After the turn of the millennium, the Aoyama-Itchome prefecture of Tokyo had been rebuilt as an educational center of sorts. While the majority of businesses were still located within Shibuya, many boarding schools and such were built over the former destroyed district. By far, one of the most important schools took up most of the district, as it was the one run by the church. Beyond a simple high school for Templars in training, there were many other courses for those without the potential and still seeking the LORD'S salvation. Well, that was what the pamphlet said anyway. Even in the middle of Tokyo, there were plenty of conservation efforts, and so it looked like it was in the middle of the forest rather than the city. The church had a thing for nature, it being 'the LORD'S creation' and all that. Akira wasn't particularly religious, but he could see where they were coming from.

It was still quite a sight to see though, giant trees as tall as buildings in the middle of the city, cherry blossoms flying through the air like dust on the wind. He tried not to think about how much clean-up that would be, and continued waiting for the train to arrive at his destination. He was going to live in the dorms, obvious enough, and he'd gotten an address and room number.

A Templar's Mask: Chapter Two- A Cruel Templar's Thesis

He looked up at what looked like a motel, and realized that was his destination. It had a few stories height-wise, but the center was open air, with a small common area in the middle. There was a fountain with a statue of the angel Metatron in the center, so that sort of gave it away. Given that the church basically saved society from total collapse, they had a tendency to glorify their own religious figures, and he couldn't really fault them for it.

He walked up to the second floor, as he found that the ground floor had annoyingly started at '001'. Finding the 8th room down, he knocked on the door, and upon not hearing a response, opened it with his key.

It was cozy, to put it into words. Bunk bed, decent TV… Why is there underwear on the floor? He walked closer, making sure he was seeing it right. Yep, blue panties. Anyone else would probably have felt the urge to pick them up, but Akira had a strange sense of danger and refrained.

A door clicked open from behind him, and he heard it swing open. Quickly turning away and holding his hands in the air, he tried to focus on keeping his ears from bleeding when the girl yelled in surprise.

"This is the room they assigned me to, I knocked, my key worked, I apologize for the intrusion," he quickly said, quickly holding the paper behind him and keeping his eyes shut.

"It's... quite alright, I was simply surprised." Whoever it was took the paper from his hand and paused. "Very well then. I trust this isn't a false assignment?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Ah… I suppose I'll simply have to 'deal with it', as they say. Would you mind keeping your eyes closed a minute longer?"

"No, not at all." Akira chose against pointing out the odd phrasing.

There was movement and the sound of cloth shuffling in the room. "We should… Introduce ourselves, correct?"

There was silence in the room, before Akira realized he was allowed to look.

Oh, wow.

She had wet platinum-blonde hair that clung to her skin, and had changed into a velvety blue nightdress. She had these piercing yellow eyes that were locked on his.

"Uh…" He quickly held out his hand to shake. "I am Akira Kurusu, again, sorry for barging in. It's nice to meet you."

"I am Lavenza. It is nice to meet you." She shook his hand gracefully and bowed at the same time as him.

Ow.

He quickly pulled himself off the ground, ignoring the pain in his forehead, and tried to help her out, only to find she hadn't fallen over, and was in fact staring at him curiously. Ouch. To the ego, that time.

"I'm sorry about the arrangements. I don't know why they'd assign a girl and a boy to the same room."

"If there are no disputes, I don't believe there's an issue with it."

He looked at her weirdly. It was funny enough for him to know more than someone else about that kind of thing, all things considered, but he never thought someone could possibly know less than he did. "...I'll do my best to keep it amiable."

Apparently, the uniform coding was different for each year. The normal uniform was a plain white blazer with the church's cross emblem on the right breast. Suppose they didn't want people to break the pin every time they summoned their weapons. The undershirt was up to them, as long as it wasn't too distracting, because, "The freedom of the soul is made manifest in the power of Persona." The old man principal with the back problems was certainly a cryptic sort of guy, but he seemed to know his stuff. The first-years had red trim on their clothes, second-years had yellow, and third-years had blue. At some point the trims were purple or some other color, but they fell out of fashion.

Well, he felt it looked good on him, so he didn't really care.

He was nearly late to homeroom, and barely sat down before the teacher walked in. Tired-looking woman, kind of screwed with the color theming by wearing a yellow sweater, but what can you do?

