Not in Person
Once Known as The Nobody
- Location
- A place
Erm... I'd probably delete the "to", and use "as a consequence" instead of "by". Can't offer any better phrasing than this.
Maybe "focused"?
Fate/Reach Out (F/SN + SMT:P4 Crossover)
- Thread starter KishouTheBadger
- Start date
KishouTheBadger
Psychic Mech Pilot
It's an alpha draft written without beta-proof reading... and on April Fools day no less. So please don't get all upset because I used Altria. -_-;
Last edited:
Not in Person
Once Known as The Nobody
- Location
- A place
"Altria" - "Shmaltria". As long as you haven't used Nero Claudius, it's okay.
- Location
- USA
Could be worse. You could have used Starbucks
Chapter 36: Sauna
KishouTheBadger
Psychic Mech Pilot
Fate/Reach Out
Chapter 36: Sauna
<><><>
June 26th, Velvet Room
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO SIDELINE ME?!?!"
Shirou flinched and looked up at the fuming face of a black-haired devil hovering in front of him. "Now, Lilim—"
"You need me to fight off the other Shadows that fling curses and hexes around! You would have been dead without me literally sweeping that fight with the snake, the wheel, and the samurai! Not only am I helpful, but think of the A-material I can bring! You're going to a frigging sauna! You can't leave me out of this!"
If Shirou was perfectly honest with himself, this was part of the reason why he wanted Lilim absent from his mind. Her innuendo seemed to grow by the day as she went around with him, and she seemed almost stir-crazy at the prospect of getting a proper candidate to start The Devil Social Link. While he didn't see this power as a gross hindrance anymore, he still wasn't actively seeking to start up new links. They seemed to come naturally when they did, so he'll just wait and welcome them with open arms when they do.
"I've also already left Valkyrie with Margaret," he said, lightly glaring at the amused woman. "And she didn't make as much of a fuss."
"That's because her kind regularly fetches corpses from battle instead of taking part in them, but that's not the point! Why does SHE get to go?!" the she-devil screeched. It was obvious who she meant.
"Angel's my guide to Nanako who I have a Social Link with. I'd rather keep my active roster with Personas that can help me with my immediate friends and loved ones."
It was a new dungeon, and he wanted to be prepared in rescuing Kanji. He needed stronger, capable Persona, blessed by the Arcana. He hadn't noticed at the time as his fusion ability wasn't as grandiose as Igor's, but Sarasvati and Ippon-Datara were both slightly stronger from their original level. They were definitely coming along, as were everyone else.
He made a point to ignore how childishly smug Angel was acting in his subconscious, though. Clearly their century-old conflict of Heaven and Hell would never be resolved.
"That's still not fair! Why are you being a jerk about this?!'
"Because he's taking his power seriously."
Shirou and Lilim turned to see Eligor sitting next to his contractor (sans horse). "A fool he may be, but fools can only last so long through luck alone. A true warrior cultivates his power and skill so future conflicts will be met with easier effort."
"But I'm power and sexy in one card pack!" Lilim huffed. "Shouldn't he have as much power available as possible? Heck, he can bring Valkyrie too, while he's at it!"
Eligor shook his head. "The danger of having too many weapons at hand is lacking the skill or time to use them all. Most fighters stick with one weapon for their lifetime and perfect it. And if they branch out, then they master one weapon before learning the next."
The devil seemed to accept his argument, but still looked mad. "Yeah I guess he would want to master you sooner to get closer to Spat-skirt."
"On the contrary, I wish to also sit out of this sortie."
"Wait, what?" Shirou was just as surprised as Lilim upon hearing this. "But why? You're one of my leading fighters."
"Izanagi is your sword. Pixie is your wand. Cu Sith is your gale. Sarasvati is your frost. Ippon-Datara is your hammer. If you wish to master your fusion powers, you need to learn to make do with what's at hand. To understand your limits. That will help cultivate your judgment in using new powerful Personas."
Shirou found himself nodding to his Persona's assessment. The fight against Shadow Rise was still fresh in his mind as a near disaster, and he never had time to properly assess what Personas to use yet. If he couldn't handle them at this point, then forget saving Kanji; saving anyone would be impossible.
"Then where does Angel fit in all this?" Lilim demanded.
The lights in Eligor's helmet dimmed and narrowed as they glanced over him. "Moral conscience."
"I KNEW IT!"
Smartasses… Even Angel was offended.
"Do you guys have a point going on or do I have to kick your red pubic ass out of here?" Marie complained, eyes locked on her notepad. "You're making it hard to draw the cards you want."
"Are you really an amnesiac?" Shirou asked incredulously.
She looked up at him coolly and with a critical once-over. "Are you really the star of a harem show?"
Shirou's face flushed. Lilim grinned. Eligor awkwardly coughed into his gauntlet.
"I am not!" / "Hell yeah he is!" / "...possibly."
The other members of the Velvet Room were obviously amused, watching as mutely as ever. Marie simply shrugged and resumed her sketching.
Eligor quickly regained his composure and turned to his summoner. "That aside, do you remember the grafting technique you used on Izanagi?"
"You mean Trace Persona?" Shirou answered. That was a literal last-minute saving grace, turning a Persona into their iconic weapon, or at least one that best represents them. It was a miracle he turned Izanagi twice in succession with Teddie's help.
"I am concerned for Chie's weapon proficiency. At the castle she used a chain whip. An accident. At the strip club a staff. A coincidence. And now as we prepare to storm the sauna, she is considering yet another weapon. At this point, it is a pattern."
Shirou could see where he was going with this. "So you want me to Trace you into a new weapon for her?"
"Make him a lance!" she proclaimed, arms spread wide. "A HUGE one with a big, flaming head that can pierce the deepest wo—"
"Lilim, please," the red knight held out his hand like a father would to an overactive child. "Hierarchy men are now talking."
Shirou found himself smirking at how casually Lilim was shot down and reduced to angrily sticking her tongue out. It wasn't inaccurate either; Eligor was a Great Duke of Hell, and he led many legions of demons. The original Lilim were children born of Lilith and Samael to spite God in the Garden of Eden, before a new, deformed generation were conceived in Hell.
In other words, Eligor held authority over her kind. As did Shirou as their summoner.
"I have watched Chie's fights, and her talent lies in martial arts rather than a weapon. I want you to graft my card into a weapon for her, yes. But not a lance," he looked briefly at Lilim as her mood soured. "I want you to focus on my horse, and then turn him into a pair of greaves."
Greaves? An odd choice of a weapon as they're made to protect legs, not attack. But he could see Chie focus on kicking, despite her Persona using a polearm. "I think I can do that," he nodded. "What's your horse's name, anyway?"
Eligor shrugged. "If he ever had one, it is lost in history, and was never even mine to begin with. He is a fine steed that had lived in the Garden of Eden before reanimated by Beelzebub. Though I have taken to calling him "Abigor", after one of my pseudonyms."
Shirou thought it over, and turned to Igor and Margaret. "Could I get some help here? I'd rather have it not break down like my other Gradation Air attempts."
"It will, if you treat it like your previous Magecraft arts," Igor said. "You are probably the only one who understands the full concept of your Trace Persona ability. It is you and you alone that can set the limitations of your power, and break them."
"Consider it part of your training," Margaret added. "And don't worry. We won't let you 'stupid yourself' to death."
Well, at least Pixie was satisfied with that.
Shrugging, Shirou immediately dismissed Eligor into card form, and gently cradled the card in his fingers. He thought back to the steps of magecraft, with the careful focus on a predetermined form of footwear.
He then clenched his hand over the card, and a flash of light later, he was holding a pair of fur boots. They looked innocent at a glance, but the hoof design under the heel and lack of store identification would catch the attention of any sharp-eyed salesman. Structurally, they were very durable and even came with a minor fire shield charm. These Boots of Abigor were perfect, and had a bit of the lingering spirit of Eligor himself in them. Much like Teddie's projection, they wouldn't break down.
Still, he nearly fell over in exhaustion after the attempt. For now, he could only do this technique once a day, so he'd have to plan accordingly.
"Congratulations," Lilim deadpanned. "You got a weapon for your athletic not-girlfriend. Now all you have to do is put me in the book with Maggie here."
She then huffed, crossed her arms, and looked away with him, eyes shut. As much as she was accepting this now, she still didn't like being set aside. She was just a Persona, a facet of himself that may or may not be an extension of himself, but he preferred to think of each Persona as their own person.
"Marie, could you make me a Stagnant Air skill card next?"
Lilim's eyes snapped open.
"Geez, you love making me work, don't you?" Marie huffed with no real venom. She then handed him the card she was working on. "Not that I'm complaining. I could use the distraction, and I owe your little she-devil for that nickname: can't believe I didn't think of Maggie sooner. Anyway, here's your Media card."
"Thanks," Shirou said, accepting the skill card and turning to the she-devil. "There. Now you have a new skill to look forward to when I get ba-AACK!"
Lilim had tackle-hugged him to the side, clutching his side a bit too closely to her slim body. "I LOVE YOU MY LITTLE ROM-COM LEAD!"
"I AM NOT A ROM-COM LEAD!"
Maybe this wasn't the best idea…
<><><>
Junes, Midday
For the umpteenth time, Naoto called Kanji's cell and got no answer. "I was careless."
No one had come after Kanji Tatsumi at all during the rainy days, and during that time Naoto's grandfather had called him up to discuss something. That something turned out to be talking about old stories of his parents, continuing the long trend of police detectives that took on any case.
It was nice to unwind and think back to those days, but work never rested for long, and Naoto knew if they were still alive, they would continue to solve cases and find the truth of said mysteries.
They were a team, after all, well respected. They got far together in a male-dominated work force. Naoto couldn't afford a single mistake if he wanted to be as successful as them.
And yet he did just that; Kanji was under his charge and for the few hours he left to see his grandfather, he was gone just like the others. If only he hadn't listened, if only his grandfather didn't call--
No, it wasn't Grandpa's fault. It was my decision in the end to go see him, and he had told me before that it wasn't urgent. I should have anticipated this and brought Kanji along, but…
Maybe I shouldn't have pushed to stay over that night.
That argument shouldn't have happened. Naoto could see Kanji was upset about the very idea of him staying over, but he persisted on the issue anyway. The bleached-haired teen refused to look or talk to him after that, so Naoto thought the call couldn't have come at a better time. He'd catch up with his grandfather and give Kanji the needed time to calm down before the day was over.
Part of Naoto hoped Kanji was just fuming mad and acting out, finding more biker gangs to fight. He had been growing more hostile ever since the talk with Emiya and Amagi, and despite Naoto's best efforts he refused to talk. There was another possibility in that he would show up at Junes, as people from all over town came here to shop.
But it was becoming apparent he might have to call the police for help, despite the fact that they had dumped the responsibility for Kanji on his shoulders, including finding him after losing him. No one was convinced that Kanji was missing yet, but that would change in a few days' time.
Then again, maybe it was also a hurt sense of pride of having to rely on them in the first place. Whether they believed him or not, this would give them an excuse to look down on his failure.
"Oh, it's you again."
Naoto recognized the dismissive kind of tone, but it took a while to jog his memory of who. Looking up, he saw a copper-haired girl wearing an orange, floral stamped blouse and white khakis. He briefly noticed a small heart-shaped locket around the girl's neck before registering her face. "Ah, Kujikawa-san."
"Shirogane," she returned, clearly still angry but at least trying to be polite. She quickly glanced around the store. "Where's Kanji Tatsumi?"
Naoto's eyes narrowed. "How do know his name?"
"Geez, I get you're playing detective, but do you have to suspect everyone?" Rise snapped with a growl. "We go to the same school, and a lot of the first-years gossip about him. He only seems to ever hang around you though, so it seems weird that you're here but he isn't." At this point she actually looked sad. "I know his mom through my grandma and I heard some… concerns, so I figured if anyone knew what happened to him, you would."
"I see…" Yes, that would be logical to assume. Rise and Kanji both attended Yasogami High, and she'd probably heard his name more than once in the weeks following her entry. And living just across the shopping district street would mean she'd know right away if something was wrong there.
With those facts in mind, the detective frowned and fiddled with the helm of his cap. "Truth be told, we had a… disagreement the other day. I had hoped to give him some time to himself, but when I came back he wasn't at home. I have no idea where he could be."
"Oh," Rise said sadly. "He wasn't… kidnapped, was he? Like the announcer lady and that one third-year?"
"Too early to say," said Naoto. "It's the worse-case scenario I would like to avoid, though, but I don't know how to find or contact him."
"Maybe it was something that happened that made him snap? Like that disagreement you two had?"
Naoto's frown grew. "…perhaps I had pushed too much when I suggested we spend the night together. I always knew he was an odd boy, but to react like that—"
"Odd? What do you mean?"
Naoto thought twice about telling her, but she seemed genuinely concerned about Kanji. Fact is, this was an urgent matter and he needed all the help he could get. "He seems to hold a front of forced bravado almost constantly. I recall a number of times when I or someone else asked him about odd or strange behavior, and he would react as if being unfairly criticized. I can only assume it has something to do with a trauma, or perhaps a case of gynophobia."
Rise blinked, trying to remember what the word meant, before leaning forward in a hushed tone. "You're saying the scariest delinquent of Yasogami High is afraid of girls?"
"At the very least, he abhors feminine behavior. He is also socially withdrawn, constantly abrasive and trying to prove himself. After spending several months with him and thinking back to these signs, I'm fairly certain he has an inferiority complex."
"Girls and inferiority complex," Rise repeated to herself. She then nodded to him and started to head for the elevators. "Thanks, that's all I needed to know."
"Can I ask you something?" Naoto called out. Rise didn't turn, but did stop to listen as she waited. "I'm thankful you are concerned and looking for him, but I can't help but wonder why you, a former idol, would care to do this. As I just told you, he holds a general aversion to many of the girls at school."
A tense moment passed. Naoto didn't think she would really answer, and didn't blame her. He was about to leave and try searching the town when she spoke again. "I was in his position once, the teasing bit I mean."
Naoto blinked before nodding in understanding. "So you empathize with him."
"Yeah. It's not easy fitting in while being the weird or odd person out. And if what you told me is true, that complex thing… then he really needs to know that there are people that worry and care for him."
"I see… And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."
This time, Rise fully turned to face the detective. "Huh?"
"You were right, about how I treated things like a game. I have a lot of pressure on my family name to solve this case, and I'm viewed with as much contempt by the police as by you. And it wasn't fair taking things out on you, whether you were really kidnapped or not.
"I just…" Naoto paused, hiding his face under his hat further. "I don't want anyone else to die. Not when there's something I could do to make a difference."
Rise was honestly surprised. She still had some bitter feelings upon first meeting Naoto, and she didn't think he took her words seriously. Looking back, he tried to placate her on the lives of others, but she assumed he was trying to guilt her into complying. Instead, he was just that committed, perhaps even more than most of the cops that just wanted the disappearances to stop.
This Naoto guy reminded her a lot of Shirou.
"I see," she said, before smiling. "Well, maybe I was a little too quick to judge myself. You're not so bad after all, Naoto-kun."
"I thank you," he nodded briskly, still hiding his eyes under his hat. Rise swore she could see a faint smile and tear trail. "Good day, and good luck."
"You too," she said, and watched as the young detective left the Junes front entrance. At the same time, the elevator door finally opened… next to the one Rise was waiting in front of it.
"Stupid Junes and their dual-linked doors," she cursed under her breath, digging her phone out to angrily text. "I blame Yosuke-senpai!"
<><><>
Tatsuhime Shrine, Midday
"AAAACHOO!!" Yosuke sneezed mid weed-pull, before chuckling. "I bet my new girlfriend's bragging about me!"
Tama just rolled her eyes and plopped back down on the bench she was resting on.
The back of the Tatsuhime Shrine had really cleared up over the past month thanks to their efforts, and Tama was so receptive of them that she allowed the Investigation Team to hang around as a sub-base from Junes. Today was Sunday, so that gave the Investigation Team all day to gather intel on Kanji while preparing for the dungeon, as well as other important errands.
Because as luck would have it, Kanji was too hidden in the foggy other world to be found on scent alone, as Yosuke could attest to checking on Teddie early this morning. It would be safe to assume from now on they would need more clues before searching.
Anyway, the gang had split up and checked around several points of Inaba for information gathering, before heading back to regroup at the Tatsuhime Shrine. So far only Shirou and Rise were left unaccounted for, so Yosuke took the time to weed out the rest of the field while Chie practiced with her new weapon.
Her friend Yukiko, who had agreed to watch, blinked bemusedly. "Nunchaku?"
"Yep!" Chie nodded, brandishing her new weapon in her hands. A pair of long, black, hardened sticks connected by interlinking metal chains. "Got it just in time for the new dungeon, and I think they'll come in handy this time."
From his position in the back garden, Yosuke looked up with an accusatory gaze. "Like the chain whip and the short staff?"
"They were learning processes! You switched out the wrenches, you know!"
"Yeah, and I stuck with dual blades," he argued. "Amagi-san is using a better version of the metal fan Daidara-san made her, too."
"And Emiya-kun switched to a bow and arrow! I don't get why you're complaining about my choice of weaponry."
Yukiko frowned, quickly intervening in the fight by pulling Chie away from Yosuke's earshot. "Chie, what's wrong?"
"Huh?" The brunette flinched, but shook her confusion off with a wide smile. "Nothing's wrong! I'm peachy-keen!"
"Honesty has always been one of your better qualities, Chie. So much that it's easy to tell when you're lying."
Yukiko may not be the most aware of the world around her, but when she focused on what she did know, she had no equal. It was how she could study and ace tests to be at the top of her class. And having known Chie for years, she knew without a doubt that something was bothering her friend.
Chie's smile crumbled, before sighing in defeat. "Was it that obvious?"
"I was there when you fought my Shadow and Rise-chan's," said Yukiko. "I know we need weapons to fight Shadows, but you're the last person I expected to pick one up."
Chie looked offended. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"You're literally one of the strongest people I know," she replied quickly. "You'd sooner dash towards Shadows with your Trial of the Dragon moves than swing a staff around."
She had a flush growing, equally flattered and embarrassed. "Th-They're just that. Moves. Moves of an amateur."
Yukiko tilted her head in confusion. "Hanamura-kun looks self-taught in swinging his knives and he doesn't seem all that bothered about it."
"Like his opinion matters."
"And what about mine? Or Rise-chan's? Or Emiya-kun's?"
Chie looked ready to retort until the last moment, where her embarrassment came back two-fold and her mouth closed firmly. Just as the ebony-haired girl was about to ask what was wrong, the answer to her question came to her like a splash of water. "This has something to do with Emiya-kun, doesn't it?"
Nothing came out but a hesitant squeak. "…maybe."
Yukiko giggled. She couldn't help it; the thought of Chie trying to impress Shirou was so adorable and cute!
Chie knew what was coming and snapped. "This isn't funny!"
To her credit, Yukiko stopped right away. "I'm sorry," she said, the laughter soon forgotten. There was a time and place for everything. "It's just… he's the last person to judge someone unfairly like that. You shouldn't even worry about that."
"But he makes using many weapons so easy. Like the katana or his bow, and he can just make more swords appear like, well, magic! Not to mention he has more Personas than the rest of us combined, and well… it's no contest."
She gripped the nunchaku in her hand tighter. "That's why I need to find the right weapon. The perfect weapon for me, so I can be that much stronger for everyone on the team."
Chie slipped into a stance and started flailing the weapon between her hands in rapid movements. "Aiaiaiaiaiai! "Whataaa-OW!"
Somehow during the shuffle, one end of the nunchaku spun up instead of down. Gravity took over and it clunked her square in the head, which she quickly rubbed with her free hand. She tried to smile through her wincing tears. "Okay, looks like I need to practice some more…"
If there was one thing that Yukiko hated seeing, it was self-doubt. She had wallowed in it for so long that it was surprising she didn't notice Chie having her own insecurities sooner.
"I admit, Emiya-kun has a lot of powers, and with them a lot of responsibility." She then took Chie's nursing hand into both of her own. "But we're a team, and just because he can do everything, doesn't mean that he should."
"Yukiko?"
"You may not think strength is important, but it is. You strike hard and fast before any of us, especially Emiya-kun, so we can focus on our next Shadow. We depend on you more than you know, because you're this team's strongest fighter. And you don't need any secret weapon other than your true self."
"Yukiko…" Chie was beyond touched. Here was her best friend, coming out on their first adventure together in the Shadow World, and giving her a much-needed pep talk. She had been worried it would be a bad idea, but aside from fighting monsters and having more friends, nothing had changed. And by the looks of it, nothing would between them either.
So she wasn't surprised that she was nodding with her friend with a bright smile. "Yeah, you're right! I don't need some lame-old prop! I can kick ass just fine without one!"
Chie carelessly tossed the nunchaku to prove her point, and Yukiko smiled with her. Maybe if she was lucky, her discarded weapon would clunk Hanamura right on the head.
THUNK! "OW!"
Chie and Yukiko immediately paled, and turned around to where the weapon flew.
...that wasn't Hanamura.
"OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY, EMIYA-KUN!"
Shirou winced and nursed his aching forehead while holding the offending weapon in his other hand. "Why would you throw something like this around anyway? Kids play here, for goodness' sake."
"Oh, suck it up," Yosuke quipped as he and the fox walked over to them. "Your thick head should have cushioned the worst of it."
Chie was about to snap angrily at him when her phone, as well as everyone else's, started to ring. They wordlessly pulled them out to read the message.
"Looks like Rise-chan found something out about Kanji-kun," Yukiko said.
"Great!" Yosuke smirked, already making for the shrine gate. "Let's hurry back to Junes and hear all about it!"
<><><>
Junes
Tohru Adachi hummed to himself as he carried his modest bag of groceries out of the cash-in line. He'd found some cabbage rolls to last the week, and for once he didn't bump into that crazy old lady who thought he was her grandson. She really tried his patience at times, but he hadn't had any reason to get overly ticked off lately. Heck, he's been having a lot of fun recently.
Dojima was probably the best partner he could ask for in this small urban town. He was experienced, gruff, serious, and made it plain what he wanted. He was also a family man so there were times where, despite him saying otherwise, he cared about Adachi. It left him conflicted that he couldn't do better, but some partnerships just aren't meant to last. With that in mind, he waited in front of the elevator after pressing the call button.
"Hope tomorrow doesn't get too hectic…" he said to himself. It was currently his day off today, and he'd already heard rumors spreading that Kanji Tatsumi was missing. No one was certain it was true or not given that it was Sunday and a similar scare happened with Rise, but then again, you never knew what would happen in a supposedly crazy town like this.
His musing stopped when he heard the elevator open and a group of teens walked out of it. He waited for them to leave before doing a double-take. It was Dojima's nephew, Shirou Emiya.
And the kids he was arrested with the other day, Yosuke Hanamura and Chie Satonaka.
And the girl from the Amagi Inn, Yukiko.
And… the retired idol Rise Kujikawa?!
Man, talk about an ensemble! Why were they all together?
"Are you sure we shouldn't go back to change into our uniforms?" Yukiko asked softly as they walked away. "They'd be better suited for this kind of thing."
Adachi looked between the elevator and the group of kids that didn't notice his presence at all. A moment later, he discreetly trailed the group while looking as inconspicuous as possible; easy in a department store full of eager shoppers all around.
"We'd stand out if we suddenly go home and change into our uniforms on a Sunday, and even people in cram school need to take breaks," he heard Shirou explain. "Besides, our supplies are all safe with Teddie. We'd only need to worry if we're bringing new stuff."
The brunette boy, Yosuke, scoffed. "Says the guy who got one of his girlfriends some new shoes."
Wait, did Adachi hear him right? Girlfriends? Well damn, who knew Dojima's nephew was such a player?!
Though it didn't look like the Satonaka girl was wearing anything different or eye-catching. Rather, she was carrying a box under her arm. Was she embarrassed by the gift and didn't want to wear the shoes right away?
If Shirou was embarrassed though, his next comment didn't show it at all. "You're just jealous because you didn't think to give shoes to your girlfriend yet."
"…shut up."
Well played, Emiya. Well played.
At this point, they entered the electronics store, and Adachi stopped following as to not arouse any suspicion. He did see Rise latch onto the red-haired boy's shoulder and make an excited remark that he was too far away to hear.
What did they plan to do in the electronics store? And who's Teddie? Other cops noticed them entering there a lot, but their duties were just keeping to their patrols and making sure no one shoplifted or waved around weapons again.
Adachi paced in front of the store, looking in to see the odd quintet talking in front of a big TV. He was currently off duty, so he had no reason to act professional. It meant he had no reason to look into this either. Something about Emiya and his circle of friends seemed to imply he was in the middle of all this…
But what did he know? The other guys at the station would never believe him, and they barely got Shirogane out of their hair. Dojima's nephew was on thin ice as is, but if it turned out that what he was doing wasn't at all bad or illegal, he knew the veteran cop would go medieval on the ass for jumping the gun.
…Adachi really didn't want to be the one chewed out if that was the case, and made Dojima and the others annoyed enough as it was. It was a miracle they didn't hate him more than Shirogane, really, but he always fancied himself smarter than he looked.
"Well, it's not my problem," Adachi shrugged, already doubling back to the elevator. He was fairly certain that kids like them wouldn't get into any trouble.
<><><>
TV World; road to Steamy Bathhouse
"Girls and an inferiority complex… Girrrrrrrrrls, compleeeeeeex…"
As soon as they told Teddie the clues to Kanji, he went to work sniffing through the fog. Everyone followed the bear as he did his thing, but were getting worried through the long trek. "He's been at this for twelve minutes now," Rise said. "Is this normal?"
"He said the fog has been messing up with his senses, so things must be getting harder to pick up," Shirou told her. "But with the clues we gave him, he should be able to pick them up accurately."
"Oh, don't worry! I know the way back home easy!" Teddie turned to them with a smile. "It has a distinctive smell of Yosuke, and it was a nice safe space away from most Shadows."
"Wait, why me?" Yosuke asked. "I didn't do anything!"
Chie looked to the eerie sky, a hand stroking her chin in thought. "Actually, weren't you complaining about something that time? Needing to have to go…"
"Ah, he needed to use the restroom, right?"
"That's it!"
"But that means…" Yukiko began, before she and Rise both turned to Yosuke, standing between them. She quickly ran in fear and clung to Chie's back. "EEEEWWWWW! That is so gross."
"What?!" the offended teen yelled. "I so didn't piss my pants!"
Rise made a repulsed face, and took deliberate steps to the side, away from Yosuke. "…I so didn't need to hear that."
"Well, I didn't!"
"And no one bothered to ask, thank you very much!" Chie yelled back. "You're just making it sound more suspicious the more you bring it up!"
"How is telling the truth suspicious?!"
"Because you're awfully specific on whether you peed your pants or not!"
"Because I didn't!!"
