Before we kick this one off, I should probably take an L and admit that trying to post this story in big chunks was a pretty shit plan. See, the idea was to write small and rapid updates on Spacebattles and Archive of Our Own, then piling them together into a single large chapter and posting that here. I belatedly realized that there were two tiny problems with that; first, I was kicked right in the dick with a pretty nasty case of writer's block, which kinda shot down the 'rapid updates' plan. Second, I never considered that gigantic, twenty-thousand word chapters may be considered a turn off, until a friend of mine slapped me over the head and called me out on it.

So, sorry.

Now that that's out in the air, I'll try my best to get into a proper rhythm for writing this story and not fall off the radar for eight months, and post the rest of this episode in a format that isn't completely fucked.

Anywho, last time around, Caramba23451 left a review;

Just a side note: Moonlight bridge is actually not "Pont léger de lune" in french *cringes*. It's actually "Pont Clair-de-Lune" (lit. Light of the moon or Brightness of the moon if you want to take every single word litterally)

Other than that, great read. Really fun. I usually don't read fics with OCs but I'm really interested in this one. Kudos. F&F.

Huh, that right? I actually got the name from looking a high-res image of Persona 3's map. If you google search for a map of Iwatodai, you'll see that many areas of the map do indeed have French names. I saw this and decided to roll with it, fluffing it so that French culture has a large influence on the city, similarly to how the Dutch were influential in Nagasaki during the seventeenth century.

Regardless, thanks a lot for the review, dude! I'm really glad to hear you gave this story a shot.

With all that said and done, let's get back to the show.

The shrill whistle in the air was his only warning, prompting Kei to duck under the incoming slash just before his head could get lopped off.

The next strike came from above, a diagonal slice meant to cleave through him. He wasn't fast enough to dodge out of its way, not completely, so he did the next best thing, and put his blade up to block while he sidestepped.

The force of the impact nearly made him fall, but Kei managed to right himself just in time to watch the enemy zooming in on him with absurd speed, sword poised in front of him, ready to turn the boy into a shish kebab. The boy let out tiny yelp as he pushed himself back, letting himself fall on his ass, while the sword passed where his head had just been.

Right behind him, the swordsman let the momentum from his missed Stinger die out before turning and leaning on his sword, granting Kei the courtesy of waiting while he got back up.

As Kei stood on shaky legs, the swordsman tilted his head, his silence implying a question. Anything funny to say, wise guy?

"I, Uh... You... Ahh..." Kei tried a few more times, before shaking his head. "Nope, sorry. Can't think of anything clever to say."

His enemy shrugged again, before charging back into the fray.

Kei ducked again under a horizontal swipe, back-stepped away from a kick, and just barely managed to roll away when the swordsman tried his crazy front flip.

Five minutes. At five whole minutes, tonight's duel was the longest Kei had survived against the swordsman. Though, to be honest, calling it a "duel" was an overstatement. It was more of a chase, a very one-sided, very lethal, game of cat and mouse. And in those five minutes, Kei hadn't managed to land a single hit, though not for lack of trying. He'd realized that trying to strike back was a fool's errand, so he decided to switch it up; His strategy now consisted entirely of dodging the enemy's attacks, waiting for an opening.

He felt as if he had become familiar with the swordsman's fighting style now. The attacks, the angles, his aggressive behavior... Slowly, it all started to become natural for him, like some sort of instinct that had been forcibly beaten into his head after countless battles.

But even with that extra edge, tonight's duel wasn't easier in the slightest. He still misjudged just what the enemy would do at times, where the next attack would come from, and he still fell for feints. The handful of attacks that had been able to connect already left Kei in pretty rough shape, not to mention that he was feeling pretty winded after just five minutes of constant dodging.

Trying to turn this into a battle of attrition was a mistake—A mistake he quickly began to pay for.

The next attack was aimed at his right leg, Kei could practically see it coming from a mile away. But even though his eyes could follow it clearly, his body simply couldn't respond fast enough. He tried to step out of its range, but the slice still managed to tear through his thigh. Tears blurred his vision as he found his footing, with his teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached.

