A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for their support, especially the reviews. It's nice to see even a few words of encouragement. I actually repeat each sentence with Shinjiro's voice actor to make sure it's something he would say. xD I will have the next chapter prepped and complete in 2 or 3 days. Thanks for reading.

5 days. A lot happened in 5 days. I rejoined SEES, got my room back, made friends with the dog, helped the group capture a loli and figured out pretty quickly that Aki had a tiny crush on our leader. It also took her 5 days to talk to me. She asked me to go out and have dinner.

I was hiding in the corner. I liked hiding in this particular corner because it was close to the kitchen and the stairs, an easy escape if someone was going to try something shady. She tried something almost shady. Is a girl asking a guy out on a date, shady? Screw it. If she hadn't, I might not have fallen in love with her, but she did. And I fell really hard, just not that night. It took her a couple tries, really.

September 7

It was a nice night. Nothing special really. I'd noticed that she was usually the last one to come back. Everyone else liked sitting around the lounge. Aki would sometimes sit at the bar stools and read while I made him something. Minako would either walk Koromaru, spend the night out with Ken, or just disappear altogether. Tonight, I was her target.

She walked up behind me and tapped me lightly on the shoulder, her ruby eyes watching me with anticipation.

"You want something?" I wasn't the nicest guy.

"Want to go for a bite?"

I was surprised. She was pretty. I...wasn't. It was already a little weird, but I took her to Hagakure. That place never closed. I also really like ramen.

We didn't talk on the way. She didn't look awkward or uncomfortable and I couldn't really think of anything to say to her. When we got there, I told her what I thought.

"You're an odd one." She chuckled. Ha, ha. Once. Twice. She listened while I told her a stupid story about Aki punching me in the face. I couldn't eat because of that bastard. I'd bitten myself when he punched me. She even smiled a little when I told her it was because I called him reckless.

"Hey, don't tell Aki I said anything about him punching me, alright?"

"Why not?" Inquisitive, like a bird digging for a worm.

"If he knew I told you, he'd think I was ratting him out and trying to get him in trouble. He's a baby like that. So can you just forget I said anything?"

Giggling, "Not a word." She put her fingers to her head and fired, as if she was calling her persona. "I've forgotten already."

She ate slowly, as if waiting for me to catch up. She didn't pressure me to talk. She just smiled, and chuckled again when I could think of something funny to tell her. When I think of her now, I remember. She never laughed. She would giggle and smiled a lot, but she never laughed. I wanted to hear her laugh. The kind of laughter that could make people look at her or echoed in the halls. I didn't hear it. Not once. Not even when she was dying in my arms.

September 9

She asked me out to dinner again two days later. I tried not to smile, but I was actually really happy. I got a scary face, not many friends, but that doesn't mean I didn't want them. I let her choose the place this time, in the hopes of getting to know her better. She chose Wakatsu, one of the healthier shops on the strip.

We were talking about the team and Aki mostly. He ate like shit, nothing but meat. If only he'd learn something from the little girl that could probably bench him. The whole team could probably learn something. She was strong, too strong. None of us could ever hope to catch up.

"But your powers look like they're helping a lot too..." I said it absent-mindedly. I knew she was doing a lot of work. Most of it actually.

"I hope so..." Her smile faltered, just the tiniest bit. It almost made me want to laugh.

"You aren't confident?" I poked her lightly with my chopsticks.

She swatted them away with her own. "I am. I know that I'm strong and that we've got a good team. It's just..." She sighed, looking hard into her plate. "Everyone thinks I'm infallible, like I could never let them down. I'm just afraid you'll be relying on me one day, and I won't be able to save you." She'd started whispering. It was so quiet, I almost didn't hear her. Maybe she'd forgotten I was there. It was weird, seeing her like that. She was right though. Everyone depended on her to win the fight every time. That kinda pressure was rough.

