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"So!"
Rise-san, is this really necessary?"
The Investigation Girls were holed up in a room on the top floor of the dorm, in a room Mitsuru had called "The Command Room" – and for good reason. One wall was entirely covered with monitors that displayed every room in the building, including this one, and a surveillance system that rivaled or possibly exceeded the one at Junes. From here, they could see what the other Persona-users were doing (aside from Mitsuru and/or Akihiko, because the heiress had been smart enough to disable the camera in her room. Naoto figured it was for the best.). The monitor labeled "Dining Room" was currently showing one solitary figure, sitting at the table without any hint of the confidence he displayed on the battlefield. He flipped through an old culinary magazine that the Operatives claimed belonged to the late Shinjiro, but he didn't show any interest in the content. His mind appeared to be miles away.
"Uh, yeah!" Rise insisted, her serious gaze in direct contrast with her girlish pigtails. "Did you not hear what Chie-senpai said she heard?"
"I do recall, yes-"
"Senpai is in love with one of us." Rise went on as if Naoto hadn't spoken, "forreal. And he hasn't even told Yosuke-senpai who it is!" She rolled her eyes. "I know it doesn't matter to you, since you've already got a boyfriend…"
"I beg your pardon! I do NOT have a boy-"
"Oh, really? Congratulations, Naoto-kun!" Yukiko chimed in. Good grief. They'll never let me live this down, will they?
"Regardless...that still does not explain why we are trespassing."
"We're not trespassing! We were up here yesterday," said Chie.
"We were permitted to be in this room while we were accompanied by a high-ranked Shadow Operative," Naoto explained, "I don't believe Mitsuru-san said anything about using the security cameras for our own machinations."
"Look." Rise pointed to Yosuke in the kitchen, juggling various knives and comparing them to his own kunai. "Yosuke-senpai doesn't know anything-"
"-as usual-" Chie added.
"-but he's trying to figure out who it is. And there's a good chance that Senpai might tell him...but not while we're listening. Get it?"
"So we're going to watch Yu-kun without Yu-kun knowing we're watching him." Yukiko was on the same page as her kohai for once. "That way, he's sure to spill it."
It was, admittedly, a plan with some merit...but Naoto couldn't let them know that. "And if he does not?"
"He's got to eventually. And if Yosuke guesses right, he'll have to say so, won't he?" Chie gave the monitor displaying the kitchen an evil look. "Once Yosuke knows, I can kick it out of him."
"Let's hope Yu-senpai feels up to confessing in the next 20 minutes, then." Naoto studied the young man currently engaged in a battle with himself, but saw no signs that he was willing to speak. "Someone is sure to come looking for us once the others are prepared to return to Tartarus. I don't believe they'll be happy to find us here." Her words seemed to reach Chie and Yukiko, at the very least, but Rise...
"Shh! They're talking!"
Yosuke emerged from the kitchen nursing his hand, one finger comically mummified with bandages. He looked nervously around the room – failing to notice the camera – but still appeared on edge. "It's awfully quiet in here," he said.
"Sure was," Yu replied without even looking up from his magazine.
"A little too quiet, if you ask me."
"Didn't."
Upstairs, Rise was nonplussed. "Really? You're just gonna act like you're not dying to know?" she griped.
Yosuke did indeed appear to be skirting around the issue as he skirted around the dining table, watching Yu out of the corner of his eye...until he turned to him at the last second. "C'moooonnnnnn, you've gotta tell somebody!"
"Atta boy!" giggled Rise.
Yu slung the magazine down as if it was the one grilling him and sighed. "Do I? Can't I just go back to Tokyo again and be that mysterious transfer student who changed your life one pivotal summer that you wax poetic about in your journal?"
"Dude, you read too many books."
"Uggghh, this is taking too long!" Rise was wasting her silver screen pout on the one-way monitors. "Just ask him who it is already!"
Just as Yu sighed on-screen and appeared to be preparing himself to speak, the doorknob began jiggling. "Is someone in here?" they heard Yukari saying from behind the door.
