Part 58: 9/13/11-9/15/11

9/13/11

I'm not totally sure what Naoto was up to last night, though I have my suspicions.

VIDEO- "Naoto's Gambit"

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Yo.
Hey, did you see the show on TV last night? Naoto-kun was on!
That thing about the Detective Prince solving the case? C'mon, we're the ones who actually caught the killer.
But the police were the ones who identified the suspect, and he was cooperating with them on it, right?
So it's true he helped solve the case.
I'm kinda surprised, though.
I didn't think he was the type to go after the spotlight like that.
Good morning.
I've been waiting for you all. There's something I needed to discuss with you regarding the case.
Discuss? Dude, we'll be late if we talk too long… Hey, where's your uniform?
Could you please indulge my current theory on the matter?
What is it…?
First, as regards commonalities between the victims, all of them were kidnapped before they were murdered.
The victims were all locals who had been the focus of recent media attention, becoming suddenly well-known…
That is the most likely scenario.
I don't believe there's anything intrinsically unique about the victims themselves.
…Haven't you all come to the same conclusion?

No real point lying to Naoto about this, if he's got something to say I want to hear it.



Then, allow me to state my point.
Will you admit that a number of you fit these identical circumstances?
There was a long interval between the second and third deaths in this case.
But after I applied the aforementioned criteria, I discovered several similar disappearances had taken place.
Yukiko Amagi. Kanji Tatsumi. Rise Kujikawa. All of you disappeared shortly after being shown on TV…
Either you escaped death somehow, or you faked your own disappearances in order to divert attention from yourselves…
Since some of you had ties to the victims, there came a point where I suspected one of you must be the culprit.
You thought one of us was the killer!? You can't be serious!
This was a prior theory, since discarded.
Putting together everything I've learned until this moment, I believe exactly the opposite.
You aren't the culprits. You may, in fact, be the only ones with the means to pursue the true perpetrator…
Seen as a joining of forces between the rescued, everything falls into place.
…Of course, this is all speculation.
There is in fact a flaw in the theory. It doesn't account for the third incident… Mr. Morooka's murder.
He has never been broadcast on television, and neither did he ever disappear. We must also consider the condition of his corpse.
The first two victims are still listed with an unknown cause of death…
But Mr. Morooka died of an easily identifiable blunt force trauma to the occipital cranium.

So that's what's bothering Naoto.



Further action will be necessary to obtain some sort of decisive evidence.
Further action…? What do you mean?
Well, whatever the outcome… the evidence should come to light.
…You said something interesting to me not long ago.
Hey, where are you going?
This is not a game for me either…
Naoto-kun…?

I went to drama for a bit, it was fun but Yumi's heart really isn't in it anymore. It's going to rain tomorrow. Will the Midnight Channel air again?

9/14/11

Everyone's talking about Naoto at school. That TV show certainly worked.



Chatty Girl: Hey, did you see that show on TV? The one about the Detective Prince's secret identity?
Naoto-kun is so cool!
Braided Girl: Yeah, he really does have it goin' on, doesn't he…? He's really young to be a detective, too!
He's cute, but he has this aura of mystery about him… That's cool, too!
Chatty Girl: You think he'll be at school today!?

I headed down to the shopping district, some things to do. They need to get that gas station person like a thing to stand under, this rain can't be healthy.



Attendant: Even on a day like this where there's not that many customers, I gotta spend it standing around…
But looking at the town puts me at ease somehow. Maybe it's because I've lived here for so long.

I think Adachi's staking out the shopping district for something, maybe the police aren't totally convinced themselves.



Well, it's a fact that he helped solve the case, so it's no surprise that he was interviewed for his contribution.
And I'd rather have people excited about things like this than all the bad news, you know.

I also decided to stop by at the shrine, let the fox know I'd finished the request. It was pretty happy.



I figured I'd grab a snack before I checked the Midnight Channel. Did I mention I make really bad choices? I think I did but I just want to throw it out there again.



