Thus, less than two days after coming out of hospital, I was back in again, not-quite-listening to some doctor type talk about my knee (Mitsuru kept several doctors from her father's company in the loop to minimise weird questions).

"From how it was described to me, I must say that I'm surprised that the damage wasn't greater. While the bullet managed to avoid all the bone and sinew," correction – they'd been ripped to shreds, but had already been patched up by unholy forces not meant to be understood, "the muscle around your knee is in a bad way, to put it lightly. While I'm sure Takeba-san did her best, I doubt that it will fully heal within two weeks."

Great. Why couldn't you just restitch it completely?

It's only a flesh wound. You'll walk it off.

I was confined to the hospital the next day – the medics wanted to do some more tests, to make sure that my lower leg wouldn't fall off when I started walking. Staring at a blank white ceiling for twelve hours straight was only slightly less interesting than drowning.

When the doctors eventually got bored of doing their tests and let me go, it was Tuesday afternoon. I had no wish to deal with half a day of new rumours, so I slowly went back to the dorm.

Key point: slowly. Yes, while walking was just about possible, 'awkward' didn't quite cover the feeling. I did try moving faster, just to see if it made it any better. Nope. Two steps later, I admit I might have been rolling on the floor in pain. It took at least twenty minutes to just get my bearings back afterwards.

I probably should have just asked for some crutches back at the hospital.

Through force of will and luck, I eventually managed to get back. Everyone else was still at school, and I considered waiting for them. Then I yawned, realised my body was still completely shot from a double hospitalisation, and decided to just go to sleep. Even if the sun was still up.

I'd expected to be woken by my alarm in the morning, or to have woken up by myself earlier than that.

"Wake up, Minato."

"No… they're eating her… and then they're going to eat me…"

Poke. "Would you kindly be a dear and wake up for me?"

Mmph. "Don't eat me… I'm all skin and bone… eat Junpei instead…"

Sigh. "Very well, then. Minato Arisato, I command you to wake up!"

At this point, I was punched in the face.

Crudely awoken and rubbing my face, I began looking around for what had so brazenly disturbed my slumber. Then I noticed it was green, and the only person in my room other than me was a boy in striped pyjamas.

The boy – Pharos, that was his name, right? – chuckled. "I'm surprised by your taste in movies. Did you really watch it from start to finish?"

I remembered enough of what I'd been dreaming to get the context. "Unfortunately, yes. It was a bet I made with myself over whether doing something could be more boring and painful than doing nothing. I lost." I paused to let out a yawn. Still sleepy. "Anyway, I'm assuming it was you who woke me up. Did you really have to punch me?"

Pharos just coyly smiled. "Oh, of course I did. Last time, you complained about not having enough warning, so I thought that this would be what you wanted. And you weren't responding to gentler stimuli, so I punched you."

Last time? That would be those… oh. Well, I did want that, but… damn you, me. "Alright. So I take it that a trial is coming? A big Shadow?"

A nod of confirmation. "My, you're a perceptive one." Pharos took a seat on my bed, only slightly too close for comfort. "Indeed, the full moon will rise in a week. Are you prepared for what awaits?"

…Honestly? "I can barely walk at the moment. I believe the correct answer is 'god, no'."

"And yet, time does not wait, does it?" Pharos chuckled. "I believe I have said those words before, that all of us are delivered to the same end. What end do you think that is?"

"…I'd prefer to not have to do a philosophical debate. I'd rather be getting back to sleep."

A small smirk crossed his face. "As you wish." Pharos got back up and gave a little bow. "Remember, a week. A full moon, a trial, and all the change it will bring."

I nodded an assent. "I'll do what I can. It won't be much, but I hope it will help."

"I have no need for those words, but I thank you for them all the same. Good night." Poof. He disappeared. I'd stopped questioning it by now.

Crack.

Thou shalt have my blessing when creating a Persona of the Death Arcana…

A week. Not enough for my knee. What could I do?

My train of thought was broken by a loud yawn.

…I'll think about this in the morning.

Okay. The full moon's on Tuesday. It's Wednesday. Six days to go.

