No one dared ask what had happened to Ryunosuke the next morning. True, that everyone had heard rumors of the 'Titanic Trio' of Umikai high taking it upon themselves to have a wild and crazy night. The rumors got across to the teachers that Yo, Wata, and Ryunosuke happened to get wasted to the point that the newbie of their group was unable to attend to school for the next week. The only thing that added even more friction to the situation was that when the school's week stated back up was that Ryunosuke turned up with several scars and bandages atop his face.
Each of the students began to carry their own rumors of the situation. Varying from getting in a random bar fight, to something as wide ranged as Yoshuna getting drunk and Ryunosuke had to save him from numerous thugs. In truth, it wasn't anything so sharp and pain filled to the point that it would make those around him feel as though they had anything to worry about. Wata had already known of the answer before Yo began to even ask him upon meeting him at the school's entrance. Even to this moment, Ryunosuke began to chuckle to himself as he watched the two of them walk up to him.
Yoshuna began to feel a deepening and pain filled sorrow overcome his gut upon thinking that something that he had said to him saddening drove him to this state. "Ryunosuke?! What happened to you dude? I wanted to say that I was sorry man… I didn't expect you to beat yourself up over it… at least not literally anyways!" Yo's voice began to carry over the area all the while Wata continued to chuckle to himself upon noticing that Ryunosuke began to chuckle with him. It didn't take either of them long enough before they decided to simply inform Yo of the events as a whole.
"Don't worry about it Yo… Wata seemed to fill you in on everything so I guess for the time being we have no reason to continue carrying the crosses." Ryunosuke spoke as he bowed slightly before him as a sign of him respect and sorrow towards Yo. Wata continued to laugh as he broke up the conversation between the two of them with a slight cold stare aimed towards Ryunosuke all the while. "Mind telling me exactly what happened now?" Wata began to walk towards the school all the while looking back to signal for the two of them.
The school bell had rung for some time before Yo made his way into his homeroom class to notice that all eyes had managed to find themselves onto him. Even his teacher who entered the room some moments after him began to carry glances in his direction upon noticing that Wata and Yo both managed to glance at one another in succession. "Mind telling me exactly why everyone is staring at us?" Yo's voice carried out the side of his mouth aimed at Wata who took it upon himself to sit beside him. Something about the situation as a whole seemed to make him feel more or less like a celebrity rather than a new kid attempting to find some friends in the world.
"I think it either has something to do with the fact that you got drunk your first day of school and then got wasted at a club later that night." Wata wore a wide grin atop his face as he turned towards Yo. It didn't take long before Yoshuna began to calmly understand the situation as a whole. It didn't take long for him to understand that out of each and everything that had happened to him since he got there that perhaps this case of mistaken ideas is the only normal thing that had happened to him.
Ryunosuke began to laugh as he removed some of his bandages from atop his face all the while looking towards the black board before him. "It's no big deal honestly. Look at the bright side, at least one good thing managed to come out of our events last week…" Ryunosuke began to chuckle as Yo sat in his seat wearing a constant look of confusion and lost mindedness. It didn't take long before Rynosuke was pointing at the front seat in the classroom only to indicate that a cute black haired female with a purple stream inside her hair began to turn back from her seat away from Yo's current position.
"Isn't that the one girl who we helped? I think her name was… what was it…" Yo got lost in confusion for a moment as he began to finally speak her name aloud for everyone to hear. "Nitsumo Kinosui!" He spoke louder out of happiness for finally being able to remember her name. Only to notice that it seemed as though Yoshuna was calling her name.
"Can you please keep your girlfriend's name out of this classroom?" Wata began to turn his face away from the classroom as he began to chuckle upon confusing everyone in the class and causing Kinosui to strongly blush. "Excuse me… as a representative of the Junior Class of Umikai High School. I will have to have you refrain from having your feelings for your lover known to the entire class Mr. Akiraka." Ryunosuke began to chuckle aloud after he gave his announcement aimed at Yo as a joke only to see that both Kinosui and Yo were both beat red and unable to speak.
The teacher began to carry herself into the room tapping a ruler atop the desk as though to get everyone's attention for the time being. "That's enough Mr. Tatuyami… it's good to see that you and your friends decided to show up and help out with our class actually learning today." She spoke out as the classroom finally began to quiet down and take their time to listen to her current lesson.
