What He Left Behind Chapter 10-Hanged Man Boss and Betrayal
11/3/2009 Dark Hour
Hamuko gripped the Naginata tightly in her sweaty hands; today was the day that the Dark Hour would be abolished. The final Full Moon Shadow-the Hanged Man was awaiting her and her friends. She had made Minato stay behind, positive he would be fine on his own, but Mitsuru insisted that Koromaru stay with him, worried that he would get hurt by the Shadows if he was alone without any aid. Minato, of course, complained that he was still capable of using his Personas to defend himself.
As she lead the team towards the Moonlight Bridge, Hamuko began to feel something was wrong. A growing sense of dread was beginning to fester inside her heart. No matter how she tried to brush it away, it would not leave her.
Earlier, Souji had warned her that the Chairman was up to something, but everyone brushed him off and told him he was crazy.
Somehow, Souji was aware of the Dark Hour, but had no Persona. He would say why he was awake during that time, but the team made him stay behind with Minato and Koromaru. She sighed and rubbed her forehead;
"There's just no way the Chairman would betray us…Souji's just wrong about him…sure, he may make puns every now and then, but he's been a reliable guy. I'm sure he's made a misjudgment." she muttered to herself as she picked the team to fight the Hanged Man-Ken, Aigis, and Yukari.
She was taking Ken and Yukari for healing and Aigis for raw damage output. She was sure this would make the fight easier.
The wind was still and cold, no wind was blowing around. "This will be our last battle, everyone, be on your guard at all times." said Mitsuru as she looked everyone in the eyes, seeing their determined stares. She looked at Hamuko,
"Be careful, leader. There's no telling what may lie beyond this point, keep your guard up, Arisato. This is our last battle." she said, much softer than she would have liked to say. Sighing didn't make her feel better. "I'll be careful, Mitsuru-senpai." replied Hamuko.
Hamuko silently nodded as she went to give her selected teammates new weapons and armor and then the four headed out in the lead.
"…Dude, this place feels so creepy during the Dark Hour, man. It's feels like a zombie could come out at any moment and bite our heads or something…" commented Hamuko as her grip on the naginata got tighter. Her gaze wandered as she moved closer to her teammates, more nervous by the second as the oppressive atmosphere grew thick with tension. She felt suffocated by it.
"…Please don't say something like that, it's creepy…" said Ken.
Yukari nodded in agreement as she looked around her, at all of the frozen cars, at all of the Transmogrified people who had been turned into coffins, and even at a person who had become part of the Lost. "Yeah, it does feel scary, but we've got this one last Shadow to deal with a-and…" she stopped mid-sentence, pointing forward in front of her. Where she was pointing, Takaya and Jin were standing there…
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
1F Lounge, near the TV
Dark Hour
Souji's PoV
I know I've said this plenty of times, but I fucking hate the Dark Hour. I hate those black monsters that come out and kill everyone not in a coffin. But why do they do that and for what reasons? It feels like I know this fact, but it feels locked inside my brain and I'm unable to get it out. I shake my head; it must not be important. Minato-senpai even assured me that it was no big deal. That gave me comfort; everyone else said the same thing. So it must be true…but that voice I used to hear in my dreams said the exact opposite. It kept telling me that I was denying myself…whatever that meant.
Eventually, it stopped coming to me in my dreams. Thank goodness.
I sat on the couch in the lounge with Minato and Koromaru, stuck with nothing to do except read a book. No electronics worked during this time and it got old fast.
Real. Damn. Old. And very annoying.
I just wanna beat that online MMORPG that Junpei showed me-Innocent Sin Online. I chuckle; I must be really bored or something.
Minato, on the other hand, didn't seem to be affected or bothered at all by this…oddity. Was he used to it? I decided to ask him about it, "Hey Minato-senpai…can I ask you something? It's something I wanted to ask for a while now…" he turned to stare at me and I continued on, "…Are you used this…phenomenon by now or something? It seems like you expect it to happen. Why is that? Can you give me an answer?"
My hands couldn't stop shaking, but I couldn't tell if it was fear or just plain nervousness. My last guardian told me a lot about how I needed to stop it.
