Author's Note: At the end of the S-Link, Akinari just like, "disappears", and I think that was completely out of the blue. So in this story, I'm going to assume that he didn't just "disappear". I warn you there ARE spoilers from the game in here, so only read if you've beaten the game. I wanted to make this a touching story because I loved Akinari so much, and his story was something so unique and beautiful I needed to dedicate something to him. Enjoy!
Yukari Takeba walked along the sidewalk, her short heels clicking along the pavement. The sun was out shining brightly, brighter than Yukari had ever remembered it. It was a dry heat in the middle of the day, no humidity, and she could feel her body starting to perspire under the midday sun.
It was April 1st, school would be starting again in less than a week. Yukari couldn't believe how fast the past year had flown by, nor how much had happened and how much it had changed her. It had been the most exciting and happy time of her life, yet at the same time, the most depressing and gruelingly torturous time as well. It was a year of turbulent and tumultuous emotions, packed with anxiety and doubt like she had never known.
But now, Minato Arisato was gone. That beautiful blue-haired boy. A boy she had known for less than a year, but who had ended up capturing her heart. She knew he had dated many other girls at school, and that there were more people relying on him than just her, but she knew that she too had a special place in his heart. They both knew the same feeling of loneliness and solitude. They had both connected in a way that neither of them could describe.
She knew he was watching over her though. His physical body was in a comatose state now, but his mind, soul, and Persona was holding Nyx back, and would continue to do so for all eternity. He sacrificed himself to protect all those who he loved and who loved him in return. He had sacrificed himself for something much bigger than Yukari. And that made her both happy and jealous. She wanted to have him all to himself, yet it was those kinds of acts of his that made her love him so much. And if it wasn't for his sacrifice, Yukari wouldn't have been here in this moment anyways.
But she was there. And he is still gone. So she knew she had to keep living for his sake, just like Junpei had decided to do for Chidori.
And now she was walking toward the Naganaki Shrine. In her right hand she held a worn notebook. Scribbled on the inside cover was the name: "Akinari Kamiki". And under the name was a note that said, "To Minato, Your words and actions were the strength I needed that no hospital could ever give me. I shall now Live with Determination, and I know you shall do the same."
After the final battle with Nyx, Yukari had gone and collected all of Minato's belongings. Junpei and Akihiko had seen many of his things as just junk, but Yukari knew that they were special gifts, because in that box, she had found her Cell Phone strap that she had given him. And when she discovered the notebook, and read through it all, she knew that they were indeed special belongings.
While reading the diary, she couldn't believe the hateful and depressing thoughts that were jotted down. She even found a will written in there. But toward the end of things, she read his entries about Minato's visits to the Naganaki shrine on Sundays, and the beautiful story that he had come up with. And so now, she felt the need to meet this Akinari in person, just to try to see what Minato had seen.
She approached the stairs to the shrine and slowly walked up them, a little nervous about meeting this dying young man. As she neared the stop of the stairs, she turned her head, searching around for anyone that may be there.
The whole courtyard was empty. Nothing near the donating table, nothing near the temple itself. Yukari suddenly felt let down. She was excited to meet the young man, but there was nobody here.
She turned to start walking back down, when she suddenly somebody lying down on a bench in the corner of the shrine near the playground. She walked over cautiously, cocking her head to get a better look at who it is. As she came closer, she could finally see his face. He had thin gray hair that was messily hanging over his face. He had his right arm behind his head so he could prop his head against it while he lay. He also had one knee bent, his leg up in the air, and his left arm just hung over the end of the bench.
His face slowly turned to look at Yukari as she came closer.
She was about to say something when the young man suddenly said first, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but would you mind leaving me here alone for a little while? I don't get to come here too often, and it's the only time I can get some peace."
"I.. I understand," Yukari started, "But I wanted to ask you something. Are you Akinari?"
The young man's face clouded over with some confusion and a little anger.
"Are you from that hospital? I already told you and my parents, I'm not going to stay cooped up anywhere, and I don't care what you think," He said angrily, raising his voice.
The young man suddenly went into a fit of coughing and heaving. It lasted for almost twenty seconds until he caught his breath again. Yukari couldn't bear to say anything as he coughed through his pain.
"No, please, I have nothing to do with that," Yukari replied quickly. "But are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten upset like that," Akinari said weakly, wheezing loudly. "I know it's not healthy for me right now. What can I help you with?"
"I'm best friends with Minato Arisato. Or well, I was," Yukari said sadly.
"Minato?" Akinari said in disbelief. He slowly propped himself up from his lying down position with great difficulty. Yukari could see how frail his body was, and how weak his muscles were.
"Do you need help?" Yukari offered, concerned about his exertion of energy.
"No thanks, the thought of him is helping me right now," Akinari said, forcing himself to find the breath and energy to say it. "How is he?"
Yukari was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to say.
"Minato isn't really…" Yukari started, speaking slowly, "…Of this world right now."