His opponent didn't give him a single moment to recover, rushing in once again with an overhead swing. Clumsily, Kei tried to duck away, but the wound on his leg was too much of a hindrance, causing him to trip—

"Gah! Aargh!"

—And land on his broken left arm. The sheer pain from his arm nearly made him pass out, but someway, somehow, Kei managed to soldier through it. With a low snarl, he ignored the searing pain and pushed himself onto his feet, bringing his sword in front of him and...

He stared blankly at his bare hand, which was most definitely not holding anything at all.

'...Wait, where—?'

With a soft thud, the sword landed blade-first behind him, impaling itself on the ground. It took him a split second to process this and begin to scramble for the sword, but by then it was already too late. The enemy had already plucked his fallen weapon from the ground, and began analyzing it with mock interest for a moment. He then carelessly tossed it over his shoulder and turned his attention back to Kei.

And just like that, he was back at square one. Some deep seated frustration bubbled up within Kei as he clenched his fist. He had no real idea what he was thinking, that maybe if he kept on fighting, trying to figure out new tactics, he'd eventually be able to succeed. That the insurmountable wall that was the swordsman would break one day under his constant pressure.

But it was impossible, nothing short of a pipe dream. No matter how hard he tried, Kei would never be able to defeat the swordsman.

But even knowing that... he didn't want to give up, despite knowing there was nothing he could do. Somehow, he found himself unable to say the words "I quit." Instead, he sucked his teeth and glared defiantly at his invincible enemy. "I'll get you next time," he said, waiting for the silent taunt and finishing blow that would send him back into the waking world.

But it never came.

Instead, almost hesitantly, his opponent lowered the sword away from the boy. And then he said, "This just isn't working out."

For a moment, Kei's mind completely ceased working. At last, after over two weeks of silent battle, his enemy had spoken. The boy stared in sheer incomprehension for several long minutes before his mouth managed to stammer out, "Y-you... can talk...?"

The swordsman shook his head, the movement barely visible against the gray landscape. Even though Kei couldn't see his eyes, he still could feel their judging gaze on him. "We're running out of time, and you still don't remember my name," he growled out in a terse, frustrated tone, very unsuited to his usual nonchalant body language. "I can't keep protecting you forever."

"Time? Protecting me?" Just what was it that he was running out of time for? How was he being protected? None of it made any sense. "What the hell are you talking about...? Who even are you?!"

And then suddenly, he was right there next to Kei, somehow clearing the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye. "Listen to me," the swordsman whispered, "you need to remember. If you want to survive, if you want to know the reason..."

"—Ugh!" A sharp pain spread across his chest. Kei hadn't even seen it coming. One moment the sword was at the swordsman's side, and the next it was embedded in his chest, piercing his sternum.

Just before his conscious blacked out, the swordsman grasped his shoulder and pulled him close. "You need to stop running and remember."

And the gray world faded.

April 6th, 2014

Kei awoke with a grunt, placing a hand on his aching chest.

'Wait, what?'

"It... still hurts?" That... that wasn't normal. Usually, all the injuries he gained in his not-dreams never carried over at all. Which was pretty fortunate, considering that being down one arm was already enough of a pain. Nervously, Kei lifted up his shirt, and to his immense relief his chest was completely intact. But that didn't erase the fact that he still felt the dull throb where he had just been stabbed.

"What changed?" he muttered. "Why does it hurt?"

"What hurts?" a voice asked from beside him.

Kei's neck snapped upwards so fast he almost got whiplash. Sitting on the other couch was Soma, who watched him with an amused look as he ate breakfast. "W-whoa, Soma! Wha—When'd you get here?"

His cousin rolled his eyes and took another bite of his food. "I live here, doofus. So, you were saying something about stuff hurting?"

"Ah... It's nothing, don't worry about it," the boy said, hopping off the futon and heading towards the bathroom.

"You sure? Your mom would kill me if it turns out you have a heart attack or something."

