Back again! Sorry for the delay of the chapter, my hamster just died and it seems to affect my writing skills. I'm also happy about all the reviews! I hope you keep enjoying the chapters!
Disclaimer: I don't own persona!
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"Hiya!" Hamuko swung her naginata at the Shadow, successfully slashing one of it's legs off. The creature shrieked loudly, almost making her ears burst. It turned around, throwing a fire ball at the girl that was countered by Eurydice and her lyre. The Persona gave out a sharp cry, summon a block of ice that flew at the enemy, knocking it down. It only took another powerful strike of her weapon to turn it into black mist. She looked over at her team-mates who were also done with their foes. She gave them all a satisfied nod. "Alright. The next car should be the front one. Get ready for combat." The others nodded back at her and they opened the door. What they saw was not what they expected.
"What the hell? Is this the frickin' boss?" Junpei exclaimed as he stared at the Shadow in front of them. It had the form a beautiful young women with a red butterfly mask, one side of her body colored in black the other in white. It's hair was looking like scrolls of paper, occupying almost half of the whole compartment. But that wasn't what caught the teens' eyes. It was the fact that it was sitting there, legs spread wide and only a piece of cloth covering its lower body and part of its legs. Minato could already feel the heat crawl up his neck but he tried his best to suppress the blush.
"This is the source of the power. It is not like anything we've encountered up until now, so be cautious." he heard Mitsuru say just as a Bufu attack barely missed him. The bluenette raised Aoi Chou, ready to rush at the enemy. He looked over at his sister. When she gave him a nod, he began to ran. He raised his Evoker to his head and was about to pull the trigger when a ghost-like Shadow appeared in front of him. It tried to tackle into him but he swiftly dodged by jumping back a few meters. He looked around, spotting an exact replica of the one that attacked him floating in front of his sister. "It got reinforcements? How annoying." Hamuko clicked her tongue, raising her own weapon.
"Senpai! We need a analysis of the big one! Now!" She shouted, dashing onto the enemy herself. One of the smaller ones threw itself at her but she was faster and pointed her fake gun at her head. "Persona!" The golden creature emerged in front of her, raising her instrument. A block of ice flew at the enemy, immediately destroying it. She turned to the other one, repeating the procedure. A smirk entered her face and she turned to the two-colored one. She ordered Eurydice to do the same as before and a wave of pain hit her brother. He snapped his eyes open and ran toward her.
"No!" He pushed her out of the way, evading the reflected ice. A static crackle could be heard and their upperclassman spoke up again.
"Be careful! Ice, Darkness and Light won't work on it!" Just as she said that, a new Shadow appeared, trying to hit them with an Agi attack. The bluenette summoned Orpheus making him counter the ball with his lyre. He stoop up from the ground and raised his sword again, dashing onto the enemy. He dodged the small one, running right up to the female, his Persona following him. He nodded at his other self, making him throw a fire spell at the creature. It gave a loud shriek but kept its composure. Hamuko clicked her tongue, her head snapping to Junpei and Yukari who still stood frozen at the door.
"What are you doing? Help him out, damn it!" The two teens nodded, rushing into the fight. The red-head picked herself up from the floor and began to run, too. Minato observed her from the corner of his eyes but was snapped out of it as a gigantic hand tried to grab him. He evaded it, and slashed it with his blade. On the other side of the car, his sister did the same with her naginata. Yukari threw Garu attacks at the enemy, trying to make as much damage as possible. Junpei's Hermes was flying around, continuously hitting and slashing the Shadow. One particular hit it square on the face, making it cry and fall to the ground.
"Alright! One more!" The baseball player shouted, victoriously and his other self threw a fire ball at the Shadow. It cried yet again, desperately trying to get up. Their healer raised her bow and shot an arrow at the creature, making it dissolve. "Alright, we won!" He looked out of the window, his smile fading from his lips. "Hey, why're we still moving!"
