The waves of destiny push on.

[outbursting]

Who: Yosuke Hanamura, Shinjiro Aragaki and Shikamaru Nara.
When: After this.
Where: Icha Icha Paradise.
Summary: Big reveal of what happened.
Warnings: Very awkward.

Comments

[outbursting]

Easier said than done. Yosuke wasn't sure if it was possible to not worry about Shinjiro. His hands came up to rub his face, the heels of his hands pressed against his eyes. Nice that they were in a building where other people were, even if he was leading to a relatively more secluded area. It meant that he couldn't -- that he shouldn't -- have any sort of overly emotional response. Staring up at the ceiling, he just thought that it'd be just too embarrassing and telling. Another brush of his hand against his face before he allowed himself to smile once more.

"Yeah, it's good to see you, too." It had taken him awhile to realize that he hadn't said anything. Everything that he wanted to said was running through his thoughts, being carefully filtered. He didn't know Shinjiro that long, but he thought of him as someone that he could have been friends with. That he should have been able to have been friends with. Yosuke flinched slightly, before lightly shaking his head.

"What?" His head jerked back to Shinjiro, before the question was repeated in his head. Slowly so that he could acknowledge it. "Oh yeah, I'm, I'm good." Right, no time like the present and all those lovely adages. "I mean, as good as one can expect with everything that is going on." He lightly gestured about in the air. Yosuke wondered what he was doing, since he had just said that he would get down to business rather than just keep stalling for time.

Shinjiro said that he could tell him whenever he wanted, but he'd been keeping it secret for so long that he was almost afraid to say anything. Just like how he promised that they wouldn't say what happened to Namatame. "Yeah, but you probably wanna know how I know you more than ... anything else, right?" Yosuke slightly tilted his head, still smiling like this was just one of those awkward moments of meeting like how he met Souji rolling around in a trashcan rather than what it was.

"Sorry, man, I don't mean to be ah," A light shrug, "stalling."

[weaktobullets]

He remained quiet and composed as Yosuke flustered about with words and thoughts. It wasn't that he was perfectly content, or that he wasn't questioning things. He wanted to know what the hell was going on, how the fuck this random guy knew him. He wanted to know why he was here, why it was June now instead of October, where Aki and Kirijo and Arisato were, how things had ended up, where the fuck he was. There were so many questions he couldn't begin to sort them... so he just acted like they weren't there. He kept his expression neutral aside from the vaguely tired appearance. He'd sort through it all later, alone.

For now, he was talking to Yosuke, and Yosuke could only give him so much information: How they knew one another-- or rather, how Hanamura knew him-- and little else.

"Ain't like I don't have time," he spoke carefully, hands slipping into his pockets as his slouch deepened slightly, back resting against the wall. "But where the hell'd we meet?" His brows creased slightly, hardly visible beneath his scruffy bangs. "Don't remember you from school or the orphanage or anywhere." And he really didn't seem like the type that could survive in the back alleys behind the Station. There... really weren't that many other places. The Kirijo Group? Someone Aki knew that he had seen once or twice? Nothing was coming to mind.

[outbursting]

"That's true. It's not like we don't have anything but time these days." Another cheerful smile as he tried to joke about what was going on, but it didn't quite fly. Shifting from one foot to the next, his smile disappeared as he finally was able to say, "I know you because ... because you came to the city that I was in before here." Opening his mouth to say more, he sighed softly instead.

"It was ... kind of like a city like this." Once more, he gestured about in the air but it was far weaker than before. "It wasn't where I originally was from. I don't even know how you got there, to be honest. Seemed to be some hiccup--" Yosuke made a dismissive gesture; there was no need to go into all of that. Those people, that city, was destroyed. There wasn't anything left of it when they finally came to where they were now. Did that mean that they had to go about doing the same thing as before to get home?

Focus! He was letting his mind wander on what they had to do here rather than explaining what happened in the past. "The city didn't mean to grab you ... they didn't want you there, but there wasn't any way to get rid of you. Of all the others that came to it." Somehow just saying the name NeoGenesis -- it sounded like a curse. Like if it was said too many times, it might actually resurface. Yosuke swallowed thickly as he realized that he was being more than a little vague and probably too quiet with his hushed tones.

