Part 14: 4/30/11

4/30/11

Yukiko came back to school today.

VIDEO- "Yukiko"

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Yukiko had been out for quite some time, it was good to see her back.



Y-Yeah… I'll be coming to school again, so… That'll be nice.
I caused everyone some real trouble.
I'm sorry…
No, "sorry" isn't quite right… What I mean to say is, thank you.
> Yukiko seems more cheerful than before.
My mother's back to work already.
The maids are being really supportive, and I think things are going even smoother than before.
I wonder if I was trying too hard…
I may have been too caught up in the idea that I had to do everything by myself.
Ever since the incident… I feel like I can think about these things more calmly.
B-But… it's still kind of embarrassing…
You guys saw everything… Even the things I didn't want to admit…

She shouldn't feel bad, though.



I'd like to believe that…
Yukiko!
Oh, it's Chie.
Well, I'll talk to you later.
> Yukiko has come back as energetic as ever.
> It's a good thing you were able to save her…

Mr. Yamada is seriously creepy as fuck, too.



Mr. Yamada: Ooops! I mean, all of you are cute! No, really!
Er, please, don't tell your parents that I said that, will ya? I don't wanna get in trouble.
Ahem, anyway, I have an interesting topic for you today. Close your books and take a look at the handout.
Sounds like a good time to pick on the city boy, Souji-kun.
Which of the following is the highest mountain in the solar system?

I mean it's a dead giveaway when you mention that it's in the solar system.



Mr. Yamada: Wow, you really are from the city! …Well, I guess that doesn't have anything to do with it. Hahaha.
On the planet Mars, Mt. Olympus, or "Olympus Mons," has an elevation three times that of Mt. Everest!
People tend to think Everest is the highest mountain, but that's thinking inside the worldwide box.
Since you got me started on mountains, I'm gonna cover some material on their characteristics…

After school, we all got together on the roof. Chie and Yukiko had some instant noodles, maybe they'd missed lunch.

VIDEO- "Jerks"

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Thanks! Oooh, that smells gooood…
These instant noodles are just the thing to help me through club… How much longer do I have to wait on this?
It still needs a few minutes.
So, why're we here…? Oh yeah, we were going to ask Yukiko what happened.
Yukiko-san, I hate to bring up stuff you'd rather not think about… But I need to ask you again.
Do you recall anything about when you got kidnapped?
No…
I thought I might remember something if I let it sit for a while, but as time passes it only gets hazier…
I think… the doorbell rang at the entrance… and someone called for me…
But when I woke up after that, I was already in the castle…
I'm sorry.
No need to apologize.

Chie had drawn the same conclusion from that as I had.



I don't know… If it's true, then that's one daring criminal. What kind of killer would ring the doorbell?
The police are probably looking for witnesses… but I don't think we can expect much from them.
Heh, as if the culprit wore bright yellow clothes at the scene of the crime.
I wonder why whoever it is would do stuff like this.
We won't know until we confront 'em ourselves…
But we can be sure of one thing. It's no coincidence that people keep ending up in that place.
Someone on our side is definitely kidnapping them and throwing them into the TV.
It's murder, all right…
Oh yeah, we never told you.
This guy and me are gonna catch the culprit ourselves!
The police are out of their league on this case, but we got Personas.

Since Yukiko's got the power as well, I decided to just straight ask if she would team up with us.



Huh? Um…
I'm helping out too!
I can't believe someone would throw people into a place like that. I'm gonna sock whoever's doing this!
Chie…
…Let me help too.
I want to know why this is happening.
…Especially if someone hates me so much they want to kill me.
I don't want to run away from myself anymore.
Alright! Then let's all work together and catch this asshole!
Agreed.

With Yukiko on board, it felt like we were one step closer to solving this even if we didn't have a single new lead.



Oh, but how're we going to find them? We don't have a single lead yet.
I'm the third one to be targeted so far… But I have a feeling this isn't the end of it.
If we had an idea who might be targeted next, wouldn't we have an advantage over the killer?
So we'll outsmart them, huh…? Yeah, that might work.
Okay, so let's see if we can figure out what ties the victims together.
First, there was that announcer, Mayumi Yamano. Second was Saki Konishi… Senpai. Third was Yukiko Amagi.
What do they all have in common…?

