Narumi's Decision

Author's Note: This takes place during Episodes 9 and 10. The characters Atlus owns...not mine, unfortunately!

Four days had passed since the time that Raidou had left the detective agency, headed for Dark Sakuradayama. During that time, Shouhei Narumi had stayed behind in Tsukudo-Cho, trying not only to get a hold of any and all information about not only Major General Munakata's Super Soldier Project, typing up the reports, but also to get any information as to Kaya Daidouji's whereabouts, since disappearing in Ginza. As each day passed, Narumi continued his work, while trying to shake off a feeling of dread that would get more intense as time passed.

Little would he realize just how it would come to a head by something as little as a knock on his door on the fifth day, in the morning.

"Come on in," he called out, "Raidou, just where have you-"

His statement was cut off immediately when he looked up and saw none other than the Naval officer who had roughed him up just days before, Sadakichi.

"I'm afraid I'm not him," the officer stated dryly,.

"What the hell do you want, Sadakichi?" the detective asked, his voice tinged with righteous anger.

"I don't blame you for the other day, but it was the only way we would get Kuzunoha to cooperate in saving the Admiral."

"Baloney. Knowing him, he would have anyway without the roughing up. You just didn't bother to ask. Now, you better tell me what you're doing in my office."

Sadakichi ignored the insolent tone and said quietly, "It's got to do with your apprentice...and it's not good."

Narumi's eyes widened a little as he asked, "Did something happen to Raidou?"

"I'm afraid so," the naval officer's tone became quiet as he explained, "We lost contact with him five days ago, when he went to Waden One Radio Tower."

"What happened?"

"Last night, another of the undercover men made a very disturbing report."

"Heh. Figures, that you wouldn't be the only mole." He blinked and asked, "What disturbing report?"

"That's...I know you must be rather worried-"

"Yeah, I'm worried! Now spill it!"

Sadakichi took a deep breath and said, "The report was that there was a battle at the top of the tower and...I'm sorry to tell you this, Mr. Narumi, but," He paused and cleared his throat before continuing, "I'm afraid that Raidou Kuzunoha fell to the enemy in that battle."

Narumi looked down from the officer to the top of his desk, not saying a word for a few moments.

"Mr. Narumi...? Did you hear-"

"Yes, I heard you!"

Though sharp and angered, there was an undeniable tremor in his voice. Narumi shook his head furiously as he said, "I know Raidou better than that. He's been through worse things-there's no way!"

"Narumi, face the facts!" the officer barked, "Kuzunoha would have contacted you by now with something if he were still alive. He still hasn't, has he? That means only one thing: he's dead!"

Again, for a couple of moments, there was silence, long enough for Sadakichi to calm down and gather his thoughts. As he did, he saw a small tremor in the detective's arms and heard the whisper, "My fault..."

"Hm?"

"This mess," Narumi spoke in a low, harsh whisper, "it's my fault. Case's too big for a trainee...and my own-he's paid for my mistakes."

The naval officer didn't comment, having no idea what the other man was talking about, and not commenting about a pair of wet drops that appeared on the desk.

A moment later, the younger man said in a louder voice, "Sorry. I appreciate you telling me this, but...I need to be alone."

"All right," Sadakichi agreed, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry," before he left, closing the door behind him.

Narumi waited a moment before looking up from the table. He looked out the window and as he blinked, a pair of tears fell down his face.

"...not as sorry as I am," he said in a bare whisper before the grief overtook him. Oh God, Raidou...what have I done...?

00000

It wasn't until afternoon that Narumi looked up from where he had been sitting at. His eyes were very red from crying, feeling as though the news of the death had not only torn out his heart...but also pierced his soul.

Raidou... he thought, then whispered in a ragged voice, "This is my fault. Cripes, I should have realized sooner what Munataka was doing in that tower...should have...done something about it years before, when he disappeared..."

He could almost hear Tae Asakura, the ace reporter from the Capital Daily, saying with derision, Hmph! Instead of the should-haves and the could-haves, how about doing something yourself, for once? You're supposed to be a grown man, take some responsibility like one!

"Take...responsibility," he said in a low whisper, just before pushing himself from the desk and chair, wiping his eyes furiously and getting his luger pistol out from the desk's lower drawer.

"Yeah...I'll take responsibility alright, dollface," he said in a low voice as he loaded the weapon, "I'll go to Hell for what I've done, but I won't go alone. I'm going after Munakata, and I'll take him down with me."

I think I know where that bastard's going to be, he thought as he put a couple of bullet clips into a couple of secret compartments, then take out a piece of paper and wrote a note on it. Although in pain and grieving, something deep in his mind whispered that regardless of what Sadakichi had said, his pale boy may still be alive. Before I go there...I've got a few things to do.

00000

The first thing Narumi did was to go to Konnou-Ya, the store that Raidou had always gone to for supplies. In a twist of fate, the owner had even been a client of the detective agency after several of his shipments had gone missing, placing the entire store in jeopardy.

