MAPOV
Soon, Yukari went down and sat next to me.
"Hey… I know… things can't go back to the way they were, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right? We should be… for Minako…" I said.
She smiled.
"Minato… you are so wise…" she said.
Mitsuru was beginning to speak when we heard a faint shout.
Masters! Masters! Where the fucks are you, dipshit?
"Now, who would that be?" Akihiko asked.
Fuuka went to peep.
"It's a teenage girl, dripping wet and is shivering… Let's let her in!" Fuuka suggested.
"Fucking solicitors… ignore em'!" Ken said.
"Are you kidding? The water's at her waist! She'll freeze!" Yukari said.
"Nah, ignore em' gypsies!" Nathan said.
"Didn't she say Masters?" Lee asked.
Ken sprang back.
"S-She said Masters?" he said as he peeped at the door.
He gasped.
"Holy crap! Rachel!" he said as he got the door.
A girl fitting the description Ken gave us went in and was dripping wet.
"You poor thing!" Fuuka said.
"Wh-What are you doing here?" Ken said as he hugged her.
She pushed him away.
"N-None o-of t-t-that! I-I-I c-c-came to ch-check up o-o-on y-y-you…" she chattered.
I bet if she'd put her tongue between her teeth, it'd cut clean off…
"Really? From Iwatodai?" Ken said.
"Y-Y-Yeah… I- If you d-d-don't m-mind, Ma-masters, c-c-could I h-have s-s-some newspaper t-to d-dry m-myself? I-I'm a b-bit w-wet…" she said.
Fuuka gasped.
"Newspaper? No way, I'll get you dried off, young lady! Come with us!" Fuuka said as she left with Rachel, Mitsuru, Chidori and Yukari in tow.
As they left, Lee said:
"What a woman…"
YTPOV
We led her to the bathroom where we took off her wet clothes as we let her sit at the bath tub…
"G-g-guys! Th-this is so embarrassing!" Rachel complained.
"Hush now… just relax…" Fuuka said as she turned the knob for the heater.
"Ahhhh! You're boiling me ALIVE! AUUUUGH! Hey, this feels pretty nice!" she said as she relaxed.
We shampooed her blond hair which felt like Mitsuru's that felt like dreadlocks after trudging through the rains.
It quickly became silky smooth.
"Ahhhh! I love it! So that's how shampoo feels like! I only use soap!" Rachel said.
We rubbed her with fancy soaps while she laughed.
"Hihihihi! Quit it! and the soap smells great!" she said as she kicked up some foam at Chidori.
I half-expected her to remain…bored, but she smiled and laugh… a rare sight.
Then, we rubbed her with aromatic oils.
"I can get really use to this…" she sighed.
Meanwhile…
MAPOV
We waited in silence as the girls gave Rachel a makeover or something…
At length, the silence became deafening.
"I'll go check em!" Ken said.
KAPOV
I went up and saw the older girls went out, so I assumed the girls were done.
I went to the toilet to take a whiz and as I was peeing, I whistled as I sang a song.
"That's a fine tune, Masters… and I never knew you had such a…" a voice from the tub said.
I turned and saw Rachel in all her glory.
"Great voice…"
I turned away.
"What's wrong? My body not good enough for you?" she said playfully.
"Uhhh…. Sorry! I didn't know you were here!" I said.
"Tee hee!" she said as I left.
I gasped for air for a while then I went back.
She was still on the tub.
"Hi." she said as she smiled ever so sweetly.
"Just checking…" I said as I went away.
I look at heaven.
"Thank you Lord!"
As I returned to the guys, Junpei asked:
"What happened, you look like you've seen a ghost!"
"I…I…I saw something I was never supposed to see until I'm 17…" I shuddered.
"What?" They asked.
"Don't tell anyone… I saw…!" I said.
"What…?" Akihiko said.
"I saw… watched some porno flicks from Sanada-san's house using my Samsung…" I lied.
Well, not really a lie… but better than telling everyone that I saw Rachel naked.
"Holy crap!" we all said.
"What was it? Asian? Tranny? Hentai?" Junpei asked.
"Uhhh… two girls, one cup?" I retorted.
The guys from the guild watches that all the time… I never watched it though… I bet it's good though…
Lee, Junpei, Minato and Akihiko squealed in disgust.
"Ugh! Junpei left that there!" Akihiko said.
