Everything's going up in flames.
-pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp -
Adachi had done it again.
The man was anally retentive about "rules" and the following of them to the letter. Fail to meet his standards, and the playing field resets. Naoto supposed they should have expected this. It took nearly a day in real time to get through his dungeon.
"Are you all okay?" Fuuka greeted them as they slowly began to recognize their surroundings. "I lost contact with you once you entered that room. How did you get back here?"
"Adachi, that's how," said Kanji. "Bastard gets off on playing his little games."
Labrys looked confused. "Was it somethin' I said?"
"Yeah, it usually is, Labrys!" Akihiko was unusually belligerent, pacing and snorting like a bull. Mitsuru glared at him but she, too, seemed more tense than she normally was. Evidently, even professionals such as the Shadow Operatives still succumbed to infighting.
"If Adachi-san won't let us back in until we've solved this case," Yukiko realized, "then...what are we supposed to do?"
Yosuke seemed to be at a loss, looking toward Naoto, who unfortunately found herself in the same boat. Adachi's stipulation was to "find out whodunnit", but he gave no indication as to what crime he was referring to.
"Someone is responsible for the current state of the TV World," she began. Thinking out loud usually helped her put things into perspective, and the more heads put together, the quicker they could find the solution. "Adachi claims to be clueless as to the identity of this person or persons, and also claims that he himself is innocent."
Yosuke snorted. "Yeah, and Junes is selling sports cars!"
"Ooh! I want one, Yosuke!" Oh, Teddie.
"Minazuki isn't in here," said Rise, trying to get Teddie to focus, "I can't tell if he's even been in here at all since the tournament."
"Nope! No Red Menace in here!" agreed Teddie. Then he shivered, and quietly added, "Other than Mitchan!"
"We're operating under the assumption that Minazuki is responsible for Adachi's escape. However, there has been no sign of Minazuki since just after Mitsuru-san's...hospitalization." Death. Mitsuru was clinically dead. Naoto didn't want to dwell on that, not with Akihiko being two steps away from punching something and Mitsuru herself standing there. They'd never gotten a chance to address her involvement and the fact that Naoto nearly prevented Mitsuru from being revived because of a silly thing like logic. "Minazuki being responsible for the state of the TV World is therefore unlikely." Labrys brightened at this.
"Good call."
How someone managed to sneak up on the 17 of them, Naoto would never know. Perhaps it was because it was Yu, still taking a knee from his leap into the TV World.
"SENNNNNSEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Teddie ran towards Yu and bowled him over in his enthusiasm.
Rise looked to join him. "Oh, Senpai! Senpai's here!"
"Man, can you ever not make a dramatic entrance?" Yosuke teased, but he was smiling.
"Sorry," came Yu's muffled voice.
"C'mon, Ted, you're gonna flatten the guy." Kanji peeled Teddie off of Yu, barely containing his own joy at seeing their leader return. "Senpai," he grunted, acknowledging Yu with a nod.
"We didn't know you were coming, Yu-kun," said Yukiko. She had moved closer to Yu as well, but between Rise and Teddie, there wasn't any room for her to get his attention. "How did you know we would be here?"
Yu held up his phone, which was of course inoperable in the TV World. "No one responded to my texts," he explained. "Either everyone's parents canceled their service at the exact same time, or you were all somewhere phones didn't work." Yes, that was Yu. Always intuitive. "Where's Adachi?"
"Camping out, having a good old time in his life-size game of Sorry!, shoving people back to Start," Yosuke replied, "Claims he has no idea how the TV World got this way, but it still works the way he wants it to."
Yu shook his head. "He knows more than he's letting on. Adachi only pretends to be stupid." Naoto had assumed that Adachi was pretending to be smart, but perhaps he was actually adept at projecting whatever image of him people wanted to see. An invaluable tool for a serial killer.
"We think Sho-kun broke 'em out," said Labrys. The Shadow Operatives collectively cringed.
Yu actually chuckled at this. "If at first you don't succeed...do the exact same thing again. Maybe it'll work this time."
"Widely acknowledged as the textbook definition of insanity," added Mitsuru-san. She was not smiling. "We don't have time to psychoanalyze one another, however. If Adachi has caused an influx of Shadows, then he needs to be eliminated. Narukami, I assume you have a strategy?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, but that's the strategy exactly. You need to deal a better hand than Adachi and make him play his trump card before he's ready."
Mitsuru scowled. "I am not in the mood to stroke little boys' egos."
Was she still talking about Adachi?
"We're at an impasse for now." Naoto had been training her tin ear to better read moods, and several people desperately needed space and/or a cup of coffee. "Let's put our heads together tomorrow after some rest – and school." The Investigation Team groaned.
Yu moved dangerously close to Naoto and spoke so only she could hear. "Pretty good, but you lost them at the end with the school. Next time, mention Junes. They like being bribed with junk food." He seemed to approve of her leadership skills. This did not get her heart beating quickly. Not in the slightest. Nope.
