I glared out the window, doing my best not to think about what kind of car this was. About what kind of person was in it with me. For Kaina's sake, I had given them answers, and for Kaina's sake I'd give them even more. But nothing was going to rob me of my memories.
"So." I started, "Where are we going?"
The detective looked up in the rear view mirror, eyeing me, he chuckled, "Where else? Police station."
I could think of a few 'where else', but there wasn't much point in pushing. Khepri was tired, having been used for the first time. Neither of us were used to our bond yet and it had already been strained by combat. I felt the kiss of a phantom sun on my cheek heating my face, and smiled, happy to be amused by at least one thing in this car. Apology accepted, Khepri. Unnecessary, really, but accepted. I still wasn't willing to smile for long though. I had seen things done for less than a smile.
My face settled into the most passive look I could imagine, bearing nothing mild boredom. But the speed of my heartbeat and the sweat on my forehead showed more than that.
"My name is Ikaru Tsukauchi." He said, turning into a new street. Usually I liked to watch out the window, and see the world go by, but not this time.
"Kotone Shiomi." I answered his silent question, "My friend is Kaina Tsutsumi." I was watching the road ahead attentively, my hand lain casually on the door, waiting to open it and run at any sign of danger.
"Shiomi-chan, would you like to stop for food?" The detective asked, as we entered one of the few functional shopping districts, looked like Akaga Dori. He pointed out at one of the places and, curious, I followed his hand.
My teeth grit.
"No." I am not going to some grease palooza! No way! I've spent this whole life eating healthy, excepting candies, and I won't stop now.
"You sure?" He asked, "Or maybe we could buy something else? I see a stuffed animal vendor up ahead, maybe we c-"
"No!" I shouted, done with this, "No I am not interested. Let's just go." Really, who does he think I am?
He sighed, "Sorry, Shiomi-chan. I know this is stressful." He reached up front, popping open his dashboard and grabbing something from inside
I flinched, and his hand stretched back to hand it to me.
Soda. Some brand name shit. Tab wasn't popped. My fingers grabbed around the rim, pushing lightly. I sighed, relaxing slightly and popped the tab, bringing it to my mouth and drinking slowly. When the fizzy cold hit my tongue, I couldn't help but guzzle.
Khepri had probably overheated me. I hadn't even considered that. There were consequences to this new form of persona, it seemed.
I finished quickly, and huffed, wiping my lips with my wrist. Belatedly, I looked at the labeling a bit closer. Ugh. Banana. This detective's got terrible taste. I hadn't noticed, being so thirsty, but now I couldn't help but over focus on the unpleasant tang in my mouth.
My arms crossed, and I glowered again, any relaxation lost from the reminder of what I was with.
The enemy.
The road ahead looked how I wanted it to. No deviations. Soon we'd be there. The police station.
My last experiences hadn't been great. They'd better treat Kaina well.
I shivered.
The police station was before us, and Tsukauchi pulled into an underground parking garage.
"Alright," he said, clicking his keys to his belt, and popping open the door, "Shiomi-chan, We'll need to get an account from you about what happened. I understand you may not be ready, but this'll make things go faster."
"Then let's go." I followed him out of the garage, tapping on my arms and biting the inside of my cheek.
I wasn't interested in giving a long winded testimony that details all my thoughts and capabilities. At least not an honest one. But I would have to give enough that they could actually do something.
I snorted, waving off the detectives odd look.
As if.
Still. I wasn't stupid enough to give up an advantage, so as long as Kaina was in danger, I could… cooperate.
The concrete walls of the garage turned into sleek metals and I took a moment to wonder what idiot politician approved such a ridiculously expensive police precinct. It would've been built during the quirk war too, so this definitely left some sad orphanage in eternal disarray.
Not to mention…
I looked up, eyes catching the inside of an armory just as an officer left it. Body armor, weird looking guns, massive handcuffs, and a few other things I couldn't quite see before the door, a thick metal thing, slid shut.
Make it two, no, three orphanages.
"Shiomi-chan?" The detective called. I looked over, seeing him waiting at the end of the hall, next to a doorway.
"What." I said, catching up to him, "Just looking." I pointed to the armory, "No expense spared, huh?"
