A/N: There might not be an update on Friday, I got bogged down with readings from one of my classes. Not only that but I'm going to take a break from this story and work on a different OC story for this series. I just got a bit burned out with this story, oddly enough it's due to biting off more than I can chew, which is on me. I'll update this story as often as I can.


35


Group Date Café 2

"A new floor, huh?" Chie muttered as she frowned at the pink surrounding them, "Looks like there's still a long way to go."

"There's no sense in dwelling on what waits ahead," Yuu commented with a small smile, "let's just keep going."

"Right," Chie nodded.

Yosuke quietly stepped up to her and she gave him a shy smile. He was an idiot, but she was fond of this idiot. He looked around with a slight frown as they all began to slowly move through the new floor. They found the possible exit door so that meant it was going to take them a while to get back to this previous point. It was an annoyance, but it needed to be done so they could part ways and go home.

Rosemary stared at the passageways that they passed and frowned, they couldn't use them from this area, at least not yet. There was no entrance on their side. She brought a hand up to her chin in thought and continued to scrutinize the passageways. Rings, they just had to be in the shape of rings. She wondered if there was a significance to it. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, no she was overthinking it. She seemed to be doing that more often.

"The floors moving," Chie said, and she looked at the floors in front of them.

"Yeah, it is," Shinjiro agreed as he looked at it with a slight frown, "I guess it'll carry you if you stand on it."

"Sort of like the ones at the really big train stations," Chie stated in thought.

"Are there no moving walkways in Inaba?" Mitsuru asked.

"No, it's pretty rural." Chie answered before gaining an excited smile on her face, "Can we ride it?"

"We should proceed with caution, there's no telling what could be waiting," Mitsuru sighed.

Were all second years this brash? She noticed that when the two groups of second years got together, they somehow influenced each other to do something foolish. She knew that Rosemary would never act as foolishly as she had on the last floor, then again, she never could pinpoint what the taller girl was thinking. She spared a quick glance towards the teen in question and watched as she studied the moving platform. Teddie bumped into her and put her onto it. She rode on it with an unamused expression and she heard Yosuke chuckling.

"Does this happen often?" Mitsuru asked the fawn haired boy.

"Believe it or not, she and Teddie definitely don't get along," He answered with a wry smile, "something about the way he thinks bothers her, but she's usually polite so I doubt he notices."

"It's a hard skill to get down," Chie said with a slight smile, "trust me, once you get used to him you start to get angrier."

"It's a good thing that May-Senpai isn't violent in nature," Yukiko stated a smile tugging at her lips, "though her persona is different from the one we've seen her use."

Mitsuru observed as Shinjiro discreetly listened in. She wondered what made him so curious about the future. A small frown appeared on her face as several possibilities ran through her thoughts. She turned her attention towards Ken and watched as he went on the platform to meet with his guardian. Could it be that he exacted his revenge? The thought made a cold shiver run down her spine. She needed to speak to him immediately and defuse the situation before anyone else was hurt.

"There are more moving platforms over here," Rosemary's voice brought her out of her musings, "it seems like they could end up being useful."

"She would say that," Shinjiro muttered before stepping onto the platform and heading over.

"Shinjiro-san, did they send you over?" Ken asked in a polite tone.

"…No, they were taking too long," Shinjiro answered before scratching the back of his head and turning to Rosemary, "apparently, that Teddie pulls the same things even in the future."

"I had a feeling that was the case, Yo-Chan was too amused by it," She huffed, and she crossed her arms across her chest.

"I think he's interesting," Ken quietly admitted.

"He is, but his behavior isn't the best," She sighed and slouched slightly.

Ken nodded his agreement; he may be a kid but even he noticed the girl's discomfort when Teddie said something he believed was flirtatious. He smiled up at his guardian and she smiled back, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. She was slowly being surrounded by her favorite people; she was quite happy. Akihiko and Yosuke joined them, and her smile changed to something fonder as her body completely relaxed.

