Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There’s a new girl in the shopping district.

Kanji doesn’t know all the kids in town, but he knows every kid who lives in the shopping district, and that’s him, Naoki and Saki. Nori (nobody but Nori’s mom can use the full ‘Noriko’ without getting an earful about how Nori’s not a child and stop calling her one) sort of counts, since her grandpa’s house is closer to the shopping district than it is to other people’s houses. Same with Yukiko and the inn.

But there’s a new girl, sitting on the steps of the tofu shop and staring at the ground. Kanji can’t tell if she’s bored or lonely or both. And while he’s not the best at making friends, she looks sad, and he doesn’t want her to be sad.

So he goes over. “Hi.”

She glances up from under her darkish hair, then back at the ground. “...Hi.”

“I’m Kanji. What’s your name?”

“Rise.”

She’s even quieter than Nori or Naoki, which is a lot - they’re both happy to read books all day if anyone will let them (Saki doesn’t let Naoki do that very much). Kanji knows how to be loud, but loud might scare her, and he doesn’t want to scare her. “When’d you get here?” he finally asks.

“Yesterday.” For a second he thinks she’s going to stop there. “Mom and Dad said they have stuff to do this summer, so I’m staying with Grandma. She owns the tofu shop.”

“Oh. What kind of stuff are they doing?”

Rise shrugs. “Not tofu stuff. They didn’t say.”

“You wanna go play?”

That finally makes Rise look up for real; she just stares at him for a while. “You… want to play with me? Really?”

“Yeah. There’s more stuff to do than count the ants.”

Rise smiles, so fast Kanji almost doesn’t see it. “...Let me ask Grandma.”

Rise’s grandma says yes, but Naoki can’t come along, so Kanji just heads for the hill after that. If Nori isn’t inside reading or following her parents around town ‘detecting,’ she’s usually up there - and she is today, already up a tree and playing with her detective kit. She climbs down when Kanji calls for her, and Rise relaxes when they start playing pretend, and by the time they have to go home for dinner it feels like Rise’s always been there.

It’s not always just the three of them for the rest of the summer - Naoki and sometimes even Saki and Yukiko join in - but it’s mostly just the three of them. Sometimes they go to Nori’s grandpa’s house, and either stay inside and watch Featherman or go outside and play in a different spot than the hill or by the river, depending on if it’s raining. One rainy day they explore Nori’s grandpa’s attic, which is full of old stuff.

It is just the three of them the day they play tag on the riverbank and the world explodes into color, in two stages. Kanji knows what it is and how it works, thanks to his parents - three people is new, but he doesn’t mind. He likes Nori, and he likes Rise, and they do understand him. He makes his very first solo knitting projects for them - a white rabbit for Nori (that ends up with five legs before he notices) and an orange cat for Rise.

It doesn’t last.

Nori’s parents leave town to investigate a case and never come back. Nori and her grandpa don’t stay in town for very long after the funeral. Rise’s parents pick her up whenever they remember they have a kid and drop her off whenever they want to forget again, until she’s ten and her aunt puts her in an idol competition and Rise wins it somehow. After that she never comes back. Yukiko forgets that boys aren’t scary (not that Kanji’s doing any better, since the girls in his class are the worst about his hobbies). Naoki’s busy a lot of the time. Saki’s just older enough not to want to hang out with little kids anymore.

Kanji’s dad dies. His mom nearly loses the shop - she tries to keep the details from him, but he still figures out what’s going on, even if she saves it in the end. He’s alone, and… it sucks. It really, really sucks.

What good is it knowing there are people out there who really get him if he’s never going to see either of them again?

***

If everyone in town hates him, Kanji figures he might as well lean into it. Saves him the trouble of wondering whether anyone else might actually like him. (His mom and Naoki are the only people Kanji’s sure don’t believe the rumors. Saki might not, but it’s hard to tell with her.

Rise and Nori aren’t here to say one way or the other.)

Once he gets used to the bleached hair, he kinda likes it. He gets into a lot of trouble at school, for that and for other stuff, but it’s not like his grades have ever been great anyway. He knows enough math to make change and measure shit, and how to write well enough to make good signs. He’s really not sure he needs anything else, but his mom insists.

The first stranger to be genuinely nice to him in years breezes in and out of the shop one summer afternoon when he’s in eighth grade. She buys presents for two of her friends - one of them is a guy who’s deep into sewing - and says the people telling him what his hobbies should be can go get bent (not in so many words, but still). And then she says not to give up hope about Rise and Nori ever coming back to Inaba.

He’s not sure he has as much faith in that working out as she seems to, but he makes little presents for both of them anyway. Not that he trusts the mail to actually deliver them (or knows where to start with Nori, these days)... but it’s something, if they ever do turn up in town again.

The whole disaster with the biker gang scares the shit out of Kanji, from beginning to end. His mom needs her sleep, and she’s not getting it. There’s eight of them and one of him. They absolutely have more powerful bikes, considering he can’t get anything with an engine for another two years. No one would believe him about it if he tried to ask for help. In the end he grabs a shield from Daidara’s place (and leaves him an IOU), somehow manages to beat the shit out of the gang to the point they promise to leave the area alone, and jams his hand so bad he’s quietly terrified he won’t be able to knit anymore for a week afterward.

His mom thanks him and tells him not to be so reckless all in the same breath. The cops, and everyone else in town, are more convinced than ever that Kanji’s nothing but trouble. He wonders what Nori and Rise would think if they heard about it.

***

Kanji’s mom makes him take the high school entrance exam, and to his surprise he actually gets in - he’ll be the youngest person in the graduating class by over a month, so he was half expecting a ‘study more and try again next year.’

Okay. Three more years and then he never has to look at a school again, if he doesn’t want to. Junes is rough on the shopping district (he’s sick of listening to people complain about all the shops closing before saying it’s so much more convenient to get everything in one place), but the textile shop is doing something Junes can’t.

Three more years. He can do this. Even if Yasogami has some tremendously shitty teachers. Even if the first day of school kicks off with Saki finding a dead body on her way home. Even if Saki herself turns up dead at the end of the week. (Nori would love the mystery aspect of it, he can’t help thinking - the police have no goddamn idea what killed either of ‘em.)

He drops by the liquor store on his way home from school; it’s more crowded than he’s seen it in months. Naoki’s mom wordlessly points toward the back room when she sees Kanji. He nods and heads back, ignoring people who want to try to gossip about him or Saki or - well, anything.

Naoki’s sitting on one of the high stools in the back room. Maybe he’s been moving boxes around to help find shit, but he’s not right now. He doesn’t look like he’s been crying. He looks numb, which is almost worse. But he does at least notice when Kanji approaches, so that’s something.

“I guess they told everyone at school,” he says.

Kanji nods. “They did. If you guys need anything… well, let us know.” He doesn’t really get it. He’s an only child. But he gets it enough, and he knows his mom will too. Besides, the Konishis were a big help when Kanji’s dad died, so like hell he or his mom would make them suffer alone now.

“You know, you’re the first person I’ve actually believed that from all day.”

“Wish I could say that surprised me.” But it doesn’t, not really. All those customers are here to make themselves feel like they did something good for a Family In Need, not because they really give a shit.

***

Kanji will argue until the day he dies that ending up on that stupid biker-gang TV special is not his fault. Those idiots saw someone pushing two meters tall, with bleached hair and a black jacket, and didn’t stop long enough to realise it was his school uniform jacket. His mom doesn’t give him shit for accidentally ending up on a Friday night special, at least (once he manages to tell her it wasn’t on purpose), but it’s sure not gonna help with anyone else.

He skips school on Saturday and Monday - the last thing he wants is everyone whispering about him behind his back all day - and comes home on Monday to some short kid with a blue hat who says he wants to talk to him. His hat is distractingly familiar. He’s distractingly familiar, for that matter, but Kanji can’t place it.

And then he has to chase off people who’re gawking at him anyway, because of course he does, but it’s the combination that’s weird: the Junes kid, someone Kanji doesn’t know, and… Yukiko and her friend. Last he checked, Yukiko’s friend wasn’t all that fond of the Junes kid, but not for the usual ‘Junes is ruining the shopping district’ reasons.

He’s up half the night trying to figure out if he agreed to a date or not, but the next afternoon the kid - Naoto - doesn’t act like that’s what he was after. He asks Kanji a lot of questions about the TV special, and whether anything unusual’s happened since it aired. He’s okay until Naoto says he’s unusual, and naturally that’s about the point Yukiko’s friend and the Junes kid turn out to have been following them for several minutes and it all goes to shit. He’s more upset that they chased Naoto off than he is about the rest of it, but he’s still pretty pissed about the rest of it.

He just wants to go home and stress-knit or sleep the rest of the afternoon away, but then he goes to sign for a delivery and the next thing he knows he’s in the weirdest sauna he’s ever seen, dealing with a creepy yellow-eyed copy of himself that keeps talking like he’s gay or something.

Just because Kanji really, really likes Naoto’s style doesn’t mean he’s gay. But it’s not like he can compare that to the last time he really talked to a girl, since he was seven at the time and not even thinking about that kind of attention. Besides, there’s Nori and Rise… even if he doesn’t know what’s up with Nori these days and he really doesn’t understand why everyone’s drooling over Rise.

Maybe that’s just because he can see how tired she’s getting. Or maybe he really isn’t into girls, but this yellow-eyed weirdo doesn’t have to be so… so whatever he is about it.

He doesn’t know how long he’s stuck there. He doesn’t know how to feel about the fact that he can’t deal with the copy on his own - that he needs help, and it’s not even coming from the people he really wants to help him. He hates how much it hurts to hear his own voice begging for acceptance, never mind how much it hurts to admit the copy’s right. He doesn’t understand at all how the copy turns into a giant skeleton man with a lightning-bolt… spear? Club? Whatever. It does look pretty badass.

The others say they’ll explain it later, and they do, when Kanji can finally stay awake longer than the time it takes to hit the bathroom or shove some food in his face. It feels kinda good being able to talk about all the shit that’s piled up in his head for once, and he says so, which makes Yukiko frown.

“I know I wasn’t the only person you talked to when we were younger,” she says. “What about them?”

“Naoki’s got his own shit to deal with. I’m not gonna make him figure out my head when he’s not sure where his even is. The others…” Kanji sighs. “Probably never gonna see ‘em again.”

Yukiko nods and leaves it at that, which he’s grateful for.

***

Yukiko’s pretty much the same as always, maybe a little less passive. Souji-senpai seems like a pretty cool guy, especially for having been dumped headfirst into a murder mystery the second he moved to Inaba. Chie-senpai is all right, too; she seems less obsessively focused on Yukiko than she used to be (but still completely devoted to her).

Yosuke-senpai is the wild card. Obviously he’s not the terrible person the town gossips like to make him out to be - even his dad can’t be that bad, if he hasn’t said anything about a bunch of teenagers disappearing into the electronics department of Junes for hours at a time - but Kanji’s not sure if he likes him or not. It’s like he’s trying too hard or something.

Then he gets it in his head to get a scooter license, and a scooter, pretty much only so he can go to Okina and try to pick up chicks. Kanji can’t do the scooter part (not until January), but he does need to restock his yarn, and the craft store in Okina is tons better than anything Junes sells. At least it didn’t steal any of that kind of business from Inaba; there wasn’t really a craft store before Junes, unless you count the model-kits guy.

Besides, he kinda wants to see how bad this is gonna be. He figures, when he heads off to shop, that they’ll at least have some good stories when he comes back; turns out all they get in that time is sunburnt. Then it turns into a contest, and he can’t back away from a contest.

Admittedly, Kanji’s surprised when he does actually get a phone number out of someone, especially after seeing Souji-senpai tap out so early. Yosuke-senpai’s too excited not to have gotten something. But that surprise is nothing on when he actually tries calling it.

Maybe he read it wrong. Maybe he punched in the numbers sideways or hit the wrong dialing code. Maybe that girl thought some teenage dipshit bothering people who didn’t ask to be bothered would deserve what he got if he tried the number.

It rings twice, then picks up. “Yes, this is Shirogane.”

Kanji freezes. That’s Naoto.

That’s Nori. No wonder that fucking hat looked so familiar, Nori stole her dad’s hat all the damn time--

“Hello?”

Right. “Shit. Uh. I’m sorry. Fuck. I’ll - shit.”

“...Kanji-kun?” Naoto says, clearly confused.

“Long story never mind I’ll leave you alone bye.” He hangs up before it gets any worse - and immediately saves the number. Accident or not, he’s holding onto that connection with everything he’s got.

“What was that?” Souji-senpai says. He doesn’t sound like he means anything by it, but Kanji really doesn’t want to talk about it right now.

“Nothing.”

“That sure didn’t sound like nothing.” Yosuke-senpai frowns. “Wait, was that the kid with the hat? I told you only girls’ numbers counted!”

Kanji sighs. “Shut up, senpai.”

“I think he won anyway, Yosuke. Even before that, he did something productive while we were just standing here all afternoon, and if you’re right, now he can talk to someone he already wanted to talk to.”

“But that wasn’t the point! And how can he win if he doesn’t even have a scooter?”

“Didn’t need a scooter to almost beat you two here, did I?” Kanji doesn’t care if that’s because they had to stop for more gas, at this point. He’s done with this entire afternoon, especially the parts with Yosuke-senpai still not really getting it. “You gonna try the number you got already or not?”

He’s inclined to say Yosuke-senpai gets what he was asking for out of all this, even if his poor scooter did nothing to deserve that treatment. Also, if Ohtani has nothing else, she has confidence.

***

Yosuke-senpai ends up taking the train home (funny how he doesn’t care about seating two to a scooter being illegal until he’s the one on the back), and Kanji ends up seeing how well he actually can keep pace with a scooter. He thinks Souji-senpai is going slower on purpose, but he really doesn’t mind. He’s good company, even if they can’t talk much like this.

“How was your shopping trip?” his mom asks when he gets home.

“Fine.” Kanji goes upstairs before she can ask if anything else happened. After he puts his new yarn away, he gets out his math homework and notes and tries to figure out who felt the need to ruin perfectly good shapes by making people write out all these steps about them.

He should see if Naoki wants to borrow his notes - and Kanji’s afternoon as a translator. They learned the hard way that Kanji’s note-taking style really only makes sense to him, but then, he’s not exactly taking notes so much as doodling random shit and trying to work out knitting patterns. But when he looks at that mess, he knows what was going on at the time, and can at least tell Naoki what he needs to read in the textbook, if not… how to do whatever it is.

He thinks he’s as done as he’s gonna get (and really, who knows if Nakayama will care about the quality of his work more than how much she wants a divorce) when his phone buzzes. When he opens it, it turns out he has a text message: OK TO CALL Y/N

Kanji can’t help laughing. Well, he’s definitely done with his homework, in that case, whether he’s actually done or not.

Always. Why do you text like that?

MORE EFFICIENT

He has about three seconds to doubt the hell out of that before his phone rings. “Yeah?”

“Hello to you too, Kanji-kun.”

“Nori,” Kanji says, and then catches himself. “Wait, shit, that’s not your name anymore.”

“It’s all right, Kanji.” Naoto sounds amused. “You are on the very short list of people who are still allowed to call me that.”

“Still. I don’t wanna get it wrong and make you have to explain it. If you went out of your way to pick something else, you got a reason for it.”

“Well, I never have liked being called a child, and this did remove a built-in reason for that happening. But I appreciate your discretion.”

Kanji’s really not sure this is something that deserves thanks. “Of course. And if you need any help with your clothes or whatever, come on over. I doubt Mom would tell you no, either.”

“It would be nice to own more than two pairs of pants that both fit me properly and have functional pockets. And… my current chest binder is beginning to show its age. I have a discreet supplier in Tokyo, but the longer the case in Inaba drags on, the more likely I’ll be called in in an official capacity, in which case I would need a backup.”

“Get us a pattern and good material types - we can get the fabric, but I dunno what you need for that.” But he’s not gonna leave Naoto without what sounds like underwear. “So, like…” He hesitates, not sure how to ask his actual question. “I got your back no matter what, but - what’s up with you right now? Do you wanna be a guy, is it just a ‘cops are assholes’ thing, is it…”

“I don’t know,” Naoto says, after a long silence. “I’m sure you remember that I’ve never been fond of feminine clothing, and it’s certainly easier to deal with my professional life like this - it’s hard enough getting some people to talk to a teenager, never mind a teenage girl. But… I truly don’t know. Perhaps, like any great mystery, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.”

“Maybe. I mean, whatever it is you’re still you. I just… it’s been a while. Wanted to know where your head was at.”

“I appreciate it. I’ve missed you - I wasn’t sure if you remembered me, the other day.”

Kanji snorts. “Remember? I was pretty sure you were never comin’ back. I mean, I didn’t… until you said your family name today, I didn’t connect it, but you used to be the tallest of the three of us, what the hell happened there?”

“Clearly, you inherited all of your father’s height and I inherited none of mine.” Naoto sounds miffed, but Kanji’s pretty sure it’s at genetics, not him in particular. “I didn’t mean to stay away for so long, but Grandpa thought it would be better for me in the city, after everything. It’s certainly been easier to establish myself professionally here than it would have been in Inaba. For that matter, how on Earth did you come across my number?”

“It’s… it was probably an accident. Couple of my friends decided what they really needed from life was to get scooters so they could go to Okina and pick up chicks.”

“I didn’t know there were that many chicks in Okina.”

“I mean, yeah? More than you’re gonna find out here, anyway.”

“Really? I would have expected that ratio to go the other way.” Naoto sounds as baffled as Kanji’s starting to feel. “Where did they intend to put them down afterward?”

“What--” Then it clicks, and Kanji bursts out laughing. “No, hit on girls, not hold baby chickens. Anyway, I left the craft shop, they were still standin’ there, they turned it into a contest, and… I’m still not sure whether I read something wrong or that girl thought I’d deserve what I got for bothering her.”

“At least she didn’t send you off with an adult entertainment phone line.”

“Shit. I hadn’t even thought of that.”

They talk about nothing in particular for what sure as hell doesn’t feel like two hours - but then, it never did when they were kids, either. And then Kanji’s mom calls him for supper. He really doesn’t want this conversation to end, even if it’s definitely not gonna be the last one, not if he has anything to say about it.

“Before you go,” Naoto says, “you should tell your friends that if they intend to keep investigating this case, the commonality among victims is that they each appeared on TV before they went missing. They’re also not nearly as subtle as they like to think they are.”

“Yeah, they’re really not.” But Kanji’s not much better, really. “And they figured out the TV thing - I think I was the test case for that. We’re not gonna stop, but… if you poke at this hard enough, they’re probably gonna find out, Nori.”

Naoto sighs. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. At least I know you’ll be there to help.”

The next day, his doodles in math class include a picture of Yosuke-senpai holding a bunch of baby chickens and questioning his choices.

***

The school campout is exactly as bullshit as Kanji thought it would be the minute he heard it’s an excuse to put everyone to work cleaning up the mountain, but he doesn’t have a choice if he doesn’t want to be in deep shit. He spends most of the day working with Naoki, at least, which lets them both pretend things are more or less normal until dinner, when it turns out no one else in their group is willing to start a conversation with either of them.

“Screw this,” he says, while they’re cleaning up the dishes. “I’m gonna go see if the other guys are here. You wanna come?”

Naoki rolls his eyes. “I’m not desperate enough to spend the night in a tent with Hanamura. You go ahead. I’ll be… I’ll manage.”

Kanji doesn’t push, since he completely gets where Naoki’s coming from.

Switching tents goes okay, at first. But then Yosuke-senpai ruins it by stealing Kanji’s animal crackers - sure, it sucks that the girls managed to ruin a four-person pot of curry, but he could’ve at least asked - and then asking stupid questions. “Are we gonna be safe with you” is going to be at least as hard to unhear as that grade-school classmate crying when he fixed her stuff.

“I thought you were okay with it,” he says, wishing he sounded less hurt. “You said you were okay with it.”

“I’m not worried,” Souji-senpai says, and Kanji appreciates the attempt - but Yosuke-senpai looks like he can’t see what the problem is.

“Look, I’m just saying, it’s a fair concern to--”

Kanji sighs. “Whatever. I can tell when I’m not welcome.”

He hears Souji-senpai say something to him as he leaves the tent, but doesn’t stop to find out what. He considers trying the girls’ tent, but he’s really not sure what that would do other than get his ass kicked. He considers leaving the campout entirely, but it’s probably not a good idea to hike down a mountain with shitty cell reception in the middle of the night by himself. He can’t just stand around out here, or a teacher’s gonna find him when they make the lights-out rounds.

He ends up heading into the woods; there’s a spot where he can see the tents but no one’s gonna see him unless they come looking, and there’s good trees to sit under. Hopefully no animals will bother him; they left the campsite alone all day, so he thinks he’ll be fine. He tries texting Naoto, but either Naoto’s asleep or the cell service isn’t on his side (or maybe both).

Maybe he should’ve known better than to think more than two people would ever actually understand him.

Even as Kanji thinks that, he knows he’s not giving people enough credit. Naoki knows how he is, and is still friendly with him - in a prickly, sarcastic way, but he’s prickly and sarcastic with everybody. His mom understands him better than he likes to think about, because it’s his mom. Yukiko’s warmed up to him again. Souji-senpai is still getting to know him, but he’s actually trying - hell, he heard rumors Kanji was bullying someone and made a point of asking whether those rumors were true instead of just buying in. That’s not many people, but it’s more than two.

Anyway, Yosuke-senpai’s an idiot. Kanji wonders if it’s possible to be so scared of yourself that you accuse other people of things you think might apply to you. The closest he’s ever come to being scared of himself was in the TV world. It’s different when there’s a literal copy of you that might kill you if you reject it too much.

He’s still not sure if he’s even gay or not. Like, either way, Yosuke-senpai has absolutely nothing to worry about from him - Kanji’s type is not people who think asking that kind of question is a good thing - but still.

Yukiko is pretty, and he wouldn’t just say that because half the guys at school say so. Half the guys at school think Ebihara’s hot stuff, too, and Kanji doesn’t get it. (Half of Japan thinks Rise’s hot stuff, and Kanji really doesn’t get that one.) But whatever else is going on, he can definitely say he likes one girl. He’s pretty sure gay guys don’t like any girls by definition.