My senpai laughed nervously, having a hard time saying what he wanted to say. I could hear muttering something about the twins but he finally began to speak.
"Oh, um, about that you see…well, there's a very good reason why this is happening, Souji…" he fumbled with his fingers, avoiding my direct gaze. I frowned; he was stalling, not wanting to answer, as if he was trying to hide something from me. It must be one big secret if he doesn't want to tell me about it. We've become quite close in the short time I've moved here in the dorm.
So why won't he tell me?! God damn, I want answers!
Minato's PoV
Fuuuuuuuuck, this…was not part of the plan when I was told to keep an eye on him while the rest of SEES went out to stop the last Full Moon Shadow and get rid of the Dark Hour.
"Well, I want an answer. Minato-senpai, just what is going on?!" Souji's voice cracked and I saw a single tear go down his cheek. Poor guy; he was really scared now. I sighed and told him,
"Well, we really don't know why this…whatever is happening." I really hoped this lie would work. I held my breath as Souji thought what I had said over in his head and replied with,
"…So you don't know, Minato-senpai?" He sighed, rubbing my pregnant belly as he tried to stay calm. I moved back a bit to allow him to rub it better.
Oh great, this was gonna take a while. Even the twins inside me kept moving around…and Souji began to rub my belly again…
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Hamuko's PoV
We had finally arrived at the Moonlight Bridge and who do we run into-Strega. The bastard who had killed Shinjiro-senpai and his loyal friend Jin were standing in our path, blocking our progress forward. Assholes. Motherfucking assholes.
I raised my naginata, pointing it right at Takaya.
"…Get out of our way, Strega. Or I tear your to little pieces!" Every fiber of my being wanted to cut him down into tiny little pieces and make him pay. What he did to break my brother's and Ken's heart, not to mention everyone else's was unforgiveable. He took the life of Minato's lover and the life of the unborn twins' father.
And yet that bastard Takaya had no remorse. None at all.
Takaya laughed and spoke,
"…You know the significance of today, do you not? You claim you hunt the Shadows to prevent the disaster they bring…yet, countless lives are lost each day without their intervention. The power we wield is not itself evil. You cannot deny that." he spoke calmly, almost too calmly to me. I pointed my weapon in his direction in anger,
"Just what the hell do you mean?! If we don't stop the Dark Hour, the whole world will inevitably fall to ruin and you want to let this HAPPEN!?" Just how could those two be so apathetic to this problem? Yukari spoke next, also angry. It wasn't often to see her this angry.
"So you're just gonna let the whole world end like this?! How cold are you!?" she had her weapon ready to fire. I could also hear Ken and Aigis ready their weapons too. I could feel how angry Ken was now…
Soon, the others had arrived. And yet Takaya kept talking.
"So why don't you just admit it? You do not wish to end the Dark Hour…you are merely deceiving yourselves." I swear to god he just smirked slightly.
"Fuck. You. We are doing no such thing; we want to stop anyone from becoming the Lost again! And if you get in our way, you're going down! You killed Shinjiro!" I yelled, pissed off. He replied,
"Look within yourselves and you shall see…you are indeed foolish children." he shook his head as he reached for his revolver, now showing anger on his normally emotionless face. Jin was reaching for his weapon as well.
"Erasing the Dark Hour is the same as erasing yourselves. Tch, is even that beyond your comprehension?" he snorted.
"As I believed, our goals are irreconcilable. How lamentable." he pulled out his gun. "Jin…" he ordered.
"Forget these maggots…" muttered Jin in annoyance. He held a grenade in his left hand and glared at me. "Fate shall decide who'll prevail." said Takaya.
Everyone else got ready behind us in case we needed help. My team got ready next to me. I eyed Ken and whispered,
"…Be careful, that gun is what killed Shinjiro-senpai…he nearly killed you, too…" I said as we charged.
Takaya first tried to aim at me with his gun, but he barely missed me and the bullet hit the bridge railing.
"Shit, that was close!" I cursed as I summoned Eurydice,
"Magarula!" I commanded and she twirled around and used to her harp to summon two large gales of wind on Takaya and Jin. Jin snarled, stumbling and struggling to regain his footing.