> There's a mushroom there that you don't recognize…
> …It may have grown out of something that had previously been in the fridge.
> ……
> Eat it…?
> …
> ……
> ………
> It tasted fine, but you feel very itchy for a while afterwards…
> Your Courage has greatly increased.
> However…
> You don't feel well…
> ……
> You decided to go to bed early today…

I managed to stay awake long enough for midnight, though. And it seemed the Midnight Channel had continued, undaunted by Mitsuo's capture.

VIDEO- "The Midnight Channel"

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> The image is hazy… You can't tell who it is…
> But… you feel like you've seen this person before somewhere…
Did you see that? Someone came on, right?
Now that the killer's been caught, do we still gotta worry about the Midnight Channel…?
But then, someone said the blurry image seemed like an advance notice…
…What exactly is the Midnight Channel anyway? Did it have anything to do with the murders?
Argh, this is so frustrating…! Hey, what do you think?
Did you recognize who appeared just now?

I wasn't positive but I had a suspicion as to who it had to be.



Naoto? Why would he show up on TV?
Now that you mention it, I wonder what he thinks about the Midnight Channel…
Ugh, I don't get this at all. It's gonna keep nagging at me, I can tell…
I'm sure the others saw it too, so let's get another tomorrow and talk about it.
'Night.
> Yosuke hung up.

Still, I have a bad feeling about this.

9/15/11

School was uneventful, afterwards we talked about what happened last night.

VIDEO- "Rumors"

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I wonder who that was…
I talked to Teddie, and he says no one's entered the other side…
Well, yeah. The killer's been caught.
Yeah…
Huh…? What's up?
C'mon, get with the program. You saw the TV last night, right?
So? 's got nothing to do with us.
The killer's behind bars, man. You guys are overreacting.
That shit Naoto said didn't make any sense either, so there's no use getting all worked up about it.
Huh…? Naoto-kun?
Uh, no, well… How do I put it…?
What, were you out of it 'cause you were still thinking about what Naoto said?
Haha, so you're still hung up on all that stuff.
That's--! I ain't hung up on it!
It's okay, we all understand. Just don't go overboard, man.
You little… I said that's not it!
Tch… I got stuff to do. I'm outta here.
Stop bringing that up, Yosuke… You know he doesn't think it's funny.
Ooh, what? What? Did something happen between Kanji and Naoto-kun!?

Yukiko had something else she wanted to bring up that had been bothering her.



Is it me, or does the town seem kind of strange lately?
Everyone is in high spirits, for some reason… And they all talk about other people, but never themselves.
Really? I don't think it's anything special.
Now that the murder case is solved, people feel relaxed, that's all.
That's how society is. They all just want to get in on the latest trend.
People get excited fast and lose interest even faster… It goes 'round and 'round. There's no underlying reason for it.
I don't know… It still seems a little too weird…
It's like… they're all afraid of something.
Oh… Sorry. I just had this feeling.
Huh…
It's gonna rain again tonight.
We should check the Midnight Channel just in case.

And when we did…

VIDEO- "Bad Things Happen"

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> It's an extremely clear image!
Good evening, everyone. I am the Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane.
Welcome to "Experiment of the Century: The Genome Project."
I will be experimentor and experimentee both in a forbidden yet wonderful bodily alteration process!
You shall witness my departure into a new realm… The moment of a new birth!
From the chosen day forth, I shall walk a completely different path in life…!
And I will share this glorious occasion, this memorable day, with all of you!
Do stay tuned!
> That was definitely Naoto…

Kanji beat Yosuke to the punch this time.



So 's this mean he was kidnapped…?
You said people only show up clearly on TV once they're thrown into that other world, right!?
The hell's going on!? I thought we caught the damn killer!
> Kanji is completely flustered.
Calm down.
Oh, I-I'm sorry!
Being a detective, solving cases… It ain't worth shit if he gets himself kidnapped…
Damn, that idiot pisses me off!
Anyways, let's get the gang together and meet first thing after school!
> …You decided to go to bed early.

Two things are certain: The killer is still at large, and we need to save Naoto.

Next Time On Persona 4: Investigating an Investigator