As he watched from behind Yosuke and the girls' growing argument, Shirou smiled wistfully. Tuning their voices off, he looked ahead and picked up the pace with Teddie leading the way. "We're walking to save a fellow student, and we're making jokes at each other's expense. When I planned to fight Shadows, this isn't what I had in mind."
"You don't sound all that upset," Teddie noted.
"Well, it certainly beats having to do this alone," he replied. "Between helping others and catching the culprit to this whole mess, hanging out like this feels… nice."
"Yeah, it does," he said quickly with a smile. Of course the bear would do anything not to feel lonely.
"Shirou-sensei?"
"Hmm?"
"You've noticed that the Shadows that have been converted to Personas, they have similar powers to when they were berserk, albeit on a smaller scale."
"…I did notice a pattern, yes." Jiraiya's wind. Tomoe's ice. Konohana Sakuya's fire. "It's very convenient we have a full team of varied elements to exploit the Shadows' weaknesses."
"Yeah, very lucky," Teddie said. "Although… Rise-chan's powers would blow ours out of the way in terms of scouting, if she… no, when she gets used to it."
Ah, so that's it. "You're worried Rise will take over and do a better job as support?"
Teddie frowned. "You saw what her Shadow did. We barely beat her when she literally danced around us- I mean, you guys. And if, no, when she figures out her powers-"
"Then you'll be there to help her."
The bear blinked and looked up to him. "Huh?"
"It's possible her Persona abilities would dwarf anything you or I could scrounge up, but she's new to this. She's going to need all the help she can get to keep up on our mission from here on out."
"That's true…"
"Furthermore, you're still our resident expert on this world, knowing more than the rest of us, and you still got me beat when it comes to Gradation Air. Your Reinforcement was vital and helped save the day." Shirou told him with a smile. "You're invaluable to us, Teddie. Never forget that."
"Shirou-sensei…!" Teddie sniffled, overcome with emotion, and his eyes watered so much it looked like he was condensing mist from his tear ducts.
Wait, mist?
Shirou looked around him, noticing for the first time how oddly thick the fog was around them, obscuring their view even with the glasses on. The others stopped arguing and were also starting to notice the shift in the fog.
"Uh, guys?" Rise called out. "Is it just me, or is the fog getting thicker here?"
"It's not fog, it's steam," Yukiko said quickly, lifting her glasses up briefly. "Fog is essentially a state of water condensed into cloud form, but closer to the earth's surface. And it lifts out of the TV world to become rain in our world."
"Wow, you can tell?!" Chie asked. She and the others were amazed by her deduction and wisdom.
"It's not that hard to figure out," Shirou said. "The water cycle is one of the basics of science. Anyone who's ever made a mini-cyclone with two taped-up soda bottles could understand that."
"That, and my family owns a hot springs inn," the heiress reminded. "You can tell the difference easy between a cloud formed by lower humidity and one made with too much. So much that the water boils quickly from a heated source."
"Is that so," said Yosuke dimly. Then his eyes widened, as if a lightbulb went off in his head. "Wait, wasn't the Midnight Channel last night set to a sauna?"
As they looked around, they could make out the inner details of a bathhouse changing room around them. Pale and pink tiles led inside, with rows of lockers leading to a set of wooden doors at the end. Small stools and towels were set up for changing, giving it more ambience without the presence of people.
Teddie smiled and spread his arms in glee. "What do you know! We're here!"
Everyone stared at the bear, exasperated. "Why didn't you say anything before?" Yosuke asked.
"Probably because you were all too busy talking about bowel movements," Shirou told him. "On the plus side, we're in a changing room so if anyone has to go…"
"I'm fine, thanks," Yosuke droned. The girls snickered amongst themselves.
Before anyone made another step forward, a sultry voice called out from nowhere. "C'mere, pussycat..."
Everyone stiffened, and someone let a rather shrill squeak of fear. "Wh-what was that?!" Rise cried out.
"These places tend to have voices pop up that are meant to reflect the victim's reality," Shirou explained. "But this feels…"
"Oh... Such well-defined pecs..." Another voice called, both soothing and welcoming. If words had feeling, they might have caressed the young teens whom their words were directed towards.
The voices were close, and soon everyone was looking up to see two bodybuilders standing at the door and looming over them like giants. They were both in monochrome down the middle, their left half white and their right half black. Besides the briefs hugging their groins, they were naked and well chiseled in muscle. Their faces were remarkably human, sporting full lips and thin black mustaches. They could pass off as identical twins, with the only difference between the two men being insignias itched on their biceps; one had a blue T on his black side, and another had a red N on his white side.
They were both smiling at the group, and the man with the N said, "There's no need to be scared..."
"…I think I might take that bathroom break now, thanks."
"Eww."
Ignoring Yosuke, Shirou took a tentative step forward towards them. "Is Kanji Tatsumi here?"
"Indeed," The T man nodded. "Do you wish to enjoy a soak in the Steamy Bathhouse?"
"I just want to find Kanji, and hopefully bring him back home," Shirou said. "I don't have the time or money for your services, sorry."
The two bodybuilders turned and exchange frowns, shaking their heads and tsking. "Such a waste of good manhood. I was hoping someone of his beautiful physique would be a shoe-in."
"Truly a lost cause if there ever was one, Nice Guy."
"Wait, your name is Nice Guy?" That would explain the N, at least.
"That's correct. And I am Tough Guy. No relation." The T guy paused long enough to smile and make a knowing side-glance. "Yet."
"Oh, you big softie!"
...this was getting off track, and horribly awkward at that. "I'm sorry you feel I insulted you, but me and my friends here just want to bring Kanji back. Too much steam and hot water could lead him passing out from heat stroke, or even drowning under the water. And you don't want your business to go under because of that, do you?"
Tough Guy and Nice Guy exchanged glances and whispers again. Back at the group, Chie looked between him and her friends. "What the hell is he doing?"
"I don't know," Yosuke shrugged. "Diplomacy rolls?"
"I thought DnD was just a cover," Rise said.
"And isn't this dangerous? I mean, those are Shadows, right?" Yukiko asked.
"They don't look like Shadows. Personas, maybe?" Teddie wondered.
"Wait, you don't know? I thought you lived here, Teddie."
The bear shook his head. "All I know for sure is that they come from this Kanji you're looking for, along with the rest of this place. It's not all that different from Yuki-chan having that prince Shadow around."
"Prince?"
Rise's question was ignored in favor of Yukiko's embarrassment, as Chie quickly added, "That's different. It had a Noh mask and everything, while these guys look like humans. How could you not know every weird thing that goes on here?"
Teddie had a frown on his face that looked wise beyond words. "Would you have tried looking for answers before all this?"
No one had an answer to that.
"Okay, thanks," Shirou told the two bouncers before returning to the others. "Okay, we're clear. Kanji's inside so let's hurry after him."
The bear and teens all blinked. "Wait, just like that?" Yosuke asked.
"Mister Emiya here has made a convincing case for your… fairer friends," Tough Guy frowned towards the girls. "As long as you behave yourselves and don't do anything untoward to our guests, you are free to enjoy the facilities."
"Do enjoy yourselves!" Nice Guy added with a smile, before sneering aside, "Although I doubt moody bitches would feel anything short of a spanking."
Rise and Yukiko gasped in shock. Chie took a threatening step forward with a few choice words to say but stopped when Shirou placed his hand firmly over her shoulder.
"Quickly," he said rather tensely. "Before they change their minds."
Chie kept her mouth shut for as long as they passed the grinning, waving Guys. Upon entering the bathhouse, a heatwave hit them from the steam, blending with the fog and wooden décor in an orange haze. The path was long, there were rows of benches to sit against the walls, and indentions full of burning red sauna rocks.
When they were at a far enough distance and out of earshot from the entrance, Chie returned the favor by turning Shirou around to face her. "What the hell was that about?!"
"This dungeon is apparently a men's only sauna," Shirou said. "They were intent on only allowing me, Yosuke, and possibly Teddie in, but not you three."
"And now you're concerned about being nice with Shadows? We could just kick their asses like all the others!"
"I'd rather avoid conflict with facets of Kanji's psyche if I can help it."
Everyone looked surprised and concerned. Yosuke in particular looked fearful. "Facets?" Yukiko asked.
Shirou nodded, turning to Yukiko. "They looked different, but they were definitely Shadows, and strong ones at that. They were kind of like the Charming Prince in having a deep connection to his psyche and this dungeon."
"Oh! Like how Yuki-chan wanted to score all the hot guys in the castle?"
"Teddie!" Chie growled. "Learn some damn tact! You know that's not true!"
Beside him, Yukiko slumped and hid her face in her palms. Teddie pondered for a moment before snapping his digits. "Oh, that's right! She didn't just try to make a move on Shirou-sensei and Yosuke, but you too, Chie-chan! OWW!"
"That's NOT what I meant!" she shouted after giving the bear a fresh lump.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?" the inn heiress lamented to herself.
Rise pouted as the context of the situation, while interesting and hilarious, flew straight over her head. "You guys owe me an explanation for this later," she demanded.
"No, we don't!"
Throughout the whole squabble, Shirou was pinching his nose in exasperation. "ANYWAY," he finally raised his voice, forcing the others to listen. "We're not ready yet to take those Shadows on, and even if we could, we might damage Kanji's mental state worse than him outright rejecting it."
"I… guess that makes sense," Chie admitted.
"It was tricky talking to them, I admit. They kept eyeing me like a piece of meat or something," Shirou continued. He failed to notice the girls exchanging knowing, embarrassed looks. "But I managed to convince them to give us a pass."
"Just like that?"
"...I might have promised to give them a full back massage on a later date."
Bewildered silence filled the room. Chie turned to Yukiko. Yosuke to Teddie. Rise to Tama. Then they all turned to Shirou, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and blushing. "I couldn't think of anything else, all right?!"
Yukiko giggled. "Helpful to a fault even to Shadows? That's just so like you, Emiya-kun!"
"Yeah yeah, he's a great, weird guy. Can we hurry up and find Kanji, now?" Rise asked. "This place is so stuffy I think my hair's getting a perm."
"Good idea. This place looks rather wide between floors, so if anyone has a plan of action, now's a good time for suggestions."
Yosuke's hand shot up. "I have a suggestion, leader!"
"What is it, Yosuke?"
"Can we head back and call it a day?"
For a moment, no one said anything. They had assumed he was joking, but the uneasy smile said otherwise.
"But we just got here!" Teddie told them. "And I know for sure Kanji's down here!"
"And that is all great progress! So I think it's safe to head back and rest up for another day, perhaps maybe a week later, or two."
"Yosuke-kun," Yukiko said slowly. "You're not… scared, are you?"
"What? Me? What a silly proposition!" Yosuke quickly replied. He tried to laugh but his voice cracked between chuckles. "I just uh… need to check up with Sacchin, see. I promised her dinner tonight, and the phones don't work around here so I was thinking of heading back and seeing we can…"
At this point the girls were glaring. Even the fox. "Okay, I'm scared! You saw those two guys! They're ripped, campy, and looked like they wanted to plow me to the ground! My ass isn't safe here, man!"
"Not helping your case, Hanamura," said Chie.
"We're going to have to fight them eventually, especially if we want to save Kanji before his Shadow kills him. We promised to save all the victims involved in this, and Kanji is no exception. You don't want anyone to end up like Konishi, don't you?"
"Well, no, but—"
"And even if you decide to head out without us, you do realize that you'll have to run into those guys again, right? Because they're guarding the door and thought you to be very lean and handsome."
Between the dry tone of his voice, and the deadpan stare in his eyes, Shirou wasn't the least bit amused of his suggestion to leave. Seeing everyone else stare at him with the same level of disdain, perhaps even more, Yosuke slowly lowered his hand back down. "This is gonna suck," he whimpered.
"Well, since there are no other suggestions, I guess we'll move on to business," Shirou said.
"And what business is that, senpai?" asked Rise.
"The same thing we've been doing from the start. Fight Shadows, get stronger, and find Kanji before the next rainstorm. But more importantly, we need to get everyone up to speed on tactics."
Chapter 36: Sauna
<><><>
June 26th, Velvet Room
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT TO SIDELINE ME?!?!"
Shirou flinched and looked up at the fuming face of a black-haired devil hovering in front of him. "Now, Lilim—"
"You need me to fight off the other Shadows that fling curses and hexes around! You would have been dead without me literally sweeping that fight with the snake, the wheel, and the samurai! Not only am I helpful, but think of the A-material I can bring! You're going to a frigging sauna! You can't leave me out of this!"
If Shirou was perfectly honest with himself, this was part of the reason why he wanted Lilim absent from his mind. Her innuendo seemed to grow by the day as she went around with him, and she seemed almost stir-crazy at the prospect of getting a proper candidate to start The Devil Social Link. While he didn't see this power as a gross hindrance anymore, he still wasn't actively seeking to start up new links. They seemed to come naturally when they did, so he'll just wait and welcome them with open arms when they do.
"I've also already left Valkyrie with Margaret," he said, lightly glaring at the amused woman. "And she didn't make as much of a fuss."
"That's because her kind regularly fetches corpses from battle instead of taking part in them, but that's not the point! Why does SHE get to go?!" the she-devil screeched. It was obvious who she meant.
"Angel's my guide to Nanako who I have a Social Link with. I'd rather keep my active roster with Personas that can help me with my immediate friends and loved ones."
It was a new dungeon, and he wanted to be prepared in rescuing Kanji. He needed stronger, capable Persona, blessed by the Arcana. He hadn't noticed at the time as his fusion ability wasn't as grandiose as Igor's, but Sarasvati and Ippon-Datara were both slightly stronger from their original level. They were definitely coming along, as were everyone else.
He made a point to ignore how childishly smug Angel was acting in his subconscious, though. Clearly their century-old conflict of Heaven and Hell would never be resolved.
"That's still not fair! Why are you being a jerk about this?!'
"Because he's taking his power seriously."
Shirou and Lilim turned to see Eligor sitting next to his contractor (sans horse). "A fool he may be, but fools can only last so long through luck alone. A true warrior cultivates his power and skill so future conflicts will be met with easier effort."
"But I'm power and sexy in one card pack!" Lilim huffed. "Shouldn't he have as much power available as possible? Heck, he can bring Valkyrie too, while he's at it!"
Eligor shook his head. "The danger of having too many weapons at hand is lacking the skill or time to use them all. Most fighters stick with one weapon for their lifetime and perfect it. And if they branch out, then they master one weapon before learning the next."
The devil seemed to accept his argument, but still looked mad. "Yeah I guess he would want to master you sooner to get closer to Spat-skirt."
"On the contrary, I wish to also sit out of this sortie."
"Wait, what?" Shirou was just as surprised as Lilim upon hearing this. "But why? You're one of my leading fighters."
"Izanagi is your sword. Pixie is your wand. Cu Sith is your gale. Sarasvati is your frost. Ippon-Datara is your hammer. If you wish to master your fusion powers, you need to learn to make do with what's at hand. To understand your limits. That will help cultivate your judgment in using new powerful Personas."
Shirou found himself nodding to his Persona's assessment. The fight against Shadow Rise was still fresh in his mind as a near disaster, and he never had time to properly assess what Personas to use yet. If he couldn't handle them at this point, then forget saving Kanji; saving anyone would be impossible.
"Then where does Angel fit in all this?" Lilim demanded.
The lights in Eligor's helmet dimmed and narrowed as they glanced over him. "Moral conscience."
"I KNEW IT!"
Smartasses… Even Angel was offended.
"Do you guys have a point going on or do I have to kick your red pubic ass out of here?" Marie complained, eyes locked on her notepad. "You're making it hard to draw the cards you want."
"Are you really an amnesiac?" Shirou asked incredulously.
She looked up at him coolly and with a critical once-over. "Are you really the star of a harem show?"
Shirou's face flushed. Lilim grinned. Eligor awkwardly coughed into his gauntlet.
"I am not!" / "Hell yeah he is!" / "...possibly."
The other members of the Velvet Room were obviously amused, watching as mutely as ever. Marie simply shrugged and resumed her sketching.
Eligor quickly regained his composure and turned to his summoner. "That aside, do you remember the grafting technique you used on Izanagi?"
"You mean Trace Persona?" Shirou answered. That was a literal last-minute saving grace, turning a Persona into their iconic weapon, or at least one that best represents them. It was a miracle he turned Izanagi twice in succession with Teddie's help.
"I am concerned for Chie's weapon proficiency. At the castle she used a chain whip. An accident. At the strip club a staff. A coincidence. And now as we prepare to storm the sauna, she is considering yet another weapon. At this point, it is a pattern."
Shirou could see where he was going with this. "So you want me to Trace you into a new weapon for her?"
"Make him a lance!" she proclaimed, arms spread wide. "A HUGE one with a big, flaming head that can pierce the deepest wo—"
"Lilim, please," the red knight held out his hand like a father would to an overactive child. "Hierarchy men are now talking."
Shirou found himself smirking at how casually Lilim was shot down and reduced to angrily sticking her tongue out. It wasn't inaccurate either; Eligor was a Great Duke of Hell, and he led many legions of demons. The original Lilim were children born of Lilith and Samael to spite God in the Garden of Eden, before a new, deformed generation were conceived in Hell.
In other words, Eligor held authority over her kind. As did Shirou as their summoner.
"I have watched Chie's fights, and her talent lies in martial arts rather than a weapon. I want you to graft my card into a weapon for her, yes. But not a lance," he looked briefly at Lilim as her mood soured. "I want you to focus on my horse, and then turn him into a pair of greaves."
Greaves? An odd choice of a weapon as they're made to protect legs, not attack. But he could see Chie focus on kicking, despite her Persona using a polearm. "I think I can do that," he nodded. "What's your horse's name, anyway?"
Eligor shrugged. "If he ever had one, it is lost in history, and was never even mine to begin with. He is a fine steed that had lived in the Garden of Eden before reanimated by Beelzebub. Though I have taken to calling him "Abigor", after one of my pseudonyms."
Shirou thought it over, and turned to Igor and Margaret. "Could I get some help here? I'd rather have it not break down like my other Gradation Air attempts."
"It will, if you treat it like your previous Magecraft arts," Igor said. "You are probably the only one who understands the full concept of your Trace Persona ability. It is you and you alone that can set the limitations of your power, and break them."
"Consider it part of your training," Margaret added. "And don't worry. We won't let you 'stupid yourself' to death."
Well, at least Pixie was satisfied with that.
Shrugging, Shirou immediately dismissed Eligor into card form, and gently cradled the card in his fingers. He thought back to the steps of magecraft, with the careful focus on a predetermined form of footwear.
He then clenched his hand over the card, and a flash of light later, he was holding a pair of fur boots. They looked innocent at a glance, but the hoof design under the heel and lack of store identification would catch the attention of any sharp-eyed salesman. Structurally, they were very durable and even came with a minor fire shield charm. These Boots of Abigor were perfect, and had a bit of the lingering spirit of Eligor himself in them. Much like Teddie's projection, they wouldn't break down.
Still, he nearly fell over in exhaustion after the attempt. For now, he could only do this technique once a day, so he'd have to plan accordingly.
"Congratulations," Lilim deadpanned. "You got a weapon for your athletic not-girlfriend. Now all you have to do is put me in the book with Maggie here."
She then huffed, crossed her arms, and looked away with him, eyes shut. As much as she was accepting this now, she still didn't like being set aside. She was just a Persona, a facet of himself that may or may not be an extension of himself, but he preferred to think of each Persona as their own person.
"Marie, could you make me a Stagnant Air skill card next?"
Lilim's eyes snapped open.
"Geez, you love making me work, don't you?" Marie huffed with no real venom. She then handed him the card she was working on. "Not that I'm complaining. I could use the distraction, and I owe your little she-devil for that nickname: can't believe I didn't think of Maggie sooner. Anyway, here's your Media card."
"Thanks," Shirou said, accepting the skill card and turning to the she-devil. "There. Now you have a new skill to look forward to when I get ba-AACK!"
Lilim had tackle-hugged him to the side, clutching his side a bit too closely to her slim body. "I LOVE YOU MY LITTLE ROM-COM LEAD!"
"I AM NOT A ROM-COM LEAD!"
Maybe this wasn't the best idea…
<><><>
Junes, Midday
For the umpteenth time, Naoto called Kanji's cell and got no answer. "I was careless."
No one had come after Kanji Tatsumi at all during the rainy days, and during that time Naoto's grandfather had called him up to discuss something. That something turned out to be talking about old stories of his parents, continuing the long trend of police detectives that took on any case.
It was nice to unwind and think back to those days, but work never rested for long, and Naoto knew if they were still alive, they would continue to solve cases and find the truth of said mysteries.
They were a team, after all, well respected. They got far together in a male-dominated work force. Naoto couldn't afford a single mistake if he wanted to be as successful as them.
And yet he did just that; Kanji was under his charge and for the few hours he left to see his grandfather, he was gone just like the others. If only he hadn't listened, if only his grandfather didn't call--
No, it wasn't Grandpa's fault. It was my decision in the end to go see him, and he had told me before that it wasn't urgent. I should have anticipated this and brought Kanji along, but…
Maybe I shouldn't have pushed to stay over that night.
That argument shouldn't have happened. Naoto could see Kanji was upset about the very idea of him staying over, but he persisted on the issue anyway. The bleached-haired teen refused to look or talk to him after that, so Naoto thought the call couldn't have come at a better time. He'd catch up with his grandfather and give Kanji the needed time to calm down before the day was over.
Part of Naoto hoped Kanji was just fuming mad and acting out, finding more biker gangs to fight. He had been growing more hostile ever since the talk with Emiya and Amagi, and despite Naoto's best efforts he refused to talk. There was another possibility in that he would show up at Junes, as people from all over town came here to shop.
But it was becoming apparent he might have to call the police for help, despite the fact that they had dumped the responsibility for Kanji on his shoulders, including finding him after losing him. No one was convinced that Kanji was missing yet, but that would change in a few days' time.
Then again, maybe it was also a hurt sense of pride of having to rely on them in the first place. Whether they believed him or not, this would give them an excuse to look down on his failure.
"Oh, it's you again."
Naoto recognized the dismissive kind of tone, but it took a while to jog his memory of who. Looking up, he saw a copper-haired girl wearing an orange, floral stamped blouse and white khakis. He briefly noticed a small heart-shaped locket around the girl's neck before registering her face. "Ah, Kujikawa-san."
"Shirogane," she returned, clearly still angry but at least trying to be polite. She quickly glanced around the store. "Where's Kanji Tatsumi?"
Naoto's eyes narrowed. "How do know his name?"
"Geez, I get you're playing detective, but do you have to suspect everyone?" Rise snapped with a growl. "We go to the same school, and a lot of the first-years gossip about him. He only seems to ever hang around you though, so it seems weird that you're here but he isn't." At this point she actually looked sad. "I know his mom through my grandma and I heard some… concerns, so I figured if anyone knew what happened to him, you would."
"I see…" Yes, that would be logical to assume. Rise and Kanji both attended Yasogami High, and she'd probably heard his name more than once in the weeks following her entry. And living just across the shopping district street would mean she'd know right away if something was wrong there.
With those facts in mind, the detective frowned and fiddled with the helm of his cap. "Truth be told, we had a… disagreement the other day. I had hoped to give him some time to himself, but when I came back he wasn't at home. I have no idea where he could be."
"Oh," Rise said sadly. "He wasn't… kidnapped, was he? Like the announcer lady and that one third-year?"
"Too early to say," said Naoto. "It's the worse-case scenario I would like to avoid, though, but I don't know how to find or contact him."
"Maybe it was something that happened that made him snap? Like that disagreement you two had?"
Naoto's frown grew. "…perhaps I had pushed too much when I suggested we spend the night together. I always knew he was an odd boy, but to react like that—"
"Odd? What do you mean?"
Naoto thought twice about telling her, but she seemed genuinely concerned about Kanji. Fact is, this was an urgent matter and he needed all the help he could get. "He seems to hold a front of forced bravado almost constantly. I recall a number of times when I or someone else asked him about odd or strange behavior, and he would react as if being unfairly criticized. I can only assume it has something to do with a trauma, or perhaps a case of gynophobia."
Rise blinked, trying to remember what the word meant, before leaning forward in a hushed tone. "You're saying the scariest delinquent of Yasogami High is afraid of girls?"
"At the very least, he abhors feminine behavior. He is also socially withdrawn, constantly abrasive and trying to prove himself. After spending several months with him and thinking back to these signs, I'm fairly certain he has an inferiority complex."
"Girls and inferiority complex," Rise repeated to herself. She then nodded to him and started to head for the elevators. "Thanks, that's all I needed to know."
"Can I ask you something?" Naoto called out. Rise didn't turn, but did stop to listen as she waited. "I'm thankful you are concerned and looking for him, but I can't help but wonder why you, a former idol, would care to do this. As I just told you, he holds a general aversion to many of the girls at school."
A tense moment passed. Naoto didn't think she would really answer, and didn't blame her. He was about to leave and try searching the town when she spoke again. "I was in his position once, the teasing bit I mean."
Naoto blinked before nodding in understanding. "So you empathize with him."
"Yeah. It's not easy fitting in while being the weird or odd person out. And if what you told me is true, that complex thing… then he really needs to know that there are people that worry and care for him."
"I see… And for what it's worth, I'm sorry."
This time, Rise fully turned to face the detective. "Huh?"
"You were right, about how I treated things like a game. I have a lot of pressure on my family name to solve this case, and I'm viewed with as much contempt by the police as by you. And it wasn't fair taking things out on you, whether you were really kidnapped or not.
"I just…" Naoto paused, hiding his face under his hat further. "I don't want anyone else to die. Not when there's something I could do to make a difference."
Rise was honestly surprised. She still had some bitter feelings upon first meeting Naoto, and she didn't think he took her words seriously. Looking back, he tried to placate her on the lives of others, but she assumed he was trying to guilt her into complying. Instead, he was just that committed, perhaps even more than most of the cops that just wanted the disappearances to stop.
This Naoto guy reminded her a lot of Shirou.
"I see," she said, before smiling. "Well, maybe I was a little too quick to judge myself. You're not so bad after all, Naoto-kun."
"I thank you," he nodded briskly, still hiding his eyes under his hat. Rise swore she could see a faint smile and tear trail. "Good day, and good luck."
"You too," she said, and watched as the young detective left the Junes front entrance. At the same time, the elevator door finally opened… next to the one Rise was waiting in front of it.
"Stupid Junes and their dual-linked doors," she cursed under her breath, digging her phone out to angrily text. "I blame Yosuke-senpai!"
<><><>
Tatsuhime Shrine, Midday
"AAAACHOO!!" Yosuke sneezed mid weed-pull, before chuckling. "I bet my new girlfriend's bragging about me!"
Tama just rolled her eyes and plopped back down on the bench she was resting on.
The back of the Tatsuhime Shrine had really cleared up over the past month thanks to their efforts, and Tama was so receptive of them that she allowed the Investigation Team to hang around as a sub-base from Junes. Today was Sunday, so that gave the Investigation Team all day to gather intel on Kanji while preparing for the dungeon, as well as other important errands.