I threw the obvious out there.



Bingo.
How dare he target females! Now that is unforgivable! This culprit's gotta be some kinda pervert…
Also, what about this? The second and third victims had some sort of connection to the first one.
Hey, that's right. Yukiko and Saki-senpai both had connections to that announcer…
That's true.
Then… does that mean females connected in some way to Ms. Yamano's case are being targeted…?
I think that's a safe assumption for now.
There's another angle we can take, too. If another person disappears…
You think they'd be on that Midnight Channel?
That happened right before Yukiko was kidnapped, too.
Yeah, it's hard to tell who at first, but what's important is, it's happened before the victims disappeared.
Kinda like a ransom note.
We still don't know why that happens, but we'll have to rely on it for now.
The next time it rains…

Yosuke was starting to lose his concentration. I'd also like to go on record that this was Yosuke's fault, as with so many things in life.



Whoa, that's right! Chow time!
Hey, could I try just a little bit of that!? Just one tiny bite!
Hey! Hands off the soba, pal! Go get your own if you want some.
Rrrngh… Okay, but just one bite, got it?
> The delicious aroma from the udon bowl is drifting your way…
Do you want to try some?

I swear on my Persona that I only meant to take one bite.



It's soooo gooood… The aroma, the flavor, and the texture all combined… This is perfect!
> It's too delicious to stop eating…
Aaaack! What the hell are you doing!?
You ate everything…
M-My fried tofu…
I hope you guys understand what this means.
W-Wait wait wait! Stop! I'm sorry!
I-I'll buy you steak! It'll be on me!
Y-You hear me? The very best!
Steak…!?
My tofu…
C'mon, Yukiko. There's steak in it for us now.
We can get instant noodles anytime we want. Right?
Well… as long as it isn't too fatty.

Thanks to Yosuke's quick thinking we had escaped un-brutalized. And I'm sure our karmic balance will be restored by this whole buying steak thing.



What wouldn't be too fatty? Fillet? Ooh, fillet sounds nice and expensive!
Filet, filet, filet mignon!
Hey, you've gotta pony up too! You're just as much to blame!

Fortunately for us, Junes has steak now.

VIDEO- "Yukiko Is The Best"

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We're doing our part to spread this town's specialty dish. Plus, we've already got an excellent grill.
That's just a yakisoba griddle… Oh well, steak is steak.
It's far from a fillet steak, though…
Yukiko, are you okay with this? It's not too heavy for you?
I'll eat it… I'm still mad.
So, back on topic. I wonder what kind of person the culprit is.
If you focus just on the announcer's case, it seems like a revenge thing. Maybe it was her lover's wife.
But Misuzu Hiiragi had a solid alibi, didn't she? And it seemed like she was already separated from her husband.
Really? You know an awful lot about this…
Okay, what about the second case? Saki-senpai… she found the announcer's body.
Assuming the same person killed them both, then why target Senpai…?

If we're going in assuming that, there's an obvious suggestion.



Yeah, I think so too.
Maybe she found a clue or something about the culprit.
But the killer just threw the announcer into a TV, right?
I don't think he would've left evidence the police-much less a high school student-would catch.
Yeah, exactly…

In case we were ever thinking we might get help from the police, proof of how impossible that was came walking by.



Ooh, they updated the menu!
Huh? Isn't he that detective?
Hey, you were at Dojima-san's…
Ahaha… I-I'm not… Oh, wait! Hey, this is great timing after all.
Dojima-san said that he'll be leaving work on schedule tonight. Could you pass that on to Nanako-chan?
Yo! I'm Adachi, Dojima-san's gofer… Err, I mean, his partner.
Are you this busy every day?
Huh? Oh, well, the public seems to be getting a charge out of these cases, but we can't leave it at that.
Sorry to butt in, but could it be that the killer targeted Saki-senpai in order to silence her?
U-Ummm, you sure get to the heart of the matter. Yikes… Haha.
Of course, we're also thinking along those lines. She was killed right after the announcer's body was found.
If the killer was trying to silence her, there might've been something at the scene only she would have understood.
Which would mean that the culprit may be someone close to Ms. Konishi.

