Yay, new chapter.
Derek Barona, I'm glad you enjoy the story so far. Hope it stays that way.
Ranmyaku Arashi, sorry about that. More detail, coming up.
GeneralGeneric, Slayer0 is good for the persona soundtrack. In fact, most of the persona themes on my MP3 player I downloaded from him. However, I won't be using those songs for Minato's playlist. I have something better in mind.
Sytang, that is awesome. However, you can only use one kind of weapon now, and going to the base floor of Tartarus doesn't heal you anymore. You have to buy magic leaves from the clock. On the upside, you can teleport back to the floor you just left, and there's no stamina limit; you only become tired once you leave the building. Unfortunately, I think it makes persona 3 too much like persona 4.
Don't get me wrong, I love both games, and while I think that persona 3 had a better storyline, p4 definitely had better gameplay. Thing is, I think that the changes made in P3P take from P3's charm.
Now, for those of you who read The Breaker, I just read the new chapter and am now in a FANTASTIC mood right now.
Moving on, and time for the actual chapter.
]=[
So, it's finally the end of August. Not much happened over the summer, other than practicing and training and summer homework. Junpei appeared to have found a lady friend, but I don't believe him.
Anyhoo, now we were gathered in the command room for what I reckon will be a back to school lecture from Ikutsuki.
"Good, you're all here." Ikutsuki said before turning to the door into his office. "Please, come in."
The door opened and Kenjamin walked in with a cross spear and a black jacket over his orange jumper. "Sorry to interrupt…" He said.
Damn, black jacket over orange hoody looks awesome. "You must be kidding…" Akihiko gasped while Shinji grunted. Wow, they're pissed.
"After running several tests, we've learned that he has more then adequate potential." Ikutsuki explained while gesturing to Kenjamin. "I called this meeting so that I could introduce him, since he'll be joining our squad."
"B-But Mr. Chairman, he's still in elementary school." Mitsuru protested. "Besides..."
"Besides… what?" Ikutsuki asked. "His ability is quite promising. With the proper training, he could be a big help."
For once, I agreed with him.
"Is HE okay with it?" Shinji growled.
"Actually, I asked to join." Kenjamin answered. "I believe I can be of some assistance... Now, I finally know why I was given this power."
"...So, as you can see, it was his own decision." Ikutsuki added, defending himself. I really don't like him.
"Nice to meet you all." Kenjamin smiled. "I'll try not to get in anyone's way."
"Nice to meet you, Kenjamin." Aigis responded.
"It's Ken." Kenjamin insisted.
"Name data is Kenjamin." Aigis responded. Good work Aigis.
"Hey, don't worry, kid." Junpei flashed him a big thumbs up. "We got your back. It may be hard at times, but stick with it."
"Yes, got it!" Kenjamin beamed.
The Senpai didn't seem as happy about this though. Neither did Yukari for that matter.
Once everyone left the room, I got to work tapping back into the surveillance systems. Sure enough, there were camera's in my bedroom, but it looked like everyone else's camera's were gone. I don't really blame them.
"So, what're you gonna do about it?" Pharos asked.
"Mass Firewall, purge the video data of everyone's bedrooms." I responded, typing. "What do you think?"
Pharos nodded. "Can you actually do that?"
I shrugged. "I sealed the data and left a back door, so I think I can."
"You copied everything into a folder and put a password on it!" Pharos countered. "Junpei could do that."
"He probably does…" I shrugged, spinning the chair from the monitor. "You're right, I'm outta my league." Although…
I spun back around and looked through the remaining cameras. "If I set them all to cover the entrance points, including windows and fire escapes…" I muttered as I typed in the commands, "Then mute the sound and lock the settings with fourteen separate passwords, each only allowing three attempts, then we get a decent security surveillance system without the risk of Strega compromising the security."
Pharos nodded. "And the video data?"
"Delete." I replied, getting to work. "Should be fine so long as they don't come and steal the actual hard drive."
Pharos sighed. "You know, the next full moon is coming soon."
I nodded. "We're ready."
