Next day I was still pretty tired, so I was fairly late leaving the dorm that morning. Junpei had already left sometime between the others leaving for their club activities, and me leaving. Guess Junpei was used to rushing out of the door.
Actually, it's not fair to blame them for me being late, or to blame me being tired. At breakfast, I noticed that I was the only one wearing actual school uniform. Turns out we're allowed to play around with our uniform. Akihiko had that red tank-top, Junpei has his hat and blue shirt, Yukari has a pink cardigan, And Mitsuru… well, it worked as a school uniform, just not ours. So why should I be left out?
So, yeah. The reason I was late was because I was picking out one of my various business ties to replace the ribbon we normally wore. I eventually settled for my old school tie; one with grey and red stripes. Actually wearing it outside of my old school uniform, it actually looked fairly badass.

"Hey, Minato Kun! Nice tie!"

Oh, What's his name from the other day, Junpei's friend.

"Remember me? Kenji Tomochika? We met on the first day."

Oh, yeah, him. "Yeah, I remember. 'Sup?"

"Man, I knew it. I heard from Junpei that you're pretty close with Yukari San… what's up with that?" I didn't get to answer him, because he interrupted me as I drew breath. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. I'm looking for someone with a bit more experience anyways." Dude, wouldn't stand a cat's chance in a small child's microwave with Yukari.

To be fair, I knew that Yukari wasn't someone with 'Experience'. In my book, there are two kinds of women with Experience; Older women, and Sluts. And by Older, I don't mean like Mitsuru. I watched where he was looking.

"Like her man."

Dude, she must be twice our age… oh, that's what you meant. My friend Kenji was a MILF Hunter.

"Anyways, come on, we have the morning assembly."

Ah, Crap. "Hey, Kenji, can you do me a favour?"

"Huh? Sure, what is it?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I zoned out during the assembly. No way was I listening to all that in translator mode. I perked up when Mitsuru came onto the stage, saying "Arigatou." Yukari leaned forward, putting her head between mine and Junpei's. Translator on.

"So, she did get elected… Hardly surprising really, I mean she IS the most popular girl in the school."

Junpei nodded. "You can say that again." He smiled wistfully. "There's like some kind of aura around her!"

"What colour?"

"Red." Ah, Junpei was catching on. "Besides, her family owns the school, right?"

"Yeah," Yukari confirmed. "I try not to think about it."

I didn't even bother listening to Mitsuru's speech, but judging from the applause, I missed something good.

"Dang…" Junpei said afterwards, "That was freaking amazing. So," he turned to me, "You have any idea what she just said?"

"I wasn't listening."

"Dude!" both Junpei and Yukari were taken aback. "You're such a rebel…"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I actually tracked down Mitsuru during lunch and asked her for a translation of her speech, saying I had difficulty translating what she said. Seemed a decent excuse, judging from Junpei and Yukari. Mitsuru showed mixed emotions- part disappointment in my difficulty (Laziness) with Japanese, and part pleased at me coming to ask her for a translation.

I was actually disappointed. Maybe it was lost in translation, but basically what she was telling us was to take a look at our selves, change our lives to fit the needs of the school, and make the most of our selves. She mentioned achieving our own goals as if it was an afterthought. I gave the paraphrased version to Junpei later on, and he was just as unimpressed as I was. Just goes to show, the way you word something can really change what people hear.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kenji grabbed me after class. He noted down what was covered in assembly for me, and in return, I was treating him to ramen. Apparently some of the sports clubs were accepting new members soon. I was torn between Running, Swimming, and KENDOKENDOKEN!! Kendo.

Hey, if you right down lots of KENDO's one after the other without spaces, it looks like KENDOKEN! I liked street fighter.

We were walking down the yard when we saw Akihiko surrounded by a Horde of Fangirls. I thought that only happened on the internet.

"Man, I thought you only saw girls flock like that on TV…"

I turned around. Junpei. Oh, he is NOT getting a free meal.

Thankfully, he didn't notice Kenji. "Have you noticed how popular Akihiko-san is with the ladies?" Hard to miss it actually. "Man, take a look at that...I didn't use to talk to him much, but now I've got a good excuse. I know he's the captain of the boxing team, but... Who woulda thought he'd be such a chick magnet!?"