The bell for the day had rung and began to ring out as Ryunosuke, Wata, and Yo each found themselves atop the school's roof. All three of them began to chuckle as they watched the people beneath them move about the area attempting to leave. "So… are you guys ready to listen to the events that took place yesterday? I didn't want to be the one in charge of being a total downer unless you guys were ready to listen." Ryunosuke's comedic tone for the day began to die off as he attempted to keep with a lively aura for the day. Wata nodded towards Ryunosuke, as did Yo before he began to speak.
"Yesterday while you guys were out there having the time of your lives, or whatever else you guys were doing. I was getting beat up by the deep throat double trio." Ryunosuke began to speak as though attempting to break the ice of the area for the time being. It was obvious that he was attempting to lighten the mood as best he could, however it wasn't helping anyone at the moment.
"I take it our friends in the black cloaks took it upon themselves to pay you a visit?" Wata began to speak in a much more serious tone attempting to draw out as much information on the situation that he could at the moment. Yo felt as though he wasn't as intelligent as Wata to ask the right questions, nor was he there to account for Ryunosuke's overall seeing. He simply felt as though he had stepped foot into a world that wasn't his own. Now he waited for Ryunosuke to give him a moment to organize his thoughts and continue speaking to him.
"Truth be told, they introduced themselves and they told me more about themselves…" Ryunosuke's voice fell into a deepening darkness before he managed to finish what he had been saying for the time being. "They're called Deep-Six. They're primary objective is to try to go out of their way to obtain the power of persona and use it for whatever it is that they intend to do with… it." Ryunosuke continued to speak as though lost in thought for a moment only to be slapped back into reality by Wata's voice.
"How about next time we avoid beating up the people who we're attempting to draw information from?" Wata began to speak with a heavy chuckle before hearing Ryunosuke speak up cutting through the darkness of the area. "They weren't playing for keeps this time, but it was obvious that they intended get something from me." Ryunosuke's voice began to echo throughout the area as Yo finally spoke out for a moment as though attempting to understand everything.
"So.. they're persona users too then?" Yo's voice attempted to grab a hold of the information that continued to dance about the air around him. "Yes, they're seasoned to the point that they're capable of manifesting their persona at a speed roughly half of my own." Ryunosuke's voice began to speak as though he was serious all the while leaving Yo's mind to carry on through this entire scenario.
"So… wait a moment.. HALF this guy's time is roughly considered 'above average' when it comes to summoning his persona. What the hell do they call it when it comes to someone on their level? I thought these were just a bunch of random wanna be heroes who have hearts of gold. And it turns out these guys are some of the most bad ass guy's I've ever seen a day in my life! I mean dear god, how is it that he was capable of fighting off two of those guys and only having a simple scratch or two on his face."
Yo's thoughts finally came to a close as he stood to his feet and began to stretch slightly before noticing that something about the situation seemed to be off. True that school had been let out for some, but something seemed to be lingering in the area for some time that it made him feel slightly off. He turned to Ryunosuke and Wata as though about to speak only to notice that both of them were standing looking in the same general direction that he was in. "We know your there… just show yourself." Ryunosuke's deep voice carried through the air causing a confused and slightly terrified Nitsumo Kinosui fell to the ground square on her face upon falling on the door leading to the roof.
Ryunosuke and Wata began to chuckle to themselves as they noticed that the threat they had sensed was nothing more than a schoolgirl with a silly crush running around looking for someone. "Oh man Ryu… it looks like we stepped in it this time." Wata began to speak as he made his way towards the door as though now ignoring the female before him. "Looks as though I can give you guys some privacy then right?" Ryunosuke began to speak as he made his way past Kinosui whom had appeared to be unable to move through all the confusion. Nodding towards the fallen Kinosui Ryunosuke and Wata each avoided her as they made their way off the school roof.
"So…I'm sorry we haven't been properly introduced as of yet. I think your name is Nitsumo Kinosui correct?" Yo began to speak as he grabbed a hold of her arm and attempted to pick her up from the ground, only to have her jerk away as though afraid of him. "I-I-It's ok…" She curled up into a ball as though attempting to defend herself from something. Yo's mind began to run in the heat of the confusion to the point that he was completely unable to even help her up correctly.
