22

13, July 2009

Minato looked at the blue-haired girl standing before him. She was getting curious about the velvet room having seen it through his thoughts. She told him that she didn't want to bug him about it, but she grew too curious. She was withholding information from him. He wanted the full story. She was currently thinking, her fingers against her chin.

"I'm starting to see the door without the aid of your thoughts," She quietly admitted, "I also kind of want to meet this Elizabeth…she sounds interesting."

Elizabeth was insane but meant well. Well, most of the time. He almost didn't want the two to meet. He could only imagine what a chaotic Rosemary would do. Granted, it wasn't much seeing as she was docile by nature. She was blushing slightly at his slight compliment. It made her a bit happy to be called something like that. His friends were weird. He sighed at that and ran a hand through his hair.

She asked to meet Elizabeth before finals. She gave him an apologetic look and he noted that her expression was slowly changing the longer he knew her. It was softening, the coldness was slowly leaving her features. Her eyes, which had been dull when they first met, had a spark to them. She seemed to be in a better headspace.

"All right," He agreed, and she gave him a small smile in thanks.

"Thank you," She said.

"Elizabeth's been curious about the arcade," He said, "Maybe I can tell you both about it."

"Ah, Akihiko told you guys about my lack of knowledge on games," She said with a slight frown, "I can't be angry at him for that."

He gave a slight nod at that and the two of them headed to the mall. He wondered what kind of picture they made together. She easily towered over him and wore the winter uniform. He wore the summer uniform, and he was still dying from the heat. He searched inside himself and changed his persona to Jack Frost. He instantly cooled down. He got an amused look from his friend at that.

"Wait, is Jack Frost the little mascot that I've seen around?" She asked him.

"He looks the same," He confirmed.

"How do normal people know about him?" She asked and he paused at that, "It's doubtful that the company that designed the mascot could be a persona user without Mitsuru catching wind of it."

"Maybe he created himself and is controlling the masses?" He suggested and he caught the glint in her eye, oh he said the right thing.

"That would mean that the mascot existed before the persona itself, so the mass consciousness of the world gave him a form," She muttered as she went deeper into the rabbit hole, "Is that how most personas are formed? Because there's Pyro Jack and he's also a mascot."

"It's a conspiracy," He agreed.

He was having fun, he'd admit that. He wondered if this was what she and Fuuka did while trying to make sense of the dark hour and personas. He might have to join in if it was. She gave him a slight nod and he felt like he had just joined a strange club. He wasn't going to think about it, his head would start to hurt if he did. They rode the monorail to the paulownia mall and he easily led her to the velvet room alley. She was staring at the door with a slight frown.

"It's got more shape than usual, but it looks nothing like the one in your thoughts," She informed him, "I guess I'm not ready to go in."

"Maybe," He agreed, "I'll be right back."

"All right."

She took a seat next to the alley entrance and gave him a small nod. He went into the velvet room and was hit with the music that seemed to constantly be playing inside it. Igor was sitting at his usual table, his eyes closed while he took a slight nap. Minato guessed that ruling over a room that technically didn't exist outside of his mind was tiresome. He'd leave the old gentleman alone.

"Welcome to the velvet room," Elizabeth greeting him, "As you can see the master is resting."

"I wanted to fulfill your request to see the arcade," He said, "Is it still possible to do?"

"It is," She confirmed, and he caught the excited glint in her eyes, "I have a new request for you, I'm sure you've noticed the strangeness of your reversed hermit link…I would like to meet the person connected to it."

"Oh, she's waiting for both of us," He said, "She wanted to meet you."

"Wonderful."

He was starting to regret agreeing to Rosemary. He exited the velvet room with Elizabeth in tow and saw Rosemary looking down at her feet in thought. She looked up when he was fully out of the room. Her expression was one of calm and she slowly got up from the ground.

"You must be Elizabeth," She said to the white-haired woman behind him, "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Elizabeth said as she nodded her head, "You are most interesting, a reversed arcana as a bond is very rare."

