"Takaya?"
A man with a ponytail suddenly blinks and snaps out of his subconscious thoughts, looking back at the brother that called to him.
It's now nine years later, with the three children now grown up and attending high school together as supposedly normal students. Finishing their first day as third-years today, the brother goes to tell the other about the occurrence that happened last night, though the older one seems to have space out amongst it all. The younger brother then sighs in disbelief.
"Have you not been listening? Just so you know this may involve our operation too. You do remember Shuji saying that we'd be getting a transfer student living in the dorms with us right?" The younger brother doesn't bother beating around the bush as he goes straight to the point. "He came into the building late last night– right during the Dark Hour too."
That part has Takaya raise his eyebrows in interest. "Is that so? … Does that mean…?"
The brother hums with unsurety in response. "We're not sure yet. We'll be setting up some surveillance and monitoring over any activity… starting tomorrow night. It'll be good to keep a close eye on him to gather any necessary information."
The diligent-looking student then closes his locker door and brushes his slicked blue hair aside before looking back at his long silver-haired brother. The thick rectangular frames of his glasses match his more committed look. "Surely you'll attend tonight's meeting regarding the plan. I'm not hearing any excuses otherwise."
Takaya then smiles at him, oh so innocently, despite the tone faking it. "... Jin, please. It's me!"
"... Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of." Jin gives another displeased look along with a sigh. Takaya isn't normally the type to attend the importance of events, either sneaking away to go about his own business or make some excuses. It's like Jin, as the more responsible brother, has to make sure he attends them, whether he likes it or not.
Adjusting his shoulder bag on the side, Jin then spots a familiar redhead walking towards their direction. The girl has her arms crossed while holding a few books in her grasp, one being particularly a sketchbook she draws in during time in school. She looks downward on the way over until she looks up at the two brothers, giving a weak smile in relief knowing the dreadful day is about over.
"Ah, and there she is…" Takaya smiles over to their sister, leaning against the locker doors and sways his hand around in time of his words. "How was your first day at Gekkoukan so far?"
"... Mhe," She shrugs in response, giving very little enthusiasm regarding the day. "This has nothing to be excited about. The lectures, the homework… the introductions…" She sighs on the last part, the one thing she dreaded the most. "It's only meant to be more difficult within the upcoming years."
"That's expected when moving up in grades," Jin looks over to his sister with a nod. "Don't worry about it too much, knowing you your three years will do just fine for you. As long as you don't slack off, of course."
Unlike the older brother over here. Takaya had been held back two years due to his slacking complexion and general ill behavior at campus. But that's a story for another time, as the older brother hums and rolls his eyes on Jin's comment.
"... Oh Chidori, have you heard?" Takaya asks the sister with a lighthearted tone of his. "The new student came to the dorms late last night. And he has a special case… like the rest of us."
The girl gives an impassive expression at the brother, being the norm of a reaction from her. "I know. I was there."
Jin raises one eyebrow, as he didn't think she would be up that late to find out herself. All the same, he would expect his sister to go to bed at a proper time before the start of the school year. But oh well… "You were?"
"I couldn't sleep, and I felt a presence entering our dorms before the Dark Hour disappeared. So I went to check it out." She gives a shrug at that, not giving much of an impression about it. "Yukari and Mitsuru were already there by the time I came down."
Takaya touches his chin in thought. "Hm, interesting… were they expecting him at the time?"
"Doubt it." Jin only thinks otherwise, taking a step back upon thought. "They probably heard the door open if anything."
He then runs into another student behind him, who seems to be waiting for him to collide with him as he is standing in the way. That part is intentional, as he then let out a mischievous grin.
"Oh— I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." It was a playful tone at that, like he wasn't sincere about it at all. He steps closer to the blue-haired man. "Maybe I should watch where I'm going, huh?"
Jin let out a 'hmph' along with a glare, adjusting his shoulder bag. "Fancy seeing you here, Ushitani."
"Ha, now look who's talking…" The student stands taller than the shooter-than-average height Jin before him, towering over him effortlessly. This didn't stop him from trying to stare down at him however. "I'd be careful with that tone of yours if I were you. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you and those glasses of yours, now would you?"
"... And if I don't?" The shorter student spit out, his glare only growing sharper from there. "Take one step forward, I dare you."
They stare down at one another for quite some time, with the others standing by to wait for a sign of movement between the two. The atmosphere feels more tense than they realize it would, silence between them with whatever intriguing thoughts that come across their minds. It's only a matter of time until one of their expressions loosen up, in fact breaking into a smile as Jin takes a step towards him to wrap one arm around his back. The other student in return embraced him into a hug, letting out a little laugh at the end.
"Nice to run into you like this Izumi!"
"Hey it's good to see you man! Felt like forever." He then plays with Jin's hair by ruffling it up with his free hand. The friend knows Jin hates having his hair touched like that, but it's still fun for him to play with while it lasts.
"Alright cut that out!" Jin lets out a somewhat irritated tone while fixing his hair back into place. "Seriously, we should catch up when we get a chance. I haven't heard from you since our last text message during break."
"Oh right, my bad! Got caught up with some things." Izumi rubs the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "I had some guys back at the shop being like 'If ya got time to play then you got time to work'." He then rolls his eyes on that one. He finds those lines from adults annoying as is.
"I mean hey, experience is nothing to sneeze at," Jin instead finds this to be a good reason to work during their spare time. "That's something to add to your work experience when you graduate from here. For me– I've just happened to do an internship during the spring. You should take any opportunity while you have it."
"Yes yes, that was very great and all." Takaya pats the brother's shoulder as he comes in with a smile towards Izumi. Honestly anything academic-related topic can wait another day. "It's good to see you again."
"Likewise!" He was about to go in and give him a hug, but realizes he isn't most fond of physical affection. Last time he tried doing so he may have cracked a few joints from the skinny man, due to his strength. "Oh sheesh, I forgot already! My bad Takaya."
The oldest just shakes his head, reassuring his action. "Forgetfulness is only a form of freedom after all. It's only natural to have that slip your mind. No worries there."
Izumi laughs modestly in response to that, then looks over to the redhead sister with a more joyous smile. "Hey! Chidori, right? Welcome to Gekkoukan! How have you been enjoying it so far?"
"I've already been asked that twice today," The girl was quick to the punch to respond to that question. "Are there other things that would be more relevant to ask?"
"Well, ouch…" The man takes a step back to withdraw from their conversation already. He wasn't nearly surprised however, as the girl usually has a lip against him whenever they would interact. Guess he can't be friends with everyone in the family… "Well good to see you too…"
Takaya only let out a chuckle before easing the situation. "Don't take it to heart, mind you: She obviously isn't too fond of the campus just yet. Give her some time here, she may grow accustomed to you too."
"Doubt it… I've known her for two years already. I-I don't think she's warming up to me at the least."
The girl then heads off out the building before turning to the boys with a still indifferent expression. "Well I'm going home now. This place is already too much as it is."
Takaya waves off to the sister as he then looks back at the other two with a genuine smile. She can make her way back to the dorms just fine anyway. "So, what should we do now? Shall we head to the shrine to chitchat? Or… perhaps an early dinner? Jin's buying!"
