Raze Olympus: Ouch... Good thing he's not in the AN/s too. Hate to see how what would happen then.

I'd cut off his little pinkies and feed them to the dogs, hehe...

... Nights, did our variations of Pharos get mixed up? This is unsettling as hell to hear from such a normally innocent boy.

IAmSoCleverWithMyNameLol: On it~! *stabs AT!Makoto's left eye*

GAAAH! My good eye! Fuck!

How are you typing/reading?

PLOT VISION!

Nightlyy: Good to know a day and a half didn't go to waste. Might've gotten it done sooner if i didn't sleep so much, heh.

You really just can't take compliments, can you?

Pharos... Shut up.

Clevernameeh: Well, I did do decent trash talk when i used to write for... that thing *points at AT!Makoto* but I'd like to pretend about... the first 50 - 55 chapters of that fic never happened.

Chapter 15...

SHUT UP, WE ARE OVER THAT NOW!

Damn right I was in charge! I may only have a few months experience, but I'm still a Wild Card, dammit! No offence to my husbando and his "Broken Card" though.

... There's something deeply wrong with you.


?/?/?

"Hrrah!" A young redheaded boy with grey eyes and a fresh scar on his face screamed as he attacked his opponent with two swords simultaneously.

His opponent in question was another boy, this one with dark brown hair, also with blue eyes albeit a lighter shade, and was older by possibly a year or two.

"Gotta try harder, Sho..." The brunette taunted as he evaded the attack in a blur of movement and even added insult to injury by harmlessly jabbing the boy with the flat end of his sword in the back as he ran past him.

The brunette took a few more steps back as he curled his lips in a way that only further aggravated the redhead even more.

"Dammit, dammit..!" Sho cursed as he ran as fast as he could, ready to completely obliterate the boy by literally slicing him to pieces.

The brunette, however, expected this. One of Sho's greatest weaknesses was that short fuse of his that forced him to risk everything performing rush maneuvers that he knew how to counter like the back of his hand.

"Not that easy, little bro..." The brunette mumbled as he held the swords in his hands in a reverse grip, ready to act the moment the redhead got close.

The moment Sho got close, the brunette slashed upwards with his right sword with the intent of launching the two of them in the air.

However, this technique had been used before and Sho wasn't going to fall for it again.

Sho intercepted the blow with his own at almost the exact same speed (possibly even faster), but with much greater strength behind it which forced the brunette to stumble back and try to regain his balance.

The brunette gasped in surprise as Sho's frown was replaced with a smirk of his own "Here comes more!" The redhead exclaimed as he struck again which the brunette managed to parry, but at the cost of stumbling back again.

Sho stuck again and again in rapid succession at speeds that'd easily be too much for any normal person. However, the brunette had been trained to fight and react to the exact same speeds as him, but every slash took more and more out of him.

Eventually, the rapid succession of the attacks was too much for the brunette to handle as he was forced to fall on his back due to the sheer amount of power Sho delivered on his last strike.

Ready to put an end to this, Sho leaped into the air with his swords pointed downwards with the intention of plunging them into the boy.

The brunette, however, wasn't going to die that easily after all he'd been through. He rolled to the left as to avoid the attack and quickly got back on his feet.

Sho grunted and frowned again as he turned back to his opponent and the two struck each other's blades which quickly turned into all four of the swords locking.

"Weren't you supposed to get a persona?" The brunette asked, remembering the reason behind Sho's scar "What's wrong? Are you trying to drag this out?"

"Gr... Damn you, Sakuya!" Sho exclaimed as he suddenly pushed forward as hard as he could to break the lock the two of them were in.

"He he, don't disappoint dear old dad..." Sakuya chuckled as he went back a few paces. Fighting like this had been their routine before Sho went into surgery a few weeks ago to get something called a 'persona', all just to please the old man, Ikutsuki who was watching them from behind the glass.

Sho's anger suddenly boiled to an extreme, indeed, Ikutsuki's expectations had been a bit of a soft spot after he had failed to gain a persona even after getting Plume of Dusk inserted into his brain.

"Goddamn you, I'll tear you-"

Sho's anger cut off suddenly as he lowered his head and his breathing slowed to the point that both Sakuya and Ikutsuki thought it stopped for a moment. Did he just faint?