But he also can’t say he doesn’t like any guys. He wants to impress Souji-senpai in a way he’s never wanted to impress Naoki, or much of anyone other than Naoto (even Rise was always different). That might count as a crush, even if it’s one he’s not sure he’d ever pursue.

Naoto… Naoto is really not helpful to trying to figure out what he’s into. Naoto could probably wear a burlap sack and Kanji would be into it, as long as that confidence was still there.

Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle here, too.

He lets his mind wander the rest of the night, occasionally playing the snake game on his phone and wishing he’d brought a knitting project, or at least something he could draw in. Then he catches sight of the beginning of sunrise, and figures he’d better head back to the tents.

...Ah, what the hell, staying long enough to see the actual colors can’t hurt.

There are no teachers up yet, so Kanji just heads back to his assigned tent, figuring if anyone asks he can just say he needed to take a leak. Two first-year guys he doesn’t know are still asleep, but Naoki’s awake enough to sit up and blink at him in confusion. “What happened?”

Kanji sighs. “Don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Fair enough. If anyone asks me, you were here all night.”

“Thanks, man.”

He feels like shit all through breakfast, but it’s the only thing they have to do before the teachers turn them loose. Naoki says he can’t stick around and heads home, and Kanji’s about to join him when Yosuke-senpai gets his attention.

“About last night,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

Kanji has to fight not to glare at him. “For which part?”

“...Both parts. I should’ve asked if I could have your animal crackers, and… Souji pointed out how stupid the other part sounded. I guess I’ve been kinda panicking more than I thought - not about you. I promise, not about you. So, uh. Truce?”

“Truce,” Kanji agrees. “But next time you say shit like that I reserve the right to punch you, so there better not be a next time.”

“I’m gonna try my best. Come on, let’s go find the others. We’re free and I’m ready to go for a swim.”

Kanji nods and follows along, even though he doesn’t plan on swimming. The river’s ice fucking cold at this time of year - at pretty much any time of year, really. August might be all right for a swim, but not now.

Sure enough, the only ones of the group who want to go swimming are the two who haven’t been in Inaba for a summer yet. Kanji finds a spot by the riverbank to sit down and try not to fall asleep before this all goes to shit one way or another and he can go home.

His phone buzzes while Yosuke-senpai is arguing with the girls about how they “owe us for ruining dinner last night”; it’s Naoto texting him back, finally. EVERYTHING OK Y/N

Better now, he replies. I need some sleep when I get home but we can talk tonight. Then he looks back up to total disaster.

“Ta-daa! I’ve got you covered!” Yosuke-senpai says, pulling a pair of swimsuits out from God knows where. “They’re Junes-brand originals, from our brand-new line of swimwear that just came in for the summer.”

Kanji sighs. “Dude, really?” It’s not like he hasn’t eyeballed people’s measurements before - hell, he outright knows Yukiko’s, from making stuff for the inn - but that’s different. That’s a thing he does in his head to pass the time, or a thing he takes to help his mom with work, not something he springs on people to get them to take their damn clothes off.

Yukiko shifts uncomfortably. “Did you have those the whole time?”

“Come on, everybody! Let’s all go for a swim!”

“Sure,” Chie-senpai says, “as long as I can go buy you a speedo first. This is way past paying you back for dinner.”

Yosuke-senpai falters, but doesn’t quit yet. “You said you’d go if you had a swimsuit. Here’s a swimsuit! What do you say, Partner?”

Souji-senpai just looks at them with the same deadpan face he uses for pretty much everything. “Huh,” he says. “Not so safe after all, I guess.”

For some reason, that finally knocks the wind out of Yosuke-senpai’s sails. He splutters for a while, then stuffs both swimsuits back into his jacket pockets. “I - you know what, never mind. You guys go - do whatever. I’m still going in. You coming, Souji?”

“Thanks,” Chie-senpai says as they leave the other guys to it and head home. “I mean, what the hell was he thinking?”

Kanji shrugs. “You know him better than I do, senpai. But no problem.”

***

Kanji wishes he could watch the Sunday evening news with anything other than a pit of dread in his stomach. This should be good news. This is something he’s wanted to happen for six years now, that and being able to talk to Naoto again.

When it’s over, and when he’s picked at his dinner enough to satisfy his mom despite his cratered appetite, he texts Naoto. Rise’s gonna be in town soon. They were just talking about it on TV.

Really, Naoto’s response says it all. FUCK

Chapter Text

It’s good to be home.

Rise’s parents blew up her phone overnight, calling her ungrateful and selfish for quitting her job. If she were that selfish, she wouldn’t have done that last concert after realising she needs out of the idol life, at least for now.

She copied the messages, like she does every time a fan goes overboard, and blocked their numbers without replying. There’s more than one reason her grandma’s her official guardian and main emergency contact. It’s going to be difficult enough trying to figure out who she even is these days without her parents trying to weigh in.

She wanted to start helping in the shop right away, but her grandma insisted she take a couple of days to rest first. It’d be better if she really felt like she could go somewhere, but the problem with Inaba being such a small town is absolutely everyone is going to be on the lookout for the returned celebrity. The last thing she can do right now is try to put on the face the public wants to see. No one’s going to want to talk to a depressed mess.

Her grandma proves her wrong about that by knocking on her door late in the afternoon. “Rise, dear? One of your friends is here, if you feel like talking.”

“Really one of my friends, or a fan?” It’s not that she doesn’t trust her grandma to help keep the fans from mobbing her, but… well. She never did have many true friends. There are two people she’d actually want to talk to right now, and she really doubts one of them is even here.

“Really one of your friends.”

Rise sighs. “Okay, but they better not expect me to be cheerful.”

“When have I ever done that?” a guy’s voice says, and then the door opens, and Rise looks up.

And up. “Better question, when did you get so tall?”

Kanji just shrugs helplessly. It’s no better when Rise stands up from her futon; she barely comes up to his shoulders. He actually picks her up off the floor when he hugs her. She’d protest more, but he puts her down pretty quickly, and the hug itself is nearly enough to make her cry. (She’s not sure when the last time she actually cried was, as opposed to faking it for a drama.)

“And what did you do to your hair, anyway?” she says, when they’re both sitting on her futon.

Kanji sighs. “You’re not the only one who’s been lonely. I just… everyone left was assumin’ the worst about me, other than Naoki and Mom, so I figured I might as well give ‘em what they wanted.”

“Of course you’d see how badly I was doing. You might be the only person in the country who didn’t need to be told.” Well, Nori might not have needed to be told, and her grandma certainly didn’t.

Still, that’s a grand total of three people.

“Yeah, well, that’s ‘cause they’re all idiots. At least you got out before you burned out completely.”

Rise almost laughs - something that’s felt even further away than crying, lately - and leans against Kanji. He didn’t just get tall, he got buff; it’s almost no wonder people are scared of him. (She hasn’t been since that first day, though.) “Barely, but yeah. It turns out I’m a little too good at acting, and now I don’t… I lost track of ‘normal me’ and I’m not sure how to get her back.”

“Probably didn’t help that they threw you in the deep end.”

“It really didn’t. Sure, let’s put a middle schooler in a diet commercial, that’s not setting unrealistic expectations at all.” If she goes back to work, she’s going to have to renegotiate that part of her contract, now that she has a better idea of what she’s doing. Right now, though, that’s a pretty big if. “But if anyone watched that press conference and still thinks I’m perfectly fine, I really don’t know what to tell them.”

“...Yeah, about that. You picked a hell of a time to come back to town.”

“The murders?”

“Yeah.” Kanji shifts behind her, but not to push her off or anything. “Someone’s still kidnapping people. People who’ve been on TV recently. They got me after that stupid biker gang show.”

Rise tips her head back to look at Kanji. “You? You’re, like, huge. How did anyone manage to overpower you?”

“Fuck if I know. I just hope I managed to give ‘em a black eye for their trouble.”

“You probably did. I hope no one’s going to give me that kind of trouble, but I’ll be careful.” She doesn’t really plan on leaving the house for the next while anyway, so it’ll probably be difficult for a kidnapper to get hold of her.

Despite being completely exhausted, she can’t sleep to save her life that night, so she just stays up, staring vaguely in the direction of the TV. Even from upstairs she heard people talking about the Midnight Channel; she doesn’t expect there to be anything to it, but she’s also not willing to write it off without at least seeing whether anything shows up.

Something does, which makes Rise sit up and frown. It’s not much of a silhouette to go on, but it looks like… well, it looks like what other people probably think her figure looks like, between the agency fluffing her measurement numbers and people obsessing over certain body parts. But she’s never seen the swimsuit that fades into focus just as the broadcast cuts out before, so she has no idea what to think of it.

The store is mobbed the next day, but her grandma is a master of deflection or something, and manages to keep most people from even noticing she’s there. (Granted, the tofu smock and kerchief probably help a lot with that too, since most of these people are going to be expecting her to live in a bikini or something.) Kanji spots her right away, but the two friends he showed up with are slower on the uptake.

And then Kanji absolutely roasts one of them for drooling over her, which answers a question she wasn’t feeling up to asking him directly yesterday. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a tiny bit disappointed, but for the most part it’s… refreshing. He’s never been afraid to tell her what he thinks about something, and she’s glad that hasn’t changed.

His friends are just worried about the whole kidnapping thing again, but she promises them she’ll be careful, and does the same for the pair of detectives who follow them up. Kanji and his friends even try staking out the tofu shop the next day, which is sweet of them, even if it somehow ends up failing. A delivery truck pulls up out front while everyone else is distracted by - well, something, she didn’t really get a chance to ask - and the next thing she knows, she’s in the strip club from hell.

***

Teddie’s kind of curled up on himself when they get into the TV, as much as he can curl up on himself with that costume’s top-heavy shape. Chie-senpai’s the one to ask if he’s okay.

“I wasn’t crying,” he says, and it sounds like he’s sulking - like he wants to have been crying. That sure bodes well, and nothing about the rest of that conversation makes Kanji feel any better about it.

“Anyway, we wanted to ask you something,” Yosuke-senpai finally says. “How’s it been over here? Did a girl called Rise Kujikawa show up? Can you sense anything?”

Teddie frowns, which is one hell of a weird thing to see on a costume. “I can’t tell for sure, but I can kinda sense someone in here.”

“Okay,” Chie-senpai says. “Then we’ll go look for something that’ll help you search, like last time.”

Kanji sighs. “Or you could just ask me.” For some reason, that gets everyone talking at once.

“We could?”

“Dude, you don’t even like her!”

“Oh, that’s right--”

“Guys,” Souji-senpai says, cutting them off. “Calm down and let Kanji explain, will you?”

“One, yes you could. Two, I never once said I don’t like her. I’m not into her, but that ain’t the same thing.” Kanji bites back another sigh. “Her parents dumped her at her grandma’s sometimes when we were little.”

“I never made the connection before,” Yukiko says, “but her career did start about the time she stopped coming to Inaba at all. She’s so different on TV. I think that’s why I never noticed.”

“Yeah, but she’s been burnt out for months now. Anyway, I went and talked to her the other day.”

“How?” Yosuke-senpai practically wails.

“Knocking on the door and askin’ if I could go up and say hi, dumbass.”

Souji-senpai huffs out a short laugh. “What do you think we need to know, then?”

“She thinks she got too good at acting and can’t tell what her normal state is anymore.”

“Losing sight of her real self would… definitely make things interesting in here.”

“Her real self…” Teddie says, and then he perks up. “I think I found her! Thanks, Kanji! Follow me!”

Kanji had kind of thought it was a strip club based on last night’s Midnight Channel broadcast, but seeing it in person doesn’t make things any better. It’s overwhelmingly pink, for one thing (and boy is he glad Teddie gave him sunglasses). For another, if risking this kind of literal exposure is something Rise wants to do, she should get to choose that for herself. After she’s a legal adult.

“Are all of ‘em this… weirdly sexual?” Kanji already knows what angle his Shadow leaned into, as much as he’d rather not, but he hasn’t really heard about anyone else’s.

“They do say sex sells.” Souji-senpai shrugs. “Yosuke’s wasn’t this bad, but I think if it’d happened a day later, it might have been.”

“Hey!”

“I think we should go home for today,” Souji-senpai says, completely ignoring Yosuke-senpai. “We know we can get to her, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow but not overnight, and it’ll give us a chance to stock up properly. If we go in prepared and find enough money to keep the fox happy, I think we can get this done in one day.”

“You’re not going up there without me, senpai.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

***

Kanji tells her later that it’s only two days from kidnapping to rescue, but in the moment it feels a lot longer. Rise can’t sleep with the bright lights and persistent bass thudding through the entire… building? Set? Whichever it is doesn’t really matter. She’s not sure if she’s hungry or nauseous or both. She has a tremendous headache.

And then there’s the weird doppelganger of her, with yellow eyes and a gold lamé bikini that looks more like a strung-together set of strategically placed triangles than an actual swimsuit. She takes vicious delight in taunting Rise and saying she’s going to go nude for an audience - an audience of what, exactly, Rise has no idea. If it’s people, though, that’s a big problem for her; no one would ever believe she wasn’t the one doing it herself.

She still hasn’t really made sense of the situation when the rescue party arrives - Kanji and his friends from the other day, along with a couple of girls who look kind of familiar and… a bear mascot. Somewhere around the point where the bear mascot takes a near-fatal blow to stop her double from obliterating everyone, she finally understands what her double’s been saying this whole time.

It’s not that she’s forgotten or ignored her real self. It’s that there’s a bit of her ‘real self’ in every persona she puts on. That realisation nets her another Persona, this one with a capital P - and nets the bear mascot an existential crisis, apparently. What concerns her is whatever it is that tries to hijack the existential crisis for its own ends, especially since no one else seems to notice.

“Dammit, how are we supposed to fight something like this without Teddie?” one of Kanji’s friends says, which does at least explain no one else catching the hijacking until Rise pointed it out - the one who could have noticed is the one who’s compromised.

She takes a deep breath and calls Himiko out. If she could give a concert without anyone noticing her energy reserves were beyond depleted, then she can stay upright long enough to see this through. “It’s all right. It’s my turn to save you all.”

Kanji shoots her a concerned look before squaring up to the bear’s double, and then Himiko’s visor is over her eyes, feeding her information. “All right. He has a big attack that might do some serious damage if you don’t brace yourselves for it, but that’ll take a while to wind up - it should be obvious enough that you’ll have warning. Whatever you do, don’t throw ice at him.”

She gets them through the fight and is not at all surprised when her legs give out right as the bear mascot gets a Persona of his own. She tries to wave off the others’ concern, but Kanji scoops her up before she can really manage it. He puts Rise down long enough for her to climb through a TV that leads to Junes’ electronics department, because this is apparently her life now, and picks her up again as soon as he’s through himself.

“I’ll take her home,” he says. Rise’s not about to protest; she feels like she could sleep for a week, if not longer.

***

Kanji has to kick the back door of the tofu shop instead of knocking. He’s pretty sure Rise’s dead asleep in his arms, which he really can’t blame her for in the slightest, but that also means he can’t shift her weight without waking her up. If that’s gonna happen, he’d rather be putting her down.

Rise’s grandma is quick to answer the door, at least. “Oh, Kan-chan, thank you. Is she all right?”

“She will be,” he says, for once not bristling at his dad’s old nickname for him. Maybe it’s like Naoto and there’s a couple people who can still get away with it; maybe he’s just too tired to give a shit. “We found her at Junes. Might need a lot of sleep, but I think she’s needed that for a while now.”

“She really has. Will you be staying here tonight?”

“...If you don’t mind.”

Rise’s grandma smiles. “Not at all. You and Nori-chan are always welcome here, you know that.”

Kanji takes Rise upstairs and sets her down on her futon. Tomorrow he’ll see if she can stay awake long enough to at least change clothes; tonight, he’s not about to push it. He finds some spare blankets to spread out on the floor, pulls off his socks, and then gets out his phone.

First he calls his mom, so she doesn’t worry about him tonight. Then he texts Naoto that Rise’s safe, and makes himself stay awake until he gets a response.

GOOD. THANK U

Of course. Even if he hadn’t had the power to do something about this, he would’ve made sure she was safe, and that Naoto knew about it.

He’s about half asleep when his phone buzzes again. ASSISTING POLICE IN INABA EFFECTIVE 7/1

Kanji sighs. The only surprise there is that it took the prefecture so long to ask. Rise may not be awake enough to talk then. Take it easy when you do talk to her.

UNDERSTOOD

Neither of them are going to be able to lie to Naoto - well, Kanji sure as hell won’t, and he can’t see Rise pulling it off all that well either. But Naoto will probably know what information the police can handle, and what to do with the rest of it. It’ll be enough.

It’ll have to be enough.

***

Rise wakes up, if she can call it that, to the sound of someone snoring nearby. It’s completely confusing, until she manages to roll over and sees Kanji sacked out on the floor next to her futon.

For some reason, that’s the thing that makes her actually cry for the first time in months. God, she missed him (and Nori, for that matter).

Fortunately, she’s stopped crying by the time Kanji snorts himself awake. “You didn’t have to stay, you know.”

“Totally did,” he says. “Besides, your grandma invited me to. How’re you feeling?”

“Like I could sleep for another week. But also… better? Does that make any sense?”

“It absolutely does.”

Kanji helps her across the hall to the toilet, but leaves her alone to take care of business. Her mouth feels awful, but she’s definitely not awake enough to properly brush her teeth; there’s some mouthwash in the medicine cabinet, though, and she puts that to good use. Once they’re back in her room, Kanji helps Rise change clothes. She’s not at all capable of the bath she desperately needs, either, but fresh pajamas help a little.

“You could just sleep on the futon with me next time.”

Kanji rolls his eyes. “That thing ain’t long enough to hold me, Rise. Besides, you weren’t awake to ask and I didn’t wanna give you the wrong idea. So no, I couldn’t.”

“Awwww. I bet you’d make a great space heater. Don’t worry, though - I got the idea when you gave your friend crap.”

“He deserved it.”

There’s a story there, and Rise’s about to ask for it, but then she yawns - later, then. “Sorry. I guess I should get some more sleep. You’ll come back, right?”

“You know it. And… Nori’s gonna be in town soon. Probably for the rest of the year, at this rate.”

Despite still being exhausted, Rise smiles, and it’s the first time she’d call it genuine in nearly a year, if not longer. “Oh, man. We’ll all have to get together and do something. It’ll be like old times.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it will.”

It doesn’t occur to her until her grandma wakes her up for dinner that there was something Kanji definitely wasn’t saying about Nori, but Rise can’t think of what it might be.

By the time she feels like she can stay conscious for most of a day again, it’s nearly Tanabata. Her grandma tells her she put off Rise’s enrollment at Yasogami until the fall semester, which is probably for the best - from what Kanji has to say, they’re about to have semester finals anyway, and there’s no way she could hope to be caught up in time. She also won’t let Rise go back to helping in the shop until the next week starts; apparently things have calmed down a little since she was kidnapped.

It’s on Tanabata itself that she has another visitor, someone her grandma says is working with the police. It makes sense that the police would come around again, since Rise was kidnapped and all, but she’s not really sure what she’s supposed to tell them about it. “I apparently got thrown into a TV, and then I was yelled at by myself and watched a bear have an existential crisis,” while true, would not go over well.

Then she sees who showed up, and while it takes her a second… well, that hat is a dead giveaway. “Nori?”

“Naoto, please, at least in public.”

“But - Grandma said it was someone with the police…” Rise buries her face in her hands. “And Kanji said you were going to be in town soon. They’re the same thing, aren’t they?”

“Well, I am in town to assist the police with their active murder investigation, and your recent kidnapping is relevant to the case… but I’m also here because I missed you, and I was worried.” Nori - Naoto, she might as well start practicing now - comes into Rise’s room and sits down on the futon next to her. “You do seem to be doing a bit better now, at least.”

“I am. I mean, I slept for most of the last week and a half, that’d probably lift just about anyone’s mood. But I do genuinely feel a lot better than when I got here.”

“I’m glad.” Naoto pulls a notebook out of her pants pocket. “We might as well get the business part of this out of the way first. What can you tell me about the circumstances surrounding your kidnapping?”

“Probably not as much as you’re hoping. I don’t know who grabbed me, and Grandma wasn’t in the room so she wouldn’t know either. She thought I’d just wandered into town or something, apparently. And then Kanji and the others found me at Junes a couple days later.” ‘At Junes’ is stretching the truth in a way her grandma bought, but that probably won’t work on Naoto in the long run. Still, it’s what the police are going to believe.

“I admit I was wondering if Kanji’s new friends were in some way responsible for this chaos, until he threw his lot in with them. He would not be that hasty to forgive someone for kidnapping him.”

“No, he really wouldn’t. He tried to warn me - so did the others - and they were there that day, but they were trying to make sure nothing happened. Something outside distracted them, but I can definitely say none of them kidnapped me, and neither did the detective guy who was here. He went to help them.”

“I see.” Naoto frowns at something, but doesn’t explain what, and flips to another page in her notebook. “Do you know why they’re pursuing this independent investigation?”

“Other than not wanting more people to end up dead?” Rise shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine. I think they’re going to need my help, though, and I’m going to give it.”

“What makes you say that?”

Rise hesitates. “It’s a very long and very weird story,” she finally says. “I think another reason they’re doing this is because the police would never believe it.”

“Kanji did imply something unusual was going on.”

“Of course he did. He could never keep anything from you.”

After that, it’s like a switch flips; Naoto puts the notebook away and they get to catching up. Rise’s heard a little about the “Detective Prince’s” exploits, but never connected it to Nori before now (she really should have, but didn’t). Naoto looks completely appalled by the idol industry before Rise even gets to the stuff that made her realise she needed a break - and that was with a manager who went to bat for her and kept her out of the truly nasty side of the business.

Naoto doesn’t say she’s been lonely in so many words, but Rise hears it clear as day anyway. It’s not really a surprise, when she left Inaba first and hasn’t really spent time with people her age since; in some ways she has the worst social skills of the three of them.

