Goddess' Shooting Star (Black★Rock Shooter X Persona 4)

[X] You're curious about that delinquent boy. Take a look around for him.

"Thanks for offering, but I think I'd like to look around myself a little more. See you tomorrow?"

A look flashes across Naoki's face but he nods,

"I guess that makes sense, stay safe though okay? There's been some ah… Disturbances of late."

Disturbances? The way he says it sounds serious, and you decide not to press. If push comes to shove, you can probably defend yourself.

"Thank you for your help today. See you tomorrow!" You give Naoki a bow, and then trot off back towards the school building. You haven't seen the giant blonde leave yet, so he's probably still inside somewhere.

With the light coming through the windows just starting to turn a more orange color, you investigate the main building first, looking out towards the gate between poking your head into the mostly-empty classrooms. You find a few lingering students studying who look up at your approach, watching you with a strange wariness until you pull back and move on, but for the most part the main building is empty, which just leaves the practice building off to one side of the courtyard to check. You suppose that there must be other exits to the school grounds as you hurry down the stairs and cross the dusty open space, now largely empty but for a few knots of students loitering around the gate for one reason or another.

Stepping into the practice building, you immediately feel that this space is much more alive than the empty classrooms and silent watchers. Muffled voices emerge from behind doors along with the occasional creak or shuffle as students move around out of sight but any further observations are curtailed by the sight of your target simply standing in the middle of the hallway.

Your eyes meet, and his go wide with surprise, then narrow as he walks towards you. You realize as he looms large in your vision that Tatsumi-san is big, tall and broad-shouldered despite being no older than you. The distance closes, his eyes widen as he realizes that you aren't moving, and a daring impulse crosses your mind. Will he try to make you move?

You can see the whites of his eyes now, fear and uncertainty, not all of it understood. As though with every step that advanced on you he was backing himself into a corner, playing a game of chicken with you. Everyone else just gets out of the way. You realize, you can't say you blame them, even knowing your own speed and strength his very presence bears an oppressive weight, urging you to get away and stand aside.
But it's all fake, bluster and bravado, there's no true violence in his intent.
Four meters… Three… As he closes to just outside of arm's reach his shoulders come back, mouth widening as he sucks in a breath, and even with all that you know, you take a single step back, bracing yourself instinctively.

"Outta the way!"

There are a few muffled screams, a loud *thump* that sounds like someone slipped. The words bear an almost physical force, their passage setting your twintails flapping for an instant. You flinch, then look back up, your left eye itching for an instant as you fix him with a blank stare.

"No."
What will you do now?
His eyes widen, and then he pivots on one foot and marches towards the stairs. Stomping up them loudly enough that you can hear the glass of the windows rattling in their frames. For a moment you feel disappointment, then confusion. Did you… Did you just try to make him fight you?
It would have been a good fight.
It's not that you don't think you could win such a fight but why did you do that? Why did you want him to fight you?! The moment you two had locked eyes you'd been ready to go on the attack-

You blink and push those thoughts away. You can hear Tatsumi-san's footsteps clomping loudly as he stalks the other way along the second floor. Existential crisis later, trying to talk to the weird delinquent kid now. You hurry along the hallway quietly, giving whispered apologies to those sticking their heads out of clubroom doors in curiosity until you arrive at the opposite end just in time to see him coming down the stairs. His eyes flick to you, then his back turns, rounding the corner too quickly and all but breaking down the door, heading back towards the classroom building as you follow.

He gets barely more than three steps inside before he stops dead in the middle of the hall, forcing you to halt as well lest you run into his back. The crash of the old door's heavy latch resounding loudly in the silence.

"Th'heck d'you want?"

"I wanted to say thanks for the classroom."

"The what?"

"This morning, you got them off me, I wanted to thank you for that."

There's a deeper silence, broken by a rough scoff after a long moment.

"Didn't do it for you."

"Still, it helped. So thank you, Tatsumi-san."

His stance shifts slightly, a shuddering huff as though he's clearing his throat sounding before he half turns, giving you a wary look.

"That all?"

"That's all."

He scoffs again, folding his arms.

"For future reference, you're better off stayin' away from me. I ain't popular and you'll just get dragged down by association."

"I might only be here for a year anyways." You shrug, he grunts, his eyes turning away from you to stare out the windows, watching the sun slowly creeping lower and lower towards the horizon. After a moment, you turn slightly as well, watching the same view. You honestly aren't sure what to say next and he seems faintly uncomfortable with your continued presence. His shoulders are stiff, his foot tapping. Eventually you sigh and give a little bow, more of a nod really. "I'll see you tomorrow then Tatsumi-san."

"It's Kanji." You pause with a hand on the latch and turn looking over your shoulder at him. "Tatsumi-san is my mom, so just call me Kanji."

"Mato then." You reply, and he grunts as you open the door again.

"See you tomorrow."

You receive no reply before the door swings shut but you think you hear him give a heavy sigh of frustration just before the latch clicks back into place.

You turn back towards the bike racks and start to make your way home.

------



You stare at the animated ellipses as they appear and vanish several times, feeling a pout steal across your lips.



You feel a sinking sensation of regret curdling in your stomach the moment you hit 'Send', the silence this time lasts even longer, without even the comfort of 'typing' notifications to alleviate your concern.



That proper speech might have once sounded haughty, but it brings a smile to your face, and you type back without thinking only to pause, thumb hovering over the send button.

I love-

You stare at it, and the silently erase the words. Not the time, not the place.



The smiley feels strangely disingenuous, but you banish those feelings as best you can, snapping the phone shut and slipping it back into your pocket on your way home.

After finishing the day's homework, you go to bed early.

-------

The shadows in the fog are agitated by a trespasser in their realm. She watches as they flee down the fog-shrouded streets, stumbling blindly in her haste to get away. Screaming for someone, anyone, to save her from this nightmare.

No one comes, and she is only mortal, only human.

She cannot run forever.

You wake suddenly, covered in sweat with your left eye watering and your heart pounding in your chest. Your phone shows [4:21 AM] on its cover screen. When your alarm sounds an hour and a half later, the best you've managed is a light doze. A sense of dread seems to hang over the town as the heavy grey clouds linger overhead after last night's rain, casting the entire day in oppressive muted tones.

The ride to school helps wake you up but the feeling of imminent danger doesn't go away. Naoki's desk is empty, Kanji is staring out the window and muttering to himself, the entire class is filled with whispers and you catch more than a few mutters of the phrase, 'The Midnight Channel'.

The principal explains it at an extraordinary assembly following home room. Third year student Konishi Saki died last night and while the school refuses to elaborate, the rumors spread through the crowd like wildfire.

Murdered…

Hanging from the telephone wires…

Saw her on the Midnight Channel…

The sick anticipation that has been roiling in your stomach intensifies, and the rest of the assembly goes over your head as your thoughts run in circles. There's a wrongness to this, a nameless certainty that something is fundamentally wrong with the world for this to have happened. An awareness that this death was not in the natural order somehow.

You can barely focus on your classes, and at lunch…

[ ] You find Yu and his friends, maybe they'll know more about this 'Midnight Channel' people are talking about.

[ ] You find Kanji, you're not sure how he can help but he's the closest you have to a friend so far.

[ ] You call Yomi, you need to hear a friendly voice right now.