Scared?

“Yeah, I’m Ange. Funny to run into you again, Detective Adachi.” At least it was definitely someone who was far less likely to be less of a useless person than that bodyguard her aunt had hired once (and then subsequently fired for flirting with Ange).  Ange hopped up off the detective, the full impact of the whole falling on him not completely hitting her yet. She still had her naginata in case something went down, so that was a plus. And the whole being down in this weird place with somebody she knew. “I used to call my usual bodyguards and the paparazzi my fan club, that’s all.”

“I hit water this time, so no injuries like last time.” After a bit of struggling to stay up, she fixed her hair baubles, relieved that not much harm had come to them apart from some water and maybe some plant parts. “Would you happen to have any idea what is… alluring… people down past us back there, Detective Adachi?”

“Usual bodyguards huh...” Adachi scowled at the thought of himself being a ‘bodyguard’ for an instigating brat like Ange. He slowly got up, dusting himself back off, again. Though, the thought dawned on him. In this sort of situation... the responsible thing to do would be to take charge and lead this kid out of harm’s way, Persona User or not.

“Well, I suppose I’m stuck with babysitting you again, aren’t I?” Adachi muttered to himself, smiling, despite the situation. He took his pistol out from his person, examining it to make sure the water hadn’t seeped in too badly. After reassuring himself that his only weapon was still functional, Adachi stepped out ahead of Ange.

“Hmm... Well, seeing as everyone who did come down here are supposedly Persona Users, I’m guessing this is one of the things we signed up for when we got to this forsaken place, or so I think,” He answered, not quite sure what it was that he even signed up for in the first place.

Teenage rebellion, Ange thought, that’s what she’d blame her little adventure on. Since she had spent most of her life rebelling against her aunt, she couldn’t say she had much of a rebellious phase. She did get a quick checkup at the hospital, but her interest was more into where that earthquake happened. So as soon as she got some sort of okay, she snuck out of the hospital, went back to her place, and grabbed the Naginata for protection and headed out to where the commotion was. Perhaps against better judgment, but she felt something pulling her there-the truth, perhaps? She ignored the pain in her leg and headed to the hole. People were getting pushed in and if Ange was gonna fall, she’d rather do it on her terms. For the second time that day, Ange took the plunge. “Well then,au revoir,” she said to nobody in particular as she fell, a little embarrassed that she kept her brother’s uncool tendency to drop dumb catchphrases into her speech.

The Ushiromiya heiress clutched tightly onto her weapon as she connected with the deep and murky water. It stung as she hit the water, but not nearly as bad as her earlier fall. She headed towards the bit of land to avoid the people falling in after her. “Huh, my fan club followed me out here,” she bemused. It shouldn’t have surprised her that the detective who had helped her out was here. After all, that’s what intrigued her to come here in spite of injuries. “So we meet again, this time in hell?” Ange said with a sheepish smile.

Adachi had finally sat up after a moment of brooding. Before he even had the chance to stand back up, a familiar falling figure had plopped itself into the water where he himself had initially landed.

“...Well I’ll be,” He cracked a smile, realizing it was the same girl as before who had nearly plunged to her death twice now. Adachi held back his urge to burst out laughing, as the old him would’ve taken sinister pleasure in this sort of situation. But what good would that accomplish here?

“Ange, was it?” The detective smiled smugly as he approached the soaking maiden, reaching down to help her out of the water. He tugged her out of the murky darkness, but, in his carelessness, stumbled back and tripped over a stuck out root, landing flat on his back, with the girl on top of him.

“Sorry... You’re not too hurt this time, are you?” He mused. If that kid could survive a fall from the top of a building, this should’ve been no problem for her.

Trekking through the woods and finding marks to create a mental map wasn’t too hard, she was used to it already as she managed to soon find a very nice clearing. And in that clearing? Tohru…..??

What was he even doing? Was he brooding? Now wasn’t the time for that, already she let out another sigh just seeing him. She’d been sighing a lot today, she was aware of that, but that was her only real way to express her complex emotions without going into too much detail.

“It’s kind of irritating you know, having something once dear to you, now attempting to stab you in the back,” He sighed, clicking his his revolver back into place. Getting up, Adachi brushed himself off, twirling his gun between his fingers.

Ange still didn’t feel like doing much arguing, so she agreed. Plus, it would impede her search for the truth. “Most definitely. If I were to make headlines for something, I’d rather it be something like ‘Local Girl Solves Family Tragedy’ or something less dramatic.” She’d had enough drama by the age of six, and way too much after that.

"Those are some... interesting news line ideas. What, are you a reporter or something?” Adachi asked, wondering if Ange’s family was just as eccentric as her. Carrying her like a newly wed bride sure did pull some weird looks from all the passerby’s on the street. If anything, there would be some weird news lines all about him.

“So... Ange,” Adachi started to say something - but was interrupted abruptly by a massive earthquake, surging throughout the entire town.

“What the shit was that?!” Adachi almost dropped Ange from all the vibrations, but he still kept a tight grasp on her. The shaking lasted for a little while, but after it ended, the radio at his belt went off, calling for Adachi’s presence at his station.

“Uhh, right, I’ll be right there,” He spoke into the device, sighing miserably. Adachi gently set Ange down on her feet, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

THE SINKHOLE

Days after the initial tremors occurred in Idle Lakes, talk surrounding the occurrence had begun to quiet down. No one had felt anything major since–let alone heard any suspicious sounds. A healthy sense of caution remained strong among many, though others argued that the initial rumors were merely attention-seeking witnesses telling tall tales.

As it would happen, in one week’s time…

A massive rumble in the early hours of the morning was the cue for the crumbling of stone and snapping of wood, soon followed by hand-crank sirens breaking any remaining semblance of silence in the town.

News spread quickly. On the outer edge of the East District, in the place where the earthquake had been previously felt, a large chunk of land had abruptly collapsed in upon itself, revealing an enormous sinkhole. 

Demons employed as rangers, peacekeepers and guards quickly flocked near the site of the hole, attempting to muscle reporters and other rubberneckers away from the main area. For a short while, aside from the initial event and the commotion of the crowd that congregated, all seemed calm.

But soon came the snarling.

Ange winced a little as she came down from the car. A detective, huh… he didn’t seem like the detective she had a weird dream about the other day, but if fate existed, maybe it was here knocking, giving her a push to the truth. “Thank you, Detective Adachi. I think I am able to walk, though I can’t say I’m not in pain,” she bemused. Best not to mention much about any particular things prior to this world, even the major jump.

“Ange, Ange Ushiromiya,” she responded. “… I assume teen girls around her normally don’t fall from buildings…?” She definitely seemed to have inherited her weird sense of humor from her mother, and probably the risky behavior.

"Ange, eh? That’s a pretty name for someone who likes to jump off rooftops...” Adachi mocked, though the blank stare she gave him when he looked down at her seemed a little unsettling. The hospital was just up ahead, and the thought had suddenly occurred to him, just how was he going to explain this to the workers?

“When we get to the hospital... let’s just say you fell, and leave it at that, alright? Saying you fell from the roof of a building might stir some trouble,” Adachi smiled, feeling a bit anxious. Hopefully this wasn’t some cheap ruse this girl schemed just for him.

Title: The Catcher In The Vegetable Garden (Part of the official Adachi Comic Anthology ) Circle/Artist: Kazuomi Mochizuki  Series: Persona 4 Rating: All Age   

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