Disclaimer: This is not a new chapter. I separated the original chapter 3 into two parts. Sorry for the confusion.

July 23rd, 2009

Shinjiro sighed in relief as he saw a head of familiar crimson red hair turn the corner into the dark alleyway. Bout time she got here. I'm almost out. The head of hair belonged to a girl in a gothic style dress. Her name was Chidori, and she was bad news. She had apparently had serious connections to some bad people. She was the only one that Shinjiro had found that had access to the suppressants that allowed him to control his Persona, who didn't want to kill him. How she got them was a mystery, but Shinjiro didn't really care. He needed them, and she could provide. The less he knew, the better.

He smirked disarmingly as he stood up and met her halfway, holding out his hand. "Bout time you showed up. I was about to come looking for you. Wouldn't want you to get hurt, wandering these alleys all by yourself."

Chidori simply stared back as she dropped a pill bottle into his outstretched hand. He nodded as he shook the bottle, satisfied with the sound of the pills rattling around. He dropped the bottle into a pocket and moved to walk past her. "I'll let you know when I can pay –"

She held up a hand to stop him. "Wait. I want information instead."

He raised an eyebrow. This was new. "You want information? About what?"

She looked at him directly. "The high school students during the Dark Hour. What are they doing?"

Shinjiro felt the pit of his stomach fall out. She wanted to know about SEES? A sense of danger washed over him, so he decided to play dumb. "How should I know?"

The corner of her mouth tilted in amusement. "You used to be one of them. Of course you know."

Shinjiro inhaled sharply. "How do you-"

She cut him off. "What are they doing, Shinjiro Aragaki?"

He scowled. He had never revealed his name, and she had never asked. Now he knew why. "What, am I supposed to be impressed you know my name? You should try harder."

All of a sudden, he felt an uncomfortable sensation pulling on his jugular. He recognized it as the blade of a knife. A sultry voice whispered in his ear. "How's this? Hard enough for you?"

Shinjiro nodded slightly, and the sensation disappeared. He whirled around to see an unfamiliar brunette sheathing a blade in a holster on her side. She smiled brightly at him, and tilted her head. "How's things, Shinji? We've never met before, but I'm Inari. I'm the new boss, and I want to know what those brats are up to."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow in confusion. "New boss?"

He heard a familiar voice call out from behind him. "That's right, now, stop playing around and tell us what we want."

Shinjiro turned around and scowled at the blue haired man he had once trusted. "Jin. Why am I not surprised that it was you pulling her strings the whole time?"

Jin smirked. "Come on, Shinji, think about it. Where would someone like Chidori get something like those pills? They're expensive." He chuckled darkly. "I mean, sure, she's hot, but she's not that hot."

Chidori's face darkened as she turned on her heel haughtily and walked back down the alley. Shinjiro watched her go, intrigued. Dissent in the ranks, perhaps? He shook off the thought and focused on the task at hand. "So, Jin, where's Takaya? Thought you two were inseparable, with your crusade against the Kirijo Group and all."

Jin's face darkened as he glared at Shinjiro. "He's dead. You'll join him soon if you don't tell us what we want to know."

Shinjiro's eyes widened in surprise. Takaya was dead?

Jin and Takaya had approached him not long after he had left SEES 2 years ago. They had seemed genuinely concerned about him for a while, offering him a place to stay, and feeding him, and so on. That was before they had dropped the bomb on him: They revealed that they knew about the Dark Hour, and had seen him lose control of his Persona at one point. They had sought him out because they wanted to offer him a place among them.

He had declined, refusing to kill and maim innocent people. He had already had his fill of murder, after all. They hadn't taken it well, and they had fought each other to a standstill. In the end, they had let him go, something that had surprised and confused him to this day.

He shook his head regretfully. Despite their differences, Takaya and Jin had been the only people he could turn to for a while. He had even liked them, for a time. To hear that Takaya was dead was shocking. "What? How the hell did that happen?"

Jin snarled. "None of your business!" He reached into his coat and pulled out a short-barreled revolver. He cocked it and pointed it at Shinjiro. "Do I have to repeat myself? Tell us what we want to know!"

Shinjiro shook his head, unwilling to push Jin further. Takaya's death had obviously been personal for him. He stuck his hands into his pockets as he started. "Look, all I know is what they told me when I joined. They're hunting down these special Shadows in an attempt to destroy Tartarus, and remove the Dark Hour."

Jin's eyes widened in surprise. "They…What?" His face twisted in anger as he lowered the gun in shock. "Those idiots! Don't they realize what they're doing?"

Inari's bark of laughter took Shinjiro by surprise. "Of course they don't. They're playing hero. All they can see is the danger of the Dark Hour. They don't see the benefits."

Jin shook his head. "It isn't just that, Inari. We…" He stopped as he realized who they were talking with. He held up the gun again. "Thanks for the help, Shinji. If you tell them you've seen us, we won't hesitate to come find you, and finish what we started last year."

Shinjiro scoffed. "Come on, you know I won't do that. I couldn't give a shit about them."

Jin nodded. "Thought not. Get out of here, Shinji. I'll have Chidori contact you when I have a new batch of pills for you."

Shinjiro scowled as he walked down the alley in the same direction that Chidori had gone, leaving the two psychopaths behind. He closed his eyes as he processed what he had learned today.

Takaya was dead, somehow.

Jin was taking orders from a new lady friend.

Chidori was working for them the whole time, which meant that Jin had been keeping tabs on him since he had left a year and a half ago.

Some things still made no sense to him. Why put all that effort in making Chidori the middleman? To build trust? To get him hooked on the suppressants? Why had they wanted to know about SEES, and their objective so badly? And who was this Inari? Why was she running the show now?

