Nothing's Scarier

"This is Naoto Shirogane. I apologize, but I could not come to the phone at the moment. Please leave your name and message's subject and I will contact you as soon as possible. Thank you and goodbye." Beep.

"Voice mail again?" sighed Rise.

Yu nodded, his face etched into a solemn frown. "This isn't like Naoto. She knew we were meeting after school today. She's usually one of the first here." He turned his head and glanced at Rise and Kanji. "Did she mention to either of you if she was going anywhere after school today?"

The two shook their heads. "Not to me. I think she said she wanted to go over stuff about the case today, so she obviously wanted to come. I have no idea why she isn't here," Rise huffed.

"Class ended, she ran out ahead of us. Thought she wanted to get here early or somethin'," Kanji muttered. "Damn it, where the hell is she?! It's been an hour!"

A soft gasp caught everyone's attention. All eyes drifted towards the raven-haired innkeeper, Yukiko Amagi. She seemed surprised at the sudden attention, but shrugged it off. She looked down at her lap, biting her cheek as she tried to form the proper words. "Guys... Y-you don't think the killer caught her, do you?" she wondered. "Like, what if instead of murdering people by using the TV World, he just decided to do it the old fashion way? And he started with, who he thought, was the biggest threat to him?"

A cold air blew over the group. They could all feel the chill crawling up their spine as paranoia melted into reality. The very real possibility hit all of them, and a tense silence held them all hostage. Could that be what's happening? Was Naoto in danger?

As always, Yu Narukami was able to act as an anchor for the Investigation Team. He stood up from his chair, commanding everyone's attention. "Alright, let's not jump to conclusions," Yu commanded, blowing away the dread and tension. They all listened to him speak, thankful they had his cool head to keep them calm. "Rise, keep calling Naoto. Chie, Yukiko, head back to the school and see if you can find where she went. Yosuke-"

Pipipipipi!

The silver-eyed young man looked at his phone, and a wave of relief washed over him when he saw the caller ID. He flipped it open and pressed the speaker button, allowing everyone to hear. "Naoto? Are you there? Are you okay?"

"Y-yes, Senpai. I'm fine." The others visibly relaxed once they heard the sleuth's voice. They smiled and grinned at one another, but Yu didn't join in the silent festivities. He could hear the tremble in Naoto's voice when she spoke. "I apologize for missing the meeting. An emergency came up regarding my grandfather."

"Is everything okay? Do you need help?" inquired Yu.

"N-no, thank you. I'm fine. I'm on my way to the Junes Food Court. I'll be there momentarily." Click. Naoto hung up.

"Man, I hope everything's okay with Naoto's grandpa," Chie murmured.

"Still, it's a good thing she's okay. I've never been so happy to be wrong," mused Yukiko.

But Yu did not share her relief. No, he was just as worried as before. Yu Narukami was an attentive and observant young man, in fact, one of his greatest attributes was his uncanny ability to have the perfect response to any given situation. A part of that ability meant being able to decipher what a person's says and what they're thinking, and he could hear it in Naoto's voice.

She was lying. Her grandfather hadn't called.

Something else had happened...

A few days later, they were training in the TV World, and seeing as it had the most powerful Shadows at the moment, the group chose to train at the Secret Laboratory where Naoto was once held captive. The others fought valiantly, working together to plow a pathway through the shadowy masses. Yu stood back, observing and giving advice to the others when they needed it. He told them that he wanted to analyze their moves and afterwards he'd suggest ways to improve their fighting styles. This was a lie.

In truth, his focus was on Naoto.

She hadn't been acting normally since her late arrival to their meeting. She'd been late to another two meetings, and when asked why, she would offer some inane lie that Yu could see right through. So he kept his focus on her, observing her every move, trying to understand what was going through her head.

