Author's Note: It's been a while, huh? A little over two years, according to the last update date.

I started Reset back in 2010, when I was still a teenager in high school. It was just a little-too-ambitious side project I started writing as a side project to an almost equally ambitious Devil Survivor project (that I ended up dropping), which I specifically started writing because I was frustrated with the quality of dual-protag Persona 3 Portable fics at the time. Despite being an AU, I stuck pretty hard to the script of the script, because honestly, I was afraid of striking off into uncharted waters at that point in time. I'd worked out the rough plot beats, but at that point in time, they were just rough beats. And then it got a surprisingly good reception, so I just kept on going.

In the eight years since then, I've graduated high school, started college, gotten a job, and as of this writing, I'm just a year out from graduating. So what happened to Reset? Life happened. I spent more time writing for essays than I did mulling on the fanfic I started for funsies back in high school. I got to be a better writer... a much better writer. Better to the point that a lot of the early chapters became actively painful for me to read. And that's just natural with becoming a better writer - the better you get, the more you can't stand looking at your older works, because all you can think about is how you'd do that thing differently now. Which started being a problem when I'd go and work on new Reset chapters, because all I could think about was how, man, I really fucked myself with how I wrote a lot of the early chapters.

My enthusiasm toward working on Reset had started to wane, so around about Chapter 22-ish, I started working on some chapters that were fairly different from my usual fare until that point to try and renew that entusiasm. And then I released them to... a resounding meh, which was just a further kick in the dick. So I let Reset sit for a while, trying to figure out where I'd go from here. Every now and then a review would trickle in, but the ones that came were highly critical of Reset, typically dropping out in those early chapters that I hated at that point. And while a lot of them were the complaints I'd grown used to (Minato's power level's too weak, Hamuko sucks, etc.), there were others that I'd been thinking on my own for a while, like how Minato's characterization was weak and my story was adhering too much to the original game's plot. That's without even going to some of the plot points that I'd introduced and just didn't know how to resolve anymore. After a point, I stopped coming up with stuff for the story, and I started focusing on other stuff. Wrote some one-shots for other fandoms, but on the whole, if I wrote, it was original content that I've only barely posted online.

Reset is a story I wanted to finish, but I'm not sure I can in good faith anymore. My writing's changed too much for me to be comfortable going with the versions of the characters I've got right now. At the same time, I'm not sure I want to do a full rewrite, as that kind of thing generally spells the death knell for a story. I left it in limbo for a while in case the spark ever came back, but honestly, without a review reminding me how long it had been since last update, and one of my friends starting his own Persona 5 AU fic recently, I probably never would have come back and written this. So where do I go from here? I dunno. If there's want for it, maybe I'll keep going, or maybe I'll do that full rewrite. Even now, I still remember pretty much everything I was planning on doing after this point, even down to the word for some scenes.

So we'll see. For now, I think we should call this an end. I've posted up my heavily-unfinished draft of the next chapter, complete with my personal notes to myself, below this Author's Note. It's chunky and a lot of the scenes are heavily unfinished, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyways. When you're finished, go read The One True Nobody's "Tokyo Butterfly"; if you like Persona 5 and AU novelizations like mine, maybe you'll like it! And maybe someday I'll delete this note and finish this chapter, and we can keep going on pretending nothing happened.

Thanks for reading.

- FirebreathFishslap

~X~

"Aigis, Mitsuru, pull yourselves together!"

Hamuko ducked out of the way of a stabbing rapier strike, biting back a swear as she looked up into Mitsuru's eyes. They were dull, unfeeling, with only the tinge of pink around her irises belying what had happened. She shot a quick glance toward Ken, who stood safely hidden behind a pillar, out of the range of Aigis' bullets.

The chrome, fused form of a male and female dancer stood in the center of the hall, its hands clasped together, an exaggerated, masked heart floating above its neck. It took a step forward, bringing its hands up, swinging around in a waltz. Mitsuru's rapier stabbed forward. Hamuko's naginata swung up, catching the blade across the shaft, and tore the blade from Mitsuru's grasp. It flew into the air in a wide arc, clattering against the ground a few feet away.

Mitsuru moved her hand toward her waist. Hamuko dashed forward and slammed her shoulder into Mitsuru's body, knocking her to the ground. Quickly, Hamuko pulled the Evoker from Mitsuru's holster and tucked it into her uniform's pocket.

She heard a gun cock behind her. Her blood ran cold. She swung around, and there was Aigis, her hands held up, the fingertips gun barrels.