"So…. Was it any good?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah… I mean no! I mean I didn't see anything… t'was too bubbly…" I said.
"She have a good figure?" Nathan asked again, unaware of what he sounded like…
"Fucking pervert!" Akihiko said as he landed a hook at Nathan's jaw.
"Ow!" he said.
I flicked his balls.
"Ohhhh!" he reeled.
"You say anymore, and I'll tell…" I began.
"You'll tell… Yukari? Go ahead! I'll come with you!" he said.
"I'll tell… your mom!" I threatened.
His eyes opened with shock.
"M-my lips are sealed!" he promised.
YTPOV
We picked up Rachel and dressed her in some of my old clothes.
"Well, old clothes, but still pretty stylish!" Yukari remarked.
"This ain't my style!" Rachel said.
"Well, your style is still drying from the rain…" Mitsuru said coolly.
"Would you prefer walking around naked?" Chidori said apathetically.
Rachel pouted.
"Those clothes were Akuma issued…" she complained.
Chidori gave Rachel her piercing gaze.
"Young lady…" she said while gazing at Rachel.
Rachel slumped her shoulders in surrender.
"Alright… but if there's something in black or metal-ish, then tell me…" she said.
We dressed her up.
MAPOV
We went around pacing and yawning when the girls returned.
"Hey guys!" Fuuka said cheerily.
Lee lifted one eye.
"Took you long enough… believe me, it'd take only a minute for a guy to get dressed…" Lee said.
"Well, it takes waaay longer to look stunning, Jonas…" Mitsuru said.
"And pretty!" Yukari said.
"Why did it take that long, eh?" Akihiko asked.
"Rachel's clothes were pretty torn up from her journey going here… and she needed a thorough cleaning…" Chidori said apathetically.
"Where is she anyway?" Ken said.
"Well, took some time, but here she is… Rachel Nagase!" Yukari announced.
"Don't call me that… it's Athena…" Rachel grumbled as she stepped forward.
She was properly groomed, by Chidori and Mitsuru probably, and smelled great, from Yukari and Fuuka presumably, dressed in a hot pink t-shirt that read:
"I love it when guys tell me I'm pretty" with a logo of a girl holding both hands and had one foot bent and wore a light blue miniskirt with a pair of shorts and pink flip flops.
"Whoa! R-Rachel? Is that you?" Ken said.
She fidgeted.
"How...How do you like it?" she asked.
"Oh… Uhhhh… Honey…" was all Ken could muster to say.
Fuuka giggled.
"Oh Ken-kun, pick your jaw off the floor!"
"Well, what can I say Athena? You look really…girly?" Ken said awkwardly.
The guys and I slapped our heads.
Junpei whispered to Lee.
"A hundred bucks he gets a knee to the nuts…" he wagers.
"A thousand yen if he gets off the hook…" Lee shoots back.
Rachel smiled gently.
"T-Thank you, Masters… you really think so? My clothes got wet, you see…" Rachel said.
"T-That's what makes you beautiful…" he said as he blushed.
Lee smiled as Junpei grumbled as he reached for his wallet.
Chidori smiled, again.
"Junpei, dear, I thought I told you that most, if not all, you bets will go for naught?" Chidori said stoically.
Junpei sighed.
"Yes dear…"
After Yukari made everyone some hot choco, Mitsuru told her past in her POV…
"Alright, Rachel, we're doing some storytelling and you don't have to tell yours…"Yukari said.
Nathan snorted.
"Every orphan's life story is the same…"
Then, Fuuka remembered something.
"Oh, here is your… Thingy, Rachel…" she handed her the Apache.
After Rachel received it, she turns to Nathan.
"You were saying?"
"Um… I think Kirijo-san was saying something about her past?" He said sheepishly while eyeing the cold brass of death in Rachel's hands.
MKPOV
"My past…"
"My past, I was born with… believe it or not, blonde hair…" I said.
"Whoa… kinda like an Emma Stone thing, eh? What type of hair dye do you use?" Rachel asked.
I smiled.
"I don't… Rachel, Nathan and Jonas…this may not be understandable at all, it may be senseless even to comprehend what I am speaking of, but try to listen…
After the incident with Yoshino's group, my grandfather formulated a safer, efficient way to stimulate a persona without any ill or deadly side-effects…
It included being strapped to a chair and injected with a… drug and then suddenly electrocuted until my persona awakens…"
Nathan asked.