"There's no cure for stupidity." he yelled, using his own Evoker and summoning the weirdest Persona, which only had one arm and commanded it to use Mudo on me. I could feel the dark circle form around me and I swear my heart stopped beating.
Eurydice was weak to Mudo spells, dammit! Shit, shit, shit! Please don't kill me!
"Fucking shit!" I cursed mentally.
However, the spell failed to hit me and I switched to Thanatos. Not taking that chance again, dammit…Ken saw this and healed me fully with a Bead…even though I was at half health only.
"Are you okay?!" he yelled as he and I dodged Jin's Maragilao spell,
"I'm fine! Just focus on Jin first! He's got Mudo spells!" I yelled to the team.
"Maziodyne!" yelled Takaya, who had given me no time to react before I was knocked to the ground, dizzy and unaware of the battle around me…
Ken's PoV
Damnit, that Takaya cheated! He didn't give Hamuko-chan any time to get up and now she was dizzy! Crap!
I reached into my pocket and grabbed a Magic Mirror to set up a barrier to protect us from one hit of a spell. As the lights swirled around us and set up the barrier, I spent my turn helping Hamuko-chan back up onto her feet. I smiled,
"Be more careful next time, okay?" I asked as she grabbed her weapon.
She smiled and nodded,
"I will, Ken…" she said, rushing at Jin with her naginata. He had no time to react to her melee attack when he had been focusing on attacking Aigis and Yukari with grenades. Hamuko's attack connected and the grenade was knocked out of his hand and fell off the side of the bridge. I faintly heard the sounds of it exploding way below us.
(Normal PoV)
"Bitch, you'll pay for that cheap stunt!" he yelled as he reached for his Evoker to summon Hypnos. His next Maragilao was aimed at Yukari, but he missed and the attack blew up a nearby car. Hamuko stared in a horrified state, briefly remembering what had happened to her and her siblings the day their parents died.
She, Minato and their little sister Naoto had been spared with only a few scratches, but both their parents were killed instantly.
She shook her head and regained her composure; this was no time to think of the past, she was fighting Strega alongside her friends…
She made eye contact with Yukari and silently signaled her to do a Co-op attack, and together, they rushed forward and made a critical hit land on Jin, knocking him down to the ground and making him unable to fight any longer.
Soon, Takaya followed suit…
Eventually after what seemed like forever, Takaya and Jin were defeated and knocked to the ground.
"Damnit…" said Jin, dismayed and displeased with being the loser. His clenched teeth pleased Hamuko; she wanted to see him suffer.
"Is their power THAT different than ours…?" That made everyone confused and Mitsuru asked what Jin meant by that question.
"Different?" she asked. "What do you mean by that, Strega?"
The grenade user snapped, angry she even asked that question.
"For us, it's not that simple. It has to be forced out. We're different than you folks." he winced as he tried to stand up.
"Didn't your pal tell you?" he snarked, reminding everyone of Shinjiro and the white pills he had taken to control his Persona Castor from going out of control.
Akihiko came to a realization as he clenched his fists, "So it was you who was giving Shinji those pills." he glared as he stared right into Jin's eyes.
"You guys don't have the slightest clue what will happened if the Dark Hour disappears, do you? It won't matter for normal people, since they don't remember anything anyway…but for us-" Jin trailed off, refusing to say anyone on the topic.
"Huh?" asked Mitsuru. But before she could say anything more, Takaya interrupted her.
"That's enough…" he stared at the group, who braced themselves for another long, drawn out fight.
"Now, then…Ordinarily, we'd withdraw…but not tonight. This body, as ephemeral as it is, it is worthless without my power…" Takaya began to move his revolver towards his head, sending everyone even Jin into panic,
"Therefore, only one choice remains. I shall prove my existence, here and now." he readied himself to pull the trigger, but Jin grabbed his hand, forcing himself to kneel despite being in massive pain.
"Takaya!" yelled Jin as he stood in pain. "What are you doing?!" questioned Takaya. He stared at his lover.
"Don't be so reckless!" yelled Jin. "Jin?!" questioned Takaya again.