He shook his head. It didn't matter. It didn't concern him, so why bother worrying about it? Shinjiro scowled as he continued walking towards home. The normally comforting presence of the pills in his pocket had become heavy and disconcerting, but he did his best to ignore it.

July 24th, 2009

Minato felt a gentle push against his shoulder, waking him from his sleep. He groaned. "Come on, Mitsuru. Just a couple more minutes."

A robotic voice answered him. "I am not Mitsuru-san. Please wake up, Minato-kun."

Minato bolted upright in bed, fully awake, and turned to look at Aigis in alarm.

She was standing in his room in the dorm.

In his room.

His reaction to this realization was less than dignified. "Aigis?! What the hell?! What are you doing in my room?!"

Aigis just smiled at him. "Mission accomplished. Standing by."

Minato's eye twitched in annoyance. "Ok, look, I don't know why you're in here –"

Aigis tilted her head. "I heard that it was advisable for humans to wake up 5 minutes early every day from Akihiko-san. Therefore, my objective was clear."

Minato glanced at his clock and saw that it was indeed 5 minutes before his alarm was set to go off. He closed his eyes in exasperation. "Look, I appreciate the thought, Aigis, but you can't just break into my room and do this kind of thing."

Aigis tilted her head in confusion. "Why not?"

Minato sighed. It was like explaining it to a child, and in a way, that's what it was. "It's against the rules. My room is my room. You need to be invited in, unless under special circumstances, like an emergency."

Aigis' eyes narrowed as she processed that information. "Very well, I will add it to my list of human customs." Minato rubbed his eyes. The robot girl's naiveté was going to be a joy to deal with. "Listen, can you –"

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. Yukari's voice came through. "Hey, you up, Minato-kun?"

Minato nodded as he called out, "Yes, I'm up. What do you need, Yukari?"

She sighed. "Aigis has gone missing again. We are preparing to go look for her, and I figured –"

Aigis spoke up. "I have not gone missing. I have been fulfilling my secondary objectives."

Yukari's voice came back panicked. "What?!"

Aigis went over to the door and opened it. Yukari looked at her with panic in her eyes. "How did you get in?!"

Aigis tilted her head. "He was asleep when I came down, so I unlocked the door."

Minato snorted in amusement. "No, really?"

Yukari ignored Minato and shook her head. "Aigis, didn't we tell you to stay in the command room at night? Why did you come down here?"

Aigis frowned. "The command room is too far away for me to respond effectively to his needs. I propose that I remain on standby in here from now on." Both Minato and Yukari yelled an emphatic, "No!" to that, which caused Aigis to frown deeper. "Why not?"

Yukari sputtered in embarrassment. "B-because boys and girls can't sleep in the same room!"

Aigis tilted her head in confusion. "But Minato-kun and Mitsuru-san have –"

Minato bolted out of bed, panic running through his system.

How the hell does she know that?!

He quickly stammered out a reply, cutting Aigis off before she could continue. "W-what she means, Aigis, is that it's against dorm regulations! So we'll be happy to get you a room closer than the command room, if staying close to me is your primary concern, right, Yukari!?"

Yukari's eyes widened momentarily, before she blushed and nodded. "Y-yeah! We should be able to get you a room. There aren't that many people living here, so I'll see what we can do for you."

Aigis' frown faded to a neutral expression. "That is acceptable."

Yukari nodded. "Good. Let's go up to the command room then. We can discuss this there."

Aigis walked out of the room past Yukari, and up the stairs towards the command room. Yukari looked back at Minato with a small smug grin. "So, did you and Mitsuru…?"

He shook his head in a panic. "No! We just slept, that's all!" He winced as he realized what he'd just blurted out. He'd been played. Again.

Yukari's grin widened. "Well, I was wondering where you slept after your room was destroyed. Guess that answers that question."

He scowled, a deep blush on his face. "You tell no one of this, or I swear to god, Mitsuru will know exactly who to come after first. Understood?"

Yukari nodded lightly before turning and bolting up the stairs after Aigis, her laughter barely contained. Minato sighed and slammed his head against the wall as realization struck him. Aigis had been watching him the whole time he was on Yakushima. Of course she knew about that.

Whose great idea was it to let her stay in the dorm again? Oh, yeah, mine… Shit, Yukari's probably gonna grill her for details too. Damn creepy robot stalker…

He continued his mental grumblings as he started getting ready for school.

It's gonna be an interesting day. I can tell already.

Mitsuru stared at Minato out of the corner of her eyes, deep in thought. The two of them had become much closer over the events at Yakushima, and it made having to go back to a detached attitude somewhat difficult, at least for her. Although she was not ashamed of her relationship with Minato in the least, there were those who would accuse her of abusing her power to get her boyfriend into high-ranking positions.

She scoffed. The thought was ludicrous, as anyone who knew anything about Minato knew he was perfect for the job of deputy. Still, that fact wouldn't stop potential troublemakers from trying to slander them both in a lobby for power, and she wanted to avoid that at all costs. She frowned. She hated the fact that they had to tiptoe around their feelings for each other. It made it feel like they were doing something wrong, sometimes. She sighed, forcing the thoughts from her head. It was pointless to speculate on events they could not control. They would just have to be careful.

The bell for lunch rang, snapping Mitsuru out of her thoughts. Mr. Ono smiled at the class as he prepared to leave. "Well, class, the exam results ought to be posted by now, so you can probably head down to the faculty office and see how you did." At the mention of the exam results, Mitsuru perked up. The bet the two of them had made on the results would be resolved, here and now.

Minato looked at her expectantly, and they both stood up to walk down to the faculty office corridor. As they descended the empty staircase, Minato smirked. "So, are you prepared to lose that bet?"

