Detective Work

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Persona 4 New Days
Chapter Summary: Dojima's not an idiot.
Word Count: 750
Rating: teen
Notes: second person again, talks about souji's crush again.

            Dojima’s in a hurry, but he pulls you aside anyway.  Yosuke’s stunt probably interrupted him in the middle of a case.  You feel bad he had to deal with that; he’s busy enough as it is, and he is extending you kindness by letting you stay in his home.  Yosuke sends a guilty look after you, but honestly, there’s not much you can tell him.
            Dojima pulls you into what looks like an abandoned room, dust and all, and closes the door, then sighs heavily.  “I told Noriko I’d take care of you…” he mutters into his old cup of coffee, before staring directly at you.  You gulp.
            “Now, I might seem oblivious, but I’m a detective and it took honest work to get here,” he starts.
            There’s no way he can know about the TV, no way—
            “I remember that remark.  April 13^th.”  You start to try to search your memories and determine what he might be referencing.  “I remember being young and stupid and trying to impress a crush.”  You blink.  You’re not entirely certain where he’s going with this, not until he continues.  “But then, the object of my affections wasn’t a guy.”
            This—this is almost as bad as him finding out about the TV World.  You’re frozen.  You want to fall to your knees, burst into tears.
            “I don’t care about that,” he continues, and some of the tension in your shoulders drains away.  “It’s not what I grew up with, but I’m not exactly a country hick.  The world’s a bigger place than just Inaba.”
            He doesn’t know how to deal with you, you realize.  He’s good enough when people are happy, and if you’re unhappy and a suspect, you have the feeling that he’d also be fine, but here and now…
            “What I’m worried about,” he confesses, becoming the harder detective again, and it’s scaring you, “…is this Yosuke being a bad influence.  You’re a good kid, with a good head on your shoulders, and ordinarily you’d be smart enough to stay out of trouble.  But that, today, was stupid, and if he finds it that easy to lead you astray…”
            “It’s not malicious!” you respond, and find you’ve interrupted him.  You pride yourself on your polite nature, but you can’t just sit aside as Hanamura’s insulted, even if it’s incriminating evidence.  “It’s…he means well.  He just doesn’t always think things through.”  You pause, then plow on.  You’re not about to tell him the truth, but at least you can give him a plausible explanation, even if he hasn’t asked you for one so far.  “I used to be in the Kendo club, a…year ago now?  And I mentioned that, and Yosuke got excited—he gets bored—and wanted to see, and I told him I didn’t have the bokken anymore, and I guess he found those at Junes or something…”
            You’re nervous.  Blabbering even.  It’s not your natural state of being, but you’re having trouble finding the power to stop.  From the way he’s frowning, you know he doesn’t believe you completely, but he nods and his severe look has lessened somewhat.
            “Tell him to be more careful in the future.”  He pauses and grimaces.  “Please don’t tell me I have to give you a lecture on safety.”
            It takes you a minute to realize what he’s talking about, by which point you’re the color of a lobster’s shell.  “No!” you squeak and instantly deflate.  “He’s oblivious and he liked Saki-senpai.  I’m just…trying to make him feel a little better.”  His eyes fill with sympathy, but the hard detective’s still there.
            “Where was he?” he asks, and you blanch.
            “I’m pretty sure he was working at Junes, though you can ask,” you mutter through your teeth, and he holds up his hands in surrender.
            “Just doing my job.  My gut tells me he’s not a criminal.  If he was that close, I guess I should let his lapse in judgement slide…this time.  Keep your head down, all right?  And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
            Yosuke looks almost more relieved than Chie had when you emerge.  “Dude, I was afraid your uncle changed his mind and was going to charge us with something."
            You lean in close, not allowing yourself to enjoy it.  “Don’t do that again,” you whisper, a prayer and a request, not nearly as intimidating as your uncle, and you add, “I used to be in a Kendo team.”
            “What?” he asks, but you steer him out.