"Ken, hit her!" Hamuko ordered as she swung her naginata toward her.

"But—"

"Do it!"

There was a gunshot from the other end of the room, and a massive bolt of electricity dropped from the ceiling, striking Aigis. She dropped to her knees, and then collapsed to the ground. Hamuko swung her Evoker to her forehead. The Dancer clacked its heels against the tile.

A staggering vortex of wind swirled around the room, flinging Hamuko off her feet and into the air. She twisted in midair, landing on her stomach, and let out a gasp. It's better than landing on your back, she told herself as she gasped for air. Catch your breath. Quickly. Before it sees the opening.

This was supposed to be a quick trip in. The day after the festival, Ken and Junpei had been released from the hospital, and the day after that, Ken had joined SEES. It had been a rushed affair, Ikutsuki and Ken quickly overriding any objections the others had to putting an elementary school kid on the front lines. They'd gone to Tartarus, and Ken had quickly acclimated to his Persona. The four of them had quickly climbed several floors, until they reached this area's guardian.

She'd gotten cocky. The party she'd brought should have been enough. But that was before it had put a shield on itself to reflect their attacks, and before it struck them with typhoon-force winds, and before it had taken advantage of the chaos to put Mitsuru and Aigis under its control.

Yukari could have taken the wind attacks. Kept us topped off. Then Koromaru and Aigis could have gone in for the kill. Why did I bring Ken with me?! Stupid, stupid stupid… She gritted her teeth as she pushed herself up. Get back on your feet. Go!

Something shoved her over, a hand groping for her pocket. Hamuko only caught a glimpse of a lock of red hair before she swung her fist toward her attacker. They reeled back, but Hamuko was on her feet again, bending down again only to sweep her naginata up from the ground. She caught Aigis' fallen body out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't moving – unconscious. Ken—Ken could wake people up.

She narrowed her eyes at the Natural Dancer as it continued to dance its mocking waltz. It didn't matter how much they fought amongst themselves if they couldn't take this thing out!

Mitsuru groaned against the ground. There was no time to check if she'd finally regained her senses. Only for a quick order. "Ken, get Aigis up!"

"The teleporters aren't working! We can't send anyone up!" Fuuka's cry pierced right into her brain. They wouldn't be getting reinforcements. It was up to the four of them. She pressed her Evoker to her temple. The steel of the barrel was cold against her skin.

She pulled.

(More fighting here)

"Yamata-no-Orochi!" Hamuko yelled. The multi-headed snake appeared in the air before her. Kill Rush! The snake's heads lept forward, it struck at the Dancer…

…and the moment before Yamata-no-Orochi struck, the Dancer raised its hand, a glimmering shield appearing over its body.

The shield shattered. Yamata-no-Orochi shattered. The shards became shimmering blasts of light, flying back at Hamuko. The force of every blow she had meant to lay upon the Dancer returned upon her in one sudden strike, sending her tumbling against the ground.

Every tumble shot a sharp bolt of pain through her body. The pain was all consuming, her mind dimming. Everything was heavy, and yet she could only think about sleeping…

Her vision was going black. Something deep within her was crying out, roaring in her ears, getting louder and louder.

Was… dying supposed to be this loud?

"Nemesis!"

And then, suddenly, warmth. All encompassing, comforting, warmth, enough to overwhelm the itchy feeling of her wounds stitching together.

(unfinished)

[...] She was still standing in front of the fountain, wondering what to do, when Shinjiro Aragaki walked through the door to the police station, a scowl on his face. As Hamuko turned toward him, he looked up, and their eyes met. He gave a start, his eyes widening as he took half a step backward, and Hamuko's widened in turn.

"You again...?" Shinjiro asked. An uncomfortably long silence passed, in which they continued to stare at each other until, finally, Shinjiro's expression settled back into an expression Hamuko could only describe as "thoroughly ticked off". "Did Aki send you? Tryin' to convince me t' come back again?"

"No, I..." Hamuko sighed. She needed to be confident here... "I just wanted to talk to you about when you were in SEES. Is that okay?"

Shinjiro stood there silently, continuing to look down on her. There was a feeling like he was assessing her, and Hamuko found herself standing a little straighter, her legs stepping further apart. Finally Shinjiro let out a sigh.

"You ain't gonna leave unless I give you an answer, right? Fine, come on."

Hamuko followed Shinjiro around the fountain, watching his back as she walked. It hadn't been that long since he'd gotten injured there while protecting Ken from something they should have been keeping an eye on. He seemed to be walking okay, but she couldn't help but wonder...

