March 18
Madran, after getting back from the tiresome, all-day event of meeting other invitees to the panel, had fallen asleep in a rather fast manner, but awoke early the next day. Sheila was already up, and was checking the TV.
"Uh, hey, Sheila, what's wrong?"
Madran yawned.
"Well, I randomly woke up at around 12 last night, and the TV was acting up. It was all green and fuzzy, and a kinda familiar figure appeared on it. I was confused, so I checked it out, but I couldn't find anything, so I'm trying again today."
Madran tried to turn the TV on, but noticed that it wouldn't work. She then checked the batteries, and found that they were all still there.
"Um..."
"Oh, right, I had unplugged the TV last night so that you all would get to bed."
"Wait, then, why would it go on?"
Sheila looked very worried.
"Good question."
Madran then checked her phone, seeing that a few texts had come from Philemon's contact.
Philemon: This is Margaret. Are you up? It might be a bit early, but something odd happened.
Philemon: Elia told me that she had to preform a quick reset on the TV, but forgot to replug it. During midnight, she told me that she had heard the TV acting up. This might mean that the Midnight Channel is acting up again, and not just in Inaba.
Philemon: Philemon has also been acting weirder. He doesn't seem to mind me using his contact, nor does he even talk to us anymore. Elizabeth suggested that he had come down with apathy syndrome, but upon further examination, he seemed fine.
Philemon: I am sorry to bug you at this hour, but have you seen or heard anything weird on the TV in your room in the inn?
Madran noticed that the question was the last text sent, so she responded.
Madran: Yeah, Sheila had unplugged the TV so that we could sleep and it went all green fuzzy and showed a figure on it at 12.
Philemon: Did she recognize the figure?
Madran: Kinda, yeah.
Philemon: Could you get one of the three of you to stay up past midnight? Tell Kinaru that this is important.
Madran: I'll try.
Madran set her phone down, and went over to Sheila.
"Ok, so, I'll tell you what Margaret told me in a bit, but what are we supposed to wear to this meet-up?"
"Oh, the fan event? Well, you can wear your casual clothes. This isn't as formal as the event yesterday."
"I swear, I was about to lose my sanity..."
"Well, thank goodness Katsuya was there to save the day."
"Yeah, that 'oh, did you drop this' tactic worked great."
"Yep."
Suga then got up and wiped her eyes.
"Uh, what time is it?"
"Um, about 7?"
"Ok."
Everyone slowly got fully awake, aside from Sheila, and got dressed in normal clothes. Sheila then looked over at Kinaru poking her head in.
"Well, it seems that you all are ready. If you wanted to, you could get breakfast at the inn, and then explore?"
"What time's the event?"
"Um, around 12:30."
Sheila nodded and clapped her hands twice in excitement.
"Great! Um, let's go."
"Remember, meet me at the warehouse area at 12:30. Does everyone have their phones?"
Madran, Suga, and Sheila all checked and nodded.
"Let me know if you all need a ride. Stay safe, please."
"Um, what about you, Okāsan?"
"Well, Sheila, I'm planning to spend some time with my sister and check up on her husband."
"Oh, right, what about Mr. Inan?"
Kinaru looked over to Madran.
"He had to go on a business trip, sadly. He wishes all of you godspeed and divine protection in your Metaverse trips, if I remember correctly."
Suga smiled and blushed.
"Aw, what a guy. Tell him the same back."
Kinaru nodded. Sheila then kissed Kinaru on the cheek and left with Madran and Suga.
"Ok, so, what should we do?"
"I was planning to go to the business district and check out that area and Junes."
"Ooh, and take a walk at that floodplain area."
"Samegawa Floodplain?"
"That's the one."
"Sounds like a plan."
Kinaru went after them.
"Um, shouldn't I drive you there?"
"Oh, right, uh, none of us brought our licenses. Oops."
Madran made a slightly embarrassed smile, and Suga shrugged. Sheila nodded.
"Er... yes, thank you."
