A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading this and I apologize for taking so long to update.

Note: Everyone who is reading this should revisit the start of Chapter 10 in which I had made a small but significant change to the first section of the chapter. I've introduced a new character to replace Makoto because as a reviewer pointed out the timeline isn't right. The character is NOT an OC it is, in fact, a character from Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (The one that doesn't have Hitler in it.)


Scar Tissue XI

Akihiko Sanada stood behind Mitsuru's usual chair at the head of the dining table. He'd just finished laying out the events that took place from April 2009 to March 2010 in and around Gekkoukan High that involved SEES. He'd explained Persona's, the Dark Hour and what had happened to Minato after he 'died' on the roof of the Gekkoukan main building the day of Graduation and how he ended up sealed in front of the Great Seal in the Abyss of Time.

"We believed he would be trapped there forever. The barrier between our world and Armageddon." Akihiko finished a sombre expression on his face.

"A bit dramatic don't you think?" Hidetoshi replied evenly.

"I wouldn't use that term if I didn't think it appropriate. If Nyx were ever re-released, it would be the end of the world. We saw its power first hand, and even with all our training, all our preparation Minato still had to sacrifice himself to save the world." Akihiko replied frowning.

"Or not as the case may be," Hidetoshi observed coolly.

"Yes, well. That's why we're telling you this. We need your help." Akihiko admitted.

"After Minato reappeared he was admitted to the hospital by a blonde woman," Yukari explained.

"Aigis?" Kensuke asked.

"No, we think she might be this Elizabeth we told you about," Junpei added.

"The one called… what did you call it?" Yuko asked.

"The Velvet Room," Chihiro replied quietly.

"Yeah, she was the assistant to the guy with the long nose, Igor…" Junpei responded before Rio jumped in.

"What about Igor then? Surely if Elizabeth is his assistant he'd know where she was?"

Akihiko shook his head, "I don't think it's possible for us to access the Velvet Room. The first time we entered that room I had the distinct impression we weren't supposed to be there."

"It is as if that room is for people who the host had invited. Like Minato." Yukari added.

"Besides the Velvet Room isn't a real place. He, Igor said that it existed between dreams and reality. I don't think it's a storefront we could just enter." Fuuka finished for the group.

"Then how do you intend to detain this woman? She could be anywhere in the world if she's even in this world, to begin with." Hidetoshi asked.

"She's here," Akihiko replied.

"How do you know?" Kenji asked.

Akihiko frowned replying, "Call it a gut feeling. Ever since Minato arrived, I've felt like there is a pair of eyes watching us every time we leave the dorm, more so when we're with Minato. Or at least that was before he locked himself in his room."

"Mitsuru told me the same thing before… she went into seclusion." Yukari agreed her face darkening as she glanced up at the ceiling.

"Then why do you need us?" Kazu asked.

"Honestly, we don't need all of you. We need those closest to Minato, the ones he trusted to help him find out what was going on. The four of us decided that we couldn't have any more secrets between us. It would be unfair to tell some of you without telling all of you. Though, for the sake of all of us, I would ask you to not share any of this with those outside this group. Mitsuru has spent almost two years trying to clean up her family's mess. There are still those who wish for all of this to remain a secret."

"And they'll kill to keep it that way." Yukari finished for Akihiko.

"What happens if we help you, will you tell Minato what you told us?" Chihiro asked.

"We won't have to; we'll find a way to break the spell that's stopping Minato from accessing his memories with Elizabeth's help." Fuuka offered.

"What if that doesn't work, what if what she did, if she did anything at all is irreversible?" Chihiro demanded.

"He might die," Kensuke replied leaving the entire room quiet.

"W-what?" Yukari stuttered.

Kensuke frowned taking off his glasses to clean them on his shirt. "The latest scans my father took revealed something troubling. The fluid layer that separates the brain from the skull is increasing in density. It's called Intracranial Hypertension, there is a build-up of fluid around the brain which causes headaches, vomiting, and other symptoms. Minato's headaches can be attributed to this build-up of fluid around the brain. However, without an underlying cause, it is complicated to treat. There are some drug treatments we can try to ease the swelling however if the situation doesn't ease we may have to take drastic measures to avoid permanent brain damage or death."

"What kind of drastic measures?" Chihiro whispered.

