bitches and whores
November 29th, 2009.
Dark Hour.
It was an afterthought from destroying a Shadow.
As his sword sunk into the pit of one dressed like a samurai, the realisation struck him like a powerful bolt of lightning. It almost made him sick to think he'd even forgotten, and there was a tiny voice in the back of his mind that was telling him that it 'couldn't be helped'. It almost resembled his sister's voice, with her distinct lilt and gentleness being defining characteristics of what he presumes is just his consciousness. All he can think is that it makes sense. It's exactly what she would say to him, complete with soft eyes and a warm hug. She'd say, 'you're so busy, after all'.
He doesn't think that's an excuse for forgetting the closely approaching tenth anniversary of the accident.
This block of Tartarus has made him acutely aware of everything going on around him, and perhaps that was why he was able to remember it so suddenly. He had the almost annoyingly vibrant colours that danced light into the normally dark tower, neon green and rainbow LED's pulsating with every move his body made. If he had anything to compare it to, it would be Club Escapade, the sheer atmosphere reminding him of Port Island's party central.
Maybe that, combined with his newfound realisation, was why he felt so violently ill just walking around. Even more than normal, considering he was pretty well adjusted to the pains that traversing Tartarus had bought upon them all. Sure, he was always tired by the time they left, but that fatigue chose to leave him alone until they left the never ending tower. And yet, everything around him made his head pound, so much that all he wanted to do was call the group back and return to the dorm, where he'd be allowed to feel the sweet arms of sleep.
Alas, today they needed to get higher up in the torturous tower. Not only was there three people missing, but the next full moon was quickly approaching, and nobody had any idea as to what would happen on that night. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but he'd like to have something of an upper foot on whatever they might face, just in case they do face something. He needs to be prepared for every possibility, and that was all there was to it.
He welcomes the all too ethereal voice of Yamagishi when it fills his head. "Arisato-kun, Kirijo-senpai and Junpei-kun found one of the missing people!"
"Thank god," He sighs with relief, perhaps a little to heavily as he hears the girl giggle on the other end. "Tell them to return to the entrance with the person they found, and tell them to provide first aid."
"Okay, Leader! Only two more to go!"
"We're relying on you, Yamagishi."
He hears her hum in confirmation, and the connection quickly buzzes out. Confirming his surrounding for no enemies, he quickly begins to make his way to the stairwell, where he has little doubt to whether or not his friends have also made their ways to the next floor. He needs to thank Elizabeth for informing him of the approximate floors that the missing were on, though knowing her, he has this feeling like she's purposely not giving him exact numbers.
A sigh.. He needs to start thinking about what flowers his parents would like this year.
November 30th, 2009.
Evening.
As he enters the living room of the dorm, he's surprised to see Ryoji snug like a bug amongst all his friends. He enters the room slowly, curiosity in his eyes as to how Junpei and Ryoji managed to convince Mitsuru to let the latter in to the dorm. Well, he wasn't complaining, honestly. Ryoji wasn't a bad guy– though he was a serious pest and definitely had something to do with the hot spring incident. And he made Junpei a lot happier, considering how close the pair were. That was enough for him to be okay with the new visitor.
"Oh, welcome back, Arisato-kun." Fuuka waves him down, and he turns his gaze to her. "You're late. Ryoji-kun was just leaving."
Ryoji's eyes practically light up at the sight of him. "Minato! Hey, been studying?"
He raises his eyebrows, wondering if that was a genuine question. The taller teen chuckles a little, and waves his hands in dismissal.
"You know, I'm here a lot, but I never run into you. Strange, huh?" The blue haired teen nods slowly in agreement, and he's given a sorry look from his taller friend. "I'm sorry, but I gotta get going.. I'll come see you again."
Junpei shoves himself off the couch and waves goodbye. "See you later, Ryoji!"
Aigis wanders down the hallway, her eyes watching the leaving man until the door closed behind him. Her lips purse tight in question as she turns her curiosity to the other juniors relaxing in the living room.
"...Was that Ryoji-san?" She asks.
"Yeah, he said he was going home." Yukari explains.
"What was he doing here?"
The brunette places a finger on her chin in thought. "He's been coming here a lot, ever since he started hanging around with Junpei."
"But, visitors aren't allowed here."
"Yeah, but Kirijo-senpai said it's okay during the day." The goateed teenager shrugs simply, and Aigis frowns.
Yamagishi can't help but giggle a little. "I don't think we need to worry about Ryoji-kun."
Despite the words that everyone speaks, Aigis's eyes only narrow tight together, her hands clutching into tight fists. Her body shakes a little, almost as if she were angry or fearful, and Minato can't help but worry. She'd been so vocal about how much she disliked the dark haired teen's presence, but he had no idea her dislike was growing this bad.
"He's... dangerous."
