May 23:

"Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" Junpei shouted as he burst through the front door, catching the attention of Yu, Akihiko, and Hamuko, who were sitting on one of the lobby's couches. Considering they had just finished up midterms earlier that afternoon, it didn't come as a surprise what Junpei might have been upset about.

"Sooooo," Hamuko began, breaking the eerie silence, "how did your exams go?" Humorously, Junpei locked his red hot eyes with Hamuko's, but the only reaction elicited was Hamuko's laughter.

At least SHE'S enjoying this, Yu thought.

"THAT bad, huh?!" she teased once more.

"...Shut up..." Junpei growled, his voice forcibly deeper than usual.

"Did you at least do better than usual?" Akihiko asked in consolation.

Junpei shook his head robotically. "I don't even know."

"Do you remember answering ANY question right?" Yu pleaded.

Junpei then held up one finger. "My name." Everyone groaned, like they were all in agonizing pain. But even then, Hamuko still sported a sadistic smile. "Yeah, that's how bad I felt I did."

"You did how bad?" Yukari asked as she and Minato walked up to the group.

Junpei quickly perked up, turned around, and waved his hands aggressively to the approaching duo. "W-What are you talking about!? I did FINE on my exams!"

"But didn't you say..."

"SHUT UP HAMUKO!" Junpei growled to Hamuko's delight once more.

She might just be downright evil… Yu considered briefly before abandoning the thought.

"Oh, speaking of," Yukari continued, "how do you guys think you did on the midterms?"

Yu shrugged. "I think I did alright," he replied modestly.

"Same here," Akihiko echoed.

"Ehhh, I could've done better," Hamuko admitted.

"...I did good..." Junpei replied quietly.

Yukari snorted. "Yeaaah, I don't believe you."

"YeAh I dOn'T bElIeVe YoU!" He then huffed. "Well, how did YOU do, huh?!"

"I think I aced it," Minato replied bluntly, much to the surprise of everyone, especially Junpei.

"A-Are you being serious?!" Junpei stammered.

"No," Minato replied, equally as bluntly.

"Of course you aren't."

"Is he always like this?" Hamuko asked. Junpei and Yukari nodded. "Okay, just checking."

Yukari sighed. "Anyways, I heard you're fully healed, Senpai!"

This realization even managed to break Junpei's cynicism. "Oh yeah, congrats!"

Akihiko's face instantly glimmered with excitement. "Thanks guys." He then grimaced. "But I need to catch up on my training. I've slacked off for a whole month."

"But shouldn't you still not overdo it?" Yu suggested. "I mean, with your track record, you could easily re injure your arm."

Akihiho sighed. "I appreciate your concern, Narukami, but I've already wasted precious time." He paused, stood up as if to box the air, then continued. "Besides… we found another Persona-user."

Junpei bolted forward, his prior anger now completely subsided. "We did!? Sweet!" He then, as Junpei would put it, turned on the charm. "Is it a girl?"

Hamuko scoffed. "Umm, I'm right HEREEEEE!"

"Um, I don't think that's the point," Yukari added.

"Well it is Junpei, so I think we..."

"Actually, it is a girl," Akihiko confirmed. "She's a junior who goes to our school."

Yu whistled. "We just keep adding up, don't we?"

Akihiko nooded. "Kind of, but back on topic. Her name is Fuuka Yamagishi. Do any of you..."

"Fuuka!?" Yu exclaimed, his eyes wide from the realization.

Yukari stared at him in disbelief. "You know the girl from 2-E?"

Yu nodded. "I do. I helped her out with some bullies a few weeks ago."

"Now that I think about it," Junpei added, "weren't you hanging out with her last week at the monorail station?"

"Not really hiding your stalker tendencies, but yes. I was."

Junpei fumed at that. "H-Hey! I ain't no stalker!"

"Well she was at the same hospital as me," Akihiko continued, ignoring the last comment, "and that's how we found out about her."

"She was in the hospital?" Yu asked, confused by that fact.

"I heard she's always sick," Yukari added, "so that's not too much of a surprise."

Akihiko nodded. "As such, she may not be cut out for battle." He sighed. "I even had an Evoker made for her."

Junpei was taken aback in shock. "What!? So we're giving up on her already!?"

"W-Well, not everyone is cut out for battle," Yu stammered, trying to salvage the conversation.

Junpei nodded vigorously. "Hell yeah!" He then pulled the bill of his hat to the back of his head. "I could offer her some 'private lessons!'" At that moment, everyone else visibly recoiled in disgust, much to Junpei's confusion. "W-What? Why're you all looking at me like that?"