Yukiko and Rise quickly caught up to them, giving Naoto a much-needed escape. She busied herself with carefully getting out of the TV and managed to avoid anyone's eyes until a crash startled them as they left Junes.
Akihiko had punched a street sign. The combination of Labrys' single-mindedness and Adachi cutting their exploration short had frustrated him, and he continued to burn off excess energy by slugging benches, fences, anything within reach. He was giving off so much static electricity that it was practically visible. If someone didn't stop him...
Mitsuru may have been the only human both brave enough and strong enough to grab Akihiko by the arm and shove him backwards. There was no sign of the affection she had for him in her eyes as she slapped him across the face – only a bone-chilling disapproval. But it was what happened next that shocked everyone.
Akihiko smirked. He seemed completely unaffected by Mitsuru's slap. In fact, it seemed to energize him. Cracking his knuckles, he charged at Mitsuru with his fists raised. Fuuka shrieked, and Yukari's cry of "Senpai, no!" went unheard.
Mitsuru raised her sword.
"Are they gonna fight?" asked Kanji.
It appeared that they were. Both Akihiko and Mitsuru had been tense and violent that evening, and sitting down to talk seemed to be out of the question. They chose to communicate through sparring. Everyone else had to move out of the way because the couple didn't register anyone else but each other as they collided over and over again.
Why couldn't they have taken care of this in the TV World? Inaba was not going to appreciate the disturbance or the destruction.
Ice and lightning covered the street as Personas entered the fight. Naoto had fought both Operatives in the tournament, but the intensity and power they displayed tonight was maddening. It was as if they fought to kill. The fact that Mitsuru was a woman did nothing to dissuade Akihiko from aiming directly at her solar plexus. She was tossed across the street like a rag doll.
Akihiko was on her in an instant, though he hovered as they all watched her face. When anger decorated it instead of pain, he pounced. "Yield?" he said for the first time since resurfacing into reality.
"NEVER!" cried Mitsuru as she leapt to her feet. She launched herself at him fearlessly.
This pleased Akihiko greatly as he parried her sword with his fists. He quickly lost the upper hand as Mitsuru lobbed ice shards at him, forcing him to dance maddeningly to avoid them. A few hit, and Akihiko left himself open for a kick to the chest. Now the stiletto heel was on the other foot.
Mitsuru had her sword aimed at his throat, her eyes wild and her hair going every which way. "Yield?" she asked him this time.
"Not a chance, lady!" Akihiko growled.
By now, the street was starting to look as if an earthquake had hit. The noise had surely attracted a few civilians as lights went on all over Inaba. Neither Mitsuru nor Akihiko cared as they got even more intense, vocalizing now.
Just then, Akihiko fell hard. It looked as if the fight was finally over. Mitsuru summoned her Persona, and...she healed Akihiko. He popped up like a jack-in-the-box and the fight raged on.
"What is even happening right now?" Yukari muttered, stunned.
"Our senpai are finally having it out, Yuka-tan," Junpei replied, "They're either gonna kill each other, or start making out right in the middle of the street."
Junpei may have been on to something as the vocalizations got louder and more guttural, with combat becoming increasingly less Persona-based and much more physical. Mitsuru swung wide, and Akihiko ducked behind her and caught her in a choke hold. "Got ya."
For a moment, neither moved. They just stared at each other for what seemed like hours, panting and heaving, eyes wide, faces flushed, Mitsuru's hair drenched in sweat.
"Should...should we be watching this?" asked Ken.
A siren pierced through the awkward silence and the moment passed.
"Well, now they've done it," said Kanji. He looked uncomfortable; if the police found him at the scene of an altercation, they would surely drag him in regardless of whether he was involved or not.
"The cops are coming!" Labrys and Aigis moved to separate the two now that the lightning storm had dissipated. "We gotta scram! C'mon!"
The spell had worn off. Akihiko's arms fell to his sides and he blinked as if he'd just woken up. Mitsuru stared at him for just a moment before whimpering and dashing off in a flurry of white.
"Mitsuru-san…!"
"Senpai…!"
"Let her go." Yu decided. "Keep them apart for now, let them coo-let them both calm down." A pun was not a wise decision at the moment. "We'll straighten up what we can and then talk to the cops." How they were going to explain snow and lightning in June, Naoto had no idea, but nevertheless, everyone began picking up fallen furniture while glaring daggers at Akihiko.
Akihiko, for his part, actually owned up to his actions and talked to the police with them. Kurosawa was going to get a furious report about his underling that would most likely cost Akihiko his job, but he seemed resigned to that fact. He promised to pay for the damages and reassured them that no innocent bystanders were hurt. It almost seemed as if he'd done this before. The teens left him at the station since he seemed fine, and headed back to their respective homes.
"I should probably poke my head in at Uncle's since he's no doubt heard about this. Someone's sure to tell him that I'm back in town," said Yu. The others began tapering off until only Naoto was left, with Kanji going out of his way to walk her home as usual.
