Chapter 4: Soul Phase

"No one knows what the future holds... No matter how prepared you are, you can't predict what will happen. So, the only thing you can do is 'believe.'" — Yamagishi Fuuka

"...Ohhhhh, my head. Why... is the world spinning so much? God, please make it stop!" Kusakabe Ryouko moaned loudly. Her head swayed from side to side as she stood up from the ground.

After being sucked into what could have been the worst and fastest thrill ride in existence, she was sent flying towards a street when the newly discovered Spirit ended his "Tornado from Hell" ride. Her Realizer protected her from suffering any physical injuries, but she now had a huge headache. Her barely managing to stand up straight wasn't helping it either.

She shook her head a few times in order to get her bearings. Once that was done, she looked up to find light rain falling from the gray, cloudy skies. Whether it was caused by Hermit's powers or it was just natural rain, she didn't know. She checked her surroundings and witnessed her fellow AST comrades walking as if they were inebriated from consuming too much sake or regurgitating their lunches and maybe even their breakfasts violently.

Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant sight to behold.

The captain of the AST found herself letting out a heavy sigh. This was, without a doubt, the most embarrassing loss caused by a Spirit in her whole career. Not only was the Spirit nowhere in sight, which Ryouko assumed he was long gone by now, he subdued her and her team faster than any other Spirit they had encountered so far. The repercussions of the battle, if it can even be referred to as a battle, left the AST in conditions similar to severe hangovers.

This Spirit didn't break a sweat when he formed and controlled that vortex, and she had a feeling it likely wasn't his strongest technique. If that was the case, how many more tricks did he have? The option of shooting him with guns was completely out the window, because he could heal himself from gunshots. And from what Ryouko saw with Origami, sword slashes did absolutely nothing. Was he invincible? The notion of that made her sigh again.

"Even if it is my job to kill Spirits, I don't think I want to see that Spirit any time soon. We'll have to be more careful around him from here on out. At this rate, I'll be sprouting gray hairs even though I'm 27," Ryouko muttered as she placed a hand on a wall for support. "Although, I am a bit surprised. He was the first male Spirit I've seen in all my years in the AST. I always assumed every Spirit was female."

Ryouko fascinated over the discovery as she sat on the ground in an attempt to ease her headache slightly, finding and sitting beside Origami who appeared to be unconscious but not harmed.

'Out of everyone, you somehow got off easy,' Ryouko thought briefly with a small smile. She then glanced back to her teammates and observed the same pitiful scene of insentience, staggering steps, and vomit repeating itself.

She sweatdropped.

"Before we head back to base, this may take a while to recover from first... The higher-ups won't be thrilled to hear about this..."

Minato wasn't sure what to expect when he entered the Fraxinus's command center again.

It only took a short while for him to come back to the command center. When he did arrive, the crew of Ratatoskr was there to greet him with questionable looks and smiles, as if they stumbled upon something incredible and were not doing a good job of containing their excitement. Except for Reine, which wasn't at all startling. She eyed Minato while maintaining a neutral face.

The blue-haired boy frowned as he knew what they were so ecstatic about. Reine might have been as well, but he couldn't tell. He also noted that neither Shido or Tohka were present in the room.

"Welcome back, Divine," Kotori greeted him casually, smirking.

For a couple of seconds, she received a blank stare from him.

"Sorry, say that again?" Minato said while tilting his head.

"Divine," Kotori repeated firmly. "That's your given codename as of today."

"...Before I ask why, where are Shido and Tohka, Kotori?" Minato asked. He wanted to know more about his friends' well-beings than whatever Kotori was implying about him. Shido and Tohka had no idea about his Persona powers, thinking Minato was a normal person until now. He felt remorseful for worrying them so much with that stunt he pulled relating to Hermit and the AST.

"Oh, I sent them home after we retrieved them from that department store when you wiped the floor with the AST," Kotori explained with a grin. "I have to say, Minato, I never knew you were such a powerful Spirit. You've been holding out on us."