Because as luck would have it, Kanji was too hidden in the foggy other world to be found on scent alone, as Yosuke could attest to checking on Teddie early this morning. It would be safe to assume from now on they would need more clues before searching.
Anyway, the gang had split up and checked around several points of Inaba for information gathering, before heading back to regroup at the Tatsuhime Shrine. So far only Shirou and Rise were left unaccounted for, so Yosuke took the time to weed out the rest of the field while Chie practiced with her new weapon.
Her friend Yukiko, who had agreed to watch, blinked bemusedly. "Nunchaku?"
"Yep!" Chie nodded, brandishing her new weapon in her hands. A pair of long, black, hardened sticks connected by interlinking metal chains. "Got it just in time for the new dungeon, and I think they'll come in handy this time."
From his position in the back garden, Yosuke looked up with an accusatory gaze. "Like the chain whip and the short staff?"
"They were learning processes! You switched out the wrenches, you know!"
"Yeah, and I stuck with dual blades," he argued. "Amagi-san is using a better version of the metal fan Daidara-san made her, too."
"And Emiya-kun switched to a bow and arrow! I don't get why you're complaining about my choice of weaponry."
Yukiko frowned, quickly intervening in the fight by pulling Chie away from Yosuke's earshot. "Chie, what's wrong?"
"Huh?" The brunette flinched, but shook her confusion off with a wide smile. "Nothing's wrong! I'm peachy-keen!"
"Honesty has always been one of your better qualities, Chie. So much that it's easy to tell when you're lying."
Yukiko may not be the most aware of the world around her, but when she focused on what she did know, she had no equal. It was how she could study and ace tests to be at the top of her class. And having known Chie for years, she knew without a doubt that something was bothering her friend.
Chie's smile crumbled, before sighing in defeat. "Was it that obvious?"
"I was there when you fought my Shadow and Rise-chan's," said Yukiko. "I know we need weapons to fight Shadows, but you're the last person I expected to pick one up."
Chie looked offended. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"You're literally one of the strongest people I know," she replied quickly. "You'd sooner dash towards Shadows with your Trial of the Dragon moves than swing a staff around."
She had a flush growing, equally flattered and embarrassed. "Th-They're just that. Moves. Moves of an amateur."
Yukiko tilted her head in confusion. "Hanamura-kun looks self-taught in swinging his knives and he doesn't seem all that bothered about it."
"Like his opinion matters."
"And what about mine? Or Rise-chan's? Or Emiya-kun's?"
Chie looked ready to retort until the last moment, where her embarrassment came back two-fold and her mouth closed firmly. Just as the ebony-haired girl was about to ask what was wrong, the answer to her question came to her like a splash of water. "This has something to do with Emiya-kun, doesn't it?"
Nothing came out but a hesitant squeak. "…maybe."
Yukiko giggled. She couldn't help it; the thought of Chie trying to impress Shirou was so adorable and cute!
Chie knew what was coming and snapped. "This isn't funny!"
To her credit, Yukiko stopped right away. "I'm sorry," she said, the laughter soon forgotten. There was a time and place for everything. "It's just… he's the last person to judge someone unfairly like that. You shouldn't even worry about that."
"But he makes using many weapons so easy. Like the katana or his bow, and he can just make more swords appear like, well, magic! Not to mention he has more Personas than the rest of us combined, and well… it's no contest."
She gripped the nunchaku in her hand tighter. "That's why I need to find the right weapon. The perfect weapon for me, so I can be that much stronger for everyone on the team."
Chie slipped into a stance and started flailing the weapon between her hands in rapid movements. "Aiaiaiaiaiai! "Whataaa-OW!"
Somehow during the shuffle, one end of the nunchaku spun up instead of down. Gravity took over and it clunked her square in the head, which she quickly rubbed with her free hand. She tried to smile through her wincing tears. "Okay, looks like I need to practice some more…"
If there was one thing that Yukiko hated seeing, it was self-doubt. She had wallowed in it for so long that it was surprising she didn't notice Chie having her own insecurities sooner.
"I admit, Emiya-kun has a lot of powers, and with them a lot of responsibility." She then took Chie's nursing hand into both of her own. "But we're a team, and just because he can do everything, doesn't mean that he should."
"Yukiko?"
"You may not think strength is important, but it is. You strike hard and fast before any of us, especially Emiya-kun, so we can focus on our next Shadow. We depend on you more than you know, because you're this team's strongest fighter. And you don't need any secret weapon other than your true self."
"Yukiko…" Chie was beyond touched. Here was her best friend, coming out on their first adventure together in the Shadow World, and giving her a much-needed pep talk. She had been worried it would be a bad idea, but aside from fighting monsters and having more friends, nothing had changed. And by the looks of it, nothing would between them either.
So she wasn't surprised that she was nodding with her friend with a bright smile. "Yeah, you're right! I don't need some lame-old prop! I can kick ass just fine without one!"
Chie carelessly tossed the nunchaku to prove her point, and Yukiko smiled with her. Maybe if she was lucky, her discarded weapon would clunk Hanamura right on the head.
THUNK! "OW!"
Chie and Yukiko immediately paled, and turned around to where the weapon flew.
...that wasn't Hanamura.
"OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY, EMIYA-KUN!"
Shirou winced and nursed his aching forehead while holding the offending weapon in his other hand. "Why would you throw something like this around anyway? Kids play here, for goodness' sake."
"Oh, suck it up," Yosuke quipped as he and the fox walked over to them. "Your thick head should have cushioned the worst of it."
Chie was about to snap angrily at him when her phone, as well as everyone else's, started to ring. They wordlessly pulled them out to read the message.
"Looks like Rise-chan found something out about Kanji-kun," Yukiko said.
"Great!" Yosuke smirked, already making for the shrine gate. "Let's hurry back to Junes and hear all about it!"
<><><>
Junes
Tohru Adachi hummed to himself as he carried his modest bag of groceries out of the cash-in line. He'd found some cabbage rolls to last the week, and for once he didn't bump into that crazy old lady who thought he was her grandson. She really tried his patience at times, but he hadn't had any reason to get overly ticked off lately. Heck, he's been having a lot of fun recently.
Dojima was probably the best partner he could ask for in this small urban town. He was experienced, gruff, serious, and made it plain what he wanted. He was also a family man so there were times where, despite him saying otherwise, he cared about Adachi. It left him conflicted that he couldn't do better, but some partnerships just aren't meant to last. With that in mind, he waited in front of the elevator after pressing the call button.
"Hope tomorrow doesn't get too hectic…" he said to himself. It was currently his day off today, and he'd already heard rumors spreading that Kanji Tatsumi was missing. No one was certain it was true or not given that it was Sunday and a similar scare happened with Rise, but then again, you never knew what would happen in a supposedly crazy town like this.
His musing stopped when he heard the elevator open and a group of teens walked out of it. He waited for them to leave before doing a double-take. It was Dojima's nephew, Shirou Emiya.
And the kids he was arrested with the other day, Yosuke Hanamura and Chie Satonaka.
And the girl from the Amagi Inn, Yukiko.
And… the retired idol Rise Kujikawa?!
Man, talk about an ensemble! Why were they all together?
"Are you sure we shouldn't go back to change into our uniforms?" Yukiko asked softly as they walked away. "They'd be better suited for this kind of thing."
Adachi looked between the elevator and the group of kids that didn't notice his presence at all. A moment later, he discreetly trailed the group while looking as inconspicuous as possible; easy in a department store full of eager shoppers all around.
"We'd stand out if we suddenly go home and change into our uniforms on a Sunday, and even people in cram school need to take breaks," he heard Shirou explain. "Besides, our supplies are all safe with Teddie. We'd only need to worry if we're bringing new stuff."
The brunette boy, Yosuke, scoffed. "Says the guy who got one of his girlfriends some new shoes."
Wait, did Adachi hear him right? Girlfriends? Well damn, who knew Dojima's nephew was such a player?!
Though it didn't look like the Satonaka girl was wearing anything different or eye-catching. Rather, she was carrying a box under her arm. Was she embarrassed by the gift and didn't want to wear the shoes right away?
If Shirou was embarrassed though, his next comment didn't show it at all. "You're just jealous because you didn't think to give shoes to your girlfriend yet."
"…shut up."
Well played, Emiya. Well played.
At this point, they entered the electronics store, and Adachi stopped following as to not arouse any suspicion. He did see Rise latch onto the red-haired boy's shoulder and make an excited remark that he was too far away to hear.
What did they plan to do in the electronics store? And who's Teddie? Other cops noticed them entering there a lot, but their duties were just keeping to their patrols and making sure no one shoplifted or waved around weapons again.
Adachi paced in front of the store, looking in to see the odd quintet talking in front of a big TV. He was currently off duty, so he had no reason to act professional. It meant he had no reason to look into this either. Something about Emiya and his circle of friends seemed to imply he was in the middle of all this…
But what did he know? The other guys at the station would never believe him, and they barely got Shirogane out of their hair. Dojima's nephew was on thin ice as is, but if it turned out that what he was doing wasn't at all bad or illegal, he knew the veteran cop would go medieval on the ass for jumping the gun.
…Adachi really didn't want to be the one chewed out if that was the case, and made Dojima and the others annoyed enough as it was. It was a miracle they didn't hate him more than Shirogane, really, but he always fancied himself smarter than he looked.
"Well, it's not my problem," Adachi shrugged, already doubling back to the elevator. He was fairly certain that kids like them wouldn't get into any trouble.
<><><>
TV World; road to Steamy Bathhouse
"Girls and an inferiority complex… Girrrrrrrrrls, compleeeeeeex…"
As soon as they told Teddie the clues to Kanji, he went to work sniffing through the fog. Everyone followed the bear as he did his thing, but were getting worried through the long trek. "He's been at this for twelve minutes now," Rise said. "Is this normal?"
"He said the fog has been messing up with his senses, so things must be getting harder to pick up," Shirou told her. "But with the clues we gave him, he should be able to pick them up accurately."
"Oh, don't worry! I know the way back home easy!" Teddie turned to them with a smile. "It has a distinctive smell of Yosuke, and it was a nice safe space away from most Shadows."
"Wait, why me?" Yosuke asked. "I didn't do anything!"
Chie looked to the eerie sky, a hand stroking her chin in thought. "Actually, weren't you complaining about something that time? Needing to have to go…"
"Ah, he needed to use the restroom, right?"
"That's it!"
"But that means…" Yukiko began, before she and Rise both turned to Yosuke, standing between them. She quickly ran in fear and clung to Chie's back. "EEEEWWWWW! That is so gross."
"What?!" the offended teen yelled. "I so didn't piss my pants!"
Rise made a repulsed face, and took deliberate steps to the side, away from Yosuke. "…I so didn't need to hear that."
"Well, I didn't!"
"And no one bothered to ask, thank you very much!" Chie yelled back. "You're just making it sound more suspicious the more you bring it up!"
"How is telling the truth suspicious?!"
"Because you're awfully specific on whether you peed your pants or not!"
"Because I didn't!!"
As he watched from behind Yosuke and the girls' growing argument, Shirou smiled wistfully. Tuning their voices off, he looked ahead and picked up the pace with Teddie leading the way. "We're walking to save a fellow student, and we're making jokes at each other's expense. When I planned to fight Shadows, this isn't what I had in mind."
"You don't sound all that upset," Teddie noted.
"Well, it certainly beats having to do this alone," he replied. "Between helping others and catching the culprit to this whole mess, hanging out like this feels… nice."
"Yeah, it does," he said quickly with a smile. Of course the bear would do anything not to feel lonely.
"Shirou-sensei?"
"Hmm?"
"You've noticed that the Shadows that have been converted to Personas, they have similar powers to when they were berserk, albeit on a smaller scale."
"…I did notice a pattern, yes." Jiraiya's wind. Tomoe's ice. Konohana Sakuya's fire. "It's very convenient we have a full team of varied elements to exploit the Shadows' weaknesses."
"Yeah, very lucky," Teddie said. "Although… Rise-chan's powers would blow ours out of the way in terms of scouting, if she… no, when she gets used to it."
Ah, so that's it. "You're worried Rise will take over and do a better job as support?"
Teddie frowned. "You saw what her Shadow did. We barely beat her when she literally danced around us- I mean, you guys. And if, no, when she figures out her powers-"
"Then you'll be there to help her."
The bear blinked and looked up to him. "Huh?"
"It's possible her Persona abilities would dwarf anything you or I could scrounge up, but she's new to this. She's going to need all the help she can get to keep up on our mission from here on out."
"That's true…"
"Furthermore, you're still our resident expert on this world, knowing more than the rest of us, and you still got me beat when it comes to Gradation Air. Your Reinforcement was vital and helped save the day." Shirou told him with a smile. "You're invaluable to us, Teddie. Never forget that."
"Shirou-sensei…!" Teddie sniffled, overcome with emotion, and his eyes watered so much it looked like he was condensing mist from his tear ducts.
Wait, mist?
Shirou looked around him, noticing for the first time how oddly thick the fog was around them, obscuring their view even with the glasses on. The others stopped arguing and were also starting to notice the shift in the fog.
"Uh, guys?" Rise called out. "Is it just me, or is the fog getting thicker here?"
"It's not fog, it's steam," Yukiko said quickly, lifting her glasses up briefly. "Fog is essentially a state of water condensed into cloud form, but closer to the earth's surface. And it lifts out of the TV world to become rain in our world."
"Wow, you can tell?!" Chie asked. She and the others were amazed by her deduction and wisdom.
"It's not that hard to figure out," Shirou said. "The water cycle is one of the basics of science. Anyone who's ever made a mini-cyclone with two taped-up soda bottles could understand that."
"That, and my family owns a hot springs inn," the heiress reminded. "You can tell the difference easy between a cloud formed by lower humidity and one made with too much. So much that the water boils quickly from a heated source."
"Is that so," said Yosuke dimly. Then his eyes widened, as if a lightbulb went off in his head. "Wait, wasn't the Midnight Channel last night set to a sauna?"
As they looked around, they could make out the inner details of a bathhouse changing room around them. Pale and pink tiles led inside, with rows of lockers leading to a set of wooden doors at the end. Small stools and towels were set up for changing, giving it more ambience without the presence of people.
Teddie smiled and spread his arms in glee. "What do you know! We're here!"
Everyone stared at the bear, exasperated. "Why didn't you say anything before?" Yosuke asked.
"Probably because you were all too busy talking about bowel movements," Shirou told him. "On the plus side, we're in a changing room so if anyone has to go…"
"I'm fine, thanks," Yosuke droned. The girls snickered amongst themselves.
Before anyone made another step forward, a sultry voice called out from nowhere. "C'mere, pussycat..."
Everyone stiffened, and someone let a rather shrill squeak of fear. "Wh-what was that?!" Rise cried out.
"These places tend to have voices pop up that are meant to reflect the victim's reality," Shirou explained. "But this feels…"
"Oh... Such well-defined pecs..." Another voice called, both soothing and welcoming. If words had feeling, they might have caressed the young teens whom their words were directed towards.
The voices were close, and soon everyone was looking up to see two bodybuilders standing at the door and looming over them like giants. They were both in monochrome down the middle, their left half white and their right half black. Besides the briefs hugging their groins, they were naked and well chiseled in muscle. Their faces were remarkably human, sporting full lips and thin black mustaches. They could pass off as identical twins, with the only difference between the two men being insignias itched on their biceps; one had a blue T on his black side, and another had a red N on his white side.
They were both smiling at the group, and the man with the N said, "There's no need to be scared..."
"…I think I might take that bathroom break now, thanks."
"Eww."
Ignoring Yosuke, Shirou took a tentative step forward towards them. "Is Kanji Tatsumi here?"
"Indeed," The T man nodded. "Do you wish to enjoy a soak in the Steamy Bathhouse?"
"I just want to find Kanji, and hopefully bring him back home," Shirou said. "I don't have the time or money for your services, sorry."
The two bodybuilders turned and exchange frowns, shaking their heads and tsking. "Such a waste of good manhood. I was hoping someone of his beautiful physique would be a shoe-in."
"Truly a lost cause if there ever was one, Nice Guy."
"Wait, your name is Nice Guy?" That would explain the N, at least.
"That's correct. And I am Tough Guy. No relation." The T guy paused long enough to smile and make a knowing side-glance. "Yet."
"Oh, you big softie!"
...this was getting off track, and horribly awkward at that. "I'm sorry you feel I insulted you, but me and my friends here just want to bring Kanji back. Too much steam and hot water could lead him passing out from heat stroke, or even drowning under the water. And you don't want your business to go under because of that, do you?"
Tough Guy and Nice Guy exchanged glances and whispers again. Back at the group, Chie looked between him and her friends. "What the hell is he doing?"
"I don't know," Yosuke shrugged. "Diplomacy rolls?"
"I thought DnD was just a cover," Rise said.
"And isn't this dangerous? I mean, those are Shadows, right?" Yukiko asked.
"They don't look like Shadows. Personas, maybe?" Teddie wondered.
"Wait, you don't know? I thought you lived here, Teddie."
The bear shook his head. "All I know for sure is that they come from this Kanji you're looking for, along with the rest of this place. It's not all that different from Yuki-chan having that prince Shadow around."
"Prince?"
Rise's question was ignored in favor of Yukiko's embarrassment, as Chie quickly added, "That's different. It had a Noh mask and everything, while these guys look like humans. How could you not know every weird thing that goes on here?"
Teddie had a frown on his face that looked wise beyond words. "Would you have tried looking for answers before all this?"
No one had an answer to that.
"Okay, thanks," Shirou told the two bouncers before returning to the others. "Okay, we're clear. Kanji's inside so let's hurry after him."
The bear and teens all blinked. "Wait, just like that?" Yosuke asked.
"Mister Emiya here has made a convincing case for your… fairer friends," Tough Guy frowned towards the girls. "As long as you behave yourselves and don't do anything untoward to our guests, you are free to enjoy the facilities."
"Do enjoy yourselves!" Nice Guy added with a smile, before sneering aside, "Although I doubt moody bitches would feel anything short of a spanking."
Rise and Yukiko gasped in shock. Chie took a threatening step forward with a few choice words to say but stopped when Shirou placed his hand firmly over her shoulder.
"Quickly," he said rather tensely. "Before they change their minds."
Chie kept her mouth shut for as long as they passed the grinning, waving Guys. Upon entering the bathhouse, a heatwave hit them from the steam, blending with the fog and wooden décor in an orange haze. The path was long, there were rows of benches to sit against the walls, and indentions full of burning red sauna rocks.
When they were at a far enough distance and out of earshot from the entrance, Chie returned the favor by turning Shirou around to face her. "What the hell was that about?!"
"This dungeon is apparently a men's only sauna," Shirou said. "They were intent on only allowing me, Yosuke, and possibly Teddie in, but not you three."
"And now you're concerned about being nice with Shadows? We could just kick their asses like all the others!"
"I'd rather avoid conflict with facets of Kanji's psyche if I can help it."
Everyone looked surprised and concerned. Yosuke in particular looked fearful. "Facets?" Yukiko asked.
Shirou nodded, turning to Yukiko. "They looked different, but they were definitely Shadows, and strong ones at that. They were kind of like the Charming Prince in having a deep connection to his psyche and this dungeon."
"Oh! Like how Yuki-chan wanted to score all the hot guys in the castle?"
"Teddie!" Chie growled. "Learn some damn tact! You know that's not true!"
Beside him, Yukiko slumped and hid her face in her palms. Teddie pondered for a moment before snapping his digits. "Oh, that's right! She didn't just try to make a move on Shirou-sensei and Yosuke, but you too, Chie-chan! OWW!"
"That's NOT what I meant!" she shouted after giving the bear a fresh lump.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?" the inn heiress lamented to herself.
Rise pouted as the context of the situation, while interesting and hilarious, flew straight over her head. "You guys owe me an explanation for this later," she demanded.
"No, we don't!"
Throughout the whole squabble, Shirou was pinching his nose in exasperation. "ANYWAY," he finally raised his voice, forcing the others to listen. "We're not ready yet to take those Shadows on, and even if we could, we might damage Kanji's mental state worse than him outright rejecting it."
"I… guess that makes sense," Chie admitted.
"It was tricky talking to them, I admit. They kept eyeing me like a piece of meat or something," Shirou continued. He failed to notice the girls exchanging knowing, embarrassed looks. "But I managed to convince them to give us a pass."
"Just like that?"
"...I might have promised to give them a full back massage on a later date."
Bewildered silence filled the room. Chie turned to Yukiko. Yosuke to Teddie. Rise to Tama. Then they all turned to Shirou, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and blushing. "I couldn't think of anything else, all right?!"
Yukiko giggled. "Helpful to a fault even to Shadows? That's just so like you, Emiya-kun!"
"Yeah yeah, he's a great, weird guy. Can we hurry up and find Kanji, now?" Rise asked. "This place is so stuffy I think my hair's getting a perm."
"Good idea. This place looks rather wide between floors, so if anyone has a plan of action, now's a good time for suggestions."
Yosuke's hand shot up. "I have a suggestion, leader!"
"What is it, Yosuke?"
"Can we head back and call it a day?"
For a moment, no one said anything. They had assumed he was joking, but the uneasy smile said otherwise.
"But we just got here!" Teddie told them. "And I know for sure Kanji's down here!"
"And that is all great progress! So I think it's safe to head back and rest up for another day, perhaps maybe a week later, or two."
"Yosuke-kun," Yukiko said slowly. "You're not… scared, are you?"
"What? Me? What a silly proposition!" Yosuke quickly replied. He tried to laugh but his voice cracked between chuckles. "I just uh… need to check up with Sacchin, see. I promised her dinner tonight, and the phones don't work around here so I was thinking of heading back and seeing we can…"
At this point the girls were glaring. Even the fox. "Okay, I'm scared! You saw those two guys! They're ripped, campy, and looked like they wanted to plow me to the ground! My ass isn't safe here, man!"
"Not helping your case, Hanamura," said Chie.
"We're going to have to fight them eventually, especially if we want to save Kanji before his Shadow kills him. We promised to save all the victims involved in this, and Kanji is no exception. You don't want anyone to end up like Konishi, don't you?"
"Well, no, but—"
"And even if you decide to head out without us, you do realize that you'll have to run into those guys again, right? Because they're guarding the door and thought you to be very lean and handsome."
Between the dry tone of his voice, and the deadpan stare in his eyes, Shirou wasn't the least bit amused of his suggestion to leave. Seeing everyone else stare at him with the same level of disdain, perhaps even more, Yosuke slowly lowered his hand back down. "This is gonna suck," he whimpered.
"Well, since there are no other suggestions, I guess we'll move on to business," Shirou said.
"And what business is that, senpai?" asked Rise.
"The same thing we've been doing from the start. Fight Shadows, get stronger, and find Kanji before the next rainstorm. But more importantly, we need to get everyone up to speed on tactics."
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KishouTheBadger
Psychic Mech Pilot
Now it is.
- Location
- Georgia
This arc is going to be Uncomfortable, isn't. Which is a good thing, since you wouldn't be doing Kanji's issues justice if the story wasn't making us taste cold death at a glance of this...I don't have any words besides "Homoerotic Gangbang of Internalized Misandry and Gynophobia."
Are you proud of yourself? Well, you should be, even if I want to dig a hole to die in.
Are you proud of yourself? Well, you should be, even if I want to dig a hole to die in.
- Location
- College Station, Texas
Kanji was always interesting. I don't think his Shadow was a sign of his actual sexuality, but purposefully acted in such a way in order to get Kanji to reject him quicker. That's my personal theory at least. Kanji is rather effeminate, however.
KishouTheBadger
Psychic Mech Pilot
Yeah, Kanji is rather complex in that his problem looks to be one thing but is never outright stated or implied. He'll at least get the respect he deserves, don't worry.
- Location
- London
Kanji's shadow represents the inversion of the Emperor Tarot, of which one of the main features is straightforward practically blunt honesty, making the shadow more deceptive in it's words than the others.
- Location
- Tokyo, Japan
Yet another good actor dies young. He was only 67 years old; he was still young considering that Christopher Lee lived to his 90s while active.
Chapter 37: Boiling Tensions
KishouTheBadger
Psychic Mech Pilot
Thanks to all those that continue to read and like my story here. Tis the season to be jolly, for there's a new chapter!
<><><>
Fate/Reach Out
Chapter 37: Boiling Tensions
<><><>
Deep in the Steamy Bathhouse
The first thing Kanji felt when he came to was that he was hot. Like, stuffy hot. He knew it was June, but this was unbearable. "Ugh, dammit Ma, would you turn the AC on or something?"
He blinked his groggy eyes awake, but it was soon clear that the room wasn't hazy from his rousing eyes, but from smoke and steam. He didn't remember his house being like this. In fact, this didn't look like his house at all!
"The hell is this!?" Kanji shouted, but there was no answer.
It looked like he was in some sort of old-styled steam room usually found in resorts and inns and stuff. Filled with buff men in nothing but their towels… no way he was staying here.
"Geez, if this is Naoto's idea for a prank, I'm gonna make sure he regrets it," he grumbled, making his way to the door.
Leaving the cramped sauna room, Kanji walked down the left side of the long hallway, hoping to find a way out. He kept finding doors that led to other sauna rooms, and longer hallways even. It was soon clear that he was getting lost, and he felt creeped out as if there was someone, or something, watching him.
"Shit," Kanji muttered, tugging the collar of his shirt. He had slept in shorts and his flaming skull tank-top, but he might as well be wearing leather slacks with how hot it was in this freaky place. "It's so damn hot in here."
It was getting harder to move, as if the heat itself was a weight bearing down on him. Part of him just wanted to try and sleep again, but he couldn't. Not here. Not when he didn't have any idea about how he ended up here, or that someone was still watching him from behind.
He almost gave up trying to find a way out when his search for an exit led him to some sort of built-in pool at the far end of the room.
"Hmm… maybe a morning soak will help," he mused aloud. Not that he knew if it was morning or not. He reached for his shirt, ready to pull it over his head and set the clothes aside, when he realized he didn't have anything else to wear. What could he go in, his underwear? Maybe try one of the towels lying around, but did he really want to look like some toga-wearing freak? In a bathhouse-like place where the guys get all flamboyant, flexing muscles and showing off their-
No. The clothes stay on. He decided to wring them dry back home later or something. He straightened his shirt and hopped into the pool. The water was heated as well, but in a way that just made him melt and feel at ease. So much he could close his eyes and lean back with a smile.
"Aaaaaah, that's the stuff." Despite the tension of being stuck in this weird place, Kanji allowed himself to relax in the moment.
<><><>
Steamy Bathhouse, Floor 2
Rise was no stranger to pressure or nerves. She'd never forget the feeling of first stepping before a live stage audience after months of preparation for songs and public speaking practice. So really, learning how to summon the inner will to fend off bloodthirsty monsters should be as easy on paper as well as execution.
But this was a worse feeling, she realized.