"…I see…" Rosemary said in thought, "Well, it doesn't do to dwell on things I might never understand."

"Yes, I am still quite curious about this arcade," Elizabeth agreed as both females turned to look at Minato.

"Right," He said.

He led the way to the arcade and noted that Rosemary hesitated upon seeing a few of their classmates. They must've been the more vocal of their dislike for her. She took in a quiet breath before steeling herself. She easily slipped on that apathetic mask and gave him a nod to continue. He was worried about that, there wasn't much he could do to make them stop. People would always think what they wanted to.

"This is a crane machine, yes?" Elizabeth asked as she stopped at the first machine in the arcade, "It is where you choose which toy will be yours, and obtain it through the use of a crane…correct?"

"Yes," He confirmed.

It was the first time she had been completely correct about something. He waited for Rosemary to ask a question and noticed that she was staring at the toys inside the crane machine. She had a contemplative expression on her face, it was almost calculating in nature. Was she trying to calculate the best strategy to get one of the plushies? It reminded him of Mitsuru. He wasn't expecting her to like cute things.

"Have you seen Mochi?" She quietly asked him.

That was a fair point. Her cat liked to nap on him constantly, not that he really minded. The constant purring was nice, and she radiated warmth like a tiny space heater. Rosemary gave a surprised chuckle before clearing her throat to hide it. She decided to watch as Elizabeth tried her hand at the first game. It took four tries for the velvet room attendant to get a prize. She questioned the meaning behind such things.

"Some people get them for children, others their romantic partners," Rosemary quietly answered as Minato tried to win a prize, "Some people just like cute things."

"I must admit something is charming about a toy made from soft materials," Elizabeth agreed as she placed a finger against her chin in thought, "Are you one of the latter that enjoys cute things?"

"…Yes…" Rosemary admitted in a shy tone, "I've always liked cute things for as long as I can remember."

"Here," Minato handed her something.

It was one of the larger Jack Frost dolls. He saw her expression light up at the sight of it and she gave him a grateful smile. That doll never left her grasp the entire time they perused the arcade. The boxing game was somehow broken by Elizabeth, making both bluenettes swear to never make her mad. She was far stronger than she looked.

They didn't even refute her claim that it was to train people for gladiatorial combat. They didn't get time to as she found the dancing game. Minato was dragged onto it seeing as Rosemary couldn't dance. She also didn't want to chance falling and breaking something, her fingers were still healing. She'd rather not go back into the heavy-duty splints. They made writing and gardening difficult, and painful. Mochi also didn't like the feel of them in her fur.

"A quiz game? The test of one's knowledge," Elizabeth said as she came to the last game.

Rosemary found that an arcade was interesting, but it made her uneasy with how close together everything was. She was a rhythm game player, and she was okay with that. She was motioned towards the quiz game by Elizabeth. Ah, it was a two-player.

"You have better grades than me," Minato said as she stepped up to the game.

Elizabeth was smart. Her answers about psychology were always correct, but she lacked the knowledge of normal day information. Rosemary would happily answer those questions and they'd move on to the next round. Minato was impressed that they were number one against several players in different regions. The game was a long one, but the two women were able to beat the game with ease.

"Hey, I'm going to get going," Rosemary said to them as she covered a yawn with her hand, "You two continue to have fun, and it was really nice meeting you Elizabeth."

Elizabeth gave her a smile and nod before the taller teen walked out of the arcade. Her gold eyes were thoughtful for a few seconds. If that girl awoke to her wild card abilities, then she would have made progress with several of her social links. She felt as though some would be different for her for the same people that Minato knew. She wanted to read the cards for the potential wild card. If only to see where her strengths lied.

"Hey, Shinjiro."

Rosemary's greeting slightly startled Shinjiro, and he responded with a glare. She didn't seem bothered by it and simply gave him a tiny smile in response. He sighed as motioned towards the stair he was sitting on. He would appreciate the company. He looked at the Jack Frost doll in her arms and was slightly curious.

