A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 4- The Golden Apostle! I don't have all that much to say this time around, so let's go ahead and make with the disclaimer to get it out of the way. So here's the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I, sithlorde1988, do not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form (excluding the OCs Ryuroni, Hikari Kusanagi II, Hikari Kusanagi III, Koushiro, Yamato, Takeru, Rosie, Gaignun, Slim, Sage, Lily, Kusano, Ace, Marisa, and any other OCs/OC Personas that appear in the story, all of which were created by, and thus belong to, me), and the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus and Sega, as well as the various other companies that were involved with the spinoffs (whether those spinoffs be Persona 5 Strikers, Persona 5 Tactica, Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, the 'Dancing' games, or the 'Q' games, or even Persona 5: The Phantom X), all of whom know who they are and receive the appropriate creative/ownership credit that is due to them. I just am using these characters to write this story, and do not intend to make any profit off of it whatsoever.
There we go, one disclaimer done and dusted! That being said, this chapter will probably have the start of the dungeon for this Arc in it, and if it doesn't, then that'll be in the next chapter for sure. Also, I'll probably have a longer A/N after the chapter where I talk about stuff, so keep reading after the chapter if you want to read that. Otherwise, let's get the show on the road! Here's chapter 11!
Chapter 11: Enter Tatsumi! Of Rank-Ups, Stakeouts, and More! Tatsumi's Bathhouse part 3
(Current in-game date: 5/12/2011. In a classroom at Yasogami High after school, with Yu)
After mulling his plans over, Yu headed to the Shopping District to check the vending machines, and when he saw that they'd refilled, he spent most of his remaining on-hand cash to load up on SP items from them. Afterwards, he made his way to the Shrine on a whim, figuring he could see if the fox from before was there. Once he was at the shrine, Yu ensured no one was around before he spoke up.
"Are you there, Mister Mysterious Ninja Fox?" Yu called out, looking up in time to see the fox from before do a ninja-worthy leap from the roof of the main building and land in front of him gracefully, another ema in his mouth with a wish on it, which Yu accepted and read it.
"Hm, this time the handwriting is mostly made up of rounded characters. Did a young girl write this? In any case, this says 'I want things to go well with the person I like!' I see. I take it that you want me to try and fulfill this wish like I did the last one, then?" Yu asked the fox, who howled once in affirmation and then walked over towards the offertory box, making Yu blink in understanding as he spoke up.
"I get what's going on here. You think that if wishes are fulfilled, more money will be added to the offertory box. Is that right?" Yu asked as the fox howled once in the affirmative, making Yu smile as he spoke up.
"Well, I see no reason to not accept this request. So if I need to fulfill some requests to help you out, then that's just what I'll do. Leave it to me, Mister Mysterious Shrine Fox." Yu said to the fox, who yipped once happily, though Yu could tell by the look on his face that the fox was happy. After running to the Velvet Room to grab a Strength Persona, which he needed, Yu headed back to the school to hit up soccer practice. On his way, he noticed a female student standing near the shoe lockers that hadn't been there when he left. His curiosity piqued, Yu approached the girl and spoke up.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you not there when I left the school a few minutes ago?" Yu asked uncertainly as the female student gasped and spoke up.
"Ahhhhhh! Wh-What?" The female student asked as Yu spoke up.
"I was asking why you were standing there. You can tell me to mind my own business if you'd rather not speak of it, but I was curious." Yu said. The female student spoke up with a nod.
"No, it's fine. Oh, you're the transfer student, Yu Narukami, right? Wait, hold on. Yu Narukami? Oh, I-I must have made a mistake! This is your shoe box!" The female student said before she ran off with an embarrassed look on her face. Yu shrugged as he watched the female student flee, noting idly that she was cute enough, but not really his type, since he tends to not like the overly skittish girls. A small bit of skittishness is adorable, but when it's over the top? Not so much. After shaking his head to get rid of his sudden tangent, Yu blinked as he noticed something had been placed into his shoe box. On closer inspection, Yu realized it was a note, reading it out of curiosity. It read as thus:
'Excuse me for writing this to you out of the blue. I held my emotions back all this time because I didn't want to disrupt your studies, but I just had to tell you something. I love you!' The note read, and Yu noted as he looked it over that it wasn't even addressed to him, but to someone else. Yu then concluded that the girl must have put the note in the wrong shoe box, presumably because Yu had startled her when he spoke up.
Yu then idly wondered if this girl could've been the one who wrote the ema the fox had shown him a few minutes ago, especially since the writing on the note was similar to the writing on the ema. Curiosity piqued, Yu decided he should talk to the girl the next time he ran across her. After a moment, Yu found Daisuke and Kou hanging near the classrooms on the second floor and approached them before speaking up.
"Hanging around here again, eh Nagase-san and Ichijo-san?" Yu asked as Daisuke turned to him and spoke up.
"Something like that. Yo, Narukami. Going to practice?" Daisuke asked as Yu nodded and spoke up.
"Yep. That is the plan. I have little else going on this afternoon, so I figured I should show up to practice since I have the afternoon free." Yu said agreeably. Daisuke grinned and spoke up.
"All right, that's what I like to hear! Let's go." Daisuke said as he accompanied Yu to soccer practice after saying goodbye to Kou...
(A short time later, on the Yasogami High practice field, with Yu)
Yu attended soccer practice, as he had said he would. As a result, he felt more motivated that before, netting him an unseen boost to his Diligence. After practice was over, one of the other soccer players turned to Yu and spoke up.
"Hey Narukami, you're on cleanup duty today too, alright?" The soccer player said as he left with the rest of the team before Yu could do more than blink. After they were all out of earshot, Yu sighed and made to start cleaning up, only for Daisuke to run up at the last second and speak up.
"Again!? Damn them. Well, whatever. We were able to do it once, so we can do it again. But before we do any cleaning, though, let's work on your dribbling!" Daisuke said as Yu nodded agreeably, liking the idea of getting extra practice in. Before he could verbally reply to Daisuke, Kou walked over and spoke up.
"Yo! You guys haven't even started? Oh well, it is what it is. So, you want me to toss balls at you or something?" Kou asked as Daisuke frowned and spoke up.
"That's not it, Kou! This isn't tennis, dude. Go stand over there and play some defense." Daisuke said as Kou nodded and spoke up.
"Defense, you say? Okay, no problem! You should see me on a basketball court." Kou said confidently. *1*
After Kou finished speaking, Yu smiled as he noted that Daisuke and Kou were helping him practice again, just as they had before. Yu then felt he could sense their consideration towards him. At that point, the 'Strength' card appeared in his mind's eye, the Roman numeral 'II' on the top becoming a Roman numeral 'III' to signify that his 'Strength' Social Link with Kou and Daisuke had reached Rank 3. Afterwards, a pair of female students ran out onto the field, both brunettes, though one girl had darker brown hair than the other. The brunette with lighter brown hair spoke up while looking at Daisuke.
"Uh, um, hey, D-Daisuke-kun! Practice is over, right? D-Do you wanna, um, I dunno, hang out or something?" The lighter-haired brunette female student asked as Daisuke frowned at her and spoke up.
"Does it look like I'm done practicing? See ya." Daisuke said as the lighter-haired brunette female student spoke up in surprise.
"Huh? Oh, uh, I guess you're not done. I'm sorry. Would you mind if I waited for you? Am I in the way?" The lighter-haired brunette female student said as Daisuke sighed and spoke up, not seeing the horrified looks that Yu, Kou, and the darker-haired brunette female student exchanged with one another, nor the horrified look that was on the face of the lighter-haired brunette female student, at what he said next.
"Yes, I would mind, as it turns out. And yes, you are in the way. We need to concentrate." Daisuke said before turning to Yu as he kept speaking, not even bothering to look at the lighter-haired brunette female student as he spoke.
"C'mon, Narukami, let's get going!" Daisuke said as Yu blinked while Daisuke walked off, leaving Kou to try and cheer up the shocked-looking brunette female students.
"H-Hey, don't mind him. He's got soccer on the brain, y'know?" Kou said, though his pleas fell on deaf ears as the lighter-haired brunette female student ran off crying, leaving the darker-haired brunette female student to sigh as she walked off after her friend. After the girls were gone, Kou looked at Yu and spoke up.
"What's his problem, all of a sudden?" Kou asked as Yu could only shrug, unsure of the answer to that question himself. Kou then chuckled as he kept speaking.
"Heh, I guess it's not important. Well? Are we gonna get started?" Kou asked as Yu nodded and the two walked off to join Daisuke who led Yu through an intense practice with his usual cry of 'OK! Let's put some fight into this!'. Afterwards, Yu cleaned up the field with Kou and Daisuke's help, prompting him to thank them for their help before heading home to the Dojima residence for the evening...
