Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Persona 3 or any of its reincarnations. All creative rights to the characters named in this story belong to Atlus and I certainly do not profit from this story. In fact, I think my laptop's crying over the hours I spend typing this story out.


September 21, 2010

As soon as Toriumi dismissed them for lunch break, Shinjiro hastily escaped Classroom 3-F to look for a place where he could eat his lunch in peace. All morning, he had to dodge questions about his relationship to Theodore, no thanks to Iori. He was seriously going to stab someone with a pen the next time someone asks him about "Theo-sensei" or "That-teacher-who-can-pass-off-as-a-poster-boy-for-whitening-lotion".

It was worse than the time when Aki called him "Shinji" in front of their classmates. At least back then, they'd clam up right after receiving a death glare from him. This time, no amount of glaring, ignoring, and cursing stopped the questions from pouring in. Also in this case, he didn't give a damn what was Theodore's favorite color, food, music, or toothpaste brand.

His subconscious was about to lead him to the rooftop when he stopped on his tracks, remembering how Ratri decimated the rooftop the other day. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he frowned, thinking of a suitable substitute for the rooftop.

Yamagishi, Takeba, and Iori invited him to have lunch with them, but as usual, he declined. Iori seemed to be really sorry for what happened that morning, as he even offered to treat him to some dessert. It wasn't the potential of eating something terribly sweet that deterred him, rather, it was simply because he felt awkward eating with other people. He usually savored his food, so he tended to be the last one to finish eating. What he didn't like was at that point, it can't be avoided that some of the people around him would steal glances at him as he ate.

Unable to come up with any good alternatives, he decided to continue to the rooftop stairwell. He ignored the notice which said that the stairs led to a dead end, and settled on the third step past the landing.

For a while, he stared blankly at the wall. The area was dimly lit, with the sole source of light being the faint sunlight that filtered through the small space between the sealed rooftop entrance and the door frame. I'll live with it, thought Shinjiro. After all, the chatter downstairs was muted to an almost nonexistent buzz. Also, it wasn't as dusty as he thought it would be, and no one would probably think of looking for him there.

First, he needed to clarify something with Kirijo. After calming down, he realized that he cannot simply bust in the Kirijo mansion without a proper excuse, so he decided to call Kirijo instead.

"Yes, Aragaki?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Kirijo, what th—" He stopped himself in time. "Is he doing here?"

"'He'?" She paused for a while. "Ah, you mean, Theodore? Teaching history, of course," she said in a matter-of-fact voice. "When Ono-san left, someone needed to replace—"

"Damn it," he replied testily. "What I meant was, why him, of all people?"

Kirijo made an irritated noise over the phone. "To answer your question, aside from replacing Ono-san, I needed someone to be the SEES's club adviser. I am in no position to do so, because I am currently swamped with work. Theodore gladly volunteered to do it, and it just so happened—"

"Wait, you said it was a club, so this means—"

"Yes, Aragaki, I was getting around to that." She sounded very annoyed at this point. "You're the club president."

Shinjiro let out a string of expletives that made Kirijo threaten him with the word "execution".

"Louder, Aragaki, I don't think the whole of Iwatodai just heard what you said."

"Kirijo! Are you kidding me?"

"No," she replied flatly. "It's already in the paperwork, and all you have to do is act the part."

"Can't anyone else do it?"

"If there was, do you think I would have asked you?" was Kirijo's sarcastic reply. "I considered Yamagishi for the position, but she is too busy with her Technology Club and Cooking Club, which you should know by now."

Her words were greeted by silence. "If it's any comfort to you, Arisato will be released from the hospital this afternoon and will be returning to school tomorrow. She woke up last Sunday, roughly around the time you left." She chuckled. "Would you know anything about that, per chance?"

Damn. He forgot about the CCTV cameras situated around the corridors of the hospital. "Whatever." It didn't matter what he answered. Kirijo knew something, and he could picture her smirk over the phone.

