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The End? Or A New Beginning? (Yuna & Vandesdelca's 1x1)

巽 完二​

Kanji was happy to walk along with her, pulling a small scrap of paper out of his pocket to consult the list he had written -- his writing was unusually small and neat, not dissimilar from the way quite a number of girls liked to write. It was almost fastidious, with each item outlined in fine ballpoint. Their shopping list was always of a fairly wide range -- this week it included rice, steak (which only Junes seemed to sell as a raw ingredient these days), scallions, tofu, seaweed, miso, ramen noodles, and... well, feminine hygiene products, an object that even the new-and-improved Kanji kept obscured with his thumb.

He stopped dead in his tracks when Naoto told him that her parents had been dead.

He turned slightly shocked and certainly apologetic eyes on her. He'd never considered that -- he'd always just assumed that she had parents back home, parents who would allow her to traipse all across Japan being the "detective prince" that she'd been... her parents being dead made that make a lot more sense, and he felt like the world's biggest dick for thinking that.

"Uh... shit, Naoto. I'm sorry," Kanji said, the shock dying down only to be replaced with embarrassment. Even with her affirmation that it was okay... well, Kanji still felt like a dick. "But hey, that's a pile of sh-... you know that's not true," Kanji said, gentling his language just slightly. "You got us, right?" Kanji asked. He didn't know if that'd be much consolation, a bunch of people she had initially befriended just to take on a serial killer/kidnapper, but...

Well, it was true. Kanji had considered them all family during that yearlong battle. Maybe it was because Kanji had been with them the longest besides for the original four and Yukiko, coming in before Rise and Naoto had joined the fight (and before Teddie had taken a level in badass), but... they had been his family. They had all been like elder siblings to him but Teddie (who seemed younger) and Naoto who... who he didn't know what she was to him.

"... but seriously. You got all of us. I know we ain't a great substitute, but... we're still here," Kanji said, reaching over for a reassuring pat on the shoulder, accompanied by a slightly awkward grin.
 

Naoto knew it probably wasn't intentional but the more Kanji spoke, the stronger her urge to cry got. The words were rather elegant, not at all something any other person would probably expect from a punk figure like Kanji. But .. he was doing a damn good job with his response. Her teeth gripped her lower lip for a few moments before she mustered the courage to look at him, barely continuing to keep her tears concealed. "I do, yeah. I'll admit that at first .. I wasn't sure if anyone really even ... considered me an official part of the group just because .. I kind of made sure I got included without any real thought or input. But ... every mission we did since then ... I realized how stupid I was."

And before she could stop herself, the tears began to fall. They had been rather discreet at the same time, though, because Naoto hadn't realized her body caved in until Kanji began to look blurry to her.

"Kuso .. " she murmured, quickly glancing away as she began wiping her eyes. "I guess it's been too long since I let myself .... well .... "

She couldn't say it. And why was beyond her. The word was simple, not even a curse one. She wanted to end the sentence with the easy term of 'cry'. But it was like some hidden sense of pride kept her from saying it. The action was perfectly justified, especially since she had grown up first before letting herself ever really grieve. All the seemingly simple things Naoto could normally do with no real effort abruptly felt like a chore.

A frustrated sigh finally left as she took a few steps away. "Don't watch .. " she pleaded, knowing that if anything it probably tempted him to do just the opposite. Her hand deftly raised as she let it land on her cheek.

It stayed raised in midair for about a minute before going back to her side. A long, deep sigh elicited from her lips and when Naoto turned back around, the crying had ceased. There were hints of it on her face as it was still a bit wet. But otherwise, no tears were streaming down her face.

"I'm fine now. Really. Thank you, though, for the reassurance."
 
巽 完二​

Kanji looked outright panicked when he saw her pretty eyes shimmer with tears and then overflow, sending streaks of refracting tears down her face. "Aw, shit," Kanji murmured to himself. He stood in silence for several long moments, looking chagrined and rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. He half expected her to just run off then -- Kanji was no stranger to rejection, even if it had usually been with laughter instead of... this.

Good job, fuckhead. You made her cry.

"Uh, yeah," Kanji said lamely when she told him not to watch, averting his eyes... but sneaking the occasional glance, if only to make sure she wasn't pissed at him. He looked utterly relieved when she reined it in, bringing back the usual cool, calm Naoto that he knew and... Kanji flushed, clearing his throat.

"Sure. Er. Sorry, Naoto. I didn't mean to... you know, bring up anything hard like that. I just wanted you to know that, y'know? That I'm--... we're all here for ya. You guys were there for me, even when all my big embarrassing secrets were aired--" Wait. No, Naoto and Rise had never actually seen that. Kanji stuttered, his cheeks flushing again suddenly. Shit, she didn't need to know that he had thought he might be... No, things had been going pretty well, and...

