Is everything alright, officers?" I ask them. They all turn to me.
"Sorry, kids, but we shouldn't-" one starts before being cut off by another.
"Wait, hold up, they might know something," he says.
"Alright, fine," the original speaker says scornfully. "Lately, there have been a bunch of reports about bullying in this area. Do you two just so happen know anything?"
"Bullying!?" Chie asks obviously angered.
"No, sir," I respond calmly. "Do you happen to have any suspects? If so, I may be able to provide some assistance."
"Assistance? From you?" the second cop questions. "No way, kid. Just leave this to the professionals." They walk away before I can respond. My friend makes an attempt to chase after them, but I stop her.
"No, there is no need to further interrupt their investigation. I feel no need to defend my pride over something as insignificant as bullying."
"Insignificant!" she rages. "How could you think bullying isn't worth your time!? Really strong people ganging up on the weak, it's so wrong! They're such cowards!"
"Oh, um… I apologize, I had no idea you felt so strongly about the subject. It was rude of me to say such things." Damn it! I've been doing so well recently and I just had to mess it up.
"No, I get it, you didn't mean it like that. It's just… I hate people like that. They hurt others just to feel stronger, it's sick!" She curls her hands into fits. "C'mon, we need to find this guy so I can give him a piece of my mind!" She attempts to walk away again before I grab her arm once more.
"No, there is no purpose for us wandering aimlessly without any leads. Though I do agree to help you, I believe our health is more important. You did say you were starving before, correct?"
"Oh, right! We need meat! C'mon, let's eat!" She pulls me into Aiya's by my arm. The two of us eat our meals rather quickly, both feeling rather starved. As a beautiful sunset signals the end of the day, we each go to our respective homes.
The next morning I meet up with her once again in the shopping district. We exchange pleasantries before wandering around the shops, asking civilians what they knew. To our dismay, most had no idea what we were talking about and the ones who did only knew of rumors. It didn't take long for us to give up and go get some steak skewers. On our way there, however, we hear a loud voice coming from behind one of the shops.
"S-Stop it!" it calls.
"Shut it, dumbass!" says a threating voice. "You know what we came for, so cough it up!" After sharing a quick glance, Chie and I run between the stores. Just beyond the corner, we are met with three familiar people.
"Takeshi!?" Chie shouts as she runs to protect him from two bullies.
"Oh, would you look at that: two more bitches with money to take!" Takeshi cowards behind Chie.
"What, gonna hide behind a girl?" the other taunts.
"Are you alright, sir?" I ask Chie's friend.
"I-I'm fine." He hesitantly looks over Chie's shoulder at the punks. "I'll let you two handle this." Without warning, he fleas from the scene.
"What the-!?" Chie asks astonished.
"Whatever, we already got his money," one of the muggers says. "Speaking of which…" The two step closer to us. "I'm guessing you both have some money on ya."
"Cough it up!" the other orders.
"Like hell I'm gonna listen to coward like you! Ganging up on the weak like that, what the hell is wrong with you!?"
"What the hell, bitch!? You wanna fight? Fine, I ain't afraid to hit a girl!"
"Well I ain't afraid of you!" Chie attempts to charge them, but I hold her back. "Naoto, what are you doing!?"
"Chie-senpai, please, control yourself!" I order her.
"Ha, maybe you ain't afraid to fight, but it looks like your pussy friend is," the bully jokes.
"Believe me, I am not acting out of fear. I am only attempting to reason with you. If you give us the money you stole from that man and leave us alone, we will not inform the police of this incident."
"Oh no, a girl who looks barely strong enough to lift a pencil is threating us, what do we do!?" the guy asks jokingly. It is at this moment I reveal the gun I had been hiding in my jacket.
"I must suggest you refrain from underestimating me from this point forward." The two freeze for a second before throwing their hand up. "Good, now please hand over the stolen money so we may be on our way."
"R-Right, of course." One hands me 1,000 yen before they both take off.
"Why'd you have to but in like that!?" Chie asks me as I watch them run.
"There was no need for us to make our exchange physical," I respond.
"What, you don't think I could take them!?"