"Wha–!?" The brother glares at the older one, a sign of shock from him disintegrated as soon as it came. "I don't think so! If you're inviting, you're paying cheapskate!"
The older brother makes another somewhat innocent smile. "Well obviously I didn't make an invitation, I only offered an idea that if we were to go out you can pay. There's a difference."
"I'm calling bullshit on that! You're still making a request either way! Do you think I'm made out of cash!?"
"Out of the three of us…? Yes, yes I think I do."
"Seriously now!?"
Izumi laughs as the two bicker at one another, reminding him of the old times when the three would hang out together after school or Sundays when they had free time. It's been two years since they were all reunited, when they last saw him at the orphanage by the time the two were adopted. As Izumi was adopted later on, he had no idea he'd see his friends again once he enrolled into high school. And yet here they are. They make up for the loss of time with their catching up stories alongside being their reckless teenage selves when going out and being kids. But now, it is harder to get together when the Dark Hour missions have taken a lot of their focus. Not only that, but the normal teen has been busy quite lately as well.
The student checks his cell phone before pocketing it. "Sorry, gotta scram. My mom's been needing help lately, so I can't today. Perhaps another time."
Takaya smiles considerably as he watches the friend head out to the building. "Thata boy Izumi. Go help your lady in need!"
"We'll catch you later!" Jin didn't hesitate to say otherwise. This kid has always seemed busy lately, it's like asking him to hang out is always a hit or a miss. Even then, he knows Izumi has the kindest heart out of all the three of them when it comes to helping someone in need, so it seems very much like him at the least. With that, Takaya gestures to Jin to head back to the dorms for the day, and so the two brothers walk towards the transit station in hopes to meet up with their sister there.
—-
It's evening, and the Iwatodai dorms are as quiet as ever. Another redhead sits on one of the couches reading comfortably on her own. Her hair is more of a burgundy, and is one of the other third-years and is the most mature of the other residents. Another student happens to walk by to tell her that he's going out. The student happens to be a third-year as well, with short gray hair and a bandage on the side of his head, and he looks ready to go with a jacket over his shoulder.
"Have you read the newspaper lately? There's new cases on the rise as of recently."
"You mean those with Apathy Syndrome, correct? Yes, I'm aware of that." The girl responds without any hesitation. She was on point to the topic. "It's quite an epidemic really. The news suggested that it's a condition brought on by stress."
"Tch, as if," The young man makes a smirk showing otherwise. "We know damn well it's those Shadows. It's like no matter how hard we try, more and more people fall victim to these monsters during the Dark Hour. Don't you think so too?"
"I admit it is a frustrating thought. Perhaps we should convey another tactic while we still can. Otherwise things may look worse from here."
The man only shakes his head before walking towards the door. "Well we better think of something, and fast. Those Shadows won't beat up themselves even if we ask them to. I'm going out. It's times like these to release some steam."
And with that, the man heads out. The young woman sighs in dismay with a shake of her head, putting her book down momentarily. "This isn't a game Akihiko. Hm?"
The lady then turns to the sound of incoming footsteps, turning out to be Takaya as he lets out a tiring smile before laying himself on the other couch. "Good evening Mitsuru-chan. I hope I'm not being a bother."
"No, not at all." She sits upright from her seat to show a more presentable posture. "How did today go? With your sister I mean."
He hums with a mild tone before responding. "She did alright. Not very fond of being at a brand new place I'd say. Well, I can't say new, exactly… but you know what I mean."
The two continue to exchange conversations with another with the time they have, given they have already known each other since childhood. Times have been crazy with them since their first discovery with the Dark Hour, and of course they're not the only ones. A total of seven– now eight students who reside in this dorm are all aware of the strange phenomenon. They all encounter the moments ever so differently, but they all have one goal in mind: To learn more about it and somehow put an end to this madness. At least that's what they all agreed on, at the least.
The next day, school continues on like usual, with a welcoming ceremony as its main event to make the new years feel at home. During class, another student happened to come up to the new transfer student to give him his own sign of a warming welcome. And while a brunette who also resides in the dorms goes to give him the cold shoulder upon his behavior, another girl shows up between the three students. The cheerful girl happens to be the transfer student's cousin, oddly enough.
"Oh my god, Makoto!? Is that you?" The auburn hair girl comes up to the boy in utter surprise, her smile fills with delight upon seeing her long-lost cousin. "I haven't seen you since– well, forever! It's me, Kotone! Mitsuru told me there was going to be a transfer student coming here, but I didn't know it was going to be you! It's good to see you again!"
She gives him what seems to be the tightest hug he ever felt. Her embrace squeezes the dear life out of this boy as the other two students nearby blinks with shock and bewilderment.
"Wait, that's your cousin!?" The brunette was the first to ask. "I had no idea. You never said you had one."
"Well obviously, you never asked," The other male student makes a remark. "I didn't know either until this happened. Wow, talk about a small world."
"Tsk– I didn't ask for your opinion, now did I?" The girl scoffs it off by the annoyance the young man brings.
Kotone finally lets go of the male cousin as she then turns to the others with a sweet little smile. "Yukari, Junpei! This is my Mako-kun, say hiiii!"
"He-Hello…" The boy let out a half-out sigh of a greeting, still trying to take some new air. Yes it's been quite a while, but nonetheless he wasn't really up to this reunion as much as she is. In fact he had no idea he would be seeing her at the school.
—-
After a whole day of meeting new students and getting slowly accustomed to the school campus, the transfer student all wants to do now is sleep. Entering the dorms with his cousin and the Yukari girl, he got to meet yet another new face at the place. The middle-aged man with long hair welcomed the boy with a short introduction of his own, hoping he feels at ease while getting used to the new school and home he is residing at. The transfer student didn't have much for words in the end of it all, and therefore went straight to his room for some rest.
As the night becomes darker and slowly creeping towards midnight, the blue-haired student continues being occupied in the command room. Multiple screens and monitors emit shades of green in the darkened room, with the lights reflecting off from the young man's glasses as he goes and types away on the keyboard. He then takes a moment and sits back, not noticing the sound of a door opening and closing from the distance as he surveys the data and results from the screens in front of him. A girl comes by with a cup as she places it down beside him, giving it to him as she goes to sit down nearby.
"Here you go, I got some tea." The girl's voice was soft and sweet all the same. Jin turns over and sees the cup beside him, giving a quiet tone in return.
"Oh, thanks." He picks up the tea and takes a sip from it, placing it back down to focus back on the screens. Chidori watches his line of vision, but loses interest in the progress shortly then.
"Mitsuru should be finishing up soon, so she'll meet us here when she can."
The two continue sitting around quietly as the computers in the room continue running its machines. The transfer student in the surveillance lays in his bed fast asleep, unaware about the others' whereabouts. This isn't precisely new to the other students before they have gained new members, almost every one of the students have gone through this at least once, whether they knew it or not. The brother stretches his arms as he was sitting on the seat for only a while now, awaiting the others' arrivals.
"Sanada went out alone again, didn't he?"
