Catch-22: The Sidequests
By: M14Mouse
Summary: Elizabeth and her side quests…
Disclaimer: Don't own them.
It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.-William Shakespeare
Ken thought that Elizabeth was crazy.
Insane.
Why are they doing what she asked?! Fighting FOEs?! Getting something or other for some crazy thing or another?!
"She asked nicely, I think. She is earnest enough," Sensei said behind him.
He nearly screamed at the sound of Sense's voice.
When did he sneak behind him?!
"Sen—sensei?!" He scrambled to get the words out.
He didn't know what to make of Sensei. He was so different from any other adult he met. He was different from anyone in the group. Sure, there was his younger self.
But he had no better read on him than his older self.
He smiled at him.
"The twins are the same way…kind of. They aren't very nice about it but I'm curious to see if I could do it. After I complete it, they get excited…and almost happy in their weird way," Ren added.
"Margaret gave me a little smile. It was her version of a gold star," Sensei added.
"Don't tell Elizabeth that…she might give you a gold star. It seemed to be her thing," Ren said with a chuckle.
Sensei laughed.
"It does."
"Sensei! Come here for a minute!" Ann shouted from across the room.
"Pardon, I will be back shortly," Sensei said with a nod of his head.
He felt his body relax when Sensei left to see what Ann wanted. Sensei put him on edge like he knew…knew…
"Sensei is intense, isn't he?" Ren said.
"He is! I know that he doesn't mean too but…"
"Sensei never really gets angry with us. We disappointed him once….and well….we haven't done that again."
His eyes widened.
"Never get angry?! How…I mean…all adults get angry about something or other," He said in a rush.
He wanted to add that he gets angry all of the time.
"Boss gets angry because he's worried. Sensei…I don't know. I haven't seen his younger self get angry either. Mad, yes? Angry? No?"
"That is what scares me. I can deal with adults when I know how they act. Sensei…I don't know how to act."
"Like yourself? From what I have seen, you are smart, honest, and mature. Sensei would like that."
"I guess…" He said as he scratched the back of his head.
No, he's going to stay far away from Sensei.
The intensity of his stare…like he could read into his soul.
Like he knew him…and what he was planning…
That terrified him.
-P3P3P3-
Yukari was so annoyed about being back in this damn swamp for something that Elizabeth wanted.
Urgh…
"The dinosaurs are interesting. Although, I don't think that they want to be my friend as Oracle put it, I do think Black Frost and Bob would like to ride one," Sensei said as he stared into the forest.
"Wha….?"
It was hard for her to wrap her mind around the fact that shadows had feelings.
"Especially if it had a hat. He likes hats." Sensei added.
Minako nodded like it was nothing new.
"Angel likes it when I wear glasses…even if I don't wear glasses," Minako said.
"Hua Po is like that…although, her thing is s'mores which is really weird if you think about it since we live in a pretty big city," Ren added.
"Horus like flashlights," Minato added.
"You make it sound like they have feelings?!"
"They do," The entire group said.
"But…But…when we fight them….they don't talk…they really don't speak…they just try to kill us," She said in a panic.
The group was quiet for a moment before Sensei answered.
"There are a lot of theories on the concept of what a "shadow" is. Darker side of human emotions…rejection of true selves…or even the concept of the world that shadows live in."
"I can see that. Tv world almost acts as a mirror to the real world," Younger Yu added.
"Make sense. Mementos…the shadows are all about actions and emotions," Ren added.
"But when a shadow agreed to form a contract, they changed. Either they remember something or develop their own personalities through our bonds and interactions with them. Thus…the s'mores and the glasses…"
"But it doesn't make sense!"
Minako smiled.
"Of course, it doesn't but you adjust once you have a couple of them inside your head. It is funny and…it is kind of comforting. You know that you are never alone," She added.
"If they are like this…why do we fight them?" She asked in frustration.
The group was silent for a moment.
"Because shadows do come from such extreme emotions such rage, greed, and anger, even love. Those emotions will always exist no matter what world we travel in," Sensei answered.
"And what about your shadow friends?"
She doesn't understand Sensei at all. He made no sense whatsoever. Shadows kill. Shadows destroy.
