18/5/16 After School, TV world
After school, we all gathered together at Junes to enter the TV world, prepared to save Kanji; however, I felt that someone was watching me again during our trip to Junes. We made it towards the store's electronics section and climbed into the same flatscreen television we first entered. Once we arrived at the main lobby of the TV world, we immediately put on the glasses Teddie made for us.
Yukiko: "Amazing. We actually went inside a television."
Chie: "Oh, yeah. This is sort of like the first time you've been here. At least on your own free will."
Yosuke: "What, you saying that you really have no idea where Kanji Tatsumi is?"
I looked over to my right to see that Yosuke was already talking to Teddie.
Teddie: "No. I can smell that somebody new is here, but for the life of me, I can't figure out where."
Yosuke: "Well, why can't you?"
Teddie: "I can only imagine; it's bearcause I got so much on my mind. Like, where do I come from? Who am I? These questions are tearing me up inside!"
Yosuke: "Weird since your insides are filled with nothing but air."
Y/N: "Give Teddie a break, Yosuke."
Chie: "So what now? Listen, if Teddie can't find him, then we're totally screwed."
Yosuke: "Well, I don't know what else to do; maybe we should just call it quits this time."
Chie: "Quitting is not an option!"
Yu: "Oh, okay."
Y/N: "You too. We can't just give up already."
Teddie: "Wait, I know; maybe I could find him if you gave me a hint. Do you guys have any kind of possession of his that might have his scent on it?"
Yu: "We should ask Kanji's mother if she has anything."
Y/N: "It would be good anyway to see if she noticed anything before he disappeared."
Yosuke: "Yeah. We'll be right back, Teddie."
We climbed through a stack of televisions that hadn't moved since we first arrived back into the Junes electronics department. We rushed over to the shopping district, opening the door to Tatsumi's Textile. Kanji's mother sat in the position we saw her last time.
Yukiko: "Hello, Tatsumi-san."
Mrs Tatsumi: "Are you looking for Kanji? I'm sorry, but he hasn't been home since yesterday. I told the police about it. I'm concerned because it's been so dangerous lately."
Yukiko: "I understand why you're worried."
Mrs Tatsumi: "Thank you. It's normal for him to leave without saying a word, but he's always come home before."
Chie: "Huh, who knew? I would have thought he be out fighting till dawn almost every night."
Yosuke: "Hey, you're talking to his mother here."
Mrs Tatsumi: "It's okay. I admit he can be a little rough around the edges at times. Not too long ago, he got into a fight with some biker kids."
Yosuke: "Yeah, I heard about it. He took on that entire gang and destroyed them. All of them."
Y/N (Thoughts): 'Ain't that hypocritical.'
Mrs Tatsumi: "Yes, that's right. Truth is that it was partially my fault. You see I hadn't slept for days because of the noise their bikes were making. When he found that out, it made him angry."
Yu: "So then he beat up an entire biker gang to help out his mother."
Yosuke: "Wow, now that is one aggressively devoted son."
Y/N: "His heart is in the right place; however, his mind could have used a little help."
Mrs Tatsumi: "I'm thankful for everything he does for me, but it's not good for him to go out and get in trouble with the police."
Yosuke: "I can imagine that's a pain, going to the station every time."
Mrs Tatsumi: "I don't mind. They're both trying to make this town better for different reasons. You should go join your friend outside."
Everyone glanced over their shoulder to notice Yu talking to a young boy. We all said goodbye to Kanji's mum and walked over to Yu and the little boy. The kid seemed to be holding a small, palm-sized, pink, crocheted bunny with a little red strap.
Little boy: "The big guy helped me calm down, and he offered to make one to replace Sana's strap, and he even made one for me, too, so I could match with Sana's bunny."
Everyone was taken aback because the versions of Kanji in our heads were not the same as reality.
Yosuke: "Are you saying that Kanji Tatsumi made a cute little bunny charm for you from scratch?"
Little boy: "Yeah."
Yukiko: "May I take a look at it?"
Little boy: "Sure."
Yukiko walked over and grabbed the bunny from the boy's hand to inspect it.
Yukiko: "Amazing. You have no idea this was handmade."
Chie: "It-it's super cute. I really don't know how to process the idea of Kanji making this thing."
Yosuke: "Man, this is freaky. He totally destroys the image I had of him."
Yu: "Hey, everyone's got their thing."
Y/N: "You can't judge a book by its cover, I guess. But still, you couldn't have predicted this."
Little boy: "Because of everything the big guy did, Sana forgave me, so I wanted to stop by and tell him thank you."
Yukiko: "Hey, listen, can I ask you for a favour."
Little boy: "Sure."
Yukiko: "Could we borrow this for a little bit? It's just we're trying to find Kanji, and we need his scent."
Little boy: "Well, if it's to help the big guy, I don't mind."
Yu: "Thanks, we'll return when we find Kanji."
Little boy: "Okay, good luck."
We all say thanks to the boy and rush back Junes. As we walked through the automated sliding doors of Junes, we encountered Naoto standing by the elevator doors of the Junes lobby. Naoto had a stressed look on her face.