"Geez, Soma, it's not like I'm just gonna drop dead outta the blue, yeah?" And with that he opened up the door to the... supply closet...? "Uh..."

"Bathroom's behind you," Soma called out from his spot on the couch.

"R-right. I knew that."

After brushing his teeth and taking a shower, Kei joined his cousin for breakfast ("Want some butaniku?" "Sure, thanks.") and watched some foreign show about police investigators on TV.

After watching for a few minutes, Soma suddenly bolted up from his seat. "Whoa, crap! It's ten already?!"

"What's up, you got somewhere to be?"

"Yeah, man! I'm heading to work!" he said, rushing towards his room to change from his pajamas and into his work clothes.

As his cousin struggled to get dressed, Kei closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch, his hand idly tapping at his chest.

Unbidden, memories of last night's fight came to him. ''You need to remember..." What did that even mean? What was he supposed to remember? Something that vague and random didn't do anything to spur his memory in the slightest. Hell, now that he thought about it... hadn't he heard those words before, on the day that he'd arrived? The swordsman might as well have told Kei to find the cure for cancer, or something.

Then his mind flitted back home. And to why he'd agreed to come to Iwatodai in the first place—To find out what had happened back in his home town of Toyono. He'd been promised answers, on the condition that he leave everything behind and show up to this unfamiliar city on the other end of the country. He agreed, he came, and he was still no closer to finding the truth.

With a sigh, the boy opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.

If nothing else, he at least wanted some sort of closure. To understand why—

"Yo, Kei-kun!" The sudden sound of his cousin's voice—Right next to his ear—broke Kei out of his introspection. He jerked and saw Soma standing over him, dressed in a very messy and haphazard business suit. "Finally got your attention?"

"Ah, sorry, I was kinda thinking," Kei said.

"So you didn't catch the end of the show? Damn shame," Soma grumbled, then began fiddling with his tie. "Hey, you know how tie one of these?"

"Nah. Besides," the boy tapped at his cast. "Can't really do it with just the one hand."

"Oh, right. Duh." He continued to struggle with the tie for a few more minutes before eventually giving up on it altogether.

Kei leaned back on the couch, staring again at the ceiling until the words slipped from his lips. "Why am I here, Soma?"

His cousin, who was trying to tidy his olive hair, paused and turned towards him. "Huh?"

The boy shook his head. "No, lemme rephrase that—I know why I wanted to come, but... The other day, you said that you knew why I was invited here to Iwatodai, yeah?"

"I did. I also said that you'd have to wait to find out, Kei-kun. There's... the stuff you're gonna find out, it's the kind of thing that's best left to professionals, you know?" He sat down next to the boy, throwing the tie over his shoulder. "Listen, I got the call yesterday. You just gotta wait 'till Tuesday—"

"I know!" At some point, Kei had jumped to his feet without even realizing it. A twinge of pain in his left arm brought him back from his sudden rage, and he unclenched the fist, sheepishly dropping his gaze to the floor. "Sorry, I'm just... I'm tired of just waiting for things to come to me, Soma. Ever since I woke up in the hospital, nothing's made any sense. Nobody's explaining what happened in Toyono, some suits just handed me a scholarship for no reason, now I'm here, and I still don't understand anything." The boy sighed and slowly sat back down. "Look, I get it—Tuesday's not that far off, but... Soma, just give me something to work with. Please."

"God..." His cousin sighed, scratching at his stubble before hesitantly nodding. "Alright, kid. I can tell you a few things, but listen—you have to hold it down 'till Tuesday for the full explanation, alright? I'm not just doing this to be a dick," he clarified, quickly raising his hands in an appeasing gesture. "It's just... What I'm about to tell you, it's some pretty serious shit. Okay?"

Kei nodded.

"Okay." Soma hesitated and sighed again, unsure of how to start. "Okay, first off; you know the Inferno of Miyahara?"