“We should all three do something soon,” she says.

Naoto looks stunned by the idea, which almost makes Rise laugh. “You’d still want to?”

“Why wouldn’t I? You and Kanji are still my best friends. I missed you both like crazy.”

“I… I missed you too. I suppose I’ve become unaccustomed to having friends.”

“Well, we’ll just have to fix that,” Rise says. “I was going to start school on Monday, but Grandma realised that’d be kind of silly, all of three weeks before summer, so my schedule’s pretty open.”

Naoto smiles. “In that case, how could I possibly refuse? I should be going for now, but I’ll be sure to let you know when I’m available.”

After they trade numbers and Naoto leaves, Rise flops back on her futon and sighs. So Naoto’s… crossdressing, or actually a guy, or just likes pants better than skirts, or something (she should probably ask exactly what). And it’s a damn good look on her.

She’s not really sure what to do with that information - other than text Kanji, anyway. Holy crap Nori got HOT???? You didn’t mention that!

Hey, I don’t know what you’re into, Kanji replies. But you’re REALLY not wrong.

***

On Sunday, there’s a dead body hanging off an apartment building’s rooftop railing. It’s the older guys’ homeroom teacher, a complete jackass who decided after about two minutes he didn’t like Kanji (and the feeling was mutual) - but apparently he hated pretty much everyone. They all agree it’s not really a big loss, but he probably didn’t deserve to go out like that.

The weird part is that Morooka was never on TV - not the Midnight Channel and not the normal kind, either. Kanji may not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but he knows patterns, and this doesn’t fit the pattern.

And then there’s Teddie. Teddie sitting in a massage chair. Teddie showing up armed with TV glasses for Rise. Teddie… having grown himself a human body for the hell of it. By doing sit-ups. Sure, why not. The girls drag him off to get clothes, and then Souji-senpai mentions he hasn’t had Shiroku’s ice pops yet, so Kanji drags the guys off to get some.

He knows, when the others catch up, that the girls bought Ted clothes that are way out of Chie-senpai’s price range. That doesn’t mean Yukiko couldn’t cover the difference, but unless Teddie squirreled away some of the TV world money in his bear suit - unlikely, since as far as they knew before now he couldn’t leave to buy anything - he’s calling bullshit.

“What do you think, Kanji?”

“Huh? What do I think about what?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if Teddie’s your type,” Yosuke-senpai says, with a shit-eating grin that starts faltering the second Kanji turns to look at him.

He can’t make good on his threat to punch Yosuke-senpai’s lights out for that. Not today, not when the cops are already on edge. But he sure thinks about it for a second.

“Not really. Why, senpai? He your type?”

Yosuke-senpai splutters, and Yukiko starts laughing in a way that says she’ll be busy for a while - and Kanji just barely hears a familiar, quiet chuckle. For a second he thinks he imagined it, and was just getting his hopes up.

“I had a feeling you’d come. Are you here to ingratiate yourselves with Kujikawa-san now?”

Kanji grins - he hadn’t imagined it. Naoto’s approach is enough to pull Yukiko out of her laughing fit, at least, for all he has no idea how they’re going to explain Teddie.

After Naoto finally gets around to a proper introduction for everyone else, Souji-senpai’s eyebrows rocket up. “You’re the prefectural assistance? Wow, no wonder my uncle was bent out of shape about it. When he said ‘kid’ I thought he meant someone just out of college, not around my age.”

Naoto bristles, but Kanji’s not sure anyone else would notice it. “I was asked to assist the police department, yes. In any case, there is an inconsistency between the prior incidents and this morning’s case - Morooka-san never appeared on television. What do you all make of that?”

“How are we supposed to know?” Yosuke-senpai says.

“Well, we’ll leave it at that. For my part, I’d like to solve this case as quickly as possible. Until we meet again.” With that, Naoto nods at them all, smiles at Kanji, and walks off.

“It felt like he completely saw through us,” Chie-senpai says. “He even knew about the TV thing.”

Kanji shrugs. “I mean, we worked out the TV thing.”

“That’s true, but…” Yosuke-senpai sighs. “He’s giving me a headache. Anyone else want another Topsicle? My treat.”

Teddie lights up right away. “Really? Wow, you’re rich!”

“I’m glad Yosuke’s developing into such a mature adult.” Chie-senpai’s smiling awkwardly now, and not meeting anyone’s eyes - Kanji’s even more sure some bullshit went down at the store without them. “Someone who doesn’t let trifles bother him.”

“What? ...Wait, what did you do? You’re worrying me.”

“Oh, it’s about Teddie’s clothes, that’s all. We didn’t have the money for them, so we charged the rest to you!”

For once, Kanji really can’t fault Yosuke-senpai for getting upset. Junes really shouldn’t have let that happen in the first place, even if he pissed someone off enough to go along with it.

Souji-senpai clears his throat to get the two of them to stop shouting at each other. “Chie, you’re going to have to pay him back, so I hope you kept the receipt. It’s coming out of your share of the TV world money.”

“What? But - you know I’ve been saving up for those new boots, Souji!”

“And Yosuke has things he’s been saving up for, too. Team leader’s decision; it’s final.” Souji-senpai starts down the street toward Rise’s place, and Kanji just shakes his head and follows.

Rise’s feeling better enough to put on some of the idol pep for everyone else, and volunteers to join the team before they can even properly ask her. Kanji’s not surprised - she’s always wanted to help people, in her way, and Ted’s crisis definitely proved she has shit they need.

After the others leave, with Yosuke-senpai taking Teddie home to see if he can talk his parents into housing a complete stranger, Rise’s shoulders sag a little. “Maybe I shouldn’t have turned up the chipper so fast.”

Kanji shrugs. “You know I’m not gonna tell you to fake it.”

“Yeah, but it’s good to know I still can. Keep Marine Day open, by the way. I meant it when I said all three of us needed to do something together, and I am not waiting all summer to do it. Besides, I… think we’re gonna have to pull Naoto’s head out of this case every now and then.” Rise sighs. “I went with ‘it’s a long and weird story’ for now, but… what do we even tell her about all this?”

“The truth. Nothin’ else is gonna work for very long, and Naoto’d just get mad we were keeping secrets.”

“And then what, physically block her from diving into the nearest TV?”

Kanji snorts, despite himself. “From giving an interview and taunting this asshole, more like. I did already tell Naoto we can’t keep everyone else from finding out if it gets that far, but… at that point it’s not our choice. Meantime, I’m sure as hell not gonna be the one to tell ‘em.”

“Obviously not. It’s Naoto’s story to share, and we’ll be there for her if that’s what she chooses to do.”

Kanji nods, but he’s already pretty sure it’s not ‘if,’ but ‘when.’

***

Naoto: COPYCAT
Kanji: You sure?
Naoto: Y
Naoto: CAUSE OF DEATH VERIFIED
Rise: >:(!!!!!!!!!!!
Naoto: ?
Kanji: She’s pissed. That makes three of us.

That’s all the more Kanji can really say, since he has to worry about school - and semester finals are next week, which he’s already dreading. Over lunch, he lets Rise know that the others are planning to meet at Junes after school to try to figure out where things stand.

They go back and forth about things for a while. Rise’s probably right that trying to figure out the actual killer’s motive is a dead end; the TV angle is too random for it to end up making any kind of sense. And Kanji can’t really blame Yosuke-senpai for having wondered if Morooka was behind it, considering the asshole hated everyone. If he was behind it, maybe things will stop. They’re probably not that lucky, though.

Before he gets a chance to bring up the copycat thing, Naoto turns up and says the police have a suspect. “It isn’t public knowledge yet, but he isn’t a student of your high school. The police seem quite confident that this boy is the killer.”

Rise frowns, but doesn’t say anything. Kanji wonders what she saw in that that he’s missing.

“Okay… so why run over here and tell us?” Yosuke-senpai says. “That’s confidential info, right?”

“Your ‘game’ will soon reach its end. I thought you should at least know that.”

“Aren’t you the one playing a game here? I’m sure as hell not, not when - when someone who meant a lot to me died because of this. You’re just sitting around with an interesting puzzle.”

Kanji doesn’t miss the way Naoto flinches; he considers kicking Yosuke-senpai under the table.

“Be that as it may,” Naoto says, “much about this case was perplexing, but the solution appears to have been surprisingly simple. I’ll be going now.”

“Not alone, you’re not.” Rise gets up from the table, and Kanji does the same. There’s not much more the rest of them can get done today anyway, and the last thing Naoto needs is to go sulk about this alone.

They end up on the hill overlooking town, Naoto sandwiched between the two of them on a bench and trying (and failing) not to cry. Rise’s encouraging Naoto to let it out, since it’s not like anyone here cares about how it looks; other than giving Naoto a handkerchief, Kanji’s gonna need more to work with before he can really do much.

“I don’t - I’m not playing,” Naoto finally chokes out. “I consider it as deadly serious as he does. Puzzle or not, lives are at stake.”

“We know, Nori,” Rise says. “He doesn’t know you. And I think… I think Yosuke-senpai puts a lot of his own insecurities on other people while he’s trying to figure them out. He probably just felt bad about being called on it.”

Kanji sits back, kind of stunned. If that’s what Yosuke-senpai’s been doing this whole time, he’d really, really like him to fucking stop it.

“Still. The police are… Dojima-san’s the only one taking me at all seriously about the possibility of this being a copycat crime. The rest of the department’s so eager to close April’s cases that they’re going to pin everything on this suspect if they can do it, and then they won’t need me any longer.”

“We’ll still need you,” Kanji says.

Naoto looks at him, eyes full of surprise and hope and uncertainty. “You will?”

“Of course we will, silly,” Rise says. “I’m definitely not going another decade without talking to you. I don’t think that did any of us any favors at all.”

Kanji ends up pulling them both into a hug when Naoto starts properly sobbing, since Rise won’t let go, but that’s all right. Rise’s right - the time apart fucked all three of them up, and they can’t let it get that bad again.

It won’t. Not if he has anything to say about it.

Chapter Text

Planning a date, it turns out, is a lot harder when you’re in the countryside.

Rise keeps thinking of things that would be fun to do if they were in Tokyo, but they’re not, and Kanji has to stick close to town so he can go take his spring finals. There’s just not that much to do in Inaba, and as much as she’s growing fond of her older rescuers, she doesn’t want them interrupting.

She does convince Souji-senpai to take her to Okina after school one day, to see what’s available there, but it doesn’t help much once they start going through the options.

“We could get coffee,” she says, but Souji-senpai immediately shakes his head.

“Not if you want to be coherent for the rest of the afternoon. Mumon-san’s coffee is… intense.” Before Rise can decide whether she wants to know, he moves on. “There’s always Croco Fur. What if you went shopping?”

“With Kanji and Naoto? Are you kidding? Kanji would start complaining about the stitching quality, probably to the owner’s face, and… I’m not sure if they stock anything Naoto would want to wear.” If she can convince Naoto to learn how to be comfortable in women’s clothes, even if that’s just so she can pull it off if she needs to go undercover for something, Rise thinks that’ll be to Naoto’s benefit - but that day is a long, long way from now, and may not ever come at all. If it happens, it’ll happen at Naoto’s pace.

“True. I can’t see him going for the same stuff Ebi liked.”

Rise blinks. “Ebi?”

“One of my classmates. Ebihara-san, properly, but I think she needs someone in her life who doesn’t take things so seriously. She might be putting on more of an act than you did for that diet soda commercial.”

“Wow. That’s… that’s really saying something. Anyway, there is the movie theater. We could always come back home for dinner afterward.”

“It’s a two-screen theater,” Souji-senpai says. “If you think all three of you can agree on one of two movies, I say go for it.”

“Either that or we can just hang out outside and people-watch for a while. If I do my hair differently, no one will notice me.” She’s pretty sure Kanji would frighten off anyone who tried to pester her or Naoto, too. “So, when are you gonna take Yosuke-senpai on a date, huh?”

Souji-senpai laughs. “That depends on when he stops panicking about it. And if he actually wants to, once he stops panicking about it. Considering he’s hit three months now, he’s bound to run out of steam eventually.”

“What happened there, anyway?” It’s probably rude to ask, but Rise thinks she’s earned a little nosiness. Besides, this is about friends, not complete strangers.

“A soulmate connection happened. The day after his Shadow, which had a lot to say about his crush on Konishi-senpai. I’m pretty sure no one told Yosuke it doesn’t have to be romantic, so… panicking. Meanwhile, I think Chie and Yukiko have a much older soulmate connection, but they didn’t actually start dating until after we rescued Yukiko. They had some things to sort out first.”

Rise doesn’t ask about that. When one of the two was kidnapped and the other wasn’t about to stay away from the rescue mission, she really doesn’t need to.

“Do you think you can get Yosuke-senpai to stop freaking out in Kanji’s direction?” she says instead. It’s really not helping anyone - Kanji gets hurt every time it happens, Yosuke-senpai probably isn’t working through things any faster by constantly insulting someone else, and they really need him to not be doing that before Naoto gets deep into the investigation.

“I’m working on it. For what it’s worth, I do think he’s starting to get the point.”

“Okay, good. And thanks, senpai - for all of this.”

Souji-senpai smiles a little. “Any time.”

On Marine Day, it turns out Rise’s not the only one who’s been scheming. Kanji shows up with a picnic basket (mostly courtesy of his mom, but he says he cooked some of it too), and since the weather’s nice, they put down a blanket under a tree in one of Okina’s public parks and just stay there all afternoon. It takes all of five minutes before they have to ban Naoto from talking about the murder case; it’s a good half-hour after that before she starts a conversation topic, but once she gets there, she relaxes considerably.

After packing the picnic basket back up, Kanji pauses, fidgeting with something in his pockets. “So, uh. Spent most of the last few years thinkin’ I was never gonna see you guys again, but somebody who came through the store told me not to think about it like that. And… I didn’t really believe her then, but I did make you both something. Just in case.”

He all but shoves small wrapped packages into each of their hands. Rise tears hers open right away, to find a smaller, more refined version of the orange cat doll Kanji made for her back when they were little kids - this time with three outfits. Naoto’s more methodical about undoing the wrapping paper, but Rise’s not surprised to see another white rabbit.

“They’re very elaborate,” Naoto says, with a tiny smile and a hint of tears. “I - it even has five legs again. You remembered.”

Kanji’s blushing furiously, but he smiles. “‘Course I remembered.”

***

The suspect is missing.

The suspect, who damned near all of the Inaba police department is eager to pin the April murders on so they can sweep this whole thing under the rug, never mind that concrete evidence only ties him to Morooka-san’s death, is missing.

The suspect, who turned himself in to the police and is eager to help them sweep the April incidents under the rug by claiming credit for something he merely executed a poor imitation of, is missing.

Naoto will be lucky not to have sprouted grey hairs by the time this whole mess is untangled.

Adachi-san is the last person on record as supervising Kubo. He says he got up to get a snack from his desk, and Kubo was gone when he returned; that would have taken no more than two minutes, and yet, the suspect is missing. Someone so desperate for attention that they would kill someone and jump at the chance to confess to other, unrelated murders is not usually likely to flee police custody.

And yet, the suspect is missing.

Dojima-san is the only one willing to listen when Naoto says there’s no way Kubo committed the April murders, not when he can’t explain anything about the victims’ cause or circumstances of death. But even he won’t pursue the April investigation while the top suspect in the most recent incident is missing. Naoto can’t really blame him for that, but understanding the predicament doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

Kanji and Rise were perhaps right to enforce the occasional conversation about something other than the case. But Naoto has always been terrible at putting puzzles down before they’re completely solved, and that habit has not improved with age. There is the puzzle of April, in which two women briefly went missing before being found dead, hanging off things with no apparent cause; there is the puzzle of Kubo, likely committing a copycat murder to claim credit for the first two before vanishing into thin air; there are the personal puzzles of age and gender and ambition, and those puzzles aren’t going anywhere even if Naoto solves them.

Naoto should be sleeping, not examining and re-examining these notes in the vain hope something new will stick out this time. But the suspect is missing, and virtually no one else at the police station cares about treating the April murders as a separate incident anymore, and sleep is proving elusive tonight anyway; Naoto might as well use the time constructively.

Across the room, the TV flickers to life. Naoto jumps, nearly dropping the case file.

Naoto does drop the case file when the image comes into focus. It’s Kubo, wearing the same shirt he was wearing in his mug shots and standing in… some kind of arena? It wouldn’t look out of place in a video game, or as the backdrop to a tournament arc in a shounen anime.

“You all think you can see me? You all think you know everything about me? Then try and catch me.”

The broadcast cuts out as abruptly as it started, leaving Naoto staring at the TV in shocked silence. What the hell was that? Kubo hasn’t yet been mentioned by name or even general description on television; how could he possibly have qualified as a kidnap victim? How did the culprit get to him inside the police station when no one unusual was reported on the premises?

Naoto eventually drops off into a fitful sleep, and isn’t terribly surprised to wake up the next morning to a text from Kanji. They ever tell you the suspect’s name for the Morooka thing? We might need it for something.

Naoto replies with Kubo’s name without hesitation. No matter what Kanji’s up to, he’s not one to hurt people without due cause, and would certainly rather see a criminal handed over to face proper justice than take personal vengeance. It’s the matter of asking why they want Kubo’s name that gives Naoto pause. If it’s connected to whatever that broadcast was last night, it seems almost too far-fetched to mention.

But then again, Rise did say there was a ‘long and weird’ story to go with her kidnapping. And Kanji said it’s something that exposes secrets of a very personal nature. And Kanji also said his new friends had already determined appearances on TV were somehow dictating the culprit’s movements. Maybe it can’t hurt.

RELATED TO TV LAST NIGHT Y/N

Naoto doesn’t receive a reply for quite some time, and tries not to dwell on it. Kanji won’t think it’s a stupid question, not when he’s involved in an independent investigation of the April murders. (Rise would probably say that Kanji wouldn’t think any question Naoto asked was a stupid question.) But when one has very few friends and is terrified of losing them all over again, rational thought doesn’t necessarily apply.

Kanji finally responds close to dinner time. Yeah, it’s related. You saw that?

Naoto can’t help a sigh of relief. Y. WOULD APPRECIATE DETAILS ASAP

Let us get your suspect back to you and then I’ll talk to Rise about a good time.

ACCEPTABLE, Naoto replies, and laughs a little. Perhaps answers aren’t too far off after all.

***

Instead of talking about shit that’s not supposed to be public knowledge in the middle of a crowded food court, they meet up at the gazebo down by the river. There’s a couple kids playing, but they’re absorbed in their own little world and don’t care about the pack of high-schoolers in the slightest. Kanji’s phone buzzes as he sits down, but he ignores it. Whatever it is, he can deal with it later.

“Kubo,” Chie-senpai repeats after Kanji passes on the suspect’s name. “Kubo, why does that name sound familiar…” She trails off, frowning, then perks up. “Oh! He got expelled from Yasogami last year!”

Souji-senpai’s eyebrows go up. “Really?”

“Yeah, it was… after summer break but before Yosuke transferred in. I dunno exactly what happened, but it was all anyone would talk about for a couple weeks.”

“Until I showed up and distracted ‘em, I guess.” Yosuke-senpai sighs. “And it’s not hard to figure out who was pushing for someone’s expulsion, as much as King Moron go-- went on about getting people expelled. I wonder what was so bad that he went through with it with this guy.”

Yukiko frowns. “But what about the possibility that he’s the killer? What would tie him to the rest of us?”

Right. Kanji never got around to mentioning that. “Naoto thinks King Moron’s death was a copycat,” he says. “They already figured out how he died, but they’re still stumped on the first two bodies.”

Everyone but Rise deflates in their seats a little. “So… what, he’s completely unrelated and we’re back to square one?” Yosuke-senpai says.

“Whether his actions are related to the main case or not doesn’t matter. He’s in there now, and we can’t leave him to rot.” Souji-senpai sighs. “The name alone isn’t much to go on. Rise, do you think that’s enough to work with?”

Rise frowns, looking up toward the roof of the gazebo. “Between that and what Chie-senpai said about him being expelled, I can try,” she says. “No promises, though.”

“Let’s try, then. If we need more information, we can come get it.”

Once they pile into the TV, Rise summons Himiko and starts scanning. “I think I found him,” she says, but she’s frowning again. “But… it’s weird. I think I’m picking up two signals, from two different places.”

“Two signals?” Yosuke-senpai looks baffled. “What the hell?”

Teddie makes a big show of taking a deep breath. Kanji still doesn’t understand how that works in the bear suit, but whatever; it does, so they’ve all just kinda gone with it. “No, I think Rise-chan’s right. My nose may not be as good as it used to be, but it smells like there’s somebody thisaway and somebody thataway!” He finishes by pointing in two different directions.

Rise dismisses Himiko and nods. “That’s what I was picking up on. We only saw the one broadcast, though.”

“It hasn’t rained a whole lot lately,” Chie-senpai says. “Maybe this Kubo guy was just - louder, I guess? But he also wasn’t ever mentioned on TV. Was anyone else?”

“There was that news special the other night about the April incidents.” Yukiko tips her head to one side. “We changed the channel before they did it, but I think they said they were going to interview people close to the victims.”

Kanji feels the blood drain out of his face. “Fuck. Rise? Check for Naoki.”

“Saki-senpai’s brother?” Yosuke-senpai says, as Rise’s re-summoning Himiko. “Are you sure about that?”

“The liquor store was closed this morning. The TV assholes like zeroing in on the person who least wants their attention. It ain’t like there’s nothing botherin’ him.”

Souji-senpai nods. “Now that I know who you’re talking about, I’m more and more certain he’s the ‘sick student’ I was asked to fill in for with the Student Health Association. He was at school and just fine both days, too, but the rest of the club brushed him off. Besides, we might as well start with the person some of us know. It’ll at least determine whether we need to find out more about two people.”

“Got him,” Rise says. “Just give me a minute to - yeah, the other signal’s definitely that Kubo kid. Kubo’s off to the right from here, and Naoki-kun’s somewhere to the left.”

“Same area as the spot his sister made.” Yosuke-senpai sighs. “We can’t let both of them die within months of each other. Not now that we know what to do.”

