Written by der kapitan


April 23, 2013

Naoki was still in the infirmary. Hei had tried visiting her as much as he could, but Amaya usually ended up kicking him out. "She needs her rest, Nakamura," she'd say sternly, narrowing her eyes at him. "I understand your concern, but perhaps the healing process will speed up with some solitude, hmmm?" After being blatantly turned away earlier this morning, he was beginning to think she might have a point.

According to Daichi-sensei, that Shadow spawned from her feelings for him. She had confessed and thus overcome her Shadow, but maybe he was being insensitive. She told him she loved him, and while she was his best friend, he still wasn't sure how he felt about her romantically. Romance had never really been his strong point, and now this…? Maybe it was better if he left her alone for the time being, so that both of them could think.

He heaved a sigh as he took his seat for class. Yuki, seeing him come in, took out her earphones and turned to him hurriedly. "Hey Hei-kun," she greeted. "Have you seen Naoki-chan today?"

"No," he grumbled, running a hand down his face. "Segimori-senpai kicked me out when I went to visit this morning."

"Oh." Truth was, she had seen Naoki earlier without any protest from the older student. Amaya must have noticed the effect Hei and Naoki had on each other and decided that the two needed some time apart. It made sense, Yuki thought, considering how much Naoki had gone through a couple days ago and how much she would need to recover mentally and physically. "Well, she'll probably be released soon. And you know Naoki-chan - she wouldn't want us to worry about her!"

Hei smiled, thinking of his pig-tailed friend's cheeriness. "Yeah, you're right."

The classes rolled on quickly after that, until it was finally lunch time. "I'm gonna get a soda," he said to Yuki, who was unwrapping her bento box. She nodded, though he doubted she actually heard him; she looked awfully excited about the panda-shaped onigiri she'd be having for lunch. "I'll be right back." His words were falling on deaf ears, but he thought it'd be polite.

With his hands in his pockets, he traveled into the hallway, intent on buying an orange soda - only to run into a blockade. (A pretty blockade, but a blockade nonetheless.) "Where have you been?" Natsu asked accusingly, one thin eyebrow arched.

He jumped back, startled, feeling like he was cornered. "W-what…?" Then it him, (quite literally) when he smacked his palm against his forehead. "Oh shoot! Kendo!" After his first meeting last week, he had yet to go to another. Obviously she noticed, considering the deep crease in her brow. "S-sorry," he apologized sheepishly, trying to grin.

Her sharp features softened. "Well, I heard what happened…"

It probably shouldn't have been a surprise; the school wasn't that big and people liked to talk a lot. Still, he wasn't sure how much he liked that that information was circulating around. "Yeah..."

"I know you've been busy, but see if you can come around today, hm?" she requested, sounding much more chipper, as she patted him roughly on the shoulder. "Maybe some kendo is the break you need!" With that, she skipped away.

He watched her depart, then walked over to the soda machine and picked up his can. He thoughtfully sipped the cool, orange soda. "Kendo, huh?"


After classes, he said goodbye to Yuki (who he noticed had run off in the direction of the infirmary) before heading the gymnasium. There was a small bounce in his step; he hadn't really gotten the chance to work with the equipment, since last time was about introductions. Maybe this time he'd finally be able to get his hands on a sword…

As soon as he walked in, an arm was thrown around his shoulders, pulling him down. "Woah! What the he-"

"Long time no see, roomie!" Touji laughed, grinding his knuckles against Hei's scalp.

"C'mon…! Lemme go…!"

A growl sounded from a taller figure as they were suddenly pulled apart. "Quit messin' around," snapped the dark-haired teenager, leering at them. While Touji just snorted and walked away, Hei swallowed thickly, intimidated by him and afraid of making him angry. They'd met on his first day in kendo club, and suddenly he could hear his greeting in his mind: "'Sup? I'm Takeshi Mikazuki, don't piss me off, and we'll get alone fine~"

Well, shit. So much for that.

"S-sorry," Hei managed, trying to not look too terrified. "H-Hey, so, uh, where's Natsu?" He looked around the gym, seeking out the blonde, but found that only the male members of the club were present.

"At soccer, probably," Takeshi answered gruffly. "Her practices usually overlap on Tuesdays."

His eyes nearly bulged out of his eye sockets. "Soccer and kendo on the same day?" He'd definitely thought the girl was a little mental when he met her, but… "Do you think she'll be coming around soon?" Though part of him thought it was a bit hypocritical of her to corner her and demand that he come to practice when she didn't, another part just wanted a familiar face around. He hadn't really gotten to know anyone else in the club, and aside from Touji, they didn't look all that friendly. It made him a little nervous, to be honest.