Mitsuru smiled challengingly. "No, I am simply looking forward to enjoying a nice dinner on your dime."

Minato chuckled. "Well, in that case, I guess we both win?" Mitsuru nodded in agreement.

As they passed the second floor classes, they ran into Junpei and Yukari. At the sight of Yukari, Minato blushed slightly and his eyes narrowed as he growled out a greeting. "Yukari. Junpei."

Yukari had a large smile on her face at the sight of the two of them, but refused to make eye contact with Minato. "Minato-kun. Mitsuru-senpai. Where are you two headed?"

Mitsuru looked between the two concernedly as she answered. "To check the exam results. You?"

Junpei nodded. "Same. I have butterflies in my stomach, I'm so nervous. What about you, boss?"

Minato broke his glare at Yukari and turned to Junpei, his normal demeanor returning. "I feel pretty confident. Besides…" He looked to Mitsuru. "…I have a bet to win."

Junpei looked between them in alarm. "You bet against her? Dude, are you nuts? She's like, one of the smartest people in the school!"

Mitsuru smiled brightly. "Thank you for the compliment, Iori. I told him that too, and he didn't believe me."

"Come on, Junpei, don't you have any faith in me?" Minato said, disappointedly. He sighed. "It's saddening, is what it is."

Junpei shook his head apologetically. "Sorry, boss, but I don't expect that you're gonna win this. She's Student Council President for a reason."

"Well then, I'll be happy to defy your expectations, Junpei."

Mitsuru shook her head. "My expectations for you are high enough already, Arisato. You don't have anything to prove to me. But who knows? You might surprise me."

Minato nodded in satisfaction at her words, but Mitsuru smirked at him. "You might actually show up on the list this time."

Minato gave her a withering look, as the two juniors chuckled at her words. "Oh, ha-ha. When I'm looking at that top score with my name on it, I'm expecting an apology."

The four dorm mates walked with the growing mass of students moving towards the faculty office. When they entered the hallway, a small crowd had gathered around the sheet already. Mitsuru and Minato stepped forward, and some of the crowd parted respectfully for them. They quickly scanned for their class number and Minato's face fell. "Are you kidding me? How the hell…?"

Mitsuru's score was the exact same as his. They had tied for the highest score in the class.

Mitsuru tilted her head in amusement. "Well, I hadn't been expecting that…"

Minato turned to her, incredulity on his face. "What are the odds of that happening, exactly?"

She shook her head."I don't know the exact numbers, but it's extremely unlikely, considering the amount of questions we had to answer."

He sighed, half frustrated, half amused. "We didn't plan for a tie when we made that bet…"

Yukari gasped suddenly as she looked at her class's page. She turned to Junpei, an incredulous look on her face. "How did you manage that?!"

Junpei's face twisted in confusion, and looked for his name on the sheet. His eyes widened in surprise as he located his name…at 7th from the top. His score was just below Yukari's. "What?!"

Minato looked at the results and let out a bark of laughter. He slapped Junpei on the back companionably. "See!? What did I tell you? I knew that you were smart! And you didn't believe me!"

Junpei's jaw hung open at the results. He had felt good while taking the exams, but he hadn't expected that result. Mitsuru smirked as she read Junpei's results. "Congratulations, Iori. I'm impressed."

Junpei looked to her in admiration. "T-thanks, Senpai. I'm just as surprised as you."

She smiled kindly as she shook her head. "I'm not that surprised. Just impressed. Keep up the good work, Iori."

Yukari looked at Junpei amusedly. "Guess you aren't so Stupei, after all, huh?"

Junpei looked at his friends, who seemed energized by his performance on the exams. He felt a sense of joy come over him at the effect his success had on them. Maybe school wasn't such a hassle after all. Hell, if he had done this well with how badly he had studied, maybe he could do even better next time! He smiled. If he got the same sense of satisfaction…Maybe studying wouldn't be so bad after all.

After congratulating Junpei, Minato turned to Mitsuru with a thoughtful look on his face, returning to the task at hand. "So how are we going to settle this thing? Do we both win the bet?"

Mitsuru just smiled at him. "Yes. We both lose."

Minato looked at her, confused. "But I just said…"

She just shook her head slightly, a playful gleam in her eyes. "I know what you said."

Minato blinked, then nodded in realization, a small grin appearing on his face. "Oh, ok. Gotcha."

Yukari snorted, a look of amusement on her face. "That was subtle."

Minato turned to Yukari, a glare burning on his face. "Hey, remember that thing I said this morning? You're treading some thin ice, there."

Yukari glared back, but her smile never wavered. "Yes. I know." She turned her back on him and started walking back to her classroom.

Minato sighed as he watched her go. "Dammit. She's gonna be impossible to live with…"

Mitsuru narrowed her eyes at Minato suspiciously. "Okay, what is going on between you two? Do I need to be worried?"

Minato looked at her, and a slight blush broke out on his face. He rubbed the back of his head. "No! …Well, maybe. It's… probably better if we discuss that later."

Mitsuru nodded hesitantly. When Minato started acting indecisive, it was time to worry. "Why do I have the feeling I am not going to like this?"

"Cause you probably aren't."

"Fantastic."

After classes were over, Minato found himself without anything to do. Student Council had settled all of their outstanding business before the Summer Break had even occurred, and the Fencing team was meeting tomorrow to discuss their upcoming tournament, so they weren't meeting today. Mitsuru had a prior obligation she needed to settle, Junpei had dazedly wandered home already, Akihiko had said something about training for a 'special bout', and Yukari had archery practice.

