Covert Operations
By: Ominae
Rating: T
Chapter 7: Getting Inward
Basement Floor, Star Plus Building, Ueno, Taito, Tokyo, Japan
["Hey. How's Sigma Team's response?"] Yu listened to Mark's question on his earpiece after he stabbed one of the four ST members from the back.
["Not too shabby."]
One down. Three to go.
The other three ST members just had enough of Yu and his mysterious entrance. They were about to fire their pistols when Yu worked his magic with the Hidden Blade on his bracer.
"Hold still...!"
Yu didn't give the first guy a chance to open fire. He moved his left arm from right to left in a fast motion to slash his throat.
The man didn't have any time to react as his throat was cut open.
"Dammit..." The other two had just fired off one shot each when Yu moved up grabbed one of them by the shoulders and executed a headbutt before he did a stab on the ST member's throat.
The third ST member holstered his sidearm and went for his collapsible baton instead. "TAKE THIS!"
Yu dodged left, right and backwards. Easy to anticipate his movements.
He waited until the strike to hit him on the head missed when he sidestepped to the left.
Gotcha.
Yu used his right arm to wrap around the ST member's right arm after trying to hit him. From there, a stab was done in the shoulder with multiple stabs at the right side of his chest.
Three times.
After the final stab, Yu used a roundhouse kick to send him down on the floor for the count.
"LET'S MOVE!" Takeshi shouted to the others in Japanese. Mark gestured to everyone to get out before the police arrive by using the alternate building entrance located at the back.
The other SID agents were just able to pack up the things confiscated from the Templar cell before the sirens were heard.
["Dude. You got your modulator on? We got a civvie to worry about."]
Did I bring it? I usually put it with me?
He patted his pants to see that it was clipped on his pants pocket. He turned it on, but it took a minute to get it fully activated so that his voice changes.
"I'll follow." Yu told Takeshi when he pointed to the female officers (in civvie clothes) who just emerged out of hiding when she fled to the nearest janitorial closet. The Hidden Blade was stored in the bracer.
Takeshi nodded.
Yu approached the female officer and told her in a baritone voice. "Whatever you do, you head back outside. You didn't see anything."
He later went to see Takeshi and company, who by now have left the floor. He also handed in the Seburo M5 since he didn't need it anymore.
["Takeshi contacted MOM. Says you have the night off. He also mentioned that he'll take care of the after action reports."]
Yu used the Portal app on his Iphone 4 to discreetly open up a portal to take him back to the Dojima Residence in Yasoinaba, using the last location he left.
Which happened to be the temp room he was using.
Portal's in the male restroom.
Yu noted that the female officer was watching them leave together. But he took advantage by entering the restroom and closing the door behind him. The portal was already there.
He had to enter it...
Yu Narukami's Temp Room
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu emerged out of the portal and into his room.
For once, he didn't get trapped in the closet or in one of the many desk drawers that he had to claw his way out.
Finally. Something normal for once.
He changed and took off the graphite Condor Softshell jacket and his black Oakley 6" SI Assault Boots when he heard Nanako call him from downstairs.
"Onii-chan! There's a phone call for you!"
Phone call?
Yu checked his Iphone and saw no incoming texts from Chie or Yosuke. Or anyone of his old school friends from Tokyo.
Wonder who could it be?
"Coming!"
Living Area/Dining Area
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu saw Ryotaro checking out various newspapers regarding the mysterious murder cases happening throughout Yasoinaba. He then saw Nanako hand him the phone handle.
"Thanks." Yu thanked the girl before he answered the phone. "Hello?"
"It's Morooka-sensei." The teen was a bit terrified (and shocked) that his homeroom teacher called the Dojimas.
"Sensei..." Yu whispered while talking on the line, seemingly shocked (still). Ryotaro, after seeing his nephew after the call, turned his head to the side while reading the Mainichi Shimbun to see what was going in.
"Ah yes. Unfortunately, the class rep forgot to inform you that you're being issued the school jersey jacket and pants. Come see me to pick it up."
"But sensei, you should already know about the Dojima residence..."
"I'm busy talking with a female student..."
Yu was suspicious when he heard that he was talking to a female student. Is he secretly a hentai? Oh man...
"Alright, alright."
"Meet me near the MOEL gas station."
"Understood."
Yu sighed after he placed the phone cradle down.
"I'm assuming that it's something important?" Ryotaro said after he finished reading the MS.
"Yeah. It's my homeroom teacher. Said that he needed to hand me my gym clothes, which is unusual." Yu wondered why did this happen to him.
"You're right. It is weird. So what happens now?"
"I'll have to walk to the gas station and see him."
Ryotaro didn't like this, but it's out of his or Yu's hands for now.
"Alright. Be sure to make it back."
Yu went back upstairs to grab his smartphone and his boots.
According to the weather, it wasn't to be that cold...
In front of MOEL gas station, South Shopping District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu ran a bit in the district when he saw Morooka waiting for him. Next to him was a female student he never met.
Not that he can tell on the year level she is in Yasogami High. She was standing behind him, trying to wait for the teacher to finish whatever he needs to do.
"Here's your jersey clothes." Morooka handed Yu a plastic bag with his folded clothes.
"Thank you, sensei." Yu was grateful for what Morooka's doing.
"Think nothing of it. If you excuse me, I need to get this delinquent student back to her guardian this instant." Morooka said as he walked away from the district.
"Sensei...! I'm not a delinquent." She ran after him. "I was returning back from cram school in Okina..."
Yu shrugged. "Oh well."
He looked around the South Shopping District.
Got some time to kill.
The undercover Center agent spotted a familiar door...
Maybe I should stop by.
Velvet Room, the place that exists between dream and reality... Oh come on, you should know this.
"Welcome back." Igor was once happy to see Yu in his presence.
I wonder if that's Igor's default face. Strange, Margaret's here too.
"I notice Marie's not here..." Yu began.
Igor turned his gaze to Margaret. That was his signal for her to explain what happened since the last time he was in the Velvet Room.
"Ah yes..." Margaret nodded. "She needed some time off, last I heard from her."
"She's a free-spirited one, I would say."
"Agreed."
"Sometimes I wish the others were still here with me."
"Master Igor. Perhaps we should listen to what he has to say."
