Tuesday, March 20th, 2010, Sumaru City
Following from being bored in RV, seeing those traffic jam in the street along their way, they finally reached the Sumaru City, a city they would investigate a rumor and have some relax here.
This city was gorgeous in their eyes. It was so vast and sprawling. The city was divided as several of ward. Most of buildings and condominiums were built to great height and have a modern architectural style, just like Tatsumi Port Island.
As a several of Sumaru' ward, Rengedai, Aoba and Kodan were a popular ward during these years, having tourist traveled here every month. But that was not an information that they wanted to seek about. They had learned that all three wards here had been the site of the most incidents, involving the Joker's curse and serial murders that happened in 1999.
They stood up from their seats and made their way down into the street from the parking lot at Aoba ward. They eyes was astonished by the city's view.
"Wrf! Wrf!" Koromaru barked fascinatingly.
"Look at those buildings…. It's freaking awesome! Just how many buildings were built here? I can see all people over here." Junpei shouted delightfully.
"I never thought I'll see this city so vast like this before. Even Tatsumi Port Island can't compare at all." Ken said.
"Hehe…I hate to admit and not want to defame the place that my family built, but I totally agree on this one, right Akihiko?" Mitsuru calmly agreed with Junpei while staring at Akihiko.
Akihiko remained silent, His expression became more darkened, even the view of the city couldn't calm his mind.
"Akihiko, do you hear me? What are you looking at?" Mitsuru asked worryingly.
Akihiko was distracted from his mind for a moment, after hearing Mitsuru's call.
"Um…. Oh, Sorry! Mitsuru. I just feel enjoy this view too much. This city is beautiful, isn't it?. Haha.." Akihiko pretended to laugh, hiding his darkened expression from her.
Mitsuru noticed his unusual behavior instantly and shook her head.
"Sighed…. Okay, Akihiko… I'll leave you be. If I have any updates on our investigation or meeting, I'll let you know right away."
"I understand. Thanks for telling me." Akihiko said.
Mitsuru decided to stop talking with Akihiko, enjoying a view with the others.
"All shops and malls were here…. So many spots I can go…. Now I can shop clothes at those places all day as I want! This is great!" Yukari only thought to go shopping, expressed her wants without care of the others' sight.
"Yukari-chan…." Fuuka said with sheepish smile.
Aigis looked around her with an intrigued gaze, wearing an elegant light-blue dress as usual. She always curious about a new place.
"I see. So this is Sumaru city that everyone's talking about. Those structures were perfectly planned. These street and expressways had also connected each other without a flaw. I'm impressed." Aigis commented.
Shinjiro rubbed his forehead and shaking his head with boredom. "Sometimes, you get attracted from these things too easily, Aigis."
"Of course, Shinjiro-san. I still need to learn about the human, all of them is important to me as well." Aigis responded, feeling excited as she took in her surroundings.
Chidori grabbed Junpei's hand, bringing him towards a shopping district nearby.
"Junpei! Should be look around that mall? There're many accessory shops place there." Chidori asked while holding his hand tightly.
"Hey, wait! I didn't say that I—" Junpei attempted to reject her because he wasn't ready for that.
But it seemed Chidori didn't allowed Junpei to refuse her.
"You can't~~" Chidori said playfully before dragging Junpei along to go shopping together.
"Everyone, HELP ME!" Junpei begged the others to help him, but no one wanted to help him, instead they were just watching both with chuckle in their tone.
"Lovebrids…Hehe…. Just leave them enjoy their date." Akihiko deeply sighed while staring them with a minor of lively sight. Perhaps seeing the others happy was something that brought him a temporary sense of happiness.
Shinjiro moved his eyes back to Akihiko. "Yeah, yeah. At least, both of them can do their own happiness on their ass, don't they?"
"You could say that." Akihiko agreed with Shinjiro, expressed his boredom.
Yukari interrupted their conversation before speaking up with excitement.
"Then, Fuuka, Aigis and I will go shopping at that shop. I can't wait to be there. I heard that there're many popular dresses and clothes are being on sale too!"