However, as he wandered out of the train station entrance, he was surprised to see a familiar red trench coat wearing teen walk into the nearby side alley. The same side alley that Minato had followed Junpei and Yukari down two months ago. Minato's curiosity was triggered. Why was Shinjiro heading back there? Did he have business with the punks back there?

Minato quickly decided to tail him, his curiosity enveloping his common sense. After his last visit, he was sure he had a target on his back, but Shinjiro was still an enigma to him. As Minato crept up to the corner, he noticed Shinjiro talking to a girl in a Gothic sundress. She had hair that was even brighter red than Mitsuru's, but she had a blank expression on her face. The two of them spoke briefly, and then the red haired girl handed Shinjiro something. He nodded, then passed her a few bills from out of his pocket.

He frowned. Was Shinjiro buying drugs? It wouldn't surprise him. Lots of people buried their pain with narcotics, and Shinjiro had a pain that was worse than most. Minato shook his head in disgust. That was a cowardly way of thinking, using drugs to bury the pain, and killing yourself in the process. But hadn't he just hidden his pain too? Sure, he didn't rely on drugs to bury it, but he had buried his pain all the same.

Minato was debating what he should do with this information, when a hand grasped his collar, snapping him out of his thoughts. The hand shoved him forward, out of the corner, and into the alley proper. Minato wheeled around and saw a group of 6 thugs, led by a guy with a stitched nose and lower lip. Minato sighed and shook his head in exasperation. Today was really not his day.

Stitches scowled at him. "So, you think you can just come back here and not pay the consequences?"

Minato tilted his head. Maybe diplomacy would work. "Listen, I'm sorry I ripped out your piercings. I was in the middle of a bad period in my life, and…"

Stitches snarled in anger, cutting him off. "Shut the hell up! I don't give a shit about your problems! You have no idea how painful this shit is! I'm gonna take my pain out on your scrawny hide, pretty boy!"

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a switchblade. His cronies pulled out various weapons of their own, ranging from chains to pipes, and started to try to encircle him. Minato grimaced. This was pretty bad. Without his rapier, he wouldn't stand much of a chance, and he wouldn't risk summoning his Persona in front of all these people unless it was really dire. He clenched his fists. The Aikido lessons he had taken when he was much younger, combined with the recent training he had done with Akihiko and Mitsuru, would have to do.

Just as the last two guys took up positions behind Minato, a gruff voice sounded out. "What the hell are you doing?"

Shinjiro had evidently noticed the situation and had come to investigate. Stitches grimaced. "None of your business, Shinjiro! Now scram. This punk needs to learn a lesson."

Shinjiro's eyes narrowed. This was the second time in as many days that someone had dismissed him like that. Unluckily for Stitches, he didn't scare Shinjiro. "Oh? And what lesson might that be?"

Stitches snarled. "I'm gonna mess his face up, like he did mine! It's only fair!"

Shinjiro shook his head in disgust. These pricks were everywhere, and they never learned. "…You're an asshole."

Minato decided to take advantage of the distraction that Shinjiro provided to run towards one of the guys to his front. He grabbed onto the wrist of the guy's pipe hand and twisted it behind his back, causing the guy to scream in pain and drop his weapon. It landed right into Minato's other outstretched hand and he swung it down in one smooth motion, causing it to intersect with the back of the guy's knee. The pipe made a sickening crack as the guy buckled under his own weight, holding his knee and screaming in pain.

Minato swung around to catch the chain that had been aimed at his head with the pipe. The chain wrapped around the pipe, and the guy pulled, expecting to pull Minato off balance in a fight for the weapon. Minato let go instead, surprising Chains as the pipe came flying toward him. Minato took that opportunity to move in behind Chains, and barely managed to dodge the knife that whistled towards his ribs a second later. He threw an elbow at Chains' face as he went past, causing him to drop his chain to take care of his newly broken nose. Minato took in the state of the fight while he had a second or two to breathe.

Shinjiro was fighting two of the other guys, and had taken one out already. He seemed to be fine, which filled Minato with relief. That just left Stitches and Chains for him. He turned back to see Stitches thrusting his knife towards Minato's belly, screaming in hatred. Minato couldn't dodge in time, and so he decided to try something tricky. He waited for the right moment, then grabbed onto Stitches' wrist and twisted, redirecting the attack up and away from his body. The knife grazed his cheek on the way past, and Minato felt a blaze of pain from the newly opened wound. Compared to the damage he had sustained in his trips in the Dark Hour, though, it was nothing. He twisted his body, taking Stitches' arm with him, and pulled it behind Stitches' back, causing Stitches to drop the knife, screaming in pain at his abused limb.

Minato leaned forward and snarled angrily into his ear. "I could break your arm and not think twice about it. Call off your goons, or you are going to have a nice cast to go with those stitches!"

Stitches yelled as Minato twisted his arm farther up his back. "Alright! Alright! Stop! Everybody stop!"

The goons that were still up and mobile stopped and turned towards the two of them. Stitches whimpered. "Guys, call it off! We're over our heads here!"

They took Stitches' advice and stepped back from Minato and Shinjiro. They gathered up their weapons and wounded and started to stumble out of the alley. After they had gotten far enough away, Minato let go of Stitches' wrist and stepped away from him. Stitches whirled around, holding his arm. "You better watch yourself, asshole. Next time, you aren't gonna have a guardian angel watching out for you." He turned to Shinjiro. "And if I see you around again, I'll kill you, Shinjiro!"

Shinjiro just smirked. "You can certainly try."

Stitches spat at Minato's feet as he walked past, following his cronies, probably to the hospital to get checked out. Minato turned to Shinjiro, breathing heavily. "Thanks. I didn't know if I would have made it out without your help."

Shinjiro shook his head angrily. "What the hell were you even doing here? You had to have known those assholes were just looking for a chance to jump you."