Jin winced,
"Sorry, but those are your words, not mine." he turned to face the group and spoke, as he and Takaya steeped over the railings of the Moonlight Bridge, freaking everyone out.
"You win…looks like you'll get your wish…but let me give you one last piece of advice. Your pregnant friend…and the girl with the naginata…they're marked…go do what you came for."
"Wait! Don't tell me you're gonna jump!" Yelled Junpei as he ran in a futile attempt to stop the pair from committing suicide. "I'd rather die than surrender to you!" yelled Jin. "Take a good look; this is how we live!"
But it was too late; they fell over before he could do anything. Akihiko ran up beside him, "Those idiots, what the hell were they thinking?!" he pounded his fists on the railing in anger.
"They jumped…how insane. They'd really rather kill themselves than face judgment?" said Yukari, still unsure of what she had just seen. She really wanted to get payback for what happened to Minato's lover.
Everyone was in shock; why did they kill themselves? Everyone shared a common goal after the death of Shinjiro Aragaki: kill Takaya and avenge him. But now, that goal would forever be out of reach. "They chose their own fate. Don't let it faze you…" said Akihiko as he turned around to walk back.
"The operation has only begun…our true adversary is waiting…Focus on that, okay?" said Mitsuru.
Everyone stayed like this for a while until,
"…Let's go team. That last Shadow is waiting for us to fight it, so c'mon." spoke Hamuko coldly as she ran on ahead. But before she could get far, she tripped when Fuuka spoke up,
"What?! I'm sensing a Shadow back at the dorm!" she yelled, startling everyone as she kept speaking in a panicked voice. She clenched her fists together and began to blame herself for not noticing sooner. Hamuko smiled at her and shook her head,
"It's not your fault, Fuuka. The rest of you guys, go back to the dorm! The team I chose will stay behind with me! Go!" she ordered without delay and she ran off towards the Hanged Man Shadow, Aigis, Ken and Yukari right behind her.
"Alright, let's go." spoke Mitsuru as she lead the rest of the team back to the dorm…
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Minato's PoV
…Why I did I not realize that we'd be attacked by Shadows while the rest of the gang was gone? It was a pretty nasty one, too, one of those spinny tank-like enemies. Souji was knocked out cold from a hit to the head and he would likely not remember what would happen.
"Good thing he won't remember…" I said to Koromaru as he summoned Cerberus and commanded him to use Maragilao. The air was filled with cold air and a few icicles had formed in random spots around the outside of the dorm. Inside me, the twins were kicking rather furiously out of fear most likely. I didn't want to fight, but I had no choice, I had to fight to protect my babies.
"Throne! Mahamaon!" My dear friend popped out and summoned a bunch of light, but it missed and only killed a few minor minion Shadows that the pest had summoned. The Shadow proceeded to try and cast Bufudyne on me. Koromaru shoved me out of the way before it hit me and he got knocked to the ground.
Before either of us could get off of the ground, the Shadow cornered us both in an alleyway.
"Fuck!" I cursed; we're so fucking dead…
…And yet, we weren't hit.
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Hamuko's PoV
After I had ordered the rest of the team to go back to the dorm, my team plus Fuuka went to go fight the Hanged Man Shadow, now just a few feet away from us.
Soon, it noticed us and came down to fight us. Apparently it liked to fly. God forbid anyone would see that or they'd have a heart attack.
And its skin was being stretched in an unhealthy manner.
It set up three statues and floated back up into the air where we could not hit it at all. Fuuka informed us to focus on the statues for the time being. Each one had a weakness and an element it blocked. "Focus your elemental attacks on the ones you can hit!" I ordered.
I started the fight with a Makarakarn and the rest of my team chose to use their highest level of magic to attack the statues. They wobbled back and forth but did not fall down. I chose to switch to Thanatos to prepare a Tetrakarn the next round.
Yukari chose to use a Magarudyne, but she was interrupted when the Hanged Man chose to summon a Maya with a white mask.
"Great, it can summon Mayas…wonderful…" grumbled Ken as he summoned Kala-Nemi to use Hamaon on it. It missed and soon, the Hanged Man chose to do something to the Maya he just summoned.
