Warnings: Slight violence. Suicidal implications. Lemon scenes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3 Portable or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me


Chapter Nine: Canine Companion

~July 24, Velvet Room~

Aragaki Shinjiro cracked his eyes opened only to groan when he saw the familiar sight of the extremely blue room coupled with that elevator-like 'thing' that he could see, with the non-moving clock above it.

As usual, Theodore was the only one in the Velvet Room. The Velvet Room assistant had nearly given Shinjiro the shock of his life one day when one moment, he is in the lounge watching television, the next moment, he is who-knows-where.

Theodore had explained everything about the Velvet Room to him, the dynamics and everything. In the usual way, the Wild Cards are usually the only ones allowed in the Velvet Room, when 'Master Igor' called for them. But Shinjiro is an exception to that rule. The Velvet Room exists in a place with no time and no space. Basically, no time passes at all in the Velvet Room.

Shinjiro grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. "You know, where I came from, it's considered rude to interrupt someone's sleep," he grumbled.

Theodore cracked a small smile. "My apologies," he said formally. "But I called you here for a reason."

Shinjiro grumbled, slumping even deeper into the chair that always appeared whenever he was dragged here. "And that is?"

"It's about Yuuki-sama," said Theodore seriously. That woke Shinjiro up immediately. "What are you going to do about the current and future events?"

"I don't know." Shinjiro admitted. "I want to change it. I want to prevent Kirijo's father from dying. I want to make sure that Amada don't do something that stupid again. I want to make sure that Yuuki doesn't come into much contact with that Mochizuki kid, if any. I want to make sure that she…" He gulped. "T-That Yuuki doesn't die after battling Nyx. But…"

"You're afraid that it will change the wheels of Fate." Theodore reasoned. "Aragaki Shinjiro, the Wild Cards exist for a reason. They have an important role to play. Whenever someone with the Wild Card ability appears, they are usually the 'key'. The same goes for Yuuki-sama. She has an important role to play here with the near revival of Nyx."

"What should I do?" Shinjiro whispered. "I don't want Yuuki to die. But… I don't want Nyx revived either!"

"Nyx is the embodiment of Death itself." Theodore answered calmly. "The end of everything. That is Nyx. As long as people wish for Death, Nyx will always appear. Aragaki Shinjiro, balance must be kept at all times. With Death, there is always Hope. With Hatred, there is always Love. With Despair, there is always Friendship."

"What the hell does that mean?" Shinjiro frowned.

Theodore sighed. "Even I can't bend the rules of Fate here, Aragaki Shinjiro. I can however tell you this: to defeat Death, one must first overcome your fear of Death." He glanced knowingly at Shinjiro's guilty face. Once upon a time, this young man before him had wished for Death above all else after all. Until he had met Yuuki, that is. "The one thing that all humans fear most in the world is Death itself. If you want to defeat Nyx, you must first overcome your fear of Death. You must not fear Death. That is the only way to save Yuuki-sama, and to defeat Nyx. The question here now is, Aragaki Shinjiro, can you do it?"

XXXXXX

~July 24, Iwatodai Dorm, Early Morning~

'What the hell does he mean by that?' Shinjiro thought grumpily as he made his way out of his room, having changed into his uniform. As always, he is the first one up and awake. 'How on earth am I supposed to bring about Nyx's defeat without Yuuki dying?'

"That's unlawful entry! Didn't we tell you to stay in the command room at night?"

Shinjiro blinked as he had one foot on the first step of the staircase, craning his neck upwards towards the girls' floor; the forbidden territory that no guy is to set foot on, or face Kirijo's 'execution'. Not even Junpei had the guts to tread foot on the girls' floor.

"What is going on?" Shinjiro wondered before changing direction and walking up the stairs instead. It is early morning, and they are just about to set off for school. The dorm rules are that no guy is to set foot on the girls' floor at night.

He found Yukari standing at Yuuki's doorway, slightly red in the face, with Aigis inside the room, along with a confused looking Yuuki who is still in her pajamas.

"What is going on?" Shinjiro asked, approaching the three girls.

Yukari brightened up when she saw him, and Yuuki smiled at him shyly. "Ah! Aragaki-sempai! Well, Aigis broke into Yuuki's room." She glanced at the blonde robot.