"Oh... of course Margaret."
Did Igor work with other people before he worked with Margaret?
"I just need to register the Personas that I have with me." Yu said on what he wanted to do here.
"Of course," Margaret got the compendium on her lap and opened it. "just let me know which ones."
"Right now, I have Izanagi, Pixie, Angel and Ukobach."
Margaret nodded when she wrote the names of the Personas down. "That should be it. Anything else?"
"I'm thinking of fusing a couple of my Personas. I'm going to have a major operation soon."
"I understand. Do you have thoughts of which one?"
Yu nodded.
"Thinking of using Angel and Pixie."
"Of course."
Margaret handed Igor a couple of tarot cards after Yu mentioned his request.
Didn't notice how she got those tarot cards. Actually, never mind. Don't wanna make my brain think too hard.
Igor placed the two cards down on the small circular table in front of him. He placed his gloved hands over them before they moved over the cards twice.
A slight flash was seen on the table.
"What the?"
A few seconds later, a strange demon appeared over the table. It had a moon crescent for a head and a red body (hands and feet included). It was seen carrying a brown bag over its left shoulder.
"This is Sandman. You should be able to keep two skills from the previous Personas."
"Yes." Yu did a fist pump. "I think I'll keep Sukukaja since it has Garu, Pulinpa and Skull Cracker."
"It shall be done."
"Perfect." Yu nodded after Sandman was summoned. "I'll have to get Pixie and Angel before I leave for tonight."
"Just so you know, it'll cost you." Margaret informed him.
Yu was shocked to hear Margaret tell him about paying it. "Is this for real?"
"I'm afraid it is."
Yu looked at Igor for any sign of intervention, but he just sat in his seat to stare at him.
"How much?"
He later realized that he was tabbed at 5,000 Yen per Persona summon for him.
It was a good thing that he and Yosuke fought a lot of creatures when they raided Yukiko's dungeon.
Living Area/Dining Area
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
"I'm back..."
Ryotaro noted that Yu looked a bit weary, but was fine otherwise.
"Got your stuff?"
Yu showed the plastic bag.
"I'll keep them for now until it's needed."
"Alright. I'll be off to bed soon since I have to be in a meeting first thing in the morning. Nanako's already in her room."
"Okay. I'll make sure everything's locked up and all..."
As Ryotaro went to his room to change, Yu took out his smartphone and saw an incoming SMS message. It's from an unregistered number and the message was written entirely in English.
What's this about?
He opened the message and saw that it was from the Center.
I think this can wait. I should turn it for now.
April 18, 2011
2-2 Classroom, 2nd Floor, Classroom Building, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu got to school early, seeing that nothing was up in the Center. Or with his other job.
Which means, he needs to take care of school stuff.
"You think Chie's going to be fine? Considering Yukiko and all?"
Oh... and the need to save Yukiko before she gets killed.
"I hope so."
Chie just entered the classroom. From what the former heard, she had to use the toilet.
"Morning guys." Chie went to see the two.
"You going to be okay?"
From the way Chie reacted, it seemed that she was a bit embarrassed.
"You two were right there to see my hidden feeling and all..." Chie had a smile on her face. "But don't you guys worry. I'm fine."
She then looked at Yosuke. "So Yosuke, what do you think about me?"
"Uh... um..." Yosuke started to panic. Seeing Yu just waiting in his seat, he decided to throw the question at him. "Uh... Hey, Yu. What about you?!"
"Me?" Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you." Yosuke then for a second, slaps his forehead. "Oh I forgot. That didn't happened when you got your Persona, right?"
Yu just nodded.
"You're a chill guy, Yu Narukami." Chie said, her hands on her hips. "I dunno. I guess that's what draws people to you or something."
"Is that a compliment?" The new 2-2 student asked Chie.
Chie giggled before she replied, "Ha ha. Yep it's a compliment."
Yu shrugged. "Sure. If you say so."
The trio had a laugh for a bit.
Then Chie stopped and spoke about their topic for the day. "Anyway, what's important right now is to save Yukiko. I'm deadset on coming. Remember... you promised."
Yu and Yosuke nodded.
The chime bell was heard, indicating that students who aren't in their classrooms should be there by now.
"Oh crap." Yosuke grimaced when he heard the chime. "I still haven't gone to the bathroom."
Yosuke ran out of the classroom. The students who saw him just rolled their eyes and muttered to themselves that was typical Yosuke.
The tomboy turned to face Yu before she said. "T-thanks for saving me. Yosuke's cool and all. But... there really is something different about you. I feel like you won't let me down."
Yu nodded.
September 2010
Somewhere in the Chechen Republic, Northern Caucasian District, Russia
Yu and Mark walked outside Baisarov's mansion after they further investigated the place to rescue the VIP. Their assault rifles were slung over their right shoulder and neck.
It later turned out that Baisarov hid himself in a panic room somewhere on the property when the raid happened and after his bodyguards were killed. When they were able to make contact with him, Baisarov told them that he's moving to Dublin soon to get the heat away from him after what happened in Grozny just now.
"Good thing he took the advice of the risk assessment SID made for him." Mark said after he whistled. "Otherwise, whatever the Kadyrovites had in mind for him... well you know the picture."
"Yeah." Yu sighed, noting all the trouble the businessman had to go through. "But I'm sure Grozny's going to deny the Kadyrovites being involved after the TRF interrogated the wounded tangos."
"I guess the SID'll let the Kadyrovs say whatever they want. We'll get them sooner or later." Mark stretched his arms up.
The two SHADOW operatives saw armed TRF operators bring out some stretchers for some of the dead TRF operators, who are being transported back to the Center alongside those who were wounded.
"Guess so." Yu saw a couple of them bring out a body bag with a corpse inside.
"Hey, Yu. Don't let this get ya down." Mark placed an arm over Yu's shoulder. "We got the bad guys killed. We saved an ally."
"But he got away..."
This raised Mark's concern. "Who got away?"
"That FSB guy. Somehow he knew who we are."
"Damn. This'll change things. Unless that guy just goes into hiding and all... It'll be hard to approach the FSB regarding him."
Yu was anxious and frustrated that he wasn't able to kill the guy. "After this op, I'm heading off to a hiatus for a bit. Word is that I'm being moved to another place in Japan and I need all the time I can get to prep up."