It began to panic and flail about, unhuman noises coming from it.
I chose to guard, but the rest of the team chose to attack instead. Soon, the Shadow lit up like a bomb and the explosion was sent right at us. I was fine, but Yukari and Ken were knocked out cold. Aigis was fine, but low on health. She chose to use a Bead on herself and attack the last remaining statue, knocking it down and making the Hanged Man fall down to the ground hard with a thud.
Me and Aigis launched an all-out attack and did a good deal of damage. I went to work on reviving Ken and Yukari…"Note to self, Hamuko, make sure Ken doesn't wear that butler suit into a major boss fight." I said as I revived him and then I revived Yukari.
"Ken, next time, don't wear that suit into a battle…" I groaned as I set up another Tetrakarn. If we get hit now, we'd be knocked out for sure…
Yukari used Mediarahan and healed us all to full health. This cycle repeated for a while…
Half-an-hour later, we finally killed the last Full Moon Shadow and it dissapted into nothingness. We all let out a sigh of relief…it was finally over. I looked up at the sky, "We did it, Shinjiro-senpai, we finally did it. We stopped all the full moon Shadows and avenged your death!" My hand started to feel sweaty and I wiped it on my skirt.
"We did it!" exclaimed Ken as he jumped in happiness. He did look cute in that butler outfit….
Aigis soon piped up, "What shall our celebration cheer be?" she looked at me and Yukari. We both stared each other in the eye and said at once,
"Hip hip Hooray!" we yelled.
Aigis repeated the cheer and the four of us laughed for a moment until Yukari spoke up, "You know, I'm kinda sad to see the Dark Hour go after all this work…" she said, somewhat melancholy in her tone of voice.
"I know…" muttered Fuuka as she came back to us after she had left to go do something real quick. "But it's for the best…we saved the world, even if no one knows that we did…" she said. I nodded, but I soon felt a twinge of fear. Souji's words about the Chairman came back into my mind. But why, we could trust the Chairman…why doesn't he trust him?
I pushed such thoughts into the back of my mind and asked, "Fuuka, what did you say to Mitsuru and the others…?" I was curious to know what had happened back at the dorm and so did the rest of us. "Is Minato and Souji okay? What about Koromaru?" asked Ken as he stretched his arms and legs for a bit.
Fuuka nodded in a happy manner, "Yes, she just informed me that Souji is okay with a minor head injury, but he'll be fine. Minato-senpai and Koro-chan are okay too…" she trailed off and soon said that Chidori had been there as well. Apparently, she had gotten out of the hospital and went to the dorm for some reason.
"…I see, so is she going to be a problem?" I asked, rubbing my forehead. Fuuka shook her head, "No, she left just before the others got there…"
"I see…" I replied, "Let's go back…"
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
(Slightly before the Hanged Man was defeated)
"Bark, whine!" yipped Koromaru as he pulled at my leg. I moved out of my defensive stance and opened my eyes to see the Shadow wrapped up and tangled in chains.
"What, how?! How did a Shadow…oh, wait…this happened back in April…"
My jaw dropped open and so did Koromaru's.
"That's far enough. You've done enough damage." said a female voice, one that we recognized as belonging to…Chidori Yoshino. She walked out of the Shadows, still hanging onto the chain, which I now saw as being attached to an axe.
My gut wrenched; it reminded me of Shinjiro…everything these days reminded me of Shinjiro.
But why was Chidori here at the dorm instead of the hospital? I made a mental note to ask her later and thanked her for coming to our aid. She nodded and she grabbed her Evoker to summon Medea, commanding it to use Agidyne on the large Shadow, finally defeating it and we all watched as it dissipated into nothing.
Me and Koromaru both let out a sigh of relief and took a moment to calm down before we started asking Chidori why she was here. There must be a reason why she's here again.
But before we could ask, her eyes widened as she laid eyes on Souji, "…It can't be…is it really him, after all these years?" she spoke as she ran over to his unconscious body, checking his pulse and everything else. We walked over as well, and I asked the question, "How did you escape from the hospital and why are you here?" She, at first, did not answer as she kept checking Souji's body. I could hear Koromaru growling a bit, but I stopped him from going at Chidori and waited for her to reply with an answer.