Chie: "Hey, didn't we see that kid yesterday."
Y/N: "You too?"
It seemed our entrance caught Naoto's attention because she looked over at us.
Naoto: "Huh. So our paths cross again."
Y/N: "Yes, nothing has changed since I last saw you, hopefully. However, the expression on your face says overwise."
Naoto: "Well, have you heard? It looks as if Kanji is hiding out somewhere."
Yu: "Seems he might be."
Yosuke: "Hey, by the way, what exactly was it that you and Kanji were talking about yesterday?"
Naoto: "Ehm, what do you want to know that for?"
Yosuke: "Uh... Just curious, that's all."
Naoto: "Alright, fair enough. And since your group seems to be in a hurry, I'll be completely straight with you. When we met up, all I did was say hi and ask him what he's been up to lately."
Chie: "Really, it was just small talk."
Naoto: "Yep, pretty much, but thinking back, he was acting strange and not really like himself the whole time."
Yu: "He was."
Naoto: "Yeah, and it kept getting worse, so I decided to call him out on it. I said why are you acting so weird, then he got awkward, and the colour drained from his face."
Yosuke: "That is weird. He doesn't seem to be the type who cares about what people think about him."
Naoto: "You can't judge a book by its cover. Maybe he's struggling? It's quite possible that Kanji has some issues that we don't know about."
Yukiko: "What issues?"
Naoto: "I'm clueless... I should be going now."
Yosuke: "Alright, see ya."
Naoto walked off out of the store, as we entered an elevator to the second floor. We go over to the electronics section making sure that the coast is clear before entering into the TV. As we landed on the ground of the TV world, we all glanced over at Teddie to see that he was not alone. I could already tell who the person was from the colour of her hair and the golden pin sitting comfortably in between the hair.
Jess: "Does this place have any correlation with the Dark Hour?"
Teddie: "I don't know anything about this Dark Hour, miss. All I know is the TV world and your world."
Yukiko: "Who's she?"
Y/N: "How? How the hell are you here?"
Jess's body spun around to face us. She was now wearing a pair of brown coloured glasses, which I presume Teddie gave her.
Jess: "Ah, Y/N! I was wondering when you were returning."
Teddie: "Ah, sensei, did you bring the item?"
Yu handed Teddie the Bunny while I just stepped closer to Jess.
Y/N: "You shouldn't be here!"
Jess: "Why not? It's not that bad. I already made a friend."
Y/N: "How did you get here?"
Jess: "I saw you enter the Television at Junes, so I decided to join you. When I landed, you weren't here. Only Teddie was. He then gave me a rundown of what was happening."
Y/N: "Well, I don't care if you know you can't be here. It ain't safe."
Jess: "Well, I can't leave you here by yourself either. I can't risk you killing yourself. I don't want to lose you."
Y/N: "There's a difference, though. I can protect myself; you can't."
Jess: "I can protect myself. I have potential."
Yu: "What does that mean, Y/N?"
I let out a disgruntled groan from Jess, mentioning her potential to everyone in the Investigation Team.
Y/N: "It means nothing of importance, since we don't have the means to activate that potential."
Jess: "I ain't just going to stand back and do nothing. I don't want to watch from the sidelines and do nothing while others are hurting."
Yosuke: "She's insistent on coming. Why don't we just let her stay with Teddie?"
Y/N: "I won't allow that!"
Chie: "I'm with Y/N on this. It's too dangerous for her even to be in the dungeon. Without a persona, she's screwed."
Yu: "There's nothing else we can do. We leave her here; she'll try to follow us and get lost. Force her out of the TV world, and she'll just come back in, trying to find us and get lost. So the best option is keeping her with us, at least."
Jess: "Thank you, Yu-senpai."
Y/N: "I..."
Jess: "Teddie informed me that Shadows wouldn't go after me immediately since I didn't have a persona. "
Y/N: "Well... Fine."
Jess: "It'll be alright. I'm fast on my feet, and I'll keep an eye out for all of you."
The faith tarot card floated down with a light hue surrounding it.
Arcana: 'Thou aren't I... And I am thou... Thou hast increase their bond... It brings thou closer to the truth... Thou hast increased the Faith arcana to their fourth level.'
The card then evaporated from my vision.
Y/N: "You can't tell anyone of this. No one, not even her. Then, I'll agree to it."
Jess: "Fine by me."
Yu: "I guess welcome to the Investigation Team.
I sighed in defeat as Jess smiled proudly; I grabbed my sword from the pile of weapons near the stack of TVs and handed it to her.
Y/N: "Take this, as a just in case. You have potential, which might mean they'll still come after you."
Jess: "Saftey first."
While our conversation occurred, Teddie sniffed for Kanji's sense from the bunny.
Teddie: "I've bearfectly captured Kanji's sense! I am ready to head! I'm bear on the target! Okay, follow the bear!"
Teddie rushed off in a direction, leaving us to catch up.
Yosuke: "Hey Wait! Stuipid bear."
