Thursday, January 21st, 2010, After School

Ten days 'til the end of the world. I really should be a lot more worried than this. I must be getting way too used to this kind of thing.

Sitting in his chair in Classroom 2-F, Minato determinedly ignored the occasional looks he got from the few other students who lingered. Nine days since the bombshell about him and Mitsuru had dropped, and things had mostly settled down; despite that, he was still in bad odor with more than a few at Gekkoukan.

He could live with it. If he could be this close to being at peace with the conflict waiting ahead, the dirty looks of ordinary teenagers were nothing.

The rotten eggs in my shoe locker this morning are something else. "Remind me to get together with Odagiri after school tomorrow," Minato muttered to Junpei, as he packed his books in his bag. "It shouldn't be too hard, between the two of us, to figure out who had the means and motive to jimmy the lock…"

Leaning against Minato's desk, the Man in the Hat scratched the back of his head. "Y'know, Minato, I'm not so sure that's a good idea. I mean, bringing down the Wrath of Shirogane on a little school prank? Isn't that, I dunno, an abuse of power? A great detective should be above petty revenge, right?"

"He has a point, though," Yukari put in, closing her own book bag with a sigh. "Honestly. You'd think Minato was committing NTR… Uh, not that I'd know anything about that." Ears turning pink, she coughed. "Anyway. The stink around the shoe lockers this morning? That's too much. I'm about ready to sic Ekoda on these idiots."

Minato winced. Odagiri, he knew, had already threatened to bring down the Classic Lit teacher on some of the crazier ones, but that was the Disciplinary Committee head. For Yukari to be suggesting such a dire punishment…

Somehow, he wasn't surprised when a couple of their classmates suddenly found urgent reasons to leave the room.

What was a bit surprising was Mitsuru entering in their wake. "Do you have a moment, Arisato?" she said without preamble, ignoring the looks from the students who did remain. "There's something we need to discuss privately."

His eyebrows went up, both at her sober tone and the look on her face. He hadn't seen his fiancé looking like that since… Uh-oh. Tell me the lab people didn't do something stupid. If they did, so help me I'm calling in Grandfather.

Doing his best to keep his unease off his own face, Minato stood. "Lead the way, Senpai." Whatever it was, if she said private, he knew she meant it. "I'll give you the details later, guys," he said over his shoulder, as he followed Mitsuru to the door. I hope. Sooner or later, Junpei needs to know, but… Whatever's happening, it's going to be one hell of an awkward conversation.

Out in the hall, he wasn't surprised to see Mitsuru's stalker glare at him, and he made a mental note to ask Odagiri if she or her glasses-wearing comrade in jealous fury had been seen near his shoe locker. They were, after all, prime suspects in the case.

The gnawing feeling in his stomach from Mitsuru's ominous demeanor mostly distracted him from that, though. It didn't quite keep him from noticing the yelp of indignation back in 2-F, as Junpei discovered he was suddenly responsible for cleaning duty.

Just as well. If this is what I think it's about, it'll keep him busy while we figure out what to do.

Being behind closed doors with Minato—on a day when the Student Council wouldn't be using their room, at that—should've been relaxing for Mitsuru. Especially since her various… fans—she refused to dignify any of them with the label of "suitor"—in the school seemed to be unwilling to cross her directly.

Today, regrettably, it was business. "I wish I could've been more subtle," she said, once the door was securely locked. "With luck, ordinary students will assume this is just Student Council business." She grimaced. "Hopefully Iori will as well, at least a little longer. But this is something I'd rather not leave any trace of, even a vague text message."

Minato nodded, gray eyes serious. "This is about Chidori, then?"

One thing about being engaged to an aspiring detective: he was refreshingly quick on the uptake. "Yes." Folding her arms, Mitsuru continued, "The lab called today. It seems Yoshino's regeneration has continued since we first received word of her body's unusual condition. In fact… her heart began beating again last night. They performed an MRI this morning, and there is brain activity. She's still in a coma, but…"

"She may well be waking up," he finished, nodding again.

"Probably soon, at the current rate of recovery. Very possibly today." She shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. "So… I was hoping you had some idea of how to break the news to Iori? I don't want to give him false hope. There's still no guarantee she'll truly wake up at all, and even if she does, the MRI suggests—"

The ringing of her cellphone interrupted her. Adrenaline spiking, she pulled it out, checked the caller ID, and felt her stomach clench. It was exactly who she'd expected—which meant that the critical moment had arrived, one way or another.

No putting it off. Nodding to Minato, she accepted the call. "Kirijo speaking. There's progress?"

"Yes, Kirijo-san," the doctor handling Yoshino's situation replied. "As we suspected, the patient has awakened. However, I'm afraid her condition is… Well. As we expected from this morning's scan."

"I understand. Thank you, Doctor. I'll head over shortly." Ending the call, she tucked her phone away and looked back at Minato. "Well, there it is, Minato. As unbelievable as it may be, Chidori Yoshino has revived." She noticed the look on his face, and lifted one scarlet eyebrow. "Minato…?"

"…Sorry," her pale-faced fiancé said, shaking himself. "It's just, after everything I learned from Tsu-chan during that outbreak of apparitions in Nishinomiya, the dead coming back to life is a bit spooky even for me—"

The Student Council Room's door opening hard enough to bounce in its frame interrupted him. "The hell did you just say?!" Iori demanded, rushing in; behind him, a broom and dustpan clattered to the floor. "Chidori—are you saying Chidori's alive?!"

He was cleaning outside, Mitsuru realized, heart sinking. I was too careless. "Yes," she said aloud. "I'm sorry, I would have informed you earlier what was going on, but I didn't want to give false hope—"

"I don't care about that! I just—" Eyes wide and anxious, Iori swallowed hard. "Senpai. This isn't some kind of joke? I swear, if this is a prank—!"

"It isn't," she told him firmly. "Yoshino's body had been regenerating for some weeks now, and just today she finally woke up. She's recovering in Tatsumi Memorial Hospital, just as before. But…" She looked away, biting her lip. "Iori, she probably doesn't…"

Mitsuru couldn't say it. She felt like a coward, but she couldn't bring herself to break the disbelieving hope she could see on Iori's face. Turning her gaze to Minato, she hoped he had some idea of what to say—

But it didn't matter. Iori wasn't paying any attention to either of them at that point. He was staring into space, eyes beginning to shimmer. "Chidori… Chidori…? Can she really be… alive…? Argh!" he burst out. "What the hell am I standing around here for?!"

Before Mitsuru or Minato could say anything more, he whirled and dashed out of the room, racing for the stairs so fast he almost tripped over the cleaning supplies he'd abandoned in the hall.

Iori also almost bowled over Yukari, who only barely jumped to one side. "Junpei?! Hey, where are you going?! You're supposed to be cleaning! …And he's gone." Stepping into the Student Council Room, she gave her friends a questioning look. "Okay… mind telling me what just happened?"

"I suppose we might as well," Mitsuru said, sharing a rueful smile with Minato. "Not quite what I had in mind, but perhaps that was the best way for him to find out."

"Find out what?" Yukari said plaintively. "I haven't seen Junpei move that fast since…" She trailed off, eyes widening. "No way. Did something happen to Chidori? If those creeps in the Kirijo labs did something to her after all—"

"All they did was monitor her body, Yukari," Minato told her, laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Until she finished recovering."

She stared at him. "…Recovering…? You mean… No way…"

"That does about sum things up," Mitsuru agreed. "Yes, Yoshino is alive. Somehow. Unfortunately, there appear to have been… problems with her revival." She nodded toward the door. "Iori shouldn't deal with this alone. Shall we? If we're quick, we can still get there soon after he does."

Junpei still wasn't anywhere near as good as Minato was with the whole "reinforcing the body with Persona" thing, but he used every bit of skill he did have with it as he raced away from Gekkoukan. He wasn't even sure if he'd remembered to change to his outside shoes before he left.

He didn't care. Pounding down Port Island's streets toward Tatsumi Memorial Hospital, little details like that didn't matter to him at all. Not after what Mitsuru had told him.

Chidori's… alive? This… this isn't some kind of joke… is it?