(That evening, in the lower level of the Dojima residence, with Yu, Ryotaro, and Nanako)
As soon as Yu walked into the living room, he was only slightly surprised to see Ryotaro seated at the table reading a paper, though he was less surprised to see Nanako watching TV on a cushion on the other side of the room. After hearing the door open and close, both Nanako and Ryotaro looked up in time to see Yu walk in, the latter speaking up with a smile.
"Ah, you're home. Welcome back, Yu." Ryotaro said as Nanako spoke up.
"Welcome home, Big Bro! Oh yeah, before I forget? I went shopping today, so the fridge is full of food." Nanako said as Yu nodded and spoke up.
"I see. Thank you for the heads-up, Nanako. That's very responsible and reliable of you." Yu said kindly as Nanako beamed at Yu's praise before Ryotaro spoke up.
"Hey, can I have a word with you?" Ryotaro asked Yu, who nodded and spoke up.
"Yeah, what's up, Dojima-san?" Yu asked as Ryotaro spoke up.
"I'll be blunt. Do you go to Junes a lot?" Ryotaro said as Yu spoke up.
"Very often. But then, I figure that's to be expected, given I'm friends with the son of the person who manages the Inaba branch of Junes." Yu said as Nanako had to stop herself from squealing in surprise at what Yu had said before speaking up.
"Really!? Yosuke's dad manages the Inaba branch of Junes? I had no idea. That's so cool!" Nanako said as Ryotaro spoke up.
"It is neat, yes. But there's more to life than Junes, Nanako." Ryotaro rebuked Nanako, who shrugged and went back to watching TV, seemingly oblivious to Ryotaro's rebuke of her. After that, Ryotaro turned to Yu and kept speaking.
"Anyways, Nanako's small little outburst aside, I was going to mention how that ass Adachi keeps vanishing every now and again. I figure he's probably slacking off around Junes whenever he does vanish. Anyways, if you see him hanging around when you're at Junes, he's probably goofing around. So if you see Adachi when you're hainging out at Junes, tell him off for me, okay?" Ryotaro said as Yu nodded and recalled that he might have seen Adachi in the food court a couple of times before. Yu then noted that the next time he goes to Junes, he should be on the lookout for Adachi, in case he might be slacking off there.
Afterwards, Yu checked the fridge, having been intrigued by Nanako going shopping, noticing that there were ingredients in the fridge to make himself lunch for tomorrow. After mulling it over, Yu decided to try his hand at making lunch. After checking the fridge, Yu was surprised to discover that there were ingredients in the fridge to make meat stew, deciding to make that. After a bit of work, Yu had it down to the point that he only had to simmer it for it to be done.
After thinking it over, Yu decided to simmer it with a drop lid, which fortunately was in the kitchen. After doing so, Yu eventually took a sniff, smiling as he noted that the ingredients have been deliciously cooked to completion. Yu then decided that it came out perfectly, since it looked so amazing. As a result, he got some 'Long-Simmered Meat Stew' that he put away for tomorrow's lunch. After cleaning up his workspace and doing the dishes, Yu went to bed for the evening...
(The following day, at lunchtime, in a classroom with Yu)
As he sat in class, Yu recalled that he'd brought his lunch to school that day. After thinking it over, Yu decided to invite Daisuke to lunch, in part as a thank-you for all the help Daisuke had been giving him at practice recently, and in-part because he felt like sharing a meal with him. After a bit, Yu ended up meeting up with Daisuke and Kou on the school rooftop, where both Kou and Daisuke enjoyed Yu's cooking with Yu. Afterwards, Daisuke spoke up with a smile on his face.
"This is good! Delicious, even! I didn't know you could cook. Got enough for seconds? My stomach's a bottomless pit!" Daisuke said as Yu simply nodded before speaking up.
"I think so, but if I do, it's only enough for seconds. And unfortunately, I'm not sure I'll have enough for both you and Ichijo-san to have seconds, Nagase-san." Yu said honestly as Kou smiled and spoke up.
"That's fine, Narukami. Daisuke needs the food worse than I do anyways." Kou said as Daisuke nodded agreeably, yellow music notes going up over his head as a result of how much he enjoyed his lunch with Yu, who nodded in satisfaction when he noted that his relationship with Daisuke is good to rank up again at his convenience. Afterwards, the trio dispersed to get to classes...
(That day, after school, in a classroom with Yu)
After school let out, Yu decided to ponder his options. After a bit, Yu decided to go to Junes and see if he could find Adachi, as Ryotaro had requested. As he left the classroom, Yu noticed a blunette-haired female student facing away from him, though Yu recognized her posture and realized this was the same girl he'd talked to the other day. Deciding that this was a good chance to follow up on the letter he'd found, Yu approached her and spoke up.
"Hello. I think you dropped a letter in my shoebox by mistake?" Yu asked the blunette female student, who turned to Yu in surprise and spoke up on hearing his voice.
"Oh, I remember you. You're the guy who startled me by the shoe lockers the other day. Yu Narukami, isn't it?" The blunette-haired female student said as Yu knew in that moment this was the girl who had mistakenly put a love letter inside his shoe box. Before Yu could verbally reply to what she'd said, the blunette-haired female student blinked and kept speaking.
"Wait, you said I dropped a letter in your shoebox? Umm, D-Did you read my letter?" The blunette female student asked as Yu nodded and spoke up.
"That's right. I'm sorry, but I got curious when I saw it in my shoe locker and read it. I apologize for violating your privacy like that." Yu said honestly. The blunette-haired female student gasped and spoke up.
"WHAT!? H-H-How could you!? You jerk! I didn't even have the courage to sign it, and yet a totally random person now knows my secret! This is so, so, ARGH! What's the point of trying to be secretive any more!? I've already embarrassed myself this much. I might as well go confess! How do you like that!?" The blunette female student said as Yu smiled and spoke up.
"I like that you figured that out on your own, if nothing else. Good luck with your crush." Yu said as the blunette female student huffed and ran off without another word, leaving Yu to decide that if he saw her again, he'd ask her how her confession went. After deciding that, Yu decided to check around Junes for Adachi, recalling Ryotaro having asked him to do so the night before. On getting to Junes, Yu nearly immediately spotted Adachi standing by himself in the corner of the entrance of Junes. Curiosity piqued by Adachi's rather blatant display of idling, Yu walked over and spoke up.
"On a break, Adachi-san? Dojima-san hinted I might find you here. Looks like he was right on the money in that guess." Yu said as Adachi blinked in surprise on hearing Yu's voice before speaking up.
"Huh? Who the-Oh. It's you. Dojima-san's nephew, right?" Adachi asked as Yu nodded and spoke up.
"Correct. In case I didn't introduce myself before, my name is Yu Narukami." Yu said politely. Adachi nodded and spoke up.
"I see. So what's the matter? Were you here to introduce yourself properly? Or was there something I can help you with?" Adachi asked as Yu spoke up honestly.
"Truth be told? Dojima-san hinted that you slip off this way to slack off at times, so I decided to see the truth of that for myself. Not surprisingly, Dojima-san was right on the money when he said that. But in all seriousness, he sent me to see if you were slacking off." Yu said honestly. Adachi's eyes widened at this as he spoke up.
"R-Really!? D-Dojima-san!? This sucks! Well, obviously, I'm working here. It's easy to investigate here with all the people around." Adachi said as Yu spoke up dryly.
"Right, all four of the people currently here, and two of them are too busy with their jobs to pay us any attention. Doesn't seem very conducive to an investigation to me." Yu said as Adachi frowned and spoke up.
"Perhaps, but it's still cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. It's a pretty good place to come if you need a bit of a break from things. Not that I expect you to be unaware of that, given you're friends with the son of the guy who runs this branch of Junes." Adachi said as Yu arched an eyebrow and spoke up warily.
"Oh? I wasn't aware you were so informed of the particulars of my life, Adachi-san?" Yu asked dryly as Adachi blanched at the look on Yu's face and spoke up.
"Eh? Oops! Yeah, I think I've said enough!" Adachi said as Yu chuckled, noting that it seemed as if Adachi was slacking off for whatever reason. Yu knew Ryotaro wanted him to tell Adachi to quit slacking off, but part of Yu felt bad a bit for Adachi, so he decided to throw him a bone in this instance as he spoke up.
"That's fair. Technically, I'm supposed to tell you to quit disappearing to slack off, but that can wait. If you're not adverse to company, I'll hang out with you too. That way, you can be telling Dojima-san the truth when you say you weren't slacking off if he asks." Yu offered. Adachi blinked at this in surprise and spoke up.
"Oh? You'll hang out with me? That's a little strange." Adachi said as Yu chuckled and spoke up.
"Says the guy who slips off a lot to 'investigate' stuff at Junes. But I can't say that I blame you for wanting to come here. Junes is a pretty good place if you give it a chance." Yu said kindly as Adachi smiled and spoke up with a nod.
