beginnings and endings part 3

Kasumi's mind was reeling, the sickening familiar rush of humiliation and excitement washing over her as she found her naked body on public display in crowded streets of Tokyo. A moment ago she had having a normal (as relative a term as that was for her life these days) conversation with the handsome detective prince Akechi Goro while she took in the spectacle of the coldly beautiful Sae Niijima (who she knew by reputation alone as the distant sister of her Makoto-senpai and currently the tip of the spear hunting for the Phantom Thieves) and the voluptuous and mysterious woman Akechi called Mitisuru Kirijo in a heated argument. The next an unseen foe or attacked had slashed away their clothes with lightning swiftness, leaving the two older women handcuffed together and Kasumi wearing nothing but the red ribbon in her hair and the high heels she'd worn to school that day. A large crowd of paparazzi was busy photographing the scene as she stood in place, hands hiding her nudity as she moaned in despair.

“Hey you! Don’t move!” A voice shouted, abruptly breaking Kasumi out of her stupor. A police office was standing at the end of the street, pointing at her angrily. Kasumi instantly did the opposite of her instructions and bolted blindly in the opposite direction through the paparazzi.

Kasumi could hear the officer giving pursuit as the crowd jeered and cameras strobed. Pausing only brief to kick off her shoes Kasumi fled barefoot in the direction of a city alley. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as the crowd gasped at her perfectly sculpted body sped passed, each lithe muscle moving with fluid grace as she felt her ample breasts bounce erratically. The. Embarrassment gave way to muscle memory and the motion was all she knew. This part of her situation was in her favor at least. Her naked body was more than a lewdly stunning vision for her leering audience. It was a machine built to compete against world champions. She has distance. She had adrenaline. She had a peak physique further enhanced by the strength of her Persona. She would lose the police and regroup with Morgana to escape into the Metaverse.

“Stop right there!” A voice bellowed behind her, grabbing her wrist and shattering the pleasant delusion.

There was a short female beat cop standing behind her wearing the blue cap, buttoned shirt and shorts Of a Tokyo PD. Her height and light auburn hair (cut into a bowl cut) vaguely reminded Kasumi of one the bizarre children her Senpai occasionally toured the city that kept loudly calling him inmate. Then Kasumi lost any coherent thought at all as her feet were kicked from under her and she was tumbling backward into the cop’s firm grip. With a practiced precision worthy of the schoolgirl herself Kasumi was half caught and half pinned against a nearby wall.

“Don’t. Move.” The police woman repeated. “Nice try, kid, but you’re not going anywhere.”

“N-NO! Let go!”

“I wait say it again. I’m trying to be gentle here but if you try to break that hold you’re going to hurt yourself.”

“S-stop! They’re all looking at me!!”

“What were you expecting? What’s wrong with you? You know that family is in mourning don’t you? This some sick prank? You are ****? Are you just some weird pervert?”

“No! I swear! I don’t know what’s going on! Someone attacked us! I don’t want to be naked!”

“Could have fooled me…” The officer said, flicking Kasumi’s erect nipple.

“Tha-t…I…w-wait don’t…”

“Sorry.” The officer said with a shrug. “Not taking any chance with you.”

Kasumi blushed as one hand frisked her nude body. It was hardly the most lascivious inspection she had received in recent memory, but the experience of having a strangers hands roaming over her bare skin was still intensely embarrassing and exciting. As brief as the contact was, the sensation of being groped and patted lingered on her skin. She blushed as a hand ran across her labia and the officer let out a brief snort as a finger tweeked her moist clit.

“All right. No obvious weapons. I’m going to trust you just a bit and not search all her hiding places in front of these jerks as long as you don’t try to get away from me again. But there’s killers and crazies running around this town right now so don’t test my patience. Deal?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Cool. By the way…nice body. No wonder you got so far down the street! You must have an amazing training regime! Look at those glutes!”

“H-hey!”

“Ahem….officer?” Haru asked.

Kasumi yelped softly as the pair looked at Haru standing close by, hands on her hips and a stifled grin on her face. A small group of strangers trailed behind her.

“Oh, hey Mrs. Okumura. Caught one of the streakers here. Just about to-“

“What are you doing with my girlfriend, officer?”

“GIRLF-“

“Yes, officer, what are you doing with her girlfriend.” One of Haru’s companions asked, an elegant brunette with flowing hair a long red trenchcoat.

The police woman glanced between Haru, the stranger and Kasumi before realizing her hands were still on the naked girl’s body. Like lightning the officer leapt off the red head and presented her empty hands to the heiress.

“I’msorrymaamIhadnoideanothinghappenedIswearIjust-“ The officer sputtered before Haru and the other girl laughed.

“Don’t worry, officer. If finding my girlfriend naked in the arms of another woman was going to upset me then how could I ever find time for anything else?”

“This wasn’t my fault!” Kasumi said. “Th-this time…”

“Oh Kasumi-Chan…I want to believe that. But all the same perhaps we should locate a priest that knows how to break curses. Just to be safe.”