Coming back, the rumour mill was fully operational.

"Did you hear?"

"Of course I did, because I hate myself and to make myself feel better I have to take pleasure in throwing mud over the names of everyone else, herp derp derp."

Note that I may be paraphrasing what was said to a degree. In any case, Isako proved remarkably adept at keeping everyone calm in homeroom – presumably, she wanted to give me some more space to get back into the rhythm of things. I appreciated the extra space; it helped me think.

I had six days. Come then, against whatever, I highly doubted whether I'd have the privilege of staying still. That meant that I needed to at least get used to walking around on a shot knee. Thence, I went to the gym – yes, running was beyond stupid, but it was a controlled environment without many people, and if I suddenly felt the need to do pull-ups or something, that option would still be available.

That was the theory, anyway. I borrowed a shirt from the lost property department, ripped it up, wrapped it around my knee as a brace and set a treadmill for a steady two-and-a-half miles an hour.

Walk. Walk. Walk.

Still walking.

…Yep, still walking.

Since this is another one of those parts where nothing really happens, I'll skip forward a bit.

Some time later, I fell off the treadmill.

No, it wasn't anything awful or dramatic of horrifying or anything – no sudden screams of pain, no snapped tendons, no fountains of blood as flesh tore from sinew. Walking was just more tiring than I remembered, and I ended up forgetting to move my legs. In fact, it was only when a girl with a ponytail poked her head in that I realised I was on the floor.

"Minato-san? Are you alright?"

I blinked. "Yeah, Rio-san, I'm fine. Just wasn't really paying attention. Fatigue and all that." I faked a yawn for emphasis.

"Fair enough. Be, careful, then, as… what happened to your knee?"

Well, she had eyes. She was bound to notice. "It got screwed up. Pretty badly." Further details weren't necessary.

Rio winced. "Ooph. That can't have felt good. I twisted my knee playing tennis, about… two years ago, now? Single most painful thing that's ever happened to me, so I can relate." Probably not as painful as getting shot in the heart, but that was something else I didn't need to bring up. "I was on crutches for a month… wait, should you even be walking right now?"

"Probably not," I conceded. "However, there's some stuff going on in a week, and I'm going to need to be able to move around, so I'm getting some practice in. I can rest afterwards. Can you help me up?"

"Sure." I grabbed her outstretched hand. "What's happening, then? Has to be pretty important, if you're willing to risk your leg like that."

I'm going to face a giant horror that's probably going to find some completely unexpected, cruel and unusual way of inflicting grievous bodily harm on me. "Club activities," was the explanation I settled on. It was still the truth. "It's complicated, and I'd prefer if I didn't have to do it, but I can't just quit. I'm a member, and I need to do my part." If only because the other option would be getting executed again.

Rio blinked. Then she blinked again – something I said might have caused a double-take. "You really enjoy being part of… what club are you in anyway? Nevermind. The point is, you enjoy it, don't you?"

Well… "I think 'enjoy' might not be the right word." Getting shot, stabbed and set on fire certainly wasn't fun. "But I understand what you're getting at. I… appreciate? I guess that's the right word. I appreciate being part of the club. It gives me something to do, and lets me hang out with interesting people. That's all there is to it… Rio-san? Are you alright?"

There was a long, tentative pause before Rio said anything. While I'd been speaking, a look had crossed her face. I would say it was wistful, except that sort-of implies remembering better days, and from the lines on her face, it was clear that the things she was recalling weren't entirely happy. It wasn't horrific-flashbacks-Vietnam-War level, but it was enough that it couldn't be a positive sign. "If only all club members could be like you, Minato-san."

…Proceeding down this path feels like a can of worms. I don't really want to have more dramatic recollections of traumatic backstories, like at the weekend. Change the subject. Change the subject.

"You said you played tennis?"

"Huh?" She broke out of her reverie. "Um, yeah. I used to. Back in middle school, they all said I was the best in the year. I mean… yeah." That look appeared again, and her voice trailed off.

"Doesn't this school have a tennis club? I'm pretty sure they'd love to have someone like you."