"There's a door over there, I'm guessing that's where we're going next?" Yosuke asked.

"That's a distinct possibility," Rosemary quietly said, and he shot her a slight pout.

The rest of their party joined them, and they headed through the door. The room before them was filled with more moving platforms. They rode one of them towards a door and Minato spared a couple of shadows a blank look when they ambushed the group. Mitsuru took them out with a glare on her face. She wasn't taking any prisoners in this fight anymore. They went through another door and came across a dead end. It was tiring running into constant dead ends, but they needed to find the stairs to go down. Yosuke brought a hand up to scratch at the back of his head in slight frustration.

"Another dead end," He grumbled.

"Where we drifted was a dead end," Teddie said, "that is the epitome of love."

"How does that describe our situation at all?" Shinjiro questioned with a frown.

"I can just tell! This place is filled with the ABCs of love!" Teddie answered.

"Then what's the deal with these moving walkways?" Shinjiro countered.

"They signify letting things take their own course," Teddie said, his voice confident, "I think."

"Reaching a dead end by letting things take their own course, that makes sense, in a way," Naoto said.

"Don't listen to him, the only thing he's letting take its own course is his weird-ass thought patterns," Yosuke huffed, "and that's not an insult to you May, he gets weirder."

She raised a brow at him before shrugging. She wasn't going to say anything, she was aware her thoughts got weird. She looked around the room and noted that across from them, in an area they couldn't get to, there was a power spot. Shadows were starting to get restless; she could hear their screeching rising in volume. She felt sweat gathering at her hairline due to the sound. She hated it, it was grating and made shivers go down her spine. They began to move and a hand on the small of her back brought her some comfort. She looked behind her towards a stone-faced Shinjiro and noted that he was taking more chances than usual to be affectionate. His cool hand was a calming presence.

They were stuck moving back and forth in the other room, trying to figure out where to go. Naoto, Mitsuru, and Rosemary were staring at the platforms in a contemplative way as they attempted to figure out the best route to go. They all went in different ways, so they needed to mark which one went where. It was a small break for the rest of the group as they watched the three girls attempt to figure it out through quiet conversation.

"There is some good news for you, stray lambs," Their friend the mechanical voice announced, "the next selection from of destiny is five steps away, you consider whether it is best to come, or not come; proceed or remain in place."

"That's pretty vague," Shinjiro commented and Zen nodded his agreement.

"Well, seems we can't stop now," Akihiko said as the girls finally figured it out and marked it on the map they had borrowed from Minato.

They hurried across the platforms and were able to get through the door that led them to the next "room of destiny". No one was looking forward to the strange questions that were going to be asked of them. Minato rubbed the back of his head in thought, any one of his friends could be in danger due to this. He'd like to be paired with Mitsuru, but didn't put much stock into that. Knowing his luck, he'd most likely get paired with Rosemary or Shinjiro. He heard a soft sniff next to him and looked down at Koromaru. Would this labyrinth pair him with a dog? He ignored that thought and went into the room with everyone else.

"The stray lambs have arrived, help on this new floor as well," The voice greeted them.

"Wait a second, could you tell us what exactly you are?" Naoto questioned.

"You have passed through the second question of death, and emerged as heroes who still venture forth," The voice said, acting as if a question hadn't been asked of it, "in honor of this, a third question has been prepared. Steel yourselves before you answer."

"It's no use, it doesn't seem interested in conversation," Naoto sighed.

"It's a bit rude, actually," Rosemary frowned, glaring up at the ceiling where the voice was emanating from.

"You would," Akihiko muttered in amusement.

"Now then, here is question number three," the voice announced, "What kind of older lady do you like?"

"One good at looking after others," Minato said, and Rosemary tilted her head.

"Interesting choice," Rosemary commented as the chains on the door vanished.