"That's right! I'm looking forward to it." Fuuka smiled lively.
"Yukari-san? Am I allowed to go shopping with you?" Aigis questioned.
"Of course, Aigis. You're already one of us. We can help you choosing clothes that suits you best." Yukari reassured.
Akihiko felt weary regarding hearing girl's conversation about shopping clothes.
"Come on guys….. We come here to investigate for a clue, not a just only for relaxation, okay?" Akihiko warned about the real purpose for being in this trip.
"We all had known that already, Sanada-senpai. That's why we'll going to the Aoba shopping district. Parabellum is also there." Yukari insisted aggressively before turning her eyes to Mitsuru.
"I heard Nanjo-san will be there too, right Mitsuru-senpai? Perhaps you should meet him as fast as possible."
"And what about you, Yukari?" Mitsuru asked back.
"We're going to shopping over there and eavesdropping all the people there too. We might get a good clue to lead our ways to help our friend." Yukari noted.
"Well, it's good idea after all." Fuuka supported Yukari's idea.
Akihiko shook his head with feeling tired, not have a choice but to go along with her idea.
"At least, we go in the same place, after all. Well then, we should go."
The others, except Junpei and Chidori who had gone ahead, nodded and began walking towards the Aoba shopping district.
Akihiko and Mitsuru ended up at Parabellum as Nanjo suggested for their meeting, while Shinjiro and Ken looked around inside of the cookware shop, with Koromaru waiting outside. Yukari, Aigis, and Fuuka asked Mitsuru for some time away, heading to Rosa Candida to look for clothes and dresses.
"They seem to be enjoying this trip more than you, Akihiko." Mitsuru teased.
"Well… At least they're trying to help us in their own way…" Akihiko said sheepishly.
"By the ways… This place…Huh!"
Both looked around Parabellum carefully. It looked like they just realized something before entering this place.
It was unmistakably a bar—a real, adult bar! They could see a variety of wines and alcoholic drinks lining the shelves.
The atmosphere in the bar was thick with the gaze of adults, who wondered why teenagers had entered this place.
"Hey! Are we actually being in the right place? This is a totally an adult bar! That's why we should everyone with us in the first place" Akihiko exclaimed, confused.
"And how should I know about that! This map of this city led us to this place. I followed every direction on the map. There's no mistake." Mitsuru argued back to him.
"Oh, come on! There's no way we're allowed to be here." Akihiko mumbled.
Akihiko glanced around, those adults still kept watching them arguing each other, making him want Mitsuru to be silent.
"Oh man... I freaking hate being stared at me" Akihiko muttered, feeling uncomfortable by be surrounding from adults around them.
"Then what should we—"
"Hey! You two…"
Suddenly, there was some voice, calling to them clearly. They turned their eyes into that direction. It was a man who wear a black glasses, wearing motorcycle suit with the word "TO THE NO.1" was printed on the back. He waited for both of them at the counter while drinking a red wine.
They decided to approach him without a delay.
A man stared at both of them clearly before turning his eyes to Mitsuru and speaking up something.
"You must be Miss Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko Sanada-kun, right? I can sense a Persona's power from both of you within." A man inquired, smiling.
But Mitsuru and Akihiko felt confused, how can he know that they're Persona-user by just sensing from them. Despite their confusion, they decided to put that aside for a moment.
"Yes, Mister Nanjo. I'm the one who contacted you earlier." Mitsuru spoke up calmly.
"Ya…Yes, sir…." Akihiko said nervously.
A man she spoke with is Kei Nanjo, head of the Nanjo Group. He seemed to understand and nodded back to her.
"There's no need to be modest. Come on, sit here."
Kei invited them to join a conversation. Mitsuru sat near Kei while Akihiko sat a bit away from them.
"About your father, I'm sorry for your loss, Kirijo. It must be hard for you to lose your father and trying to manager your family company on your own." Kei expressed his consolations.
Mitsuru's sadness resurfaced as she found herself thinking back to her father.
"Yes, he's the only one I care the most."
