Chapter Eight
Something was wrong with Kae. Ever since they returned from Yakushima, Kae had been avoiding Erik like the plague, and it was clearly having an effect on Erik. Well, learning about what the Kirijo Group had done had an effect on him, obviously, but it was more apparent that Kae was having an effect on him. Minako had to do something to help him, it was her duty as his friend.
"Hey, Erik, I've been thinking about grabbing something to eat, and that café at the mall just started serving Finnish bun thingies." Minako stated, baiting him into coming.
"Eh, sure, the pan at school isn't nearly as good as pulla, and I need some good coffee or I'm going to scream." Erik stated, getting up and stretching before setting his EMT guidebook down.
"What the hell is a pulla?" Minako asked, slightly confused.
"It's a Finnish thing." Erik responded. "It's a type of sweet bun that us Finns typically have with a cup of coffee, which we have a lot of. Anyway, let's get going." Minako nodded, guiding Erik to the café. Minako and Erik both ordered the same thing, a light roasted coffee with a sweet bun. Erik was still distracted, but he seemed to be in a better mood than usual due to the coffee and pulla, though she still didn't know what it was entirely, she enjoyed it. Erik was still not in the best of states, he was distracted by something, Minako knew exactly what it was.
"So, how are things between you and Kae?" Minako asked. Erik froze for a moment, choking on his bread, the question having come out of nowhere.
"Uh, I don't really know." Erik finally admitted after giving himself the Heimlich. "She's been ignoring me, avoiding me, I think. I've been doing fine trying to help Aigis acclimate to life outside the lab, as well as preparing for my family visiting soon, but I'm worried about her, what did I do to make her do this?"
"Well, there was the whole incident with those thugs." Minako teased. "Seriously, why did you say that you were her boyfriend?"
"I was just saying whatever I could to get those assholes to leave her alone." Erik responded. "I don't stand like the letter ö. I knew the only way to get them back off was to say that was the case."
"So you looked at everything from a purely tactical standpoint? Sounds like you did take a few things from your dad." Minako commented.
"What can I say? That kind of behavior in a crisis runs in the family." Erik laughed. "But yes, I looked at things to see how I could get those guys to back off, we already established that."
"Do you really think that's it?" Minako asked. "Do you really think you only said that to get them to back away?"
"Of course, I wouldn't have said so otherwise!" Erik responded, his tone unusually defensive. Minako had an idea of what was happening, unfortunately, the two had to get back to the dorms. It was a full moon that night.
Erik stared at the prediction of where the shadow was going to be tonight, and he really wasn't a fan. It was an old military bunker, used for vehicle and munitions storage. Something about it felt off to Erik, though it was probably just instinct kicking in. He knew of some, well, not quite humane actions during World War Two, he heard the stories of what happened on both sides. Erik remembered sitting down with his grandfather who told him the story of what happened during the Second World War, the things done by the Germans, Soviets, and Japanese, but also the Americans. He recalled his grandfather telling a story, from when his unit was relocated to Japan after the Soviets sieged Berlin. He told Erik about how they had found a bunker after the end of the war, and about how they found a plethora of gasses inside, ranging from simple choking agents, to chlorides, cyanides, and even Phosgene and Arsenic Trichloride. He had also admitted that the American soldiers, including himself, weren't innocent, but he never specified, it was clearly something horrible, and knowing what he did about post war Japan, Erik was certain he knew what.
"The scars of war truly run deep." Mitsuru mused. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait until we get there to determine who to deploy."
"I'd like to bring up a suggestion." Erik injected, all eyes facing him as he spoke. "My grandfather was a peacekeeper in post war Japan, he said he found chemical weapons in an old bunker once, and considering the age of this place, I think we should bring respiratory protection."
"I don't think you need to worry about chemical weapons, but if it will make you feel better, we have some respirators in the control room armory, should be a pair of them in there." Ikutsuki explained.
"Thank you, Ikutsuki." Erik stated, heading over to grab one as the rest of the team prepared to go to the bunker. Naturally, Minako grabbed one too.
"Is that true? That your grandfather was a post war peacekeeper?" Minako asked. Erik nodded.
"Yep, he was sent there straight from Paris, by the time he arrived, war was over, though the soldiers where he was sent didn't seem to agree." Erik explained. "Not important though, let's get ready." They did that, arriving very shortly at the bunker, just outside of the main city. It was an unnerving sight, the decrepit bunker filled with the skeletons of dead soldiers, still clutching their old Arisaka rifles. Erik could have sworn he even saw a few belonging to dead American soldiers, but he wasn't certain. Erik picked up an old handgun, a Hamada Type 1, an unusual handgun Erik only recognized from books. As Erik examined the pistol, he heard a sudden noise, that of a light turning on.
"What the hell?" Erik spat, aiming the handgun at the catwalk the light shined onto. "There's power, somehow, and we have company!"
"Other people…" Mitsuru mused.
"Well done." the first of them, a creepy man with a massive revolver congratulated. "This would be the first time we met in person. Allow me to introduce ourselves, I am Takaya, and this is Jin, we are what people know as Strega. We've been keeping an eye on you… from what we hear, you have undertaken a 'righteous battle' to save the world. We've come to bring an end to that dream. You've gained new allies, yet this world is crawling with sin, and Tartarus grows as beautifully as ever."
"What the hell do you want?" Erik demanded, pulling back the hammer to the handgun he found.
