A.N. (3/7/21) - New chapter, and a bit of a tease for something.

Persona (48) - To Saying No

Now, here's something you may not know about Nagi.

Nagi Kujikawa is an only child, his mother having died at a young age. However, that was not the case in his previous life, where he had a younger brother whom he was extremely close to.

The two of them used to sleep in the same bed for the first half of their life before they each got their own beds. And even then, they continued rooming together for a few more years before Nagi left for college.

What is being said here is that Nagi was used to sleeping with another familial presence in the room. The past decade and a half didn't make him forget that familiar sensation.

So Nagi wasn't surprised when he woke up in a tangle of limbs with both of his future selves. Negi was snoring loudly while Nagisa was drooling on top of him. And trapped between the two of them was the unfortunate Nagi.

Emphasis on trapped.

A giggling sound made Nagi struggle to turn his head in that direction. His gaze darkened as he noticed Rise, Kotone, Yukiko, and Chie watching him.

Help me, he mouthed towards them.

No, his cousin mouthed back. This is the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

He slumped his head into Negi's chest and heard the girls giggle again. Great, at least they were having fun.

But now that he was awake, he realized that there was something wrong. Like he was forgetting something...

He winced as he felt something in his chest hurt. Assuming that it was because he was currently being crushed between himselves, he began to wake them up.

"Both of you, get off of me right this instant!"

The two moaned in annoyance as Nagi started to kick at whatever limb was closest to him. It took about a minute or two before Nagisa finally decided to wake up.

Blinking sleepily, he looked at Nagi. "Oh, so that wasn't a weird fever dream I concocted up."

"Nope," Nagi popped the answer. "This is too crazy to be anything but reality. Now can you try and see if we can wake our eldest self up?"

Nagisa sighed. "Give me a minute."

The boy stood up and began to mutter something under his breath. To Nagi's shock, a brilliant blue feather suddenly appeared out of nowhere hovering above Nagisa's palm.

"Woah," he said.

"Cool right?" Nagisa gave a mischievous smirk as he pointed towards Negi. "Now watch this, Bufu."

"GWAAAHHHHH!" Negi gave a loud shrill scream as a layer of frost suddenly started to grow on his chest. Everyone else looked over to see what the commotion was, while the girls from before were outright laughing at that point.

The older Nagi jumped out of his futon and began shivering as he desperately tried to warm himself. "What the heck! Couldn't you just use an Amrita or something?!"

Nagisa only shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't want to bother anyone else." Though the smile on his face said otherwise. "And besides, it was a lot funnier this way."

Nagi snorted from where he was. Guess Nagisa had his inner child after all.

Negi just glared at the two of them. "That ain't cool, man. You never interrupt a guy's nap like that."

"Um," Rise suddenly interrupted them. "Just to let you know, Negi's Persona has an Ice weakness. So that might be the reason why he's being grouchy about this."

"Oh?" Nagisa seemed surprised by that. "I forgot that you had a new Persona. What was it called again?"

"Hiruko," Negi answered. "His affinity leans towards Fire and Dark, with a weakness for Ice. So that cold prank of yours kinda actually hurts."

Nagisa winced at that. "Apologies, I assumed that you would be able to take it."

Negi sighed at that. "I figured since I do remember that you don't have to worry about that since you're a cheating hack without any weaknesses."

Nagi perked up at that. "He doesn't have any weaknesses?"

"Yup," Negi replied. "His Persona is a lot stronger than mine for various reasons. If we compare actual power levels, I'm pretty sure Nagisa is stronger than I am."

Nagisa frowned at that. "Really?"

"A lot of things happened the past two years," was all Negi said before he yawned. "But let's talk about that another time. Anyone know what's for breakfast?"

}-{

Nagi didn't go with everyone else when they went to get breakfast and a shower. The feeling from when he woke up still hasn't left him, and he couldn't figure out what exactly he was forgetting.

Without meaning to, he found himself in front of the You in Wonderland entrance. A familiar person was loitering outside of it.

"What are you doing here?"

Takuto looked up when he heard Nagi speak. "O-Oh, it's you."

"No, seriously. How come you're out here?"

Takuto hesitated, and that said so much more than any words he could have used.

"You were planning on going inside," he said.

"Y-Yeah," Takuto replied. "I don't know, everyone else has been going in and out of this place. And I've only been inside the one time, but I couldn't get it out of my mind. I know that it's dangerous in there, but I keep wishing that I wasn't always left behind while everyone else explored the place."

Nagi could emphasize somewhat with Takuto, but he still gave out a loud sigh at that.

"Takuto, take it from me. Fighting Shadows is not fun, especially since neither of us is particularly powerful enough to fight on our own."

"Well, I wouldn't know that would I?" Takuto threw his hands up in the air. "Ever since I've appeared here, my entire worldview has collapsed multiple times with everything that's happened. Alternate dimensions, time travel, magic, and so much more. And yet, I've been doing nothing but stay behind and cook for everyone else."

The boy sighed. "You know that voice? That tiny voice at the back of your head that tells you not to do stupid stuff? To take risks?"

Nagi nodded slowly, unsure of where the other boy was getting at.

"Sometimes, I want to tell that voice no. Sometimes, I want to take that risk and see what happens when I dare to press on." He gestured towards the entrance to the labyrinth. "That's exactly what's happening right now. I know it's dangerous down there, but I still want to see what it's like down there. I barely saw anything last time, and I don't want to walk away from this entire experience without having experienced anything."

"But what about what Negi said? We're most likely going to forget this entire experience even happened."

Takuto gave a bitter smile. "If that is true, it won't change the fact that I traveled to another dimension. Somewhere deep inside of me, I'll still remember this all happened even if my memories of this place disappear. I'll always be asking myself why I didn't want to discover more, and I'm scared that I'll regret not trying to enter for the rest of my life."

He finally looked Nagi right in the eyes. "I think I might go mad at that."

Nagi didn't know what to say to Takuto's honest words. Even though he knew logically that this was a horrible idea, the fact that he could find himself agreeing with Takuto said something about him.

All his life before he moved to Azumano, he's been living his new life doing nothing but simply existing. It wasn't until he found himself involved with Phantom Dark and the Dark Hour that he finally found something exciting in his life.

Wasn't he in a similar position to Takuto once?

Months ago, he was just a scared boy who discovered that the Dark Hour existed. He also stood in front of another entrance to another labyrinth.

That time, the fear of Shadows pursuing him spurned him into entering the forest that led to Misaki's world. But some part of him had chosen to ignore that little voice in his head. The one that had told him that he shouldn't enter the creepy forest because he had no idea what was inside of it.

If he hadn't pressed onward, he would never have met Misaki. And even after everything that happened between the two of them, Nagi could never say he regretted that decision of entering her world.

Because that would be trampling on the memories the two of them made.

"I'll go with you," he found himself saying. "If you're sure about this, I'll make sure we're both safe."

A look of relief passed Takuto's face.

Both of them began walking through the entrance with a feeling of trepidation.

"This is definitely a bad idea," Nagi muttered.

"You can still back out now," Takuto offered.

Nagi snorted at that. "After what I just said? No, that's just nerves talking. Let's tell that voice in our heads no for once."

Takuto smiled at that. "To saying no."

"To saying no."

The two of them descended into a new world.

I know Nagi's making a stupid decision, but that's teenagers for you. Even if he has memories of another life, he's still a normal kid in the end.

His memories of the dream world aren't gonna come back until he fully awakens his Persona. And he still doesn't know that he lost all of his Sub-Personas, making him weaker than he was before.

So obviously, this is going to turn out well next chapter.