His class was on the small side, apparently. Six guys, including himself, and- Oh, there's Lavenza. Guess she was in his class too, how about that? Yeah, and only a few more girls than guys. Roll call was… Not to say boring, but it was just too consistently interesting for him to keep track.

Blond kid who allegedly ran track, but walked with a limp.

Emaciated lanky guy who went on tangents about art unprompted.

Guy who had daddy issues probably, and was apparently some kind of celebrity.

Weird guy who spoke with the mannerisms of a cat. Ought to stay away from that one.

Oh, and then the straight man, who seemed a little wimpy, but not actively strange in any ways.

"Ah. I am Akira Kurusu. It's a pleasure to be here."

…Well, you can't just leave it at that, or everyone will think you're a gloomy loser.

"Uh, my Persona is an Eiha-type. That's all."

The roll continued to the girls.

His roommate, who seemed a bit mysterious.

The other hot blonde in the room, she was a bit peppy too.

Sporty-looking girl with a ponytail, bright red hair.

Formal girl with a hairband the same color as her hair, like seriously, who does that?

The other- Nah, she was a bit more different. Black hair, maybe chinese with those hairpieces? Seemed like the smart type.

Depressed girl who spent too much time playing video games, something like that.

Fluffy hair and a hobby for gardening, nothing too strange.

"Okay, which one of you bastards is it?" A boy with rooftop-style brown hair burst into the first-year classroom. A second-year, by the trim of his jacket. A buff guy with white hair and makeup- Fake scars- walked in behind him, trying to get him to turn around.

"Yosuke, come on, man, you don't gotta do this."

"No! I need to ensure the future genetic diversity of Japan!" The boy with the headphones pointed at the group of seats where most of the boys were sitting. It was strange, the teacher grouped the room by gender. The girls had already left by then, but Sakamoto insisted they stick around and also to call him Ryuji.

They all shared a look before Akira sighed and answered for them, "What do you mean?"

"You heard me! Who's the guy with the harem?"

"Wh- What?"

"There's that one bastard with blue-hair in third-year with like eight girls on him at all times, and Yu's hogging all the girls in our class, I can't let this injustice continue!" He looked over the boys and singled Yusuke out. "You. You're the bishounen! It's you, isn't it-" The boy suddenly collapsed forward onto his knees. A girl in a green sports jacket and shorts under her uniform had her foot right where the boy's head was a second ago. Blatant violation of uniform code, that was.

"Sorry about him." She said, before dragging him out the door. The muscley guy shrugged and left the classroom too.

"…"

"A harem? Seriously? As much as I'd like one… Nah, Ann would kill me, even if we're not like that." Ryuji shook his head and passed the figurative baton to someone else.

"Eh… I don't think I could manage that," said Mishima.

"That's not my style, really." The detective was dismissive, probably thinking about his dinner, in the proper anti-hero style of brooding.

"The experience may inspire my art… However, I don't believe fearing for my life is a pleasurable result."

"Mwehehe, Lady Ann is more that enough for me-"

"Why do you always gotta talk like a cat? It makes you sound more creepy, not less, dude. And I know you've only met her this morning." Ryuji started bickering with Morgana, before freezing and turning to Akira. "Wait… If it's not any of us…"

"Nope, not me."

"Why not? You not like girls or something? If you don't, that's cool, but-"

"Someone is waiting for me in my hometown." He thought about Ayane, briefly. He'd give her a call at the end of the week. "There was a heavy implication that she didn't want me to get a girlfriend."

"...I can't tell if that's good luck or terrible luck, man."

"Takamaki! How've you been? It's been so long since we last talked."

Akira saw an older man talking to his classmate in the hall, leering over her. Slowly approaching as to not give away his location, he listened.

"Yeah…"

"Hey, why don't we go get dinner together? It's been so long…" The man reached out to put a hand on her shoulder-

"I believe you're not supposed to touch a lady without her permission, sir." Akira suddenly had the man's hand in an iron grip.

"Ugh- It's fine, kid. It's completely normal for teachers to take care of their students." The man tried to shake off his grip.

"It seems like you're overstepping some boundaries." He felt some inkling of an unknown feeling, but it seemed familiar.

"Tch. Whatever." He threw off his grip and walked down the stairs.

"I'm sorry about that." He turned to leave.

The girl rubbed her arm, and said, "Don't worry about it…"

There was a tug in his gut, like it was trying to tell him something.

"What's he doing?"

"What?"

"He's doing something to you, isn't he?"

"No- NO! That's not true."