"Fair enough. So what are you doing here? Killing time? If so, that's kinda tough to do out here in the sticks, isn't it? There's nothing here. It's not like the city at all." Adachi said as Yu spoke up with a smile.
"You can say that again. There isn't a lot to do around here. But if you're creative enough, you can probably make your own fun around here." Yu said offhandedly, hoping to try and ease Adachi into having a more positive opinion of Inaba, at least to an extent. Adachi smirked at that and spoke up.
"Yeah, you're right. I knew you'd understand. You're from the city too, right?" Adachi asked as Yu nodded and spoke up.
"That's right. Before I moved here, I used to live out in Kichijoji, which is a ways from here. Then again, it's not like I'm a stranger to moving, with how often my parents have to go off the grid for 'work reasons', as they put it. Just in the past five or so years alone, this is at least the third time I've had to relocate for a time. First I had to live in Yongen-Jaya for a short time about four years ago, then I had to go live in Shinjuku for a couple of months about two years ago, and now I'm here living in Inaba for a year. So I'm no stranger to relocating for a time." Yu said as Adachi spoke up with a nod.
"So it would seem. Anyways, get this-my first assignment here was tracking down a cat. My suit got so dirty from having to climb a tree to get it down, after which I got clawed pretty fiercely while getting the cat down, and on top of all that? They wouldn't let me expense the dry cleaning bill! Next, I played peacemaker in a spat some married couple was having. I can't believe they've got the police doing that stuff." Adachi said as Yu nodded, mentally noting that Adachi seems quite unsatisfied with country life for the most part. Yu then spoke up.
"Hmm. That sucks. Sounds like you have it pretty rough at times, Adachi-san." Yu said understandingly as Adachi nodded and spoke up.
"You're not wrong, Narukami-san. But despite my complaints, it's been more dangerous lately, so I can't kick back. There's that one case, y'know? It's still not solved yet. The higher-ups don't know what to do. They keep changing procedure on the fly with little to no warning." Adachi said as Yu spoke up with a surprised look on his face.
"Oh? Sounds to me like they're trying to catch someone unawares. But that is rather unusual, to be sure." Yu said as Adachi blanched and spoke up.
"Hm? O-Oh, sorry! Oops! I hope I'm not making you nervous. You guys have nothing to worry about, you know. Us police are on the job!" Adachi said confidently as Yu blinked at this, privately thinking that they weren't THAT on the job if a group of inexperienced teenagers are having better luck working the murders than a bunch of fully-trained officers, also noting with a smirk that Adachi genuinely seems to at least somewhat care for him. At that moment, Yu felt as if he could understand Adachi a bit more than he could before. At that moment, a shattering sound echoed in Yu's mind as the expected voice spoke up.
"Thou art I, Yu Narukami. And I am thou, just as surely as thou art I. Thou hast established a new bond with the one you call Adachi. It brings thee closer to the truth that thou seekest. Make the most of this 'Jester' Social Link you have cultivated with Adachi, and thou shalt surely be blessed when creating Personas of the Jester Arcana during fusions." Yu heard in his head and at that moment, a new card appeared in his mind, similar to the ones he'd seen before.
However, where most of the other cards Yu had seen were darker blue around the edges, this card was a lighter shade of blue with white accents along the edges and border, and a dark blue '0' was engraved on the bottom inside a good-sized half-circle. In the middle of the card was a purple framed backdrop with a golden yellow circle surrounded by a black border, with a blue water-like stream going through the middle of the circle in a diagonal line and what appeared to be a black clown-like figure posing in a goofy fashion with what appeared to be a staff in its right hand, and birds flying around in the background.
To complete the card, a smaller purple half-circle appeared near the top of the card, this one with a Roman numeral 'I' engraved in small black font to signify that Yu's newly-forged 'Jester' Social Link with Adachi had reached Rank 1. Afterwards, Adachi kept speaking, drawing Yu from his musings about the oddity of having forged a Social Link with, of all people, his uncle's co-worker.
"Well, y'know, as nice as chatting with you has been, it's time for me to get back to work." Adachi said as Yu nodded his understanding, just as the sound of doors opening and closing were heard, and Adachi shocked Yu by hiding behind him as an elderly lady walked out, seemed to briefly gaze in Yu's direction as if she could sense Adachi behind Yu, nod once, and walk out of Junes amid the sounds of more doors opening and closing. Once she was out of sight, Adachi came out from behind Yu and spoke up sheepishly.
"Phew that was close, wasn't it?" Adachi said as Yu spoke up.
"True. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you didn't want that old woman to see you, Adachi-san. You can tell me to mind my own business if I'm crossing a line, but why were you hiding behind me?" Yu asked as Adachi spoke up.
"That's on a need-to-know basis, Narukami-san, and you don't need to know, honestly. Well, I'd better go. You hurry on home, too. See ya!" Adachi said as he started leaving, turning to face Yu once more as he kept speaking.
"Oh, and I know you were here to see if I was here, but don't tell Dojima-san I was in Junes, okay?" Adachi said as Yu spoke up.
"No worries. This stays between us, as far as I'm concerned. Dojima-san only asked me to look for you, after all. He never said I had to tell him if I saw you. So as long as I found you, I did what I was asked to do, as far as I'm concerned." Yu said reassuringly as Adachi nodded gratefully and left. Once Yu watched Adachi go back to work, he then went back home for the evening, still surprised that he made a Social Link with Adachi...
(That evening, in the lower level of the Dojima residence, with Yu, Ryotaro, and Nanako)
As Yu and Nanako sat and watched the TV, they were eagerly paying attention to a documentary on the TV as Ryotaro was immersed in his usual newspaper, all three listening to the narrator on-screen that spoke up.
"Young men recklessly riding their motorcycles, disturbing the peace of a quiet rural town with their antics. And our special report took a turn for the violent when one of the apparent leaders attacked the camera crew!" The narrator said as the view cut to a young man with bleached blonde hair, a scowl on his face, even though it was hard to see through his blurred-out eyes, and the same uniform Yu wore, with the main difference being what appeared to be a bronze bullet tied to a white string around the young man's neck and resting on the front of his dark blue sweater that had a white skull on the front, as he spoke up.
"The hell are you punks doing here!?" The young man said as Ryotaro slowly set down his newspaper, his eyes widened in what Yu surmised was recognition of the young man on the TV, and spoke up.
"That voice sounds familiar. Could it be?" Ryotaro said to himself as the young man on TV spoke up again, Yu's eyes widening at what the young man said next, surprised that Ryotaro allowed Nanako to watch such things at her age, but not commenting on it as the young man spoke.
"This ain't a show! Get bent!" The young man snapped as Ryotaro spoke up with a frown on his face.
"Still up to the same old tricks, then?" Ryotaro said as Yu and Nanako both spoke up at around the same time, the former aiming a politely confused look at Ryotaro as he spoke up.
"Same old tricks? I take it you've encountered that guy before?" Yu asked as Nanako spoke up in surprise.
"Do you know him, Dad?" Nanako asked as Ryotaro spoke up while looking at Yu.
"You could say that, Yu. But it's a long story. And to answer your question, Nanako? Mmm, well, I know him through work. His name's Kanji Tatsumi, and his mother runs a textile shop in the area, or so I hear. He's quite a handful, though. He's been crushing biker gangs in the area since middle school. But I thought he got accepted into a high school and started attending class recently. But given the fact that he's showing up on the news, I'd say not." Ryotaro said as Nanako nodded and spoke up.
"Huh. I'll take your word for it, Dad." Nanako said as she and Yu turned their attention back to the TV as Ryotaro spoke up again.
"Good. And man, that blur sure is pointless. It's completely obvious who it is." Ryotaro said as Yu spoke up.
"Maybe they figured blurring the eyes would be enough to make him impossible to identify? Granted, I agree that that's a very, err, lazy way to do a blur job. If you're gonna blur someone, at least blur their face and stuff so they're not recognizable." Yu said sagely as Ryotaro nodded and spoke up.
"Exactly, Yu! Also, to expand on what I said earlier? The guy's family runs a historic textile shop. I think what happened was that he crushed the local bikers all by himself because the noise kept his mother up at night." Ryotaro said as Yu spoke up in surprise.
"He did that for his mother!? Hmmm, he seems like a nice enough guy to me. But maybe he could be considered a case of 'don't judge a book by its cover'?" Yu mused as Ryotaro spoke up with a nod.
"Perhaps. And while I agree that what he did is a nice gesture, it doesn't change the fact that he's way too violent most of the time. At this rate, his mother'll have to apologize again." Ryotaro said as Yu arched an eyebrow at this and spoke up.
"Again? She's had to apologize for him before!?" Yu asked in surprise. Ryotaro nodded, but before he could verbally reply, Nanako spoke up, not seeing Yu have to hide a wince next to her at what he heard her say next.