Kei nodded again. "That's that little island city up north that got destroyed by a volcano back in twenty-twelve, yeah?" Now that he actually thought about it, he remembered what a shock the disaster had been. The news had been abuzz with details surrounding the events for weeks. From the total number of casualties, to the environmental impact, to criticisms about building a city in the vicinity of a volcano—despite it being inactive. The island city was completely decimated by the eruption, and apparently the air over the area had become so polluted that the government had blockaded the sea around it, preventing anyone from going near the area.

On top of it all, the destruction of such a large city had really been hell on the economy, which had still been recovering from the earthquake just a year prior.

"It's fake," Soma said.

Kei froze. "What?"

A few stragglers walked into the conference hall as ten AM steadily approached. Despite the quiet tension that slowly built up as the time passed, the room was still filled with chatter as the trainees talked with their friends. That being said, there were plenty who sat silently, fidgeting nervously in anticipation and anxiety.

Shaojie didn't really pay them much attention, instead focusing on the brunette in front of him.

"They scouted me back in August," Sayaka said, twirling her hair between her fingers. "But I didn't really start training 'till October."

The boy propped his head on his hand and nodded along as she recounted the story of her recruitment, but wasn't really listening. Slowly, her words faded out, and Shaojie found himself really studying Sayaka. The way her auburn hair seemed to shimmer in the light, the tiny mole under her left eye, the cute way the edges of her lips curled downwards when she frowned...

"...And then I pulled out a knife and stabbed you in the gut," she finished with a flat gaze.

She really was... Wait, what?

"Wait, what?"

"I knew you weren't listening," she huffed and punched him in the shoulder. "Rude."

"Sorry, Sayaka-chan! I just zoned out for a minute!"

"C'mon, Shao-kun..." The girl sighed and pouted at him. "What were you so focused on, anyway?"

"Oh, uh... Y'know," he muttered, a blush lighting up his face. "Things. And stuff."

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh. Is that why you were staring at me?"

"Ah... well... y'know, I just kinda... ehm..." Shaojie tried to explain himself, tripping and stumbling over his words like a drunk man.

Then thankfully, Naomi came to his rescue. "Feng-kun," she said, stopping the boy from making an ass out of himself, "it's about to start. Please quiet down."

Shaojie promptly stopped talking and mouthed "Thanks for the save," to Naomi, who responded with a shrug, before turning his attention towards the front.

All around him, the sounds of conversation slowly died down as the doors at the other end of the hall opened and a few adults walked inside. At their head were two people Shaojie recognized; his homeroom teacher, Niko Shiomi, looking dapper as ever, and a silver-haired man wearing a gray suit, Akihiko Sanada. He wasn't sure that he'd ever met the others who followed behind them; a portly man with graying hair, and a tall brown-haired woman dressed in a business suit.

All trainees in the room stood almost simultaneously as Shiomi walked up to the raised podium at the front of the room, flashed a genial smile, and spoke. "Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for coming today." They all fixed their postures and listened with rapt attention. For all intents and purposes, the man standing before them now may as well have been the Buddha spreading his gospel.

All trainees in the room stood and fixed their postures almost simultaneously, as Shiomi walked up to the raised podium at the front of the room. They all listened with rapt attention, because for all intents and purposes, the man standing before them now may as well have been the Buddha spreading his gospel.

After a few seconds of silence, he flashed a genial smile and spoke. "Good morning, everyone! Thank you all for coming today. Now, before we begin, I'd like to congratulate every single one of you present in this room. The fact that you're standing here means that you have successfully completed your training. As of this moment, you are no longer trainees, but members of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. Or 'SEES' for short," he added with a laugh that some shakily returned before he continued. "Now then, there are some amongst you who have more than distinguished yourselves during the course of your training. Those particular people will now selected and placed into specific specialized teams suited for their skills."

And with that, Shiomi produced a tablet from under his arm, and the tension in the room suddenly increased tenfold. "First," he said. "Will be SEES Team Ten. Its members are as follows; Ishiwatari Yoshikage."