A wave of disbelief and sadness swept over Akinari's face.
"Why him…" Akinari said quietly to nobody in particular, shaking his head slowly.
"Please, don't be sad, he's in a coma, and it's because of something we should all be very proud of," Yukari said, trying to cheer the young man's spirits.
"Would you take a seat?" Akinari asked. "I want to hear the story before my own time is over. And what is your name?"
"Yukari," she replied with a smile as she sat down on the bench next to the young man. "And you are Akinari, are you not?"
"I am. Konnichiwa," He said as he bowed his head in greeting.
"Well," Yukari started, "I'm going to tell you something that you will never believe, but it is absolutely true, I swear upon his soul.'
For the next few minutes, Yukari told Akinari all about the Dark Hour, Personas, and the Coming of Nyx. He sat there intently, his face unchanging, like a stone. When she was finally done, he let out a long sigh.
"That is indeed a tall tale," Akinari spoke slowly. "But somehow, I do believe you."
"You do?" Yukari said, surprised. "I would have thought it would sound ridiculous since you've never seen proof of it."
"It does indeed sound ridiculous," Akinari replied with a chuckle. "But I believe you because of the way it ends. How Minato sacrificed his life to hold back Nyx. I can feel him with me always. I feel like there is a unique and special bond there, one that I've never felt with anyone. I can feel him everywhere around me. Especially in the rays of the Sun, it's as if I have some affinity to him through it. And it's because of that feeling, I believe the rest of it must be true."
"I just wanted to come here to let you know all of that. And I wanted to finally meet the writer of the notebook," Yukari replied.
"Yeah, I saw you holding it. So you've read it all?" Akinari asked. "Some of that in there is pretty embarrassing, written at a time when I was different than who I am now."
"Every word of it. It's beautiful," Yukari replied, smiling.
Akinari weakly smiled back.
"So he has ended up like the pink alligator," Akinari said out loud, to nobody in particular again.
"He has. The meaning of his life was something he made, but cannot see," Yukari replied. "Reading your story helped me get over the loss of him. I didn't know how to rationalize it, or what to do with myself. I cried for days, and I even stopped eating for a while. But when I finally read your story, it shed a new light on his leaving. And I can sympathize with you, because I feel him too. I feel him through my love. It feels exactly the same way yours does, like I have some affinity to him through my love."
"I assume you were very close to him?" Akinari asked.
"I was," Yukari replied, trying to hold back tears. "I love him with all my heart."
Akinari tried to laugh, but it came out as a weak cough, then he said, "I'm almost jealous of him. You're very beautiful."
Yukari blushed instinctively and said, "Why, thank you."
Akinari nodded his head slowly, as if he was thinking out a conversation with himself in his head.
"But I know that's not the reason why he loved you," Akinari added. "He saw past the physical things in this world. He didn't pity me. He didn't see this sick, frail body. He saw my soul and inner light. I know it sounds almost sketchy and obsessive, but it's true. And he did so with everyone. There used to be a young girl here. She's long since moved away, but he treated her with a kindness and caring that many others wouldn't. He didn't see her as a child, but more, her soul and personality."
Yukari smiled. It sounded exactly like something Minato would have done.
"He truly was an enlightened being. And I feel as though he passed some of that onto me, because I learned to see life in a much bigger scope because of him," Akinari finished.
"I feel the same, as do all of our friends back in the dorm," Yukari replied.
"I have a beautiful life," Akinari said quietly. "I never used to think so, but this disease has been a blessing to me."
"I'm glad you finally feel that way," Yukari replied. "I know for a while you thought of it has a curse, and you hated God for it. But, how do you figure it to be that way?"
Akinari coughed for a few seconds, trying to find the breath and energy to speak more.
"Most people go through life without realizing its beauty. They don't realize what they have until it's gone. And it's not really their fault, it's something you they can't help. I know one of the monks here, Mutatsu, was in rough shape with his family. He used to always be hung over when he came to the shrine. He was always cranky and upset. He was living life, but not knowing what he wanted or what he could have had. Finally he has found it, I've seen him sober and with his wife and son here a few times, but for so long he was living an empty life."
Yukari nodded, understanding what he was saying.
"But me? This has taught me how to appreciate life, and how to find beauty in everything. I've lived a more fulfilling life than most people ever will because of it, and I know when I die, I will have no regrets, except for the one that I wish I had realized all of this sooner."
"I'm glad you can see things that way," Yukari said softly.
"I am too. The doctors are all shocked that I've lived as long as I have so far. I was supposed to have died a few months ago. That's why I thought you may have been from the hospital. They want me in there because they think I'm going to leave any second."
"Why don't you then? I'm glad you can embrace death the way you have, but isn't that like giving up on life? I know that's something Minato was adamant about, you know, fighting to live."
Akinari smiled weakly.