"Did MOM approve of it?"
"That she did."
"All right." Mark patted him on his right shoulder. "I'll see you in a bit after I speak with the TRF. We should celebrate."
April 18, 2011
2-2 Classroom, 2nd Floor, Classroom Building, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu felt something happening. He can hear a dignified voice speaking to him and him only.
Thou art I and I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... It brings thee closer to the truth... Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Chariot Arcana.
"Chariot..." Yu murmured, lost in thought.
"Hello, earth to Narukami." Chie waved her hand in front of him. "You okay there?"
"I forgot to ask for your contact info." Yu said when he finished his muse. "We'll need it to stay in touch."
"Yeah, definitely."
Yu and Chie went to exchange mobile phone numbers with one another.
"We have to be careful of the fog that sets in after the rain, right?" Chie asked after she made a new contact entry for Yu.
"Yeah."
"Let's save her before that happens."
"Until then, we can just head back to train our Personas and maybe get a feel of the place."
"Hey guys..." Yosuke greeted them when he came back, nearly tripping on the way inside. Yu sighed and wondered what kind of god gave him such a fate of having a friend who nearly got him into trouble.
He remembered that he had to write that detail down on one of his reports. He hoped the rest of the organization didn't make him a laughing stock.
April 17, 2011
MOM's Office, The Center, Unknown Location
MOM was reading through another of Yu's after action reports after he was tasked to covertly investigate what was going on in Yasoinaba.
She read previous reports that Yu had to contend balancing his social life as a high school student with secret investigations in Okina conducted on foreign agents acting covertly with the likely possibility of targeting Yasoinaba and the investigation conducted by the police.
Thankfully, he didn't need to resort to drastic measures.
In the new report, Yu told MOM that he didn't need to be funded for any ops going on in and around Yasoinaba any time soon.
How peculiar.
According to Yu, he and his new friends have been traveling to the dungeon in the Mayonaka Channel to train their Personas and get whatever items they can find while investigating the dungeon's origin.
For the Personas in his report, MOM didn't need to get a detailed explanation from him on the matter.
Reminds me of the Karukozaka High School case way back in the day.
Especially if she knows about it.
In the expenses, Yu reported that he has accumulated around 900,450 Yen from killing monsters and raiding treasure chests.
I guess we don't need to spare the black budget for him in this op.
April 18, 2011
2-2 Classroom, 2nd Floor, Classroom Building, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
The first class for the afternoon was English. Although not in the way the class intended it to be.
For one, they were informed that leading the class was a Mr. Kondo. As far as Yu knows, he was suppose to be the PE teacher, not the English teacher.
"My name is Mr. Kondo, your P.E. teacher! But since no one at this school teaches English, I'll be doubling up my roles!...Don't be so disappointed."
The class displayed various forms of frustrations, although all of them wondered who gave him the authority to be the English teacher.
Kondo tried to explain his position. "In fact, I've spent some time overseas! One week of vacation time, to be exact! But that's more than enough to teach a class!"
"What?" One of the students murmured.
"I'm sure that's not enough." said another.
Kondo decided to continue. "Hahaha! We'll start with the basics of the basics: the English alphabet! It starts with the letter A, then B, then C, and then...23 more! Maybe that was a little too basic? Hahaha! All right! I'll give you an alphabet-related pop quiz, then!"
"Good grief..."
"What kind of teacher did we get..."
The PE slash English teacher looked around. "Let's see... how's about we start... with the new guy. Yu Narukami."
"Y-yes sensei?" Yu stood up from his seat.
"The word alphabet comes from the words alpha and another word. What is it?"
"Beta, sensei."
Kondo smirked. "Correct. It comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta! By the way, any set of western European characters in a specific order is called an alphabet. In Japan, when we say alphabet we're talking about the English alphabet, but it doesn't always mean the English one!"
The class continued on for a while.
And everyone decided that it was best not to internally debate why Kondo-sensei would double as an English teacher, even though his English skills are at best conversational.
That would be a topic of another day.
Somewhere in Okina City, Yamanashi, Japan
The same idle white 2010 Mazda Bongo SK van was parked near the same commercial four-story building that the SID had its interest in.
So far, the orders was for the SID (and anyone else being pulled in to assist) to keep conducting surveillance on the building until evidence can be found that foreign intelligence or some shady group was using the building for covert activities.
Today's activities conducted of video surveillance, capturing only footage of non-Japanese/Asian foreigners that were acting suspicious. Video cameras were also planted by another SID team, disguised as a building maintenance crew to avoid arousing suspicion.
The main point of interest was on the fourth floor, where most of the office space there was leased out to a company known as "Szohôd Foods Japan Corporation".
Based on the internal video feeds, the entrance to the office had biometric security, consisting of an iris scanner and a security camera mounted near the door.
It was noted in the upcoming after action report.
Next up was to try and eavesdrop in the office. Based on reports from the SID's Bordurian assets, the company was known to be used by Bordurian intelligence conducting foreign operations as a cover.
In the meantime, they were to wait and see if anything significant can be heard from the office. Assuming that the directional microphones provided would work and not run into any type of interference.
"We'll probably need more directional microphones and set up a few more OPs near the target building." A SID agent looked at the map of Okina's downtown area. "Get a request to HQ for additional support."
2-2 Classroom, 2nd Floor, Classroom Building, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Classes were now over. At least without signs of a supernatural incident going on.
Since the local weather reports didn't indicate the presence of a fog yet until after the rain, Yu, Yosuke and Chie had a few day to prep supplies and time to train at the Mayonaka Channel and potentially conduct recon, depending on how much time they can allocate.
Yosuke and Chie were seated in their respective seats, wanting to take a break.
"You heading somewhere?" Chie saw that Yu was heading to leave the classroom.
"I need to head to the toilet. Gotta have something done."
"Cool. We'll be here to take a break."
Somewhere on the 3rd Floor, Classroom Building, Yasoinaba High, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu stopped to take a leak on the way to the third floor. The teen heard some gossip from of the other second year students that there's a third-year student with an Afro-style haircut who gives interesting items to any student who can guess his riddles.
"Riddles huh?" Yu murmured when he walked around until he found said third-year student. According to what I know, he's nicknamed the Funky Student. May as well see if he's the real deal.
