Raymond Lightbringer : It's *censored*. Got it? No? Well, you'll just have to guess away...
I don't think he has the intention of telling you if your answer is correct or not, though.
Right you are, little dude.
RAX : Yup, she pressed the "parents" button, and then reversed it. Not even 2 months in, and she already screwed up Social Linking.
Quite a sad story... Didn't Yukari-san have a reverse scene?
One... No one likes to talk about how BS that scene was.
And it feels nice to be welcomed.
Ultimate Kuuga : Um...Okay then. Don't know how to react/respond to that.
Clevernameeh : Yup, he slice and diced until the Dark Hour. Assuming he left school at around 2, and the study session ended at around... let's say 3, he cut himself 8 - 9 hours straight.
Healing him constantly was quite exhausting... I wonder why he does that to himself.
No good love story is without conflict. And with how Makoto is... Yeah...
Nightlyy : Well, you see *censored*
There's a lot of censorship here.
I know, right?
Yeah, I'm inviting myself here. Don't give a damn what you say!
Hello, brother.
Makoto? What the fuck do you want?
Pharos is... He's just too nice. Yeah, I'm adding myself. Don't care how headache inducing it is, deal with it.
Home
"Hmm... Interesting."
Makoto opened one eye when he heard someone else's voice in his room. He sat up on his bed and saw Pharos... with his phone.
"Pharos..." Makoto called before he rubbed his eyes "W-What're you doing?" was the only thing he could say
"I took some pictures at school today while you were asleep in class.." Pharos answered, either not noticing or not caring about Makoto's shock
"H-How... Since when could you hold things?" Makoto asked, last he checked, Pharos was an ethereal being unable to perform any real interactions with any objects.
"I dunno." Pharos answered, his eyes still glued on Makoto's phone "I just could recently."
"And what're you looking at..?" Makoto asked as he moved closer to see what photos Pharos had taken with his phone.
The moment he saw what was saved on his phone, he nearly jumped out of his skin in shock at what he was looking at. On his phone were many, many, many pictures of girls... in the changing rooms.
"Oh my-" Makoto rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing. Not only could Pharos interact with objects, not only could those objects (apparently) teleport with him, but he used that power to take numerous pictures of the school's girls as they changed.
"I don't see what the issue is..." Pharos said as he continued to go through the pictures "Don't boys your age normally like these things?"
"W-Well..." Makoto struggled to find the words as he found himself looking at the photos with his very strange friend.
Pharos just kept going through them, seemingly unfazed by Makoto's shocked face "A lot of the girls look very nice..." he said as he finally started to reach the end.
"Um..." Makoto just blinked, unable to think coherently. He could tear shadows apart, he could walk through the 25th hour casually, but he just couldn't comprehend that his friend was not partly ephemeral and used his phone to take pictures of the girls in their underwear.
And then, they reached the picture of the one that Makoto recently had a falling out with.
The redhead had flawless pale skin, her trips to Tartarus and club activities had done wonders for toning her body, and she had an decent sized bust— Actually, her body's curves in general were very attractive...
... This was what Pharos saw.
Makoto's eyes flared for a moment as he painfully bit into his lip so hard that it started to continuously gush blood.
Pharos closed the phone as he noticed and promptly healed Makoto's injury, though the boy continued to dig his nails into his arms.
She dared... she thought she had the right to ask. She thought she had the right to remind him of the day he watched his family die...
"Are you alright, Minato?" Pharos asked concerned, there weren't many things that could make him this angry this fast.
Makoto took a deep breath and exhaled, not even his anger could make him lash out at his most cherished friend "I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" Pharos asked, not entirely convinced. First he'd been having more nightmares than usual, then he starts hearing things, and now this.
"As fine as I get." Makoto answered as he sighed, he didn't like it when Pharos worried about him. "I'm going back to sleep..." he said as he fell back into his bed "You know what to do, right?"
Pharos nodded "Sweet dreams." he wished his friend, and within just a few moments the bluenette was snoring softly.
Pharos sighed as he looked at his sleeping friend. At times, he wondered if he was truly enough for him. Makoto was dedicated to him and would do anything for him, but was that right? He only wanted him to be happy, but was he the reason he wasn't?
After all, what happened 10 years ago was all because of...
The little boy looked down again with a very downcast expression. If he was being honest, him driving Kotone away saddened him a little. He actually quite liked her from what he had seen of her, for she was the first person to insist on trying to befriend him.
Of course, that couldn't happen. It couldn't happen because of what had happened 10 years ago and Makoto truly believes that he only needs him and no one else. Granted, he could simply ask him to forgive her and apologize, but would that be right? Would it be right to just abuse the trust the 2 of them have, even if he thinks it'd help him in the end?