"Uh... Sho?" Sakuya called out now sounding a bit concerned, dropping his weapons he moved to approach the boy who had become a surrogate brother of sorts. After all, their entire lives were spent almost completely in solitude unless they were fighting, so they were all each other all besides Ikutsuki.

Sakuya stopped when the redhead raised his head, but something was different. He had a much sharper look in his eyes and his frown was more tame but had a much colder feel to it.

"You dare put him through this for your own amusement..?" Sho(?) asked as he turned towards Ikutsuki, his voice was much more measured to the point it almost sounded like a completely different person "... Did you think I would simply stand by and allow this?"

Sakuya blinked, never in his life had he seen Sho talk like that (literally) to Ikutsuki of all people "Dude, what the hell?"

Sho(?) turned to Sakuya still frowning yet also somewhat amused at the same time "I see a reintroduction is in order; I am Minazuki, Sho Minazuki. Do not get in my way or I will simply have to kill you." he threatened, though his voice made it clear that he fully intended to live up to it

Minazuki turned and walked towards the glass that separated Ikutsuki from the two of them.

"Tsukiyomi." He called and A large figure donning a cloak with white lines all over its body and wielding a sword seemingly made out of some sort of black flame that was also apparent on the top of its head. This was the persona that was given when Sho had a Plume implanted into his brain.

Tsukiyomi was easily able to shatter the glass with his unnatural strength which allowed Minazuki to jump through and slowly make his way to the surprised and shocked Ikutsuki.

"How many days has he suffered for you?" Minazuki asked, his eyes giving off a hostile aura that Sho would never be able to ever match in his entire lifetime.

Minazuki was about to paint the room crimson in Ikutsuki's own blood, but was halted when Sakuya grabbed his arm.

"Sho, what the-" Sakuya was cut off with a scream as he felt Minazuki plunge his sword straight into the boy's stomach.

This was then followed by Minazuki throttling the boy and pinning him against the wall with a look of pure murderous intent in his eyes.

"I warned you not to get in my way..." Minazuki reminded him of what he had said less than five minutes ago "Then again, you've hurt the boy as well, have you not? I suppose it's time that-"

Minazuki's words were replaced with a scream as Ikutsuki grabbed the taser that he had with him as a precaution and used it on the out of control redhead.

With thousands of volts of electricity coursing through his body, Minazuki was knocked unconscious and Sakuya was left to fall to the floor bleeding from his earlier impalement.

"The Plume must've given him a second personality..." Sakuya heard Ikutsuki as his vision began to fade "... How trouble some" were the last words he heard before his entire world went black.

...

...

...

Sakuya groaned as he woke up from his dream/memory and rubbed his still aching left shoulder. If there was one good thing about having a Plume, it was that its healing properties allowed him to recover a lot faster than a normal person would.

Still, none of his injuries were what was occupying his mind. It had been two weeks and what had happened during the last full moon was still occupying his mind. All of those actions that hooded boy performed...

Lowering his head so suddenly...

Breathing slowing almost to the point it almost seemed to stop completely...

Voice suddenly changing out of the blue...

Seemingly like a different person afterwards...

That was exactly like what happened with Minazuki years ago, but how?

He saw Sho in the hospital with his own eyes not too long after his own surgery and the persona they used was completely different, too!

But there was no mistaking it, that was the exact same thing that he had seen all those years ago.

There was only one thing that could've been possible... Whoever this hooded boy was, he was more than just one person.

That just left one question, who was the one under the hood? The number of persona users was limited, so the list of suspects wasn't very large.

It couldn't be any of the members of SEES for obvious reasons and equally obvious reasons why it couldn't be any of the members of Strega. Was it someone that they haven't encountered before?

Makoto? No, why wouldn't he have donned the disguise when he went to kill Arcana Hierophant and Lovers?

Who the hell was this person... Or would that be persons in this case?

"Hmm..." Sakuya thought to himself. Come to think of it, since he had to figure it out himself then that meant that Ikutsuki didn't know either... And now, he was going to have to find out all by himself.