It appeared that he was relaxing on the side, between looking at his watch and flip phone.
"Pardon me..." Yu approached the third-year student.
The student smirked and pointed his right index finger at Yu. " I don't know you, and you're coming up, so it's 50-50 that you're a second-year! Deductive reasoning like whoa, son!"
"O...ok." Yu was quick to raise his hands, as if to say keep your distance, will ya?
"Now I, the OG third-year, will challenge you, the second-year youngblood, with a riddle! And no, it isn't because I'm trying to avoid studying for entrance exams! I'm just doing you a favor, man!"
"Is there a catch?"
"A catch?! The catch is that if you answer correctly, I will present you with a key."
"A... all right. I accept the challenge."
The Funky Student did the finger guns with his hands after he heard Yu accept. "Looks like your spirit is willing, let's see if your mind can vibe to this! Riddle time! I'ma drop some stuff into two distinct categories."
Yu nodded. "Let's hear it."
"At the end you gotta drop the last item onto the proper category. Can you dig it!? Red's group A. Grey's group B. White's puttin' it down for group A. Orange has a group B tattoo. Green's A for sheezy. Pink is group B times infinity. Aight, so which group does "black" belong to, A or B?"
Man, he talks like some guy doing a hip hop track. "Black's under A."
The Funky Student grinned and nodded. "Oh yeah! So tell me what all those items have in common!" He then pointed to himself with his right thumb. "Give it to me, baby!"
Yu snapped his right middle and thumb fingers. "They're the top 6 flag colors."
The Funky Student's grin became bigger. "Yay ya-y! Your mind is a beautiful thing and you are not letting it go to waste, yo! Way to be! Since you're down with vexillology, you knew that group A was four of the six most prevalent world flag colors."
Yu realized that it was probably the first time the student had someone answer his riddles without making a mistake.
"The other two to round out the top six are blue and yellow. I must say that I wasn't expecting a second-year to have such trenchant insight. But you have passed, and I now dub you my riddle brother. Here's a little sumthin' sumthin'!"
The undercover agent saw the student hand him three keys that look like they can be used to open an ordinary treasure chest.
"Might I be able to tell where you got these?" Yu got the keys and pocketed them.
"That's a trade secret, my friend."
Hmm...
Yu decided not to press the issue any further.
Conference Room #2, Yasoinaba Police Station, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Ryotaro and Adachi were in attendance inside the station's second conference room since the first one was currently being occupied.
The two detectives were with other officers from the CIS in a meeting with an officer sent by the Senior Commissioner of the Kanto Regional Police Bureau.
Said officer has the rank of Chief Inspector.
If the KRPB was involved aside from Yamanashi Prefectural Police HQ, then the situation seemed serious. Ryotaro mused.
"Everyone," A uniformed officer was seen briefing the CIS officers. "this is Inspector Eriko Kinoshita. She's be stationed here for the meantime on behalf of the Kanto Regional Police Bureau to serve as the liaison officer."
"Is this related to the case?" Adachi asked the officer.
So far, the black haired woman (her hair was in a ponytail) in a gray pantsuit and brown Oxford shoes didn't say anything.
"Yes. I've been told that some from Yamanashi prefectural HQ will also be sent. But there's no further details..."
"Okay, spill." Ryotaro decided to start the meeting by throwing the serious question the CIS wants to know. "Do you know if the bureau or prefectural HQ has any strong interest to help us resolve the case in Yasoinaba?"
There was silence in the conference room when he raised the question to the inspector.
It continued on until she answered the question the veteran detective threw at her.
"Officially, the bureau wants to provide every resource it can provide to the Yasoinaba Police Station." The female inspector replied to Ryotaro's question. "That is... with the cooperation of Prefectural HQ."
"And unofficially?" Adachi was the next one to toss the question at her.
"Unofficially," Eriko looked at Adachi to acknowledge him. "the bureau has received unofficial information from prefectural HQ's Security Department about supposed foreign agents operating in Yamanashi Prefecture."
"You mean spies?" One of the male CIS officers groaned at the table when he heard Eriko's reply.
"What could they possibly want from a town like Yasoinaba?" A female CIS officer asked in frustration.
"All I know is that we don't know what these foreign spies want to investigate this town for..." Eriko tried to explain as much as she can. "We're still trying to contact our counterparts with the PSIA to help us out, but you know how they operate."
The PSIA or Public Security Intelligence Agency. The Japanese domestic intelligence agency in charge of fighting internal espionage and terrorism threats against Japanese national security interests. But despite its functions, it's been ineffective in initially keeping an eye on cults due to a lack of mechanisms that can be used to investigate/detain anyone who is a threat to public safety.
"So we wait for the PSIA?" Ryotaro didn't like the idea of dragging their feet until the PSIA has some information that can used for the investigation if rogue states have an interest with the murder case.
"No. We're getting assistance from Tokyo via the Public Security Bureau to check on who the foreigners are and the interests they have."
Adachi raised a hand. "So... what about the Center?"
"You mean the global anti-paranormal agency?"
Adachi nodded.
"We still cooperate with their agents on the ground. After all, they agreed not to interfere with whatever leads you guys have uncovered in the murder cases."
"I remember that they come out when an incident is deemed to have something paranormal..." Ryotaro spoke next, folding his arms. "I heard rumors when I was in uniform that they were present in the Karukozaka High School case after the entire school building disappeared. Reminds me of the case with Shinyo Maru No. 10."
"They happen to be very good at it at solving those types of cases. Trust me, I've worked with some of their agents before."
"So how long will they work with our section?"
"Until the culprit's caught or killed. Depends on when that happens."
Adachi stayed quiet. He looked at his wristwatch while the meeting was taking place.
Electronics Section, Junes Yasoinaba Store, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu, Chie and Yosuke walked into Junes' electronics section. As usual, the one person who was in the section left after he paid for the purchase of a PlayStation 3 Slim console.
"Good." Yosuke murmured. "Looks like it's the usual."
"And the weather should be good enough for us to investigate the dungeon." Yu said, agreeing with Yosuke's assessment.
"I got a suggestion to maybe make things easier for us." Chie walked fast next to the boys and raised her hand up.