"Oh, crap! We're busted!" Chie exclaimed.
Naoto took charge. "Switch off the monitors. All of them." She ushered the girls over to the couches with a look that hopefully encouraged them to stay silent while she did all of the talking.
Rise huffed, but began to hit the switches, finally reaching the Dining Room camera just as Yosuke was replacing the look of surprise on his face with one of smug satisfaction.
"You know, I kinda thought so…" he said.
"I missed it!?"
"Rise-san."
"Damn you, Yosuke-senpai!"
"Rise-san!"
Yukari wasn't giving up any time soon, so Naoto shushed the others and prayed that she had a casual look on her face as she opened the door. "Oh, Yukari-san! My apologies! We assumed that everyone was resting."
"Sorry!" Rise joined her, flashing a smile. "Were we being too loud?" Over her shoulder, Chie and Yukiko were doing their damnedest to look guileless.
"No, but...what are you doing in the Command Room? Mitsuru-senpai usually keeps this door locked; there's a lot of expensive equipment in here that no one should be playing with."
"Understandable. However, we were using this room for a different purpose." Naoto was a horrible liar. Grandpa would see right through her falsehoods as if she were made of glass. If she could pull this off, however...Yukari was sure to believe a person whose honest reputation proceeded her. "My friends and I wanted to be certain no one could interrupt us as we…well, as we discussed…"
"Senpai," Rise added when she realized Naoto was flailing. Her distress seemed much more genuine.
"Oh. Right." Yukari's expression softened. They knew she had been in this same situation just a few days ago. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but…" she entered the room and made her way to the wall, "you can track him from here in case he decides to go looking for you."
Naoto tried to ignore Rise's conspiratorially smug grin.
Yukari fiddled with the controls and huffed in disgust. "Really, Senpai? As if anyone wanted to see that anyway!" They could practically hear her eyes rolling. "Oh, there he is! In the living room. You should be able to get back without him knowing anything." They allowed her to escort them out. Any protesting would have aroused suspicion. "I hope you guys are okay now."
"I think we're finally on the same page," Yukiko said, her grin matching Rise's. Naoto didn't even bother looking back to see if Chie's did as well. She found herself wondering if a TV World shrine functioned the same way as it would in reality.
She might need to pray for Yosuke.
The fourth floor didn't seem to notice or care as they herded themselves through the teleporter and arranged themselves into a loose formation. Even when they'd walked for several minutes, it still wore the same Tartarus appearance.
"So, wait, this should be...Fuuka's floor?" asked Yukari.
"Hmm?" The girl in question jumped, as if she'd been daydreaming in class while the teacher called on her. "Oh...I suppose so." Yu had almost forgotten she was there. Fuuka, he thought wryly, did a very good job of hiding in someone else's shadow.
Teddie had learned to quiet his squeaky steps, so when he popped up behind Fuuka, she again jumped several feet. "Does Fuu-chan really like purple?" It was a valid question; everything as far as the eye could see was purple with a sickly greenish cast. The repeating wallpaper had eyeless faces peering out of it, which was not at all welcoming. What did this say about the silent navigator?
"This is how Tartarus normally appeared," said Mitsuru.
"Isn't that grape-uh, GREAT!" The moment the words left Yu's mouth, he realized how cringy they were. Grape?What, are you gonna lick the walls, stupid ass?It was hard to remain cool when half his party hated his guts. The girls didn't even react to his pun at all. They chose to ignore him, focusing on watching Yosuke for some reason. Yu had a feeling he could have said anything about the walls and been ignored.
"Still, it's odd," Mitsuru continued, "We should have seen something a bit more personalized by now."
Akihiko realized something. "This is where we found her."
"Oh, yeah!" said Junpei, catching on. "I guess after being stuck here for 10 days, it made quite an impression on her deep, dark secret mind."
Fuuka said nothing, and none of the Operatives even checked with her to confirm. They continued to speak over her head as if she were a small child oblivious to the adult conversations around her.