We quickly followed the same path Teddie ran through across the TV world. It wasn't long until we reached Kanji's dungeon, which seemed to be a traditional Japanese Bathhouse.
Yu: "Kanji's in here."
Chie: "This fog doesn't feel like it normally does."
Yukiko: "My glasses are foggy."
Jess: "Has to be some kind of steam."
Yosuke: "Man, it's hot. I'm soaked. This place feels just like a-"
The sound of a saxophone solo was emitted from a speaker.
???: "Well, hello there, pussy cat."
Kanji: "You have an amazing set of abs."
???: "There's nothing to be afraid of. Just relax."
Ass clenched immediately. All the males were surprised and afraid except Teddie, while Jess stared in a child-like wonder.
Yosuke: "Wait, hold on a second. Let's think about this."
Yu: "There definitely are some risks involved."
Y/N: "That was Kanji's shadow... You think there's a back door."
Insanity: 'Based on what we heard, I think there are only back doors.'
Yukiko: "Hey, Teddie, are you absolutely certain that Kanji is in there?"
Teddie: "Never underestimate the sensor that lives in my nose."
Chie: "Well, looks like we got to go in there then."
Yosuke: "Yeah, I don't know if I'm totally on board with this. I might see things and things I'll never be able to unsee. And I could lose something I don't want to lose."
Chie: "Shut up, we're going in."
Yukiko: "Come on, we got to go."
Yu: "Yeah, you're right."
I glanced over at Jess to see a smile on her face while everyone else walked in.
Y/N: "You sure you don't want to back out now?"
Jess: "No, because that would give you an excuse to walk away. And I'm already enjoying watching Yosuke-senpai squirm around in anguish. So tough luck."
Y/N: "Okay. I don't even care if I see some shit, you've now become the thing that's making me uncomfortable now."
Jess: "Let's not get left behind."
Insanity: 'You need to pick better friends.'
Y/N (Thoughts): 'This is partially your fault too!'
Jess began to drag me inside the dungeon. The inside seemed to be a room filled to the brim with lockers. Teddie led the way to Kanji with Chie and Yukiko directly behind him while the group's males were behind them and Jess behind us in awe of the place.
Jess: "I always wanted to go to a bathhouse."
Yukiko: "Good timing on joining us then."
Yosuke: "It's so hot, this sucks. I can't believe that we're really doing this. Hey, I know we should split up. Chie, Yukiko and Jess can charge in with full force; then we can go back outside and guard the entrance."
Yu: "Good plan."
Chie: "Man up! If you think I'm going, you guys ditch us. You got another thing coming. We are here to save Kanji, because we're the only ones who can help him, now try to keep that in mind okay!"
Yosuke: "You're right. He's not the complete thug I thought he was. So I guess we should nut up a bit and see if we can help."
Jess: "That's the spirit."
The hall of lockers soon ended with a red rug hanging from the next room, blocking our view. We got around to the ends – divided by our genders coincidently – of the rug and peered over to see Kanji's shadow, wearing the same clothes as on the Midnight Channel, flexing.
Shadow Kanji: "My, my. Thank you for noticing me. I am Kanji Tatsumi."
The shadow then winked at the boys, causing Yu and Yosuke to summon their personas. They quickly ran in front of the red rug to face Kanji, causing the rest of us to run out to stop them.
Chie: "Alright, alright! Wait a sec!"
Yosuke: "Screw that I say that we just get this done! I don't know if I could take another second in this freaky place!"
Shadow Kanji: "Well, well, well. We're airing live from the Suspicious Tropical Paradise. Oh, this steam is making my blood start to pump."
The shadow started to gyrate his body, causing Chie to summon her persona.
Teddie: "Come on, Chie, not you too!"
Chie: "Sorry, but this guy really bugs."
Yu: "Just a bit."
Y/N: "Doesn't mean we can just go in without a plan."
Shadow Kanji: "Alright, sweeties. Since everyone here is hot and bothered, let's go to our next segment."
Suddenly, text appeared in front of Kanji stating, No Girls Allowed! Take The Plunge!? It's The Steamy Paradise of Love!
Yu: "This could get a little awkward in more ways than one."
Y/N: "You don't say."
Chie: "Man, when we were trying to save Yukiko, it was just like this too."
Jess: "Really? That's amazing."
Yukiko: "No, it wasn't! It wasn't anything like this!"
Yosuke: "Who's creating these weird ass images anyway, the guy who's throwing people in here?"
Jess: "No, it's most likely the person's subconscious."
Shadow Kanji: "I really do love getting my grove on with ya, but I must continue my search for that bump and grind!"
The shadow performed a thumping motion before running off.
Shadow Kanji: "Follow if you dare!"
Yosuke: "Hold on!"
We all tried to catch up to him; however, a bunch of black sludge emerged from the roof, walls and floor. We stopped our chase and prepared for battle.
Yukiko: "Persona!"
Yukiko's persona raised its arms in the arm, causing a burst of fire to form directly on a group of incoming shadows. However, this didn't deter the other shadows from coming any closer. I took a deep breath as the World Tarot Card descended from the sky. I grabbed the card between my middle and index fingers before throwing it towards the shadows.