Pharos smiled. "Are you sure?" He asked. "That's what you thought last time."
"So long as this isn't the last time and we fight four at once," I shuddered, "Then we should be reet."
"I hope so." He replied with a smile. "Only a few trails remain."
Hooray for that.
School the next day. I popped into Bookworms on the way there to find Bunkichi snoozing. "...Please... wait a while longer…" He mumbled in his sleep. "...Even if the tree is gone... you'll still live on... inside us..."
Man, he must be worried about that tree. I picked up a mop and poked him with the dry end.
"Whu-whuzzat?" He asked blearily, forcing himself up. "...Oh, Minato-chan, you're here?" He yawned. "You didn't have to wake me up... Or were you just eager to see my pretty face?" He asked with a grin.
I poked him again. "Oof." He said with a laughing smile. "You wound me…"
"You shouldn't be sleeping when you're open old man." I told him.
He put his hand over his chest and died from an imaginary bullet. "Argh…" We laughed.
"I feel relieved now…" He said happily. "Probably because the problem has been solved."
"Solved?" I asked genuinely puzzled. What's he talking about?
"I'm deeply touched that you and so many other people tried to help us, Minato-chan..." Bunkichi told me, "But, we sent a letter to Gekkoukan." He sighed. "...I told them to cut the persimmon tree down."
Wait, what!?
"Wait, what?" I asked aloud.
"I thought you'd be more surprised..." Bunkichi sighed. "Well, I guess I needn't have worried."
Dude, if I don't look surprised, that means that I am! Well, whatever, just roll with it.
"Sorry that we did it without asking you." Bunkichi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "But recently, I went to visit the persimmon tree, and I met a student on my way back." Oh yeah? "He told me that the school is planning to build a new computer lab." Oh. "It would be selfish of an old man like me to deprive those young people of new learning opportunities..." He continued with a kind of sad happiness. "I think it'd make our son happy, too, since he was a teacher." Bunkichi chuckled. "Helping those kids is more important than hanging on to his memory."
"Yeah…" I replied. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"
Bunkichi smiled. "We're hoping, as we believe our son in heaven is too, that more kind students like you, Minato-chan, will graduate from Gekkoukan."
I looked him in the eye. "I'll make sure that happens."
Bunkichi chuckled. "Hoo, you're determined aren't you?" He smiled. "Here, take this."
He handed me on orange tomato thing. "It's the first fruit produced by the persimmon tree. ...It's a little rough around the edges, like our son..." He chuckled. "Mitsuko is the one who suggested we give it to you, Minato-chan."
SMASH!
Thou art I… And I am thou…
The bond thou hast nurtured hath finally matured. The innermost power of the Hierophant Arcana hath been set free.
We bestow upon thee the ability to create Kohryu, the ultimate form of the Hierophant Arcana...
This bond shall never be broken… even as you break free from the chains of memory…
Another Kingdom Hearts reference by the Arcana… though I think this was a different context from last time.
"...Now, we have to cheer up and get on with our lives!" Bunkichi shouted. "We're too old to waste a single day! Our son would want us to be happy..." He smiled. "I'm sure he's smiling down on us from heaven."
"Don't you think he'd have better things to do?" I asked him. "Like scoring with hot angels?"
Who cares if lust is a sin? Heaven is Heaven.
"Woohoo…" Bunkichi smiled. "You're probably right Minato-chan…" He pointed a fist at the ceiling. "Go on my son! Get in there!"
Ah Bunkichi. You are awesome.
School, however, was not awesome. In fact, it sucked.
Nothing like the summer holidays to make you miss school, and nothing like school to make you miss the summer holidays.
On the plus side, Bebe was happy to see me.
"Minato-samaaa! I 'ave come up wiz a great idea to show Japan's charm to my uncle!"
Oh yeah, he was doing that… "What's the plan?" I asked.
Bebe pointed to the sky like Kamina. "I will show 'im a kimono, and make 'im understand the beauty of Nihon!"
"Good plan." I told him. Hey, it could work.