"I propose to be on standby in this room from now on. Is this acceptable?"

Yukari blanched. "W-Where is this coming from all of a sudden?" she demanded.

Shinjiro sighed. Knowing Aigis like how he does, he knew that the blonde robot rarely changes her mind once she had it made up, especially when it comes to Yuuki. "Isn't that all right? It's not like something is going to happen anyway. You might as well give in, Takeba. She doesn't look like she's going to budge on this matter."

"Uh…" Yukari looked nervous at this. "Well, you're both girls, so I guess that it's okay. It'll be pretty crowded in here though. Are you okay with that, Yuuki?"

"Uhh…" Yuuki muttered sleepily.

"Oh for goodness sake…" Yukari nearly groaned. "Get up and wash your face already! We're going to be late for school! And are you okay with Aigis sharing your room?"

"It's fine with me." Yuuki yawned and rubbed her eyes.

Shinjiro chuckled lowly to himself. He remembered many a time when Yuuki had slept over in his room. It might be easy to wake her up, but difficult to get her to keep her eyes open for more than ten minutes once you'd managed to get her up.

"Well, I guess that this will be Aigis' room from now on too." Yukari mused. She then nearly groaned when she saw Yuuki still looking half asleep. "For goodness sake, hurry up and wash your face already! We're going to be late."

"I will proceed to retrieve my equipment." Aigis announced, walking towards the door. "Is it all right to place the spare ammunition on the floor?"

"It's fine…" Yuuki slurred.

Yukari nearly freaked out at the word 'ammunition', much to Shinjiro's amusement.

"A-Ammo? N-No, no way!"

"But I must be by her side."

Yukari nearly groaned, silently pleading for Shinjiro to help, but the brunette senior firmly looked the other way, and thus, Yukari is on her own. "Oh well…" She nearly groaned. "I'll have a room prepared for you on the third floor, so you can stay nearby. And don't leave the dorm by yourself, okay?"

"I will do as commanded."

Yukari sighed. "I feel so tired all of a sudden," she groaned. "And I have practice this morning, so I gotta go." She shrugged and left.

"We're leaving in twenty, Yuuki. Think you can make it by that time?" Shinjiro asked the half-awake girl. "Aki is still trying to get Iori up."

"Yeah." Yuuki rubbed at her eyes.

"Everyone goes to a place called school in the morning." Aigis nodded to herself thoughtfully. "I comprehend."

Shinjiro rolled his eyes and left.

XXXXXX

~Back Alley, After School~

"You guys are starting to piss me off." Shinjiro snarled, turning and glaring at the three Strega members. "Just which part of 'I'm not telling you anything' do you not understand? Or do you want me to translate it into English?"

"It seems like you have no need for the suppressants any longer." Jin stated, pushing his glasses up his nose, ignoring Shinjiro's comment. "But it looks like the rumours are true. You and your companions are trying to get rid of the Dark Hour."

Shinjiro narrowed his eyes. "Whom did you hear it from?" he questioned.

"It is none of your concern." Takaya stated. "It is up to each individual how he will use the strength granted to him. But to erase the Dark Hour would be denying the very power they possess. We cannot tolerate that."

Shinjiro narrowed his eyes.

One of the worst things about being in a coma is that he doesn't know everything that has happened. Whenever Aki had visited him, he rarely talks about the bad stuff, apart from the entire Nyx business. Thus, he doesn't know just how the Dark Hour and the big Shadows fit into this entire scenario.

"You're welcome to try." Shinjiro hissed. "I won't let you have your way."

XXXXXX

~Iwatodai Dorm, Evening~

Shinjiro returned to the dorm in a very bad mood.

Meeting Strega always manages to put him into a bad mood. In fact, the only person who can turn his frown upside down is only Yuuki. Even Aki who is as dense and unobservant as he is had already noticed it.

"I'm back." Shinjiro grunted.

"Welcome back!" Yuuki chirped from where she is seated in the lounge, reading a novel of some sort, removing one of the headphones from her ears. There isn't anyone else in the lounge, and Shinjiro guessed that they must either be in their rooms or not back from school yet, especially Kirijo with her Student Council duties.

