Author's Note: Yes! I'm back with another chapter! Wow, I can't tell you how happy I was when I finish writing this chapter! It'd been a long while since I have time to catch my breath and write something! Finally I could write out another chapter!

To be honest, I had a HUGE and MAJOR writer's block and I couldn't write anything for months! I don't know why, but even though I was desperate to continue this story and write chapters for you guys, I couldn't find anything to write at all. It just all disappeared from my head. My brain was blank and sometimes was a mess, so much that it scared me to the point that I doubt if I could ever finish this story. I can't describe how relieved I was to be able to catch my thoughts and write this story again.

Anyway, all that aside, I'm back with the new chapter and my university starts again yesterday. I know my life would be busy once again, but I'll try to write as much as possible. I hope I wouldn't experience another writer's block or I'd seriously cry this time =w=

Okay, I won't keep you here any longer. Here's Chapter 24, the second chapter of the new arc!

Of course, this chapter is edited and proof-read by AoKanojo. Thank you so much for all the helps and inspiration you've given me! And for being my personal advisor for this story as well x3

And as always, thank you for reading. I hope you all enjoy the story/chapter and *please* review so I could improve! ^^

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona

Chapter 24 Azure gaze

"What happened?" A gentle, curious voice caused the owner of the room to look up from her knees, tears running down her delicate face. Her red orbs, always so bright and cheerful, were full of despair as they met the blue gaze.

"Pharos…" His name escaped her lips unconsciously. Standing next to her bed was a young boy with jet black hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to be glowing in the dark.

"Why are you crying?" Another question from the mysterious boy, though Hikaru made no response. She looked at him blankly, tears still flowing from her eyes. She couldn't remember when she first met this boy in her room, but she did know he'd always appear only at the Dark Hour. However, she never asked why, and she wouldn't tonight either.

The brunette took a deep breath before turning her head, avoiding his gaze. She sat rigid, eyes blank, trapped in a memory of scarlet and an echoing gunshot leading to the worst of nightmares.

Light touch on the cheek got her attention, causing her to abruptly shake off the offending hand, eyes flaming despite brimming with tears. She glared at him, aggressively and angrily while he left his hand in the air, wondering what he did wrong to get such a reaction from her.

Seeing his azure gaze wide with confusion, guilt and shame rushed over her. Pharos didn't do anything wrong, he was simply worried about her. However, she couldn't help but react that way since that action mirrored Shinjiro's last touch. She remembered how he touched her cheek so gently, so lovingly as his brown eyes turned into a heartbroken gaze when he noticed that the thick blood on his fingers were leaving dark red lines on her face.

"I just…lost an important person…" She finally spoke, averting her gaze once again. The boy was still for a moment, the look in his aqua eyes changed slightly.

"Death…huh…" He murmured, eyes now unfocused as if it wasn't him who was speaking. "People die every day. It's an inevitable fate. Yet, there's always someone crying over one's death."

"What…are you saying?" Hikaru said sharply, now looking directly at him. "Of course people would be sad. Just because people die every day doesn't mean we want it to happen."

"I don't understand," he mumbled, looking perplexed. "If you already know that everyone has to die someday, then you shouldn't be sad."

"It's because that person is important! That's why people are sad!" She shouted, heatedly swiping the tears from her face. "If that person is important to you, of course you'd be lonely and sad when they're gone! It doesn't matter if you know it beforehand. You'd be sad nonetheless."

"Important…? Lonely…?" He repeated after being silent for a moment. "I have never known such things, since I don't have any memory of who I am," he stated and the sentence made Hikaru felt horrible inside.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to-"

"But I think… I do understand what you mean…" he cut her off, slowly looking up and met her gaze. A soft smile played on his lips. "If you're gone, I'd be lonely and sad too."

Hikaru's eyes widened at his words, but he just smiled at her.

"If you want to cry, that's okay. I'll be here. We're friends, right?"

Hikaru snapped awake as she heard those words. The girl sat up in bed, hands massaging her temples.

A dream…? No… a memory…

The leader of SEES let out a soft breath as she turned to stare at the spot next to her bed. The spot where she found that mysterious boy whenever she woke up in middle of the night.

Why am I…dreaming about Pharos now…?