"What about them?" Sensei said in confusion.
"Why didn't you kill them? They probably would attack you…"
"No."
"But…"
"No."
"Why didn't you attack them?!" She shouted.
She wanted to understand. She needed to understand.
Sensei just stared at her solemnly then glared over to his younger self.
"It's asking like why didn't I attack Teddie when I saw him?" Younger Yu said.
"What?!" She said in surprise.
"People tend to forget that Teddie is a shadow. The same with Lila, Ume, and my other shadow friends. I just knew. I could feel it," Sensei answered.
"Sometimes, I can feel the nature of the shadow…and who is the best to get them on our side or get money and items." Ren added.
"I can sense when they are afraid and who they are afraid of," Minato added.
"The same," Minako said.
She stared at the group.
She doesn't understand….she doesn't understand them or Sensei.
But…but a part of her wants to understand.
-P3P3P3-
"Hmm…interesting…robots. Oracle must have loved and hated this one," Sensei said.
Aigis noted that he seemed to be taken in the landscape. Sensei was an eccentric man. There was no pattern to his actions or speech. It was very disconnected.
"Loved and hated?" She noted.
"Our showtime in the other reality that I just came from involved robots. She loves the shows involving robots. She loves to make me watch or anyone really. She has figurines all over her room. If Sojiro would allow it…she would probably have more figurines and posters."
"And the hate?"
"Uniqueness. Being lost in the crowd. With the help of the others, she is her footing back. Her voice. This is the place…you lost your voice."
She jolted at his words. Just by looking at this place he was able to figure it out.
"It is remarkable that you were able to understand this world so quickly."
Sensei let out a chuckle.
"Not really. I know Oracle and that helped me understand this place."
But it doesn't allow her to figure out Sensei.
"Penny for your thoughts," He asked.
"Penny for my thoughts?" She asked in confusion. It took a moment to look through her database of human terms.
"Oh….I'm not thinking that intensely."
Sensei chuckled.
"Yes, you are. You know…in the future, you and I will work together."
She jolted at his comment.
She was no longer by his side. What happened? She felt a wave of a strange emotion wash over her.
"You're doing it again."
Instantly, she felt herself freeze.
"We spent quite a few years together. Misturu-san partnered us often together. She said we kept each other balanced. I'm not sure about that. I think that she didn't want us to cause chaos in two locations on the globe, which given our records is kind of fair. You got good at human expressions and terms. Although, I do have the habit of confusing you."
"I…" She said as she felt another strange emotion wash over her. She glanced over at his face to get any hint of his emotion. Beside mild concern on his face, there was no hint of tension in the shoulders of built up anger, no tapping of the fingers for a sign of nervousness, no…nothing.
The information that he just gave her couldn't be true. She would never leave his side. Never.
It couldn't be true.
"I…I had a hard time reading your body language and emotional state."
"Hmmm…" He noted.
"And I think that you're lying."
He didn't say anything but she felt….
Felt…that she was wrong.
-P3P3P3-
Akihiko cracked his knuckles. Time for training and he gets to do it with this Sensei guy.
Beat up some shadows too.
Always fun there.
"Will we train together in the future?" Akihiko asked excitedly. Beside the regulars at the gym, he rarely trained with someone new. It has been a lot of fun training with Makoto and Chie. Yes, they had their different styles of fighting but isn't that the point! He learned so much. They exchanged so much information and tips.
It was great.
"Sometimes…our styles are too different. We do some self-defense techniques together. You can't always depend on your sword, Yu like you always say," Sensei noted.
He nodded.
Very wise advice.
"Mostly, we beat the bag as you put it. It gives us a chance to talk," Sensei added.
"What do we talk about?" He asked.
"Your cases…my cases…the new protein drink that you tried…friends….funny looking shadows."
He snorted.
"There are some weird shadows out there."
"We have some with giant lips and tongue. Disguising when they try to lick you," Sensei added.
"Urgh…we have those. I had those stupid bird ones," He mumbled.
Everyone was flipping out about this Sensei guy.
But he rather liked him.
They are going to do so much training in the future!