After all, he's using him to kill whoever he needs dead; He wasn't being to used to distribute any information. Here's hoping that leads to something horrible to Ikutsuki.


Naganaki Shrine

"What the hell am I doing?" Makoto questioned himself as he stood amongst the crowd of people that had gathered for the festival.

Indeed, what was he doing? Why was he doing something that he never agreed to do, but instead his other side decided to do on his behalf which was one of the key reasons he took over dominance again during his stay at the dorm.

During his time recovering from his last spat with Sakuya, the thought had occurred to him a few times to simply not show up to this cursed festival, especially considering the fact that he never went to them usually.

But every time he thought this, he just kept imagining the sad and disappointed look that'd be on her face... Dammit, what the hell was wrong with him?!

"You showed!" He heard and turned his head towards the direction of the voice, the image that greeted him was one of the few things that could leave him stunned.

Standing before him was Kotone in a white and orange yukata that was secured tightly around the waist leaving little but a few things to the imagination.

"K-K-K..." Makoto choked on his words as his face slightly reddened from the sight.

What was going on? He'd seen several girls in revealing outfits, hell, he's even seen Kotone half naked before, but now... Now he couldn't even speak? What was going on?

Kotone giggled at the sight of the speechless boy "Ooh, like watcha see?" she teased as she positioned herself into an alluring pose to torture the boy further.

"D-D-Don't tease me!" He demanded, unwilling to let a few hormones get the best of him.

This action, however, only made the redheaded girl laugh more "Aw, you're cuuuuuuute when you're embarrassed..." she further teased as she moved next to him and elbowed him gently in the stomach "C'mon, don't I look adorable?"

Makoto, however, simply frowned and grunted as he looked down to the ground "Grr... shut up."

This, again, warranted the opposite reaction of what he was hoping for and he was instead poked repeatedly as Kotone singing "Say it! Say it! S-S-Say it! Say it! Say it! S-S-Say it! Say it!"

"I hate you..." He mumbled before looking up and staring into her expecting vibrant red eyes "... You're cute."

"You're cute...?" She trailed off, clearly expecting her to finish with her name or something

"Grgh.." Makoto growled loudly before exploding; If she wanted him to say something, might as well go all out "Kotone Shiomi, I think you look cute, beautiful, and sexy in that outfit! There, is that enough?" he asked, barely able to keep his tone measured enough that his voice was drowned out by the rest of the crowd.

Kotone blinked for a moment in surprise at the sudden outburst, but that soon transformed into a satisfied smile "Yup, you're absolutely adorable when you're embarrassed."

Rather than respond with words, Makoto let out a loud and drawn out whimper in response signalling that he's had enough.

Surprisingly, Kotone seemed willing to finally drop the matter... only to lock her right arm with his left.

"Shall we be off?" She asked, continuing to torment her b- friend.

"I..." What was going on? He hated when people touched him, but he didn't feel bothered at all. Actually, some sick part of him seemed to be enjoying this.

Why? What was going on? What was happening to him? Did he take a blow to the head at some point?

"Ooh, those mask are cute!" Kotone exclaimed as she dragged her hostage with her to a stand full of animal themed mask for the festivities.

The stand had mask themed after cats, rabbits, even a few owls and foxes. There was also a few that looked like a dog that resembled that dog Koromaru from a few weeks ago.

"How's the little guy?" Makoto asked, remembering the canine that proved just how low the bluenette truly was "Koromaru was his name right? He doing fine?"

"Huh?" A light bulb suddenly went off in her brain as she remembered something that she'd been meaning to tell him "Oh, he's doing great. He's our newest member, actually."

"You... Let a dog join?" he said slowly as if he was trying to talk and wrap his head around the idea at the exact same time

"Yup, has his own Evoker collar and everything." Kotone explained while failing to hold back a smile, remembering the look on Junpei's face when he was told that the team would have to go through summer classes for a week. Sure, the meant her too, but it was still hilarious.

"I see..." Makoto said as he avoided looking her in the eye as he sighed internally. As if all of them weren't already enough, now he was going to have to kill a dog he respected too.

As if to break the tension before it could truly form, a loud rumbling sound could be heard. The source seemed to be somewhere abound Kotone- No, wait... It was coming from Kotone.