True to his imagination, she continued in a tone that hinted that she knew more than she let on, "Is that so?" She was probably smiling right now. "Well then, my class starts in a while, so I bid you farewell." Not waiting for an answer, she ended the call.

For a while, Shinjiro just stared at his phone. He nearly jumped in surprise when it rang again. He checked the caller ID before answering. It was Suzuki Kariya, his manager at Chagall Café. "Hello?"

"Aragaki, I need you to cover for Asuma today. Are you available this evening?"

"Alright." The statement was phrased as a request, but the strained tone in which it was said led Shinjiro to believe that the expected reply was a 'Yes'.

"See you at six."

Shinjiro sighed as the line went dead, and started on his lunch. This was going to be a long day.

~o~

Shinjiro was lukewarm on the subject of history. He didn't like it, he didn't hate it. As with all of his subjects, he found it boring and thought of it as a necessary evil one had to go through in order to graduate. He understood the lessons just fine by listening to the teacher. For him, that, plus forced study sessions with Kirijo and Aki, was enough to net him a passing grade during exams. Kirijo often lamented that he could do better by taking down notes during class, and practically shoved him some notebooks and pens during the start of the school year. To humor Kirijo, he attempted to do as she asked. However, his old habits got the better of him, and he eventually gave up on that after a few weeks. Now, those items were simply dead weight inside his bag, which made him wonder why he even bothered bringing them with him in the first place.

Today, he was seriously rethinking his stand on the subject.

The door slid open to reveal Theodore, carrying a thick book, not unlike the tome he carried around during their battle.

"Good afternoon." Placing his book on the table, he addressed the class. "I'm Theodore de Velours. As you have undoubtedly heard this morning, I will be replacing Ono-sensei as your history teacher."

"Sensei!" A girl with layered brown hair seated in front raised her hand. Shinjiro recalled that this girl insisted on being called "Sakura-chan", and that she had an awful tendency to bounce a lot.

"Yes," Theodore consulted a piece of paper he pulled out from his book. "Fujimoto-san?"

The girl barely kept herself from jumping up and down in excitement when he called on her. "Sensei, 'de Velours' is very hard to pronounce." She giggled at her attempts to say his name.

"Indeed, the other class mentioned that." He chuckled. "You may call me Theo instead."

His announcement was met by murmuring. None of their teachers ever told them to call them by their first names. Shinjiro was tempted to slam his forehead on his desk. What the hell was Kirijo thinking, letting someone who lived under a rock assume a teaching position?

"Ahhh, Theo-sensei..." A girl sighed dreamily. She was not alone in her swooning, judging by the other sighs Shinjiro heard.

Theodore seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he was the object of several fantasies. "Hmm, according to this document, Ono-sensei taught World History in this class." He started talking to himself in a low voice, unaware that he was still audible to the whole class. "That's strange, he taught Japanese history in the other class. He teaches two subjects… Strange. He must be one amazing fellow to behold so much knowledge."

"Theo-sensei, it's normal for some teachers to be teaching two different subjects."

"Yeah, for instance, Miyahara-sensei teaches both algebra and geometry."

Theodore looked surprised to hear this. "I see." He consulted his paper once more. "So, Ono-sensei was about to start discussing World War I, am I correct?"

"Yes, Theo-sensei," piped up one of the girls seated in front.

If he was going to hear another "Theo-sensei", he was going to hurl. The contents of his stomach, or someone, whichever the situation called for.

The rest of the lesson proceeded in a normal manner, much to Shinjiro's surprise. He must've studied the art of teaching history, because the things coming out of his mouth were as dull as what Ono-sensei talked about back when he taught the subject. The only difference was that some girls were paying close attention to his words, while other girls sank into a deeper state of daydreaming. While Theodore discussed the causes of the war, Shinjiro reflected on the outfit the blond was wearing. There was something oddly familiar about it. In fact, it looked exactly like the one Aki wore back when Minako reappeared. Normally, he didn't remember clothes pretty well, but September 2 was a special day, and today was significant in a way, being one of the days he'd rather forget about.

Looks like Aki was going to get grilled when he gets home.