The girl nods in response, but doesn't show any concern for the young man. If anything it'd be on his own accord whether or not he gets himself hurt out there. There have been times when Takaya would try joining up with him to keep the two safe, but Akihiko usually leaves without prior announcement. At least other than Mitsuru. "Yep. Just like usual."
Jin only sighs in dismay. Typical. "I mean I get it. It can get boring around here when we have no current assignments to do, but he could at least have someone alongside him to make sure nothing tragic happens. Where is Takaya anyway? He should be meeting with us too, if he happens to remember."
Chidori only shrugs in response. "Hmm, not sure."
Moments after, Mitsuru and Yukari enter through the door to meet up with the other two. Jin adjusts his seating position with a welcoming nod. Chidori smiles and gets up right away to walk up to the other redhead.
"Oh, Mitsuru-san!"
The young lady smiles at the girl as she comes close to her with a smile of affection. Chidori rarely does this with anyone within the dorms, as she only shows to be in her most comfortable state with her brothers at most. Mitsuru on the other hand, has known her for many years, and so is seen as a big sister to Chidori. Just what she always wanted too.
"It's good to see you too Chidori," Mitsuru lets out a soft chuckle as she gives her head a small pat, which is another thing few people have a privilege of when associating with her. "You know, since we go to the same school now, you can always call me 'Senpai'. If you want to, of course, there's no need otherwise."
The girl gasps, like hearing an amazing idea out of her own lips as Jin can only hold back a chuckle hearing that little response from his sister.
"Careful now– you may never get to hear the end of it until next year." Jin kindly jokes to the third-year, which he only ever does on rare occasions. He's usually the serious type of the group next to Mitsuru, but he couldn't help but give a response of amusement to the two's exchange of conversation. He takes a sip from his cup before setting it back down, focusing back on the screens.
Well, she could get used to it. The older redhead then walks over to the other student, back to her somewhat serious demeanor regarding tonight's session. "What are the latest details so far?"
Jin then goes and types on the keyboard for a few moments before answering. "He just went to bed a while ago. We'll see how it goes once the hour starts. I suspect no abnormalities will occur if he happened to make it this far already. If what you said is true, then he would adapt just fine."
The lady hums in agreement, surveying the screens alongside him to take in the visuals. It is too soon to see anything new regarding the transfer student, so they can only wait until the hour comes. Yukari comes by and stands behind the others, a somewhat worrying expression shows as she observes the data on the monitors with unease. She hates the idea of them watching someone else through the cameras, it's really unsettling to think about. Chidori stands behind Mitsuru and Jin as she happens to look somewhat bored already. People watching are only interesting to her if she were to be drawing them while doing so. Otherwise it makes it more tedious to focus on than it should be…
"Working hard or hardly working?"
The four students turn to the source of a person's voice as a middle-aged man walks towards them from the door. He has long brown hair and also a brown uniform on, dressed up nicely as his usual attire. He wears glasses with very thin frames that give him a nice gentle appeal to the others. Next to him happens to be Takaya, who was probably hanging out with him before bothering to come here to check upon the situation. The oldest brother then goes to sit down at a third seat nearby as the adult looks over at Mitsuru before at the screens. "How is our new friend doing?"
"He's currently asleep in his bed as we speak. Mr. Chairman, do you think he really has the potential…?"
The man being simply questioned gives out a confident answer. "I don't think he does, Mitsuru-chan… I know he does. Really it's all whether or not he can adapt on his own. We'll wait until the time for certain, right now it's almost midnight…"
Takaya pushes himself closer to the control settings with his chair, finding a good angle to relax on as he puts his feet up against the keyboards. Jin throws a glare at the older brother almost immediately upon notice. "Do you mind?"
Takaya takes note of his brother's tone, placing his feet back down after to avoid any further conflict. With that Jin looks back at the screens. The clock is ticking, every second passing by reaching the twelfth number at the very top. The Chairman himself looks over his wrist watch to see the eleven fifty-nine on his time, the smaller numbers on the side indicating the seconds. "Just a few more seconds now…"
With everyone focusing on the clock in the room, the ticking seems to sound louder in the sudden moment. Akihiko, being outside on his own accord, looks at his cell phone for the time as well, seeing it's almost midnight on his end. The entire group waits patiently as the clock strikes midnight. Watching over the student patiently, they study for any abnormalities to see if anything could be done if it so happens. However, this is a very special case.
"Hmm," The Chairman watches the monitors with a focused admiration. "He appears to be still asleep. Fascinating…"
"Like nothing is happening at all. He hasn't even transformed either." Takaya finds this to be interesting as well. It is rare to find someone to experience the Dark Hour indeed, but even then they would sometimes show signs of distress or confusion within this state. Even then, the boy is still sound asleep, having a sense of peaceful aura around him.
The third-year with the specs overviews the information on the separate monitor to display the status. "No signs of indecent reaction so far. Thermal temperature is normal, blood pressure being within average… yeah, everything checks out. He's stable as is."
"Then he's…" The lady then turns to Ikutsuki with a curious tone to make sure they're on the right page. "Mr. Chairman?"
The man folds his fingers upon giving an answer. "As we can see he is experiencing the Dark Hour as is. Therefore all there is left is whether or not he is "special", like the rest of us."
"Father?" Chidori gives a soft curious tone with a sway of her arms with a contentful thought. "Does that mean he may be able to join us as an ally?"
"I'm afraid that's too early to say. Surely he's unaware of this additional hour that he's in right now. It may take some time until we inform him about it, if he happens to find out sooner or later." Ikutsuki replies, not wanting to make haste on any decision yet.
"But what about Kotone?" Yukari asks with a sign of wariness. "How would she feel about her cousin joining?"
"Hmm, well… we could ask her ahead of time if she's okay with it." The Chairman gives a reassuring smile. "She is part of our team too. If anything she may want to encourage him to be part of this group too. Make it feel like a nice big family under one roof! Hehe, now wouldn't that be something?" For some reason the idea gives Ikutsuki a shrill of delight to think about. As an adoptive father himself, perhaps the idea of a bigger family being a group of individuals sharing similar abilities is sounding like a dream come true. With his ecstatic tone at the end, his three children couldn't help but feel uneasy about his answer.
"Ah jeez…" Jin facepalms and hangs his head over the controls on the table, with Chidori making a silent groan to join in her brother's dismay. Takaya makes a short shrug at that, doubting he'll live in that daydream cloud of his for any longer.
After monitoring the student for quite some time, Mitsuru makes a yawn and bids them ado. "I'll be heading to bed now, make sure you all go to sleep at the proper time."
A variety of short answers comes from some of the students as the redhead steps out of the command room. Chidori then follows suit, as everyone else takes their time going out of the room as well. Jin happens to stay behind to check over the monitors for a little longer, as Takaya still sits beside him and leans closer to look at the student still asleep on the screen.
"Look how peaceful this boy is… he must be having a nice dream about something to be this lax…"
From the delighted tone Jin notices from him, he surely makes it sound like he envies the boy. For a student such as Takaya to have a Persona in representation of sleep and dreams, he surely doesn't get anything pleasant from them. From the moment of experiencing the Dark Hour, he would have future flashes in his sleep, some are really just agony and dread. The only decent thing from having them is being able to warn those who he witnessed in those dreams. But even then, it can be so vague or hard to see. On top of it all, he only forgets what they were about, even under the tears he would shed upon seeing those visions.