"I was at the arcade with a few friends," She muttered, "It was fun, but not my type of scene."

"Your days going well then," He commented.

"It's even better now that I get to talk to you," She said without thinking.

His expression became surprised before his cheeks gained the slightest hint of pink to them. He didn't look at her and slightly slouched over to hide his embarrassment. She had to say that out loud?

"Did you have to say it out loud and here of all places?" He asked her in disbelief.

"Yes." She answered with a slight nod.

She was missing a social cue there, but damn it. Her reaction was cute. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. He couldn't say anything to refute her words because he honestly felt the same. It was nice to talk to her, it was nice to talk to someone who treated him like normal and wasn't scared of him. He didn't want that to change.

"I didn't peg you as someone who liked cute shit," He commented, and her cheeks turned a light pink.

"Why does everyone say that?" She muttered in confusion.

"Because of your demeanor," He answered, "That and you always dress formally."

"I see," She said in thought.

He gave a slight smile at that. It made finding her things a lot easier. He looked at the lanyard that held onto her MP3 player, yeah that should've been a dead give away that she liked cute things. How did he miss that? He hadn't been looking close enough, that's how. He gave a quiet huff at that and that caught her attention. He waved off her slight concern and confusion, it wasn't anything important. He enjoyed the quiet companionship that she brought with her, there was no judgment with her. He watched as she looked up towards the sky to try and gauge the time without resorting to her MP3 player.

He clenched at his chest when pain blossomed there. Castor was fighting for freedom again. He couldn't lose control, not now. Rosemary turned to him in surprise and deep concern. She didn't look scared, but he wanted her to get out of the area anyway. Who the hell was he kidding? She was as stubborn as Aki and would refuse to leave him alone even if it would be for her safety. This was why he shouldn't even think about having a relationship, he could end up hurting her. He'd never forgive himself if he did. She moved closer to him and he moved back.

Rosemary clenched her jaw and looked at Shinjiro. He looked to be in serious pain, he was clutching at his chest and sweat was rolling down his face. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, he kept warning her away, but he was also aware that she would refuse to leave him. She could hear a second voice inside his head, and it was getting louder. That had to be his persona, Castor. She felt a frown appear on her face. Castor was angry at his summoner for being unable to control him and for restraining him with the pills that were slowly killing him. A persona was the extension of a person's latent thoughts, she understood that much. It baffled her that the two of them would be at such odds, though it made more sense in Shinjiro's case. Castor had been the cause of an accidental death and had caused destruction.

She felt her blood run cold when Castor made his appearance. His long blonde hair and face reminded her of Polydeuces, but the coloring of his armor was darker with more blacks and dark greys. He even had a horse, which shouldn't have grabbed her attention as much as the lance that was protruding from his chest. She barely reacted when that lance headed right towards her. Arms wrapped around her figure and she was pulled out of the way.

"You should've run," Shinjiro's strained voice told her.

"I refuse to leave you," She informed him after breaking her focus from Castor, "He's so…loud compared to the other persona's."

He'd ask later, but now he wanted to restrain Castor. He reached into his pocket to grab his pills and Castor let out a loud screech. He noted that Rosemary was giving him a conflicted look. He pulled on her arm and moved her out of Castor's path again. She ended up behind him, a hand on the back of his coat. He was pulled from that observation by the pain in his chest returning.

Rosemary was horrified as Shinjiro was brought to his knees. Castor was turning his sights on his summoner and she didn't know what she could do to stop him. She felt her heart drumming in her chest as she pulled Shinjiro back from a lance attack. He was heavier than he looked. No wonder he'd been able to move her with ease. Icarus started to whisper in the back of her head through the beginning stages of panic.

'Use me, I can help.'

That was all well and said, but she didn't know how to have Icarus help. Mitsuru could use her magic when her anger reached its peak, but freezing Castor wasn't going to help, and it could hurt the person she was trying to protect. She moved forward and grabbed Shinjiro as the lance was about to come down on his head. It nicked her arm instead, she grimaced slightly and quietly asked Icarus for help.