~o~

Returning from his part-time job, Shinjiro threw the door open as he marched in the room he shared with Aki.

Aki was still awake, sitting cross-legged on his bed, Looking up from his book, he managed a bleary-eyed grin at his friend. "Hey, Shinji."

Shinjiro did not smile back. "Aki, did you know anything about that guy's job application to Gekkoukan?"

"'That guy'?" Aki frowned, knowing where this conversation was going. So far, besides that awful science teacher they had back in junior high, there was only one other guy that Shinjiro refused to call by name. Deciding that it was best not to lie, he replied, "Yes." Seeing Shinjiro's face turn livid with rage, he sighed tiredly. "Mitsuru knew you wouldn't take it well, so she asked me to keep it a secret." He yawned, then looked at his friend questioningly. "What gave you the idea that I knew about it?"

"...The outfit."

"The... OH!" It dawned on him. "I didn't really wear that thing often because the shirt was a little too big on me, so I lent it to Theo," He smiled bemusedly. "He had no clothes other than that flight attendant uniform we see him wear. That didn't seem like a proper teacher would wear."

Shinjiro carelessly dropped his bag by the foot of his bed. "Some of your pheromones must have rubbed off on him, he's getting a fanclub to rival yours."

Aki laughed feebly. "Are you jealous, Shinji?"

Shinjiro gaped at his friend, aghast at his statement. What on earth gave him that idea? "Hell no." Too tired to continue arguing with his friend, he took off his shoes and socks and crawled under his sheets. Without a word, he turned away from his friend, facing the wall. He shut his eyes as he forced himself to fall asleep as Aki hummed to himself, a tune that suspiciously sounded like "Happy Birthday."

~o~

September 22, 2010

"Minako-chan..."

"Mina-chan..."

"Arisato-san..."

"Welcome back!" chorused Class 3-F, with Shinjiro joining in half-heartedly. Sure, he loved the girl to bits, but was it really necessary for the class to call attention to Minako's absence?

Minako seemed to be embarrassed about the attention, but it looked like she was enjoying it anyhow. "Aww… you didn't have to!" She beamed at her classmates as she was besieged by hugs. Once she untangled herself from the crowd, she grinned widely at everyone else and made her way to her seat. She used the same smile on Shinjiro, who acknowledged her with a lazy wave of his hand after a quick glance in her direction. Lately, he felt more in control of how he acted toward her, but those smiles still had a devastating effect on him. If he didn't watch himself, he'd probably do something that would surprise the whole class.

The bell rang, and everyone returned to their seats. He looked behind him, and noticed Minako smiling serenely at him. Before anything resembling a blush could creep into his cheeks, he smiled awkwardly at her and went back to studying the surface of his armchair. He felt really embarrassed about his monologue at her bedside. He wasn't sure if Minako remembered it, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Whatever the case was, he needed to approach her a little more carefully from now on.

~o~

Shinjiro was greeted by the smell of fried chicken when he returned to the dormitory that afternoon. Aside from the pleasant smell, he was surprised to see a slender man, wearing a pair of black pants and violet polo-shirt, relaxing on the sofa farthest from the TV. In all honesty, he never expected to see Niwatori Haru, the only other person renting a room in the Kitamura household. He was usually busy with his work in the city, leaving even earlier than Aki. Niwatori returned late in the evening, and Shinjiro rarely saw him for the guy had a tendency to lock himself inside his room, whiling his hours away in front of the computer.

"Ah, Aragaki-kun!" The dark-haired man shifted into a sitting position, grinning at the newcomer. "Welcome back." Sheepishly, he ran a hand through his layered hair.

"Niwatori-san." Shinjiro greeted him as he took a nearby seat.

Niwatori smiled bemusedly at Shinjiro. "Not even surprised why I'm here, instead of dating my computer?"

Shinjiro took out a book from his bag. "Somewhat."