Minato couldn't stop his eyebrow from twitching at that word: Spirit. Now that he knew Shido and Tohka were safe at home, he could focus on receiving some insight to his situation and what else Kotori knew so far.

"...Am I really a Spirit?" Minato asked Ratatoskr's commander hesitantly. His Wild Card Persona ability was something he knew beyond a shadow of doubt was inherent to him naturally.

There was nothing to his knowledge that could justify the wings or his old clothes he spontaneously manifested when he summoned Messiah, however. It only furthered his already complicated case of amnesia.

"Based on our readings, you apparently are," Kotori confirmed with a hint of sadness in her voice. Was that pity Minato just heard from her? "I'll be straight with you, Minato. We've been keeping an eye on you for a while now. Each Spirit has mana, which is basically their energy. Ratatoskr and the Anti-Spirit Team have technology that can detect mana from Spirits, and you just happened to show up on our radar one day. It did take us some time to get a fix on your specific signal, though. It's super faint and nearly indistinguishable from a regular human. But after what you just did, there's no denying that you are a Spirit."

"I see..." was all Minato said in response. He bit his lower lip. In his mind, he didn't know what to make of this revelation. It did kind of solve the mystery of him regaining his old clothes and acquiring angel-like wings. Why exactly those particular clothes appeared and not any other apparel, however, was elusive to him.

Minato's amnesia seriously didn't help his case. He was disturbed by the thought of him never being a human in the first place. Why was it that he solely knew his name and his Persona powers? What even happened to him before he met Shido and Origami?

Just who was Arisato Minato?

"It's weird. You and Tohka are similar, but different too," Kotori added, catching Minato's attention.

"What do you mean?" He wondered curiously.

"Shido and us dealt with Tohka a bit before you came into the picture," Kotori started elaborating, "but she was clueless about human behavior or culture. She didn't know a lot outside of her own Spirit capabilities, having no identity to call her own until we came along. And then there's you, an amnesiac who already knows his own powers but also shows general knowledge of human lifestyles and information. Makes me wonder if something happened to you two…"

The redhead looked uncharacteristically contemplative. Although he wasn't sure what she was thinking, thanks to her he had a better understanding of Tohka. Both of them were deemed Spirits with no significant memories prior to meeting Shido.

A part of him felt better, knowing that Tohka wasn't so different from him because they both had amnesia. He started to feel like things weren't as bad they seemed initially.

Although he obviously wished to investigate his past, he couldn't stop thinking about all that happened. He had grown attached to the people who befriended him, to this new lifestyle. It all became important to him. And there was the matter of Spirits as well, beings who were hunted down by the AST, and Ratatoskr's cause to save them.

He simply couldn't let this go.

For the time being, he decided it was best to postpone his amnesia situation in favor of assisting Shido and Ratatoskr. He had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn't be able to walk away from everything anyway. He was in too deep at this point, especially with a target on his back as a designated Spirit.

If and when his memories resurface, he would deal with it then.

As for Kotori and Ratatoskr, he couldn't hazard a guess about their intentions for him specifically yet. Like their purpose, they appeared to mean well towards him. He safely assumed they were behind Tohka's implementation into society with official documents and such to make her have a believable human background. Actually, that would explain why he was able to transfer into Raizen High so easily without raising suspicions. It was because of Kotori and her organization that allowed him and Tohka to pass off for normal people.

With Shido's help, they could save Spirits efficiently but why did it now suddenly sound off to him when it didn't before?

'Oh wait...' Minato shuddered internally after a thought entered his mind.

Did he have to go on a date with Shido, fall in love with him, and then kiss him?

The mere idea of that scenario playing out legitimately made him apprehensive.

Shaking his head, he chose to confront Kotori about this.

"Hey. Do I… have to date Shido like Tohka?"

Kotori gave him a bemused look.