He shrugged and they headed out of the room. She was a bit older than them, having a birthday that was early in the year. She was seventeen to their sixteen, though there were some birthdays coming up. He was answering the questions in a way that wouldn't upset anyone, at least he hoped they wouldn't. He was not going to choose sides. Mitsuru took a spot next to him and he sent her the softest of smiles. She had a light pink flush to her cheeks, and she refused to meet his eyes, she was showing that she understood in her own way. Naoto studied Aigis with a keen eye and wondered if the girl was actually a robot. Blue eyes moved to the side and gave her a blank look. She felt a little embarrassed at having been caught staring and looked down. Aigis cocked her head to the side.

"How may I help you?" She asked and Naoto jumped slightly.

"Given the structure of your joints and your equipment, are you…" Naoto trailed off.

"I am Aigis, the last of the anti-shadow suppression weapons, I am a humanoid weapon," Aigis confirmed.

"So, you really are a robot! What incredible technology!" Naoto exclaimed as she further studied the robot.

"I can see why you two get along in the future," Shinjiro muttered to Rosemary.

She blushed at that and looked to the side in embarrassment. It wasn't really her fault that she loved science fiction. Robots were so cool, and the fact that she knew one made her incredibly happy. Naoto quietly poked Aigis's face, after getting permission from the robot, and Aigis gave a terminology that few were familiar with. Poink. Rosemary watched as Shinjiro pulled down on his beanie to hide his eyes, and the tips of his ears.

"That doesn't sound right," He muttered as they headed through another door.

"It does sound like an allegory for something dirty," Rosemary agreed.

He flushed at her words and she soon followed suit. Right, she was seeing all his thoughts. All of them, even the dirty ones that he kept tight control over. She brought a hand up and pressed it against her mouth in thought as she tried to move away from his thoughts. Sometimes the things he thought made her heartbeat increase, and she didn't know how to deal with it. They looked at each other and had trouble keeping eye contact. The room they found themselves in had an FOE, though this one was colored in pink and blue compared to the golden one.

"It must be fashionable," Rei commented.

"As someone who looks horrible in pinks, I'll take your word for it," Rosemary said with a slight tilt of her head.

Rei gave her a bright smile and she shyly shuffled towards Ken. Koromaru let out a sound that was oddly amused. She picked up the Shiba and got a lick to the face. She was going to carry him around because she could. He rested his paws on her shoulder and placed his head on them, she was giving him a small break. Shinjiro watched with a soft smile on his face, he let it drop when Yuu looked over at him. The smug second year smirked at him and he narrowed his eyes. They went around the FOE in groups when they noticed that it moved faster than the previous one.

"Woah!" Kanji exclaimed as an arrow flew into the group lead by Rosemary.

"Are you guys all right?" Rise and Fuuka asked at the same time.

"Yeah," Rosemary answered, "just a bit surprised, it moved right as we were stepping to the side."

"It seems a bit…" Kanji murmured as his cheeks flushed.

She was confused before it hit her as well. Her cheeks became a bright red as the rest of her group became flustered. It didn't take long for the others to regroup with them and look at them in complete confusion. Minato brought his hand up and slapped Rosemary out of it. Yuu did the same for Kanji and a light pinch to the cheek was able to snap Ken out of it.

"Live long," He said, and she gave him an amused look as she rubbed at her cheek.

"Sometimes I think you enjoy that," She said, and he smirked slightly.

She shook her head in amusement as they headed through the door and away from the FOE, no one wanted to chance another accident. The FOE made those that had been hit by the arrow shudder in disgust before moving closer to the group. Ken gave it a glare as he stood as close to his guardian as he could without keying the others in on his discomfort. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze before releasing it and holding onto her naginata with a tight grip. They journeyed right into another dead end, much to their rising annoyance.

"There's so many of these," Yosuke stated in an aggravated tone.