No, he couldn't do that... he wouldn't. He wasn't NOT going to use his friend, regardless of what he wants.
One Week Later ; School
Makoto had his head down as soon as he finished his exams. To the rest of the class, he appeared to just be another sleeping student. Kotone had settled on just giving him the silent treatment and generally avoiding interaction at all cost just like he wanted.
Of course, him appearing to be asleep made it so that the rest of SEES dropped their guard.
"So, what'd you get?" That sounded like Yukari's voice
"I aced P.E!" Only someone as sad as Junpei would think that's something to gloat about
The 3 of them discussed more pointless nonsense, until Junpei mentioned something about Akihiko wanting a student list for one of the classes.
What would he want that for...? Makoto wondered as he continued to feign sleep.
As soon as Junpei mentioned that, both Kotone and Yukari decided to travel with him to the hospital where Akihiko was getting a check up, finally recovered from the injuries he sustained from fighting the Magician months ago.
If he wanted a list of students... Does that mean he suspects that 1 on them is a persona user? That's the only reason SEES would have to be interested in another student. Luckily enough, it was for a class next door; They didn't know about him yet.
Still, it was nothing of interest to him. New persona user or not, it didn't really change anything for him.
...
...
It'd been a few days, and now things were getting strange. Now, some of the girls at the school had suddenly appeared in front of the school with symptoms akin to Apathy Syndrome.
Even Makoto was confused. They didn't have an after school activities, so they had no reason to be there for a shadow to attack them. Not only that, they despised school and their was no vandalism or anything, they were just... there.
Of course, students were also idiots. Now, there were rumors upon rumors that some 'ghost' decided to attack them or something along those lines. Even weirder, the junior members of SEES were asking questions about the rumors too.
It made sense, really. If there was shadow involvement, then SEES was almost guaranteed to stick their noses in it somehow. Of course, that left Makoto.
The bluenette stood on the roof that was more of less barren compared to the rest of the school and turned to his ghostly friend
"Any idea what's going on?" He asked. Pharos was the expert, everything Makoto knew was because of him.
Pharos shook his head "Not at all." he answered honestly "Perhaps it's worth investigating as well?"
"So join the bandwagon?" Makoto as he chuckled, finding it amusing how his and SEES' paths were crossing again.
I suppose there's no avoiding it... Makoto thought "Alright, little guy. Let's solve a mystery." he agreed which made Pharos somewhat excited. Mysteries were like secrets, and the little boy liked secrets.
He already knew more than what he wanted thanks to him ease dropping on his schoolmates, but maybe there was more to it than that? Kotone and the others had almost an entire week's lead on him, so the best idea he could think of is see how their search is going.
Makoto stopped by his classroom and saw Junpei... being Junpei. Figures that he'd prefer to be lazy apposed to actually doing something.
Yukari seemed to be thinking to herself, for some reason she was taking this mystery very seriously. Was there something that he was missing?
The boy dismissed the 2 of them, deciding to just leave them alone since 1 wasn't going to be saying much and the other didn't know a damn thing.
If those 2 didn't know anything, then there was 1 person left who was looking into this rumor...
...
"What do... I know?" The student asked again, surprised by the question
"Mm-hmm." Kotone answered as she nodded "Know anything at all about them?"
"Not really..." The student answered, still finding the line of questioning odd "... Aren't they the ones who people are saying were attacked by a ghost?"
Kotone sighed, he didn't know anything "Never mind, thanks for your time." she thanked before the student walked away still completely confused.
Makoto leaned against the wall with a small smirk forming "No luck, I take it?"
Kotone instantly frowned as she recognized the voice. Even after 2 weeks, she was still bitter over what happened. She apologized for her mistake, he's the one who's kept this going for as long as it has.
"What do you want?" Kotone asked, not even bothering to hide the bitterness in her voice
"My family back, but that's not going to happen now, is it?" Makoto replied as he felt his anger start to build again.
"Oh, ha ha." Kotone said as she rolled her eyes "I apologize already. You're the one being an ass."
"Whatever." He couldn't let his emotions get the best of him, he had to keep control of himself "You're looking into the rumor, right?"
That caught Kotone's attention. Rude or not, he might've had vital information "You know something?"
Makoto shrugged "Maybe." he answered vaguely "Not like I know what you know."
Kotone sighed, she'd been warned by her teammates about his little games. At first she thought that they were just exaggerating, but now she had more reason to trust them than him. Still, only way of getting anything through him was to play by his rules.