"That's absolutely DISGUSTING!" Hamuko proclaimed loudly. "And perverted as FUCK!"

Junpei continued to act dumb. "I'm a GUY! What do you expect?"

"I'm a guy, and I completely agree with Hamuko," Yu replied. "There's a line between being a guy and being a creep." He then motioned to his right, to the empty half of the lobby. "And you're on the WRONG side!"

"Yeah!" Yukari added. "How do you live with yourself!?"

Junpei huffed. "Like THIS!" He then turned his back to the group and stomped up the stairs, presumably to his room. This seemed to be confirmed as, after a full two minutes of monotonous, ever present stomps, they heard a door slam shut on the floor above them.

"What the hell just happened?" Minato asked, breaking the silence of the room.

Yu shook his head. "Junpei being Junpei, I guess."


"How much longer?" Akihiko asked Yu of Minato's status. "I want to get in there and fight already?"

Yu shrugged. "Hard to say," he replied. "You never know when he's standing like that."

"I don't know which is creepier," Junpei added, "him standing in silence, or when he blankly stares at you."

"Narukami, are you sure you don't want to take the lead today?" Mitsuru asked, but not in a pleading way.

Yu walked over to Minato, and observed his eye movements as best as he could. "Nah," he replied. "It looks like he's almost back with us."

Junpei scratched his head. "You can tell that by looking at his eyes?"

Yu nodded. "The eyes are the most expressive part of the face, after all."

Mitsuru nodded. "I see. Alright, we'll wait a few..."

Minato's eyes suddenly snapped to life. "Ready when you are," he announced as he did a full 180 degree turn.

Mitsuru cleared her throat. "A-Alright then. Let's get started."

With that, the now expansive group of SEES members, sans Hamuko and Junpei, headed over to the teleporter; once the last person came to a halt, it hummed to life, and in an instant they were back to the barrier they left off at. While the barrier of chairs, desk, and shimmering light still remained from last time, once everyone was stood in front of it, the individual pieces started rising up to the endless darkness above row by row; similarly, as the final row began rising, so did the light shimmer away.

"It appears as though these barriers should vanish after each completed Full Moon Operation," Mitsuru commented.

Yu nodded. "It appears that way," he replied. "Then its probably to our benefit that we go as high as we can at all times."

"I agree," Mitsuru replied. "It's better for us to be safe rather than sorry."

"Whatever, let's get going already!" Akihiko proclaimed as he took the momentary lead. Yu followed closely by, eventually walking side by side with Akihiko as the front line of defense.

"It's great to see you in high spirits again, Senpai," Yukari chimed in, "But are you sure you should be leading the charge like that?"

Yu shrugged. "I'll make sure he stays in check," he replied, "so don't worry too much."

Ahihiko bumped his shoulder against Yu's. "I don't need to be babysat, you know?"

"I know," Yu reassured, "but I don't want to be held responsible of you overdo it."

"I… you have a point."

Yu turned his head to Yukari and Minato. "How are y'all holding up back there?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Yukari replied.

Minato shrugged his shoulders briefly. "Same."

Yu arched his eyebrow disconcertingly. "You really need to use melatonin or something like that."

Minato shook his head. "Tried it. Didn't work." Yu turned his attention back to the front without a reply. As they climbed further, the color of the stair corridor shifted from green to purple, and once they finally reached the top, the group got a look at the new corridor design. While a hint of the green fog still remained, the floor and walls were plastered in purple; the floor was in an abstract flower-like design, while the walls were covered with purple light fixtures, with occasional windows giving the group a view of the outside world.

"Hmm… Something seems different," Mitsuru commented, a slight hint of concern in her voice. "Be careful."

"Are the Shadows that much stronger here?" Yu asked.

Akihiko immediately grinned at that comment. "I like the sound of that!" he exclaimed in a cocky tone.

Mitsuru sighed, then continued. "Give me a minute." As the next minute passed, Mitsuru's tone seemed to get more worrysome; although she didn't say anything, Yu nevertheless picked up on nonverbal hums and groans to inform him of the situation they might be walking into.

Finally, she responded. "I'm sorry, but I'm experiencing difficulties." She paused. "It's possibly because of the distance."

"It's alright," Yu replied. "Should we wait for you to get back up to speed?"

"No," she replied. "Go ahead and proceed forward, but please be cautious."

