Our year together

Show no tears

11/06

Heaven. That's what it felt like. That's what it was. The area created that represented Nanako's unconscious mind has now taken form and it was... Calming. It was filled with warmth and care, and that's what was the most disturbing part. Rise could still detect shadows inside the area, but that did not stop Souji. He was already not a man of many words, but he was mostly silent. Only speaking when he gave orders. To the other members of the team, it was a bit unnerving. He was back to how he was the first time he arrived, cold and silent. Yosuke and Chie were the ones who really knew this side well, even more than Yukiko.

After climbing floors and reached a long path, a voice suddenly reached them.

"Mom...?" A young voice called out.

"That's Nana-chan's voice!" Teddie exclaimed in bewilderment. It was indeed Nanako's voice, but this shouldn't have been surprising to them since this was common in almost every area they've explored; but because it was Nanako, it still had the same effect.

"Mom...? Where are you...?" Nanako kept calling out to her mother, as if she was still alive. Nanako kept trying to reach out to her mother, but there was no answer. "Why did you disappear...? Why did you leave me...?" She kept asking questions, but there was still no response. "No...! Come back...!"

"Are these... Nanako-chan's feelings?" Chie asked herself, but Nanako's voice kept going on.

"But I'm not lonely... I have Dad with me." Nanako's voice sounded more firm and less pained. "I know he's always late coming home... and he never plays with me because he's so busy... He can't cook or do laundry either... He tries to be nice, though he is a little scary sometimes... but I love him... Big Bro is with me now, too... So I'm not alone... I'm not lonely..." Nanako said lastly before her voice disappeared.

"A little kid... telling herself she's not lonely so she doesn't fall apart." Kanji realized as he said what was on his mind.

"You idiot. You'll ruin everything if you act all sad. We gotta greet her with a smile." Yosuke said, trying to lift the mood of the team.

"Nana-chan..." Teddie still let his mood fall into a slump as Rise jolted her head up, looking around frantically.

"What's the matter?" Naoto asked.

"Something's not right... There's someone else here besides Nanako-chan." Everyone in the team were surprised to hear Rise's revelation. "It was faint at first, so I couldn't tell for sure... but there's definitely another person here. And whoever this is, their power is getting stronger."

Yosuke gave it a second's thought, but he figured it out right now. "Could it be Namatame? Did he duck in here after being cornered, like Mitsuo?"

"Perhaps so..." Naoto agreed. "It seems as though he was particularly determined to kidnap Nanako-chan."

"But, why...?" Yukiko asked. "If he's the real culprit, he must know the real dangers of this world."

"I don't know... But if it is him, he may have entered from a TV near the site of the accident... Maybe even the TV in his truck." Naoto put the pieces together as expected of her detective skills. "Which means Nanako-chan is grave danger... We must hurry!" As she said that, she spotted Souji already moving on. "Senpai, wait up!" The rest of the team tried catching up to him.

As they climbed onward, Souji was always leading the formation, usually sticking to an aggressive spear-head position. No one really saw his face and his expressions that much, but they all could tell how determined he was to make Namatame pay for his actions.

They rarely stopped for breaks, not just because Souji wanted to keep going, but everyone knew how much danger Nanako was in. But just as their last break was over, Rise detected something appearing.