Finally, Shinjiro stopped, and Hamuko looked up to see a gaudy glass storefront with a sign for "Club Escapade" above it. "Here? I thought they didn't open until way later?"

"It's fine, I know a guy who works here. There should be some guys in here settin' up today," Shinjiro said. Shrugging, he walked through the door, Hamuko following after.

Hamuko had only ever seen the inside of Escapade at night, so to see it during the daytime was a bit jarring. The dim lights had been turned up brighter, most likely so the workers could clean. The large, octagon-shaped room seemed desolate without a crowd of people dancing on its floors, with the only people in the room being the bartender wiping down the bar's counter, the worker mopping the tiled dance floor, and the small group of people working near the stage.

The group by the stage had a box full of sparkly pink props nearby them, as well as a sign that Hamuko couldn't entirely read from here. A surprisingly young looking girl with brown pigtails and a man in a suit seemed to be overseeing them as workers on the stage shifted around the instruments, and she could catch snippets of conversation.

"I'm just worried, that's all. If word gets out, it could get way more crowded than we're expecting..." the girl said.

"Don't worry, I'm taking every extra precaution."

"Okay... Oh, hey, can you move that drumset a little more to the left? About half a meter, maybe?"

Hamuko turned away from the conversation as the two of them approached the bar, the bartender looking up as they got closer. "Sorry, we're closed... Oh, hey, Shinjiro." He moved his head to see around Shinjiro's body, and Hamuko waved. "You two know each other? Hey, that monk isn't here yet. He usually doesn't come in until after eight."

"Oh, uh, no, we're just..." Hamuko glanced up toward Shinjiro, suddenly feeling a bit nervous.

"We're just here to hang out," Shinjiro said. "We'll make sure to stay out of your way while you're working."

"Alright... you want something to drink, right?" the bartender said. Shinjiro took a seat on the stools, and Hamuko scooted up onto the seat next to him.

"Just water," Shinjiro said.

"Yeah, water's good too," Hamuko said.

"H-Two-Oh on the rocks, got it..." the Bartender reached for a cup from under the bar, and then looked up at them. "That was a joke, by the way."

As the bartender filled up their cups, Hamuko stole a look toward Shinjiro. Now that they were sitting next to each other, and he wasn't slouched over, it was really obvious just how tall he was, easily dwarfing her own height. He'd protected Ken the whole time while they were fighting those Shadows, too, so he was probably really strong. The bartender pushed their cups toward them, and said, "Alright, I've gotta get back to work, but if you need anything, just let me know."

"Okay," Hamuko said. The bartender stepped out from behind the bar and walked back onto the floor, leaving Hamuko and Shinjiro alone at the bar. "So, do you know what's going on with those guys over there?" she asked, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb toward the stage.

Shinjiro shrugged. "Ain't got a clue. The manager's always gettin' some local band t' come and play gigs, but they don't look like the usual guys. Maybe he got some up and comin' idol to come do a private show."

"She does look like an idol..." Hamuko said as she glanced over her shoulders. Yeah, something about that girl did look a little familiar... maybe she'd seen her on a CD store standee or something like that. She looked down into her cup. Water rippled slowly around "I'm kind of surprised, to be honest. I didn't expect you to agree to talk to me."

Shinjiro silently sipped at his cup for a good moment. Finally, he put it down. "...You've got eyes like someone who's done somethin' they regret. So maybe you'll understand better than Aki does why I don't want to come back."

Hamuko blinked, and then let out a low chuckle. "You don't know the half of it..."

"Well, I ain't gonna ask you about it if you don't want to say anything about it. Just don't go blabbing about everything I tell you."

(unfinished)

With the summer festival past and summer school over with, their vacation time was very rapidly coming to an end. After a couple of particularly uneventful Tartarus runs (compared to how they usually went, anyways) Hamuko had called for a week's break from exploring the tower so they could recharge a bit. Yukari and Fuuka had practically jumped for joy at the news, and Minato was pretty sure Mitsuru felt a bit of relief as well, and Akihiko, well, he was just as irritated that he couldn't go punch things as ever. Minato only wished he could share that same relief.

He didn't mind the time to rest; quite the opposite, really. But things were going just a little too smoothly, weren't they? After the incidents with Strega and the Emperor Shadow, he'd thought things were turning for the worse, but they'd had an easy time with last month's Shadows, there hadn't been anymore issues with abnormal Shadows in Tartarus, and there hadn't been as much of a peep from either of their concerns. Junpei's injuries were even healing up well enough that they were going to send him back on hospice soon. He was still far too injured to fight, but that would fix itself in time.