Rosemary sighed before silently agreeing with him. She narrowed her eyes as she moved around and checked the walls around them for anything that could be helpful. She felt a slight sense of fear when Fuuka offered to cook something for Yosuke. Did, did she never talk about the girl's lack of cooking skills to him? Or did she get better in the future? She was hoping for the latter. Shinjiro's thoughts echoed her own, and he was contemplating informing them of the potential danger. Koromaru whimpered at the idea of Fuuka cooking and those that knew of how bad she could be, winced in sympathy. They were quite glad to not have as sharp of a nose as Koromaru did. He could smell the death radiating from Fuuka's food. Somehow, she was able to have it continue to cook even without a heat source, it was fascinating yet terrifying.

Not even twenty minutes later they came across yet another dead end. This one had a chair with a pillow sitting on it. The light blue heart on the pillow was a nice change from the amount of pink surrounding them. Yukari stared at it with a frown, she couldn't tell what was bothering her about that spot. It was like something was off, but it wasn't connecting. It felt obvious.

"It feels like there's something out of place here," Yukari muttered.

"Oh, the pillow is blue compared to all the pink ones we've seen" Naoto informed her with a slight nod of her head.

"That's exactly what it is," Yukari said with a thankful smile, "it wasn't connecting at first."

They continued on their way, running into more and more shadows as they traveled further into the labyrinth. The enemies seemed to increase as they came closer to a door that was obviously a "room of destiny". Ken and Rosemary were able to keep the enemies away from their persons with their pole weapons and the others would finish the shadows off with their personas. The backpacks that Minato and Rosemary had were slowly filling the more they fought. Soon, Minato didn't have any room left in his and Rosemary was trying to keep her balance due to being unused to the heavyweight on her back. An axe came into her vision as it slammed into a lustful snake that was rushing towards her. She turned to look at Shinjiro, surprise on her face. His expression was blank and giving nothing away, his thoughts guarded and not giving her a single hint as to his actions. They finished their fight and hurried into the room, it was a nice reprise from the fighting and walking.

"The path ahead appears to still be long and arduous," The mechanical voice said, "you must impulsively, methodically pull the threads of destiny towards you."

"Did someone say thread? Just leave it to me!" Kanji said with a grin, his friends gave him a smile at that.

"Let's just hurry and get this over with," Junpei said, being the voice of reason for once.

"Now then, here is question number four," The voice announced, "What kind of club would you be interested in joining."

"The gardening club," Minato answered as he gave a light shrug, he was already a part of the club.

"Yes, I think we'll be getting a shipment of tulips soon," Rosemary muttered as she thought about the club, "are you going to join us for planting?"

"Of course," Minato smiled.

He got the distinct feeling that he was going to end up paired with her. He'd rather be paired up with someone that knew that there was nothing behind his answers. She gave him a nod of understanding and patted his shoulder. If there was a trap waiting for them at the end of all these questions, she had his back. She'd always have his back as long as he needed it. She turned her attention towards Shinjiro and noted the contemplative expression on his face. He was figuring out the plan as well. He looked to the side and let out a soft huff. He wasn't a big fan of the plan, but he'd try his best to support it. She walked up next to him and he relaxed a bit, yeah, he could support it. They stepped out of the room and a loud click echoed through the area.

"The sound originated north-northeast from here," Aigis informed them.

"So, near the stairs we came from." Shinjiro said as he frowned, "Probably another door's ready to be opened."

"Sh-Shin-chan, are you mad?" Rei nervously asked him as she saw his expression.

"Huh? I'm not mad," He informed her.

"But your voice is scary! And so is your face!" Rei informed him.

He was so glad that Rosemary had a better hold on her amusement as she bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing. She sent him an apologetic look and he sighed in disbelief. He hadn't done anything to deserve being insulted like this. He scratched the back of his head before responding.

"Oh…sorry, I'm always like this." He informed her, "I'm not mad or anything, so don't worry about it. And stop calling me Shin-chan."

'Don't even think about it,' He informed Rosemary through his thoughts.

"Okay! Thanks, Shin-chan," Rei smiled up at him, he sighed in response.