"Hah, you'd better be!" He looked at Shinjiro to see his reaction. The brunet simply raised an eyebrow at him, and then opened his book to read. Not minding Shinjiro's lack of interest, he continued on his monologue, "My boss let me out early. Bonus for finishing the project I was working on." He grinned at the memory. "Of course, I jumped at a chance to get home early. More hours for playing Devil Survivor." He clapped his hands together. "However, my plans changed after I smelled Mitsuko's fried chicken."

At those words, a small, amused smile formed on Shinjiro's lips. Strangely enough, Niwatori's favorite food was chicken, like his namesake. He wasn't sure if he got enough grief over having a name that was associated with the words "spring" and "chicken", but Niwatori seemed like a good-natured man, judging from the times they actually interacted with each other. A little annoying, since he liked to drone on about himself and his favorite online game, but someone he can tolerate.

"You're smiling!" teased Niwatori. "I swear you should do that more often, it looks really nice on you." Shinjiro simply rolled his eyes at that statement, going back to his novel and tuning out most of Niwatori's blabbering about his project and his videogame addiction.

"…So there, I asked Mitsuko what was the occasion, and she said it was Sanada-kun's birthday."

Oh yeah, September 22. Shinjiro slapped a hand to his forehead, remembering that it was Aki's birthday.

Speaking of the devil, Aki came in through the door. Exhausted, he threw himself on the remaining unoccupied sofa and sank his face into the soft cushion.

"Damn, Aki, what happened to you?"

Not looking up from his position, Akihiko mumbled something unintelligible.

"Care to repeat that, Sanada-kun?" said Niwatori.

Heaving a tired sigh, Aki pulled himself into a seating position and settled for slouching on the seat. "Quiz in the morning, fitness run afterwards, then sparring at Gekkoukan."

Niwatori whistled. "Hoo boy, what a way to spend your birthday."

Aki smiled ruefully. "Yeah."

"Oh? So this better lighten up your day!" Mitsuko entered the lounge from the kitchen, beaming as she carried a plate of drumsticks into the room. The scent of the oil filled the room, causing Haru to drool and to gaze longingly at the food.

Shinjiro quickly got on his feet. "I'll help with that, Mitsuko."

"No, it's okay, Shinjiro-kun. I can handle this just fine." The elderly woman smiled at him. "I do need some help bringing the pasta here, and the sauce, too."

"Okay." He walked into the kitchen and did as he was told.

After the spaghetti with meatballs, fried chicken, and utensils were placed on the table, Bunkichi entered the lounge, carrying a chocolate cake. "Happy Birthday, Aki-kun!"

Shinjiro chuckled to himself as Mitsuko scolded Bunkichi for nearly dropping the cake. He never knew what it was like to have parents, much more grandparents, since he was orphaned at a very young age. Somehow, it was these little moments that made him feel like he regained what he had lost a long time ago.

~o~

September 23, 2010

Shinjiro yawned as he climbed down the stairs. Ever since he started staying in the Bunkichi household, he woke up early-a contrast to the days he resorted to setting a marching band tune as his alarm just to get up-except for the days wherein he had work the night before. Not as early as Aki, though. Even until now, his friend was dedicated to his morning exercise regime.

For today, he knew that Aki woke up early for a different reason. As Shinjiro recalled, Kanzato was visiting today, since it was a holiday. True enough, Aki was already at the lounge, engrossed in a conversation with his college friend.

Noticing Shinjiro's arrival, Kanzato greeted him. "Good morning, Aragaki-san."

"'Morning, Kanzato."

He dragged his feet towards the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. Gingerly handling his drink, he returned to the lounge and took a vacant couch. He sipped his coffee, watching the morning news as Aki and Kanzato chatted about school.

Shinjiro shut off the TV to raise an observation. "Aki, up to now, you're still on last name terms with Kanzato?"

"It's preparation for work." Aki smiled. "Better start now."

"I see." Shinjiro took a piece of bread lying on the table and bit into it.

"Hmm, so Aragaki-san, how have you been doing lately?" asked Kanzato.