Yukari shook her head. "Poor Fuuka! That day must have been the worst thing ever for her."
"She's still stuck in the past."
"She's also standing right next to you!" Rise was having none of this. "So, Fuuka-san, who is right here today, what do you think about what your shadow could possibly be saying about you?" They were about the same height, but she still made a visible effort to look directly into Fuuka's eyes.
This seemed to make Fuuka shrink even more. "Oh! U-u-um, that's probably right. Everyone usually has good ideas, anyway. I-I don't...mind...much." That last word was just a slight, breathy gasp that probably wasn't even meant to be heard. She tried to hide behind Rise, but that was the final straw for the younger girl.
Rise yanked Fuuka out from behind her, and Kanji, Yukiko, and Chie stepped up before she could run away. "Stand up for yourself!"
"BAH-HA-HA-HA-HA! Like, why?"
The Shadow had arrived, but that was definitely not Fuuka's voice. It belonged to a taller girl who may have fallen asleep in a tanning bed. Her white lips were a shocking contrast to her orange-bronze skin, and the exaggerated eyebrows may have been helped by her hair being pulled up and back like a rooster's comb.
Fuuka paled. "Natsuki...chan?"
"Fuuka never says anything, no matter what you do! That's why she's so fun to tease. 'Oh, l-l-l-like, m-maybe they j-j-just have b-bad home lives?' It's so pathetic! We locked you in the gym, and you totally acted like you deserved it!" The ganguro girl's surprised face turned sinister. "Because at least we acknowledged you. Nobody acknowledges you at home, do they, Fuuka?" As she spoke, the one cognitive figure morphed into two, their voices splitting off from the source.
These people were equally angry, simultaneously shaking their heads as if they were both attached to the same rod like the Trance Twins shadows. Yu figured these were Fuuka's parents and their eyes would ordinarily be the same color as hers, when not demonic representations of her psyche.
"And why should we?" Mrs. Yamagishi was saying, "We've worked hard to keep our reputation within our family secure, and then along comes a daughter who is NOT a doctor!"
"We're ALL doctors!" added Mr. Yamagishi, "It's what we DO! But no...no, our daughter only operates on machines!" He sneered. "Do you understand the shame we face daily? We've asked you to do one simple thing, as your beloved parents who raised you and provided for your every need, and what do you do? You REFUSE! You turn your back on the schooling that we've paid for, so you can play with toy robots like a child's TV program!"
"We're laughingstocks in our own family!"
"And then you have the audacity to ask us for more of our hard-earned money, so you can continue to hide behind a computer instead of contributing to society! Why can't you think about your someone else for a change? Why did we even bother sending you to that overpriced school for elite students in the first place? You never fit in there. You've never fit in anywhere. You were the laughingstock of the whole school, too."
As the Shadow changed into someone else once more, Naoto motioned to Yu while also signaling to him to be quiet. When Yu looked, she pointed to a dark corner of the room...and a small figure that was timidly peeking out at them. They hid when they noticed eyes on them, but Yu was certain this was Fuuka Yamagishi's actual Shadow.
In the main room, the Shadow Yamagishis had morphed into one disdainful man in a suit and tie. "Why did you have to cause so much trouble for me in school?" he complained. "Everyone's breathing down my neck since one of my students had to go missing because she was being 'bullied'." The sarcastic air quotes weren't helping. "The principal LECTURED me! My reputation as a teacher was on the line, all because of one little student!"
The timid head peeked out again, this time catching the eyes of Kanji and Chie as well.
"It wasn't MY fault you didn't have any friends! You're the one who isn't worth befriending. Even the people you think are your friends only speak to you when you're of use to them."
"Hey, look!" Yosuke had noticed the shy Shadow, too.
"Did you think we actually liked you?"
The Shadow begun splitting off into multiple pieces again, pieces that looked...vaguely familiar. Seven of them.
"STOP!"