Not that Minato Arisato, of all people, was likely to be involved in a joke like that. No. None of SEES would mess around about a girl's life; Junpei was sure of that now, after all the months they'd been together.

It was just… unbelievable. Two months, he'd been convinced Chidori was gone forever. She'd died in his arms, after giving up her life to bring back his. He hadn't even had the luxury of denial, with the truth right in front of his face. Like Shinjiro, like Takeharu Kirito, there'd just been no hope at all.

Now there was. Crazy, like a tightrope, but Junpei had hope. And… he had obviously no idea what to do.

Except to run, as fast as he could, to the hospital, to see the truth with his own eyes.

Maybe the reception staff recognized him. Maybe they did call after him, and he just didn't notice. Junpei wasn't sure, after the dash through the hospital doors and right past the reception desk—but he didn't care about that, either. No one was going to stop him just then.

No one, except himself. He skidded to a halt outside the door to Chidori's old room, and found himself unable to take the next step. The name printed beside the door, Chidori Yoshino, told him he'd come to the right place—and he still couldn't reach to open that door.

Can it be real? Even Minato said miracles aren't free. She traded her life for mine, so… so how could she have come back? They wouldn't kid about this, I know they wouldn't, but the doctors might've… if I walk in there and she's not there, I… don't know if I could live with it.

Junpei couldn't have said how long he stood there, staring at the hospital room's door. Hope warring with terror, he couldn't bring himself to open the door and find out for sure.

"There you are, Junpei." Yuka-tan's voice, from behind him. "Huh? You got here this fast, but you still haven't gone in? What are you waiting for, Junpei?"

"…I can't do it," he whispered. "I… I want to believe it, but I'm just so scared… If she's not there, I'll break. I can't… I can't take it again, Yuka-tan."

"Junpei-kun." Fuuka, this time, voice soft and caring as ever. "It'll be okay." A slim hand touched his shoulder. "We'll wait here, okay? Go on."

That light touch pulled some of the fear away. Fuuka could sense people; she'd know if anyone—if one specific person—was in there. If she was telling him to go ahead, then logically it had to mean this was really happening.

Minato'd say logic's a great way to be "wrong with confidence". …And he'd tell me I'm just making excuses right now, wouldn't he?

"Iori." Mitsuru stepped close enough for him see a hint of red hair out of the corner of his eye. "I can't promise that this will be exactly the reunion you would've wanted. But I do promise you Yoshino is really in there. Are you really going to keep her waiting?"

"Not many people get second chances like this, Junpei." Minato was quiet, but his voice was as much the calm rock he tried to be for the team as it always was. "If it were me, I'd be scared, too. But I'd be going in there, because no matter what, I'd owe her that."

Junpei closed his eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. If anyone in the team knew exactly what he was going through, it was Minato. And he's right. If Chidori's really there… no, even if she's not. It's time to be a man, and face whatever's on the other side.

His eyes opened, and he stepped forward to open the door.

Yukari and Fuuka stayed outside. Mitsuru followed him in—taking responsibility for the whole thing, he was sure—and he was kind of glad Minato did, too. Having those two on hand for moral support wasn't a bad idea at all.

He was vaguely aware of a male nurse coming in, as well, but at that moment Junpei didn't pay much attention. He couldn't. Not with a girl in white sitting up in bed, red hair exactly as he remembered, a sketchpad in her lap. She looked up as the group entered, and her cool eyes met his.

That look asked a question, and Junpei suddenly found he had no idea what to say. Chidori was right there in front of him, alive—and he had no idea at all what to say.

"The damage to her endocrine system and other internal organs has completely healed," the nurse said into the silence, adjusting his glasses. "Yoshino-san is still very weak, mind you, but she's recovering nicely. There's no further trace of the damage done by the suppressants she was taking." He smiled. "At this point, I believe it's safe to say her life expectancy is far beyond the two years previously estimated."

That was the first he'd heard of an exact figure, prior to her "death". If he'd heard it back then, it would've been a horrible shock, even though after what happened to Shinjiro it should've been obvious to him. Hearing it now, he thought it didn't matter at all.

"You're… really here, Chidori?" Junpei finally got out. Swallowing, he took an anxious step forward. "This isn't just some dream? You're… alive?"

He was starting to cry, and he knew it, but dammit, if a man couldn't cry at a time like this, then he didn't want to be one. It was the happiest moment he'd had in a long time, and he wasn't going to try and be a tough guy. The world was on the verge of ending, but the girl he loved was alive…

"A dream?" Chidori repeated, looking at him strangely. "No, not at all." She tilted her head, frowning. "I'm sorry, but… do I know you?"

At first, the question didn't register. Then cold shock broke through his euphoria. "Ch-Chidori? You… you don't remember…?" Mitsuru-senpai warned me something wasn't right, but… Oh, no.

Behind him, Minato cleared his throat. "The first we knew about her recovery, it was her body transmogrifying," he said softly. "Which means she doesn't have her Persona anymore. And, if some things we've heard are right…"

Ryoji, Junpei thought, connecting the dots. He said if we killed him, the Dark Hour would disappear—and our memories with it. So if you lose your Persona, you forget everything connected with it? Even people you… care about?

"I'm sorry," Chidori said, breaking into his thoughts. When he looked back at her, there was a soft sympathy in her expression that he wasn't used to seeing from her, even in their friendlier times together. "It's still sinking in even for me, but I can't remember much of the last few years. Do I know you all?"

Junpei had no clue whatsoever to say to that. Luckily for him, the nurse seemed to have a better idea of how to handle things. "This is Junpei Iori, Mitsuru Kirijo, and Minato Arisato, Chidori-san," he told her gently. "They were your friends, this past year."

Minato made a choked sound, and a corner of Junpei couldn't help but find that just a bit funny, too. "Friend" probably isn't how either of them would've said it, that corner thought with an entirely inappropriate snicker.

"Oh?" Chidori looked over the three of them; a curious look, not like the hostility Junpei remembered before—and after—they became so close. "Friends… I'm sorry I don't remember. I'm told I had a special power, and losing it took memories with it. I can remember everything up to a few years ago, but the last three or so are like a long dream."

A dream, huh? …Y'know, that's not a bad description. If I didn't know better, I'd think everything since last April was just a crazy dream, myself. If she… can't even remember… then of course she'd think it was. Hell, she probably thinks the docs are crazy, talkin' about a "special power"…

"I'm sorry, Iori," Mitsuru said sincerely, gently touching his arm. "I know this isn't what you were hoping for."

Junpei breathed in deep, out again, and slowly shook his head. "Nah… I think it's okay, Senpai. Really. Just knowing she's alive, even if she doesn't remember… How many people can say that?" He mustered up a grin, turning to look at Minato. "I know what you've said 'bout memories making us who we are, Minato, but… you know what I mean, right?"

"Even if it meant starting over from scratch, a second chance is better than none," Minato agreed, a faraway look in his eyes. "Where there's life…"

"Right." Buoyed just a bit more by Minato's agreement, Junpei turned back to Mitsuru. "Anyway, Senpai, it's prolly better this way, isn't it? I mean, if she doesn't remember the fighting, and the pills, and… well, everything." He scratched the back of his head, remembering how one of their earliest meetings—and their last—had involved a lot of blood. "Better to just forget about nightmares, right?"

It was a good thought, in his opinion. With a little time, he was pretty sure he'd even believe it himself. As it was, it would be enough to keep him going—

"Excuse me," Chidori cut in, voice suddenly bearing a familiar, sharp edge, "but I'd appreciate it if you not put words into my mouth. Since when did I ever say it was a nightmare?"

Junpei turned back to her, blinking in surprise. Not a nightmare? Kirijo Group experimentation, working with Strega, all that crazy stuff? Just what he'd seen personally had involved a lot of violence, an attempt by her own Persona to murder her, and the sure knowledge that she was living on borrowed time.

Ever since she got her Persona, she told me, she'd known the day she'd die. That's one hell of a thing to know, that's for damn sure.