"Oh, the weather report's showing on the bottom. It's going to rain tomorrow. I'll make sure to hang the laundry inside the house." Nanako said as Ryotaro nodded approvingly as the trio finished watching the report together in peace, Yu idly wondering if this report might prove relevant the next time the Midnight Channel came on. And if what Nanako said about the weather report predicting rain the next day was correct, tomorrow night could very well be the next Midnight Channel night...
(The following afternoon, after school, inside of a classroom, with Chie, Yosuke, Yu, and Yukiko)
As students started making their way out of the classroom with umbrellas in hand, Chie spoke up while looking at the window where she could see visible signs of rain outside.
"Whoa, it started raining after all, you guys! I guess the weather report was right." Chie said as she walked back over to where she, Yukiko, and Yosuke were gathered around Yu's desk, just in time to hear Yosuke speak up.
"Good point. And if it's raining right now, then that means that show's probably gonna be on tonight." Yosuke said as Yukiko frowned and spoke up.
"True. Still, I hope we don't see anyone on that show, especially anyone we know." Yukiko said uneasily. Yosuke nodded and spoke up.
"Yeah, that'd definitely be the best-case scenario, not seeing anyone on the TV. But if we do, maybe we'll seem some kinda clue that can point us toward the killer if we're lucky." Yosuke said as the group nodded and Chie spoke up.
"Well everyone, don't forget to check your TV tonight! Got it?" Chie said as Yu, Yosuke, and Yukiko nodded, the former noting that it seems to be another rainy night, idly wondering what, if anything, might be seen on the Midnight Channel that evening. On that note, the group dispersed for the evening, heading straight home, Yu deciding to take the scenic route on a whim...
(That evening, in the lower level of the Dojima residence, with Yu and Nanako)
As Yu came back inside, Nanako looked up on hearing the door open and close, smiling as she saw Yu walk into the house, waiting until he was in the living room before speaking up.
"Oh! You're home. Welcome home!" Nanako said as Yu nodded and spoke up after walking over towards where Nanako was watching TV.
"Yep, I'm home. I got home slightly earlier than normal since it was raining out. But how was your day?" Yu asked as Nanako spoke up.
"Good enough, all things considered. Oh, and listen to this. 'Biker gangs stopped by a local hero.' Those words sound kind of cool together, don't you think?" Nanako asked as Yu spoke up.
"They do, but you're only six and a half, Nanako. I doubt you have any reason to worry about biker gangs, let alone find them cool. Biker gangs are usually just a bunch of punks trying to cause trouble. Certainly, they're the type of people I'd protect you from if I had to." Yu said bluntly as Nanako nodded approvingly before returning to her TV show as Yu decided to make himself a quick meal before going up to wait for the Midnight Channel. After getting comfortable in his pajamas, Yu had a seat on the sofa in his room to wait for midnight, eventually getting up to look out the window and confirm that it was in fact raining that night.
Afterwards, Yu idly wondered if something would appear on TV that night, as the conditions for a Midnight Channel broadcast were currently being met. After closing the curtains on his window, Yu noticed it was just about midnight, turning to face his TV just as it switched on in time to show a silhouette appearing on TV as the Midnight Channel came on. Yu couldn't see much of the figure clearly, but the build and stature indicated it was a man this time, presumably a high schooler, and that they appeared to be wearing a coat on their shoulders.
Past that, Yu could discern little else to indicate who was on the TV this time, though he did have a vague suspicion based on what he'd seen earlier that evening on the news. Yu also noted that with the image as unfocused as it was, it was damn near impossible to make out who it is on the screen. At that point, the TV turned off, leaving a perplexed Yu to pull out his phone and call Yosuke, who immediately answered after a ring or two.
"Oh, it's you! I was just about to call your cell! So, what do you think? That was a guy, wasn't it?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up with a nod.
"Definitely. The screen made it pretty damn hard to tell WHO it is, but there's no doubt it was a man that was on the TV this time. I have my theories on who it might be though, mostly based on what I saw on the news with Dojima-san and Nanako right before this." Yu said as Yosuke spoke up.
"Good point, partner. The unfocusedness of the initial images doesn't help us out one bit. Still, I wish I could tell what he looked like from that image, though it DID look like he was wearing a coat over his shoulders? I dunno. Either way, let's get together and talk more about it tomorrow!" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.
"Got it. Guess I'd better turn in early so we can all meet up nice and early for brainstorming." Yu said, waiting for Yosuke to give an affirmative response before he hung up the phone, deciding to get turned in for the evening...
(The following day, in the food court of Junes, with Yu, Chie, Yosuke, and Yukiko)
After the group was seated around the food court, Yosuke cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Ahem, we will now hold a meeting on our investigation of the serial kidnapping-slash-murder case here in Inaba." Yosuke said as Chie spoke up with a frown.
"Dude, take a breath!" Chie said as Yu spoke up.
"You're not wrong that he could take a pause to breathe, but at the same time? Is it really the wisest idea to broadcast that we're investigating the case? I'm pretty sure the police wouldn't take too kindly to it if they knew we were trying to basically do their job for them." Yu pointed out so only the three around him could hear as Yukiko spoke up with a smile on her face.
"That's a good point, Yu. We should be more discreet about mentioning our investigation, just in case. Oh, but wait. If we're doing an investigation and meeting here to discuss it, does that make this place our special headquarters?" Yukiko asked as Yosuke nodded approvingly and spoke up.
"Yes! Exactly! Nicely put, Yukiko." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up in a deadpan tone.
"Great, so our special headquarters is the food court of Junes. Why does this feel like one of those 'so crazy and dumb, it just might work' sorts of plans to me?" Yu deadpanned, getting amused giggles from Chie and Yukiko, the former of which spoke up.
"You have a point, Yu. Still, you can't deny there's a certain appeal to using Junes as a headquarters for our investigation. Also, the words 'Special headquarters'? I dunno why, but they sure do have a nice ring to them. But maybe that's just me that feels that way?" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up with a nod.
"I think we all feel that way, Chie. Yu was just being the voice of reason, that's all. Anyways, as for what was on last night during the Midnight Channel." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up, looking mostly at Yukiko and Chie as he spoke.
"Did you ladies watch the show last night?" Yu asked kindly. Yukiko and Chie both nodded as the latter spoke up.
"We did. I called Yukiko about it afterwards. But I saw it too!" Chie said as Yukiko spoke up with a nod.
"I can confirm I saw it too. Still, I'm shocked that there actually is a Midnight Channel." Yukiko said as Chie spoke up.
"Right. Anyways, I couldn't get a good view of the person's face, but it was a guy, wasn't it?" Chie said as Yu spoke up.
"Never mind their face, their stature and posture made it pretty damn clear that it was a man, probably a young man of around our age, given he seemed like a high-schooler to me." Yu said as Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko nodded agreeably, the latter speaking up.
"I see. So that's how I looked on TV, then?" Yukiko asked as Yu winced and spoke up.
"No, not exactly. You looked a good bit more feminine than this guy, for starters. Also, your kimono was still distinctly visible in your case, even if you were mainly a silhouette at first." Yu pointed out as Yosuke spoke up.
"Yu is right. Also, we've not seen the clearer image for this guy yet, so his might be different than yours was, and yours was pretty distinctive." Yosuke pointed out as Yukiko spoke up with an unreadable look on her face, oblivious to Yu looking over her and Chie's casual outfits, which were a green and yellow jacket, a white and grey T-shirt, a blue and black short skirt, and green and white boots for Chie.
In contrast to Chie, Yukiko wore a red knee-length long-sleeve dress, what appeared to be a bib across the front of the upper dress, and a red neckerchief tied around her neck and tilted to the side, along with brown nylon leggings and black heels, as well as her usual red hairband. Despite himself, Yu had to admit that even in casual wear, Yukiko was always the dressier of the two girls currently in the Investigation team. But he was shaken from his musings when he heard Yukiko speak.
"I had a distinctive clearer image, hm? Wait a moment. Didn't all the victims have one thing in common? That they were females with ties to the first incident?" Yukiko asked as Yosuke nodded and spoke up.
"Correct. That's what we thought at the time, anyways. But we still don't know who exactly we saw." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up with a nod.
"Exactly, Yosuke. Mind you, this is only the second case we've actually tracked with the Midnight Channel, since we were unaware of it for the first two victims, those being the announcer lady and Konishi-senpai. So it could be that the Midnight Channel images and shows vary from person to person, as Teddie theorized before." Yu pointed out as Yukiko nodded and spoke up.
"That makes a lot of sense, actually. And in my case, the image on the Midnight Channel changed after I was kidnapped, right?" Yukiko asked as Yosuke spoke up with a nod, not seeing Yu's eyes narrow slightly in remembrance as Yosuke spoke.