Y/N: "Justinian!"
The card shattered as my persona, based on the Roman Emperor, descended into the shadows, bashing them with his staff and slamming the group of shadows to the wall. However, more arose from the ground, dodging some of our attacks and getting closer to us. Everyone else used their primary weapons to defend themselves while having to dodge since Jess was currently using mine.
The shadows soon gathered weakness in the group and quickly bobbed and weaved from every attack everyone else's personas sent their way. I just sighed and began punching the shadows with nothing covering my hands. I then felt my persona get bashed into the wall, causing me to grunt out in pain.
Y/N: "A little help would be nice!"
Insanity: 'I'm doing my best. Duck!'
I got to the ground as a shadow fired a bullet at me.
Y/N (Thoughts): 'Thanks. Can't get shot now, can I?'
Yu: "Yukiko, Yosuke! Get the shadows off of Y/N's persona. Chie, we'll help Y/N."
Yosuke: "On it. Jiraiya!"
I felt the mental strain loosen as Yosuke's persona began yanking some shadows of Justinian.
Yukiko: "Konohana Sakuya."
I then felt my persona forced back into the wall by an eruption of fire hitting his back. I let a wheeze from the damage my persona took, causing me to be unable to dodge an incoming blow from a shadow.
Jess: "Y/N!"
Insanity: 'Got an idea. Move!'
I rolled out of the way from another shadow hit and instead rolled into another shadow that I recognized from Tartarus. I am then kicked by the killer twins, knocking me back a couple of steps.
Y/N: "What's that smartass?"
Insanity: 'Going use your hand.'
My hand rose into the air by itself and began to form cuts and scars that began to bleed across my skin. I got up on one knee and looked at my persona, who was doing the same thing. An energy radiated from him that I could feel; however, I was bashed into by a shadow, and then another followed suit, with the rest joining in until they finally knocked me down to the floor. I began to hear the faint sound of a piano; however, the sound of rushing footsteps and a gut-curling scream overtook it.
The sound of glass shattering rang through my ears, causing the shadows to stop and look behind me.
Jess: "Artemis!"
Rays of light descended on every single shadow, impaling them straight into the ground. The shadows then exploded into a black goo. I regathered my breath and recalled Justinian back to my psyche. I tried to harness and call out to either Napoleon or Orpheus-Picaro so I could heal myself to a greater extent than Justinian or Yukiko could. I heard a tune from a harp play, and I felt my strength return to me as I harnessed Orpheus-Picaro's healing capabilities.
Insanity: 'At least we can still use their healing abilities.'
I sat up and saw a humanoid persona standing behind Jess, wearing a white dress with a blue cape around the shoulders and holding a silver bow with an arrow slotted in the bow. The persona disappeared into the Faith Tarot card.
Y/N: "She did it without an evoker or facing her shadow..."
Insanity: 'Maybe having potential caused that.'
I began moving my hand across the damaged parts of my body. The bruises across my body began absorbing back into my skin. Yukiko rushed over to me with her hand extended out.
Yukiko: "I'm so sorry Y/N. Are you alright?"
Y/N: "I'm fine. Should be alright to continue."
Yukiko: "Stay still and let me help."
Yukiko got closer, looking over my body to see where she could help; however, most of the pain was already gone.
Yukiko: "Amazing. Your healing capabilities have surpassed mine."
Yu walked over to us, surprised at what Yukiko said.
Yu: "Really? I thought Justinian didn't have that great of a healing skill?"
Y/N: "He doesn't. It's just something I could use on myself."
Yu: "That's a shame. Yosuke got himself a little burnt from Yukiko's fire."
Yukiko: "I didn't mean to."
Yu: "It's alright. You were just in the heat of the moment."
Yu reached out his hands towards me and Yukiko and helped us off the ground.
Yu: "So, do you have any idea how Jess could summon a persona without facing her shadow?"
Y/N: "Trying to figure that out in my head right now."
We walked over to the rest of the group, who were talking with each other. Jess looked over at me and hugged me immediately.
Jess: "This is why I needed to come. I want to help you and everyone else. So please don't do that again."
Y/N: "Trust me, it takes more than that to take me down."
Teddie: "So Jess-chan, how did you summon your persona without facing your shadow."
Jess: "I don't know, it just came to me. I couldn't just let Y/N get beat to the curb, so a voice called out to me, and bam! Persona appeared. That's all I know."
Yosuke: "So you just summoned it. So unfair."
Chie: "At least only Narukami saw yours."
Yu: "Have you signed a contract of any kind?"
Jess: "Huh, no. Why you asking?"
Yu: "Nothing important. Just curious."
Y/N: "How are you feeling?"
Jess: "I feel great. I can still keep going."
Yu: "If you say so. Just don't keep pushing yourself."
Chie: "We shouldn't leave Kanji waiting any longer."
Yu: "Is everyone okay with continuing?"
Yosuke: "I should be okay."
Yukiko: "I can keep going."