Already he was able to observe something off about her. She wasn't fighting nearly as well as she usually did; she was good, damn good still, but there were little things off about her. She noticed a Shadow a second off, she'd miss the first and second shot, only to get it on the third, she'd barely dodged an attack that, on most days, wouldn't even be close to her... It just didn't seem right. Naoto was distracted. She-

"Naoto! Behind you!" Yu warned, noticing a Shadow leap up from behind her. Naoto didn't move though, as his the warning fell on deaf ears. "Izanagi!" The Persona appeared, impaling the attacking Shadow with his spear. The creature bled ebony slime, before exploding into a dark muck. The masked Persona stood guard over the two as Yu grabbed Naoto's shoulder and gently shook her. "Naoto?"

"Huh?" She blinked. "What is it, Senpai?" She tried to face the older boy, only to nearly fall over. Yu grabbed her arm with his other hand and helped her stay up, keeping her from hitting the ground. "Ah... I-I'm sorry. How clumsy of me. Um... I-is something the matter, Senpai?"

Yu stared at the young woman, his metallic eyes staring into her own cerulean orbs. His eyes glimmered with concern, but all he saw in her eyes was fear and confusion. "You... you spaced out, Naoto."

"Excuse me?"

"You didn't hear me warn you about the Shadow? You didn't notice it sneaking up on you?"

"Shadow? N-no, I must not have. I apologize, I was distracted. It won't happen again." She tried to pull away, and Yu reluctantly allowed it. She slipped out of his grasp and started walking, following the others deeper into the dungeon. "Thank you for the help, Senpai..." She kept her face pointed away and walked with swiftness to her step. She was trying to escape talking to him...

"Are you okay, Naoto?" Yu followed her, keeping up with her quickening pace. She tried to move faster, but a hand latched onto hers and pulled her back. Normally, Naoto would be the type to blush and be embarrassed by the physical contact with a boy. The fact that she wasn't blushing concerned Yu even more. It meant that whatever was bothering her was bad enough to suppress her easily embarrassed nature. "Naoto...'

"Yes, I'm fine. I just thought I saw something earlier. Again, I apologize, Senpai. I'll listen more closely next time..." She tried pulling away, but held firm. She ground her teeth, flashing a glare at him, before hiding it under the rim of her hat.

"Naoto, you know you can talk to me about anything."

"I'm fine, Senpai."

"Whatever's wrong with you-"

"There is nothing wrong with me!" Naoto tore her hand out of Yu's grasp and then ran towards the others, suddenly taking point in their exploration of the dungeon. She left a confused and distraught Yu behind her.

Naoto didn't come to school today. She texted Rise, and she relayed the message to the rest of the team. She was sick, and just needed time to rest. They accepted the text as truth, but Yu did not. He had asked to see Rise's phone to read the text himself, and she accepted. He examined the message closely and what he found troubled him.

I'm sick. can't come to school. i'll be fine.

The message wasn't consistent with Naoto's texting style. She texted in all capitals, with a very direct and business-like fashion to her messages. She didn't make capitalization errors like this or speak in little fragments. The message didn't match up. It wasn't right, and adding onto the previous moments of strange behavior from her, this was the final nail in the coffin.

That was why he was here, marching towards Naoto's home. The best case scenario was that Naoto was telling the truth, and really was sick. If so, he had packed an extra bento box with him and was ready to make sure she ate it. Worst case scenario? Yu wasn't even sure what the worst case could be. He obviously knew something was wrong, but he wasn't like Naoto. He wasn't a detective able to decipher a mystery with just a glance.

But he was Yu Narukami, and no matter what problem was affecting his friend, he intended on helping her. If she wanted to lie to the others, so be it. He'd keep this a secret from them, for now, but he intended on helping her, whether she allowed it or not.

Yu soon reached Naoto's apartment and moved to knock on the door. He went still with dread as his blood went cold. The front door was unlocked and left ajar. Could someone be inside? Do I call for Naoto? What if she's being attacked at this very moment?! Yu considered texting the others, but the faint hope that nothing was wrong kept him from doing so. Instead he pressed a hand against the door and gently pushed it open.

"Naoto?" No answer.

He had never been to Naoto's home before, he had merely walked her home after a rainy day, when she had forgotten her umbrella. That knowledge allowed him to arrive here, at her home, but he had never stepped inside. Here goes, thought Yu.