"We should get going. Don't want to be caught out past dark, and maybe I could help you carry some shit. I mean, you like to plan in advance and everything, right? Gotta be a lot of crap to carry home," came the smoothest subject transition in the history of forever.
 

The idea of breaking into a run had actually passed Naoto's mind. But she stood her ground, regardless of rhyme or reason. Whatever the motive was, the detective was honestly glad she'd listened and remained instead of running away. "It's ... really, it is okay. I just needed to get that out of my system for a bit. Then, I had to get a grip. I've done both I ... I'm better now."

Better, alas, was the keyword. Deep down, Naoto could feel she hadn't been anywhere close to finished. If she wanted to pick up, it'd definitely be after the shopping trip.

Speaking of which, Kanji brought it up as he gently reminded Naoto that had been where they were trying to go to ... before she'd broken down.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, sounds good. It .. probably will be a lot." Even despite her not going to the usual place for shopping, Naoto tended to get at least several weeks worth of food during every trip she took ... if not more. Her head tilted back slightly as she took another long, deep breath before resuming walking towards Junes.
 
巽 完二​

Kanji looked relieved and concerned in equal measure -- he wanted to apologize again, but at this point he was afraid he'd sound like a dumb broken record. Instead he reached out to her, settling what he hoped was a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving her a weak smile before dropping it and leading the way back toward Junes. He was just glad she hadn't run away from him -- even if it had been two years and he was healthier now emotionally than he was then... he was still scared shitless of being rejected.

... especially by her.

It wasn't too far from the Junes from there, though Kanji was happy enough to while away that time in silence. Soon, as they came in through the side, the little ♫Every day's great at your Junes~ musical sting playing above them as they entered the supermarket. Kanji heaved a little sigh, the warm summer afternoon replaced by friendly fluorescent lights and air conditioning. "Goddamn, that's catchy," Kanji muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as his grey eyes turned onto Naoto.

"Alright. Let's see about getting our shit together. You got a list or something?" he asked. He figured with the two of them there, they could get through this quickly and he could see her home and then he could stop embarrassing the shit out of himself.
 

A small smile crossed Naoto's face as they walked in and she heard that annoyingly but very catchy tune. It made her think about Nanako .. which confused her slightly. She knew she missed seeing her but that wasn't what made her uncertain on how her train of thought had gone. It felt like there was another reason for thinking about Nanako besides the fact it had been a while since she last saw the young girl. It was only a theory ... but enough to make her cheeks warm up.

... You just finished high school. Why are you thinking about wanting a family?

Probably because it had just dawned on her that she had missed having one at all. Her age and hormones likely weren't helping. Still, it almost felt .. inappropriate to think about even though she knew that wasn't the case.

"Yeah. In here," she replied, pointing to the side of her head. "I can usually remember things like this pretty well."

Helps I'm buying only for myself really ...

"Yeah though, it really is catchy," she agreed, realizing she'd replied to him out of order. Then again, it was Kanji; he wasn't technical enough to scold or care about such a petty thing. Hell, sometimes he had done such things himself.

"So ... you probably have a smaller list. I wouldn't mind getting your stuff done first if you want."
 
巽 完二​

"Heh. Least that works for you. Sometimes I'm lucky if I remember my shoes in the morning," Kanji said with a self-deprecating smile. He... wasn't a morning person, sleeping the sleep of the dead as he tended to do, after all.

Kanji didn't even notice the order of things, since it was true -- he wasn't a very orderly and technical guy. He was rough around the edges, though surprisingly soft in places. He looked as much like a delinquent as anyone could ever hope to meet, dressed in blacks and with a very noticeable scar across one side of his head... but here he was, doing his mom's shopping along with a friend who just happened to be Japan's preeminent female detective.

He had a weird life, Kanji Tatsumi did.

"Uh, sure. We usually just plan for the week, but it is for a couple of people. Got plenty of shit to pick up for food," Kanji said, unfurling his list and looking it over, eyes tracing along his own fastidious handwriting. In the background, a rather familiar shape focused itself...

Yosuke Hanamura had really taken to his responsibilities at Junes. He still had his headphones on, as was his trademark, but he wore a sedate white shirt with slacks such a burnt orange that they could more properly have been called brown. And... he had a bit of a wispy mustache, a look that... didn't really seem to be doing it for him, all told. Perhaps he thought it made him look more mature -- Kanji had told him it made him look like some sort of predator. And that it had scared Nanako-chan.

"Hey Kanji and -- holy crap, hey Naoto," Yosuke said, pulling his headphones off of his head and letting them hang 'round his neck. After a moment, he looked confused. "... wait, hey. Kanji, wasn't that you I just saw heading into the TV? Because I swear I just saw someone in the electronics department," Yosuke said.
 