Even more surprising than her statement, Chidori was smiling wistfully. "It wasn't a nightmare at all," she told him. "There was darkness, and danger… but at the end of the tunnel was light, and warmth. A kind person waiting for me." Now she wasn't looking so much at him as past him, he thought. "Mm… I don't remember who it was, but I know I wanted him to be happy. There was… a room like this, I think? Filled with flowers…" She trailed off, grimacing in sudden pain. "I can't… can't quite remember…"

Hell with it! Junpei hurried to her side. "Take it easy, Chidori! Don't force yourself. It's okay, really." A room like this, full of flowers? Is she remembering when I… died… or else…?

"Flowers?" Minato said sharply. "Wait a second." The detective turned a sharp look on the nurse. "What happened to the flowers Chidori used to revive?"

The nurse frowned. "The flowers? Oh! I see. Yes, I remember. Chidori-san would always use her power to make them bloom again on the days Junpei-kun visited. When she… well, died, I took the remaining flowers for research." He shrugged. "That went nowhere fast without her power active, so after the autopsy I laid them on her body as a tribute."

"When?" Minato's voice was sharp enough to draw Junpei's attention from Chidori's distress; that was the tone of the detective chasing a lead, not just a curious bystander.

"Come to think of it…" The nurse adjusted his glasses, frown deepening. "That may actually have been the same night Chidori-san first transmogrified. Which means…"

"Yes." Mitsuru was nodding thoughtfully now. "It could well be that she reclaimed the power she'd placed in those flowers. Not enough to restore her potential, but enough to heal her body and bring her back."

"I wouldn't say 'not enough', Kirijo-san," the nurse said, shaking his head. "After all, it was enough to repair even the damage her body had suffered from her suppressants. I would personally speculate it was more that it could have restored her Persona abilities, but focused instead on fully healing her. Which could reflect the change we've seen in her."

"Change?" Chidori said sharply. To Junpei, it looked like she'd only followed a fraction of the talk of her "power", but didn't care very much. That last comment, though, apparently annoyed her. "What do you mean, I've changed?"

But you have, Junpei realized. You were almost never this… well, friendly. With me, sometimes, but even then, you always had one heck of a sharp tongue.

"Well, Chidori-san," the nurse said, obviously choosing his words carefully, "you're certainly much more eager to live than you were before."

"Eager to live? Well, it's not as if I'd want to die." She sniffed. "If I died, then I'd never be able to find the person from my dream. I can't die until I do."

Mitsuru quietly cleared her throat. "And, Yoshino… what will you do if you find him?"

Chidori was silent for a long moment. Junpei found himself holding his breath, wondering what she'd say; the way her gaze seemed to focus on him, just for a second, made him tense. Then, finally, she looked away. "That's really none of your business."

He couldn't help but grin at that, tension leaving as quickly as it had come. That was the Chidori he knew. A little softer, maybe, but still ready to speak her mind. That, more than anything else, convinced him that this was real. That Chidori was really back.

Junpei didn't know if she had any idea the guy she was talking about was already standing right in front of her. If she didn't, though, he knew just what to do. He wouldn't force anything, he wouldn't be pushy. He'd just be there for her, just like he had been before.

A quick glance back showed him Mitsuru smiling, just faintly. "Well, I suppose that's fair enough," she murmured. "So… A reunion like this, after both hearts had perished once. It's a miracle I never would've hoped to see." She glanced over at Minato. "Or maybe I should, a victory. One that will help lead us to a greater one, ten days from now."

A greater victory…? Oh, yeah. Nyx. We still have to punch that thing's lights out, don't we? But now… that's the only thing standing in the way, isn't it? He was starting to cry again, but he didn't care at all. Chidori… This time, we really can be together. I just have to show you I'm worth it.

"Why… are you crying?"

Junpei couldn't help a smile at Chidori's bewilderment. "C-can't help it," he choked out past another sob. "I mean… this is the happiest moment of my life! I… I…!"

She wouldn't understand. She might never understand. But just seeing her there, sitting up in a hospital bed, alive… Right then, he didn't even care about the impending apocalypse. Dignity, as far as he was concerned, could take a hike.

Chidori… Everything's going to be all right now, he promised silently, giving in to the tears. From now on, nothing's ever going to take you away again! Not even Nyx!

Monday, January 25th, 2010, Early Morning

Things were changing. The signs were all around, now. The graffiti on building walls and streets, the pamphlets strewn around the city, those were the subtle ones.

"Sure has been a lot of talk about 'salvation' lately, hasn't there? The 'renewal of the world'? Y'know, I've heard Apathy Syndrome is spreading farther from Japan now. If it's getting that bad, maybe this 'new world' thing is a good thing, after all."

The Lost lying out in the cold, all too many of them, that could be seen on the route to Gekkoukan High School were more obvious. Mostly incoherent, a few of them could be heard mumbling about "Nyx", and everything she was bringing with her. It wasn't so surprising people were starting to believe the end really was coming. With the effect ordinary people so naively called a "syndrome" spreading like wildfire, superstition suddenly didn't seem so silly.

"You could be right. I mean, when I first heard about it on TV, it just sounded like a crazy cult. Just another of those, 'Repent for the end is near!' things. Now, I'm not quite so sure, you know?"

This is the truly frightening sign, though. Not Takaya's cult. Not even the Lost. What really worries me is…

"More and more people are buying into it. At this point, who's to say they're wrong? I know I'd feel pretty stupid if I kept denying it now…"

Following the two gossiping girls through Gekkoukan's gates, Minato held tight to the truth he knew. It was true that Apathy Syndrome was spreading. It was even true that an apocalypse was on the way. But these girls are just caught up in Ikutsuki's old lies, as spread by that bastard Takaya. What's coming isn't a renewal, just an end.

If we let it.

Too many average people on the street were buying into the idea that an apocalyptic event was the only thing that could save them all. Minato knew better. He and his friends had turned the tide before, back when all they knew to do was fight the symptoms. Now they had a target, and the will to go after her.

Now they had the example of Chidori Yoshino's miraculous revival to remind them that sometimes, the impossible was possible.

Just disappearing through the main building's entrance, Minato spotted Junpei chatting animatedly with a couple of his friends from outside SEES, and smiled. They'd all made the decision to oppose Nyx a month before. Now Junpei, he knew, was more determined than ever to win through to see spring come.

Chidori may not remember who he is, but she knows she's looking for him. Sooner or later, they'll be together again for real. That hope… Tsu-chan always told me, emotion matters. Fire burns, but it burns out. Hope just keeps on shining.

Switching from outside shoes to inside, Minato blithely ignored the few dirty looks he still got from some of the student body. It was less than a week, now, until everything would be decided, but he wasn't scared. Tense, anxious, painfully aware of just how much could still go wrong even if they won—but not scared.

Ryoji can say what he likes. I, for one, have no intention of dying less than a week after career counseling. …And doesn't it just say weird things about my life that I just put "apocalypse" and "school" on the same level?

After School

The Faculty Office was a place Minato was starting to think he'd spent a little too much time in, this past year. Not all of it sanctioned, either, what with the time he and Yukari had had to sneak in and find a key so as to properly enter a tower of nightmares. That night had definitely not been one of his fondest memories, either.

Says something about my life that I jump from "spending too much time in the office" to "it's given me some of my more interesting nightmares". Grandfather would probably say I'm following in the finest tradition of the family. …Naoto would tell me I'm crazy.

Settling into a chair far better than any the students had access to, across a table from Ms. Toriumi, Minato ruefully admitted he'd have to agree with his sister on that one. He might enjoy a good mystery, and if pressed admit he had some fondness for adrenaline, but that didn't mean he wasn't self-aware enough to realize how insane it all was.

"Well," Toriumi began, straightening a sheaf of papers on the table, "I suppose we should begin, shall we? Although," she added with a faint smile, "in your case I suppose this is nothing more than a formality."

Minato nodded, smiling ruefully in return. "No more hiding that, I guess. It's been all over the school grapevine for weeks now."

"A little too much, yes. Not that I blame you," she hastened to add. "I won't deny I've been… concerned… about some of your activities in the past year, but the rumors that have been going around lately are just too much. I'm glad to see you've managed to stay focused on your schoolwork despite the behavior of your classmates."