Yes, she was scared. Petrified even. Terrors of running from her Shadow doppelgängers and how her then-not-friends getting gored and blasted away was more traumatizing than any lynch mob her security might break up.
And her new friends, who also had that same near-death experience, didn't hesitate at all in going after them. It didn't matter what the Shadows looked like, or what strengths they had. They fought them indiscriminately just for being in the way of their search.
"Yosuke, switch to wind when needed, but stick to offense otherwise! Satonaka, stay with the others and mind your distance! Amagi, hang back with fire but mind your prana in case we need healing!"
"""Roger!"""
Shirou was so scarily efficient in treating this run as a training mission. He focused on all of his surroundings, ensuring that the Shadows never got the drop on them. He would always lead with spells on Shadows they hadn't seen before to see what worked best and remembered those weaknesses (thanks in part to Teddie of course). He knew how his teammates worked best according to their Personas and strengths, giving curt orders to rein them back in.
No wonder he was the team leader.
"WATAAH!" Chie's battlecry echoed through the freaky bathhouse as she roundhouse kicked the cop Shadow in the side of its hollowed-out gut. Her new weapon, a pair of fur boots that gave off an almost Viking-like vibe to them, seemed to ignite in fire with each kick. It looked like she was in her natural element.
"Satonaka, stay in formation," Shirou ordered. His back was towards her, and he was busy swinging overhead at a cupid Shadow, but he knew where she was.
"Right! Sorry, these boots are just awesome. Thanks again, Emiya-kun!"
Meanwhile, Yukiko squared off with another cupid Shadow, extending her whole fan like a shield over her upper body. The Shadow pulled back its bowstring and launched an arrow, but she danced to the side and deflected it past her. Following up, she spun her fan's edge down at the Shadow's face which caused blackened muck to splatter out like blood.
Yosuke came in from behind and slashed both knives at the back of the weakened Shadow, killing it. Following up, he turned and slashed his Persona card. Jiraiya promptly blasted the boulder-shaped Shadow high enough to land it in a pool of boiling water behind it.
"Wow, that was really good, Hanamura-kun!" Yukiko smiled.
Normally he would have appreciated praise from Yukiko Amagi, but he had a girlfriend now and he had to be faithful to her. That, and his current track mind was having tunnel vision on the Shadows and nothing else. So much that he kept chanting "Just keep fighting, just keep fighting, just keep fighting, just keep fighting" like a mantra.
Before long, the skirmish ended and the path to the next stairway was clear. Shirou calmly sheathed his sword and told everyone to "take five".
Rise found herself letting out a breath of relief she didn't know she was holding and slumped down to the floor. Teddie and Tama immediately huddled up to her side. "Ugh, between the humidity and the fighting, I don't think I can last much longer."
"We have a lot more floors to go, but it might be best to head back after climbing the next set of stairs," Shirou told her. "But before that, I think it's time we teach you how to summon your Persona too."
"Right," Rise frowned. "Sorry, I must be dragging you guys down."
Shirou shook his head and extended his hand to her. "I should be the one to apologize. With the rush to help Kanji, I forgot to help you summon your Persona first."
It was always a tough transition for a new Persona user to figure out how to use their power. Shirou figured it out by virtue of being a magus and applying what he knew (even misinformed as it was) into practice. The others were just normal teenagers with simple problems and didn't grasp the trick as easily as he did.
Helping the blushing girl back up, he stayed close to keep her upright. "It just requires a trick to do it, and once you get it, it'll come naturally."
Before he could rely this knowledge, Teddie's nose twitched and he frantically waved to Shirou for his attention. "Sensei! There's a Shadow nearby!" Sure enough, a grunt-like growl echoed around the bathhouse, causing the Investigation Team to tense in preparation again.
Shirou tsked. "Missed one. And it sounds close too."
An aura suddenly flared around Rise. He saw her eyes closed and hands clenched as if in prayer. Himiko's figure solidified behind her, with her hands down at Rise's level and holding a golden visor over them. Rise opened her eyes and saw the world even more clearly combined with her glasses. Numbers and symbols flared, and she could see the figure of a Bribed Fuzz lurking behind a corner.
"There!" she cried out, pointing to the hiding Shadow.
"Ippon-Datara!" Shirou reacted first, summoning his blacksmith Persona. With surprising agility for a being with only one leg, he leaped forward like a whip with his hammer arm poised back to strike.
"SMAAAAAAAASH!"
With a battlecry fitting the sound effect, his hammer struck true and dispersed the Shadow in a single strike. The impact was hard enough to even crack the wood floor below. Having hoped to get the first strike itself, the Shadow was caught unaware by the counterattack and suffered a quick death.
Ippon-Datara looked further down the hall around the corner to be sure, before turning towards Shirou so his one eye made contact. "…Secure." The Persona stated before he returned back to Shirou's subconscious.
The team exhaled relieved breaths. "That was a close one. Thanks, Rise-chan!"
Rise smiled and nodded at Yukiko. Blinking, she realized what just happened, and jumped with a wider smile. "Hey! I did it! I summoned my Persona, Himiko!"
"And without my help at that," Shirou said.
"Rise-chan's amazing!" Teddie added.
"Hehe, thanks!" she giggled. "But wow… this is kind of weird. I feel like I'm seeing the world in three perspectives or something."
"Yeah, it's kind of wonky like that," Yosuke started, before he double-took. "Wait, three? You should only see things in two."
"Well, it's more like two-and-a-half, really. I can see in front of me, and around Himiko, but also through this visor thing like it's virtual reality, or some sort of spy-op game. There are numbers, charts, and maps flying all over it. I know if it was anything else I would probably go crazy trying to figure out, but it's all easy enough for me to understand. I feel like I can see anything."
"Really? Like what?" Yukiko asked.
"Let's see…" Rise said, and stared more intently into Himiko's visor. The shaman Persona moved her head much like a radar, back and forth slowly in a deliberate scan. "I… I can see Kanji. Two Kanjis actually. There's a lot of Shadows up above, and some really big readings a few floors down. Must be those big guy Shadows at the entrance. And… I think there's about a dozen floors total, give or take one below."
"Tw-Twelve floors…?!" Yosuke gawked. He had hoped the dungeon would be a smaller one like Saki's liquor store or Yukiko's castle, but to have a dungeon being as large as Rise's, if not larger, was something that made him very uneasy.
Shirou too was bothered by the news, but for different, less self-conscious reasons. "I was a bit afraid of that. Are these dungeons supposed to be getting bigger?"
"I know the cluttered emotions that come whenever someone is pushed in makes the Shadows more agitated, and thus stronger," Teddie explained. "But I think a dozen floors is the max limit of how deep these places will ever go, because there's only so much thoughts and emotion a person can have when they come here."
"So we should just accept eleven or twelve as how deep these Shadow dungeons go?" Shirou asked, to which Teddie nodded.
"If it helps, we're on the second floor right now, close to the stairway to the third," Rise said. "So it's only ten more floors to climb."
"That's awesome!" Chie cheered. "I mean, not that we still have a lot fighting to do, but the fact how your Persona is like a super radar!"
"Indeed. There's only so much my nose can do," Teddie added humbly.
Himiko vanished back to her subconscious, but Rise was decidedly not as excited as everyone else was. "Yeah, but…"
"What's wrong, Rise-chan?"
"I'm sorry, it's just, my Persona seems to only be good at seeing things and doing dungeon crawling support. I can't move while she's active so I'm just a dead weight when it comes to fighting." She sighed bitterly, clenching her hand into a fist. "I was kind of hoping I could fight with you guys too…"
No one knew what to say. None of their awakenings were smooth transitions either, but they had weapons to fight with and some form of fitness thanks to P.E.. The closest Rise probably ever got to physical exercise was dancing, and that was rare.
Shirou and Teddie exchanged knowing glances and nodded.
"It's a bigger responsibility than you may think, Rise," Shirou told her. "That kind of ability blows away anything Teddie or I can do."
"That's right! You're amazing, Rise-chan!" Teddie added. "You just need to have more confidence in yourself!"
Rise looked happy at the encouragement but still uncertain. "But… I don't know how else to fight."
"So? You'll learn. None of us are experts in this sort of thing either, which is why we're doing this as a team."
Team… she could get used to that. She usually had back-up singers and always led the charge as an idol, but it felt nice to ease back a little as intended.
"Okay," she nodded with a smile. "Thanks, guys."
"Great! Now we're definitely one more Persona stronger for whatever comes our way!" Yosuke smiled and looked at everyone. "...can we leave now?"
Shirou fought the urge to sigh. "Yosuke, this is the third time you've asked that since we got here. Are you going to keep asking that every time we find the stairs?"
"Yes! Because Teddie's dioramas only teleport us between the entrance and the flight of stairs!" It was sound reasoning to try and put off an escape route until reaching the next checkpoint, but Shirou had a feeling that Yosuke would demand escape constantly if Teddie wasn't so reluctant to use a GoHo-M unless it was an absolute emergency. "Besides, you said we should head back after this next set of stairs! You said that!"
"I did, didn't I?" Shirou noted aloud. He knew they hadn't made much progress climbing floors, but that was due to taking the time to work on tactical maneuvers. After the near disaster that was Shadow Rise, Shirou knew they couldn't face future Shadows without being a cohesive and well adapted team.
"I'm all for heading back," Chie said. "Yukiko and Rise-chan are both exhausted, Homophobura here is close to a mental breakdown, and we're still in debt paying Tama for the last batch of leaves we bought. We're not exactly in top-shape to keep going."
It was surprising to see Rise out of breath due to her lack of fighting, but there was a lot of running involved in finding and fighting Shadows. The sauna air didn't make things easy either. He regretted not giving Rise enough time to adjust fighting with her Persona yet, but there was always next time. And there was time for Kanji until the next rainfall.
Weighing all those options, Shirou nodded. "All right. We'll head back for now."
"Oh, thank god," Yosuke sighed with audible relief as Teddie puffed up a GoHo-M. Considering how well he held up, Shirou allowed him this.
<><><>
June 28th, Samegawa Flood Plain
The last few days were actually a blur and a bit hard for another get-together at Junes. Yosuke made it a point to keep putting it off with excuses like work or hanging out with his new girlfriend. Shirou, for his part, gave him his needed space to adjust while keeping himself occupied, hanging out with the other members of the Investigation Team, and even some time with the Dojimas during the evening.
Yesterday he helped fulfill another ema request for Tama, directing a lost dog back home. It was one of the harder good deeds he had to do, as the dog was not friendly or patient to strangers. But a little time, patience, and a steak skewer from Souzai Daigaku carried the day. Tama was pleased that another ema wish was granted, as it meant more people would pray at the shrine, and even waved him off the leaves bought at the striptease dungeon.
And the day before that, after retiring from the bathhouse, Shirou helped Yukiko do some last-minute grocery shopping. Yukiko was still serious in her endeavors to eventually leave Inaba, and after the disaster that was the camping trip, she had decided to practice. For better or worse, he agreed to help her by being her taste-tester.
Which led to today, sitting under the gazebo, staring at a neatly packed and visually appealing boxed lunch. Yukiko sat next to him, staring expectantly and trying to hide her… excitement? Nervousness? Pride? Shirou honestly wasn't sure.
"Well?" she asked. "Go ahead and try it."
Shirou just stared at it, keenly aware of the pungent smell it was giving off. "Did you taste it yourself?" he asked simply.
"No, I haven't," she admitted shyly. "I wanted you to be the first one to try it."
Anyone else would have been touched and moved by a gesture as sweet as this. But Shirou wasn't moved. His eyes narrowed in suspicion and her smile faded. "…are you sure this is edible?"
Yukiko pouted. Those were not the words she hoped to hear before a taste test. "It's not poisonous."
Shirou eyed the piece of food in his chopsticks with scrutiny. "Forgive me for being skeptical and experiencing PTSD after eating The Sin you and Satonaka made."
Geez, it was hard enough due to him being a smartass about her cooking, but he was still holding that over her head too? "I wish you'd stop calling our cooking that."
"Would you prefer… what did Yosuke call it again? 'Mystery Food X'?"
Yukiko blushed. Both names were bad, actually. "Just eat it, already. Please."
Shirou shrugged and did just that; he promised to taste this for her, and he couldn't help her cooking (or Satonaka's) without learning more about her quirks in cooking. He popped the bit of food in his mouth, and started to chew the soft omelet loo-
CRUNT!
…there was something inexplicably hard inside the morsel that couldn't be chewed further. He was also picking up the raw, burnt taste coming out of it. It wanted to be anywhere but his stomach, that much is certain.
"Do it for her."
Sarasvati was right. He needed to do this for Yukiko and help her grow as a proper cook. He taught someone how to cook once in Sakura, he could do it again. Even if it was becoming clear he would have to un-train Amagi and Satonaka first…
Fighting off the growing sense of nausea from the bite, he finally swallowed and eased his breathing. After a few tense seconds, he turned to Yukiko, still brimming with high expectations.
"It's bad," he said bluntly.
Yukiko's mood soured immediately, as her head dropped down in depression.
"But I didn't pass out. That's a good sign of progress."
"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better," Yukiko lamented dryly.
Shirou sniffed the meal again, trying to pick out the smells in the plain-looking... mystery food, should he call it? Or minor sin? "I think you just tried to go too fast in style and flavor. I told you to stick with the basics, but you seemed to dump all the eggs, noodles and greens into one bowl while dabbing it completely in, what, four different condiments?"
"…five, actually."
Shirou stared at her blankly, before picking up another piece of food with his chopsticks. Yukiko's mood brightened, thinking he was going to give it another try. But instead, he held it towards her and said, "Your turn."
"Eh?"
"Your skill level at cooking is simply abysmal. If you ever want to get better at cooking, you need to taste for yourself how bad the flavors are. Even if you followed the recipe to the letter, there are some things that instructions can't tell you that taste buds can."
"B-But I made it just for you," she insisted.
"And it's bad," he told her again. "You need to properly understand exactly what makes your cooking bad so you can avoid doing it yourself. Honestly, you should have done that already, considering what your 'curry' turned into."
Yukiko winced. Admittedly, the smell alone from the campout curry was enough to make her second guess herself, but it was just a fluke, she told herself. Just… conflicting cooking ideologies between herself and Chie. None of them were to blame for causing Emiya-kun and Hanamura-kun to pass out!
And if none of that was true, well… then it was Chie's fault!
She knew her cooking wasn't… great, per say. Not enough to be served at her family inn, but she had never cared before. Maybe if she just stared at him cutely enough, he would back off? It seemed to work in getting a few boys to leave her alone, lately.
"How are you ever going to live on your own if you can't even bother to eat your own food?"
…nope, he wasn't budging. Maybe he didn't think she was cute enough?
Not really. What she didn't know was that Shirou almost gave in right then and there, until Sarasvati reminded him that she was uncertain of her own talents, preferring to shy away from them. It was enough to push forward and insist that she wanted to leave Inaba, she needed to do this for herself.
Sighing, Yukiko opened her mouth and accepted Emiya-kun's offering. Even if it was the food meant for him, he was feeding her. The thought alone brought a smile and flush to her cheeks as she started to…
To…
Oh goodness.
OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS!
"BLUACK!" she spat the food out on the ground in front of them before coughing. She thought she could block out the smell if that was the only problem, but it was like trying to like a smoldering ball of ash hardened into a mud-covered rock. Nevermind swallowing it; she couldn't hope to chew it without feeling grossed out.
"Water! Water!" she cried, fanning her tongue and looking around their seats. She was so glad she thought to bring bottled water for this lunch date, and that Shirou opened one for her before handing it over. She guzzled it down so fast and clumsily that some droplets spilled down the sides of her cheeks and chin, even staining the top of her sweater.
Shirou patiently waited for her to finish drinking, gasping for breath as the foul taste was cleansed from her mouth. "You understand, now?" he asked her.
Oh, she did. She knew her cooking was bad from what people had told her, but she never actually knew how bad. She'd never felt so fearful for her life eating something before. That it came from her own hand was terrifying. And to think the Sin, the Mystery Food X, was enough to make Emiya-kun and Hanamura-kun enter a near death state…
Guilt and horror from the campout incident resurfaced, as she hugged him tight with tears bawling out her eyes. "I'M SO SORRY, EMIYA-KUUUUN!" she wailed.
Shirou stiffened and blushed. He didn't expect such a reaction from her, and he felt bad making her suddenly cry like this. "U-Uh… there, there, Amagi?" he said awkwardly, patting her back.
A few minutes passed as she calmed down and dried out the tears in her eyes. They were now glinting with an odd mix of determination and pity. "I," she sniffled. "I promise to do better for your stomach's sake, Emiya-kun!"
"That's… great?" Well, as long as she was going to do better cooking now, this was fine, right?
"Hey, big bro!"
Shirou was instantly relieved and happy to see Nanako skip over to them. The feeling was mutual, as the young girl was acting a lot more cheerful since Golden Week. By now she was familiar with all of Shirou's friends, and it was fairly common for her to drop in and ask what they were doing. Like right now. "What are you two doing?"
"Just practicing my cooking and having Emiya-kun here try it." Yukiko explaining, looking at the box lunch on Shirou's lap.
"Can I have some too?"
""NO!""
Nanako flinched at both teens' immediate outburst. Shirou pulled the box lunch away and Yukiko's hands were spread-out forward to stop her, both wide-eyed with fearful expressions.
Seeing the younger girl confused and hurt, Yukiko waived off her protective reflex and smiled. "I-I mean, you wouldn't like it, Nanako-chan! It's… not very good…"
"Oh, okay," she nodded. "Then I'll just have some when you make a good boxed lunch!"
Nanako was so simple and innocent. It was a matter of "when" the food would be good rather than "never" to her, and she was willing to wait until that happened. It was the kind of confidence boost Yukiko didn't even know she needed, which was why she was speechless.
Realizing that fact, Shirou smiled and answered on his friend's behalf. "I'm sure she'll like that very much, Nanako."
"Yay!" Nanako cheered. "I'll be rooting for you!"
"Y-Yes! I'll do my best, thank you Nanako-chan!" Yukiko smiled.
They waved and watched Nanako hurry on to her friend's house. When the younger girl was out of earshot, Yukiko sighed. "This… didn't turn out at all like I had hoped. Sorry."
"You're not going to hug me and cry on my shoulder again, are you?"
"No!" she squawked, more embarrassed than offended. "Maybe…"
"Relax, it's fine," Shirou told her. "Teasing aside, we all have our strengths. And I'll keep eating whatever you make until you get good enough to serve it to Nanako too."
"Really?"
"Really. It's the least I can do after all the times your healing helped us in the TV world. I'm counting on you."
Yukiko's face burned brighter as she looked away. "Th-That's my line," she stammered. But it wasn't an unpleasant feeling, really…
<><><>
Steamy Bathhouse
Kanji had lost track of time and what was going on. Soaking in the bath helped a bit, but that endeavor made his clothes wet and sticky. Maybe he should strip down next time he needed a soak. There was nothing else to do, anyway.
At first, this was kind of nice. No one around to scream or judge him, and he could relax as long as he needed. Finally, some time to himself to cool off, and maybe wait until someone did find him.
But now it was just effin' creepy. He had seen no one for… hours? Days? He didn't even know how long he had been stuck in this place and it was something that both scared him and infuriated him. Not that he would ever show that weakness to others. Part of him felt that he really wasn't alone here and that someone was watching him.
"Stop hiding and show yourself already you bastard!" he screamed as he ran through the halls. He rested enough to try wandering the place, but his stamina wasn't like it used to be. Something about this crazy sauna made him just want to sleep and tune out everything.
"Oh, but I'm not decent!"
Kanji stiffened. He was both relieved and rather scared that he'd heard someone for the first time since he got here. Something about the voice sounded familiar, and he couldn't quite put his finger on what. He turned around to see the newcomer.
It was a man with bleached hair smiling and reclining in a pool of waist-deep water. Kanji quickly realized he looked just like himself, and that he wasn't wearing a shirt.
Oh god was he-?!
"THE FLIPPIN' A!?!" Kanji wailed as he jumped away.
"Hiya, handsome!" The double waved at him, grinning and opening one eye to look at him. His eye was that of a cat's, gleaming a bright yellow gold. "Sooooo glad I finally found you!"
'Found me'? What the hell was this guy going on about? "Who the hell are you?!"
"I'm you, obviously. Don't you notice the muscles, the scars, and the other subtle male charms? I've been looking everywhere for you, you know."
Talking to himself? This had to be a dream, right? He had been wandering for so long that the smoke was getting to him. Yeah, that's it. Thinking about it like that, he was willing to accept this for the moment. But it was still creepy as hell.
"Th-Then why are you…?" he pointed, but couldn't finish the sentence, as his mind was still processing what was going on. Luckily, or perhaps unfortunately, the other Kanji smiled coyly while splashing the water with his feet.
"Well, it took so long to find you, you know, but when I did, I was trying to think how to make a good first impression. You didn't seem to be causing a hassle running around like a headless chicken, so I'm just taking it easy cooling off here. And what a rest, my feet are KILLING ME. But enough gabbing, come on in! The water's great!"
"The hell I'm going in the same pool with a lookalike! Hell, I wouldn't share a pool with another guy period, much less someone who's naked!"
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not naked, just a little indecent. I'm wearing a towel hugging my crotch and showing off ALL my curves."
"Men don't have curves!" Kanji screamed.
The golden-eyed Kanji's smile never left his face. It was honestly creepy seeing him grin like that. "Aww, don't be like that. We're both guys here! No evil hussies are here to muck everything up!"
"Hu-Hussies?" Something about that word struck a nerve with him.
"You know, girls! Aren't they just the worst?! Always lying, always gossiping, and able to get away with double-standards because they're 'sooooo sexyyyy'," For the first time the other Kanji's smile dropped, especially as he dragged the last two words sarcastically. "You can never trust such two-faced bitches. Much less Shana-chan."
Kanji's face paled. He didn't know how or why, but this other guy knew Shana-chan… and his words hit a little too close to home. A long pause followed before the doppelgänger pulled up a long clear sponge lathered in some soap. "Hechima?"
Kanji had heard enough from this guy. He needed to get out now. Without a word, he bolted further down the hallway, looking for what looks like an exit.
The other Kanji just reclined further back and smiled as he lathered himself. "You can run all you want darling, but you can't hide! Especially not from yourself!"
Himself? Ha, no, he was a man. A man always faces their problems head-on, and right now he was getting away from this deathtrap. If he couldn't, then he had to hope someone from the outside would get him out. Naoto, his ma, anyone… surely SOMEONE was going to get him out of this crazy hell, right? Right?!
<><><>
June 29th, Okina Station
"Sorry dude, BZ 2day @ Junes. L8r?"
Shirou read over the text Yosuke left him over and over again. Even after replying back with a simple "okay", he still couldn't believe his friend was putting off Kanji's rescue for so long. By now the police and locals of Inaba were convinced he had been kidnapped by the culprit after being absent from school for so many days. The only thing holding the Investigation Team back searching was Yosuke, as they promised to always go together as a team, and yet he always had an excuse these days.
He was fine for waiting if they were ready, and he could understand if Yosuke had personal conflicts going back to the bathhouse, but they were running out of time. The weather report said it would rain later in the week.
"I'm done, Shirou-senpai!"
Shirou pocketed his phone and greeted the voice coming out of Croco Fur. "I see you got everything you need?"
"Yep! Grandma's allowance for the tofu job is kind of cheap compared to Inoue's checks, but the stuff here was within budget anyway!"
Rise carried four shopping bags under her arms proudly and smiled through her incognito disguise of a white hat, wide sunglasses, and her hair let down. Instead of her school uniform, she was now wearing a white blouse over orange shorts and black leggings. She made a quick turn-around so he could see all sides of her attire. "So, how do I look?"
"Pretty nice," he said. "I hardly recognize you."
"That's kind of the idea," she told him. "I'm done with showbiz, so I need to keep my wardrobe updated so I can hang out in Okina without getting hounded by the paparazzi until they get the hint."
As best as Rise's efforts to stay hidden were, they didn't last long when word of mouth got out. By now every Risette fan with an ear on the floor knew that Rise was currently living in Inaba. Aside from a boost of tourism for the Amagi Inn, not much had happened since. In a few months, maybe she could wander around Okina without worry of someone hounding her.
"Was this shopping trip really necessary though?" Shirou asked. "I thought idols as popular as yourself would have a ton of clothes already."
"Well, most of them are costumes to begin with," she shrugged. "I also left on short notice. I didn't want to waste any time packing my bags and making it a bigger deal that it already was. Perhaps if I had been more patient or spoke out sooner…"
He frowned, saying the only thing he could think of. "Sorry." The whole mess with her quitting as an idol couldn't have come at a worse time. He could only imagine how traumatic it was for her, or any of his friends for that matter.
But Rise smiled and shrugged it off. "It's not your fault, senpai. I quit because I needed a look in the mirror, anyway. And besides…" Her smile grew as she stared pointedly at him. "I wouldn't have gotten to meet my new friends. Like you."
"I-I see…" Shirou coughed nervously and looked away, blushing. It just made Rise giggle, finding his shyness adorable. Man, if Shinji ever found out about this…
"But seriously, you could have asked Satonaka or Amagi to do this with you. Girls know what other girls should wear, right?" It was one thing he still didn't quite get. It was never the fact that he wouldn't do things for his friends if they asked, but he thought the girls would think twice before asking him for a favor, Social Link or no Social Link.
"Maybe, but guys know what they think looks cute on the girl they like," Rise told him. Then she pouted. "You do like me, don't you Shirou-senpai?"
The next words left Shirou's mouth without thinking. "Is this one of those trick questions girls like to ask so much?"
Rise blinked, giving him a sense of urgency that he might have offended her. The moment passed when she just laughed. "You're so funny, senpai!"
"So I've been told," he said. Lately, he found himself less inclined to keep his thoughts to himself. Had he shown this side of himself to anyone back at Homurahara, they'd probably see him as some sort of enigma or freak. But after seeing the extremity of his friend's Shadows born out of suppressed issues, something clicked within him that his own secrets weren't that big of a deal.
At least the ones he was willing to tell.
"I just… think you were the best person to ask."
Shirou blinked out of his reverie. "Huh?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong. Chie-chan and Yuki-chan are great, and Yosuke-senpai's… well, someone likes him so he's kind of busy with his own thing! But you're open, and you recently moved into Inaba too, so you probably have an idea of where to find fun hang-outs and stuff. I'd feel more comfortable hanging out with someone in case other people recognize me."
Fun hang-outs? Shirou didn't think of himself as social or outgoing like Rise. Well, it was true he had been more active since coming to Inaba, he just wasn't sure if he knew the kind of places she would enjoy. "I'm not sure if I know the kind of places you would like to hang-out," he admitted. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt for us to explore Inaba together."
"Really? Woo-hoo!" Rise jumped and cheered. Part of her didn't think Shirou would go along with her request, but he did and everything was perfect!
Well, almost.