"At least it's just the shoes you forget --- "

Naoto's cheeks instantly went red and now there was no chance he wouldn't see. Her head bowed slightly as she murmured, "I'm so sorry. No idea what came over me." If it weren't for the fact that she needed to get her shopping done, she would have run off due to how embarrassed she was. Between her obligations and another voice catching her attention, however, she stayed inside Junes. Her head looked up in time to see Yosuke. Her face was probably a bit still red but by the time she got addressed, it was a more normal color.

It definitely began to become less red as he went on to ask if Kanji had gone through the TV.

"... You thought you saw someone? Aren't there cameras around here that you can use to look to see who did go through?"
 
巽 完二​

Kanji was caught off guard just then -- had... had Naoto just made a fucking joke? She had always been the most straight-faced member of the team, even in the face of the ridiculousness that was... well, just about everyone else in the group except MAYBE Yu. And even he had occasionally indulged in something that Teddie or Yosuke got him into...

They were both saved from the consideration of these things by Yosuke, however, and Kanji turned his gaze back to Hanamura. He looked shocked (again), and it almost seemed like an expression that was stuck there. "Nah, it wasn't me man," Kanji said, grimacing.

"Er. There used to be, but the last thing we ever needed was the guy looking over the security tapes to see someone going through one of the TVs. I've made sure that none of the cameras are pointing at any of the biggest TVs just in case," Yosuke said. It was a bit of a security risk, but it wasn't like anyione else had ever known about getting into the TVs through Junes... of course, Namatame and Adachi had had their own ways to get in...

"Well, shit," Kanji swore, shooting a glance Naoto's way a moment later. "Hey, what you were saying earlier... about those kids," Kanji said. Those second years who had been stealing weapons from Daidara's... if they were the ones who had gone into the other world... Kanji had just sent them in pretty much unarmed.

"Fuck," Kanji muttered when he realized that. "Yo, how long ago was this?" Kanji asked, his urgency setting Yosuke's expression into a grimace of his very now.

"... I guess it was about twenty minutes ago?" Yosuke suggested.
 

"... Fair enough," Naoto mused, realizing it probably would have been awkward if not worse for anyone to literally see people going through the TV. "Well ... did you see what they looked like? Anything?" Suddenly, the desire to buy groceries vanished. Now, it was replaced by the desire to make the weekend plans shifted over to right then and there. If Yosuke had thought he'd seen Kanji enter, only to realize it was likely someone else, then the last place she should be was here. Moreover, there was the question of why people aside from the investigation team had entered. What reason did they have to enter? And .. how did they know to go through the televisions?

Kanji seemed to be on the same train of thought as he hinted about the earlier teenagers. Her head slowly nodded as she looked over to him. "I .. I think so, yeah. But there's gonna be a lot of questions when we get in there for them. Um .... I'm not going to say you shouldn't be strict but um ... not so much, perhaps? Assuming they went in there for the same reasons we all did, it is at least having a good incentive included this means. That all being said though ... "

Naoto sighed as she looked between Yosuke and Kanji, "Unless the next few days are safe in terms of the weather, we probably should go now."

Well .. if nothing else, this day had definitely been an interesting one; much more so than her usual days where she followed a more typical routine.
 
巽 完二​

"Ah, afraid not. I just saw someone in black going through the TV -- I didn't get a really good look. I figured the only people who know about that stuff is us, and as far as I know, only Kanji and Teddie ever go through there anymore," Yousuke said.

Kanji swore under his breath. "Damn it, Yosuke, if you weren't sure couldn't you've tried to call me to find out!?" Kanji asked.

"Because my phone's dead right now! I thought it WAS you, and if I'd called, all I would have got was static anyway. You know cells don't work through the TV World," Yosuke said, looking annoyed.

"Shit," Kanji breathed, glancing back over to Naoto. "They're a couple of idiots. Going in without telling anyone," Kanji muttered. He was just projecting -- they'd all done that same foolish act, but Kanji felt guilty about sending the brats in there weaponless. They were probably walking around with shitty kitchen knives right now instead of a Daidara Original, and as they'd learned a few years ago, one's equipment made all the difference in the world. That and their Personas...

"Okay. Yosuke, go get me a folding chair -- I'll pay you back later," Kanji snapped when Yosuke looked like he was about to argue the point. "Naoto, you still got your gun, right? Oh, and call Teddie!" Kanji yelled after the retreating Yosuke. "We're going to need him to get out!" They definitely didn't need to be getting trapped on the other side. Though he wondered... how were those punks getting out? Or, worse, was this their first time in there?

Things were getting better and better...
 

Well .. at least Yosuke had noticed one of the questions that would definitely be asked to whomever had gone through the TV; how they knew about it. Because Yosuke was right; no one outside of the investigation team should have known. Any villains who had the knowledge were ... dealt with. Clearly, someone else had stumbled upon this information. Whether it had been random or intentional no longer mattered. It was all occurring, whether Kanji and Naoto liked it or not. Needless to say, the young detective definitely did not enjoy this. This was no doubt one of the easiest ways to always better her sleuth skills, yes.