To that, he could only shrug noncommittally. Toriumi knew about his family business now, but it wasn't like he could tell her jealous classmates were nothing next to what he dealt with in the school after dark. Even a Gekkoukan teacher—even Toriumi—was likely to balk at the idea of him engaging in direct combat on a regular basis. Especially on school grounds.

Let's try not to think about the sword currently in my kendo bag, hm?

Don't want to scare the normals, right, Master?

Not now, Pixie…

"Well, like I said, you've shown admirable commitment to your studies," Toriumi was saying now, glancing briefly at her notes. "From what I've heard, you've also demonstrated a commitment to your family's traditional line of work. I take it you intend to continue with that after graduation?"

"And college, preferably," Minato said with a nod. "I'm not the best in the family, but I like to think I've got some promise. College will help round things out."

"Experience is never wasted, Minato-kun," she agreed. "Whatever skills you may have learned from your family, life experience is something you can only get for yourself. Which, by all accounts, you've certainly had plenty of since you've been here in Port Island."

He tried not to flinch at that. You don't know the half of it. Battles with monsters, battles with humans—if there's a difference…

Death.

Toriumi's expression softened. "I know not all of that experience here has been good," she said gently. "I gather you knew Shinjiro Aragaki, and given that you're engaged to his daughter, you must have spent time with Takeharu Kirijo. And, of course, Chairman Ikutsuki was the advisor for your club."

Hopefully the expected reaction to the first two covered the spike of fury he felt at the last. Minato mourned Shinjiro and Takeharu Kirijo deeply. Ikutsuki he only regretted not being able to kill personally—a reaction that bothered even him.

"It hasn't all been bad, either," he said, trying to put that behind him again. "I've met a lot of good people here, Sensei. They've been good to me."

"I can see that," Toriumi said, smiling again. "Believe it or not, Minato-kun, but I can tell you've changed a lot since you've been here. I don't know what your circumstances are, exactly, and I'm not going to ask, but I think coming here was a good thing for you."

"So do I," he said sincerely. I never would've met Mitsuru if I hadn't. My being here basically triggered the end of the world, yeah, but if we can get past that, everything's great.

Somewhat to his own surprise, he even believed that himself.

"Well," Toriumi said again, setting aside her notes, "I suppose there really isn't anything else to say. You've got your path planned, and I can see you intend to hold to it. That's more than I can say about a lot of the students I've interviewed for this. I think we're done here." She paused. "Hm… Ah, yes. Could you please find Aigis-san and send her here? She's next."

"Of course, Sensei." Rising to his feet, Minato sketched a polite bow and headed for the door.

On his way out, he heard a muttered, "Why do I think that interview isn't going to go as smoothly…?"

Ordinarily, Aigis was probably the easiest member of SEES to find while at school. All of the others, even Mitsuru, at least had club activities that might send them just about anywhere. Aigis still only had SEES for socialization, which meant that at school she seldom did anything not directly related to classes.

Fifteen minutes of combing the usual places got Minato exactly nowhere. Only after dropping by 2-E and quietly consulting with Fuuka did he finally get a lead.

In the year he'd been attending Gekkoukan, he'd met most of his school acquaintances on the roof at one time or another. Finding Aigis there, standing by the fence and looking out over Port Island, was a new one.

It didn't take Fuuka's psychic powers to see that something was bothering the robot girl. Everything about her stance—so much more human than it had once been, no longer the rigidity of a coolly rational android—screamed to anyone who knew to look that she was uneasy.

The fact that she hadn't seemed to notice Minato's approach was if anything a bigger clue to anyone who knew what she really was. He was good at moving softly, but Aigis had hearing that made his own enhanced senses seem positively deaf.

"Aigis? What's wrong?"

She twitched—another very human reaction—and turned to face him. "Oh, Minato-kun," she said. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you coming."

"I noticed," he said dryly. Raising an eyebrow, he added, "So what's on your mind?"

Aigis' gaze shifted away, refusing to meet his own. "It's nothing important, really…"

Minato's other eyebrow went up.

"…Maybe a little important," she conceded with a sigh. "It's just… I was reflecting on when I fought Ryoji on the Moonlight Bridge last month. For the first time since I was activated, I felt fear as my consciousness faded. I was… afraid of dying."

"Most people do fear death, Aigis," he told her, walking over to join her by the fence. "Even if you think you're at peace with what comes next, when the moment arrives it's natural to be afraid."

And isn't it just depressing that I've almost been killed enough times to be so sure of that?

"I understand that much," Aigis said, looking back to the skyline. "But I'd never thought of myself as 'alive' before, so I'd never contemplated 'dying'. …Yet it's more than that. More even than knowing how much danger it would put the rest of you in, I was confused that I couldn't defeat him. Embarrassed, even." She shook her head, visibly bemused. "It's strange. I couldn't truly defeat him ten years ago, either, yet I didn't feel this way then."

"Ten years ago you were barely off the assembly line, Aigis," Minato pointed out. "You were only just 'born'. You've had a chance to grow an ego since then." He rested a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. "And y'know, you did beat it back then."

Startled, she finally turned to look him in the eye. "What? But I failed to kill him then. I could only…" She trailed off, biting her lip. "The only thing I could do was…"

"You sealed it inside me." He raised his free hand to forestall her reply. "Yes, that had… consequences of its own. But you stopped it, Aigis. By sealing Death in me, you stopped its rampage, and held off the Apocalypse by a decade. That's a victory all by itself." He gave her another wry smile. "Between that and gaining a sense of self, it's not surprising you'd react differently this time, when you couldn't even trap it inside a handy eight-year-old."

From the look on Aigis' face, she couldn't decide whether to be appalled, confused, or perversely amused by his flippancy. Which was more or less what he'd intended, of course.

I'll hate that thing to my dying day, for what it did to my family. Even if it did become Ryoji years later. But if I can use it for my own purposes, I will.

"I never thought of it that way," Aigis said at last, giving a brief smile of her own. "But then, there are many questions I've had, since I decided to 'live'. Coming to grips with the idea that my 'soul' means I, too, have feelings… I have no idea how humans keep it all straight."

"Mostly we don't," Minato said frankly. "Humans are irrational by nature. But hey, if we weren't, the world would be a very boring place."

That won him a momentary chuckle, surprising Aigis herself. "I've heard a curse about 'interesting times', Minato-kun. Boring might be preferable." She sobered then. "There's so much I don't yet understand, but I did finally realize one thing: the reason my 'highest priority' was to be by your side… was to monitor Death, and ensure it didn't escape."

He nodded slowly, keeping silent this time. That much, he'd figured out himself as soon as his own memories of that horrible night had returned. At last, everything made sense—at least, as much sense as anything made, as insane as the whole world had gotten.

I suppose she's probably beating herself up over not being able to stop it from getting free—never mind neither of us could remember a damn thing about that night. Not to mention Ikutsuki being a complete bastard about it.

Aigis surprised him, though, with her next words. "That just raises another question, though," she said quietly, gaze wandering to the view of Port Island and the sea beyond. "Death is gone from you… but I still want to be by your side, Minato-kun. It feels… warm. I don't know why…"

Ah. "Aigis," Minato said, gently gripping her shoulders to turn her to face him. "That's called 'friendship'. I know, it's a little hard to understand if you're not used to it. Back when I got started at North High, I'd been hit so hard I didn't even remember it, and it wasn't until I came to Gekkoukan that I really felt it again. But it's normal to want to be with people you like."

"Normal," Aigis mused. "Normal for humans, maybe… but I suppose my soul is human, too, even if my body is a machine." She made a sound as if taking in a deep breath; a human reflex her body didn't need, as if unconsciously underscoring her point. "Minato-kun, I still don't understand what it means to 'live', or to have friends. But… I think I can learn, if I stay with you." She met his eyes again, pleading. "I know I'm not as strong as I should be, but, please…"

"Aigis." Giving in to impulse, Minato pulled the robot girl into a gentle hug. "You're more than strong enough. And even if you weren't, we're friends. Of course you can stay."