"No, of course not, I was only trying to find the safest option. I'm sure you would have done well without my help." As smile forms as the words leave my mouth.
"Thanks… And sorry. I just rushed in without thinking and cause us trouble."
"No, not necessarily. I had expected something like this to happen, hence why I brought my gun. You also assisted in helping an old friend."
"Yeah, speaking of him, where did he go?"
"Yes, we need to go return his money to him."
After searching for a while, we reach the floodplains "There he is!" Chie spots him on the stairs. "C'mon, Naoto-kun!"
"Ch-Chie!" he mumbles, noticing our presence
"Why did you leave before?" I ask him.
"Yeah, sorry about that… I just figured Chie was good at this stuff and didn't want to get in the way, that's all."
"That's all!?" Chie exclaims. "Come on! We both know you ran away, so why don't you just admit it!?"
"Whoa, jeez, when did you get so uptight? What happened you your bubbly attitude? Without it, you don't really have much else."
"Hey!" Chie shouts angrily.
"You shouldn't speak ill of the person who just saved you less than a ten minutes ago," I advise him.
"Anyway, what's Yukiko up to?" He asks, ignoring me entirely. "I saw her before talking to this one dude wearing headphones. She was acting really happy, had this stupid laugh, too."
"Stupid laugh!?" Chie sounds ready to kill him. "Well, curse her for being happy for once! Jeez, what's wrong with you!?"
"What's wrong with me? Dude, you should be asking Yukiko that. She was a lot better gloomy."
"How dare you talk about Yukiko like that!?" It takes every bit of self-control in her body to stop her from charging at him. "Don't you dare say anything like that ever again! She is finally coming out of her shell and THIS is the greeting she gets? No! She is a nice person and doesn't need crap like that from people like you!"
"What!? All I'm saying is that-"
I pull out the yen in my pocket and shove it in front of him, cutting him off. "I suggest you take your money and leave."
"Fine, whatever." He rips the money out of my hand and walks away.
We are silent for a moment before Chie speaks. "When I first met Yukiko, she was sitting on these very steps, holding a dog. I asked her what's up, and she told me she ran away from home. She found the dog, he was starving. She tried to take him home, but her parents wouldn't let her keep him. She was crying, so I did everything I could to make her laugh. From that moment forward, I promised to protect her, and to hurt anyone who would dare make her cry. I became her protector, but that went to my head and formed my shadow. I need to be more than her protector, my own person. I tried to focus on my good points, you know, but I don't know what I'm doing."
"It's as they say, 'the first step is admitting you have a problem.'"
"Yeah, well, maybe half a step of me… Thanks." Chie and I spend the rest of the day together before going home when it gets dark.
After the dreaded first day back to school was finally over, Chie and I decide to train again due to the fact that we were not able to do so the day before. We walk through the shopping district in order to reach the floodplains.
While on our way, we hear a young boy's voice from besides on of the shops. "L-Leave me alone, please," it says.
"Not 'til we get what we came for!" says a familiar, rough voice.
"What!? Are those punks at it again!?" Chie asks before we both run into the minuscule alley.
"Oh no, it's the two chicks from yesterday!" one of the bullies from yesterday exclaims.
"Hey, stop right there!" Chie darts in and shields the kid.
"Damn it, not this bitch again!" says the other bully.
"It's your own fault. Robbing Takeshi was one thing, but now you're doing it to a little kid!? How dare you!?" While Chie is distracting them, I pull out my phone to call the police.
"It's not like we were gonna-"
"Hey, she's callin' the cops!" one of them notices. He runs at me and grabs the phone before I can finish dialing the number. He's about to smash it before Chie grabs it and punches him in the face. "Jeez, bitch, the hell was that for!?"
"For trying to hurt my friend, that's what!" She hands the phone back to me. "Finish calling the police, Naoto-kun."
"Understood." I quickly make the call and begin explaining the situation.
"Crap, that bitch was crazier than I thought," the uninjured one says.
"Yeah, let's get out of here." They try to escape, but Chie stops them.
"Oh, you aren't going anywhere."
"What're you gonna do about it?"
"Yeah, I bet I could take a girl like you out in one punch!" they taunt her just as I finish my call.