But that didn't mean she enjoyed it with the very thought of others being in very possible and likely danger.

"If they rushed off like that, chances are ... they're running really low on time. And, be honest. If you tried to tell anyone else about needing to go through a TV, would you expect anyone to believe you? I doubt which is why we kept this a secret from the get-go, correct? They had good intentions, I'm assuming. But ... they were definitely more reckless than even I was."

An affirmative nod would be seen as she lifted her top high enough that he could see the gun tucked away into one of her pockets.

Over the years, she'd gotten a license to carry it legally around so no one would question her possessing it. That plus the fact there weren't any cameras like Yosuke had said made her feel confident with revealing the gun to Kanji.

"Always. Just in case but .... yeah."

A defeated sigh passed Naoto's lips as she let go of her blouse, allowing it to conceal the weapon once more, before looking right at the TV. She hadn't quite expected to go back, definitely not like this.

But ... it was clear they were needed. It'd be more wrong of them to just let these teenagers die.

"... If they had gone in there for the same reasons, this means something dangerous is likely there. And I don't mean just the shadows you've been fighting with Teddie. Kanji ... I hate to say it but ... I'm wondering if ... if history may be repeating somehow."
 
巽 完二​

"Yeah. I mean, I guess Yu and Yosuke were the really stupid ones, since they went and jumped in before they had anyone to back them up," Kanji conceded. Naoto had joined when there were already a half-dozen able fighters as allies, plus Rise as their support. Yu and Yosuke had had... what, Teddie as support? He knew the little bear guy took a while to learn how to fight and to actually join in. He'd seen it, after all.

Kanji glanced down when she pulled up her shirt enough to reveal her gun... and a tantalizing bit of pale flesh that he very swiftly ignored. Damn it, brain. Keep your shit together. "Right. Well, here's what we're going to do. We're going to go after those punks, kick their asses over this... and then help them with whatever they got going on. They gotta be in there for a reason, right?" Kanji asked, having considered the notion when Naoto had brought it up. He may not have been the thinker between the two of them, but he seemed to be the one taking charge now. Someone had to do it.

"No one's shown up dead, Naoto. We'd'a heard about that. We didn't stumble onto this whole thing until after that reporter lady and... Konishi bit it," Kanji said. "... might be someone missing. You ain't heard anything like that, have you?" he asked as Yosuke came jogging by with the folding chair Kanji'd requested.

"Perfect," he said, gripping the side of the chair. It wasn't nearly as nice as his shield, but it would have to do considering. Hello, old friend. "What about Ted?" Kanji asked.

"He was hanging out at the Amagi Inn with Yukiko. Guess it's going to be about twenty minutes before he can get over here," Yosuke said.

"Fuck. I guess that's the best we got. What about you?" Kanji asked, pointing his chair at Yosuke.

"Someone should watch things over here. Besides, I got work. And short of stealing something out of kitchen supplies," Yosuke said, cutting off Kanji before he could berate him, "I don't have anything to use. You guys go on ahead -- I'll point Teddie your way. I'll call the others, too," Yosuke said. "If we have another Adachi, the others should hear about it," Yosuke said.
 

"I would assume so, yes. But ... how? I mean, it seems like someone tipped them off to come here, someone who knew about it. But Adachi's been in his cell; I've seen him recently. So unless we've got someone from the team who is a double agent ... " she let the thought trail off. It wasn't fun to think of. But any and every option had to be set down on the table. And until they could make damn well sure of what was or wasn't happening, it was still - even if not likely - a possibility. As Kanji inquired if she'd heard about any unusual deaths, her head quickly shook from side to side.

"No. And I do keep up with the news a lot, much akin to how you deal with the weather in fact. So ... I would have seen if that were the case."

That being said, this couldn't be Adachi. The techniques were wrong.

"... Feels like one of those copycat cases; where there's a lot of similarities and differences at the same time. It'll be easier to determine, however, when we find those teenagers and get answers."

Naoto gave Yosuke an affirmative nod, agreeing with Yosuke that the others definitely needed to know. Her head finally turned back to the TV as she let out a long, deep sigh.

"Well ... here I go again I guess." After briefly using peripheral vision to make sure no one was nearby - no one who didn't need to see what she was about to do - Naoto took initiative and jumped inside first.
 
巽 完二​

"You knew, didn't you? I mean, you kind of figured out about us doing weird shit before you ever knew about Personas and everything. I mean, it could just be a really good detective that figured it out," Kanji said, forgetting that one needed a Persona (or be with a Persona-user) to enter a television in the first place. It was a mystery, and one that he was confident that they could solve.