Mitsuru spoke up while picking her photo from her purse with her father during her young age, staring it with a little of sadness.
"I always wanted to run away from my family. I hate a life that always has responsibility in my hands. …I want to live a normal life like everyone else. But after I awakened my Persona, I knew I can't run away from my fate anymore. I decided to be Persona-user, so I can protect him."
"Mitsuru…" Akihiko felt saddened.
But her face turned into smile. "But because everyone in the S.E.E.S always be with me. I can overcome my own grief and keep living… I can be a head of Kirijo Group with proud."
Mitsuru's eyes lit up with understanding and determination.
"I think…I found my answer to life." Mitsuru said peacefully.
Akihiko pondered over regarding Mitsuru said earlier. He wondered if he hadn't met everyone in the first place, especially Minako who changed his perspective on overcoming grief he faced, what life he will face on?
But there's no point for him to think about his past. He had a chance… he would definitely not waste it anymore.
"I'm glad to hear that, Kirijo."
Kei felt calm and delightfully with Mitsuru's answer before continuing their conversation.
"About what we discussed during that phone call—"
"Yes, we want to know about the truth about the incident.. 11 years ago." Akihiko said.
"I see… Matsuoka, a document I ask, did you bring it here?" Kei said while turning his eyes to his butler who standing near the front door.
"Yes, Master Nanjo."
Matsuoka brought a lot of document and picture that included the incident 11 years ago in suitcases. Those were a victim who had been killed from "JOKER" and killers who were cursed from using Joker's curse. A bizarre incident that happened in the Sumaru had also been recorded.
Mitsuru quickly glanced around at those photos. Some of them caught her eye for a moment.
"Akihiko, look at this." Mitsuru said, pointing to a photo for Akihiko. It depicted a flying blimp in the sky. It seemed normal to them, as blimps flying in the sky was a common sight.
But something's different to them. Its surface was just a toy model skin. Moreover, there's a photo a blimp before Sky Museum being destroy, no engine was installed on this blimp at all. There's no way it can fly in normal circumstances without an engine. After all, this's just a model, not a real blimp.
"No way!" He thought.
With even more craziness, there was an unknown army running through the city. These photos didn't make any sense to them.
Kei noticed their confusion and began to describe the incidents he had faced during that time.
"You seemed quite confused what you just saw. I'm not surprised with that look." He said quietly.
"Nanjo-san, what is this? What did we just saw?" Akihiko asked.
"This is "Rumor system" that happened during Joker's curse incident." Ken described.
"A rumor system? Wait… I thought it was just only a rumor. Is there more than that?" Mitsuru exclaimed, confused.
"Perhaps I should tell my whole story… What happened in that time."
Kei explained about the concept of Rumor's power and the whole story to them. He told them what he was doing during Joker's case.
11 years ago, he had been investigating the New World Order, an organization attempting to usher in a new era for humanity by spreading a false rumor to become reality, collecting Kegare or Ideal Energy and experimenting to a human for awakening a dragon beneath the earth to fulfill their utopian ideals. However, it was all delusional. Everything had been orchestrated by the Collective Unconscious entity known as "Nyarlathotep," the dark side of human perspective, in an attempt to create false belief and bring the end to all humanity. With the help of Maya's party and Tatsuya from the other side, they could banish Nyarlathotep. The prophecy about Oracle of Maia, a rumor system ended and saved the world.
"And that's all I can tell you." He concluded his story.
"No way… Are you saying the city itself have an ability to manipulate reality? This is beyond ridiculous than I imagined if I didn't have already known about Persona before." Akihiko sputtered.
"Ugh…Unbelievable." Mitsuru's expression frightened, crossing her chest tightly.
They still couldn't believe what Kei had told them. It all seemed too fantastical, regardless of how hard they tried to wrap their minds around it. At least they had an important information to continue their investigation.
"Anyways…"
Kei gazed at them seriously before asking some question to them.
"Had you met Philemon or Igor upon entering the Velvet Room?"