"There's just one thing I need to ask," she said seriously, lowering her glasses enough to show a disapproving frown. "I've noticed you've been getting chummy with the other girls on the team. You're not going to lead any of us on, are you?"
"Wha-?"
"She's asking if you plan to act on debauchery."
Angel's voice, coupled with a memory of a specific phone call with Yosuke, suddenly flashed in Shirou's memory brightly enough to make him pale and blush in quick succession. "N-NO! Of course not!" He would never think about cheating. That kind of emotional manipulation was exactly what he feared happening with Social Links. Even if he did somehow pull that off, Fuji-nee would definitely make him regret it.
Rise smiled, satisfied and happy with his response. "Ah, that's good! I would hate to think you were some playboy." She then leaned in and gave him a wink. "Now all I have to do is woo you with my cute charm, Shi-rou-Sen-pai!"
He… didn't know what to make of that comment honestly, so he just glared at her. He was still blushing though, so he unintentionally amused her more. He just wished everyone would stop hounding him about his love life. But even so… he felt he could understand and appreciate Rise's eagerness and friendly behavior. He never expected a former idol to be so approachable, but perhaps that's why so many people loved her as Risette. Some of that behavior was present as Rise.
His senses dimmed as the card marked by "VI" appeared in his mind's eye. A black ink heart in a pink backdrop filled up most of the image of the card. From under the heart and cutting the face into thirds was a tree with fruit dropping off the lower branches. The heart looked like it was being cradled by hands from above and a sun hovered over it. From the lower corners on each side of the tree were two figures in their own colored sections; a silhouette of a man in the left indigo corner, and a silhouette of a woman in the right magenta corner.
I am thou, and thou art I.
Thou hast established a new bond.
It shall bring thee closer to the truth.
Thou shalt be blessed by Personae of the Lovers Arcana.
"Now come on!" Rise smiled, latching onto his arm with both of hers, and started dragging him away from the station. "Let's have a tour of Okina so we can decide what to do the next time we come here!"
Shirou sighed, but still allowed himself to be led along by her. "Isn't this the part where the girl wants to do something fun, rather than sightsee?"
"Oh Shirou-senpai! Being with a guy like you is the fun part!"
<><><>
June 30th, Shopping District, Souzai Daigaku
I'm the luckiest guy alive.
That was what Yosuke thought as he sat and stared at his girlfriend across the table they had sat down at together. Nothing but sitting and eating, and occasionally flirting. "Your smile looks so adorable, Sacchin."
Sacchin gave him that same smile between bites of her steak skewer. "You're pretty cute yourself, Yosuke-kun!"
They laughed and smiled.
Every time he saw the cute angel that was Satsuki Kubo, he just felt so giddy and light. She wanted nothing more than to spend as much time with him as possible. Sitting at the food court while he worked at Junes. Waiting for him at the school gate when school ends. Late night texts that sometimes share pictures that slowly get more and more… daring.
It was times like these being with her that he felt he didn't have a care in the world, not having to worry about stuff.
I think there's something important to do, though. Was it homework? Well, that can wait until later.
Sure, the Souzai Daigaku wasn't a very good place to set up a date, but frankly he didn't care. And let the people gossip all about him and his family. It meant nothing as long as he was with Sacchin.
Then again…
"You sure you don't mind me being here?" Yosuke asked her. Just because the stigmata might not bother him, it might make things harder for Sacchin like with Saki-senpai.
"The only one complaining is my younger brother, and even then, he keeps skipping out on his job," Sacchin said. She then looked over her shoulder before leaning in with a whisper. "Between you and me, he likes to complain about everything that isn't a video game or superhero comic."
"Well, who doesn't like a good video game or superhero story?" Yosuke smiled back.
Younger brother… something familiar about this. Ah, right, Saki-senpai had one too.
"Think I could meet him at some point?" he asked. Being friendly with a girl's family members always scored points with being better boyfriend/girlfriend material.
"Not for a while," she shook her head. "He doesn't like going outside, and he's been very seclusive after a run-in with Tatsumi-kun."
"Tatsumi? That sounds familiar…" Yosuke noted aloud. Wait, does she mean Kan-
"Say, how about you visit my house for the weekend?" she asked suddenly. "It's just me and my brother, and if you like video games, maybe you two can get along."
"'For the weekend'? This weekend?" Yosuke asked. "I don't know… it's going to be raining, isn't it?"
"I always thought the rainy weather to be pleasant, honestly," she said softly. "Everything in the land gets cleansed and the sound of drops is relaxing. Especially in a romantic night…"
"R-Romantic…?" Yosuke's cheeks started to color. Surely, she couldn't mean… this early in their relationship?!
"Well, it is our one-week anniversary, today," Sacchin said. "You said you wanted to take me out to someplace special than Junes, but I think you deserve something a little special for our milestone, just like how you like to spoil me."
And what a milestone! If he did everything right, he might even pass Shirou Emiya in reaching manhood first!
Shirou Emiya… wait, he asked me something lately.
"Uh… I might need to check my calendar for that," Yosuke said, reaching for his phone, and surprised to see it turned off. Wait, don't I always have this on?
Sacchin reached over and touched his other arm on the table. Their eyes met. "Surely you don't need to make time for me, do you Yosuke-kun?"
Yosuke didn't know what to say. But then, he didn't need to say anything because of how touched and happy he was. He really was lucky and happy to have met her.
Still, I feel like I'm forgetting something… something very important. What IS this something?
He started to feel Sacchin's leg slide up against his, slowly and seductively. That definitely promised something to look forward to.
Well… maybe it's not that important as the girl in front of me. I mean, heck, she's asking me to spend the weekend at her place! That shouldn't even be a question!
"Well, Yosuke-kun?" she asked again, batting her eyelashes at him.
Yosuke sighed but smiled. He just couldn't say no to her. "Sacchin, I would love to-"
"So this is where you are."
Yosuke snapped out of his emotional trance, and paled. Standing behind him with a deadpan stare was his red-haired classmate. "Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-SHIT-irou! Wh-Wh-What a surprise!" On the outside, Yosuke tried to play it off cool, despite slipping his tongue making a slight curse.
But mentally he was hyperventilating, as the memory of their last shared texts came to mind. Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP! I KNEW I was forgetting something!!
Shirou ignored him, turning to the girl sitting at the other end. "Satsuki Kubo, was it? Yosuke told me quite a number of glowing compliments about you. Pleasure to meet you."
"And you must be Shirou Emiya. Likewise." She extended a hand out to him. He politely shook it as brief as possible.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your date, and I normally wouldn't impose on a 'one-week anniversary' plan…" Yosuke gulped at how dryly Shirou phrased that. "But I'm going to need your boyfriend for the night."
"Aww… can't he stay?" she asked while leaning in and batting her eyelashes. Yosuke loved that about her. She just looked so mesmerizing like-
"No."
Sacchin blinked. "Wh-What?"
"I'm sorry, but no," Shirou told her simply. "I'm afraid this is rather urgent. In fact, Yosuke is going to be busy with me and my friends for the rest of the week. Aren't you, Yosuke?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right." Yosuke was honestly just as stunned as Sacchin. He didn't think anyone ever turned down Sacchin's charm that bluntly.
"Good. Satonaka and the others are waiting for us at the food court. We have a big D&D session to catch up on." Shirou did not wait for Satsuki or Yosuke to leave a comment before grabbing the latter by his wrist and dragging him to the hilltop bus stop.
"Uh, call you later, Sacchin!" Yosuke waved and called out to her.
When the two of them were at the stop, Shirou let go of Yosuke's hand… and then quickly smacked the back of his head. "OW! I thought that was my thing!"
"Your one day off on your 'busy schedule' all week and the first chance you get you're out dating again?" Shirou snarled. "I'm starting to think Morooka-sensei had a point about his rants on debauchery."
"I-It wasn't like that!"
"Then why was your phone off? Satonaka and I have been trying to call and text you for the last hour."
"I don't know!" Yosuke snapped. He had been surprised seeing that himself but didn't have any time to question it.
"You were the one who said we shouldn't go in unless we were a full team," Shirou reminded gravely. "We've all been waiting on you for days, and you were just making weekend plans with your girlfriend?!"
"I'm sorry, okay!?"
A long moment passed after Yosuke's outburst, breaking the tension between them. Yosuke almost immediately deflated, and his head sank down. "I just… for the first time I feel like I'm somebody important. A guy with a great girlfriend doting on him, and then I guess I let it get to my head."
Shirou frowned, thinking back to the time he spent with the others the last few days. "I guess I can kind of understand that. Having breaks like these from fighting Shadows is more tempting and rewarding than going back in there.
"But we can't just keep sitting idly by. Kanji Tatsumi is still missing, and time's running out for when we can rescue him. Because after tomorrow, it's going to start raining for the next three days."
"Man, we always seem to be cutting these rescues close, huh?" Yosuke weakly joked. Shirou didn't laugh, and honestly, Yosuke didn't either.
The wait for the bus seemed to take longer than usual, so Shirou (with only a little urging from Pixie) coughed before starting a new topic. "So, uh… what's it like having a girlfriend?"
"Oh, it's amazing!" Yosuke gushed, almost blooming with vigor. "She's sweet and funny, she laughs at all my jokes, always makes time to see me, man I could go on and on about how awesome she is!"
"Please don't," Shirou groaned, already regretting asking. Yosuke just laughed more, thinking more about how happy he's been being around her. But as he did, he also recalled something else.
"But you know, the weird thing is that whenever I'm with her, I seem to forget everything else but her."
Shirou looked baffled. "I thought you liked having a girlfriend, though."
"I do! She's great, but… I want some me-time to myself, you know? She's been bothering me all week, even when I'm at work. It was like there was this nagging sensation in my head that made me forget everything but her. It felt nice at the time, but then I just… forget what I was supposed to do."
Shirou stared at him intently. Yosuke took that to mean he was being annoyed again and scratched this chin nervously. "Yeah, I know, sounds weird and sketchy. She's not a bad girl though, honest!"
"I see…"
The bus finally started to appear from further down the road. "Are you prepared for this, Yosuke? You know we have to go back to the bathhouse."
"Yeah, I'm good. I've had enough time to prove and bolster my red-blooded self." He was almost looking forward to seeing those two burly Guys again. If only to scream and ram his knives into their faces with testosterones pulsing.
"Good. Because we're going to save Kanji, and you have no excuse to complain about leaving after all the time we waited on you."
Yosuke winced, wishing he had more time to spend with his girlfriend. "…fair enough."
"One last thing."
Before Yosuke knew it, Shirou suddenly kicked him hard enough in his right shin to knock him off his feet. He swore he felt a static shock from that blow too, and he cradled his leg in agony. "OW! Sonova-! What the hell, man?!"
"That was from Satonaka," he told him. "I told her I'd do it on her behalf since she planned to hit you in a particular part of your body. Again."
He soon realized that his friend spared him from a horrible, painful fate by enacting a lesser one. Tears of gratitude started to mix with those of pain. "Th-Thanks a million, Shirou."
"Don't mention it," Shirou said, and helped him up to climb onto the bus as it arrived.
<><><>
.
.
.
Neither boy noticed Satsuki staring at them the whole time since they left the skewer stand. "That Emiya boy shrugged off my hypnosis," she muttered. "Interesting."
<><><>
Fate/Reach Out
Chapter 37: Boiling Tensions
<><><>
Deep in the Steamy Bathhouse
The first thing Kanji felt when he came to was that he was hot. Like, stuffy hot. He knew it was June, but this was unbearable. "Ugh, dammit Ma, would you turn the AC on or something?"
He blinked his groggy eyes awake, but it was soon clear that the room wasn't hazy from his rousing eyes, but from smoke and steam. He didn't remember his house being like this. In fact, this didn't look like his house at all!
"The hell is this!?" Kanji shouted, but there was no answer.
It looked like he was in some sort of old-styled steam room usually found in resorts and inns and stuff. Filled with buff men in nothing but their towels… no way he was staying here.
"Geez, if this is Naoto's idea for a prank, I'm gonna make sure he regrets it," he grumbled, making his way to the door.
Leaving the cramped sauna room, Kanji walked down the left side of the long hallway, hoping to find a way out. He kept finding doors that led to other sauna rooms, and longer hallways even. It was soon clear that he was getting lost, and he felt creeped out as if there was someone, or something, watching him.
"Shit," Kanji muttered, tugging the collar of his shirt. He had slept in shorts and his flaming skull tank-top, but he might as well be wearing leather slacks with how hot it was in this freaky place. "It's so damn hot in here."
It was getting harder to move, as if the heat itself was a weight bearing down on him. Part of him just wanted to try and sleep again, but he couldn't. Not here. Not when he didn't have any idea about how he ended up here, or that someone was still watching him from behind.
He almost gave up trying to find a way out when his search for an exit led him to some sort of built-in pool at the far end of the room.
"Hmm… maybe a morning soak will help," he mused aloud. Not that he knew if it was morning or not. He reached for his shirt, ready to pull it over his head and set the clothes aside, when he realized he didn't have anything else to wear. What could he go in, his underwear? Maybe try one of the towels lying around, but did he really want to look like some toga-wearing freak? In a bathhouse-like place where the guys get all flamboyant, flexing muscles and showing off their-
No. The clothes stay on. He decided to wring them dry back home later or something. He straightened his shirt and hopped into the pool. The water was heated as well, but in a way that just made him melt and feel at ease. So much he could close his eyes and lean back with a smile.
"Aaaaaah, that's the stuff." Despite the tension of being stuck in this weird place, Kanji allowed himself to relax in the moment.
<><><>
Steamy Bathhouse, Floor 2
Rise was no stranger to pressure or nerves. She'd never forget the feeling of first stepping before a live stage audience after months of preparation for songs and public speaking practice. So really, learning how to summon the inner will to fend off bloodthirsty monsters should be as easy on paper as well as execution.
But this was a worse feeling, she realized.
Yes, she was scared. Petrified even. Terrors of running from her Shadow doppelgängers and how her then-not-friends getting gored and blasted away was more traumatizing than any lynch mob her security might break up.
And her new friends, who also had that same near-death experience, didn't hesitate at all in going after them. It didn't matter what the Shadows looked like, or what strengths they had. They fought them indiscriminately just for being in the way of their search.
"Yosuke, switch to wind when needed, but stick to offense otherwise! Satonaka, stay with the others and mind your distance! Amagi, hang back with fire but mind your prana in case we need healing!"
"""Roger!"""
Shirou was so scarily efficient in treating this run as a training mission. He focused on all of his surroundings, ensuring that the Shadows never got the drop on them. He would always lead with spells on Shadows they hadn't seen before to see what worked best and remembered those weaknesses (thanks in part to Teddie of course). He knew how his teammates worked best according to their Personas and strengths, giving curt orders to rein them back in.
No wonder he was the team leader.
"WATAAH!" Chie's battlecry echoed through the freaky bathhouse as she roundhouse kicked the cop Shadow in the side of its hollowed-out gut. Her new weapon, a pair of fur boots that gave off an almost Viking-like vibe to them, seemed to ignite in fire with each kick. It looked like she was in her natural element.
"Satonaka, stay in formation," Shirou ordered. His back was towards her, and he was busy swinging overhead at a cupid Shadow, but he knew where she was.
"Right! Sorry, these boots are just awesome. Thanks again, Emiya-kun!"
Meanwhile, Yukiko squared off with another cupid Shadow, extending her whole fan like a shield over her upper body. The Shadow pulled back its bowstring and launched an arrow, but she danced to the side and deflected it past her. Following up, she spun her fan's edge down at the Shadow's face which caused blackened muck to splatter out like blood.
Yosuke came in from behind and slashed both knives at the back of the weakened Shadow, killing it. Following up, he turned and slashed his Persona card. Jiraiya promptly blasted the boulder-shaped Shadow high enough to land it in a pool of boiling water behind it.
"Wow, that was really good, Hanamura-kun!" Yukiko smiled.
Normally he would have appreciated praise from Yukiko Amagi, but he had a girlfriend now and he had to be faithful to her. That, and his current track mind was having tunnel vision on the Shadows and nothing else. So much that he kept chanting "Just keep fighting, just keep fighting, just keep fighting, just keep fighting" like a mantra.
Before long, the skirmish ended and the path to the next stairway was clear. Shirou calmly sheathed his sword and told everyone to "take five".
Rise found herself letting out a breath of relief she didn't know she was holding and slumped down to the floor. Teddie and Tama immediately huddled up to her side. "Ugh, between the humidity and the fighting, I don't think I can last much longer."
"We have a lot more floors to go, but it might be best to head back after climbing the next set of stairs," Shirou told her. "But before that, I think it's time we teach you how to summon your Persona too."
"Right," Rise frowned. "Sorry, I must be dragging you guys down."
Shirou shook his head and extended his hand to her. "I should be the one to apologize. With the rush to help Kanji, I forgot to help you summon your Persona first."
It was always a tough transition for a new Persona user to figure out how to use their power. Shirou figured it out by virtue of being a magus and applying what he knew (even misinformed as it was) into practice. The others were just normal teenagers with simple problems and didn't grasp the trick as easily as he did.
Helping the blushing girl back up, he stayed close to keep her upright. "It just requires a trick to do it, and once you get it, it'll come naturally."
Before he could rely this knowledge, Teddie's nose twitched and he frantically waved to Shirou for his attention. "Sensei! There's a Shadow nearby!" Sure enough, a grunt-like growl echoed around the bathhouse, causing the Investigation Team to tense in preparation again.
Shirou tsked. "Missed one. And it sounds close too."
An aura suddenly flared around Rise. He saw her eyes closed and hands clenched as if in prayer. Himiko's figure solidified behind her, with her hands down at Rise's level and holding a golden visor over them. Rise opened her eyes and saw the world even more clearly combined with her glasses. Numbers and symbols flared, and she could see the figure of a Bribed Fuzz lurking behind a corner.
"There!" she cried out, pointing to the hiding Shadow.
"Ippon-Datara!" Shirou reacted first, summoning his blacksmith Persona. With surprising agility for a being with only one leg, he leaped forward like a whip with his hammer arm poised back to strike.
"SMAAAAAAAASH!"
With a battlecry fitting the sound effect, his hammer struck true and dispersed the Shadow in a single strike. The impact was hard enough to even crack the wood floor below. Having hoped to get the first strike itself, the Shadow was caught unaware by the counterattack and suffered a quick death.
Ippon-Datara looked further down the hall around the corner to be sure, before turning towards Shirou so his one eye made contact. "…Secure." The Persona stated before he returned back to Shirou's subconscious.
The team exhaled relieved breaths. "That was a close one. Thanks, Rise-chan!"
Rise smiled and nodded at Yukiko. Blinking, she realized what just happened, and jumped with a wider smile. "Hey! I did it! I summoned my Persona, Himiko!"
"And without my help at that," Shirou said.
"Rise-chan's amazing!" Teddie added.
"Hehe, thanks!" she giggled. "But wow… this is kind of weird. I feel like I'm seeing the world in three perspectives or something."
"Yeah, it's kind of wonky like that," Yosuke started, before he double-took. "Wait, three? You should only see things in two."
"Well, it's more like two-and-a-half, really. I can see in front of me, and around Himiko, but also through this visor thing like it's virtual reality, or some sort of spy-op game. There are numbers, charts, and maps flying all over it. I know if it was anything else I would probably go crazy trying to figure out, but it's all easy enough for me to understand. I feel like I can see anything."
"Really? Like what?" Yukiko asked.
"Let's see…" Rise said, and stared more intently into Himiko's visor. The shaman Persona moved her head much like a radar, back and forth slowly in a deliberate scan. "I… I can see Kanji. Two Kanjis actually. There's a lot of Shadows up above, and some really big readings a few floors down. Must be those big guy Shadows at the entrance. And… I think there's about a dozen floors total, give or take one below."
"Tw-Twelve floors…?!" Yosuke gawked. He had hoped the dungeon would be a smaller one like Saki's liquor store or Yukiko's castle, but to have a dungeon being as large as Rise's, if not larger, was something that made him very uneasy.
Shirou too was bothered by the news, but for different, less self-conscious reasons. "I was a bit afraid of that. Are these dungeons supposed to be getting bigger?"
"I know the cluttered emotions that come whenever someone is pushed in makes the Shadows more agitated, and thus stronger," Teddie explained. "But I think a dozen floors is the max limit of how deep these places will ever go, because there's only so much thoughts and emotion a person can have when they come here."
"So we should just accept eleven or twelve as how deep these Shadow dungeons go?" Shirou asked, to which Teddie nodded.
"If it helps, we're on the second floor right now, close to the stairway to the third," Rise said. "So it's only ten more floors to climb."
"That's awesome!" Chie cheered. "I mean, not that we still have a lot fighting to do, but the fact how your Persona is like a super radar!"
"Indeed. There's only so much my nose can do," Teddie added humbly.
Himiko vanished back to her subconscious, but Rise was decidedly not as excited as everyone else was. "Yeah, but…"
"What's wrong, Rise-chan?"
"I'm sorry, it's just, my Persona seems to only be good at seeing things and doing dungeon crawling support. I can't move while she's active so I'm just a dead weight when it comes to fighting." She sighed bitterly, clenching her hand into a fist. "I was kind of hoping I could fight with you guys too…"
No one knew what to say. None of their awakenings were smooth transitions either, but they had weapons to fight with and some form of fitness thanks to P.E.. The closest Rise probably ever got to physical exercise was dancing, and that was rare.
Shirou and Teddie exchanged knowing glances and nodded.
"It's a bigger responsibility than you may think, Rise," Shirou told her. "That kind of ability blows away anything Teddie or I can do."
"That's right! You're amazing, Rise-chan!" Teddie added. "You just need to have more confidence in yourself!"
Rise looked happy at the encouragement but still uncertain. "But… I don't know how else to fight."
"So? You'll learn. None of us are experts in this sort of thing either, which is why we're doing this as a team."
Team… she could get used to that. She usually had back-up singers and always led the charge as an idol, but it felt nice to ease back a little as intended.
"Okay," she nodded with a smile. "Thanks, guys."
"Great! Now we're definitely one more Persona stronger for whatever comes our way!" Yosuke smiled and looked at everyone. "...can we leave now?"
Shirou fought the urge to sigh. "Yosuke, this is the third time you've asked that since we got here. Are you going to keep asking that every time we find the stairs?"
"Yes! Because Teddie's dioramas only teleport us between the entrance and the flight of stairs!" It was sound reasoning to try and put off an escape route until reaching the next checkpoint, but Shirou had a feeling that Yosuke would demand escape constantly if Teddie wasn't so reluctant to use a GoHo-M unless it was an absolute emergency. "Besides, you said we should head back after this next set of stairs! You said that!"
"I did, didn't I?" Shirou noted aloud. He knew they hadn't made much progress climbing floors, but that was due to taking the time to work on tactical maneuvers. After the near disaster that was Shadow Rise, Shirou knew they couldn't face future Shadows without being a cohesive and well adapted team.
"I'm all for heading back," Chie said. "Yukiko and Rise-chan are both exhausted, Homophobura here is close to a mental breakdown, and we're still in debt paying Tama for the last batch of leaves we bought. We're not exactly in top-shape to keep going."
It was surprising to see Rise out of breath due to her lack of fighting, but there was a lot of running involved in finding and fighting Shadows. The sauna air didn't make things easy either. He regretted not giving Rise enough time to adjust fighting with her Persona yet, but there was always next time. And there was time for Kanji until the next rainfall.
Weighing all those options, Shirou nodded. "All right. We'll head back for now."
"Oh, thank god," Yosuke sighed with audible relief as Teddie puffed up a GoHo-M. Considering how well he held up, Shirou allowed him this.
<><><>
June 28th, Samegawa Flood Plain
The last few days were actually a blur and a bit hard for another get-together at Junes. Yosuke made it a point to keep putting it off with excuses like work or hanging out with his new girlfriend. Shirou, for his part, gave him his needed space to adjust while keeping himself occupied, hanging out with the other members of the Investigation Team, and even some time with the Dojimas during the evening.
Yesterday he helped fulfill another ema request for Tama, directing a lost dog back home. It was one of the harder good deeds he had to do, as the dog was not friendly or patient to strangers. But a little time, patience, and a steak skewer from Souzai Daigaku carried the day. Tama was pleased that another ema wish was granted, as it meant more people would pray at the shrine, and even waved him off the leaves bought at the striptease dungeon.
And the day before that, after retiring from the bathhouse, Shirou helped Yukiko do some last-minute grocery shopping. Yukiko was still serious in her endeavors to eventually leave Inaba, and after the disaster that was the camping trip, she had decided to practice. For better or worse, he agreed to help her by being her taste-tester.
Which led to today, sitting under the gazebo, staring at a neatly packed and visually appealing boxed lunch. Yukiko sat next to him, staring expectantly and trying to hide her… excitement? Nervousness? Pride? Shirou honestly wasn't sure.
"Well?" she asked. "Go ahead and try it."
Shirou just stared at it, keenly aware of the pungent smell it was giving off. "Did you taste it yourself?" he asked simply.
"No, I haven't," she admitted shyly. "I wanted you to be the first one to try it."
Anyone else would have been touched and moved by a gesture as sweet as this. But Shirou wasn't moved. His eyes narrowed in suspicion and her smile faded. "…are you sure this is edible?"
Yukiko pouted. Those were not the words she hoped to hear before a taste test. "It's not poisonous."
Shirou eyed the piece of food in his chopsticks with scrutiny. "Forgive me for being skeptical and experiencing PTSD after eating The Sin you and Satonaka made."
Geez, it was hard enough due to him being a smartass about her cooking, but he was still holding that over her head too? "I wish you'd stop calling our cooking that."
"Would you prefer… what did Yosuke call it again? 'Mystery Food X'?"
Yukiko blushed. Both names were bad, actually. "Just eat it, already. Please."
Shirou shrugged and did just that; he promised to taste this for her, and he couldn't help her cooking (or Satonaka's) without learning more about her quirks in cooking. He popped the bit of food in his mouth, and started to chew the soft omelet loo-
CRUNT!
…there was something inexplicably hard inside the morsel that couldn't be chewed further. He was also picking up the raw, burnt taste coming out of it. It wanted to be anywhere but his stomach, that much is certain.
"Do it for her."
Sarasvati was right. He needed to do this for Yukiko and help her grow as a proper cook. He taught someone how to cook once in Sakura, he could do it again. Even if it was becoming clear he would have to un-train Amagi and Satonaka first…
Fighting off the growing sense of nausea from the bite, he finally swallowed and eased his breathing. After a few tense seconds, he turned to Yukiko, still brimming with high expectations.
"It's bad," he said bluntly.
Yukiko's mood soured immediately, as her head dropped down in depression.
"But I didn't pass out. That's a good sign of progress."
"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better," Yukiko lamented dryly.
Shirou sniffed the meal again, trying to pick out the smells in the plain-looking... mystery food, should he call it? Or minor sin? "I think you just tried to go too fast in style and flavor. I told you to stick with the basics, but you seemed to dump all the eggs, noodles and greens into one bowl while dabbing it completely in, what, four different condiments?"