Kinaru smiled, and she called someone who Madran assumed was Arah. After a bit of talking, Kinaru hung up.
"Ok! Arah said that I could borrow her car."
"Huh? It's here?"
"Yep. She works the early shift, but on the 16th, it was all hands on deck."
"Ok. Well, tell her that she has our thanks."
Kinaru nodded at Sheila and they all exited the inn and got into her car. After a bit of driving, they all arrived at what Madran thought to be the shopping district.
"Bye! Thanks, Kinaru-san!"
Madran, Suga, and Sheila got out of the car and waved to Kinaru as she left.
"Ok, so, I got this map, and Junes is up thataway."
Sheila began to guide them around, and Madran viewed a rather bustling shopping area. A few shops were out of business, though, which rather confused her.
"Hey, why're some shops closed?"
"I think we can accredit that with Junes. When is was established here, it brought many people in, but put a lot of stores out."
"Yikes."
Madran remembered a few things about Margaret's tale, like how one victim of the murders several years ago in Inaba worked at Junes.
"Hey, Sheila, do you think we'll meet that Hanamura guy at Junes?"
"Ok, Yosuke Hanamura? Well, maybe. Last I heard he was in college."
"Did someone say my name?"
Madran stopped and made a very bemused face.
"WHY, WORLD? DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS?"
"Sweet mother of God, it happened again."
Madran slowly turned around to see a man who appeared as old as Yukiko, with short cut brown hair that was obviously dyed, pale-ish skin and brown eyes. He was wearing a patterned t-shirt and jeans. Madran slowly turned around, which made Suga burst into laughter.
"Uh, S-Sheila did it!"
Sheila sighed, and looked over to the man, or Yosuke.
"Yes, I did say your name."
Sheila looked up and smiled at Yosuke. However, she then flinched in tandem with Yosuke.
"Ooh, I guess that they did the eye thingy."
"The color inverting and the such?"
"Yep."
Yosuke wiped his eyes.
"Huh. What was that?"
"Um, I have no idea..."
"For a second, I swear you turned into a weird, Egyptian-looking lady."
"Oh... that's, uh, weird."
Sheila laughed uncomfortably.
"I saw a, um, weird frog monster."
Sheila and Yosuke both exchanged awkward looks for a bit.
"Wait, are you Sheila Inan?"
"Yeah. I came here for the panel. I brought my friends, Madran and Suga along."
"Really? Wow! I'm such a big fan!"
Yosuke looked rather excited, and Sheila shook his happily extended hand.
"Your latest photoshoot was great! Like, how long did you hold that pose?"
"For about 10 minutes. My hand still hurts."
"Ooh, the one with that perfume bottle?"
"Yep. Oh, Yosuke-sama, if you want to, we could meet up again at the event at the Samegawa Rec. Center and visit me at my booth."
"Oh, right, the panel."
"Also, Risette's here. I saw her with Yukiko, and we chatted for a bit. Ooh, and, and, Lisa from The Muses is here!"
"Really? That's amazing!"
"Yeah. Oh, also, according to Suga, you're a guy who can answer a question I have."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Well, last night, at around 12 PM, the TV started acting up. I was confused about this, because I had unplugged it to help Madran and Suga sleep."
Yosuke looked very confused.
"What did you see on it?"
"Well, I saw a buncha green static and a figure of someone who resembled a friend Madran has."
Yosuke nodded.
"Excuse me, I have to go. I'll see you at the event!"
Yosuke went to past a building and got on a bike and left.
"This can't be good, if he reacted like that."
"Um, let's just hurry to Junes."
After some walking and troubled thinking, the trio arrived at a large supermarket that had a large red logo on the front reading "JUNES" in big letters. The three entered the store and looked around.
"Wow. Margaret wasn't lying, this place is nice."
"This is almost as good as the store in Shibuya! Wow!"
Suga marveled at the vast amount of things in the store.
"This is almost like Wal Mart back in America. I hope they treat their employees better than that place..."
"Hi! Welcome to Junes! How may I help you?"