"The worst-case scenario would be a decompressive craniectomy."

"Fuck!" Hidetoshi exclaimed.

Kazu, Kenji and Junpei looked around the table confused which forced Kensuke to explain, "We would surgically remove part of Minato's skull to allow the brain to swell without being crushed."

"He wouldn't be able to live like that would he?" Junpei asked.

"No, we would still have to find the source of the swelling. There is also the risk of Minato contracting meningitis or developing a brain abscess while the brain is exposed. As I said this is a worst-case scenario and it's not something my father and I relish trying, especially as we have no idea what the underlying cause of the swelling is. I can't exactly say that a magical girl from a different dimension did something to my best friend to make him lose his memory."

"It appears we don't have a choice but to help you Sanada-senpai. The other choice is to let our friend die, again. That is unacceptable, agreed?" Hidetoshi asked looking around the table. The non-SEES dorm mates nodded their agreement.


Katsuya Suou yawned raising his glasses to rub his eyes as something nudged his arm. He looked down to find a cup of hot coffee offered to him by his partner Detective Kurosawa. Suou took it gratefully he sipped the coffee relishing the bitter taste on his tongue before turning to Kurosawa asking, "You wouldn't happen to have breakfast as well?"

"Bacon and egg roll. Best I could find at this hour of the morning." Kurosawa explained handing a small bag to his partner.

"Guess it'll do. Come on; the gang is waiting for us." Suou replied placing his coffee and roll next to Kurosawa's before they both entered the morgue where the medical examiner awaited them standing beside the body of Maki Nakajima.

"Gentlemen, I believe you've met my guest. Maki Nakajima, twenty-five years old, a resident of Iwatodai. Occupation, journalist." The doctor explained pointing to an incision on her neck, "I extracted a bullet from her neck. A small-calibre round. It's was damaged due by traveling through the spine, but I'm sure your forensics team should be able to make some use of it."

"Was it the kill shot doctor?" Kurosawa asked.

"Most certainly, the killer was precise in their placement of the bullet. They wanted this poor woman to suffer. She didn't die from the bullet wound; she was left to bleed out. Maki Nakajima's last hours of life were spent paralyzed lying on the floor of her apartment slowly bleeding out." The doctor explained a grim expression crossing his face.

Katsuya scowled his eyes disappearing behind his glasses, "That's sadistic."

"Yes, it is. Thank you, Doctor, we have an appointment with Ms. Nakajima's paper." Kurosawa said giving the Doctor a curt nod before he and Katsuya departed.


Katsuya Suou and Hachiro Kurosawa were led through the narrow corridor to the former desk of Maki Nakajima by her colleague Jono. Nakajima's editor was unable to be there to greet them when they arrived as he tried to hose down the speculation from his competitors regarding the murder of one of his journalists. Reluctantly Jono showed them to her desk staying to stand watch over his friend's work.

"What was your colleague working on?" Suou asked sitting down at her desk beginning to search her draws.

"I'm not sure. I don't think Maki was working on anything." Jono lied.

"Uh huh… How did your editor feel about your colleague not working on anything? I can't imagine he'd be pleased to know he was giving a full wage to a reporter that wasn't producing any stories." Kurosawa observed as he worked over her desk.

"He knew Maki's value. We're investigative reporters; we don't have a daily schedule to meet. We take a holistic view of things." Jono explained.

The detectives glanced at each other as Suou got up from the chair to stand in front of Jono peering at the younger man from over his glasses. "Are you sure you don't want to tell us anything?"

"No, there's…" Jono began before Suou stepped closer to address the younger man.

"I should tell you that impeding a police investigation is a crime. Now, I don't want to arrest you in front of your colleagues but I will if I must. You're a very poor liar sir, and I would hate to waste both yours and my time by dragging you down to the station. If you're not comfortable with talking here, we can meet somewhere." Katsuya dug his business card out of a pocket of his jacket slipping it into the front pocket of Jono's cardigan.

"I'm not finding anything, what about you?" Suou asked turning his head to consider Kurosawa out of the corner of his eye.

"Nope, I'd say the editor beat us to it." Kurosawa agreed.

"Thank you for your time," Katsuya said addressing Jono slapping him on the arm before he and Kurosawa left.

