7/6 Iwatodai dormitory - lounge - evening
Arisato Minako sits on the armchair that faces the door. Her hair is covering the right side of her face. What is she doing here, why is she here? Is she going to finish the job?
"Yamagishi, Kazuki, you two finally made it," Mitsuru says.
"Sorry, we took so long."
"Nah, it's cool, at least you made it back on time," Minako congratulates me.
What the hell is going on here? Why are we having a meeting in the lounge? Wait, did she say anything about what happened last night? If so, then I bet she spun the story.
"Okay, now that they're here, I need to ask: what happened Yuki and you?" Mitsuru questions.
"What do you mean," Akihiko voices his cluelessness.
"Yuki hasn't shown up for school yesterday or today. Arisato wasn't at school today either. Clearly, something is going on."
Wow, she's puzzling this together pretty easily. I'm impressed...
"Now that ya mention it, I haven't seen leader all day or yesterday," Junpei adds onto what everyone else knows so far.
"Me neither. I thought he just wasn't coming to class," Yukari adds on her speculations.
"About that. Last night, the dorm was attacked by someone," Minako reveals.
Every one jumps up from the couch.
"Who was it!?" Mitsuru pressed for answers.
"He wore a hood and a mask underneath, so I don't know what they looked like and he hit the dorm during the Dark Hour. Not only that, but he told me he kidnapped Makoto. "
"Are you serious," Mitsuru raises her voice in the realization of this revelation.
"Shit, this isn't a joke anymore!?"
"No, it never was Iori."
"Wait, how the hell did we not know that you were fighting someone in the dorm?" Akihiko demands an answer.
"I tried waking you guys up, but you weren't waking up. I did my best to fight them off and I did, but not without taking a major hit.
She moves the hair covering the right side of her eye, revealing her bandaged eye. The sight of it makes me feel nauseated, the sheer thought that I caused such an injury is too much for me to bear, but I can't show that. Everyone else looks dreadfully at her permanently injured eye, same Fuuka.
"Who da hell did, I'll knock their lights out," Junpei declares, seething with rage.
I cringe as he unintentionally aims that at me.
"I'm sorry to burden you guys with all this...I'm sorry for getting this badly injured...it's just when he told me he had Makoto, I let my guard down and he got a good one in...I was desperate to know what happened to Makoto, cause I..."
Yukari takes Minako's hand as she's shedding tears.
"It's okay, you did your best."
"But...Makoto is..."
"Don't worry, we will find Yuki," Mitsuru assures her.
"Yeah, we'll find him in no time at all," Junpei backs up Mitsuru's claim.
Akihiko shoots a glance at his phone.
"It's almost time for the operation."
"Right then, Arisato, you can sit out on the mission."
"Thank you...but I want to fight!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I want to fight!"
"Then get ready, we're going to be setting out soon."
"Got it!"
The meeting ends, everyone else went upstairs to prepare for the mission. Minako stays in the same seat even when everyone else went on. Only Her, Fuuka, and I remain. As she gets up from her seat, I move back one foot. Her demeanor is different than how she was acting seconds ago.
"You two," she directs at us. "Don't tell anyone about what really happened...I might have to kill them if you do."
The threat sends shivers down my spine. Her oppressive presence is crushing me, she's still powerful outside of the Dark Hour. Taking her eyes off us, the dark, cold presence crushing us is lifted. She quietly walks over to the staircase...
7/7 Mon - Shirakawa Boulevard - Dark Hour
When we arrived at Shirakawa Boulevard, everyone else went inside, telling me to stand guard while they explore the hotel to kill the shadows...To be honest, I never thought I would be in front of one of these types of hotels, and with Fuu-chan nonetheless. As I sit on the floor, I think to myself about Minako's threat, her personality shift, and what she's planning. The last part is a mystery to me. I mean, why even return in the first place, what's the endgame? So many questions, if only I can ask her...Better not though.
"They just engaged the full moon shadow," Fuu-chan announces.
"Really, give me the details."
"Right now, Minako isn't fighting at full power!"
"...She must not want to, or else her story about the so-called 'intruders' would look fishy."
"It appears to be that way..."
Fuuka goes with details about what is going on inside there.
"They did it, they killed the shadow!"
"Sweet!"
Good thing I wasn't needed.
"Wait, what's going on," Fuu-chan suddenly asks, confused by something.
"What's wrong?"
"Something happened in there!"
"Was the shadow still alive?"
"No, it's dead as I said before."
Damn, maybe Minako did something! No that would make no sense, why would she wait after they have taken out the shadow?
"Kazuki-kun, can you go inside there and see what happened?"
"Okay!"
I get up from the ground with my sword. I then head over to the hotel entrance.
"Wait, Kazuki-kun I sense someone else here!"
Right as I look back, I see a ball of fire hurling my way. I jump out of the way, but it caused an explosion the moment it hit the floor. It flings me backward towards the wall of the hotel. Major back pain right there, but that doesn't matter, I get back up and hurry onto the street.
"Damn, you're quick on your feet as always. Pretty damn annoying!" The assailant jumps from the top of a five-story building without any problems. "Yo."