Jess: "I'm ready to go."
Y/N: "Let's not keep him waiting."
Yu: "Alright, Teddie. Lead the way."
Teddie: "On it."
Teddie led us through several corridors that seemed to have no end. Shadows appeared; however, they didn't come in a large group, causing us to easily defeat them. We soon made it to a large door with Welcome to the Tropical Paradise written in large hiragana characters.
Y/N: "Very bold design choice."
Jess: "So that means."
Yu: "He's in here, isn't he?"
Yosuke: "Yeah, he's got to be."
Chie: "Okay, let's go in there and take this guy."
Yukiko: "Yeah, but keep your cool."
Jess: "You should most likely follow that advice as well, Yukiko-senpai."
Yukiko: "It wasn't on purpose."
Chie: "Listen, no matter what happens in there, we got to stay focused on the mission, which means first we rescue Kanji, and after we rescue him, we save him."
Yukiko: "Hehehe, Chie, both those objectives are the same thing."
Chie: "Um, it was intentional."
Yukiko: "You sure about that?"
Yosuke: "Yeah, obviously! *groans* You know Yukiko, I seriously don't get you sometimes."
We didn't move a muscle to try and open that door; we just stood and stared. I began to feel everyone's appreciation for the person who created doors.
Teddie: "Um, why aren't you guys opening the door."
Everyone gasped from Teddie's observation.
Chie: "Well... you see, we're just..."
Yosuke: "Do we really have to? You know, sometimes you can see certain things, and then they get seared in your brain forever and ever and ever."
Yukiko: "He does have a point. What do you think, Narukami?"
Yu: "Maybe some dinner first?"
Y/N: "Yeah, or maybe a massage."
Jess: "We can't just give up now! He's right in there; no matter what we see, we must save him! So it's time for us to grow a pair of balls and use them."
Yosuke: "I don't want to use them, though."
Jess: "Well, I'm not asking!"
Jess grabs Yosuke's and Yu's jacket collars, pushing them towards the door. Unfortunately for me, I was standing between them, so I got caught up in the mandatory group huddle.
Yu and Yosuke pushed the door open, letting us walk through and see a dressed Kanji in his school uniform pushing down a crudely covered version of himself to the ground. To make things look more awkward, Kanji restricted his Shadow by being on top of him, making the scene look more fitting on the night programs on the TV.
Insanity: 'This reminds me of when you and Fuuka were in this position.'
Y/N (Thoughts): 'Why did you remind me that?'
Insanity: 'Because I can.'
Shadow Kanji: "Kanji's so gentle and silk; I love it!"
Kanji: "I have heard enough out of you!"
Invest Team: "This is really awkward."
Kanji: "Huh! What are you guys doing here!?"
Yosuke: "Well, we came here..."
Yu: "To save you."
Kanji: "Well, you sure as hell don't sound all that motivated!"
Y/N: "We... were, though we were not prepared for what we just walked into."
Shadow Kanji: "Oppsie daisy."
Kanji's shadow pushed the real him off of him and stood up in a flash.
Shadow Kanji: "I won't let you interfere!"
A bunch of flowers flew out from behind him as he flexed. Then the baths began to overfill with a liquid, causing it to spill across our half of the room up to our school shoes.
Chie: "What the heck is this? Is this supposed to slow us down?"
Chie tried to run over to both Kanjis; however, her first step on the liquid caused her to slip. Instantly, my reflexes kicked in, and I grabbed her hand to prevent the fall. Unfortunately, Chie was too late to regain her footing, causing us to fall into the liquid. I fell directly on top of her, but I stopped myself from smashing our foreheads together.
Yukiko/Jess: "Chie / Y/N!"
I looked directly at her eyes, and she looked directly at mine; meanwhile, Insanity went to taste the liquid, and a phone camera went off.
Y/N: "Sorry for that."
I tried to get up; however, moving my left leg slipped, causing me to fall right on my back.
Yukiko: "Is everything alright?"
Yukiko took a step over to us before succumbing to the same fate as us.
Yosuke: "Why are you crawling on the floor?"
Chie: "Oh, it's slimy. This stuff is gross!"
Insanity: 'Oh, that's some sort of cum. Some pineapple mixed in as well.'
Y/N: "It's what!? Wait, what was that about the pineapple?"
Yosuke: "Narukami, you wouldn't have a camera, would you?"
Yu: "No."
Jess: "Don't worry, boys. I got it all."
Jess was the only person who brought their phone with them into the dungeon, it seemed, and she was taking full advantage of that.
Chie: "That isn't funny! Aick!"
Chie tried to get up but instead slipped again.
Y/N: "How much?"
Jess: "$50."
Kanji: "You bastard."
Shadow Kanji: "Honey, why don't you just drop the shade? Isn't it time for you to tell people how you truly feel? I am everything you wished you could be."
Kanji: "You liar!"
Yosuke: "No! Don't listen to him! Go Jiriaya!"
Yosuke tried to summon his persona, but he slipped.
Yu: "Yosuke!"
Narukami tried to save him, but they both fell flat on their faces.
