Duty (part iv)

[madimpossibledreamer]

I have figured out how to use Photos to make music videos.  BWAHAHAHAHAAH this is too much power for one man.  seriously, I've already changed the lyrics on three openings plus started a music video that will take forever to complete.
~Dreamer~

Main Points:
Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha
Summary: Narumi finally learns why the world seems so different than what he remembers.
Word Count: 1173
Rating: Gen, ANGST + cliffhanger...sorry about that.  (also this is law route, because honestly given Raidou's personality, what we see with it, it's one of the few SMT games where I'm not sure Chaos Route makes any sense.  neutral, maaaaybe.)

         Tae was back again.  Really, it was nice to see a pretty face around the agency for once, but this was going a little too far.  He’d gone far too long without his last caffeine mix, for example, because that annoying woman kept having to drink the coffee he’d made all for himself.
         He almost opened the door from a room down the hall to go bug her in return or drive her away when he heard her speak and froze.  Maybe going into the situation unprepared was a little hasty.  If he stayed put, maybe he’d hear enough clues to rub together and get why everyone was acting so off.
         “Raidou-kun, is Narumi around?”
         The man replied in the monotone that he’d grown to know so very well.  “I haven’t seen him around all day, so I presume he went out.  Did you need him for something?”
         “No.  Perfect.  Actually, I was wanting to talk to you.  Alone. That all right with you?”
         He didn’t need to see them to know the kid was shrugging uncomfortably.  “Would you want more coffee?”  An avoidance technique, and Tae knew it as well as the detective.  Gal had brains as well as a set of gams and a pretty face.
         “No, I’ve had enough of that today.  You’re being far too nice, really.  I get it; you’ve got a heart of gold, but you needn’t try so hard just because you’re being hurt.  Raidou-kun, is Narumi still being an absolute jerk?”
         A long sigh; one he’d never heard before from his young charge.  “Asakura-san-”
         He was interrupted.  “How many times do I have to tell you to call me Kichou?”  Dame was always picky about what people called her, apparently.
         The summoner continued, undeterred, “…Kichou-san.  I would request that you never bring up the subject again.”
         Something in the tone felt off, and Tae sensed it just as well as he did.  She sounded more scandalized about it than Narumi’s own confused thoughts, though.  “Don’t tell me the louse had the nerve to tell you it was over.”
         “…”  He could see the face Raidou was making, imagined him trying to decipher the best way to deal with such a wild imagina-
         “He didn’t have to.”  The words were brittle, final, and caught Narumi so totally off guard that he had to catch on to the door frame to keep from falling over.  The fact that someone had been listening in on the conversation would be pretty obvious if he crashed onto the floor from the surprise.
         Apparently Tae didn’t know how to react, either, because there was a long silence.  Finally, her voice returned, angrier than ever.  Should I be concerned for my safety?  First the cat, then Tae?  One of them’s going to end up taking my head or something.  Then again, should that be what I’m thinking of right now?  “And you’re just going to stand there and-the nerve of that man-”
         “Kichou-san.”  The name was crisp, sharp as a kitchen knife.  Several long moments, as Raidou regained his composure.  “I shall do exactly that, and I ask as a small kindness that you forget as well.”
         “I will do no such thing!  That’s not kind at all!  Raidou-kun, I’m not just going to stand by while a friend gets his heart torn out.  How did this happen?  Sure, Narumi’s a lazy idiot, sometimes, but I always thought he was real sweet on you.  He actually took care of you, which was the only reason I didn’t smack him around for even thinking about something like that.”
         “He has…”  A shaky breath that conveyed exactly how much the newest Kuzunoha was hurting, and the detective felt like a real jerk even if he couldn’t remember all of this.  What crazy world had he woken to, and when exactly did it turn out like this?  Without him noticing, even, and…how was that even possible?  With him being one of the involved parties, so to speak…  “…I will ask for nothing more.  It is not my place.”
         “Sure it is!  You’re a human being!”  Narumi smiled painfully, knowing the gist of Raidou’s next words by heart.  It was a point he felt he could never agree with the devil summoner on.
         “I am a Kuzunoha.  I have responsibilities, and I should not let things like emotions get in the way of carrying out my duties.”  He could never, the detective thought, adequately explain, even if Tae was completely aware of the supernatural.  There was no way to justify something like that, and yet, for the kid, it was all the explanation necessary.
         At least Tae sounded as broken up about the idea as the detective.  “Raidou-kun…if you continue like you have the past couple days, it’ll eat you up inside.”
         “W-was it that obvious?”  Poor kid really did sound heartbroken.  A couple shaky breaths pulled him back together.  “I apologize.  I will endeavor to do better in the future.”
         “That’s not what-”
         For once, Raidou was interrupting someone.  “I suppose you assume that merely reminding him will produce the wanted effect.  That he will supernaturally remember what he has lost and gladly return to the way things have been.  That everything can be solved through conversation.”  That was something, the detective remembered that his charge was painfully shy about.  Kid never trusted himself, talking with others.  The laugh was bitter and sounded far older than the young man had any right to be.   “It did not take me long to realize that while the rest of his memory is intact, Narumi-san has no memory of our…”  The summoner got choked up, but then, Narumi did too, and he was merely listening to this.  He couldn’t imagine what it was like for Raidou.  “It hurts, but I have come to the conclusion that he did not want to remember.  That he wished for an escape and found it.”
         Tae gasped.  “R-Raidou-kun…”
         “You need not tell me that I am naïve.  I can read that in your eyes far clearer than words may express.  And it is true; I have little experience of the world.”  A self-depreciative shrug of the shoulders.  Even the imaginary Raidou’s movements, matched to the words in a little role-playing in Narumi’s head, were depressing as fallen toast and an empty coffeepot.  “But I am a detective.  I have learned to gather data and observations to form logical conclusions.  Narumi has shown absolutely no interest.  It’s as if he’s a changed man.”
         “Is he possessed?”
         A bitter laugh, one of a breaking man.  “I wish it were that simple.  But it’s still Narumi, just a little different.  Before, he would at least glance appreciatively at males and females alike.  Now, the comments, the glances…they’re all for women.  I have come to terms with it.  No, I cannot claim that I am happy, but happiness is unnecessary.”
         Narumi stumbles away from the door, trying to come to terms with everything he’d just heard.  He’d known Raidou doesn’t think of himself enough, but this—