“Definitely not.” Chie-senpai’s already shifting her weight like she’s ready for a fight. “Should we split up and go through both places at once?”

Souji-senpai thinks about it for a while. “No,” he finally says. “We don’t know what we’re going to find in either of these dungeons. Splitting up would be asking for trouble. If we’re careful and efficient about our timing, we should be able to rescue them both with plenty of time to spare before the fog comes.”

“Naoki first, then. Yosuke-senpai’s right. We can’t leave his parents worryin’ like this.” It feels weird to think Yosuke-senpai’s right about much of anything, but Kanji knows that’s just because Yosuke-senpai gives him a lot of shit.

Souji-senpai nods, and Rise leads them off to the left. Kanji hears the dungeon well before he sees it - an off-key version of the Junes jingle that manages to sound sarcastic, which he didn’t know music could do without words.

The path takes them up a post-apocalyptic copy of the shopping district’s main road that Souji-senpai says was part of Saki’s dungeon space. The door to that version of the liquor store is still doing the red and black dungeon-portal thing, which is disturbing as hell but better than looking across the street.

“That’s new,” Souji-senpai says when they reach the top of the hill. Instead of dead-ending on a street, they’re standing in front of the hulk of Junes. The ads in the windows are all weird, though. Better, Cheaper and More Interesting Alcohol, one says, just as sarcastic as the music.

“‘Chopped Liver Department’?” Yukiko reads off another. “That’s… ominous.”

Kanji sighs. “Shit, he didn’t mention it was this bad.”

Rise nudges him in the side. “Shadows exaggerate stuff, Kanji,” she says, but it looks like she’s trying to make herself feel better as much as trying to cheer him up. She’s not even wrong - Shadows do exaggerate stuff - but he doesn’t think this is exaggerating very much at all.

***

Naoki’s head hurts.

He’s not clear on what happened. His dad asked him to go sign for a delivery at the back door, and then… then his mind is blank. He’s still not fully convinced this isn’t some bizarre dream. He’d really appreciate it if whoever’s playing that weird take on the Junes jingle would turn it down, though, not to mention dim the lights some. This is borderline gaudy even in grayscale.

Then he catches sight of familiar curly hair across the room, and for a moment his heart is in his throat - but no, that’s too short of a cut to be Saki. It’s closer to his own haircut.

…Or, when the person turns around, it’s exactly his haircut. That’s alarming.

“Can’t even get a broadcast out. That’s just rude.” His doppelganger sighs. “Well, it looks like it’s just you and me - but I repeat myself. I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether anyone even notices you’re gone, or if I’ll be taking your place. Not like anyone would know the difference anyway.”

That doesn’t make a damn bit of sense, but Naoki has nothing better to do than respond. “My parents aren’t blind, you know.”

“And they haven’t really looked at you since April, either, have they? How are they supposed to catch details when they won’t even do that?”

Naoki tries not to flinch. “Well, even if they didn’t notice, Kanji would.” Kanji would definitely catch the too-bright eyes. School has convinced Kanji that he’s stupid, but Naoki doesn’t know anyone with a better eye for visual detail (except maybe Kanji’s mother, but she’s had more practice). He’d know something was wrong.

His doppelganger snorts. “Kanji has his girlfriends back. One of them, anyway, which means the other can’t be far behind. Besides, he has new friends now. He doesn’t need you anymore.”

That probably wouldn’t cut so deep if one of Kanji’s new friends wasn’t Hanamura, who Naoki can’t look at without thinking about how he followed Saki around like a lost puppy, completely not taking the hint that she wasn’t interested in dating him. Rise being back in town, and Naoki’s growing certainty that the teenager helping the police investigate the murders is Nori, don’t mean anything on their own; Kanji always made time for him before. That’s an old pattern. Hanamura doesn’t have any such precedent.

“You’re a rude little shit, you know that?”

“Takes one to know one.”

Naoki doesn’t dignify that with a response, instead trying to go back to sleep - or wake up, one of the two. It doesn’t work, but his doppelganger seems content to leave him alone for now.

Why Junes, of all places, other than it being the catalyst for his entire life falling apart? Or is that reason enough on its own?

After a while - it could be hours or days, for all Naoki knows - his doppelganger perks up. “What do you know, we have company after all. I’d better go make sure they get a proper greeting. Wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.”

Naoki sighs, and lets his head thump back against the wall behind him. This leaves him vaguely staring at an advertisement for expired cream puffs. Whatever this stupid dream is, it can end any time now.

***

“It’s not as tall as mine was,” Rise says, after a preliminary scan of Naoki-kun’s dungeon. “I don’t think it’s even as tall as Yukiko-senpai’s. The problem is that the floors are a lot broader. If we need to cover the entirety of each floor, that’s gonna take a while.”

Souji-senpai nods. “We’ll do whatever we have to.”

“Oh, don’t trouble yourselves on my account.”

Rise’s not ashamed to say that startles her, but it startles most of them, even Kanji. Naoki-kun’s Shadow is leaning in the dungeon’s front doorway, though for once the only thing marking it out as the Shadow is the yellow eyes, not any kind of unnecessary outfit change. She’d like to say the biting sarcasm is also an indicator, but she hasn’t talked to him lately; that could be a sign or it could just be normal.

Kanji definitely rolls his eyes like it’s normal. “It ain’t trouble, dumbass.”

“I’m honestly surprised you noticed I was here. You must have better shit to do than worry about me.” Then the Shadow’s eyes light on Yosuke-senpai, and it scowls. “He’s not coming in here.”

“What - hey!” Yosuke-senpai says. “That’s not fair! I could help!”

“If you really want to talk about you following my sister around like a lost puppy in front of all your friends, that can be arranged. You’re not coming in, Hanamura. Try it and I’ll throw you out.”

The Shadow leaves before anyone else can respond. Souji-senpai just nods. “We’ll need to go back to the entrance first, then, so I can make sure I have wind covered. Kanji, Chie, Yukiko, you’re the front-line team. Teddie… I’m not sure to what extent his problem is a Junes thing as opposed to a Yosuke thing, but it’s probably safer if you wait outside, too. You two can be front-line for Kubo’s dungeon.”

Teddie salutes him, or at least tries to. “Roger that, Sensei!”

It’s a real pain to navigate. The floors are huge, full of twists and turns and dead ends, almost like Naoki-kun wants them to give up. Joke’s on him; no one here is willing to give up on anyone who’s trapped in the TV world, not even a probable murderer. Next to that, there’s no question about searching for a friend.

This isn’t the first time Rise’s been glad that one ominous Shadow seems to like hiding in treasure chests, but it is the most fervent. If it decided to roam the halls, they’d be doomed as soon as it caught up to them.

Naoki-kun’s Shadow doesn’t bother them again until they’ve reached the top, a mockery of the Junes food court with signs up for expired cream puffs and ‘This Doesn’t Taste Like Anything Anyway.’ Rise nearly stumbles under the weight of all the angry grief up here, but the others don’t seem to notice, give or take Kanji grimacing at the signs.

Naoki-kun himself is sitting on the floor with his eyes closed, but he does perk up a little when they all come in. “Oh,” he says, sounding surprised. “Does this mean I can wake up from this stupid dream now?”

“The only stupid thing here is the fact that you think this isn’t real. You didn’t really think ignoring your problems was going to work any better for you than it did for Saki, did you?”

“I really don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

The Shadow scoffs. “Of course you don’t. I’ve only been stating the obvious since we got here. No one needs you. Your club threw you out for bringing down the mood. Your friends have other friends. Your own parents don’t even pay any attention to you. No one notices whether you’re at school or not. And really, who’d want some asshole who can’t even grieve right around? Can you blame anyone for not knowing what to do with you when you don’t know what to do with yourself?”

Kanji sighs like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t. Rise’s beginning to suspect there’s no way out of this kind of confrontation without the frantic denial and major fight, at least not when the confrontation starts with your insecurities made manifest. (It’s going to be a mess whenever Naoto finally decides she has to get involved, but at least Rise and Kanji will be there for her.)

That doesn’t make it any easier to witness, though, especially when Naoki-kun finally snaps.

“Would you just stop? I don’t know why you’re claiming to be any kind of authority on my life when I’m right here and you’re not me. Just shut up and let me get out of this stupid dream already.”

Rise’s summoning Himiko before Naoki-kun’s Shadow is even done scoffing about how he’s now wrong on two fronts. Thankfully, its boss form isn’t anywhere near as cringe-inducing as the others say hers or Kanji’s were. It looks like someone tried to cross a Western Grim Reaper with one of those disgraced wandering samurai, sake jug and all.

“He’s mainly going to do psychic attacks,” she tells the others after a quick scan. “Not sure about a weakness - you’ll have to try stuff out.”

Souji-senpai nods and swaps out his Persona - she’s not sure if that’s to avoid getting clocked in a weak spot or just to pull up a useful buff - and the others start testing the waters. None of them seem to strike a particular weak point, and then… the Shadow does nothing.

Oh. Oh, Rise has a bad feeling about this. “I’d guard if I were you, senpai.”

“It can’t be that bad, can it?” Chie-senpai says, sounding very skeptical.

She can practically hear Kanji rolling his eyes in response. “Just do it, if you don’t wanna find out the hard way.”

It is that bad. They haven’t seen attacks that strong from regular enemies yet; if they hadn’t guarded, or if Souji-senpai had tried risking it with a weak Persona, it could have absolutely flattened them. She’s not sure she wants to see what’s up its sleeve if it gets a second attack.

The battle carries on like that. They never do pinpoint a weakness, but they do land a couple physical attacks strong enough to knock it over, and no one questions the need to guard after the Shadow just stands there a second time.

Just when it looks like they’re making real progress, the Shadow breaks its pattern. “DID THAT SON OF A BITCH JUST HEAL HIMSELF?” Kanji roars, before charging at it with his latest shield, which Rise thinks might actually be a roof tile. (Where does Daidara-san get these ideas from, anyway?)

“At least I can get another attack or two in,” Yukiko-senpai says.

None of them are all that thrilled about having to start over, but they know the pattern now, and the Shadow fortunately doesn’t pull that healing move again. Kanji lands the finishing blow, which Rise thinks is pretty appropriate, and the Shadow returns to a more normal appearance. Kanji almost immediately turns away from the Shadow and helps Naoki-kun to his feet.

“You dumbass. I told you to tell me if you needed anything. You think this shit wasn’t ‘anything’ or something?”

“I didn’t…” Naoki-kun sighs. “This is going to sound incredibly hypocritical, but I didn’t think it was worth bothering you with. You’ve had your own stuff going on.”

“And since when has that meant I ain’t got time for you?”

“He’s right,” Rise says. “Us shopping district kids gotta stick together, remember?” Being able to spend time with Kanji and Naoto again has reminded her how much she misses people just treating her like a normal person. It sounds like Naoki-kun needs that, too.

“Well - sure, but I think we’ve just firmly established that I’m kind of a mess right now.”

“Name one of us who isn’t.” Souji-senpai’s been quiet so far, but now he approaches Naoki-kun, and pulls something out of his pants pocket. “I didn’t realise I had this with me, but… well, I don’t think people who aren’t grieving carry around the dead person’s things for months on end. You should have this back.”

It’s a handkerchief, with some kind of flowers embroidered on it. Kanji doesn’t say anything, but Rise can just about hear him grumbling about the poor stitching anyway. Saki-senpai must have done it herself, to help it stand out in the laundry.

Naoki-kun just stares at it for a while. “You could’ve just thrown that away,” he says, and now it sounds like he’s on the verge of tears.

“No, I couldn’t. It was a big help.”

“I’m sure the handkerchief is glad to have been able to fulfill its duty.” Naoki-kun takes the handkerchief, pockets it, and turns to face his Shadow. “Okay. I was wrong on both counts. This apparently wasn’t a dream, and I should have acknowledged all this sooner. Truce?”

His Shadow smiles, resolves into a Persona, and disappears. The brief glimpse Rise gets before it’s gone is of a considerably less disgraced warrior, with no sake jug and rabbit patterns on his armor.

Then Naoki-kun sags in place, and Kanji starts herding him toward the exit.

***

It’s almost like a repeat of June, except Kanji isn’t flat-out carrying Naoki back to his place. His parents look like they’ve been quietly freaking out all day - his dad looks like he’d half resigned himself to having two dead children - and Kanji gives them a few minutes to smother Naoki in hugs.

But he’s not done yet, even if they could make sure Naoki gets upstairs to his room in one piece. Kanji didn’t say everything he had to say, back in the dungeon, and he wants to finish now before he loses his nerve.

“I’m sorry,” he says, after Naoki flops onto his bed. “That I didn’t make more time for you before now. I should’ve, and that’s on me.”

“It’s all right, and don’t you dare try to tell me it isn’t. I think I have a better idea of why, now.”

“Still.” But if Naoki’s content to call it good, Kanji’s not gonna argue. “You know… I didn’t see Mom cry about Dad until three years later. Maybe she did when I was asleep or something, but if she did, I dunno about it. I’d never say she didn’t miss him as much as I did, and it took me a year to stop leaking like a damn faucet. If you never end up crying, I wouldn’t say you don’t miss your sister. And now you can help us figure out who did that to her.”

“Maybe not right away, but there is that.” Naoki sighs. “I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty normal. We got somebody else to get outta there too, and we might do that before you’re better. But after that? I don’t think anyone’s gonna tell you no.”

“Not even Hanamura?”

Kanji snorts. “If he tries, I’ll kick his ass, since he wants to know who hurt her too.”

“That’s fair. They didn’t know how to help her yet, did they?”

“Not until after.”

Naoki shakes his head, and sighs again. “I think I need to get on that sleep. Keep me updated, though.”

“I will, man, don’t worry about that.”

As Kanji leaves, he ignores the sound of a muffled sob. If Naoki wants to cry in private, he’ll let him.

Chapter Text

Naoki does, in fact, basically sleep for a week. It’s a Wednesday evening when Kanji brings him home, and the next Wednesday before he really feels coherent again.

He wonders if that whole TV thing would have spiraled this badly if he hadn’t found long-expired cream puffs in the back of the fridge the day before that stupid ‘the crimes so far’ special got filmed. It probably would have; it’s not like his dad knows how to grieve, either. (He’s going to have to talk to his parents about that, which he’s not looking forward to in the slightest.)

At least the news got their fill already, and won’t be interrupting the memorial service on Friday, on what should have been Saki’s birthday.

Naoki lets his mom fuss over him some more once he’s properly awake, and decides Thursday is going to be dedicated to finding out more about what the hell’s going on. He wants to help - now that it’s personal twice over, there’s no keeping him away - and he can’t do that effectively without more information.

Luckily, one of the best sources he could ask for lives across the street.

Kanji’s minding the shop, but calls for his mom the second Naoki enters. “Hey, man. Good to see you up and about again.”

“It’s good to be up again. Did you have plans for lunch?”

“Did you?”

Naoki sighs. He knows his appetite hasn’t been the greatest, and he’s not sure he’s really tasted a meal since April, but that doesn’t mean he’s not eating anything. “Not the food part, but I do have a lot to catch up on.”

“Aiya, then. It can at least be good food, even if you’re strugglin’ with the difference right now.”

They grab a corner table, and Kanji lays everything out as best as the others have figured it out so far after their food arrives. Naoki’s not sure if he’s imagining things or if he’s actually picking up on the salt this time; it could be wishful thinking, or it could be actual progress out of this hole he’s been in since April. It’s a lot to take in, even having just experienced it, but at least he knows what happened to Saki now.

Knowing doesn’t help as much as he thought it would.

“And Naoto demanded the whole story in exchange for the kid’s name,” Kanji eventually wraps up, “so me and Rise are gonna handle that once we’ve tracked him down. That’s… gonna be an interesting conversation.”

“So that is Nori who’s been poking around helping the police?”

Kanji nods. “Yeah. Naoto.”

“Got it.” Naoto never did like her name (his name? Their name? Naoki should double-check that with Naoto, if he gets a chance), so their having picked a new one isn’t all that surprising. “Well, I’m glad you have your friends back, but… Hanamura? Really?”

“Look, he was mixed up in this shit way before I was. Shut up.”

Naoki just grins, and for a moment it feels like April never happened.

“There’s no prying him outta this any more than we’d turn you out, either.” Kanji sighs. “I know you got your issues with him, so do I. But he really does want to know what happened to your sister. Whatever else we can say, he wants to put that part to bed as bad as you do.”

“I’ll just have to suck it up and deal with him, then. Maybe not gracefully, but I’ll deal.” Almost certainly not gracefully - Naoki knows it’ll come to a head sooner or later, but that’s a problem for another day. “So what’s going on with the copycat guy, anyway? Did you start without me?”

“Started, but we didn’t finish yet. Asshole made a friggin’ 3D eight-bit video game dungeon. It even had a floor full of teleporter thingies. Real pain in the ass, but I guess we shouldn’t expect anything else from this kinda guy. Rise thinks we got about halfway up, and Souji-senpai wants to get back in this weekend.”

“Well, I can’t tomorrow - there’s the memorial thing - but I can clear up my schedule some after that.”

Kanji nods. “Got it. I’ll let everybody know.”

***

“Well, at least Adachi-san seemed happy.”

Rather than go straight home after apprehending Kubo, the group’s claimed a table at the food court. Rise’s beyond glad for the chance to sit down, even if her part in the fight wasn’t as physically involved as everyone else’s. And - well, Chie-senpai’s right, the detective did seem happy. But something about it felt off. Plastic, like he was faking it.

She doesn’t know him well enough to say for sure, though.

Kanji nudges her. “You okay?”

“Headache.” Between the mazes of narrow corridors, that stupid floor with the perspective shifts slamming into place every time the group tried to cross an intersection, all the weird yelling from Kubo she picked up on along the way, and whatever the hell was going on with his Shadow, her head is pounding. “I’ll take some aspirin when I get home.”

He nods and leaves it at that, as Naoki-kun says, “Did those game prompt things say ‘kill’ about anyone else?”

Yukiko-senpai frowns as she thinks it over. “…No. No, they said ‘fight.’”

“I guess that answers the copycat question.” Yosuke-senpai sighs. “Why would he want to take credit for something he didn’t even do?”

“People will do all kinds of weird stuff for attention.” Rise’s seen it dozens of times, and that was just with her fanbase. “I’m more curious about what happened with his Shadow. Why would it just disappear like that?”

Souji-senpai shrugs. “Who knows? Maybe he was just too much like it already for the usual sort of acceptance to happen. I’m proof enough that it doesn’t have to be the exact same pattern every time.”

“Wait, you didn’t have to face your Shadow? How did that even work?”

“Sensei is da man!” Teddie says, clarifying nothing at all.

Everyone falls quiet for a few moments, before Yosuke-senpai pipes up again. “Well, we have the whole summer ahead of us now. And even if this wasn’t the end of things, it was a major milestone. We should do something to celebrate!”

“Ooh, like what?” Chie-senpai says. “Maybe plan a trip to the beach?”

Naoki-kun rolls his eyes. “Me and what horsepower? My birthday’s not until the tail end of the month. Just because Kanji could probably bike that far doesn’t mean I can.”

“That’s fair. Okay, not the beach, then… what if we all meet up for the summer festival?”

This time, Kanji’s the one to shake his head. “We can meet up, but not all go around it together. Gotta make sure Naoto gets out of the house sometime and all.” Rise nods agreement, praying to whatever god will listen that Yosuke-senpai doesn’t decide to get weird about it.

On the one hand, he doesn’t get the chance. On the other, it’s because Teddie has another wild idea. “Ooh, ooh! I wanna go to Yuki-chan’s house! Gorgeous dinner, hot springs, table tennis, yukata, geisha, Fujiyama, full wootness!”

“They don’t even do the geisha thing,” Kanji says. “Hitting the hot springs does sound nice, though.”

Yukiko-senpai sighs. “I’m afraid we can’t today. All the rooms are booked, so I can’t even promise we’d have time to just use the springs and then leave. Maybe come fall, I’ll be able to swing it.”

“They’d make us go in there in separate groups anyway, Ted.” Yosuke-senpai leaves it at that, thankfully, and another awkward silence descends on the table.

“Well, this is going well, isn’t it?” Naoki-kun finally says, making Kanji snort and Yukiko-senpai laugh outright (not quite one of her laughing fits, but close).

“Why don’t we just plan something at your place, partner? Or… wait, will your uncle think that’s weird?”

“I doubt he’s going to be home enough to think anything about it, with the way the department’s treating this,” Souji-senpai says. “I’m not against it, and I doubt Nanako will mind the extra company, but let’s give ourselves a couple days to recover. That way we can all enjoy ourselves properly.”

Rise tries not to visibly sag with relief in her chair. Kanji nudges her again, so it didn’t entirely work, but she doesn’t think anyone else noticed. Whatever the celebration turns out to be, she wants to be able to participate, and right now all she wants to do is nap.

***

“So then Kanji points out that I may not be cooking a big batch of tofu to sell at the shop, but I’m not cooking for myself either, so I can’t just make a hot pepper omurice.”

To say that Naoto isn’t frustrated with the lack of answers would be a tremendous lie. Clarity on the April incidents has been annoyingly hard to achieve, and the explanation Kanji promised is sure to bring at least a little. But Rise insisted on dragging Naoto out of town (and away from the case) for a while, and Kanji would have been upset to miss the story after saying he’d tell it, so Naoto will just have to wait a little longer.

Not too much longer, though, now that Kubo is back in custody. And if Naoto’s suspicions bear fruit, as they’ve been threatening to since that bizarre midnight broadcast, there’s more than one reason to get more directly involved in this case.

“I doubt that would have suited anyone else’s tastes,” Naoto says, upon realising Rise’s waiting for a response. They’re meandering back down the shopping district’s main street, as Rise shares the tale of her friends’ cooking contest, held the night before.

“Yeah, yeah. The peppers they sell at Junes aren’t even that spicy. But he helped me make a pepper sauce to make up for it. And it wouldn’t even have been that bad! Yukiko-senpai managed to make an omurice that didn’t taste like anything at all.”