"Nope," she replied simply.

Minato blinked.

"Really?"

Kotori nodded.

"There isn't a need for you to date him. When you first released your power, you were emitting vast amounts of mana. Once we retrieved you, all of that mana we were analyzing on our scanners just vanished without a trace. Right now, we're detecting almost nothing substantial from you. Your current mana level doesn't make you that much different from the average human. The AST won't go after you because of it plus the documentation we gave you a while back. We're not sure quite yet, but assuming our theory is correct, your mana won't be a problem as long as you don't use your Spirit powers continuously."

Kotori's rationale gave a sense of relief to Minato. He didn't have to go through the trouble of being romanced by Shido, and if what Kotori said was true then it would be very easy for him to just not use his Personas.

"So I just don't have to use my Persona, and I won't show up on Spirit detectors," Minato unconsciously inferred out loud. This allowed Kotori to immediately take note of what he said.

"'Persona'? Is that what your Angel is called?" Kotori inquired with a raised eyebrow. Minato's confusion was rather plain to see for her, so she decided to fill him in. "Angels are Spirits' trump cards, and each Angel is unique for every Spirit. For example, Hermit's Angel is that giant rabbit we saw."

"Zadkiel..." Minato informed, recalling the moment Hermit summoned the rabbit and shouted that name.

"Oh, that's what she calls it then? Good to know," Kotori said with a nod. "So what about you, Minato? What's this 'Persona' you mentioned?"

He sighed and relented, figuring that they should be made aware anyway for future planning. There was probably no way he was leaving until he gave Ratatoskr enough information about his abilities too.

"Persona... is a manifestation of my psyche. Each Persona I use has their own unique name and appearance," the blue-haired boy revealed calmly.

"Wait, you can use more than one?" Kyouhei wondered in amazement after noticing a few critical terms. Minato confirmed his question with a nod.

"Yeah. I assume you all saw Messiah then. He's only one of many Personas I possess." There was a collection of gasps among the members of Ratatoskr.

"Messiah…" Kotori muttered. "Heh, fitting."

Reine, who was carefully studying her student's words, chose to ask him a question.

"How many Personas can you use?"

That was understandably the next step in their curiosity, so Minato was truthful with them.

"Around one hundred seventy," he responded casually. He didn't know the exact extent of how many Personas he had, but he surmised it was in the range of that number give or take.

Aside from Reine, everybody in the room was visibly stunned by Minato's claim. The looks of shock were amusing to him, but he didn't express it outwardly.

"WHAT!?" They all clamored in unison. Minato flinched slightly at the resounding chorus of shouts.

"Yes. By the way, not all of my Personas are equal in terms of strength or abilities. Each of them are different from each other." Not desiring to go into a tangent about this, he opted to return to the subject of his recently acquired codename. "So, why is my Spirit codename 'Divine'?"

Kotori blinked and shook her head, shaking off her bewilderment.

"Well, that was sort of based on your appearance and that Persona you summoned. For easier classification, every Spirit has a codename of their own based on their mannerisms, appearances, and abilities. We agreed on Divine in the end. It was the least pretentious-sounding title we could come up with."

To Minato, the logic in Kotori's reasoning was acceptable. It still sounded a little too grandiose for his liking, but he supposed he could live with being called Divine.

"Fair enough. Thanks for telling me what I needed to know, Kotori." Minato expressed his gratitude with a small smile. He was appreciative that Shido's sister decided to not be as whimsical as she normally would be. It saved him from becoming annoyed.

"No problem, Minato!" Kotori grinned brightly, giving him a thumbs-up. "If you've got any more questions, just let me know anytime!"

For a moment, the stoic bluenette had nothing else on his mind to ask her. He wanted to return home and see Shido and Tohka. He stuck his hands in his blazer's pockets, preparing himself to leave. He then felt something as soft as a pillow, and his mind flashed back to the little girl he met some time ago.