"Shoot, Chie." Yosuke was all ears.
"What if we designated a place inside the Mayonaka Channel where we can leave the gear that we need, but we can't risk taking it back to our homes?"
Yu and Yosuke looked at each other, as if to ponder Chie's suggestion.
"Let's have a look first and see if it'll work after we get inside." Yu seemed to agree, but gave his response.
Chie nodded. "Okay."
They got to an unused HD TV screen and saw no one, employee or visitors alike, were present.
"Let's do this." Yu gave the thumbs up.
Per usual, he was the first to go in. Yosuke followed and Chie was the last person to enter the screen.
Outskirts of Yukiko's Castle
Teddie waved at the trio after they ran to the castle's entrance.
"So glad you guys can make it today." Teddie was happy to see familiar faces.
All of them had glasses on to navigate around Mayonaka TV.
"Hey Teddie." Yu greeted the bear. "We're going in to do a little recon and see if we can find clues to what happened to Yukiko."
"Re-con?" Teddie looked at him by tilting his head a bit to the left. You can tell he doesn't know what the word means.
"It means we're going to check the castle to look around." Yosuke spelled it out of him.
Teddie nodded. "Oh okay..."
As the trio were about to enter, Teddie approached Yu.
"Something up?"
"I have to give you these." Teddie handed him three small blue rocks.
Chie and Yosuke went up to look at whatever Teddie handed off.
"These are Goho-Ms. Use these when you feel like you're in trouble in order to get back to a dungeon entrance without walking back all the way in case someone's hurt or if the area's starting to get hard to navigate."
Yosuke gave a thumbs up. "Thanks. This'll come in handy."
Yu ran to the castle while he pocketed the stones. "Come on guys! Let's go!"
April 17, 2011
MOM's Office, The Center, Unknown Location
MOM used her intercom. "Billy, get me any SHADOW agent available. I need to speak to them."
"Okay. They're on the way."
"Appreciate it. Meanwhile, I need you to get SID to do an investigation. I'll send the details later."
The sliding door to her office opened. David and Raidou (with Gotou since he follows him around) showed up.
"Just you two?" MOM asked them.
"The others are finishing the after action reports for what happened after we first got activated. Mark's talking with SID, considering that he and Yu helped them out with a little op from a while ago." Raidou replied.
"Alright. How's the investigation in Okina?"
Raidou shrugged. "Nothing changed. Just coming and going and word that the Szohôd office in the city should prepare for something."
"Anything specific?"
"Nothing that we can tell. Should we continue our surveillance on them?"
April 18, 2011
4th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
"And take that!"
Yu stabbed the Magic Hand-type Shadow in the face several times before kicking it hard that it went straight for the wall.
"Man, you're on fire." Yosuke whistled after he took the dual kunais from the downed Magic Hand.
The Shadow reacted as its limbs were in pain.
"Speak for yourself." Yu sheathed his combat knife. "The kunais you used gave that Shadow a strong reaction. As if they drank something poisonous or something."
Yosuke twirled the weapons on his hands. "Old Man Daidara said that these guys are a treasure. Rumors has it that he got contracted for some shady guy who wanted to use it as an assassin weapon. Called them Poison Kunais."
"Really?"
Yosuke shrugged. "I dunno. He seemed to laugh at that story when I asked him."
Yosuke should probably get belt sheaths for those. If only I can ask someone...
"Stairs look clear, guys." Chie pointed to the stairway going up.
"Give me a sec." Yu said. He collected his thoughts after stretching his legs.
"You alright?"
Yu gave a thumbs up. "Give me a few. Feel wheezed out a bit when we searched the chests around this dungeon." Need to check which Personas I got right now.
Suddenly, the Center agent felt that time stood still.
In front of him, an array of tarot card appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
This must be the place where I can check my Persona.
Yu moved his hand to the left and all the tarot cards flipped to show the Personas.
Let's see. I got Izanagi, Pixie, Angel, Sandman and Ukobach. For today, I got Forneus and Nata Tanshi. I'll have to make sure I can fuse some of these to get better Personas. For now, I'll have to hike the next floor.
Yu willed to let the tarot cards disappear.
"I'll take the lead." Yu snapped out of it to see that Yosuke was checking the stairs to make sure.
Looks like if I do that every time, time stops. Seems that my theory works out.
"Yosuke, want to take the lead?" Yu asked him. "I'll cover the rear."
"Okay."
April 17, 2011
MOM's Office, The Center, Unknown Location
"No." MOM shook her head. "For now, let SID take over when the time comes until some solid intel comes along related to Yasoinaba."
"Yes, MOM." Both David and Raidou replied.
"You can leave now. I'll inform agent Jang if there's something going on with the rogue Kirijo Group scientists."
The two SHADOW agents nodded.
"Come on, Raidou." David waved at the teenager as he walked out of the office.
"Gotou." Raidou called for the cat to follow him.
I hope Yu has all the things he needs to conduct his investigation...
April 18, 2011
5th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
Yu felt the chills go over him after he surveyed the floor.
I swear someone's talking about me.
"Something?" Chie asked when she saw Yu wasn't going to move.
Shit! She noticed! "No! Not at all! I thought I heard something."
"Not me." Chie shook her head.
"Same."
"Maybe we can ask Teddie." Yu sighed. "Teddie..."
Teddie's voice can be heard by Yu only. "Sensei. I'm seeing the girl. She seems to be on this favor."
Yu pointed to the corridor up ahead. "Teddie confirms that Yukiko may be here. Or her Shadow."
"Okay..." Chie was nervous when she heard the news.
The three Persona users walked down the corridor after they got up the stairs, going to the left. As they walked, they felt that the walk was very long. Later on, they made a turn somewhere and found themselves back next to the staircase.
"Damn." Yosuke groaned. "It's either me or is the dungeon playing tricks on us?"
"What now?" Chie felt tired from walking after they returned back to the starting point.
Yu gritted his teeth. "Did anyone notice anything like a door?"
Yosuke and Chie shook their heads.
"Let's turn back. We may run to a door."
They turned back and walked back, going to the right.
"Door. Door." Yu murmured, looking left and right.
"Come on, dooorrr..." Yosuke did the same thing.
"There's one." Chie pointed to them. "By the right."