Minato tilted his head, wondering what he should say. Akihiko seemed to prefer blunt honesty, and Shinjiro was friends with him, so maybe Shinjiro would feel the same.

Minato smirked confidently as he answered. "I was following you."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow in surprise, then smirked. "Really? You're pretty honest about that with someone you don't know. Someone else might have taken offense." A dark look came over his face as a thought came to him. "Did Aki send you?"

Minato shook his head, a small smirk on his face. "Hell no. The idiot blew me off today so he could train."

Shinjiro chuckled. "Sounds like him. If you weren't here for Aki, why were you following me?"

"I dunno." Minato admitted. "Akihiko told me a little about you, and I'll admit, I was curious."

Shinjiro frowned. "What did Aki tell you about me?"

Minato grimaced momentarily, and Shinjiro shook his head in exasperation. "Goddamnit, Aki. When will you stop dredging up the past?"

Shinjiro turned to leave, and Minato blanched. He had promised Akihiko that he would speak to Shinjiro the next time he saw him, and he intended to make good on that promise. He called out after his retreating form. "Hey, you want to get some ramen?"

Shinjiro turned back, a surprised look on his face. "What?"

Minato shrugged. "I figured since you saved my life and all…"

Shinjiro smiled, just a little bit. He nodded. "Ok, why not?" He pulled out his wallet and frowned. He had given all the money he had saved to Chidori for the second set of suppressants he requested, so he didn't have any money to pay for food.

Minato shook his head at Shinjiro's dejected look. "My treat. It wouldn't be right to make you pay, seeing as how you saved me and all."

Shinjiro's smiled wider at Minato's words. "Alright. Let's go then." As Shinjiro walked up to him, however, he frowned in concern. "You're bleeding."

Minato blinked, then smiled. "Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it, I get bigger cuts than that in Tartarus all the time." Shinjiro frowned at Minato's casual dismissal of his injury, and grabbed Minato's head roughly, examining the wound.

Minato spluttered at the rough treatment, thinking he had done something to set him off. "I-I'm sorry I mentioned…"

Shinjiro smirked. "Don't worry about that. Hold on."

He reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out a tube of disinfecting cream. He popped it open, slathered a bit onto the ends of his fingers, and smeared it on Minato's cut. Minato was so surprised by the gentle-yet-rough treatment that he didn't even notice the burning sensation of the cream on the open wound. Shinjiro then put the cream back into his pocket and pulled out a small bandage, presumably from the same pocket. He pulled it out of its package, then slapped it onto Minato's cut. He observed his work, and nodded, satisfied. "There. Now you won't get an infection."

Minato blinked. This was the gruff, tough guy that Akihiko butted heads with? Shinjiro rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly, and squared his shoulders. "Look, living out here is dangerous. You can't always go to the hospital, and you need to be able to take care of yourself, so it pays to be prepared." Minato nodded vigorously. "Yeah, ok, I understand. Thanks, again."

Shinjiro smiled. "Anyways, now we can go." Minato nodded again, and the two of them started walking towards the strip mall. Minato blinked as he went over the events in his head. Shinjiro had come to his aid, for almost no reason he could see. That meant that he still had the drive to protect others. Then he had treated Minato's wound, which showed he cared about others, even before himself. Yet he obviously hated his Persona, lamenting the fact that it had killed someone when he hadn't been able to control it.

Minato shook his head. If he couldn't control his Persona, didn't that mean he hadn't fully accepted parts of himself yet? If what Minato's shadow had said was correct, then Personas' were part of your personality, given power and form. If you had a part of your personality that you didn't accept, and that was part of your Persona? Then it would potentially reject your control, and go berserk. Minato resolved himself. He would try to find out the cause of Shinjiro's problem if he could. Maybe then he would finally be able to move on, no matter if he decided to come back or not.

"Welcome! What'll you have?" The owner of Hagakure Ramen greeted them as the two boys walked in. He grinned at Shinjiro, recognizing him. "Hey, there, Shinji! The usual?" Shinjiro nodded, and Minato made an accepting gesture. "I'll have the same."

The owner nodded at the two boys, then turned around to start fixing their meal. Minato sighed as he sunk onto the barstool next to Shinjiro. "Man, today has not been my day."

Shinjiro raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Minato reached up to touch his wounded cheek and winced at the pain, which caused Shinjiro to scowl. "Would you stop that? You're gonna make it worse."

Minato shook his head apologetically. "Sorry." Shinjiro grunted, then resumed his silence. Minato sighed.

He's an even better conversationalist than my grandfather…

He shook his head. If he was going to learn anything about him, he would have to reach out.

Minato cleared his throat, deciding to start small. "So, what is it you do, exactly, Shinjiro? I've never seen you at school before."

"None of your business."

Minato tried again. "Ok, so how do you know Akihiko?"

"He probably already told you that."

"...You're right. Sorry." Minato mentally smacked himself. This wasn't working. Maybe he should be honest with him from the start, instead of trying to work his way up to it.

He sighed. "Look, Shinjiro, I'm not gonna lie to you. Akihiko wanted me to talk to you, the next time I saw you. He thinks that I can convince you to come back, somehow."

Shinjiro snorted. "I would say I'm surprised, but I'm really not. Aki is desperate."

Minato nodded. "He is, and I'm not gonna say he's wrong. But I think he's going about it in the wrong way. Rubbing your past mistakes in your face isn't going to make you come back. And besides, it's your choice to come back or not."

"No shit." He scowled. "Ok, let me make this easy for you, then: I'm not coming back. There's nothing for me there."