"Be careful guys. No idea what you'll find in there," Yosuke said with a brief nod, turning away to place a call to Chie, and then on to the others...

Kanji held out his hand when Naoto leaped into the television first, cursing under his breath. ".... shit, I was gonna go first," he muttered. With nary a glance elsewhere, Kanji dove into the television behind Naoto.

The TV World was the same as it always was -- a misty studio platform beyond the Junes TV. Kanji landed on the usual platform, letting out a deep breath when he straightened up. The fog was always killer, nearly blinding and giving off an oppressive feeling... it was why he kept his glasses on this side, which he drew out from a box hidden off to the side. The black glasses were settled on the bridge of his nose, taking away from the fog... but not that feeling. There was a sinister note to the air, a sort of... foulness that Kanji couldn't explain.

And with the fog gone, he could see thin streaks of blood across the yellow floor. Huh.

"Hey, you don't have your glasses, do you?" Kanji asked, glancing over Naoto's way He didn't figure she carried them habitually or anything after all this time.
 

All Kanji would have seen or gotten for a reply was a small smile. Her instincts and detective skills had only been a part of it. Back then, she had been hinted that something very wrong was going on. She had, however, gotten tips. It hadn't been until she thought on it but Adachi had purposely said far more than he should have. It made her mentally facepalm; how had she missed that of all things?! It should have been her first hints to look out for him!

Ah well. Doesn't quite matter anymore ...

Maybe she had merely forgotten but now the fall seemed .. almost longer. Finally, she landed on her feet on top of the platform. As she glanced around, everything seemed ... a bit blurrier than usual. She began to panic, wondering what was going on. And then Kanji brought up both the answer and a future reminder.

".... Damn. No, I don't. I was going to bring them over this weekend. But I wasn't expecting to head in here now so ... no."

Despite her vision being anything but perfect, the crimson on the ground definitely caught her eyes. Walking towards the lines of blood, she lightly dipped her right pinky finger into it before lifting it close to her nose and inhaling.

"This ... is pretty damn fresh. I'd say around twenty to thirty minutes at most. At least we kind of have a trail to go off of."
 
巽 完二​

"Well, shit," Kanji said. He considered for a long moment, before he slipped his glasses off and handed them off to Naoto. "Here, take 'em. You gotta be a lot more accurate with a gun than I gotta be with a chair," Kanji said. There was a logic to it, and if one of them was going to have their vision obstructed, it should've been the one who needed their eyes less. And he wasn't going to let up, either, until Naoto took his pair of glasses.

He was going to have to get Teddie to make a spare to keep in the central area if this sort of shit was going to happen. Not that he could be angry at Teddie for not planning this far ahead... no one had thought that anyone was going to use the TV World for evil, after all.

The blood was a splatter trail stretching off deep into the fog... it wound through twisted corridors, little drops here and there appearing not just on the floors but also the walls. In fact... it looked a lot more like a trail than it did someone trying to escape, since the blood dropped at a very consistent pace, implying a constant speed rather than someone stumbling around in the darkness. Which was also worrying -- one needed the glasses, or eyes made out of those lenses, in order to see well, but there was a sense of purpose to the path taken through those corridors.

"... y'get the feeling like we're being led on by something?" Kanji asked. He felt uneasy -- but who wouldn't, stumbling half-blind through the fog and the darkness? At least Teddie'd be able to find them by the trail...

In the distance, there was a sound. It sounded a bit like muffled voices, of shouts and sing-song replies. Kanji shot Naoto a look, and hurried on.

What lay beyond was... something else.

Those twisted corridors suddenly opened up into a big hall, filled with dozens upon dozens of candles. Pictures lined every wall; portraits, mainly, but also incidental shots, far-off pictures of people on the street, glimpsed through bushes or around corners. Every face had black marks drawn through the eyes and over the mouths, looking like they had been childishly doodled upon with a sharpie or similar. They were clustered with roughly identical pictures, groups of six or seven with the same model, candles lit around them like some sort of stalker shrine.

Kanji couldn't see, but Naoto could -- glimpses of an identical jacket, of a familiar hat, of a Tatsumi textiles apron... Kanji, Naoto, Chie, Rise, Yosuke, Teddie, even Yu were all represented in their own little clusters.

But there were others -- Adachi, Namatame, Mitsuuo, each portrait more defiled and blacked out than the last. And then there were utterly unrelated ones, of two high school boys and a high school girl.

And in the heart of the room were those same boys, on the ground and bleeding from nasty wounds across their shoulders or ribs, while a dark figure stood over them.

"You couldn't save her... you couldn't save her," a voice was gently whispering.