Yu motioned to Yosuke and Chie to stop.
He had to go to the door and see.
Using his right hand to grasp the handle, he pushed the door gently to see if it can move.
"Sensei..." Teddie's voice came back. "Be careful."
"What's wrong?" Yu gestured for the two to come behind him.
"I sense someone beyond that door. It's the girl's scent!"
"Okay."
Yosuke got his kunais ready. Chie simply cracked the knuckles on her hands.
"Ready." Yosuke spoke to Yu.
"Same." Chie also spoke up.
"Here we go." Yu opened the door before he shoved it with his right shoulder. He was the first to enter when he moved straight. Yosuke moved inside the room to his left, followed by Chie when she entered from the right.
Criminal Investigation Section Office, Yasoinaba Police Station, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Ryotaro, Adachi and the other CIS officers who attended the meeting were allowed to return back to the office and carry out whatever work they suppose to do.
But for the former two, it's back to investigating the murders. They went over various reports filed by the office to see if they missed anything.
"Dojima-san." Adachi spoke to his superior. "You think the inspector from the Kanto Police Bureau is right? There's some things going on behind the scenes?"
"Who knows?" Ryotaro grabbed a pen and a post-it note from his desk. "I'm not even sure if the PSIA is the right agency to be involved in something like a strange murder case going on in Yasoinaba."
"Yeah. The PSIA does domestic and limited foreign intelligence aside from the usual law enforcement work."
"Anyway, don't dwell on it too much." Ryotaro finished writing his note.
Adachi wondered what he meant. While he noted that Ryotaro wrote a reminder on said post-it note.
"We need to continue with the investigation. Now if Prefectural HQ, the bureau or the Center wants to intervene... then I guess we'll figure out what to do from there."
"Alright."
"For now, a cup of coffee sounds good..."
Unknown Room, 5th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
Yu, Yosuke and Chie barged into the unknown room when they saw Yukiko in a dress.
Or rather, the shadow version of her in a dress.
"My prince wouldn't lose to guards such as this, correct?"
"Holy crap..." Yosuke saw the huge Shadow next to her.
Yu examined the huge Shadow as well. It had the appearance of a European knight.
Except said knight appears to have muscular arms and the bulky build was likely because of the metallic-based armor it had. Same goes for horse, which had an armored head and neck with a blue caparison draped over its body.
Although said horse didn't have anything that resembled legs or a body.
Not that it was an urgent matter.
"I've never seen such a strong one before!" Yu could tell that Teddie's scared about fighting that Shadow.
"I'll see you soon..."
The Knight-type Shadow was the only being left behind.
"Looks like we gotta beat the crap out of it to get to Yukiko!" Chie shouted.
"Move in!" Yu made the first charge.
April 17, 2011
MOM's Office, The Center, Unknown Location
When MOM returned back to the office, she received a note courtesy of Billy that the files she requested came through from SID without a hitch.
On her desk were two folders with the stamped words TOP SECRET! on top of it.
"Let's see what we have here..."
The agency head examined the folders, which turned out to be bio data pages of Ryotaro and Adachi. From taking a glance, it appears that their personal details were taken from Yamanashi Prefectural Police HQ.
She started to read Ryotaro's bio data first after taking her seat. It mentioned that while he's still a capable officer coping with the loss of his wife, killed in a hit-and-run. His daughter, Nanako, was very young when it happened. The event turned personal that his superior had forbidden him from getting involved.
As it should be, according to protocol.
From the info provided, the death of his wife is considered a cold case, although some stations in Yamanashi Prefecture have circulated posters seeking information on whoever can provide information about the incident to result in an arrest or the case being closed in case the suspect is already dead.
After MOM was done reading up on Ryotaro's bio, she turned her gaze towards Adachi's folder.
The information provided from Prefectural HQ and from Tokyo Metropolitan Police painted Adachi... in a very interesting picture.
According to early records provided, Adachi was a promising cadet when he enrolled at one of the prefectural police academies after he graduated with a degree in Political Science.
I need to get SID on the specific academy this Adachi character went to.
"Looks like he had good grades at the academy after being out of university for a few months."
MOM read through and a translated recommendation report for Adachi to the nearest regional police academy once he made Sergeant.
"For all accounts, he's a guy who was able to eventually achieve the rank of Assistant Inspector through sheer hard work."
That background was typical of someone who had a kyōiku mama-type background.
But according to the info regarding Adachi, there was an incident that forced his superior at the last station he worked in and at the unnamed Prefectural Police HQ to relocate him to Yasoinaba a year ago.
According to Adachi's bio, that incident was marked as SECRET.
If this was marked secret, then it seems he was involved in something that needed the detective to be moved out to another prefecture.
Whatever the incident was, it led to the fateful decision to let Adachi get stationed in Yasoinaba. The only consolation he had was that he kept the same rank and benefits he had from the place he was stationed in.
"Very interesting." MOM was curious to know what the event was that forced Adachi's transfer. According to a statement from him (which was translated), the transfer was the thanks he got and in his own terms, got "shafted" by his superiors.
MOM went for her intercom. "Billy. Get me SID."
"Right away."
A few minutes after she contacted Billy, another person picked up the call.
"This is Chief Thompson, SID."
"MOM here. Were your analysts able to pick up anything else regarding the two officers?"
"As of now, no."
"Tell them good work. But there's something I need to be flagged."
"Which folder?"
"The one for Assistant Inspector Adachi. Based on some of the translated statements, he mentioned that his superiors were exaggerating a situation he was involved in that necessitated his transfer to Yasoinaba."
"Any details my analysts should look for?"
"See if they can dig up any information about the situation he's saying and perhaps whatever the National Police Agency has to say about it. Make contact with our Japanese agents. Ask them to poke around the law enforcement community and the various prefectural police HQs."
"Understood, MOM."
"Someone might know something that the public doesn't know or even within their own ranks."
"Alright. I'll get the analysts assembled."
"Thank you."
MOM ended the call, but decided to make a call the hospital on Saki's condition.
"This is MOM. I'm calling in to check on the status of Ms. Konishi."
"Vitals are still fine, but she's not waking up."
"All right. I'll be in touch within a few weeks. Make sure she's fine."
"Understood, MOM."