"...We're in the same class. If you ever need help-"

"What are you, some kind of knight?"

"That's the basic idea, isn't it?"

Akira decided to explore the school. It looked just about like any other high school, but it was much, much bigger. The campus was more spread out that he expected, because again, the church loved nature. There were decked-out arenas of some sort, and although he had no clue what they were for, they looked like they were for some kind of sporting event.

After that, he was about to do some more exploring off campus on his own, before Ryuji ran up to him at the main gate and said he'd show him around.

Shibuya was as big as he expected, if not bigger. It wasn't just skyscrapers either. Giant trees double the size of some tower hung in the sky, blocking the sun completely in some places, or only allowing a few rays in. The way that combined with the masses of neon lighting, it was a sight to see for sure.

"Sakamoto, you're friends with Miss Takamaki, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. We were pretty tight until… Well, we still hang out sometimes, I guess."

"Until what?"

Ryuji looked annoyed. "Why do you care?"

"A man was harassing Miss Takamaki in the hallway."

He froze.

"You know something about that?"

"...Ugh, guess I might as well tell you." They sat down on a bench, out of the way of the passerby. "His name's Kamoshida. He worked at the middle school me and Ann went to. I don't know why he would be at the high school."

"He said he was a teacher."

"...No way, that bastard followed us!" He doubled over, clenching his fists, seething. "That son of a-"

"What is he doing to Takamaki?" He asked, quickly.

"I dunno. She won't tell me or Shiho."

"Has he done anything to you?" There was that feeling again.

Ryuji didn't answer, but started rolling up his pants leg. There was scarring all over his leg. "I used to run track, before the church found out about my potential. I don't talk about it much, but… He was always a sly bastard, Kamoshida. He ran the middle school's Kendo team, because he won a few tournaments as a Templar. Never liked the other sports, thought they got in his way."

"What happened then?"

"He started substituting for the track team's coach, making us do all kinds of crazy shit. He… He'd start talking shit about my dad, and y'know, I could deal with that, he was an asshole anyway, but… That bastard started talking about my mom, and the next thing I knew… I was holding a big-ass anchor, my chest was on fire, and my knee was bending the wrong direction." Ryuji sighed, and let his pants leg roll back down. "School let him off, because I attacked him first. Funny thing is, I kinda owe him. The church pays for everyone who goes there, so it took a load off my mom."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, man. You said he's messing with Ann? Let's kick his ass."

"I don't think we can afford to be hasty. He's a teacher, and we can't just do it out of nowhere."

"Damn. Why do you care anyway?"

"I… It's a feeling, I have." Akira gripped his heart, and looked up. "I want to protect people. Simple as that. No matter what, no matter who, no matter how strong. That's what I swore to her."

"Whose she?"

Akira simply smiled. "Someone I care about."

Days later, after getting used to classes, Akira had been observing Ann's behavior. She'd started withdrawing in on herself, looking nothing like the girl who introduced herself to the class. One day, on his way to the dorms, he saw her on the phone. He nearly passed by, but noticed her break down crying. He ran up and kneeled next to her.

"Miss Takamaki, are you alright?"

"Leave me alone!" She got up and started running away towards the dorms. He followed behind, catching up when she stopped for breath.

"Ryuji told me about Kamoshida. What is he doing, miss Takamaki?"

"It's none of your business!" She ran off again, and he caught up only after she'd arrived at the dorms and slammed her door shut.

"Miss Takamaki… I know it's not my business." He leaned back against the wall, speaking to the door. "I don't even know you. I could say I don't care, and that would be that. But… Something is hurting you, it's eating you up inside, I can see it. Please. You don't have to let me in, but please, let me help."

He heard a sniff behind the door. "He just won't leave me alone. If I don't go to the teacher's lodgings… He's going to take Shiho off the Kendo team! Bastard runs it here too! I can't get away…"

"Miss Takamaki… I can't say I know what it's like to be lost like you are. I can't hope to know what you're going through. He can't hurt you if you don't let him."

"I know, but… Shiho- Shiho Suzui- has a lot of promise, even without the potential. She could go to the nationals on her own, even without a Persona. I can't get in the way of that."

"You care too much. I respect it. You care about your friends, and I can accept that. But… I'm sorry, I can't accept what's happening." A fire ignited in his soul, and burned its way through his heart. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him no, obviously."

"Where is your friend now?"

