PERSONA 4 MYSTERIOUS MIST

A new lead - Part I

She walked into the busy station, her steps were rhythmic and had a certain hop to them, like she was dancing to a song only she could hear. The station around her was extremely crowded, which on one hand made her feel even more camouflaged, but at the same time she was worried if her disguise was convincing. That was why as soon as she saw the women restroom, she made a swift dash to it. Using the mirrors there, she confirmed with satisfaction that nobody would recognize her. Her wavy brunette copper-colored hair was loose as opposed to being tied to pigtails, and a good portion of it was stuffed into the cheap sports cap she was wearing, which made it look shorter than usual. The big round glasses she was wearing made her look like a completely different person, they had a slight dark shade to them which made her identity even more obscured. Yes! She thought to herself nobody will recognize me as I am... and when I reach Inaba I can take off this stupid disguise...

" 🎶 We are living our lives.... Abound with so much information🎶"

She felt a chill crawl up her spine when she heard her voice coming from one of the bathrooms, so she quickly left the restroom. She was running away from it as if she was escaping the pursuit of wolves, until she was sufficiently far away from it. At which point she stopped and looked back at the stream of people going to and from the trains. Thinking back, she chuckled to herself that it might have been a fan listening to the recent album she had released, which inspired even more muffled laughter from her as she wondered why would anyone jam to her music while doing their business in the bathroom. Of course, the more obvious reality would be that someone assigned her song to be their ringtone, and it was triggered at an inopportune time, but she didn't stop to think about that long enough, as she had a train to catch up to. She walked through the crowd as she was getting closer to the checkout counter, at which point she took out her ticket and walked happily toward it

" excuse me, young miss... ? "

" huh ?! Wh—what ?! " she looked back fearfully, the voice sounded familiar in all the wrong ways. Sure enough, the person walking toward her was her manager. Hoping that the glasses helped hiding her eyes, she hastened her pace to the counter, as the man chased after her while calling her. She was now running to escape him, but a wave of people emerging from the station stopped her advancement " oh c'mon ! " she dismayed, she was about to turn around and look for another way when she saw the man was right in front of her.

" excuse me, Miss... is this yours ? " he said, showing her a transportation card

" that's... y—yes... I must've dropped it when I took out my ticket... " she nodded shakily, holding her ticket close to her chest, hoping to obscure it. She took the card from him gingerly, before she muttered a hasty " thank you " and walked away as quickly as she could

" ah ! Wait ! " The man stopped her " this may sound strange but I can I ask you a question? "

" h—huh ? Wh—what ? " she looked back at him fearfully if he asks me to take off my cap and glasses, I'm finished !

" sir, I think we found her ! " a woman called out to him and approached from amidst the crowd, she showed him a card that the girl couldn't very well see " it's the business card of our idol group, I found it in the women restroom "

" I see... she might still be close... " the man nodded sternly, looking back at the girl, he said " sorry for bothering you, miss... excuse me... " before walking away with the woman in a hasty stride

The girl watched them disappear in the crowd, before letting a sigh of relief. She lamented on how easily she dropped those two cards, and thought she needed to be more careful lest she would be found out. Cautiously she made her way through the counter to the waiting lobby, finding a seat next to mother nursing her baby, she could finally feel relieved that she had escaped her managers. There was still some time until the departure of the train, so she allowed herself to relax for the first time since she snuck out of her home. Though her hands were still trembling as she took out her ticket and read it again. The robotic font typed on it clearly read ' 𝙺𝚞𝚓𝚒𝚔𝚊𝚠𝚊 𝚁𝚒𝚜𝚎 ' and showed the number of her seat and destination, as well as the estimated time of departure and arrival. She sighed, realizing that someone might see her ticket and expose her in the crowd, so she stuffed it in her purse once again.