I find Mitsuru and Akihiko to be very difficult to write for, especially when it comes to dialogue. On the other hand, the juniors just flow like clean water when I write for them.

Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 3 FES.

Thanks to my friend, Takako, for her beta work.

One Year

Chapter 2

The Empress's Reign

"What's that up there? Are the girls planning to put together a gym up there?" Junpei pointed up at the third floor, better known as the girls' floor. Minato followed the direction with his eyes before they fell on the punching bag on the floor above.

"Maybe," he answered with a shrug. He obviously didn't think too much of it.

"What's with that? We should get one too! Besides, I can't see Yuka-tan or Mitsuru-senpai using a gym anyways," Junpei whined. He took another look at the expensive-looking piece of equipment. "Let's check it out!" he decided.

"Hang on. If Mitsuru-sempai finds out, we'll get in trouble," Minato grabbed on to Junpei's arm in a half-hearted attempt to stop him.

"Then she'll never find out...will she? Come'on, come'on, where's your adventurous spirit? This is a perfect excuse to go to the girls' floor," Junpei said in his most convincing tone. Without waiting for Minato to answer, he pulled him up the stairs with him. Minato went along without resistance or further protest.

The punching bag hanged just next to the railing, it seemed worn from being overly used. A small set of weights rested beside the punching bag. Nothing else seemed to have changed in the sitting area; the chairs, tables, and vending machines were all in the same place as before.

"Wow, this is a nice set of equipment," Junpei exclaimed, he was like a kid that had just discovered a new toy. He gave the punching bag an experimental nudge with his fist. "Alright, step back. Watch as I give this thing a beating from a real man!"

As Junpei wound up for the punch, his companion gave him a wide berth. Junpei threw a fierce punch, leaning forward in to it. The blow connected solidly and the punching bag rocked backwards violently. In a split second, it swung forward and smashed its agitator in the face. Junpei yelped as he was knocked on to his back, his hands over his face.

In a second, Minato was kneeling beside him. "Are you hurt?"

"Only my pride...," Junpei's voice was muffled through his hands. Minato began to feel a smirk appearing on his face, it was all he could do to keep from full blown laughter. Junpei groaned from his spot on the floor.

A door opened down the hall and the two of them froze. "What's going on out there?!" an irritated voice shouted, causing both the boys to freeze in momentary panic. They sighed in relief after realizing that it wasn't Mitsuru.

Yukari appeared from the end of the hallway in her usual school uniform complete with her pink sweater. Her expression changed from surprised to irritated. "What are you two doing?"

"Exercising," Minato answered calmly as if nothing was wrong.

"Yeah! At this rate, none of the shadows will be even able to keep up with us," Junpei was quick to agree, though his face was still a bit red from its sudden encounter with the punching bag.

"There's a reason Mitsuru-senpai moved these up here, you know," Yukari didn't hide her irritation at all.

"She's going to put together a gym in the dorm, right?" Junpei asked.

"Of course not! She moved this stuff up here because Akihiko-senpai was still trying to sneak in some training in his room even though he's still recovering. You shouldn't mess with it or both of them could get really mad," Yukari explained.

"She can do that?" Junpei was obviously surprised.

"Well, obviously. Anyways, it has nothing to do with us so we should just leave it alone. You two aren't supposed to be up here anyways!" Yukari said.

"It'll be fine. They'll be impressed by how serious we are about fighting the shadows," Junpei reasoned.

"I don't know…, I hear Mitsuru-senpai can be quite scary. The last person she caught doing something wrong got executed or something," Yukari sounded doubtful of such a rumor though.

"Executed? You mean like get their head chopped off? You serious?" Junpei gasped in disbelief.

"I don't know but I hear she's pretty well-known for her executions. I've never seen it happen before though," she answered.

"I promised someone that I would meet a friend somewhere tonight, so I gotta go. I'll see you two later," Minato interrupted the two of them suddenly. He started down the stairs towards the bottom floor.

"Wait, you can't just abandon me here. Don't tell me you're actually scared!" Junpei shouted after him. He was ignored for the most part.

The front door burst open just as Minato reached the first floor. "This waiting around is driving me crazy. I can't fight shadows or even train," Akihiko was saying as he was walking in. He managed to keep himself from raising his voice despite how frustrated he was.

"Until you fully recover, I can't allow that. Doctor's orders," Mitsuru kept paced right behind him.

"At least let me have my training equipment back, my room looks kind of empty without them." Akihiko almost sounded like he was whining.

"Alright but only if you promise not to train until you fully recover," Mitsuru was clearly in charge here.

"Tch! Fine, I promise," he gave in and started to walk off towards his room.

"Akihiko, wait. I don't take any pleasure out of stopping you. I know how much your training means to you," Mitsuru's voice softened unexpectedly but the boxer didn't seemed surprised at all.

Akihiko sighed warily. "I know. I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated. I didn't mean to take it out on you," he admitted before he continued towards his room.

He was surprised to see Minato standing in front of the stairs. "I suppose you heard everything, huh?" he asked. If he was embarrassed, he hid it well.

"I have a couple of magazines and books you can borrow to pass the time," Minato offered.

"I'll pass but thanks for the offer," and with that, he continued up the stairs.

Mitsuru was seated in her chair and reading yet another heavy book as Minato went towards the front door. She looked up when he neared. "Are you going out?" she asked.

"Yes, I promised to meet with someone tonight," Minato answered.

