A/N: What was I supposed to be doing again...? Oh right.
So I started another fandom... and I'm hooked on Shin Megami Tensei games, but what can I say? I got caught in the Persona 4 hype, and now Devil Survivor 2 just takes up more time than it should. So...is the protag supposed to be "Hiro" or "Hibiki" now?
Here's one of the pairings from Hiro's harem (- w -)/ Post-Daichi route
Posted on AO3 too (finally made an account on there...)
Devil Survivor 2 © Atlus
Yamato glares down at his paperwork with the crease between his brow furrowing more and more as the clock continued ticking. His writing was harsher than usual, even nearly ripping some important forms, and his sitting posture was more slumped compared to his upright posture.
It did not go unnoticed by any JPs member that had the misfortune to enter his office for any reason and succumb to the darker aura their young chief emitted.
A week after his suddenly darkened, Otome and Makoto were the first to noticed, but Makoto was the first to confront him.
"Sir, if I may ask..." Makoto started hesitantly.
"What is it, Sako?" He asked her bitterly, causing her to flinch at the slight edge in his tone.
"Is there an-..." She paused for a second, thinking of a better way to voice her concern. "...a problem, sir?"
He seemed to have taken that moment to regain his composure. "I am fine. Return to your work, Sako." He directed his attention at the corner behind Makoto. "And you as well, Yanagiya."
That was two months ago and his mood seemed to have worsen since that time, but it only took two weeks for Otome and Fumi—and a little bit of Makoto—to realize what was eating away at their chief:
Hiro was gone for a mission with Daichi and Jungo as volunteers, and had not contacted them since.
Sure, Yamato could keep his head cool for the first few weeks and stay calm when Hiro did not stay in touch with him for some time, but two months and not a word from him was obviously driving him insane.
A year ago, when they fought along side each other, and before becoming enemies, Yamato would've been disappointed that someone he regarded as capable as Hiro had perished in battle, but it was different now that they had established a relationship. He actually, dare he say it, cares for him.
"Chief."
Currently, Yamato was signing paper work for some JPs related incident concerning some demon in some area of Japan. When Otome had walked into the office, unannounced, Yamato spared her a glance from his paper work and would've returned his attention back to the meaningless sheets of paper, but Otome's expression appeared urgent.
"Is there a problem, Yanagiya?"
She was panting, as if using all of her stamina to run to his office to report some important news, while leaning against the door frame of his office door.
"We... Daichi and Jungo... they came back." And right there, she collapsed on the floor of his office from exhaustion. Taking in another breath, she continued her report, "Jungo returned with a fractured arm and minor injuries... While dragging Daichi who is unconcious. He suffered a concussion and several burns, they're both malnourished, and..."
Yamato did not hear a word of it except 'return', but something was off.
"And Hiro?" He asked with a slight hesitation in his voice, not that Otome noticed in her state.
"...He didn't come back with them. They were in the middle of asking Jungo questions about his whereabouts when I rushed ov-"
Yamato was by Jungo's bedside within the next minute to hear the news, leaving Otome to catch her breath.
"Torii." Jungo's eyes flicked open and he looked up at the young chief by his bedside. He looked like a mess with bandages covering large portions of his body. The wounds he sustained were obviously too much for even Diarahan to handle. His expression was unreadable, but Yamato didn't give a damn.
"Where is Hiro?"
"Man, you really get to the point, huh?" Daichi uttered weakly from the bed besides Jungo. He regained some consciousness back, and the numbing agent Otome injected into him was doing well, if not for the dull ache on everywhere. Yamato turned to him and saw his condition no better than Jungo's own. He sustained similar injuries as Jungo, but with a broken leg instead and burned eyebrows. If the situation was not so dire, it would be humourous.
"Shijima. I have no time for your games." He was growing irritated with every passing second of not knowing Hiro's whereabouts. "Where is Hiro?"
Upon the realization that Hiro was not with them, Daichi's eyes widened and looked over to Jungo. Yamato mirrored his latter action, but with a stern look. Jungo was clearly uncomfortable with being stared down.
"He... told me to take you back and call for help. He was better off than us since he equipped Rejuuvenate, and I transferred Oumitsunu to him before we left." He took a second to recall the situation at hand.
"Daichi!" Hiro called out to his best friend as he endured a critical hit from the demon.
"I'm... fine." He gasped after the speared grazed his sides. "or not."
"Shit shit...!" Hiro looked around after taking out a persistent party leader, the rest of it's party disappearing afterward. Daichi was already on his knees from his recent hit and Jungo was bleeding from the arm. They had a few demons left to exterminate in the deserted shrine in an eerie forest-like area, but it seemed there would be no escape from this living hell they were enduring. They were out of range from JPs calling signal and escape from this maze of a forest. They had been fighting for weeks, probably months at this point, and they were barely starting to see an end to this madness, that is, until a stronger looking demon showed up; it was one of the final two they had to finish off, but at the rate they were going, and considering how much stronger this one was, it seemed almost impossible to finish it off.
"Shit...Ah!" A plan popped into Hiro's mind. He looked over at Jungo and Daichi again and considered their chances of making it out with all three of them alive. 'I guess that leaves me no choice...'
Hiro summoned an Avian. "Anzu...I want you to take Daichi and Jungo as far as you can from here. Do not fight, just avoid any demons as much as you can and get away from here." The demon bird nodded it's head wordlessly and flew towards the two and swiped them up.
"Wait! Hiro! What are you doing!" Daichi cried out with the last of his strength; his consciousness was slipping.
"Get as far as you can, and when you get ANY signal, call JPs! Anzu, remember my instructions!" He shouted from his position and cast Agi on the stronger opponent as it tried to cast a curse on his friends. "Over here, asshole!"
"So, there are JPs people searching for him right now?" Yamato asked after Jungo explained what had happened. Some part of him had hoped that they reached Hiro in time, and another part of him continued chanting "He's dead, he's dead...".
"I'd think so. I called the minute I got a bar on my phone," Jungo looked up at the ceiling to avoid eye contact with Yamato, and under his breath, he muttered, "but that thing was capable of casting a stone ailment with it's hits..."
Yamato's heart stopped for a moment. "Wha-"
"Ah...! Don't worry." Daichi tried sitting up in his condition to give Yamato reassuring pat on the back, but his efforts were in vein. "I'm pretty sure he equipped Null-phys before we began fighting that thing." He had added a mental 'I hope.'
"I'll...need a moment." Yamato took that moment to walk out of their room and stand outside their door.
He inhaled a deep breath of air and pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to maintain his composure. Thirty seconds passed and he exhaled.
"Fool... You promised you'd be back to supposedly drag me out for dinner." He murmured under his breath. His eyes were strained from glaring more than usual and from the sleep he had been deprived of lately. There was no use crying because he was Yamato, and there was still a chance Hiro could be alive. "...Don't make me wait any longer."