4/8 Iwatodai Dorm
I don't like that man, Mistress
I don't think ANYONE likes puns that bad.
Minako had to suppress a shudder on that one. The "Chairman" the twins had been introduced to earlier that evening had seemed alright at first. Then he decided to start making puns after Hamono had accidentally made one.
I can't exactly explain it, but I think my dislike of this 'Ikutsuki' is a bit deeper than his terrible word-play.
He's in charge of this dorm. So he probably knows what's going on. Though, I'd never thought I'd see the day when we weren't alone during that time.
Looking over at her alarm clock told her that she didn't have to wait too much longer until midnight. Minako wasn't stupid. She knew that she and her brother were under surveillance. It was only a matter of figuring out where the camera was.
Minako decided to sag into her desk chair and spin around idly.
Found it. Up in the corner to the right of the foot of your bed.
She made sure stop the chair facing away from the camera before the predatory smile ripped across her face. Looking across her desk, Minako's gaze fell on the dorm pamphlet that the twin's had received before moving. Minako's smile only got bigger.
Tonight, she had a message to send.
"I don't like this"
Yutono liked to make his displeasure of the fact that they had cameras installed into the rooms of his new friends known. It also didn't help that two teenage guys and one adult male "observing" one teenage girl was probably a crime.
"I understand your… misgivings… about the way that we confirm potential. But visual confirmation is really the only way to know for sure. And as invasive as having cameras installed in their rooms is, walking into their rooms while they sleep isn't any better"
While Mitsuo rarely saw eye to eye with his underclassman, he definitely shared his distaste of spying on others.
"Now, now you two. We're really short on numbers right now. Having two potential recruits join us is far too valuable of an opportunity to pass up. Besides, it's almost time"
At that point, midnight struck.
The warm, almost cozy 4th floor lounge was flooded by sickly green moonlight. The normal night time ambiance was replaced by a tense silence, broken only by the sound of a monitor being turned on.
"Well it looks like Aristato-kun is asleep. He isn't transmogrified and his vitals are unusually stable"
"He's probably got the potential then, right?"
"It's a bit early to be deciding that. Though, with how stable he is, I'd be surprised if he wasn't"
"Now, for Aristato-san"
Mitsuo flicked a switch and the monitor changed view to the female twin's room. The bed was vacant but the desk chair wasn't.
"She's still up?" Yutono didn't bother to hide his surprise. A look over at some of the screen overlays gave him another, "Hey, aren't her vitals abnormally low?"
Mitsuo, now intrigued, joined Yutono in looking at the overlays.
"Her file said that she was in rather athletic for not being a member of a sports team in their old school. Her pulse should be higher than usual as a natural response to the Dark Hour, but if this is right she seems even calmer than she normally is"
"Look, she's moving"
Ikutsuki drew their attention back to the camera view.
(Note: The italic text here is what is being displayed on the monitor)
Minako reached over on her desk and picked up a pamphlet. She opened the paper and scanned the page.
"'Tatsumi Port Island, an up-and-coming city on the water known for its safety. The perfect place to start anew'…. Tch, 'safety'? 'Start anew'? What a load of crap"
Minako crumpled the pamphlet into her palm before slamming it into the trash bin next to her desk.
Rising from her desk, she walked over to the window before opening it and pushing half her body out it. She looked in one direction before turning the other way.
"Nothing out here tonight either?"
Minako pulled herself back into her room before shutting the window.
"It's been far too peaceful for this time"
She walked back over to her chair and sat down on it.
"It's been a while since I last fought. And as quiet as it's been lately, there's no way its safe out there. I'll be fighting again soon enough, I can tell"
Minako pushed off her desk, chair rolling about halfway across the room before coming to a stop.
"Isn't that right?"
Minako suddenly spun around and glared directly at the camera.
"You three?"
Yutono reflexively reached over and shut off the camera. Mitsuo couldn't help but grimace. Ikutsuki let out a very shallow chuckle. They'd been busted.
Yutono was the first to recover, "Uhh I'm going to go to bed now. Ugh, I told Hamono I'd walk with him to school tomorrow and I know he's going to drag Minako along with him. How am I supposed to face both of them now?" Yutono left the lounge, muttering to himself the entire way out.
Mitsuo couldn't help himself when he reached over and turned the camera back on. Minako was out cold, apparently having no issue sleeping in a room that she knew was under surveillance.
"Well she's rather observant, isn't she"
"Chairman, I think it's about time we had a serious talk about the cameras. I've been in the position that Takeba is going to be in. I'm just glad that Akiri was so forgiving at the time"
"I understand how you feel Mitsuo, but need to observe them for a bit longer"
Mitsuo held in the sigh he wanted to let out. It was going to be an interesting day tomorrow.
