Fortune's Fool

Written By: Lady Lunar Phoenix

Beta: None

A/N: Just as a warning after this chapter, when I update this fic again it will only be in the Persona section. I'll be removing it from the Megami section.

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There was a tension in the air at the police station, it followed him everywhere he went, from his office to the lunch room to the smoking area. Everyone was talking about Naoto, several officers discussing the case at a desk. His nephew's team did a job on her, helped her relax, accept help, Naoto had grown from her time with Souji and his friends. All the while hiding her gender from the rest of the police force. By relaxing her, getting her to open up a bit more the officers had accepted her causing her kidnapping to upset everyone. Kidnapping a member of a group always had a ripple effect.

Always.

There were a few men older then Dojima who had children her age, and he could hear the officers worrying over 'him'. Naoto didn't have much time left, she couldn't hide her gender for long and it left Dojima wondering how the other officers would react when they found out that the detective they were worrying over was a girl. Kidnapping, all the possibly scenarios being what they were she would be drained, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. He could only hope that the boys in the station would behave when she returned. If she returned at all.

He poured himself a cup of something from the Black Lagoon before returning to his office. Even as he listened to each conversation the irony was not lost on him. How many times had he walked by these desks, listening to people going on about the murderer, never realizing that the killer had been amongst them? Yet for all the guns, the laws, the badges, the man power, a couple of kids led by his nephew would find the perp?

When he pushed open the door to his office, the first thing he noticed was the flashing light on his phone. He had a message waiting for him, which could have been anything from a call from Nanako, someone in the upper brass with questions about one of the cases he was working on, or maybe...

"Hey, Dojima-san? Teddie just called and said that the person we've been thinking about? Yeah they were wearing color contacts. Green and brown eye colors, there was apparently someone at the apartment where Naoto-kun lives that saw him."

And maybe 'all' of Souji's friends needed a few classes on police procedure, would make his job easier. Then again they probably just left it to Naoto to do the 'leg work'. He would have to get Chie to get Yosuke's phone number, then try to track down Teddie to get information on this supposed 'person' who actually got a look at the perp...

This was going to be a long day.

There was a vibration at his side, causing him to grab his cellphone and examine the number. Normally a call from his big sister would have him just let it go to voice mail, then again Souji 'was' involved.

"Hey sis," he pressed the phone to his ear as he stood in his office.

"Ryotoro, have you seen Souji? He said he was going somewhere and I haven't seen him since," Souji's mother asked.

"He's around," he really didn't want to have to explain this to her. "His girlfriend got kidnapped and he's trying to help find her."

"Oh! Oh poor Naoto-kun."

"You met her then?" he asked, having never been told how the 'meet the parents' day went.

"Ahh yes, interesting girl," just the tone of voice when she said 'interesting' told Dojima how it went.

'You went dressed as a man to meet Souji's parents... Oh man Naoto...'

"I don't think she expected us home that day, but that aside, has there been any breaks in the case?"

"Leaving to find out if there is one actually," Dojima replied, he was already grabbing a his coat.

"I'll let you go do your job, but if you run into Souji, tell him we love him and we're praying for him and Naoto-kun," she ended the call with that. Leaving Dojima free to walk back out of his office and look for a certain cop-in-training.

"Satonaka-san!"

He saw the cap first as the girl bounded to her feet and rushed over to him, eyes ever hopeful. "Naoto-kun?"

"Perhaps, I need you to call either Hanamura or Teddie, Teddie may have got us a lead," he commented as he walked to the door, Chie on his heels her cellphone in hand.

"Really! Oh I know Teddie's number I'll just call him," she noted as she went about calling that rather odd young man. "Hey Teddie? Here Dojima-san wants to talk to you."

The phone was handed over to him, while he pulled out the keys so he could drive to the apartment where Naoto lived. "Teddie, Hanamura said you had heard something about the perp who kidnapped Naoto. I need to know exactly what you heard."

"Ahh... Oh, hi, Dojima-san, uh, yeah! Ok, there was this cougar, I think she was coming home from shopping. She said she ran into a guy who was 'helping' Nao-chan to his car, the guy told the lady that Nao-chan fell down. So she didn't think much on it, but she said that he had a brown and green eye. Weird huh?"

... Somehow Dojima was pretty sure that half of the things Teddie said was through only understanding things on the surface. 'Cougar'? "I'm going to go back to Naoto's apartment, I want you to keep your eyes and ears open," he informed the odd, but enthusiastic, teen.

Dojima never could figure out where Teddie came from, the boy had no accent to his voice, profiling him was next to impossible. Natural blond, eyes that were neutral in shape, nothing came up to tell him where the boy came from. Even though Nanako adored Teddie, there was the fact that he opted to that nickname, that boys didn't want to keep as they grew up. Or the most disturbing of all, he hadn't aged since the day Dojima first met him. Always youthful, always young, Nanako had grown up some and it showed when she was with Teddie. But his body carried none of the years themselves, which only increased Dojima's curiosity. Only no one was willing to talk, even Chie just grew silent in explaining where Teddie came from.