The two walked out of the building and drove around the corner. After waiting a few minutes, Suou received a text from Jono. It was the address of Chagall Coffee on Tatsumi Port Island. The partner's parted ways with Suou going to meet Jono and Kurosawa returning to the office.


Chihiro Fushimi stood in front of Minato Arisato's bedroom. Over the last couple of days, the entire dorm except for Mitsuru had taken turns in trying to speak to Minato, but none of it had worked. As soon as anyone from SEES or anyone brought up the members of SEES, they marched out of his room in short order. Chihiro had held back not wanting to see the man she loved in pain but their time was running out.

Taking a deep breath, Chihiro knocked on Minato's door and waited. After a few seconds, Minato answered, and Chihiro had to fight back a gasp. His face was pale and clammy, he watched her, but the light was missing from his eyes. It was clear to her that he was taking more than the recommended dosage of the painkillers he'd been prescribed to fight off the pain of the intracranial swelling. It was hard to tell what worried Chihiro more, Minato dying of an overdose or Minato dying from a brain hemorrhage. Squaring her shoulders, Chihiro pushed into his room her mindset and determined as she sat down on his bed.

"Minato-san we need to talk."

"About what?" Minato asked clasping his head sitting in the desk chair opposite. He turned slightly reaching for his pills but paused as he caught Chihiro's worried expression out the periphery of his vision.

"That for one thing. You've locked yourself in here since coming home from the hospital, and you won't talk to your friends. We're worried about you and the fact your self-medicating without anyone to supervise you makes it worse. Are you following the doctor's orders?"

"Yeah, sure." A non-committal Minato replied his eyes focused on his desk.

"Minato! If you're not taking the recommended dosage that could be dangerous!"

"I'm in pain Chihiro! My head hurts all the time! I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't even think! All I want is for the pain to go away!" Minato spat angrily.

Chihiro winced looking away as Minato relented getting up to sit beside Chihiro. "I'm sorry, Chihiro-san. I-I didn't mean to yell at you; I'm just, I'm in a lot of pain. It won't go away."

"I know, and we want to help you," Chihiro said taking Minato's hand in hers.

Minato frowned asking, "Whose we?"

Chihiro exhaled through her nose squaring her jaw and looking Minato in the eyes as she responded, "Everyone, well, except for Mitsuru-senpai. We hadn't seen her since before you came back from the hospital. But, the rest of us are anxious about you. We want to help, but we need you to want to help yourself before we can act. Please, I know you don't trust Yukari or the others, but you trust me, right?"

Minato bit his lip and nodded intertwining his fingers with Chihiro's. The two got off his bed and walked downstairs where the others were waiting. Yukari and Akihiko smiled as Chihiro led Minato to the table sitting beside him as Akihiko spoke.

"Thank you, Minato. I hope we can justify the faith you're placing in us."

Minato raised his head to look Akihiko in the eyes replying, "I'm not trusting you, I'm trusting Chihiro."

"I understand," Akihiko replied sounding a little downhearted.

"We should get started," Yukari said inviting Akihiko to sit down at the head of the table.

"Yes, well, Minato. We think we've found someone who knows why your memories are missing. However, we're going to need your help to catch her."


Katsuya Suou glanced at his watch irritably. It had been over an hour since he'd arrived for his pre-arranged meeting with Jono from Maki Nakajima's newspaper. He was beginning to wonder if he'd been set up by Nakajima's fellow journalist before the said man fell into the seat opposite him.

Glancing around to see if anyone else was nearby Jono reached into his bag and slid a bundle of documents in a manila folder bound by a rubber band into Suou's lap. Katsuya looked up into Jono's eyes with a questioning expression.

"That's everything Maki was working on. We were, she was undercover at Iwatodai University; she had a big lead on an old story. The press clipping is on top." Jono explained.

Suou pulled the clipping out of the bundle raising his eyebrow. He looked up to ask Jono what it was about but while he'd been reading the press clipping, Jono had left.

Returning to the office, Suou dropped the bundle in front of Kurosawa, "We have a problem."

"Oh?"

"Our victim was looking into an old friend of yours, Mitsuru Kirijo."

To Be Continued…


A/N Thank you to the following for reviewing:

Bad Mr. 7

Now review responses:

Novice: *Grins.*

RosyMianto18: I've changed the character from Makoto to Katsuya Suou from Persona 2. Thank you for your diligence.