4/9 Iwatodai Dorm (morning)
Minako got up bright and early the next morning, catching a glimpse of who she assumed was the other female resident of the dorm as she walked over to the bath to get cleaned up.
So, how hard are you going to cook Yutono-kun this morning?
Depends on how he reacts to seeing me. I'd rather not mess with him too bad but I want to confirm that they were actually watching me.
After washing up, Minako got out her normal uniform. Upon seeing that the dress code wasn't nearly as strict as she first thought (There was no way Jackie would be able to go to class if it was), Minako decided to fix the major issue she had with the short skirt she'd been given.
Ah, bike shorts, my old friend.
Minako began to reach over for her uniform when the dull ache in her left arm reminded her of the real reason she was up this early.
I can feel it too. There's a good chance things will get messy tonight, Mistress
Reaching over for the package of cloth bandages, Minako sat on her bed and began the process of binding her chest. While never an issue in the past, puberty had made her a bit more self-conscious since, while not particularly well endowed, Minako learned fast that binding her chest helped a lot while fighting.
Putting the uniform didn't take much time and Minako found herself with nothing else to do and about 30 minutes before she was going to leave. Grabbing the messenger bag that held her school materials, Minako left her room and started walking down the stairs to the lounge.
On the second floor, she saw Hamono entering his room on the far side of the hallway. As Minako was about to continue down to the lobby, Yutono exited his room.
"Yutono-kun"
Minako hid her amusement as Yutono appeared to jump out of his skin at the sound of her voice. He evidently got the message.
"Ah, Minako-san… G-good morning…"
Yutono couldn't make eye contact with her. Minako, in the meantime, scowled slightly at what Yutono said.
"You forgot what I said yesterday? Drop the honorific; I really don't care for them"
"Good to see you two getting along"
Hamono joined the two, bag over his shoulder.
"Well, let's get going!"
Iwatodai Dorm (evening)
Yutono wasn't exactly sure what to make of the twins. On one hand there was Hamono; cheerful and friendly almost to fault. He either forgot or forgave him for how that first night at the dorm went and the two of them were on decent terms. And then on the other hand was Minako. Calm and collected; only really talking when she absolutely had to or when she told people to stop using an honorific on her name. She was the enigma of the two. Yutono was absolutely sure that she knew that she was under surveillance but she made no motion in reaction to it (other than what she did the previous night of course). He was more surprised that she didn't call the police (not that it would really accomplish much thanks to certain influences) never mind not calling him out on it.
So here he was, with Mitsuo and Ikutsuki again, waiting for the Dark Hour to hit. When it did, Mitsuo switched the monitor to Hamono's room.
"Exactly the same as yesterday"
Switching the view over to Minako's room resulted in a completely different image.
There was no image.
Static covered the screen and in one corner read: 'CAM 34: NOT CONNECTED'
"I'm not completely surprised. She knew where the camera was last night. I guess now we know why she went right to her room when she got back"
A sudden beeping filled the command room, which Mitsuo hit the transmit button in response to.
"Akiri? Is that you?"
Mistress, get ready
Minako sprung out of bed after being awoken by Thanatos. Readjusting the uniform she slept in, Minako grabbed a hair tie from her desk and began pulling her mess of hair into a pony tail.
What are we looking at here?
I'm not completely sure. I can tell at least one thing is out there. But there's something else lurking in the shadows. Stay alert; I was right when I said things are going to get messy.
Right
The dorm shook violently, effectively cutting off any more conversation. Minako threw open her door and rushed over to the stairs with every intent of getting to Hamono's room.
"Minako?"
Yutono seemed to have the same idea as he was running up the stairs to the second floor. Minako noticed that he had the same pistol from the first night strapped to his side.
"We're under attack, right? Let's go get Hamo"
Minako got to the second floor and ran down the hall, not bothering to wait on a response from Yutono. She could tell he was more than a little scared and so she didn't waste any time knocking on her brother's door before throwing it open.
"Mina? What's going on?"
Hamono was more than a little confused. For one the world was that weird and twisted version that he saw when they were walking to the dorm from the train station that first night.
"No time to explain but we need to get moving, now"
For two, Minako was talking without being really prompted to and where Yutono could probably be talking instead. This was serious.
"Right" Hamono finished throwing on his uniform that he had started to put on when he woke to the whole dorm shaking.
The trio ran back down the hall and down the stairs.
"Our Sempai are holding it off outside so we'll escape out the back" Yutono barely managed to finish his sentence before what appeared to be an earpiece started beeping. He pushed a button on it and Minako couldn't miss the color draining from his face as he listened.
The back door being slammed into and nearly breaking wasn't helping anyone's nerves.
"Upstairs! We can escape out the roof!"
Hamono's voice seemed to get through to Yutono as he shakily agreed.