As soon as I finished speaking, Rio gave some sort of bitter, cynical chuckle. "The school does have a tennis club, Minato-san. You're looking at it. Everyone else quit."

…Oh.

Smooth, Minato. Real smooth. You try to change the subject to something more comfortable, and what do you do? You ignore the warning signs, and you turn it to what's probably the very worst thing possible. Again. Smooth.

Those questions about club enjoyment make a lot more sense now.

"Erm… sorry for bringing that up."

Rio sighed again, less bitterly, more resigned. "Don't worry. You didn't know."

…Silence. Cold, awkward silence.

I probably shouldn't keep prodding, but… "Do you mind me asking what happened?"

"They were the ones who were wrong." Cold, absolute. Not a hint of doubt. Presented as pure fact, nothing more, nothing less.

…"Okay."

Rio arched an eyebrow, in a not-quite-accusing-but-still-pretty-questioning manner. "You know that by itself, what you said doesn't really mean anything, right? At least tell me what you mean."

I quickly raised my arms in a sign of peace. "Look, I don't know what happened. I'm not going to pretend to know what happened. From the way you presented it, though, it sounds like a simple case of you versus them. I think I'll pick you."

Her stare rapidly faded, to be replaced by a moment of blankness. "I have no idea what you're saying."

I shrugged. "I'm picking sides in an apparent conflict of interests. While I don't know what the actual conflict was about, given the choice between supporting you or several strangers who probably hate and fear me, I'd rather not back the people who wouldn't hesitate to throw me out of a window when things got rough."

"…You make it sound like the fate of Japan is at stake."

"But what if it was? What if tiny aliens came to Japan trying to kidnap schoolgirls to boost their ailing cosmic theme park, and the only way to defeat them was to overcome them in a tennis tournament, but then they stole all the powers of the world's greatest professionals and became amazingly skilled monsters? What would you do?"

…We both needed a few seconds to process the horrendous pile of awful shite that had just fallen out of my mouth. I facepalmed. Where the hell had that come from? "Please pretend I never said that."

Rio gently shook her head, but she was smiling as she did so. "You really are a strange one, Minato-san."

"Eh. I get that all the time." It was good to see her smiling again.

Crack.

Thou shalt have my blessing when creating a Persona of the Chariot Arcana…

Thursday. Five days to go.

Went to the gym again. Started walking again. Fell off again. At least I think I managed to walk for slightly longer than the previous day, and that's probably an improvement.

While Rio wasn't there that day, I wasn't alone. Akihiko was smirking as I picked myself off the floor. "Bad day at the office, huh?"

"I guess you could say that," I said as shook out my head. "Certainly way more exhausting than usual." I got back up on the treadmill, started walking again, yawned, and fell off again.

Akihiko just smiled and shook his head. "Even if you want to keep going, doing anything else will just make things worse. It's like trying to box with a broken arm. Come on. Some ramen'll do you good. I'll buy."

Free food. "What's with the offer?" I wasn't ungrateful, but the abruptness seemed slightly suspicious.

If that doubt crept into my voice, it didn't affect Akihiko. "It's easy. You'll need carbohydrates to restock up on energy, and protein to heal up better. If I leave you alone, you'll just buy instant noodles or something else that's just as bad. Someone needs to make sure you're healing up properly." That was surprisingly benevolent of him. "Besides, the sooner you're back in shape, the sooner we can get back to training. We haven't even got to back hip circles yet." …Or not.

Still, free food was free food, and soon we were at the restaurant. "How are you today?" the server asked us as we sat down.

"We're good. Two extra-large specials, if you please," Akihiko ordered. "That's fine with you, right?" he added, as an afterthought.

"Given that we already ordered and the waitress's already left, I'm not sure why you're asking that question."

"Just wondering if you wanted anything else," he replied dismissively. "I'm paying, so get as much as you want. Better for building up strength."

"Don't worry." I wasn't feeling too hungry, so I assumed that the ramen would be enough. How true that turned out to be.

The food arrived, and deep, meaningful thought turned to dust as I stared at the colossus before me. "This is bigger than my head."

Akihiko seemed to find my stupor amusing. "As I said, better for building up strength. Eat up."