"So...is Akihiko-san gonna get in a lot of trouble?" Kanji asked. He may not have cared for cops, but the white-haired man was a fellow Persona user and electricity specialist. It was generally easy to respect him.
"Ordinarily, he would be at risk of losing his badge – but as he doesn't currently have a badge, I'd say he would be discouraged from rejoining the police force."
"But he liked his job."
"Assuming the blame will keep Mitsuru-san's reputation from taking another hit."
"So he did it for her, huh?" Kanji went quiet at this. He had been doing quite a bit of pondering lately. If only Yosuke could see him now.
"Kanji-kun," Naoto interrupted, a thought occurring to her, "I would like to commend you for your behavior, both inside and outside of the TV World."
"Huh?"
"I understand how difficult it can be for you to deal with the police, especially considering your unjust reputation." It always galled her how Kanji couldn't even walk to the store without being harassed by officers with nothing better to do. Not even wearing his glasses and washing the dye out of his hair seemed to help.
"Yeah, well, uh..." Kanji looked both flattered and embarrassed, scratching the back of his neck. "I just wanted to keep all this shit from getting back to Ma. She don't need cops knockin' on her door night and day – it stresses her out. She worries, you know? That kinda thing ain't good for her health."
"Nevertheless, you've been doing a wonderful job controlling your temper – especially around Yosuke-senpai in particular – and for that, I am proud of you."
Again, Kanji said nothing. Naoto worried she'd gone a bit too far until she heard the telltale sniffle of a nose preparing to bleed.
"Ib wa...ib wa duthing," said Kanji haltingly, with his head tipped back. Naoto suspected it helped him to avoid her gaze as well as redirect the blood. Luckily, she had begun anticipating this sort of situation and withdrew some napkins from her pocket. Regular tissues had proved to be too thin for sopping up blood, so she had invested in some cafe-style napkins that were much thicker. (She elected not to admit that the sculpted edging on the top ply had also reminded her of Kanji.)
"Danks." Kanji had finally managed to staunch his nosebleed and was blushing slightly. He wiggled his nose experimentally and then continued. "You, uh…you finish studying for that English test?"
Naoto smiled. "I believe a bit more reviewing couldn't hurt. Shall we?"
Inaba had one pale imitation of a bar, and Shiroku was it. Mitsuru found herself in a sensory deprivation tank of hazy, warbling enka music and cloudy, diluted liquor. Good, don't feel anything. Better to not feel Akihiko's arms around her, so tight he could squeeze the last breath out of her yet it wasn't tight enough. Don't feel him breathing so hard that his chest moved the way she liked it. Most especially, don't remember the scent of him. Wash it all away with perfumy booze. Drown the heady attraction. Perhaps you'll expel it from your system after a little too much and be done with it forever.
Why did she have to engage him? And in public, no less? Inaba was sure to add their names to a list of miscreants barred from entering the town any moment now. It was a disgraceful display of reckless, overly emotional, arrogant fighting for dominance that accurately painted the two of them as hot-headed fools incapable of reasoning like adults.
And it had felt wonderful.
Though she often gave Akihiko grief for it, Mitsuru was a steadfast believer in living and dying by one's sword. There was no honor in sending others to fight your battles while you cowered from the sidelines. The meek, passive life was stifling, and decisive action could not and should not be left solely to men. Mitsuru could not sit still, and Akihiko more than anyone understood that. But he infuriated her by calling attention to it at the most inappropriate times! She had been angry and frustrated at the lack of progress on this mission, the lazy, dismissive villainy of Adachi, and Akihiko's infantile jealousy, and it all came to a head when he began making a scene because he'd been denied a fight like a child denied a piece of candy.
As if you behaved any better! That voice had returned with its scathing truths.
She had only meant to chastise him, but he'd taken it as a challenge, and her honor would not let her yield. It wouldn't have been fair to subject anyone else to his fury. He wouldn't have wanted it that way, anyway; only Mitsuru could match his power and anger. It was Mitsuru he wanted to outdo in the TV World. It was Mitsuru that he needed to fight. And Mitsuru felt the same way, if she was being honest with herself. No one gave her the fight of her life quite the way Akihiko did.
After watching her draw random patterns in the condensation, the bar owner decided to approach Mitsuru. "Not enough to forget?" she drawled. "Want another?"
"I'm sure you don't carry enough alcohol to dilute all of my issues," Mitsuru protested, but accepted another drink.
The woman studied her for a while before adding, "Oh, he isn't worth it, child."
Unsure which part of that statement she was more offended by, Mitsuru gave her a look she hoped was scathing (her head was getting a little fuzzy). "And if I respectfully disagree?"
"Did you say 'respectfully'? And did you say it right?" The owner actually snatched up Mitsuru's drink and took a sip of it herself. "Either someone is watering down my supply, or you aren't as light as you look!" Now that – that was something to be offended by. At least she was considerate enough to replace the drink. "Then again, appearances can be deceiving. Look at me – did you ever think a simple shopkeeper could be a glamorous hostess?"