After the first window on the ground floor exploded, Minako stood at the back of the three as they raced up the staircase.
Yutono flung open the door to the roof and the twins followed him in before he turned around and locked the door.
Yutono looked more mentally exhausted than physically while Hamono just looked confused.
Something's coming
Minako silently thanked Thanatos for the early warning as she grabbed Hamono and pushed him behind her.
Yutono tried to say something but was cut off.
A single, black hand reached up from over the side of the roof and grabbed onto the ledge. Another hand holding a blue mask with the Roman numeral "I" etched into it appeared. Six more empty hands joined the first in grabbing the ledge and the, thing, pulled itself up onto the roof top.
When it seemed to flick its many wrists and pulled daggers from seemingly nowhere, Minako knew they were in trouble.
I'd advise against fighting that thing. Even with how skilled you are, you wouldn't be able to block that many blades.
"I can do it"
Yutono's shaky voice snapped Minako to attention. He had stepped forward towards the monster and had pulled the pistol from its grip. He closed his eyes and put the gun to his temple.
Minako's instincts screamed and she tackled Yutono to the ground right before a thrown dagger flew overhead. In the moment, Yutono's pistol was knocked away and landed at Hamono's feet.
The world seemed to dull and narrow until it was just Hamono and the pistol.
He gingerly pulled it off the puddle of blood it was lying in.
He placed it against the side of his head and his finger shook against the trigger.
One word calmed his shaking nerves
"Per…"
"…so…"
"…na"
He pulled the trigger. The world exploded back into focus.
Minako just stared at her brother. Looking just at the massive smile on his face, she couldn't figure out how shooting himself in the head got him there.
"I art Thou"
A deep voice not too different from Thanatos' pulled her attention to over Hamono's head where a metallic giant was forming.
"And Thou art I. From the sea of thy soul I cometh. I am Orpheus, master of strings"
If it was possible, Hamono's smile got even larger. Orpheus began to glow and seemed to be consumed in a bright white light. While not too obvious, Minako noticed that the outline of Orpheus shifted slightly and whatever it was now made a sweeping motion with its left and before it ended above its head.
The clouds above the dorm parted as a small ball of white light fell from the sky before hitting the monster head on.
The resulting explosion and blinding burst of light made Minako and Yutono duck for cover.
The light eventually faded and the monster seemed to have been evaporated by it.
Minako looked over at her twin and noticed how exhausted he was. The smile was slowly slipping off his face and she rushed over to him when his legs began to give out.
She caught him as he fell, lowering him so that she could look him in the eye. Hamono tried to open his eyes but couldn't get them far open from exhaustion.
"Relax, Hamo. You can sleep; I'll take things from here"
His smile returned and fell asleep in Minako's arms.
"S-stay away from me!"
Yutono's voice reminded Minako that this night was only half over.
Five piles of sludge with a similar mask to the late monster pulled themselves over the edge of the roof and were now approaching Yutono.
Lying her brother against the wall, Minako ran over and dragged Yutono next to him. Placing the gun back into his hand, Minako turned around, "Take care of my brother for me"
Our sword, if you would be so kind, Thanatos?
Right, Mistress
Minako felt the familiar weight of her sword resting in its sheath against her left hand. The also familiar black aura began to slightly emanate from her body.
Approaching the piles of sludge, Minako drew two and a half feet of shining steel.
Yutono tried to calm himself down. He really did. But it was hard after what the twins had and currently were doing.
Hamono had destroyed the largest shadow SEES had encountered to date in one attack.
And now Minako had pulled a sword from thin air and was dispatching five Mayas with what could only be practiced ease.
A slight lean to the right and a slash was all it took to cut one in half. Now there were only two left. One tried to launch itself at Minako and only succeeded in getting launched off the roof with a swift kick. The other tried to run.
Yutono never thought he'd see the day when he'd pity a Shadow. But seeing the lone Shadow try to pull itself back over the ledge of the roof, only for the sword Minako had been using to be thrown and pierce straight through not only the Shadow but the concrete ledge, he could only wince.
Minako retrieved her sword from the ledge it had punched through and shook the black ichor from it. Walking back over to Yutono, she put her sword away and let it rest against her hip.
A night-shattering roar nearly made Minako fall over as she ran over to the two guys resting against the wall.
A quick check confirmed that Hamono was still breathing and that Yutono hadn't shit himself quite yet. Minako ran over and leaned over the ledge. A black shape was slowly approaching the dorm from several blocks away.
Thanatos, focus on far-sighted vision. No need for color right now.
Right, Mistress
Minako's vision blurred slightly and the color drained from the world as she focused on the monster now approaching them.
Taking up the entire width of the (thankfully empty) street was a two-story, six-headed hydra. It was dragging itself down the street to the dorm. It was also blocking the fastest way to the hospital. Minako's vision returned to normal as she heard multiple people approaching.