"Well… thanks for the meal, then." With trepidation, I picked up my chopsticks and began digging into the mountain of meat and noodles.

If you would like to experience for yourself what eating this felt like, don't. In the interests of your own personal health and safety, never eat something larger than your own head. It will not end well.

"Kill me. Kill me now."

Akihiko sighed at my apparent weakness. "You really have a small stomach," he said as he sadly looked upon half an uneaten bowl. "If you don't eat right, you'll never get stronger."

I managed to just gather enough strength to lift my head up from the table and give him a slightly baleful stare. "Well, thank you, 'Dad'." Then that strength ran out, and I immediately crashed back down, stomach groaning in protest.

Akihiko raised a bemused eyebrow in reply. "Come on. Can't have you throwing up all the good stuff." He fished something out of a pocket and tossed it at my head. "Indigestion tablets. Chewable."

…Why was he carrying those around? Still, they were exactly what I needed. I popped one out, chewed and swallowed, taking care to not gag. "Thank you."

"Don't sweat it. You already know what's coming, and we all need you at your best. Finish up. Then we can go."

"You know, I'm pretty sure that I can't eat any more."

Akihiko replied by looking at me in a way that can only be described as a father looking expectantly at a child. I swallowed. He wasn't going to let this go. On the other hand, I wasn't in an optimal state to eat anything for at least a day. The two conflicting issues were… problematic.

Well, if Akihiko wasn't here, then I wouldn't have to eat it. "Don't wait for me. I'll only slow you down."

He didn't miss a beat. "You're part of SEES now. We don't leave people behind."

Damn. What other excuses… "Oh no! I suddenly remembered that I'm allergic to wheat, and I need to get back to hospital right now or I'll die…"

"They use rice noodles here."

…Damn. Lyra, do you have any ideas?

Well, you could inflict some wounds on yourself and force yourself to hospital. You can easily rip out the veins in your wrists with your teeth, or you could use the chopsticks to gouge out one of your eyes. I'd recommend the right.

And what if I'm not feeling completely insane?

Then just eat the damn noodles already.

Well, thanks a lot for that input.

You're welcome.

At this point, the only thing on my mind was to stall for time – either I'd think up a viable excuse, or my stomach would just clear up enough for another few bites to keep him satisfied. I was about to change the conversation subject when the shop door swung open behind me, and Akihiko's eyes lit up. "Be right back," he quickly spoke. "Don't leave until you've finished."

He'd walked for about three steps when I swapped my bowl with an empty one lying on the next table, somehow not throwing up in the process. The classic switcheroo. No-one will ever know.

Curiosity then made me check what had attracted Akihiko's attention. He'd walked up to the counter and taken a seat next to semi-familiar figure in a dark trenchcoat, wearing a surprisingly sinister beanie. They weren't arguing, but from their postures, it looked like their conversation was on the cynical end of the scale.

…Akihiko just ordered another bowl of ramen. That appetite could not be natural. Seriously, how was his stomach even intact?

While I was pondering this, something shifted in their conversation, and they turned and looked at me. Beanie man – he was definitely the guy from that time in the hospital – had an especially doubting, critical look on his face. Even at this distance, I felt the urge to swallow nervously. I settled for giving a tentative wave of the hand.

Beanie man snorted and turned back to Akihiko. Their conversation continued to stutter for a few more minutes, before beanie man finished his up his noodles, muttered something under his breath and left. Akihiko could only shake his head.

"Who was that?" I asked as he got back. Whoever he was, if Akihiko and Junpei had both dealt with him in the past, then he might have had some history with SEES.

"You asked that before," he countered. "Like I said, he's a friend from school. Sort of. Anyway, where are your noodles?"

"I finished them."

"…Right." Akihiko picked up my bowl, placed it on a nearby table, picked up the half-bowl of ramen lying on the same table, and put that bowl in front of me. "Did you really think it would be that easy?"

Damn. "How did you know?"

"Three reasons. One, I heard you moving around as I was walking away, so I knew something was up. Two, there was a piece of coriander in that bowl, and that's not in the special.