"We're going too fast! We have to put on the brakes, or else...!"
"What are you waiting for? There's a train up ahead!"
"Damn it! I don't know how to stop this thing!" Panic raced through all og them until Hamuko gave a confident nod.
"Leave it to me!" She shouted, running up into the control room. Minato ran up to one of the windows, looking out for the other train. It was only a few more meters ahead of them and he snapped his eyes shut, only hearing a squeaking noise and feeling a hard pull.
"Kyaaaah!" He opened them again to notice that he was lying on the floor, totally uninjured except the ones he had from the battles. He picked himself up, his knees still like mush. He looked over at the other who did the same.
"D-Did we stop..?" Junpei asked in a shaking voice. Yukari was in the same state, barely able to keep herself up.
"I think so..."
"Is everybody alright?" Mitsuru asked through the communicator that lay on the floor. The bluenette walked up to it and picked it up.
"Yeah, we are alright, Senpai. No one is severely hurt. Just a little shaken." he responded, his voice oddly calm. He heard a relieved sigh at the other end of the line.
"What cha mean a little? I'm like drenched in sweat!" He heard his classmate shout but it went unnoticed. His sister walked out of the small room ahead of them and just stood there for a moment. "Hey, Hamu-chi, you alright?" She flipped her hair, grinning from ear to ear.
"It was a breeze!" she said, earning a confused look from the others
"Seriously? Dude, sometimes I wonder who really is the guy in your family."
"I'm glad you're alright. I'm sorry I couldn't help more on my end. Anyway, I don't detect any more Shadows. You did a great job, so come on home."The connection cut off and Yukari turned back to their leader.
"But how did you know which one was the brake?" The other girl gave her a smile and raised her index finger.
"Women intuition."
"I don't think this is the kind of thing woman's intuition helps with..."
"Whatever. You guys want to grab something to eat? I'm starvin'!" Junpei said, exhausted. The archer just gave him a look.
"I'm sorry to break it to you , Junpei, but girls don't usually get hungry in the middle of the night." She thought for a bit and then smiled a little. "But I'm sure Arisato-kun is hungry, too, so we can stop by a corner store, maybe." They all moved over to the door, but Minato stopped as the world turned gray again.
"I am Thou... Thou art I...
Thou shalt be blessed when fighting the Fool Arcana!"
"Oh, by the way, Arisato-kun?" His head snapped back to his pink-clad classmate. "Can I call you by your first name from now on? I call everyone else like that, too, so it would be odd if I do it with you differently. Y-You can call me Yukari if you want, too." She said, a tint of pink on her cheeks. He looked up at the others. Junpei was sighing and shaking his head and Hamuko was glaring at them for some reason. He gulped but nodded.
"Alright, that's fine with me." Her face visibly brightened and she blushed even more.
"Alright! Then let's go Minato-kun!" She almost cried and dragged him out of the train. He looked at the sky, confused that he hadn't made a Social Link.
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"Akihiko here."
"This is Mitsuru. We've successfully completed the operation. The monorail didn't sustain any noticeable damage." Ikutsuki walked up to the monitor, taking the second micro.
"Thank you, Mitsuru. When I heard they hijacked a monorail, I feared the worse. Well done. Now I don't have to worry about tomorrow's headlines."
"The team did a great job. They are learning quickly."
"But what are the Shadows up to? Taking over a monorail... this is getting out of hand!"
"I will look into the matter."
"Does this mean... it has begun?"
"Hm. Let's not jump to any conclusions. For now, we should study their behavior for any patterns or clues. We cannot afford to always wait for them to make the first move."
"If I had more power, things wouldn't be so difficult for the others."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're doing fine. More importantly..." He turned to the silverette beside him. "Do you have anything to drink, Akihiko?"
"Hm? What are you looking so tired for, Ikutsuki-san?" He thought for a moment before his eyes widened. "Wait, don't tell me that the bicycle out there is yours!" The chairman fell over, holding himself up on his knees.