It happened when she had to tackle him to move him a final time. She could feel the familiar sensation of calling on Icarus and could hear Castor's confusion through his blind rage. She had been able to make a shield to block the attack, though she felt exhausted maintaining it. Icarus was doing something else that she couldn't quite pick up, she could tell that it was using her energy to do so. She was getting so tired; it was hard to focus on maintaining the shield. She had to make sure that it wouldn't shatter after another attack from Castor.

Shinjiro watched as Castor tried to get through the shield that Rosemary had created. He could hear her breathing becoming strained as she continued to hold it up against the attack. He was about to tell her to stop and get out of the area when Castor disappeared. He could still feel his persona, but it felt as though something else had forcibly restrained it. The shield came down and Rosemary slumped against his shoulder. She was still awake but was struggling to remain so.

"This is why you shouldn't be around me," He told her as he moved so that she wouldn't fall to the ground.

"I don't care," She muttered as she tried to move so she could look him in the eyes, but her body refused to listen.

"…Here," He softly said as he slowly got up to his feet, he was able to bring her along.

She was so light. He sat her down on the stair they'd been sitting on before Castor decided to make an appearance. She looked completely drained, her eyes barely open as her breathing leveled out. He needed to give Akihiko a call to come and get her, but first, he wanted to wrap her arm. He felt the guilt bubbling in his stomach at the sight of the cut on her arm. He was dangerous and had caused her harm due to his inability to control Castor. He brought out his handkerchief and gently wrapped her arm up with it. He was waiting for her to say something. He looked up and his expression became one of disbelief. She'd fallen asleep on him.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Of all the things she could've done, falling asleep was not what he'd guess. Did she not realize that he was dangerous to be around? She probably didn't care; she knew what could happen but still came around to talk to him. He didn't get her, he really didn't. He saw a flash of white in his peripheral and turned to see her jack frost doll sitting on the stair above them. How the hell did it get there? He felt that he was better off not knowing. He picked it up and placed it on her lap, she frowned a bit in her sleep, but it quickly vanished as her left arm came up to wrap around it.

"You are such trouble," He muttered, and a slight grimace appeared on his face.

She saved his ass, though he didn't doubt that he would've been able to take his pills if she hadn't been there. Castor was still there, but he felt subdued. He usually felt like that after taking one of the suppressants. Something landed on his shoulder and he spared Rosemary a glance as she used him as a pillow. A shield huh? He gathered that the sudden suppression had been a shield of sorts that was inward. He'd have to ask her when she woke up. First, he wanted to send a message to Akihiko that she was fine. Her phone was kept in her front pocket, and he didn't want to remove it while she was sleeping. That felt wrong. It also helped that Mitsuru drilled the idea of consent into his and Akihiko's heads when SEES first began. He gently shook her shoulder and got a small hum out of her.

"Can I borrow your phone?" He asked her, "I want to send a message to Aki that you're okay."

"…Yeah, go ahead," She answered in English as she groggily reached for her pocket.

He understood the 'yeah', but nothing else. It sounded nice. Her phone was pressed into his hand and he accepted it. He flipped it open as she went back to sleep. This time she had wrapped an arm around his and was trying to get comfortable. He tensed up, and looked down at her. He wasn't going to allow himself to relax until he had taken some of his pills.

"I'm not really asleep Y'know," She informed him, "Ask any questions you want."

"How did you suppress Castor?" He asked and she turned her head to look at him, her cheek was pressed into his shoulder.

"Icarus did it," She answered with a slight frown, "They just used what I could already do before gaining them, Castor had thoughts beyond blind rage and Icarus used them."

She wasn't even sure; he could tell by the slight frown on her face. She didn't refute that thought but winced in pain. She tightened her grip on his arm and went back to just laying against him. That was weird.

"The sounds of thoughts right now are extremely loud," She muttered, "Don't worry about it, it'll go back to normal."