"…five, actually."
Shirou stared at her blankly, before picking up another piece of food with his chopsticks. Yukiko's mood brightened, thinking he was going to give it another try. But instead, he held it towards her and said, "Your turn."
"Eh?"
"Your skill level at cooking is simply abysmal. If you ever want to get better at cooking, you need to taste for yourself how bad the flavors are. Even if you followed the recipe to the letter, there are some things that instructions can't tell you that taste buds can."
"B-But I made it just for you," she insisted.
"And it's bad," he told her again. "You need to properly understand exactly what makes your cooking bad so you can avoid doing it yourself. Honestly, you should have done that already, considering what your 'curry' turned into."
Yukiko winced. Admittedly, the smell alone from the campout curry was enough to make her second guess herself, but it was just a fluke, she told herself. Just… conflicting cooking ideologies between herself and Chie. None of them were to blame for causing Emiya-kun and Hanamura-kun to pass out!
And if none of that was true, well… then it was Chie's fault!
She knew her cooking wasn't… great, per say. Not enough to be served at her family inn, but she had never cared before. Maybe if she just stared at him cutely enough, he would back off? It seemed to work in getting a few boys to leave her alone, lately.
"How are you ever going to live on your own if you can't even bother to eat your own food?"
…nope, he wasn't budging. Maybe he didn't think she was cute enough?
Not really. What she didn't know was that Shirou almost gave in right then and there, until Sarasvati reminded him that she was uncertain of her own talents, preferring to shy away from them. It was enough to push forward and insist that she wanted to leave Inaba, she needed to do this for herself.
Sighing, Yukiko opened her mouth and accepted Emiya-kun's offering. Even if it was the food meant for him, he was feeding her. The thought alone brought a smile and flush to her cheeks as she started to…
To…
Oh goodness.
OH GOODNESS GRACIOUS!
"BLUACK!" she spat the food out on the ground in front of them before coughing. She thought she could block out the smell if that was the only problem, but it was like trying to like a smoldering ball of ash hardened into a mud-covered rock. Nevermind swallowing it; she couldn't hope to chew it without feeling grossed out.
"Water! Water!" she cried, fanning her tongue and looking around their seats. She was so glad she thought to bring bottled water for this lunch date, and that Shirou opened one for her before handing it over. She guzzled it down so fast and clumsily that some droplets spilled down the sides of her cheeks and chin, even staining the top of her sweater.
Shirou patiently waited for her to finish drinking, gasping for breath as the foul taste was cleansed from her mouth. "You understand, now?" he asked her.
Oh, she did. She knew her cooking was bad from what people had told her, but she never actually knew how bad. She'd never felt so fearful for her life eating something before. That it came from her own hand was terrifying. And to think the Sin, the Mystery Food X, was enough to make Emiya-kun and Hanamura-kun enter a near death state…
Guilt and horror from the campout incident resurfaced, as she hugged him tight with tears bawling out her eyes. "I'M SO SORRY, EMIYA-KUUUUN!" she wailed.
Shirou stiffened and blushed. He didn't expect such a reaction from her, and he felt bad making her suddenly cry like this. "U-Uh… there, there, Amagi?" he said awkwardly, patting her back.
A few minutes passed as she calmed down and dried out the tears in her eyes. They were now glinting with an odd mix of determination and pity. "I," she sniffled. "I promise to do better for your stomach's sake, Emiya-kun!"
"That's… great?" Well, as long as she was going to do better cooking now, this was fine, right?
"Hey, big bro!"
Shirou was instantly relieved and happy to see Nanako skip over to them. The feeling was mutual, as the young girl was acting a lot more cheerful since Golden Week. By now she was familiar with all of Shirou's friends, and it was fairly common for her to drop in and ask what they were doing. Like right now. "What are you two doing?"
"Just practicing my cooking and having Emiya-kun here try it." Yukiko explaining, looking at the box lunch on Shirou's lap.
"Can I have some too?"
""NO!""
Nanako flinched at both teens' immediate outburst. Shirou pulled the box lunch away and Yukiko's hands were spread-out forward to stop her, both wide-eyed with fearful expressions.
Seeing the younger girl confused and hurt, Yukiko waived off her protective reflex and smiled. "I-I mean, you wouldn't like it, Nanako-chan! It's… not very good…"
"Oh, okay," she nodded. "Then I'll just have some when you make a good boxed lunch!"
Nanako was so simple and innocent. It was a matter of "when" the food would be good rather than "never" to her, and she was willing to wait until that happened. It was the kind of confidence boost Yukiko didn't even know she needed, which was why she was speechless.
Realizing that fact, Shirou smiled and answered on his friend's behalf. "I'm sure she'll like that very much, Nanako."
"Yay!" Nanako cheered. "I'll be rooting for you!"
"Y-Yes! I'll do my best, thank you Nanako-chan!" Yukiko smiled.
They waved and watched Nanako hurry on to her friend's house. When the younger girl was out of earshot, Yukiko sighed. "This… didn't turn out at all like I had hoped. Sorry."
"You're not going to hug me and cry on my shoulder again, are you?"
"No!" she squawked, more embarrassed than offended. "Maybe…"
"Relax, it's fine," Shirou told her. "Teasing aside, we all have our strengths. And I'll keep eating whatever you make until you get good enough to serve it to Nanako too."
"Really?"
"Really. It's the least I can do after all the times your healing helped us in the TV world. I'm counting on you."
Yukiko's face burned brighter as she looked away. "Th-That's my line," she stammered. But it wasn't an unpleasant feeling, really…
<><><>
Steamy Bathhouse
Kanji had lost track of time and what was going on. Soaking in the bath helped a bit, but that endeavor made his clothes wet and sticky. Maybe he should strip down next time he needed a soak. There was nothing else to do, anyway.
At first, this was kind of nice. No one around to scream or judge him, and he could relax as long as he needed. Finally, some time to himself to cool off, and maybe wait until someone did find him.
But now it was just effin' creepy. He had seen no one for… hours? Days? He didn't even know how long he had been stuck in this place and it was something that both scared him and infuriated him. Not that he would ever show that weakness to others. Part of him felt that he really wasn't alone here and that someone was watching him.
"Stop hiding and show yourself already you bastard!" he screamed as he ran through the halls. He rested enough to try wandering the place, but his stamina wasn't like it used to be. Something about this crazy sauna made him just want to sleep and tune out everything.
"Oh, but I'm not decent!"
Kanji stiffened. He was both relieved and rather scared that he'd heard someone for the first time since he got here. Something about the voice sounded familiar, and he couldn't quite put his finger on what. He turned around to see the newcomer.
It was a man with bleached hair smiling and reclining in a pool of waist-deep water. Kanji quickly realized he looked just like himself, and that he wasn't wearing a shirt.
Oh god was he-?!
"THE FLIPPIN' A!?!" Kanji wailed as he jumped away.
"Hiya, handsome!" The double waved at him, grinning and opening one eye to look at him. His eye was that of a cat's, gleaming a bright yellow gold. "Sooooo glad I finally found you!"
'Found me'? What the hell was this guy going on about? "Who the hell are you?!"
"I'm you, obviously. Don't you notice the muscles, the scars, and the other subtle male charms? I've been looking everywhere for you, you know."
Talking to himself? This had to be a dream, right? He had been wandering for so long that the smoke was getting to him. Yeah, that's it. Thinking about it like that, he was willing to accept this for the moment. But it was still creepy as hell.
"Th-Then why are you…?" he pointed, but couldn't finish the sentence, as his mind was still processing what was going on. Luckily, or perhaps unfortunately, the other Kanji smiled coyly while splashing the water with his feet.
"Well, it took so long to find you, you know, but when I did, I was trying to think how to make a good first impression. You didn't seem to be causing a hassle running around like a headless chicken, so I'm just taking it easy cooling off here. And what a rest, my feet are KILLING ME. But enough gabbing, come on in! The water's great!"
"The hell I'm going in the same pool with a lookalike! Hell, I wouldn't share a pool with another guy period, much less someone who's naked!"
"Oh, don't worry. I'm not naked, just a little indecent. I'm wearing a towel hugging my crotch and showing off ALL my curves."
"Men don't have curves!" Kanji screamed.
The golden-eyed Kanji's smile never left his face. It was honestly creepy seeing him grin like that. "Aww, don't be like that. We're both guys here! No evil hussies are here to muck everything up!"
"Hu-Hussies?" Something about that word struck a nerve with him.
"You know, girls! Aren't they just the worst?! Always lying, always gossiping, and able to get away with double-standards because they're 'sooooo sexyyyy'," For the first time the other Kanji's smile dropped, especially as he dragged the last two words sarcastically. "You can never trust such two-faced bitches. Much less Shana-chan."
Kanji's face paled. He didn't know how or why, but this other guy knew Shana-chan… and his words hit a little too close to home. A long pause followed before the doppelgänger pulled up a long clear sponge lathered in some soap. "Hechima?"
Kanji had heard enough from this guy. He needed to get out now. Without a word, he bolted further down the hallway, looking for what looks like an exit.
The other Kanji just reclined further back and smiled as he lathered himself. "You can run all you want darling, but you can't hide! Especially not from yourself!"
Himself? Ha, no, he was a man. A man always faces their problems head-on, and right now he was getting away from this deathtrap. If he couldn't, then he had to hope someone from the outside would get him out. Naoto, his ma, anyone… surely SOMEONE was going to get him out of this crazy hell, right? Right?!
<><><>
June 29th, Okina Station
"Sorry dude, BZ 2day @ Junes. L8r?"
Shirou read over the text Yosuke left him over and over again. Even after replying back with a simple "okay", he still couldn't believe his friend was putting off Kanji's rescue for so long. By now the police and locals of Inaba were convinced he had been kidnapped by the culprit after being absent from school for so many days. The only thing holding the Investigation Team back searching was Yosuke, as they promised to always go together as a team, and yet he always had an excuse these days.
He was fine for waiting if they were ready, and he could understand if Yosuke had personal conflicts going back to the bathhouse, but they were running out of time. The weather report said it would rain later in the week.
"I'm done, Shirou-senpai!"
Shirou pocketed his phone and greeted the voice coming out of Croco Fur. "I see you got everything you need?"
"Yep! Grandma's allowance for the tofu job is kind of cheap compared to Inoue's checks, but the stuff here was within budget anyway!"
Rise carried four shopping bags under her arms proudly and smiled through her incognito disguise of a white hat, wide sunglasses, and her hair let down. Instead of her school uniform, she was now wearing a white blouse over orange shorts and black leggings. She made a quick turn-around so he could see all sides of her attire. "So, how do I look?"
"Pretty nice," he said. "I hardly recognize you."
"That's kind of the idea," she told him. "I'm done with showbiz, so I need to keep my wardrobe updated so I can hang out in Okina without getting hounded by the paparazzi until they get the hint."
As best as Rise's efforts to stay hidden were, they didn't last long when word of mouth got out. By now every Risette fan with an ear on the floor knew that Rise was currently living in Inaba. Aside from a boost of tourism for the Amagi Inn, not much had happened since. In a few months, maybe she could wander around Okina without worry of someone hounding her.
"Was this shopping trip really necessary though?" Shirou asked. "I thought idols as popular as yourself would have a ton of clothes already."
"Well, most of them are costumes to begin with," she shrugged. "I also left on short notice. I didn't want to waste any time packing my bags and making it a bigger deal that it already was. Perhaps if I had been more patient or spoke out sooner…"
He frowned, saying the only thing he could think of. "Sorry." The whole mess with her quitting as an idol couldn't have come at a worse time. He could only imagine how traumatic it was for her, or any of his friends for that matter.
But Rise smiled and shrugged it off. "It's not your fault, senpai. I quit because I needed a look in the mirror, anyway. And besides…" Her smile grew as she stared pointedly at him. "I wouldn't have gotten to meet my new friends. Like you."
"I-I see…" Shirou coughed nervously and looked away, blushing. It just made Rise giggle, finding his shyness adorable. Man, if Shinji ever found out about this…
"But seriously, you could have asked Satonaka or Amagi to do this with you. Girls know what other girls should wear, right?" It was one thing he still didn't quite get. It was never the fact that he wouldn't do things for his friends if they asked, but he thought the girls would think twice before asking him for a favor, Social Link or no Social Link.
"Maybe, but guys know what they think looks cute on the girl they like," Rise told him. Then she pouted. "You do like me, don't you Shirou-senpai?"
The next words left Shirou's mouth without thinking. "Is this one of those trick questions girls like to ask so much?"
Rise blinked, giving him a sense of urgency that he might have offended her. The moment passed when she just laughed. "You're so funny, senpai!"
"So I've been told," he said. Lately, he found himself less inclined to keep his thoughts to himself. Had he shown this side of himself to anyone back at Homurahara, they'd probably see him as some sort of enigma or freak. But after seeing the extremity of his friend's Shadows born out of suppressed issues, something clicked within him that his own secrets weren't that big of a deal.
At least the ones he was willing to tell.
"I just… think you were the best person to ask."
Shirou blinked out of his reverie. "Huh?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong. Chie-chan and Yuki-chan are great, and Yosuke-senpai's… well, someone likes him so he's kind of busy with his own thing! But you're open, and you recently moved into Inaba too, so you probably have an idea of where to find fun hang-outs and stuff. I'd feel more comfortable hanging out with someone in case other people recognize me."
Fun hang-outs? Shirou didn't think of himself as social or outgoing like Rise. Well, it was true he had been more active since coming to Inaba, he just wasn't sure if he knew the kind of places she would enjoy. "I'm not sure if I know the kind of places you would like to hang-out," he admitted. "But I guess it wouldn't hurt for us to explore Inaba together."
"Really? Woo-hoo!" Rise jumped and cheered. Part of her didn't think Shirou would go along with her request, but he did and everything was perfect!
Well, almost.
"There's just one thing I need to ask," she said seriously, lowering her glasses enough to show a disapproving frown. "I've noticed you've been getting chummy with the other girls on the team. You're not going to lead any of us on, are you?"
"Wha-?"
"She's asking if you plan to act on debauchery."
Angel's voice, coupled with a memory of a specific phone call with Yosuke, suddenly flashed in Shirou's memory brightly enough to make him pale and blush in quick succession. "N-NO! Of course not!" He would never think about cheating. That kind of emotional manipulation was exactly what he feared happening with Social Links. Even if he did somehow pull that off, Fuji-nee would definitely make him regret it.
Rise smiled, satisfied and happy with his response. "Ah, that's good! I would hate to think you were some playboy." She then leaned in and gave him a wink. "Now all I have to do is woo you with my cute charm, Shi-rou-Sen-pai!"
He… didn't know what to make of that comment honestly, so he just glared at her. He was still blushing though, so he unintentionally amused her more. He just wished everyone would stop hounding him about his love life. But even so… he felt he could understand and appreciate Rise's eagerness and friendly behavior. He never expected a former idol to be so approachable, but perhaps that's why so many people loved her as Risette. Some of that behavior was present as Rise.
His senses dimmed as the card marked by "VI" appeared in his mind's eye. A black ink heart in a pink backdrop filled up most of the image of the card. From under the heart and cutting the face into thirds was a tree with fruit dropping off the lower branches. The heart looked like it was being cradled by hands from above and a sun hovered over it. From the lower corners on each side of the tree were two figures in their own colored sections; a silhouette of a man in the left indigo corner, and a silhouette of a woman in the right magenta corner.
I am thou, and thou art I.
Thou hast established a new bond.
It shall bring thee closer to the truth.
Thou shalt be blessed by Personae of the Lovers Arcana.
"Now come on!" Rise smiled, latching onto his arm with both of hers, and started dragging him away from the station. "Let's have a tour of Okina so we can decide what to do the next time we come here!"
Shirou sighed, but still allowed himself to be led along by her. "Isn't this the part where the girl wants to do something fun, rather than sightsee?"
"Oh Shirou-senpai! Being with a guy like you is the fun part!"
<><><>
June 30th, Shopping District, Souzai Daigaku
I'm the luckiest guy alive.
That was what Yosuke thought as he sat and stared at his girlfriend across the table they had sat down at together. Nothing but sitting and eating, and occasionally flirting. "Your smile looks so adorable, Sacchin."
Sacchin gave him that same smile between bites of her steak skewer. "You're pretty cute yourself, Yosuke-kun!"
They laughed and smiled.
Every time he saw the cute angel that was Satsuki Kubo, he just felt so giddy and light. She wanted nothing more than to spend as much time with him as possible. Sitting at the food court while he worked at Junes. Waiting for him at the school gate when school ends. Late night texts that sometimes share pictures that slowly get more and more… daring.
It was times like these being with her that he felt he didn't have a care in the world, not having to worry about stuff.
I think there's something important to do, though. Was it homework? Well, that can wait until later.
Sure, the Souzai Daigaku wasn't a very good place to set up a date, but frankly he didn't care. And let the people gossip all about him and his family. It meant nothing as long as he was with Sacchin.
Then again…
"You sure you don't mind me being here?" Yosuke asked her. Just because the stigmata might not bother him, it might make things harder for Sacchin like with Saki-senpai.
"The only one complaining is my younger brother, and even then, he keeps skipping out on his job," Sacchin said. She then looked over her shoulder before leaning in with a whisper. "Between you and me, he likes to complain about everything that isn't a video game or superhero comic."
"Well, who doesn't like a good video game or superhero story?" Yosuke smiled back.
Younger brother… something familiar about this. Ah, right, Saki-senpai had one too.
"Think I could meet him at some point?" he asked. Being friendly with a girl's family members always scored points with being better boyfriend/girlfriend material.
"Not for a while," she shook her head. "He doesn't like going outside, and he's been very seclusive after a run-in with Tatsumi-kun."
"Tatsumi? That sounds familiar…" Yosuke noted aloud. Wait, does she mean Kan-
"Say, how about you visit my house for the weekend?" she asked suddenly. "It's just me and my brother, and if you like video games, maybe you two can get along."
"'For the weekend'? This weekend?" Yosuke asked. "I don't know… it's going to be raining, isn't it?"
"I always thought the rainy weather to be pleasant, honestly," she said softly. "Everything in the land gets cleansed and the sound of drops is relaxing. Especially in a romantic night…"
"R-Romantic…?" Yosuke's cheeks started to color. Surely, she couldn't mean… this early in their relationship?!
"Well, it is our one-week anniversary, today," Sacchin said. "You said you wanted to take me out to someplace special than Junes, but I think you deserve something a little special for our milestone, just like how you like to spoil me."
And what a milestone! If he did everything right, he might even pass Shirou Emiya in reaching manhood first!
Shirou Emiya… wait, he asked me something lately.
"Uh… I might need to check my calendar for that," Yosuke said, reaching for his phone, and surprised to see it turned off. Wait, don't I always have this on?
Sacchin reached over and touched his other arm on the table. Their eyes met. "Surely you don't need to make time for me, do you Yosuke-kun?"
Yosuke didn't know what to say. But then, he didn't need to say anything because of how touched and happy he was. He really was lucky and happy to have met her.
Still, I feel like I'm forgetting something… something very important. What IS this something?
He started to feel Sacchin's leg slide up against his, slowly and seductively. That definitely promised something to look forward to.
Well… maybe it's not that important as the girl in front of me. I mean, heck, she's asking me to spend the weekend at her place! That shouldn't even be a question!
"Well, Yosuke-kun?" she asked again, batting her eyelashes at him.
Yosuke sighed but smiled. He just couldn't say no to her. "Sacchin, I would love to-"
"So this is where you are."
Yosuke snapped out of his emotional trance, and paled. Standing behind him with a deadpan stare was his red-haired classmate. "Sh-Sh-Sh-Sh-SHIT-irou! Wh-Wh-What a surprise!" On the outside, Yosuke tried to play it off cool, despite slipping his tongue making a slight curse.
But mentally he was hyperventilating, as the memory of their last shared texts came to mind. Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP! I KNEW I was forgetting something!!
Shirou ignored him, turning to the girl sitting at the other end. "Satsuki Kubo, was it? Yosuke told me quite a number of glowing compliments about you. Pleasure to meet you."
"And you must be Shirou Emiya. Likewise." She extended a hand out to him. He politely shook it as brief as possible.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your date, and I normally wouldn't impose on a 'one-week anniversary' plan…" Yosuke gulped at how dryly Shirou phrased that. "But I'm going to need your boyfriend for the night."
"Aww… can't he stay?" she asked while leaning in and batting her eyelashes. Yosuke loved that about her. She just looked so mesmerizing like-
"No."
Sacchin blinked. "Wh-What?"
"I'm sorry, but no," Shirou told her simply. "I'm afraid this is rather urgent. In fact, Yosuke is going to be busy with me and my friends for the rest of the week. Aren't you, Yosuke?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right." Yosuke was honestly just as stunned as Sacchin. He didn't think anyone ever turned down Sacchin's charm that bluntly.
"Good. Satonaka and the others are waiting for us at the food court. We have a big D&D session to catch up on." Shirou did not wait for Satsuki or Yosuke to leave a comment before grabbing the latter by his wrist and dragging him to the hilltop bus stop.
"Uh, call you later, Sacchin!" Yosuke waved and called out to her.
When the two of them were at the stop, Shirou let go of Yosuke's hand… and then quickly smacked the back of his head. "OW! I thought that was my thing!"
"Your one day off on your 'busy schedule' all week and the first chance you get you're out dating again?" Shirou snarled. "I'm starting to think Morooka-sensei had a point about his rants on debauchery."
"I-It wasn't like that!"
"Then why was your phone off? Satonaka and I have been trying to call and text you for the last hour."
"I don't know!" Yosuke snapped. He had been surprised seeing that himself but didn't have any time to question it.
"You were the one who said we shouldn't go in unless we were a full team," Shirou reminded gravely. "We've all been waiting on you for days, and you were just making weekend plans with your girlfriend?!"
"I'm sorry, okay!?"
A long moment passed after Yosuke's outburst, breaking the tension between them. Yosuke almost immediately deflated, and his head sank down. "I just… for the first time I feel like I'm somebody important. A guy with a great girlfriend doting on him, and then I guess I let it get to my head."
Shirou frowned, thinking back to the time he spent with the others the last few days. "I guess I can kind of understand that. Having breaks like these from fighting Shadows is more tempting and rewarding than going back in there.
"But we can't just keep sitting idly by. Kanji Tatsumi is still missing, and time's running out for when we can rescue him. Because after tomorrow, it's going to start raining for the next three days."
"Man, we always seem to be cutting these rescues close, huh?" Yosuke weakly joked. Shirou didn't laugh, and honestly, Yosuke didn't either.
The wait for the bus seemed to take longer than usual, so Shirou (with only a little urging from Pixie) coughed before starting a new topic. "So, uh… what's it like having a girlfriend?"
"Oh, it's amazing!" Yosuke gushed, almost blooming with vigor. "She's sweet and funny, she laughs at all my jokes, always makes time to see me, man I could go on and on about how awesome she is!"
"Please don't," Shirou groaned, already regretting asking. Yosuke just laughed more, thinking more about how happy he's been being around her. But as he did, he also recalled something else.
"But you know, the weird thing is that whenever I'm with her, I seem to forget everything else but her."
Shirou looked baffled. "I thought you liked having a girlfriend, though."
"I do! She's great, but… I want some me-time to myself, you know? She's been bothering me all week, even when I'm at work. It was like there was this nagging sensation in my head that made me forget everything but her. It felt nice at the time, but then I just… forget what I was supposed to do."
Shirou stared at him intently. Yosuke took that to mean he was being annoyed again and scratched this chin nervously. "Yeah, I know, sounds weird and sketchy. She's not a bad girl though, honest!"
"I see…"
The bus finally started to appear from further down the road. "Are you prepared for this, Yosuke? You know we have to go back to the bathhouse."
"Yeah, I'm good. I've had enough time to prove and bolster my red-blooded self." He was almost looking forward to seeing those two burly Guys again. If only to scream and ram his knives into their faces with testosterones pulsing.
"Good. Because we're going to save Kanji, and you have no excuse to complain about leaving after all the time we waited on you."
Yosuke winced, wishing he had more time to spend with his girlfriend. "…fair enough."
"One last thing."
Before Yosuke knew it, Shirou suddenly kicked him hard enough in his right shin to knock him off his feet. He swore he felt a static shock from that blow too, and he cradled his leg in agony. "OW! Sonova-! What the hell, man?!"
"That was from Satonaka," he told him. "I told her I'd do it on her behalf since she planned to hit you in a particular part of your body. Again."
He soon realized that his friend spared him from a horrible, painful fate by enacting a lesser one. Tears of gratitude started to mix with those of pain. "Th-Thanks a million, Shirou."
"Don't mention it," Shirou said, and helped him up to climb onto the bus as it arrived.
<><><>
.
.
.
Neither boy noticed Satsuki staring at them the whole time since they left the skewer stand. "That Emiya boy shrugged off my hypnosis," she muttered. "Interesting."
Last edited:
...I mean, not necessarily. It's not even certain that this is actually Satsuki yet, since she's able to go out in the sun.
Granted, she does seem to have mystic eyes of enchantment, sure, but that doesn't mean much in the long run.
Rogue Gemini
Wanderer without a Twin
- Location
- Here
At least it does confirm that other magi exist in the city. While I doubt that it is the Sacchin we know of, it's still funny to see if things hold true.
KishouTheBadger
Psychic Mech Pilot
Does it, really?
Rogue Gemini
Wanderer without a Twin
- Location
- Here
Your question makes me wonder if you intend on doing things differently. Either way, I'll enjoy it. 
- Location
- Kingsport,TN
It's most likely that there is only Sacchin, for now.Your question makes me wonder if you intend on doing things differently. Either way, I'll enjoy it.
April Fools 2019; Chapter 38, alpha draft, incomplete
KishouTheBadger
Psychic Mech Pilot
Chapter 38: Shadow of the Masculine Self
Steamy Bathhouse Entrance
It was a long time coming, but Shirou was making good on his word he promised to Nice Guy and Tough Guy. Part of him hoped they had forgotten or that they weren't at the front entrance anymore, but they have been patiently waiting and reminded Shirou of his end of the deal, with the necessary tools at that (table, towels, massage oil, the works).
Luckily he had experience giving massages to Taiga years back, and he read a book on how to give massages and the techniques involved during the reprieve, so he was prepared for that. It was really fortunate the Shopping District had that exact book he needed, but that was another story.
And If nothing else, Shirou Emiya was a man of his word, and was now currently pressing the back of Tough Guy to relieve pressure points. Judging by the Shadow's euphoric moans, he was doing something right.
"Ooooooh YES." Tough Guy said. He rolled his shoulders slightly and pressed his head deeper on the head towel he was resting on, enjoying the feel of Shirou's hands over his oily back muscles. "Your hands are just simply divine, Shirou-chin!"
"Are you sure?" Shirou asked as he worked. "It's been a while since I've done this so I think I'm a little rusty.."