"Do you know what happened to Hermit?" Minato realized that he hadn't seen her since he called forth Messiah. He was admittedly worried about her because she was practically a scared little girl. The lack of hesitation the AST displayed when they chased and tried to attack her unnerved him also.

"She managed to escape from the AST in a puff of cold air by utilizing her Angel. Because of this the date Shido was supposed to have with her is on hold for now until she reappears," Kotori notified. "You know, Minato, it's kind of nice to see you show concern for her, given how you normally act."

Her last statement had earned her a blank stare from Minato.

"What do you mean?" He wondered. Kotori snickered.

"Ah, never mind," she said dismissively, though the grin plastered on her face said otherwise. "I'm just messing with you."

There was that mischievous side of her.

"You never change, Kotori." The redhead flinched from that response, not sure what to make of his statement. She could not tell if her brother's friend was complimenting her or not.

"Grr, you're not easy to tease like Shido," Kotori grumbled. "Hmph, oh well. So is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"Not really." Minato shook his head. "Do you mind taking me home if we're all done here? I'm tired."

"One last thing," Kotori replied, sounding serious. "Can we count on you to help us, Minato? While Shido handles romancing Spirits, your powers could make things go more smoothly if the AST gets involved or Spirits react negatively. We'll make the world safer through peaceful means. What do you say?"

The redhead outstretched her hand to him, seeking an agreement. Minato had no reason to decline and thought Ratatoskr's goal was admirable. He had already intended to make use of his powers to lend Shido and Ratatoskr a helping hand in their objective to rescue Spirits.

"Let's do this, Kotori," Minato said, shaking her hand.

Kotori smiled at him.

"Welcome to the team, Minato. We'll send you back to my house soon. Reine needs to do a health examination for you first."

Minato nodded and approached Reine. It couldn't hurt to make sure that nothing was wrong with him.

"I'm sorry for taking up your time, Minato, but as Ratatoskr's analysis officer I do this for each Spirit in case there are any abnormalities that should be brought to attention," Reine told him.

"Lead the way, Sensei," Minato complied. Reine nodded and she left the command center with her student in tow as they went to Fraxinus's sick bay.

Silence had veiled the room as the rest of the members of Ratatoskr remained behind until the vice commander spoke up.

"Wait, you forgot to introduce Minato-kun to the crew," Kyouhei pointed out. Kotori turned to face her second-in-command and shrugged.

"At first, I was going to do that, but he had a pretty long day, so I let it slide for now," she explained. "We've got plenty of time in the future for introductions anyway."

"Oh, that makes sense I suppose," Kyouhei said. "So what are we going to do about Minato-kun, if we don't have to seal his Spirit powers?"

Kotori couldn't hide the smirk that was displayed proudly on her face.

"If all goes according to my plan, he'll be Ratatoskr's precious little wild card."

The health examinations wrapped up sooner than Minato thought. Reine had said he was perfectly healthy on the surface and that the more in depth data details were going to need some time to examine further. She told him he could leave, and he did just that. He had been teleported to the Itsuka household shortly after.

Minato could feel his whole body loosening up once he entered through the front door. It had been a long and eventful day. Yesterday he was a mere high school student who had amnesia, and today he was a high school student and Spirit who had amnesia. His eyes were opened to a new world of secret battles, destruction, and romance. It was almost laughable when thinking about the situation out of context, but reality had reared its head.

Then again, he wasn't one to talk because he could summon entities by essentially shooting himself in the head.

This was indeed a strange journey he was on.

"Minato?"

Seconds after Minato had come inside, he saw Shido walking down the stairs in casual attire. Shido looked surprised but also relieved when their gazes met.

"I'm home, Shido," Minato greeted calmly.

A smile adorned Shido's face from seeing his friend again.

"Welcome back, man."