"Hm? Yes, what can I do for you?" the elderly owner looked up when he heard the bell, "It's almost closing time—Oh! Mr. Narumi!"

"Hey there..." he greeted.

"Did something happen? You look...well, like something the cat dragged in, to use your expression."

"Yeah, well...you'll find out soon enough, I guess. Listen...I just wanted to thank you."

"Oh? For what, boy?"

Narumi didn't really like being called a boy, but knew full well that he did the same thing to anyone younger than him. As it was, he shined it on and replied,"For...helping Raidou."

Not just helping with selling him stuff, but with helping, in your own way, with the bigger case we were doing, even if you didn't know it.

"Not a problem. He's one of my best customers. Now, can I get you anything, besides that Ammunition Box you ordered?"

"N—hold the phone...actually, yeah. I'm gonna need a couple of things, like some Medicines," he replied, thinking, I may as well...last time I'm gonna buy anything from him.

00000

His next stop had been to Shin-Sekai, where he found Tae Asakura, drinking one of the Soda Joint's star beverages and working on her next article for the newspaper. She had been rather alarmed by his grim expression and red eyes.

"Hey...Shouhei, what happened? You look like hell."

"None of your bees-wax, dollface."

"O-kay..." she said with a frown, then asked, "Where's Raidou?"

Narumi's throat tightened for a moment, and he waited for it to loosen a little before he replied, "He's...out." With that, he ordered a soda himself.

"Out? Out where?"

"I said, none of-"

"None of my bees-wax, I know. Like that's stopped Kichou Asakura before," she retorted as she sipped on her drink.

"Well it's gonna have to this time, Tae."

"I told you before, quit calling me Tae!"

"Believe me, I'm gonna keep calling you that until the day I die." Which won't be far off now.

"Hmph! So what brings you out of your office? Decided to stop being a wallflower and be a man for once?"

"Something like that," he replied, which earned him a surprised look.

When his drink came, he quickly, but not too quickly, drank it and said, "I only got one thing to say to you, Tae."

"I told you—whatever. What is it?"

"No matter what happens from here on out, you had better keep that investigation of yours on the down-low."

That, also, surprised her. "How come?"

"That, you don't need to know either. Listen, this is-" he was about to say worse than a simple kidnapping and monster case when he caught himself. She knew just how to rile him up to get some of the juicy bits, but he wasn't going to take the bait this time.

"Hm?"

"This is something you had better stay out of, if you want to go on being the ace reporter." Not to mention if you want to go on living.

"Hah! That's not going to frighten me! Maybe the common little Japanese housewife, but not Kichou Asakura."

"I don't give a damned anymore if it frightens you or not," he hissed, a cold, serious expression in his eyes. He did notice how that made her jump back in her seat, startled. "If you're not gonna stay out of it, at least keep it on the down-low, you hear me?"

"Yeah, whatever you say." Like that's going to change anything, buster.

Like that's gonna change her mind, Narumi thought, downed the rest of his drink, then gave some Yen to the bartender...enough to pay for his drink, as well as Tae's.

00000

The thin owner of Restaurant Ryugu had to chuckle when she saw his cold, serious expression. Although she had never seen it before on him, she had on some others.

"What brings you here? Finally going to pay your tab?" she asked.

"Actually, that'll be paid with my life insurance," he replied, tone just as serious as his expression.

You've got to be kidding me! Paid with his life insurance?

"Oh! You slay me," she remarked with a laugh.

"No, it won't be you I'll slay," he said in a low voice, then continued in a regular volume, "That...and also I wanted to thank you for your help...I know we were helping the owner of Konnou-Ya with his shipments, but it also brought a lot of help with another case we were doing..."

Were...I'm already thinking of Raidou in the past tense...

"Oh...I see. Well...I'm glad it helped, then."

"How's Denpachi?" he asked.

"Well...he's getting better, and his sister, Shizu, is getting there in her bills."

"Good," he said, then walked off.

Harada looked after him as the detective walked away, thinking, Just what was that about...?

00000

Satake was headed for the bathhouse when he heard a commotion coming from the entrance of Fukagawa-Cho.

"Hey now, what's goin' on?" he called out, seeing a pair of his Yakuza boys sandwiching between a third guy in a brown outfit and a derby, pinning his arms back.

"We caught this guy comin' in, Boss, had the nerve to say he was comin' to see you!"

Wait a minute...I recognize him...works with that detective kid.

"You morons!" he yelled, "This guy's with that Kuzunoha kid! You let him go right now before heads start rolling!"

Their eyes went wide as they turned loose of him.

"Now scram!"

The man, Narumi, breathed and said, "Thanks," as the boys ran for the other side of the town.

"Sorry about that, Narumi...what brings you here to lowly Fukagawa-Cho?"

The detective looked like he had been through a few personal hells, Satake thought, and took note of a bit of a bulge under his jacket.

The man was armed.

"I just wanted to say...thank you for your cooperation."

"Huh?"