He peeked inside, silently slipping into the house through the open door. The apartment's design was not very noteworthy. It was a relatively small place, about as big as the downstairs of the Dojima Residence. It had beige walls and carpet flooring, with some basic furniture placed around. The living room and kitchen shared space, with some dirty dishes and a microwave sitting on the counter. What was noteworthy was the mess in the living room.

The place looked like it had been hit by a tornado, to put it harshly. Papers strewn about on the couch, files littering the floor, and, to his shock, various tools on the coffee table, such as a screwdriver, magnifying glass, and a mess of pens. His eyes drifted to and fro, analyzing his surroundings to try and find hints of what had been ailing Naoto of late.

For a brief moment, Yu considered a burglar had broken into the house, but certain visual aides implied otherwise to the young man. Despite the chaos, there was an underline of order to it. A conscious decision to keep one mess here and another mess away from it. It didn't look like someone had broken in, now that he thought about it. It looked more like Naoto had an organization to her chaos. He prayed he was right as he started skulking around.

He spotted something that didn't fit the Detective Prince. One of the papers strewn about on the ground had a drawing on it. He didn't stop to stare, but he could see five figures on the white paper, each one colored differently than the others. Was that the Investigation Team? No, there were too few people... Besides, none of their friends wore all pink or all yellow. He had a vague sense of familiarity with the drawing, but his alert mind couldn't waste time on it.

He moved down a hall, and saw two doors to the left. The closer one was slightly opened, left ajar like the front door had been. The door beside it was closed shut. He inched his way towards them, moving quietly on the carpet floor, but each step heavy with purpose.

His scanning eyes picked up on something new as he walked. Books. There were several books scattered on the floor, placed without order or pattern. Some were opened, while others were closed, showing off their noir hero and whatever mystery they were up against.

Crime novels and mystery stories were to be expected, but Yu noticed some books that didn't fit the theme. They lacked the same signs of wear the mystery novels had, telling him that they were newer purchases, possibly from the bookstore in the Shopping District. He was surprised to find issues of Shonen Jump on the ground, mixed with the mystery stories. He would have thought Naoto would have little care for such 'childish' stories, though he did remind himself that she enjoyed robots and superheroes in her youth. It was part of the reason she had difficulty socializing with the other girls.

Perhaps it's nostalgia? We all have coping mechanisms for dealing with stress...

Action mangas aside, the really peculiar books were closer to the doors. They weren't mangas, nor did they have much information on their covers. Just their title and author, nothing more. 'Sybil?' 'Sybil Exposed?' 'Child Psychology?' 'Mental Disorders?!' Naoto, what's going on?

He peeked into the open room. It was the bathroom. Everything seemed normal there, leaving only one door left to explore, and judging by the living arrangements, that door led to the bedroom. Yu crept towards it, unnerved by his recent discoveries. His latest one was the realization that the place was strangely quiet. What if Naoto was gone? What if she had been kidnapped again? He was about to reach for his phone, only to pause as the silence was broken.

Laughter.

Laughing? Who's- Wait, no, that is Naoto's voice. Why is she laughing? He was close enough to hear through the door, and his blood ran cold as he heard Naoto gasp. Enough investigating! Yu took in a breath and grabbed the doorknob. He twisted it and pushed the door open, determined to understand the mystery the Detective Prince unintentionally baited him with..

END

I know, I know, cliffhanger, but I thought 'I wonder if anyone has any idea what's up with Naoto before I reveal it?' So I decided on cutting the story in two. Here's the start, the reveal will be coming up soon.

I've never done mysteries before, so here's my first try. I gave the you the same hints that Yu's got, which is why I didn't want him to kick the door down and rush in to talk to Naoto. He took it slow, analyzing the place, before going in. I hope that's okay with you.

What's wrong with Naoto? What's affecting her? Can you guess? Either way, chapter two will answer all those questions. I will say, a quick Google search of the word Sybil might give you the answer, but some would call that cheating. Sherlock Holmes didn't Google stuff!

I digress. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a good day, folks.