Minato shook his head. "Not based on what I saw today. You clearly have a soft spot for people in trouble –"

He slammed his hand down on the counter. "Is that what you think happened today? You think I stepped in to that fight 'cause I'm soft?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah. You can put up the tough guy act all you want, but I'm pretty sure that's exactly why you stepped into that fight."

Shinjiro snarled, anger building. "I stepped in to stop an idiot from being killed 'cause he was an arrogant bastard!"

Minato shook his head. "You stepped in because you care. Deeply. You probably hate watching people who don't deserve it, get hurt."

Shinjiro's eyes widened in surprise as Minato continued. "It's why you were worried about my cheek earlier, and why you asked me to look after Akihiko, when you had no idea who I was. It's why you do your best to take care of the Lost. It's also probably why you hate the fact that it was your power that hurt someone that night 2 years ago."

Shinjiro scowled at the mention of his greatest failure. "You think you know me?"

Minato shook his head, drawing a surprised look from Shinjiro. "No. This is all speculation, based on the info I have already. I could be completely wrong. I won't be able to know who you really are unless you tell me, and that's not something we can do over just one bowl of ramen."

Shinjiro shook his head in equal parts confusion and frustration as their food was served. "What in the hell do you want from me?"

"I propose we meet up and eat here together, every Friday night from now on. I'll pay for your food, and you can repay me by telling me however much about yourself as you want." He shrugged. "But that's your choice. I can't force this on you."

"Why?" He asked, scowling. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

Minato tilted his head in thought. "Because I want to get to know you better. Because you're hurting, and look like you need someone to care. As for why it matters to me…" He looked down at the ground as he remembered his meltdown, and how easily it could have been prevented. "…Sometimes the best way to deal with pain is to talk about it with someone who understands."

Shinjiro shook his head in disbelief. "How could you possibly know what I'm going through?"

Minato shrugged again. "I can't. I've never been in that situation." At that, Shinjiro snorted derisively, but Minato continued, unperturbed. "…But I do know what it's like to run from how you feel. To hide your pain away deep inside."

Shinjiro blinked in confusion. "What? You think I'm running?"

Minato nodded. "Yeah, I do. I recognize the symptoms. It's how I was too, until fairly recently. But you know how I got out of it?"

Shinjiro shook his head. Minato smiled sadly. "It got shoved in my face how big an idiot I was being, and how it was hurting the people I cared about, by cutting myself off from them."

Shinjiro's face twisted in pain as Minato's words struck home. "Stop. I've heard enough."

Minato nodded. "Ok. I apologize for my bluntness, but like I said earlier, I just want to get to know you…and again, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It's your choice." He smiled disarmingly at that. "Well, anyways, let's eat. Don't want it to get cold."

He grabbed a set of chopsticks and pulled his bowl in front of him, inhaling the steam and smell of the broth. "Oh, man, it smells good. Bon a petit!"

He quickly dug into his ramen with gusto. Shinjiro looked at him askance. This blue haired kid had just made accurate predictions of his thoughts and behavior based on a few conversations and interactions? He shook his head disbelievingly, curiosity driving him. "…How did you do that?"

Minato swallowed his latest bite and turned to look at Shinjiro. "Do what?"

Shinjiro scowled. "All that stuff about me: How did you figure it out?"

"I've been doing it for years. Psychoanalysis, I mean." He said matter-of-factly. "My grandfather is a detective, and he trained me to do it."

Shinjiro blinked. A detective? "Really? Why?"

Minato smiled as he started to tell his story. "Well, you see, 10 years ago…"

Shinjiro listened to Minato's tales as he ate, enthralled by the mystery of the boy in front of him. After they had finished their food, and Minato had filled him in on the short version of his life's story, Shinjiro thought over the teen's offer. He didn't seem to want to force him to come back to SEES, despite his original intention, having not brought it up since the beginning of the conversation. He sighed. What harm was there in talking with him? He'd get free food out of it, and besides; Akihiko never visited him unless it was to bug him about returning to SEES, and, as sad as he was to admit it…he was lonely.

Minato worked out the kinks in his neck and stood up as he pushed his empty bowl forward. He smiled at Shinjiro. "Well, it was nice to finally meet you for real, Shinjiro. I'll see you around." He turned to walk out, laying a few bills on the counter.

Shinjiro shook his head. "Wait." Minato turned back, and Shinjiro rubbed the back of his head. "So, if I agree to meet up with you on Fridays, I can say as much or as little as I want?" Minato nodded, and Shinjiro pursed his lips in thought. A second later, he nodded. "Alright. I'll do it. It's your money, after all. But don't expect you'll get too much out of me."

Minato smiled. "It's ok. I won't…at first."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. You'll crack eventually." He glared at him with mock intensity. "They always do."

Shinjiro laughed at Minato's joking attempt at intimidation. The sound of his own laugh was foreign to him. He hadn't laughed in years, he realized. "Well, I'll be happy to prove you wrong."

Minato chuckled at that and turned to walk out, satisfied at the result of the conversation. Shinjiro suddenly felt the weight of the pills in his pocket increase, as a sense of dread came over him. Jin, Chidori, and that other chick, Inari, probably had their sights on him and the rest of SEES now, judging by their reaction the other night. A sense of guilt buried its way alongside the dread, and he felt his mouth open involuntarily. "Hey, Minato. Watch your back out there."

Minato waved nonchalantly over his shoulder. "Yeah. I will." He closed the door behind him as he left, and Shinjiro dropped his head into his hands. Conflicting thoughts warred in his head, as his emotions ran amok.

Why do you even care about what happens to them? They made their choice.

Does that mean that I shouldn't care? They are fighting for good reasons. They're good people.

So? You aren't. How long is it going to take for that to sink into your thick head? So stop feeling guilty!

So I should just serve them up on a silver plate? No, I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me.