"Chie, why would Teddie be at Naoto's place? What would make him think he would uncover something that the police haven't found on their own yet?"

"I honestly don't know," and it was the truth. Teddie had already done everything in his power, so there was no logical reason for him to be there. But if Teddie found something she was all for finding out as much as she could! Even though she was only a policewoman in training and not a police detective. "I know that Souji is over at the Shirogane Estate and trying to figure out who nabbed Naoto-kun."

"I don't know what to tell Nanako, if Souji opts to crash at the house he's bound to not be in a pleasant mood," Dojima admitted. They had ridden in silence after her comment until he felt the need to speak again, this time about his daughter. He turned the corner and continued driving.

"Oh that's right, does Nanako-chan even know that Naoto-kun has been kidnapped... But she's a smart girl, I think if you just tell her she'll know the score. She's a cop's daughter after all, so you shouldn't have to worry about her."

"Chie, I know that we're probably working with a person who has a connection to Naoto from her younger days. But I need to know if there's more to it then that. Has Naoto been under any pressure or stress that you know of? Any particular reason why she would do something so vastly out of character for herself, such as that kidnap plot?"

"I don't know. I think I've told you everything, the only thing that would stick out were the guys. Strangers that I never saw in Inaba before talking to Naoto-kun. But they were too far for me to get a good look at them, and after she would speak with them she would be upset. I don't understand why though," that had been the most puzzling of all. "But it doesn't make much of a difference, because in the end Naoto-kun would still have been taken. She was probably smaller then her kidnapper, sober and awake or not, Teddie said the guy was hiding in her closet for who knows how long. Though I wonder why he would have waited for so long before he would have come out and grabbed Naoto-kun."

Chie had a point there, while not one to figure out the answers she was slowly developing the questions necessary to point in the right direction. Why 'had' the kidnapper waited until Naoto was awake before he opted to grab her? Did he fall asleep himself and only wake up that late in the day? Or was it deemed as less alarming if Naoto was taken during the day? If no one knew about the reason for Naoto's departure, or... "Chie? How did you get Naoto to the party in Port Island? Did you guys pick her up straight from her apartment?"

"Yes, the three of us picked her up after she got changed from the graduation clothes, then we left. But Naoto-kun locked the door to her apartment," Chie answered. Then suddenly something crossed her mind. "But wait, her apartment was probably locked up after the police went through their initial check. So how did that guy get in there?"

"What guy?" Dojima asked as they sat at a red light.

"The guy who was trying to take Naoto-kun's guns, he just walked right out of her apartment like he had a key to it!" Chie's tone was growing angry again, but Dojima heard something else completely.

"Someone got 'into' Naoto's apartment? Without breaking the door down and was taking things?" Dojima demanded, a question that wasn't a question. Why hadn't he been told?

"Yeah that same prick who was going on about how Naoto-kun's line of work is dangerous and how a girl isn't supposed to do stuff like that. I swear it's like they're stalking her or something!"Chie was angry again when she cast a glance at Dojima. "Something wrong Dojima-san?"

"Why didn't you tell me Chie? This is an ongoing investigation, you're still in training, but that's no excuse for not telling me these things," he replied, his tone disappointed.

"Well ah, it's because me and Yukiko discussed it before the kidnapping... Oh wait that doesn't sound right huh?" Chie looked down for a moment gathering her thoughts before she began. "I met the guy before, he was one of those 'girls can't be detectives' types I'd see Naoto-kun have to deal with. But to be honest, when he spoke, he made a lot of sense."

"Sense how?"

"He's right about Naoto-kun being alone, Souji can only help, but he's not a detective as well. He doesn't know everything that goes with the responsibilities and skills that Naoto-kun does. If Naoto-kun presents the clues he can help, but he can't just start off whole cloth. When I look at a situation like this, he makes a lot of sense. Because in the end, ordinary people can't understand what drives a person to kidnap someone else," her tone was pensive, sadness and confusion evident in her tone and posture. "We know how much they love each other, so back then we rallied behind Naoto-kun's choice of being with Souji. But..."

"But right now, it feels as though a detective would be more helpful then a collage student," Dojima replied with a quiet nod.

They pulled up to the apartment building where Naoto lived, driving into the same parking lot that had a small swarm of cop cars filling it before. While planning on trying to find the woman who had seen the kidnapper. Grasping at straws? Maybe. But straws were all they had, the kidnapper had been good. Anything they found would only be found after sending away for testing. But if they could find this woman, perhaps they could find out more about who took Naoto away. They knew how she had been kidnapped, they just needed a clue as to where she had gone.

"So the lady must live on Naoto's floor, so we just go knocking on doors right?" Chie suggested.

Dojima climbed out of his car while Chie climbed out from her side,"yeah, come on kid."