Mitsuru elected to take a big, long sip of her drink instead.
"Take it from someone who's been around the block a few times, sweetie," the 'glamorous hostess' continued, "men are no good. They use you up and then they leave you when you're no longer the apple-cheeked maiden you used to be." She looked wistful. "They say they'll give you gems, plenty of them. Even say they'll take care of your son. Then, just when you start to get used to them coming around – poof! They leave without saying goodbye!"
Mitsuru suddenly felt guilty about her unflattering opinion of the dowdy hostess. This woman had a child? One she was struggling to provide for? Nanako had mentioned how the local citizens felt Junes was slowly eroding their way of life, but to see it in practice was kind of heartbreaking. No wonder she was forced to turn her convenience store into a nightclub to make ends meet.
"And my son, he's so depressed he won't even move! Just look at him!"
Wait, what?
Mitsuru twisted herself in knots trying to find a child or teenager skulking around the club until she realized the woman was gesturing to a tank along the far wall. Something was floating around inside. It might have even looked listless, if she was feeling charitable.
Okay, scratch that. This woman is nuts.
"No one brings bugs to my son anymore," she was saying, "and I'm too old and fat to go crawling around in the park for them." Mitsuru was forgotten as the woman mused to herself. "I suppose I could get some of those children to collect bugs for me...oh, but then I'll have to give them something in return...ah, but it's worth it to make my poor little Akihiko happy!"
Spit-takes were not usually part of Mitsuru's repertoire. "I-I'm sorry?" Just how drunk was she?
"My son, Akihiko." So she did hear correctly. Mitsuru looked at the tank again, and realized something else.
Of course it's an electric eel.
I'm so over this town.
"I believe I've had enough for one night – but thank you for your concern." Mitsuru pushed the glass as far away from herself as possible and tried not to make it obvious that she was using the counter to help her stand up.
"You wouldn't happen to have any gems, would you?"
"I'm afraid not. But here," Mitsuru had finally learned to carry cash around for popping into places such as this, "perhaps you can order a box of crickets on the Internet."
The woman's eyes nearly popped out of her head, and Mitsuru ignored her slipping the money into her bra as she toddled out into the sweltering air.
Mission to remove Akihiko from her mind: failed.
Yes, Dojima had indeed heard about the altercation on Inaba's one and only main street. The whole place was small enough to fit inside one of Mitsuru's bathrooms. If someone at one end of town sneezed, someone at the other end would yell "Bless you". Yu had often heard Yosuke and others lament the size of the tiny town, but having grown up in crazy, cluttered Tokyo, he found Inaba to be much easier to manage. It was cozy and filled to the brim with all of his friends and loved ones.
Something brushed against his ankle as he reached the Dojima house. The local cats had already noticed him and were lining up for their attention, no doubt alerting the entire neighborhood to his presence. Sure enough, he had barely knocked at the door when it swung open to reveal Dojima on the phone, his expression pained.
"Yes, I see him now. Don't worry, I will. He's probably fine, you know Yu, he's as resourceful as he is infuriating." Uh oh. That was more than likely his mother. Ever since his return, she'd been working overtime to be a parent and seemed to have noticed his disappearance for the first time in years. It was surprisingly smart of her to call her brother. Then again...where else would Yu be? "Yep. Yep. Oh yeah, he's grounded. Yep. I will. I will! Love you, too. Bye." Dojima hung up, and he reached for Yu menacingly...only to ruffle his hair with a bit more force than was necessary. "Don't do that again."
"I left a note," protested Yu.
"It's a good thing you're predictable. Yu, what're you doing traveling halfway across the country like that without calling or emailing? You know we wouldn't mind having you, but having your mother call me shrieking that her boy's missing – especially now-"
So he did know. "It wasn't planned! I saw the news, and then Yosuke stopped communicating...he'll be sick eventually; it's not really a lie." Yu was sweating. He really needed Real World allies right now. "I couldn't exactly tell her about Adachi."
"He's not here, though." Dojima got really quiet, and then realization hit him. "Wait, you mean he's, uh...there?" He was still having trouble wrapping his head around the concept of a TV World, but at least he was trying. Suddenly it occurred to Yu that Dojima wasn't normally home at this hour. Nanako would often fall asleep waiting for him to return, and Yu would put her to bed and then keep supper warm as her father stumbled in much later. Yet here he was, standing guard by the door, home with Nanako and waiting for Yu.
He's afraid.
Adachi didn't "care" about people the way others did, but he had a short list of those who he had managed to connect with whether he admitted it or not – and they were all named Dojima. If he'd escaped from prison – or was "liberated" by Minazuki – he certainly wouldn't go visit his mother. But was he foolish enough to repeat the same behavior now that his facade had been shattered?