Teddie: "I'll help you, Sensei! Leave to Bear-...!
Teddie tried to run other to us, but it seemed the liquid also worked on him; however, Teddie had Newton's first law of motion going against him, causing him to slide across the room and bash his head into a wall.
Jess: "You idiots."
Shadow Kanji: "I really hate girls. They look at me and say You like to sow or I paint a pretty picture, they laugh at it and say Wow! That's weird for a guy!"
Insanity: 'I'm been insulted by this man's idiocy.'
Kanji: "Frick. You don't shut your mouth, I'll... God damn..."
Kanji began groaning out in pain. The Shadow rested his hands on the kneeling Kanji's shoulders.
Shadow Kanji: "You should be strong. You should be tough. You should be manly. But what does that even mean? Girls can be so scary."
Kanji: "Girls aren't scary!"
Y/N (thoughts): 'Agree to disagree.'
Shadow Kanji: 'Guys are much better. They never say those awful things. That's why I like men!"
Kanji: "That's not true!"
Shadow Kanji: "Oh, but it is. See, you are me, and I am so you."
Kanji: "Like hell you are."
Yu: "No Kanji! Don't say it!"
Kanji: "There's no freakin' way you are a part of me!"
Shadow Kanji: "Oooo ~ I'm sorry, but I am you!"
A dark aura encased the shadow as it transformed into a large muscular body with red flowers starting from its towel-covered crotched and travelled up to surround Kanji's Shadow chest, arms and head, appearing where the neck would be. It held two large gold symbols of the male sex in its arms. An additional two other muscular shadows appeared alongside Kanji's shadow, both very revealing.
Shadow Kanji: "I am a shadow of your true inner self."
Kanji: "Alright, I have heard enough of this bullshit you're slinging!"
Shadow Kanji: "Hahaha, don't interfere!"
The shadow threw the two male sex icons up in the air before catching them through the hole and punching his fists together. Massive steaks of lightning erupted out of his two smashed-against fists, aimed directly at Kanji. However, Jess summoned her persona in front of Kanji, causing an explosion and knocking Jess and Kanji to their knees.
Y/N: "Are you alright, Jess!?"
Yosuke: "Hang in there, man!"
We all got up off the ground and kept our balance this time.
Shadow Kanji: "I want to finally be honest with myself, and I give it to anyone who tries to stop me!"
Yukiko: "I can't believe this is how Kanji really feels."
Yosuke: "It's not. It's just that his emotions have gone all haywire!"
Yu: "Get him!"
We all summoned our personas, which charged directly at Kanji's shadow; however, the two other shadows blocked Chie's persona's kick, and the other took mine and Yukiko's agi spell. They both moaned from the damage.
Nice guy: "Hey now. Come on, baby."
Chie: "What the hell is that?"
Tough guy: "Duh! That feels good!"
Yukiko: "Oh no!"
Y/N: "I need my mother."
Yu: "It just gets wierder."
Yosuke: "Hey Teddie, what the heck's going on!? We got some major creepers here!"
Teddie: "I'll be willing to bear that they're some part of Kanji's shadow."
Yu's persona tried to attack one of them; however, they just grappled onto his persona.
Nice Guy: "Nice. You're a stud."
Yu: "Alright, change!"
The Shadow lost its grip on Izanangi as he turned a blue light before returning to the fool tarot card and switching towards the Strength card. The card shattered as Yu closed his fist, summoning Rakshasa. Yu's and Yosuke's personas charge towards shadow Kanji but are prevented by the other shadow hugging both personas.
Tough Guy: "Hold me tight!"
Yu: "Ah, Chang-!"
A large thud erupted behind where we stood, provoking Yu to lose focus and preventing him from changing his persona.
Nice Guy: "You look yummy."
The Shadow reached his hand down to Yu's rear end, causing Yu to be sickened by the Shadow's words.
Nice Guy: "You too."
The shadow reached his other hand down to touch Yosuke's emergency exit, causing the same effect. Before the shadow could use its Third Hand on me, I did what any reasonable gentlemen would have done: nearly twisting my nick 180° and letting Insanity take over. The females of the group stared in horror at what I did, while the boys were not feeling well enough to notice.
Y/N+Insanity: "Oh, hi! I'm going to stop you right there. I'm quite honoured that you see me that way; however, I must reject such a gracious proposal. For you see, my sexual orientation is, unfortunately, not you. Additionally, I cannot support your endeavours, for you have methods including the acts of sexual assault, which is self-explanatory. My neck is starting to hurt now, so I must bid a due."
My hand slammed directly into the centre of my cheek, rotating my head back in the correct direction; however, my neck and cheek hurt like hell. The girls' horror shifted to one of bewilderment as I screamed out in pain.
Y/N+Insanity: "We are never doing that again! Worth it, though. Oh, fuck the pain ain't ending!"
All the males of the group fell to the floor, with two of them from toxicity from the shadows and me nearly killing myself. Contrastly though, I wasn't sexually assaulted, so I had the better deal out of the two.
Teddie: "That monster's toxic. He totally broke their spirits in half!"