"Since you agree, Minato-sama, I 'ave nozing to be afraid of!" Hm, French will do anything under an English commander it seems. "Ze kimono eez a Japanese treasure!" He continued enthusiastically. "If I show it to my uncle, he will surely let me stay in Nihon."
I nodded. "What's the design?" I asked him.
He thought for a moment. "Ze design will be..." He clicked his fingers with inspiration. "ze mascot of ze Sweet Shop!"
What the hell? That's a stupid idea.
"I zought of zis design because Minato-sama took me zere!" Bebe explained. Aww, that's kinda touching.
SMASH!
Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Temperance Arcana…
Nice. "How about I come up with something else?" I suggested, quickly pulling out a notebook.
"Ie!" He replied in Japanese. "I am no longer confused! I will 'urry up and make ze kimono!" He shouted, running for the sewing room. "I will sew like ze wind!"
Well. I tried.
Kenji collared me after school, taking me downstairs. Ms. Kanou had moved to Okinawa, and he wanted to go see the new Ethics teacher.
"Her name's Kashiwagi…" Kenji told me. "And she's supposed to be really hot…"
Junpei grabbed Kenji's shoulder. "Did… did you say Kashiwagi?" He asked with sweat forming on his face. "As in… Noriko Kashiwagi?"
"Yeah!" Kenji replied. "How'd you know?"
Junpei looked pale. "Oh hell no…"
"My my… we meet again young man…"
Gah! We turned around to face the owner of the sultry voice. A brunette woman with a rather large cleavage was standing behind us, apparently scaring the living daylights out of Junpei.
Wait, didn't they meet some teacher during the babe hunt?
"N-N-No way…" Junpei stuttered in fear. Yep, it's this teacher.
She giggled. "Well, you two are also very handsome young boys…" She folded her arms to push her boobs up. "My name's Ms. Kashiwagi… but you can call me Noriko…" She giggled.
Holy crap she's as perverted as grandma but not old enough for it to not be creepy.
I felt Kenji grab my wrist and sprint, ordering me to "RUN FOR IT MAN!!"
"AAAGGHH!!" Junpei screamed, running in the opposite direction to us. Good plan, she can't catch both teams!
Kenji and I jumped onto the train just as the doors were closing, and started panting for breath. "Man… she's… scary…" Kenji panted. "Alright, from now on, no more teachers!"
I put a hand on his shoulder. "You owe me like, three bowls now…"
Kenji nodded. "Yeah…"
Man, free ramen tastes almost as good as skiving ramen.
"Damn this is good!" Kenji declared. "This ramen is the bomb! There's no way I can leave this city, dude!" He laughed, then sighed. "Well, Ms. Kanou must be in Kyushu by now." Oh, I thought she was going to Okinawa… "She's probably getting ready for her wedding ceremony..."
Dammit man I thought you were over this by now. Now, I could either leave him be, which would make him feel worse, strike up a conversation, which would only dodge the problem, or I could do what I wanted to do.
…
Stuff it, I'm stealing his egg.
"Hey!" Kenji shouted, furious. "Give that back, dude!"
I held the egg out of his reach with my chopsticks. "Not a chance!"
"That egg's all I got in this world, man!" He begged. "Give it back!"
I grinned and popped the egg into my mouth whole. "Asshole!" Kenji shouted, pouting.
Then he smiled. "Man, hanging out with you is never boring!"
Hey, that's what I'm here for. "But, that being said…" Kenji sighed. "I want a girlfriend, dude."
That's what I'm here for. "I'll hook you up." I offered.
He sat up, interested. "Someone from your place?"
"No." I replied. "Not a chance."
He sighed, depressed again.
"Well, I'm doing a gig later this week at escapade." I suggested. "Want a free ticket?" I pulled one out of my pocket and showed it to him.
He beamed. "Yeah, dude!" He snatched it. "You'll be my wing man. Let's go pick up some chicks!" He looked at the ticket and his jaw dropped. "Dude, you're gonna be on stage with Risette!? You gotta introduce me!"