"Yeah, the team found him. We're not sure what his game is, though. He's waiting for us to move."
"You can't go skipping school to fight monsters." Dojima was determined to parent now that he'd been tagged in. "Aren't Kirijo and her crew doing this professionally? Can't you leave it to them?"
"They're, uh...going through some things right now." Okay, maybe he hadn't heard about tonight. "Besides, Adachi is personal. He's gone after our friends and family before, and we can't let him do that again. This is our fight. Inaba's our town."
Dojima just waited until he realized his slip-up, smiling wistfully.
"I-I mean...it's the team's town."
Dojima chuckled. "We've got enough room here for one more troublemaker. Welcome home, Yu."
Akihiko knew he'd screwed up. It had been a day of disappointments from the start, with Mitsuru breaking his heart to him being unable to break Adachi's face. So he dented a street sign. Was that really the biggest crime to happen in this postage stamp of a town? Punching things was supposed to make him feel better – what went wrong?
Your idiot temper, that's what!
Shinji was probably right, sitting up there on his fluffy little cloud facepalming at the mess Akihiko was making of his life. No girl, no job, no dignity left. What a man. That's it, he needed that goddamn drink.
The one place that seemed to be open was a fruity bar, but booze was booze. He hid in a dark corner and took a sip every time someone's face appeared in the liquid. Shinji. Miki. Adachi. Labrys. Mitsuru.
...Makoto.
Motherfucker.
Why him? Who the hell is this guy? He pops into their lives and suddenly every girl in town's hot for him? He wasn't that good looking. He didn't have any money to speak of until they started raiding Tartarus, and even then, Mitsuru had plenty of money, and she always claimed she never cared about any of that. And he got SECOND place at the swim meet! Not even first! Okay, he did well on tests and shit – so what? It's not like Akihiko was stupid!
Well, yeah, he was stupid – stupid enough to think that Mitsuru of all people wouldn't get caught up in the hype surrounding the Wild Card, ooh, he's so fascinating! He can lead the whole team while poor Akihiko with his one dumbass Persona can't do anything 'cause he broke his rib defending the neighborhood while Emo Blue Hair was sleeping!
Oh, he liked to sleep, all right. He liked to sleep with everything that moved! If Makoto was such a great guy, then why couldn't he keep one damn girlfriend? Did they all break up with him after finding out he was awful in the sack? Guess your five billion Personas couldn't help you there!
By now, Akihiko had lost count of how many drinks he'd had. Maybe he'd have one for every Persona Makoto used to schmooze all the girls he came in contact with. There! Now he's a damn Wild...something. That thing Yu was! Yeah, that guy had lots of Personas too! And he had at least two girls drooling over him, maybe even more at school. Fucking Wild Cards not saying a damn word and getting all these girlsHECOULDN'TEVENGETONE! ONE!
One damn girl.
That was all he'd ever wanted.
Why would you ever cheat on Mitsuru? HOW could you cheat on Mitsuru? She'd find out and kill you and make Akihiko help her hide the body. And of course he'd say yes, because dumbass Aki couldn't say no to Mitsuru to save his life. Who could say no to Mitsuru? She was amazing. She was fierce, she was powerful, she was drop dead gorgeous- what more could you want? Okay, she didn't have an ass to speak of, but who needed an ass with the rest of her just-
He was out of booze, and familiar voices were filtering in from the front of the bar. He didn't think any of them were Mitsuru, but then again, he was so damn soused his own dead mother could've been speaking and he wouldn't have recognized her.
"There you are!" Yukari led the charge, her voice exactly what Akihiko didn't need right now as it pierced his brain. She turned up her nose at the stench of too much booze and not enough showering as she got closer. Junpei was following her, but he looked like he was going to puke before Akihiko did, looking around at the bar like it was a slaughterhouse. Fuuka was stuck to him like a barnacle.
Akihiko was in no mood to deal with whiny juniors. "What?"
"How stupid are you? I mean, really? Your little stunt has everyone in town thinking we're lunatics that destroy property wherever we go. What were you even thinking? Were you thinking at all?" Nag, nag, nag. Yukari kept bitching, but the words made less and less sense to Akihiko.
"Don't bother, Yukari," Junpei spoke up finally, "he's three sheets to the wind already." He refused to even look in Akihiko's direction, the disgust evident in his voice.
Yukari was STILL going. "You're a real jerk, you know that? First you act like some knight-in-shining-armor because you know she was missing her dad. Then you take off and leave her so depressed she can't get out of bed for a week. You finally show up and she...dies right in front of you, but you still don't do anything!"
The booze was coming up now.
He still had nightmares of his own about that. Watching Mitsuru die had been the worst moment of his life. He'd waited too long to love her, and now she was gone forever. But he had saved her life. HE did that, while Yukari did nothing but sob. What did she do? What did Makoto do? Caesar was beating the shit out of his head, but Akihiko ignored him because getting angry was better than crying.