Chie: "Holy crap!"
Jess: "It seems they're going to be out of play for a bit."
Yukiko: "It's okay; the monsters aren't interested in us, I think."
The other shadow stared down at Yukiko, causing her to start feeling uncomfortable.
Yukiko: "You talking to me?"
Tough Guy: "You don't look good in red."
Yukiko: "What!"
Yukiko became enraged at the shadow, causing her to command her persona to burn the living hell out of him. However, the shadow seemed to like it and moaned into it, indicating something, if I or insanity still weren't massaging my neck.
Chie: "Ease up, Yukiko!"
The other shadow that attacked us boys walked over to Chie, got to her level and whispered in her ear.
Chie: "You're freaking me out!"
The shadow jumped back as Chie's persona aimed its spear at him, which caused him to be encased in ice.
Nice Guy: "Now that feels good!"
Jess: "Hey, calm down, everyone. There's no need for this attitude."
Teddie: "Jess is beary, right, so everybody, keep your cool!"
Jess tried to hold them back, but they didn't stop. So she moved over to us next; however, the two boys didn't move an inch while I was doing anything to help ease my neck.
Shadow Kanji: "Well they weren't any trouble at all, what a joke!"
Kanji's shadow threw its two male icons up in the air before catching stem up and smashing the circular part to the ground, which emitted a purple lightening at our nearby personas. Everyone screamed from the sudden pain impacted against our inner selves; however, Yosuke and I were in agony due to our personas being weak to electricity.
Shadow Kanji: "I love the screams. They make me so happy."
The shadow looks down at the real deal with a displeased grunt accompanying the stink eye.
Shadow Kanji: "But you are an eyesore!"
Kanji's shadow smashed the two symbols together, firing out lightning straight towards Kanji; however, Yu pushed through the pain and protected Kanji with him and his persona. The lightning attack stopped, causing everyone to catch their breath and Yu to fall onto the floor. When Yu hit the ground, the pink bunny Kanji made fell out of his pocket.
Kanji: "Did you..."
Shadow Kanji: "Darlings, it's our last time to Get! Our! Grove! On!"
The shadow impaled the symbols to the ground and flexed, causing purple static to surround him; however, the most peculiar thing occurred. Yu stood up as the Priestess's tarot card floated down in front of his arm with a bright light. Yu then slid his right hand to the left, and the Magician Tarot card appeared in front of his left shoulder. The cards then floated behind him into a complex design circle.
Kanji's shadow fired off a streak of lightning at Yu; regardless, Narukami crossed his hands, causing the two cards to collide with each other, summoning a multiheaded snake.
Yosuke: "Oh, awesome."
Y/N: "He just did a fusion in the middle of battle."
Two of the snake heads entangled around the two smaller shadows.
Nice Guy+Tough Guy: "Oh yes, bring it!"
The other heads screeched as ice encased Shadow Kanji's body from the floor.
Shadow Kanji: "I'm so cold."
It seemed that Kanji noticed the pink bunny he had made on the floor.
Kanji: "Hey, that's..."
Yu: "You made it right."
Kanji: "So you got a problem with that. I can make that thing and still be tough."
Yu: "I know. I think it's cute."
Kanji: "Wha..."
Yu: "I said it's cute."
Kanji: "Cute."
Shadow Kanji: "You think it's cute. Hello, it's super duper cute! I love everything cute!"
The shadow broke free from the ice, firing off lightning, causing me to change to Izanagi-mnÍmi to avoid any real damage. However, that was soon stopped as Kanji got off the ground, clenching onto the bunny he made as he got closer to the shadow.
Shadow Kanji: "You are so persistent!"
Kanji: "Yep. There is no denying it."
Shadow Kanji: "Come again?"
Kanji began to run up to the shadow.
Kanji: "I can't help it. I love stupid cute shit!"
Kanji then punched his own shadow in its gut, causing it to lose the morphed body and the destruction of the other two shadows.
Chie: "I don't believe it. He just beat up his own shadow."
Y/N: "That must have been a damn good punch."
Kanji: "Look... It made me happy when you called what I made cute. You didn't make fun of me for it."
Kanji's shadow now stood as we first saw it on the Midnight Channel, staring at Kanji.
Teddie: "He-He's come back for more! This guy really is unbearable."
Shadow Kanji: "Somebody, oh anybody. Please just accept me!"
The shadow began running over to us with open arms.
Kanji: "I said cut the crap out!"
The shadow stopped dead in its tracks as he looked at the real Kanji.
Kanji: "I hate that this guy is inside me. You absolutely have no idea how freaking embarrassing it is."
Y/N (Thoughts): 'I feel ya.'
Yu: "Kanji."
Kanji: "It ain't about men or women; I'm just scared shitless about being made fun of. I'm nothing but a big old coward who spends most of his time pushing people away. Look, I already knew you existed. You're me, and I'm you. That isn't a major revelation. You freakin' moron."
The shadow turned into a bright light before changing to a large, bulky persona that carried a large metal lightning bolt. Its body was black, with a skeleton outline drawn on the front.