A bit late for that sentiment, huh? You already told Jin and Inari what SEES is looking for.

I could still warn Minato, or Akihiko. They wouldn't go in unprepared.

Then they'd just ask where you know them from, and then they'd treat you like the bad guy for doing the 'right' thing. Besides, Jin would notice, and then he'd come and kill you. He's already got you on the back foot, and you need him for those suppressants anyway.

Shinjiro sighed as he made up his mind. He had already done what he could for SEES, in giving that small warning to Minato. That sentiment did nothing to silence the guilt and panic that roiled in his stomach, though. He got up and walked out of Hagakure, his head hung in defeat. Last thing I want is to be seen as the bad guy…

July 25th, 2009

"…And so I need all of you to come in for the next week or so. We only have a few days left until the National tournament, after all, and I believe that we have what it takes to do extremely well." The rest of the fencing team nodded at Mitsuru's words. Although they had been practicing their collective asses off for the past month, they were about to kick off into overdrive. When Minato had first joined the club, the Fencing team was good, but unfocused. After he had started to show up to practice regularly, and Mitsuru had a regular sparring partner, the change had become evident. They threw themselves into their bouts, fighting with every ounce of strength.

Now, they were fierce, determined, and skilled.

Just like SEES… She really does know how to whip teams into shape, huh?

Mitsuru smiled at the team and dismissed them all. Minato walked up to her as everyone was filing out of the practice room. "So, how far do you think we can make it during this thing?"

Mitsuru tilted her head in thought. "I don't know. I think that we have a decent chance of making the quarter-finals in Epee. Cho and Daichi have been working really hard lately. Saber has you, me, and Masato, so we might make the finals or even win the whole thing. Foil…worries me though."

Minato tilted his head in confusion. "How so? I thought that Hoshi was one of the best foil fencers you've ever seen?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "In technique, yes, but he has problems under pressure. If things don't go his way from the beginning, he begins to fold mentally and falls into patterns. He becomes easy to exploit."

Minato nodded sadly. "Ok, yeah, that's understandable. And no one else is good enough?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. But that's why we're taking the extra time for training. Maybe we can help fix his pressure problems before the tournament."

Minato nodded, following her logic. At that point, most of the team had filed out of the training room, and the two of them were mostly alone. Minato smirked. Perfect. He cleared his throat to gain her attention as he enacted his plan. He had rehearsed this sentence several times in the past day, and so he hoped he didn't butcher the pronunciation. French was a language he wasn't that fluent in, but he was a quick study. "Alors, Miss Kirijo, vous me ferait l'honneur de m'accompagner sur une date? Dire…parfois autour du 16th?"

Mitsuru blushed heavily as she stared at him in amazement. That had come out of nowhere. How had he known that she spoke French at all? Either way, to be asked on a date this way was… unexpected. "Uh…I…I have to check my schedule first, but I think that I could make it work…"

Minato nodded, a small smile on his face. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that they were alone in the room. "Of course. I'm looking forward to it." He made a grand flourishing gesture, reaching out for her hand and kissing it. Inwardly, he couldn't help but laugh at himself for his corny actions. If Naoto or Yukari ever found him doing this, he'd never hear the end of it. But after seeing the pure affection radiating from her from his clichéd action, it made it all worth it.

Junpei was a bundle of nerves and energy right now. He was finally prepared to enact his plan. He paced up and down the hall on the third floor, waiting for Fuuka to show up. She had been on his mind constantly since Yakushima, and he had barely been able to restrain himself until now. With the stress of his exam results out of the way, and summer vacation beginning tomorrow, he didn't want to waste any more time that he could potentially spend with her.

He heard footsteps on the stairs behind him, and he wheeled around. His face fell in disappointment, as Yukari walked up the steps. She noticed his look and frowned. "You know, it's rude to look like that when you see one of your dorm mates."

Junpei nodded apologetically. "I know, Yuka-tan, and I'm sorry. I was just…" He exhaled in frustration. "Never mind."

Yukari looked at him with an intrigued expression. "What's up with you, Junpei? You seem nervous."

Junpei looked at her in surprise for a moment, then nodded. Yukari had softened towards him considerably in the months that they had been dorm mates and comrades, and he was still getting used to it. "I am. I'm…waiting."

Yukari tilted her head. "Waiting? For who?"

As if called by her words, Fuuka stepped into the corridor, and smiled brightly at the two of them. "Hello Junpei-kun, Yukari-chan. How are you all today?"

At the sight of Fuuka, Junpei's face started to burn red slightly. Yukari noticed this and looked at him with surprise. She grinned at him knowingly, then turned to Fuuka. "I'm actually pretty tired. I was just heading to bed."

Fuuka's face fell slightly. "Oh, I hope you feel better."

Yukari nodded, then winked at Junpei. "Yeah, me too." At that, she turned to enter her room, and closed the door behind her, leaving the two in privacy. Junpei's face twisted in confusion. Had Yukari figured it out already? He shook his head. It didn't matter. He turned to Fuuka. "Hey, Fuuka-chan, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Fuuka gave him a look of momentary surprise, then nodded. They walked over to the lounge area and sat across from each other. As he sat down however, Junpei felt a burst of terror. The confidence he had felt at Yakushima had deserted him, right in his time of need. He froze, horror dawning on his face as he realized the words would not come out. Fuuka noticed his terrified look, and her face twisted with concern. "Junpei-kun, are you alright? You look pale."

Junpei couldn't speak. His mind was racing with panicked thoughts, all telling him to abort, to get out before too much damage was done. He shook his head in frustration, which Fuuka took to be an answer to her question. She stood up and put a hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. The sudden contact caused Junpei to burn bright red and start sweating uncontrollably. Her concern calmed his fears somewhat, however, and he attempted to speak. "Fuuka, I…"

Fuuka pulled her hand away with a worried look on her face, cutting him off. "You're really hot, and sweating! I'm going to get the medical kit!"