"I've lived this long because he's helping me live," He spoke. "I used to come here only on Sundays, but now I come here every day. I have my parents drive me. Even though they don't like it, I asked them to do it as my dying wish. I lie here for hours on end every day in meditation under the rays of the sun, I can feel him helping me. He's the one who's been keeping me alive."
"You really think so?" Yukari asked, inwardly smiling at such a wonderful thought.
"I know so. I'm even shocked myself that I'm still alive. But I want to keep living because of him. I haven't given up on life, I'm doing quite the opposite really. If I went to the hospital and stayed cooped up in one of those small, quiet, colorless rooms, I'd have been gone already. I've been Living with Determination, like I said before."
"You should be proud of that. That you're living for yourself," Yukari complimented.
Akinari smiled weakly again and replied, "That's how I thought of it originally as well. But after all this time meditation here, I realized that even though I thought I was living for myself, I'm really not. I'm living on for him. I have nothing in this world, no attachments. I don't have any money, or real possessions. No real close friends or any kind of job or educational future. That's why I feel like my life is so fulfilling, because that's all it is. It just is. I'm living for him, to carry out his hope that we can all be happier because of his sacrifice."
Yukari was impressed by his thoughts and understanding. He had clearly done a lot of thinking about this, and was in a mental state that Yukari had never even envisioned.
"Yukari?" Akinari spoke. "What are you doing with life now?"
"I…. I guess I'm just going to go through senior year, then to college, then who knows," Yukari replied, surprised to be asked the question. "Why do you ask?"
"I'm tired of talking about me," Akinari chuckled.
"Well, I don't really know what I want with life. Now that the Dark Hour is over, and I've finished what my father wanted, I don't really know what my life is about, especially with Minato gone."
"Pink Alligator remember?" Akinari smiled.
"I know, I know," Yukari said happily. "Something I make but I don't see. But hey, I was thinking, my best friend Mitsuru, my senpai, is the head of the Kirijo Researching Group. Would you be interested in having her look for a cure for your disease? I'm sure they could, especially with their knowledge and resources."
Akinari shook his head.
"When my time comes, then I'll go. I don't intend on trying to do anything unnatural to just prolong my life."
"But, you just said you're fighting to keep living, wouldn't you want to at least try? I mean, it's not like you'd lose all this knowledge you've gained, nor would it alter the perspective you have on life," Yukari rebutted.
Akinari thought for a moment.
"You're right about that. That's something I didn't really consider, I just always thought of my life as ending soon. I never thought about what it'd be like to have the opportunity to live out a full life. Maybe I will consider trying something new. As long as I can stay here at this bench, I mean."
Yukari knew that if he were to go along with it, he'd probably have to leave the bench and go in for testing and treatments.
"Yukari!?" A voice called from off in the distance.
Yukari turned her head quickly in that direction. She saw Junpei walking up the stairs of the shrine.
"Junpei?" She called in reply.
"Oh, hey, Ken told me you were coming over here. We're all going to take a trip to one of the cities nearby as a mini vacation before school starts up again. We were gonna talk about it over lunch right now, you feel like joining?" Junpei said.
"Uh," Yukari started, "I'm a little busy Junpei."
"No," Akinari interrupted, "I'll be here every day, just come again if you want to talk again. I'll let you go."
"Greetings," Junpei bowed, facing Akinari.
Akinari let out a long sigh of relief, and his body shuddered.
"Woah! You okay?" Junpei asked.
"Akinari!" Yukari screamed. "Junpei go get help!"
"No!" Akinari cried, it came out almost in a cough. "I'm okay!"
"What's wrong with him?" Junpei asked frantically.
"He has a disease! He's extremely sick!" Yukari cried, just as frantic as Junpei. "What's happening? Are you sure you're okay?"
"Who are you?" Akinari asked.
"I'm Junpei, a friend of Yukari's from school," Junpei replied.
"Come here," Akinari commanded, breathing deeply.
Junpei walked forward, and Akinari reached out and grabbed Junpei's hand. Junpei was surprised but he did not pull his hand away.
Akinari breathed deeply again, and then stood up.
"I feel…" Akinari started, a tone of amazement in his voice, "Alive. You possess a special power."
"Junpei," Yukari said, a smile growing on her face, "Chidori's power!"
Akinari flexed his hands and bounced up and down on his feet.
"Akinari, you were right," Yukari said. "The meaning of our lives is something that we make but don't see. Junpei, I wish you only knew what we knew right now."
"I think…" Akinari said in amazement, "I think I'm healthy! I've never felt this way before. I've never felt my muscles this strong, or my body this light!" He turned to Yukari and said, "You're right. If this really is true, then, then I can finally live."
"Then come to lunch with us, meet all of Minato's friends," Yukari offered.
Akinari smiled, but it was not weakly this time.
And Yukari looked up at the sun, but it was no longer an annoying dry heat. The warm rays of the sun now made her feel more complete than she ever had in her entire life.