A/N: Sadly, this story will not be completed on December 31st on account of acquiring P4. Yes, I played it. Yes, I'm now addicted to it for now. So…please be patient. This chapter will also probably be rewritten later.

Thank you for those who've read this story so far.

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December 7th 2008

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!",

The world rocked back and forth over and over again. He suddenly went to the top of the world, to the bottom, and then up again. The shrine looked smaller from so high as well as the slide and the jungle gym.

"Higherrr!"

He felt a warm pressure on his back before he suddenly went higher than he was before. He knew the woman behind him was smiling.

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December 7th 2008 – Port Island Station – 10:00 a.m.

"We have now arrived at Port Island Station. Please exit out of the tram at this time."

Ryoji yawned as he stared out of the tram window and into the great expanse of water outside. He staggered to go out of the tram, having failed the first time and needing to take the ride back again. People were looking at him funny since he honestly looked like some drunk teenagers playing hooky from school, but he didn't care for the moment.

Right now, he was caring about the pain in his stomach, the pain of eating too much. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten so much at Hagakure the other day or ate all of the 'take-out' he received at breakfast.

Today, he woke up bright and early in order to have fun today. Of course, the odd-shaped key was still in his mind from the other day, but he shook it off as an eccentric item given by an eccentric woman. For all he knew, she wanted to get into his pants…because he was just that sexy. Snickering at the random thought, he returned back to pondering the question that was in his mind, the subject of pain.

He's experienced it before, many times actually in both his memory and his conscious reality, but he noticed that times he should experience pain never happened. First, it was the woman smacking him in the face with a purse, the other was the man who 'punched' him in the face, and finally the woman that slapped him. That slap was LOUD, but it didn't even leave a welt.

Comparing to the times that he actually did feel pain, it was rather small like Maiko and Yukari stomping on his foot. There had to be a connection between times he would actually feel pain and times he wouldn't but what. Before, he thought it could possibly be based on pain severity, but having never experienced those sharp pains before, he couldn't really make that assessment…and it would just be terribly unwise to test it by shooting or stabbing himself in the leg which he knew, on TV, that it would hurt.

Now why was he thinking about the subject of pain? He was actually quite interested in playing the part of saving the-damsel-in-distress…and he also liked the "Superman" comics, some foreign comics, which Junpei showed him. He doubted he could fly, but he could very well resist bullets and all that jazz which would be awesome. It was just a plan-in-progress though since he was still worried that he might be wounded and having to deal with intense pain for the rest of his days.

Not his idea of fun.

So, instead, he was doing something safer than stuffing oneself with food till one pops or jumping out of vehicular units. He was going to Mandragora to get some singing in while the rest of the SEES members were at school. Having never sang karaoke, he was just curious on what drew the other students there.

This was going to be fun!

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Paulownia Mall – 3:00 p.m.

That was definitely not fun at all.

He did not like being pulled out of the booth by two large burly guys and, though his money was refunded, did not like the receptionist appearing as though she would never be happy again. It was fun before then, but that event just made it suck altogether.

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"You maaaakeee mee feeeeeeeel. You maaaaakee meeee feeeeeel."

Ryoji continued singing through the microphone, amused by the words on the video that indicated him to sing those lyrics. It was rather relaxing, having sang a few hours. The two security guards popped in and out, staring at him with disbelief which cemented Ryoji's belief that he could possibly be the next Japanese idol. The receptionist looked like she ate something sour though.

When he called her on it, she just said nothing before placing a pair of earphones on.

So now he was trying to do the high-pitched songs. One of them was from a traditional opera, and he was reaching near the end.

"Ooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah."

Several things happened. The sound of something shattering filled his ears, followed by the receptionist girl's scream. He continued trying to keep the high note. Next, the glass at the far end of the table started to vibrate before a large visible crack appeared in it. Ryoji continued the high note.

Honestly, they should really use better quality materials if the ones they have now would just randomly break like that. While he was distracted, the receptionist girl suddenly covered his mouth, and he felt a pair of arms around his shoulders.

"SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY," the girl said which shocked Ryoji enough that he indeed stopped.

The guards looked relieved.

"Here's your money back. Don't ever come here again!" she said before motioning to the two officers to take him back to the center of Paulownia Mall.

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The girl was probably jealous of his singing ability and didn't want to nurture. That could only possibly be the reason why she was sad and mopey, or it could be her cracked laptop screen…but she shouldn't have damaged it like that if she didn't want it broken.

So now, he didn't really have anything planned for today. He didn't want to go talk to 'Mama' today since her gift suddenly creeped him out. It could possibly be a key to her old Victorian home where she will put him in chains and with a feat- Ryoji blinked several times and coughed. He wasn't interested in older women…and definitely not interested in a person called 'Mama.'

Staring at Changall Café, Ryoji smiled and walked to the warm-looking place. It definitely smelled like coffee, and he always wanted to try new foods. Maybe Changall Café might actually have good food.