"Fine then, prove it!" Chie taunts back. "Punch me; right here, right now."
"Wait, what?"
"You heard me! Don't be afraid, I won't even hit back."
"No, that's insane!"
"C'mon, be a man!"
"No, where leaving." They start walking away again before a deep voice comes from behind us.
"Stop right there!" it says. Thank god, the police are here. The rest of the day goes about how one would expect. The officers arrest the two muggers, question us and the boy, and leave with the punks in the backseat. They offered to take the crying boy home, but Chie insisted we take him. Along the way to his house, Chie does everything she can to make the kid feel better. Finally reaching the destination, the boy along with his mother thank us and we walk away under what is now the night sky.
"Was what I did before stupid?" She asks me out of the blue.
"What? No, of course not. You protected an innocent child. He may have been hurt if you hadn't stepped in."
"I guess you're right. Thanks." She pauses for a moment. "For some reason, I just felt like I needed to protect him; it felt like my duty. I don't know why, but when I heard him scream for help, or when the jerk took your phone, my heart just started beating really fast. It's still going right now."
"Believe me, you are in no way wrong for feeling that way. That wasn't you protecting someone to feel powerful, but because you are protective by nature. That is nothing to feel ashamed of."
"Yeah, you're right, as always. Still, it sucks that we didn't get to train like we were supposed to."
"We can always do so tomorrow."
"Alright, cool. We'll meet at the floodplains?"
And that we do. Directly after school the next day, we meet up and job for a little bit. With me keeping the pace, it was a surprisingly fun experience as well as relieving. We jog for approximately 30 minutes before sitting down for a break.
Chie is quiet for a moment before speaking. "I want you to have something." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a wristband. "I made it last night: one for you and one for me. It's kinda my way of thanking you for putting up with me for the past few days. I know that I've kinda been a bit pushy, forcing you to help me catch the bullies and all."
"Thank you for the gift, but I hardly find in necessary. You've done nothing wrong over the past few days. As a matter of fact, you've done more good in four days than some do in a year. You should be proud of your achievement."
"Thanks, I guess you're right… I think I've learned something to. I didn't get this persona power to grow stronger and become more self-dependent, but to protect others. I don't get a rush out of it because it makes me feel powerful, but because I know that I'm helping someone else."
"Exactly, and that is a wonderful trait to possess. It's a trait you would need in order to work in many professions: policemen, firefighters, doctors, solders, and any job that requires one to strive to protect others."
"In the end, I never needed to change my ways, only embrace what I always have been. I will continue to protect Yukiko and everyone else in this town forever."
Similarly to Yosuke's persona, Chie's appears right in front of us and transforms from its original form into more of a black knight, ready to defend Earth from all evil. "What is this, more power? Awesome, I can use it to protect others even better than before." She smiles for a moment before continuing. "About what you said before, do you think I would be a good police officer? You should know, considering the fact that you work with them all the time."
"Well, it's as I said, you share a trait necessary to be an officer of the law. In my opinion, the police need more people like you. Though a protective trait is one many police officers have, most don't and do their job for other reasons. I've meet many offices that do their job for the money and nothing else. It's sickening to think that the lives of other are left in hands like that. But, in any case, you would do a wonderful job. Of course, you will run into many difficulties. With the police being a male-oriented society, it's quite hard for a female to make it. It can take me months to get a department to take me seriously, and by then the case is almost over."
"People are really like that!? Wow, that's messed up."
"Believe me, I feel the same way. Still, you mustn't let that stop you. It's my dream to become a well-respected detective and I refuse to let another's ego stand in the way."
"Yeah, let's show them true girl power. And hey, who knows, maybe we'll work on a case together someday."
"Are we not already?"
"Oh yeah, right. We are kinda police officers, right? Saving the victims, solving the crime, finding the bad guy."
"Yes, exactly. Still, I would love to work on a case with you for real someday."
"Yeah, me too." A voice enters my head.
Thou art I… and I am thou…
Thou hast established a genuine bond…
These genuine bonds… shall be your
eyes to see the truth.
We bestow upon thee the ability to
create Futsunushi , the ultimate form
of the Chariot Arcana…