"Who? Ryoji-kun?"
Yukari rolls her eyes and groans. "Come to think of it, he was hitting on Mitsuru-senpai the first time he met her."
"..But, having him around's really cheered up Junpei-kun." The green haired girl points out, and the other girl huffs her shoulders.
Iori rolls his sleeves up a little bit, and begins to wander up the stairs. "Well, it's not like moping around's gonna bring her back.."
"That's true.." The mechanical girl's voice wanders a little as she speaks, and it causes the taller man to stop in his tracks half way up the staircase in concern over her.
"Hm..? What's the matter, Ai-chan?"
"..I envy you, Junpei.." She looks down. "I am a machine, so I cannot understand how it feels to 'live'."
His lips purse tight together. "..But, you don't seem that different."
"However, it is more accurate to say I am 'functioning' as opposed to living. There are times when I malfunction, but I can always be repaired.."
"So if we were all like you.. we wouldn't have to worry about dying.." A silence fills the air at his words, everyone's minds drifting to the events that could have been prevented if they were all the same as Aigis was. The teen who spoke quickly takes notice of the increasingly awkward atmosphere, and he puts a hand on the back of his neck. "..Uh, sorry.. Hey, I don't have time to talk. I seriously gotta go study.. Shouldn't you guys be studying too? I heard math's gonna be a killer."
Yukari chokes on her water. "You wait until now to tell us that!? Well, I guess we should call it a night.."
Everyone quickly head back to their rooms, and he is left in the dormitory's living room with Aigis, who continues to ponder quietly to herself. Her words are worrying, so similar to the ones he thought earlier in the year. The wish of death– no, more accurately in the blonde's case, it was the believe she didn't deserve the life she had been given. She was still a living thing, even if she wasn't made of flesh and blood.
He promises he'll never die on her when she asks, and she apologises for taking up his time.
..He hopes Aigis doesn't sink into the same spiral he keeps falling into.
December 2nd, 2009.
After School.
Her hands trace the petals of a pure white bouquet in her arms, being shielded from the noise and bustle of daily life around them on the train by her senpai, Akihiko. She'd asked him to come along with her, and she knew for a fact he already knew what was going on with today. It was one of the reasons why she was grateful that the Kirijo Group held so much power– they knew everything about the members of SEES that dossiers would allow them to know. He agreed to come along without even arguing, although she needed to force him to not pay for the bundle of flowers in her arms.
The chattering of students all around her is like white noise to her ears as she begins to speak, words slow and soft, only for one person's ears. "Minato and I are gonna go together on the anniversary of the funeral,"
She explains, and he hums in acknowledgement. She can feel grey eyes on her face, and she starts once more.
"We'll be doing another vigil, like we did back then. So, that was why.. today, I wanted you to come with me." Without much thought, she shrugs her arm to make her bag return to it's rightful place on her shoulder, not wanting any harm to come to the large bouquet she held in her arms. She smiles softly up at him, rose eyes gentle as she looks up at his face. "Thank you for coming along with me.. It makes me really happy."
"You don't need to thank me.. You know I would have come along with you." Sanada states, and she giggles slightly, her gratefulness shining through her bell like laugh. She nods her head in acknowledgement, after all, she put all her trust and faith into him.
"Still, thank you." Kotone quickly begins to point to some of the flowers that adorn her set. "This one here is a Queen Anne's Lace. The lady at the store told me it meant a haven, or sanctuary. And this one here is a peony, it means bashfulness."
She pauses over the most noticeable of the bunch, a group of flowers all bunched together.
"This one's a hydrangea. They mean heartfelt emotions. Mama– um.. My mother, she really liked these ones. She liked them so much that my dad, he planted a bunch of them in our front garden, by our fence. He took heaps of care for them, because he knew that she loved them." Her eyes close, nostalgia evident on her face. "During summer, when they all were in full bloom, she would sit on our front porch with a book and a cup of tea, while dad watered the plants and we played."
She laughs.
"He really loved gardening. He was a calm, friendly man, at least that was what I remember him as. He was awful at cooking though. Everything he made looked like burnt crisps, even if he followed the recipe to a T. He was worse than Fuuka-chan!" The train zooms over the waters, and she watches the sun bounce off the ocean waves. "My mother was really strong-willed and determined. She was so set on helping people, that I think she probably stressed our dad out more than anything we ever did. Grandma used to say that she would carry the world on her shoulders if she were able to."
They're nearing their stop, and for once, she almost doesn't want the train ride to end. "She sounds a lot like you."
"Y-You think so? Gosh, that's a really big compliment.. It's my dream to be something like how amazing my mother was."
"In my eyes, you're already there." His cheeks flare up bright red, and she snickers a little. Once he understood how he felt, he was a little more audible, and a little more playful towards her, only when they were alone. But she loved the praises he gave her, because she knew that he wasn't going to say something for the sake of making her happy. He didn't mince words, when he complimented, he meant it. When he gave criticism, he meant it.