"And when we got back, Tohka locked herself in her room and won't speak to me." Shido sighed heavily across the dining room table. "I don't know what I should do…"

Minato and Shido were trading stories of what happened to each other during the failed attempt at romancing Hermit when they were separated. Apparently Tohka was still feeling jealous from seeing Shido supposedly abandoning her for Hermit. Minato couldn't help but feel sorry for Shido being stuck in this predicament, but the latter had to roll with the hand he had been dealt.

Shido was shouldering a burden that no sane man would dare to try to undertake if he valued his life: romancing multiple girls. It was obvious neither Shido or Ratatoskr made proper contingency plans in the event the former actually made Spirits fall in love with him and had to repeat the process with other girls while said girls carried romantic feelings for him. This wasn't something they could easily avoid with ignorance.

Minato was impressed by Shido's resolve now that he had more context. He'd personally never want to be in Shido's shoes but was impressed nonetheless.

"Have you tried giving Tohka food?" Minato suggested. Tohka loved to eat, so that might help calm her down.

"You read my mind, Minato." Shido rubbed the back of his head with a modest smile. That smile then turned into an uneasy frown. Minato noticed Shido gulping as sweat scrolled down the latter's cheek. "Sooo... did Kotori say anything about us–"

"She said we don't have to date," Minato answered bluntly, fully aware about what Shido was going to ask. He didn't want to dive any deeper than they had to with that topic.

Shido wiped the sweat off himself, sighing in relief.

"Man, that's a load off my mind," Shido said happily. "But wait, what about your Spirit powers, Minato?"

"Kotori said if I don't use my powers extensively, then I'll be just as normal as you are. Doesn't sound too hard to do, so there's nothing to worry about," Minato stated with a carefree wave of his hand. With his other hand, he held up his Evoker after retrieving it from his pocket to assist Shido's understanding about his abilities. "Pulling the trigger to my head lets me summon my Personas. I'll be helping you and Ratatoskr in the future when you guys find more Spirits. Kotori wanted me to join, so I did."

"Basically you can't be a Spirit if you can't shoot yourself with that gun?" Shido asked hesitantly as he pointed at the Evoker, feeling a tad anxious upon seeing the gun-shaped object.

"Pretty much. It's not an actual gun, in case you were wondering. No bullets." Minato then put his Evoker away. "By the way, sorry that I never told you about my powers, Shido. I didn't think it would be appropriate to say, especially with my amnesia."

"No, it's perfectly fine, Minato." Shido shook his head. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt from fighting the AST. You're pretty strong. I never would've thought you were a Spirit. I assumed all Spirits would be girls like Tohka. Although, I guess you're just as surprised as the rest of us..."

Shido sounded glum, and his pity wasn't unfounded.

"It's a pain having no memories besides my name and my Personas…" Minato admitted wistfully. "But I'm more concerned about Spirits like Tohka and Hermit right now. If I do have missing memories, I can worry about it another time."

"Minato…" Shido didn't seem to know what to say, sounding sad.

Minato anticipated that reaction, but it was an unfortunate reality. There was nothing he could readily do to fix his issue. Of course he would like nothing more than finding out the truth of his origins.

Despite that, he couldn't in good faith ignore what was happening around him regarding his friends and others in need.

"I'm sure someday we'll find answers. My amnesia aside, I've grown to care about you and the others. You helped me when I had nowhere to go, Shido. Lending you my strength is the least I can do to return the favor."

Shido then chuckled lightly at his friend's determination.

"I guess nothing I say will change your mind. Thanks, Minato. But if something turns up related to your memories, then I'll definitely do what I can to help. We're friends, man."

Shido's confidence was charming. Minato could see why Tohka fell for him.

"Noted," Minato replied, smiling.

"Well, until Hermit shows up again, we'll just have to sit tight. I'm thinking I should get started on making food for Tohka."

"Do we have enough?" Minato asked.

Shido briefly held his chin, pondering.