Slowly, as if she didn't quite know what to do, Aigis returned the hug. "Thank you," she said into his shoulder. "…I think…. I'm going to enjoy having friends."

"You should." He paused, abruptly remembering why he'd come looking for her in the first place. "And as a friend, I should be reminding you that you've got a meeting with Ms. Toriumi for career counseling. She sent me looking for you, in fact."

"…Oh." Now Aigis sounded just a little sheepish. "Honestly, I'd completely forgotten about that." She pulled back, looking up at him. "I have no idea what to say to her, either. I've learned enough of normal society to realize my true occupation is not one to be casually mentioned in a school setting…"

"Well," he said thoughtfully, leading her toward the door back into the school, "I might just have an idea or two about that. Technically speaking, your sisters already work for the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, after all. How do you feel about sleuthing…?"

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010, Evening

I wonder if Shinji is rubbing off on me. Four days until the end of the world, and I feel like I'm just warming up for the best match ever. Heh. Maybe he rubbed off on all of us. He knew what was coming, and didn't flinch, either.

For once, all of SEES was gathered in the lounge, and it wasn't even an important meeting. Junpei had been the last to arrive, returning from the hospital to find the others more or less chilling around the big table; even Aigis was surprisingly relaxed, reading a book.

Kindaichi, Akihiko noticed, as Junpei made his way to the last unoccupied chair. Aigis, reading detective novels? That's… different. I suppose our own Detective is rubbing off on her. A good sign, though, if she's loosening up that much.

He wasn't sure if that was the part that surprised him most, or the arrangement on the couch opposite the robot girl. Minato and Mitsuru being close together, at least in private, wasn't unusual anymore; the redhead sitting close enough to lean against the detective, even when it was just SEES around, was. That Yukari sat on Minato's other side, not quite close enough to do the same…

You'd think Mitsuru would have something to say about that. I wonder what happened in Kyoto? …Eh. Not really my business, anyway.

Sitting next to Aigis, Fuuka glanced up when Junpei sat down. "Welcome back, Junpei-kun," she said brightly. "Just back from visiting Chidori-san in the hospital?"

"Sure am," he confirmed with a grin. "Gotta say, it feels good to have something to live for again, y'know? I mean, I know I had to make sure I didn't waste the life she gave me back when, well, when Takaya shot me, but…"

"Knowing that you owed it to her to keep going didn't make it any easier to find something to go to, right?" In his own chair on the far side, Akihiko nodded. "Yeah, I get it. So, how's she doing? No sign she wants to go back to being an axe murderer?"

…And I've officially been around the Detective too long myself, with that line. Tch. He and Shinji would've gotten along like a house on fire, if there'd been time.

Junpei was thinking much the same, judging from the roll of his eyes. "Hey, she doesn't even remember that, Senpai… No, actually, she's a lot calmer than I remember her ever being before." He shrugged, trying to look casual; not that Akihiko was fooled. The boxer suspected at least two others in the room saw through it, too. Three, if he counted the dog whose ears Ken was scratching. "She still scolds me if she thinks I'm being an idiot, but eh. What else is new?"

A far cry from trying to kill us, and alternating between snapping at everyone in sight and giving Junpei the most backhanded complements I'd ever heard, Akihiko thought. But then, from what Shinji said she must've known she was dying long before they ever met. Not remembering any of that is probably good for her disposition.

Mitsuru quietly cleared her throat. "I take it there's still no sign of her memories returning at all?" When Junpei shot her a surprised look, she shrugged. "I've been trying to keep my distance from the situation. The hospital staff will alert me if something dangerous happens, but otherwise I feel it better to respect her—and your—privacy, Iori."

"Nah," he said, shrugging. "Well, nothing solid," he amended. "I mean, she's still having dreams that give her glimpses, but… I don't think she quite gets what really happened."

"So… Chidori still doesn't know you're the guy she's looking for," Yukari said, giving him a much more sympathetic look than he was really used to from her. "That's gotta be rough."

"Eh… maybe." Junpei awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I'd like to pick up where we left off, but I can wait. I'm sure she'll figure it out sooner or later, and really, this is a better start than we had before."

I'll just bet. Boy meets girl, boy brags about his superpowers, girl tries to murder boy to make him stop… Who needs the same old story?

Though Akihiko did wonder if Chidori knew more than she was letting on. She'd been told about Persona, and that she'd known SEES before—and if there was one thing Chidori Yoshino had never been, it was stupid. He figured there was a good chance she'd worked out that the person in her dreams was one of them.

It looks like Junpei's learned something resembling patience, though, Akihiko mused, seeing the relaxed smile on the hat-wearing junior's face. Bizarre as it, considering how they first met, that girl really has been good for him. I guess the Detective was right about those two.

"I'm happy for you, Junpei-kun," Aigis put in unexpectedly, setting her novel on the table. "Now, of the mature males in SEES, only Akihiko-senpai remains without a 'significant other'."

"Well, thanks, Aigis," Junpei said, looking genuinely touched. "That means a lot, coming from you—huh?" He blinked, visibly running over exactly what she'd just said. "Did you just say…?"

Akihiko choked. "Er—"

"Well, now," Junpei said slowly, a grin creeping onto his face. "You kinda have a point there, Aigis. Hey, when Minato and Mitsuru-senpai have their wedding, Akihiko-senpai's gonna be stuck at the singles table, isn't he?"

"Hey now—"

"Yes, indeed," Aigis agreed, nodding. "Maybe we should help him with that? I wouldn't want Akihiko-senpai to be lonely."

"Guys—"

"You're right, Aigis! That would be just terrible." Junpei lifted an eyebrow in Yukari's direction. "Hey, Yuka-tan! There's gotta be something about Akihiko-senpai that can get him the girls. The real ones, I mean, not those airhead fangirls always following him around."

"Why are you asking me?" she said plaintively, glaring at him. "In case you hadn't noticed, Stupei, I'm single, too. What do I know?" The brunette looked over at the other couch. "Fuuka, you're the psychic!"

"Huh?!" Their resident mission control flinched at being put on the spot. "W-well," she started, "Akihiko-senpai is… well, he's strong, and reliable, and… um…"

"Just a second!"

Akihiko's protests went ignored as the team got into the spirit of the discussion. Even as Fuuka trailed off uncertainly, Minato smirked; a brief, evil expression that he hid quickly enough Akihiko thought most of the others didn't even notice. The smirk was replaced instead by a frown of earnest thought—or at least that was how it looked to the boxer.

Akihiko was neither fooled, nor amused.

"It is a tricky idea, isn't it?" the swordsman mused. "Honestly, back during that little mess you guys tried to drag me into back at Yakushima—you know, the one where you managed not to notice Aigis was a robot?—it did occur to me that Akihiko doesn't really know how to attract girls."

"This is revenge, isn't it," Akihiko muttered, glaring. "That entire incident was Junpei's fault, but you're taking it out on me now. Unbecoming, Detective…"

I forgot just how low your sense of humor can be, "Minato Arisato".

"I don't know," Ken said slowly, looking up from where he'd been scratching Koromaru's ears. "I mean, I did once hear Aniki talking to Shinjiro-san about it. Shinjiro-san said…" He frowned. "I think he said something about how unless there's a girl whose ideal date is a beef bowl place with lame protein puns, then Akihiko-senpai doesn't stand a chance." The young lancer shrugged sheepishly. "I mean, I think that's what he said?"

Akihiko's head felt like it was going to explode after that one. He could feel his face was turning a funny shade of red, and his knuckles popped audibly. But the boxer took a deep breath, muttered something unflattering about Shinjiro under his breath, and slowly turned to look at the dog. "Koromaru, you're saner than these jokers. I'm not that bad, am I?"

Koromaru looked back at him, seemed to hesitate—and finally whined, ears flattening under Ken's fingers, and set his head down on the floor.

Akihiko stared at the dog, feeling utterly betrayed, and slumped in his chair. "Not you, too…"

Mitsuru cleared her throat again, louder than earlier. "Now, now," she said sternly. "This is beneath you all, teasing Akihiko that way at a time like this."

"Thank you, Mitsuru," Akihiko said, giving her a relieved smile. "At least someone here still has sense."