"There were 3 friends from at our school who are now becoming one of the lost 1 by 1." Kotone explained what she knew "And... Yeah, that's about it."
Makoto blinked "An entire week, and that's it?"
Kotone suddenly glared "Well, excuse me. I'd like to see what you have to say then."
From what he had heard, the 3 girls liked to hang out. But, there was 1 thing that he had heard that Kotone apparently hadn't.
"Hmm..." Makoto hummed in thought. He had heard at one point that the girls might have liked to visit a spot behind Port Island station, but he also knew that the place was also a popular spot for punks to meet up.
Of course, he wasn't in any real danger because of Pharos, but SEES... Not so much. And, unfortunately for Makoto, they were also the closest thing he had to a link to the Kirijo group and finding out the details of what happened 10 years ago.
Makoto turned around "I'll get back to you on that." he said as he walked away. Less she knew, then the less of a chance of her ending up there and making his life harder.
He heard Kotone yelling from behind, but he blocked it out as he put his earphones on and just kept walking away. He didn't precisely know when the girls liked to visit the place.
If SEES was a no-go, maybe Strega knew something?
No, they were nothing more than mercenaries. They were only interested in doing things and getting paid, something like this would be trivial to them. On top of that, how would he even find them?
The echo from the gunshots during the Dark Hour would make it impossible to pinpoint where they came from, not to mention there was no way of telling when they were going to kill anyone.
"Damn." Makoto muttered in annoyance and slight frustration. There wasn't a lot to go on.
If he was going to go the girls' former hang out spot, then he was going to have to go at during the night.
"What're we doing?" Pharos asked, he may have had many abilities but he wasn't a mind reader
"Tomorrow, we're going to take a little field trip." Makoto answered which seemed to excite the little boy more. Apparently he liked girls, secrets, and field trips.
Next Day
Makoto quietly walked to his destination under the moonlight. He'd almost forgotten how quiet the city is at night just before the punks came out and the Dark Hour settled.
But there was no time to think on that. He had to deal with this before midnight.
Makoto was just about there when he heard "Junpei!"
The boy sighed "Goddammit." looks like SEES caught on faster than he thought. And now, it looks like they were in trouble.
He peaked his head out the corner and saw Junpei on the ground, presumably after getting punched straight in the gut.
Well, they got themselves into this... Makoto thought as he continued to watch, not really caring about what happens to them. Saving them from their stupidity wasn't his job.
Help them... The voice whispered
Makoto shook his head and frowned. The voice had been quiet the last few weeks, but now it decided to show itself again.
Fuck. Off. Makoto demanded. He didn't care who/what the voice was, it didn't belong with him.
Stop wasting time! The voice yelled They don't have long...
To hell with them. Makoto replied as he rolled his eyes To hell with that annoying brunette, the lazy man-child, and that bitch.
You know that's not what you think... The voice said matter of factly
The boy put his hand on his head as he felt his head start thumping rapidly. It felt as if time was going in slow motion as Makoto and the voice continued to argue, unable to reach a consensus.
...
...
"Any last words?" The punk that had hit Junpei just a moment ago asked as he took a step towards Kotone
Kotone looked around awkwardly. If these were her last words, then she might as well make them noteworthy "You know, that's really smart." she said, eyeing the jewelry on the punk's face "Chaining your ear to your face so you can't lose it! Genius!"
"What the-" The punk paused for a moment as what she said processed through his mind. Then, he felt his blood boiling as he raised his hand to hit hurt...
... But, the blow never connected.
Everyone looked in shock as they saw an unexpected boy grab the punk's arm mid swing with one hand.
Before anyone had time to see who it was, the boy reached for the chain on the punk's face and yanked it as hard he could which caused it to tear off the punk's earlobe and part of his nose.
"M-Makoto...?" Kotone uttered in shock as he dangled the piece of jewelry
A small half-smile formed on his face as the punk continued to scream from the pain.
"You know, if you go to the hospital now, they might be able to save your nose... well, maybe half of it." The bluenette taunted as he tossed the chain to the bleeding boy
"Y-You little shit!" The punk screamed as the pain continued to overwhelm his senses
"Huh? What was that?" Minato asked as walked next to a wall and put a hand to his ear "Sorry, I can't hear you. Bad ear."
The punk started to run towards him "You son of a-"
Just before the punk could reach him, Minato stepped to the side which caused him to ram straight face-first into the brick wall.
"Forget what i said about the nose." Minato said as he looked the boy's bloodied face
"That's enough."
Everyone looked towards the source of the unfamiliar voice and saw a tall boy wearing a beanie and a maroon coat walking towards them.