He blinked, nodding slowly, "Yes. The police are well outfitted and trained here in Tokyo." The detective pushed open the door, revealing a small interrogation room, "I'll take your statement in here."
Here's a statement: Kiss my ass. "Ok."
The room was small, about the size of a holding cell, and contained only a desk and two chairs.
Unprompted, I sat down on the close side, watching in petty glee as that detective had to walk to the far end, my spite making the matter a far greater victory.
"Let's start small," he said, bringing out a pencil and notepad, "What were you and your friend doing before the incident?"
The interview didn't last long, a good sign. Police have a bad habit of forcing interviews to last longer. Repeating questions and making ultimatums and warnings. All tactics to convince you to confess, even if you didn't really do it.
The detective opened the door, "Alright, Shiomi-chan, why don't you go down to the lobby?" He ushered me out, and I saw someone familiar on the chairs sitting outside, "I need to speak with your mother. Grown up stuff."
She was slumped over her legs, hair falling over her legs and head in hands. As she heard the detective say my name, she gathered herself, sitting up straight, and sorting out her hair.
"Kotone…" She started before looking up at the detective, "I'll be back in a minute, ok?" She set a hand on my shoulder, getting down to eye level, "I know this was probably stressful, so maybe go talk to Kaina?"
I nodded, watching the two slip into the interview room, but didn't leave just yet. Instead, I pressed my ear against the door and strained to listen.
"…Kotone… help…. Time…"
I frowned, it was no good. I couldn't hear enough to get any idea what they're up to. Not wanting to get caught, I made my way back to the lobby, wondering about what the two could have discussed. When I opened the heavy door out to lobby, I saw her waiting patiently in the seats, not moving as she watched the clock. When she saw me, her eyes widened, lighting up in a way that made me smile
"Koto!" She said, lips curved into an excited smile. She leapt to her feet, and ran to me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around her and purposefully stepping backward wrong and tipped over, falling into a heap on the ground.
"Oh no!" I cried, ignoring the pain in my ribs, creaking from her weight, "The Kaina monsters got me!" Was she getting heavier- ah, wait, big metal gun.
Kaina giggled, long hair falling down to tickle my face, "I'm not a monster! You're just silly!"
"No way! Can't you tell this is my serious fa-" I yelped as Kaina jumped up, rising to her feet and pointing at me heroically.
"I, Kaina here-" She stopped, looking over her shoulder to see a hand on it. There was my father, having faded into the background and escaped my notice yet again.
"Alright you two, comeon." He levied his train pass at me, "No more bothering the nice officers, Kotone-Musume."
I looked up, eyes going wide at what was in his hands, I felt myself shrink, "No trains."
"Huh?" He said, looking at the train pass in his hands, "Still afraid of them, huh? Never did find out why."
Yes. Obviously. That's because I didn't share.
He shook his head, smiling at me, "But alright. We'll take the bus." His hands shuffled into his pocket, and, knowing what he was reaching for, I grabbed his hand.
"What?" He asked, turning to look at me with tilted brows, "No smokes either? I'm an adult, you know. I get to do what I want."
Smoking causes lung cancer. Lung cancer leads to an early death. My voice felt small, but I still mustered a small "Please?" And watched him crumple at my request.
"Fine. No smokes."
I slumped, relieved, and leaned into Kaina. Kaina was everything I needed. She didn't do stupid things like ride trains or smoke or play in traffic. She would grow out of wanting to a hero and be… an artist, maybe. She'd have to get her hand dexterity down first, but she could definitely do it.
And then… who knows.
"Alright. The bus stops just outside the station. We can take it straight home. No trains." He said, landing a hand on my shoulder, "Come on. Let's go." A little tug, and we were moving.
As we left the police station I reached into my breast pocket, pulling out th earplugs and slipping them into my ears. I pressed the play button, and there it was, one of only two songs I had on cassette so far, Time, by Mayumi Fujita. Or at least it's supposed to be. I cringed at the reminder that the cassette tape was labeled with my own name.
Sorry, Mayumi-dono…
I had heard it an uncountable number of times. It was ingrained into my memory, practically written on my eyelids.
The sidewalk slipped past me, I was feeling so sleepy. Not really unusual, given my bad habits. But I could tell that awakening a persona was tiring me out a little, having strained our bond so early in its formation.