Yukari and Ken looked away, the very picture of properly scolded juniors. Junpei started to as well—until he seemed to notice the faint smile on Minato's face, and the way Fuuka was obviously trying not to giggle.

"We have better things to do with our time, this close to the Promised Day," Mitsuru continued, calm and dignified. "Let's focus on the task that isn't impossible, shall we?"

The others stared at her, working out exactly what she'd just implied. Did she just—? …Mitsuru!

Junpei cracked first, breaking out into a loud laugh. "She's got you there, Akihiko-senpai!" he got out. "I mean, c'mon! It's just—y'know, Shinjiro-senpai said it, right? You, well—"

Akihiko's head turned, very slowly, very deliberately, expression of shocked outrage turning to a more direct glare. "Like you're one to talk, Junpei?" he said icily. "You had just as little luck as I did at Yakushima. You only got a girlfriend after she tried to kill you."

"Yeah, so?"

The boxer could feel his teeth grinding. "Y'know what? Fine. I don't have to put up with this. It's not like I've never met a girl who wanted to hang around." Akihiko turned his glare on Minato. "Detective, when all this is over, give me Hino's number. That firebrand wants a sparring match? I could use a chance to burn off some steam!"

There was a long silence that followed wasn't quite what he expected. But then, the entire team was probably wondering exactly what Akihiko was: whether or not Minato was having a stroke. Their resident detective was staring at the boxer, face locked in a very strange expression, turning several unhealthy colors in rapid succession.

Just as Yukari, eyes wide and anxious, grabbed at his shoulder, Minato broke. Collapsing against Mitsuru, he descended into cackling.

…This may have been a mistake, Master, Caesar murmured in the back of Akihiko's mind. It is never a good sign when a suggestion provokes that much amusement from a detective with troll in his bloodline.

Yeah, well, it got them to shut up, didn't it? Akihiko shot back. Paused. Remembered what had happened the last time any of Minato's old schoolmates had been in town—and especially how the pyrokinetic martial artist he knew only as Hino had behaved, the one time they'd met.

Caesar? I think we'd better practice those elemental weapon reinforcement tricks the Detective likes to use.

Oh? A flicker of interest from the fragment of his own self. Hm. Lightning punches. An intriguing notion, Master.

And probably a necessity, if I'm going to keep up with that. …I think I may have just done something very, very stupid.

Friday, January 29th, 2010, After School

"Time runs short, my dear guest. Come what may, the end of the journey draws nigh, and I would prefer not to leave anything undone. Could you meet me one last time, this afternoon? There remain two things I wish to see in your world."

When Elizabeth had called him during lunch, Minato hadn't really been able to guess where she wanted him to take her this time. By now, she'd seen most of the significant places in the Iwatodai-Port Island area; where she'd choose to visit just before the possible end of the world was a question he was a little afraid to contemplate.

The Moonlight Bridge was a surprise, for all that—yet, somehow, it seemed appropriate. It was probably the only notable landmark of the area that she hadn't seen, and it did have a notable connection to his own journey.

The damage done in the past months had been repaired, but when Minato and Elizabeth began their walk across it, from the Port Island end, a few marks still remained. "Great battles have been fought in this place, I see," the Velvet Room attendant said softly; her first words since they'd left that place between worlds. "In my visits to the waking world, I've never seen such marks of conflict."

She was looking at a scorch mark as she said it, and Minato had to smile ruefully. "Well, fire tends to have that effect, yeah." He tried not to think too hard about what had caused the blackened markings. Legacy of his attempt to incinerate Takaya, he could still all too easily remember the smell of burning skin.

"Yes, I suppose it does," Elizabeth mused. "Although to be honest, I was not referring entirely to the physical." She laid a hand on the railing, letting it slide along as they walked. "Conflict leaves a mark on the soul as well, Minato, and souls leave their own imprint on the world around them. This place… I suspect humans sensitive to such things prefer to avoid this bridge. It screams quite loudly."

Minato flinched, suddenly grateful his own talents in the supernatural ran more toward the physical. I should ask Fuuka about that. She didn't say anything when we fought Strega here, or when we found Ryoji and Aigis, but she might not have wanted to distract us.

"I can see beginnings and endings both, here," she said, tapping one bullet hole that hadn't quite been sanded away with the toe of her boot. "The beginning of the play that would lead to our meeting. The end of the first act. The beginning of the final. Many people have died here. Others have come close to the edge. There is the sense of desiring another's death…"

"Strega, I suppose," he replied, thinking back to the rival Persona users' desperate efforts to stop SEES from killing the last Full Moon Shadow. At least, I hope she's feeling Strega's malice. Otherwise…

Elizabeth turned to look at him, a look he couldn't quite decipher in her eyes. "Never having encountered Strega, I couldn't say. Though there is a sense I don't recognize, truthfully much of it is familiar. …It takes a powerful intent to summon the flames that left their mark here, Minato, even for a Persona user."

His flinch this time was probably noticeable even to the attendant. Minato knew his own demons well, after all the times he'd been in deadly danger. That didn't mean he liked being confronted with them.

There was nothing he could say in his own defense. To try and deny his demons would be a denial of his own self, and that was something a Persona user didn't have the luxury of doing. His power was one he still didn't fully understand, but he'd learned enough over the past year to recognize it was acceptance of the self that led to the greatest power.

They were nearing the Iwatodai end of the bridge when Elizabeth spoke again. "You shouldn't be ashamed of yourself, Minato," she told him, turning a surprisingly gentle smile on him. "Strega was trying to hurt your friends. Of course you wanted them stopped, whatever the means. And…" She glanced over the center of the pavement, where remnants of Aigis' doomed assault on Ryoji remained. "What was taken from you here ten years ago would turn the strongest soul to deadly violence, I think."

Minato shrugged uneasily. "Doesn't make it right," he pointed out. I was provoked three years ago, too. What happened after shows where that leads.

…Which isn't going to stop me from doing what I have to, the next time we run into Strega. Where they're concerned, there's no choice left.

When he came out of his brief reverie, he found Elizabeth giving him a strange look. "Human morality, I must admit, still doesn't always make sense to me. Strega is your enemy. Nyx and her Appriser seek to destroy everything in your world. How is it wrong to desire their deaths? Indeed, that determination is something you will need, if you have any hope of stopping what is to come."

"…Yeah. I know."

Minato Arisato knew the inner demons that had driven him to take up a new name. He wasn't proud of them, and he didn't want any of the others in SEES—his friends—to ever have to live with them. That was why he was going to embrace them, one last time.

"I trust you to remember that, my dear guest," Elizabeth said, nodding as she seemed to follow his train of thought. "I would hate to lose such an interesting guest." They reached the north end of the Moonlight Bridge then, and stopped. "Now, then, there is one more thing I'd like to discuss with you. One more place that I want to see. Will you indulge me, Minato?"

"Of course," he agreed, glad for the change of subject. "Where do you want to go, Elizabeth?"

"Home," she answered, gesturing to the west. "Before the end, I want to see the place you've called home this past year. Will you show me what it is you seek to protect, two nights hence?"

Getting Elizabeth into the dorm, especially to his own room, unseen by any of the others was one of the more interesting challenges Minato had had lately. Even after coming clean about everything else, he still had no intention of introducing any of them to the weirdest contact in his life.

Not yet, anyway. …I'd better get Mitsuru in on this sooner or later, though. Not the kind of secret I should be keeping from my fiancé, that's for sure.

But only when you figure out how, right, Master?

Today is definitely not the day for it, no. One near-impossible task at a time.

In the end, Minato resorted to his grappling gun and jimmied his window from the outside. Desperate times called for desperate measures, after all—and it wasn't like Elizabeth minded. The odd girl in blue seemed delighted by the experience, if anything.

"I'd rather we kept this quiet," he warned, very gently securing the window behind them. "Some of the others are probably back by now, and this would be… awkward, if any of them noticed."

I hope Fuuka isn't home yet. I don't know if she could feel Elizabeth, but she'd certainly notice me coming back, and not through the front door.