"Rusty, you say?" The bodybuilder Shadow beamed. "Could've fooled little ol' me. You're pressing all the right joints so wonderfully!"
"I'm glad you appreciate it. I want to make up for the long delay we had coming back."
"And it is so worth it!"
Despite himself, Shirou smiled. He strived to always help people for praise and feel a bit worthier, and despite this being an obvious enemy he would have to fight, that moment wasn't for here or now. In fact, if this could help avoid fighting Kanji's Shadow at all, it was worth the investment.
"How the hell did I get roped into this?!"
From the next table over, Yosuke was standing over Nice Guy, also set up for a massage. He looked like he rather be anywhere but there and didn't even try touching the Shadow yet.
"You have no right to complain, Yosuke," Shirou told him dryly. "We all waited on you."
"I-I'm not complaining! I just find this completely left field! Couldn't you do both yourself?"
"I need time and focus on one at a time, and you're the only other person they'd allow to help, like it or not. We don't have the time to spare."
Shirou emphasized his point with a hard elbow drop at the lower back of Tough Guy. Between the impact of the blow and the cry of pleasure the Shadow made, Yosuke couldn't help but cringe.
"I-I don't even know how to do massages!"
"Just rub your hands over my back in circular motions. I'll tell you when you're being too rough and need to press somewhere else."
"See, even Nice Guy is willing to make this easy on you," Shirou told him expectantly. "So start rubbing. The sooner we both get this done, the sooner we can find Kanji."
"B-But he's so thick and veiny and… manly," he muttered the last word softly with envy. Shaking his head out of that train of thought, he quickly added, "Look, I get I'm getting punished for this, but this is way beyond my comfort zone!"
"Did you even use the oil?"
"It feels gross, man! Like, dipping my hands in vinegar!"
"It's meant for the customer's enjoyment, not the masseur's!"
"Since when are Shadows customers?!"
Nice Guy sighed, his patience clearly waning of not having a massage yet. He pushed himself enough off the massage bed to turn and look flatly at the worried teen. "Would you rather I give you the massage instead?"
Yosuke smiled, willing to take any lifeline out of this. "Oh, you're volunteering?! Well, my back has been feeling a bit stiff late-"
"Because I'm thinking to pound you firmly into the ground until those aching bones of yours are as fine as the grains of salt that I would then use to season my dinner."
It was as implied a death threat as the jovial "Nice" Guy could put it, and it left Yosuke feeling sick and nauseous. He could see the no nonsense expression on his face matching his deadpan tone, and he clearly had the bulk to follow his words.
Yosuke gulped, briefly tugging with his scarf to do so. Then he forced his smile back up and quickly squeezed the oil out the bottle into his hand. "On second thought, let's not strain those big muscles of yours! You deserve a good old-fashioned rubdown!"
"That's more like it," Nice Guy smiled back, and sat down.
Realizing he had no more excuses, Yosuke started to press his hands over Nice Guy's back. He groaned and winced away, completely creeped out of the feeling. He wasn't really a man, so this didn't count, right?
"Lower," the Shadow commanded. Yosuke moved his hands down as instructed, still doing the rhythmic circles to placate it. Hopefully this would end soon and they could get Kanji out and he could salvage his date with Sacchin-
"Lower."
He nearly stopped and gawked. "I did go lower!"
"Lower than that."
The auburn-haired teen hissed through his teeth, and reluctantly moved his hands lower. "F-Fine, but this is as low as I'm going!"
"Oh, don't worry, I won't let you touch my balls." Graphic image and bluntness aside, Yosuke was so relieved to hear those words. "That's Tough Guy's property."
Yosuke's relief gave away to a single eyebrow twitch and loud, internal screaming.
Further back at the entrance, the girls and Tama watched the massages with rapt interest. "I feel kind of bad for Hanamura-kun," Yukiko admitted.
"I don't," Chie spat. "If his constant dating makes it so we can't save Kanji-kun in time, I'll never forgive him."
"Well, I wouldn't be in a hurry to come back here either with those biased bouncers around," Rise said. "They wouldn't even let us use the shortcut until Shirou-kun massaged them."
Honestly, standing in front of the path they made through Goho-M? Talk about petty.
"At least Emiya-kun is taking this well."
"Yeah…"
While Yosuke was slowly going through the notions, Shirou was doing this almost naturally and enjoying himself. It wasn't hard to imagine how sensual those hands could be, as Tough Guy let out an occasional moan of satisfaction.
Chie, Yukiko, and Rise all swooned in a dreamy sigh. A guy that knows how to please a girl in more ways than one… that was always a plus (nevermind the fact he was technically massaging a guy).
Rise then noticed their bear friend having a peculiar expression on his face; flushing red and mournful. "What's wrong, Teddie?"
Teddie didn't answer right away, as he was still staring at Shirou. Then he turned and asked her, "…is it weird that I kind of find this hot?"
The girls all stared at the bear with alarm and shock. Even Tama, previously resting in a corner, emulated her surprise well evident as she shot up and turned to him.
Poor Teddie got defensive. "What?! That's why I was asking!"
<><><>
July 1st, Samegawa Floodplain
They were ready.
It took the last two days of training and strategy, but Shirou could finally say they were like a well-oiled unit in fighting. Rise's sensory skills were especially a boon having a layout of where a Shadow was and how many were on a floor at a time. The other members have seemingly grown in leaps and bounds with new skills and spells to use, and they even found some rare treasures like an electricity suppressor for Yosuke.
Shirou himself had a stronger grasp of his Personas' limitations and was fully ready to test the tools of his disposal to fight Kanji's Shadow, or at least his facets in the Guy bouncers. Having finally reached the top floor and prepared as much as possible for the evitable fallout, nothing was stopping them from marching to the final room and rescuing Kanji.
Except a mutiny to rest a day before going in.
Chie was the most adamant about it, going as far as to physically pull Shirou away from the door.
"We've been fighting all the way up here! Yukiko's out of breath, our supplies are all used up, and we sure as hell don't have the money to buy Tama's leaves!
"But Kanji-!"
"-Will be fine for one more day. The rain's not going to let up yet, the worst of the Midnight Channel has already happened, and it doesn't look like Kanji's Shadow is going to burst yet. We haven't even seen him the whole time we've been here."
"And thank god for that," Yosuke had said, but no one commented on his delivery. They did listen to his input though. "Look, as vice-captain of this team, I have to side with Chie on this one."
The others predictably made fun of how he wanted to get away from the bathhouse and into Sacchin's arms, and to Yosuke's credit he was only mildly sidetracked from the point he was trying to make. "Every time a fight with one of our Shadows comes up, we get our asses kicked, and barely win by the skin of our teeth. And each time that happened, it was because we were not at the top of our game or had some fights already leading up to them. These Shadows keep getting stronger, and we need to be at our best A-game from here on out."
After that, it was a unanimous decision as the others agreed to head back, and Shirou had to swallow his pride for a day.
As he and Chie live the closest together, they were once again walking the same road down the floodplain, with umbrellas at hand. The walk was quiet, and he had no cues to start a conversation with Chie as Eligor was absent.
But should he start a conversation? She looked like she didn't want to be next to him, daring only a few awkward glances his way.
Come to think of it, it was raining too when they first met under the gazebo. At least she got a new umbrella this time.
"Hey, uh," Chie started, surprising him. She was still looking ahead and away from him, though. "You're not mad at me, are you, Emiya-kun?"
"Mad? Why would you think that?"
"You were scowling the whole time since I argued for going back instead of fighting. It was kind of scary."
Oh. That. He didn't even knew he had a scowl on his face, but he recalled feeling very bitter back there. "No, Satonaka, I wasn't mad at you, or the others. What you and Yosuke said made a lot of sense. I was… madder at myself, really."
"Yourself?"
"If I had been a bit stronger, or managed our time better, we could have rescued Kanji by now. All I could think about was what I could have done better, or if I hadn't screwed up—"
"No." Chie stepped in front of him and was now scolding him again. "No, I'm going to stop you right there. This is no one's fault." She paused. "Well, a little bit of Hanamura-kun's fault, but that's it."
Despite himself, Shirou chuckled. He had a feeling poor Yosuke was never going to live this down.
"Kanji-kun is still fine. And he will be when we get him back home tomorrow. You've done enough making sure we got close enough for a fresh battle and getting us ready and coordinated and stuff. Among other things." She awkwardly tapped the ground twice with her right foot, testing her shoes after kicking with the Boots of Abigor for what felt like hours.
"So don't beat yourself up about this!" she added with a smile. "You're a great leader! No one blames you for managing time, or doubts how serious you are rescuing Kanji-kun. Allies of Justice need their rest too."
Shirou was speechless. He had been warned about his habit of overworking from his family and peers for all he had known them back in Fuyuki. Taiga and Issei were the most concerned about his wellbeing, and Sakura did her part to cook breakfast to alleviate some burden off him.
He was so used to being mocked for his dream of being a hero that he never heard someone appeal to it as a reason to rest. "Allies of Justice need their rest too." He could have never fathomed such a sentence. And yet, all he could do was gasp in awe feeling a sudden, unexpected warmth fill him.
It felt… nice.
"Hey, Satonaka-kun!"
The moment ended as a voice called out to the now startled Chie. She turned with some surprise and unease at the approaching teenager their age. "T-Takeshi-kun?!"
"I didn't think I see you out in the rain, and with someone other than Amagi-san!" he said casually, walking up to them. He carried his own umbrella, which he looked over and under it as if looking for Yukiko.
He then settled on appraising Shirou head-to-toe before asking her. "So who's the guy? Wait, don't tell me; your recruit, right? A fellow 'Ally of Justice'? You haven't used that title since grade school!"
Chie's head shrunk back, and her umbrella was pulled closer to cover her glowing face. Takeshi either didn't notice or cared as he continued. "Actually, I think you were part of the Runt Gang way back in kindergarten, and after that you were the undisputed King of the Hill."
Shirou looked between the two; the more names Takeshi listed, the more humiliated Chie reacted. It didn't help that he didn't seem to have a tone of endearment towards those memories, either. He was embarrassing her, and… was her lip trembling?
"Oh, and the Vanguards of the Lunch Revolution! Man, the crazy names you came up with!" Takeshi chuckled. "What exactly are you this time? A Defender of Earth's Peace or something silly like that?"
"I-I…"
"Shut up."
Chie and Takeshi were startled by Shirou's sharp tone. He was scowling again, directing his anger towards the teenager that came to greet them.
No. Chie realized it was different. That time wasn't anger. This was.
Takeshi quickly stepped back, holding his hands up. "Whoa, hey man, relax. I'm just joking—"
"Do we look like we're laughing here?" he cut him off dryly, gesturing to him and the clearly uncomfortable Chie.
Takeshi winced. "N-No, I guess not. Let me start over." He then extended a hand out to him. "Name's Takeshi Kouno, old friend of Satonaka-kun! Pleasure to meet you!"
"Shirou Emiya. Trust me, the pleasure is all yours."
"Emiya-kun…" Chie hissed. Just because Takeshi was being rude didn't mean he should be rude back.
To his credit, Shirou noticed Satonaka's warning and restrained his emotions a little bit. He still made no move to shake his hand, though, and Takeshi took the hint. "Look, Kouno was it? We're kind of in a hurry here, so if you have something to say, make it quick."
"Oh, don't worry! I'm not getting in between your date or anything!" Takeshi said. For some reason, Chie felt a pang of disappointment than embarrassment of what he implied. "I was just wondering how Amagi-san was doing these days. Satonaka-kun here is her best friend so—"
"Ask Amagi yourself how she's doing. That is, if you have the balls to actually talk to her."
Shirou was already walking past him as he spoke. Again, both teens were gobsmacked how cutting and brutal his verbal responses were. Chie spared a glance at Takeshi to see him failing to make sound out of his flapping mouth, before leaving him and rushing over to Emiya as they continued to walk home.
"You didn't have to be that mean," Chie told him.
"So it was okay for him to make fun of you like that?"
"I'm used to it," she argued. "We were classmates up until high school, and only friends at that. Nothing really came between us since he had his eyes on Yukiko."
Shirou frowned. Would an old friend really take another's dreams and feelings for granted? Clearly there was more to this Takeshi Kouno than Satonaka was letting on, but he was her friend and it wasn't any of his business.
He felt he needed to say something to her. Anything. But what? Dammit, of all the times to be without Eligor…
They reached the street corner where their destinations split off, but both of them hesitated to leave. For several minutes they stood in the rain, waiting. They spared each other glances but just as quickly looked straight ahead as if afraid to make eye contact.
Still not a word spoken.
"Weeeeeell," Chie dragged the word out, making a long, exaggerated step off to the side. "I better get home for an early night's rest! Tomorrow's a big day after all!"
Now or never. "I'm sorry."
Chie stopped and looked back. "Huh?"
"About Kouno, I mean," Shirou said. "I usually don't go off mouthing people like that, but when he talked about you being an Ally of Justice and laughing, it bothered me, for a lack of better term, and I just said things without thinking. Because I've been there too, mocked for wanting to be an Ally of Justice and I saw you sad you were I thought…"
Chie stared at him, wide-eyed. That didn't look like a good sign. Rather, he saw it as his cue to leave. "Forget I said anything. It was just stupid of me."
"No, no!" she said quickly. "I mean, I get it, Takeshi-kun can be rude sometimes. I don't want you bad-mouthing him again of course. I was just surprised hearing you snap at him like that. You had a reason though, and hearing it makes me… happy."
She smiled at him, relieved and thankful. As opposed to her sad resignation from when meeting Takeshi earlier, this was a much-needed improvement on her mood. Enough to also relax Shirou with a deep exhale.
"Well, we Allies of Justice got to stick together, right?"
"Right!"
And there was nothing more to be said. Come tomorrow, they would finally rescue Kanji.
<><><>
Steamy Bathhouse, Top Floor
Kanji was exhausted. It didn't matter where he ran to or how far. He couldn't find away out of this damn bathhouse! Instead, he just found his way right back to his look-alike, even in a different room. It was so frustrating, and this heated sauna was getting way too humid now.
"You've been way too tense, darling!" The other Kanji said, walking around a big room with nothing but a towel around his waist. Why don't you just relax and take the load off?"
"Screw that!" the sweating, bleached teen snapped. "Just tell me how to get out of this damn place!"
"Don't you get it now? There is no way out!"
"Bullshit!! I had to have gotten in here to begin with, right? What kind of prison doesn't have a way to get out, you know, for the jailers and shit!?"
These arguments were just as aggravating as getting lost. This guy, supposedly his "Shadow" (who didn't at all look black or dark or anything like that, just creepy), kept talking in circles about how he needs to accept his innermost feelings and junk. What did he think he was, some looney foreign therapist?
Lucky for him, even the Shadow looked tired of their play-by-play, sighing dramatically with his hand resting on his chin. "I guess you have a point. But you just reinforce the beautiful, dim-witted men stereotype getting lost for nearly a week."
"I thought I told you to can it with the— wait. A WEEK!?!" Kanji was flabbergasted. He lost track of time and thought he was just gone for a really, really, long day, maybe two at most. But seven? Crap, his ma and Naoto must be worried sick he went missing like those murder victims back in April. Well, Ma at least. Not so sure about Naoto.
"Alright, I've decided," The Shadow said, pleased with himself. "I'll let you out. On one condition."
"Figures," Kanji spat. That was the most stock evil bad guy line he had ever heard, and it pissed him off a bit that someone with his likeness said it so seriously. "What do you want, then?"
"For you to admit your deepest, darkest secret to me, and accept that we are one in the same."
"That's it? Fine, I'm—"
"You didn't let me finish~! I don't want a fake verbal promise you'll break as soon as I show you the door." The Shadow leaned closer to Kanji with a creepy smile. "I want you to forever promise that you are – how should I say this? – VERY in touch with your feminine side!"
Something about those words chilled Kanji to the bone, and a not in his stomach started to form. He hid this unease with angry swagger. "Wh-What the hell's THAT supposed to mean?!"
"Come now, handsome. I know you're not that dense. You're me after all."
Suddenly the door was slammed open and a stomping of feet rushed in.
"There they are!"
"Kanji!"
Kanji looked back to the door in surprise. Among the five teens wearing glasses (and some cute looking mascot character), he recognized at least two of the people in the crowd. "Emiya? Yukiko-senpai?!"
"Wait, what are the bitches doing here?!" Shadow Kanji stomped in anger. "This is supposed to be a MEN'S SPA!"
The red-haired girl winced and uttered under her breath, "That's gynophobia, all right…"
Emiya stepped forward to confront the Shadow, standing between him and Kanji. "Kanji, stay with us. I promise when this is over, we're going to take you home."
"Wait, I get out of here?"
"Yeah, we have an escape route."
That was the best news Kanji heard all day! Or week, rather. He didn't care if he had to be near a few girls, just as long as he could get out of this freaky place!
"HA! Joke's on you, asshole!" Kanji smirked and pointed at the copy. "I'm getting out of here, and don't have to see, hear, or think of your ugly pansy mug again!"
"B-But I'm YOU! How could you think this handsome face to be ugly?!"
"To hell with that!" Kanji snapped, already marching to the group. "You can die in this overgrown bathtub for all I care!"
<><><>
Shirou was worried. This was almost too easy.
They managed to catch to Kanji and his Shadow in time before the transformation. That was lucky… or maybe a coincidence. Perhaps they could finally get out of this without a fight, and they were just better safe than sorry.
He like to think he was just getting paranoid or nervous due to a magi life-style being ever-so riddled with death, but… something didn't feel right.
Kanji feeling embolden to mouth off his Shadow probably have something to do with that.
"You rather trust those hussies and jerks than me? Than yourself!?" The Shadow demanded.
Kanji stopped and turned to snap back. "They didn't keep me prisoner here!"
"I never put you here in the first place. I kept you here, yes, but to protect you. From those ugly little liars."
"Why you-!"
Shirou could see this fight was escalating too quickly, and he pushed Kanji back. "Enough of this, we're leaving." If there was chance to avoid a deadly battle, he would take it.
He stopped when he felt a sudden killer intent in the room, from behind. He wasn't the only one, as Teddie's fur bristled and Rise's Persona sense kicked in. "Guys! We got- KYAAAH!"
Without warning, two monochrome blurs rushed from behind and attacked the girls. The others turned and blanched at what they saw.
"Oh shit, it's the bouncers!" Yosuke cried in dismay. For once, Shirou couldn't blame him for feeling scared of their presence.
Nice Guy and Tough Guy were both very tall, muscular Shadows, and for the first time they were showing the extent of their physique by man-handling the female members of the Investigation Team. The former had Yukiko and Rise both in a painful bearhug, while the ladder was applying a sleeper hold on Chie. They were completely at their mercy.
Shirou immediately drew his sword at pointed at them. "Let them go!"
"I'm afraid that isn't an option, little Shirou-chin." Nice Guy told him, almost sounding genuine.
"You are free to leave, but the girls must be punished." Tough Guy added, squeezing ever so tightly around the struggling Chie's neck.
"That's not fair!" Teddie shouted. "You gave your word after Sensei and Yosuke gave you massages!"
"I say it's perfectly fair," Shadow Kanji scoffed. "You girls think you can just keep breaking the rules whenever it's convenient for you, and then cry foul when you happen to see someone flashing you? Sorry hunnies, NOT in MY bathhouse!"
Yosuke pulled out his knives and moved to swing at Shadow Kanji. "You son of a—!"
"Yosuke, no!" Shirou grappled him from behind and held him. "Don't do it!"
"You said the Guys are some part of Kanji's psyche before, right?! That means if we beat the source, they'll go away!"
"We're trying to save Kanji, remember?!" Teddie warned him "If you kill his Shadow, you'll kill him too!"
Yosuke's struggle reluctantly ceased. "I know that, but…!"
This whole thing was a trap. Shirou couldn't berate himself more for letting this happen, brought down half their fighting strength in an instant, and Yosuke felt the same way. The only way to safely save the others was for Kanji to fully reject himself. The fight was determined entirely against them and they were forced in an impasse.
"I'll deal with you cuties later," Shadow Kanji taunted with a wink. "Now as for you…"
The real Kanji was numb. He couldn't stop staring at the two burly men seemingly choking the life out of the girls like from some weird torture video. He barely knew these girls, and yet they came all this way… to help him?
And… he was somehow causing their pain? Was this his fault?
A tap on his shoulder shook him out of his trance, and he saw his golden eyed doppelganger grinning at him. "I'm waiting on that heartfelt apology~."
Kanji knew if he just played lipservice, or at least made it convincing, this would be over. Before he would have denied it as a fact of pride, but this…
"Why are you doing this to them?" he asked, gesturing to the Guys.
"It's what we want. What we deserve after everything we've been through."
"The hell are you talking about?"
"I'm just going to say it plain; WOMEN SUCK!" Kanji's Shadow roared, no longer smiling. "They're so arrogant, so self-centered, and so damn entitled! They complain that chivalry's dead, but they want to pampered like little princesses and knock men down like dogs!"
If Yukiko and Chie were aware of anything but their own dimming consciousness, they probably would have winced at the too-close-to-home admittance.
"They cry when you get mad, they gossip behind your back, they spread nasty lies," The Shadow ranted, his features contorting with line listed. He then stared at his shaking hands. "They just take one look at me and laugh like I'm… I'm some sort of FREAK to them!"
"'You bake cookies? That's so not you!' 'You like to sew? What a queer!' 'Why would a guy like you do painting?' 'Are you really a guy?' 'Shouldn't you act more manly?' What do they know about being a guy? About being manly? THEY'RE JUST A BUNCH OF GIRLS!"
The Shadow grew more unhinged and angrier as he talked, looking much like the regular Kanji on his own tantrums. No one dared to stop him, worried of how he would react. But as soon as the rising anger came, it went away with a sense of somber melancholy.
"I hate them, really. But deep down? They scare me," The Shadow admitted sadly. "They can do so many mean things to you, and even when you mean well or apologize, they are never satisfied. They would go so far as to wish your head on a pike if they can make that happen."
It was then that Shirou realized that they never once encountered Shadow Kanji throughout the whole dungeon crawl. Yukiko and Rise's Shadows saw fit to taunt them mid-way as they searched for their shared person of interest. Which meant this Shadow was probably more dangerous than any they have faced before. Was it because it had more time to foster and grow?
"Men are easy to understand. They're strong. Loyal. Hard-working. Straight forward. They can be stupid, but also simple, because you can tell when a man likes you or not. even if you piss them off, at least they're upfront about it. They'll just kick your ass and admit so right to your face. Women would just mock you and play the victim to get their way."
"And Naoto," The Shadow smiled as the name left his lips. "Oh, Naoto, he's just an angel. So lean yet forceful. Angry but in a tranquil manner. Mysterious and at the same time honest. There was nothing extravagant in our meetings, nothing grandiose or romantic like those bitches would dream about, but it didn't matter. Those few months with Naoto… were the happiest I've had since daddy dearest passed away. And now he's going to hate me. Unless I admit I've been wrong."
Suddenly, Kanji had a flash of clarity.
"What do you say? Are you ready to admit the real you, Kanji Tatsumi?"
"…yeah, I hear you all right."
POW!
No one saw the blow coming. Kanji reared his arm back and decked his own Shadow in the mouth. The force was so strong it sent the Shadow careening across the room and crashing into a small side pool.
He felt a phantom pain over his own jaw but ignored it. Damn, so that's what I feel like…
At the same time, Shirou and Yosuke noticed the Guys stagger and their grips on the girls loosen. Immediately they summoned their Personas Izanagi and Jiraiya to strike them while stunned. The body-builder Shadows were also blown across the room, allowing the three girls to safely land on the floor relatively unharmed.
Teddie and Tama rushed over to them. "Are you girls okay?!"
"Ugh, five more minutes," Chie half-groaned in drowsiness, craning her neck as she did so.
Rise was the worst of them of them, turned on her back and clutching her sides. "Oooooh… I never thought a hug could hurt so much."
Shirou quickly dismissed Izanagi for Sarasvati, casting light healing over the girls. "Get ready, it looks like a fight is going to break out."
"Is it weird that I'm kind of glad this is our best outcome?" Yosuke joked. No one had an answer for that, and just watched the inevitable fallout from the sidelines.
Yukiko was the most torn. "Kanji-kun…"
Meanwhile, Kanji and his Shadow were in their own world. Both had a hurt jaw, but the impact of the punch was more emotional than physical.
"You… you punched me?!" The Shadow screeched.
"Quit whining. If you have my face, then you should at least be able to take a punch."
"But why… why would you help the same sex that ridiculed you?! Why would you lie to yourself?!?"
"Yukiko-senpai and the others don't deserve that kind crap! A true man doesn't make girls cry, let alone hurt her!"
'That's rich! Coming from the guy who made Shana-chan cry!"
Kanji flinched but stood vigilant. "And you think blaming everyone associated with her is any better!? You claim you're like me, but you're a rag-wearing pansy throwing a hissy-fit!"
Shadow Kanji's posture was outright hostile. Barred teeth, clenched fists… and especially the glowing aura that Kanji could see spike. "Even you reject me now? You reject me like everyone else?!"
"I don't know what the hell is going on, but I know two things for sure. For one, I'd never be able to look Naoto in the eye if I let you have your way. And second…" He pointed defiantly at the Shadow and yelled, "This is no way in hell you're me!"
Shadow Kanji growled, and the aura around him grew darker. Kanji felt a distinct feeling that he was getting weaker but tried to stare him down. He did, however, step back as soon as the Guy Shadows landed behind Shadow Kanji with mighty thuds to crack the wood.
"YOOOOOOOU…" he bellowed. "I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER SPURNING MEEEEEEE!"
<><><>
Hope you all like the new chapter.
April Fools! (I'll change the threadmark after a while so the joke gets the maximum input.) The joke is that this is the story in it's alpha form, no beta reading or anything. And it's not finished yet either.
So... I originally planned to complete this entirely before the month was over but time slipped me and even if I wanted to I can only write so much before my mind wanders and/or goes bored. I thought instead of cruelly teasing fans with different stories, I'd tease with them with the story they want. I wish I could marathon write and share the entirety of what I planned for this chapter in time for April Fools Day, but I cannot. Either way, this is technically another snippet preview like I share on the Spacebattles discussion thread as I plan to add the fight scene and already got something along the way for when this chapter is finished.. Maybe I'll change this up a bit depending on how people like the Shadow Kanji transformation (this honestly came out differently than I had intentioned and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not).
Steamy Bathhouse Entrance
It was a long time coming, but Shirou was making good on his word he promised to Nice Guy and Tough Guy. Part of him hoped they had forgotten or that they weren't at the front entrance anymore, but they have been patiently waiting and reminded Shirou of his end of the deal, with the necessary tools at that (table, towels, massage oil, the works).
Luckily he had experience giving massages to Taiga years back, and he read a book on how to give massages and the techniques involved during the reprieve, so he was prepared for that. It was really fortunate the Shopping District had that exact book he needed, but that was another story.