"She's at… Oh my god!" The door slammed open, and Ann had the fiercest look of rage on her face. "That bastard! He better not touch her!"

"Miss Takamaki," Akira said coolly, "I don't want you to get harmed."

She grit her teeth and growled, not out of malice but of sheer defensiveness, "Why? WHY? It's not your fight!"

"I know, it's yours, and Sakamoto's, and this Suzui's. But that's why I can't let you get hurt. Justice must be wrought. So please, allow me to fight in your stead."

She paused for a moment, eyes trained on Akira as if his mere existence was something she couldn't comprehend, and found it in herself to nod back.

"Where is the gym teacher's office?"

"Second floor, gymnasium." As soon as she spoke, Akira was gone from the balcony. She looked over the ledge, and saw him effortlessly land and take off running, faster than she'd ever seen before.

His blade was drawn, and its power flowed through his body. His legs were moving through the air with ease, like they were in a vacuum. If he'd bothered looking behind him, he would have barely seen a pair of glowing black wings, beating with the force of a jet-engine.

He slammed the building's door open, cracking the windows. He jumped the stairs half-dozens at a time, and barely processed the signs as he passed them. He slammed the pommel on the first locked door. There was a loud shriek, and then silence.

"Open this door."

"..."

"Open this door!"

"..."

Akira stabbed the blade in between the door and the doorframe, right where the lock was, and watched it melt like butter.

"You little shit!" The man quickly turned away, pulling up his track pants. He towered over him, his chest already in flames.

There was a loud thump, as the girl who was being held on the table threw herself away. She backed up against the wall, crying and covering her mouth. Her leggings were torn on the thighs, and her skirt was ripped on the ground.

"Bastard." He said, voice cold as ice. Akira slashed the man across the chest, and threw the table in his way, before running towards the girl. He picked her up and jumped through the window. The ground was only two stories down, but he jumped a dozen meters outwards. He descended into a kneel, before placing the girl against a tree in the side courtyard. Even then, there were passersby, curious about the situation, and the furious howling coming out of the broken window.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, miss Suzui." He quickly yanked off his jacket and spread it on her lap, ignoring the blood falling from the glass-made gashes in his skin. He pressed his forehead against her, not in a romantic gesture. The girl was in enough shock already. "I'm going to stop this now. I hope you can forgive me for not arriving sooner." He turned, and looked towards the window.

Kamoshida was hunched over at the window, seething.

"In times of distress, it is a knight's duty to defend a woman's honor." He pointed the tip of Arsene at the window, spraying the blood that had trickled onto the blade. "I am not acting as a knight, not against you. I will fight you without honor, as you have acted without yours. Pick a god, and pray that I may be merciful."

With a howl of rage, Kamoshida leapt into the courtyard, slamming a chinese meteor hammer into the courtyard. The weapon was similar to a ball and chain, multiplied by many, like a cat o' nine tails. A wave of force exploded outwards from the crater.

"Asmodeus! Kill this little shit!" The orbs began lifting into the air, completely ignoring gravity. One bent back on its chain almost like a-

Akira jumped into the air, just before the orb sprung forward and knocked the tree clean off its stump.

It missed Shiho's head by a mere foot, sending the poor girl even further into shock.

His wings let him hover for a moment, as the orb slowly retracted on its chain, back to its master, reconnecting the links. It seemed like some sort of spiritual energy held the chain together when it was extended. He dropped to the ground again and strafed to the right.

Two orbs shot out that time, one right where he had just been standing, and one where he was about to be.

A whip cracked, and sent the second orb to an immediate halt. Akira glanced back, seeing Ann with a red whip and a receding flame on her heart. He nodded, thanking her for the assist, before charging back in.

Crowds were gathering around the fight. People curiously looked on, watching one of the gym teachers fight some swordsman and a dominatrix in a blind rage. Some actually had the sense to call for some proper Templars to break up the fight, but help was still minutes away.

"Stay back!" Akira called, as he swiped the chains of a poorly-aimed-orb. It didn't hit the metal, but an odd clang rang out, and the orb at the end of the links dissolved into the air. There were eight left, though Kamoshida only seemed to be able to control up to three at a time. The other two were distracted by Ann, who they were trying to wrap around rather than outright kill.

He quickly regretted turning his attention away, as an orb hit him straight in the chest, cracking his ribs and sending him flying into the crowd. He dropped his sword, and it dissolved into fire before he could do anything about it.