That dark figure stood tall and thin, at least as tall as Kanji but far more emaciated-looking, told in thin shoulders and a scrawny neck. Its clothing was black in places, dried blood soaked into its outfit. It wore a mockery of a bear's head over its head, a hood with little, mothbitten bear ears up top, its mouth gaping wide over the lower half of the figure's face, the bottom jaw torn out of the hood to reveal a mocking human grin. Its bear suit was likewise in tatters, and in its left hand were three knives, held loosely between its fingers. In its right...

She'd been pretty once. the girl that dangled from her neck in the figure's hand. A cute button nose, bright green eyes, and a figure that would have filled out her school uniform nicely if it hadn't been ripped to shreds. Hosiery held tight to her legs where it wasn't ripped through, her shirt torn to reveal perky breasts. Her green eyes, possibly vibrant and full of energy normally, were dull and listless. A thin white glaze covered her cheeks, her breasts, and dripped between her thighs. Bruises were spread across her arms, her stomach, and her inner thighs, clearly dripping from between them.

A thin cut had been brought to bear across her left leg, presumably where the blood trail had come from.
 

For a long while, Naoto stared at Kanji's glasses as they were being offered to her. She was more than ready to protest but ... he was right. She would need to be accurate. Mentally noting to get her glasses to avoid forgetting about this ever again, she slowly accepted them. Within moments, everything came into a much better view. The sights made a tight knot in her stomach form. It took a hell of a lot to even make Naoto uneasy in the first place. Even when they had been in this place before, it was never as ... eerie compared to the way it was making Naoto feel then and there.

"Here, Kanji, you can --- " But before she could finish, he actually began to run off! "W-wait!"

Her right hand reached for her gun as she held it tightly. Thankfully, he hadn't gone too far and thus Naoto was able to easily catch up with him. Her pace slowed, however, as the copies of the team came into view.

"... The ... hell ... ??" she murmured, amazed and terrified at how accurate these all were in appearance. And then, to add on more confusion, Adachi, Namatame, and Mitsuuo were also here?

Poor Naoto was so confused, save for one obvious thing. There was no way in hell this could be Adachi. It definitely wasn't his style. Her eyes glanced around from the investigation team to the pictures a few times, only stopping as a new figure began to walk out and reveal itself.

The suit alone made it easy to almost think it was Teddie. But .. no. This was something, someone the grin suggested, to be far more darker. Taking note of the three daggers, she whispered softly to Kanji, "Be ready to raise that if he tosses one."

She swallowed softly as her eyes couldn't help but see the now dead girl. But ... whom had that been? The person they were trying to save? Her teeth gripped her lower lip as her arm raised, pointing the gun right for the assailant's forehead.

"... Who are you?! How did you find about this place?!"

Was this really their culprit? And if so, why was he staying inside the TV? Didn't he understand it would be incredibly simple for them to find her? Or ... was that what he wanted? It was questions like this which continued to confuse her. Her finger moved towards the trigger, ready to pull back on it if it seemed needed.

Until then, they wouldn't get any answers if either of them attacked and aimed to kill this guy now. It was the only real thing keeping her from just shooting then and there.
 
巽 完二​

"Tosses what?" Kanji muttered. He was almost blind in this place, seeing only glimmers of candlelight through the heavy fog, like malevolent will'o'wisps floating just outside of perception. All he could do was hear... hear the mocking little voice in the darkness. Even if he couldn't see anything, he listened to her, raising his chair in a defensive stance in case he needed to defend against something being tossed at him. Something... dark was in here. He got that same feeling when they confronted one of their Shadows, their dark halves that would have killed them all had they gotten the chance.

"Oooh~... did you come, too? Come to try and rescue this toy of mine?" the figure asked. It was an obviously male voice, but it was high and unhinged. "I'm done playing with her, and I'd love to give her to you. It's just... this toy's broken," he said, his voice deepening suddenly as he raised his daggers to plunge them straight through the girl's back.

There was a scream, cut short with a distressingly organic sound as the blades ripped through her flesh. She hadn't been dead, just unconscious from the blood loss... but there was no mistaking the frozen horror on her face, the blood dripping down her body... and then she was gone, disappearing in a wave of what looked like fireflies, snuffing out toward the ceiling. They had never seen someone actually die in the TV World... they'd only ever seen the reporter's corpse and later Saki's...

But since their bodies were still there... the boys had to be alive, too.

"Do you want to be my toy too, Naoto?" the voice whispered, a wide grin splitting across the figure's face as blood dripped from his three daggers, still extended in that fatal blow.

"Who the fuck are you!?" Kanji yelled. He didn't see the girl die... but he was aware that someone had just bit it, and he was barely restraining himself. But he couldn't restrain his voice.

"Play with me," that figure whispered again, just loud enough for everyone to hear, his hand pulling back with all three daggers dripping between his fingers. He started forward, long legs carrying the slender bear man toward Kanji and Naoto.
 