She questioned, laying back down on the soft material and pulling the blanket up to her neck. It had been more than a month since Pharos disappeared. He used to appear the night before the full moon to warn her of the upcoming 'ordeal', as he called it. From time to time, he'd appear the night after just to say that he knew she'd pass any test coming her way.

He said he now recalled who he was. The brunette mulled over this thought. He told her that he now knew what he must do and where he must be. However, he didn't tell her any details about his real identity even after he remembered. She knew nothing about him, yet, memories of her time with him were returning to her bit by bit.

A long sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes, trying to get back to sleep. She slowly fell into deep slumber not long after that, but she was unable to get the image of a certain someone out of her head.

Next Morning – Iwatodai Station

The morning train was crowded as usual. Hikaru made her way through business people and students to stand near the door, letting out an exasperated huff afterward. She cursed herself for having overslept that morning, almost missing this train. She couldn't imagine what her noisy friend, Junpei, would be saying if she was late today. After all, it was very seldom that he left the dorm before she did. The brunette was sure he wouldn't miss his chance to mock her about it.

"Akane-chan?" The familiar voice caused her to jump a bit, interrupting her thoughts. She turned around, only to feel her heart race at the sight of a boy with beautiful blue eyes heading toward her direction.

"Mochizuki-kun…?" She heard herself say absently.

"What a coincidence!" A smile stretched across his face almost immediately. "I'm so happy I'm able to meet you so early, Akane-chan."

The girl just gave him a dry smile. For a second there, she wasn't sure what to answer, thoughts choked off with that familiar feeling he again stirred in her. "Good morning," was all she could come up with.

"Just call me Ryoji," he said, still smiling brightly as if seeing her here was the best thing that happened to him.

"Ah…" Once again, she found herself unable to say anything. Part of it was due to that inexplicable sensation of nostalgia he evoked in her, but also it was due to the manner that he talked to her. It was as if he had known her already for quite some time. "S..So, Ryoji-kun, are you familiar with the school yet?"

"Yes. Everyone is so nice to me. Just yesterday, many girls offered to show me around the school, so now I'm quite confident that I wouldn't get lost today."

So he's popular since his first day at school, no surprise there. Hikaru thought to herself, chuckling softly.

"What's so funny?" he asked curiously, noticing her laugh but the girl just shook her head.

"Nothing. Ah! We're here! Let's go!" And with that, she took off without giving him a chance to respond. The raven-haired boy sighed to himself, having no choice but to follow her as she headed for Gekkoukan High.

Classroom 2-F – Morning

"Yo! Hika-chan!" A loud and cheerful greeting rang through the air as Hikaru rushed into the classroom. As expected, Junpei had this mocking smirk plastered all over his face. "It's rare to see you arrive at school later than me, huh? What did you do? Up all night playing the latest game I gave you?"

"Like that'd happen!" She countered, throwing her bag on her desk. Before Junpei could say more, the sight of Ryoji walking into the class just about the same time as their leader made his smirk turn into a mischievous grin. "What's that face supposed to mean?"

"Hmm… I begin to think you 'overslept' on purpose now…" Hikaru's brow rose up at the words. She turned her head, saw Ryoji, finally got what her friend meant, then narrowed her eyes.

"Oh come on, you can't be serious…"

"I'm dead serious!" was his answer. He then received a playful (but quite strong) punch to his stomach as a reward.

"I ran into him on the train. And *look* before you say anything," Hikaru said, making a pointed gesture behind her. Junpei followed the motion, and he had to cock his head to the side as he saw that Ryoji was surrounded by girls now. "Do you think I'd put myself in trouble and go through *that*?"

"Whoa, man. He really is popular, huh? It's only his second day at school after all!" The brunette made a noise in her throat which sounded like a laugh as she sat down at her desk, causing Junpei to do so as well.

"He said those girls already approached him since yesterday." She explained, and Junpei could only form his mouth into an 'o' shape. Hikaru wondered if he was jealous or just amazed.

Ms. Toriumi entered shortly afterward, bringing an end to the conversation. Junpei was asleep before the teacher could even finish her introduction of the day's class, while Hikaru was ready to doze off herself. Luckily, she was able to stay focused and not sleep, mostly thanks to Junpei's snoring.

Lunchtime

Hikaru, Junpei and Yukari had a quick lunch and were talking together, waiting for lunchtime to end. The topic of conversation revolved around Shadows, Tartarus and Dark Hour at first, then turned into a less serious one when the loud noises of many girls were heard again.