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Changall Café – 3:05 pm

"And…hello everyone!" Ryoji smiled and exclaimed to the very few people inside. All of them didn't look too well, and Ryoji could easily put them in the acne-ridden and excessive body odor section of his head. Nervously stepping away from the stares of these people, Ryoji slowly walked up to the counter where a tired depressed-looking man sat.

The man turned his head to Ryoji and put a forced smile on, saying, "Welcome to Changall…I'm Changall. May I take your order?"

"Uhh…what's your speciality?"

That response just made Changall look at Ryoji as though he was stupid.

"Didn't you read the sign? Pheromone coffee is our speciality. A cup full of pheromones to increase your charm with the ladies."

"Really?" Ryoji asked. He could always use more charm. The man's eyes looked pained before he said defeatedly.

"No, not really. I only said that cause this café is failing. The stuff my suppliers gave us doesn't really work, and I spent a lot of money on it."

"Oh…why'd you tell me that though?" Something in his pocket was turning warm strangely enough.

"Dunno really. Maybe I just feel guilty telling you about it. More impersonal if you guys just read the sign outside and ask for coffee."

This conversation honestly was making Ryoji uncomfortable, and he said, "I see…Umm…could I just have coffee with milk and sugar?"

"Yeah, I'll be back in a minute…"

Changall slowly moved back towards the counter, leaving Ryoji alone to take out something from his back pocket. He blinked several times at the small, strangely warm, key in his hands.

He grumbled, "Thought I left this at home…" before placing the abnormally warm key back into his pocket.

Eyes slowly scanned the rest of Changall, noting that it was rather empty despite all the chairs and tables in the area.

"Got your drink, kid."

"Huh? Oh, thanks." He wanted to ask on why the café was failing, but it felt rather rude to say so…and yet…there was an odd warmth spreading through him from his back pocket. Trust your instincts was usually the way that Ryoji went anyways.

"Why's this café fa-"

"Well, before this café was prestigious since it only served the western drink in all of Port Island…but now…we have to compete with those that can make it even cheaper," the man looked at Ryoji as if sizing him up before adding, "So we decided to add pheromones to the coffee except they don't really work since our suppliers sent us faulty stuff…so now we're stuck…and rumors of our coffee giving people hairs where people don't normally want them aren't helping."

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'And Ryoji, Pheromone coffee turns people into hairy apes…and it changes their DNA-thingamajig so they end up barking at the moon at night," Junpei said, looking at the café.

"Stupei, stop spreading stupid rumors," said Yukari, rolling her eyes.

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Ryoji only nodded to the man before saying, "I see…thanks for the coffee." He paid with a ten, simply saying "Keep the change." The man just bowed his head as Ryoji just sat down on a table, slowly sipping his coffee.

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Changall Café – 5:00 pm

The man wasn't kidding about his café failing. Even past the time where all the students would go out, he only saw three or four students walk inside.

"Wow…and here I thought all cafes were popular," he mumbled, drinking up his twelfth cup of coffee. Decaf, of course. He didn't want to give himself a heart attack. The only people that came in were couples and people who didn't look confident at all. He supposed that they just wanted to try the pheromone coffee…which doesn't really work.

He did think about the man's intentions of using lies to save his store, but he couldn't disagree with his actions because, if the guy did care about his store so much, he would be fighting tooth-and-nail to save it. His thoughts turned to Aigis for a moment, machine she might be, but she was still human…always trying to protect Minato from him…Death. He frowned as he slowly picked up all the empty cups and threw them in the trash, leaving the café…but not before leaving a new mark on his list.

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Train to Iwatodai – 6:00 pm

It was official. He would not be jumping off or onto things until he can get a definite boundary on what will cause him pain and what will not. His nose still smarts from crashing face-first into the train as opposed to just entering through the doors of the train.

He wanted to sleep for a bit, but he really didn't know if Officer Kurosawa was joking about sending him to jail…nor did he want to, so he was awake just thinking about things that have past.

Fighting with Aigis.

His dream/memories.

The fact that he only had 24 days left.

He leaned back in the chair and stretched, staring back into the blue expanse, a blue expanse that would be gone with the coming of the Fall. He knew he shouldn't feel excited for it, but he couldn't help himself. His humanity caused him to feel guilt for desiring the Fall, but it also accepted the end.

He wanted SEES to make the right decision, for Minato to make the right decision. He wanted them to never treat as though this would be the last time they would watch the scenery. It was…oddly sad.

He frowned as he stared at a kid fidgeting in front of him. Great, now he's made himself depressed. Time to fix that.

"JUNPEI HAS LEVELED UP! DEDEDE!!" His finger went into the air as his legs stood in a simple stance.

And now the entire train was looking at him weird. The kid in front of him just stared before being pulled back by a parent.

Ryoji's cackles of laughter probably didn't help his situation either.

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Shirakawa Boulevard - 9:00 pm

After getting take-out from the 'odd takoyaki' place and eating it, Ryoji found himself back into bed. He blinked several times though, realizing something and taking his stationary out.

"Help the café."

He wrote that down before curling back into the covers.