"I met you while I was going home from school. You were ... you were being attacked by a Persona user." It was his brother, but he didn't have a brother. He was an only child. He knew that now from his memories, but it didn't make it any easier to handle. Rubbing his face once more, he was starting to feel a little out of sorts, but he was proud of himself for being able to get so far in what it was he was saying. "We only talked briefly, but uh, I didn't want..." ... you to die.

"I wasn't able to save you." A long pause as he clicked his tongue. Looking up to the ceiling and all around, not quite taking in his surroundings as he rubbed at his face once more, he just needed to stay calm. "I know you might not remember it, even after me telling you all this, but uh, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

Yosuke really wanted to be a hero at that time, but more than that, he thought that if he had the power to do so that he should have been able to save one life. Because, what was the point of even having it if it wasn't able to do even that?

[weaktobullets]

He remained quiet as Yosuke spoke. A city like this one, grabbing people from wherever the fuck, keeping them there-- and he had come by mistake. Was that why he had been missing damn near a year between October and now? After the Full Moon back home... then what? There were eight months there, missing. His brows furrowed.

So he had been some other stupid place like this, and he hadn't meant to be there. To be honest, Shinjiro didn't feel like fighting the validity of it. If he was here, why couldn't he have been in that other place too? He was missing so much time, there had to have been something happening, be it a coma, or his death, or being in some other world, only to have his memories of it be taken away because he didn't belong. Sure, whatever. It made no fucking sense, but that's what he had said about the Dark Hour at first too.

The moment Yosuke mentioned another Persona user, though, his head shot up. His shoulders rolled back, posture stiffening. "The Hell do you know 'bout Personas?" A member of Strega? It had to be. What other Persona user would be attacking him? No one in SEES. His lip drew back, trying to work this through. Yosuke met him when he was being attacked by another Persona user. He died. It was a striking parallel to what he remembered of his own fate back home, which a few odd differences.

He wanted to demand who it was- what he looked like, what his Persona was. It couldn't have been Takaya. It couldn't have... unless Fate hated him more than he had originally thought. But who else was there? Yamagishi or Kirijo would have known about any more Persona users.

he brought a hand to his face, palm pressing against the bridge of his nose to buy himself a moment to think it through. Most of it fits, but parts of it. Just...

He had died. Again. He had been taken to a city after his death and died. And now he was in another place, probably doomed to play out the same scenario. He'd try to do what the fuck he could and get killed by another Persona User. Maybe Amada would show up and be glad to take his revenge. He gave a bitter snort at the thought.

It was a long moment before Shinjiro said anything. He kept his eyes low, almost as though avoiding eye contact. Why had Yosuke even wanted to save him? Especially if they had just met? He glanced back up to the other teen.

...Well. He did seem the type to trust easily. That might have been a part. He wasn't sure what to say to it all, though. Tell him it was okay? That he was back, whatever, just forget it? That he was stupid for caring so much? He let out a worn sigh and shook his head.

"...Third time's the charm," His tone was dry and almost bitter. "I'll try not t'fuck up being here. So don't worry so much."

[outbursting]

His head dropped down as he took a step back, like he was embarrassed. Like he was ashamed that he knew what Persona were. No, he was proud of the fact that he was a Persona user. Proud of the fact that with his power and his friends he was able to break free of that city. Didn't wash away the shame and guilt of not having that same power when he wanted to save someone on his own. But it wasn't about him, or how helpless he felt at that time. This wasn't about him at all, and he had to keep telling himself that, because he wasn't the one that was most hurt. And it wasn't a fucking contest as to who hurt more that day, either.

"I have a Persona." He once more straightened himself up, lifting his head. "It's name is Jiraiya. And yours ... yours is Castor, isn't it?" There wasn't any reason that he should ask that as though it were a question, because he knew that it was. Hard to forget the name of the Persona that saved his sorry hide when he wasn't able to fight against Cain.

"The person who ... who was the Persona user ... that was my brother." Yosuke dropped his head down. 'Was' in more ways than one. Because Ryou didn't exist outside that city. Because he died in his own world. Because it would disrupt time and space if he had come with them. It didn't hurt any less even if he understood the reasons. No reason to get into the fake memories that he was given. He was already dropping more than a few bombshells. "He worked for the city ... and he thought he was doing what was right for it, I guess." A pause. "His Persona was way stronger than any of ours. It was really a one-sided fight."