The Shadows dissipated as Fuuka, shuddering, clutched her head as if she were trying to keep it from cleaving in two. She'd made herself as small as she possibly could, but even then, she dwarfed the little Shadow Fuuka who was also cowering in psychic pain around the corner. It took a combined effort from all the other Persona-users to herd her into the room and block all possible exits.
Wearing the Gekkoukan uniform and hair that looked like it had been haphazardly cut while she was sleeping, Shadow Fuuka wouldn't look at anyone or anything but her own shoes. The only thing identifying her as a Shadow was the fact that her adult version was right there with them.
"I, uh, don't mean to be that guy, but...what kind of weaknesses does a navigator have?" asked Yosuke.
Naoto sounded far away as she answered, "Venturing out of her bubble."
Fuuka took one uneasy step towards her Shadow. "You...you think you don't have any friends?" she asked, addressing her gently like a frightened rabbit.
The Shadow nodded.
"But you didn't try very hard to make any friends, did you?"
"No," The Shadow murmured.
"You…" Fuuka squeezed her eyes shut, desperately trying not to cry. "You didn't tell anyone what was happening in school, so they didn't know."
They had to strain to hear the Shadow's reply, "…didn't want...be a bother…", but Fuuka heard it loud and clear.
"No...I never wanted to be a bother," she agreed, tears beginning to fall. Her friends made to reach for her, console her, but Fuuka took another step toward her Shadow, fists clenched as she forced out the words. "But whoever said we were a bother?"
Again, the Shadow whispered something no one could catch.
"Mom and Dad," Fuuka admitted, "And Mr. Ekoda, maybe. But...but our friends never said that! They were always willing to help me when...when I...when I asked for it!" She was full-on sobbing now, gasping out the words like they were hurting her. "When I t-told M-Makoto-kun…" Several other people were now also crying. "...that I w-wanted to learn how to c-cook…he tried all of the rice balls I made, even though they were awful. When...Sh-Shinjiro-senpai found out I couldn't cook, he h-helped me fix the meal I'd messed up." Akihiko looked shocked, but his eyes were also glassy. "They didn't have to...but they did. Because they liked me."
"She's listening," Rise put her hand on the other navigator's shoulders and gave her a gentle push. "Can you tell her what she needs to hear now?"
But Fuuka shook her head. "Only if she tells me what that is." She reached for her Shadow. "It's all right, you can talk. WE can talk."
She fidgeted, opened her mouth only to close it again, sighed, and looked at Fuuka hoping for an excuse to sink into the floor and cease existing. Finding none, she murmured, "Will you tell the truth?"
"Oh…"
"Will you?" added Rise.
"Yes," Fuuka declared, and both versions of her finally raised their heads to look their friends directly in the eyes. "I think it's time that I did."
"Uhh…" Junpei looked uneasy. "What have you been lying to us about? Is your name not really 'Fuuka' or something?"
"The other day, when Yukari-chan asked me how things were going," Fuuka (presumably) began, "I said everything was fine. The truth is...everything isn't fine. Things aren't fine at all!"
"Oh, Fuuka, if you didn't want to share something, you didn't have to-" Yukari started to protest.
But Fuuka cut her off. "I lost the scholarship. The one for the robotics program this fall that I really wanted to enter. That was the only way I could afford to join, because my parents won't pay for any more classes unless they're in the medical field, which I don't want to do!"
"If you needed money, Yamagishi, you only had to ask," Mitsuru said.
"But that's your money," Fuuka insisted.
"Then I am free to spend it however I like, non?" Mitsuru tried to smile, but her eyes showed a hint of sadness as she added, "Do you believe your happiness is unimportant to me?"
"N-No? It's just that...Akihiko-senpai still needs money for college-"
Akihiko butted in. "I graduate next year, remember?" he said. "Besides, if it came down to that, I'd just take another gap year. You're much smarter than I am. You deserve to go to college, too."
"Senpai..."
"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Yukari.
Fuuka stalled. "I didn't want to sound selfish. I know you were upset about Mitsuru-senpai...and Makoto-kun..."