Suddenly, a small mountain made its presence known by letting out a loud whoop. Despite having already known the guy for a while, Shaojie still couldn't help but be amazed by his sheer size. Ishiwatari was a positively massive dude, dwarfing everyone else in the room with his height and width. His dark brown hair was styled up into a pompadour, and he wore a brown bomber jacket and a graphic t-shirt with the word "Sabaton" on its front, along with faded jeans, and heavy brown boots. With his hands raised high into the air, Ishiwatari swaggered towards the podium to the half-polite, half-intimidated applause of everyone in his vicinity.

"Miura Gen." Ishiwatari then doubled back and reached down into the crowd next to him with his massive paw, lifting up Miura, a lanky young man with shaggy black hair. He wore a black hooded jacket, jeans and sneakers, and let out a groan as he allowed Ishiwatari to carry him forwards.

"Huh," Shaojie heard Naomi mutter beside him. "So they're not based on what class you're in..."

He turned towards her with a raised eyebrow. "Naomi-chan?"

The girl shook her head. "It's nothing, Feng-kun. Don't worry about it."

The rest of the team was called out, consisting of Shaojie's friend Taiji Ono, and Shouya Hirata, a freckled pretty boy who was, frankly, kind of a dick.

"You four are now the members of SEES Team Ten," Shiomi said, as he shook each of their hands and ushered them towards Sanada, who whispered something to Ishiwatari before waving them all away. Again, they were met with polite applause from everyone else as they made their way out of the conference hall.

Everyone quieted down once more when Shiomi cleared his throat and began to call the next team. "Next—SEES Team Eleven. Its members are as follows; Inafune Koichi, Kojima Asuka, and Kojima Haruka."

Inafune, a tall blonde boy with rimless glasses, stood up from his seat down in front and sent a friendly wave and a smile towards his two teammates, who were both sitting together at a corner in the back. The two girls were identical twins who shared their facial features, dark purple hair, and magenta eyes, but that was where their similarities ended.

Only one of them stood up, the one with straight hair pulled into a ponytail, and wore a black coat over a red turtleneck and a pair of tight black pants. She turned and looked expectantly down at her sister, who in contrast to her, had her hair cut short, with bright green high-lights going through it, and wore a cropped leather jacket over a graphic t-shirt and a pair of distressed black jeans.

She sat there with her legs crossed and her arms folded, returning her sister's expectant look with a stern glare of her own, before eventually, she relented and stood up as well next to her.

"Just the three of them, huh?" Shaojie mused out loud. "Guess those guys must be pretty good to have a team all to themselves."

"They are," Naomi nodded. "They're the team from Miyahara."

"Whoa, hold up, what!?" His eyes suddenly widened, flitting back to look at Team Twelve's members. "Those are the guys from Miyahara?"

She let out a quiet chuckle. "Not what you expected?"

"Not really... I was thinking that they'd be more of the grizzled veteran types, you know? Big ol' scruffy beards and scars, instead of just..." He tried to make some vague gesture with his hands. "Three normal people."

And then a goose bump suddenly broke out across his spine, as he felt some primal instinct within him screaming in horror. Shaojie turned and caught sight of one of the twins—the punk-looking one—staring directly at him with a cold, malignant gaze. Apparently, he'd been loud enough that she—and probably her other two teammates—had heard him.

The boy very carefully did not move, did not blink, did not even dare to breathe, as the girl's pink eyes bored directly into his. And then he was saved from a terrible fate by the other twin, who placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and whispered something in her ear. The punky twin rolled her eyes and marched off towards the front of the room, while her much more courteous and less murderous sister politely smiled at Shaojie.

"Please excuse my sister, Feng-san," she said with a bow, before turning and walking away. The moment she did, Shaojie finally allowed himself to take deep, shuddering breaths, trying to keep his heart calm.

Sayaka reached over and placed a hand on his back. "Hey... you alright, Shao-kun?"

"Y-yeah," he managed to stammer. "Just... Do me a favor, and remind me not to shit-talk them again."

This chapter was last updated on December 3, 2017.