"You're alone?"

"Kirijo-sempai and Sanada-sempai are still at school. Yukari and Junpei are in their rooms, as is Ken-kun." Shinjiro felt his eye twitch at that name. Amada Ken had joined them in their dorm the moment that they have returned from their Yakushima trip, though he hasn't joined SEES officially yet. "Fuuka is in the kitchen."

Shinjiro felt his eye twitching. "I-In the kitchen?" He gulped in horror.

He still hasn't forgotten what a nightmare that Fuuka could be in the kitchen. He couldn't take his eyes off her for even a moment whilst she is in the kitchen, as doing so would usually result in something being burnt.

Yuuki looked bewildered at his horrified tone. "Uh…yeah? What's wrong?"

Shinjiro didn't stop to answer, as he could already catch a whiff of something noxious, almost like something is burning his nostrils, and he almost groaned. This is First Lesson in the Kitchen with Fuuka all over again. He thanked his stars mentally that Koromaru hadn't joined SEES yet, though if memory serves him right, he should be joining any day now. Back then, whenever Fuuka is in the kitchen, Koromaru would usually bolt out of the dorm, and only returned hours later.

Shinjiro made an immediate dash into the kitchen where Fuuka is, with a light blue apron tied over her clothes to prevent it from dirtying, a ladle in one hand, and she didn't even seem to notice that black smoke is starting to waft out from whatever she is 'making', though 'destroying' should be a better term for it.

Yuuki entered the kitchen only mere moments after Shinjiro, staring with wide eyes at her friend, and taking a look around the messy kitchen when just a few moments earlier, had been a clean and tidy kitchen.

"Kirijo-sempai is going to kill me." Yuuki groaned, covering her eyes with her hand.

Shinjiro's eye twitched at the black smoke or 'fumes' should be a better way to describe it. Only Fuuka can use something that is supposed to be food, making something that ought to be better described as a nuclear weapon.

"What…are you doing, Yamagishi?" he deadpanned. "Are you the one causing this smell?"

Big understatement of the year.

Fuuka looked surprised. "Huh? Does it smell?" She cocked her head to one side in confusion, not even seeming to realise that her 'food' actually has black smoke wafting from it.

There was a very long silence as Yuuki and Shinjiro both stared at an embarrassed looking Fuuka for several moments without saying anything, with one having an incredulous expression on her face, the other having a pained expression on his face.

Shinjiro was the first one to break the awkward silence.

"…What're you doing?"

Fuuka looked embarrassed. "Um… I was trying to make beef stroganoff…" She trailed off.

More silence.

Yuuki glanced over the table of ingredients in silence, silently noting that the once clean and sparkling kitchen floor is currently covered in flour and goodness knows what else, along with little bits of food. The brunette nearly groaned when she saw this.

'Fuuka better clean this all up before Kirijo-sempai gets back.'

Meanwhile, Shinjiro was looking at the table of ingredients, with half of the table already being covered in flour, as is Fuuka's hands. "What about the roux?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, I didn't use any! I made it from scratch with flour." Fuuka sounded proud as she said that for some reason.

Shinjiro palmed his face with exasperation. "Don't start acting all proud after you've burned it!" He nearly groaned.

"Huh?" Question marks were nearly floating above Fuuka's head, before she noticed the black and charred thing that could not possibly be called food in the pan that she's using. Said pan that had quite an impressive hole in the middle. "Oh, you're right. This is burnt. What should I do?"

Yuuki nearly sweat dropped. For SEES' analyzer, she sure sucks at cooking. And how the hell did she cook until she can end up putting a hole in a top-grade cooking pan that Shinjiro had just bought the other day?

Shinjiro scratched the back of his head, sighing deeply. "You got any of those ingredients left?" he asked.

Fuuka nodded. "Oh yes. I bought extra of everything."

Shinjiro sighed. If he knew Fuuka like how he does, she is pretty much a disaster in the kitchen. He'd heard stories from Yuuki about how she has to literally keep an extra pair of eyes on Fuuka all the time during their time spent in the Cooking Club to prevent her from burning the whole place down.