"It was easy; the guards were coffins, so I could slip out rather unnoticed. And it didn't take me long for me to find this dorm at all…" she paused before continuing, a chuckle of amusement coming from her,
"And what about you? Why are you here with the dog? And…you're pregnant…" she saw my stomach up close for the first time and was baffled by it. I guess she's never seen a pregnant person up close before by her reaction.
I decided to answer her,
"Koromaru here stayed behind with me to protect me and Souji…" Literately as soon as I said my friend's name, she gasped in shock and grabbed me,
"This is Souji!?" she yelled as if she knew him.
Koromaru's PoV
Mina-chan looked scared when Chidori grabbed him like that; anyone would be. I let out a whine as I sniffed Bowl-Cut's knocked-out body and soon, he began to wake up…moaning in pain. Chidori rushed past me and held Souji close to her body. Just what was she thinking?
"…Wha? Huh?" he moaned as his eyes opened, staring right up at the girl. She was crying in what seemed like joy to me. Humans can be so confusing sometimes…
After what seemed like forever, he spoke again, "…Who are you and why are you holding me?" he got up and out of her arms in confusion. Chidori seemed shocked by his reaction, "What do you mean 'Who are you?' It's me, Chidori! Your big sister!" she said in an energetic way, waving her hands in a dramatic manner.
…Big sister? Chidori was his and Akihiko's littermate? Now I'm REALLY confused. Souji paused, unsure of what to say, his face looked like he was deep in thought. After a while, he responded,
"…Nee…san? Nee-san…is that…you?" he seemed to have remembered her as she got up and hugged him back, him doing the same tight hug.
Soon, Chidori went into a long explanation on how she knew him, but Souji only seemed to recall certain parts of their shared past. He remembered nothing of the Dark Hour, but there was one thing she said that bothered me.
That last night she spent with Souji was 10 years ago on the night of the Moonlight Bridge explosion. I wasn't alive back then, but Mitsuru-chan told everyone that a large explosion had occurred and that very explosion had taken the lives of Hamuko and Minato's parents. It seemed not much was made public, but I had overheard The Punmaker talking about 'a large Shadow that would save us all.' and 'Make sure they keep killing those 12 Shadows.'
Suddenly, I caught the scents of everyone else coming back and barked to let them know they were coming.
"Chidori, you may want to leave. Like now!" yelled Minato as he scrambled to come up with an excuse for Mitsuru and the others.
She took one look at Souji and left out an open window.
Minato's PoV
"There goes Chidori…" I muttered, rubbing my pregnant belly as I sat down on the couch in exhaustion and relief. Souji sat down next to me along with Koromaru.
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11/4/2009 Early Morning, Souji's room
4:00 am, same day.
Souji's PoV
So apparently, I got knocked out last night by a falling light fixture from what Minato-senpai told me.
"Yeah right, liar. I know better…can't hide shit like that from me forever, I'll find out the truth." I knew Minato was lying, but it would be pointless to press the matter. After staring up at my room's ceiling for forever, I decided to read another part of Shinji's diary and resume where I left off. I came to the realization that Shinji must have been killed in a random crime.
There's no such thing as a Persona…
The room had gotten musty, so I opened the window for some fresh air. It was barely light outside, so not many people were up at this time, save for the busy workers. I envy those bastards; my brother was a hard worker as a kid.
Before I went to go read, something out the corner of my eye caught my attention: Chidori, the woman who visited us last night at the dorm.
No one else knew she had come here, just me, Minato-senpai, and Koromaru. It took a lot of lying for Minato to convince the others nothing bad had happened. Strangely enough, there was ice here and there, scattered about all over the dorm. Everyone worked for an hour to remove it all, even the Chairman.
My head suddenly started to hurt a LOT, like a 1,000 needles were coming out from inside my head, so I let out a pained cry and slid to the floor, clutching my head in pain. Soon, loud footsteps came from outside and my door flew open, my brother Akihiko and the Chairman came up to me.