"And now look at you! Sitting here getting drunk while we can't find Mitsuru-senpai anywhere! Don't you even care!?"
"OF COURSE I FUCKING CARE! I CARE MORE THAN ANYONE AND LOOK WHERE IT'S GOT ME!" Drunk or not, Akihiko leapt up screaming because that was just the last straw. He could not stop caring about Mitsuru. "Who do you think was there when Mitsuru woke up screaming all night? Huh? Whose shoulder has she been crying on this whole time? Who's always comes running, no matter what she fucking wants? Who...who do you think would give his worthless fucking life for hers if it came to that?"
Stop. Stop it.
"…Who's been trying to for the past six fucking years?"
Caesar panicked, pleaded, cried out that this would only hurt everyone, but Akihiko could not stop.
"Six. Years. Six years, I've been there bending over backwards trying to be anything Mitsuru needed. And yet, who does she turn to? Who does she finally date? You know who it was?"
NO!
"Oh, Yuki, you're so intriguing! You'd never let being a poor orphan stop you! And look, our bangs are symmetrical, so we can both do this number!" He must have looked really stupid moving imaginary bangs away from his face while drunk, but it did the trick.
Yukari's face showed the tiniest bit of understanding. "S-Senpai...was…?"
Fuuka was quicker on the uptake and gasped as she realized what Akihiko was implying, covering her face with her hands.
Akihiko taunted her. "Which day of the week were you, Fuuka? Guess your all-powerful psychic brain couldn't pick up on Makoto knocking on every door like a damn trick-or-treater!" Fuuka began to cry at this, and Yukari was staring at her like she'd just now realized what was happening. "Wow, you really had no clue, did ya? Were you 'stupid or something'?"
Junpei – who Akihiko had forgot was there – took both girls by their arms and pulled them away from the table while giving Akihiko the most scathing look he'd ever seen from the fire-user. In fact, he may have been trying to set him on fire with his eyes alone. "Gee, I wonder why no one wanted to date you," he spat, "Is that how you become a real man, Drunkihiko-san? Screaming at girls and making them cry?"
"Getting homesick, Junpei?"
You deserve to be set aflame now.
He really thought Junpei was going to hit him. He'd have hit himself if the shoe was on the other foot. But Junpei's gut instinct still kept him from standing against a male authority figure, and he inadvertently redirected his anger on Ken somehow getting into the bar, Aigis hot on his heels. "Hey, you're not supposed to be here! I told you to wait outside! This is no place for kids!"
Ken was not amused. "We found Mitsuru-san," he said, scowling. "I only came to find you because you were taking so long. You can clearly see that I'm not wasting my money on alcohol to hide from my problems." He shook his head. "If this is 'maturity', then I think I'll stay a 'stupid kid' for as long as possible."
"Ken-san..."
"There ya go!" Drunkihiko found that incredibly amusing. "Don't ever grow up, kid. It's standard operating procedure to...give your balls to Mitsuru for safekeeping."
"Yeah, that explains it," retorted Junpei.
"Well, yeah – she didn't have THOSE when I met her!" He held his hands out in front of his chest – ignoring the stabbing pain in his head that could have been sake or Shinji, not that it mattered at this point.
Yukari left the bar in disgust, no doubt to go confront Mitsuru. Fuuka seemed rooted to the spot with fear and shame, so Junpei led her away. Ken took one last disappointed look at Akihiko before he, too, allowed Aigis to take him out of the bar. They don't understand shit. Fine. He didn't feel like drinking anymore. He had to tell Mitsuru something...what was it?
She was going to get chewed out pretty damn good by Yukari, though.
His head began violently stabbing the backs of his eyeballs. GET OUT THERE!
As luck would have it, Akihiko came out of the bar just as Mitsuru was exiting Tatsumi Textiles for some reason. Her face was flushed, and she honestly looked as bad as he felt.
Yukari wasted no time. "Senpai!"
Mitsuru took a deep breath. "I would like to apologize for my earlier behavior," she began, "It was careless and immature of me to resort to violence in public, and I deeply regret my actions."
Of all the reactions Yukari could have had, applauding was not one they'd anticipated. "What a good speech! Your best yet! It almost seemed like you actually had real emotions there!"
"Yukari?"
"So tell me, Senpai, what kind of speech did you give Makoto when he finally came into your room?"
It took much longer for Mitsuru to catch on than she usually did (that was weird), but once it finally dawned on her, she turned to Akihiko in horror. "How dare you?"
"Whoops!" he shrugged. Hey, she made her bed – and she let Makoto lie in it. Let's see her regret these actions!
"Wh-what is this mutiny?"
"So you're not going to deny it?" Yukari was still angry, but there was a hint of pain creeping its way into her words. She really didn't want to believe it was true. That asshole had hurt half the team, and he wasn't even here to own up to it!
"Yukari, no! It wasn't like that! Nothing happened! I..." Wow, Mitsuru at a loss for words. That was new.