"I'll make it. Watch and learn," said Shinjiro wearily, suddenly sounding and looking very tired. He then turned towards an amused Yuuki. "Yuuki, you okay if we have this for dinner?"

Over Shinjiro's shoulder, Yuuki saw the raising of Fuuka's eyebrows and the slight confusion in her eyes as the analyzer looked from Shinjiro to her, and a small smirk then lit up on her face. Yuuki resisted the urge to palm her face. Great. Now another person knew about her and Shinjiro.

Yukari had cornered her the moment that they have returned from their Yakushima trip, and she had ended up spilling the beans to her best friend. The brunette had laughed, and had promised not to say anything, though she had said that they wouldn't be able to keep this under wraps for long, since there are no secrets in SEES, though she understood why they wanted to keep their relationship quiet. Yuuki knew for a fact that Junpei had suspected something, since he isn't as stupid as he looks.

"I'm okay with it." Yuuki smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."

Shinjiro blushed slightly. "Don't get your hopes up like that," he mumbled, one hand adjusting the beanie on his head.

Fuuka flushed. "I-I'm sorry, Yuuki-chan. Weren't you going to go out with Aragaki-sempai?"

"It's okay." Yuuki smiled, pulling out a chair and sitting down in it to watch them. "I have time today."

Shinjiro coughed into his hand to cover up his embarrassment. "Let's get started," he stated, tossing the remains of what was once food into the overflowing bin next to him. "Goodness…" He mumbled something incoherent beneath his breath as he glanced at the bin before glancing at the nearly full bottle of oil sitting innocently on the table. Shinjiro raised a confused eyebrow. "How much oil did you use?"

"I didn't use any." Fuuka chirped. "I thought that it would be healthier that way."

Yuuki bit on her lower lip to stifle her laughter at the look on Shinjiro's face. No oil used in a recipe for beef stroganoff? She might not be as great a chef as Shinjiro, but she is still pretty good in the kitchen. She has to be, in order to survive this long by herself as an orphan. Back when she is still living with her twin, she is the one handling all the cooking since Minato couldn't cook to save his life.

Shinjiro looked as if he is suffering from something as he had a pained expression on his face. "…How much red wine did you put in then?" he asked, looking pointedly at the half empty bottle of red wine on the table.

Fuuka shrugged. "I don't know. I poured it from the bottle until it looked like enough to me."

Yuuki was finding it very difficult to contain her amusement. 'Something tells me that I'm better off accepting Fuuka's offer to join the Cooking Club before she burn the Home Economics classroom down.' Yuuki snickered.

Shinjiro said nothing for several moments, looking as if he is in severe pain, judging by the look on his face. "…How long did you pour it then?" he asked at last, almost dreading the answer.

Fuuka looked almost hesitant to answer. Not surprising really, considering the fact that Shinjiro looked ready to either commit murder or to kill himself, judging by the look on his face, and Yuuki looked ready to explode with laughter behind him.

"Umm… Two or three seconds?" Fuuka offered unsurely.

"Is that a question or an answer?"

Shinjiro said nothing for several moments before examining the plate that contains the uncooked meat, studying it carefully. "This meat is pretty fatty," he said at last, turning towards Fuuka.

The meat rather looked like something that he had sometimes gotten for Koromaru as a special treat.

"Oh yes. I asked the butcher for the best that he had." Fuuka chirped.

Silence.

After a very long and agonizing sigh, Shinjiro pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. "…There is so much wrong here, I don't even know where to begin," he muttered sarcastically, and Yuuki snickered. Fuuka looked confused. "Don't start messing around with recipes until you've improved your basic cooking skills. Seriously…" He nearly groaned, looking at the near to overflowing bin next to him. "Don't you feel bad at all for charring all this food?"

Fuuka looked guilty. "…I'm sorry."

Shinjiro sighed. "Now listen up. Prepare everything beforehand. Chop everything that needs to be chopped. Measure out all your seasonings too. That way, you won't panic while everything is cooking."

"Y-Yes. Um, memo, memo…" Fuuka muttered as she searched for a non-existent notepad, finally finding one on her person, scribbling everything down even as Shinjiro began cutting the ingredients quickly.