"You're not gonna stop, are you," He muttered, shaking his head in annoyance, "…Anyways. Let's hurry up and go."

They hurried to the door and were quite glad that the shadows weren't as hellbent on attacking them as they opened the newly unlocked doors. The investigation team didn't seem too surprised by the type of large shadow waiting for them, but SEES had yet to run into one that paraded about as a mustached king. It was a new type for them, and a bit annoying. They readied their weapons and blocked its first attack. A strange feeling went through them and no one really knew what to think about it.

"Be careful everyone, it has the ability to curse you," Fuuka warned.

"We'll let you know who was hit by it, don't attack," Rise added.

Rosemary nodded her understanding as she shared a look with the two other wildcards. She brought her evoker out and summoned Themis, they were going to need shields. She blinked when Minato's Agidyne caused it to fall back on the ground. Those that could do fire spells, and weren't cursed, were performing them. The shadow was weak to fire of all things. Knowing that the fight didn't take as long as they thought it would. Rosemary's shields vanished and she let out a sound of relief before Kanji cheered with a wide grin on his face.

"We won!" He cheered.

"Excellent leadership as always," Mitsuru complimented Minato, he nodded at her.

They found the stairs the moment they walked through the door ahead of them. They decided on taking a short break before heading back to restock on their supplies. Koromaru's tail was wagging like crazy as attention fell to him. The girls on the investigation team were happy to see a younger version of the Shiba that sometimes followed their senpai around when she had visitors.

"C'mere, Koro-chan!" Chie cooed at the Shiba, he rushed up to her and sat down so she could scratch him behind the ears, "He's so smart! All my Muku ever does is drool everywhere!"

"It seems he likes you very much, Chie-San," Aigis informed her as Koromaru barked something, "he's asking for you to pet his head more."

"…Do you understand dog language?" Yuu asked as Chie continued to pet Koromaru.

"I do not understand their language, but I can communicate with them," Aigis said, confusing the teen.

"That's amazing!" Yukiko exclaimed.

Yuu and Rosemary shared a look. She had both confirmed and denied the fact that she understood Koromaru. They didn't know if that was a joke or not. Knowing Aigis she most likely didn't realize that she had given an answer that was confusing. Yukari gave a quiet sigh as she watched the two thought about it. She had the feeling that Rosemary was going to cause trouble in the future.

"People who have dogs can usually tell what they mean," Chie said with raised brows as she turned to Yukiko.

"Same with cats," Rosemary added, "Mochi is pretty easy to figure out."

"Your cat is a demon who only likes you," Yosuke muttered.

"She also likes Ken and Akihiko," Rosemary huffed.

"Muku always asks about meat," Chie said with a grin towards the bluenette.

"I think somethings lost in translation," Yosuke teased the smaller girl who gave him a halfhearted glare.

"We've got someone who speaks bowl-lingual as well," Junpei grinned as he moved into the conversation, "look over there."

"Dammit," Akihiko grumbled, "Is there no Umiushi here?"

"Wait, you mean the beef bowl shop?" Shinjiro questioned with a frown before shooting his friend a look of disbelief, "Like hell, we'll find one here."

"Today was their special beef bowl day," Akihiko muttered.

Rosemary gave a quiet laugh at that and he sent her a glare. She wasn't affected by it and looked away in amusement. She wasn't about to get into an argument with him over something as silly as a beef bowl. Yosuke shook his head at that as Chie's mouth watered in hunger. Koromaru rushed towards Rosemary and she stumbled back as she caught him. He had a bad habit of jumping up on her, not that she was complaining.

"Why Sengoku-era generals?" Yuu muttered as they listened to Yukiko question Chie on her dog's name.

"Who knows," Yosuke sighed, "can I hold Koro-chan?"