"Okay, Kirijo-san…I'll play along… HOW does a 'Persona' awaken? In fact, just tell us the whole thing!" Nathan asked.
I nodded grimly.
"The process is sudden and violent… the initial and most common way to awaken to it is triggered by anger and/or emotions. I felt all the processes and the most natural way to awaken to it is by anger…
The second way is by emotional distress… when one's emotions shoots past its limits, the persona will awaken… this is the most painful way to awaken to it…
The third way is to have great and remarkable inner tranquility. It is calming, soothing and beautiful to experience… and the Persona works to its greatest with peace…
The fourth way is a bit complicated… it involves true focus… which can be attained by separating the energies of serenity and rage… this creates an imbalance, the energy of rage and serenity come crashing back to you…then channeling it back to summon your persona…
The last… is what made me FULLY awaken to my power… if your loved one is in mortal danger, the persona will awaken immediately… painless and fast." Mitsuru looks to me.
"Like when they dropped my father in a room filled with shadows, I charged in and summoned my persona without my evoker… my grandfather declared me a child prodigy and sent me to learn from the best… even if I was less than Minako's age…"
"Evokers only help make the process faster… it gives your mind a gentle nudge enough for it to summon your persona… if you didn't get your persona naturally… it would kill you…
She smiles.
"Throughout my experience, I lost my blonde hair and gained my fiery red hair… a certain tribe from Southern Greece believed that your hair color reflects on your soul… I guess some myths are real…"
Ken muses.
"So that's why Nathan has jet black hair… Black heart, black hair…"
Nathan scowls.
"Oh yeah? And your sickly brown hair reflects on… what? How nutty you are?" Nathan said.
We all laughed.
MAPOV
"Alrighty then! I guess it's my turn!" I declared.
"Yeah…? As I said before, all orphans stories are the same… parents die or leave and you get dumped back to a hell hole…" Nathan said.
"Shut up." Ken and Rachel said in unison before blushing when they did.
"Well, as many of you know… Both my parents died in a car accident about... 14 years ago… August 25…just a month before my birthday…"
I found myself crying as Mitsuru placed her hand at my shoulders as I clasped them.
"Then, my uncle Hirotaro, a travelling writer, took me in…
It was a rainy day when they buried my mom and dad… all everyone could stand to give was their sympathy… like I needed that…
The priest said some lines in Latin:
"Benidicat tibi Dominus et custodiat te"
Then I went home, walking in the rain…
I was crying in my old house when I heard the roar of engines…
I went out to see what the hubbub was all about.
It was my uncle…
He went in the house, looked at me and said:
"Minato… I am your Uncle Hirotaro…"
I came closer as he held my chin.
"You got your mums eyes… and your daddy's hair…" he growled.
As we ate dinner, he said:
"We'll stay here for the night. Then we leave for Italy." He declared as he ate some fondue he brought over.
I became pretty upset.
"I don't want to leave! I want to stay!" I shouted.
The gives me a look.
"Don't give any lip, kid… you didn't want your mum or dad to die either, did you? But it happened still…" he said as he chewed on some fondue.
"Now… the priest… did he say something in a foreign language?" He asked.
"Yeah, but I couldn't understand him…" I said.
He snorted.
"Lame… boy, I'm gonna teach you some languages… we'll head off to Italy." He said.
I stood sadly.
"Hey now, t'was the same for your daddy an' me when our father was killed…" he said.
Then, we left for Italy… I saw magnificent sights! I saw everything I've ever read in books…
I saw the coliseum; I saw the leaning tower of Pisa, I even went to the Vatican City and spoke with the pope…
It was a marvelous adventure… until my uncle had to relocate to Greece which was even more fun!
Greece, where we went to Sparta and had so many adventures and we went to Mt. Olympus and the Parthenon at Athens and went to Mt. Parnassus to visit the Delphi ruins, visited Thebes to see the seven gates…
After that, we went to Africa, Cape town and Ghana, to see and visit the wildlife and the tribes where, after my uncle gave them chocolates and some mirrors, we were made into honorary tribesmen…" I said as I showed my scar inflicted by several sharp needles slashing me at random intervals.
It formed like this: a triple Z shaped scar that's been doused with alcohol…
"Oh my god! That looks like it hurts!" Lee said.