"Yeah, the screen got clear all of a sudden and the program looked like some low-budget TV show. Come to think of it, maybe Teddie was right when he said that reality changes for people as they enter the TV world. Maybe we were seeing the other Yukiko from that world." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up darkly.
"Probably. That would explain why her remarks during her program were so jarring and shocking. Frankly, I almost didn't believe it was Yukiko I was looking at until she called herself 'Princess Yukiko'. After all, I don't think Yukiko usually makes it a point to flaunt her unmentionables and body on television like that. So I trust you'll all forgive me if it takes me a while to not cringe and instinctively glare when I have that program brought up. I'm sure Yukiko feels the same way to a point." Yu said as Yukiko nodded and spoke up.
"You're not wrong, Yu. Granted, I appreciate that you were that appalled and/or concerned for me after seeing the other me. But back on topic, last night was different. Last night, we couldn't clearly see whoever it was. Could that mean that whoever he is, he isn't inside the TV yet? If so, then maybe we have a chance here." Yukiko said as Yu nodded and spoke up.
"That makes sense, Yukiko. Furthermore, if his image isn't clear, that means that the odds are reasonably high in our favor that he's still safe, at least for now." Yu said sagely. Yukiko nodded her agreement and spoke up.
"Uh-huh, I think that's safe to assume. So, if we can figure out who he is, can we prevent him from being taken?" Yukiko asked as Yu spoke up uneasily.
"Perhaps, but this assumes we can figure out who the kidnapper is, much less HOW they're kidnapping people so easily." Yu said as Yosuke nodded and spoke up.
"Yeah, that's a good point, partner. And if we can do that, and all goes well, we might catch the killer in the bargain. Ugh, but to do THAT, we need to figure out who the latest Midnight Channel star is and reach out to them to try and warn them." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.
"We might already know, assuming you all saw that program on the news last night about biker gangs in the area that showed a certain guy whose face was blurred out as he basically cussed out the camera crew and acted very threateningly to them." Yu said as Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko nodded, the former speaking up.
"Ah, right. Yeah, forgot that was on. I don't think anyone but you saw that, Yu. Ugh, I hate to say it, but I guess we'll have to wait another night and see what happens." Yosuke said as Chie spke up for the first time in a bit after clearing her throat.
"Ahem, can I have everyone's attention? Good. Well, that means if my deductions are correct, and they probably are, though the image was hard to make out, and we can't say for sure WHO it was, it was definitely a young male. But if that's the case, it goes entirely against our prior assumptions about the culprit. And since we cannot identify the person at this time, we have no choice but to wait and see what happens!" Chie said as both Yosuke and Yu sweatdropped before speaking up simultaneously.
"Really? Your grasp of the obvious is insanely unmatched, Chie. Also, were you not paying attention to anything that was said before you spoke up?" Yu asked as Yosuke spoke up with a nod.
"Good question. Given what Chie just said, I'd assume that she was not paying attention just now, Yu. And Chie? That's EXACTLY what we just said." Yosuke said with a wince on his face as a flustered Chie spoke up.
"Shut up, Yosuke! And was that sarcasm, Yu?" Chie asked as Yu chuckled and spoke up.
"Glad you can at least pick up on that much, Chie." Yu quipped, getting chuckles from Yosuke and Yukiko, the latter of which broke out into an adorable laughing fit as she spoke up.
"Heehee, aha, ahahahaha! You're so funny, Chie! Ahahaha, oh no! M-My funny bone is being tickled!" Yukiko said around giggles as Yu and Yosuke both gave her worried looks, the former speaking up with a raised eyebrow.
"Was it really THAT funny, Yukiko?" Yu asked warily. Chie sighed and spoke up.
"Ugh. Not again. I almost forgot that you do this at times, Yukiko." Chie said as Yukiko kept lightly smacking her knee while giggling, getting a fond smile and an amused head shake from Yu as she spoke up.
"S-Sorry, heeheehee!" Yukiko said as she kept giggling, making an amused Yosuke speak up while giving a wry smirk to Yu, who he'd noticed giving Yukiko an appraising glance.
"This is how Yukiko really is, huh? How interesting. Who'd have thought?" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.
"Eh, it's not the worst thing to be overly prone to the giggles, I think. And I honestly think it's adorable that she does that, to a point." Yu said as Chie spoke up with a smirk.
"You think it's adorable, Yu? Interesting. We can talk about that another time, I think. Oh, by the way, about that guy we saw? I get the feeling I've seen him before somewhere. Pretty recently, too, at that." Chie said as Yosuke nodded and spoke up at the same time that Yukiko inexplicably got over her giggling fit, being inwardly glad that all eyes were on Yosuke and not on her, so she could hide the very subtle hints of red that had crossed her face after Yu called her laugh adorable.
"Oh, you too? Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing since last night, to be honest. Well, let's check the TV again tonight and think about it more tomorrow." Yosuke said as the other three nodded before Yu spoke up.
"Makes sense to me, partner. I still think it could be connected to that documentary that was on the news about a kid who crushed a biker gang single-handedly. I think they called him Kanji Tatsumi if I recall correctly? Either way, we'll hopefully know more for sure tonight after watching the Midnight Channel again. Preferably without some of us breaking into more of their adorable laughing fits, if possible." Yu said honestly, ignoring the amused smirks Chie and Yosuke gave him as Yukiko spoke up around her giggles.
"Heehee, you said my laughing fits are adorable. That's so amusing, Yu. Heehee." Yukiko said as an irate Chie spoke up angrily, only making Yukiko laugh harder with what she said next.
"Grrr, when are you gonna stop that, you crazy hyena!?" Chie said as both Yosuke and Yu mouthed 'hyena!?' under their breaths while Yukiko spoke up around laughter.
"Ahahaha! That's a good one, Chie!" Yukiko said as Yu and Yosuke just sweatdropped as the meeting eventually dispersed for the evening at that point...
(That evening, in the lower level of the Dojima residence, with Ryotaro, Yu, and Nanako)
As Yu came into the house after setting his shoes down at the entrance, Ryotaro looked up and spoke up as he saw Yu come in.
"Hey, welcome back, Yu." Ryotaro said as Yu nodded his appreciation of the greeting and walked over to Ryotaro and spoke up.
"Thanks. I wasn't expecting it to rain so hard on the way home, but thankfully I brought an umbrella with me, so I was able to avoid getting too wet. I miss much?" Yu asked as Ryotaro spoke up.
"Not really. Just more of that documentary we were watching last night about the biker gangs. I swear Nanako's hooked on it. And to be honest? I think all the talk about biker gangs is a bad influence on Nanako in some way. After all, I think we can agree that we'd prefer she stay on the straight and narrow, so to speak." Ryotaro said as Yu nodded his agreement, already knowing that Nanako should know better than to assume biker gangs are cool. As Yu went to go look outside to check if it was raining, Ryotaro looked up and spoke up.
"And where do you think you're going, Yu? Listen up, I'll only say this once. Maybe it's normal for kids like you to be goofing around outside at night back in the big city. But this isn't the city, Yu. It's the countryside. And your mother trusts me to keep you safe. Still, I realize that you're not a kid anymore. I just have to trust you when you're out of my sight. But even so, I can't just let you run around at night. You get me? So, that's it. Don't go wandering around at night if you don't have any reason to go out, all right?" Ryotaro said as Yu nodded and spoke up.
"That's fine. I was just checking to see how hard it was raining, but I can just do that from the window upstairs, I suppose. Sorry to make you worry, Dojima-san." Yu said as Ryotaro nodded approvingly before Yu went up to get ready for the Midnight Channel. After getting comfortable in his pajamas again, Yu checked the window, and sure enough, it was once again raining through the night. Idly, Yu wondered if the same image as before would be on the TV tonight. After closing his curtains, he turned towards his TV in time to see the Midnight channel come on, and like last night, a figure appeared!
But this time, the figure was seen swinging at an unseen attacker, allowing Yu a clearer view of the way the figure's jacket fluttered behind him like a cape of sorts. However, like last night, the figure was unfocused. Regardless, Yu still felt as if he'd seen the guy somewhere before. As he looked, Yu recalled his own words about the documentary the night before, idly wondering if the figure on TV was the guy that had been on that program. His face might have been blurred that night, but Yu recalled Ryotaro identifying the guy as Kanji Tatsumi at the time. Could that be who was on the television? Yu wasn't sure.
However, before he could muse on his tangent much longer, his cell phone rang, and he answered it.
"Hello? Yu speaking." Yu said as he recognized Yosuke's voice on the other end once he spoke up.
"Hey, it's Yosuke. Did you see that?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up with a nod.
"I sure did. It might be Kanji Tatsumi that we're looking at on the television. Y'know, the guy I mentioned seeing as part of a documentary on biker gangs? Granted, to be fair, Dojima-san had to tell me the guy's name at the time, so that's the only reason I have a possible name for us to go on." Yu said honestly. Yosuke spoke up at that point in an agreeable tone.
