(no subject)

[eatsyourscience]

To begin with, it was Naoto's idea to check up on things in the TV world, and it had become so normal to spend rainy afternoons inside that Souji agreed without requiring much in the way of an explanation, though she provided one anyway. He agreed with all the points she made--that they should keep an eye on the movements of the fog, the density of shadows in various places, if anything had changed since Adachi's defeat--but more than anything, he was beginning to miss that world and the time they spent there.

Chie and Yukiko passed, and so did Kanji when Souji tracked him down at lunch, but Rise was happy to accompany them--a good thing, because Souji didn't think it would be wise to go in without her--and so were Yousuke and Teddie, who agreed with Naoto about the importance of keeping an eye on what was going on in that world. Souji couldn't blame him.

Inside, everything seemed the same. Even the damp smell, the feeling of the fog against his cheeks in odd juxtaposition to the way it vanished in the view through his glasses were the same. He asked Rise to do a scan of the area, but wasn't expecting her excited, staccato announcement that there was a new area she hadn't seen before.

When Kanzeon vanished, Souji glanced around to find everyone looking at him and he almost smiled at how comfortable it had become to see them relying on him. He gave a slight nod and with Rise directing him, led the way past locations they already knew.

They stopped when the ground disappeared in front of them. An expanse of open, empty space spread in front of them, filled with a swirling fog that he could see. Resisting the urge to remove his glasses and clean them, Souji squinted. All that was visible were what looked like several bare, unornamented platforms hovering in the air, each at a greater distance than the last from where they stood.

He looked around, then down, then took a step into open space. Rise called out after him, but trailed off when a walkway materialized beneath his feet, extending for a short distance ahead of him. A few steps across what looked and felt like smooth, gray stone confirmed that it would continue to appear ahead of him as he walked instead of leaving him to step blindly and hope he hadn't come to a corner without noticing. Hefting his sword a little higher, he looked back and nodded to the others that they should proceed.

Comments

[masukukunai]

Where-ever Souji went, Yousuke followed.

He had to admit, he felt the same. He missed the tv world. He missed the midnight channel and the secret meetings and the rush of fighting his way through wave after wave of shadows. There was always a part of him that wanted to be a hero, that he saw when he looked up at Jiraiya's red scarf or Susano-O's ridiculous shades-- it was impossible to deny.

And he was there when they promised Teddie that they would get rid of the shadows in the TV world. That promise was still unfulfilled. It gave him a perfectly legitimate reason to be here, as if his own tendencies and Souji's presence wasn't enough.

But it was definitely... different. While most of the shadow worlds they had been to felt like cramped corridors, this place was suspiciously open. If it weren't for the platforms dotting a sort of path across, they could get lost in here easily. And it was so empty. All the other worlds had some sort of, theme, for lack of a better word, to them that had to do with their personal shadows. This place was as blank as an unused canvas.

"Be careful," he finds himself saying as Souji takes his first few steps without even realizing it. The tv world always gave him a bad vibe, but this place was seriously making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Why was it even here?