"I thought you were into older women?" I asked.
"An Idol's different!" He insisted. "They got a special charm that normal girls just don't have!"
I laughed. "She's pretty normal actually." If clingy. "You'll have a problem getting past her manager though."
"Oh well." He grinned. "You distract him, and I'll talk to Riii~sette!"
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he started emitting a happy pink glow.
"Anyways, I've been thinking..." Kenji said, pocketing the ticket. "When Emiri left, I was really sad, but I'm not sure what I was sad about..." Her leaving? "Did I really love Emiri, or did I just love the idea of being in a relationship with a teacher?" He asked.
Pretty good question now that you bring it up. "I've been thinking about it and thinking about it..." He continued as I remained silent. "And I just don't know..." He looked right at me and put an arm on my shoulder. "But what I DO know is... you're my friend." He told me seriously.
"Gay." I pointed out while slurping up noodles. He immediately took his arm off me in sheer horror.
"Dude, what the hell!" He shouted. "This is my heart we're talking about! Can't you feel the love!?"
"I can." I said, gulping down the soup. "That's why you're gay." I put down the bowl and smiled. "Another bowl here!"
"GAH!" Kenji shouted, recoiling in shock. "Uh, dude, sorry about that... Ugh, I'm such an idiot!" He shouted, bashing his head in with his fists. "I'm so embarrassed!"
He seemed to be regretting what he just said, while I was not regretting getting another bowl of ramen.
"Dammit, now this'll be all awkward…" Hm? "J-just take it man!" He said, forcing a leather strap onto me. "Man, now I feel like a real puff…"
Ah, good old homophobia. Excellent tool for manipulating schoolboys since 1999. "Thanks man." I told him, pocketing the leather choker. It'll never go on my neck, but I'll find a use for it.
SMASH!
Thou art I… And I am thou…
The bond thou hast nurtured hath finally matured. The innermost power of the Magician Arcana hath been set free.
We bestow upon thee the ability to create Surtr, the ultimate form of the Magician Arcana...
This bond shall never be broken… even as you burn through the world of fog…
Wait, didn't Surt set the world ablaze and start Ragnarok?
Dayumn. That'll be a decent 'sona.
"Dammit! What the hell's wrong with me!?" Kenji asked himself angrily. "Why am I acting so weird all of a sudden?"
"Maybe you're coming out of the closet?" I teased him.
"Grr…" Kenji growled before slamming the counter. "CHEF!" He shouted. "Gimme 10 more eggs!"
Man, this is fun.
"...Oh, you're back." Yukari said when I came into the dorm. "Perfect timing."
She was standing around in the lounge with Kenjamin, Junpei and Koromaru. "Hey, Fuuka!" She called up the stairs. "Is Aigis ready?"
Ready for what?
"Ready for what?" Junpei asked.
"Coming!" Fuuka called from upstairs. Fuuka and Aigis both came down the stairs wearing the school uniform.
Oh hell no.
"She said she wanted to go to school, so I said something to Mitsuru-senpai as a joke..." Yukari explained as Aigis and Fuuka walked towards us. "But, the Chairman overheard and thought it was a good idea. So as of tomorrow, she'll be a junior."
"Seriously!?" Junpei asked. "He's down with that?"
"He said something about studying her behaviour in a social environment..." Fuuka explained.
Junpei grinned. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's a great idea... Just look at how cute she is in that uniform!" Yes, we have established that she is cuter than your toaster.
"The camouflage Fuuka-san has provided me with seems to be the appropriate size." Aigis reported, moving around in the uniform.
"It looks very natural on you;" Kenjamin complimented. "No one will suspect a thing." He suddenly looked thoughtful. "But, why does he want you to go to school? It's not like there's anything special about it."
"With the commencement of the second semester, I intend to synchronize my schedule with the other members." Aigis pointed out. "If I were to remain here on standby, it could delay our deployment. Therefore," She turned to me. "I request to accompany our squad leader."
"Delay our deployment?" Yukari asked. "Won't you going to school create more problems?"