Normally, I'd agree, except for a captain of a boxing team, Akihiko was fairly skinny. His muscles were compact, but strong. Plus the unusual hair and the aloof attitude, and bam! Instant Final Fantasy Lead, AKA Fangirl Bait.

Akihiko saw us and waved. "Hey, Junpei Kun! Minato Kun! You free this afternoon?"

Kenji noticed he wasn't invited. "You owe me a bowl of Ramen tomorrow." He said. "Later!"

He left before the fangirls arrived. Akihiko waded through them. "I want the two of you to meet me at the police station at Paulownia mall." He said. "You know where it is right? I'll see you there."

Junpei almost fainted. "Wait, we're not hanging out with your friends?"

"Who, these girls?" Akihiko shook his head, sticking his thumb over his shoulder. "I don't even know their names." Yep, just like member of the band. "They talk so much they give me a headache…" Standard Shoujo love interest.

"Aww… Akihiko Senpai!"

"Why can't you be more friendly?"

Akihiko walked off. "Whatever…"

Wow, I'm surprised he hasn't been ripped limb from limb and built into shrines yet. He's approximately one horse, one cape, and one castle away from being a giddy schoolgirls dreamboat. I do hope I don't end up like that.

"Man… How can he not know their names?" Junpei didn't seem to understand the rule: your desire for women is inversely proportional to your ability to get them. "Dude… is Akihiko Senpai blind? Or just plain dumb? Those chicks were all over him!" Or not interested, ever consider that? "Man… I'm so jealous…" And that's why you'll never get a girlfriend in high school. Sucks to be you.

"Whelp," Junpei added, perking up, "He said Paulownia Mall right? Let's go."

Junpei practically ran to the mall, but he kept stopping. No way was I running when I was listening to music.

"Dude, take the headphones out and come on!"

I never felt like… so miserable

"Hurry up man! He's waiting!"

I never felt like thinking this would last forever

"Minato Kun" Junpei told me, pulling out a headphone. "AKIHIKO SENPAI IS WAITING!"

"And? He'll still be waiting when we get there." Baby stay with me

Junpei looked at me like I was insane. You gotta tell me your love came all over me

I'm loving this album.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We got to the police station fairly quickly, although it seemed slower because of Junpei's whining. I hit the pause button on my MP3 as we entered (Just like every cowboy, sings a sad, sad-) and Akihiko turned to us.

"Perfect timing." See Junpei? We got here at the perfect time. "This is Officer Kurosawa. He helps keep our squad equipped." Hey, nice to meet you. "And this-" He handed a wad of cash each to me and Junpei. 5,000 yen, sweet! That's like, what, 30 quid?

Wait, £30? That's barely $50 American dollars. Actually, that's a lot when you consider Junpei got the same as me. Plus, free cash is free cash, so I pocketed it without complaining.

"You can't fight empty handed." Akihiko told us. "Officer Kurosawa here has connections… But these things still cost money."

"Of course the do." The policeman told us. "Nothing in this world comes without a price."

"I realise that." Akihiko replied. "Well, I'll see you guys later."

"Wait, Akihiko!"

"Yeah Minato Kun?"

So, he's cool with me not calling him Senpai. "Just thought, shouldn't we all have each others phone numbers? In case we need something?"

There was that awkward silence you get when someone points out the blind stinking obvious. Me, Akihiko and Junpei exchanged numbers, and Akihiko gave us Mitsuru's number. I made a note to get Yukari's number later. Then Akihiko left.

"I've been informed about you two." Officer Kurosawa told us as Akihiko left." My job is to maintain peace in this city, regardless of the circumstances." I began texting with the phone in my pocket; an amazingly useful skill, I recommend learning it. "I'm just an ordinary police officer, but it doesn't take a genius to know something strange is going on here. I'm only doing what I think is right"

What's up with this guy's weapons? I hit send, as Junpei began looking at his swords. I hung back until I got a reply:

strngr + hv abltsy tht nly prsna usr cn c / use. armr 2. I sighed at Akihiko's response. Was it so hard to spell right when texting? I did it without even looking! But hey, mad skillz. Maybe he has a fire sword or something.

No such luck, but he did have a decent shortsword called the Gladius. Looking at it, apparently it had an advantage over empress types. I wonder what would happen if I were to challenge Mitsuru with this…

"Dude, check it out!" Junpei was swinging a new sword around. "The Kishido Blade! If I cut someone with it, they get angry!"