"Boy, am I gonna be sore tomorrow!"
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10/5/2009 Sunday Octopia
"Huh, and you didn't make a social link with her?" Saoto asked as he munched on his Takoyaki. After the two of them had cleaned the shrine, they had decided to eat out for a change. Minato had told him about the fight yesterday and his talk with Yukari. The young boy tilted his head and looked into the distant, stuffing another of the octopus balls into his mouth. "Well, I think a social link has to be wanted from both sides. You don't seem to want it from the bottom of your heart."
"But I do want to spend time with her. I mean she's a great girl and I really want to be friends with her." he tried to explain. The other just gave him glace from the corner of his eye and sighed.
"Obviously you don't want to be with her the same way she does." When he only received a confused look, he smacked his hand on his forehead. "Jeez, you are even denser then I had thought! That's it! I won't explain it to you! Never thought that someone older than me could not understand it." he huffed, leaning back into the fence behind them. He wore a white bottom up shirt with a blue tie around his neck. His black jeans were way to wide for him and almost fell down from his hips if it weren't for his belt. Minato eyed him for a moment before speaking.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" The black-head turned his eyes to him, seemingly approving. "Why do you wear those clothes? Isn't there some kind of rule that you are not allowed to wear anything else than the traditional gown? And why are you even in Iwatodai? I mean, Kage once told me that her man family are not allowed to go outside of Tokyo." he stopped talking when he noticed the smaller had continuously shrunk back, almost looking like a hurt animal.
"That's right, I never told you. I left the clan." His eyes widened in shock. "It's not that bad. I can finally do the stuff I want. I don't have to listen to my instructor anymore, I can go to bed the time I want, don't have to summon any dangerous demons that could kill me any time and don't have to live with seven other children in one room. I'm fine."
"But aren't you lonely? You just transferred here, right? You are always at the shrine, so I think you don't have any friends yet. Plus, your brother lives there, right? Don't you want to see him again?" The ten-year old sunk back even more but then straightened his composure, giving the older a small exhausted smile.
"I was when I got here but now I've got you with me, Minato-niisan. If your are by my side, I don't need anyone else."
"I am Thou... Thou art I...
Thou shalt be blessed when fighting the Hanged Man Arcana!"
"Besides." He looked at his feet, his hands clenching at the wood of the bench. "I don't want to have anything to do with that pack of bastards anymore. Even if it means not being with my brother anymore." The bitterness in his voice was very apparent but Minato knew better then ask what he meant with that. After they were done eating, he returned to the dorm, going to bed early.
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"Minato-kun!" he looked up from his bag into the smiling face of Yukari. "Did you hear the news already? There are fewer cases of Apathy Syndrome! Senpai said it's probably because we beat the big Shadow." She looked at her feet and then back up with a small blush on her face. "Do you want to go somewhere with me after school? I don't have practice." He was about to answer her as a flash of red flew in front of them, grabbing onto the pink-clad girl.
"Yukari-cha~~~n!" Hamuko sang as she rubbed her cheek into the slightly shorter girl's hair. "Do you want to go shopping with me today? There is this totally cute dress I want to show you! We could also go to the movies!" The archer looked uncertain, her gaze shifting from one of the twins to the other. The bluenette just sighed, waving his hands dismissively.
"It's alright, Yukari-san. You can go with Aneki. Maybe we can hang out another time?" She gave him a shaky nod before walking off with his sister. Shortly after, Junpei stood in front of his desk, an embarrassed smile on his face.
"Yo, Minato. Can you come with me for a moment? It's very important." The boy had expected something with hitting on girls but oddly enough he found himself in the school library, the baseball player beside him, trying to figure out his math homework. "Sorry, dude. I just can't figure this out by myself." He said, rubbing the back of his head. The shorter couldn't help but smile.
"You can ask me anything you want to." The grin on the other teens face widened.