"Yeah, I think so too. I knew I saw him somewhere! It was on TV! He was on that special news report! Y'know, the one you said you watched with Dojima-san and Nanako-chan? Man, if it is Kanji? He's one scary dude. He was even yelling at the camera to 'Get bent!' Pretty scary, yeah?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up.
"Just a bit, yeah. Though, I have a feeling that like Yukiko, there's probably more to Kanji than meets the eye. In any case, he seems to be as good a lead as any to follow to try and get closer to solving this." Yu said with a shrug as Yosuke spoke up.
"Good point. Alright, so we finally have a lead. Let's all get together tomorrow, okay?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up.
"Sure thing, Yosuke. I was planning on that anyways." Yu said as Yosuke spoke up.
"Cool. Oh, I almost forgot something. It's kinda off-subject, but as long as you're on the line, mind if I ask you something? It's something I've been meaning to ask for a while." Yosuke said as Yu got an uneasy feeling in his gut, but spoke up.
"Sure, I don't see the harm in that. Fire away." Yu said warily as Yosuke spoke up in a more amused tone.
"Nice. To be honest, this is about the ladies in our group. So to be perfectly honest, what do you think about Yukiko and Chie? I mean, let's not mince words here. Which one's your type?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up with a sigh.
"Ugh. Yosuke, you WERE listening the other day when I said I'm not currently looking for a relationship right now, right? Besides, is now REALLY the time to talk about our love lives? But to be honest, I'm not sure either of them are my type. Sure, I might think Yukiko is cute and interesting, but I'm not entirely sure if that necessarily means I have feelings for her or anything. For all I know, I could just as easily see them both as good friends, and little else.
Besides, I feel like that'd be bad for the morale of the group if we were to start dating within the Investigation Team, even if there might be mutual feelings on both sides. So to answer your question, neither of them are really what I'm looking for right now." Yu said honestly as he told Yosuke his true feelings, feeling a bit braver afterwards, which got him an unseen increase to his Courage. After Yu was done speaking, Yosuke laughed as he spoke up.
"Hahaha! Kinda harsh, don't you think? Well, I kinda understand. You did say you wanted to be able to fully commit to it if you were going to pursue dating, and I respect that. I mean, they're great girls, but you saw their ugly sides right off, and I guess your first impression is the one that sticks." Yosuke said as Yu smirked and spoke up.
"Yeah? So by that logic, I should think of you as an accident-prone klutz who regularly manages to hurt his manhood by crashing into stuff? Which, to be fair, I don't, since I know that you're a cool guy. I was just saying that in a more hypothetical sense, if that makes any sense to you." Yu said as Yosuke chuckled and spoke up.
"Touche. I guess I deserved that. And I get what you were saying. Hey, but don't worry about it. What we just talked about is just between you and me." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up with a nod.
"Good. Glad to hear you know the meaning of the bro code, at least." Yu quipped as Yosuke laughed and spoke up.
"Heh, fair. Okay, see you tomorrow, partner." Yosuke said before he hung up the phone on his end. At that point, Yu decided to go to bed for the evening...
(The following day, after school, in a classroom with Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie, and Yu)
After the group was gathered around Yu and Chie's desks, Chie spoke up.
"Anyways, so the one who was on last night during the Midnight Channel. It's THAT guy, right you guys?" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up with a serious look on his face.
"Seems like it. Kanji Tatsumi, huh? He definitely didn't look like the social type." Yosuke said as Chie spoke up.
"Now there's an understatement. Isn't he really scary? Did you see the news special the other day?" Chie asked as Yosuke spoke up with a nod.
"Yeah, I saw it. And if we believe what he said yesterday, so did Yu. Apparently his uncle was watching it at dinner the night before last with Yu and Nanako-chan, and Yu's uncle specifically pointed Kanji out after Nanako-chan asked about who he was when he showed up on the TV." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up with a scoff.
"Yep. And to be honest with you guys? I really think that they really need to fire their special effects team, since that was probably the WORST job of covering up someone's identity that I have EVER seen! Even the half-assed job that was done trying to conceal Konishi-senpai's identity when she was on TV was better done than Tatsumi's cover up was. I bet even Teddie wouldn't have been fooled by how bad that cover-up was. Also, you left out the part where it has Nanako thinking that biker gangs are cool, much to both my detriment AND Dojima-san's. So we definitely saw that report." Yu said dryly as Yukiko spoke up.
"Yeah, that's definitely less than ideal for a little girl to think biker gangs are cool, I think. And if we're talking about the special on biker gangs? I can confirm I watched it, too. He wasn't like that when he was younger, though, if I recall correctly." Yukiko said, shocking Yu, Yosuke, AND Chie, all three of whom gave Yukiko incredulous looks as the latter spoke up in shock.
"You know him, Yukiko?" Chie asked as Yukiko nodded once and spoke up.
"Uh-huh, that's right. But we haven't talked to each other in a long time. His family runs a textile shop, and we've been a customer of theirs for many years. So I speak with Kanji-kun's mother from time to time. Oh, I know! Why don't we go there now? If we're lucky, we might be able to talk to him in person." Yukiko suggested as Yu, Yosuke, and Chie nodded, the latter speaking up.
"Sounds good. At the very least, we can ask if anything strange has come up lately. I wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley, but I'm pretty sure he won't fly off the handle at his family's store." Chie said as Yu frowned and spoke up.
"I feel like that's being a bit too presumptuous, Chie. I agree that he can be intimidating, but I feel like we shouldn't be so quick to assume the worst of him. But I do agree that we should go see what we can learn about him from this textile shop Yukiko mentioned. Though, maybe let's not use the word 'strange' around him just in case. I feel like he might take offense to that somehow." Yu said as Yosuke nodded and spoke up.
"Good thinking, Yu. Alright, then let's get going, if we're all agreed." Yosuke said as everyone nodded and Chie spoke up.
"Fair enough. But if things get rough, we're counting on you guys!" Chie said as Yu spoke up.
"Understandable. Yosuke and I have you guys' backs, though." Yu said as the group decided to go to Kanji Tatsumi's house to have a chat with him...
(A short time later, inside of a textile shop inside the northern Shopping District, with Chie, Yukiko, Yu, and Yosuke)
As the group entered into the shop Yukiko had identified as 'Tatsumi Textiles', which was a modest little shop filled with various fabrics, displays, and even a few stuffed animals and stuff, and even a poster of Misuzu Hiiragi in the background, they saw a smiling elderly woman sitting on her knees while looking at a short haired young man wearing mostly blue, including a blue and silver belt on the back of his jean jacket, though his pants were more of a sea blue with black stripes., and he had dark blue shoes. Yukiko spoke up to draw the attention of the conversing duo to the group.
"Hello." Yukiko said, drawing the attention of the elderly lady onto her as she spoke up.
"Ah, Yuki-chan. it's so nice to see you." The elderly lady said as the slender young man standing near her spoke up, somehow not having heard Yukiko and thus not turning around to see the group behind him as he spoke.
"Well then, if you'll excuse me, Ma'am." The slender young man said as the elderly lady nodded and spoke up.
"Of course. I'm sorry that I couldn't help more." The elderly lady said with a wan smile as the slender young man spoke up with a smile of his own.
"It's all right, ma'am. You've given me plenty to think about. Thank you." The slender young man said, turning to see the group, only giving them a curt nod before turning and walking out of the shop without a further word. After he was gone, Yosuke spoke up in surprise, not seeing Yu frowning in thought next to him as he spoke, having been sizing up the slender young man.
"What's up with him, I wonder? Weirdo." Yosuke said as Chie shrugged and spoke up.
"I dunno. Never seen him before." Chie said as Yu spoke up.
"Me either. But I feel like we shouldn't forget that guy, since I have a sense we might end up re-encountering him again at some point. But that's just a gut instinct I'm getting." Yu said as the others nodded before the elderly lady spoke up, her attention seemingly focused solely on Yukiko.
"Yuki-chan, you're as lovely as always. And to be honest, your features are starting to remind me of your mother when she was young. Anyways, how can I help you today? Are you out shopping with your friends?" The elderly lady asked as a flustered looking Yukiko spoke up.
"Oh, um, well, that's a good question. Actually, to tell you the truth? We're here because some of my friends hadn't seen this place before, but also because we were hoping to ask Kanji-kun a few things, if he was here. But he doesn't seem to be here, so I suppose we can wait around a bit and see if he comes home." Yukiko said as Yu and Chie nodded while the former spoke up.
"Yeah, what Yukiko said. Sorry for intruding on your shop like this, ma'am. My name is Yu Narukami, and these are my friends Yosuke Hanamura and Chie Satonaka, who you might already know. And given what you said before, I believe you already know Yukiko here." Yu said kindly as Chie and Yosuke wandered off to look around the store, gasping as she noticed an odd-looking scarf on display and spoke up.