With all that on his shoulders, Jin simply can't blame him for his statement.
"Have you tried using the diary I gave you? You know it never hurts to use it when you have the chance to remember them."
The older brother hums and smiles to show he heard him, but kindly shakes his head in response. His brows furrow. "It's not as easy as it sounds brother. Sometimes that spec of any indication of what should be most remembered just fades out of my consciousness before I even open my eyes," He then lays back on his chair, his voice only shrinking in tone with a feeling of guilt. "And the worst thing is…? I then finally remember them the moment it's too late. When the deja vu happens it's literally when the event takes place in real life. Same exact scenario. It's such a tragic moment for me, ever since that same thing happened two years ago. If only I…"
"Now don't beat yourself up like that!" Jin cuts him off with a sudden exclamation to snap him out of the guilt he carries. Even after all that time. "You know there wasn't anything you could do when that happened. This isn't your fault– it never was."
Behind his words he knows he means it. He cares deeply about his siblings more than anyone else in the dormitory, and he could damn well try to help them in any way he could. Even if so, sometimes his words don't go through, no matter how many times he says them. With that, Takaya couldn't give a right response to it, simply smiling once more before heading off to his room. It was definitely a broken smile, and it pains him to see it from him. Sooner or later he'll try to reason with him about the incident, if anything, only God knows whose fault it really is…
—-
"Any news?"
Ikutuski happens to enter the command room as the two students monitor the transfer student the next night. Everyone else is in the room with the exception of Akihiko again, and the cousins being in their own bedrooms. There hasn't been many changes since then, only the usual so far.
"The same as last night." Mitsuru is the first to respond, turning towards the Chairman. "He's sound asleep without any sign of disturbance."
The man hums with interest. "Hm, he's truly a fascinating specimen. Even those with a special affinity for the Dark Hour tend to experience some turmoil within them early at the start. Some with memory loss, while other times being fatigue or confusion, to say the least."
"I guess so, but he seems to be unaffected by any of that." Yukari even makes a response of astonishment. "I'm sure we all had uneasy experiences with the Dark Hour ourselves."
"With me, however," Takaya adds his thoughts in the conversation. "I would have strange dreams regarding the Dark Hour, despite not knowing much about it until the night I awakened to Hypnos. I guess I was a special case in that regard."
Chidori shakes her head recalling her early experiences, her own aspect being on a more gloomy side. "I remember feeling those odd presences within our rooms. I can always sense the Shadows nearby, even if I didn't want to. I even would feel sick to my stomach many times, hating being on my own in the dark."
Jin feels his expression soften when listening to his sister's story like that. He was there many times to comfort her when she needed someone, even when he wouldn't admit it. He keeps himself quiet and therefore his own response to himself, as he isn't fond of sharing his own bit of story that shows his side of vulnerability. He plays tough, not wanting to express any weakness during the time when everyone needs to stay strong.
"We've all been through a lot as is. It's been tough for all of us, even I can say as much." Mitsuru can feel the girl's pain through her voice, but knowing there isn't much to be done about the past. They can only grow stronger as a team from here on out. "But we're here now, that's what matters too."
Yukari then moves onto the main topic at hand, only making a glance at the monitors in front of them. "I feel bad… you know? We're digging into this guy's personal life, and now staying up late at night watching him in his sleep. I can't help but feel we're treating him as a guinea pig. This isn't right."
"I understand your concern Takeba," Jin slowly turns his chair around to look at her, keeping his voice sincere with a bite of truth. "But what we're doing is also what is best for him. If we want to make sure everything is going accordingly without any casualties during the Dark Hours, then we'll want to keep an eye on him to make certain he is safe and acquainted all around. Otherwise, we'd be risking his safety by our own ignorance."
"Well said Jin. I couldn't have said it better myself," Ikutsuki smiles towards his son as he takes a sip from his cup. He then looks back to the girl. "Yukari— if we happen to make him a worthwhile member to our team, wouldn't it be nice to have someone from your class to join alongside you? For the sake of others?"
"I mean, I suppose…" She already has Kotone from her class in the team too, but I guess another one wouldn't necessarily hurt in the long run. While everything Jin has said makes sense, it still doesn't justify spying on him. If he happens to be special in his own way, then maybe it's for the best. Maybe. "But still…"
Suddenly, the alarm in the command room goes off and takes the crew by surprise. Mitsuru responds to it shortly after to answer the call from the other end.
"This is Mitsuru from the Command Center. What's the situation?"
A skewy sound of static goes through the communication, with a huff and grunts of the male student patrolling around the streets. He sounds to be running, coming by the exhaustion from his voice.
"You're not going to believe this! This thing is huge!"
"Heh, that's what he said." Takaya comes in with a joke as he chuckles to himself. Everyone else in the room gives him the silence of judgment regarding the appropriateness.
"Takaya, be serious. Now's not the time for jokes." Chidori makes no hesitation of stepping in to get someone in their right place, with her soft voice being the contrary of the harshness it brings.
Jin then comes into communication to respond. "What's your current location?"
"I'm heading back to the dorms right now! This thing is after me… but I thought to give you a heads-up!"
Yukari takes a surprise out of that. "You mean you're bringing it here!?"
"Shit!" Jin stands right up from his chair to where he practically pushes it away behind him before heading straight out the room to go after him. Mitsuru then turns to Ikutsuki for direct orders.
"Mr. Chairman!"
"I-!?" She happens to catch the man off guard, but proceeds to speak. "W-We'll make preparations for battle! I'm counting on you everyone!"
All the other members run out of the command room with Takaya only jogging behind everyone else. Jin sprints down the stairs and happens to reach the front door in time to open it and see Akihiko flying in with his hand holding his left arm. He closes it right away and makes sure it was locked before checking on him.
"The hell!? What happened to you?"
Akihiko leans against the door before falling down to sit on the floor. He grunts out his words. "Shadow took a good swipe right at me. That bloody thing came out of nowhere too!"
Jin kneels down to check on his injury, noticing the blood seeping through the cloth of his sleeve. He doesn't bother moving his hand for further inspection, assuming he's in much pain as is. "This doesn't look too good. Let's get this treated before it gets any worse."
The others catch up to the two as Yukari shows distress upon his condition. "Are you alright!?"
"Tch, I'm fine. Wait til you see this thing, you guys are going to flip!"
The female third-year gives a shout to his arrogance. "This is serious Akihiko! You're really putting all of us in danger right now."
The entire building starts shaking with the sound of rumbles. Everyone glances upward and around the room.
Yukari's voice shakes with the rumbling. "I-It's shaking the building? Are you serious!?"
Even Ikutsuki wasn't aware of something like this. "This isn't like any other Shadow you have faced before isn't it?"
Akihiko only shakes his head. "Not this one. This ain't your average Joe…"
Mitsuru announces to the few of the members with her orders, trying to take this situation more swiftly with control. "Chairman, get back to the command center! Takeba, Sakaki– get Shiomi and Yuki out to safety! You should be able to escape through the back door!"
