A/N: It's in Chidori's viewpoint so it's super vague.

Chapter 35

Something to Follow

White...

... Medea...

I'm alone...?

No... no... help...

Her sketchbook was on the bedside table. She picked it up. It wasn't damaged. There was no pencil.

"You're finally awake."

A woman with red hair was standing at the foot of her bed.

"I have a number of questions for you."

"Who are you?" Chidori asked.

"Mitsuru Kirijo."

Chidori recoiled.

The redhead raised her eyebrows but Chidori didn't care in that moment.

She hugged her knees and clutched her sketchbook tight.

Kirijo brought it. Scream. Bodies. White pain. Chaos.

She's not scared.

She shouldn't be...

...

The door was opened.

"You still don't get anything?"

"After I told her my name, she went quiet... I'll ask you once more... Is Chidori your real name? What kind of organization is Strega? Are there others besides you three?"

Chidori refused to move and talk, but then she heard... a sound from the outside.

"... Junpei! You're not..."

The doors burst open.

A capped teen staggered in. Between heavy breaths, he called her.

"Chidori!"

"Away, Iori."

"No."

Chidori looked up. It was Junpei. "Junpei..." It really was Junpei.

Mitsuru narrowed her eyes. Akihiko touched her arm. Yukari hid behind the seniors.

"How are you feeling?" Junpei took a seat next to her bed.

She just looked at him.

"Hey, I bought a flower for you. It's not that beautiful but… Hope you like it!" He handed her a flower even he didn't know what it was.

Chidori blinked.

Junpei opened his mouth and closed it. He scratched his neck. "Uhh... Seems like you've calmed down."

Chidori took the flower and placed it on her book.

"She certainly has. In fact, she won't say a word... Maybe we should confiscate her sketchbook, too."

Chidori's grip on her book tightened.

Junpei snapped to the senior. "Come on, what good would that do! That won't make her talk!"

Mitsuru seemed hesitated. "... I'm not so sure about that. She was quite upset when we took her Evoker. Speaking of which... Where did you get that?"

"Medea…"

All eyes looked at the red haired girl.

The room was quiet.

Suddenly, Chidori screamed, with two hands above her head.

"What?" Mitsuru stepped back. Akihiko shook his head.

"Medea! Give it back to me! I want her back!"

Junpei tried to comfort her but didn't know where to touch. "Chidori, calm down!"

"I told you not to bring that up."

"Then, what am I supposed to do?"

Chidori snorted. "You Kirijo don't get it! Medea, my friend!" She sniffed. "Why me… Why my friend..."

"... Call a nurse. We're done for today."

"Why...?" Chidori murmured to herself. "Why is my friend taken from me..."

"Chidori…"

Yukari poked the bon bon. She was worried and that made her not hungry. "Junpei seems to really like that girl. What should we do?"

"Cheer him on," Minato said.

Shinjiro looked at the door. "Can't believe he's into a girl now. He's getting soft, huh?"

"What about you?" Minato asked.

"Trust me, girls complicate life."

"Strega member Chidori has been sent to a Kirijo-run hospital," Aigis said. "Mitsuru and Akihiko are currently interrogating her. When neither seniors are present, we are not permitted to go to Tartarus."

Shinjiro sighed. "So in their eyes, I'm not a senior yet…"

"It's your fault for not going to school."

"I… take care of Koromaru. That's why." Shinjiro then mumbled to himself. "For me, it's pointless anyway."

Junpei didn't need any special treatment. All Minato did was giving him a smile and said, "I've got your back."

The capped teen smiled, even if only slightly, that's enough.

The Naganaki Shrine was quiet. Minato handed the blood red fountain pen to a young man with a striped shirt. He always has this weird feeling… some kind of magnetic pull.

"My name is Akinari Kamiki… Have a seat if you'd like, I'll write something for the two of us."

For the past four months, Akinari watched the blue haired boy playing with Maiko. The link with her was maxed. She's not here anymore.

"She was very…bright. Her face shone with the warm light of a new life… And then there's me, cooped up in the hospital, struggling to breathe. Compared to her light, I'm but a vanishing shadow…" The young man sighed. "Misery is a harsh mistress. I feel as though I'm lying in unyielding darkness. Can you understand how I feel?"

