A.N. (11/9/20) - Midterms are killing me. Enjoy the chapter!

DNAngel (11) - Rank Up

Talking with Misaki last night was quite fun, and Nagi found out that he was finally used to the aftereffects of the Dark Hour. No chance of getting sick anymore either - and that might be because Mr. Unicorn did something to help him get used to it quicker.

...did he seriously refer to the unicorn with mister? Seriously, as names go it really needs something else to go by.

Maybe he should do something to repay it. What would make a good present for a unicorn? Food? What do unicorns even eat? Misaki's a bit easier to find gifts for in that regard. On that note, Nagi made sure to remember that Misaki wanted to try some new sweets next time they met.

It was during the tram ride to school that Nagi found himself sitting next to someone quite unexpected.

"You're… Fujikawa-kun right?"

A curious Risa Harada stared at him. Also, she got his name wrong. Probably from her sister, if Nagi had to guess.

Damn you Riku.

"It's… actually Kujikawa." And suddenly, he recalled everything he's talked about with the elder Harada. "I'll just say it now. I'm not Dark, I'm naturally blond, and I'm native-born. Any rumors saying otherwise are wrong."

She gave him a weird look. "That… wasn't what I was wondering, but thank you for the clarification?" She shook her head. "I was just wondering… you're friends with Niwa-kun, right?"

Oh… it's that kind of conversation.

"Uh, yeah. I'm friends with Daisuke." Even though they don't really hang out much, due to Daisuke being tired from late-night heists. At most, they talk to each other during break and lunch.

"Do you have any idea why Niwa-kun seems to be acting strangely?" She frowned as she put on a thoughtful look. "I'm not sure why, but recently Niwa's been avoiding me whenever I try to talk to him. And for some reason, he's always running off during the middle of our conversations. I'm not sure what to make of it."

Abort, abort, abort! This is definitely not the kind of thing you want to talk about.

"W-Well, can you give a specific example?"

"Well yesterday, I thanked him for helping me with something important and he seemed really happy at first. Then suddenly his face turned sad. Then I asked him to promise that we would be friends forever, and he suddenly ran off to the bathroom without answering."

Oh, this poor sweet innocent soul is already a heartbreaker at such a young age, playing with Daisuke's feelings without knowing it. She must never know of the power she possesses.

"That sounds weird. Maybe he's just nervous around you."

"Nervous?" Her head tilted to the side.

"Have you ever had a close male friend before?" She shook her head no. "There's usually a big difference between having a friend that's the same gender as you and having a friend that's the opposite. Sometimes, that difference makes people nervous when interacting with someone of the opposite gender, even if they're close friends."

"Really?" She hummed. "I never thought of it that way."

"It's the same for me too." Nagi thought about it for a moment and decided to clarify. "I used to have a female friend that I was nervous around too." Not in this life though, but rather, his previous life. "It wasn't for any big reason. I just felt like it was a bit harder to talk to her about things compared to my male friends."

"Like what?"

Nagi shifted awkwardly. "Just… stupid stuff. You know how there are some things that boys don't tell girls, and girls don't tell boys. It's was something like that, and since I wasn't really great at knowing what to say, it strained our friendship when I couldn't find something to talk to her about."

Of course, he was just talking about generalities. In the first place, the two of them were actually friends of a friend. While Nagi was friendly with the girl whenever they met, they never really attempted to grow any closer than necessary.

There were a lot of other reasons why he wasn't comfortable talking with her. He was an introverted shy boy who only interacted with a limited set amount of friends for the majority of his whole life. Let alone a girl, he had trouble talking to just about anyone who he hasn't known for a long time.

And then he got into college and learned all about the various complexities of human relationships outside the expectations of his high school self. There's this one saying he's heard from his previous life's dad where you don't pay to go to college for just the education, but also the experience. Meeting and befriending a bunch of people who didn't exactly conform to the cultural norm in various ways, learning more about LGBT, getting used to various topics and ideas about gender relations that he's never encountered before.

Of course, having died young, he wasn't exactly an expert on human life experiences. Even living a second life, there are always problems like this that he has no idea what to do.

Her face showed a bit of confusion. "That sounds a bit lonely. Why can't boys and girls be normal friends?"

'Because sometimes, relationships can become more complicated. Especially when love gets involved,' he wanted to say. After all, he knew that Daisuke had a crush on Risa. He knew why Daisuke was having trouble accepting the idea of just being friends with the girl he was in love with.

Instead, he shrugged. "Who knows. There are probably a ton of people who are great friends, even if they're the opposite gender. I think it's important that the people somehow learn to work through such problems and become greater friends despite the challenges."

The tram stopped, and both of them quickly left the tram cart as the crowd began to exit. Once they were in an open area, Risa spoke.

"I'm gonna talk to Niwa-kun today. Niwa's always been there for me, and I want to thank him for everything that he's done." She held up something wrapped in a pink cloth. "In fact, I was planning on giving him a homemade lunch I made in order to thank him."

Wow, that boy is gonna be one happy— wait? Isn't her cooking… oh, never mind. Hope Daisuke has a strong stomach.

"That sounds great," Nagi lied. "I hope he loves your cooking."

"Me too." She began to move ahead until she stopped and turned around. "You know, if Niwa-kun and I can be good friends, then I don't see why we can't be friends either."

Nagi paused when she said that.

"...sure, why not?" Nagi didn't see anything wrong with that. Holding out his hand, he gave her a smile. "Then to the start of our friendship, Harada-san."

She took his hand and shook it. "And to you too, Fujikawa-kun."

A sigh escaped Nagi's lips. "That name will never leave me now, will it?"

She giggled at that. "Nope!"

As the two parted ways, a strange feeling came from Nagi's chest. Feeling something change inside of him, Nagi suddenly felt the feather in his chest glow brighter as it grew slightly. As it dimmed, Nagi noted that it seemed different somehow. Like it grew... stronger.

"Wait a moment," Nagi finally realized something. "Oh my gosh, how did I not realize it. The Persona series is literally based on the idea of improving the bonds a person makes with others in order to grow stronger as a person."

He groaned in his hands.

"I don't need a weapon, my friends are my power," he quoted. "Of course, make the introverted boy force himself to get along with everyone if he wants to survive the Dark Hour. Just great."

Well, at least he finally has a hint now on how to get a Persona.

Honestly, this chapter isn't exactly something I felt was my best. I'm not great at dealing with semi-serious topics, and this kinda went away from what I had in mind.

This chapter takes place during the middle of episode 4, which you can tell by how I included Risa's homemade lunch. I skipped the events of episode 3 because of Nagi's actions causing a big enough butterfly effect that made it so that Misaki didn't need to kidnap other girls to her painting. This is only one example of the changes I'm gonna make to the DNAngel storyline.