"Gotta cook the onions at low heat." Shinjiro instructed even as he adjusted the heat dial. "They'll taste better if they're cooked until they just start to get burned." He twitched as Fuuka began writing his words down word for word in that notepad of hers. "Put that notepad down and watch me!" He stated irritably, making Fuuka jump slightly. "Here's the meat. When you put it in…"


~Naganaki Shrine, Night~

Yuuki was still laughing hours later after the very delicious dinner that Shinjiro had cooked, much to the brunette senior's annoyance as they took the usual trek to Naganaki Shrine. They tend to spend a lot of their dates there, especially since the place is quiet, and also special to them.

The two were currently sitting down at the end of the slide of the playground, with Koromaru greeting them excitedly earlier on before bounding off to who-knows-where.

"Will you stop laughing already? It's not that funny!" Shinjiro fumed. "Dear me…" He shook his head. "And I've just bought that pan that Fuuka ruined just last week too!" He mourned the demise of his brand new pan.

"S-Sorry!" Yuuki laughed. "I'm starting to think that maybe I should take her offer to join the Cooking Club, if just to stop her from burning the school down."

"Yeah, you do that." Shinjiro grunted. He then sighed. "For some reason, every time something happens that pisses me off or puts me in a bad mood, you'll somehow always be there, doing something to distract me from it, or something happens."

"Did something happen?" Yuuki smiled.

"Nothing much." Shinjiro shook his head. He sighed, recalling how they'd left Fuuka behind to clean up the kitchen as they left the dorm, with the small girl panicking just how she is going to get everything cleaned up before Mitsuru and Akihiko return. "Good Heavens, I thought that Aki is bad enough in the kitchen!" Shinjiro shook his head. "He can't even boil water without burning it. Makes me wonder how he'd managed to survive all these years after leaving the orphanage."

That managed to get Yuuki to stop laughing immediately. She gave a small smile. "Yeah, I wonder how Minato-nii is doing too," she mused, resting her chin on her palms, with her elbows resting on her knees. "He's hopeless in the kitchen. Can't even boil an egg on his own."

Shinjiro perked up. "Speaking of that, aren't you going to Inaba for a fellowship program with your tennis team?" he asked. "I heard Kirijo saying something about that earlier in the week."

Yuuki nodded. "Yeah. Just some training with Yasoinaba's team. I told Minato-nii about my brief visit to Inaba, and he said that he'll take me sightseeing." She smiled wistfully. "It feels like it's been so long since I've last seen my brother. He's attending Yasoinaba High too. So we might have more time together than expected. I'm looking forward to it."

"Well, it's too bad that I can't go with you. But I need to take some extra tests, or the teachers threatened that they will make me repeat a year." Shinjiro grunted. "Just stay safe, you hear me?"

Yuuki laughed. "I'll be fine! I think that it's Iwatodai that is much more dangerous than Inaba," she joked, and Shinjiro cracked a smile. She then turned serious. "Hey sempai. I've been thinking about this ever since Ken-kun had asked me to help him with his Mathematics homework, but… When are you going to tell him about his mother?"

There was a light sound over at the shrine just then, but the two took no notice of it.

Shinjiro winced. "Do I have to?"

"Yes." Yuuki said sternly. "I think that it's better if he hears this from you directly before something bad happens. If he finds this out by himself, I'm not even going to imagine what his reaction will be." She sighed. "If anything, I kind of understand just what Ken-kun is going through. Like him, I saw how my parents died as well. Only in my case, I was still too little then to understand. But my parents died in an accident. There is no one to blame—"

'Except for the Dark Hour and that Mochizuki kid.' Shinjiro winced.

Oh, he knew all right. Electronics don't work during the Dark Hour, but it doesn't stop 'time' from 'flowing' like how it normally does during normal time. It's just unfortunate that Yuuki's father had been driving just as the Dark Hour begun, and the car spun out of control, killing both of her parents. It is a miracle that Yuuki had even survived that night.

"—but in Ken-kun's case, he saw Castor killed his mother as he has the Potential." Yuuki explained calmly to Shinjiro. "How do you think that he will feel? And if he should join SEES one day, and you know as well as I do that he will, especially with how he kept asking Sanada-sempai for training tips, he will know that the Persona that had killed his mother is yours, even with how…different that Castor looks like now."