"This scarf seems familiar to me. You guys? I think I've seen this somewhere before, to be honest." Chie said as Yosuke walked over to look at the scarf and both Yu and Yukiko looked over from their conversation with the elderly lady, who'd introduced herself as the owner of the shop and Kanji's mother, to look at the scarf. Yosuke eventually spoke up after a moment to inspect the scarf.
"Hm? Oh, you're right. Where was that scarf shown, again?" Yosuke asked as the group fell silent for a moment before Chie gasped and spoke up.
"Oh! It was that place! Inside the TV!" Chie said as both Yukiko and the shop owner looked at Chie funny while Yu and Yosuke's eyes widened slightly in realization as the latter spoke up.
"That's right! That room with those faceless posters had a scarf just like this one in it. Then if it was in there, that means it's that announcer's scarf." Yosuke said as the shop owner gasped at this and spoke up.
"Announcer's? Are you acquaintances of Miss Yamano's?" The shop owner asked as a flustered Yosuke spoke up.
"Hm? Uh, well, kinda. We don't really know her personally, but we've seen her on TV a few times. Um, since you brought her up, did Miss Yamano happen to have a scarf like this?" Yosuke asked as the shop owner nodded and spoke up.
"Yes, it was a special order she placed." The shop owner said, noticing the shocked looks on the group's faces as she kept speaking.
"She actually ordered a pair, but in the end, she said she only wanted the women's scarf. It left us with no choice but to sell this one separately." The shop owner said as Chie spoke up.
"Oh man, you guys. There IS a connection to the first case after all! What are we gonna do about this?" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up.
"H-How should I know the answer to that, Chie?" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.
"We'll probably figure it out together." Yu said sagely. Before the others could verbally reply, the doorbell rang and a voice called out.
"Hello! Delivery here for the Tatsumis." A voice called out as the shop owner turned to call in the direction of the voice.
"Oh, I'll be right there." The shop owner called out before turning to the group as she kept speaking.
"I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me." The shop owner said as Chie spoke up with a nod.
"Oh, it's okay. We should get going." Chie said as Yukiko spoke up while smiling at the shop owner.
"I'll come again, Ma'am." Yukiko said as the shop owner nodded and spoke up.
"Is that so? Well, then please say hello to your mother for me." The shop owner said, getting a nod from Yukiko before she got up and left. After she left the room, a horrified Yosuke spoke up.
"It really is connected to the first case after all, isn't it? But it's just a scarf. Would the killer really target someone because of that, I wonder? Dammit, what's going on around here?" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.
"Good question. I think this is something we'll have to talk about later, at our special headquarters." Yu said as Yosuke nodded and spoke up.
"Good thinking. For now, c'mon. Let's talk outside." Yosuke said as the group walked out of the shop, Yukiko looking up as she noticed something, or rather someone nearby, gasping as she spoke up.
"Oh! Huh, is that-? Yeah, it is. It's Kanji-kun." Yukiko said as the others blinked in shock as Yosuke spoke up.
"Wha-? Quick, hide!" Yosuke said as the group quickly hid behind the nearby mailbox, at which point Chie glared at Yosuke and spoke up.
"You're not fooling anyone, you know, hiding like this." Chie said as Yu spoke up in a low whisper.
"Not now, Chie! You can scold him back at headquarters. Now shush." Yu gently but firmly rebuked Chie as Yosuke nodded and spoke up.
"Yu's right. Now shh! I can't hear what they're saying." Yosuke said as the group noticed the slender young man from before speaking to a young man who Yu nearly instantly recognized from the news report as potentially being named Kanji Tatsumi, though he realized Kanji's sweater was black, instead of blue as he'd first thought. That or it was dark blue. Either way, the group fell silent to eavesdrop on the young man, who they presumed was Kanji, as he was in a conversation with the slender young man.
"T-Tomorrow's fine with me, for sure. Huh? S-School? 'Course I'm going to school tomorrow." Kanji said as the slender young man spoke up.
"Good. Then I'll meet you at the gates after school tomorrow." The slender young man said as he walked off, leaving a confused young man, who the group assumed was Kanji, to mutter to himself as he spoke up.
"D-Did he say he was interested in me? He's a guy, or at least he looks like a guy. And I'm a guy as well. But despite that, he's interested in me anyways?" The young man mused to himself before blinking as he spotted the group watching him, turning to scowl at them as he kept speaking.
"Huh? What the hell are you pricks looking at!?" The young man said as he ran at the group, who took off at a full sprint, all terrified of the pissed off look on his face. After they were a safe distance away, the group panted as they caught their breath before Chie, who was the first to find her voice, spoke up.
"That scared the hell out of me, you guys. He's even worse in person than on TV somehow." Chie said as Yukiko spoke up with a serious look on her face.
"In any case, there's no doubt about it. The one on TV last night was definitely Kanji-kun for sure." Yukiko said as Yosuke spoke up.
"Yeah, that's right, Yukiko. And I just realized something. Remember the common points we were talking about? His mom fits the pattern. She's a woman, and she knew Miss Yamano. But it was her son that appeared on TV and not her. So what does that mean?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up.
"I'd say it means his mom fits the pattern, but the killer was more scared of Kanji than they were of his mom. Honestly though, I don't know what it means for sure." Yu said. Yosuke nodded and spoke up.
"That's fair, partner. Well, this is all speculation anyway at this point." Yosuke said as Yukiko spoke up with a surprised look on her face.
"Oh, wait. Maybe it's similar to my case. If you think about it, my mother fits the victim profile more than I did. She was the one who dealt directly with Miss Yamano when she was alive, but I was the one who was targeted." Yukiko said as Yu, Chie, and Yosuke exchanged shocked looks before Chie spoke up.
"Hmm, interesting. Does that mean it'll be the kid again, instead of the mother?" Chie asked as Yu spoke up with a nod.
"That's certainly a possibility, Chie. But at the same time, we don't know that for sure. We can only guess." Yu said as Chie spoke up.
"Fair. But if that's true, then the killer's motive makes no sense at all. It'd have nothing to do with silencing witnesses or revenge or anything." Chie said as Yosuke spoke up.
"Yeah? Y'think we're on the wrong track, then? Maybe even the first case had nothing to do with grudges or revenge at all. Or is there some kinda secret in the textile shop itself, perhaps?" Yosuke asked as the group frowned at that and Yosuke kept speaking in annoyance.
"Argh! I'm totally lost!" Yosuke said as Yukiko spoke up with a serious look on her face.
"True. But we can't ignore this." Yukiko said as Chie spoke up with a confused look on her face.
"Hmmm, I see. If we don't have any further leads, why don't we just go ahead and ask Kanji himself? We could at least see if anything odd has happened lately. He scares the wits out of me, but at least he might have some info we don't." Chie said as Yosuke spoke up.
"Good idea. Hey, wasn't Kanji making plans with that weird kid a moment ago? Something about meeting up at school. I heard he's been skipping school ever since the new year started in April. Doesn't that seem a little suspicious?" Yosuke asked as the others nodded and Chie spoke up.
"Yeah, something did seem weird. It's suspicious, all right. There's something funny going on here for sure. I can sense it." Chie said as Yosuke winced and spoke up.
"Hm? 'Sense', you say? You sound like Teddie when you say stuff like that. Still, we might find some clues. Alright, it's a plan, then. Let's try staking out both Kanji and his family's store. We definitely don't want the killer getting ahead of us." Yosuke said as the others nodded their agreement before Yosuke smirked and kept speaking.
"Now, with that being said and done, Yukiko? Can I have your cell number?" Yosuke asked, getting a confused look from Yukiko and twin sweatdrops from Yu and Chie the latter of which spoke up with a frown.
"Hey, what's this all of a sudden? Was this your plan all along?" Chie asked as a flustered Yosuke spoke up.
"Uh, no? I got everybody's phone number except for hers. And the 'Y' section of my address book needs some filling out." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.
"I'm not sure if I should be impressed by your daring, or surprised that you'd ask for her number at a time like this." Yu said honestly as Chie spoke up.
"Exactly, Yu! Yosuke has the strangest timing sometimes, I swear. Ugh. But while we're on the subject, could you stop calling me at night just to tell dirty jokes? You really sound like a pervert when you do that." Chie said as a shocked Yu spoke up with a rare wide-eyed expression on his face.
"Yosuke tells you dirty jokes at night!? Are you serious?" Yu asked as Yosuke spoke up with a flustered look on his face.
"I only did that a few times, and I apologized already." Yosuke said to Yu before glaring at Chie as he kept speaking.
"H-Hey! Shut up! I'm trying to have a conversation with Yukiko here, Chie!" Yosuke said, not seeing Yu frown at this, thinking that Yosuke had a lot of gumption to hit on Yukiko, who had a frown on her face as she spoke up.