As Fuuka turned to run to the bathroom, Junpei's hand shot out of its own accord. He grasped her hand, preventing her from leaving. She turned to him in surprise, to see him smiling brightly at her. His throat cleared, and the words started to spill out of him. "Fuuka, I'm fine. I'm just nervous, is all."

She tilted her head in confusion. "Nervous? Why?"

Junpei let her hand go, and stood up to look straight at her. His nerves were blaring alarms in full force, but he ignored them. His heart beat so fast he thought it might bust out of his chest and start running down the hall. He smiled as he began. "So you know that scene in 'Lovers in Space', when Takashi wants to tell Captain Yumi how he feels about her for the first time? You know, when he's just standing outside her door, staring at it, thinking how he should start?"

Fuuka blushed suddenly and nodded tentatively. He grinned shyly at her. "That's kinda how I feel right now. The only difference is that I am not going to give up and walk away, like Takashi did."

Fuuka's eyes widened as Junpei exhaled, centering himself. He closed his eyes as he started. "I have something I want to tell you. Before I met you, I thought that all girls only liked guys that were super manly and tough. N-not that there isn't anything wrong with liking guys like that, I mean!"

He sighed as he forced himself to calm down. "Look, what I'm trying to say is…I'm not one of those guys. I'm a big, dumb coward. I hide from my problems, and put on this dumb façade of ignorance, so I don't let anyone know how weak I really am."

He opened his eyes and looked straight at her. She had her hands up to her mouth, trying to contain her heavy breathing. He smiled sadly at her. She wasn't taking this well at all, but he had come this far. Even if she didn't feel the same way as him, she deserved to know how much she meant to him. He continued. "But, when I'm with you, I feel strong. I feel like I can take on the world's problems if I have you backing me up." He stepped forward and looked down into her watering eyes. "I don't want to hide anymore."

He sighed as he put his hands in his pockets. "So, I guess I just want to ask you one question: Will you go out with me?" She gasped and turned away from him, the tears in her eyes spilling out. Junpei grimaced, a spear of pain jammed into his heart. That's what he figured would happen.

He chuckled sadly. Of course, she wouldn't be interested in a loser like him. Tears threatened to spill from his own eyes. "Sorry…I-I'll leave you alone now."

He turned away and prepared to walk away when he heard a choked cry. "Wait!"

He turned back to Fuuka, who shook uncontrollably from the force of her tears. "I-I don't know what to say, Junpei-kun."

Junpei swallowed. This was going so much worse than he'd thought it would. He decided to try one last time. "W-Well, you could say…yes?"

Fuuka shook her head sadly. "I-I don't think that I am what you want, Junpei. I-I'm not that pretty, or feminine, or..."

Junpei's eyes widened in surprise. She thought that she wasn't good enough for him? A lightness overtook his heart, as the feeling of rejection sloughed off of him. He shook his head emphatically, cutting off her self-detractions. "None of that matters to me, Fuuka. It's who you are that I like, not what you look like." Her eyes widened in surprise at his words.

At that, he leaned in conspiratorially and whispered to her, a sly grin on his face. "Although, to be completely honest with you, you are beautiful. That's a bonus."

She blushed and folded her hands together shyly. "O-Oh. Uh…" She pursed her lips in thought, then looked up at him with a small smile on her face. "W-Well, if you are ok with me, then I would be happy to go out with you, Junpei-kun."

Junpei's face broke out with a huge smile, and his fist shot into the air, an exact copy of his victory pose. "Yes!"

He threw his arms around Fuuka unexpectedly, which caused her to make a squeal of surprise. He quickly pulled back, a blush on his face. "Whoops, uh…sorry. I got a little carried away there."

She just chuckled, blushing slightly. "I-It's ok. I-I don't mind."

His face softened, as his embarrassment disappeared. "Thanks, Fuuka-chan." A few seconds passed, with the two of them staring at each other, both at a loss for words.

Junpei rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled nervously. "Um, so…are you doing anything tomorrow?"

She shook her head. "Not really. Did you want to do something together?"

Junpei racked his brain. He had been thinking so hard about what to say to her, that he never gave any thought to what would happen if he succeeded. He tilted his head. "W-Well, there's a new movie out. Does that sound good to you?"

She nodded. "S-Sure. What's it about?"

Junpei shook his head solemnly. "I have no idea."

Fuuka smiled as she said, "Why am I not surprised?"

Normally, Junpei would take offense to someone saying this. But from Fuuka, it seemed innocent, or playful, even. He smiled as he steeped his fingers in front of his face. "It's all part of my master plan. Mystery Movie Night!"

Fuuka laughed at his enthusiasm, and Junpei smiled back. The two of them sat down, making alternative plans for their date tomorrow in case the movie was terrible, and ended up simply enjoying each other's company until well into the night. As Junpei sat in bed reflecting on the day's events, he realized it didn't matter what the two of them did together. As long as it was with her, it was time well spent.

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(Hey there. Sorry this took so long again, but I have been battling a severe case of writer's block for the past few days. I know where I wanted to get to, but no idea on how to get there. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter, and how I want to portray Shinjiro, and more importantly, Chidori. She's going to be a very interesting character for me to write, because she's going to end up being quite a bit more important than in the game. As always, please leave me a review or send me a PM if you have questions, concerns, criticisms, or feedback of any kind. I very much appreciate it. Hope to see you all next chapter! – Dr. Ninja)

Translation: "So, Miss Kirijo, would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a date? Say… around the 16th?"