It was weird to just be spilling his guts about all this. But there were so many other people who had weird abilities, who came from other times. Honestly, it seemed weird to keep it to himself like it was some big secret. How it was in Inaba was because no one would believe them and they needed to save people. But here, they could tell people, have those people believe them and still save people. Of course, that was how it felt with everyone else. With this sort of situation, with Shinjiro, Yosuke just felt that the guy deserved to know what had happened.

He closed his eyes as he repeated those words to himself. Shinjiro deserves to know what happened. He deserves to know. Even if he didn't remember it, it didn't mean that it could just be brushed under the rug like it had never happened. All memories were precious. Yosuke understood that now. The bad ones, the good ones, all of them were important. They shouldn't be forgotten just because it seemed like it would make life easier, because eventually those memories would be able to grant some strength in the future. Wasn't that right? Or was he just deluding himself with such optimism? Either way, he had to continue. Too much was pent up from that time, and he wasn't able to tell anyone what he wanted.

"Don't say it like that!" He had returned to the conversation and was suddenly yelling. His eyes widened as he looked around to see if anyone noticed his outburst before calming down. Remain calm. "I won't let you die, again, all right? I promised you at that time that I'd save you and well... I haven't lived up to that promise." Yosuke gave a short nod to himself. "So, I'm not gonna let anyone mess with you this time. Got it?"

[weaktobullets]

He nodded slowly, almost automatically. So Yosuke knew about Castor and had a Persona of his own. It made sense... if he had seen Shinjiro fighting another Persona user, then he would probably have seen his Persona. "...You too?" His brows creased. "You from Port Island, then?" He had to be, right? That was the only place Shinjiro had heard of Persona users.

...granted, he was sure they had to exist before the original SEES members. But still. If Yosuke was a Persona user, though, then he knew about Shadows, about the Dark Hour-- They were from the same, if not just similar places. That would make Yosuke a good ally in this place. Maybe it was a good thing the other man knew him from that city.

He was drawn from his thoughts as Yosuke started yelling, his lips drawing back aggressively and his shoulders shifting to a more aggressive stance. "Will you shut the fuck up?" He snarled the words, hand moving as though considering grabbing to Yosuke's collar. He stopped himself, though, simply curling his fingers. "It ain't your damn responsibility."

No.. he didn't need anyone looking out for him, or making him their problem. He wasn't worth it, for one. It was a waste of time and energy and would ultimately just piss them both off. "...I don't need you to 'save me'," he snorted, fixing a harsh glare at Yosuke. Maybe it was just how stubborn he was, but he couldn't set down his pride enough to accept being taken care of. A place to crash? Alright. Information and supplies? Fine. But stating that they would take it upon themselves to look after him? It was too much.

After a moment he looked back down, trying his best to relax. The troubling part was how much Yosuke seemed to care, to idealistically believe that he could really do anything. Hell, maybe he could- Shinjiro had no idea. "...You're doin' enough right now," He noted carefully. "Gave me info an' a place to crash."

He let his head tilt back, looking somewhere above the shelves of whatever-the-fucks beside them. "...Hell, just tellin' me this shit's more than you had t'do." A hand crept up to rub the back of his neck. it was a fine line between salvaging his pride and trying not to upset Yosuke... and he had probably snapped at him a bit harshly. "...Yosuke, right? That okay?"

[outbursting]

"No. I'm from Inaba." It was weird to say that he was from that town. He remembered a time when he would have rather said that he was from the city rather than from there. "But I've been to Port Island. I went there to a class trip, why?" That seemed so weird to be asking him that out of the blue. There didn't seem to be anything particular interesting in the place save the ridiculous shenanigans that they all had gotten into while there. Yosuke smile fondly at those memories, happy that those had come to him over anything else that could have surfaced.

The smile disappeared completely at the almost venomous rejection of his help. He wasn't able to say anything as Shinjiro continued. His mouth opened slightly so that he could argue with him, but let him go on, stopped by the glare. Yosuke supposed that he felt that he deserved some of that, given all that had happened. Shut up, shut up. He straightened up, not realizing that he had hunched his shoulders a little. Like hell he was going to let that just be that! "It might not be my responsibility, but I'm making it my responsibility. And maybe you don't, but doesn't mean that I'm just gonna let someone mess with you, all right?"

He probably lost some of his momentum in letting Shinjiro calm down then suddenly start in on him. "I don't feel like I'm doing enough for you. I just ... you deserve to know these things, because they're your memories, too." Really, it sounded like he was forcing the other to accept his friendship and what little protection that he could allow. This really wasn't how it was supposed to go. He wanted to hold his head in his hands, already feeling a headache coming onto him, but he stopped himself from doing so. Clenching his hands into fists, he just wouldn't let that be that. "Just consider it ... me being selfish, all right?"