“Not… even the ingredients in it?”

“Not even that. The others think she was being over-cautious after something that happened on the school camping trip. And Naoki-kun actually asked Chie-senpai if she’s ever been in the same room as a cookbook in her life.” Rise giggles. “And she said she didn’t see how one would help!”

Naoto can’t imagine not relying on a cookbook - they’re vital to making sure a meal turns out well. “If yours had the least difficulties, and it sounds like Kanji wasn’t participating in his own right, does that mean you won?”

“Oh, no, that was Souji-senpai all the way. Nanako-chan finished his off entirely before anyone else even got a bite! It’s too bad, really, I wanted to - oh.”

Rise stops dead in her tracks. Naoto nearly walks into her before spotting the cause: there’s an unfamiliar man loitering in front of the tofu shop. “Is he a problem?”

“Maybe. He’s my old manager.” Rise visibly (to Naoto, at least) steels herself before storming the rest of the way down the block. “Inoue-san, what are you doing here?”

“I needed to hear it from you, one more time. Are you sure you don’t want to come back to work?”

“Right now I am. You promised you’d leave me alone for the school year. This isn’t leaving me alone.”

“I know, I know, but I thought you’d want this.” Inoue-san pulls an envelope out of his jacket pocket. “Hanae-chan wrote to you again.”

Rise freezes. Before her resolve can crack entirely, Naoto sighs and joins her. “Inoue-san, was it?”

“Yes. Are you one of Rise-chan’s friends?”

“I am, yes. And I am grateful to you for looking out for her in the industry, and shielding her from some of the worst it has to offer.” Naoto still has some strong opinions about that diet soda commercial, but so does Rise herself. “However, if Rise chooses to return to the idol industry, that needs to be a decision she makes on her own, free of influence or meddling from others.”

“Hanae-chan’s not meddling. She’s simply a concerned fan.”

“You coming all the way out here just to give Rise a single fan letter is meddling.”

“I’ll take the letter,” Rise says, holding out a hand for it. “But Naoto’s right. Go - go home, or back to work, or wherever it is you’re supposed to be right now, because it sure isn’t here. The more you push me for an answer, the more likely I’ll never come back, so just let me have my space until spring, all right?”

Inoue-san deflates a little as he passes the letter to Rise. “All right. I just don’t want to see your potential go to waste.”

“It won’t. Whether it goes anywhere else with the idol world is what I’m trying to figure out.”

After he leaves, Naoto sighs. “I have to say, he doesn’t quite live up to the reputation you gave him when we were catching up.”

“No, it’s not like that. He does care, and I think he’s doing this because he cares, it’s just… coming out sideways. And really not helpfully.” Rise turns the letter over in her hands a few times. “Hanae-chan started writing to me after I started the anti-bullying campaign. This isn’t just a fan letter, it’s a tangible sign I was doing something good with my spotlight. If I go back, I can do more of that, and that’s the main reason I’ve thought about going back. But I can’t go back until I know I have a better grasp on my mind, or I’ll fall right back into the burnout pit.”

“Hence asking for the remainder of the school year?”

“Exactly. But thanks for telling him off for me, Naoto. My hero!”

She leans over and kisses Naoto’s cheek before bouncing into the tofu shop, leaving Naoto to walk home alone, utterly uncertain what to do with this turn of events.

***

Kanji takes one look at the gathering clouds and sighs, then sends a text to the group conversation with Rise and Naoto. If they’re both free - and with rain on the way, they probably will be - today’s as good a day as any to actually pay Naoto back for giving them Kubo’s name.

They grab lunch from Aiya on the way, then head up to the hill, settling in under the gazebo just as the first drops of rain start to fall. Kanji doesn’t really start in on the whole explanation until after they’re done eating, and lets Rise chip in whenever she has something to say about it. Naoto doesn’t ask as many questions as he’d expected, which is weird, but he’s not complaining - he might not know how to answer all of them anyway.

Once he and Rise have gone through everything they can think of, Naoto sits back and nods. “So it’s the television this time.”

“Well, yeah, it’s - wait, what the hell do you mean ‘this time’?”

“Precisely what I said. I know of at least one other case that matches the general flow of this one.”

Rise’s eyes look about ready to pop out of her head. “Well, what happened then? How do you know about it? Why is it happening again?”

“I can’t answer the last question, as I don’t know. I know about it because Grandpa told me the story. He knows about it because he was directly involved.”

“Your - holy shit.” It makes sense that Naoto’s family would’ve taken an interest in this kind of weird shit no matter when it went down, but still. “I’m with Rise. What happened?”

“In the fall of 1944, a series of dead bodies began appearing around town after a string of rainy days. They all appeared to have been dropped from a great height, but each autopsy confirmed the victim was dead well before falling - their actual cause of death couldn’t be determined.”

“That sure sounds familiar,” Rise murmurs. “Except for the ‘just dropping on the ground’ part, but I guess there wasn’t as much to catch something on back then, was there?”

“Inaba was a very different town at the time, yes. Not just because of the lack of infrastructure - the local coal mines were still active, and this was the height of the wartime evacuations from the major cities. Not to mention, television wasn’t even all that popular in America during the war, never mind here.”

Naoto stretches and takes a deep breath before continuing. “Grandpa was too young to have to worry about conscription yet, and his older brother was deferring it on account of his education. They were planning to share the burden of the Shirogane family’s legacy, solving cases both together and separately, and they were both living on the family estate at the time. Other than the dead bodies, their first indication of something unusual happening was a rumor spreading about a radio program called The Theatre of the Mind.”

Kanji snorts. “Lemme guess, it only played at midnight in the rain?”

“In the static between properly identified stations, yes,” Naoto confirms. “Grandpa and Great-Uncle Katsu were able to determine fairly quickly that the program whispered about anyone who was currently the talk of the town, and that the shift from people talking about someone else to someone talking about themselves was a sign of imminent danger. Unfortunately, their test case for that theory came about when Grandpa went missing.”

“Well, you’re here, so I’m guessin’ they got him out somehow. And I don’t think you could jump in a radio, so… how?”

“There used to be a theatre across town - in fact, one of the people they rescued later was a member of a traveling troupe of actors that was stuck here over the winter because of the evacuation orders - and they’d discovered quite by accident that the stage door sometimes literally opened up to another world. Of course, before he could be rescued, Grandpa had to address his resentment over having to share the detective legacy and envy of Great-Uncle Katsu, but he was able to do that in due time.”

“Yeah, after it yelled at him and his brother fought it, I bet…” Rise trails off, frowning. “Across town? Not… not where they built Junes?”

“Precisely where they built Junes. I don’t know if that’s related, but I’m reluctant to call it a coincidence. In any case, much as you and your new friends are doing, they assembled a ragtag team of those they rescued after Grandpa’s kidnapping, and by the next summer they had identified the culprit - I believe he was related to the owners of the barber shop.”

“Explains why the barber shop closed so damn quick.” Most people chalk it up as another Junes casualty, which just makes Kanji want to ask if they’re completely stupid. Junes doesn’t even offer haircuts, and the barber shop closed before his dad died, and that was way before Junes was even sizing up the area. Probably nobody who was left wanted to keep the association with an old crime around.

“Okay, but if it’s come back, there must be something else behind it,” Rise says. “That was a while ago. I mean, is anyone else from your grandpa’s team even still alive? So it can’t be the same person stirring the pot again, unless they’re not human. And it’d take a lot for your family to drop any kind of loose thread like that.”

“There… was a recent funeral associated with the group,” Naoto says, after thinking about it for a while. “Otherwise, I think Grandpa’s down to one remaining comrade in arms, but another moved back to Kyoto at the first opportunity; I don’t know if Grandpa even knows what became of her. As for the loose thread, they suspected there was one, but… remember when our story began. Right at the end of July, Great-Uncle Katsu was contacted about a potential case in Hiroshima.”

“Well, fuck,” Kanji says, after the silence has stretched on just a little too long. “That’d do it.”

Naoto nods. “Quite. Great-Uncle Katsu had been serving as the group’s leader, and the circumstances meant there wasn’t even anything to bury. By the time any of them could face the idea of carrying on the investigation without him, the theatre had burned down, taking their access point to the other world with it. Grandpa has never forgiven himself.”

“For what?” Rise sounds absolutely incredulous, and she looks it, too. “None of this was his fault!”

“And yet, our family’s very good at internalised guilt. It’s eaten at him that this has gone unresolved for so long, only more so because it’s started all over again and he has two more deaths to feel responsible for.” Naoto waits until they both make eye contact to continue. “So I hope this helps you both to understand why I must get involved.”

Rise drops her head into her hands. “Oh my god, Nori, no. You don’t have to.”

“I do! For Grandpa’s peace of mind, for my family’s honor, and because the police are going to close the current case with the wrong culprit if someone doesn’t make them sit up and take notice. I cannot allow this to go unresolved. I’ve scheduled an interview for the middle of September, after the school trip to Iwatodai.”

“I’m with Rise on this one. You’re being a complete dumbass.” That won’t stop Kanji from being there to rescue and support Naoto anyway, but this is one of the stupidest ideas he’s heard in his life, and his ideas include ‘chase a biker gang down on a bicycle because Mom can’t sleep.’ “…Wait. ‘The’ school trip? Not ‘your’? Did you enroll?”

Naoto nods. “Grandpa thought it would be a good idea if I were to interact with more of my peers. Besides… they’re threatening to remove me from the case entirely, since I keep insisting their established conclusion isn’t the correct one. Enrollment gives me a legitimate reason to stick around for a while.”

“They went to all this trouble asking for your help, which you’re not even making them pay for, just to throw you off because you told them something they don’t wanna hear?” Rise sighs. “That’s really stupid of them. But we’ll just have to keep an eye on you at school, and - oh yeah! The summer festival’s coming up! Wanna go around the shrine stalls with us? It won’t be as flashy as Tokyo, but it should still be fun.”

“I…” Much to Kanji’s surprise, Naoto blushes. “All right. If it’s with the two of you, then I foresee no problems.”

***

Rise realises three days before the summer festival that she doesn’t have a yukata.

Well, technically she does still have one in her closet here, but the problem is that it’s from when she was nine, and she’s decidedly outgrown it by now. She might offer it to Nanako-chan in another year or two, but it won’t fit her yet.

She calls up the other girls to ask about it, and Chie-senpai says she needs a new yukata as well; Yukiko-senpai still has a good one, but she agrees to tag along for the shopping trip. Since the hero week thing is still going on at Junes, Chie-senpai’s too tired to go anywhere else for the shopping expedition, but they still find some cute stuff.

“You’re welcome to come over to the inn and get ready with us, Rise-chan,” Yukiko-senpai says as they’re checking out. “I’ve invited Nanako-chan as well. I know you have plans with Kanji-kun and Naoto-kun at the festival itself, but…”

“Count me in! I’m out of practice getting these things on, so the extra help will be nice.” Rise’s really not looking forward to the ‘wrap towels under it’ part of the proceedings, but it’s not like she’s out of touch with making sacrifices for fashion’s sake.

At the festival, once she and Kanji have tracked down Naoto, Rise does a little twirl, as well as she can in a yukata and geta. “What do you think? Does the sight make your heart skip a beat?”

Kanji just rolls his eyes. “That’s the kinda shit Junes is selling? Well, I don’t have to worry about the textile shop going under, in that case. Why didn’t you tell me you needed a new one?”

“Because I forgot all about it until the other day, silly. You might work fast, but you’re not that fast. Besides, this is plenty charming! Right, Naoto?”

Naoto doesn’t say anything right away. When Rise looks at her, she’s bright red, and seems to be trying to hide under her hat. Naoto mumbles something that Rise doesn’t catch - and from the frown on Kanji’s face, he didn’t hear her either.

“Naoto? You okay?”

“Please don’t make me choose between you,” Naoto finally blurts out, which just makes Rise more confused than ever.

“What - why would you have to?”

Naoto manages to blush even more, somehow. “Because Kanji clearly has no physical attraction to you, so there’s no way we could all three--”

“Whoa, whoa, hold up,” Kanji says. “You’re sayin’ Rise’s into you too?”

Rise laughs; something about the way he said it so plainly is breaking through the tension. “Wow, Kanji, I never thought you’d actually admit you were into Nori. It’s only blindingly obvious. But it doesn’t have to be all three of us together, as long as we keep on top of talking things through, and we’re already pretty good at that. Unless you… want to do the monogamy thing?”

“I can’t choose, Rise. Not between you and Kanji. That’s the problem.” Naoto looks miserable - then shocked when Kanji reaches over and takes her hand.

“If it was anyone but Rise askin’ to do this, I don’t think I could,” he says. “If it’s gonna work, it’ll work because we know each other. But what I want more is you to be happy. Will it make you happy if we try?”

Naoto nods, still about the color of a tomato.

“Then we try.”

Rise hugs Kanji first, because she wants to catch him off-guard as much as anything, then pulls Naoto into it. God, she hopes this doesn’t all blow up in their faces - but if anyone can manage it, she thinks they can. After all, she and Kanji agree on the important point, which is that Naoto deserves all the good things they can heap on her.

***

Naoki is expecting Kanji and Rise to peel off the group early and go find Naoto somewhere. He’s not surprised by Satonaka and Amagi going off on their own pretty quickly, either.

He is surprised when Teddie gets distracted by one of the festival stalls and Souji-san goes after him to corral him, leaving Naoki alone with Hanamura. “He did that on purpose, didn’t he?”

“Probably.” Hanamura sighs. “Did you know your Shadow kicked me out of your dungeon?”

“No, but I can’t say that’s much of a shock. Would you really have wanted to deal with things like that?”

“I mean, I already did once, but you have a point.”

Naoki blinks. “What do you mean?”

“When we were first really trying to dig into what happened, we found Saki-senpai’s dungeon space - it’s not that far from yours, actually. It’s… she recreated the liquor store. At first Ted thought the stuff we heard there was her true feelings, but something similar happened to Chie in Yukiko’s, and now I think there was a grain of what she thought about me in it, but mostly it was me trying to force a reaction out of myself.”

“Do I want to know what she had to say?”

“She… might’ve called me a real pain in the ass,” Hanamura says, his eyes glued to the ground.

Naoki can’t help but laugh, even though there’s a ragged edge to it. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Hey!”

“What? She treated you like she treated me. She didn’t hate you, she just wanted you to chill a little. Were you just hung up on her because she managed to play nice better than a lot of people did? What do you even know about her?”

Hanamura finally meets Naoki’s eyes. “I know she was proud of you.”

Out of nowhere, there’s a lump in Naoki’s throat.

“I guess some of it was that she was about the only person who didn’t treat me weird because of Junes,” Hanamura continues. “But I really did like her. And I really do want to find out who did this to her.”

“Until recently, it felt like she’d just gone to Kyoto to move in with her boyfriend again. It didn’t feel real, you know? And then…” He can’t bring himself to finish, and he’s really annoyed that Hanamura seems to get it anyway.

“Souji said something about your dungeon having an advertisement for expired cream puffs at the top.”

Naoki just nods, as that damn lump in his throat threatens to grow again. The last thing he wants to do is have this breakdown in front of Hanamura, of all people. He could have lived without Hanamura finding out about the cream puffs thing at all.

“Look, I missed how she was telling me no, and that’s on me. There’s nothing I can do about that at this point except try to make it up to her by getting to the bottom of this. And you have the right to help with that investigation, too. I’d bet Souji walked off because we needed to figure this out before he puts us on the same dungeon team.”

“What, are you worried I wouldn’t heal you or something? I would. We can’t have injured dead weight dragging us all down.”

Hanamura laughs; it sounds more genuine than Naoki’s come to expect to hear from him, in a way. “Hey, I have a four-month head start on you. You’re gonna need a lot of practice if you want to keep up.”

Despite himself, Naoki cracks a smile. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll see about that.”

Chapter Text

The classroom is already buzzing when Naoki gets there, and it doesn’t let up at all once homeroom starts. Granted, he’s pretty sure introducing any transfer student would be enough to start everyone gossiping, but not only are there two of them, they’re both assigned to the same class - and they’re both famous to boot.

Kanji rolls his eyes when Hosoi-sensei completely fails to restore order, but that could be about the puppet as much as anything else.

They end up with a little cluster of four desks, over near the window - Naoki and Rise in the front, Naoto and Kanji in the back. It feels weird, but school has felt weird all year, and this is at least a good kind of weird. For once, it feels like he might actually belong here.

He tracks Naoto down at lunch - on the roof, as it turns out, with only a juice box in hand. “You know Kanji’s going to start packing bento for you if he finds out that’s all you’re eating, right?”

Naoto startles. “Ah. Good afternoon, Naoki-kun. There’s no need to worry about it, I assure you.”

“Sure there isn’t.” Naoki doesn’t plan on telling Kanji, unless Naoto starts fainting during class or something… but Naoto’s small and slight enough for that to be a real possibility, if they really think a juice box is going to cut it. “Anyway, I just wanted to ask how you want to be talked about.”

Naoto’s silent for several moments. “I suppose you would remember, wouldn’t you?”

“Well, and Kanji confirmed it. You always did hate your name, though, so it wasn’t all that surprising.”

“Address me as a boy, at least in public. Otherwise, I don’t… this is all very complicated. I’m still trying to determine what my options are.”

Naoki nods. “Got it.” With that, he leaves Naoto to his juice box - he doesn’t like eating on the roof if he can help it - and heads downstairs to eat, and hope he can make it through the rest of the afternoon.

He does, somehow, but he still feels weirdly apart from everyone else. Even having a proper circle of friends nearby can only do so much to dissuade everyone else from gossiping. His grief isn’t their business, not that that ever stops a small-town rumor mill.

After school, his phone buzzes - a text invitation from Souji-san to join everyone else at Junes. Naoki glances at the clock, then replies that he might have to leave early if his parents call, but he can at least join them for a while.

“Hey Naoto, everybody’s meetin’ at Junes,” Kanji says. “You wanna come with?”

“Er.” Naoki hasn’t even turned around yet, but he can practically hear the deer-in-headlights expression on Naoto’s face. “I. I don’t…”

Rise turns and gives him a sympathetic smile. “Too many people for today?”

“Yes. And I promised Grandpa I’d go straight home.”

“Ah, too bad. We’ll drag you out some other time, then.” Kanji gets his phone out as they head out of the classroom as a group, to the blatant disappointment of a couple of girls who were probably hoping to ambush Naoto.

Naoki wishes them luck with that.

Hanging out at Junes is pretty normal, as long as Naoki focuses only on the group at the food court and not the overwhelming scale of the rest of the store. Since there’s not anything new to talk about with the case, they’re mostly chatting about the school trip next week - not that it sounds like it’s going to be much of a trip, but it’s some time out of the house, which he’s starting to think he needs.

His parents don’t call, so he ends up being one of the last of the group still at the table - him, Kanji, and Souji-san. “This place feels like its own country,” he says, rather than stew in silence.

Kanji snorts. “No shit, man. Something buggin’ you?”

“I don’t know. I’m just… trying to figure out if I should even still be going to school.”

“Did your parents say you shouldn’t be?” Souji-san says.

“No. They haven’t said anything about it one way or the other. But it doesn’t actually matter whether I’m there or not. No one cares if I turn in homework late or miss a test day. The one club I managed to join doesn’t even want me anymore. And it’d appease the people who are upset that I’m daring to move on with my life.”

An awkward silence settles over the table, but Naoki still feels better just for having voiced the idea. He doesn’t want to quit school, but part of him feels like maybe he should, and he knows he’s too conflicted to figure it out alone.

“I get why you’d think maybe you should,” Kanji finally says. “Help the family and all that. But it’d be a terrible idea. It’d be one thing if you could rely on the store still being there in five years, but you can’t. Junes might’ve actually killed it by now if not for the pity customers, so you don’t know if it’ll be there next year.”

Souji-san nods. “It might be worth talking to your parents about it, to see what they think. But Kanji’s right - don’t do it just because you think you have to. If you finish school and your parents still need help, you’ll have more opportunities open to you.”

“That’s true.” It’s not the only thing Naoki needs to talk to his parents about, and he’s dreading every last one of those conversations - not least because he’ll probably have to be the one to start them - but needs must. He can worry about it after the school trip at some point. “Thanks, guys.”

***

Rise had been looking forward to spending a few days in Iwatodai, and then they got there and the reality hit that Yasogami seriously sent them four hours away to go to school. It’s ridiculous. She’s pretty sure the Sengoku era isn’t even on the first-year history exams (granted, she only has a week of actual high school to draw from, but her on-the-road tutors never mentioned it).

Halfway through the lecture, she blinks and looks around the room. “Wait, where’s Kanji?”

“Good question,” Naoki-kun murmurs back. “I think he followed the juniors.”

She has to stifle a laugh so that Samurai-sensei doesn’t notice their side conversation.

When they find Kanji at the gathering point for the bus to the hotel, he shrugs and confirms it. “Some weird dude talkin’ about the creation myth for some reason,” he says. “I figured since it ain’t like any of this is on anyone’s tests or anything, it didn’t matter which room I was in.”

This time, Rise can’t help laughing. “How do you get that lost, though?”

“Shut up!”

She ends up next to Naoto on the bus, content to lean against her (Naoto doesn’t complain) and stare vaguely out the window. Going to school during a school trip aside, it is nice being here and not on the clock, and without any sign of whatever weirdness interrupted her concert two years ago. At least, she hopes whatever that was has been resolved; she had a really weird restless night, the night before the cancelled show, and thinking back Apathy Syndrome sounds kinda… Persona-ish.

She turns to ask Naoto about that, but gets distracted when she sees Naoto’s eyeing the streets outside the bus with suspicion. “Is it me, Rise, or are we going further away from the main hotel district?”

“Wait… are we?” Rise frowns and looks out the window again. Sure enough, Naoto’s right. “We are. Worse than that, I think we’re headed for the red-light district.”

Naoto sighs, but gets out her phone instead of saying anything else. Not even a minute later, Rise’s phone buzzes.