Yu nodded. "Of course." Yu then proceeded to take the lead once more, making a left turn at a fork in the hallway and walking forward with utmost caution. Once they reach the end of the hallway, they spot an object shimmering: a suitcase with who knows what inside it. However, there is also a Shadow facing the suitcase, its back to the group. This gives Yu the opportunity to tiptoe forward; he gets closer and closer until finally, he judges the Shadow is within striking distance with his sword and takes a swing. The attack connects, and the Shadow immediately reverts to its new form: an innocuous looking lion, chained to a steel ball with a Strength Arcana mask on it.

Minato immediately took charge. "ORPHEUS!" he shouted as he summoned his signature Persona. He followed this by casting an Agi, sending a splash of fire to the Shadow. It definitely felt that attack, but it wasn't enough to bring it down.

"I'm up next," Yu proclaimed as he brough his own Evoker to his head. "IZANAGI!" Like before, Yu's Persona shone to life and casted Zio, bringing down a bolt of lightning upon the Shadow. Again, though, the Shadow still remained.

"I got this," Akihiko proclaimed, bringing his own Evoker to his head like the other two. "POLYDEUCES! SONIC PUNCH!" For the first time in a while, Yu got to see Akihiko's Persona in all its glory. Unlike before, however, the humanoid figure wound up his left arm, then threw a punch right into she Shadow's face, actually knocking its beastly lion form back.

Akihiko then pumped his arm. "He's knocked out!" He proclaimed! "Let's all attack it at once!"

"RIGHT!" the other three agreed as the group approached the Shadow; Yu and Minato sliced at it repeatedly, while Akihiko punched at it and Yukari stabbed it with one of her arrows, also repeatedly, until the Shadow fizzled away into nothing. Yu then approached the suitcase that they had fought to open, and found it contained 6,000 yen.

"Well, it's something," he acknowledged.


"Hold it," Minato commanded. The stairs are in their sights, but there's a Shadow roaming the area in front of them, so there's no sneaking past it. What Minato is trying to do, however, is time it out to where they can get a sneak attack on it. But there's no pattern the Shadow is following.

It moves towards their corner one moment, then to the left towards a wall. From there, it moves back towards the stairs, the moves back to the right. It goes back towards them, then back to the stairs again.

"I think we should just go for it," Akihiko suggested. "I'd rather take a few hits than risk another one sneaking up on us."

Minato shrugged. "GO!" The four of them immediately bolted from the corner, with Minato swiping the Shadow right as it turned its back. Unfortunately, it noticed them, made worse by the Shadow splitting into four, identical red and blue balancing scales.

"Heat Balances," Yu reminded the group. "If we knock em out quick, we should be good."

"YOMOTSU-SHIKOME!" Minato summoned, and out appeared a thin, wavy figure, almost like a six foot wig with a mask for a face. "BUFU!" It then conjured out of thin air a block of ice to cover the balance; the ice then spontaneously combusted. This dealt some damage to the scale, but not enough to knock it out. That Shadow countered by sending a Bufu attack to Yu, which similarly didn't hurt him a bit.

"Oh, I see how it is," Yu bantered as he brought up his own Evoker. "Let's switch it up a bit. ANGEL! GARU!" With a pull of the trigger, out came Yu's most scantily-clad Persona yet, who raised her hands to summon a small tornado of wind at the damaged balance; that managed to blow the scale to pieces.

"Yeah!" Akihiko cheered. "That's how you do it!"

Yu nodded. "AGAIN!" Yu shouted as he sent another tornado to the next balance, knocking it to the ground. He repeated this for the third balance, and then for the fourth one until the remaining forces were down on the ground.

"All out attack?" Akihiko asked eagerly.

Yu nodded. "ALL OUT ATTACK!" Like before, the group charged at the shadows, slashing and stabbing as they saw fit until all the remaining Shadows vanished into nothingness.

"Aww yeah!" Akihiko cheered.

Yu then rubbed his shoulder, finally feeling the blow from the battle. "Hey Yukari, mind healing me up?"

"Sure," she replied softly as she summoned Io and showered Yu in a rejuvenating mist; much like his showers, it was like his worries were washed away.

"Much better," Yu sighed.

"Good job, everyone," Mitsuru encouraged. "You might want to get going though. I'm detecting a faint signal nearby."

Ahihiko and Yu gulped, aware of what that signal might be. But Akihiko was the one to respond. "I-Is it…?"

"No. It's not a Shadow. Its… something else."

"Is it coming for us?" Yu added.

"I'm not sure. Sometimes I can sense it, sometimes I can't."

Minato shrugged. "I'd rather not stick around to find out."

"Agreed," the other three replied as they made a break for the stairs.


From out of another corner, a figure peeked out, checking to see if he was out of sight. He didn't see them anymore, but he still brought his head back.