Takeshi shrugged, obviously unconcerned, and left to swap out his uniform with protective gear. Stranded in the middle of the gym floor, Hei suddenly felt incredibly out of place.

"Don't let him get to you," Touji chirped, popping up beside him. "He's not really a people person."

Hei blinked in Takeshi's direction. "Yeah, I can kinda see that…"

"He's usually by himself. I'd feel bad for him, but he scares me." With a snicker, the blond pulled on his helmet and threw a spare at Hei. "C'mon, let's get some actual practice in. Natsu swears we can actually win the upcoming conference and I think she's full of it, but I'd rather not have her on my case when we lose. I'll get you some gear."

"Is it just the five of us?" Hei asked, looking around at the nearly empty room.

"Nah, there are a bunch of us, but they blow it off a lot. We've tried sicking Oda on them, though, and that usually proves pretty effective." The redhead waited for Touji to say it was a joke, but he just laughed darkly. "More of them should be coming around, though, 'cause of the conference. If we win, we get to go on to Nationals, which means we get to travel."

"Where?"

"No idea. But it's a paid trip and it'll probably be in a big city, so who cares?" He threw some pads at Hei, then a black uniform, and finally a wooden sword. "The restroom's around the corner, thought you should know that by now. Hurry up~!"

Scowling at the authoritative way his roommate talk to him, Hei grabbed the handful of supplies and waddled to the restroom. It took a while to figure out how everything went on, but in the end it all fit together and, really, he didn't look all that bad! "I could be a samurai!" he cheered, grinning, as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"GRAAAAH!"

Jumping at the yell, Hei's instinct steered him towards it: in the gymnasium. What he saw was bizarre, but not altogether surprising. "What are you guys doing?" shouted a hysterical Natsu, still dressed in her soccer uniform. Narashino was on the ground, laughing, with a broken bokken at his side, and Takeshi was standing guiltily above him. "Mikazuki," she sighed, holding a hand to her head, "I get that you're determined, and that's awesome, but come on…"

"Don't worry about it, Akaike," Narashino said jovially, jumping to his feet. He swung his arms back and forth, as though testing them out, then grinned. "That was incredible, Mikazuki."

Hei thought he might have seen a ghost of a smile on Takeshi's face, but it was instantly wiped off by Natsu's sigh of exasperation. "Yes, incredible, but the principal refused to buy us more equipment last time, remember? And how the hell do you think we're gonna get to Nationals with something like this?" She scooped up the bokken, now in two pieces, and glowered at both males. "I swear, you two- Oh, Nakamura-kun." She blinked at him, as though surprised to see him there, and embarrassedly rubbed the back of her head.

The attention suddenly shifted to him, making him feel awfully uncomfortable. "Oh, uh… hi. Hey." He raised a hand in greeting, though really he just wanted to slink into the background.

"Hi," she returned weakly. "Well… Let's get to practicing, I guess." With a full duffel bag at her side, she brushed past him, heading towards the restrooms.

"You just witnessed the wrath of the Kendo Queen," Touji snickered, noting the dumbfounded look on Hei's face. "Though not quite to the full extent as I might have liked…"

Hei lined himself up with Touji, sword in hand. "She's really into this, huh?"

"Yeah, she's crazy."

While they did a few practice rounds, Hei felt a pair of eyes watching him the entire time. He shrugged it off, not wanting it to affect how he was doing - especially since it was his first day. Once they finished, Touji looked mildly impressed. "Are you sure you've never done this before? You're pretty good."

He couldn't help grinning as he pulled off his helmet. "Nah…"

"Good work," Narashino complimented, hitting him (maybe it was supposed to be a pat) on the back. "Maybe we'll actually have a real chance this year, eh? Don't slack off, Nakamura."

"T-thanks, I guess…"

After practice, the gym quickly cleared out, with Natsu only stopping by to say thanks before she left. "Oh, and make sure you show up Thursday! We'll definitely win the conference this year…" She ran off after that, without letting him say anything.

Hei went to pack his things, but felt a familiar presence behind him while doing so. "Uh…" He turned around, surprised (and a little frightened) to find Takeshi standing near him. "H-hey…"

The pale teen shifted awkwardly on his feet. "Hey. I, uh… wanted to apologize about earlier. I'm not…" He rubbed his neck. "Well, welcome to the team. You look really good, though you could use some practice. … Er, all of us could, I mean." He tried to smile as he extended his hand to Hei, and Hei could tell that he was genuinely trying. With a grin of his own, he took his hand.

He heard a crack in the recesses of his mind, accompanied by a strong voice.

