A Prison of Ice
III.
Father had started taking him to his business meetings after his thirteenth birthday.
Makoto could understand the reasoning behind it. He was the only heir to the Yuki Corporation and his father wanted to do everything in his power to make sure that he wouldn't run the company into the ground after his retirement. The meetings were dull, painstakingly so, as he was simply there to observe quietly. He wasn't even allowed to bring a book to read because his father wanted him to pay attention.
Negotiating business deals was never something he had to do in his past life. He simply had no interest in it, but he needed to play the part of the dutiful son. Their last meeting had taken exceptionally long, so he was all too glad to be back within his father's limousine as they made their way back home.
"Tell me, Makoto." His father began from his seat across from him. "What did you learn from today's meeting?"
He honestly zoned out for a good portion of it like he used to do in his classes, so he could only remember the beginning and end.
"... Sometimes it's better to walk away?" He eventually replied.
"That's true." Father agreed with a nod. "Even though we spent a long time at that meeting, I wasn't satisfied with the terms and left the deal on the table. Sometimes no deal is better than being locked into a bad one."
His scroll began to ring in his pocket before he took it out and looked at the caller id.
"Is it Weiss?" His father asked with a knowing smile.
"Yes, father." He simply replied. "May I answer it?"
"Oh, by all means! Don't let me distract you." His father said as he plugged a pair of headphones into his ears. "We can finish our talk later."
His relationship with Weiss was… interesting to say the least. They would meet a few times a year, mostly during holidays and celebrations. Some time down the line, Weiss had insisted they exchange scroll numbers to keep in contact and he hadn't seen a reason to refuse.
He'd like to consider them friends, but there were always these uneasy feelings in the back of his mind. That he was using her as a replacement for Mitsuru or that their parents were the ones that had manipulated them into this relationship in the first place. Perhaps he was simply being too critical; even if father had pushed him into connecting with Weiss, he couldn't say that their relationship didn't feel genuine.
Makoto accepted the call and saw Weiss's familiar face on the other end of the screen.
"Hello, Makoto." Weiss greeted with a smile before it faltered a little bit. "... Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"No, it's fine." He answered with a polite smile of his own. "I'm just on my way back home."
"A business meeting with your father again?"
"Yeah."
Most of their conversations were about the same, just small talk disguised as a way to check in with one another. Usually, Weiss was the one that would call to talk about how her week went, although he would occasionally give her a call as well for the same reasons. He couldn't deny that he had come to look forward to their weekly conversations.
It was interesting to hear Weiss talk about the small things in her life like how her singing practice went or what she and Winter had been up to.
"... Father wants me to perform at the next company party." Weiss eventually said with a rather reluctant look on her face.
"You don't want to?" He curiously asked. "I thought you enjoyed singing."
"I do, but…" She trailed off and bit her lower lip. "I've never sung in front of that many people before! What if I mess up?"
"It's normal to be nervous, Weiss. You don't need to worry so much about it, you'll be fine."
"Hmph, easy for you to say." She said with a little pout. "You aren't the one that has to be up there."
"I've heard you sing before, Weiss." He dryly replied. "You're a great singer—"
Bang.
Something suddenly cracked against one of the windows and his eyes widened in surprise. Was that a gunshot? Another bang followed, and then another one, followed by two more in quick succession. The limousine sped up and gunned it down the road as his father scooted away from the windows and ducked.
"Makoto, get down and stay away from the windows!" His father ordered as he kept his head low.
"Makoto?" Weiss asked with a worried look on her face. "What was that?"
He ducked down as well. "Sorry Weiss, I'll call you back later."
"Wait—"
Makoto closed his scroll shut as another round of gunshots could be heard impacting against the limousine. The driver kept the throttle on and rushed the vehicle down the street. He had always thought that something like an assassination attempt could be a possibility, but it was still a rather surreal experience to be caught in the middle of one.
He supposed that father didn't have the greatest reputation among the people of Mistral after all.
The shots finally stopped once the driver was able to get the limousine onto a different street. He slowly got back up and sat back down on his seat. Fortunately, the windows were bulletproof, so none of the rounds had actually pierced through. Father dusted himself off before he let out a sigh of relief and went back to his seat.
"I'm glad I decided to get those bulletproof windows now…" Father muttered to himself more than anything. "It's been a long time since someone attempted such a blatant attack."
Makoto raised an eyebrow at that.
"Has this happened before, father?"
Father grimaced a bit and nodded. "Unfortunately, the reality of it is that a lot of people would like to see me dead."
Father ran a hand over his hair and sighed.
"I suppose I'll have to make some calls and hire some bodyguards again." Father continued. "We should probably get you some self-defense training as well while we're at it. It'll be a good way to round out your education."
Makoto knew how to fight, but his body didn't.
His limbs were shorter now, his stamina and muscles weren't as developed. It would take a lot of getting used to in order to get back to the level he once was. He had been putting off training for a while now because he simply lacked the desire to fight again and didn't see a reason to.
