Shin Megami Tensei
Persona 3: Carpe Diem
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Persona 3, SMT, or any characters within. They belong to Atlus.
Ninth Story – It's About Damn Time
JANUARY 8, 2016
TOKYO
Akihiko looked down on the ground, looked down on his own black shoes as he and Mitsuru walked arm in arm down the city streets of Tokyo.
It was a cold night, and they both wore heavy jackets, but there was a reason for this unreasonable venture into the world tonight. For Mitsuru, it was another assessment on the Lake of Fire incident and an opportunity to learn more about the shadows.
For Akihiko, it was his chance to become a man.
"Thanks for accompanying me, Akihiko. I needed someone on this trip," Mitsuru said as the two of them passed by an old and abandoned amusement park. The Lake of Fire Incident had done more damage than originally thought. Paranormal activity around Tokyo Bay spiked, and several businesses declared bankruptcy because of fear-paralyzed customers. On the bright side, the tourism industry grew by leaps and bounds as foreigners wanted to see the "haunted bay".
If only they knew what transpired in that warehouse five years ago. The warehouse where they had been tortured and used as ingredients to bring back the Dark Hour was gone now. In its stead was an extremely large hotel owned and operated by the Kirijo Group. Right across the street was one of Chairman Tanaka's hotels.
"Fuuka, do you read me?" Mitsuru asked via her persona. Her telepathic powers were getting slightly easier to use as time passed, so much so that she could speak to Fuuka and Chidori while simultaneously doing something else.
"Yes, Mitsuru, I'm linking with your senses right now, just a moment," Fuuka replied.
"Good. Make good use of my persona's capabilities to detect spiritual residue, okay?"
"Roger. Fuuka, out."
"It's no problem, Mitsuru," Akihiko said, simultaneously during Mitsuru's telepathic conversation.
Mitsuru nodded to him, before pointing to the harbor. It stood empty now. Unlike in the Tartarus Campaign, almost everything about the Lake of Fire Incident was remembered by the general public. Almost. A secret mission to America in 2011 ensured that the world population forgot about S.E.E.S.'s involvement in the incident – or even its existence altogether.
But not all could be forgotten. The inhabitants of Tokyo remembered that something had happened five years ago. Something that created so many Apathy Syndrome patients around Tokyo Bay that the body of water was almost declared an emergency zone.
"Remember that bay...when its surface ignited into flames...when I spoke out against the L.O.S.T. Commander?" Mitsuru asked.
"Yeah, I remember. Everyone else was scared shitless but you! You kept your cool Mitsuru..." Akihiko said, looking at her and remembering that day when life went back to "normal" for them.
"Truth be told...I was mortified. I really thought we were going to die...I don't know why I'm getting all sentimental about this. It's probably because I haven't been back to this city – this battlefield, in so many years."
It was true. Mitsuru hadn't gone past Yakushima Island since the Lake of Fire Incident. She was always so busy with her work at S.E.E.S. that she could never find time for herself. If Akihiko wanted to spend time with her, they did so either in a public place like the lounge or cafeteria, or in their bedrooms. And those times together were getting farther and farther between as Mitsuru ordered Akihiko around the world to do missions for S.E.E.S. ranging from collecting antiquated books to killing a demon.
"It's been a while, hasn't it? Akihiko asked, clasping his hand in Mitsuru's as they had done so many times before.
"Akihiko, I...five years ago, this isn't what I expected my life to become. I saw you, I saw Japan, but I never saw this..." she said, bringer her arm in a sweep of the area, eventually bringing it down and pointing at their holstered evokers.
"It's the tragic cycle of the Arcanum...we liberate ourselves only to be swept back under the wings of our own demise. We're tied to fate, but at the same time, we exercise our own free will."
Mitsuru smiled when Akihiko said that, before taking her arm away from his.
"Come on, that's too philosophical for you. Who said that, Ryoji? Minato?" Mitsuru laughed, knowing all too well that her Akihiko was too dumb for that.
"Neither. You see things on the front line you don't see in the command bunker back at Yakushima. People say things...Mitsuru, things are starting to heat up. Each time I go on a mission or visit one of our outposts, people say strange things, act differently than they normally would. Somethings going on," Akihiko said, drawing his gaze from Mitsuru towards the amusement park on the other side of the bay, now dilapidated and vacant.
"Aki..." Mitsuru muttered, before Akihiko turned back to face her.
"You haven't called me that in a long time, Mitsuru," Akihiko said, slightly grinning from the moment. Mitsuru blushed, making her cheeks match her hair.
"Uh, well, I..."
"Mitsuru, we may be chained to Fate, never being able to break the bonds it has forged upon us; but we can continue to exercise our own free will upon those bonds. I think right now I'm going to exercise my right to free will."
"This is it, Akihiko. You can do this!" Akihiko said to himself before taking Mitsuru's hand and kneeling down on one knee before Mitsuru, right in front of the hotel where they had escaped arrest by the National Police Agency.
"Mitsuru, will you marry me?" he asked, pulling out a crimson and silver box from his pocket and opening it up to reveal...nothing, really.
"No ring?" Mitsuru said blankly as Akihiko was sitting there, grinning like a fool in the middle of Tokyo, before he realized what he'd just done.
"Oh, shit."
"Why does this remind me of something in the past? Well, no matter," Mitsuru said, pulling Akihiko up from the ground and taking the box from his hands only to throw it away on the ground.
"Ring aside, it's about damn time you said this. Geez, Aki, it took you long enough," she said, cocking her head to one side and raising an eyebrow in a mixture of amusement and frustration.
"Wait, so...is that-"
"That's a yes. But since you forgot the ring, I won't be nice about it."
"Mitsuru, the spirit analysis from the bay is ready at your disposal...hey...Mitsuru? Mitsuru?" Fuuka had attempted to contact Mitsuru, but the latter had sealed her persona back into the sea of her soul as she came closer towards Akihiko.
"You better put on a good wedding. With a cake and lots of flowers...I'd like that," she said as her face brushed up against his, creating a certain warmth in the air, even though it was January.
"Is that an order?" Akihiko asked slyly, bringing his lips to brush up against hers.
"I could be. Do you want to check into that hotel?" she asked him as she kissed him slowly.
"Sure, why not?" he said, just before Mitsuru pulled away from him and tapped him on the nose with her finger.
"Sorry, but you forgot the ring. Now we get to spend the evening examining spirit energy residuals and energy flows. Isn't that exciting!"
Akihiko's head dropped as Mitsuru resummoned her persona.
"Hey, Fuuka! Guess what? Akihiko asked me to marry him."
"Mitsuru...that's...that's great! It's a bit late, though. I'm surprised he actually went ahead and did it!"
"I know!"
While the girls continued to chat telepathically, leaving Akihiko virtually alone, he kicked himself for forgetting his proposal ring.
ELSEWHERE
"So, did you remember to give Akihiko's ring back to him when you were done 'reviewing' it?" Junpei asked, slumped over drinking a can of beer in the S.E.E.S. cafeteria.
Sitting next to him, a bewildered Kenji slapped his forehead.
"What, don't tell me you didn't give it back to him," Junpei chuckled. When Kenji ordered a shot of whiskey and didn't say anything else, Junpei shook his head.
"Well, at least it's his fault for forgetting to get it back from you in the first place."
Kenji downed his shot of liquor without saying anything else, forcing Junpei to slap his head in return.