"Err- right!" Yukari goes back upstairs while Takaya only looks back to see her go. Wait, who's grabbing who now?
"Well? What are you waiting for? Go! Now!"
The man only lets out a sigh of grief before making a move, and so both the students go upstairs to get the others as told. Takaya happens to pass up Yukari upon the stairs, and keep going up where it leads to the girl's floor, having Yukari stumble out a word for a halt before dismissing him altogether. "H-Hey… agh whatever…"
He doesn't notice her response and continues getting to the third floor, making his way over to Kotone's room and knocking politely on the door. Yes the building is in fact in danger and therefore putting everyone at risk, but he has manners at least. He knocks again, and again and this time more viciously until the girl at the other side opens it with a yawn.
"Yeah, what's up?" She has woken up from her sleep as she wipes the side of her eye with no show of being disturbed. With her already aware of the supernatural, this shouldn't come off as confusing to her to say the least.
Takaya then speaks in a normal tone, a pleasant smile of relief shown on his face. "Ah, good, you're awake now. In that case, I'll explain everything on the way down."
He grabs the girl by the hand and leads her downstairs, catching her off guard. "Huh? Hey wai-!"
"We don't have much time. You see, a very big monster is attacking the dorms as we speak, so we need to get you and Yuki-kun into safety as soon as possible. Does that make any sense?" He has her keeping up to his pace as they make it down the stairs past the second level and down to the lounge where the backroom is. Kotone could only understand so many things at once, as she then jerks her hand away instinctively while stopping midway down.
"Wait… what's going on now?" She's too tired to catch everything he's been saying to her. She has many questions, for sure, but from the sounds and looks of the building shaking she can only guess so much.
The man then takes a breath while closing his eyes, putting his hands together to take a breath. He keeps his tone oddly calm as is, as he then stares back at her. "Do you want to die or not?"
Instead of getting a outstanded 'no' from the girl, she tilts her head curiously with what seems like another sort of confusion. "I don't know, but I'm not afraid to."
He then blinks as he raises a brow, intrigued by her response. Not something he would hear from anyone at the least, but… it is somewhat relatable to a degree. "You are one peculiar girl, are you?"
Meanwhile Yukari knocks on his door only once before announcing to the student at the other side. She's more freaked out about this than the other two, her voice becoming uneasy as she yells it out. "Sorry, but I'm coming in!"
She bashes through as she said, seeing Makoto was already awake with him standing upright and putting on his jacket. He gives a slightly confused look as he tells her regarding such. "The commotion woke me up. What is it?"
"I don't have time to explain everything, but we need to get out of here, right now!"
"... Wait, now?"
"Yes, now! Come on!" She has him follow her, only to take a moment to stop momentarily. "Oh, here!"
"Wait, is this…?"
She hands over a small knife to him to have for defense, just in case. "I know it's not much, but something to protect yourself with. Now let's go!"
Takaya and Kotone finally make it down to the back door and go through the exit, hopefully safe from harm's way. She takes a breath, finding relief as Takaya goes and straightens out his uniform to look nice and tidy once more. He sure hopes Yukari and the other kid make it here, he swore they would be here by now. In any case, if not now then maybe soon.
"Hey, should I help the others too? I have a Persona too you know." The girl asks somewhat confidently, not seeing why she has to be escorted to safety.
"Yes… but you've just awakened to it last month. You're still very relatively fresh to this experience and therefore may slow the rest of them down. Don't take it personally, let the 'experts' take care of this." He takes out a small yet long roll of some sort along with a match to light the end of it. Kotone glances over by noticing a bright light in his possession only to make the discovery.
"You're smoking now? In here!?" She can't believe this. Well, at least he's doing it here rather than in the lounge. But still…
He then puts the lighter away after lighting the smoke. "Look, this is all a stressful night as is. If you're going to start lecturing me, save that for another day when there's less things to worry about." He waves her off, he already gets enough lip from his siblings as is.
Yukari and Makoto make it down to the same lounge room as the brunette goes for the door to open it. However, it's locked, as the door knob won't even turn. Wait, the hell? She then bangs on the door.
"Hello? Anyone in there!?"
Kotone hears the girl on the other side and runs up to the door, trying to open it herself. "Yukari, is that you?"
"Yeah! I can't seem to open the door for some reason. Mind opening it up?"
She goes to turn the knob, but it remains stiff even under her grasp. "I'm trying but it won't budge!"
The building shakes again, this time with a louder rumbling sound, even throwing some of the students off balance. The shaking is not calming down anytime soon, as they soon realize they need to find another way out.
"Yukari, can you hear me?"
The brunette hears a girl's voice echoing in her consciousness, who happens to be Chidori using her telepathy to communicate to the others. Yukari then responds, "Yes I can hear you."
"Listen to what I have to say. The one we're facing right now isn't the one Sanada-san has faced. Therefore there's more than one Shadow at the dorms. Please, be careful!"
"Wait there's more!?" As if the door problem isn't enough. Yukari turns to Makoto with a tense feeling of her own, thinking they need to find another way to get out of here. Knowing the door can't be dealt with, she looks for an alternative route. "Come on, this way!"
"Ugh, open uuuppp already! Dang it!" Kotone tries her hardest to get the door to open, hoping to let Yukari and Makoto in without the realization that they already left. Either way, there is no use as the door refuses to make a movement.
She then looks around, feeling an odd aura around the back area where the kitchen and shower room resides. Next thing she knows, two roaming shadows appear in front of the two, being nowhere big as described by Akihiko.
Takaya then notices the Shadows in front of them, giving a sigh of annoyance. "Oh for heaven's sake. Can't I just take a break for once without any pestering from anyone?"
The two creatures, as expected, don't take any verbal means from humans as they make their odd ominous cries as a means for battle. The man then draws out a gadget from his holester to what appears to be a gun, aiming it to his own head. "Hmph, so you have decided to meet your fate… very well."
Kotone then follows along with a smile on her face, drawing out a similar type of weapon as well. She has it pointing to her own head, with her finger on the trigger. "Here we go!"
"Hypnos!"
"Hestia!"
Outside of the main entrance of the building, Mitsuru and Jin finish fighting one of the Shadows that appeared before them. It was definitely an average sized one, so it wasn't the main target they were after.
"Was that it?" Mitsuru asks upon curiosity, knowing it was more or less too easy to beat.
Jin pushes his glasses up as he has similar thoughts. "It appears to be a regular Shadow. I have no sight of any other ones around. Sanada?"
Akihiko is leaning against a wall of the building as Chidori treats his wound with a bandage around his arm. The man then shakes his head as he lets off a huff. "That wasn't it… I must've lost sight of the big one. I'm sorry everyone…"
Chidori just happens to be finishing up on the treatment on his arm as she then begins healing him to restore his health. At least that part is done with. "This is the best I can do at the moment. I suggest going to the hospital first thing in the morning to get it checked. Try to restrain any movement to prevent any more injury."
"Thank you. I appreciate that." She gives a weak smile as he goes to stand up, making little movement on the patched arm to prevent any strain.