"Doing fine, I guess." Shinjiro's reply was followed by dead air. He didn't dislike Kanzato, but conversations between them were awkward. He wasn't sure if it was due to their lack of common interests, or the fact that he was still busy getting over Minako's death during the first time they met, but there was something that prevented them from connecting with each other.

He tried a different tack. "Has Aki found anything else more interesting than boxing?"

It broke the ice, nevermind that it was at Aki's expense. Kanzato laughed, while Aki snorted at the question. "Unfortunately, no. He has a bit of a following at school, though."

Aki groaned. "Don't remind me."

"He asked." Kanzato shrugged. "To be honest, it's a miracle none of your fangirls have ambushed you on the way to class. Yet."

"It's all thanks to you, actually."

"All thanks to me? Do I look that scary? The looks those girls have been shooting in your direction when they think you're not looking? Now that's what I call scary."

"It's not that. More of the fact that you're almost always with me when they're around."

"Honestly, I don't think it would make a difference, whether I was with you or not."

"Speaking of 'looks', I've seen the glances Nikaido-san has been throwing in your direction…"

"…What? We're just friends, and you know it."

Shinjiro finished the rest of his bread and watched as Aki and Kanzato continued to bicker over Kanzato's relationship to this "Nikaido-san". The conversation amused him, but somehow, he was happy for Aki. It was nice to see his friend leveling with another person, moreover, someone who seemed like a decent guy. Kanzato didn't look like the type to use Aki for his popularity. He was afraid that Aki's pretty boy looks and general aloofness would hinder his ability to make other friends, but he was glad that it wasn't the case.

"Aragaki-san!" In a last-ditch attempt to change the subject, Kanzato diverted his attention to Shinjiro. "If you don't mind me asking…"

"Go on," said Shinjiro, noticing Kanzato's hesitation.

"Have you found any interesting ladies lately?"

Shinjiro frowned at him. Wait a minute. As far as he knew, the only humans who remembered Minako's existence were the ones in SEES. Just how much did Kanzato remember about the summer break?

"Ah, sorry about that." Ryou looked uncomfortable. "That question was insensitive…"

"It's not that…"

Aki noticed the strange look on Shinjiro's face, and got the message. "Kanzato, what exactly do you remember about Shinji the last time you met?"

"Well …" At that point, Kanzato was definitely uneasy about the situation. "Arisato-san—" Shinjiro and Aki exchanged dumbfounded looks. Upon seeing the looks on their faces, Kanzato nervously added, "—never mind."

~o~

Akihiko was just as shocked as Shinji when he found out that Kanzato remembered Minako. As an explanation for their stunned expressions, he assured Kanzato that they were merely surprised to hear Minako's name, after all that's happened. The half-truth did not seem to convince Kanzato, but fortunately, he did not ask for more details. Shinji and Kanzato tried to make small talk after that, but it sounded forced. Akihiko took that as his queue to drag Kanzato out of the dormitory and into the strip mall. Once they were outside, Kanzato visibly relaxed. Their interactions went back to normal, save for the fact that he was a bit more wary about Shinji and was keen to avoid topics that would point to him.

Did Ryou have a Persona? Mitsuru had a theory that Persona users were somehow immune to the mind wipe caused by Minako's reappearance. He was inclined to believe in it, seeing that people outside their group gave no sign of having known Minako before. Notably, Bunkichi and Mitsuko did not recognize the name, even when he asked them outright about knowing a girl named Arisato Minako.

When Akihiko came to think about it, Mitsuru was extraordinarily suspicious about Kanzato, especially after hearing his last name. She went as far as warning him to be careful around Kanzato when he first mentioned him in one of their conversations. At first, he thought she was simply giving him a customary warning about making new friends; however, there could have been something more to it.

In addition, Kanzato had a tendency to frown every time he heard the word "Kirijo", may it be on television or spoken by someone within earshot. Akihiko interpreted that as his friend's general dislike for the Group's activities, which were very profit-oriented in nature, but could it have been deeper than that?