"I'll be, this American is brandishing a gun, how typical." Jin scoffed. "But if you must know, killing the Shadows will end the Dark Hour, and we can't let that happen, can we?"
"And why's that?" Minako demanded, her hand lowering to her Evoker.
"Simple, if the dark hour is gone, we lose our power." Takaya stated. "Why do you want to destroy this? It gives you power no one else can say they have, it makes you strong."
"Strength doesn't come from the Dark Hour, Personas, or even my particular power." Minato spat, surprising everyone to a degree. "It comes from who we chose to be, who we chose to associate with, not from any exclusivity of being the only people with this power."
"Hrmph, disappointing." Takaya sighed. Jin kicked a lever, closing the doors to the bunker, revealing a shadow, and filling the room with gas. "I'll be fair, this gas isn't lethal, but you'll all need to kill the shadow quickly if you want to leave." Jin tossed a smoke grenade to the ground, causing the pair to disappear right as a massive Shadow appeared. It was a tank, literally. It seemed that two Shadows managed to take control of an old tank, creating a massive threat to the group. On top of that, only Aigis, Minako, and Erik could fight, being the only ones with masks or natural immunity to the gas.
"Erik, focus on keeping the others awake, Aigis, work on destroying the tank with me." Minako ordered as Erik tossed the handgun aside. Erik nodded, firing his Evoker, releasing Hipocrates, who repeatedly casted spells to keep the rest of SEES awake. Aigis and Minako threw everything they had at the Shadow, to no effect. It was a horrifying sight, the tank separating into two so it could run down the SEES members and shoot the pair with it's massive gun at the same time. As they came back together, Erik realized something. Blades were obviously ineffective, and Personas weren't doing much, neither were Aigis' guns, but the bunker had to have something. Fortunately Erik was able to find something. There was bad news, however. What he found was a Lunge Mine, a shaped charge attached to a short stick, a terrible tool for people who want to live. But Erik had no choice, it was that or watch his friends die. Erik picked up the Lung mine, turning to face Minako.
"Minako? Do you trust me?" Erik yelled.
"With my life." Minako responded.
"Good." Erik yelled. "Raise my defense and my attack." A pair of lights surrounded Erik. His skin felt tougher and felt more powerful. Erik took a deep breath and ran at the Shadow. Erik let out a battle cry as he rammed the device into the Shadow, his vision going black shortly after a violent explosion.
Minako pressed Erik's sternum down repeatedly, trying to get his blood flowing. This effort was a success, Erik gasping awake suddenly as Kae ran over, readying the shock mode of her arm.
"Is it dead?" Erik asked, his breathing obviously labored.
"It's gone, you did it." Minako stated. "You destroyed the Shadow."
"Good." Erik groaned.
"You idiot, why the hell did you do that!?" Kae spat right after slapping Erik.
"Because, I don't care what happens to me, as long as you and the others are safe." Erik responded.
"Fucking idiot, making me worry you were dead." Kae hissed, storming off. Oh ho ho, Minako seemed certain she knew what was going on.
"What the hell was that about?" Erik asked. "She's been avoiding me lately, but that was downright hostile…"
"Erik, do you even hear yourself?" Minako giggled. "It can't be more obvious."
"I really have no idea." Erik sighed, wrapping a bandage around his chest. Minako took a peek in Kae's direction. Yep, she was checking him out.
"Well, I'll let you figure it out." Minako giggled. "Glad you made it out alive."
"I am too." Erik responded. "Sides, I think I just realized something."
"And what's that?" Minako asked.
"Facing death, all I could think of was what I was yet to do, and a realization came upon." Erik explained. "I was worried about how Kae would take my death, and I realized why I was so worried about that. It's because I'm in love with Kae."
SOCIAL LINK UP
EMPEROR RANK 6
+EXP BONUS WHEN FUSING PERSONAS OF THE EMPEROR ARCANA
+ 5% BONUS TO HEALTH VALUE VALUE OF HEALING ITEMS USED BY ERIK OR MINAKO
A/N: Finally got this out! Sorry this took so long, busy with classes and lost motivation to write for a brief period. I'm back now, so I should be good to keep writing. So yeah, Erik finally realized his feelings for Kae, what happens next? Noone know but can probably guess! Just kidding, Erik's family visits in the next chapter, be excited for that, I have some wacky, uncharacteristic dogelore-esque unfunny moments planned for that. Until next time, hope you enjoy, and have a great day!
Bonus! Security footage: Junpei has questions about America (in the format of in game dialogue, based on Ocelot in An incorrect summary of Metal Gear Solid 3 by Max0r)
The footage begins by showing Erik and Junpei sitting in the commons. Erik is doing homework while Junpei reads a manga. Junpei suddenly faces Erik.
Junpei: Hey, Erik? Can I ask a question America?
Erik: Shoot.
Junpei: Is it true that the Army is conscripted to fight giant tumble weed?
Erik: Wait? Where'd you hear-
Junpei: And is it true that hordes of feral pigs can appear out of nowhere and abduct small children?
Erik: Uhhhhh...
Junpei: Oh, and is it true that if you don't pay your taxes in America they put you in a box?
Erik: I'm pretty sure that's called prison and they do that everywhere. Why does this feel like a really shitty reference to something?
Junpei: Fascinating, do you mind one more question?
Erik: I guess?
Junpei: Is it true that you pay for healthcare in blood?
Erik: Not all of us.
Junpei's expression becomes mortified.
Junpei: WHAT.