Rosemary felt Shinjiro move as he sent a message to Akihiko on her phone. If he retracted his arm, then she'd willingly release it. She was just glad he was all right. Her phone was handed back to her and she put it back into her pocket. She was a bit surprised when his hand gently grabbed hers. His mind was a torrent of thought, and as much as the sudden increase of volume hurt her head, she listened to make sure that he knew she didn't blame him for what happened. He was, he was blaming himself.

"I don't blame you," She quietly told him.

"You should," He grumbled as he looked away to the side in embarrassment.

They were closer now than they had been before he lost whatever control he artificially had. Right now, she was his priority as an apology for getting her injured. She gently squeezed his hand at that, and he felt his shoulders slump. Man, he sometimes hated how forgiving she was towards him. He didn't deserve it and he didn't know why she was. She couldn't even forgive her own family.

"My family is a special case, and you know it," She said to him and he had to agree, "What happened now was an accident and thus I don't blame you…thank you for pulling me out of the way of danger, I didn't really notice the attack at first."

"…Don't thank me…" He muttered.

She shook her head slightly at that and looked down at the Jack Frost doll. He was still clean and in pristine condition. It was strange. Hopefully, it wasn't the real deal. She didn't know what she would do if a real Jack Frost decided to hang around in doll form. Would it even get along with Mochi? Could she call it a pet? Those were questions she could ask later.

"Do you still need someone to sign a contract to get you out of your parent's grasp?" He asked, he was changing the topic completely.

She didn't answer and he looked at her expression. There was that stubborn nature that he was used to. She didn't want him to get involved but knew that he already was by confessing her feelings to him. She didn't know what she was going to do about Ken. Did she not tell him? While that would work, she'd feel guilty about keeping things from him. She sighed before giving a slight nod.

"If your aunt ever comes to visit, point me in her direction," He said and she looked at him in surprise, "It gets you out of danger and keeps Ken safe as well…besides if something happens to me then the contract won't be negated, right?"

"Yes, how did you learn so much about it?" She asked.

"Mitsuru was going through something similar, but she conceded and allowed the contract to be formed," He answered, "It never made much sense to me."

"I get it," She admitted, "There's a certain loyalty that's instilled for the head of a family, she loves her father and it's obvious he cares about her as well…but she doesn't know what it will entail for her company if she breaks the contract."

"What will happen to yours?" He asked.

"Nothing, but it will serve to sever my father's ability to keep my mother out of prison," She answered, "Once a contract is broken, especially with the circles they were in, people believe to think someone is untrustworthy."

There was a bit of politics going on with the contracts. She knew them rather well, something she had to. Her father, though he didn't pay any attention to her whatsoever, made sure she had similar business teachings as her brother did. She was a spare, someone to keep around in case something happened to his male heir. Sumire was a surprise for everyone, but she had started etiquette lessons to learn to be a proper lady. Her little sister was going to be trained to be the future wife of a rich man. That truly bothered her.

"There's a lot of first-world problems," She muttered, and he raised a brow at that, "Er…sorry just got lost in thought there."

"Right."

They sat together until she had the strength to stand up again. His hand never really left hers. He felt slightly embarrassed by the fact that a few people were whispering about them. Several seemed to think that she was being coerced into a relationship with him, while others went down a more intimate route. He easily fought the blush from his face, but the same could not be said for the girl next to him. She resembled a tomato with how red hers got.

"Hey, you all right?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," She said as she quickly cleared her throat to make sure she didn't squeak.

He stared at her, his mind blank. She didn't wilt under his stare and instead tilted her head in a questioning manner. He eventually looked away and that made her even more confused. She knew he wasn't having a stroke, but he was keeping his thoughts blank for a reason. She respected his right to privacy, but couldn't help but be curious. She held back, knowing he would appreciate it if she went forward with reading his mind.