"Mr. Chairman, any sign of it on the monitors?" Mitsuru calls in with her Persona abilities to Ikutsuki back at the command room, as he answers back almost promptly.
"No… I can't confirm anything at this time."
Jin then gives a request to the rest of them to head back. "Then it might be best to regroup at the command center. We'll check to see how the others are doing to make sure they're safe."
"Agreed." Mitsuru nods to it before heading back to the dorm, with the others following suit. "Let's meet up with the Chairman and check on the monitors from there."
The four enter the building and make their way up to the command room where the Chairman is, looking at the monitors to see how the other four are doing. One of the cameras in the back room shows Takaya and Kotone battling one remaining Shadow until it is eliminated, ensuring their safety. However he doesn't see the other two students that should be there too. The doors open, as the man still looks over the monitors with careful observation.
Mitsuru comes up where he is to give their update regarding the Shadow they're supposedly after. "Apologies Chairman, but we lost sight of the main target."
One of the monitors shows the rooftop of the building, where the two students happen to be with a creature facing them. Jin happens to notice it right away, pointing at the highest screen on display. "There!"
The rest of them look, seeing the transfer student right on sight. Yukari doesn't seem within the camera's line of sight, only the male student who holds a gun-like object in his hand. In front of him was a huge Shadow, the one Akihiko faced earlier.
The wounded student grits his teeth, his dark brown eyes making a piercing gaze. "There's that son of a bitch! We gotta go after him, now!"
"Right ahead of you. Everyone?" Mitsuru then calls for the attention of the others to follow, as the man puts the hold on that.
"Wait…"
Everyone then stops and looks back at the monitor. The boy still stands there with the monster in front of him. Slowly, as in instinctually, he raises the evoker to the side of his head. His finger is holding on the trigger, threatening to pull it right then and there. As the camera doesn't capture his facial expression in this scene, he happens to be smiling frantically.
"Per…" His smile grows wider. "son…" He then pulls the trigger, letting out a flash of light coming from the other side of his head. "-na!"
Within that moment, a brand new Persona shows up before everyone's own eyes. It has a lyra in the back of it, taking it out to use as a weapon against the huge Shadow. The enemy itself has multiple hands with a few of them holding swords, and one holding a mask to be a representation of its face. Chidori watches stunned until she has to look away from the screens, fear overtaking her all too suddenly. Her body shakes and shivers from the visuals giving her a flashback from the past. Everyone else is too focused to notice, with the exception of her brother as he catches her movement from the corner of his eye.
"Chidori?"
The girl then shakes her head in reassurance, her voice shakes mildly. "I'm okay… i-it's just the Shadow being shown on screen is all… it's fine."
Mitsuru then hears the distress from the young redhead herself, turning towards her with a considerate sign of worry. This isn't the first time she turns away from the visual of a Shadow. And it isn't usually the creature itself that scares her, but more so what it has as its display. The false face they have on has always feared the girl since at a young age, with her very first encounter with a Shadow that was too close for comfort with her. Seeing more like it only brings back painful memories, having her feel more fortunate to be in the back as support during battles. Even so, it doesn't always whittle down the anxiety…
Mitsuru slowly comes up to her and murmurs some words of concern to comfort the girl, not taking mind to the battle scene displaying on the monitors. With the young woman taking care of the situation right then and there, Jin then turns back around, his eyes still giving off a bothersome thought regarding the sister as he begins watching the battlefield between the Persona and Shadow. It was all happening so fast too, the camera could only catch so much at once. After a few moments fighting back against the Shadow and vice versa, something else is going on with it.
This isn't a normal deed anyone else has witnessed from one before, as the lyra-wielding Persona gets torn apart— inside out! Another being breaks out of the body of the Persona, a totally different manifestation altogether.
"Wait, what…?" The student with glasses questions under his breath, as he's not the only one to show surprise by all of this. The Chairman can't comprehend what exactly this scenario was about, though Persona-like being still plays its role in battle by finishing off the gigantic Shadow in the end, squishing the remaining essence of the black sludge body with its bare hands. The battle may be over, but there are now more questions that desire answers.
"The hell was that?" Akihiko asks through his lips, even if no answer would come back within that instant. They can only guess so much as the transfer student then collapses at the rooftop, with the brunette next to him going to check on him. While it seems safe to go now, Akihiko and Jin agree to go up the rooftop to get the two students. The Chairman also still remains where he's at, along with Mitsuru and Chidori. They missed out on the event that took place just then.
Mitsuru is the first to ask. "What was that just now…?"
Ikutsuki turns his chair to look at the two girls, his pondering expression shows. "What we witnessed here was truly extraordinary. Not only did this student awaken to his Persona for the first time, but he defeated the enemy in his own first actual battle. Talk about a ravishing show…"
Chidori hums under her breath in curiosity, coming out of her cowering fear. "Is he going to be alright, father?"
She can barely feel his presence from here, indicating he is perhaps in a weakened state. The middle-aged man shows a sign of reassurance. "He may be tuckered out after using so much energy for the first time, similar to what happened to Takaya on his first Persona awakening. Don't worry, he'll be just fine…"
The two feel some relief knowing the new student is going to be okay. Mitsuru does hope for the student to recover his strength, as Chidori then goes to notify the two students downstairs that everything's fine at the moment. For now, all everyone wants is for the student to get the rest he would desperately need.
—-
Next week rolls in, and even then there hasn't been word regarding the student that fainted from exhaustion. He was sent to the hospital after his collapse, and still is to this day in slumber. With this, all the others could do is wait until he would be awake again.
And while they wait, the days continue on. With clear skies and the bright sun shining down at the school campus, the trees all around have their pink flowers blossoming for a sight to behold. Being the season of spring, it displays the sign of new beginnings. New tasks to complete. Perhaps new people to meet…
For the case of Junpei Iori, the second-year student at Gekkoukan High, he is all about meeting new people. Well, at least he thinks so. He understands the struggles of being at a new place as the new student of a school, so he likes to make everyone feel welcome. But it isn't everyday that he runs into a first-year at the campus, furthermore a certain redhead sitting at the courtyard. He happens to walk out to the other building when he spots a girl by herself, doodling away on her sketchbook in peace during the midst of lunch break. There's a nice breeze with the warm atmosphere, a gentle enough wind that doesn't mess with the papers under her grasp. She secretly adores the plant life around the school campus, so she takes the time to draw out rough images of them during her spare time. There's not much more interesting to draw when she comes back to the dorms. The male student stands right outside the grassy perimeter where she resides, watching in a somewhat far distance in hopes of not being in the way of anything she may potentially be looking at as reference. Her expression remains unchanged, being full on relaxed yet focused on her sketches with the pencil she holds moving gracefully across the sheet of paper. He's just as interested to see what she's drawing out, only for the girl to pause suddenly and rest her hand down.
She looks up, and somehow instinctively right in his direction. Her gaze catches his own, taking him off guard. The young man's mind panics with a sense of fight or flight mode. Or to be more accurate; freeze still or run away. Wait, no, pretend you're paying attention to something else. That'll do it!