His question spread confusion through their mind…. How did he know about Velvet Room? And who is it Philemon or Igor he mentioned about? They never met them before. These people he mentioned must connect to the Velvet Room or a clue they sought.
Mitsuru and Akihiko shook their head, doing gesture that they never met both of them he mentioned before. Kei seemed surprised.
"Wait, you two never met them before? How is that possible?" Kei perplexed.
"We used to enter the Velvet Room before, but never met them. Did you know them?" Mitsuru said, claiming she never met them.
"And we just saw the Velvet Room 2 weeks ago. Only Wild card user can see them too. I don't even know why." Akihiko added.
"How can this… be?"
Kei rubbed his hair tightly. This was the first time he had heard that current Persona-users couldn't normally see and enter the Velvet Room anymore. He wondered what had happened to Philemon or Igor. They had never abandoned the other Persona users. And what's this wild card about? He knew this is not normal. Something must be happened to Philemon. Mt. Iwano may have an answer they craved.
"You two, you need to reach the Mt. Iwano." He quickly talked to them with serious tone.
"Mt. Iwano? Why is that place?" Akihiko asked.
"If my guess was right, an answer we need must be there." Kei assumed.
They both looked their eyes each other with more confusion. Mt. Iwano… Isn't just an ordinary mountain like the others?
Kei handed them a map leading to Mt. Iwano. "It's located near Araya Shrine in Rengedai. I'm not sure if you can still access the cave, but if it's still there, you might find something useful there."
Akihiko received a map Kei handed to him and checking it clearly. It was not far from here. He wondered why Kei recommended them to reach there. What was inside of the Mt .Iwano could find for? But for now, their progress had been improved a lot.
Kei continued staring at them quietly before telling them something.
"Normally, Persona-user allowed to bring a normal person get into Velvet Room. But strangely, none of you know about this at all, even you're Persona-user." Kei shook his head with dizzy.
"Hm? What do you men, sir?" Akihiko questioned.
"Because I and the others received this power from Philemon. We can change our Persona too." Kei added.
Mitsuru quickly grasped the situation he tried to tell them. "Wait, don't tell me you all can change your Persona! Not from initial Persona?"
Kei nodded. "It's true."
Akihiko and Mitsuru felt headache following the situation they get themselves into. If all Persona-user could change their Persona freely, then what happened to them now? Why couldn't they change their Persona like them?
There was more question they needed to figure out by themselves.
After gathering information as they seek enough, they stood up and bowed to Kei as a sign of gratitude.
"Thank you for helping us, Nanjo-san." Akihiko expressed his gratitude.
"It's not that much. If you need any help, you can contact me anytime." Kei said and sending his number to Akihiko.
"Sorry to interrupt your time. It's our time to leave now." Mitsuru spoke.
Kei nodded "Okay, then. I hope you can find a way to help your friend from the other world."
"Yes, I'm deeply grateful, Mister Nanjo. I'm sure we'll be business partner again, like in the past." Mitsuru said, her voice filled with delight.
"I'm looking forward to it, Miss Kirijo. Well then, See you later, both of you."
They said goodbye each other before Akihiko and Mitsuru leave the bar, leaving Kei thought about the current situation about the Velvet Room in his mind.
"Philemon, where the hell are you?"
Akihiko and Mitsuru returned from Parabellum, waiting the others at the front of Aoba shopping district. Heading to Mt. Iwano seemed to be their next move, as suggested by Kei. Despite the risks involved, they were determined to reach their goal and continue their search.
Akihiko moved his eyes to Mitsuru with worry expression. "Mitsuru… do you think we can help her?"
"Why do you feel hesitant like that? Are you not confident on yourself?" Mitsuru asked, feeling strange about his expression.
"It's just…Well…"
Akihiko let out a deep sigh before picking up a Velvet key and staring at it, his expression filled with sadness.
"About Minako, I just wonder… what is the answer to life she found? Why did she leave this power to me?" Akihiko asked to himself quietly.
Mitsuru heard Akihiko's word and pondered over. "To tell the truth, I don't know."