"Um...We are running low on ingredients, now that I think about it. Would you be willing to get groceries, Minato?" Shido wondered. "The stores should be open since the spacequake emergency was a while ago."

"Gotcha. Let me change out of my uniform first, and then I'll head out," Minato informed.

"Sounds good! I'll give you a list of what we need before you leave." Shido nodded at him and both went to their respective destinations.

Shedding his Raizen High uniform and putting on comfier and casual clothes, Minato spared a glance at his desk where he had placed Yoshinon. No doubt the rabbit puppet would be essential to befriending Hermit in the future, but now he had to play the waiting game with the others. He would gladly seize this opportunity to de-stress in the meantime.

His immediate concerns lay with Origami and Tohka. Those two girls were going to be troublesome if nothing was done.

Origami was likely going to act hostile towards him from now on because of his Spirit status. The uncharacteristic hate he noticed in her eyes was undeniable. Suddenly the bad blood between her and Tohka made much more sense, and his empathy went towards the latter.

Judging from what Kotori had said, the AST couldn't operate in public if there were no significant signs of danger from spacequakes or Spirits. And assuming Tohka's overall appearance never drastically altered in between the time she met Shido and his personal encounter with her, the AST was additionally unable to lift a finger if plausible records checked out, so he probably didn't have to fret over getting attacked either.

It was just a matter of parleying with Origami before things escalated. However, he had a sinking feeling this wouldn't be the last time he and her would trade blows. How annoying.

And then there was Tohka. She truly was a love sick puppy, though he wasn't sure if she even knew the concept of love. With Shido as Ratatoskr's main agent for saving Spirits, somebody needed to tell Tohka the truth. Otherwise the cycle would repeat itself until Tohka became potentially fed up and that wasn't a pretty picture to envision.

If no one else would do it, then Minato would volunteer himself. It wasn't fair to Tohka whatsoever.

Eventually, the bluenette's attention from his musings was transferred to his room's door opening. From there, a familiar purple-haired head with a ponytail peeked inside.

"Tohka. Hey," Minato greeted, waving his hand. Speak of the devil. Tohka's facial expression suggested she was jovial upon seeing Minato, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed.

"H-Hey, Minato. I'm glad to see that you're okay..." Arms crossed, Tohka tried to force a smile as she entered his room, but he effortlessly saw through her attempt.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Minato asked politely. Tohka frowned, shook her head frantically, and then slammed the door behind her.

"No! I don't want to talk about Shido!" Tohka declared angrily.

"...But I didn't mention Shido," Minato countered calmly. He stood in front of Tohka, willing to hear what she had to say and wanting to at least have some of her anger vent out.

Tohka sighed sadly when she realized she accidentally blurted what was on her mind.

"...You're right. Sorry. I didn't come here to talk about him."

"What's wrong, then?" Minato inquired.

"Could you... bring some kinako bread to my room? I... don't want to go downstairs just yet." Tohka's gaze wandered, blushing slightly.

"I'm not sure if we have any..." Minato wondered out loud. He was fairly certain that Tohka wiped out all the bread the Itsukas had just yesterday. Her gluttony never ceased to amaze him.

Right after he had said those words, Tohka started to cry in a rather adorable manner admittedly.

"But I am about to head out to the store for grocery shopping, so I can pick up some for you," Minato added immediately. He didn't want Tohka to be more down than she already was.

"Yay! Thanks a bunch, Minato!" Tohka cheered, instantly ceasing her tears. There was a cute spring in her step when she exited his room, leaving the amnesiac bluenette alone as he sweatdropped.

Well, at least Tohka was beginning to regain her liveliness.

So with that out of the way, he fetched a rain jacket from his closet and left his room. The rain outside was not letting up from the looks of it. He then received the grocery list Shido made and went on his way.

The sound of the rain was relaxing to hear in addition to the music on his MP3 player. Toting grocery bags in one hand and gripping an umbrella's handle in the other, Minato had been idly lost in thought after finishing his errands at the local store.

