Killer Butterfly

Persona Change

Souji gasped. Through the grace of a hesitated second on his attacker's part he managed to switch to a persona that nullified light and dark magic just as he lost his last homunculus. Even with their sacrifice the instant kill spells took a lot out of the one being struck by it. He struggled to get back to his feet, his health reduced by each spell he endured until he was almost shaking. But he was not giving up. He still had some strength. He'd lived through worse.

She couldn't hurt him now.

"Please forfeit this battle, Senpai. It's for your own good."

He gave a broken chuckle. "'fraid I can't do that, Naoto."

The girl stared at him, pausing for a moment as she sighed. "Very well. If you won't withdraw I'll have to force you to back down."

A blue card appeared before her. A bullet from her revolver shattered it and from the shards fluttered the tiny persona; Sukuna-Hikona. Souji bit back a morbid laugh. It was funny really. Much like its user, the persona was very small. Blue, light and swift; it reminded him of a butterfly.

Sukuna-Hikona soared towards him, flicking its large sword as it attacked with Tempest Slash. Souji narrowly dodged and smirked as he felt the blade-whipped air across his face. "Gotta do better than that, Naoto."

"Understood."

His eyes widened at her cold tone. It was the only warning he received before she fired, grazing his thigh. The bullets that followed did minimal damage, nicking his arms and legs, but the tears they made into his flesh drew out a fair amount of blood. And they hurt.

Souji grimaced. His legs shook as he struggled to remain standing, eyes locked with his teammate as she approached slowly. Her own eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she raised her gun above her head.

"Dodge this."

She fired. Shards of a tarot card rained down on her as Sukuna-Hikona appeared again, twirling its blade in a vicious attack that this time did not miss. His own sword clattered to the ground as he collapsed, trying with all his will to resist twitching in pain as Naoto calmly stepped beside him. Her persona perched on her shoulder, its red eyes burrowing into him as they both looked down.

"That's what comes of underestimating me."

He laughed, his body igniting in pain. "I . . . I suppose this's what I get then . . ." he choked. He looked back up at her, panic shooting through him as he watched her reload her gun.

"Don't be alarmed. I have no intention or need to take your life," she paused and shook her head. "But if you had relented when I suggested you do so, you wouldn't be in this condition."

"You know I couldn't do that. And I don't plan on doing that any time soon . . ."

Naoto snapped her gaze back at Souji, her eyes narrowed and cold. "Take this as a warning, Senpai. I held back this time, but if you give me the need to do so again, I will not hesitate to take you down by any means necessary."

With that, she lifted her hand, and Sukuna-Hikona took to the air. A blinding light drenched the three, drowning out Naoto and her persona's figures to darkened silhouettes. Souji braced himself, knowing what was coming, and that no matter what persona he had equipped, there was no means of blocking the oncoming attack.

"Keep that in mind." Naoto growled.

And with that, an ear splitting blast tore through the air. Pain engulfed him, burning him from the inside out. And then . . . there was nothing.

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A/N: A prompt fill request. Someone had mentioned that of the team members, Naoto would be Souji's biggest threat and wanted to see her take him down. Feeling stressed at work, I had wanted to see that as well, and this is the end result.

The reason as to why she decided to take him down is up to you. As far as I'm concerned, the two had a moral disagreement regarding one of Souji's orders to the team and neither one was willing to back down.

So I hope you enjoyed it. The next part of In Me It Shows will be up soon. I apologize for the wait on it - had a lot going on in life. See you then.