Losing his own indignation, he blinked a few times. "Yeah, it's Yosuke. You can call me Yosuke, and I can call you Shinjiro, right?" This really seemed just a little awkward to do given that he had just yelled at him. Really, this wasn't going to be one of those easy friendships, but at least they were both seemingly trying to get along with one another. One step at a time, right? It wasn't like he thought that they would be good friends right away just because Yosuke remembered a traumatic event and Shinjiro didn't.

[underachieves]

It would be nice to claim he trusted Yosuke so completely that spying on him would be out of the question, but Shikamaru couldn't. He'd had a suspicion that Yosuke had been keeping a lot from him since December. Not that he wasn't keeping his own share of secrets, but from where he stood now it looked like Yosuke had done more than just hide some personal trauma.

His brother had been with Omega. And Yosuke had never once mentioned it.

It didn't matter anymore. They weren't in NeoGenesis. But even knowing that, even as he was trying to push all that behind him, anger flared up in his chest. When Yosuke was killed, Shikamaru hadn't understood why the government would be going after him. If he had just known, if Yosuke had just told him, then he could have prevented it. He wouldn't have had to beg Hidan for the auction money. He wouldn't have had to see Nill cry. But it went beyond that. In all their dangerous escape attempts, if he'd only known about this brother, then he might have found a better way. They wouldn't have had to risk so much..!

Shikamaru leaned up against a shelf, just out of Yosuke and Shinjiro's view. As frustrated as he was, gritting his teeth and clenching his hands into fists, he kept still and quiet. It was over. Over. Mistakes had been made, and they'd taken the difficult path, but they had pulled through. He could feel like shit about it but saying anything to Yosuke would just make his friend shut up even more. It was clear to him: Yosuke had been blaming himself for an innocent person's death. And Shikamaru understood that feeling.

Of course, that didn't mean he'd let Yosuke continue on his own. If he was swearing to protect this guy, then Shikamaru ought to at least meet him. And so, shoving his hands in his pockets, Shikamaru stepped out from around the stand like he was only just arriving, shuffling over to Yosuke's side.

"You guys okay over here?"

[weaktobullets]

"Inaba..." he murmured the word. He had heard of the place, but only because it wasn't too far. After a moment, he cursed under his breath. "...So the Shadows got that far? Sit." Sure, the Dark Hour had been present for the past ten years, but it had only been recently that Apathy Syndrome and Shadow attacks were really prevalent. There had always been destruction and the occasional victim, always been the odd shadow on the street for he and Aki to hunt down, but there was never anyone else awake. The spread had been slow until they started fighting the Large Shadows... Shinjiro's brows furrowed.

They only had one more to go... had SEES failed? Or maybe Shadows and the Dark Hour had made it to Inaba before that? Not that having Shadows around was a requirement for having a Persona, but they helped in the realization of it. Still he was distracted from his train of thought as Yosuke protested his withdrawal and avoidance of getting close, or making friends. His lip drew back. "Do what you want. Just don't get in my way if it comes to it, alright?"

The comment about memories bothered him a little bit. He wasn't sure if he was glad to be without them or not-- he had always wanted to forget a few choice events after all... but usually it was impossible. Usually it never went away. Because of that, he felt kind of lucky that he didn't remember being killed by Yosuke's brother-- and it wasn't as though he had exactly lost contact with Yosuke after it.

"...Yeah, Shinjiro." If the other man was that forceful in wanting to save him, if he had tried once before... then yeah, what was the harm in allowing him on first-name terms. Yosuke was a fellow Persona user. He had watched his own brother kill someone he had wanted to protect (for whatever weird reason.) Letting the guy call him Shinjiro was the least he could do.

He glanced over to Shikamaru-- another man he didn't recognize. Still, the man seemed a stark contrast to the excitable Yosuke. He nodded simply, rolling a shoulder. "Fine."

[outbursting]

"The Shadows..." Looks like the two of them would have to compare notes about what they knew about the Shadows. Of course, Yosuke still didn't quite understand that much about them. It didn't seem like they weren't ever going to find out much about it, either. Not after everything that had happened. He twisted his hands together, pulling at each finger in a nervous manner. It wasn't particularly comforting to know that there was something lurking in the darkness here, too. Shadows -- or whatever they were called -- that just made him wonder if this was where they all originated. Stranger conclusions have been found.

