Nerusona

Chapter 17

Part 1: April

Chapter 17

April 27th. Sunday.

“What do you mean he said he’s just like us?” asked Yamaguchi, her tone sounding panicked. “Oh god, he’s probably been watching us this entire time—”

“I know,” repeated Tanaka for the hundredth time.

Teddy frowned. “What’s going to happen to us?” he asked, sitting next to Idola at the table where everyone else sat.

Tanaka had called an emergency meeting for the group of Persona users and insisted that it was held at his and Yamaguchi’s house. The team was all present, discussing the topic of Roku and his knowledge of their activities.

“Roku-sensei told me that we shouldn’t enter Tartarus anymore,” said Tanaka, “because it’s too dangerous.” He rested his head in his hands as his elbows were propped up on the wooden table. “The Distortion is called Tartarus, by the way.”

“He must be a Persona user too,” said Raku, eating a cookie from the tray of snacks she made from her house earlier. She leaned back in her chair. “From the sound of it, he’s an experienced one. He healed Teddy during our fight with Mamoru’s Shadow.”

Mamoru nervously looked at Teddy. “I’m sorry about hurting you…”

“It’s not your fault,” Idola reminded her step-brother. She let out a sigh and took a chocolate chip cookie from the metal tray sitting on the tabletop. “How long has Roku-sensei been stalking us?”

Tanaka shrugged. “I don’t know. I assume he’s been watching us from the start.”

“Wait, if he’s also a Persona user…” Yamaguchi straightened her posture and slammed her fist on the table, startling some of the students. “There’s no way he’d get us in trouble! He would be at risk, too!”

“But he’s a part of the school staff.” Idola held her half-eaten cookie in her hand. “If we don’t listen to what he says, then he could probably convince the principal to kick us out of the academy.”

“Okay.” Tanaka sat up straight. “Until further notice, we’ll stay away from Tartarus. We’ll wait a few days to figure out what’s going on unless Roku-sensei speaks up.”

All six students nodded unanimously.

April 28th. Monday.

An air of apprehension hung around Tanaka like a cloud as he entered classroom 2-C, and even though the teacher wasn’t in the room yet, he felt paranoid that something bad was going to happen. When Roku did enter the classroom, Tanaka kept his gaze averted in fear of drawing attention and being pulled outside of class to have a private chat with the teacher. Tanaka’s worries were put at ease as soon as he realized that Roku didn’t even bother to look his way, but rather was focused on finishing up the last day of assessments. When the school ended, the teacher didn’t pull Tanaka aside after class as the student feared. Tomorrow was a club meeting, so maybe he planned to talk to Tanaka then.

April 29th. Tuesday.

“Why do I have to be Juliet?” queried Raku, carefully looking through the script held in her hands. “I feel like you secretly want Tanaka and I to marry or something.”

“Tanaka seems popular amongst our club, so I chose him as Romeo.” Shido glanced over at Raku. “As for you, I thought you captured Juliet’s beauty perfectly.”

Raku lifted an eyebrow, narrowing her gaze. “Are you hitting on me?” asked the teen, her tone sounding defensive. Her face heated up with embarrassment.