He wondered if the Itsuka siblings' parents had an inkling to their children's situations. Were they a part of the secret as well? If not, how would they react if they discovered their son was romancing several girls? Maybe he could meet them someday whenever they were able to spare time to return from their jobs overseas.

Shido having Tohka and other Spirit girls at his house as his parents stumbled upon them was an interesting image to picture. The amnesiac assumed his own presence may lessen the implications.

Minato himself was honestly the only boy Shido interacted with constantly. There weren't many indications of Shido being close enough friends with anyone else outside of Tohka and Origami either. There was that weird guy, Tonomachi, in their class who would occasionally speak to them, but he blended into the background so often Minato sometimes forgot he existed. Kotori may have been on to something a while ago. The redhead's big brother must have led quite the ordinary, if not dull, life until Tohka and Minato arrived.

On the subject of Kotori, her being the commander of an organization like Ratatoskr still baffled Minato. She was 13. He made a mental note to ask her later how she got recruited.

He took notice of the lack of people outside at the moment, spotting a handful of passersby here and there. Then again, the spacequake emergency caused by Hermit had lifted just recently, so he shouldn't have been too surprised. His walk had been relatively peaceful at any rate. There were a few more minutes to go until he would reach the Itsukas' home.

He only had himself to blame for being distracted and unable to detect the person walking next to him.

"Ara ara, if it isn't Minato-san."

Minato blinked and turned to see Tokisaki Kurumi smiling at him. She had an umbrella of her own to shield herself from the rainfall as she mimicked his pace.

This girl was good. Twice now she had managed to sneak up on him without him sensing it. He was honestly amazed.

"Kurumi?" Minato took off his headphones and tilted his head. It had been less than twenty-four hours since he last saw her. Considering recent events, a part of him was relieved to see her in one piece. Someone could be alive one day, and then gone in the next. Life was fragile like that.

"It's good to see that you remember me." Kurumi bowed her head. "Though I suppose it's only been a day, hasn't it? You seem to be doing well."

"Mm," Minato answered casually. Her appearance was unexpected, but not unwelcome. No harm in initiating small talk with her to help pass the time. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. I felt like taking a stroll during this rain. It is rather soothing," Kurumi responded, extending her arm out briefly to feel raindrops on her hand. Her gaze then fell upon the bags he was holding. "May I ask what you're carrying?"

Minato lifted his bags to her.

"Groceries. Needed to stock up on food, so that's why I'm out. Until I bumped into you, I was just on my way home."

Curiosity was made apparent on Kurumi's face as she held a finger to her chin.

"Oh? You can cook?" She asked him. He gave her a nod. Although this food was technically meant for Shido and Tohka, his ability to cook wasn't a lie.

"I can. It's a small hobby of mine," Minato said truthfully. Originally it was more so him pulling his own weight around the house for Shido and Kotori, but doing the task repeatedly made him proficient at it.

"How interesting. A music admirer and a chef. Perhaps I'll be lucky enough to taste a meal from Minato-san someday." Kurumi looked pleased from the prospect.

The path they were on did lead to Shido's house, so Kurumi's hope may come sooner than she initially believed. It could be a good opportunity to get to know her better too.

"We're not far from where I live, so you could come over, Kurumi," Minato suggested to her without hesitation. "I'm currently living with a friend, but he might not mind having a guest over. We were about to make dinner anyway."

Kurumi seemed a bit startled from his offer, given how her visible eyebrow rose.

"Goodness, I wasn't expecting such a straightforward answer, Minato-san," Kurumi confessed. She then paused from walking, causing the bluenette to do the same. "As much as I would love to take you up on that, I sadly have business elsewhere today. Maybe another time?"

Minato inclined his head towards her and nodded.

"The offer will be on the table still when you're ready," he assured.