"SHIT! I think she remembers what happened that night! If that's the case she might just think I'm a random playboy who's here to try and get in her pants… Wait? Why do I even care what she thinks? This is my first time even talking to her? Why in the hell would anyone honestly even make assumptions like that after meeting someone one time? I mean it's not like she has some random attachment towards me… or maybe the attachment is so strong that she can't even afford to have me touching her." Yo's mind finally came back to reality as he reached out and grabbed a hold of her hand and lifted her up.
"So… I take it that you have a some questions you want answered about what has been going on between us?" Yo's voice broke off for a moment as he finally began to catch himself in thought and correct himself. "I mean this! The situation as a whole you know!" Yo's voice carried off for a moment attempting to change the subject from anything relating to Kinosui and his feelings towards her.
"I-I-Its ok.. Your Akiraka-kun.. correct?" She spoke as though attempting to keep one single thought on her mind when it came down to speaking to Yo. "It's ok; you can simply call me Yo. Everyone else seems to have no problem simply giving me a nickname after only knowing me for such a short time." Yo's thoughts began to travel as though talking to Wata or Ryunosuke for the time being. "I mean it's not like there's anything worth remembering about me, you know?" Yo began to speak only to hear the voice of Kinosui break through the thickening depths of the area.
"W-W-Well, you're pretty nice guy. I mean you're really calm, cool, collected, and warm…" Her voice began to carry itself off for a moment only to notice that she was still holding onto Yo's hand. She quickly jerked her burning red hand away from Yo and felt her face burn up with red hot passion. She was unable to speak clearly and now she was unable to even look at Yo without sniffling and losing her voice in the passing moments. "I-I-I didn't mean to try to pull anything on you by taking your hand without your permission!" She screamed before she bowed over and quickly attempted to make her escape from the area.
"Something about her hand felt warm and calming… I honestly wish she didn't just run off like that. I think if I had gotten to know her then something about her could have really grown on me…" Yo's voice began to carry throughout the depths of his mind only to hear a sound escape his phone. It was a cryptic ringtone set aside for a caller by the name of "Social" only to see a message read across the screen.
"Thou Art I… and I art Thou…" The screen began to light up with a symbol of two figures holding hand. One a man, the other a woman, was standing before a tree with the title of "The Lovers" reading at the bottom. Something seemed to bother Yo as the message began to carry over the screen as though informing him. "You have made a bond with that of the Lovers Social Link… It is your job to see to it that this Link grows and is nurtured to the point that it can develop into something much more… and in due time you may share in the power that it creates."
The message ended on the screen before Yoshuna could even ask himself what the hell was going on. For some reason, a deep and complex feeling began to grow from within Yo's body as though attempting to ask him to reach out and follow her for some reason. Yoshuna began to make his way towards the stairway only to notice that Ryunosuke and Wata were now sitting before it with grins atop their faces.
"It looked like Miss Kinosui was about to pass out when she got from up here. Either you did something that made her want to get away, or you did something that made her want to be up here with you even though she knew it wasn't right." Ryunosuke was speaking as though trying to drag out Yo's hidden thoughts of Kinosui. "Or it could be a combined effort of both of the two… we're not here to judge you Yo-boy." Wata's voice continued to carry on after Ryunosuke's traveled off of his sentence.
"It's nothing like that you two. I mean sure she's kind of cute, I don't think there's anything going on with her. Not right now or in the near future guys." Yo's voice finally reached its end as he began to walk towards the doorway as though attempting to leave for the time being. Only to hear Ryunosuke's voice cut him off before he could open the doorway to the roof's exit. " We have work to do tonight Yo… you know only if you intend on joining us…" Ryunosuke placed his headphones over his head as soon as began to move towards the stairs. "Yeah, of course I'm going to head out with you guys… not like you're going to leave me behind this time." Yo began to speak as he placed his headphones over his ears.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I want to be a Hero! I'm going to save them all!" Ryunosuke continued to speak to out loud as though pretending to portrait a typical Anime tone. "4:32 pm, Silverman Walk Way, J.G." Ryunosuke finished his sentence for the time being before he hit the radio of his car as though showcasing that the time was being showcased as 4:11 pm. Meaning that they didn't have much time left before they had to be wherever it was that they needed to be.
"Where the hell is Silverman Walk Way? I mean it sounds pretty high and mighty if you ask me…" Yo began to speak only to hear Wata's voice respond to him attempting to inform him on the situation as a whole so that he didn't feel entirely left out. "Silverman Walk Way is a pretty infamous hang out around here. Most of the bad guys around here tend to hang out around there showcasing their 'talents'." Wata spoke as though he knew all too well exactly of what he spoke of. "It's simply a dirty underpass where dumb asses run around being bigger dumb asses." Ryunosuke cut into the conversation before taking a sharp turn on the street before him.