Yukari turned her attention to the cause of it all. "He really is popular, isn't he?"

The leader of SEES' interest piqued with the new conversation topic. Her eyes lazily moved to the raven-haired boy, noticing that his fangirl group was larger than it was this morning. Hikaru watched how he said sweet words to those girls so easily, so naturally as if it was a normal thing to do.

Hikaru found herself rolling her eyes at the thought. No matter her unexplained feelings about him, she didn't like the type of guy who could pull a fake smile or say sweet and romantic words to girls that he didn't even have feelings for. She didn't like a guy who would accept any invitation if it came from a girl, or a guy who could smooth-talk his way into and out of anything.

She preferred someone more straight-forward and shy. Someone who would be embarrassed to talk to the girl he liked, someone who wouldn't admit his feelings directly but would be willing to confess them with a blush if he needed to. A gentle smile curved her lips as a thought of that 'someone' appeared in her mind.

Sudden girlish screams, even louder than the ones before, interrupted her thoughts. She looked up, only to find that the cause wasn't Ryoji, but a silver-haired senpai who, as she expected, was blushing slightly as he stood at the classroom door, looking nervous.

"Sanada-senpai!" Hikaru called out, and a soft smile appeared on his face upon hearing her voice. She exchanged a glance with Yukari, who nodded approvingly, before getting to her feet and walking toward the door. She gave Akihiko a warm smile, in which his gaze grew gentler upon catching sight of her.

Ryoji's azure gaze immediately locked onto the brunette. He was unable to focus on what his fangirls were saying as he watched Hikaru walk out of the classroom with the silver haired senior. Ignoring the group of girls surrounding him, he made his way to stand next to Junpei.

"Junpei-kun, who was that?" The owner of the name was quite surprised by the sudden question, though he gave a loud answer as usual.

"Oh, you're new so you might not know him, but he's one of the most popular guys in school! His name is Akihiko Sanada, he's a third year. A boxing champion and captain of the school boxing team." Junpei explained admiringly. "He's got even more fangirls than you, I think. Don't try to compete with him."

"It's not that," he replied, flashing a glance toward the door. "Are they close?"

"They?" It took Junpei another split second to figure out which 'they' his friend was talking about. "Oh, Hikaru? Yeah, Hika-chan is the only one who could stop Sanada-san if he were to lose it. Ah, no.. Hmm..how should I say this?" He pondered for a moment, trying to phrase his thoughts.

"Don't tell anyone about this, but when it comes to girls, Sanada-san wasn't really good at it. To be honest, he wasn't even interested in them, but when it comes to Hika-chan, it's different." He took a pause. "Well, we can all say that he has a soft spot for her."

"We?" The boy repeated. Realizing what he'd said, Junpei was about to panic if it weren't for Yukari who grabbed his back painfully, stopping his words.

"Yeah, we. We've seen them together before, I could confirm that what this Stupei said is true." She tightened her grip as she noticed Junpei trying to say something. "You see, we all live in the same dorm, Sanada-senpai, Stupei, Hikaru and I. Also, Fuuka, Aigis and Mitsuru-senpai too."

"Y-Yeah! That's why we know them so well! Hahah…" Junpei forced the words out before turning his head, whispering under his breath. "Can you let go of me now, Yuka-tan, I feel like you're leaving a bruise."

"Fine," Yukari made an annoyed sound in her throat but finally let go. She then snapped her attention to the new guy's current expression. It was interesting how he pretended everything was fine, but it reflected on his face that he was troubled by the newly received information.

"I'm back!" Hikaru greeted happily, obviously beaming with delight. However, she raised her brows in concern after detecting the change of atmosphere around her friends. "What are you guys talking about?"

"It's nothing, Hika-chan. Don't worry about it! Ahaha…" Junpei tried to laugh it off, earning a killing gaze from Yukari so he decided it would be best for him to shut up immediately.

"What's wrong, Ryoji-kun? You don't seem well…" Being the leader that she was, Hikaru immediately noticed the strange expression the dark-haired boy was wearing.

Ryoji was silent for a moment, hesitating whether or not he should ask the question that was currently on his mind. In the end, he just smiled lightly.

"No, it's nothing. I'm okay. Thank you for worrying about me." His voice was gentle, yet mysterious. At times, Hikaru was unable to tell what his true thoughts were, and still did that voice and those eyes cause strange emotions to rise up repeatedly inside her.