"All right. That sounds fair." Given how much his own pride and ego was taking a bit of a beating since he came here, really, he had to be taken back to the apartments like some little kid. Yosuke knew that it was mostly because he was still feeling sick and woozy from having all his memories be brought back to him, but no one else had said that they passed out from their arrival to this place. It kind of made him feel a little more than embarrassed by his own extreme reaction.

"Shinjiro, then." Yosuke thought that it would be best to try to break up this sort of serious tone with something. Things were awkward enough without having to keep trying to make them more awkward. Straightening his shoulders, he let out a huge sigh in order to get rid of the pent up anxiety in his own chest. He rose his hand out toward Shinjiro, curling it up into a fist in order to initiate a brofist. It was something that they had done back when they were running for their lives, not that it seemed like the other teenager remembered. Still, it seemed like the right thing to do that was both livening up the mood and being more on friendly terms with one another.

"Ah, yeah. We're all right, Shika!" He smiled brightly at his friend. Still not wanting to worry him with his own concerns. Still not wanting to say a lot of the things that he had been hiding since December. Yosuke made a bit of a face, mixture of guilty and depressed, before perking up just a little for the two of them. "This is Shinjiro." He gestured lightly to the person in question. "Someone that I know from way back, I guess you could say."

Rubbing the back of his head, playing the bit of a fool, he laughed to himself at his lame introduction. "And Shinjiro, this is Shikamaru." He clapped his hands together. "There we go. Introductions complete. Shinjiro, Shikamaru, Yosuke." A long pause, before his hand slapped the back of his head. "Ah, man, I totally ruin the S-name line-up. I am the weakest link!"

[underachieves]

"From way back, huh," Shikamaru uttered, somewhat flatly. Why wouldn't Yosuke just tell him? With everything so far behind them, why was he keeping it all so secret? But he wouldn't question it now, not beyond that mildly skeptical tone of his. Ignoring Yosuke's dumb remarks, he turned his full attention to Shinjiro.

"We talked on the network, didn't we," he said. Not much of a question, since he remembered it perfectly well. "Glad to see you made it over here. Sorry about the atmosphere." Punctuated with a glance around the shop and a helpless shrug. Shikamaru didn't seem very thrilled to be in an adult store himself, despite having claimed to be an employee earlier. "You can trust the Darkness-proofing on this building, though. We haven't had a breach yet."

[weaktobullets]

"..." Well that had been an experience, if nothing else. Not-so-suddenly, Shinjiro had the faint feeling that he wouldn't be getting to sleep anytime soon. At least Yosuke seemed to have made... some kind of near-peace with the situation. Accepting that Shinjiro was an antisocial fuck, anyway.

At the offered fist he glanced down to it, gave a quick glance back to Yosuke, before tapping Yosuke's fist with a soft jab. This was absolutely bizarre and way too much to consider, but by now he had all but given up on trying to figure it out immediately. He was dead. Twice. Once back home, and he remembered that, but afterwards from some other time-distortion of a city. In his head he reasoned it out like the Dark Hour: some sort of weird time-space anomaly that drew certain people in while others didn't experience it. Alright, that made sense. And maybe once removed from the system, all memories of being within it would disappear as well. That would explain his missing time and his lack of memories.

A brow raise was the only indication he gave that he have heard Yosuke's last comment about their names, before shaking his head to turn to Shikamaru. Part of him wondered what he had gotten himself into with that... but the other man meant well, so whatever.

"Shika, then," he nodded- that had been the first guy to respond to him. "Yeah, we spoke." At the apology, though, he rolled a shoulder. "Ain't so much the monsters I'm concerned 'bout." At it was true- Shadows-- and Monsters-- were big, vicious, but that's it. They had streamlined motives and never had to hide them. See people, attack and try and eat people. It was simple.

...The people and situation here, not so easy.

[outbursting]

"Yeah..." Yosuke allowed his smile to slip a little, noting the tone with a little bit of hesitation, but carried on relatively easily. It was weird to share something like that with Shinjiro and not Shikamaru. Probably wouldn't even say the same to Souji. Again, it probably was just because he thought that Shinjiro deserved to know what happened. But also, if the other teenager actually did get his memories back, he wasn't sure he wanted him to have an unfavorable light toward Ryou. Still, it eemed like it'd be all right, though, and took the fist bump as once more starting their friendship yet again.