Ryunosuke decided to bark roughly three blocks away from the area they had been told about before Ryunosuke moved out of the driver's seat. Placing his hands into two black leathered gloves and moving over towards the streets as though attempting to ignore the part of the city he was in. Wata began to chuckle to himself as he looked over to Ryunosuke as though slightly confused about the situation. "Wait… so what's Yo-Boy gonna use?" Wata spoke to Ryunosuke as though concerned of Yo's overall health should he be caught up in such a situation as before.
Ryunosuke reached into his back pocket and threw a hunting styled knife towards Yoshuna with a heavy chuckle. "Avoid getting yourself cut up while using it ok?" Ryunosuke chuckled to himself before making his way across the street moving towards his current objective. Wata quickly falling behind him as he wore a single grin atop his face, while Yo attempted to balance the heavy black metal knife in his hands wondering to himself "What the hell am I going to do with this?!"
The area beneath the bridge seemed to be dark and damp to the point that there was nothing around the area that needed explaining. On the walls sat numerous graffiti tagging over the area, on the roof sat numerous turtles that had an odd style of art combined to them. Each of the turtles wearing a different shade from one another as though trying to blend in with each and every rainbow pattern that stood before him. Their eyes empty of any feeling or expression, yet for some reason they seemed to reflect so much more as Yo began to spin around the taking in the entire world around him.
The sides of the wall wore patterns and brandings ranging from numerous titles and altered artworks, to random pictures of beast and demons that simply sat there glaring at you carrying an odd style to their face. "Wrong Way…" sat to Yo's left colored in a deepening and dark crimson shade only to blend into an arrow pointing towards the left acting as an exit of the area. At its end sat a single golden shaded skull. There seemed to be nothing else that would run past the skull, perhaps a symbol that beyond that point there is no exit.
The people who sat beneath the bridge seemed to wear odd looks on their faces, several guys sat there as though attempting to ignore the group's existence as a whole. While a hand full of guys before them made their ways towards Ryunosuke, Yo, and Wata as though attempting to block their walk way through the area. The one that stood out the most was perhaps was one of them wearing a long black leather jacket. His eyes layered with some kind of eye liner while his hair seemed to glow a crimson red shade blending in with the black within his head. His skin was pale and seemed to grow paler and paler as he moved closer and closer towards their group.
"Well, well, well Mr. Tatuyami and former brother Wata. It has been a long time since we last saw each other hasn't it? What are you here for this time? To take another one of our children into your clutches and make them your own?" He spoke as his red and black eyes looked up towards Yo as though slightly confused. "Who is this? I wonder if he seems to fall into the false world that you paint for those around themselves." He spoke as though slightly confused.
"Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Naisuke Einiwa! However, you may call me brother Nine… everyone else around here seems to think that it's worthwhile to call me by my given name." Nine began to chuckle to himself as he moved towards Ryunosuke and glanced into his eyes as though trying to pin him down and drag him into some dark dimension that only seemed to exist within his eyes. However, something in Ryunosuke's eyes seemed to be so cold and powerful that it was impossible for anything to cut through it. Even Nine himself felt the need to back down as he turned back around without even bothering to look Wata in the eyes.
"Wait a moment… its 4:30 and I'm pretty sure he just said that he ain't the person that we're here to try to save. So who the hell are we here to try to stop then if not this local nutcase? I mean hell I'm surprised that these two are even known around here, let alone that someone seems to know them well enough to want to avoid them. But, that's beside the point here… I just want to know if not this guy then who are we here to try to save?" Yo's thoughts were cut off upon seeing a figure at the end of the tunnel.
Standing at the tunnel's end wearing army fatigue green jeans with a pair of thick black boots on his feet, stood a giant of a man. His eyes deep and dark as his braided hair lay to his side as though attempting to keep itself hidden beneath his thick wool cap like object that remained over his head. His chest covered in what appeared to be a net like shirt that was only protected by a thick army style green vest. "My name is Jirako Ginza! And I am here to show those of you who sit in these depts. The error of your ways and the path of light!" The dark skinned young man spoke with a grin before Yoshuna felt his own hand run down his face out of embarrassment for the man before him.