Death… Dying… About to die… Minato thought about it a lot. You can't return the dead, he knew. The living has to keep living, knowing that they will die someday. The dead remains dead and everything has ended, but someone who is still alive is not the same, because they are… alive.

But if he's going to be truthful, yes was not the right answer.

Minato shook his head.

"I didn't think so…" Akinari smiled bitterly. "Any day now, I'm going to die."

Minato blinked. Did he just say it… Just like that…?

"I have a genetic disease without any known cure. Unless you're in my situation, you can't understand what it's like… but I prefer it that way. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. There isn't anything you can do to slow this down or make things better."

There're things in this world that can't be changed.

Minato could imagine Pharos saying that.

"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to depress you or anything. I haven't spoken to someone my own age in a long time. It's natural for those in darkness to yearn for the world of light...

"However… I would rather you not come here ever again. You only live once, right? So why waste your life among the dying...? Goodbye."

Minato didn't know what to say. He stood up and left.

"Rraaaggh!"

"Grrr!"

If there's not a jungle gym and a slider nearby, people would think this was a battlefield.

His sight was obscured by all the dust, but Ken kept running. "Ha!" He dashed forward with two hands reaching out.

"Woof!" Koromaru sunk his right forepaw on the sand. He made a sharp turn and dodged the kid, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Ken used his right leg as an axis and turned his body around, but he forgot that Koromaru was a dog, and a dog was agile in general. He also forgot that he was not a dog. Ken lost his balance and headbutted the playground surface. The sand… smell like dirt. Bitter… Gross. Bleh.

"Woof! Woof woof!" Koromaru ran around in circles, making a small sandstorm.

Ken sat up and coughed. "I'm… pathetic, losing to a dog…"

Minato chuckled.

"He's so fast, I'm jealous… Achoo!" The kid sneezed. "Geez, Koromaru…"

"Arf!" Koromaru barked as if mocking, but then the dog sneezed and shook his head. He walked to the shrine building and sat next to Minato. Koromaru decided to rest for today.

"Yesterday…" Ken wiped all the dirt out of his face, stood up and dusted off his clothes. "Why does everyone seems to be on edge?" He paused. "I mean, no one tells me what happened. Am I unreliable? Am I that childish…?"

"Maybe others still don't trust you," Minato said.

"Trust?"

"Being reliable and mature alone can't make you trustworthy. There's more than that."

Ken thought for a moment. "... I think you are trying to say, I'm not close enough to them."

Minato shrugged. "Maybe."

Come to think of it, yeah. Ken was quite distant from others. He must change that, huh?

"You didn't know about Strega yet," Minato spoke up.

"Strega?"

"It is a group of Persona-users who don't want to end the Dark Hour. They say we are playing hero, and that we are hypocrites for not appreciating our power."

"Huh." Ken didn't know there was another group like them.

"You, Akihiko, and Shinjiro didn't see it. We captured a member of Strega on the dorm rooftop. Her name is Chidori. She's Junpei's acquaintance."

"Someone you know ended up being an enemy. I know that feeling."

Minato looked at him.

They remained silent. Ken looked up at the sky. The moon was beautiful, always giving the Naganaki Shrine some light. The moonlight didn't reach Minato who was in the Shrine building, though. The wind started to pick up. It's not that hot and humid anymore. The night chill was pleasant. Night...

"... I know, Minato-san," Ken began. "At Wakatsu. Remember?"

Minato nodded. About his childish immature acts.

Ken looked down. "I know that I... forced. I like planning how I act, what I do. It feels good to know I have something to follow... It feels good to know." He sighed. "I like to act in a certain way, and that isn't me. It's not a good thing to do, is it?"

"Do what you think is right."

"Too bad my opinion of right might not be good... you know. But I'll try." Ken smiled. "No one ever talks to me like that before, the way you did."

"Arf!" Koromaru stood up and ran to the entrance. He was chasing a blue butterfly.

"... Wait, no." Ken shook his head. "Oh, nothing. Let's go to Wakatsu again someday. If you want to, just call me."

'A dark past, sinking into the deep shadow… It enfolds the people who are involved, and captures them… Who are the ones that are trapped…?'