Tearing her flickering gaze away from the window, Naoto looked down at the hand on her pants. Her mouth worked back into a wry smile as she lifted her own hand, hesitating briefly. Be it that she was seeking comfort of her own or hoping to offer it, she didn't know, but her hand fell gently over Noir's and she could only hope it wouldn't be slapped away.
"I'd said in the note I left you I wouldn't be in contact for a few weeks if the case wouldn't allow it. They'd intended for me to go undercover. They didn't have officer who were young enough to play the part, and most of their faces in the area were too well-known to work..." she paused, sighing as she played the events that had lead up to everything over in her mind. "I was called in on a whim of their's at best. I was foreign and a face not known in the country. They sent me in as an 'exchange student' at a local university and I was meant to work from there."
In truth, the case itself had been going quite well. Much to Naoto's surprise, the cover had been intended for a male officer, but having played the part before and convinced an entire country that she was male, it hadn't been a difficult role to play. The sudden cut-off from her outside connections had been difficult, especially after she'd formed a handful of close bonds, being unable to reach out for them was more difficult than she'd anticipated. But she hadn't expected it to last long. Especially not as long as it had.
"Everything was going well... so we'd assumed. I found the suspect I was supposed to be befriending and perusing. I'd made my way into their inner circle, and while it worked up to a point... something went wrong. The culprit they'd wanted to capture was in something much deeper than any of us could have ever imagined." She hesitated again, not sure if she wanted to elaborate on everything she'd stumbled into. It was grotesque; a world she'd taken the role of the detective to stop, not be part of. "...imagine something akin to the yazuka. That might be the simplest way of explaining what they were; they had a strong hold on the underground markets as well. I was never trained for any of this, and when delivering one of my reports I was careless... and caught."
Trailing off, Naoto's hand tightened unconsciously as she remembered what had happened. It was almost like being captured by Namatame again. Though where he'd been careful not to cause more harm than necessary, the group in question had had no qualms about forcing her into submission. Her head still throbbed whenever she thought about the blow that left her unconscious.
"When I came to, I was in a room. I had no idea where I was or where they'd taken me, but as one would assume they'd taken precautions to tie me down. There were no windows, and all my mobile devices had been stripped of my person. I can't say for certain how long I'd been trapped with them, just that I was fed twice, but there was no pattern to the time of meals. They didn't want me to know how long I'd been there. I tried to estimate, but the best I could manage was close to two weeks. After the first few days... it was much harder."
It had been terrifying beyond belief, counting seconds to minutes in her mind and trying to establish some form of solid ground to stand on. Torture had, surprisingly, not been one of their tactics, so she could only assume information hadn't been what they were after. Guards only spoke to her when she was given food and when it was being picked up, and three times a day she would be escorted to a bathroom. As minimalist as it was, their efforts to keep her alive were a double-edged blade; terrifying because she had no idea what their game was, but comforting in the sense of not standing quite so close to the edge of a slow, painful death.
"I was in a room for a long time. Sleeping and meals are all I really remember... they were the only consistency I could make for myself. I was always blind-folded if they took me out, and I could never heard sounds distinct enough to figure out where I was." Pausing, Naoto shut her eyes as she inhaled shakily. What had happened next was an accident at best; had she not been given the slim window of chance, she'd likely still be with her captors. "One of the guards made a mistake once; they didn't tie my blindfold tight enough and it slipped down. Before they could fix it, I saw some form of break room down the hall... and a television. It was a foolish, ridiculous choice to make, but it was all I had. I ran for the screen and... obviously they couldn't follow me inside. Had any of them managed to grab me before I'd gone through completely..." She shook her head, not wanting to imagine it. Even if she would had had the advantage of Persona in the TV World, she wouldn't have had the proper strength to take them on in a fight for long; not with as exhausted as her holding had left her.
"I had no idea where I'd landed... but at least I was safe. I must have fallen asleep, but when I came to I was... in a field of some kind. It was old and the plants were dried out, but it wasn't infested with any reformed Shadows. I'd guess it was still somewhere unaffected by the peace we'd managed to bring a year ago. But... once I'd gathered my strength back, Yamato-Sumeragi was able to cut my bonds free and from there... I simply searched for a way back home." Walking day in and out had been taxing on her body and mind. Most directions looked completely the same, and they'd never explored enough of the TV World to find land markers that made sense -- most of the 'locations' they'd spent a year exploring had disappeared along with the majority of Shadows with the goddess they'd confronted.
"I couldn't create exits like Teddie or sense where they were like Rise... so I just kept moving. I rested where and when I could... then kept moving Yamato-Sumeragi's magic was enough to give me quick escapes when I needed them, but..." she shook her head again. She'd had no idea she had been inside the TV World for so long. The time distortion had been much greater than she'd ever expected, and it was a small miracle in and of itself she'd managed to convince law enforcement she had no memory of what had happened. The entire case had been a mess, but they'd captured their mark, and it seemed to be enough for them. "A number of plants in the TV World were surprisingly sustainable, and some locations had sustenance that proved useful for eating, but... given where I was, I didn't experience hunger or thirst often. ...I still don't know how I made it out -- all of it blurs together after some time. I just... remember stumbling across an area that looked like the outskirts of a city near Inaba and now..." Now I'm here... she finished silently, staring at the floor.