Yukiko: "Look at that, it's Kanji's persona."
Jess: "So that's how you all got your personas."
Chie: "That is definitely one macho dude."
Kanji's persona then morphed into the Emperor Tarot card and floated into Kanji's hand.
Kanji: "Persona."
Kanji then fell to his knees, exhausted from achieving his persona.
Yosuke: "Yo! You okay?"
Jess: "Huh, what's wrong?"
Yu: "Kanji!"
Y/N: "Don't overwork yourself."
Kanji: "Heh."
Kanji then immediately lost consciousness.
Yosuke: "Let's get him out of here!"
Time skip Evening Dojima residence
After we climbed out of the TV world, Yukiko and Yu took Kanji back to his place. I immediately returned home to help my neck. Once I got home, I saw Nanako was already back from her school doing homework.
Nanako: "Big bro!"
Y/N: "Hello Nanako. Sorry to do this early, but I need to take a shower and put some hot water on my neck."
Nanako: "Huh, what happened?"
Y/N: "I ah... moved my head to face. Nothing serious but quite annoying. Yu should be back soon."
Nanako: "Okay. Daddy's coming home tonight with dinner, so don't take too long."
Y/N: "Now I have to be quick. I don't want to miss dinner."
I opened the bathroom door and realised I hadn't got any of my clothes. I went up to my room, grabbed my clothes, and returned to the shower. After cleaning myself off with great effort, I returned downstairs to see Nanako and Yu sitting down next to each other, discussing her homework.
Yu: "You're out finally."
Y/N: "I wasn't in there for too long."
Yu: "I returned, changed out of my uniform and put it in the washing machine."
Y/N: "I could do that in a minute, at most."
Yu: "I believe you."
Y/N: "I hate you."
Yu: "No, you don't."
Nanako: "Are you two fighting?"
Y/N: "No, but if we were, I would be winning."
Yu: "Said who? You got to get your mind out of this false allusion."
Nanako: "No fighting."
We looked at the little girl before we both returned our gaze with an exacerbated detail on our faces. I sighed and reached for a handshake, and he promptly followed suit.
Y/N: "I'm going back to our room. Tell me when Dojima's back."
I climbed up the stairs to mine and Yu's room, pulling my phone out to call Jess once I shut the door. After a couple of seconds, Jess answered her phone.
Jess: "Hello, is something the matter."
Y/N: "No, not really. I just wanted to check on you."
Jess: "I'm doing alright. If anything, I'm more worried about you. You got pretty beat up earlier."
Y/N: "Not my best moment, but we all have those days. Are you tired?"
Jess: "Yeah, I'm feeling more tired than usual, but that can be attributed to the TV and fighting Kanji's shadow. Was the Dark Hour and Tartarus weird like that?"
Y/N: "Well, it depends. Tartarus, no. The twelve full moon shadows, yeah. I'm still plagued by what the Lovers shadow did to me. The Hang Man one was a day and a half, but that could be contributed for the events following it though."
Jess: "What's been more challenging?"
Y/N: "The Dark Hour so far, but... I presume it has to do with how deeply someone rejects a part of them."
Jess: "I'm reading through the Kirijo Group files of the S.E.E.S, and I noticed that you aren't using Alexander or Napoleon. Why's that?"
Y/N: "Need an evoker. I faced myself and got Justinian afterwards."
Jess: "So you had your own shadow. What did it transform into?"
Y/N: "It didn't. I never rejected it. It just started blasting."
Jess: "Huh, I wonder what would happen. What did you reject and hide?"
Y/N: "Control."
Jess: "Fucking emo."
Y/N: "Oi, don't kick them while they're hanging."
Jess: "Did you..."
Y/N: "Yep... That was messed up..."
The door to the room opened, causing me to spin around on the back of my heel and face Yu, who stood at the door.
Yu: "Uncle's back with dinner."
Y/N: "I'll be there soon."
Yu just nodded his head and walked back down to the living room.
Y/N: "Hey, sorry, I've got to have dinner."
Jess: "That's alright. Talk to you soon."
Y/N: "Yeah. Take care."
I hung up from the call and exited the room back downstairs to join the others for dinner. Everyone but Dojima was eating the premade meal from Junes, that the detective bought.
Dojima: "Adachi said something. He said he saw you two outside Tatsumi's Textile the other day; what were you doing at that place?"
Yu: "We were with a friend of ours who took us there."
Dojima: "You're not involved in anything you shouldn't be, are ya?"
Dojima stared at Yu and then at me, then switched back to Yu like it was an old Western dual. We both held neutral eye contact; however, the room was tense.
Nanako: "You fighting?"
Dojima: "No, no, we're just talking. That's all."
Nanako: "Really?"
Dojima: "Yeah."
We all continued eating our meals, forgetting about the previous interaction.
This chapter was painful. The title was how I felt when writing this. Thankfully, the next chapter will be less problematic. Mainly increasing social links and introducing a new one, maybe. Anyway, I hope you have an amazing rest of your week, day or month.
Wordcount *6940*