"With...the cases Raidou had been doing," he managed to say.

"Oh...no problem. That kid's got moxie, something that's hard to come by outside of this place."

"Yeah...he did..." he whispered, and his eyes burned. "I...I think I better get going. I've got somewhere to go..."

Satake wasn't about to comment on what he was deducing from all of this.

I'd say something happened between him and the kid. Whatever it is, it's bad. This guy's planning to die.

00000

The last stop he made, before going to the facility, was to Sakuradayama itself.

If he really is dead, he thought, I want to see for myself, just where Raidou...died...

By now, the sun was low, starting to set. Couples and officers alike were roaming about the place, some going to the nearby shrine, while the military went to their posts surrounding the radio tower.

Once he reached the top of the hill of steps, Narumi raised his head to look directly at the tower, ignoring protestations from one of the guards to not loiter, that they were being watched.

The sun was disappearing from the sky, casting an eerie, golden light over the tower, especially circling the round top.

The sight of the tower, in this light, was more than Narumi could take.

He pulled down his cap, hard and low, to cover his eyes, then hurried away from the tower, and from Sakuradayama. He hoped that he was well away from the people there, and that nobody would look at his brightening eyes.

00000

I am...I am planning to die...to take Munakata with me and end all of this. At least, Raidou'll rest in peace...

Narumi thought this as he worked his way down. He had just barely gotten to Cannon Battery #3 and down to the Shipbuilding Facility before Munakata had disabled it. After then, he went as best as he could towards the altar, where Raidou had found, and rescued, Kaya the previous time.

That would have gone well if it hadn't been for the demons.

One thing that he never let anyone know, including Raidou, was the fact that Narumi, too, could see and interact with demons. To his way of thinking, if anyone had gotten word of it, the normal people would lock him away and throw out the key, and those in the occult would have grabbed him and submitted him for training...

The last thing he needed, or wanted, was to become a Devil Summoner, just like Raidou.

Now, in some ways, he cursed his lack of ability as he managed to get past a few of the demons, but not without injuries. A couple of times, he had to fire his pistol at them, which only serves to slow most of them down. It was only enough for him to get away...with his life.

I'm not going down yet...not until I reach Munakata. I'll blast him, then myself.

At the edge of the stairs, he had to stop for a moment. His hands had been cut up by demon talons, and he had some injuries elsewhere, like the chest. Nothing too deep, but they hurt like hell.

Cripes, wish I had brought some bandages, or at least more Medicines than I bought...how does—did Raidou manage to move around with all that stuff?

He took a few breaths and tried to steady himself...just as he heard noises coming from the stairs.

"-who's there?!"

"Shouhei...!"

00000

Narumi couldn't believe it.

Raidou was alive. He was exhausted and definitely angry, but alive.

The younger detective explained everything that had happened to him, starting from the dimensional rift that Rasputin had thrown him in, the alternate dimension that he and Gouto had escaped into, all the trials that he and the demons had to undergo, simply to get shards of a single item.

For him, Raidou and Gouto had only been gone maybe a couple of days...when in reality, almost an entire week had passed.

He had found Narumi's note, talked to everyone, and then found a second passageway to enter this place: through a well, of all places.

Raidou glared at the older man with righteous fury in his eyes, and even though Narumi was the superior, he felt as though he was in deep trouble.

Narumi had tried (Cripes, did I ever try) to get the younger man to turn around and go back to the agency and wait for him, even though it would mean certain death for the older man.

Instead, Raidou refused to leave. He did have a point, his very lineage of the Kuzunoha line, and his occupation, made this his problem too. In the end, Narumi wound up agreeing to taking on Munakata together.

Narumi grumbled, "You can be pushy, you know..." and turned, about to go up the stairs.

"Shouhei! Wait!"

Narumi was surprised enough to stand still. This night was the first time that Raidou had ever called him by his first name.

"Yeah...?"

The younger man brought out a few rolls of bandages from somewhere on his person.

"Better get you fixed up first. Hold still."

There was still fury in that young voice, tinged with another emotion, and Narumi got the feeling he had better do as he was told this time.

As Raidou bandaged the wounds, Narumi noticed that he intentionally kept his face down, where it couldn't be seen. When working on the slashed hands, he noticed that the Summoner's own were shaking.

"Raidou..."

"You have no idea," he whispered, dual emotions underscoring a tremor in that voice, "No idea how worried I was..." How afraid, too.

That made Narumi blink in surprise for a moment and then watched Raidou, speechless.

What in the world can I say to him? I think we gave each other a good scare, that's for sure...but now...

"We'll talk later," Narumi finally managed to say, "For now, we've got a madman to take down."

"Yes."

With that, Narumi turned towards the altar while Raidou took a shaky breath and put the bandages away, then made sure his own secondary weapon, a Colt Lightning, was fully loaded, with Heavy bullets.

It would be two men that Munakata would face within seconds of that...a wounded investigator...and one very pissed-off Devil Summoner.