"Awesome! I don't even know what I don't know anymore! I've been avoiding math since I got here. All this 'vector' and 'trigonometric ratio' sounds like magic to me..." he sighed and the younger chuckled.
"Funny that your Persona is Hermes, the god of inventions and math."
"Alright, I'm gonna do this today! I'm gonna overcome my fear of math! Just you watch me get through this!" he thought for a moment and added, "..And help me out once in a while! So the circle inside triangle ABC where AB equals AC is..." He just stared at the equation for a few seconds, not getting what to do. They sat there for about an hour, Junpei clutching his head and Minato trying to help him as much as he can. After they finally finished the last problem, the taller leaned back in his chair, his arms thrown over his head. "Woohoo! I did it! I got through all of it! I've finally unleashed my true potential! You're my witness!" The bluenette smiled at him but then the others face seemed to darken. "I was... thinking about trying really hard for once. I always thought that stuff like math would never help me in the future. But I noticed that it might be important, even if you never use it. It's like... how do I put it... What matters is how you put your time to use. I don't think I can start lecturing you about how to live your live or anything. I mean, there's nothing wrong with just doing what is feeling right in the moment. But in the end, it doesn't satisfy me, and it bothers me even more. Yeah... I think I just got anxiety or something." He was silent again for a few moments but then spoke again. "But I think I figured it out recently. I haven't found anything yet but I'm sure that I will, someday... As long as I'm with you and everyone else. I guess... f-friends are important, after all..." Minato's eyes widened but then he smiled softly at him.
"Never thought you could be such a softy. But I understand what you mean." The baseball player seemed surprised but kept on smiling.
"Seriously? I totally thought you were gonna laugh at me or something... since it's not something a guy says to another guy... Although you are not that strong, you always seem to do your best. In Tartarus, in your free time and in school... You try your best to not be a burden but also to help as much as you can, I think it's amazing. You could even be the leader if you wanted to considering on how you almost beat me to a bulp that time on the monorail. Also got many talents. Heard you can play the guitar and sing. And don't even dare try to deny it, I heard you singing in your room. You made me want to try my best, too." Minato felt his face heat up a bit but he managed to slightly cool it down as the world turned colorless again.
"I am Thou... Thou art I...
Thou shalt be blessed when fighting the Magician Arcana!"
"Flattery won't bring you anywhere." the bluenette said in a small voice, his face still tinted a little pink. Junpei gave him a small laugh.
"Well, it's the truth. So..." He stopped talking and stared at some point behind the shorters back. "Hey, this guy over there... is he a friend of yours? Huh? He just hid..." He swiftly turned around, but did not spot anyone behind him. "He was looking your way. It looked like he was holding something..." Something in his mind seemed to click and the taller jumped to his feet. "A camera! Alright, you stay here! I'm going after him!" he looked at the spot where the boy stood seconds ago and his shoulders sank. "Damn, he got away. Well, I've seen his face, so it's okay. Just leave him to me." Minato shuddered for a second, disgusted.
"Yeah, just what I need. Another creepy, photo-making stalker and a boy to the boot." He looked up to the other, determination on his face. "Be sure to call me when you find him. I'll show him what happens if you pick a fight with one of the Arisato twins!" he said seriously but he was just patted on the head.
"Whoa there, princy-boy. Violence isn't always the answer. Anyway, let's go home. Sorry for keeping you here so late. Try not to go home by yourself from now on, okay?" After the bluenette loudly declared that he was not a kid nor a girl, they went home together. Understanding each other without speaking it out loud.
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Fighting scene Fail! Sorry, still haven't gotten better. I totally lost sight of the progress of the social link of Saoto, so I have to fix that first. Get ready everyone! It is May and after the Full Moon Boss, so I can make the Akihiko Social Link! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, since I just whipped it together in less than two days. Stupid writers block.
Review or I will have no choice but to put Justin Bieber into the story and let him die!
Sincerely, Your Shadow.