He had no intention of playing the self-sacrificing role of a hero again.
If assassins were going to start coming for his life though, he'd need to be prepared. Makoto closed his eyes and could still feel the sea of souls stirring deep inside. Even if his body was different, his soul and its inhabitants were still one and the same. He had not tried to summon a Persona, not since he had become Makoto Yuki.
It was probably going to be time to rectify that soon.
The day after the assassination attempt his father called him into his office.
Makoto stepped into his father's office to find two other people in there along with his father. There was a grey-haired man that was dressed in a long black duster coat and a silver-haired boy that looked to be around his age. They looked like they could be related, another father and son duo perhaps?
"Ah, Makoto." Father greeted with a nod. "This is my… associate, Marcus." He tilted his head towards the other man. "He'll be working as a bodyguard and as a training instructor for you."
Marcus looked him over as if he were scrutinizing him.
"It's a lot different than the usual jobs you give me, Mr. Yuki, but your money's good so I won't complain." The grey-haired man gruffly replied. "This is my son, Mercury." He put a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "He'll be your sparring partner from now on."
"It's nice to meet you." Makoto dutifully replied as he held out his hand. "I'm Makoto Yuki."
Mercury just glared at him.
Makoto raised an eyebrow in response before he let his hand fall limply back down to his side.
He could tell that this was going to be a rather interesting experience, to say the least.
Weiss hadn't been happy when he finally called her back and let her know what happened.
"An assassination attempt?!" Her voice shrieked over his scroll's sound system.
Makoto had to hold back a wince at her volume.
"... Yes." He eventually replied once his ears stopped ringing. "I'm fine though, so there's no need to worry."
"Wha— No need to worry?!" Weiss's voice only got louder. Perhaps that had been the wrong response to give. "Don't you realize that you could have gotten killed?!"
"I believe that the assassins were after my father, rather than myself." He dryly replied, ignoring his ringing ears. "Isn't something like this normal for people like us anyway?"
Weiss grew quiet at that. "... That doesn't make it any better."
"If it makes you feel any better, father decided to hire a personal bodyguard."
"He should have had one from the beginning," Weiss said as her lips thinned. "You live in Mistral for god's sake. The kingdom's full of unsavory individuals and their ilk."
"Does your father have one?" He countered with a raised eyebrow.
"No, but we live in Atlas. We don't need one unless we decide to leave the city. It's different here."
He supposed that she had a point about that. Mistral probably had the largest criminal population in the world. In contrast, Atlas was filled with only the upper class while everyone else stayed below in Mantle. Whatever crime that was going to happen in Atlas was more than likely to be of the white-collar variety.
"... Has it ever happened to you?" He eventually asked out of curiosity and a little bit of worry.
"No. The White Fang have targeted my father a few times though." Weiss bitterly replied. "... I've heard about a board member in the SDC going missing as well."
The fact that Jacques had a target on his back wasn't a surprise to him. He was probably one of the most universally hated men in the world.
"It's to be expected, I suppose. Our family businesses don't exactly have the best reputation after all..."
"I don't see why! The SDC creates so many jobs for the Faunus and they just spit in the face of our goodwill." Weiss replied with a shake of her head. "Ungrateful bunch."
"... Have you ever been to one of your company's mines, Weiss?"
"No, but I've seen photos. It's not nearly as terrible as those annoying tabloids would have people believe."
It didn't surprise him that Weiss didn't know the truth.
He knew that the SDC's business practices were every bit as bad as the Yuki Corporation, if not worse. He'd seen videos of the Yuki Corporation's mines and how mistreated the workers there were. He knew that his father knew about the conditions and prioritized the bottom line over the safety of his workers. The Yuki Corporation was created from the same mold as the SDC after all.
It was something that he wanted to change in the future when he eventually inherited the company.
He couldn't blame her for being ignorant about it. She grew up as one of the heirs to the richest family in the world after all. Her entire worldview was going to be different from most people's simply because of her upbringing. Jacques had probably told her that those reports were nothing but lies and slander, and why wouldn't she believe him?
In a way, Weiss was like a princess that grew up in a castle, sheltered from all of the harsh truths of the world.
Would he have been the same if it weren't for the fact that he had his memories of his past life? It was an interesting thought, but ultimately pointless to think about in the end.
"... We're not as blameless in this as you'd like to believe, Weiss." He eventually said.
Weiss stared at him with an unreadable expression on her face. "... What do you mean by that?"
"The next time you visit, I'll take you to one of our company's mines so you can see for yourself."
Her eyes narrowed before she looked away with a huff. "... Let's not speak about this anymore."
"Very well." He simply replied. "I'm going to have to cut our call short for today though."
"What? Why? Aren't you usually free around this time?"
He just gave a wry smile in response.
"I have some self-defense training to do with my father's new bodyguard."
Author's Notes- Oh, no! Maybe it won't be all fluff after all. On a more serious note, I do hope the transitions and time-skips flow a lot better now than before. If not well... I tried my best, guess I'm just a bad writer.