But in time, Minato let himself relax. There was enough he had to worry about in the coming months. Maybe this was just what he needed in the meantime.

And the days passed in a haze. Kenji asked Minato out to the local movie theater so they could watch a movie marathon one day. He went to visit Junpei at the hospital another day, and asked if he could borrow his copy of Innocent Sin Online. Minato logged on and chatted with a player named "Maya". Remembering his summer homework, he tagged along with Hamuko to a small bookstore in Iwatodai so they could pick up study materials. One night, he even threw around suggestions for a group karaoke night, though most everyone at the dorms turned it down. The only ones of them who'd ended up going were Minato, Hamuko, and Yukari, and by the time they made it back home, the Dark Hour had long passed.

And Minato began to notice his teammates' routines again. Akihiko left for a jog every morning at six. Yukari would usually head out with her friends early in the morning and be gone until night. Fuuka would stay home, while Hamuko always left for the day. He'd see her around town, sometimes with friends, other times with people Minato remembered all too well from the last go-around. Aigis still wasn't allowed outside unsupervised, so she would stay home. Ken usually left after the morning news was over, and when he'd get back, he'd usually go to his room early.

And that morning, Minato ticked another date off on his calendar. Without him realizing it, they'd come to August 25th. Less than a week until school started, and eleven days until the next full moon. He'd overslept a bit that morning; the sun was already high in the sky and his room hot and stuffy from the heat. Grumbling some choice words to himself, Minato pulled his blinds open and squinted at the road outside, before closing them again and heading for his door.

He stepped outside and toward the small lounge by the stairs. Sitting at one of the tables was Ken. There was a mug of black coffee in front of him sending wisps of steam into the air. His eyes were unfocused, like he was staring at something very far away that only he could see. He turned toward Minato, not quite able to bring a smile to his face as he looked toward him.

"Oh… good morning."

"Morning. You're not going out today?" Minato asked.

"No, I… I didn't have any plans," Ken said. "Have you ever felt like you had something you needed to do, but you just didn't know what it was for the longest time?"

There was something very dangerous to this line of thought, and Minato had a feeling he knew what was going through Ken's head right now, even if he couldn't begin to guess why the kid felt this way now.

"Sometimes."

"I did too. But now I think I know, and I'm ready to do it," Ken said.

A moment of silence passed between the two of them. Minato put his hands in his pockets and looked off toward the stairs. "…I'm thinking I'm going to take Koromaru for a walk. Do you want to come with me?"

"Huh? With Koromaru-san?" Ken asked. He looked down at his coffee, and then back up at Minato. "Okay, sure."

The two of them walked down to the lounge, where Minato managed to coax Koromaru into coming along. The whole walk to the shrine didn't take more than a few minutes; all they had to do was follow Koromaru, and he knew the path there. Ken stayed quiet the whole way there. Though he'd seemed somewhat interested when they first left, but as they walked, he'd begun to look more and more awkward. A couple of times, he opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again a second later.

Upon reaching the shrine steps, Koromaru bounded ahead and up them. Ken and Minato followed him to the top and took sentry by the top of the stairs as Koromaru trotted over to each fence post and marked it. It looked like he was going to be a while, so they had plenty of time to talk.

Ken stared off toward Koromaru. "He's a very smart dog. His old owner must have trained him well."

"Yeah."

At the response, Ken's gaze moved to his feet. "You wanted to lecture me, didn't you? That's why you brought me here."

Minato nodded.

"You don't need to worry about me, you know. I know how to take care of myself," Ken said.

"I know that. That doesn't mean I don't worry about you sometimes. What you said earlier didn't exactly fill me with confidence…" Minato said. He shook his head.

"I'm not going to run off and do something stupid, if that's what you're worried about."

"Are you really sure about that? You're certainly talking like you're going to," Minato said sternly.

Ken turned away from Minato. "It's none of your business anyways."

"I think it is. I think you're going to do something you're going to later regret," Minato said. "…You know, you remind me a lot of how I was when I was your age. Sullen, angry… trying too hard to be an adult for other people's sakes…"

"How would you even know I'm going to regret it? You don't even know what I want to do! You can't understand what I'm going through, anyways! No one ever does!" - yeeeeeeesh do something to make this transition more natural. Expand the dialogue more, probably.

Minato's expression became pained. "I think I know better than you know…

(make this transition less rough, too)

"I used to move through life like a ghost. Listening to people and doing what was expected of me was easy, and it got me friends and respect. But I always had this nagging feeling, wondering why I even bothered. It wasn't until I moved here that I knew what to do about it.