He saw her all the way to the station, and she gave him a stiff hug before heading onto the monorail. He was just as stiff about receiving a hug as she was giving one. She could do small hugs, like grasping his arm or hugging Ken, but she was uncomfortable trying to give him a full hug. It had nothing to do with him, she really liked him it was something her parents and the nuns did. She had been smacked with a ruler too many times and had the importance of physical distancing drilled into her mind. She sat on a seat and pulled out her phone, sending a quick message to her aunt as the monorail sailed over the sea.

"You actually found someone?" She wasn't going to lie, her aunt's words hurt a little bit. "That was not how I meant it to come out, sorry. Does this person happen to be an Aragaki Shinjiro?"

"How the hell did you guess that?" Was her response.

"Your grandmother informed me about him and listed him as a reason as to why I shouldn't intervene in your life…apparently he's wrapped around your finger. Anyway, he sounded like a good kid he better treat you right. I'll visit with Yosuke during the festival."

She sent her understanding and contemplated how crazy life had gotten. If she had continued to be closed off, to not have the potential to use her persona would she have ended up meeting Shinjiro? Would she even have any friends? She didn't know, there were too many variables. She ran a hand through her hair and ignored the slight pain in her fingers. She hadn't even noticed it before due to the adrenaline that had grown when Castor first appeared. She closed her eyes as a flash of the persona's thoughts went through her head. What caused Castor to be so difficult to control in the first place? She knew that Shinjiro was a natural persona user, so there shouldn't be so much difficulty. She frowned slightly and opened her eyes to look at her phone again. It was late, only a few hours until midnight. She hoped that Akihiko wouldn't get angry at her. Shinjiro was simple in his text, she was spending time with him. It said nothing but that.

Akihiko's response of 'ok' was enough to cause her to slightly smile. He was such a dork without meaning to be. She enjoyed that part of his personality, he was usually so uptight. It was nice to see him relax a bit. The only time she sees him like this is during boxing when he's focused on winning. He usually holds back when it's against her so that she could build up technique instead of just pure strength. Not many people would do that.

The monorail came to a stop and she happily got off and started to walk to the dorm. She sighed and tried to let the events of the day go and relax a bit. It was a cool summer's night, which was rare. It wasn't as humid as it had been the previous week. She heard the last chirpings of the cicada's and spared a glance towards the trees. She hadn't seen one in years; the European cicadas were endangered. The last time she could even recall hearing one was one summer when she was helping her grandmother garden. She frowned at that memory, the resentment that came with it was palpable. She turned her attention to the dorm in front of her. Yet, her mind wouldn't let the past go. She knew that she needed to face it, but she was a coward.

"Welcome back," Ken greeted her as she walked into the foyer.

"It's good to be back," She said, "So, what's new today?"

"Soccer practice went longer than I thought it would," He admitted, and she noted that he had a bandage on his cheek, "I was wiped out by another teammate, but he apologized."

"Are you having fun?" She asked as she sat down next to him at the foyer table.

"Yeah," He nodded a bright smile on his face.

She gave him a small one in response and noted that he was currently doing his homework. He didn't need her help but knew she'd happily oblige if he did. She talked with him a bit longer, just trivial things like how his schoolwork was going, before ruffling his hair and heading up to her room. He didn't even get to ask her what was with the doll in her arms. It was strange to see her with one.

Jack Frost went right on her desk. Mochi looked up from her spot on her bed and gave her owner a glare for waking her up. A small smooch to the head didn't alleviate that glare. Rosemary wisely backed off from her cat musing how spoiled she was from everyone giving her attention. She changed into a pair of pajamas and sat down at her desk to do her homework. She wasn't about to have her grades slip due to negligence. The second years hadn't sat down and did a study group together, everyone was busy and had quite a bit on their minds. She understood and would gladly get everyone together if they wanted it.

She went to sleep with everything done and a feeling that she'd pass her exams. At least, she hoped that she'd pass them. She didn't even want to think about the likelihood that she'd fail. She was too stubborn to let that happen, but she'd never resort to cheating.