Naoto: ABSOLUTELY NOT
Kanji: Ab…solutely not what?
Rise: bus is headed for a love hotel
Naoto: ABSOLUTELY NOT
Naoto: YOU 2 COMING WITH Y/N
Kanji: Fuck’s sake, who’d
Kanji: Never mind, I think I know who’d approve that. Sure, if it’s not too much trouble.

Rise sends a ‘y’ to the chat just to keep Kanji in the loop, but catches Naoto’s eye and nods. She could probably play it off public-reputation-wise, especially if she leaned on the ‘but school set the accommodations for us!’ angle, but Naoto definitely can’t, and if she gets a chance to spend a couple nights with her two best friends, so much the better.

Naoto nods back before dialing a number. “Hello, Grandpa? There’s been a minor complication on the school trip, and I could use your help.”

When they get off the bus and Kashiwagi-sensei (because of course it was her) starts singing the praises of the love hotel she picked out, Naoto pulls Rise and Kanji aside. “I’ve got it sorted.”

“What, already?” Kanji says. “Thought that’d take longer.”

“There are a few people in town who owe Grandpa favors, so he made sure we have appropriate accommodations for the duration of the trip. As soon as she’s distracted inside, I’ll call us a taxi.”

It takes a while for everyone to claim their overnight bags from the bus, and while they’re waiting for the taxi, Teddie dive-bombs the group from across the street for some reason. (It’s not that Rise doesn’t understand why he followed them; Inaba would get really lonely, especially with basically all his friends out of town. She doesn’t get why he dragged another rooftop entirely into things.)

In the taxi, Naoto says, “Why… did the Junes bear follow you and your friends here?”

“Who knows.” Kanji shrugs. “He was lonely, probably.”

“I don’t even really blame him,” Rise says. “With all of us here, there’s nothing for him to help investigate anyway.”

“The better question’s why he came all the way out here in that damn costume. He’d actually stand out less without it.”

“Who knows why Teddie does anything, really. More importantly, what should we do with our free time tomorrow? I won’t drag everyone to Mandragora, that would just be cheating on my part. But going to the movies would be silly when we can do that pretty easily at home - oh, I know! Escapade!” She might as well call in the favor now; who knows when she’ll get another chance?

“It’s a nightclub,” Kanji says. “They even gonna let us in?”

Naoto frowns. “There were several drunk-driving accidents in the area last year, so it’s entirely possible they’ve stopped serving alcohol since then. I’ll look into it tomorrow.”

“They owe me one either way, for having to cancel a show a couple years back.” Rise grins. “It’ll be fine, I’m sure of it.”

The hotel Naoto’s grandpa called in a favor at is one of the nicest places Rise’s stayed in her life. Kanji can’t stop gawking, and she can’t even blame him, not when they pulled together an entire suite on such short notice. (She has a feeling they won’t actually be using both bedrooms, but it’s a nice thought, and they have the space in case it turns out they do want it.)

Kanji flops onto one of the beds, then says, “Holy shit. I actually fit on this bed. That’s a first since I was like twelve.”

“Why have you not bought yourself a longer futon?” Naoto says.

“Wouldn’t have the room for it. Besides, it ain’t like I’m done growing yet. Might as well wait and figure it out when I am, at this point.”

Naoto grumbles, and Rise laughs, and they all do gravitate toward that huge bed once they’ve changed into their pajamas, with Naoto in the middle. It’s - nice, and not just because this is one of the softest beds she’s ever slept in and even Kanji can’t complain about the quality of the sheets.

She’s with the two people who care about her more than anyone else in the world, except possibly her grandma. She’s safe.

She could really get used to this.

***

“I’d hesitate to say the matter is ‘cleared up,’ as such.”

Kanji’s mom sighs. “What is Nori-chan thinking, going on TV at a time like this?”

“Hell if I know, Mom.” Maybe it was stupid to hope Naoto would give up on the interview idea, but - well. Kanji had kind of been hoping Naoto would give up on the interview idea. He knew better, deep down - would’ve known better even without the higher personal stakes - but it’s dangerous and this is going to be such a mess.

He won’t look away, though. He wouldn’t for anyone else, but he definitely won’t for Naoto. And if Yosuke-senpai can’t keep his damn mouth shut, Kanji owes him a punch from the summer anyway.

Then Naoto confronts everybody on the way to school the next morning (headed away from school and out of uniform to boot), goes through a rundown of the case that has to be for the juniors’ benefit since Kanji and Rise already told Naoto how it works, and wraps it all up with, “Further action will be necessary to obtain some sort of decisive evidence.”

“Further action?” Chie-senpai’s been frowning since Naoto started, and it grows deeper. “What do you mean?”

“You said something interesting to me, not long ago.” Naoto practically glares at Yosuke-senpai. “This is not a game for me, either.”

“Wait, where are you--” But Naoto’s gone before Yosuke-senpai can finish the sentence.

“What was that all about?” Naoki says. “Were you making your problems everyone else’s again, Hanamura?”

“What - I was not! Why would you even say that!”

Naturally, it insists on not raining until Wednesday, by which point Kanji’s nerves are fucking shot - Rise’s too, if the bags her eye makeup isn’t quite concealing are any sign. She offers to have Kanji over for a sleepover, and he doesn’t think twice about calling his mom to make sure it’s okay; they’ll both need the company tonight, and Naoto won’t accept them being on stakeout, not when Naoto’s entire stupid plan is to attract trouble.

Naoki catches them before they leave school. “Are you guys all right?”

Kanji sighs. “Naoto went on TV on purpose. Take a guess.”

“Why would…” Instead of finishing the question, Naoki just shakes his head. “Still can’t put a puzzle down until it’s solved, can he.”

“He really can’t,” Rise says. “And if we try to stop him at this point he’ll just be mad, so we have no choice but to see it through.”

“Got it. I’ll take Hanamura-smacking duty, when the time comes. You two focus on Naoto.”

Kanji snorts, but it’s the last piece of good humor he or Rise can find for the rest of the night, especially once midnight comes around and confirms their worst fears. He’d almost rather Naoto had gone straight into the TV like Kubo - then they could move on to the rescue mission and stop waiting around. At least they won’t have to fish around for information, like the juniors apparently did when Kanji got kidnapped.

“Stay over tomorrow too?” Rise says, as they’re bedding down for the night.

“I’ll have to get fresh clothes and shit, if Mom says it’s okay. But I’ll ask her, yeah.”

The juniors want to have an unofficial meeting to talk about the Midnight Channel; it’s the last fucking thing Kanji wants to deal with. Naoki says he’ll handle it, and Kanji gets the hell out of the building as fast as he can, once the school day’s over.

He’s not expecting the black car parked outside the textile shop, when he gets home, or the old man who climbs out of the back seat - not until he gets a better look at his face, anyway. It’s been years, but Naoto’s grandpa was already old when they were all little. “Shirogane-san, I - is Naoto--”

“Naoto is all right, as far as I know. I haven’t heard anything to suggest otherwise.” He sighs, and moves around to the trunk of the car. “But you know where my grandchild’s scheming is going to lead as well as I do, Kanji-kun, and I thought it best you go in prepared. I admit I made an assumption regarding your weapon of choice, based on your past preferences, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong - I’m sure there’s something suitable packed away at the estate somewhere.”

Naoto’s grandpa knocks twice on the trunk, and it pops open. He reaches in and pulls out an absolutely gorgeous shield, decorated with a giant enameled chrysanthemum. It’s chipped and dented, and one petal of the flower has a stubborn dark stain on it - not blood, but Kanji wouldn’t be surprised to learn it was Shadow goo or something. It would’ve made one hell of a display piece, but this thing has seen combat, and plenty of it.

“Naoto’s told you the story by now, I assume?” he says, and smiles when Kanji can only bring himself to nod. “This was one of my favorites. It served me well, and I would be honored if you took it with you when you go to help Naoto.”

“Holy shit. I’d say you can’t just do that, but…” But despite the damage it’s taken, it’s still in good enough shape to beat shit with. But it’d mean just as much to Naoto, who’s definitely seen it before. “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome, Kanji-kun. Does Rise-chan need anything?”

“She’s the navigator, so. Not really.”

Naoto’s grandpa nods. “In that case… bring Naoto home as soon as you can. I have no doubt that all three of you will come out of this stronger for it.”

“I won’t let you down, sir.”

Not least because Kanji couldn’t live with himself if he fucks this up.

***

Perhaps it wasn’t necessary to take the entire week of classes surrounding the interview off, but Naoto’s concentration would have been shot regardless, at which point staying home seemed the better part of valor. It’s still difficult understanding what the modern educational system expects from its students, and Naoto is beginning to suspect the system itself doesn’t know the answer to that, either. Rote memorisation with no practical application of the information after the fact, save regurgitating it for tests, grates on Naoto’s nerves at the best of times.

Setting oneself up as bait for a suspected serial killer is, admittedly, not the best of times.

Naoto’s grandpa has stepped out to run an errand. Yakushiji-san is most likely driving him to whatever destination he had in mind; it’s not as though there’s much to do in Inaba on a rainy afternoon. Naoto is alone. The culprit has likely paid enough attention to their targets’ comings and goings to know this.

Naoto is ready for this.

The doorbell rings.

Naoto is damned terrified, actually, but having come this far, there’s no way to not see it through to the end.

There’s no one at the door, only a large package that wasn’t there earlier. Naoto shrugs and turns to bring it inside, but never has the chance.

No. No, no, no, losing the chance to see the culprit’s face was inexcusable enough, Naoto will not give in to this attempted drugging and lose even more information. Alas that being carried around in a sack is apparently a necessary indignity to suffer for the sake of the case.

The culprit speaks to no one - they must be working alone, and either a man or a particularly strong woman to haul unconscious teenagers around town. Then again, the hauling isn’t very far; Naoto would judge it about the length of the driveway before the culprit stops and opens a vehicle door of some kind.

Then there’s a single impact, and a sensation of falling; the vertigo combined with the chemical drugging is enough for Naoto to finally lose consciousness.

***

After the TV cuts off, Kanji sighs. “Gods fucking dammit.”

“Please don’t break my TV, Kanji.” Rise completely understands his frustration, even if they both knew this was coming, but she doesn’t want to have to replace it, or explain things to her grandma.

“I’m not gonna. I just… you know.”

“Yeah, I do. But she won’t have to face it alone.”

She just hopes Souji-senpai and the others don’t have any shopping to do before they head in. She is not leaving Naoto alone with her thoughts a second longer than she has to, and neither is Kanji.

At the food court the next afternoon, Souji-senpai looks right at her and Kanji and says, “So, Naoki-kun mentioned Naoto-kun did this on purpose?”

“Yeah. We’re really not the ones who should tell it, but Naoto’s grandpa got caught up in something similar when he was our age, only they couldn’t get all the way to the bottom of it because of outside stuff.” Rise’s really understating it, but Naoto deserves the chance to tell the story herself, if her grandpa doesn’t come steal the spotlight.

“Dipshit can’t just not solve a puzzle, either,” Kanji grumbles.

“We’ve had our work cut out for us getting him to drop it for five minutes. I don’t need you to get me more information, senpai, but if you guys have any shopping? Do it now.”

Souji-senpai nods. “I thought that might be the case. I made sure everything was in order yesterday, so we should be ready to go.”

Rise doesn’t even have to summon Himiko; the second her feet hit the ground in the TV world, she can feel it. “That way,” she says, and starts walking, unsurprised when Kanji falls into step beside her.

“Wait,” Yosuke-senpai says, “you didn’t even - how can you be sure?”

“Does it matter, Hanamura? I don’t know about you, but I’m not letting those two storm the castle by themselves. Are you coming or not?”

Naoki-kun’s words seem to be enough to get everyone else in gear, mostly because he’s right. Rise may not be cut out for combat, but if nobody else was willing to go in she’d find a way for Naoto’s sake.

It’s not a castle they have to storm, but a secret bunker that looks like it came straight out of Featherman (knowing Naoto, that’s not all that unlikely, really), nestled among some fake, dead trees - and in the shadow of another building. Chie-senpai’s the one to stop dead in her tracks, taking in the imposing red-and-gold facade.

“What the heck?” she says.

Souji-senpai’s eyebrows go up. “Imperial palace. Interesting. Does it have anything to do with the bunker, Rise?”

This time she does summon Himiko, just to make sure. “Only in the sense that Naoki-kun’s dungeon had anything to do with his sister’s, and boy does this say a lot about Naoto’s grandpa. We probably don’t have to worry about it, and I don’t think we should explore it without Naoto anyway.”

When she dismisses Himiko, Teddie’s frowning, and taking big sniffs in the direction of the palace. “I can’t really tell from here,” he finally says, “but it smells… familiar? Maybe? I can’t place it.”

“Well, you did say you’ve lived here for a long time,” Yukiko-senpai says. “Maybe that’s why?”

“Maybe.” Despite the mascot suit, he looks frustrated.

Souji-senpai clears his throat. “We’ll have a look later. Rise’s right - Naoto-kun deserves to be part of the mission for that, and it’ll just distract us from the task at hand right now. Kanji, I know you care about him a lot, and I’m not going to keep you away from the main event, but you have to promise me you’re not going to rush off without the rest of us while we work through the dungeon, all right?”

“I don’t have a death wish, senpai,” Kanji says, but Rise can tell he’s not fighting it too hard. “I promise.”

“All right. Chie, Naoki-kun, you’re rounding out the front lines for now.”

By the end of the first floor, Rise wants to have words with Naoto’s subconscious. At least the ambient music is soothing, and her Shadow’s not weirdly sexualized for once (give or take that weird ‘body alteration’ talk, but that’s less obvious to people who don’t know what’s up already), but the layout is obnoxious - and that’s before it turns out they have to pass an obvious miniboss door to get the key for it, then backtrack to get a key from the miniboss.

Yukiko-senpai catches Rise’s attention during a break on the way back toward the miniboss in question. “Nori?” she says, barely putting any breath behind it, and smiles when Rise nods. “I don’t know why I didn’t connect the dots sooner, but the way you two reacted…”

Rise shrugs. “What can I say? I don’t let go of my friends easily, and Kanji’s always had a soft spot. Just… don’t make a big deal until the big deal’s made for us, okay?”

“Of course not.”

“Thanks, senpai.” The last thing she wants to do is listen to Yosuke-senpai freaking out about it the rest of the way down - or break up fights between him and Kanji about it.

***

Naoto seems calm when they get to the bottom of the lab, but that doesn’t surprise Kanji too much. “Ah, it’s about time you arrived. Dealing with this child has been quite a pain.”

“No, no! Don’t go!” the Shadow wails, completely unlike the mad-scientist act it had going on the Midnight Channel - but all Kanji can hear is Nori, begging him and Rise not to let a sleepover end. “Why are you leaving me here? I don’t wanna be left alone!”

Yukiko sighs. “Oh, Naoto-kun.”

Naoto ignores her completely. “You wear the same face as me. It’s as if you’re implying we’re one and the same.” Kanji has to fight the urge to facepalm. Naoto knows better, they told Naoto how this damn well works - but this is probably also the most complex tangle of issues any of them have had to tackle yet. It was never going to be simple. “But the difference between me and you is--”

“Ha! Why delude yourself? I am you.” Naoto’s Shadow goes back to the mad-scientist act like it flipped a switch. “These childish gestures are no mere affectation - they’re the truth. No matter how many crimes you solve, you’re a child in their eyes. You haven’t the means to deal with society’s two-faced nature.”

As the Shadow flips back to Nori mode, someone squeezes Kanji’s hand. He looks down - it’s Rise, and she looks like she’s trying not to cry. He can’t blame her, and doesn’t make her let go.

“That’s enough,” Naoto says, finally starting to sound upset. “I can find my own reason for living.”

“I’m telling you that’s impossible. You are but a child; how can you change that essential truth?”

“Stop it--”

“And not only are you a child, but you’re an absolute fool for thinking you can solve this case when your family could not. If two members of the Shirogane lineage couldn’t get to the bottom of this, what makes you think you’re any different? You don’t have the chops or the experience to solve this big of a mess. There’s no escaping first principles. Admit you’re a child, and admit that there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“How dare you,” Naoto snaps, and the Shadow grins, pure malice.

“Now then, our analysis is complete. Let us begin the body alteration procedure. You have no objections… do you, ‘Naoto’ Shirogane?”

“Oh, here we go,” Rise mutters, as Naoto’s expression shifts from anger to outright panic.

“‘Naoto’… such a cool, manly name. But a name doesn’t let you cross the barrier between the sexes. How could you be an ideal man if you were never male to begin with?”

“Wait, what - did I - ow!” Yosuke-senpai says. Sounds like Naoki’s holding up his end of the ‘Hanamura-smacking’ bargain - good. Kanji doesn’t want to fucking hear it right now.

Naoto takes a deep, shaky breath. “I won’t throw a tantrum. That accomplishes nothing.”

Of course, it’s all downhill from there, but - well, it’s not all right. All right would be not having to do this in the first place. But it’s nothing they can’t handle, even if Naoto’s Shadow is (of course) smart enough to keep track of everyone’s weak spots and ruthless about targeting them.

He agreed to pull Naoto through this before it ever reached this point, and he’s not about to back down now.

Afterward, while Kanji and Rise are moving to wake Naoto up, Chie-senpai says, “So Naoto-kun is… how do we even talk about this?”

“Naoto asked to be addressed as a boy in public,” Naoki says. “So we do what he asked unless and until he asks for something different, obviously.”

“Oh, uh, right. That - that makes sense.”

Naoto finally stirs, looks at Kanji’s new-old shield, and gasps. “You talked to Grandpa?”

“He came to me,” Kanji says. “Said to get you home as soon as we could, so that’s what we’re doing. But now you gotta do the hard part.”

“…Right.” Naoto sighs. “And of course, there were witnesses.”

“It probably doesn’t help, but half of us already knew,” Naoki offers. “And the other half are going to behave themselves about it, right?”

Yosuke-senpai huffs. “What’re you looking at me like that for?”

“We’ll respect your privacy,” Souji-senpai says, and with that they all let Naoto ramble for a while. Kanji and Rise have already been working on untangling some of these knots, but Naoto’s habits were set early, and summer was too late of a start to have picked them apart entirely by now. Naoto never was any good at being a kid; it’s no surprise that being seen as one anyway would be so upsetting.

Yukiko frowns. “Do you… not like being a girl? Is that why you always dress like a boy?”

“I don’t - I’ve never liked feminine clothing, but… I don’t know. And I don’t see why I should have to pick one or the other, or why I should have to define myself according to a quirk of genetics. I am myself. Why must that self necessarily be a woman or a man?”

“Somewhere in the middle, huh?” Kanji says, which makes Rise raise an eyebrow.

“Apparently so.” Naoto finally turns to the elephant in the room, which last chimed in with the Nori voice, about wanting to be a detective. “I’m sorry. I’ve been pretending you don’t exist for so long… but you are me, and I am you. What I should yearn for - no, what I must strive for isn’t to get too far ahead of myself, but to become comfortable in my own skin, whatever shape that takes.”

Naoto’s Shadow turns into a Persona, and Naoto’s knees buckle almost immediately. Kanji sighs and scoops Naoto up. “You’re too frickin’ reckless.”

“I knew you’d come for me.”

“Well - I mean, yeah, but still.”

“Before you’re too exhausted to comment, Naoto-kun,” Souji-senpai says, “how do you want us to refer to you?”

Naoto starts to answer, but breaks into a huge yawn first. “My apologies. I - please don’t change anything for now. If something changes, you’ll all be the first to know.”

***

Rise heads through the TV first. “All clear.” She helps Naoto through from the Junes side, and Kanji clambers out almost immediately after her; then they all scoot back so the others can get out.

“Okay,” she says. “Let’s get you home, Naoto.”

“It’s all right.” Naoto’s wobbling on her feet to the point where Rise’s surprised Kanji hasn’t just scooped her up again. “I can… call a taxi.”

“Oh no you don’t. There’s nothing ‘adult’ about doing everything by yourself.”

“Besides, I made a promise and I’m gonna keep it,” Kanji adds. “We’re goin’ with you if I have to carry you myself.”

“Please don’t,” Naoto mumbles, but she stops protesting. They get her out of Junes more or less under her own power, but Kanji does end up carrying her part of the way anyway; it’s farther from Junes to the estate than they thought it would be.

Rise calls her grandma and Kanji’s mom on the way - apologising to Kanji’s mom for keeping him away from home three nights in a row, but she doesn’t sound upset about it - since there’s no way they’re going to leave Naoto alone right now. Not for the first night back. Not after everything today was. If she wants a reason to stay, they need to remind her that she has two.

Naoto’s grandpa answers the door at the estate, and visibly sags with relief when he takes them all in. “Thank you, both of you. And pass my gratitude along to your friends, when you have the chance.”

“I did promise,” Kanji says. “You gonna want that shield back, or…”

“Keep it, Kanji-kun. It was made to be used, not sit around in the attic.”

“Thank you, then.”

“Grandpa?” Naoto doesn’t wake up much, but enough to blearily smile at her grandpa. “I’m gonna solve it. I will. For you. ‘m gonna make you proud.”

He smiles, but there’s so much grief in his eyes that Rise can’t call it a happy expression. “I know you will, Nori, but you didn’t have to do this to make me proud. I already was.”

Chapter Text

Naoto’s grandpa is up when Kanji and Rise emerge from Naoto’s room the next morning. It’s not exactly a surprise, but the fact that he wants to talk to them before they leave kind of is, even if Kanji thinks it shouldn’t be. “Do the two of you have plans on Monday?”

“Taking Grandma to lunch,” Rise says, and only then does Kanji remember Monday’s a holiday. “Not really anything after that, though.”

“Well, once you’re done, you should bring your new friends over. I know Naoto already told you two the story, but there are gaps I might be able to fill in, and the rest of them should know the full stakes.”

“Yeah. They should.” And Kanji knows he can’t explain it himself, not even half as well as Naoto did - and Naoto’s probably still gonna be sleeping more than not by Monday. He’s pretty sure Yukiko and maybe Chie-senpai are the only others with grandparents in the area, too, so nobody other than Rise’s likely to have plans for the holiday that’d get in the way.