A soft breeze fluttered my hair, clearing some small portion of my sleepy head.
I looked up. And instinctively covered my gaze from the sun. Ravens flew up above, and I returned to looking forward, "Are you feeling ok, Kaina?"
I felt her hand slip into my own, doing the same squeezing and palming she always did. Her hand slipped out of mine before quickly returning and I looked down, curious. Was she nervous about something?
Her face was scrunched in concentration, and occasionally she would look down to see our hands joined and smile victoriously. Dad looked back at us, and seeing this, winked at me conspicuously.
I frowned. It was obvious what he was thinking. If I didn't know any better I'd probably think the same thing, but I could tell something was wrong. Not a puppy crush, a problem.
I frowned, hopefully Kaina would talk to me about it soon.
The bus pulled up and we hurried ahead to get in and steal a seat together. As the bus continued, I kept stealing glances towards our hands, not sure what to make of her confusing behavior.
Time played in the background, and the breeze in the bus blew in solely from my window, without friends to join it. Noone else had wanted to open a window it seemed.
A yawn filled my throat.
I could focus on Kaina's odd pawing later, for now, I felt like I was made of sludgy Kotone juice. I leaned against my friend, and my eyes fell shut, and I found myself somewhere familiar.
An alleyway.
The moon hung above, wide and patient. It was never full when I did this for real, as that would take time away from the Full Moon Shadow, but in my dreams it always was. I could imagine the way it watched me. Watched SEES.
I shivered, certain that my real body mirrored my dream here. I was a cage, and I had taken it with me. But thinking about it would do me no good. Instead I focused.
I knew what was below me, why my feet were so wet. Instead, I looked out ahead, seeing the alley extend in infinity, seeing how at every angle, the trappings of the alley repeated again, overlapping over and over and over again. Impassive, my face unmoved, I took in the banal place like an animal in its old cage.
I stepped over Takeya's body, not bothering to check if he was dead. From here it was always the same. I watched the entrance to the alley, even as it was so far as to be unreachable.
No escape.
The gun felt hot in my hand. Not an Evoker. Just a pistol, heavily modified so it would be as quiet as possible. Still too loud, though. Someone had heard, after all. Every time, without fail, someone had heard.
"Kotone!"
I could hear the panic of her voice. From the splashes outside as she ran straight through puddles she usually avoided on principle. From the way her voice hit high notes she typically tried to avoid in order to sound more mature. From the way she had split from the group even when she hated doing that.
She wasn't paying attention to herself. Or her clothes. Or her safety. Just me.
Even in a dream, I had to fight the heat creeping up my cheeks. I could let her see me blushing over a dead body. What would she think of me then? That I was some kind of serial killer? I couldn't deal with that! I spent enough time worrying over when she'd leave already!
There was a hand on my leg.
I jumped away, pulling my pistol and shooting in one swift motion. Takaya dropped, his corpse missing a portion of the skull.
"Kotone!" She shouted, urgency rising. She rushed towards the alley, and soon I saw her leg peek around the corner.
I froze.
Not Yukari.
Kaina stared at the scene before her. Me, gun in hand and body beneath me.
"Kotone…" She said, quiet and whispered with the cadence of a rushing waterfall. I could hear nothing else.
She stumbled back, and I reached to help her, but found I couldn't move. Frozen, and helpless to stop her.
She turned, and ran.
Now my legs could move and I darted after her, the infinity of the alleyway not a match for my speed.
The street opened to nothing.
No Kaina. Not even a hint of where she'd gone.
I felt something wet, slimy, slip down my face, cresting at my chin. It fell, making a wet plop as it hit the street.
I didn't need to look down to know what was there. But I did.
Red.
—oO0Oo—
A/N
Now I know what you're thinking. "Kotone was thinking of Detective Tsukauchi as an enemy." Wrong. Foolish. Pay attention.
Bananas are the enemy. Banana flavored expy, specifically. Disgusting. How can you live with yourself, knowing you too have fallen for the trap of banana? There is no greater sin than the failure of man to recognize our malediction of the natural order.
Also, fun fact, did you know FeMC had a name from the start? https//sp/091101_persona_special/ rad, huh? The name has been translated to both Runako and Lunako Gekko, essentially 'Moon Child'. I considered using it, but realized that it was likely that no one would get it.