"My parents are dead because of Mitsuru's family," Minato suddenly said. Ken gave a small gasp. The words hung in the air for a moment before Minato continued. "It's not something I know for sure, but I can assume that's what happened. They died on the same day that that Tartarus was created, after all."

"But then…" Ken said quietly. "But… you've still stayed here with Mitsuru-san? Even though her family killed your parents?"

"By the time I found out what really happened to them, I'd realized I didn't want to die so soon. There was so much more to life here than I'd thought, and there were too many people depending on me for me to just die so pointlessly." Minato turned to look at Ken. "I don't know if that's how it is for you. I'm not you; I don't know your thoughts. But I wanted to tell you this."

(unfinished)

-Potentially cut section starts here-

The scene that came into view was familiar. Routine, even. That didn't mean it was any less unnerving when Minato came to Tartarus' summit in his dreams. He wasn't even sure how many times he'd been here now, but the scene always remained the same. He and Nyx Avatar, standing there on the tower. And just as it had been the past few times he'd had this dream, the figure was staring up at the moon, as if transfixed by it.

This night, there was a soft breeze blowing through the air, and yet the whole tower felt uncomfortably still. There was no sound, no movement beyond his breathing and the slight rustling of the figure's feathers. He felt like it should have been peaceful, but there was something horribly off about this whole dream, and he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

As Minato took steps toward the figure, the light breeze slowed to a stop, leaving only the uncomfortable stillness of the air. It was at that moment he realized there were no stars or clouds in the sky, only the shining image of the moon upon a black void.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Minato asked.

The figure did not move as it responded. "Soon, the end will come."

"I know. I'm going to stop it."

"No," the figure said. "Not your end."

Minato opened his mouth to speak, but the figure shook its head. It turned to look at him, and though its mask held the same expression as ever, there was something sorrowful about its gaze this time.

"Mine."

-End potentially cut section-

Minato's eyes snapped open to a green tinted room. The light of the unnaturally large, yellow moon through the window was the only light, but it was more than enough to keep the room lit. He placed a hand over his heart, so as to calm his thumping heart. Only once he felt it had calmed enough did he relax into his bed. It had just been a nightmare, and nothing more. Yet another nightmare where he faced the figure of Death atop Tartarus. Another ominous dream that led to nothing but more questions.

"Ryoji…"

There was a small gasp from somewhere to his left.

Minato turned his head to the side, and his eyes widened. In the middle of the room stood a childlike figure in striped pajamas. That familiar face held an expression of fear, the eyes widened, its usual smile gone. Minato sat up and turned toward him, and the child took a step backwards.

"Pharos?" Minato asked.

"You can see me," Pharos said. It wasn't a question. He took another step back, so that his feet were next to each other. "You shouldn't be able to see me."

"Why are you here?" Minato asked. This had to be Hamuko's Pharos, it didn't make sense otherwise. But if that was the case, then Pharos was right. He shouldn't have been able to see him. He should have been safely invisible to Minato, visible only to Hamuko because of their connection.

"I suspected it for a very long time, but I could not confirm it until now. Somewhere in the memories I cannot understand, I knew what that feeling was. The feeling of being devoured and subsumed into another…"

With every word from Pharos' mouth, his body grew more and more still, until Minato realized that he wasn't breathing anymore. Wasn't blinking. The only part of him that was moving was his mouth. Only because he doesn't realize he doesn't need it anymore, Minato realized.

And Pharos took a step toward him. Minato instinctually pulled back onto his bed. There was no light in those expressionless eyes, staring at him as he began to make his approach. None of the usual mirth, not even seriousness to them. Just a very strong feeling that he was staring at someone who'd very recently died.

The Dark Hour was never warm. But the moment he locked eyes with Pharos, Minato swore that the temperature dropped ten degrees.

His body stood out starkly against the rest of the room, too clear, too real. It was like he was seeing through a camera lens, and the lens had focused on Pharos' form alone. Completely focused against a blurry, imprecise world.

"You do not belong here. That is the only way this could happen."

His voice fell into a monotone, cold, soft. No emotion, whatsoever.

"You are a threat."

This was not Pharos. There was none of the usual lilt to his voice, nor the mirthful light in his eyes. None of the humanity that it had inherited from Hamuko. Nothing that suggested this was a normal human boy.

This was Death. The Thirteenth Arcana, the end of all given form. Nor a Shadow with human emotions, but a Shadow, through and through, and the strongest of them all.

(unfinished)