"And three, the two bowls you swapped were different colours. Now, eat."

…Damn.

Crack.

Thou shalt have my blessing when creating a Persona of the Emperor Arcana…

Friday. Four days to go.

Was still bloated from the day before. Attempted to go to the gym. Completely failed. Rio was sympathetic. Settled for crawling back to the dorm. Slumped on sofa. Attempted to sleep. Failed. Still too bloated. Wasted several hours doing absolutely nothing productive, then tried to sleep again. Failed again. Eventually, I decided to go play card games.

Format of the day: booster draft. Since detailed analyses of the strategic nuances of trading card games probably aren't what you're looking for, this is another bit I'll skip over. Earlier, I'd noticed that Isako wasn't there – not entirely unsurprising, given that teaching was a full-time job and all that. I was looking over the cards I'd drafted when she eventually arrived.

She seemed to see me before anyone else, as she came straight over and slumped on a seat next to mine. Her incredibly professional greeting to me was a succinct, "Plffblfttttt."

I tried to downplay the smirk creeping across my lips. "Looks like someone's being melodramatic."

"Urgh," was her equally professional reply. "You don't know half of it. A quarter. Two fifths? I don't know." She gave a remarkably deep, resigned sigh. "I flunked all my maths exams when I was school."

It took a moment to fully process that train of thought. "Is something going on at the school?" Most problems are probably work related.

Isako sat up slightly straighter in her chair and looked at me in the eye (this might have meant to be intimidating, but the effect was lost as her head was tilted to the side like a curious child). "You know that finals for this term are coming up quickly, right?"

…"No." Well, I did now. This would just have to be another thing to deal with after Tuesday.

"Winging it, then?" Isako smiled, albeit tiredly. "I was like that, once. Maybe that was why I never passed maths. Can't wing things now, though. Professional life sucks. Do you know just how much paperwork we all need to do? It's terrifying."

"Huh. Is it really that bad?"

Her reply was swift. "Yes. Yes it is. No-one likes paperwork, even if they're insane. Paperwork is terrible. I mean, just for each student, there's at least half a dozen forms that need to be read, reread, sealed, signed in triplicate, sent off, and returned to you when it turns out that you signed it wrong. It is the single worst part of being a teacher."

Curious. "That sounds like you're getting dissatisfied with your job."

"No, no, no," she quickly backtracked, waving her hands around for emphasis; an extra hint of conviction also rose into her voice. "I still love it. It's what I always wanted to do, since I was a kid. Just not the paperwork." A quick roll of the eyes. "This time, I guess I just got bored of signing things? Still got two telephone-directories-worth of things to plough through, due Monday. Haven't had to bring work home in years."

While it may have been somewhat hypocritical for me to do so, largely because I didn't do most of the work that was set for me by the teachers, I couldn't help but tease her slightly. "Now you know how the other half feels."

Right here, what I said seemed to strike a fuse. Most of her tiredness seemed to evaporate, being quickly replaced with an almost-manic grin. "Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions, Minato-kun. One advantage from working from home is that you can do it while drunk." To highlight this, she proudly dug out a can of something from her bag. "Sweet, sweet beer, the nectar for life. You'll find its truths when you're older." She promptly downed it in one.

Huh. My homeroom teacher may or may not have been a binge drinker. You learn interesting things every day. "Are you even allowed to drink in here?"

In response, she pulled out another can and threw in in my general direction.

I let it land on the ground and roll away. "You know, as a teacher, I'm not sure that you should be supplying minors with alcohol."

She blinked a few times, and then facepalmed. "Sorry. Force of habit. It's useful advice for life, though: you can solve most problems in life by throwing beer at them. It certainly stops people from asking that question – enough beer, and they're in on it with you. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Sure." Blackmail wasn't worth it. "Just give me a couple of extra marks in the test, though." Collusion, however, was perfectly fine.

"You drive a hard bargain, Minato-kun." The tone of her voice showed that it really wasn't one. "Very well. You have yourself a deal."

Crack.