Katsu is the one who attacked me. Don't waste any time, just go for it! I summon Skeith, and in turn, Katsu summoned his Persona to intercept it. I dart over to him with my sword out. When I go for a thrust attack he maneuvered around to deliver a punch to my gut. Seeing it coming, I aim a kick to his stomach. The both of us got hit in the same area. He stumbles backward from another. Katsu lets out a chuckle.
"Good shot there."
Don't you underestimate me, I'm going all in today."
"Good, it wouldn't be fun if you didn't!"
Katsu lights his foot on fire while making his way towards me. I block the brunt of his kick, despite blocking it, I can still feel the heat radiating off of his leg. I push him away from me. While he's on one leg, I move in for a blow with the back of my blade. He blocks the attack with his legs. Damn, I can't give up on the push now! I make a spin maneuver to build enough momentum. Now next to him, I hit his head with the butt of my sword. Despite being stunned by it, he lights his fist on fire and brings it my way. I roll out of the way of the attack. The attack caves in the wall behind me, damn, if I was standing there I would've been a goner.
"Seems like ya got better since our last fight."
"I didn't want to be thrown on my ass ever again, so yeah, I did get better."
"Oh, yeah...I heard you got your ass kicked inside that giant ass tower by the person who interrupted our fight."
"Yeah, she did."
"Wait...that guy is a chick!?"
"You didn't know?"
"Hell no, maybe that's why she always quiet, and acts as a cold bitch."
M.G. really is a secretive person if she never revealed her gender to her teammate. Actually, speaking of that, maybe I should get some answers out of him.
"Who are you people anyway? Are you and M.G. on the same side?"
"M.G.? Oh, that chick. I guess you could say that, but things have been a bit shaky as of late. Oh, speaking of that, have you seen her? Boss told me to seek her out when we can."
"Why?"
"Eh, I don't care, maybe she left, maybe she did something she wasn't supposed to do, who knows. Actually, what the hell am I doing..." In the blink of an eye, he's right up in front of me. A hard, sudden object presses against my face. "...I only came to fight you!"
He grabs my shirt and pulls up only to punch me again. I try to recover but he just kneed me in the stomach, then bring it to my face. Fuuka is telling me where another attack is coming from but I'm too slow to react to it. He then drives one last punch my way, hitting me from under my chin, knocking me off my feet. I land on my back.
"That's it? Tch, I guess this was a waste of my time." His fist lights on fire. "I'll end this quickly."
Without any warning, he brings his fist down on me!"
"What a pathetic display...I'll show you how to crush your foes."
"What the-"
Before I could comprehend what was going on, I'm overrun by a violent entity taking over.
...
Katsu, the superior warrior is about to bring his fist down towards Kazuki, whose eyes are closed. But, in a blink of an eye, Kazuki catches the attack, despite the heat his hand is in.
"What the hell!?"
"Such a pitiful attack."
"What the shit did you just say to-"
"Be quiet, you goddamn insect!"
Kazuki kicks Katsu from the ground. His opponent is sent flying. Upon hitting the ground, Katsu clutches his stomach, the pain of the kick was beyond anything that he has felt from Kazuki before. Nonetheless, he gets up and prepares a fireball attack.
"You bastard, were you-"
Going beyond Katsu's notice, Kazuki approached him without him seeing him take a single step.
"Did I say you can speak?"
Kazuki throws Katsu up towards a building roof. Kazuki examines his body, a smirk curling on his face. He then takes one big leap to the building he threw Katsu up to.
He takes a look at the buildings and houses of the city island. "So many..." He lowers his head, his body shakes as he lets out a small chuckle. Eventually, he starts laughing, maniacal, and out of control. "...So many...SO MANY WEAKLINGS OUT HERE!? How can one crush them all!?" He keeps laughing on and on until a punch makes contact with the side of his face.
"Don't ignore me, damn it!"
Katsu is breathing heavily as he hasn't recovered from the attack.
"How annoying." Despite saying that, the entity that took over Kazuki takes on a wicked grin, showing pleasure for what's going to do next. "You can be the first one to die by my hands!"
A hotel, but...
Kazuki: So we're heading to a hotel, that's nice.
Fuuka: Yes but...
Kazuki: But what?
Fuuka: It's...
Kazuki: It's what? Hey, why are you blushing?
Fuuka: Because the place we're going to is...
Kazuki: A hotel, right?
Fuuka: Yes, however, it's..."
Kazuki: Oh, I got it. Do you want to try it out?
Fuuka: What!?
Kazuki: Yeah, we could spend the night there, I always wanted to stay in one.
Fuuka: S-seriously, b-but it's indecent!
Kazuki: How?
Fuuka: It's because...because-
Minako: ...It's a love hotel.
Kazuki: H-huh? Oh, oh shit...Fuu-chan, when I said I wanted to visit a hotel, I meant...
Fuuka: N-no, it's fine, I know what you meant.
Kazuki: Yeah, good, good...Let's forget about this conversation.
Fuuka: Right.