A cheery person who appeared to be a teenager walked up to them. Madran saw that he had shortish blonde hair and a frilly white shirt with a rose in it.
"Um, Sheila, what were we doing?"
"Oh, can you show us to the food court?"
"Sure thing! Right this way, ladies."
Madran was shocked at how hospitable this person was, and followed him. She saw that his skin was a little less pale than Yosuke, which slightly blended in with the tiles on the floor. Once they got outside, the caterer waved his arm, showing a massive amount of benches, tables, and chairs, as well as several umbrellas and other accommodations.
"To order food, simply ask one of those nice ladies at the counter! Have a nice day!"
The caterer went back to greet a few more customers. Madran, Suga, and Sheila sat down at a table.
"Hey, look, over there."
Suga flicked her head to the bench next to them, seeing that Yukiko, Rise, Yosuke, Chie and three other people were all sitting at the bench and talking.
"Do you guys want me to get you something to drink?"
"Sure. I'll take a water."
"I'll have a soda if they are selling it."
"What kind?"
"Uh, any."
Sheila walked off, purse in hand. Madran then went to listen into the conversation behind her.
"Yosuke, what did the girl tell you?"
"She mentioned that she had unplugged the TV, but it came on at midnight, and showed a figure as well as green static."
"Does this mean that the Midnight Channel's..."
"It could very well be like the Labrys incident four years ago."
"Yeah! Hey, Yosuke, tomorrow, if you can, ask her if she sees anything else!"
"I do hope that there's not another murderer on the loose."
"Well, how would someone get the ability to push people inside the TV after we took out that God chick?"
"Well, any persona-user can enter a TV, so possibly a haywire one could do it."
"This reminds me... have you heard of The Bodacious Babes? They're a mysterious group who are changing people's hearts in Shibuya."
"What does this have to do with the Midnight Channel?"
"Uh, nothing, I just thought I'd mention it."
Madran began to feel a bit nervous at that.
"Well, come to think of it, they have done quite a few things, like stopping Madran-san's dad from using his power for bad and even having him quit his job, or exposing how Shiini Eregane was sexually abusing a bunch of women."
"I think they're pretty cool. Like, imagine if they were here when we were dealing with the murders!"
"Hmm. Come to think of it, that would've been nice."
Sheila arrived with the drinks and they drank them while still listening in.
"Also, I met Sheila Inan today!"
"Really, Yosuke?"
"Yep. Although, um, when we shook hands, she looked up at me, and I feel that the moment our eyes met, the world's color inverted, and I saw her turn into a weird Egyptian lady. She then said that she saw a weird frog thing."
"I think you're over-exaggerating."
"No, Chie, she might've seen an image of Shadow Yosuke once I denied him. Right, Yu?"
Madran listened in more after hearing that familiar name being mentioned.
"Yeah. Once he denied his shadow, it turned into a corrupted form of Jiraiya, which looked much like a weird man riding a frog."
"Hmm. That's weird."
Madran finished her drink, and accidentally made some loud noises with it once she reached the bottom of the drink and began to only take air up through the straw.
"Madran, they're all looking at you."
"I know."
Madran got up.
"So, are we going soon?"
"Sure. Let's go."
Suga and Sheila finished their drinks and left. Sheila then called Kinaru, and she picked them up at the front of the store and took them to the Rec. Center again.
"So, how was it?"
"Um, a bit awkward, due to this one group who sat next to us, but aside from that, it was ok."
"Cool. Well, we have about 30 minutes before it starts, so you all should help Sheila with her booth."
"Gotcha. See ya in a bit!"
Madran followed Suga and Sheila as they ran off to find her booth for the event. As they did, Madran's head was filled with what the group behind them had said, like the Midnight Channel, shadows, and the Inaba murders. Possibly, staying up until 12 was the one way to figure out what was up with Philemon, and the one way to try to help him.
END OF CHAPTER 56
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That's all for this chapter! I hope that you all enjoyed. I'll see all of you guys next time! Bye!