"Dammit!" he cursed in a shrill voice, seemingly upset with himself. "I almost got caught!"

"Relaaax," a deep voice replied in his head. "We won't be caught that easily. Just have confidence, and I'll deal with the rest."

"H-How can you be so sure?" the figure stammered. Just then, he heard the group he was following thumping around on the floor above him. "C-Could I at least try sneaking out unseen?"

"Not a chance," the voice broke to him. "There's three more of them at the entrance, so there's no way in hell you can get out undetected."

"B-But you're hiding me now!"

"Not perfectly. Its especially hard with those support Persona-users."

"W-What?"

"Like I said, breathe in and breathe out. They aren't the only ones that can train themselves."

The figure nodded hesitantly. "Y-Yeah. You're right."

"I hate being this weak, but I promise. We'll have our time in the sun. Just wait them out..."


"Hm?" Mitsuru finally sensed something after three more floors of monotonous battling. "I detect a great source of power five floors above you."

"The next guardians," Minato replied as bluntly as he always did.

"I assume so, so proceed with caution."

"Understood," Minato replied. He then unflinchingly struck the Shadow that had its back to the group, gaining that crucial advantage against the enemy. Unlike most of the other Shadows they had come across, however, this shadow grew in size; it then morphed into an amalgamation of both a giant wheel with a giant axle, and a lion's face, mane and all, that wore a Chariot Arcana mask.

This Shadow actually elicited a whistle from Akihiko. "This one looks tough, doesn't it?"

Yu nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, she does."

"JACK FROST!" Minato hollered with his trademark gruffness. "BUFULA!" Unlike his last Persona, this giant snowman, decked in a purple beanie with devil horns, conjured a bigger block of ice than anything their other Personas were capable of summoning. In fact, once the cube that encased the Shadow exploded, each member of the group was able to feel a slight chill from the attack.

"Damn," Yu replied in astonishment. I forgot how breezy this attack felt. But while the Shadow definitely felt that, it predictably wasn't enough to bring it down. "Now I'll give it a shot. IZANAGI!" His dark-cloaked companion appeared once more, bringing down a strike of its signature lightning attack onto this tough baddie. Being mechanical and all, it's no shock this attack knocked the Shadow down.

"All out attack?" Akihiko asked.

"Wait, not now!" Yu countered. "I want another shot at it."

This caught Yukari's attention. "What? Are you insane?"

Yu shook his head. "Not at all." He then looked to Minato. "What do you think?"

Minato started to shake his, but paused and instead nodded. "I hope you know what you're doing." Yu followed by striking the monstorous wheel with another strike of lightning, shocking it into submission.

"Tch, I see what you're doing," Akihiko replied disappointedly, "but I've got a really bad feeling. POLYDEUCES! ZIO!" Following Izanagi's lead, Akihiko's trusty Persona brought down a strike of lightning, but missed his target.

"What the?" Akihiko was stunned by this blunder. "How the hell did I miss?"

"IO! GARU!" Yukari continued, taking a page out of the Wild Card duo's playbook and sent her own tornado towards the Shadow, connecting successfully but still not bringing it down. "Jesus, Senpai! You need to focus!"

As she berated Akihiko for his mistake, the Shadow picked itself up, attracting the group's attention once more, then spinning its tire to wind itself up for an attack. It then shoots like a rocket, ramming Yu square in his chest, knocking him back several feet backwards and onto the floor.

"ARGH!" Yu writhed in pain; he knew he was close to death, but he didn't even have the strength to pick himself up. All he could do was weakly watch with double vision as the Shadow wound itself up for another attack. This time when it took off, it smacked into Minato with an ear shattering thump. Fortunately for them, Minato took the hit much better than Yu did. He then watched helplessly as he saw Minato swing and miss, while Akihiko seemed to pull himself together enough to land a strike on the Shadow, bringing it down to the ground for the second time.

"...l … a...ck?" Yu couldn't completely comprehend what Akihiko said, but he still knew. The next thing he knew, the three of them rushed the Shadow while he continued to lay helpless, missing every third sound from the scuffle. He then closed his eyes tightly so as to avoid seeing his new friends get picked off one by one.

Dammit, Yu thought to himself. Is this really the end for us? Tears them started to stream down to the ground. T-They were right, we should've just taken it out when we had the chance. He then smacked the ground repeatedly with one of his balled up fists. Why! Did! I have! To be! So! Stu...!

"OWW!" Yu cried out in pain as his fist started throbbing in pain.

Wait, how did I…? He then opened his eyes, he saw the others hovering over him, the Shadow nowhere in sight.