"It looks that way because it DID hurt. Then, we spent some time in Somalia… total anarchy there… scary as hell... kids, LITTLE kids holding AK 47's while playing tag is a bit disturbing..." I recounted.
"Then, we spent the rest of '07 riding around South America wherein the Black Chuko Loco tribesmen gave us war belts as a reward for curing their chief of a splinter on his toes.
Then, we reached Peru, where my uncle nicknamed me "Che" though, I don't know why…
After that we went to Beijing, where my uncle was apprehended for smoking and littering, after that bit of indiscretion, we walked the Great Wall… damn! He forced me to finish it with him… thinking about it still makes my legs sore…
Then, at '08, we went to the Philippines, at Iloilo city where a freak storm took the entire city by… storm."
I smiled.
"We rode the waves and went to the relocation area where the people kindly gave us some of their balut… Deeelicious!" I said before Nathan made a disgusted sound.
"Ugh! 17 day old duck egg? Gross!" he said.
"It actually taste good, mind you… then we went to Dubai where we got caught up in the underground scene… and then, after we returned to Kyoto, my uncle had a heart attack and he died… my best friend…" I said as I shook my head.
"He was only 47…" I said.
"So basically… you're the most interesting guy in the world?" Lee asked.
I made a gesture the said "So true".
Then Mitsuru asked:
"How was your journey?" she asked.
I decided to use my silver tongue to reply… French style...
I am not gonna French kiss her by the way!
"Elle était très belle, mais pas aussi belle que vous" I said sweetly to her.
She smiled.
"Je vous remercie, beau voyageur" she said as she smiled.
We looked at each other in silence.
"Damn, where are the subtitles when you need them?"Junpei said.
Yukari sighed sadly.
"Okay… that's a wrap for today… let's sleep, yeah?" I said as everyone else agreed.
The girls slept in one room, while the guys slept in another.
One rule though… don't use the bathroom or go get a glass of water, 'cause if you do, your sleeping space would be taken.
After we woke up and had a meal of bacon and cheese that Lee made, we went to look outside and we saw the flood abated.
"HOOORAH!" we all cheered.
Mitsuru and I went home after bidding everyone adieu and a quick kiss to Minako and thanking Mrs. Takeba for her… hospitality.
I revved up the engine as I sung a sweet tune.
I rode out with Mitsuru as Akihiko gave Rachel and Ken a lift in his Lexus, Lee and Fuuka took a ride in her Corolla, Yukari and Minako rode back to Iwatodai while Junpei and his family rode with us in a convoy and Nathan just trailed behind in his Lancer.
As we rode, I said to Mitsuru:
"Why did we have to say goodbye when we're all together in a convoy?" I asked.
She shrugged.
Later as we were chilling in my house, watching TV and cuddling, the phone rang.
"Hello? It's Yukari…" the voice from the other line said.
"Yeah? Wassap?" I asked.
"Well… about my wedding… I would like you to be the best man… would you?" she said.
I felt elated.
"Yeah! For sure!" I said.
"Promise? December 23, okay?" she said.
"Yeah… wait, someone's knocking on the door…" I said as I got the door.
It was two policeman with a paper.
" Um… good morning, officers! What could I help you with, on this fine morning?" I asked, though, I don't know what they wanted.
"Good morning indeed, Mr. Arisato… we have a warrant for your arrest…"
As soon as Mitsuru heard the words, she jumped up from the sofa.
"What are the charges?" she asked formally.
"Bootlegging, fraud, vandalism, perjury and male prostitution." He read the paper.
"What? That's utterly absurd!" Mitsuru complained.
"Sorry Miss Kirijo..." One of them said.
One of them handcuffed me.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law." He said while cuffing me.
"Mitsuru! Wait for me! And water the bonsai!" I yelled.
She nodded sadly.
YTPOV
I heard noises as the phone died.
Then, a call sounded.
It was Minato's landline, so I accepted the call.
"Hello-" I began before Mitsuru's voice cut me off.
"Hello, Minato's been arrested!"
MAPOV
We were at the elevator.
"When is the trial?" I asked.
"December 23." He said.
Holy crap! That's the day Yukari would get married!
"Who charged these insane things at me?" I asked furiously as they brought me down.
The Cop said two words.
Nathaniel Azai.