"But it wasn't just me, was it?" It seemed that Yukari had been holding back some things as well. "I should have realized everyone else missed him, too."
"You couldn't have. I didn't tell you that I dated him."
"But you were all still his friends. Fuuka, from now on, when I start taking over the whole conversation like that...I give you permission to slap me!"
Fuuka gasped at that. So did Mitsuru, oddly enough – though she looked away when she felt eyes on her.
"I mean it! I'm not going to make you feel overlooked like that again. Just haul off and smack me in the face!" Fuuka's horrified look did nothing to deter her.
"I believe she's serious, Yamagishi. The right to slap one another is apparently crucial among friends," added Mitsuru. Yukari gave her a scathing look.
"I'll...think about it?" Fuuka squeaked out. This seemed to suffice as far as Yukari was concerned. She turned back to her Shadow. "We don't have to feel like we don't count anymore. I'm never going to be a doctor...and my friends are just fine with that. I've finally found the place where I fit in as ME. When I have you beside me, I'm a real part of the Shadow Operatives...and there's no place I'd rather be than here." She held out her hand. "Won't you join me?"
And the fourth member of the Shadow Operatives had her Persona back, too.
"That was easier that I thought it would be," said Chie, shaking off her unused energy. "We didn't get to do a thing!"
"I guess if your Persona don't fight, you don't hafta fight to get it back," said Kanji – although he also looked a bit disappointed at the lack of battle.
"I'm really glad that we'll have another navigator now," Rise was smiling for the first time in a week, watching Fuuka happily chat among her friends. "Fuuka-san's been doing this a lot longer than I have, and she knows the Shadow Operatives a lot better than I do!"
Naoto had no trouble vocalizing what Yu himself felt he had no right to. "Speaking of that, Rise-san…"
"I wish you weren't speaking of that Rise-san," Rise grumbled.
"You seemed to have very little trouble finding just the right words to spur Fuuka-san into action."
"Almost as if I'd done it before?" Rise was non-smiling. Yu had discovered after getting to know Rise that she had mastered the art of masking her emotions behind a pretty face. "Yeah. Of course you caught that." She sighed. "You guys didn't know me before I was Risette. I wasn't really good at speaking up for myself, either, so I didn't have a lot of friends. I guess I just...didn't think I had anything going for me that anyone'd notice. Being an idol just made it worse. I took so many crappy jobs, thinking, 'Hey, some girls don't even get this!' I became a pushover – but hey, I was a popular pushover, right?"
"That's no way to live." No one would ever consider Kanji a pushover, but Yu couldn't help but agree.
"I guess when I saw Fuuka-san being talked over, it reminded me of how small I felt back then." Rise looked gloomy, and for a moment, Yu was terrified she was going to start crying. The last time Rise cried in front of him, he ended up dating her and telling her manager they were engaged. Who knew what he'd end up freaking out and doing now? But Rise looked up at all of their nervous faces, and a real smile lit up her face, giving her eyes that signature twinkle. "Hey! I don't feel like that anymore! My friends are all on my team! You guys would be sunk without your navigator." She struck a pose. "I'm a crucial part of all of your hearts – admit it!"
Yu began involuntarily sweating.
ADMIT IT?!
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Yes, it was a conscious decision to barely have any Fuuka in a Fuuka chapter. She'd have expected you to gloss over her. It also made sense to have her Shadow coerced back without a fight because a navigator doesn't have any traditional elemental weaknesses (Shadow Rise just blocked everything).
Fuuka's hard to write sometimes, because I think we all feel like her; overlooked, unimportant, the black sheep of the family even though there's nothing wrong with her other than being related to people with high expectations. She's good at looking out for other people, but she tends to put her own needs last, if she even addresses them at all.
Remember how every room in the Iwatodai Dorm had a security camera? Yeah, I'd forgotten about that during Senpai Sexy Time. Let's just say Mitsuru didn't.
The Trance Twins and all of the different "-Twins" Shadows appear as two people who are connected to one another by several bars through their heads and bodies.