"Daggers," Naoto managed to quickly whisper back, noting that even without the knowledge of what exactly to look out for, he had paid attention to her words. As the figure began to speak, the voice almost felt like the daggers; sharp and dangerous, each seeming to pierce a part of her very heart and soul. The pain only got worse as they were hinted the girl hadn't been dead; not until the man stabbed her. Her grip on her lower lip tightened roughly.

Seriously?! Damnit! If I'd known, she could have been saved!

A rare sensation of genuine anger was beginning to emerge in the detective. But she tried to desperately keep it at bay, knowing it wouldn't be good for her emotions to get the best of her. Especially not now of all times.

However, her heart couldn't help but cease for a few seconds as this ... person spoke her own name!

"...H-how .. how do you know who I am?! Who are you?!" A bit of panic could actually be heard mingling in with her fury. She took a step back, feeling even more uneasy - no, scared - about this person. No one, not even Adachi, had this sort of effect on her. So what was so different about this one? Was it only the fact he seemed like he could pass off as a stalker if not worse? Or was there much more?

Naoto felt her ankles quickly tense up, ready to move back again if needed. She only kept herself in place for one reason; she still needed to be in range for her shot to have a chance to hit. And yet, she almost didn't want to. But .. why? He was armed! It'd be all the more justification to go on and pull back on the trigger!

Get a grip! she screamed at herself, feeling her hand actually beginning to shake a bit. It wasn't yet obvious, not unless one tried to look. But it was definitely happening. Her eyes closed as she took a long exhale. When they opened up once more, her arm adjusted to make sure it had gone in between the eyes of this person, or at least in the same area as to where they should be.

Finally, her index finger pulled backward ... and a loud bang echoed as she fired her gun. Even if it merely incapacitated this bastard, it'd at least be a start. But gods help her, she did not want this person getting close to her.
 
巽 完二​

Kanji's blood ran cold as he heard the footsteps echo in the darkness. He could hear it, but he couldn't see it, no matter how he strained his eyes to see through the fog. The voice sounded like it was coming from all around, and the oppressive feeling in the TV World only grew stronger as the figure approached in the fog. Whatever this thing was, it couldn't have been human.

Kanji's grip tightened on the edge of the chair, moving slowly closer to Naoto. He didn't want this bastard getting near to her either -- it was clear even to him that his first victim had been female... even if he hadn't noticed she'd been raped.

Just wait, Kanji. She's got the gun, let her shoot and then move in...

"Scared, Naoto?" the voice whispered again. "Just be my toy... I'll show you how much fun it is to be a woman," he whispered... and right before she pulled the trigger, the creature grinned. "Persona," he whispered.

A card appeared in front of his face for a scant half-second, the bullet smashing through it like a rock through glass. An inhuman cackling roared over the appearance of a being before them -- it was... small. Child-sized, in fact, no older than 8 years old. It was bandaged haphazardly from head-to-toe and garbed in nothing else, what skin it showed run through with stitches. Mismatched eyes -- gray and blue -- shone on its face, and in one childlike hand was a long handle, a thin, oblong shape resting on the handle, the hilt of a very unwieldy sword at least as big as it.

For a split second, the "blade" might have looked familiar, like an atom bomb.

"Ainu-Moshiri," the figure giggled. "Get them! Tear them apart!"

"Take-Mikazuchi!" Kanji yelled in turn, smashing his own Persona card with a swing of his chair. The skeletal robot appeared in a flash of light, and Kanji was just a bit faster on what he said next: "Ziodyne!"

Lightning and wind tore through the room in equal measure, the bolts smashing into the little Persona while buffeting winds blasted Kanji's, knocking both the figures back, Kanji landing on his behind in front of Naoto. Meanwhile, the shadowy bear man was lost amongst the smoke kicked up by their brief altercation of opposing elements.
 

This was by far one of the worst days for Naoto, even more so than her purposely letting herself get captured. At least back then, she had honestly been more prepared. Hell, she had set it up. But now ... she had next to nothing. The only item Naoto had on her that could even begin to help with this fight was her pistol. No glasses, no Persona card .. nothing else. Needless to say, it took her aback when this man summoned one also.

Gods, who is he indeed?

She'd never admit aloud the answer of her being yes was scared; very much so in fact. Her heart raced as she tried to recall if she had ever felt this way before? Probably but definitely not anytime recently. Soon, dust from both the attacks kicked up, causing Naoto's left arm to raise up as she kept most of it out of her eyes, temporarily forgetting she still had the glasses.

A few coughs left Naoto. Even with her mouth closed, some of the debris had caught her nose, causing her to open her mouth. She forced herself not to swallow anything though it did leave an odd feeling in her mouth and on her body. Her eyes had also closed instinctively because she found Kanji beside her. "... Kanji? You alright?"

Her gaze remained down towards her companion as her right hand raised once more, beginning to adjust her aim as she prepared to fire again.
 