He whistles to himself and looks around at the blossoming trees, only making one step after another elsewhere showing to be minding his own business. The girl's gaze follows along, not exactly buying this young student's carefree nature with the way he was just standing around. She waits until he is out of sight, slowly coming back to drawing in her sketchbook to be at her remaining peace before next class.
The next day, the similar scenario occurs once more. With Junpei's sway of curiosity regarding the student from the day before, he can't help but go check at the same place again. It isn't like him to loiter around watching over some sophomore girl he hasn't officially met yet (despite having romantic interests with girls), but she is in fact mysterious to him. She seems to be the quiet type, not the one who would talk very much and not for very long either. It makes his head scratch for answers, having him wonder how to approach this young lady without portraying to be some total weirdo or stalker. He just wants to be nice, maybe make a friend along the way. How hard can that be? Right?
He makes it to the courtyard, finding yet that same girl sketching in her book just like yesterday. He pulls on his collar, stepping closer within the perimeter to get a headstart on himself. Hmm, maybe he can see what she is drawing from here, as he makes his way towards the girl with a hesitant pause each step of the way. Without any prior warning, the girl speaks out to the person close to her, while keeping her eyes on the page to not bother looking at him.
"Don't you have anywhere better to be? As you can see I am quite occupied with my own activity over here."
He takes aback by her sudden statement, but holds still nonetheless. Like a deer in headlights, he was, for some reason, afraid to move from where he's at. Of course, this indeed annoys the girl, given he didn't say or do anything in response. She can only think the worst from someone who doesn't listen.
"You better stop hovering over me like that."
"...Huh?"
"Unless you're asking for it." She finally looks up, and therefore locks eyes with the man wearing the blue baseball cap. Junpei gives a sort of confusion in his expression, only to realize what she meant by her phrasing. That was a verbal threat.
"N-No, I uh…" Finally, he takes a step back. "I wasn't hovering, honestly. I was, err, observing. Yeah! Your art… it's really good!"
She lets out a short hum, not much of a gratitude from there, perhaps more of a grunt. Either or, she does not appreciate unannounced company. Especially not from the one who gives a cheesy wide grin like he's scheming something in the long run. It's unsettling.
"So are we done here? I don't want any more distractions." She goes back to her sketchbook, but he doesn't want to just go out and leave when he's still curious about her drawings. Or her, as the matter of fact. He doesn't want to intrude on the girl along with her focus on sketching, but all the same, it doesn't feel exactly right to leave her alone either. He keeps his distance, and instead sits at the other end of the bench to give her the space, all while watching her scribbling in the book at a very slanted angle. He can't see much from here, but that doesn't bother him all too much. She pauses again and looks back at him, seeing he's still here.
"Oh uhh– don't mind me, heh, just keep doing what you're doing."
She's not so thrilled with him still around, but she dismisses those thoughts as she does just as requested, minding her own business while he sits at the other end. He can hear the lead from the pencil scraping against the paper from where he's at, only guessing what she's drawing out by the movement from one place on the page to another. She then flips the pencil with the other end facing down to erase the few marks she made before flipping it back again. He watches, but looks back at her before looking back towards the book again. He only sits there for a half a minute before saying anything else.
"So, you like to draw?"
… As he should've expected, she ignores him. His sweat bead shows, feeling his gumption and confidence slowing going downhill from there. He wasn't going to give up too easily though. He tries again with another question.
"What kinds of things are you into? Are you… self taught?"
Hang on, that's two questions. She still doesn't respond to any of them, her eyes are still glued to her page as she might as well have her ears shut off to the outside world. Maybe he needs to find the right questions to ask. Or is it something else?
"You're new to the school, right? I know it can feel a little intimidating being the new kid and all, but you'll get used to the place here. So no need to be shy, ya know? I can answer any questions you may have, so…!"
After a few moments in his pause, she finally makes a movement. She starts by closing the sketchbook under her care before getting up from the bench, walking away from him in the process. Huh? What's the deal? He then gets up and walks closer to her with a confused expression. She then stops and looks back around, knowing she can't simply shake him off.
"You know, you're quite annoying for a student. And weird." But she's not necessarily surprised by that. Any student can be annoying once they get under someone's skin like that. She doesn't know why this guy wants to talk to her, out of anyone else. He has no reason to whatsoever. "Just do yourself a favor and stop bothering me will you? It'll be for the best for both of us, so please…"
She makes her way towards the building as the time for lunch break is already over. The man hesitates upon her message, not understanding her reason or attitude from it all. He snaps out of it as she's getting farther away, going after her until two other male students get in front of him out of nowhere. They intentionally got in the way to make sure he doesn't catch up to the girl in time, making Junpei even more confused.
"Oh– hey fellas… what's up? May I help ya with somethin'?" He looks at the two third-years standing before him, not recognizing either of them during his entire time at campus. The oldest one smiles a little deviously at him.
"Why yes, you may," It appears to be Takaya standing before him, with Jin right next to him also in the way. "Tell me: What were you planning on doing when coming after our sister like that, hm? Especially after she already told you to leave her be? Not wanting to be occupied by some guy who happened to come up to her out of nowhere. I admit, I do feel her empathy."
That small detail of information struck his thoughts almost immediately after. Wait, sister? Are they… are they her brothers or something? Well shit! No way they could be! Right?
"Hey!" The other brother practically yells at Junpei, snapping him out of his thoughts in the process. "Are your ears plugged or something? We just asked you a question!"
"Whoa there, hold up a sec!" He holds his arms out in submission, hoping to ease the two. "Are you guys for real here? No way you two are brothers. I mean– you all don't look very much alike. Like as in… at all…"
Jin only takes that as offense, but makes sure to only respond in a threatful manner. "So you're questioning us now? Is that it?"
"T-That's not…!"
"Listen young one," Takaya stops him right there, before continuing on. "I may not know what your real intentions are, but if you keep pressing your luck like this onto our sister, we will— and I mean it, we will not hesitate to take any action to make sure she is safe and away from your presence. Do I make myself clear?"
He doesn't need to say that twice. The man mentally winces on that statement, seeing the two are being serious and perhaps maybe a little too overprotective of their own dear sister. However, that doesn't mean he wants to mess with them. "Yeah, no, I understand! Crystal clear my dudes…"
"Good. Then surely we won't run into any more problems in the meantime." Takaya makes a smile at that, not displaying enough to be in relief or in a mischievous way. So with that being said, they make their departure, passing by Junpei to get to their classes in time. Jin sends a glare his way regardless, but doesn't start anything else as he wouldn't want to start anything and stay in good behavior. If there is anything he despises: It's men who try to woo girls like their sister to get their way. Junpei still stands there struck, making a gulp realizing this is in fact more serious than he would have expected. Better watch his step the next time he runs into her then. All in all though, this may not be the last time he sees the three of them all at once.
—
"Good news everyone!"
It's been over a week now since the incident at the Dark Hour. With the entire team gathering up at the dorms after school, Ikutsuki joins in to make an announcement. "Our precious transfer student has finally woken up as we speak, he is all fine and well now. He should be back at the dormitory once he's discharged from the hospital, perhaps either tonight or tomorrow."
