Chapter 3

Kae stuffed her magazine in her bag before Erik approached. He had a bundle of books in his arms, as well as his laptop and notebooks. Clearly, he was here to study, unlike Kae, who snuck over here to read her Airsoft magazines without anyone bothering her.

"Oh, hey Kae. Mind if I sit here?" Erik asked.

"Oh, hey, yeah go ahead, just studying." Kae chuckled. Wow, smooth. Thank god Erik is an idiot at reading people. Erik set his books down and got to work studying. The two sat in silence until Kae finally decided to break the rather awkward silence.

"So, how have classes been?" Kae asked. "Is it any different from the US?"

"Well, classes have been going well, much more demanding than the states but I'm managing." Erik started. "I'm still getting used to the teachers moving from class to class and not going on a patriotic spiel every homeroom but I'm loving it so far."

"Patriotic spiel?" Kae asked with a slight grimace. "What do you mean?"

"In the states, before school starts we all face the flag and recite a pledge of allegiance. It was started in the civil war to promote loyalty to the Union and used in the Cold War to promote anti-communism. I always found it kinda dumb." Erik explained.

"I guess that makes sense for the US." Kae shrugged. "Anything else different?"

"Well, I don't think I've ever had a teacher show up to class in a samurai helmet." Erik chuckled. "Though my history teacher in my first year once showed up to class with an actual Spanish Rapier."

"That's wild." Kae chuckled. "Any other stories?"

"No, school in America is boring as all hell." Erik sighed. "Much rather learn here than there."

"Attention, the school is now closed." the loudspeaker boomed.

"Well, looks like we better go." Erik sighed as he packed his bag. "I gotta run to the mall and pick up and order from the pharmacy, want to come with?" Did Erik just ask her out? Well, probably not, he was just asking for the company, that was it.

"Sure, why not?" Kae responded.

"Great!" If there's anywhere you want to stop, just ask." Erik stated.

"Well, there is one place..."

Minako was a bit taken aback by the sight of Kae walking in carrying an airsoft gun. It was a big rifle of some kind, but Minako honestly didn't care, she was more interested in the box from the pharmacy Erik had.

"It's just some field dressing and a set of rubber tourniquets, I ordered an equipment resupply." Erik explained when prompted. That caused Mitsuru to add into the conversation.

"By the way, Erik, your practice equipment came in, I had it put in the control room." Mitsuru explained.

"Meaning you made me move it." Junpei groaned.

"You were the only person here." Mitsuru justified.

"Oh, perfect!" Erik exclaimed. "Ready to practice, Minako?"

"Of course!" Minako responded, following Erik to the control room. There, Erik set up a dummy and a bag of practice equipment. Erik had Minako change into a baby blue dress shirt and a pair of cargo pants before they began.

"Alright, the best method for me to learn was to do scenarios, so let's start with that." Erik began. He gave Minako a sheet of paper explaining what the scenario was and Minako prepared for the scenario. "Rescue 1, we have a patient who got injured in a fight at a bar, please respond." Minako confirmed her response before approaching the dummy. The next hour and a half was just Erik having Minako learn how to treat minor injuries, Erik's definition of the term being stab wounds, broken bones, and "coding" which was a fancy way of saying needing to give CPR. But it wasn't just first aid Erik taught, he also taught her how to call for support when needed and how to ensure her own safety. Overall, it was very helpful for her.

"Great work Minako, you did good for a beginner." Erik said with a smile.

"I owe it to my teacher!" Minako said with a playful salute.

"No problem, my pupil." Erik laughed. "Trust me, you're going to love learning this, nothing feels better than knowing you helped someone live" A smile formed on Erik's face.