The evolved forms of Personas might look different from how they usually look like, but there is still some resemblance to their original forms. Castor, or Sandalphon as he is known as now, is no exception.

"I… I'm just afraid." Shinjiro admitted. "You have no idea how much that I kept blaming myself for it ever since that day. I know that nothing I can do now can make up to Amada the great wrong that I'd committed, but…"

"Dying isn't the way to go." Yuuki said simply. "Death doesn't solve everything. It is the coward's way. To live on, and to face things bravely… That is true courage." She smiled at Shinjiro's shocked expression, before closing her eyes briefly. "Everyone experiences sorrow. Everyone has a past that they want to forget, and everyone make mistakes. The past may define who we were, but it is the present that shapes who we will become. Death is all but part and parcel of life." Yuuki smiled at Shinjiro. "The counselor that I visited as a kid after my parents' deaths ten years ago told me that once. I didn't understand it then, but it is now that I understand it a little." Yuuki peeked at her watch. "Should we go? The Dark Hour is starting soon, and we should get going."

"Y-Yeah." Shinjiro nodded dumbly as he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

Is this Fate at work? Just as he's racking his brain to figure out just what that weird riddle that Theodore is talking about is all about, Yuuki practically handed him the answer on a silver platter.

Neither one of the two teenagers noticed the shocked form of an elementary student with brunette hair and an orange hoodie stepping out of the shrine mere moments after their footsteps died away, a look of hatred in his eyes.

"He is…"

XXXXXX

~July 29, Iwatodai Dorm, Dark Hour~

"Here it comes." Junpei sighed, putting down his cards as the Dark Hour arrived, illuminating his room in an eerie colour of glowing green. "The Dark Hour."

"I would have thought that you'll get used to it by now." Yuuki rolled her eyes. "But you should be studying for the upcoming exams as well. Have you even opened your books at least once?"

"Well…"

Fuuka's voice interrupted them just then, with the analyzer speaking through her Persona.

"Sorry to wake you! I detect a Shadow! Please hurry to the fourth floor!"

"A Shadow?" Junpei frowned even as Yuuki headed out of the room immediately, going towards the command room. "Hey! Wait for me, Yuuki-tan!"

Yukari, Mitsuru and Fuuka were in the command room when the two arrived, with only Akihiko missing. Shinjiro wasn't present either. Fuuka had her Persona out, and was concentrating hard, with Yukari and Mitsuru keeping watch over her.

"What's going on?" Junpei asked.

"There's a Shadow in the city." Mitsuru answered. "Yamagishi found it by chance."

"But…the moon isn't full yet." Yukari bit on her lower lip nervously.

"Actually, it seems to be just a normal Shadow." Fuuka corrected Yukari. "However, it is outside of Tartarus."

"It's near the Naganaki Shrine." Mitsuru explained. "Akihiko and Aragaki went ahead since they were both in the vicinity. I'm sure that between the both of them, they can handle any threat, but let's get ready just in case."

"Gotcha!" Junpei grinned and nodded. Catching the worried look on his leader's face, he nudged Yuuki. "Don't worry, Yuuki-tan! Aragaki-sempai will be fine! He's tough."

Mitsuru had an odd look on her face at Junpei's comment, and behind her, Yukari palmed her face in exasperation. "Aragaki?" she echoed. "Is there anything that I should know about, Hariyama?"

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Thankfully for Yuuki, the phone that the Kirijo Company had specially made for SEES that worked during the Dark Hour rang just then, much to Yuuki's relief. She has no desire to stand around all night trying to explain things to the redhead senior.

"Yes, this is Fuuka." Fuuka answered.

Akihiko's voice cackled through the transmission, enabling everyone in the room to listen to the conversation. Every SEES member had one of the special phones that they were told to carry with them at all times in case of emergency.

"We're at Naganaki Shrine. Sorry, but I think that you guys had better come. Right away." Akihiko sounded worried. "Hey Shinji, how is it?"

"What's wrong? Is it a powerful one?" Mitsuru asked, noticing how Yuuki tensed up at that.

"No, the Shadow's been defeated." Akihiko replied. "In fact, it was already defeated when Shinji and I got here."

"What happened?"