And If nothing else, Shirou Emiya was a man of his word, and was now currently pressing the back of Tough Guy to relieve pressure points. Judging by the Shadow's euphoric moans, he was doing something right.
"Ooooooh YES." Tough Guy said. He rolled his shoulders slightly and pressed his head deeper on the head towel he was resting on, enjoying the feel of Shirou's hands over his oily back muscles. "Your hands are just simply divine, Shirou-chin!"
"Are you sure?" Shirou asked as he worked. "It's been a while since I've done this so I think I'm a little rusty.."
"Rusty, you say?" The bodybuilder Shadow beamed. "Could've fooled little ol' me. You're pressing all the right joints so wonderfully!"
"I'm glad you appreciate it. I want to make up for the long delay we had coming back."
"And it is so worth it!"
Despite himself, Shirou smiled. He strived to always help people for praise and feel a bit worthier, and despite this being an obvious enemy he would have to fight, that moment wasn't for here or now. In fact, if this could help avoid fighting Kanji's Shadow at all, it was worth the investment.
"How the hell did I get roped into this?!"
From the next table over, Yosuke was standing over Nice Guy, also set up for a massage. He looked like he rather be anywhere but there and didn't even try touching the Shadow yet.
"You have no right to complain, Yosuke," Shirou told him dryly. "We all waited on you."
"I-I'm not complaining! I just find this completely left field! Couldn't you do both yourself?"
"I need time and focus on one at a time, and you're the only other person they'd allow to help, like it or not. We don't have the time to spare."
Shirou emphasized his point with a hard elbow drop at the lower back of Tough Guy. Between the impact of the blow and the cry of pleasure the Shadow made, Yosuke couldn't help but cringe.
"I-I don't even know how to do massages!"
"Just rub your hands over my back in circular motions. I'll tell you when you're being too rough and need to press somewhere else."
"See, even Nice Guy is willing to make this easy on you," Shirou told him expectantly. "So start rubbing. The sooner we both get this done, the sooner we can find Kanji."
"B-But he's so thick and veiny and… manly," he muttered the last word softly with envy. Shaking his head out of that train of thought, he quickly added, "Look, I get I'm getting punished for this, but this is way beyond my comfort zone!"
"Did you even use the oil?"
"It feels gross, man! Like, dipping my hands in vinegar!"
"It's meant for the customer's enjoyment, not the masseur's!"
"Since when are Shadows customers?!"
Nice Guy sighed, his patience clearly waning of not having a massage yet. He pushed himself enough off the massage bed to turn and look flatly at the worried teen. "Would you rather I give you the massage instead?"
Yosuke smiled, willing to take any lifeline out of this. "Oh, you're volunteering?! Well, my back has been feeling a bit stiff late-"
"Because I'm thinking to pound you firmly into the ground until those aching bones of yours are as fine as the grains of salt that I would then use to season my dinner."
It was as implied a death threat as the jovial "Nice" Guy could put it, and it left Yosuke feeling sick and nauseous. He could see the no nonsense expression on his face matching his deadpan tone, and he clearly had the bulk to follow his words.
Yosuke gulped, briefly tugging with his scarf to do so. Then he forced his smile back up and quickly squeezed the oil out the bottle into his hand. "On second thought, let's not strain those big muscles of yours! You deserve a good old-fashioned rubdown!"
"That's more like it," Nice Guy smiled back, and sat down.
Realizing he had no more excuses, Yosuke started to press his hands over Nice Guy's back. He groaned and winced away, completely creeped out of the feeling. He wasn't really a man, so this didn't count, right?
"Lower," the Shadow commanded. Yosuke moved his hands down as instructed, still doing the rhythmic circles to placate it. Hopefully this would end soon and they could get Kanji out and he could salvage his date with Sacchin-
"Lower."
He nearly stopped and gawked. "I did go lower!"
"Lower than that."
The auburn-haired teen hissed through his teeth, and reluctantly moved his hands lower. "F-Fine, but this is as low as I'm going!"
"Oh, don't worry, I won't let you touch my balls." Graphic image and bluntness aside, Yosuke was so relieved to hear those words. "That's Tough Guy's property."
Yosuke's relief gave away to a single eyebrow twitch and loud, internal screaming.
Further back at the entrance, the girls and Tama watched the massages with rapt interest. "I feel kind of bad for Hanamura-kun," Yukiko admitted.
"I don't," Chie spat. "If his constant dating makes it so we can't save Kanji-kun in time, I'll never forgive him."
"Well, I wouldn't be in a hurry to come back here either with those biased bouncers around," Rise said. "They wouldn't even let us use the shortcut until Shirou-kun massaged them."
Honestly, standing in front of the path they made through Goho-M? Talk about petty.
"At least Emiya-kun is taking this well."
"Yeah…"
While Yosuke was slowly going through the notions, Shirou was doing this almost naturally and enjoying himself. It wasn't hard to imagine how sensual those hands could be, as Tough Guy let out an occasional moan of satisfaction.
Chie, Yukiko, and Rise all swooned in a dreamy sigh. A guy that knows how to please a girl in more ways than one… that was always a plus (nevermind the fact he was technically massaging a guy).
Rise then noticed their bear friend having a peculiar expression on his face; flushing red and mournful. "What's wrong, Teddie?"
Teddie didn't answer right away, as he was still staring at Shirou. Then he turned and asked her, "…is it weird that I kind of find this hot?"
The girls all stared at the bear with alarm and shock. Even Tama, previously resting in a corner, emulated her surprise well evident as she shot up and turned to him.
Poor Teddie got defensive. "What?! That's why I was asking!"
<><><>
July 1st, Samegawa Floodplain
They were ready.
It took the last two days of training and strategy, but Shirou could finally say they were like a well-oiled unit in fighting. Rise's sensory skills were especially a boon having a layout of where a Shadow was and how many were on a floor at a time. The other members have seemingly grown in leaps and bounds with new skills and spells to use, and they even found some rare treasures like an electricity suppressor for Yosuke.
Shirou himself had a stronger grasp of his Personas' limitations and was fully ready to test the tools of his disposal to fight Kanji's Shadow, or at least his facets in the Guy bouncers. Having finally reached the top floor and prepared as much as possible for the evitable fallout, nothing was stopping them from marching to the final room and rescuing Kanji.
Except a mutiny to rest a day before going in.
Chie was the most adamant about it, going as far as to physically pull Shirou away from the door.
"We've been fighting all the way up here! Yukiko's out of breath, our supplies are all used up, and we sure as hell don't have the money to buy Tama's leaves!
"But Kanji-!"
"-Will be fine for one more day. The rain's not going to let up yet, the worst of the Midnight Channel has already happened, and it doesn't look like Kanji's Shadow is going to burst yet. We haven't even seen him the whole time we've been here."
"And thank god for that," Yosuke had said, but no one commented on his delivery. They did listen to his input though. "Look, as vice-captain of this team, I have to side with Chie on this one."
The others predictably made fun of how he wanted to get away from the bathhouse and into Sacchin's arms, and to Yosuke's credit he was only mildly sidetracked from the point he was trying to make. "Every time a fight with one of our Shadows comes up, we get our asses kicked, and barely win by the skin of our teeth. And each time that happened, it was because we were not at the top of our game or had some fights already leading up to them. These Shadows keep getting stronger, and we need to be at our best A-game from here on out."
After that, it was a unanimous decision as the others agreed to head back, and Shirou had to swallow his pride for a day.
As he and Chie live the closest together, they were once again walking the same road down the floodplain, with umbrellas at hand. The walk was quiet, and he had no cues to start a conversation with Chie as Eligor was absent.
But should he start a conversation? She looked like she didn't want to be next to him, daring only a few awkward glances his way.
Come to think of it, it was raining too when they first met under the gazebo. At least she got a new umbrella this time.
"Hey, uh," Chie started, surprising him. She was still looking ahead and away from him, though. "You're not mad at me, are you, Emiya-kun?"
"Mad? Why would you think that?"
"You were scowling the whole time since I argued for going back instead of fighting. It was kind of scary."
Oh. That. He didn't even knew he had a scowl on his face, but he recalled feeling very bitter back there. "No, Satonaka, I wasn't mad at you, or the others. What you and Yosuke said made a lot of sense. I was… madder at myself, really."
"Yourself?"
"If I had been a bit stronger, or managed our time better, we could have rescued Kanji by now. All I could think about was what I could have done better, or if I hadn't screwed up—"
"No." Chie stepped in front of him and was now scolding him again. "No, I'm going to stop you right there. This is no one's fault." She paused. "Well, a little bit of Hanamura-kun's fault, but that's it."
Despite himself, Shirou chuckled. He had a feeling poor Yosuke was never going to live this down.
"Kanji-kun is still fine. And he will be when we get him back home tomorrow. You've done enough making sure we got close enough for a fresh battle and getting us ready and coordinated and stuff. Among other things." She awkwardly tapped the ground twice with her right foot, testing her shoes after kicking with the Boots of Abigor for what felt like hours.
"So don't beat yourself up about this!" she added with a smile. "You're a great leader! No one blames you for managing time, or doubts how serious you are rescuing Kanji-kun. Allies of Justice need their rest too."
Shirou was speechless. He had been warned about his habit of overworking from his family and peers for all he had known them back in Fuyuki. Taiga and Issei were the most concerned about his wellbeing, and Sakura did her part to cook breakfast to alleviate some burden off him.
He was so used to being mocked for his dream of being a hero that he never heard someone appeal to it as a reason to rest. "Allies of Justice need their rest too." He could have never fathomed such a sentence. And yet, all he could do was gasp in awe feeling a sudden, unexpected warmth fill him.
It felt… nice.
"Hey, Satonaka-kun!"
The moment ended as a voice called out to the now startled Chie. She turned with some surprise and unease at the approaching teenager their age. "T-Takeshi-kun?!"
"I didn't think I see you out in the rain, and with someone other than Amagi-san!" he said casually, walking up to them. He carried his own umbrella, which he looked over and under it as if looking for Yukiko.
He then settled on appraising Shirou head-to-toe before asking her. "So who's the guy? Wait, don't tell me; your recruit, right? A fellow 'Ally of Justice'? You haven't used that title since grade school!"
Chie's head shrunk back, and her umbrella was pulled closer to cover her glowing face. Takeshi either didn't notice or cared as he continued. "Actually, I think you were part of the Runt Gang way back in kindergarten, and after that you were the undisputed King of the Hill."
Shirou looked between the two; the more names Takeshi listed, the more humiliated Chie reacted. It didn't help that he didn't seem to have a tone of endearment towards those memories, either. He was embarrassing her, and… was her lip trembling?
"Oh, and the Vanguards of the Lunch Revolution! Man, the crazy names you came up with!" Takeshi chuckled. "What exactly are you this time? A Defender of Earth's Peace or something silly like that?"
"I-I…"
"Shut up."
Chie and Takeshi were startled by Shirou's sharp tone. He was scowling again, directing his anger towards the teenager that came to greet them.
No. Chie realized it was different. That time wasn't anger. This was.
Takeshi quickly stepped back, holding his hands up. "Whoa, hey man, relax. I'm just joking—"
"Do we look like we're laughing here?" he cut him off dryly, gesturing to him and the clearly uncomfortable Chie.
Takeshi winced. "N-No, I guess not. Let me start over." He then extended a hand out to him. "Name's Takeshi Kouno, old friend of Satonaka-kun! Pleasure to meet you!"
"Shirou Emiya. Trust me, the pleasure is all yours."
"Emiya-kun…" Chie hissed. Just because Takeshi was being rude didn't mean he should be rude back.
To his credit, Shirou noticed Satonaka's warning and restrained his emotions a little bit. He still made no move to shake his hand, though, and Takeshi took the hint. "Look, Kouno was it? We're kind of in a hurry here, so if you have something to say, make it quick."
"Oh, don't worry! I'm not getting in between your date or anything!" Takeshi said. For some reason, Chie felt a pang of disappointment than embarrassment of what he implied. "I was just wondering how Amagi-san was doing these days. Satonaka-kun here is her best friend so—"
"Ask Amagi yourself how she's doing. That is, if you have the balls to actually talk to her."
Shirou was already walking past him as he spoke. Again, both teens were gobsmacked how cutting and brutal his verbal responses were. Chie spared a glance at Takeshi to see him failing to make sound out of his flapping mouth, before leaving him and rushing over to Emiya as they continued to walk home.
"You didn't have to be that mean," Chie told him.
"So it was okay for him to make fun of you like that?"
"I'm used to it," she argued. "We were classmates up until high school, and only friends at that. Nothing really came between us since he had his eyes on Yukiko."
Shirou frowned. Would an old friend really take another's dreams and feelings for granted? Clearly there was more to this Takeshi Kouno than Satonaka was letting on, but he was her friend and it wasn't any of his business.
He felt he needed to say something to her. Anything. But what? Dammit, of all the times to be without Eligor…
They reached the street corner where their destinations split off, but both of them hesitated to leave. For several minutes they stood in the rain, waiting. They spared each other glances but just as quickly looked straight ahead as if afraid to make eye contact.
Still not a word spoken.
"Weeeeeell," Chie dragged the word out, making a long, exaggerated step off to the side. "I better get home for an early night's rest! Tomorrow's a big day after all!"
Now or never. "I'm sorry."
Chie stopped and looked back. "Huh?"
"About Kouno, I mean," Shirou said. "I usually don't go off mouthing people like that, but when he talked about you being an Ally of Justice and laughing, it bothered me, for a lack of better term, and I just said things without thinking. Because I've been there too, mocked for wanting to be an Ally of Justice and I saw you sad you were I thought…"
Chie stared at him, wide-eyed. That didn't look like a good sign. Rather, he saw it as his cue to leave. "Forget I said anything. It was just stupid of me."
"No, no!" she said quickly. "I mean, I get it, Takeshi-kun can be rude sometimes. I don't want you bad-mouthing him again of course. I was just surprised hearing you snap at him like that. You had a reason though, and hearing it makes me… happy."
She smiled at him, relieved and thankful. As opposed to her sad resignation from when meeting Takeshi earlier, this was a much-needed improvement on her mood. Enough to also relax Shirou with a deep exhale.
"Well, we Allies of Justice got to stick together, right?"
"Right!"
And there was nothing more to be said. Come tomorrow, they would finally rescue Kanji.
<><><>
Steamy Bathhouse, Top Floor
Kanji was exhausted. It didn't matter where he ran to or how far. He couldn't find away out of this damn bathhouse! Instead, he just found his way right back to his look-alike, even in a different room. It was so frustrating, and this heated sauna was getting way too humid now.
"You've been way too tense, darling!" The other Kanji said, walking around a big room with nothing but a towel around his waist. Why don't you just relax and take the load off?"
"Screw that!" the sweating, bleached teen snapped. "Just tell me how to get out of this damn place!"
"Don't you get it now? There is no way out!"
"Bullshit!! I had to have gotten in here to begin with, right? What kind of prison doesn't have a way to get out, you know, for the jailers and shit!?"
These arguments were just as aggravating as getting lost. This guy, supposedly his "Shadow" (who didn't at all look black or dark or anything like that, just creepy), kept talking in circles about how he needs to accept his innermost feelings and junk. What did he think he was, some looney foreign therapist?
Lucky for him, even the Shadow looked tired of their play-by-play, sighing dramatically with his hand resting on his chin. "I guess you have a point. But you just reinforce the beautiful, dim-witted men stereotype getting lost for nearly a week."
"I thought I told you to can it with the— wait. A WEEK!?!" Kanji was flabbergasted. He lost track of time and thought he was just gone for a really, really, long day, maybe two at most. But seven? Crap, his ma and Naoto must be worried sick he went missing like those murder victims back in April. Well, Ma at least. Not so sure about Naoto.
"Alright, I've decided," The Shadow said, pleased with himself. "I'll let you out. On one condition."
"Figures," Kanji spat. That was the most stock evil bad guy line he had ever heard, and it pissed him off a bit that someone with his likeness said it so seriously. "What do you want, then?"
"For you to admit your deepest, darkest secret to me, and accept that we are one in the same."
"That's it? Fine, I'm—"
"You didn't let me finish~! I don't want a fake verbal promise you'll break as soon as I show you the door." The Shadow leaned closer to Kanji with a creepy smile. "I want you to forever promise that you are – how should I say this? – VERY in touch with your feminine side!"
Something about those words chilled Kanji to the bone, and a not in his stomach started to form. He hid this unease with angry swagger. "Wh-What the hell's THAT supposed to mean?!"
"Come now, handsome. I know you're not that dense. You're me after all."
Suddenly the door was slammed open and a stomping of feet rushed in.
"There they are!"
"Kanji!"
Kanji looked back to the door in surprise. Among the five teens wearing glasses (and some cute looking mascot character), he recognized at least two of the people in the crowd. "Emiya? Yukiko-senpai?!"
"Wait, what are the bitches doing here?!" Shadow Kanji stomped in anger. "This is supposed to be a MEN'S SPA!"
The red-haired girl winced and uttered under her breath, "That's gynophobia, all right…"
Emiya stepped forward to confront the Shadow, standing between him and Kanji. "Kanji, stay with us. I promise when this is over, we're going to take you home."
"Wait, I get out of here?"
"Yeah, we have an escape route."
That was the best news Kanji heard all day! Or week, rather. He didn't care if he had to be near a few girls, just as long as he could get out of this freaky place!
"HA! Joke's on you, asshole!" Kanji smirked and pointed at the copy. "I'm getting out of here, and don't have to see, hear, or think of your ugly pansy mug again!"
"B-But I'm YOU! How could you think this handsome face to be ugly?!"
"To hell with that!" Kanji snapped, already marching to the group. "You can die in this overgrown bathtub for all I care!"
<><><>
Shirou was worried. This was almost too easy.
They managed to catch to Kanji and his Shadow in time before the transformation. That was lucky… or maybe a coincidence. Perhaps they could finally get out of this without a fight, and they were just better safe than sorry.
He like to think he was just getting paranoid or nervous due to a magi life-style being ever-so riddled with death, but… something didn't feel right.
Kanji feeling embolden to mouth off his Shadow probably have something to do with that.
"You rather trust those hussies and jerks than me? Than yourself!?" The Shadow demanded.
Kanji stopped and turned to snap back. "They didn't keep me prisoner here!"
"I never put you here in the first place. I kept you here, yes, but to protect you. From those ugly little liars."
"Why you-!"
Shirou could see this fight was escalating too quickly, and he pushed Kanji back. "Enough of this, we're leaving." If there was chance to avoid a deadly battle, he would take it.
He stopped when he felt a sudden killer intent in the room, from behind. He wasn't the only one, as Teddie's fur bristled and Rise's Persona sense kicked in. "Guys! We got- KYAAAH!"
Without warning, two monochrome blurs rushed from behind and attacked the girls. The others turned and blanched at what they saw.
"Oh shit, it's the bouncers!" Yosuke cried in dismay. For once, Shirou couldn't blame him for feeling scared of their presence.
Nice Guy and Tough Guy were both very tall, muscular Shadows, and for the first time they were showing the extent of their physique by man-handling the female members of the Investigation Team. The former had Yukiko and Rise both in a painful bearhug, while the ladder was applying a sleeper hold on Chie. They were completely at their mercy.
Shirou immediately drew his sword at pointed at them. "Let them go!"
"I'm afraid that isn't an option, little Shirou-chin." Nice Guy told him, almost sounding genuine.
"You are free to leave, but the girls must be punished." Tough Guy added, squeezing ever so tightly around the struggling Chie's neck.
"That's not fair!" Teddie shouted. "You gave your word after Sensei and Yosuke gave you massages!"
"I say it's perfectly fair," Shadow Kanji scoffed. "You girls think you can just keep breaking the rules whenever it's convenient for you, and then cry foul when you happen to see someone flashing you? Sorry hunnies, NOT in MY bathhouse!"
Yosuke pulled out his knives and moved to swing at Shadow Kanji. "You son of a—!"
"Yosuke, no!" Shirou grappled him from behind and held him. "Don't do it!"
"You said the Guys are some part of Kanji's psyche before, right?! That means if we beat the source, they'll go away!"
"We're trying to save Kanji, remember?!" Teddie warned him "If you kill his Shadow, you'll kill him too!"
Yosuke's struggle reluctantly ceased. "I know that, but…!"
This whole thing was a trap. Shirou couldn't berate himself more for letting this happen, brought down half their fighting strength in an instant, and Yosuke felt the same way. The only way to safely save the others was for Kanji to fully reject himself. The fight was determined entirely against them and they were forced in an impasse.
"I'll deal with you cuties later," Shadow Kanji taunted with a wink. "Now as for you…"
The real Kanji was numb. He couldn't stop staring at the two burly men seemingly choking the life out of the girls like from some weird torture video. He barely knew these girls, and yet they came all this way… to help him?
And… he was somehow causing their pain? Was this his fault?
A tap on his shoulder shook him out of his trance, and he saw his golden eyed doppelganger grinning at him. "I'm waiting on that heartfelt apology~."
Kanji knew if he just played lipservice, or at least made it convincing, this would be over. Before he would have denied it as a fact of pride, but this…
"Why are you doing this to them?" he asked, gesturing to the Guys.
"It's what we want. What we deserve after everything we've been through."
"The hell are you talking about?"
"I'm just going to say it plain; WOMEN SUCK!" Kanji's Shadow roared, no longer smiling. "They're so arrogant, so self-centered, and so damn entitled! They complain that chivalry's dead, but they want to pampered like little princesses and knock men down like dogs!"
If Yukiko and Chie were aware of anything but their own dimming consciousness, they probably would have winced at the too-close-to-home admittance.
"They cry when you get mad, they gossip behind your back, they spread nasty lies," The Shadow ranted, his features contorting with line listed. He then stared at his shaking hands. "They just take one look at me and laugh like I'm… I'm some sort of FREAK to them!"
"'You bake cookies? That's so not you!' 'You like to sew? What a queer!' 'Why would a guy like you do painting?' 'Are you really a guy?' 'Shouldn't you act more manly?' What do they know about being a guy? About being manly? THEY'RE JUST A BUNCH OF GIRLS!"
The Shadow grew more unhinged and angrier as he talked, looking much like the regular Kanji on his own tantrums. No one dared to stop him, worried of how he would react. But as soon as the rising anger came, it went away with a sense of somber melancholy.
"I hate them, really. But deep down? They scare me," The Shadow admitted sadly. "They can do so many mean things to you, and even when you mean well or apologize, they are never satisfied. They would go so far as to wish your head on a pike if they can make that happen."
It was then that Shirou realized that they never once encountered Shadow Kanji throughout the whole dungeon crawl. Yukiko and Rise's Shadows saw fit to taunt them mid-way as they searched for their shared person of interest. Which meant this Shadow was probably more dangerous than any they have faced before. Was it because it had more time to foster and grow?
"Men are easy to understand. They're strong. Loyal. Hard-working. Straight forward. They can be stupid, but also simple, because you can tell when a man likes you or not. even if you piss them off, at least they're upfront about it. They'll just kick your ass and admit so right to your face. Women would just mock you and play the victim to get their way."
"And Naoto," The Shadow smiled as the name left his lips. "Oh, Naoto, he's just an angel. So lean yet forceful. Angry but in a tranquil manner. Mysterious and at the same time honest. There was nothing extravagant in our meetings, nothing grandiose or romantic like those bitches would dream about, but it didn't matter. Those few months with Naoto… were the happiest I've had since daddy dearest passed away. And now he's going to hate me. Unless I admit I've been wrong."
Suddenly, Kanji had a flash of clarity.
"What do you say? Are you ready to admit the real you, Kanji Tatsumi?"
"…yeah, I hear you all right."
POW!
No one saw the blow coming. Kanji reared his arm back and decked his own Shadow in the mouth. The force was so strong it sent the Shadow careening across the room and crashing into a small side pool.
He felt a phantom pain over his own jaw but ignored it. Damn, so that's what I feel like…
At the same time, Shirou and Yosuke noticed the Guys stagger and their grips on the girls loosen. Immediately they summoned their Personas Izanagi and Jiraiya to strike them while stunned. The body-builder Shadows were also blown across the room, allowing the three girls to safely land on the floor relatively unharmed.
Teddie and Tama rushed over to them. "Are you girls okay?!"
"Ugh, five more minutes," Chie half-groaned in drowsiness, craning her neck as she did so.
Rise was the worst of them of them, turned on her back and clutching her sides. "Oooooh… I never thought a hug could hurt so much."
Shirou quickly dismissed Izanagi for Sarasvati, casting light healing over the girls. "Get ready, it looks like a fight is going to break out."
"Is it weird that I'm kind of glad this is our best outcome?" Yosuke joked. No one had an answer for that, and just watched the inevitable fallout from the sidelines.
Yukiko was the most torn. "Kanji-kun…"
Meanwhile, Kanji and his Shadow were in their own world. Both had a hurt jaw, but the impact of the punch was more emotional than physical.
"You… you punched me?!" The Shadow screeched.
"Quit whining. If you have my face, then you should at least be able to take a punch."
"But why… why would you help the same sex that ridiculed you?! Why would you lie to yourself?!?"
"Yukiko-senpai and the others don't deserve that kind crap! A true man doesn't make girls cry, let alone hurt her!"
'That's rich! Coming from the guy who made Shana-chan cry!"
Kanji flinched but stood vigilant. "And you think blaming everyone associated with her is any better!? You claim you're like me, but you're a rag-wearing pansy throwing a hissy-fit!"
Shadow Kanji's posture was outright hostile. Barred teeth, clenched fists… and especially the glowing aura that Kanji could see spike. "Even you reject me now? You reject me like everyone else?!"
"I don't know what the hell is going on, but I know two things for sure. For one, I'd never be able to look Naoto in the eye if I let you have your way. And second…" He pointed defiantly at the Shadow and yelled, "This is no way in hell you're me!"
Shadow Kanji growled, and the aura around him grew darker. Kanji felt a distinct feeling that he was getting weaker but tried to stare him down. He did, however, step back as soon as the Guy Shadows landed behind Shadow Kanji with mighty thuds to crack the wood.
"YOOOOOOOU…" he bellowed. "I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER SPURNING MEEEEEEE!"
<><><>
Hope you all like the new chapter.
April Fools! (I'll change the threadmark after a while so the joke gets the maximum input.) The joke is that this is the story in it's alpha form, no beta reading or anything. And it's not finished yet either.
So... I originally planned to complete this entirely before the month was over but time slipped me and even if I wanted to I can only write so much before my mind wanders and/or goes bored. I thought instead of cruelly teasing fans with different stories, I'd tease with them with the story they want. I wish I could marathon write and share the entirety of what I planned for this chapter in time for April Fools Day, but I cannot. Either way, this is technically another snippet preview like I share on the Spacebattles discussion thread as I plan to add the fight scene and already got something along the way for when this chapter is finished.. Maybe I'll change this up a bit depending on how people like the Shadow Kanji transformation (this honestly came out differently than I had intentioned and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not).