She gazed all the crowd who walked and shopping around in the distance quietly, lost in thought.
"I too, thought that losing my father will be lost of my goal to live, but I was wrong." Mitsuru said calmly before meeting Akihiko's eyes.
"Because I met all of you, I could create a bond between all of us, changing myself and overcome my sadness. I know I'm not alone." Mitsuru said smilingly.
"Mitsuru…you—"
Mitsuru spoke up further. "Humanity needs to find their way to live, not relying from Death or the miracle to end all problem. We all must meet our end eventually."
Akihiko fell silent for a moment before responding to Mitsuru's answer. "Maybe you're right. Although Nyx… I mean Minako isn't existed, they would bring the destruction to themselves some way."
He shook his head with irritation, staring at the sky. "I doubt why we even bothered to help them anyways, they forget what happened, all of that."
"Akihiko—"
"Hey you two—"
Suddenly, they both quickly moved they eyes in the direction they heard the voice. It's Shinjiro's voice who called upon them while Ken and Koromaru followed him along the way.
"Sanada-san, do you find anything you seek?" Ken asked.
"Yes, we have a lot of clues to get our next move." Akihiko said happily.
"We too have an information to share with you." Shinjiro said.
"Really?" Mitsuru surprised.
"Yeah, but speaking here is not comfortable, we should get into our hotel. I have already contacted to everyone about our hotel we will head on. We'll wait them there." Shinjiro hissed out.
"Thanks." Mitsuru smiled.
"Wrf! Wrf!" Koromaru barked happily as usual.
Akihiko being curious if the hotel allowed a pet to stay in their hotel. But he put that aside and going to the hotel with the others.
In evening, five of them were in the lounge, waiting calmly for the others. Ken was busy giving Koromaru some food.
Akihiko, Shinjiro, and Mitsuru talked each other about their information they found.
"I see. Our next goal is to reach Mt. Iwano." Shinjiro said.
"But we don't know why we need to go in that place. Nanjo-san doesn't speak any further of it." Akihiko doubted.
Mitsuru ponded over and sharing her opinion. "I think Mister Nanjo may want us to see it by ourselves."
"Why?" Shinjiro asked.
"It's because he may know we still couldn't believe his story completely. Maybe he wants us to go there so we can see for ourselves and prove what he told us." Mitsuru noted.
"But a question is… what's inside of that place, waiting for us? Argh! I can't figure out that reason." Akihiko mumbled.
While the three of them was ponding over about Mt. Iwano and their next move, Fuuka, Yukari and Aigis returned from their shopping and brought a lot of clothes with them.
Junpei and Chidori seemed returned with them not for long as well.
"Oui! Everyone!" Junpei shouted, waving his left hand while Chidori followed him behind.
"Yo! Junpei. How's going?" Akihiko said.
"Iori-san and Yoshida-san too! Wow, you two look happier than I thought." Ken said.
"We just having our date at restaurant nearby and buy some bracelet. Look!" Chidori said, showing a white bracelet to everyone.
"It's gorgeous. A light is glowing." Aigis excited.
"You sure have a good taste, Chidori." Yukari teased.
"Oh, come on! It's not of your business." Chidori blushed over to her face and turning her body into the other direction.
Everyone seemed to giggle a bit too much, perhaps from the light-hearted atmosphere.
"Hehe… He always surprises us about his girlfriend, isn't he?" Mitsuru chuckled, feeling amusing.
"Kirijo-senpai, please don't talk like that. I'm beginning to feel all blushed or something." Junpei said shyly.
Fuuka also shook her head with teasing. "Junpei-kun is still be our Junpei-kun. Hehe.."
"All of you—" Junpei felt even more blushed.
Shinjiro couldn't endure about the awkward situation he was facing.
"Could you all stop being childish and focus on our objective first?" He shouted, feeling irritated.
The others quickly realized that they were here to help Minako, not just for relaxation. They fell silent, refocusing on their mission.
"Sorry." Junpei bowed to him with guilt.