There were cries of surprise, as he skidded through the grass, knocking a few people over.

He shakily pushed himself up, his shirt turned to shreds and his arms bleeding freely. He ripped what remained off, and stalked back towards Kamoshida.

One of the chains was lifting Ann into the air, trying to choke her unconscious.

"Suzui," he panted, looking over to the stump, trying to see if she was still there. His strength had left him, and he was desperately trying to pull the air back into his lungs. He continued dragging his legs along, slowly attracting the attention of Kamoshida. "I don't know if you're still awake, but hear me now. I don't know you, I barely know your friends, but know this. I've made this promise before, and I'll do it again! I'll protect you! That's what a knight does, and if I need to be your knight, then so be it! Persona!" His will surged within him, and the flame on his heart burned brighter than ever before.

The chain dropped Ann, as Kamoshida refocused three of eight orbs back on him.

He placed his hand on his heart as they shot towards him with the force of a freight train. A jagged black sword cut through the spiritual connection like the thin air it was, and he continued his approach.

The gym teacher snarled, lifting another three.

He broke into a full run, only a dozen meters away. His wings flapped, and he shot over the three meteors and flew straight into Kamoshida.

A crater appeared, as a massive 'BOOM' echoed in the courtyard.

Akira's foot was on the man's throat, the remaining orbs weakly rolling on the ground. He wrenched the grip from the man's hands, letting it dissolve like the worthless manifestation of spirit it was. He removed his foot and placed the hilt on the sword next to Kamoshida's throat. Its' jagged angles dug into the skin, already drawing a small amount of blood.

"Takamaki. Suzui. You awake?" He kept his piercing eyes frozen on the shaking pupils of the man beneath him.

"Yeah." Ann stumbled over to the edge of the crater and rubbed her throat. "Shiho's still out of it, one of the priests took her to the nurse's office."

"This… Sorry excuse for a teacher... Can die right here and now; It's your call." The sword dug deeper into the man's neck.

"..."

"What in the LORD'S name is going on here?" A familiar priest ran up to the crater, followed by a pair of armored guards.

"This man attempted a sexual assault on one of miss Takamaki's friends." He didn't move an inch other than to speak. "He better pray I don't find it was anything more than an attempt."

Kamoshida's eyes had since rolled back into his head.

"I- That's preposterous! One of our teachers would never-"

"Shut up." He said, cutting off Hiruragi. "Sir," He thoughtfully added. "In a world of demons, has it occurred to you that one of your own could be just as sinful?"

"You don't understand, young man. I can't understand how such a person could teach here. We have rigorous alignment testing for all of our staff-"

"Have you ever considered that humans have the ability to lie? And lie very well at that?"

"We can continue this discussion after you remove yourself from your… Current position."

Akira regretfully stood up, willing his sword to dissolve, and trusting Kamoshida wouldn't wake up anytime soon, for he would fear what awaited him.

He climbed out of the crater, looking up at Ann. His mind was swirling in a whirlwind of confusion. "My apologies, miss Ayane…" He smiled slightly, as his vision blurred and he felt a piercing pain in his lungs. "I went a bit too far again…" The last thing he remembered was her rushing over to catch him, as he blacked out.

"...I'm starting to notice a pattern," was the first thing he said when he woke up in a room full of medical equipment and white furniture. Using his Persona, saying something dramatic, and then waking up in the hospital. All in a day's work, he supposed.

A woman in a black blindfold and a buttoned lab coat walked in, and contrary to what he expected, seemed to see him perfectly.
"Ah, Mr. Kurusu, you're awake. You certainly did a number on yourself, to say the least. You're lucky the organ damage wasn't too severe, they can't be fully regenerated with magic."

He patted his chest, and not feeling any pain, nodded. "That's good to know. How long has it been?"

"Four days, I believe. Your friends were quite worried, the number's a bad omen and everything."

"Of course. Fits me perfectly," he sighed. First the hair, now this? "Wait…" Ayane was expecting a call from him on Sunday, and it was probably Tuesday by that point. "Who exactly is waiting to see me?"

The nurse laughed, tapping her blindfold. "You're one lucky young man, I'll say that much." As she walked away, Akira felt an odd sense of foreboding. He quickly turned on his side and tried to feign sleep, expecting exactly what happened next.

"Akira Kurusu!" A voice he hadn't heard in more than a week and was all too familiar called out seconds later. Ayane's hurried footsteps approached his bed as he squeezed his eyes shut. "You… You're asleep!"