Kotone's cheeks redden as she cringed slightly in embarrassment "Hehe... Guess I'm a bit hungrier than I realized, huh?" she said meekly feeling as if hundreds of eyes were focusing on her despite him being the only one paying attention to her.

Makoto looked around and noticed a takoyaki stand nearby that didn't seem to have any lines for them to wait on.

"Would there work?" Makoto asked as he pointed to the stand with his free hand. She may have spent a lot of time with him, but he didn't exactly know what types of food she like/disliked either.

"Ooh, good eye!" She said excitedly as she dragged him again at an almost comically fast speed until she reached what was currently what her version heaven would be like.

"Um... One order please!" She asked the female vendor politely as she finally let Makoto go and gave the woman some of the money she had earned via working part time jobs at the theater and cafe.

"Sure thing!" The vender agreed as she quickly made a tray that seemed to have a little more than one would expect. The vendor leaned forward and whispered into the redhead's ear "I put in a little extra free of charge, too. Good luck with your boyfriend over there."

Kotone reddened a bit more before nodding "Thanks, ma'am." she thanked and returned back to the bluenette still red-faced.

"Did you hear that..?" She asked, barely able to contain her giggling and her face almost seemed to be glowing the redder it became "She called you my boyfriend."

"That so..?" Makoto replied disinterest, instead, his attention was focused on the same thing that had distracted him the last time he was here.

"Minato!"

Three graves ; Two for adults, one that was far too small...

"Minato!"

One for a loving mother and another for a caring father...

"MINATO!"

And then, one for a piece of him that he had lost... All because-

"Hey!" Kotone's yelling shocked him out of his daze and made him shake his head to regain focus

"I'm sorry, what?" He as tried to understand what was going on, having been distracted by things he wished he could forget.

"I said: try some!" She answered as she held the tray just a tad bit higher for emphasis "I'm not taking a single bit until you do!"

Makoto looked down at the tray before shrugging "Guess you'll just have to starve then."

Kotone's eyes widen and she almost jumped in shock of what he had just said "Wha- Makoto-kun, you meanie!" she pouted, forgetting how he liked to do the opposite of what a normal person would do "Come on, pretty please..?"

"What do I get?" He asked with a self-satisfied simper on his face and crossed his arms

"Uh..." Kotone took a moment to think, remembering that there was next to nothing she could actually give him. If she couldn't give him something, then there was one thing she could do "... If you don't, I'll tell everyone that the mean, mean Makoto-kun kissed me!"

Makoto nearly choked on his own saliva the minute he heard that "W-W-Wha- I.. I never-"

"But you almost did!" She reminded him with a joshing tone in her voice "Oh, Yakushima, I remember it like it was yesterday... Just a few more seconds and you would've been sucking my face!"

"I-I.." Makoto cringed as he was forced to deal with the consequence of his other side's actions. To make it worse, she was a known social butterfly with a supposed 'pure heart' while he was known as the 'heartless bastard,' so there was no question that that information would be more embarrassing for him rather than her.

Christ, there really was no winning against her, was there?

"Alright, alright..." He unwillingly agreed as he tried the piece closest to him. There was a strange texture to it... was there something other than octopus in this thing?

"There we go. See how easy that was?" Now, it was her turn to have a complacent look on her face as she was finally able to begin satisfying her stomach which finally ceased its unwelcomed noises.

"Ugh..." Makoto grunted weakly, trying his best to keep an angry or at least annoyed face, but seeing her with a bright smile on her face... It was so much like...

"Minato!"

Makoto shook his head again to push the memories of someone who was long dead out of his head.

Dammit... He complained internally, how many more times was he going to have to endure this?

Kotone quickly threw the tray in the waste bin as soon as she was done with it before having an uncharacteristically anxious look on her face.

"Hey, so uh..." Her weak voice trailed off, almost as if she was searching for the words she needed to continue the sentence "... Would it really be that bad?"

"Huh?" Makoto titled his head confused as to what she was implying or at least trying to imply "Explain."

"What I mean is..." Her voice trailed off again before suddenly looking dead-serious "Is there something wrong with people knowing you almost kissed me?"