The door to the rooftop flew open and Mitsuo, Ikutsuki, and the silver-haired dorm mate from that morning ran out.
The silver-haired female was clutching at the left side of her chest, clearly wounded. Mitsuo had a sword in one hand and another gun in the other, both which she sheathed upon seeing Yutono and Hamono. Minako finished her observations on Ikutsuki who didn't seem to have a scratch on him.
All in all, Minako was the only person they had left to take down the approaching hydra. Mitsuo was clearly exhausted by fighting whatever was out front earlier.
Looking for a few good ledges, Minako hoisted herself up onto the ledge of the roof.
"M-minako?"
Yutono's voice made her pause and as she turned around, all eyes were on her.
Another piercing roar made the problem very apparent.
"I'm trusting you all to take care of my brother. I'll clear the way to the hospital"
Not waiting for a reply, Minako stepped off the ledge and fell from the roof.
A few well-timed flips and grabs later, Minako landed on the street with a roll and ran straight at the hydra.
Two of the heads took immediate notice of her and opened their mouths, coving the blocks in front of them in a sea of fire.
Minako ran forward, completely unaffected by the blaze. Another head opened and unleashed a torrent of glowing-white spikes. She hissed as one of the barbs buried itself into her left shoulder, the rest either being deflected by her sword, missing entirely, or barely scratching her skin.
One head let out a roar before lunging at Minako, attempting to slam straight into her. With a scoff, she jumped and drew her sword, cutting the mask that covered the head's eyes straight in half. The head dissolved quickly and neck was slowly following. Running up the neck, Minako was again completely unfazed by another blast of fire directly hitting her. Jumping off the neck, she killed one of the fire-breathing heads with another slash to its mask.
One of the previously inactive heads knocked her back while mid-air and the spike-shooter let another torrent loose. This time, only one managed to score a hit against her side thought it was a rather deep cut.
Those hits were only flesh wounds. You've still got full muscle control and I'm dulling the pain
Minako silently thanked Thanatos for his work and returned her attention to the four remaining heads. There were one of the fire breathers, the spike-shooter, and the one that had hit her mid-air left. Interestingly enough, one of the heads seemed content to sit back and watch them fight it out.
Ignoring the idle one for now, Minako dodged to the side as the physical head tried to crush her. She noticed that the spike-shooter was in position to hit her if she tried to jump over for the kill. Minako simply slammed the end of her sword into the side of the head she'd just dodged, shattering the mask anyways.
Deciding the spike-shooter as the next target, Minako rushed to the side of the street, weaving in and out of spikes along the way. Reaching the side, Minako let the black aura flow into her legs as she jumped onto the side of the building next to her and proceeded to wall run up it.
The spike-shooter tried to re-position itself to avoid her but Minako simply grabbed onto the side of its head before running her sword through it. In its dying throws, the head launched her at the last fire-breathing head. It only accomplished getting said head cut in half.
Falling from the dying head, one last roar caught Minako's attention. The final head seemed to have enough and was now lunging at her, jaw agape. Caught in the air with no way to dodge, Minako steeled herself. As the mouth closed around her, she stabbed her sword straight into the roof of its mouth; right where the mask would be on the other side.
After Minako decided to jump off the dorm's roof, Mitsuo picked up the now unconscious Hamono and the entirety of SEES ran out of the dorm after her.
Following battle roars and other sounds of battle, SEES found Minako ripping herself out of a hydra's head from the inside; sweeping her sword out to clean it and then putting it away with a flourish.
The rest of the hydra's body began to dissolve and Mitsuo gave her an once-over. Aside from being covered in black ichor and some of her own blood, Minako seemed to only have a barb of sorts impaled in her left shoulder and a rather nasty gash along her side.
After Yutono reprimanded Minako for her rashness, the entirety of SEES ran for the hospital. The Dark Hour was only minutes from ending and Mitsuo wasn't about to try his luck. How they all managed to survive tonight was beyond him.
A/N: Alright so really long chapter! This was about 3,800 or so words total.
The next chapter will probably be up around 1/4 or so since that's the next time I'll be able to upload.
Anyways, the hydra that Minako fought is the first of many non-canon monsters that will create the "more dangerous moon cycles" the story's description entailed.
Speaking of which, as you've all probably guessed Minako isn't the average Persona user (will be explained later). For now, here are Minako's resistances/weakness:
Slash, Strike, Pierce - Neutral
Fire - Null
Ice - Resist
Lightning - Resist
Wind - Neutral
Light - Weak
Dark - Null
LASTLY, I'd like to thank those who have been showing their support of this fic! Please give me feedback as it lets me know how you are liking/disliking it.