"Oh, he was awake just moments ago, I'm sure he's faking it." Damn that nurse.

"Sorry, Ayane..." He sat up, slowly exhaled, and resigned himself to his fate.

"You said you were going to come back! When I asked, I meant in! One! Piece! Do you understand me, Akira? Do you see what I'm saying?" Her light-chestnut hair flew around her face as she scolded him.

"Yes, miss Ayane…"

"Second thing! You said you weren't going to get a girlfriend!"

He looked up in confusion, before seeing Ann and Shiho peeking around a curtain. He gave a half-wave before shaking his head at Ayane. "How much did you hear about the situation?"

"Apparently you swore your undying allegiance to their lives or something ridiculous like that-"

"I don't think I did that this time. And what does that have to do with girlfriends anyway?"

"..."

"Miss?"

"YOU JERK!" Ayane stormed out of the room, leaving Akira alone with his two classmates.

He looked over at the two of them, still confused. "Do either of you know what she means?"

"...Nope. Nooooo idea at all." Ann said, clearly mocking him in some form. "But hey, glad you're awake." She tried to lead Shiho over to the visitation chairs, but she stayed behind the curtain. "It's just Akira, you don't need to hide."

"It's fine, I'll cover my eyes if it makes you more comfortable." He held his left arm over his nose, blocking his sight. He heard them shuffle around the bed and sit down. "So, what ended up happening?"

"They interrogated him-" She stopped, like someone suddenly tensed up. "And they asked us some questions. Ryuji too, but I heard he was pissed you didn't bring him along for the fight."

"That… Sounds very much like him, yes." He decided to move away from the previous topic, for Shiho's sake. People react differently to trauma, as he'd read at some point in his tutoring. Yes, there are no therapists, but everyone knows a little basic psychology. He still reckoned that Freud fellow had a few screws loose though. But from what he knew, it seemed like fear and anxiety were completely normal reactions to trauma. "How are the two of you doing?"

"Turns out I sprained my wrists." She paused. "I'm not quite used to Carmen- Oh, that's my Persona- and I'm not really the athletic type. Got my neck checked out too, the doctors here really are amazing."

"Good to know." Akira nodded, before asking, "How are you doing, miss Suzui?"

There was a brief silence. "...I'm fine, don't worry."

He felt that feeling again. The one that he couldn't quite name, but knew in his heart. "You can tell us the truth. It's just me and miss Takamaki. I would never tell your secrets without permission, and I know she wouldn't either."

He heard her break into sobs, like a dam had broken open. "He… He used me! I'm worthless, I'm pathetic! And I let him do it, or he was going to hurt Ann!"

"You're not worthless, miss Suzui. It's not your fault. And it will never happen again. To you or to anyone, not if I can help it." He held out his right fist, at where he guessed her heart was. "I'm sorry this happened, and I wish I could have been there for you sooner. But it's not your fault, alright? He abused his power, and he will be punished. If he gets off, there will be hell to pay, and it will be done by my own hands, I assure you."

"You can't even bring yourself to look at me, can you? I'm dirty! What reason do I have to live anymore?" She cried out.

He sat up, and turned to sit on the bed. He slowly removed his arm and lightly took one of Shiho's hands. "Please. Miss Suzui, please never say something like that." He smiled sadly. "I don't know you very well, compared to Ann or even Ryuji, but I can say this much." He lifted her hands to her cheeks, placing them palm-side down. He looked directly into her teary, shaking eyes. "You're not dirty, or worthless, or pathetic. What's happened isn't your fault. I can't change the past, I can't undo what happened to you." He leaned forward, almost touching her forehead with his. "But I'm going to help you, miss Suzui. I'm going to protect you. Ann too. Everyone else, if I can help it. That's what I need to do, and by god, I'm going to do it." He tapped her forehead lightly, and closed his eyes. "Let me help you, miss Suzui. And I swear, you'll never reach these depths of despair again."

She broke down sobbing, hanging her head against his chest, and clawing at his shoulders. Akira tilted his head and rubbed her back reassuringly. He looked over at Ann, nodding ever so slightly.

She carefully moved over to sit next to him, and wrapped her arms around them, showing Shiho the one, undeniable fact.

"You are not alone, Shiho Suzui."

Unnoticed by the three of them, a flame ignited in the girl's heart, as she wept cathartic tears.