Spoilers through the end of The Journey. I haven't played the Answer (and don't intend to, unfortunately), so that plot won't be included beyond what it explained of the game ending.

This is a vague sequel to my fic, 'All That Remains,' which is Minato's POV through the missing month in February. However, both of them stand independently; it's just that there are a few common headcanons between them, and the angst may hurt worse if you read both of them. Ye be warned :)

Also, aroace Minato, and his queerplatonic relationship with Aigis, are my ironclad headcanons—no one can take them from me. Thus, don't expect any romance, though a few of the girls were so obvious about their attraction that their unrequited feelings squirmed their way into the scenes, anyway.

0: fool

They remember nothing, and then they remember everything, as the cherry blossoms float by outside. They were supposed to meet on the rooftop—they were supposed to remember—they were supposed to protect their friends. All of them come to the same, awful conclusion as they stampede out of the auditorium, into the hallway, and up the stairs:

Minato is sick. Minato stopped the Fall.

Minato is dying.

They do not know why they know this, only that it is the truth. The voice that has been a whisper in Fuuka's head for the last month (there's something wrong you need to help something awful is happening to your friend) has grown suddenly to a roar, and for the first time since the Fall she recognizes it—Juno, returned to consciousness, knows with absolute certainty that Minato's miracle to stop the Fall was not without a price.

The others, too, have realized this—remember the despair in that expanse of stars, when Minato did not answer their calls, when he was beyond even Fuuka's reach, when Nyx had quieted, leaving behind the uncertainty of peace and loss. And then they forgot.

But they remember Minato, this past month—and everything that was so glaringly, horrifyingly wrong with him. They had worried—had dragged him to doctors and distractions and class even when he couldn't stay awake, stumbling over his feet, staring with pained eyes in a way they could never understand.

They do now. They know they have failed him.

The sun is brilliant and blinding as they burst onto the rooftop, and they squint, not waiting for their eyes to adjust as they rush forward, looking around.

They see Aigis, first, sitting on a bench and huddled over a person in her lap. There is only one person this could be, of course, and they are glad, at least, that he is not alone as they approach.

Aigis looks up, and Minato turns his head toward them, but neither of them say anything as the rest come upon them. By the time Akihiko drops to his knees in front of them, Minato has closed his eyes; his breathing is shallow; Aigis' tears are falling faster onto his face.

Akihiko shakes him sharply, telling him to wake up, but he does not so much as twitch.

"Minato," Yukari says, a little louder, stepping closer to kneel beside Akihiko. Her voice wavers, and she has to swallow before continuing, "You need to wake up—we remember, we—"

Fuuka stands a ways back, tears streaming down her cheeks; Koromaru trots forward, leaning up to lick Minato's face. Akihiko reaches for his neck, and finds a weak, slow pulse.

"He's exhausted," Aigis says, though she seems unsure, and she pulls Minato closer to her chest. "Stopping the Fall took much of his energy."

"He's been ill," Mitsuru says. The memories of Aigis this past month that never stayed in her mind, no matter how many times they met, are glaring and obvious to her, now. It's no wonder she eventually stopped trying, and knows nothing of Minato's condition. "For the last month, he hasn't been well—but none of us ever—"

She trails off, presses a hand suddenly to her lips, and takes a few quick steps forward. "We need to bring him to the hospital," she says. "My family's hospital, they'll be able to—"

Junpei steps forward automatically, reaching out with trembling hands to take him, and Akihiko similarly levers himself to his feet. But it's Ken that speaks up, his voice hoarse, "The rest of the school is downstairs, right? We can't just—"

The door slams behind them, and Aigis looks up automatically to see a thin woman in a pink suit. She is not a threat, and so she disregards her completely. "I am capable of using my persona," she says, and even as she says this, the motors on either side of her head begin to spin. Samarecarm, she whispers. Though the ghost of Athena appears, and light envelopes Minato's still form for several seconds, he does not wake.

The quick footsteps from the staircase stop abruptly, but none of them care enough to notice. "The doctors are familiar with the Dark Hour," Mitsuru continues, a little more desperately, even as Yukari pats herself down, looking for the pouch of healing items they've only ever carried around in Tartarus. "They'll know what to do—"

"They were familiar with it," Akihiko says, a little dully, and reaches to shake Minato once more. His hand doesn't leave his shoulder, even when it's clear it will not help. "We forgot everything—why would they still remember—?"

Mitsuru stifles a sob, looking around at the group—hesitating at Aigis' stony face before looking back down to Minato. "We need to do something," she says eventually, and attempts to regain her composure. "At the very least, they can run diagnostics, determine what's physically wrong with him—"

"Like they did the last few weeks?" Junpei mutters, and Mitsuru clenches her jaw.

"We have to do something," she says again, and Koromaru whines, licking his face and pawing at his arm; Yukari's hands hover, wanting to help but not having the first idea of how.

There's a nervous energy surrounding them on this rooftop, repressed memories buzzing at the front of their minds after so long erased. Ken's lip wobbles, and Fuuka has given up on wiping her tears away; Junpei's fists are clenched tight, and Aigis pulls Minato closer to herself.

For a moment, the world stands still—and Minato does not wake.