…

Okay, so the sword does have a chance of making an enemy go Berserk (The capital B is because apparently they actually turn red and steam), but the way you just worded it… sigh.

I turned back to Kurosawa. "You accept part exchange?" he nodded, so I whipped my shortsword out from beneath my jacket.

"That'll be 3000 Yen, including the sword."

"What, for this sword? It's worth more than 400 Yen!" Personally, I reckon it's worth 1000 to him. "1500."

"3000"

"1750"

"2500"

"2000"

"Done."

… Wow, I that went better than I thought. I swapped the swords, and bought a Camo Shirt while I was at it.

Well, that spent all the money Akihiko gave me. Junpei, however, sold his fake katana and pocketed the rest of the money. On the way out, he was complaining how he wasn't given enough money, when something caught my eye.

"Hey, Junpei, I'll see you later."

"Huh? You doing something?"

"Yeah…" there was a blue light coming from the alleyway. "British things."

"What, drink cups of tea, stuff like that?"

"Sure, why not. Cheerio." It was vital he bought my excuse as I headed down the alleyway.

There, like I thought, was a blue door just like the one from before. Grabbing the velvet key, I stepped inside.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ah, there you are."

I took my seat opposite him. "Afternoon Igor. Elizabeth."

"Hello again. Welcome back to the Velvet Room." Elizabeth had a slight smile as she said this.

"Well…" Igor began, "I suppose it's time for me to explain what I really do here."

About bloody time.

Igor's smile grew. "Don't worry. This shall be worth the wait. It is my job to create new Personas."

"…Sweet…"

"Indeed," Igor replied, "But in order to do so, I must fuse your Persona cards together. In other words..."

"You will take multiple of my Persona and fuse them into one new one."

Igor grinned. "Precisely."

I frowned. "Now why the hell would I do that?"

Igor smirked. "When a new Persona is created, it tends to be a higher level than the ones that were fused."

That shut me up. Igor continued, saying; "However, the However, Personas that are fused are lost forever." He waved a hand nonchalantly. "Since the process requires multiple Personas, you will be left with fewer than you had before..."

Igor smiled as I thought about this. "Which powers will you forsake in order to obtain new ones? It is up to you to decide…"

Igor continued; "Furthermore, depending on the Arcana, you may be able to create a stronger Persona if you have established a corresponding Social Link."

"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to make a Persona of the Fool Arcana…"

"Precisely." He answered. "If you were to fuse a Persona of the Fool Arcana, it would grow in strength because of your bond with your teammates."

I sat up and listened to Igor's explanation. "Persona is the power of your soul, which thrives on the bonds you have with others. Thus, it is only natural that Social Links affect the strength of your Personas." I nodded, and he continued. "If you have established a Social Link of the same Arcana as the Persona you wish to create..." Igor's smile turned wicked."...then that Persona will receive power from the Social Link and level up." I liked that kind of wicked. "The amount of power it will receive depends on the level of the Social Link. In some cases…" not sure about that kind of wicked, "your Persona may even surpass your own level." Igor chuckled. "Do you understand now how important Social Links are to Persona-users such as yourself?"

"What about the others? They can only hold one Persona-"

"Thus, my services would be useless to them. However, their bonds to others still affect their own Persona in other ways."

I nodded. "So do fused Persona only have increased strength?"

Igor grinned. "Not at all. A Persona created through fusion may inherit the skills possessed by its precursors. In other words…"

"it's possible to give a Persona skills that it could never learn on its own…"

"Indeed." Igor seemed to like how quick I was catching on. "The mechanism of skill inheritance is not completely understood... but there are three key points I'd like to share with you."

I nodded, and Igor explained. "First, the skills to be inherited change every time you select a Persona for fusion.
Second, the chance of a skill being inherited depends on what the expected Persona is…" Igor paused. "...I can give you more details on this some other time.
Lastly, the more skills the original Personas possess, the more skills the resulting Persona will inherit...Please remember this."

"Thanks." I looked within myself. I had enough room for three more Persona. "I can get more Persona to fuse with be doing battles with the Shadows, right?"

"That is correct."

I smiled. "I'll see you later."