Thou shalt have my blessing when creating a Persona of the Hermit Arcana…

"By the way," I picked up after the time pause, "I'd like a second opinion here." I turned back to the cards scattered on the table "What do you think the last card for the deck should be?"

"Well, that depends on what you have." She stood up and looked over my card pool. A frown quickly rose across her face. "You were drafting full Alara Block, right?"

"Yep."

"How on Earth did you manage to draft a monocoloured deck?"

Saturday. Three days to go.

Finished digesting ramen. Went to gym. Did not fall off treadmill. Felt like I was making progress. Attempted to jog. Failed miserably. Fell off treadmill. Got depressed and went back to the dorm.

Nothing else of note happened.

Sunday. Two days to go.

Went for a walk. Ran into Rio on a jog; exchanged quick greetings, then walked off. Was convinced to give half my money to Tahitian orphans by attractive charity girl. Did not have enough left for any large quantity of food. After some consideration, I decided to go to the ramen place again. Medium servings weren't too expensive.

It was a Sunday lunchtime, so the restaurant was crowded. All the tables were full, mostly with students making the most of a day without school, so the only free seat I could see was one right by the counter. Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been an issue, except for the person in the seat next to it.

It was a tall figure wearing a surprisingly sinister beanie.

I strongly considered just turning around and getting lunch somewhere else, but then my stomach growled. Besides, everywhere else would probably be even more full than this. I decided to screw it, and just took the seat next to him.

I politely avoided looking at him as I sat down. "One medium extra-spice spice bowl, please."

Order done, there was a distinct 'tsk' from somewhere nearby, and I turned to see beanie man shaking his head. I frowned. "Do you have a problem with that?"

In retrospect, using a confrontational tone with someone a good half head taller than me may not have been a good idea. He gave me a death glare – not a piercing glare, like one of Mitsuru's, but a much cruder one, like being bludgeoned by a sack of bricks. "Yes. Yes I do." Gulp. "I see it all the time. Sticking to the noodles. Never getting a balanced intake of nutrients."

…That was his objection? "Erm…" I tried to point this out, but I was cut off by another sack of bricks. This was serious stuff. Probably safer to just go with the flow. "Okay… I'll get some meat as well."

"Tsk." If anything, that seemed to make him more annoyed. "You're just like Aki. Protein starch, protein, starch… where are the vegetables? Where are your vitamins?"

Was Aki some nickname for Akihiko? Probably, and I wanted to ask, but the pressure of bricks was not lowering. "Okay, I'll get some salad as well…" The overall experience was both surreal and terrifying. Forcing myself to eat food I didn't want, or bigger and tougher people would wipe the floor with me. Part of my life now.

Hey, if Fuuka's not cooking anymore, then you won't be force-feeding yourself anything. Someone's got to pick up the slack.

At the very least, beanie man seemed to be satisfied and returned to his food with a dismissive grunt. A few minutes later, my noodles arrived, accompanied a generic green salad and some stir-fried strips of pork. Well, I think it was pork. While I was a better cook than Fuuka, cuisine was not (and still isn't) one of my strong points. It was still good, though.

Beanie man was walking through a significantly larger bowl than me, so even with the sides, I finished. He didn't react in any way to me paying up and leaving. The walk back to the dorms was uneventful.

Honestly, I could have skipped over this day entirely, if time hadn't stopped right as I was leaving the restaurant.

Crack.

Thou shalt have my blessing when creating a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana…

It took until I was halfway back to the dorms for it to sink in that I hadn't actually made a new Social Link.

Monday. One day to go.

School nurse/psychologist gave lecture on god-knows-what again. Had forgotten about his open offer to talk to him. Still did not feel any inclination to.

I didn't go to the gym after school, as I felt that getting back earlier and taking some more rest would be more appropriate. On the way back, satisfied that walking was okay, I decided to try moving faster again; power walking was almost feasible, jogging still wasn't, and running was completely out of the question. An extra night's sleep might not help much, but everything counts. To that end, I went to bed early again.

I was drifting off to sleep when I realised that Elizabeth probably had a new flamethrower ready for me, and I'd forgotten to collect it. Damn.

Oh well. One more thing to do tomorrow.