If Adachi can make detective I weep for this police department.



W-Wait, were you listening to that!? Crap! Me and my big mouth…
D-Don't tell anyone I said any of that, or Dojima-san will flay me alive… Relax, kids, the police are on the job.
See you!
*sigh * You were right, Yosuke. The police are totally useless…
Augh! My steak's getting cold!
Could you shut up about the steak for five seconds…?

We let them finish, then headed to talk to Teddie.



It's Teddie… Then it wasn't a dream.
Are you feeling better, Yuki-chan?
I did what you said! I've been a good bear!
Oh, I see. Good boy!
W-Well, this bear's part of the reason we want to find the culprit.
I'm one of the group now too. Let's work together, okay?
Yep! I was thinking the same thing!
That's why I got these ready for you, Yuki-chan!
Oh, so these are what everyone's wearing. Thank you, Teddie.
You're right… It's just as if the fog doesn't exist…
Hey, tell me something. How come you have so many pairs of glasses?
Excellent question! Guess what? I'm the one who makes them.
I've lived here for a long time. So I came up with some ways to be comfortable here.

Yukiko had a pretty good question and I'm not sure I like what the answer implied.



Oooh, good point. Another great question!
Listen to this! My eyes themselves are lenses!
You didn't know?
Of course not…
Wh-Why are you being so mean? You act like you're not interested!
I'm a really dexterous bear!
See how smoothly my fingers move!

I don't know why it was but damn was that thing Teddie did with his hands creepy and Yosuke was totally justified in what he did after it.



What am I even looking at!?
Ow!
Hm? You dropped something…
Oh, that's a pair I kinda screwed up on.
Oooh…
Oh… Umm… Y-Yukiko?

I really don't know what to say about this.



Damned if she wasn't enjoying herself, though, so I'm not going to rain on her parade.



Ahahaha!
Do you like that one, Yuki-chan?
I want to wear this one. It's even got a nose guard!
Ohhh no you don't!
How bear-y unfortunate… That pair doesn't have the right lenses in.
Guess I should've made an actual pair.
Aww, too bad.
Here, Chie. Your turn!
*sigh * Man… All right, fine…
Snrk… Heehee…!
Ahaha, ahahahahahaha!

I have to say I never would have pictured Yukiko like this before. I guess she's comfortable enough around us now to be herself.



Y-Yukiko-san? Hellooo…?
There goes one of Yukiko's laughing fits… I never though she'd do it when someone besides me was around.
These stupid glasses are useless for investigating!
I mean, what the hell's this nose for, anyway!?
Nice work, huh? That's what happens when you guys leave me here alone and I get bored!
W-Well, I'm glad that she's in high spirits again… I guess…
Oh Chie, the look on your face… Snrk… Hahaha, it was so funny!
I-I can't stop… laugh-Heehee! Ohhh, my stomach, ahaha…

When Yukiko was finally laughed out we left and all headed home.

VIDEO- "Vacation"

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I think I might be able to get the 4th and the 5th off.
Really!?
…Really?
What, you don't believe me?
…It's always cancelled.
N-Not every year!
I know you wanted to go to Junes, but… I wouldn't mind going a little further out of the neighborhood.
Really? Can we go on a trip?
Uhh… Well, it might be okay to go on a trip once in a while.
I'm sure it'll be crowded everywhere, though…
Yaaay! We're going on a trip!
Hm… all right, all right. Then we need to think of someplace to go…
How about you…? Wanna come along with us?

I wouldn't want to disappoint Nanako.



Yeah! Let's all go together!
Looks like Nanako wants us all to go.
Let's bring boxed lunches!
Hm? Yeah, good idea. We're always eating side dishes for dinner.
But I can't cook… And Nanako's not good enough yet to make them by herself…
……
Well, it'll work out. That's what we've got this guy for, huh Nanako?
Yaaay, boxed lunches!
> Nanako is pleased.
> You've been selected to pack the family's boxed lunches…

It's a good thing I know how to cook. I just hope nothing happens to stop Dojima from taking those days off.