His mind drew a blank when he tried to connect Kanzato with the Kirijo Group. It made him realize how little Kanzato shared about his past. All he knew was that Kanzato lived alone, because his parents passed away earlier that year, and that he sent off his siblings to live with some relatives at Tokyo. No wonder he wasn't so pushy when Akihiko was blatantly keeping secrets from him-it looked like Kanzato also had things to hide.

Still, there were several things he was sure about. One, he owed Mitsuru a visit, and two, reading people was definitely not his forte.

~o~

September 25, 2010

Shinjiro was aware that his luck was rotten. Whenever he got into a fistfight back in elementary school, somehow, he was the only person who ends up getting punished, or the one pinpointed as the one who started the fight, even when it wasn't true. His tendency to be at the wrong place at the wrong time did not change as he entered high school. The only time he actually managed to escape the authorities was when he lost control of Castor and killed Amada's mother, but he wasn't exactly proud of that. He had a sneaking suspicion that the universe really enjoyed working against him, but it wasn't like he had any solid proof.

With that said, it shouldn't have been a surprise for him when he drew the red stick during Cooking Club, and was relegated the task of being the club's representative for the school's crossdressing competition.

He wasn't the type to complain to other people, but that particular incident left such a bitter taste in his mouth that he felt compelled to say his thoughts out loud while helping Yamagishi clean up after their club meeting.

"Yamagishi, for the love of all whatever holy being you worship, I am not doing it."

She looked up from the appliance she was inspecting, and smiled bemusedly at Shinjiro's protests. "Senpai, we drew lots for it. It was fair enough."

He knew that Yamagishi was right. Still, he preferred risking food poisoning by eating one of Yamagishi's pre-Cooking Club concoctions rather than parading around in drag during the cultural festival.

His clubmates were terrible at hiding their delight over the whole matter. Aside from those eerie giggles, he was sure that they were talking about him in low voices, mentally dressing him up in their minds. Shuddering at the thought, he started mopping the floor furiously in an attempt to rid his mind of a certain bad mental image that popped up while he was lamenting on his unfortunate situation.

"Hmm," Yamagishi sounded taken aback by his apprehension. "Senpai, don't worry about it so much, we'll be here to help."

In all honestly, he did not find that statement very reassuring. Sighing deeply, he continued his cleaning work in silence. His clubmates' idea of help? That, he did not want to think about.

~o~

It was late in the afternoon when Junpei strutted towards Port Island Station, twirling his key chain around his finger while humming to himself.

The sun was beginning to turn orange, paving the way for the night's arrival. He was in a good mood that day. His father has been making good progress in laying off the booze, partially thanks to his vigilance on the matter. To the surprise of his classmates, he managed to perfect Theodore's pop quiz on the beginnings of World War I. Also, during baseball practice, he managed to do a home run, which led his team to victory.

While he was walking towards the station, a prickling feeling at the back of his neck made him freeze on his tracks. He knew that feeling. Granted, his perception was not as honed as his other teammates. It was the nagging feeling you get when someone's watching you, poised to attack.

Gripping his keychain as if it were an amulet to ward off some mean spirit, he whirled around, searching for the source of the intense gaze. No, not the street sweeper over there. Definitely not the couple making out by the theater. Nope, that man was too busy picking his nose. Eventually, his eyes settled on a redheaded girl sitting on one of the benches by the flower bed. He squinted at her, and his heart skipped a beat upon recognizing the person.

Chidori. The last time he saw her, it was a fleeting glance outside the station. She looked a bit different, but it was her. No mistaking that sketchbook on her lap, and those carefully painted eyelids. It took him a while to determine her identity because of her choice of clothing, for the only clothes he saw her in were her white gothic lolita outfit and that sickly green Kirijo-issued hospital gown. Now that he was able to study her appearance, he was surprised to note that she looked good in the outfit she wore. In fact, she cleaned up pretty nicely. Her long, red hair hung loosely from her shoulders, minus the white hairband she traditionally wore. She was wearing a white shirt, together with a black jacket. Her black pencil skirt reached up to her knees and was accompanied by a pair of knee-high boots. At that moment, her pale, right hand was clasping a pencil, frozen over a spot in her sketchbook.