"I will see you later then. Remember to be back before curfew," she said before returning to her book.

It was several hours later when Minato returned. It was past curfew by several minutes now. He tiptoed inside to see that all the lights were shut off, everyone must have went to sleep already. As he climbed up the stairs, he notice a small bit of light piercing the darkness from somewhere above. Knowing that it would bother him unless he checked it out, he ended up on the fourth floor. The doors to the command room were wide open, pouring out light from within.

Sitting in front of the control panel was Mitsuru, with her head resting sideways on the controls directly in front of her. A light sheen of sweat plastered a small amount of hair to her face. Whatever she was dreaming about, it must have been something good because she was smiling slightly. She gave a slight moan and shifted in her sleep.

Mitsuru had always been strong and in-charge. Never before would Minato describe her as cute or maybe even vulnerable until this very moment. She was beautiful and intelligent, stunningly so in fact. Cute was just not in the equation until now, he felt like was invading on something extremely private by just finding her like this.

"Mitsuru-senpai!" he called. She stirred but didn't wake. She mumbled incoherently in her sleep, Minato could barely catch the word "parfait" before she smiled contently. Cute. "Mitsuru-senpai, you'll catch a cold if you sleep here," Minato gently laid a hand on her shoulder and shook her. It occurred to him how odd it was to tell such a responsible person such a thing.

Mitsuru blinked slowly and then jerked her head up, a brief look of confusion in her eyes as she took in her surroundings. Finally, she focused on the person standing beside her. "Arisato, you're late," she said rather sternly. Her tone demanded a reason and was surprisingly strong for someone who had just woken up.

"Sorry, Senpai. I never meant to stay out this late. Things just didn't go as planned," he explained. He suddenly wished that he had a persona that matched Mitsuru's arcana, it would help a lot in situations like these. Orpheus's guidance was more useful in dealing with all of SEES as a whole.

"I'll have to punish you, to make sure you don't do it again of course," Minato resisted the urge to flinch from her tone of voice.

"I understand," he managed to get out.

"You'll be sweeping the front of the dorm in the morning for a week. I suggest you get plenty of rest so can get it done before school starts," she continued.

"Yes, Senpai. I'm sorry you had to stay up and wait for me," Minato apologized sincerely.

"What happens in this dorm and its inhabitants fall under my responsibility. I only did what I had to do," Mitsuru's response sounded almost mechanical.

"Thank you for always taking care of us. I'll get ready for bed now," he started towards the door.

"Good night, Arisato."

"Good night, Senpai," he replied just as he went through the door. They shut with a loud echoing bang and Mitsuru startled at the sudden loud noise. She sighed before leaning back in to her chair. "Parfait...huh?" Minato's voice drifted in from outside.

Mitsuru gasped, her cheeks lighting up with a slight shade of pink. "Did I speak out loud in my sleep? How embarrassing...," she mumbled. Making a quick decision to confront him, she threw open the door and descended down a flight of stairs. He was already gone.

Mitsuru was left wondering how much he heard. Well, she could always ask him while he was up early doing the sweeping. If he watched her sleep, listened to her sleep-talk, or did anything weird; he would be executed.

"Ease up, will you? You're not supposed to hit it as hard as you can," Akihiko stood a short distance from Junpei. The two of them were on the third floor of the dorms, it was the next day after school and Junpei had convinced Akihiko to let him try his training equipment. The senior only accepted under the condition that he only do so under his supervision.

"Really? You're not?" Junpei asked. When Akihiko responded with a nod, he said, "Then what are you supposed to do with this?"

"I think it's better if I showed you," as Akihiko got in to position, Junpei moved out of the way. He began with a light jab with his right fist followed closely with another strike. Each hit was continued with another until the boxer fell in to a comfortable rhythm.

"Akihiko, what is the meaning of this!?" a clearly feminine voice demanded.

Akihiko froze in mid-punch. Junpei could easily see the distressed expression on his face and then his attempt to calm himself down all in a matter of seconds. Slowly, the senior turned to face the wrath of the heir to the Kirijo Group.

"Mitsuru! I can explain," he started to say.

"Please do," she said, her tone indicated that wouldn't put up with any nonsense. Her arms were crossed and she looked at him with an unnervingly neutral expression. He felt like a bug under a microscope.

"I was showing Junpei how to use the punching bag, otherwise he would have hurt himself," Akihiko said.

When Mitsuru turned to look at Junpei, he momentarily stiffened. Although her gaze wasn't hostile, he felt as if he could be frozen solid from it. "Is this true, Iori?" she asked.

"Y-yeah, I wanted to get some extra training in for the next time we go to Tartarus," Junpei tried his best to sound natural.

"I see. Make sure you don't overdo it," Mitsuru said.

"Okay."

"And Akihiko, don't try to train again in your condition," she gave him a stern look.

"I won't, I promised you didn't I?" the boxer sounded confident in keeping his promise.

"Good. I have something I have to attend to, I'll be back if Arisato decides to go to Tartarus tonight," Mitsuru said before heading back down the stairs.

"Whew! I haven't been that scared since my mom caught me sneaking snacks before dinner as a kid!" Junpei sighed in relief.

"Mitsuru isn't someone you should mess with," Akihiko warned.

"It sounds like you're afraid of her yourself, Akihiko-san." he half-teased.

"W-what are you talking about? It's not like that. She's just always been looking out for everyone. I just don't want her to worry, that's all," Akihiko said.