"Hmm. Oh, that reminds me about something I nearly forgot about. I need to buy tofu on my way home." Yukiko said, getting sweatdrops from Yu, Chie, and Yosuke, the latter of which winced and spoke up.
"Whoa, that's rough. She didn't hear a word I said just now, did she?" Yosuke said as Chie spoke up with a smile.
"Okay then, the stakeout is set for tomorrow. Hmm, I don't know about you guys, but stakeouts really excite me. Tailing people, getting info, and looking cool doing it? Whoo, I'm getting goosebumps!" Chie said as the group nodded, Yu noting that the group had unanimously decided to stake out Kanji and the textile shop tomorrow. At that point, the group dispersed for the evening...
(That evening, at the Dojima residence, on the lower level with Yu and Nanako)
As Yu walked back in and set his shoes down on the mat near the entrance of the house, Nanako looked up on hearing the front door open and close, smiling as she saw Yu walk into the front room as she spoke up without getting up once Yu was in earshot.
"Oh! You're home! Welcome back, big bro." Nanako said as Yu smiled at Nanako and spoke up.
"Thanks, Nanako. How was your day?" Yu asked as Nanako spoke up with a smile.
"Pretty good. Still, I have to say, I noticed something odd today. The boys at school pretend they're in gangs when they run around." Nanako said as Yu frowned and spoke up.
"Do they? I blame the specials that have been on TV, myself. They probably managed to unwittingly glorify the hype of being in a gang without meaning to." Yu said offhandedly as Nanako nodded her agreement and went back to her TV show as Yu decided to head upstairs and relax for the night while mulling over what he'd seen that day with Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko...
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: And boom, there's another chapter done and dusted! I wasn't expecting it to be quite as short as it was, but it is what it is. I mean, sure, I could've done a cutaway to Gaignun to end the chapter, since I've not done one in a couple of chapters, but I didn't think it was necessary here. Besides, if I DO do a cutaway to him, it would be closer to the end of the Arc (likely after the group finishes the next dungeon) anyways.
However, if I decide, I MIGHT have a cutaway at the start of the next chapter that briefly touches on Gaignun's side of the plot somewhat, but I wouldn't get your hopes up on that, in case I decide to just start the next chapter with more of Yu's side of the plot instead.
To be honest, the next two Arcs will be interesting since they both serve to set up the next few members of the Investigation Team joining up, but also serve to slowly let some of said Investigation Team get to meet Gaignun (through changeups to certain in-game events that will be apparent as they come up), so we'll see how things play out there.
And then Arc 4 will be a huge arc since it'll have arguably some of the largest changeups to the plot of Golden in that Arc (in the form of the original fourth dungeon of Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden being excluded to a point and replaced with a new dungeon that may or may not be focused on Gaignun.) However, I do plan to try and show some interactions between Gaignun and some of the Investigation Team (and maybe even a select couple of allies of the Team as well) across Arcs 2 and 3.
But that being said, I will say that this chapter I'm typing out the end-of-chapter A/N for right now (in-story chapter 11 and overall Chapter 16 with the Prelude and first Interlude chapters included) will probably be the last one I type out before I take a small break for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday (for timestamping purposes, it is currently 9:11 PM on Monday, November 25th, 2024 as I type this part of the end-of-chapter A/N out, and Thanksgiving is in three days) and some other things afterwards.
Granted, by the time I start typing the next chapter, there's a good chance I'll have posted at least the first chapter of this story, since as of this point, I have a 16-chapter backlog built up. So I'll have quite a few chapters to gradually push out while typing other chapters out. So even though I'm typing this chapter's end-of-chapter A/N out on November 25th, there's a good chance that you might not ACTUALLY read this A/N until much later, possibly as late as some point in either March or April of 2025, dependent on how frequently I update.
Even though I say that it'll depend on how frequently I push out new chapters, rest assured that I'm going to aim to have this story uploaded on a one chapter per week basis, but there could be points where that doesn't happen if I'm busy or not home. So I will aim to keep to a consistent schedule with this story as much as I can regardless. So whenever you read this A/N, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, as well as the story as a whole thus far!
Having said that, let me take this chance to thank anyone who's read this far into the chapter and even this far into Golden Apostle as a whole, as your continued support of the story is greatly appreciated. I appreciate any and all support I can get, as it usually lets me continue to grow as a fanfiction writer. So don't be shy about leaving a review below (or PM me if you prefer that to reviews) with any feedback/constructive criticism/suggestions on this story, as it lets me continue to improve my work, making the story get ever better as a result. Regardless, I welcome hearing from my readers, so don't be shy about reaching out, as I enjoy replying to reviews/PMs! And until the next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!
NOTES
*1* - Since Kou brought it up here, let me go ahead and say **SPOILER ALERT AHEAD FOR POTENTIAL SOCIAL LINKS OF PERSONA 4 GOLDEN** that both the Strength and Sun Social Links have two potential paths those links can take, dependent on which clubs you choose to have Yu join in your playthrough. If you choose Soccer and Music Band, like I did, you'll get the links shown in the story.
**SPOILERS START HERE FOR UNSEEN SOCIAL LINKS IN PERSONA 4/PERSONA 4 GOLDEN. SKIP TO THE SECTION MARKED *END OF SPOILER ALERTS* IF YOU WANT TO AVOID BEING SPOILED WHILE READING THIS PART OF THE CHAPTER, OTHERWISE READ ON PAST THIS WARNING AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. SPOILERS START NOW!**
But if you choose the other options (Basketball and Drama Club respectively), the Strength and Sun Social Links change a lot. The Strength Social Link will have a larger focus on Kou than Daisuke if you choose Basketball instead of Soccer, and the Sun Social Link has a completely different character attached to it if you choose the drama club in the form of one Yumi Ozawa, who has a pretty compelling link in her own right. The only reason I chose Music over Drama was for plot reasons, and because I feel like Ayane (the Sun Social Link of the Music Club) is just as good of a Social Link as Yumi, if a bit quirkier at points than Yumi. But the Sun and Strength Social Links are pretty enjoyable in their own rights in my opinion.
However, I do need to note that the guide I'm using to get all Social Links maxed out so that I can get all the Social Links maxed in this story (unlike in Persona 5- The Phantom Files, where I fell three unfinished Confidants short of maxing them all out in one run) mentions that of the two Strength links, the Basketball club has a more technical requirement to meet for some of the books you can get in Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden, in that you want to keep the Strength Social Link at or below Rank 3 until a certain point in the game to get two books you otherwise wouldn't be able to get, which apparently cheats you out of a trophy for reading all the books in the game.
Keep in mind, however, that this is only relevant if you're playing the PS4/PS5 versions of Persona 4 Golden, like I am. So be aware of that if you do choose the Basketball version of the Strength Social Link. Also, even though I chose Music, Drama Club's version of the Sun Social Link is apparently less dependent on Yu's Social Stats (Knowledge, Courage, Diligence, Expression, Understanding) than the Music version. Figure I'll point this out here since I mentioned the variations in the Sun and Strength Social Links.
**END OF SPOILER ALERTS. KEEP READING ON FROM HERE IF YOU SKIPPED THE PRECEDING SPOILER-LADEN PORTION OF THE NOTE**
INVESTIGATION TEAM LIST, SOCIAL LINKS LISTING, AND ALLY LIST AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 11
INVESTIGATION TEAM STATS AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 11
YU - Level: 22 Currently Equipped Persona: Omoikane
YOSUKE - Level: 21 Current/Partner Persona: Jiraiya Persona Moveset: Garu (Wind), Bash (Physical), Dia (Healing), Sukukaja (Support/Buff), Makajam (Ailment), Dekaja (Support/Debuff), Sonic Punch (Physical), Magaru (Wind)
CHIE - Level: 21 Current/Partner Persona: Tomoe Persona Moveset: Skewer (Physical), Tarukaja (Support/Buff), Bufu (Ice), Skull Cracker (Physical), Mabufu (Ice), Rampage (Physical), Rebellion (Support/Buff)
YUKIKO - Level: 15 Current/Partner Persona: Konohana Sakuya Persona Moveset: Agi (Fire), Dia (Healing), Me Patra (Healing), Maragi (Fire)
SOCIAL LINK RANK LIST AS OF THE END OF CHAPTER 11
FOOL (Investigation Team) - Rank 2
MAGICIAN (Yosuke) - Rank 5
HIEROPHANT (Ryotaro) - Rank 1
CHARIOT (Chie) - Rank 3
JUSTICE (Nanako) - Rank 2
HERMIT (Fox) - Rank 1
STRENGTH (Daisuke and Kou/Fellow Athletes) - Rank 3
SUN (Ayane) - Rank 2
JESTER (Adachi) - Rank 1
AEON (Marie) - Rank 2
ALLY LIST: Igor, Margaret, Ryotaro, Nanako, Teddie, Marie, Adachi, Fox