"I will make any necessary adjustments as problems arise." Aigis replied.
Man, can you feel the love?
"Nope." Me neither Pharos.
"Koromaru said, 'I want to go to school, too.'" Aigis translated as Koromaru barked.
"Sorry, Koro-chan..." Yukari balanced her hands on her knees and bent over to him. "You have to stay here."
Koromaru whimpered.
"I have a question, Minato-san." She asked. "Why can't Koromaru-san attend school? I do not understand why I am permitted to go to school while Koromaru-san is not."
"Because he's a dog." I told her.
"Nowhere in the school regulations does it state that canines are prohibited from attending school." Seriously? Wow. "My question remains unanswered."
"Didn't know that." I told her. "But there doesn't need to be. Dog's can't go to school because it's common sense."
"A tacit understanding that is not listed in the school regulations..." Aigis processed. "My question has been answered. Thank you very much."
"Dude, I think she's really cute..." Junpei hissed in my ear. "I bet there will be a ton of guys who's gonna get a crush on her. The way she walks..." Like Sonic the Hedgehog? "The way she talks..." You mean like a robot?
Yeah, I can see how that will be attractive. Mind you, I'm probably the only guy who'll notice.
I walked Aigis to school the next day. "I see…" Aigis told me when we got there. "So this is Tartarus during the daytime… I comprehend."
Okay, now to get her through the school day without anyone finding out she's a robot.
"Class, we have a new student who will be joining us." Ms. Toriumi announced at the start of form. "She just transferred here. ...Please introduce yourself."
"My name is Aigis." Aigis explained. "I am pleased to meet you all."
"Aigis... What a strange name..." Ms. Toriumi pondered. "I wonder if she was born overseas. Let's see... Anything else I should know...?" She began checking her file. Dammit, didn't she learn to do that beforehand after the last transfer student IE me?
Welcome to the school Minato. Let's see, 1999 is when your parents died. Haha.
"Hm?" Toriumi found something interesting in Aigis's file. "...Humanoid tactical weapon?"
WHO THE BLOODY HELL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS FIASCO!?
"What on Earth...?" She wondered.
IT'S IKUTSUKI'S FAULT ISN'T IT!? I'LL SKIN HIM ALIVE!!!
"...Clearly, that's a mistake." Ms. Toriumi announced. "It just goes to show, you can't believe everything you read."
Ikutsuki, you get to live for another day. "You can sit..." Ms. Toriumi said while browsing the classroom. "Right over there, in that empty seat." She said, pointing at the seat next to me.
Doesn't somebody sit there? "Um, Ms. Toriumi, that spot's already taken." Junpei told her. "He's just playin' hookey."
Toriumi glared at Junpei. "Which means he's not here." And therefore important. "So, it's free to be used, right?"
Aigis nodded and sat next to me.
"This spot will be perfect..." She announced loudly while looking at me, "Because I wish to always be by his side."
WHO THE BLOODY HELL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS FIASCO!?
Yukari got to her feet violently. "Aigis!" She shouted.
IT'S IKUTSUKI'S FAULT ISN'T IT!? I'LL SKIN HIM ALIVE!!!
"Is there a problem?" Aigis asked her.
"...Um, Yukari?" Asked the girl next to her, "why're you standing up?"
"My, aren't we just full of drama today?" Ms. Toriumi smiled. "Do me a favour and save the antics for after school."
I am running straight home to safety after school.
Or Kendo club! Yes, I can hide there!
"You're off the team." Coach told me.
Ya-what!?
"You were caught fighting with Mamoru after the tournament." He told me. "We don't tolerate that kind of behaviour at this school, so you are hereby banned from the Kendo club."
…
Man, this is the worst school day ever.
]=[
Yes it is.
Interesting little tidbit, I actually wanted Minato and Bebe to be at war with each other as part of the whole 'England Vs France' thing, but turns out that Persona3 FTW got to it first. Well, I'm kinda glad I dropped it anyway, it'd ruin what little believability the story has left.
Next chapter, concert and hopefully start on hermit.