"H-hey, what's wrong!?" he yelled, touching my head gently. I cried but much quieter as he rubbed it softly to try and alleviate my pain somehow. Ikutsuki asked what had happened and I told them,
"…I opened the window for some fresh air 'cause my room had gotten stuffy and I was about to lie back down on the bed when I saw a girl…she had red hair and that's when my head started to hurt." a tear came out of my eye and my brother wiped it away.
"Hmmm…I wonder…could it be her, Akihiko? I don't recall anyone else with red hair that I've seen recently." asked the Chairman as he tried to figure out the cause of my pain. He stayed like that for a while until more loud footsteps started up and soon, everyone in the fucking dorm was in my room. How everyone is fitting in here is beyond my mental reach at the moment.
"What's going on?! What's wrong with Souji-kun!?" gasped Fuuka as she came and hugged me gently, rubbing my back as I burst out sobbing in pain as my headache grew worse again. The Chairman and my brother looked out the window…
Akihiko's PoV
Just what did my brother see to cause him such pain? "Akihiko, over there! Look!" pointed the Chaiman as he directed my attention to the entrance of our dorm. It was Chidori! How did she escape!? My heart raced as I took off, running outside the room, down the stairs, and practically ripped the door open to go after her. "Senpai, wait up!" Junpei's voice was right behind me, I glanced behind me and made eye contact.
"Junpei, I know you don't want to fight…" I began, but he cut me off as we both turned a corner to get to Chidori. He grunted in annoyance; not pleased with what I was saying. Soon he began talking and saying that Chidori wasn't a bad person.
…Stockholm Syndrome, anyone? I mean really, she kidnaps him and he says she's a good person? I shake my head as we find Chidori, standing at the end of the alleyway. We took a moment to catch our breath before Junpei walked up to her and smiled,
"Hey, Chidori…um…"
She turned to face him and returned the smile, "Junpei…I…" she paused before she began to speak again, saying something that caught us both by surprise.
"…You were wondering why I'm not in the hospital, aren't you? Well if you must know, I was here because I overheard you talking about Souji the last time you were in the hospital, so…I came here." she finished, somewhat amused by Junpei and Akihiko's reaction of shock. She twirled around her hair as the two began to talk with each other in a whisper. After a moment, they both turned around,
Akihiko was the first to speak up with a question,
"You know my younger brother?" he asked, somewhat stressing the question with a growl. He was not amused that she was here and not in the hospital. She nodded and began to tell them how she knew Souji.
What she told them made their stomachs knot up in horror; Souji had been used as an experiment in a secret Kirijo project?
"Mitsuru did mention something like that not too long ago, is that what you're talking about? Takaya and Jin were part of this?" asked Junpei, somewhat unsure how to ask his crush another question. Scratching his chin didn't help distract him.
The red haired girl chuckled,
"Yes, they were. I was the third one to be taken to be experimented on. Souji was right after me…he was lucky to even survive. There's something I wish to ask you…" she paused, unsure if she should ask this question. Would they accept her as a member of SEES, even after she had kidnapped Junpei and held him hostage?
The fact that Souji was not only alive, but had not forgotten her was enough motivation for her to make up her mind.
Takaya and Jin had done enough damage in her eyes. And she had been so blind to it all.
"What do you want to say, Chidori?" asked Junpei, smiling his grin. Chidori summed her courage and asked if she could join SEES…
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Minato's PoV
So Chidori asked to join SEES? That took me by surprise, even when Junpei said it was her idea and not his own. I rubbed my forehead; was this a good idea? I turned to ask Mitsuru this. She replied rather calmly, much more calmly than I thought she would.
"She seems to have changed a lot thanks to Iori, not to mention she seems to get along well with Souji-kun. I think…it would be a good thing for her to join. She'd be able to help us with detailed information about the Dark hour…" she paused, hesitating to say what I knew she would most likely say, "…and that experiment she talked about bothers me."
I nodded and smiled, hoping to change the topic,
"…So have you thought of any names for the twins?" I was hopeful she'd pick out some good ones. As if she was reading my mind, she chuckled and answered,
"Since your twins will be born in the springtime around the beginning of March, I chose the names Haruko and Michiko. I won't pressure you to pick those names; I thought you'd like them." she smiled a smile I had not seen before, so I thanked her for the names and wrote them down on my list of baby names.