She really did love that. It was a silly thing to love, but she loved it nonetheless.
Auburn curls bounce back and forth as she shakes her head. "I still have a long way to go.. so just keep watching me, okay?"
"Of course."
They reach the cemetery not too long after hopping off the train, and she leads him through the city of headstones to the one that belonged to her family. They stop in front of it, the kanji for her family name carved into the stone in front of them, a framed wedding photo sat on top of a small monument in front. Beside that, was a vase, old dead flowers and water sitting inside. Without a doubt, this was from when her brother came to visit in November.
Handing over the bouquet to her senior, she kneels down quietly, pulling the wilted flora out of the vase and tipping it over, letting the water out as she placed the dead petals on the dirt, allowing it to return to nature where it had once came from. Pulling a bottle of water out of her bag, she quickly refills the vase and gestures for him to give her the flowers, which she quickly places inside of their new home.
He kneels beside her. "Those are you parents, huh?"
"Yeah." She points to her father's face, where his dark hair and blue eyes stood out despite the age of the photograph. "That's my dad, Juntarou."
Her fingers move over to her mother next, whose facial features greatly resembled that of the twins, with her large red eyes surrounded by fluttering lashes and soft looking hair.
"That's my mom, Akari. Her name is said like 'light', but is written with the kanji for 'star'. I always thought she had the prettiest name.." A soft sigh leaves her lips, and she places her head on the crook of his shoulder. "You know, Senpai? I wanted to introduce you to them.. I think.. I think they would've liked you."
Relief fills his eyes, and she giggles a little. "I'm really glad you think so. I was a little worried, to be honest."
He laughs along side her own chuckles, and he quickly moves to stand back up, which she follows along with a mild amount of curiosity filling her. He bows low, a polite greeting she really wasn't expecting from her blunt and brutally honest Sanada-senpai.
"It's nice to meet you both," He begins, and she realises he's addressing her parents. "I'm Sanada Akihiko. I've been in your daughter's care for the past year."
His cheeks flush bright red, and his mind searches for the right words to say. This wasn't his strong suit, socialising and speaking what was truly on his mind. He was painfully shy, and awfully bad at distinguishing his own emotions, a side effect of fighting his past for so many years and remaining trapped by it. Yet slowly, slowly, she's watching him take steps towards a bright and proper future.
She'll keep helping him along the way, just like he was helping her.
"I, um.. I don't think I would be the same person I am right now without her help. She's helped me through a lot of dark times, and I'm truly grateful." Gloved hands clench tight together, the slight squeeze of leather together reaching her ears as the silence continues, her boyfriend trying his hardest to find the right words to say. He's trying his hardest, and she can't help but feel her heart soar at that. "She helped me discover a new resolution, and I'm grateful that, for the short time you were able to, you raised such an incredible daughter."
Blushing up to his ears, he bows his head once more.
"I wish I could've met you face to face, but.. I'm glad you're all watching out for both of your children from above."
Kotone wraps her arms tight around his own, and leaned against him, her eyes a little teary but she refuses to let any tears fall. They aren't sad tears, they're tears that are a mix of happiness, and a longing to see her parents once more. She knows she'll see them one day, and the words that he spoke were exactly what she wanted to believe. They were watching from heaven, like she believed when she was a child.
She likes to think that everyone they'd lost was watching them from heaven, cheering them on and providing the support they all needed to continue fighting onward with the strength that they all had. Miki.. Aragaki-senpai.. Kirijo-senpai's father.. Yukari-chan's father.. and her own parents. They were all watching.
Pink lips part slightly in a soft sigh, and the pair stand in silence, letting their quiet thoughts fill the silence instead, soft whispers for only the two and the people they had come to meet to hear. Once the sun begins to set on the horizon, the two begin to walk home, and she makes a decision to try moving on from the accident. It's been ten years.. there was no point crying anymore, because tears wont bring anyone back.
She would fight to protect her loved ones, the ones that were still living and breathing by her sides.
December 2nd, 2009.
Dark Hour.
Moonlight Bridge is lit up by it's namesake, casting large shadows onto the concrete below that haunt and contort with an eerie movement. A figure stands on the bridge, ringed blue eyes watching the sky with a certain amount of sorrow–– pale skin being lit up like frozen snow as he bathes in the cast of the lunar object. He feels drawn to this location, where burnt concrete and skid marks make their territory. He feels comfortable underneath the otherwise terrifying green air and light, the pressure of the night like a mother's touch, or a warm blanket.
He turns as clicking of metal fills the air, each step telling him of another approaching human.
He meets eyes a similar shade as his own, though instead of seeing the school uniform he was used to seeing on the newcomer, he sees a body made of pure steel, joints that whizzed and whirred as she moved closer and closer.