Koromaru turned and looked at him and Yosuke blanched. He was getting a dirty look from a dog! Koromaru usually liked him, what did he do? Koromaru's expression cleared up and his tongue came out of his mouth as a hand started to scratch behind his ears. Everyone wanted to pet Koromaru, except for Teddie. Teddie was a bit jealous by the affection being given to the Shiba. He was about to say something when a shiver went down his spine. He couldn't help but wonder where the oppressive feeling was coming from. He looked towards Rosemary and he tilted his head. It wasn't her, no it was Shinjiro who was daring him to say something. He gulped and wisely shut his mouth. Kanji came up and scratched Koromaru behind the ears and grinned at how fluffy the Shiba was.

"Let's head back and replenish our supplies," Mitsuru announced and they did just that.

The smell of festival food hit their noses and they all relaxed as they stepped out of the labyrinth. They split up as the wild cards went to take care of business, they were followed by their significant others. Shinjiro watched as the three conversed about different personas and shared a look with Naoto. She was quietly talking with Mitsuru. He heard a soft laugh from in front of him and he watched as Yuu grinned, Minato giving his own smile. He liked that they were getting along, but he was quick to claim her attention after everything was sold to Theo and they had new equipment. He took her to get something sweet.

"It's a good thing we've been walking around and fighting," She quietly said before taking a small bite out of the cookie.

"I think Takeba would agree with you." He said and she smiled at him, "Are you positive that your plan will work?"

"It should," She said with a slight frown, "I should've informed you before about it, I'm sorry."

He slightly nodded his head. He watched as Teddie ran down the hall, Koromaru quickly chasing after him. Rosemary looked just as confused as he felt but sighed and turned her attention to the cookie. It was a big one, something he had noticed Rei carrying. How she had so many snacks he would never know. He watched as Rosemary gained a contemplative expression.

"What if we forget everything that happens here?" She quietly questioned.

"You think we do?" He asked.

"Yes, I would've warned Yosuke about this," She admitted, "We both like knowing what's going on."

"It won't change anything," He said.

He knew what was bothering her. She believed that any progress they made in their relationship would be gone, he couldn't help but feel differently. He removed his right hand from his coat pocket and grabbed her left. She was brought out of her worried thoughts, a gentle smile slipping on her face. Her hand was warm compared to his, he felt like he was stealing her warmth. She let out a slight chuckle at that.

"Steal away," She quietly informed him, and he smirked at that.

He watched as Teddie came around the corner again, but tripped on one of the wooden boards. Rosemary looked at the blue bear with a blank expression that was slowly followed by a sigh. Just because Teddie saw them didn't mean that he was going to let go of her hand. He felt a weight on his shoulder and looked down, she decided to rest on him. He raised a brow at Teddie when started to titter at the sight.

"I knew it!" Teddie stated with a large smile on his face.

"It's not that big of a surprise to you," Rosemary muttered as she buried her face in Shinjiro's arm.

Teddie beamed at her and she turned a light pink and continued to hide her face. Shinjiro squeezed her hand and she returned it. He sent a glare towards Teddie and scared him off. She unhid her face and looked up at him. He felt his body tense at the expression on her face. The light pink cheeks and shy expression caused him to shift slightly in his spot. He leaned forward and kissed her, and she reciprocated. He pulled away after a few minutes and she gave a happy hum. She went to take a bite of her forgotten cookie and he moved in and took a small piece of it. It was sweeter than he thought it would be and she let out a soft laugh at his expression.

"It is extremely sweet," She agreed, "maybe I can make something a little less sweet at one of the booths."

He nodded at that. He'd join her because he knew that her cooking something would involve Fuuka. She was good at helping the teal haired girl cook, but even she couldn't work miracles. She gave his bicep a light tap and he looked to the side. He hadn't meant that to be insulting, more like pointing out a fact. Then again she seemed to be protective of her friends. She was also that way to him. Sometimes he wondered where that protective streak came from. He didn't have much to go on from her family, Yosuke was a bit protective but a bit goofier in his mannerisms. She wasn't anything like that.