"Listen up, moron. You're the strongest persona-user I've ever met. We know you'll be there. You don't have to worry about that. Without you, who knows where those idiots would be now?" This wasn't me trying to cheer her up. I meant every word. I believed in her. She was going to save us all, someday. She'd done it yesterday.

"They'd probably still be in Thebel," She said jokingly, giggling as she did. He, he. Two. Would I ever make it to three? Four?

I laughed with her, but more out of relief than actual humor. Her joke was a pretty bad one because it was true. Without her, it wasn't likely that the others would've gotten very far. She brought more than just courage to the team, she brought strength.

"Arisato. When it gets tough out there, remember that you're not alone. We've got your back. I'll protect you."

She blinked twice in surprise, but then she smiled, and it looked almost...sad. "I'll never let any of you get hurt." She answered softly.

That night, I'd learned three things about her: She liked to eat healthy, she liked to close her eyes when she really smiled, and she was very afraid of losing.

Aki learned about the pills the day after. I had to use them to save Chidori from being strangled. Medea had gone berserk, trying to kill her. I hadn't touched those pills since I'd rejoined SEES. Using them meant I couldn't use my persona, which meant I'd be letting everyone down. Kind of pointless if I used them while fighting in Tartarus, but Aki didn't listen. He punched me square in the face. I wasn't angry about it. I couldn't really care less. After all, he punched me in the face at least once a week, and this time, I deserved it. I usually did deserve it.

September 11

I took her back to Wakatsu. She'd told me she liked the meals and it was a healthier choice than ramen. It was healthier than most of what everyone else ate. It came to me when I was with her last time. Those guys in the dorm all ate like trash. That was the kinda shit that made me worry but when I told her about it, all she could do was tease me.

"You're so kind-hearted." Her voice was so soft, like a pillow, or her hair. She was teasing me.

I couldn't look at her. I wouldn't. "...Don't be stupid."

I told her to help me make sure those guys were eating right. I even made her promise to remind them twice, every night. They wouldn't listen to me but they'd definitely listen to her. All I had to do now was make her listen to me.

"I have a very good memory, senpai. You don't have to keep saying it." She giggled before donning a solemn face and holding up three fingers on her left hand. "I promise to remind them every night or I shall die in my sleep without any loved ones around me."

"Good... Now you have to do it, or we're all screwed." I looked over at her plate. It was empty except for a small stack of green bell peppers. "You're going to eat all those veggies right?"

"Mhm..." She nodded while scarfing down her food. A weaker person would've choked. She jammed it down with half a glass of water. We left soon after.

"You have some controlling habits, senpai." We were very close to the dorms when she randomly pointed this out.

"I'm not controlling. You're the leader. You need to set a good example for the rest of your team."

"Maybe if you were the leader then they'd eat healthier." She hunched over a little to smile to my face. I pulled my beanie a little lower, avoiding her glance.

"Nah... Don't be stupid. I'm not a leader. I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kinda guy."

"I'm also a behind-the-scenes kind of girl. They made me the leader anyway."

"You? No shit, could've fooled me."

She chuckled just once but didn't respond. I was losing progress. We walked home in silence the rest of the way but it was comfortable. I could see her ponytail bob in rhythm with the bounce of her steps. I'd spend a lot of time in the next couple weeks looking at the back of her head. She was short. She was always the first one to charge into a fight or run up the stairs. I was always behind her.

The lounge was empty when we got home. It was pretty late, not quite midnight, but too late to go on an operation. I walked her up the steps, but left her on the second floor. She still had two flights of stairs to climb.

"Goodnight… Aragaki-senpai." It was the first time she had used my name. My head snapped to look in her direction. She was watching me with that iconic little smile on her face. Her eyes were red like fire, and shimmered with it too. They could suck a person in and burn them to a crisp. People could fall in love with those eyes and forget that red existed in any other shade. Me? I was like a lost dog. Captivated by the light. Afraid to get burned. I was screwed.