"I understand," Elizabeth said softly, sounding distracted; she was examining his desk with some interest. "I don't believe my Master would approve if I showed myself too openly to Persona users without a contract. Truthfully, I'm pushing things by coming here at all."

Minato had suspected that. He didn't know exactly what the strictures were that bound the Residents of the Velvet Room, but in his experience the supernatural tended not to mingle much with normal humanity. The very fact that she'd asked his guidance on excursions into Port Island was evidence that held true with her, as well.

Right then, though, she appeared to be absorbed in looking over his simple dorm room. While he'd moved most of his clothes and combat-related gear to Mitsuru's room, over the past month, some things still remained. The laptop he used for schoolwork, for one—and beside it, a couple of old photos.

He wondered what she thought of those. Ryoji had looked them over with the knowledge that came from being present, if mostly sleeping, for the relevant events. Elizabeth, he'd told very little about his past. Though who knows how much the Velvet Room knows. Igor certainly knows what happened three years ago, to some degree.

"So this is a young gentleman's room," Elizabeth mused. "I admit, I've been curious for some time, but it did not feel appropriate for me to ask until now… May I?" She gestured to the pictures, and after a moment's hesitation, Minato nodded.

First she picked up and intently scrutinized his photo of the North High Irregulars. Taken the day they'd finally settled the mess with the mass haunting incidents, Minato suspected it was the first picture of him smiling in close to two years. In hindsight, he was fairly sure the smile—closer to a rakish grin, really—had been fueled by pure adrenaline.

I really do have far too much in common with Akihiko, don't I?

"Hm. Interesting." Without elaborating, Elizabeth set the Irregulars' "class photo" aside, and turned her attention to the other most prominent picture on the desk. That one he very deliberately hadn't brought to Mitsuru's room, feeling that that particular ghost wasn't one he wanted to bring up when they were still feeling their way into their new relationship.

Saya. Almost the last good memory Minato had of her, that photo. They'd taken it Christmas Eve, barely a week before everything fell apart. Both of them had worn their school uniforms for that particular date, being in agreement that the red-trimmed black, accessorized with chains, was more impressive than anything they could've picked for themselves.

The school closed down at the end of that year, he remembered with a familiar pang. I've always wondered if the Kirijo Group had its fingers in that, too. Maybe someday I should ask Mitsuru. …Someday.

"Memories," Elizabeth murmured. "These pictures, the sense of this room… Humans live such vibrant lives, don't they?"

"Some more than others," Minato agreed, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "My life has probably been crazier than most, even before I came back to Port Island."

"Perhaps so. Still…" She set down Saya's picture, and glanced back at the Irregulars'. "Seeing this city, your school… I've come to see that the world of humanity is truly fascinating. I could spend entire human lifetimes exploring it, and never grow tired of it." She turned to look at him, a sad smile on her lips. "It would be a shame for it all to end now… but I'm not certain it would matter for me, now."

He tensed. There were a lot of different things those words could mean, and most of the ones he could think of weren't good. "Elizabeth…?"

The white-haired girl raised a placating hand. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to sound so… ominous? It's merely that I don't believe I should come to this world any more. I fear it's beginning to distract from my duties as a Resident of the Velvet Room. As enjoyable as these visits with you have been, Minato, I do have responsibilities I cannot neglect."

Minato had to stop and think for a minute, hearing that quiet declaration. The truth was, he'd often been uncomfortable with Elizabeth's behavior during their excursions. As much as he enjoyed doing things with style, there was a difference between flair and making a scene, and she'd often crossed that line.

Especially with that stunt at Gekkoukan. It's a miracle that hasn't come up much since the engagement went public. As it was, Yukari had begun asking some pointed questions, and there was only so long even a detective of the Shirogane line could obfuscate.

Even so. There was something to be said for the wonder Elizabeth displayed, experiencing the human world. Like a kitten exploring the world for the first time, he thought.

And if there was one thing he'd always thought was sad, it was having to give up a dream.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Minato said finally, looking up at Elizabeth. "But I do understand about responsibility. Igor's gotten on your case about it?"

She shook her head. "Truthfully, my Master still has no idea of my excursions, as far as I'm aware. If I continue, however, sooner or later he will find out. It's better to end this on my own terms, don't you think? That's why I wished to come here, this last time."

He raised an eyebrow, watching as she left his desk and moved over to the bed. "Oh?"

Gingerly, as if unused to a human bed—which, Minato thought dryly, she probably was—Elizabeth sat down next to him. "I've great enjoyed exploring the human world by your side, Minato," she said, gently taking his hand in her white glove. "This is a truly intriguing place—yet I think I would've enjoyed it much less, accompanied by anyone else."

There were several ways to take that. A few years before, he might've assumed he was reading too much into things. Not now, though. Not after Saya, or Tsu-chan… or Mitsuru. "Elizabeth," he began with a wince, "I—"

A gloved fingertip on his lips stopped him. "Say no more, my dear guest," she said softly. "I know you are spoken for, so let this remain unsaid." The white-haired Resident smiled gently. "Let me say only that of the guests I have seen in the Velvet Room, you have been perhaps the most extraordinary."

"…I'm honored?"

"You most certainly should be." Elizabeth chuckled—and before he could react, she leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I believe, then, my time in this world is done, Minato Arisato. Perhaps one day I may return—but yea or nay, I have left nothing undone." Standing, she walked over to the window. "If I may offer one piece of advice, as a Resident and as a woman? Leave nothing undone yourself. Let your battle two days hence be fought without regrets."

Saturday, January 30th, 2010, Late Night

It was amazing just how far the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad had come. When Mitsuru had founded it, her first year of high school, it had been just her and Akihiko. Then Shinjiro Aragaki, for a little while; until October Fourth, and everything that went with it. Back then, they'd been more or less flailing about, and the three of them could have been called casual acquaintances, at best.

Then Yukari Takeba had transferred to Gekkoukan, and been recruited to the team. That, Mitsuru thought, would have brought changes all by itself, with Yukari's search for the truth about her father's death—but then, not so long after, Minato Arisato had quietly arrived at the SEES dorm in the middle of the Dark Hour.

Like dominoes falling, after that, she mused, looking now at the team gathered around the lounge table, while she sipped a cup of coffee at the dining table. Or maybe I should say, like the first spark of a forest fire? She glanced sidelong at Minato himself, who was leaning against the kitchen counter with his own mug. I knew he was different, the moment he walked in here like the Dark Hour was no big deal. I had no idea how much things would change from there.

As Mitsuru now knew, some of it was because her future fiancé had brought Death back to Port Island with him. Certainly that had led to their current situation, in the end. Yet it was more than that. His power, energy, and sheer mystery had pushed SEES forward, and gradually gathered more members into their fold.

A dysfunctional fold, for a long while. Between Yukari's suspicions of the Kirijo Group, Iori's inferiority complex, Mitsuru's own instinctive secretiveness, Amada's revenge plot, and Minato's myriad issues… She supposed they were lucky none of them had actually killed each other during those first few months.

Then Aragaki had died, Shuji Ikutsuki had revealed himself as a traitor, killed Mitsuru's father, and died, and Ryoji Mochizuki had been revealed as the harbinger of Death.

Amazing, how tragedy can bring out the best, sometimes.

The group Mitsuru saw now didn't look at all dysfunctional, or like people who were facing a battle to prevent the end of the world in barely a day. Akihiko and Amada were quietly discussing battle strategies—preparatory to the inevitable final clash with Strega, she thought—while Iori, of all people, was cleaning and polishing his sword with all the care of a Tokugawa-era samurai. Yukari casually flipped through a fashion magazine as if it were any other night; Yamagishi was treating Koromaru to a gourmet meal, using a recipe Aragaki had left behind.

Minato must've been giving her lesson. From what I've heard, not long ago, she could've set the walls on fire just making sushi.

Possibly the starkest change of all was in the gynoid Aigis, who was reading a detective novel Minato had lent her. A new habit of hers, that. Mitsuru suspected her Detective had had something to do with it, but he'd only smiled and said that it wasn't his place to say.

He does still love keeping secrets, doesn't he?