He had hestiated before he left that city, because he wanted to remember what his brother looked like. Enough of his head was messed up, that he wanted to be sure that at least that memory was clear. Wasn't like he had any photographs or anything of the like that he could take with. Scratching the back of his neck, he just felt embarrassed and troubled that he risked possibly getting trapped in that nothingness. Yosuke made a bit of a face before doing his best to shrug it off. Even if it wasn't real, it didn't change the feelings that he had about it.

Eh? Leveling up to call him 'Shika' already? He stared at Shinjiro for a time, before snickering to himself at his own joke. It was nice that everyone was getting along, though. Really nice. I'll have to see if he'll like me call him 'Shinji' later. Another smile and laugh. Couldn't say so now since he already said that he knew the other from way back and it would be weird to suddenly ask if he could shorten his name. Right? Right.

"Really? I'm pretty worried about the monsters." His eyes rolled up to the ceiling before winking at the two. "Not. Nothing that can't be handled without a little force and well-planned attack. Am I right, or am I right?"

[underachieves]

Shikamaru nodded at Shinjiro. He understood the feeling. Hell, he felt the same way. He wouldn't go marching out in the Darkness for no reason, but he wasn't afraid of it. It was the people-- AGI, SERO, the newcomer killer and the other newcomers themselves-- that had him looking over his shoulder all the time.

"There hasn't been any other kind of trouble here either," he clarified. "My boss is a pretty good guy. Weird, yeah, but good at handling problems." Huge understatement, but of course he couldn't just go around declaring Kakashi the lord of the ninjas. It was strange for even Shikamaru to think of Kakashi as his new Hokage.

He glanced at Yosuke. "The monsters can get pretty tough, though. You don't want to get caught alone. And you gotta remember that at least one of the newcomer killers has the ability to drain powers, so you should avoid being alone anyway." This lecture seemed specially directed at his friend. Yosuke had a bad habit of playing hero and wandering off alone to later turn up mutilated or dead.

[weaktobullets]

So the owner of this place kept the trouble out. It was good to know that neither monster nor mutiny was a pressing concern in the safehouse. As much as Shinjiro was fine with danger and sticking hi neck on the line, he was just as appreciative as everyone else for a safe place to sleep. Even if he were to run out and fuck with the monsters, if he had a safe place to return... well, that was all he really needed.

He let out a soft, amused snort at Yosuke's comment. "Just don't let'em get your back." It wasn't as though monsters used a complex strategy, after all. He shrugged a shoulder again, glancing to Shikamaru once more and listening quietly. It seemed to be the most information he had on the monsters yet, anyway, other than 'they exist and are bad news.'

"...newcomer killers?" A brow raised. A Newcomer-Killer that could drain powers... The idea of it didn't sit right. Mostly because his own 'powers' were linked directly to his soul, really, but the idea of people killing newcomers... His brows furrowed. "I heard there were a coupl've dangerous people, but not this."

Being a newcomer, he liked to think that knowing about a murderer targeting people like him would have been one of the first things to be informed about. Ah well.

[outbursting]

"Please." Yosuke gestured about in a dismissive manner. "I have mad skills when it comes down to it." His arms once more folded behind his head as he thought that this was a much better conversation. Little on the dark side, but it almost felt like back doing the investigation. The sort of serious conversation that had a bit of levity that he happened to throw into it about what to watch out for and how they would handle it. But it seemed to mostly be on his side.

His arms dropped down to his side at the mention of the killer. "Ah, I completely forgot about that." It really didn't seem like one of those things that should actually slip his mind. He supposed that he could blame it on the fact that there were a lot of things that were running about in his head lately, but it just seemed like it was downright ridiculously that he would forget that there was a killer running about. Maybe because no one had been targeted or hurt, but that was good, wasn't it? Maybe it stopped because of the earthquake. Maybe karma got the bastard that was doing it. But he supposed that he couldn't count on such good news as that.

"I wonder if there is a way to find who is doing it." A pause, then decided to share his thoughts on the subject. "It seems like the earthquake stopped most of the killing for now, right?" Of course, did that mean that when things started to settle down that it would once more start up, again? Not good. Yosuke shook his head a little, wondering what could be done about it. Just like Souji had said about not being able to escape from these sort of events; did that mean that they were given a second chance to try to put an end to it before anyone else was killed?