On Monday afternoon, they all cram into the Shirogane estate’s living room, with Naoto’s grandpa somehow managing to make a well-worn armchair look like a goddamn throne. Naoto’s still asleep, but has probably heard this story often enough to have it memorised.

“Kanji and Rise said you’ve dealt with a case like this before,” Souji-senpai says, and Naoto’s grandpa nods.

Chie-senpai frowns. “But - how long ago was that? Is anyone else you worked with…”

“Only one other person, now. Then again, even if Satoshi hadn’t passed in July, I doubt he would have remembered it clearly enough to be of any help - complications from dementia - and Akari doesn’t like to talk about it. I can’t say I’m fond of discussing it myself, but needs must. You all deserve to know.”

Souji-senpai’s brow furrows, but he doesn’t comment on it, and Naoto’s grandpa gets on with the story.

“Inaba was a very different town in 1944. Akari’s family held a controlling interest in the coal mine, which was still active even without the wartime production concerns. People were being evacuated out here from the cities, which brought two of our number into town. There were three dead bodies before Katsu and I discovered the Theatre of the Mind was very real, quite by accident, and then I became the subject of rumor.”

“How?” Yukiko says.

“Technically we both did, as we were intending to share the family legacy. But… I confess I arranged to be a target more deliberately than he did, or wanted me to. I didn’t want to share the legacy. I thought I had a chance to prove I could handle high-profile cases alone. Instead, I nearly died for my hubris - I would have, if Katsu hadn’t been able to follow me.”

Rise nods. “That’d explain why you didn’t try to stop Naoto. And the imperial palace vibes.”

For some reason, that catches Naoto’s grandpa by surprise. “It’s still there?”

“We didn’t go in or anything, but it was looming behind Naoto-kun’s lab,” Yosuke-senpai says.

“We’re not gonna explore it without Naoto,” Kanji adds, for good measure. Naoto would never forgive them.

Naoto’s grandpa smiles. “Good. A few weeks after I made my move, rumors began to spread that Akari’s parents were seeking to arrange a marriage for her - a valid and traditional thing for a family of our social standing to do, but she was very vocal about having none of it. It turned out she both loathed the idea and was terrified she wasn’t worthy of someone’s love. Katsu made it his mission to prove her wrong, because he liked her fire and stubbornness rather than because he thought he could or should change her, and by the end of the year it was working.

“Then the evacuations forced a troupe of actors to spend the winter here, when they’d intended to move on. Satoshi was the youngest of them by several years, which caught people’s attention, and all three of us nearly lost our patience with having to play-act our way through that dungeon.”

Souji-senpai perks up again. “What was his family name?”

“Kuroda. You may have met his widow around town, as I don’t believe she wanted to move away until his situation… came to an end.”

“I have, yeah. Thought that sounded familiar. Go on.”

“Takara - she only ever gave us her professional name, so even I have no way of knowing whether she’s still alive - was next, as no one could stop talking about the evacuations dropping a geisha on the town’s doorstep. If you find her hall of mirrors, I recommend leaving it alone without the aid of a top-tier navigator.”

“Well, if I can handle it without having a panic attack, since that sounds like the same problem in the opposite direction…” Rise shrugs. “Not impossible, but I’m not in any hurry. But - wait, who navigated for you?”

“Satoshi, of course,” Naoto’s grandpa says. “I kept track of known weak spots as best I could, and Akari could get us through some things by literally bringing a ball of yarn, but that hall would have stumped us all without him.”

Yosuke-senpai looks baffled, but Souji-senpai gives him a look, and he doesn’t say whatever it is.

“One more person joined us in late winter - a discharged soldier freshly sent home from the front. He’d been intending on a military career, until he was injured in combat, and he had--”

“No idea how to cope with it short of drinking himself stupid,” Naoki finishes; he looks stunned. “The way the war was going was starting to change his mind even before he got hurt, but he didn’t have time to figure out what else he could do any sooner. Seriously, nobody tells me the cool stories.”

“I’m telling you now, Naoki-kun. Besides, I doubt Daiki ever shared the details with your father.”

“No, probably not, other than the sheer irony of opening a liquor store being enough for him to let the drinking go. And then he died and Dad stopped making all his home brews - never did figure out why.”

Naoto’s grandpa looks away from the group, staring vaguely at the fireplace. “Grief can do terrible things to people, and it’s very often irrational.”

“So did you figure out who was killing people?” Chie-senpai says.

“We did. He was a younger son of the Yamamoto family, but they never quite shook the stigma, which I suspect was a factor in their selling the barber shop and leaving town well before the shopping district’s recent decline. However, we’d suspected for a while by that point that there was more to it, and intended to spend the summer digging further into the matter… and then Katsu and I were offered a case in Hiroshima. We tossed a coin for it, and to this day I still say we both lost.”

“Oh.” Yukiko hardly even breathes the word, but it still lands heavily in the silence.

“We couldn’t bear the thought of pressing on without him for several months. In that time, the theatre burned down, so we lost our access point. Takara moved back to Kyoto as soon as she was able, and Satoshi’s troupe was able to resume their work. Three of us wouldn’t have been enough anyway. Akari allowed her parents to arrange a marriage for her after all, on the condition that her partner respect her autonomy, and they reached a suitable agreement with the Ichijo family.”

“Kou-kun’s grandma?!” Chie-senpai blurts out. “That - that explains a lot about her, actually, but still.”

“As I said: She does not like discussing that time. She and Katsu were quite close, and I firmly believe that if not for the bomb, they would still be together now.”

Souji-senpai nods, and something about his face says he’s not even joking around a little bit right now. “Why go into this much detail? We didn’t need to know that much about your group.”

“In part because their stories deserve to be remembered, but also… whoever or whatever is behind all of this is a very powerful foe indeed. Do not rest until you get to the bottom of it and put a stop to them, or this will keep happening. This town has seen enough death from this recurring phenomenon - let this repetition be the last.”

***

“…and then Masaya says, ‘How am I supposed to read the blackboard with my eyes closed?’ And then we all just kind of lost it.”

Kanji snorts, even though he’s heard this story before. Across the table, Souji-san looks about as amused as Naoki’s seen him so far. It’s… it’s normal. It’s as normal as anything has been since April, and he didn’t even know how badly he needed it. Sure, the passing housewives are glaring at him for daring to enjoy life while mourning his sister, but Kanji’s presence is enough to deter most of them from starting anything.

“I don’t think even you’ve heard about Mystery Food X yet, Kanji,” Souji-san says, and Kanji frowns.

“Like… kinda? Only in passing, though, but I coulda told you not to trust Yukiko with your campout meal.”

“Do I want to know?” Naoki says.

Souji-san shrugs. “Supposedly, it was curry. That’s what they said they were going for, anyway. I still don’t know why they brought me along to shop for ingredients when they didn’t ask me anything about them. They left with, among other things, whole-wheat flour, mint chocolate, kimchi, chili peppers, mocha… I didn’t catch what kind of seafood they ended up grabbing for it. Nearly killed Yosuke and I,” he finishes, completely deadpan. It’s always difficult to tell how serious he is about things.

“I applaud your continued survival, in that case.” Naoki’s still not convinced Hanamura would’ve been that much of a loss, but he knows that’s unfair.

“Ah, there you are, Tatsumi.”

All three of them freeze as a pair of cops approach the sorry excuse for a table outside Souzai Daigaku - uniformed officers, not Dojima-san (but also not his idiot partner). “You’re going to need to come with us,” one of them says.

Souji-san just raises an eyebrow at them. “You got a warrant for that?”

“Yeah, what exactly are you accusing him of? He’s been with us since school let out, and literally sitting next to me all day.” Naoki wouldn’t say Kanji’s enthusiastic about going to school, and is definitely mostly showing up because of the attendance policy (and the rest for Naoto and Rise, and then the rest of them), but at least it’s likely to make for a good alibi.

“There have been reports of bullying around town over the last few weeks,” the other cop says. “And multiple concerned citizens have reported seeing you bullying a small child at the riverbank and on the hill.”

“What--” Kanji sighs. “I made that kid some dolls. First for him and a friend, then his mom and teachers and friends got in on it. Get your facts straight before you go makin’ accusations.”

“I’ve had a couple of run-ins with those bullies,” Souji-san adds. “Kanji is definitely not one of them.”

The first cop looks positively baffled. “Dolls? You?”

“Tatsumi Textiles is only pushing three hundred years old,” Naoki says, not bothering to keep the venom out of his voice. “Don’t know where the owners’ only child could possibly have picked up an interest in crafting.”

“Go double-check with Mom if you want. She’ll back me up.” Kanji’s glaring at the cops, but for him that’s positively calm. Besides, if they do go talk to Tatsumi-san, she’ll chew them out for him.

“Or should I let my uncle know that you’re harassing high school students without probable cause?” Souji-san says, mild as ever - but there’s steel in his eyes that Naoki’s not used to seeing outside of the TV world.

The cops give up and head up the hill - probably sealing their fate with Kanji’s mother - and Kanji sighs. “Assholes. Did you really run into the people they’re after, though, senpai?”

Souji-san nods. “Chie and I did, yeah. She’s about ready to punt them into the sun next time we cross paths.”

Naoki snorts. “Sounds like it would save everyone a lot of trouble if she did.”

“Probably would,” Kanji says. “Thanks, guys. Don’t think I could’ve handled that half as well if I hadn’t had backup.”

***

Rise spends as much time as she can at Naoto’s place.

It’s not all the time, since she has to go to school and help her grandma at the shop and wants to do things with the rest of the squad sometimes, and it’s not terribly interesting when she is there, since Naoto’s still sleeping way more than not. But Naoto’s grandpa would never turn Rise out - or Kanji, for that matter, but he has even less free time - and she figures it’s better to be there when she can, even if Naoto’s not awake to appreciate her company.

It’s helping to settle Rise’s nerves, too. She still can’t believe Naoto went and got herself kidnapped just to get properly involved in everything - but at the same time, she knows this was never going to end without Naoto getting inside a TV sooner or later. The lecture Rise wants to give her is getting less and less vehement as time goes on, though. Naoto knows what a hare-brained idea it was.

Besides, it apparently runs in the family.

Naoto finally stays awake for longer than a bleary-eyed meal on Friday - another day off school, so Rise and Kanji have both been at the house since breakfast. She’s still too tired for much activity, so they put some of Naoto’s extensive Featherman collection on, so there’s something they can watch while they all sit around cuddling on the couch.

If they fast-forward through any mad scientist arcs, that’s between them and no one else.

“We should all go to the doctor,” Naoto says a few episodes in, while Rise’s changing the DVD. Just as well it wasn’t Kanji’s turn; he probably would have dropped it.

As it is, he’s frozen in place on the couch. “Why.”

“To make sure we’re not suffering any adverse effects from that fog, for one thing. But I admit it’s mostly to get Teddie on an examination table. I’m curious as to how that body of his even functions, when he claims to have grown it by doing sit-ups.”

“He did,” Rise says. “Maybe a broader workout routine than that, but he started with sit-ups and told us all to leave him be until he was done - not that I was in any condition to pester him.”

“Do we have to?” Kanji’s not quite whining, but it’s a near thing. “Just - that sounds like you wanna go to the hospital for this.”

“If Teddie’s examination requires any specialty equipment, that would be the ideal place to start,” Naoto says. “I know this may stir up some unpleasant memories for you, but needs must. You’ll have plenty of time to brace yourself, as well - I can already say I doubt I’ll be up to doing anything that vigorous before the end of the month.”

Rise comes back to the couch, grabs her water glass, and moves to the other side; she’d been leaning on Naoto, but Kanji needs to be in the middle for a little while. “We’ll all be there too. And it’s just normal checkup stuff. Once we’re done with the actual checkups you can hide behind me and Nori as much as you want.”

Kanji snorts, probably picturing how absurd that would look. “…We’ll see.”

It’s not an outright no, though, so Rise’s pretty sure Naoto wins this round.

***

Before Kanji goes anywhere near a hospital, there’s something he needs to do first.

There are only a handful of people he’d even think about asking to come with him. But his mom needs to run the shop if he’s going to be gone (and good gods but that would be embarrassing), Rise’s helping her grandma, Naoto’s still too worn out, and he’s pretty sure Naoki’s not up to it yet. Souji-senpai… wouldn’t be unhelpful - that’s not really his style - but something in Kanji’s gut says it’d be easier to talk to him afterward than during.

(Speaking of hospitals, how can the guy bring himself to work there. At night.)

After school on Saturday, so he doesn’t have to deal with his mom asking where he’s going the next morning, he detours around the back of the shrine. The property goes back a lot further than it looks like it should from the road; even when the trees in the back have their full leaf cover, he can see some of the cemetery from his bedroom. When he was little he thought that was pretty cool.

When he was ten, it got a lot less cool.

The shrine keeps sticks of incense and matches in a little box along the back of the building. Kanji grabs one of each and makes his way back. Even though he hasn’t bothered doing this since the interment, he knows exactly where to go, sitting down in front of the grave marker after he lights the incense. “So, uh. Hi, Dad.”

There’s no response, of course. But Kanji can’t help thinking he feels just the tiniest bit warmer.

“I know it’s been forever,” he says. “Mom thinks I’m taller than you, now. I just… I didn’t get what you were trying to say, and it ain’t like you got a chance to explain it, either.” Or like his mom was in the room for that little nugget of wisdom to interpret it, so all he had was what sense he could make of it himself.

‘A real man has to be strong.’ That one sentence fucked Kanji up so much, no matter how well-intentioned his dad was in saying it. He thought it meant physical strength for the longest time, and he definitely has that, but May helped drive home that physical strength isn’t nearly everything, and he’s only now figuring out it wasn’t about that at all.

A real man has to be strong enough to be himself, no matter what other people think about it. A real man has to be strong enough to weather the storm. A real man has to be strong enough to feel his feelings, even when other people call him weak for crying or whatever.

A real man has to be strong enough to be gentle.

Kanji knows damn well that’s not as easy as it sounds - he’s known it since before his dad’s failed advice. He’s known it since he fixed a classmate’s bag and got thanked for it by her crying and the rest of the class turning on him. But he also knows it’s not worth the trouble of tying himself into knots to make other people happy. Naoto and Rise sure as hell don’t want him to do that; neither does his mom, or Naoki, or Souji-senpai, or that kid who’s halfway to convincing Kanji to sell his stuffed animals in the store.

Getting chucked through a TV in May was a crossroads: Either he can keep tying himself in knots to please people who don’t actually care about him and be miserable doing it, or he can be himself. He knows, now, which one is going to make him happier.

Something in his heart shifts as he tells his dad about the wild fucking ride this school year has been so far, and Kanji feels more at peace than he has in years.

***

Not much studying seems to be happening at this ‘midterm study group,’ but the others aren’t acting like that’s an unusual state of affairs, so Naoto is left to assume that’s normal. It doesn’t seem terribly productive, but perhaps it’s better than not gathering would have been.

Truth be told, Naoto is dreading the exams. The modern school system still makes very little sense, and having missed two and a half weeks of classes doesn’t help matters. It seems nearly impossible to predict what any given teacher will put on an exam - unless, of course, they mentioned planning to do so in the course of the lesson, but even that depends on remembering they said so, and what about. How does an exam demonstrate a true grasp of the material, as opposed to simple rote memorisation?

Eventually, while Nanako-chan is getting herself a snack, Naoto takes the offered lifeline of Teddie looking somewhat listless. “Is something the matter, Teddie?”

“…I dunno. I’ve been thinking a lot since we talked to your gramps, because a little bit of what he said sounded familiar.”

That catches Souji-senpai’s attention. “It did?”

“I think so.” Teddie frowns. “The first thing I remember for sure is the other world getting all weird before you and Yosuke came in, but if I think really hard, I - I think I remember wondering where everybody went and why I was all alone.”

“Interesting,” Naoto says. “Grandpa never mentioned meeting anyone like you, and I rather think you would have stood out to them.”

“Probably. But maybe I was some kind of special being? It’s only me and Shadows over there, after all.”

“This is the first time you’ve shared a theory about yourself, isn’t it?” Chie-senpai says.

Naoto has had a theory about Teddie’s origins since first hearing how Teddie phrases the TV world’s normal inhabitants. If ‘only Teddie and Shadows’ are there, then logic suggests Teddie is himself a Shadow, albeit one who managed to develop and wrest control of his own ego. But it would be cruel to say so before he reaches and accepts that conclusion for himself, and there’s the sliver of possibility that he’s correct - and in the end, it’s immaterial. He is another person and a valued member of the party.

“Well, enough about that,” Rise says, a little too loudly; Naoto follows her gaze and sees that Nanako-chan is returning to the table, so it’s best that they end the TV-world-related discussion for now. “Once exams are over, I’m looking forward to the cultural festival. What do classes here usually do for that, anyway?”

Naoki shrugs. “Mostly the usual stuff. The drama club puts on a play, last year there was a haunted house, if someone’s feeling particularly ambitious there’s some kind of cafe setup. Apparently it’s standard for at least one class to phone it in and do a video room or something.”

Chie-senpai frowns. “Has… our class even decided what we’re doing yet?”

“I don’t think so.” Yosuke-senpai has a dangerous gleam in his eyes; Naoto makes a mental note to avoid class 2-2 during the festival entirely. “Kashiwagi sure hasn’t pushed us to pick anything, but she’s probably trying to get her hooks into those stupid pageants.”

Naoto is suddenly struck with dread. “Pageants?”

“Yeah, a beauty pageant and a drag pageant, assuming they can get anyone to sign up for either. It’s fine, though, you can back out if you decide you don’t want to do it.”

“If anyone signs me up for either of these productions against my will, the authorities will never find your remains.”

Yosuke-senpai’s laughter dies in his throat as he sees that Naoto is deadly serious about this. Perhaps entering the drag pageant would be entertaining, just to subvert people’s expectations, but either would require appearing before a crowd, under a microscope in a way even appearing on television doesn’t provide. Naoto has never had the stomach for that sort of display.

Besides, if Kashiwagi is insisting on organising the pageants, odds are high she will force the participation of everyone whose name ends up on either sign-up sheet, simply for her own satisfaction - or because she honestly believes she can show up the likes of Rise.

“A drag pageant.” Souji-senpai tips his head to one side, considering. “Sounds fun.”

“What!” Yosuke-senpai nearly shouts. “Come on, partner, you gotta be kidding!”

“Why? It does sound fun. I’m sure between the girls here, I’d be very pretty.”

Rise perks up almost immediately. “Oh, absolutely! You have such good cheekbones for it, too. I’ll have to think about whether to sign up for the regular one. It might be good to get in front of an audience again.”

Or it might be terrible, but Naoto and Kanji will be there to help, if it turns out Rise’s not ready for that step after all.

***

Of course, things couldn’t possibly stay calm until after the cultural festival. Naoki feels stupid for even hoping that would be the case.

“‘stop rescuing people’?” Naoto eyes the offending piece of paper for a moment, then passes it back to Souji-san, not touching it with his hands directly. “Is this a threat?”

“It sure sounds like one,” Souji-san says. “Not that I plan on paying it any mind.”

Hanamura frowns. “Did you tell your uncle?”

“No, and I don’t plan to if I can avoid it. He wouldn’t believe any of this.”

“Agreed,” Naoto says. “In addition, if he placed you under surveillance, it would become exponentially more difficult for us to act. Besides, the text of the letter isn’t nearly as important as the subtext.”

“How do you mean?” Kanji says.

“It was delivered to the Dojima residence directly - from the look of the envelope, it didn’t pass through mail processing at any point. This means the culprit knows in great detail who is interfering with their crimes, and of all of us, chose to deliver their threat to the home of a police detective. I’d have this processed at a lab if I could, but even then, I doubt they’d find anything.”

Naoki’s inclined to agree with him, but something else about all this doesn’t sit right. “For that matter, are we sure there’s only one culprit?”

“The person who kidnapped me spoke to no one, so I have to assume they were working alone.”

“Well, sure, there’s only one kidnapper. But are we sure the kidnapper and the killer are the same person?”

“That… feels like a stretch,” Satonaka says, her brow furrowed. “I mean, this is an extremely weird case. What’re the odds that there are two other people who can get inside TVs?”

Naoki doesn’t know. He doesn’t have any proof about any of this, just - a feeling that it’s not as simple as it looks. Besides, Souji-san stumbled into the power to get into a TV before his Shadow ever entered into it, so who’s to say there’s not a third factor in this mess?

Still, all he has is a feeling, so he accepts it when Naoto and Souji-san both agree that there’s not nearly enough information to draw any conclusions.

***

While the other girls and Naoto talk about nothing in particular - she catches Nanako-chan saying something about not opening the door for strangers - Rise floats in the hot spring, letting her mind wander.

She did end up signing up for the beauty pageant. There were only a handful of people interested in either of them (or signed up for it, anyway; just because Naoto talked Yosuke-senpai out of signing any of their friend group up doesn’t mean no one else pulled that). Kashiwagi got in on it, which… Rise sure feels some kind of way about, but she knows Naoto’s just waiting for her to commit a fireable offense.

Ohtani has the kind of confidence Rise wished she had when she was little, a kind that’s easier for her to fake now but still doesn’t quite come naturally. She wanted to compliment her on that, but today really wasn’t the right day, and she’s not sure if there’ll ever be a good one, considering. She doesn’t know anything about the other couple of girls who were in the pageant. If anything, she’s a little surprised Ebihara didn’t enter, but Souji-senpai mentioned right afterward that he doesn’t think Ebihara could’ve handled it.

The drag pageant was also entertaining, especially when Souji-senpai was such an obliging model for her. If Teddie hadn’t been bored out of his stuffed skull and decided to get in on the fun, she’s pretty sure Souji-senpai would’ve won hands down.

Rise feels a little like entering the ladies’ pageant was unfair to the other students (and doesn’t much care if it was unfair to Kashiwagi). From the audience’s point of view, she didn’t really have any competition. From her own point of view, no one was going to give Ohtani a fair shake. But - well.

Winning was nice and all, but she’s still riding the high from just being onstage again. Sure, it wasn’t for a concert or anything, but she’s missing that feeling, more than she thought she was.