Kasumi glowered at her as she covered herself. “Your mean Haru-Senpai.”

“Awwww. Could I make amends if I give you something to cover up with?”

Kasumi blushed and bit her lip, nodding silently. Haru step forward, leering at Kasumi body even as she wrapped a towel around the red head. The older girl lingered close, entrapping her embarrassed paramour in a skimpy bath towel which grasped firmly and pulled tightly against her body.

“Hey, Senpai.” Kasumi said, kissing her long absent partner’s forehead.

“Good to see you, Kasumi-Chan.”

“….Sorry for…all of this…I don’t know what…”

“Before you finish that sentence you should know that you and this peculiar talent for losing your clothes is so far the best distraction I didn’t know I’ve needed until just now.” Haru whispered, returning a more traditional kiss.

“…how…How are you…Is everything…”

“It’s okay, Kasumi-Chan. I’m fine.”

Kasumi gave her an appraising.

“….I’m as well as I can be.” Haru said, avoiding the gaze. “Nothing is right. I doubt anything will feel right for a very long time. But I’ve mourned a little, as much as I’ve been allowed. I did assure father I’d be ready for whatever came next. And it would hardly do for an Okumura to go back on their word if I ever expect such a thing to be worth something ever again.”

Kasumi smiled. Then glanced down at the obscene cleavage the small towel made of her breasts as it squeezed them to ever larger proportions. A quick tug on the back of the towel confirmed her round butt cheeks were not entirely covered on the other end.

“Senpai, weren’t there any other towels you could have used.”

“Oh goodness, yes. Whole rooms full of them! But this is the one I’ll be providing for your walk of shame.”

“Senpaiiiii.”

“Now now. You aren’t the only girl who has shown up on our doorstep underdressed who managed to cause a scandal. Father did have a habit of flaunting his mistresses, usually in a way that maximized the free publicity. At the time I disapproved. But all things considered I don’t think I’ll amend that tradition. Thank Mona-Chan for the towel, by the way. I was happy for use to hide behind your hands but he insisted. Shall we?”

Kasumi glared but slowly took her lovers hand, who merrily lead the way back to her entourage. The police officer ran up to the pair, cupping her hands together and hastily bowing.

“Seriously! Sorry for all…everything! I saw you take off and instinct just took over, you know.”

“That’s…that’s fine! I’m glad Haru-Senpai has such enthusiastic investigators on her side.” Kasumi said.

“So I have the gist of the story. But can you tell me anything about the incident? Where did the attacker come from? What did he look like?”

“Nothing? Honestly they took me by complete surprise. I didn’t see anyone at all.” Kasumi said.

“How is that possible?” Haru asked.

“I can answer that.” Morgana said, padding up to the group. Haru scooped the black tabby into her arms and snuggled him, eliciting a purr the otherworldly creature would only condescend to share with his one time solo partner in crime.

“Awww who is this little guy?” The raven haired girl asked, unceremoniously joining the group and patting Morgana despite his unwelcoming glare.

“Hey, you’re being rude.” The police woman chided.

“Isn’t it also rude to squeeze a girl’s naked breasts in public?” The other girl retorted with a smirk. “Shouldn’t you wait until the third date for that sort of thing?”

“I wasn’t- that’s not- y-you….” The cop sputtered for a moment before drawing in a breath. “Or when it comes to you about half of one.”

“E-excuse me? You weren’t complaining at the time!”

“Could the two of you…please…stop talking?”

“….Anyway….” Morgana muttered, rolling his eyes at the banter. “From what I saw, someone exploited the same time stop effect we used to get here from the other side. This far from powerful shadows the cognitive distortions are almost none existent. It isn’t easy to affect the real world from a cognitive reality but it is possible- I managed to get to the human world without an app after all. With enough experience you could blink in and out of the real world fast enough to exploit the frozen time effect as long as you were focused.”

“Huh. That makes sense. So the suspect would have to be a persona user.” The cop said, nodding in thought.

“Exactly. Shadows can’t enter this world under normal conditions.” Morgana nodded.

Everyone else was dead silent.

“Did….DID THAT CAT JUST TALK?” The police officer asked.

“DID THE COP JUST HEAR ME TALKING?” Morgan asked.

The raven haired girl laughed. The third stranger, a well dressed man in a blue sailing cap, slapped his forehead. “I don’t think we were meant to understand what he was saying.”

Kasumi was staring wide eyed at the group when a renewed burst of laughter erupted from the other girl.

“Heheheheh Chie! Heheheh Oh Chie! I think…you just let the cat out of the bag! HA HA HA The cat! And the bag!”

“….yeah. Good one, Yukiko. Good one.” Officer Satonaka sighed. “…Kirijo is going to kill me.”

Lately Kasumi’s mind had been occupied by two things. Beginnings and endings. Starts and stops. Rotating circles of fate, each wheel in turn inspiring another to turn, on and on like a vast juggernaut. But she had only just begun to see the full scope of the pattern. That at times fate could sweep her into a beginning that was not her own. And when the next ending came crashing she could know that none of them were quite as alone as they had believed.