Yukari offered her hand to him. "Need a hand?" Yu nodded as his accepted the help. Although she struggled at first, Yukari managed to pull Yu back onto his feet, thanks in part to his lighter than average weight.

"T-Thank y..." Yukari promptly slapped Yu across his face as he began to apologize, much to the surprise of even the emotionless Minato, who visibly, but still subtly, winced at Yu's misfortune.

"What the HELL were you thinking!?\" she shouted in rage. "Do you see why we work as a team?" Tears then started to stream down her face as Yu rubbed his now red cheek. "You nearly got yourself killed! Don't you see that?"

Yu looked down, unable to make direct eye contact with her. That's because he didn't HAVE anything to say. He let his own cockiness get the better of him, and he was ashamed to admit that. But shit, he had to come clean anyway.

He then suddenly bowed. "I'm so, so sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to endanger everyone's lives." He paused, then continued. "I have no excuse for my actions."

Akihiko then approached and patted Yu on the back. "Don't stress over it, man," he reassured. "We all have that moment sometimes, you know."

Yu shook his head. "Easy for you to say. You're the only one besides me to endanger our lives."

"You don't think I know that?" Now Akihiko was starting to lose his cool too. "But you know what? I OWN that! It wasn't the end of the world, now was it?"

Yu shook his head. "No."

"Exactly! Now what are you gonna do? Sulk? Or keep moving forward?"

Although he still had reservations, Yu turned to Akihiko, looked up, and nodded. "You're right." He then looked to Minato and Yukari. "He's right. I messed up." Filled with a newfound humility, Yu finally forced a smile out. "But it could've gone worse. So let's just put the past behind us and keep going." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Is this how Junpei felt after his outburst? Yu considered. Am I seriously on the same level as him?

"It's a good thing we didn't bring Junpei along. Can you imagine if HE were in charge of the group?" Everyone then immediately burst into synchronous laughter. If nothing else, Yu's greatest asset is finding humor in the bad moments.


"C'mon!" Junpei decried. "Why can't we mow down lower level Shadows while they fight up there?"

Mitsuru sighed. "I can't keep track of two groups at the same time," she replied, exacerbated. "It's even worse now that it's become harder to detect higher levels of Tartarus."

"It's not THAT dangerous," Junpei pleaded, unwilling, if not incapable, of taking no for an answer. As Junpei continued to argue, Hamuko was pacing the diameter of the tower's lobby; she sometimes lightly jogged, but mostly walked silently to keep her mind occupied. However, she suddenly stopped and turned to face Mitsuru's bike, as if she noticed something in the distance with a thousand yard stare.

"The others are about to head back anyways," Mitsuru continued. Hamuko then walked towards the bike, bypassed it entirely, then finally stopped in front of the invisible door of the Velvet Room. But it doesn't make sense as to why she would know anything is there at all. However, compelled by some outside force, she nevertheless reaches out into the empty space.

"What are you doing?" Hamuko pulled her hand back abruptly, startled by the question. She then turned around to find Yu walking towards her, a semi-serious expression on his face.

"I… I don't know," Hamuko admitted. "I… I thought I heard something over here."

Yu stops by her side, then looks around. "I don't hear anything."

Hamuko closed her eyes, shook her head, then opened them again. "I'm sorry. I don't..."

Yu shook his head. "You're probably just tired. Let's just call it a night."

"I agree," Mitsuru concurred. "We've already advanced at a good clip in the tower. There's no need for anyone to overexert themselves." And with that, the group filed out of Tartarus one by one, eager to get to bed. Minato was the first one to lead the pack, but Yu held him back as everyone else left, until the only ones left in the tower were the two of them.

Minato gave Yu a dirty look. "What is it?"

"Did you notice what Hamuko was doing?" Yu asked.

Minato shook his head. "Of course not. Why do you even ask?"

Yu sighed, then pointed to the Velvet Room door. "Well, she was right in front of the door without even knowing it was there."

Minato shrugged. "Maybe she heard a whisper."

"What would be whispering to her? A Shadow?"

"Maybe? Maybe its just a coincidence. Can I just go to bed?"

Yu sighed again, then released Minato. "Yeah. Have a good..." Minato just walked past him and out of the tower, leaving Yu by himself. "...night." Yu followed close by, himself overwhelmed by everything that happened that day, and finally bid Tartarus farewell for the night.


Okay, so not exactly within the next week, but I still hope you enjoyed this latest chapter! No social link progression today either, but I feel like giving this generous amount of action balanced that out. Again, I'll probably be working on the next chapter as you read this, so expect a new chapter soonish!

Until then, Have a nice day!