巽 完二​

Kanji drug himself to his feet, wiping the flecks of dust from his eyes as he stepped closer to Naoto. He settled a hand on her shoulder, as if to keep himself between her and the madman. "Hey, Naoto," Kanji whispered. "Didja forget how to summon your Persona?" he asked. He'd come back months after the fights in the Midnight Channel, and it had been somewhat difficult for him to call forth Take-Mikazuchi. It was no trouble for him now to simply summon it from within, but if one had been gone for a couple of years...

"I'm alright," he whispered back, holding his chair up in front of himself -- not like he could see anyway. "We need to get those punks out, or else they might get killed while we fight," Kanji said. He knew they were in there somewhere, even if he couldn't see them.

Kanji gripped his chair as he heard footsteps echoing again in the fog, the smoke clearing enough to reveal the slender bear man, standing there in the darkness. Behind him, his little Persona floated, heavy warhead-sword held loosely in its tiny hands.

Kanji stared back at the killer, only able to see a bare outline through the fog now. What the hell were they fighting? They had a Persona, they had Naoto's name, they had this little stalker shrine... and most perplexing of all, they could get into the Midnight Channel in the first place. What were they dealing with?

"Kanjiii! Naotooooo!" came a voice from a good ways behind them, the tell-tale squeaking of Teddie's footsteps echoing through the darkness.

The killer froze visibly, but only Naoto could see it. See the grimace and the silent mouthing of a word: Mother? Brother? Other? The killer turned suddenly, flashing Naoto a lingering look before fleeing back through the room, his back turned and entirely visible to Naoto as he fled, his Persona fading away as the killer tried to make good his escape.
 

"Not forget, no. But ... I didn't really come here with much of anything prepared since I was expecting to come here in a few days, not today. It .. it's not your fault. Really. I just ... didn't see this or the fact we've got one of the creepiest bastards here as factors I planned ahead for." Her voice was remaining calm though barely. This guy really was genuinely scaring her. He knew way too much and it left far more questions unanswered than anything. Honestly, she was almost wishing she had let Kanji keep his glasses. That lewd and gruesome image of the girl having been clearly raped was now etched into her memory. Even with Dojima and the police force, she had never seen anything quite like that before. It was new .. and not at all something she wanted to view again if it could be helped.

"Y-yeah. I know. But trying to run past him would be --- "

She'd been ready to end the sentence with something along the lines of 'suicidal' or 'foolish' but halted as Teddie's voice rang out. Her pulse began to switch back to a much more normal pace as she let out a loud whistle, letting him follow it so Teddie could rendezvous with them.

Gods yes! Please yes! Hurry the hell up, Teddie!

Naoto refused to give any indications on her face that the look the killer gave her added more fear than he had already made her feel. But deep down, she felt as if her soul had been peeked at, or something perhaps even more powerful.

"...He's gone. Here ... "

Gently moving one of Kanji's hands down, he'd feel his glasses pressed against a hand.

"I .. I don't know if I can summon my Persona like this. Until I can get in a better state .... you should have these back. Just in case we run into anymore shadows on the way to find those guys."

She wouldn't force him to accept but her tone made it clear it was definitely her preference. She kept the glasses held out, waiting for Kanji's reply and Teddie to arrive.
 
巽 完二​

"Fuck. He got away," Kanji muttered to himself. He couldn't chase the guy down by sound alone -- he'd be at a disadvantage when he couldn't see the guy at all, and considering that the guy's Persona was at the very least a match for Take-Mikazuchi. That unnerved him -- he had barely lost a beat since they'd last gone into the TV World, and it was quite likely that he was now the strongest person on the Investigation Team -- maybe even stronger than Yu after two years of inactivity. And this bastard was a match for him.

Naoto was right -- this wasn't Adachi. This was worse.

When she offered him his glasses back, her hand on his, he blinked at her blurry outline in the fog. He nodded slowly, taking the glasses from her and settling it over his eyes. He could see once more, everything coming into sharp relief... including the fact that she was slightly shaking.

It was somewhat nice knowing he wasn't the only one worried.

"Alright -- Hold on tight to me," he said, offering her his arm. After all this, he didn't want her getting separated from him in the darkness.

The squeaking grew closer, the blue and red bear that emerged from the fog a far more welcome sight than the far more realistic-looking brown bear, with all its blood splatters.

"Kanji! Naoto! Man, am I glad to see you guys!" Teddie said, coming to a stop -- he had his claws on, and his Persona floated along behind him -- the large cartoonish bear with a warhead of its very own. "Um... what happened?" Teddie asked, gesturing around the stalker shrine. "And... w-what is all this?"

"We'll fill you in later, Ted. C'mon. We gotta get these punks out of here," Kanji said, gesturing to the two injured boys. There was going to be hell to pay for all of this... and he knew for a fact they'd be seeing that girl on some telephone pole soon.
 
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