"Aki, hand that over." Shinjiro's voice could be heard over the phone. "Kirijo? We're both fine. The Shadow that Yamagishi told us about had already been defeated when we arrived at the shrine by someone else. Another Persona user. But the little fella's been injured. And quite badly too. I did whatever first aid that I knew, but I'm still no doctor. Is it possible for you to call for a vet during the Dark Hour? I want to save him if we could."

Beep.

The transmission ended, leaving Mitsuru staring at the phone in her hand with an incredulous expression on her face.

"Vet?" Junpei echoed in confusion.

"And 'little fella'?" Yukari asked in confusion. "Who is he talking about?"


~Naganaki Shrine~

A while Shiba-Inu that three of the juniors were familiar with lay on his side, covered in blood. Shinjiro was kneeling by the dog, trying to stop the bleeding, but to no avail. The dog whined at the teens as they approached him.

"Koro-chan!" Fuuka gasped, rushing to the dog's side. "Are you okay, Koro-chan?"

"You know this dog?" Mitsuru asked in confusion.

"Yeah." Yukari nodded, watching Shinjiro trying to stop the bleeding. "Everyone around here does. We have to help!"

"The bleeding is slowing down now, but we have to get him to a vet." Shinjiro informed them, not looking up from his work.

"Man… He's one tough fighter." Akihiko shook his head, watching his best friend at work. "He defeated that Shadow all by himself." He told them, impressed.

"Wait, does this mean…that this dog is a Persona user?" Junpei exclaimed.

Koromaru barked.

"He says, 'This is a place of peace, so I protected it'." Aigis translated for Koromaru, either ignoring or not noticing the weird looks that every SEES member apart from Shinjiro gave her. "There are flowers over there." She pointed towards the side of the shrine gate where a bouquet of white lilies laid.

"Those flowers… They must be for the priest who died in the accident." Fuuka said thoughtfully.

"So he really was guarding this place." Yukari mused.

Junpei groaned. "Uh, Ai-chan? Don't tell me that you can translate dog language too?" he asked.

"Canines do not have their own language. However, speech is not the only means of communication."

"This fella really is a rare breed." Akihiko smiled, patting Koromaru gently on the head.

"Confirmed."

"He's not the only one." Junpei deadpanned. "But really… First a robot as a Persona user, and now a dog? What next?"

"Alright, let's report to the Chairman, so we can conclude this mission." Mitsuru announced, ignoring Junpei. "As for a vet, it may be midnight, but I believe that I can arrange for one." She said, reaching into her pocket for her phone.

"Kirijo, it's the middle of the Dark Hour. At least wait for it to end." Shinjiro called to Mitsuru without turning around, and she flushed. "I think that this fella can hold out until then. He's one tough cookie." He patted Koromaru on the head, and the white Shiba-Inu nudged at Shinjiro's hand gently with his head.

"Arf."

XXXXXX

~July 30, Midnight~

Yuuki sighed as Pharos left her room as suddenly as he'd arrived, with his leaving being the end of the Dark Hour. She had gotten used to her little 'visitor's' coming and going by now, along with the cryptic comments that he always brings with him. Koromaru is currently at the vet and is still getting treated, though by the looks of things, it looks like he is going to make it.

Yuuki glanced at the calendar on her desk, flipping the page over to the month of August, seeing a red circle circling the date of August the first. She smiled to herself. "I see. Tomorrow's the day." She mused.

She flipped opened her phone and started to key in a message:

Coming to Inaba tomorrow! Can't wait to see you there! How are you doing, Minato-nii? See you!


A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus! I have a serious case of writer's block for this story, and is kind of stuck on how to continue. So I have a sudden few new ideas for stories, and is unsure if I should start those, considering the fact that I have about twenty six stories on my account, waiting to be completed.

Anyway, I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review! Also, if you have any ideas for this story, I'll love to hear it! Until next time!

Upcoming Stories:

Into the Ashes (Harry Potter)

After having the wizarding world turn on her like it did after the war, Hilda Potter fled, and in desperation, used a forbidden power that she swore to never use only to be sent on an even bigger task. A task that is even greater than Voldemort himself. HP/Tsubasa crossover. Fye/Hilda