"I have been looking for you." She begins, her voice carrying in the cold air. "..What are you doing here?"
He parts his lips slowly, and answers.
"Well, to answer your question, I ended up here when I came to my senses." His movement begins once more, as he paces around the bridge; looking in the windows of cars and tracing red liquid that covered the ground with his eyes. "It's strange.. The sky and the ground look so weird, and there's no one else here.. Something terrible has happened here, and yet.. I feel at peace."
Her eyes narrow. "Have you forgotten?"
"Forgotten what?"
"The Dark Hour–– a time period few people are active during." One of her metallic feet slides back into a stance. "Despite that, you have somehow adapted to it.. Too well for a human, in fact."
Her hands raise, and he watches at they whirl around and begin to fire up, he watches as she prepares the bullets that resound in his mind.
...Why do they resound in his mind?
Why does he feel like they've been here once before?
"Yes.. It's all so clear." She aims. "Now I understand the reason behind this feeling I sense when you are around. You are not good. You are.. my enemy."
He doesn't understand what she means.
"Your enemy..?" He groans loudly and clutches his head the moment those words leave his lips; the pain filling his mind with things that he didn't think he'd ever remember. That night, ten years ago today.. The car that he crashed into evading her attacks.. Oh, he understands now. He wishes he didn't understand, but he does. "Enemy.. That's right.. On this night, ten years ago.."
"Yes.. We met once before.." She never fires, but she doesn't move out of her fighting position. "..as adversaries."
His body shakes, quivers a little as he remembers more and more about that night. He didn't have the body he has now, for some reason, he remembers his body being like a floating mass of darkness. On that night, he had enough power to crush the front portion of a car with his body. They were.. driving towards him when this hour began, and he caused a crash. Two small figures were sent flying out of the car, the two large ones were crushed by his mass. Her bullets made fire, destroying and alighting the gas tank that belonged to that family's car.
"..Who.. Who am I?" He bites his lip. "Who are you..?"
"I am Aigis. The last remaining Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon." She introduces, and those words spark something inside of him. "A machine created to destroy Shadows. And you... Your true name is 'Death'.. You are the Shadow I sealed away ten years ago!"
He clutches his head tight, collapsing to his knees as everything pieces itself together, no longer a bundle of messed up memories. He's able to recall it all too well now, the winter air, the explosion his birth caused.. the death and destruction he left in his wake.. On that night, he took his first step onto this bridge.
"The sole purpose of my existence is to destroy Shadows. It is for that reason that I was given a personality and a Persona.."
His mind is filled with the way his body originally looked, not this fake imitation of the boy he was sealed away in. This voice, the body's appearance that he used.. He based them all off of that little boy on the bridge. The little boy who guarded a thin silver of red in his arms, despite the injuries that covered his own self.
His voice becomes a weak shiver.
"I.. am the Thirteenth Arcana.. I was never meant to be.." He knows now. "Everyone called me 'Death'. But when I was born, a part of my power shattered and was strewn about.. As a result, I was incomplete.."
"Even so, you were far stronger than I had anticipated." Her own mind raced with the memories of that night, of the terrified eyes that watched her as she placed the deadliest Shadow inside the body of a small boy. "Since I could not defeat you, my only option was to seal you away.. Under the circumstances, there was only one suitable vessel––"
She tries to fight that look that the boy she tried caring for so much over the year gave her on that night. Terror, fear, and yet there was a slither of anger in his eyes as well. She had believed that the girl in his arms was dead on that night. He was the only suitable vessel.
"A human boy who happened to be nearby. I had no other choice.."
"..Minato.." He exhales slowly, trying to calm the way his everything was a nervous wreck. "I see.. I was inside him all this time. And I.. I unwittingly led him to my twelve missing pieces.. I see. I understand now.. I remember everything.. Who I am.. What I am.."
"A machine is created for a purpose." Aigis hisses, and her guns finally fire up. "Mine is to defeat you.. That is the purpose of my existence!"
Ryoji––no, rather, he was Death now, steps forward. "It doesn't have to be that way.. Aigis.."
She sped backwards, away from him, and her body contorted backwards, surrounded by an ethereal blue light. The light shattered like glass, and out came a navy blue figure, like a robot of it's own.
"Palladion!"
fluff?
whos that idk her
welcome to december where everything is dark and depressing
grim- ah shit! it is too.. i was going off of the katakana so i instinctively went for the 'o' instead of the 'u' sound, we lp
also,, u will probably win. have fun with that depression
writingsoul- ASDFGHJKL every time you say that i get rlly embarrassed,,
its a huge compliment in my eyes so;;
god i love yukamitsu
ANYWAY i love pain and misery!
i hope y'all liked this chapter
i'll see y'all next one!