"How could you do that to me? I thought you were my best friend! You knew how I felt about him, and you just…!"
"I didn't know!" Mitsuru insisted, but it went unheard.
You could have had any boy in school!" Yukari pointed at Akihiko. "You could have had that idiot!" Mitsuru looked away rather than meet Akihiko's eyes. "Did you think you deserved him more than I did? Huh? Because you're some high-and-mighty Kirijo who gets whatever she wants?"
"You have no idea how wrong you are."
Again, Yukari seemed to ignore any protests. "When is your family going to stop ruining my life?"
"You owe your very existence to Kirijo!" Mitsuru snapped. Her eyes bugged out of her head as the words hit Yukari, who had finally stopped complaining. Apparently, she hadn't meant to say that, but she enjoyed the effect it had just the same. A cold front moved in as Mitsuru finally got angry. "I suppose you think you know everything there is to know about my family and yours, don't you? Shall I tell you how wrong you are? Are you sure you want to become my enemy now, Yukari?" Now Yukari was the one cowering. "You have no idea how easily I could break you. I could shatter you like glass with just a fraction of what I know of the illustrious, saintly Eiichiro Takeba." Oh, shit. Mitsuru played the dad card, and Mitsuru always played to win. "Become my enemy, and I will show you no mercy. You would be wise to remember that."
"Do you really think you can hurt me any more than you already have?" Yukari sniffled.
"Yukari-chan..." Fuuka tried to console her.
"Oh no you DON'T, you sneaky little mouse!" Mitsuru reached out and tried to grab Fuuka by the arm, getting her braid instead. "If I fall, I'm taking all of you with me!" Fuuka sobbed and shook, but Mitsuru wasn't letting up. "Admit it! You were involved with Yuki as well!"
"Because he ASKED me to go out with him!" Fuuka had finally found her voice. "Just like he asked you, and Yukari-chan, and Aigis! I didn't know there was anyone else!" It was frightening, seeing real anger from the tiny, teal-haired girl. "I'd never been asked out by a boy before. No one ever notices m-me like that! I'm n-not popular like Yukari-chan...I'm not b-beautiful like you...I can't even make a rice ball!" She was crying, but she clenched her fists in a vain attempt to control her emotions. "I thought he l-loved me! Why would M-Makoto-k-kun do something like that?
"You were all stupid enough to let him," slurred Akihiko, "Ooh, Wild Card, so unique, never says a damn word but somehow builds a whole damn harem!"
"Oh, like you couldn't have one of your own!" Junpei? What the fuck? "Just 'cause you suck at dating girls doesn't mean everybody has to. Dude's the only guy in school who managed to bag Senpai AND Yukari – and Mr. Big Man on Campus is just home with his right hand." His face got incredibly punchable. "Hey, at least I admitted to being jealous of Makoto when he was alive! What kind of coward waits 'til he's dead, huh? Why don't you ask Mitsuru-senpai if you can have your balls back for the weekend?"
"GEE, I'M GLAD WE'RE ALL ADULTS HERE!" Ken snapped.
Everyone began yelling at him instead. "Oh, shut up, Ken!"
"Who the hell's 'we'?"
"What's your problem, Ken?"
"Oh, you are the most insufferable little monster I've ever had the misfortune to meet!"
Koromaru started barking at the noise.
Ken had a very mature reaction to the onslaught. "Shouldn't have killed my mom, then!"
"OH, HERE WE GO!" Akihiko really didn't want to be reminded of that again. "Every five minutes: 'You killed my mommy! I want revenge!' Yeah, and you got it – Shinji's dead because of you! You happy?"
Tensions were running so high that no one seemed to notice the clouds in the night sky had turned a suspicious shade of green. Caesar was vainly trying to get Akihiko's attention, but his voice was breaking up like a scrambled TV signal.
Must...su-...can't...-anger...is too late-
...too late…
Something was weird. Something was wrong.
Marie ran as fast as she could through downtown Inaba, her messenger bag whacking her side as it swung haphazardly. She had just been getting off of work when the air turned menacing and she began to feel sick to her stomach. There was something threatening her town, and Kusumi-no-Okami had vowed to protect Inaba for as long as she lived.
Finally, that Junes place appeared in her sights. Where was that warm-fur-and-hugs guy?
"Hey! Bear-thing, uh...Ted!"
Teddie had been dripping a Topsicle all over the Electronics department when Marie appeared and startled him. "Emmy-chan? You look beary tired. Did you run all this way just to see little ol' me?"
"Get me in there," Marie pointed to a TV, "I need to find him." At Teddie's confused look, she added, "I need to get to Yu!"
"Oh, you don't need the TV World to see Sensei-"
"Look, I don't have one of those phelltones-er, cellphones? Whatever – and I don't know how to get to where he lives, but it's really important and-"
"WAAAIIIT!" Teddie dropped his Topsicle stick and waved his paws frantically, "I'm trying to tell you it's easier than that! All you gotta do is head left from here until you find the kittycats and you'll find him!"