"She must have changed her mind on them being boys…maybe she secretly wants the twins to be girls."
"I see you've made quite the list already, Minato…" she peered down at my list, which was almost full on the first page.
"And it's rather long now that I look at it. You've been busy…"
"I have; everyone's given me names, even my friends at school have pitched in! I swear, I have so many names on this list!"
We laughed for a while…until Ikutsuki called us over to talk about Chidori joining us. We all sat down in the command room.
"As you can see, Chidori has decided to join us." he said, looking at her briefly before continuing to talk. She wasn't really talking to anyone expect Souji and Junpei. Social skills she was definitely lacking; she wasn't making eye contact with anyone else.
"She was part of Strega, but she has switched sides." he added.
"It seems like she made the decision to join us because of Junpei's influence." he said, glancing at Junpei, who was grinning his usual grin.
Souji as sitting next to her, I noticed as they were talking to each other as if they had not been separated in forever. They really must have missed each other. They seemed to be talking about what they had been through since they had been separated so man years ago. Chidori told him about her life in Strega, but Souji only was able to understand bits and pieces of her story. She seemed to talking about Takaya and Jin's abusive behavior towards her. "Poor girl, she's had it rough…and yet she had the strength to give Souji a better life…" I muttered as I sat back down on one of the chairs near the kitchen. It creaked a little,
"This thing needs oil…" I muttered in annoyance.
He soon told her about his life in the orphanage and meeting his brother and sister for the first time. He even told her about his burn scars that he had gotten during the fire, the time he tried to stop Akihiko and Shinjiro from stealing a doll from a toy store, and a lot of other stuff.
After a while, the Chairman ended the meeting and we all went back to what we had been doing beforehand. Koromaru was with Ken, chewing on a bone and watching Phoenix Rangerman on TV. Mitsuru and Akihiko were debating on what to do next. Mot likely, they were talking about school, but I did overhear something about a party. Junpei practically begged her to order a shit ton of sushi.
Junpei, again, was talking to Chidori after she had finished with talking to Souji-kun. He can't stay away from her at all. Souji had left to go upstairs for some reason. He must be tired; we've been talking on and off all day, no wonder the poor kid's dead tired. He might oversleep tomorrow, so I guess I'll wake him up when we need to go to school. It's his first day there tomorrow, after all. I remember mine.
Soon, it was time to go to sleep…would the Dark Hour be gone? Part of me expressed doubts, but I kept them secret, hoping not to put any more pressure on the team even though I didn't fight anymore.
As I got in bed, I soon fell asleep…dreaming of Shinjiro again…
The next morning…
11/5/2009 Early morning
Minato's PoV
"Good Morning." said a voice I had missed dearly, Pharos had come back, but during the daytime. I got up on my elbows and smiled, "Hey Pharos, it's been a while…" I said, still half-asleep. The child smiled back,
"I remember everything now, about the End and all…" he said, looking away upset. "I…will be going soon…" he sighed. My heart wrenched; I liked him and he was leaving for good? Part of me knew why…and soon, he left, leaving me alone most likely for good this time. I wonder if he saw Hamuko before he left? She liked him just as much as I did.
I remembered after I had glanced at the calendar that my next ultrasound was today. Today would be the day we'd know the genders of the twins inside me. My intuition told me they'd be girls. After I got dressed, I went to see Hamuko standing right outside my door. From her sad expression, she must have already seen Pharos. Gently, I touched her shoulder and comforted her until she felt better.
"Thanks…" she said, and that's all she said on the way to school. As we walked up to the school gates, I overheard two girls talking about a new transfer student in my classroom. I left and went to my classroom and sat in my seat. As soon as I sat down, I could hear the snickers of some of the boys behind me. Those boys hated me for some reason and kept teasing me on being pregnant, even going as far as insulting Shinjiro's death.
"Remind me to punch them later…" I told Orpheus in my mind. Soon, Ms. Toriumi silenced the classroom and began to speak, "Alright everyone, we have a new transfer student…" When the transfer student walked in, I swear to god my heart stopped…