-P3P4P3-
Junpei looked down at his tripe cheese nachos then he looked up at Sensei, who was talking to Teddie.
He looked down at his food again.
There was nothing wrong with it.
He was hungry, damn it. Sensei can't do anything to stop him for eating!
He fought shadows!
He can eat his damn nachos in peace!
He looked up again to see Sensei still talking to Teddie.
He looked down at his food again.
Just because it wasn't healthy and it upset his stomach a little bit.
It was good! And it was food!
He glanced up at Sensei, who looked at him.
He froze until Sensei turned away.
He sighed.
Most adults didn't care…but Sensei wasn't one of them.
Crap.
He got up from the table to get something else from Theo.
-P3P4P3-
Koromaru thought Sensei was very nice. He gave him treats when the others weren't looking. He spoke softly when everyone else was loud.
He was gentle.
And calm.
He reminded him of his old Master.
Mostly, he gave the best belly rubs.
-P3P4P3-
Mitsuru didn't know what to make of this older version of Yu. Of course, she has a difficult time with younger Yu as well.
This man didn't have the awkwardness of his younger self. He carried himself well. She wasn't sure if she could approach him to get any answers. Things that she needed to know.
"So, you work for me," She said.
"Yes," Sensei said as he turned away from the flowers…why was he examining them so closely?
"Then…."
"No."
She jolted at his tone. It was firm and unyielding.
"I'm not going to tell you the future."
She felt her entire body tense up like a bow.
"You're going to try to make plans that you aren't going to remember. Possibly upset the group which we don't need right now. So, no."
"I need to know. I need to know…" She begged.
"Mitsuru-san…I work for you but you didn't hire me to be your "yes" man. In fact, I turned you down quite a few times."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"You did?" She asked.
He nodded.
"We have many…many disagreements in many different areas, especially the sharing of information," Sensei said.
In the future, she became her father.
That hurts more than any wound that she had in battle.
"So, what happened?"
"Incident with a few shadows and angry demons. It worked out well enough. I joined under conditions," Sensei said mildly.
"And I agreed to that?" She asked.
That…didn't sound like her.
"Yes and No. Of course, you pushed back and I pushed back. It took us time to work out my contract."
"I'm surprised."
"Oh?"
"I…I'm not one to give up."
Sensei chuckled.
"True. You aren't but you have gotten better."
"Something happened." She said as the fact dawned on her.
"Yes. And no, I won't tell you."
She wanted to scream.
She wondered what in the hell did she put in his contract to make him so…so…impossible.
"And no, I won't talk about our contract either."
-P3P4P3-
"So, how was my death? Did I go out fighting?" Shinjiro said as he walked in the back of the group.
While everyone wanted to know about the future, Shinjiro wasn't really interested in that.
Since he was going to die anyway, he wanted answers to other things. Sensei guy knew and he was going to ask.
"I'm not 100% sure what happened but yes, you did." Sensei asked.
"And Ken?"
"He found out about your involvement in his mother's death but you end up saving his life."
He nodded. Good. He is glad that his death brought meaning.
"And the stupid idiot?"
"Akihiko-san? He speaks fondly of you. I think that…you gave him some resolve from your death."
"Good. He is a stubborn asshole and needs a good kick in the ass occasionally. Anyone else kicks the bucket?"
"It is complicated. Yes and no."
"More mystic crap, huh?" He said with a sigh.
"More mystic crap." Sensei said with a nod.
"And everyone else?"
"They get better…they grow up. They still make mistakes but they have come very far from what they were."
He nodded. That is good to know. The others worried him for a little bit because they seemed to be spinning their wheels…sort of speak.
"One more question?" He grumbled.
"Yes?"
"Why do you call Akihiko, Akihiko-san?" He asked.
Sensei lowered his glasses and a smile played on his face.
He busted out laughing.
He might not make it to the future but he was glad that there was someone giving Akihiko hell.
End of The Sidequests
Next Chapter: The Two Faces
A/N: Yes, we know that you are a troll and chad, Yu. Personally, I think that it gotten worse as he has gotten older. I want to thank everyone for the reviews, kudos, favorites, etc.