The question now is whether she thinks she can go back to the idol industry without losing track of herself again. With Naoto and Kanji back in her life, she thinks it might actually be possible. Souji-senpai won’t let her lose track either, and she appreciates that more than she can say, but Naoto and Kanji are the people she can be herself around, even when ‘herself’ isn’t precisely on-brand.

She’s stirred out of her thoughts by some noise near the entrance to the springs - and drops out of her float when she places one of the noises as Kanji’s voice. “GIVE US FIVE MINUTES!” she hollers, startling the others out of their conversation.

Yukiko-senpai turns bright red in a way that has nothing to do with the steam. “Good gods, is it time to switch out already? I completely lost track, that’s so unprofessional of me.”

“But you’re here with your friends, not working,” Nanako-chan says.

Rise smiles. “She’s right, senpai. We know now, so let’s clear out and let the guys have their turn.”

Chapter Text

The school gives them the day following the cultural festival off, and Naoto chooses to spend it on the hill.

There are likely those who would say that needing a day to decompress after a relatively dull festival only means Naoto ought to get more used to the rigors of high school, but that’s not entirely it. The festival was two days of heavy social interaction without the clear rules of classroom etiquette in place - Naoto may not understand the point of school as it’s conducted, but the expected behavior was easy enough to work out - and unscripted social interactions have never been Naoto’s forte. It’s a wonder Kanji and Rise got past that barrier as quickly as they did, both then and now.

The hill has always been one of the places that brings Naoto comfort, along with the estate’s cherry orchard, the apartment in Tokyo, and just about anywhere Kanji or Rise happen to be. Today, with a crisp breeze playing with the dying leaves, called for as high a point as Naoto could get to, so only the hill would do.

“Oh. Hey, Naoto-kun.”

Naoto startles, only to find Souji-senpai approaching the gazebo. “Ah. Good afternoon, senpai.”

“Sorry if I startled you. I just wanted someplace to think for a while, and this has always seemed like a good place for it.”

Naoto nods, trying not to worry as an awkward silence settles over them. How is one supposed to initiate conversations with a new acquaintance, again? Rise would just jump in with small talk, now that she’s cultivated the skill.

Kanji, as defensive as he was about his personal life back in May, probably tried to pick a fight at first. Naoto won’t be doing that, that’s for sure.

Eventually, Souji-senpai breaks the silence instead of waiting for Naoto to do it. “I have to say, I didn’t expect you to have such an impressive makeup game.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Teddie, for the drag pageant.”

“Ah, right.” Naoto’s face feels like it just caught fire. “Only if I’m applying it to someone else. I can’t stand the feeling of it on my own face, and I’m so afraid of poking myself in the eye that I invariably do so. I don’t know what possessed him to ask me in the first place.”

“Well, Rise was busy doing mine, and Chie said she doesn’t have much experience. That does still leave Yukiko, but he probably didn’t want to push his luck, considering he can’t let go of some of the stuff her Shadow said back in April.”

That’s as reasonable an explanation for what Teddie does as any other, so Naoto accepts it.

After another few moments, Souji-senpai sighs. “You know, if Ted hadn’t gotten it in his head to enter that thing, I think I would’ve had it in the bag.”

“You didn’t appear to have any other serious competition, I’ll grant you that. Why… why did you sign up for it, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Like I said when we talked about it before midterms, it sounded fun. Would’ve been better if the emcee hadn’t been so weird about it, but I guess that’s to be expected. People are weird about gender.”

Naoto can’t hold back a snort. “To put it mildly.”

“Yeah, well. I don’t… it’s not a body discomfort thing for me. I’m fine with what I have. But people put so much stock into how boys or girls are supposed to dress, and act, and what they can and can’t do with their time, and it’s all just for something we’ve made up. The rules are different in other countries, and they keep changing depending on what people want society to look like, and I have way too much else going on to worry about keeping up.”

“So you’re saying the pressure to conform wouldn’t be any better if I had been born male?”

Souji-senpai just raises an eyebrow. “You know Kanji better than I do. You already know the answer to that question.”

Naoto sighs. “You’re right, of course. It would have been easier to do what I want to do, but that doesn’t change the fact that society places restrictions on people’s behavior, and they aren’t always good restrictions.”

“They really aren’t. On the other hand, ‘don’t kill people’ is one of the good restrictions, and someone in town’s choosing to ignore it at the moment.”

“That they are.” And frustratingly, Naoto is no closer to working out just who that might be.

***

It starts raining partway through the public holiday on Thursday, and doesn’t let up all night. Kanji stays up for the Midnight Channel - at this rate, he’s not sure he’s ever gonna be able to get to sleep before midnight if it’s raining again - but it’s not very useful.

At the emergency meeting the next afternoon, he’s not the only one who thinks so.

“What even was that?” Chie-senpai says. “Other than annoyingly vague. Was there even anyone there?”

“There was.” Teddie frowns. “They were really blurry, though. And weren’t they really small?”

Souji-senpai and Naoki both freeze in place. “Small,” Souji-senpai says. “That’s… you know that politician who was in town over the weekend? They mentioned him on the news on Monday?”

Naoto sighs. “It’s unlikely to be him. Not only is he not nearly that short, but Kozai-san returned to the city shortly after granting that interview. Our kidnapper is focusing on people accessible in town, so he wouldn’t be a viable target.”

“No, but… the news quoted him as saying he spoke to a particular grade-schooler. And Nanako mentioned he was at her school.”

“And everyone’s been gossiping about it since,” Naoki says. “It was probably extra-blurry because there’s no name to go on, but it’s only a matter of time before someone gets it and puts it out there. All right. I should be able to clear my schedule on Saturday. Who’s taking tonight?”

“Tonight?” Yosuke-senpai looks extra confused. “Tonight for what?”

“To back Souji-san up at home, obviously. We can’t protect every child in town, but we can do something for the one we all know. Dojima-san can’t stay home all the time, and Souji-san has a lot going on with his evenings.”

Yukiko’s brow furrows. “I have to help out at the inn until Sunday, so I’m afraid I can’t… but is it really necessary? Nanako-chan mentioned while we were in the hot springs that she’s used to staying home alone.”

“And that she never opens the door for strangers,” Naoto adds. “However, what we don’t know is how she defines ‘strangers’ in this case. Is the mailman a stranger? Police officers Dojima-san doesn’t invite over for dinner? A delivery driver, whom she would presumably take packages from often enough to recognise even if she doesn’t know their name?”

Something about that feels… familiar, in a way Kanji can’t place, and he ignores the rest of the wrangling in favor of trying to figure out what it is. He doesn’t realise Rise had a similar idea until they both interrupt at more or less the same time.

“A delivery truck!”

Everyone else goes dead silent. Eventually, Souji-senpai says, “What do you guys mean?”

“A delivery came. That’s who was at the door.” Kanji still doesn’t know how a delivery driver would’ve managed to manhandle him through a TV, especially unconscious, but maybe he can ask when they figure out exactly who this is.

“A delivery truck drove up while you guys were chasing that stalker guy,” Rise adds. “And it would be a good way to move a TV large enough to fit people into around town without anyone noticing.”

Naoto’s eyes light up. “There was no one at the door when I opened it, only a package. They must have stood aside until I moved to take it in.”

“And I got sent to sign for a package.” Naoki’s still frowning like he’s not quite sure something adds up, but he’s not saying they’re completely wrong, either. “What about you, Amagi?”

“It was so long ago that I can’t say for certain, but that would explain why I remember someone calling for me at the door.” Yukiko sighs. “Either way, this pattern does make it clear that giving Souji-kun some backup at home is a good idea.”

***

The good news is that nothing horrible happens on Friday night, even if Hanamura doesn’t make it to the Dojimas’ house until after a delivery driver stops by. According to Souji-san, he asked Nanako-chan where a neighbor’s house was, which is the sort of thing any halfway decent delivery driver ought to know, so Naoki suspects that was a cover for not catching her alone.

The bad news is that Nanako-chan is named in the newspaper on Saturday morning as the student the politician quoted in his interview. This does raise the question of how the delivery driver might have gotten ahead of the news, especially when the Midnight Channel is still frustratingly unclear, but it does confirm that they were right to be worried.

Naoki goes home after the half-day of school only long enough to grab a change of clothes. His dad didn’t seem to care one way or another that he had plans, but his mom encouraged him, and said she was glad he’s making some new friends. At least one of his parents is starting to pay attention to life outside of the shop again, even if he’s still not sure how to talk to them about Saki.

Something still doesn’t feel quite right about the delivery driver theory. He knows Saki mentioned a delivery man talking to her, a day or so before she disappeared, but… it doesn’t add up with what happened next. Maybe that vague feeling that there’s more than one culprit is correct, but Naoki still doesn’t have any proof. He hates having to wait for it, but there’s only so much he can do.

He drops by Aiya for some takeout on the way - his taste buds haven’t fully returned from wherever they fucked off to in April, but Kanji had a point over the summer that there’s no reason not to eat well anyway, and it’s one less thing for all of them to worry about tonight. Souji-san is grateful for it, as is Nanako-chan, and they settle in for a study session that’s doubling as a stakeout.

Of course, that means Naoki is there for the worst news - another threat letter, this one brought in by Dojima-san himself, so there’s no hiding it.

When Souji-san starts scrambling to explain it, Naoki keeps quiet, and Souji-san doesn’t try to drag him into it. He could verify the story, it’s true, but then Dojima-san would just drag them both away for further questioning, and that would completely defeat the purpose of Naoki coming over in the first place. As it stands, it says a lot about how upset Dojima-san is that he doesn’t say anything about Naoki staying behind when they leave.

In the silence they leave behind, Nanako-chan says, “Why are Dad and Souji-nii fighting?”

Naoki sighs, shooting a quick text to Kanji about the situation; he’ll make sure everyone else is kept up to speed. “I don’t think they’re exactly fighting, just… not on the same page right now.”

“Then why did Dad take him to the police station? Was it because of the letter?”

“Probably. We’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on with the murders too, and there’s more to it than your dad thinks there is. He’s probably been worried that Souji-san is involved for a while now, because he’s good at his job.”

Nanako-chan frowns. “Was that letter from the same person who sent Souji-nii a letter last week? Only he doesn’t get a lot of mail. I asked him if it was from a friend, but he didn’t answer.”

“We don’t know who that one was from, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Someone wants us to stop trying to figure this out, but we’re not going to. Not until we actually get to the bottom of it.”

“That’s good. Maybe Souji-nii and Dad can work together and catch the--”

The doorbell rings.

“Who could that be?” Nanako-chan says, but Naoki motions for her to stay seated. She frowns, but she stays put, and he heads for the door. He has two advantages here: He’s tall enough to see out the little view hole, and there’s no sign outside the house that anyone is visiting.

What he sees is enough to make him sigh and send Kanji another text. While he’s doing so, the doorbell rings again. He contemplates ignoring it, but if this person is expecting to catch a seven-year-old alone, he won’t go away until he gets what he came for.

So Naoki opens the door and says, “Namatame-san, what the hell are you doing?”

***

When the door opens to reveal someone who is not a grade-school girl, or even a resident of the house, Taro stares uncomprehendingly. The pit of dread that set up camp in his heart on Monday night and migrated to his stomach on Thursday opens up again, when it had been a hair’s breadth from going away for the time being.

He was so close. Bad enough that so many teenagers have been in need of saving over the course of this year; a small child doesn’t deserve to be marked for death. He’ll have no better chance than tonight, and one of his previous targets is blocking his way.

“Namatame-san?”

Only then does Taro realise Konishi-kun said something to him in the first place. “I - that little girl is in danger. I have to take her to safety.”

“Safety.” Konishi-kun looks unimpressed. “You have a weird definition of safety. We all nearly died--”

“Yes! Exactly! You of all people ought to understand. Please - I couldn’t do anything for your sister, but I did it for you and the others, and I can’t just abandon this girl to her fate.”

After a few tense moments, comprehension seems to dawn on Konishi-kun’s face, but he still doesn’t budge from the doorway. “Oh, I see. You’ve never actually… look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, but this isn’t going to help Nanako-chan at all. We’re keeping an eye on her, and we’re all dedicated to making sure she doesn’t end up in danger. Please, go home before Dojima-san catches wind of this and gets on your case.”

“But…”

“He’s not likely to keep Souji-san at the station all night, you know. And this is not a normal time for a delivery driver to show up. He’ll have questions.”

Taro has no choice but to concede the point, though he can’t help noticing that Konishi-kun doesn’t close the door until he’s driving away. His failure has that pit of dread yawning wide in his gut again. That poor girl is in so much danger, and not even those he’s already saved seem to understand it.

He can only hope Mayumi isn’t too upset with him for letting her down. A niggling part of his mind has been saying since June that maybe she wouldn’t have wanted him to go down this path, but - they understood each other like no one else, and now she’s gone. He still doesn’t know what to do without her. He still wishes they’d left it platonic, as maybe then all this trouble never would have happened.

He still can’t regret not leaving it platonic, once their deeper chemistry asserted itself.

It’s not until he gets home that he thinks about Konishi-kun’s words again. He’d trailed off rather than explain what he meant. Taro has never actually… what? Saved anyone? That can’t be true; every one of his targets is back in town and accounted for, and no one’s appeared on the Midnight Channel twice.

But it is true that he’s never personally verified the safety of the world he’s sent everyone to. It’s also true that the police might well be on to him by now, especially with a witness at the house having prevented an attempted kidnapping. Maybe he should go in himself. Maybe it’ll give him a chance to get his thoughts in order.

Maybe it’ll let Mayumi be at peace.

***

“I know I’m not around the house all that much, but I’d still hoped half a year would be enough for you to trust me like you would your old man--”

“More than.”

“What?”

Souji sighs. “I wouldn’t have even considered telling my dad half of this, Uncle. I could tell him that due to a clerical error I was being made emperor and he’d say ‘that’s nice’ and go back to the newspaper, if he was even home to hear it.” And odds are good he wouldn’t be home to hear it - that Souji would be saying the words to an empty apartment. If anything, he’s shocked his parents sent him to relatives this time, instead of letting him fend for himself, but that’s probably because it was a year-long contract.

“I know it sounds wild,” he adds, “but I also know you want to trust me, or we’d be in an interrogation room, not your office. I need you to trust me the rest of the way, or there’s a very good chance someone’s going to get hurt.”

He doesn’t want to mention the group’s gnawing fear that it’ll be Nanako if he doesn’t have to. The second threat letter (not that Souji has brought up the first) speaks for itself.

After yet another tense pause, his uncle sighs. “You’re asking a lot from me, you know. But… fine, you and your friends have been trying to solve this on your own. What conclusions have you drawn?”

It’s not much, but it’s something. For the moment, Souji will take it. “The kidnapper is most likely a delivery driver - that would give them the cover to get around town unnoticed, and everyone who was kidnapped remembers a delivery of some kind, once we considered the possibility.”

“‘Kidnapper.’ If I believe your whole story, it’s already a lot to have two people who can… supposedly enter TVs, but you’re saying that like you think there’s a third one.”

“We’re considering the off chance of that, at least. We don’t have enough evidence to say one way or another.” And of course, they’re likely to get some evidence tonight. And of course, his uncle picked now to get well and truly suspicious.

No, Souji knows better. His uncle has at least been weighing the odds of Souji’s involvement since April, considering he moved to town for the year all of a day before the first body was found. The second threat letter just brought it to a head.

“And the common thread between the kidnap victims is… what, your high school?”

“No, the Midnight Channel. All the victims - dead or otherwise - were on TV, and then the Midnight Channel, before they disappeared. The media attention seems to be enough to put them on the kidnapper’s radar.” Souji hesitates, then decides there’s no getting around it at this point. “I’m not fully convinced it’s enough, but… did you read the paper this morning?”

“Didn’t have time. Why?”

“Then I guess you didn’t give them permission to print Nanako’s name and photo identifying her as the girl that politician quoted on the news on Monday.”

His uncle stares at him for a long few moments, visibly torn between anger and dread. Then he snarls. “Godsakes. No, no I did not. I’ll have to go tear them a new one later, but - if there’s a chance it’s Nanako we should go home.”

“We should,” Souji says, “but we don’t need to rush. We knew a child was potentially in trouble, so we’re doing what we can for the one we can protect. That’s why Naoki-kun stayed at the house with her when we left. If something happens, he can tell the others.”

“I’d still rather - what the fuck--”

Souji hadn’t realised it was this close to midnight, but the way his uncle is staring past him in complete shock and disbelief, along with the sound of a TV clicking on unassisted, is enough to tell him the time. And sure enough, for a few moments, there is a clear outline of the mystery child, clear enough that he can easily identify Nanako…

…and then the image sharpens into something else entirely.

“That’s new.” Souji frowns, trying to look past the vaguely familiar man in a delivery uniform (there’s no sign of Nanako so far, thank the gods, but he won’t let that worry go until he sees her in person again). “Is that a newsroom?”

“Hard to tell with that shrine taking up most of the desk, but I think so.”

The person in the photo at the center of the elaborate shrine also looks vaguely familiar, but Souji can’t place her face. Not until the delivery guy starts talking, anyway.

“Well, now that the Yamano Memorial Rescue Plan is officially a bust--”

“Namatame?!” Souji’s uncle sounds even more baffled than he already was just by Souji telling him the truth. “What the hell.” Then he sighs. “Well, kid, if his alibi for the first two cases holds up, your two-culprits theory is probably on to something.”

“That’s good to know.” Souji doesn’t turn away from the TV until the broadcast cuts out, still with no trace of Nanako visible in that newsroom. “That looks like good news and bad news. The good news, as long as it holds up when we get home, is that it seems like he didn’t get his hands on Nanako after all.”

“And the bad news?”

“If the image is that clear, Namatame-san is already in the TV world. There’s an outside chance someone else put him in there, but given that he’s a delivery driver and tied to the case, I’d bet he did it to himself.”

His uncle nods. “What do we do now?”

“You make sure Nanako stays safe, especially since there might still be someone who wants to hurt her out there. We’ll get him out.”

***

Nanako-chan insists on staying up until her family comes home, and all things considered, Naoki really can’t blame her for that. He does at least convince her to do her normal bedtime routine first, and then sits with her on the living room couch while she dozes in and out of true wakefulness.

She’s asleep through the Midnight Channel broadcast, which he figures can only be a good thing. It’d be hard enough to explain the blurry outline of her own profile, never mind the contents of Namatame-san’s brain after that. (He really hopes that’s not his fault.)

She does perk up when the front door opens, though, even before Dojima-san quietly calls out that they’re home.

“Dad!” Nanako-chan’s on her feet pretty quickly, for as tired as she must be, and goes over to hug Dojima-san. “Are you and Souji-nii going to work together to catch the bad guy?”

“…Yeah,” Dojima-san says, after blinking a few times. “Yeah, we are. Come on, sleepyhead. Let’s get you tucked in.”

Once they’re out of the room, Souji-san says, “How much did you tell her?”

“That you’re trying to do the same thing from different angles. I couldn’t tell her nothing. That’d just make her worry more.”

“No, you’re right.” He sighs. “We should get some sleep too, since we have some work to do tomorrow.”

***

“So are we gonna have to scrub town for info about this guy, because if we are, that’s gonna suck.”

Rise sighs. “Calm down, Kanji. Let’s go over what we know first, and I’ll try from there.” It’s not that he’s wrong - it absolutely will suck if they have to waste time tracking down information - but she’d rather see what they have to start with.

“So Namatame-san’s the other half of the Yamano scandal, right?” Chie-senpai says, frowning. “And he was wearing a delivery uniform, so I guess we got that much right. And he has a tie to the very first victim, but didn’t the police rule him out pretty quickly?”

Souji-senpai nods. “Uncle said last night that he has an airtight alibi for both deaths. Either he was somehow in two places at once, and for Yamano-san’s death that may very well have been Tokyo, or we’re definitely dealing with two culprits. I know which one I think is more likely.”

“So do I.” Yosuke-senpai bites his lip. “Did you actually talk to him at all last night, Naoki-kun? What did he say?”

“He seems to think he’s been on a string of rescue missions all year,” Naoki says. “And he specifically said he couldn’t do anything for Saki - I remember she mentioned a delivery guy said some weird stuff to her, right before she disappeared, but he pretty clearly thinks that was a failure.”

“So he stopped trying to persuade us and skipped directly to using force,” Yukiko-senpai says. “And on the Midnight Channel, he called it the ‘Yamano Memorial’… he must still really miss her.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Rise thinks it over, then says, “That should at least be enough for me to start with. We should try, and if I can’t find him with that, we’ll double back.”

Naoto frowns. “What about Nanako-chan? Should some of us stay back to keep an eye on her, considering this all but confirms there’s a second, more dangerous culprit to keep in mind?”

“I’ll stay with Nana-chan!” Teddie says immediately, and Yosuke-senpai rolls his eyes.

“Not alone, you’re not. You hardly know how to work a phone, so if something goes wrong we at least need someone who can call for backup there.” He sighs. “I’ll take bear-minding duty. If you don’t get anywhere, text me. Otherwise, I’ll see you tonight.”

When the rest of them get into the TV, Rise summons her Persona to start looking for Namatame-san - and blinks. “Wow. That’s new. When did that happen?”

Chie-senpai stares at Rise’s new Persona - Kanzeon, apparently - before her eyes light up. “Oh, it’s like with Yukiko! She had some kind of breakthrough about the inn and college and stuff while you were recovering, so by the time we came back her Persona was different. I dunno that you really would’ve noticed the difference, since you were pretty out of it when we found you and then you helped us deal with Teddie.”

“Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t say I was at my most observant at that point.” Rise allows Kanzeon to lower the visor, the better to get on with what they’re there to do. “Found him. Let’s get going.”

When they reach the end of the path Rise charted, Naoto eyes the castle looming ahead of them. “I admit I was expecting something more… industrial than this, from the look of the broadcast.”

“It could still be that on the inside,” Souji-senpai says, “but I’ll grant that this is kind of weird.”

“It’s like a storybook vision of Heaven.” Rise frowns. “Maybe because he thought he was actually saving people?”

“There’s only one way to find out. Chie, Yukiko, Naoto-kun - let’s go.”