IX: hermit

Isako's the one who finds them, with rebukes and suspensions and biting words ready on her tongue. They left the ceremony so abruptly, after all—and made such a scene, reflecting badly on her class and the school as a whole.

She's the one who finds them desperately clustered around a boy who will not wake up, and the words die like ashes in her mouth. Before she can call out to them, demand to know what's going on and make her way closer, a curiously mechanical sound comes from their direction—and then an enormous, armored monster appears like a ghost above their heads.

She stops short, staring in abject horror and wondering whether the stress has finally gotten to her—and then watches as a bright light encircles Aigis and the boy in her lap. She's rooted to the spot in confusion and horror, waiting for the light to dissipate, wondering what is going on.

(Aigis hasn't been to school in a month. Why hasn't she counted her as absent? Why has this not seemed important until now?)

Nothing about Arisato's limp posture seems to have changed, when he is again visible, and Aigis collapses into herself as Takeba sobs.

She must have made a noise, because Yamagishi turns around sharply; she stares at her for a moment before her face slowly grows more desperate. She begs Toriumi to call an ambulance in a tone she has never heard before.

Arisato has not so much as made eye contact with her since she saw his phone screen, yesterday, but he is her student—and someone she cares deeply for, beside. Her hand fumbles with the cell phone in her pocket, and she misdials the emergency number twice before it finally starts to ring.

"I'm a teacher at Gekkoukan High," she's able to stumble out, when the operator picks up, and Kirijo glances over her shoulder before returning her attention to the rest. "One of our students collapsed and won't wake up—we need you to send an ambulance."

She hangs up after confirming a few details, and shoves her phone in her pocket as she takes a few unsteady steps forward. Takeba is still kneeling at his side, and Aigis is holding him nearly upright, now, her face buried in his hair. His face is slack, his eyes closed; his clothes hang off his thin frame.

He looks terrible, and she's horrified that she's only realizing this now.

She comes level with the group, meaning to ask Sanada or Iori to help carry Arisato down to the ground level. She's sent a text to her colleagues; they will stretch the ceremony as long as they can, in the hope that no one will see.

She says that an ambulance is coming, and begins to ask Sanada for his help—but then Aigis stands. She lifts Arisato's limp body as if he's a feather pillow, and says with a voice steelier than Isako has ever heard that she will carry him to safety.

Aigis does not allow her to argue, and she's dumbstruck enough to miss the sound of her student's hydraulic joints as they all rush past her toward the stairs.

I: magician

Kenji's worried, when Minato doesn't come with the rest of the class to graduation. But he hasn't been looking well, these past weeks—maybe he's just getting some rest, ditching this boring ceremony like Kenji only wishes he could.

Something sits wrong in his gut, though, and he keeps stealing glances to the empty seat beside Junpei. He wonders if he could will his friend to appear—wonders if he should risk texting him, asking what's wrong. He remembers their last conversation, yesterday, and the way Minato had tried so hard to smile at him. There was something wrong with him, then—but Kenji had not had the words to ask.

And then there's the scene with Junpei and Takeba and Yamagishi and the seniors, and for the moment all thoughts of Minato are swept from his mind. The auditorium is in an uproar, and Ms. Toriumi rushes out the door after them, probably to expel them for such unbecoming behavior.

Kenji takes his chance, pulling his phone out when he shouldn't even have it here in the first place, and shoots Minato a quick text—

teach will skin u for missing grad, where u at?

He hesitates before hitting send, glancing one more time to Iori's and Takeba's empty seats in front of him. Junpei, he understands, but Yukari's always seemed the straight-laced type. For them both to jump to their feet, equal parts horror and euphoria on their faces, is not only out of character but vaguely worrying.

Minato hasn't responded, and Kenji stares at his phone for another moment before stowing it again in his pocket. He knows where his friend's dorm is; he'll just swing by later, see if he skipped or if he really is sick.

The salutatorian has taken the stage in Kirijo's wake, obviously thrown off her game as she stutters through her speech—and she takes an inordinate amount of time at the end thanking everyone for their attention. Kenji gets the distinct impression she's buying time (though for what he can't guess), and she continually glances to the wings of the stage, as if wondering whether she can step away yet.

Then the principal takes the stage again, and Kenji allows his mind to wander because seriously, this guy does not know how to shut up. He zones out just enough that he thinks he can hear sirens outside, and he tries to sharpen his hearing, wondering what that's about. There's not much down this road except the school, after all.

They draw closer, still muffled by the school walls, but enough people have noticed by now that there are quiet murmurs throughout the auditorium. The principal seems to be sweating, and talks all the louder into the microphone. It doesn't help, but no one dares get up from their seat after that explosive show earlier.

(Minato had been pale and unsteady, yesterday—his name had been at the bottom of the final exam scores, when he's always been top of the class. He knows his friend is sick—he starts to wonder whether it's not something worse.)

Ms. Toriumi slips back into the auditorium, her face chalky as she hurries into the wings. None of the absent students have returned (including, he realizes for the first time, Aigis—the strange but beautiful girl who has seemed oblivious to all of his advances), and Kenji feels true fear take root in his gut.

The ambulance drives away, its sirens growing fainter until they disappear entirely—and Kenji glances again to Minato's empty seat, hoping that his friend is not riding in it.