Disclaimer: I don't own the Persona series nor the titular song by the Stars.

Notes: A bit of Akihiko/FeMC at the end, if you squint.

Death and Guns

by girl of july

How had it come to this? she asks herself as she runs and runs and no, don't even think about stopping. Fuuka's voice is almost a buzz in her earpiece even if she tries to listen. She needs to get out of here. Find Akihiko, Mitsuru, and Yukari and get out of here.

A gunshot rings out. She flinches and asks her tired body to run faster around the corner. It is that close already?

"Minako-chan, you're almost there! Turn left when you reach—"

It's a long, straight corridor. She sees the Reaper's silhouette when she turns her head back. She changes grip on her naginata, pointing it downwards. Time is what she needs now. Something. Anything. Her hand reaches for her Evoker, points it at her head and her finger slips, wasting a precious moment, but she pulls the trigger. "I summon you, Sarasvati!"

Amidst the sound of shattering glass, the twang of strings stands out. The goddess materializes, and points her hand towards the corridor, as Minako commands her, "Bufula!"

The air grows white and crackles with cold as icicles begin to grow and block its path. A moment of relief. She makes the mistake of hesitating in her step because then the Reaper bursts through the ice and a bullet tears through her leg.

A cry escapes her mouth. Stupid! Why did she think a spell could hold it off when nothing even worked against it? Now she has an injured leg in situation where she has to escape. It hurt as she tried to stand.

All the breath in her body leaves her when she hears the rattling of chains. Despite herself, she turns and gets her first close up view of it.

She smells blood and rust. A yellow light glows dully in the darkness, and to her horror, she realizes it is its eye. Its head is covered in bloody bandages (it's not even brown from age but fresh) and chains weigh down its bloody body but it still glides.

She's going to die.

"Minako-chan!"

Her feet almost slip in her haste to get away, and even then all she can do is limp. Blood…it fills her mind, returning her to her nightmares of a bloody bridge on a green-tinted night and a pale yellow moon. Her throat constricts.

What feels at first like a breeze (no, that isn't possible in Tartarus, but that means—) becomes the raging gale of a wind spell, lifting her off her feet and throwing her against the far end of the corridor, her head knocking painfully on the wall. Black spots dance in her eyes, and the Reaper becomes two, four—

She squints to her left and sees the stairs. The other members of her team have already climbed it, looking safe but worn-out. That's good, she says in her hazy mind. Her hands still keeps a tight grip on the naginata, but what's the use? Can I sleep?

I—

"Arisato!"

Mtsuru's voice is sharp, snapping her out of her reverie. They're waiting for her. That fact makes her half-crawl, half-run toward the steps. The Reaper is so close behind her that the smell of blood makes her gag.

Her heart hammers in her chest until it's all she can hear, and her sweat-slicked palm slips on the cold step. She falls against the stairs. A jolt of pain from her wounded leg makes her see red.

"Minako, run!"

Useless. Her legs won't move. The chains shriek against walls as the Reaper turns around the corner now, gliding almost lazily towards her.

She doesn't have regrets in this life, does she?

No. She doesn't want this to be her last memory. She doesn't want to spend the rest of eternity in the afterlife remembering the rattle of chains and a cold gold eye.

And in that heartbeat of a moment, there is only one thought and truth running through her mind:

"I don't want to die."

It reaches the bottom step and raises its guns. Despite her friends yelling for her, despite the fact, damn it, she still wants to live, her body doesn't obey her, doesn't even budge an inch. Raising her naginata in a useless guard, all she can do is close her eyes.

She waits for it. The gunshot. The pain.

It never comes.

Her eyes open, and she finds it still at the bottom, guns waving about.

"Minako-chan!"

Her heart untwists, her body can move, and she climbs the stairs, all slippery hands and sluggish feet, reaching for their outstretched hands. Everything hurts as they lift her up the stairs.

It hits her as three pairs of worried and scared eyes take in her form. She nearly died.

But she's alive. Alive.

That isn't something she had to remind herself before, and it makes her fonder of the heart still thundering in her chest. She feels heavy and hollow, her eyes warm and prickly. She wants to cry, to be weak in front of them, just this once. She doesn't.

"That was…" she says, her voice seeming to dissipate like the cold. She lets herself slump against Akihiko. "The worst. Definitely the worst."

She feels a weak chuckle from his chest.

"You scared us all back there. " Yukari offers her a trembling, tired smile, Evoking Io and casting healing spell after healing spell. Her shaking hands nearly let go of the Evoker. "You just froze on the stairs when it almost got you. What happened?"

"I—I honestly don't know."

In truth, she doesn't know how to explain (doesn't want to talk about) the pull of death and the desire to live, to try to survive even if death seemed so inevitable that the very knowledge of it was all there was in that one tiny moment and your heart would seem to stop.

She is rambling in her own head now. A mess. A complete mess. Her eyelids feel heavy and she lets them flutter shut, waiting for unconsciousness to take her.

She faintly hears Mitsuru giving orders to Fuuka and everyone else, feels Akihiko lift her on his back as gently as he could, wrapping her legs around his waist. His short hair still tickles her face as he turns his head and whispers, "Hold tight."

Her hands find each other around his neck and grip. Before he takes a step forward, an idea slithers its way into her head. Maybe it isn't an idea, but an impulse because her eyes open (why do I want to see it anyway?) and she turns her head towards the stairs, nearly tilting Akihiko off-balance.

The Reaper is still there, looking at her with its one yellow eye. It raises a gun and taps the barrel against its head in a salute.

...

..

.

A/N: So how was it? It might seem a bit OOC for FeMC to be like that, but that's how I interpret her character. I think the story felt a bit hurried towards the end, too, and I have a feeling I'm repeating sentence patterns... Oh well. I'm slightly proud of this because this is my first finished fanfic. I'd really appreciate it if you left a review, and I'll love you if you leave some constructive criticism.

This might turn out to be a oneshot/drabble collection that is FeMC-centric because she needs more love.