April 18, 2011
Unknown Room, 5th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
Yu, Yosuke and Chie currently have their hands full in facing off the hostile Shadow. According to an initial scan from Teddie, the Shadow's know as the Avenger Knight.
"We got one bad knight to deal with here." Yu groaned after dodging the Shadow from using its lance to take a stab.
"Damn..." Chie gritted his teeth. "Our attacks don't seem to be having little effect on him."
"Can Teddie scan the Shadow again?" Yosuke asked Yu. "He may have an idea."
"Keep him busy. I'll try to ask."
"I'm here, Sensei." Teddie immediately responded, as if he heard his thoughts with telepathy. "Hang on, I'll do a thorough scan on the Shadow."
"Come on, Teddie."
"Tarukaja!" Chie shouted. Tomoe brandished its dual-bladed naginata before Chie was engulfed in a brief flash of green light.
"Okay! Hit it with Bufu!"
Tomoe glared at the Avenger Knight and raised its left arm up. The Avenger Knight was hit by the ice attack and staggered back.
"Jiraiya! I need you to get her some of that Sukukaja!"
The ninja-like Persona did a 360 spin before it faced the Shadow. Chie was once again engulfed in the same flash of green light.
The Avenger Knight turned its attention to Chie, already enraged from being attacked.
"Oh crap... It's looking at me."
The horse riding Shadow made a charge for her.
"All right, Tomoe...!" Before Chie can charge in, Yosuke made a charge of his own and slashed the Avenger Knight's horse and gave it a deep wound after he stabbed the kunais at it hard.
"Yosuke!" Yosuke struggled to keep the kunais while the horse was struggling to get away from him as much as possible.
"Go, Chie!" Yosuke took the kunais from the horse and jumped back to avoid being hit as a retaliatory measure.
Gotta change. Yu saw tarot cards in front him after he realized that Izanagi may cut it to put a stop to the Avenger Knight. He shuffled through them to look at his acquired Personas.
"Sensei! I finished scanning the Shadow!" Teddie called for Yu.
"Took your damn time..."
"From what I can sense, it has a weakness, though I'm not sure if it's solid."
"At this pace, I'm willing to try something."
"Looks like it has a weakness to Fire. Try using that."
"I'll give it a shot."
Yu switched Personas from Izanagi to Ukobach, seeing that it has Agi as an offensive skills. He commanded it to use it on the Avenger Knight.
It complied with his instructions and tossed fire to it from the giant handheld pan in its hand.
The hostile Shadow winced in pain. It collapsed, as if the horse tripped on something.
"All right guys! Pile on! Ready?"
"Let's do it!" Yu was enthusiastic to give the Shadow a beat down.
"Charge!" Yosuke was the first to leap into action. Yu and Chie jumped in and pummeled on the Shadow.
Somewhere inside Makurazaka Police Station, Makurazaka City, Aichi, Japan
"All right, officer Yumihara. You're dismissed. And good to have you back."
"Yes, sir."
The black-haired woman was relieved that her talk with the station's chief went well.
Ever since the incident that happened in Ueno yesterday, Saki Yumihara became the talk of the Traffic Section where some of her colleagues heard rumors that a mysterious group of armed men took her hostage. And that some kind of ninja saved her from being collateral damage.
Who the hell was responsible for those kind of rumors?
The chief of the section reminded everyone in the office not to pester her and get back to work or else.
For now, Saki was told not to expect anything else except to be in the station while her report was being processed to the proper authorities.
This meant that another officer was going to take her place in handling traffic duties in the streets of Makurazaka City.
This is fine.
Saki was told by the chief to work with another officer later in the day to type up a report regarding the city's accidents before and after the reported presence of the Steel Lady Nanase urban legend back in March.
The female officer noted that Sergeant Tokunosuke Terada was no longer working in the station's Criminal Investigation Section as of today.
Saki didn't know why he made the decision, but it was likely due to the time when a masked person intervened to save him from being killed. From what she remembered, he was sent by a mysterious organization called The Center.
He likely wants to get awaay for a while from the incident and maybe get assigned somewhere else.
Saki mused on what she was going to do right now (aside from typing up the traffic accident reports for March).
"Dammit... I was going to text a SMS." murmured the officer while preparing to get the reports typed up.
Now what was his name?
She took her personal smartphone from her desk drawer and looked for a name in her contact directory.
"Ah. There it is."
Saki found the name she was looking for.
Souji Seta.
Unknown Room, 5th Floor, Yukiko's Castle
The trio safely backed off from engaging the Avenger Knight at close range after Yu commanded Ukobach to use Agi again to weaken it again. This was after it casted Red Wall for a while to ensure Fire attacks don't hurt it, which already wore of.
"Finding a Shadow's weakness does make things easier for us." Yu stretched his feet after they executed another all-out attack.
"Now all we gotta do is take it down for the count." Chie flexed her arms for another attack.
"Okay, gotta cast all of us Sukakaja." Yosuke commanded Jiraiya to cast the skill to everyone, including himself. "Then, Tarukaja for all of us!"
After the trio received Sukaja and Tarukaja, Chie volunteered to go first and attack the Avenger Knight. "Tomoe! Give it a taste of the Skull Cracker!"
Tomoe nodded. It grabbed the Shadow by the shoulders and used a strong headbutt on it.
"Ow. That hurt..." Chie felt the sharp pain on her forehead.
The Avenger Knight couldn't attack them even if it knew that they were hostile. It felt being in a panic... Wanting to hit them, but at the same time, hesistant to do the first strike. When it did so, Yosuke was able to dodge it by jumping backwards with the help of Jiraiya.
"I'll cover ya." Yosuke moved forward. "Jiraiya! Use Dekaja on the Shadow and go for a Bash!"
Jiraiya started to move up towards the Shadow.
The Avenger Knight saw it coming and used its lance to take a stab.
Jiraiya saw it coming, sidestepped to the right and shoved the weapon aside before Jiraiya responded to the attack by punching in on its left temple.
The Shadow staggered back.
"That's for trying to giving me a shot through the heart!" Yosuke when he raised his kunais. "Man, I really felt that when that Shadow stabbed Jiraiya."
"I'm going in!"
Yosuke in the meantime commanded Jiraiya to cast Dia at everyone to make sure they're in good health.