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou has established a new bond…

It brings thee closer to the truth…

Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Death Arcana…

He shook his head, coming to, and gaze Takeshi's hand a small squeeze. "I'll be seeing you around then, eh?" The addressed nodded, then quickly scurried away, ducking his head. "He seems like a nice guy," Hei thought as he continued packing his things. "A little rough around the edges, maybe, but…" After making sure he had everything and that the gym was cleaned, he grabbed his bag and headed out.


While walking around campus, he couldn't help but think about Naoki. He'd never realized how much time the two of them spent together until now, when he was walking alone so often. That whole romance thing aside, he really just missed her companionship. "Maybe this means I should get some more friends," he thought, deadpanning. Sure, there was Yuki, but she was closer to Naoki than to him, and there was Touji, but he really didn't want to spend anymore extra time with his roommate considering that he lived with him. Natsu seemed nice, but he doubted she had any time for anything outside her clubs and he doubted Takeshi would have wanted to get an ice cream with him on a whim. Of course, there was Hikari, and she was kind if not a little quiet, and they had been getting along quite well…

But then he thought about Naoki and her Shadow, so he wasn't even sure about that. Ugh, what a pain.

"Maybe I'll just spend the rest of my life alone," he thought out loud. It seemed like a lot less of a hassle, and who was there to offend if he did? No one, because he would be alone.

"Otouto? Is that you?"

"Misako-nee-chan!" he yelped, spotting his sister walking his way. Her red-orange hair was easy to spot, as was the tan jersey jacket she wore over her uniform jacket. Despite attending the same school, he realized he hadn't seen her much, if at all. "How've you been?"

"I've been great," she answered, smiling softly as she quickly embraced him. "I hope you've been adjusting. I've…" She hesitated a bit, biting down on her lower lip. "Well, I've heard stories about you from some of my classmates and around school. You're not… getting into trouble, are you?"

Trouble? If fighting Shadows and dealing with mysterious things called Persona were trouble, he'd had plenty of it! Misako looked terribly worried, though, with her eyebrows drawn together and her fingers fiddling with each other. She didn't need to worry about him; as valedictorian of her class, she had plenty of other things to keep her mind occupied. She certainly didn't need to keep tabs on her kid brother.

"Nah, you know how people like to talk, 'nee-chan," he laughed, and from the look of relief she wore he could tell she believed him. "I can take care of myself, you know!" He gave her an affirmative thumb's up, earning a giggle. "So what've you been up for the past couple of weeks?"

"Oh, lots of studying," she murmured, playing with the ends of her hair. "I've barely left the library, to be honest. It's a bit embarrassing." From the blush she wore, he had to wonder if others teased her about it or not. She didn't let him ask about it, though. "Well, I've got to go. I have so much homework to do and it's only Tuesday. Take care of yourself, Otouto."

"W-wait!"

She blinked her gray eyes at him. "Hm?"

"Let's get lunch some time this week," he suggested. "I mean, just 'cause we're going to the same school now - doesn't mean we shouldn't hang out every now and then, huh? We're still siblings, after all."

Her lips formed another warm smile. "Of course, Otouto. Just text me, and I'll let you know when I'm free. I'm sure you're busy, too, but we can figure something out. Bye!" They both waved goodbye to each other, then Hei was left on his own yet again.

"Maybe I should just go back to the room," he thought dismally. It was a Tuesday night, after all, so even if there were others he could hang out with, it's not like any of them would be free. Aside from that, he'd been putting off Akagi-sensei's reading assignment and that would be sure to kick him in the ass later. "I guess I'll go be responsible."

His intent had been to return to the room, but for some reason, he found himself staring at another door: the infirmary. Hei swallowed thickly, thought about slapping himself; Naoki needed rest and she probably didn't want to see him anyway. Beside, if Segimori-senpai found out or caught him… He visibly shivered, not wanting to know what would happen to him.

But it was late, so maybe she had gone back to her own room…

He decided to take the risk. He quietly pushed open the door and slipped inside. The room was completely dark, save for a small light coming from the corner. All the beds, except one in the middle, were vacant. Hei tip-toed over to the curled body on the bed and smiled at Naoki's sleeping form. "Get better soon, Naoki," he whispered, pushing wisps of light brown hair out of her face. His fingers lingered on the softness of her skin and he swallowed thickly.

Creeeeaaak. The intruding sound pulled him back down to reality and he brought his hand back immediately, finally aware of what he was doing. Her lips, even in sleep, were quirked into a smile. He couldn't help himself; he grinned, as though that smile were directed right at him.

After a few more moments, he silently bid her goodnight and slipped out of the infirmary, completely undetected.