"You mean he's here!?" A storm of emotions was brewing in Marie's stomach, but she couldn't dwell on it now. "Bear, if you're lying to me-"
"I never lie about Sensei."
"Okay," Marie said more to herself than to him, "Good. He'll know what to do."
"Sensei will know what to do!" Teddie sparkled and began heading off the way he told her. Then he stopped. "...do about what?"
"Can't you feel it? Something ominous is coming, and it's not going to be good for anyone that gets in its way." She sighed, massaging her forehead. "I'm no good at being The Nose. Where is he, anyway? Good thing I've got a real job, otherwise, I'd be broke and homeless. Stupidvagueprophecyspewingoldschnoz!"
"Aww, I think you have a cute nose, Emmy-chan."
"Really? Wait, no! Shut up! We need to find Yu!"
"Relax, you're with Teddie! Even if Sensei isn't at Nana-chan's house, I can sniff him out!" Teddie inhaled deeply...and then sneezed violently. "Maybe."
The yelling had reached a point where everyone was making noise, but no one was listening to it. Koromaru barked and barked, and Aigis refused to translate for him, scolding him for his "harsh language". Talking about Shinji made Mitsuru angrier because she still blamed herself for October 4th, and Akihiko had no right calling Ken a broken record because he never stopped bringing up his best friend, either.
Yukari, meanwhile: "Maybe if you weren't so stuck to your best friend's ass, you would have noticed what was going on!"
That hurt. That was indeed what Akihiko had realized, but Yukari throwing it back in his face hurt. "Well, at least my best friend didn't steal a girl right out from under me! Nooo...that honor was all Makoto's!"
"Well, at least he took the initiative!" said Mitsuru.
"What else did he 'take", that's what I wanna know." Akihiko muttered.
"Don't be disgusting," Mitsuru pulled a face.
"No, that's a good question." This caught Yukari's attention, and though her face looked as if she really didn't want to know the answer, her voice still said, "Did you sleep with him?"
"Did you?" Mitsuru shot back.
Yukari's silence was all that was needed, and Mitsuru covered her mouth in shock. Fuuka gasped. Even Junpei of all people seemed to understand. Holy shit, Makoto was actually having sex with these girls? Dating more than one person was one thing, but…
Now that everyone had stopped screaming at the same time, they all noticed how oddly dark and quiet it was. Small towns were quiet, anyway, but even Inaba had bugs and animals and background noises.
A blinding pain shot through Akihiko's head, strong enough to make him fall to his knees in agony as he clutched his head. This was no hangover, though; around him, he heard the gasps of the others as they similarly suffered. Before he could pass out, though, the moment passed, and…
...he couldn't hear Caesar.
His Persona was usually dormant unless Akihiko was about to say or do something stupid, but he could always feel Caesar in the back of his mind, waiting for a fight. But now there was nothing. He tried reaching out, concentrating, even touching his Evoker as if he was going to summon...but nothing happened.
"Guys, what's going on? My head is emptier than usual." Junpei seemed to be going through the same thing.
"You, too? Okay, something's wrong. Caesar was there, and now he's missing."
"Initiating summoning sequence." Aigis made whirring noises, but accomplished nothing. "Sequence...failed?"
Koromaru was running in circles, sniffing as if he were looking for something. He put his tail between his legs and whimpered.
"Does anyone have a Persona?" asked Ken.
"I can't tell!" wailed Fuuka, "I can't sense anyone's Persona, because I can't talk to Juno!" She started sobbing.
Yukari scooped her up and tried to console her, all anger forgotten. "What's going on? What do we do?"
What could they do? No one had ever mentioned a Persona vanishing. Was there even anyone left who could explain this? "I don't know. Mitsuru, can you call somebody to – Mitsuru…?"
Mitsuru had collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut, staring at nothing, the illusion of life removed. Her eyes were terrified, and all she could manage was a lost little voice.
"She's gone...I can't feel anything…"
-ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp-
I am not good at writing fight scenes.
The song I'd always imagined playing during Mitsuru and Akihiko's sparring, from Akihiko's perspective to Mitsuru, is "Power" by Julian Calor (sorry FF doesn't allow links). I think the lyrics to this are just perfect for their relationship. Akihiko's got the strength, but Mitsuru's in control.
Also, go back and watch that Shiroku Bar sidequest again – the old lady's pet "son" is indeed named Akihiko! And even funnier – he's an ELECTRIC EEL!
Regardless which sports club you picked – I just picked the swim team here – MC3 always loses to the Star Arcana link, a guy with a single mom and multiple siblings.
When Dancing in Moonlight came out and Mitsuru's trailer landed on YouTube, the fans went mental about how her sprite had no ass to speak of – yet they gave her the ass shot! Do people really go crazy for asses? Well, to each his own, I guess.
Is it official or fanon that the Kirijo Group hired Yukari's mom to seduce her dad into working for them?