"I totally forget about it. I'm sorry, Aragaki-senpai." Yukari apologized.
"It's all right. I don't mind it."
Mitsuru moved her eyes to Shinjiro. "You said earlier that you have an information to share with us, right?"
"What do you think? Try to guess?" Shinjiro sly spoke up.
Akihiko quickly realized Shinjiro's answer. "Let me guess, about Joker's case."
"Yep. You're right that one. But I feel strange with Sumaru's people here." Shinjiro expression changed into serious.
Aigis expressed her curiosity by asking. "Huh? What do you mean by that, Shinjiro-san."
"They only talked about Mt. Iwano all day. I don't sure why they were interested to speak about that place. It's not even popular place to travel at all."
"Did something happen in there?" Fuuka asked.
"Beats me." Shinjiro puzzled.
Mitsuru and Akihiko quickly thought about Kei told tell earlier. It was just like they heard in the bar.
Yukari suddenly remembered the mention of Mt. Iwano they had overheard from the crowd during their shopping.
"Now you mention it, I heard from gossipers that there's something happened on the Mt. Iwano too, right Aigis, Fuuka?"
Both of them nodded confidently.
"Yes, I can remember well." Aigis said.
"They said they saw some kind of ghost or demon on the mountain." Fuuka spoke up.
The mention of Mt. Iwano intrigued the interest of everyone in the lounge, suggesting that it held some significance or rumor worth exploring.
"What should we do?" Ken asked.
"Hm…" Chidori stayed quiet.
Akihiko stood up and glanced around. "We should go. It's only way to do."
Everyone considered for a while before agreeing with his opinion, except for Fuuka, who thought it was too risky to check out the mountain without knowing it was actually true or not.
"You—You can't!" Fuuka bravely protested.
"Yama—no, Fuuka…." Akihiko said.
Fuuka' eyebrows raised up with worry. "Senpai, are you sure you will be rising yourself? If there're any dangerous, you'll—"
Before Fuuka could walk to Akihiko, Shinjiro blocked her with his right hand, shaking his head to signal Fuuka not to interfere.
"But—"
Mitsuru supported Akihiko's opinion, moving her eyes to Fuuka with gentle. "Yamagaishi, I know you're truly care about us. But we need to keep moving."
Yukari smiled. "Mitsuru-senpai is right. We have already come this far."
Aigis gazed Fuuka warmly. "We all faced death before. There's no way to live without a risk in your life, Fuuka-san."
"Everyone!" Fuuka shouted while looking at Junpei and Chidori. They nodded back at her, signaling that they were ready to face their own decisions.
"We all know our own, Fuuka-san. Please, trust in our decision" Ken encouraged Fuuka.
After seeing their reaction, she let out of her sigh before changing her mind.
"Okay! It looks like we didn't have any choice anyway. I'll go too!" Fuuka still mumbled but decided to join them.
"So, no one object, then? It's settled." Shinjiro relieved.
Everyone nodded in agreement, determined to press on with their investigation despite knowing it would be their most dangerous journey.
"We'll begin in tomorrow, then. It's 10:00 P.M. now." Fuuka said, checking her watch.
"I should be going. I feel tired today." Junpei said, his words slurring slightly.
"Then everyone, goodnight." Aigis said before returning to RV, recharging her energy.
"That's right. She's robot." Yukari remarked.
"Everyone, sleep well." Mitsuru spoke up, return to her room.
Everyone began returning to their room leaving Akihiko at the lounge.
"It'll be all right…. right?"
Abyss of Times, Iwatodai Dorm
Yukari woke up from her sleep and began to bathe. She felt bored for being here. She wondered how long they would keep doing this.
She didn't believe Minako would be here by coincidence, just like Metis. She changed her clothes and walking down to meet everyone.
"Good morning, every—"
Before speaking further, she witnessed her friend's expression. They seemed unusually anxious and panicked.
"What's wrong, everyone? You all look pale." She said while glancing around the room.
"Yukari… Minako…" Mitsuru's eye darkened.
"Huh?" Yukari confused.
"Minako's missing!"