She was definitely the source, for her reddish brown eyes were focused intently on him. Amazingly, she remained unfazed when his dark eyes met her burning stare. Not the way he imagined his reunion with her, but it was a good start as any. Junpei made his way towards her.

When Junpei was a few meters away, Chidori snapped out of her trance. She hastily looked away in embarrassment, as Junpei stopped in front of her, peering at her curiously. "Sorry about that." She put down her pencil on the bench and folded her hands on her lap. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay." Junpei smiled and took a seat beside her, carefully distancing himself from Chidori so as not to frighten her. "Was I blocking your view? You were drawing something, right?" He glanced at her lap in interest.

Her cheeks flushed red. "It's nothing." She grabbed her sketchbook and closed it before he could take a closer look at it.

Damn, Chidori looks really cute when she blushes, Junpei thought, his grin widening. Could this day get any better? "I don't think so," he teased.

Her face burned even brighter. "Absolutely not!" she glared at him indignantly.

He chortled. "Man, I was just kidding." His tone turned serious. "Anyway, be careful where you space out. Never know, you might be staring into the eyes of a serial killer or something."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "How is my safety of any concern to you?"

"Hmm? Is it wrong to be concerned over a lovely lady such as you?"

"…Shut up." She looked away as her cheeks burned red once more.

He laughed again. "Anyway, the name's Iori Junpei." He stood up. "I'm off, have work to do." He took off his cap, and bowed at her. "Take care of yourself, Madam."

Much to his surprise, she giggled at his antics. "…Chidori. Yoshino Chidori." She covered her mouth upon realizing she gave out her name. "Why am I giving you my name? It's strange…" She looked at him in awe.

Junpei laughed. "Must be my charming good looks at work."

This caused Chidori to laugh derisively. "You really know how to kid around, don't you?"

He pretended not to notice that. "Alright, see you around, Chi—, I mean, Yoshino-san."

"Yes, Iori-san." As an afterthought, she added hesitantly, "Take care."

~o~

September 26, 2010

"Iwatodai Station, Iwatodai Station."

Fuuka knew from the moment she saw Aragaki-senpai's new Persona, she had no chance at all. After they sort of made up during Aigis's birthday, she thought that it was possible for her to try again. However, whatever hopes she had were crushed along with that card used to summon Cassiel.

She tightened her grip on the railing as the train decelerated when they neared the station. She used her free hand to support her laptop bag, since its strap was in danger of slipping off her shoulder. When the train stopped, she took that as an opportunity to adjust her bag, slinging the strap over her body instead of over her shoulder as she stepped out of the train.

Personal feelings aside, there was something that felt off about Cassiel. She wasn't able to pinpoint what it was exactly, but she assumed that it had something to do with the concept of Persona. Statistic-wise and skill-wise, nothing was wrong. She was similar to Castor, except that she was able to absorb fire and null pierce skills, in addition to throwing fire spells at the enemy.

Fuuka followed the crowd through the turnstiles and weaved her way to the exit. On the subject of Personas, she always thought of a Persona as a manifestation of one's personality. It was strange enough that Aragaki-senpai's Persona underwent an arcana change, but what really bothered her was Cassiel's uncanny resemblance to Minako. It really felt wrong, for some reason. It wasn't only her feelings on the matter, but she was getting strange vibes from that Persona. Altogether, it felt like Cassiel was someone else's Persona. It did not make sense, but those were the words that fairly suited what she felt, for now.

Eventually, Fuuka emerged from the station, and began to walk home. Speaking of strange vibes, she had a bigger thing to worry about. Why did she sense Nyx from Ratri? Ability-wise, Ratri and Nyx were worlds apart in terms of power. If Ratri had the power of Nyx, no doubt, they would've been annihilated in no time flat. It wasn't only the rooftop that was going to be wiped out. The only thing they had in common was their speed in unleashing attacks. Still, it was fortunate that their abilities did not suffer a downgrade despite their lack of training for the past few months.

She sighed. This battle analysis was giving her a mild headache.