It drove her crazy sometimes, still. Which didn't mean it wasn't one of the things she loved about him, as insane as it was. If Minato Arisato wasn't the enigmatic, adrenaline-addict detective he was, he would never have managed to drag her out of the depression she'd lived in before meeting him—let alone the one that her father's death and thrown her into.

They'd all changed so much, in just a year. As painful as much of it had been, Mitsuru believed every member of SEES had come out of it a better person than they'd gone into it. Akihiko, Yukari, and Amada had all found their own measures of closure. Iori had gained strength, and a girlfriend; Yamagishi, a level of confidence Mitsuru genuinely envied. Aigis was slowly learning to be a person, not just a weapon.

And Minato and I have gained, well…

As the night wore on, the others gradually headed up to their rooms, resting up for a battle they not only intended to confront, but win. Not too long before the Dark Hour struck, only Koromaru remained curled up in the lounge. Only the dog, and the heiress and the detective.

"Well," Mitsuru said softly, washing her now-empty cup, "I suppose we should be turning in as well, Minato. Tonight of all nights, we need to rest."

"I guess you're right," Minato agreed. Taking the cup from her, he carefully dried it with a towel and set it aside. "Be embarrassing to lose because we didn't get enough sleep."

I suppose that's one way of putting it, yes. Truthfully, though, she found his flippancy a relief. For all that she was resolved, that didn't mean she wasn't tense about the battle that was to come.

Retreating to Mitsuru's room on the third floor, the room they'd been sharing for a month now, there was another reason she was tense. As she closed the bedroom door behind them, she could tell that Minato was feeling it, too: the sense that there was still something they should do, this last night.

Normally, they'd both be getting ready for bed as soon as they entered. Especially when they knew something important was waiting for them the following day. This night, though, Minato only discarded his blazer. For long moments after, they both just stood there, looking at each other in silence.

Finally, feeling a flush creeping up her face, Mitsuru glanced away. "Um, Minato," she began, "I know what I said about needing to rest, but… I don't think I'm quite ready to sleep yet." She coughed into her hand. "If you… know what I mean…"

She couldn't believe she was suggesting it, even so indirectly. Not so long ago, she never would have at all. But we're engaged already, she told herself, and it's not like Minato hasn't done this before, and this may be the last chance—

Soft footsteps broke into her babbling thoughts, and Minato's sword-calloused fingers cupped her cheek. He gently urged her to look at him; she saw understanding his eyes, a faint blush on his own face, and a reassuring smile. "I know, Mitsuru," he murmured. "I don't want to leave anything undone, either." His smile briefly turned to a grin. "At least we get an extra hour most people don't. And anyway, tomorrow's Sunday. We can sleep in if we have to."

Mitsuru almost asked him about how the others might take that, but she was cut off by him pulling her close. Melting into his arms and his kiss, she decided that simply wasn't worth worrying about.

"You, ah, do know I have no idea what I'm doing," she said when they broke apart for air, endless moments later. She was flushed, and tense—but excited, too. "I'll… have to trust you to lead, Minato."

Once, she might've been bothered by exactly how and why he knew more about this than she did. Now, she knew better than to worry about that. The two of them had both learned how to move beyond the chains of the past, the year they'd fought the darkness together.

"Don't worry, Mitsuru," he said softly. "Trust me."

"Always."

Mitsuru meant it, with every fiber of her being. They were both creatures of secrets and deceptions—but not from each other. Not anymore. Only a handful of secrets remained between them, and those would soon be exposed, too.

A thought struck her then, as Minato reached for the buttons of her blouse, and she made a noise that was half-groan, half-chuckle. "Mitsuru?" he said uncertainly, hands pausing just as they touched cloth.

"Sorry," she replied, shaking her head with a blush and a small smile. "It's just… I couldn't help remembering Tanabata, and Shirakawa Boulevard."

"Oh." He cleared his throat. "Well… I think tonight will probably go better than that would have."

"…Yes. I'm sure it will." I'm not sure if it makes it easier or harder on me, knowing you've seen… everything… before.

Mitsuru said nothing else, though, as Minato went to work unbuttoning her shirt with a confidence she envied, yet also found reassuring. Had the Lovers Shadow kept its grip longer, any chance between them would've been destroyed before it began—yet doing as much as it had, she thought, had struck the first spark.

Soon, her blouse was undone, and she nervously shrugged out of it. Only a thin, plain undergarment was left to protect her modesty; Minato's stare made her want to cover herself, but she forced her arms to hang loose. Even when he reached up to trace fingers along bare skin.

She wanted to think it was her figure that had him so fixated. From the look in his eyes, she was even sure that was a large part of; maybe most. His fingertips, though, were running over the faint scars left by scalpels, running up under her bra; the last physical relics of her grandfather's madness.

Mitsuru still had nightmares. Though not as often, now that she had Minato by her side through the night.

"…Do they bother you?" she whispered, when the silence dragged on.

"Only in that they make me want to dig up your grandfather and roast him," he answered, shaking his head. "Mitsuru. Scars just mean you were tough enough to survive. There's no reason to be ashamed of just scars. Besides…" Minato took her hands in his, and guided them to his own shirt. "You remember what's under here, right?"

She did. When her fumbling fingers undid his shirt, pulled it from his waistband, and with his help tossed it aside, she saw again what she'd first seen that uncomfortable night on Shirakawa Boulevard. Strong muscles, of course; the lean, solid muscles of a swordsman. They'd been toned the last time she'd seen them, and had only gotten stronger since.

Then Mitsuru hadn't dared look very long, after coming to her senses. Now she had time to appreciate that physique—but it wasn't all that drew her eyes, any more than her figure had been all he'd admired.

Her fingers first touched the stark, irregular scar on his left shoulder. Last legacy of a wound that would've permanently wrecked the range of motion of any other man, only a thorough examination would now reveal a bullet had once shattered the joint completely. Only Minato's slight flinch gave any sign it was ever something so serious.

From there, her hand drifted to the center of his chest, and the five ragged marks that still stood out, three years after the fact. Scars like the claws of a beast—if a beast had five fingers and opposable thumbs.

"…She really did nearly break your heart, didn't she," Mitsuru whispered. She tried to imagine the fight that had left those wounds. Tried, but couldn't; her experience in battle had little to do with foes of flesh and blood. From the look in Minato's eyes, she supposed she was fortunate.

Fortunate, maybe. But if only for his sake, I wish I could understand.

His hand caught hers, holding it against the scars Saya Kisaragi had left on his chest. "She very nearly killed me," he said softly. "But those scars are a reminder of my mistake, not her actions. It was my fault."

"You shouldn't blame yourself."

"Any more than you should take responsibility for your grandfather," he retorted. But he was smiling, and if there was sadness in his eyes, it wasn't as deep as when he'd first told her the story. "Easy to say. Harder to believe. But we're getting there, aren't we?"

"…Yes. Yes, we are." This time it was Mitsuru's turn to pull his lips to hers, finally taking the initiative. She couldn't help but smile into the kiss, feeling the way he relaxed against her. Really, she shouldn't have been surprised he'd be more comfortable with the girl taking the lead.

Then hands were running up her back, warm like fire. Expert fingers manipulated a latch, lifted, and pulled, even as he quickly moved them across the room. As the suddenly bare skin of her chest met his, her back sinking into silk sheets, she discovered Minato was still perfectly capable of leading in the bedroom, as well as the battlefield.

Letting his mouth and hands drive all thoughts of Nyx from her mind, Mitsuru would not have had it any other way.

Author's Note:

And here I manage an update in under three months! There may be hope for me yet.

So. Here we have the last of the loose ends before the finale. Not, I fear, my best work, much like the previous chapter, but at least it didn't fight me as badly. …The last scene in particular I admit to being iffy on, but I did my best. Constructive criticism is welcome.

Not too much to say at this point, I suppose. At most three chapters remain, and while I'll need to alternate with Monochrome Duet, they should still arrive faster than the last few have. What remains in Defiance is material of a sort with which I'm generally far more comfortable, and for which I've spent many years refining my plans.

To all who have stuck with me this far, thank you. Just a bit longer, comrades. -Solid