Kurumi giggled.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Next: Chapter 5: Raining Affections

A/N: You know, I realized something as I was working on this chapter. The Date A Live universe is really lacking in amounts of important characters. You've got Shido, the Spirits, Ratatoskr, the AST (and we're only given three characters with names from the group), DEM (three notable characters at most), and either five or six side characters that appear every now and then. That's it. As much as I love Date A Live, that's one flaw that upsets me.

So, I'm fairly certain that I caught most of you off guard last chapter and this chapter. You all thought Minato could seal Spirits' powers? Nope. Minato does not have the same ability as Shido has. If he did, then what purpose does Shido serve? Let me say this: I love Shido (no homo) as a character. There's absolutely no way I'm leaving him out to dry. He and Minato are the deuteragonist and protagonist respectively in The Divine Spirit. There will be a slightly heavier focus on Minato, but Shido will be relevant nonetheless.

None of you guys asked this yet, but I might as well answer in case somebody actually does:

Does Minato have an Inverse form like Tohka had at the end of season 2?

The answer? Supposedly, all Spirits have Inverse forms. So, yes. He does.

The main girl for Minato was unanimous! The pairing will be Minato x Kurumi. I also might as well say that Shido will be paired with Tohka, since I think their relationship is cute. I've decided to let the Yamai twins remain in Shido's unwanted harem.

And now I will make this clear: no harem for Minato. Two reasons. One: re-watching Date A Live repeatedly made me realize the affections the female Spirits have for Shido were special and integral to both their character developments and Shido's. Two: there aren't enough female Spirits I could give to Minato without ruining the dynamic with Shido. Unless I have OCs in this story, which I'm sure many of you would not like, I believe a main girl for Minato should suffice.

Sorry if this chapter had nothing going on. This one's more of a breather chapter. Next time, Minato will face the AST again and other things may happen!

And that is pretty much all I have to say for now.

Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are appreciated!

Reviewers:

aznxa21: Yup!

Guest #1: Your wish has been granted!

Guest #2: That's an interesting challenge. I don't believe I will take it up, but you could suggest it in a Date A Live forum on this site!

Seeker213: Your reasoning does make sense! Two for the price of one!

KO: I've contemplated a Sword Art Online crossover with Persona 4 before, but what's preventing me from doing one is the gap in time. The story of SAO takes place in 2022, and it continues beyond that year since the story isn't finished yet. By that time, the Investigation Team would be around 27 or 28 years old. It's possible to execute a plot, but I don't see a very good one that would entail Yu/Souji, Yosuke, et cetera, participating in SAO at their age. I also don't want to alter the timelines in which the SAO incident is over by 2011, the year Persona 4 begins. But who knows? I may concede one day and do it. I could have sworn I read a challenge on someone's profile similar to what you're asking. Oh, and thank goodness I have a PS3! And yay, the Egocentric Police Dick is free DLC for a week following Ultimax's launch date! There is also Marie from Persona 4 Golden that will be in the game as a DLC character.

little puppy: Thanks for thinking this story is cool! Anyway, Minato has a good conscience. He doesn't want to cause senseless mass destruction in the city that he lives in, even if the damage can be undone, nor does he want to murder people like the AST despite the fact they're set on killing him.

Han-Ko: Thank you, and no problem!

llat-2: Is there anyone Origami hasn't tried to kill?

crasher23: That's probably the nicest review I've ever received! I do my best to keep everyone in character. Minato is... out there because he's a heroic mime in the game, so I include elements of his manga counterpart and a few other things.

UnorthodoxDreamer: I am way ahead of you, good reader! I've had that idea for the longest time!

Requiem81: Well, your guesses are on the mark. I'm surprised that someone actually commented on the quotes I use. You are correct. There is also another meaning behind chapter 1's quote. Moving on to your next question, I really, really do want to incorporate Rinne into this story if I can. Should I do so, the chapters involving her will be more like a filler arc.

VoidEnter: Thank you!

(Modified as of February 2019)