Just in time, she finally reached the modest bungalow her family lived in. Before unlocking the small, iron gates that led to her home, she took a deep breath and forced a smile. It was time for her to put on her game face. She was happy that her parents finally realized that she had her own mind. Ever since they stopped forcing her on the path they chose for her, their relationship has been steadily improving for the past few months. Part of her family's relationship improvement scheme was their Sunday dinners, which none of them have missed, so far. She didn't want to ruin the dinner her mother prepared by brooding unnecessarily. There was a time and place for everything, and her thoughts about the supernatural were definitely things she cannot share over the dinner table.

~o~

That night, Kirijo Mitsuru was having trouble falling asleep.

She knew that she was supposed to relax for now. Ever since they defeated Ratri, no other Shadows appeared the past week, and that afternoon, Yamagishi confirmed that was indeed the case. Also, Theodore and Yamagishi volunteered to take over her Shadow activity monitoring duty, which was supposed to be a load off her back.

She shifted her weight on the bed, adjusting her blanket as she did so. Nevertheless, those things did not stop her from worrying. She had a feeling that Ratri's appearance and Minako's miraculous resurrection were definitely related. The coincidences cannot be overlooked, such as Minako collapsing on the day the Shadow appeared, and the mere fact that the Shadow appeared a few weeks after she returned to the land of the living. However, those were merely coincidences, nothing more. She needed something more solid to connect the two phenomena, and that particular connection eluded her for the past few weeks. It bugged her, not being able to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Also, throwing in Kanzato Ryou into the equation somewhat complicated matters. Akihiko shared his suspicions regarding his friend, which served to confirm what she suspected months ago. In her opinion, Ryou's case was unrelated to Minako's, but she was open to the possibility that they were mildly connected somehow. For now, she let Ryou be, although she intended to continue keeping tabs on him.

The humming of her bedroom's air conditioner usually didn't bother her, but this evening, it sounded louder than usual. It was probably her imagination, but if that kept up for several days, she was going to have it checked.

She closed her eyes, trying to tune out the noise. No use thinking about it right now. She went through these thoughts almost every night, and it was high time she gave herself a break from them. Tomorrow was another day at university, and on top of that, she had a meeting with her Group's board of directors to discuss some matters regarding the Kirijo Group's stability. She should handle those first, then she could go back to worrying about those extraordinary circumstances later.

After all, right now, she was not alone anymore. It was times like these that she had to remind herself that she had friends she could count on, and that once in a while, it was okay for her to share her burden with them.

With the latter thoughts occupying her mind, she finally managed to relax and was able to fall asleep at two in the morning, with a small smile on her lips.


I apologize for the time it took me to come up with this chapter. Most of it was already written around late October, but it underwent several rewrites, and in between all those, I enjoyed my distractions a bit too much. Aside from watching P4: The Animation and Fate/Zero, I'm catching up on other anime such as Noein and Sengoku Basara during my free time. xD I also took some time to reformat the old chapters, since it was getting a bit tiresome to type out the locations together with the dates.

Since break's over, expect the releases to be a bit slower. After all, I have some goals that I wish to accomplish during my last semester in college. I'll try to publish a chapter at least once a month (if worse comes to worst, two months), but overall it depends on how busy I will be at school. Or how I deal with writer's block and distractions in general.

Thanks for the reviews! I really enjoy hearing from my readers. :) Please feel free to tell me what you liked, what you hated, or what points I can improve on.

OhtaSuzuke, I'm happy that my story was able to invoke such emotion. XD Shinjirosenpailover, I've been planning that for quite a while, and I really enjoyed writing that part. Wrathie Winsre, I have noted your feedback. It's nice to hear someone's had a laugh out of this story. I really intended this to be a Romance/Comedy, but the themes in the story more Drama ensues. sabriefacade, that's an interesting concept, and I'll give that some thought. Adelaide 'Adell' Peirce, I'm glad you liked it.

Also, before I go, I'd like to thank Elleon Stormwrath for the pre-chapter publishing feedback.