"They didn't know what they were getting themselves into." The boy said, having an odd shifty look in his eyes "I'll make sure they leave."
One of the punks from the side spoke up "Leave? After what he did?!"
Makoto chuckled "I think he meant them." he said, eyeing his fellow juniors "As for me... Well, do you even want to try?"
The punk glared at the boy, but even he could recognize that trying anything on the bluenette would be a bad idea.
"You better watch yourself!" The punk warned as he and all of his friends ran off, leaving the coated boy, Makoto, and the juniors of SEES.
"Heh." Makoto silently chuckled to himself more. They one punk had forgotten his chain.
"You idiots!" The coated boy yelled at them "What in the hell are you doing here?!"
"Right back at ya, jackass." Makoto retorted as he shifted his glare to him, even he didn't like insults
Ignoring what Makoto said, Kotone walked up to the boy "Shinjiro, right?" she identified the boy "We're here-"
"To learn more about that ghost story?" Shinjiro concluded, finding that the only reason anyone would come here
"Everyone knows the story." Makoto chimed in "3 girls liked to come here, right? What'd they have to say about anything."
Shinjiro grunted, he didn't seem to be taking much of a liking towards Makoto already "All they'd ever do is talk shit about what they did to some girl name Fuuka."
"Fuuka?!" Yukari exclaimed in surprised which caught Makoto's attention
Quite the reaction... He noted. What made her so special that she warranted special attention by name alone? Was she the new candidate?
"You mean Fuuka Yamagishi from 2-E?" Junpei asked for clarification
"That's why people are saying that it was Fuuka's spirit that did it." Shinjiro continued
"Wait, spirit?" Kotone took note of that.
"You don't know?" Shinjiro seemed surprised "She hasn't been home in over a week. How do you not know this?"
"School covered it by saying she was sick." Makoto spoke up for everyone. Then, he realized that he was starting to overstep his bounds a bit; He still had to act like he didn't know about the Dark Hour or Tartarus
He looked at SEES "You're the ones with miss president at their dorm, you sort it out." he said, turning his back to everyone and walking away "As for me, mystery solved."
...
Makoto continued to walk home as he thought to himself.
The girls were all found by the school, meaning that they were drawn there somehow. For that, they must've had a strong feeling of guilt over whatever they did to Fuuka and the shadows must've taken them as easy prey.
If they did something to Fuuka at school, and now she was missing...
Well, I'll be damned. Makoto thought to himself as he put the pieces together. Fuuka wasn't just missing, she'd been trapped in Tartarus for over a week now. Now, her only hope was that SEES could figure that out in time.
"Hey! Wait up!" Makoto stopped in place as he watched his fellow junior run to him
"What do you want, Kotone?" He asked annoyed as the girl panted from the running. What did she want now? To probe him some more?
"I... just wanted..." Kotone tried to say, but still needed a moment to catch her breath "I just wanted to say, thanks for the help back there."
"I was going there anyway." Makoto said as he rolled his eyes and looked to the side "Nothing to thank me for."
"Were you now..?" She asked as she seemed to be looking him up and down "You kept that a secret so I wouldn't go."
"I can't imagine why." Makoto said as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously "What do you want."
The redhead sighed "You really are to-the-point, aren't you?" she muttered before shaking her head and standing up straight again
"Look, what happened the other day..." Kotone said while looking down, still feeling bad about her mistake. How he responded was wrong, but what else should she expect after he lost his parents at such a young age "I want to put that behind us."
"Huh?" The boy expected many things, this wasn't one of them
"I know I never should've brought it up, and you had every right to be angry..." She looked back at the boy "So, whaddya say?"
...
...
...
"Do you think it's that easy?"
"Huh?" Kotone blinked
Makoto glared at her again "Oh, you think I'll just forgive you reminding me of the worst day of my life?" he asked, barely able to control himself "Did you honestly think that a few nice words were going to fix that?!"
She shook her head "Not at all." She admitted "I just... I just hoped you'd give me a chance."
Makoto turned his back to her again "Go home. You're wasting your time here."
"You're right..." Kotone agreed, this time sounding somewhat saddened rather than angry like last time "... Sorry." with that, she ran off again
The boy shook his head as he put on his earphones "What does it take to get it through her thick skull?"
Ouch. He's really not the forgiving type, is he?
Well, she did press the "parent's" button.
I wonder how many thought he'd forgive her.
Played all of you like a fiddle, didn't I? I know, I know... I'm an evil sadist.
No, that's me!
... I'm a prick.
That works.
Agreed.
Fuck you, Pharos!