Yu made a run towards the downed Shadow with his combat knife held in a reverse grip.
"ERRAAAHHHH!"
Before the Avenger Knight could get up, Yu got Ukobach to use Agi to further weaken it before he would stab it.
Preferable in its face.
With a quick motion, the knife's blade was used to stab the Shadow in the face. It seemed to squirm under it, wanting to get away. But the more it did so, the more Yu dug the blade down until it stopped moving.
More stabs were done at the face and neck just to make sure it's dead.
"I don't know if it's either me or Narukami is getting way too gung ho about fighting Shadows." Chie was a bit scared about Yu fighting the Shadow.
"Yeah..." Yosuke had the same idea. "It's like he's some kind of lone guy who's fighting them since the dawn of time."
The Shadow dissolved, not leaving its body behind.
However, a glass key was seen on the ground.
"Is that... a key?" Chie ran up to the center of the room, looking at the key on the ground.
"Looks like it." Yosuke knelt next to it and picked it up with his right hand. "It's really made out of glass."
"Can't help but reminds me of that Cinderalla story." Yu mused when he also looked at the key Yosuke picked up.
The voice of Yukiko was heard in the room after Yosuke got the key.
"If you really are my Prince, then we'll surely meet again."
What's that coming from? Yu looked around to see if another Shadow was present.
"I am but a trapped soul... I can't leave this place even if I wished."
"We gotta save her..." Chie was about to rush out when Yosuke grabbed her from behind.
"Cool your jets, Chie! Take it easy!"
"I don't sense her anymore." Teddie spoke to Yu to report.
"Thanks." Yu then turned to face Yosuke and Chie, the former making the latter face him. "Look, Yosuke and I know that the next step we need to do is to explore the rest of the floor and bust Yukiko out of here. But how are we going to keep doing it if we're exhausted from fighting the Shadows?"
Yu inhaled and exhaled just to emphasize his position.
"Come to think of it... I'm beat." Yosuke hunched a bit, putting his hands in front of his knees while gripping his kunais.
"All right. I admit, I'm starting to get beat too." Chie nodded, feeling dejected that she was overruled.
"For now, we get more supplies. Perhaps we can get better equipment to dump here with Teddie as an interim solution." Yu said while offering a solution to find a way out of carrying their way covertly in public.
"Good idea." Yosuke nodded when he heard Yu. "We'll need to check on the weather too."
"One favor guys." Chie raised up her hand. "Can we take the time to take it easy when we leave? I dunno if we can run."
After they took some time to catch their breath, Yosuke told the others that he'll keep the key at his place until they're going back to the dungeon.
As they walked down the floors and about to leave the dungeon, they also talked about keeping an ear open if the police or local government is going to make any moves in the wake of Yukiko going missing.
In the meantime, the trio parted way from Junes to prepare for the next few days.
Yu Narukami's Temp Room
Dojima Residence, Residential District, Yasoinaba, Nakakoma, Yamanashi, Japan
Yu and Nanako had wrapped up dinner for the night. Ryotaro told them that he has no choice but to stay at the station until 11:30 at night due to business. He told Yu to lock up the house for the meantime until he gets back.
Figures. Looks like the prefectural police's getting into a bind if uncle has no choice on the matter with working with the case.
Before he could check his things to see if any homework needs to be done, he received an incoming SMS message.
He looked at the screen and saw a familiar name on the contact list.
Need to talk. Are you free? Need to talk to someone from the agency. Please don't contact your superiors.
Meet me at the hill.
Saki.
It's that officer from Makurazaka. I was sure that the Center worked the case with... that girl on that fake urban legend. Wonder what Saki wants?
While getting the PORTAL app running to get a portal open to the city after getting his smartphone, Yu grabbed the same clothes (and boots) he wore back in Ueno. A balaclava was pocketed for later use. He even wore his
Once Yu was dressed, he entered the portal in the closet.
He left a note on the front door of the temp room that he's going to be busy and no one should disturb him.
Some hill somewhere in Makurazaka City, Aichi, Japan
Yu emerged out of a portal, already having his softshell jacket on.
Since no one was on the hill, he took the time to wear the balaclava over his head.
He then heard someone walking up the hill. While wearing it, he turned his head to the right and saw a familiar woman taking up her bicycle up.
"Souji-san." Saki was glad to see a familiar person.
Even if said person wore a mask.
"We need to talk."
"I though the Steel Lady Nanase case was jointly resolved by Kotoko Iwanaga and the Center." Yu crossed his arms when he faced her. "That fake urban legend should be done and Rikka Sakuragawa is in hiding."
"I need to talk about someone else." Saki said when she moved closer to him.
Please don't tell me.
"It's about what happened in Ueno."
I don't like where this is going.
"I'm not sure if I'm at liberty to say something since it's an ongoing investigation..."
"Let me finish." Saki raised her hand. "I heard some rumors of something going on in Yamanashi Prefecture with some of my colleagues and superiors. Something about the murders going on in Yasoinaba."
"I'm all ears." Yu said, looking at her while keeping his face hidden by balaclava. "But it depends on what you have to say..."
Chapter 7 END
PS - This chapter is now live. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Let me know when you review. As usual, appreciate any feedback/criticism/checks on any mistakes I made or something I may have overlooked when doing the chapter.
I need to list down the Personas Yu currently has for reference as of this chapter:
* Izanagi
* Pixie
* Angel
* Sandman
* Ukobach
Same goes with items:
* Goho-M (x3)
* Revival Beads (x4)
* Peach Seeds (x5)
* Soul Drops (x5)
While we're at it, I want to dedicate this chapter to Kirby Morrow as he passed away. I mostly heard him through the Gundams when I moved to Canada at the time they aired there before I relocated (again) to the Philippines.
Also had to get creative on how Yu can see the Personas he currently has. Can't do it like in the game though. Also had to shorten the fight of the Avenger Knight to get things moving to the Shadow Yukiko fight. Not sure if I was bombastic in writing it.
One thing, Adachi foreshadowing. If you haven't played the game/watched the anime before you read this chapter, then what the heck are you doing? Come back later when you know more about it.
After this, expect some timeskips.
PPS - Please don't send reviews saying "Move category to proper area". I'm aware and I'll get to it.