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Makoto shot back, now feeling as if something unpleasant was about to start

Kotone gasped before briefly covering her mouth "That sounded too aggressive, didn't it? Sorry, sorry..." She continued muttering apologies before shaking her head and looking back at him with A timid look still lingering in her eyes

"What I'm trying to say is... Well... Um..." Kotone gulped, praying that she'd be able to say the right words "... Would it have been so bad if we... did?"

Makoto could only blink slowly, unable to comprehend what had actually just formed in her brain and left her mouth "... Where is this going?" he played dumb, hoping to god that this wasn't leading where he thought.

"God, you're such an idiot..." She complained with a whimper before sighing "Well, uh... Hanging around you is really fun! You might be mean sometimes, but your a good guy deep down and uh..."

Kotone's face changed into her brightest red yet, and the leader of SEES took another deep inhale.

Alright, alright... I can do this... I can do this... She cheered herself on, praying that this would pay off.

"Makoto-kun..." Kotone gathered all of her courage to finish her sentence "I-I..." Despite her efforts, she was hesitant to utter those last three words.

Makoto felt various emotions hit him at once at that very moment. He knew what she wanted to say, but what should he say?

This... This wasn't right... She was a member of SEES and... It wouldn't be right...

But she had become close to him in just the span of a few months... Despite his efforts, she'd forced her way into his life to the point where part of him held her dear...

No... Makoto thought, not letting his emotions cloud his judgement. It'd only hurt more if this continued any more than it already has.

Yes... Minato whispered, unwilling to lose the dearest thing he had earned during these past few months

No...

Yes...

No...

Yes...

I can't...

Don't let this go!

It's not right!

It's what we want!

I... I have to kill Kirijo... All of them have to pay!

She's innocent!

So was she!

... I love her

Shut up!

Say it!

Shut up!

SAY IT!

SHUT UP!

We want her... We want her by our side

Stop! Stop talking, damn you!

Stop resisting!

You're dead... It doesn't matter what you want!

We love her...

Stop... STOP!

Say it, damn you! SAY IT! ON OUR FAMILY'S GRAVES, SAY IT!

SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!

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"Don't..." Makoto said with a trembling lip and a completely broken-hearted look in his eyes as he took a step back "Please... Don't... Don't ever..."

"Huh?" The nervous look on her face vanished instantly when she saw his eyes that looked like someone in extreme pain

"For... For everyone's sake... Don't... Don't ever finish those words..." He sounded like he was begging her as he took a step back "I... I..."

He muttered something, but the only word she managed to hear was "Sorry" as he ran away at full speed, leaving her all alone.

Kotone had a feeling that this would probably end something like this. After all, this was the same boy who'd lost everything and had gained nothing in return for all the pain he must've endured growing up.

Still, this did nothing to stop the tears from falling as she lowered her head and felt as if her heart as been stabbed multiple times.

She knew from the get go that this was probably for the better, but it did nothing to heal her now broken heart.

Kotone looked up again and despite knowing that her words wouldn't reach him, she still had to say them...

"I love you..."


#REJECTED! Ha ha ha ha ha! I told y'all I'm a sadist, did you think that extended to just the characters themselves? Trolololololled!

B-But...

Ha ha ha! You just got rejected, Kotone!

But... But I'm a Wild Card... Everyone flocks to me... I'm the one who does the rejecting, not the other way around!

Actually, you can get rejected in P5, too (or maybe that was a glitch I experienced?) but too bad.

FIX THIS! Fix this right now, you sonuva bitch!

I could always discontinue it...

Gr... You'll pay one day!

Hehe. Kinda fitting though, right? Kotone is a Wild Card which is all about forming and strengthening relations, while Makoto who's a Broken Card basically just shattered one. Don't worry, the Death Link isn't broken...

*sigh* Should've known it wasn't going to happen... Guess I'll have to settle on the photos I took.

Hope I didn't break any of your hearts too bad. Don't worry, I'm not one of those assholes that keep you waiting until December or January... Probably. You never know, right? He he he...

But, seriously, do review. Reviews are my motivation to continue and your way of encouraging me to write the chapter in which the two finally get together. Ain't split personalities a bitch?