SOCIAL LINK UP

EMPEROR RANK 2

+EXP BONUS WHEN FUSING PERSONAS OF THE EMPEROR ARCANA

+ 5% BONUS TO HEALTH VALUE VALUE OF HEALING ITEMS USED BY ERIK OR MINAKO

Patrols were a big part of life in SEES. Every night between The Dark Hour and 0100, two members of SEES would go out and patrol the city to locate and eliminate shadows. Kae personally liked patrol, it gave her time to think about things that weren't school or work. Like tonight, she was thinking about the other members of SEES, and how she stood with them. She barely knew Minato, even if he was a squad leader, and she was probably only an acquaintance with his sister. She was fairly good friends with Takeba and Akihiko, and of course she considered herself Mitsuru's colleague. There was also Junpei, who she wasn't too keen on but his presence lifted spirits, at least. Oh, and of course there was Erik, and she wasn't sure there. He was a good friend, she could already feel it, but something felt off. Whenever he was with her, she felt happy, like something was missing, but at the same time she was still keeping an arms length away from him, never revealing too much. Feelings were never her strong suit, she tried her best to abandon them long ago so they wouldn't get in the way of her work with the Kirijos, but they still crept up once in a while. Tonight, that creeping feeling was doubt. Doubt over her bond with the rest of SEES, with her job, with many things, really. She waved away her feelings, they weren't what she needed right now, especially with a Shadow ahead. She heard the signature gurgle of the beasts, just after a sharp snap piercing to her direct left. Rushing to the site of the sound, she spotted a single Shadow. The shadow was just a weakling, a Maya that could maybe take a blow or two. Unfurling her baton, she leapt forward and struck the Shadow a single time with her baton, barely leaving a dent. Erik arrived and took a deep breath as he drew his Evoker.

"Persona!" He yelled as he pressed the device to his throat and pulled the trigger. Hipocrates materialized and made a sweeping motion with the sharp wings of his staff. The shadow recoiled, and partially collapsed.

"It's weak to slashing attacks, keep it up, Erik!" Kae shouted, Erik nodded and dashed over to the shadow as it got back up. Running the blade across it's slimy body, making it disintegrate into red and black ash.

"You're getting better, Erik." Kae sighed as she caught her breath. "Where's you learn knife fighting?"

"My dad, he's a Green Beret." Erik explained. "He taught my brothers and I how to defend ourselves, it's part of a Reed family tradition."

"And that is?" Kae asked, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Able bodied and minded males, typically the oldest, go into the service." Started when my grandfather took his family to the US to escape the Winter War in Säkkijärvi, Finland. He then joined the US army to try and bring an end to the war. That started a tradition of military service." Erik explained, a slight tone of longing in his voice.

"What do you plan to do in the military?" Kae asked. Erik fell for the prod.

"Airforce Physician, or maybe a medic elsewhere." Erik responded. It was quick, empty, and maybe even rehearsed. Kae decided to poke further.

"Why a physician or a medic?" Kae asked. "With your talent, you could probably be spec ops."

"It's out of harm's way." Erik responded, once again, with speed and little emotion. She had him figured out, he didn't want the service, either was an objector, or he had no desire to go into the military. Or perhaps it was something more. Kae chose not to push further, instead she was going to-

"So, what do you plan to do after you graduate?" Erik asked absolutely out of the blue. Well, not completely, they were just talking about post graduation plans, kind of. But, Kae never really thought about that. She did talk with Ikutsuki a while ago but it was nothing big, just him asking if she was going into psychology.

"I think I'm going to keep working for the Kirijos." Kae answered, conviction in her tone. "They gave me so much, and I want to give something back to them, even if it's my life."

"I see. That's quite noble of you." Erik responded. They continued in silence, taking patrol together. It was still early into the Dark Hour, so they still had a lot of time before they had to return to the dorms, at least they thought they would be going back to the dorms today. If the full moon was anything, it was an omen.

"Maeda, Reed, we have a situation."

A/N: There we go! Sorry for the wait, I was in the process of starting school and didn't have my tech for a while. Uploads are going to be less frequent since I'm in college now, but I'll still try and get new chapters out as much as I can. I'm also sorry for the cliffhanger, can't do too much. With his chapter, I wanted to get Erik and Kae to understand each other's goals and get a rank of Erik's SL out of the way, and I feel like I succeeded in that. One last thing, I decided Erik will have a special social link, kind of like the confidants in P5 or the Fox's SL in P4. With every other rank, Erik will grant a special ability related to healing. Hope that explains things. I hope you're all enjoying this, and have a great day!

BONUS! PERSONA ABILLITY CHARTS YAY!

User: Kae Maeda

Persona: Atlanta

Arcana: Temperance

Level: 8

Skills: Garu, Tarukaja, Single Shot

Shadow Breaker Abbilities: Beat Down (Heavy strike damage to one foe), Exciting Current (medium electric damage to all foes w/ charge time)

User: Erik Reed

Persona: Hipocrates

Arcana: Emperor

Level: 5

Skills: Cleave, Dia, Enradi

Special Abbilities: Medical Training (healing items heal an additional 5% of their base value when used by Erik or Minako)