"Alright, if you say so…" Pushing away the unbidden feelings, she decided that it would be imprudent to question him further, given the fact that they weren't that close yet. The brunette flashed him a quick smile before turning her attention to her best friend.

As she was talking, smiling and laughing with Yukari and Junpei, a certain azure gaze didn't leave her figure the entire time, though she was unaware of it.

He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to find out what was behind the longing sensation he felt when he looked into her eyes. He didn't want that smile to be given to someone who wasn't him.

His lips curved into a sad grin, while he spoke quietly to himself.

"It's nothing…Nothing at all."

P.S. Now, it's my personal rambling space. *Please don't mind me* I notice that some of you decided not to review the previous chapter. Oh well, I can't blame you guys with my inconsistent updates anyway =w= I know, I'm guilty as charged. I'm SO SORRY! (Mysterious voice: Oh, so you do know you left this story un-updated for MONTHS!)

But I'd be VERY happy to read more reviews, please! They're sources of my inspirations and my power! It's what keeps me writing!

Okay, enough of my selfish request =w= Sorry about that. On to the story now. I hope Shinji's fans are still reading this story xD Sorry that all this put Aki in spotlight, but I have to keep the drama going! With Shinji out for now, (and the fact that I don't like Ken, =w= Sorry, I couldn't bring myself to like shota), and Junpei is a best friend-kind-of-person (based on his in P3P and the vibes he gave off), I'm left with Ryoji, in which he is very suitable to be Aki's love rival if I would say so myself.

Well, first thing first, his Social Link advances by itself, you just have to accept his "invitation", and second, I kinda get the feeling that he's the 'destined one' for FeMC. Oh well, maybe that's just me, but it'd bring a good potential for drama elements right?

Now, onto answering reviews! (Finally! I have time to do this xD)

Whiteheaven: Yeah, I finally updated again xD So sorry about the delay though. To be honest, I was thinking about that too, for Akihiko to find someone else. But I have to rethink it because the main focus of Akihiko in my story is how sincere and strong his love for Hikaru is, that's why I decided to drop it, or else all images of Aki that I was building throughout the whole story would be shaken. However, I'm very excited to write aggressive Akihiko though! You'll see soon enough x3 Thank you so much for your constant review! (and for putting up with my inconsistent updates) I'll do my best x3

Deidara'sgirl19: YES! I finally get to update! X3 *hugs back* I had a MAJOR writer's block and couldn't write anything for months! I wonder if it'll continue =w= I hope Ryoji would bring more conflict to the story (since Shinji is gone for now, after all.) I saw your story but haven't had time to read and review it yet. I noticed that your story is VERY popular now xD Congrats! And thank you for your review x33 I'll try to update again as soon as possible!

tsuki-no-usagi-kaguya-hime: Thank you for understanding TwT I had very bad writer's block and couldn't write a word even though I was dying to update this story again! Thank you so much for sticking with me and putting up with my inconsistent updates. I really appreciate your support! Thank you! I'll do my best!

AlexanderiteWaterAngel: Oh, hello and welcome to my story! I always love when there's new reader/reviewer for my story! *hands you a cookie* Thank you for the compliment and support! Since I'm also suck at grammar, so I'm still learning and trying to improve x3 Thank you so much for your review! (and it is nice to see any review, don't worry about it!) I'll try to update as quick as possible! Thank you again!

Cielle's Amour: Helloooo x3 I miss you! *hugs* Don't worry about not being able to review! I'm glad to know that you're still reading and enjoying my story XD (Also, thank you for putting up with my lateness/delay, I had a HUGE writer's block and couldn't write anything for months!) Thank you for your support! I'll do my best! ^^

TifaStrifeinlove: Hi there! *gives you a BIG BIG hug* THANK YOU SO MUCH for your review! X3 I've missed you! I'm so glad to see that you're still following my story! (Given my delay and inconsistent updates for months) Hehe, you're pure Shinji's fan are you? Well, since he would be out for now, I have to create something to bring out more drama xD Pls forgive me for putting Aki in spotlight, lol. (But Shinji did get a major role in prior arc, so now it's Aki's turn, I guess?) Thank you again for continuous support and your wonderful review! I'll do my best and try to update as soon as possible!