Takaya then smiles as he makes a small inaudible applause before laying back on his seat. "Oh goodie. So he's not dead after all."
"Well of course not…" Yukari furrows her eyebrows towards the man's direction questionably. She just visited him at the hospital too, who needed very much rest. "He was doing just fine by the time I checked up on him."
Jin also questions his brother. "Why the hell would you think he would be dead anyway? He only awakened to his Persona before his collapse, not getting slashed by a Shadow like what happened with Sanada here!"
The boxer student currently has an arm cast on while not being pleased to hear Jin say that regarding the situation he's in. But… that part still remains true, given his injury.
Takaya however responds with his reason. "Listen, I was out like a light for four days straight after awakening to my Persona, and I was only eleven. Eleven! For him to be out for the entire week, well sheesh, I would have only feared the worst."
"Well aren't you special…" Chidori mumbles to herself with a roll of her eyes, given he likes to bring about himself throughout conversations that would regard another person. It's almost a selfish thought. This kid was in a dire situation before having the urge to use the evoker on himself. If that didn't happen, things would have ended terribly. She loves her brother dearly, but he might as well stop comparing himself with everyone. For once!
"And what then?" Mitsuru asks the Chairman. "Shall we assemble for a meeting with him to explain the situation of what happened previously?"
"I'll have a one-on-one session with him first, see if he recalls anything of that past," Ikutsuki answers her promptly with a smile. "Then we can introduce the rest of you to him and assign an option to see if he would like to join part of our expedition. He can be a real good asset to our team."
"While we're on the subject, I've been meaning to ask…" Jin adjusts his glasses and focuses more within the group rather than one person. He's been pondering on it for quite a while, from the looks of it. With that he takes the opportunity to spill it out. "That night when Yuki-kun awakened to his Persona, something else came out of it. It happened to tear through it from the inside-out, defeating that Shadow to bits like it was nothing. Any idea of what that could be?"
Everyone else remains quiet with that new thought in mind. Mitsuru missed most of it while she was busy comforting Chidori at that point, so she completely forgot that event even took place.
"Yeah, what was that about anyway?" Yukari also asks this, showing that it has been at the back of her mind for a while too.
Akihiko even doesn't have a clear clue. "I've never seen anything like it myself. It looks like it could be a second Persona he contains within him too. That would be kind of epic, don't you think?"
Takaya gives a more pessimistic nature while holding his hand up against his chin. "That sounds highly unlikely and therefore unrealistic. No one else in this room carries more than one Persona within them. That is a mere fact."
"… But what if he does?" Chidori intrudes kindly on the matter. Everyone else then eyes towards her to hear more, making her feel already a bit unsettled. "…I mean, there's still so much we don't know about these types of things. We learn something new everytime we receive a new member into our team here, everyone is different yet unique in their own way. Kotone-san for example with her extraordinary abilities. It's quite remarkable sometimes."
Kotone happens to be sitting with the others as she sways her hand with modesty. "Oh, well— I'm not that special. I mean everyone else has their own way of fighting too! They just have, well, different ways of doing so." She shrugs at the end, not sure how to exactly put it.
Ikutsuki can only shake his head with a doting smile of admiration. She seems to be missing the point altogether. "Hehehe, well obviously Chidori took a liking to your battle tactics Kotone-chan. You are quite skilled for being a new recruit yourself, so don't sell yourself short! Now…"
He continues on, explaining the plan he has in mind for the rest of the crew before heading off. Everyone else finishes their conversation before heading to bed themselves, knowing there isn't anything to work on during the Dark Hour. While the discussion has strained off topic from what the original conversation was, it seems to be something to not stress over at the very moment. All they look forward to now is the new transfer student coming back to the dorms, and perhaps have him consider joining the SEES operation.
—
Within the next day, the new student comes back as expected and continues through school like any other normal occasion. By the time he comes to the dorms that day, Ikutsuki already tells him the details. With that, after some one-on-one conversations with Ikutsuki, he then meets the rest of the team. They all meet at the lounge together to explain the hidden hour and what it is, and if he would like to participate in the organization. First, the Chairman sits down across from the new student as he goes to start with the meeting.
"What if I told you that a day consists of more than twenty-four hours?" The Chairman starts with a question. The student then gives a mild look of surprise, like he should've expected as much but it wasn't entirely believable.
Mitsuru smiles and thinks as much for his response. "Hm, your reactions are quite understandable. But you've already experienced it for yourself. With the lights in the city going out… every type of machinery shutting down. Coffin-shaped objects living in the streets…"
"You have felt it haven't you?" Takaya even joins in on informing the new student with the details. "That moment when you stepped into that abnormal time zone during the night? That is what is called the Dark Hour. The hidden hour that exists between one day and the next."
"It's not exactly a 'hidden hour', mind you," Jin decides to elaborate from there, given it can be a confusing term when used that way. At least to his logic. "It's more of an 'unknown hour'. It's technically not hiding from anyone, regular civilians just aren't aware of it when it comes to existence every night."
"Such a fascinating mystery that is. The Dark Hour will in fact come tonight, and tomorrow night, even the night after that…" Chidori nods along to join in. "It comes around on a daily basis without falter."
"That is true," The Chairman smiles. "One may think this may have come out from a horror film, especially with the dangers that lurk in the unknown hour."
"Yeah, the things we call Shadows. They come out during the hour to feast on the normies that aren't inside their coffins. That's when we come in! Sounds exciting doesn't it?" Akihiko gives an excited tone regarding the monsters that appear in the night, a smirk comes across his face while Mitsuru scorns down on the man due to his impulsive comment. Ikutsuki tries hushing the two down like they were his children, but it didn't do much good.
"Alright alright settle down you two. Let's get back to business shall we?"
"And I thought Jin and I were bad," Takaya makes a comment. "You two argue like an old married couple."
"We do not!"
Ikutsuki only sighs in hopes they calm down from there, and with that proceeds to move on. "So to summarize: We are S.E.E.S.! Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad! Everyone of us in this room possesses a special kind of ability, known as a Persona. You have demonstrated your own just last week…"
He goes and gestures to each of the members present to share an example of what each of them can do. "Mitsuru is the head of this organization. Her skills vary from offense to status conditions that puts the enemies at a disadvantage, giving us the chance to turn the tables in an unforgiving fight. Yukari's Persona focuses on healing and wind element abilities, and Kotone ranges in fire magic and physical skills quite equally… while Akihiko here is all about the blowing punches."
The male student just chuckles at that, knowing he was only somewhat joking. "Well if you ask me, sometimes it's as good and simple to get up and personal with your opponent. Never let them strike first unless you prepare for defense."
Ikutsuki hums softly and then turns towards the three other members of the team, being the adoptive children of his. "Now onto my very three descendants: Takaya here possesses a remarkable skill that can hit any enemy we would encounter. A lot of Shadows we face would have elements they're weak or resistant against, but his ability is more so a neutral power. He's the second oldest member of the group alongside Mitsuru."
"It's truly an honor to come across another user upon our abode. I hope you're making yourself at home here." The oldest son smiles while swaying his arm to move some of his bangs aside. The introduction continues on as the adoptive parent gestures to his second son.
"This is Jin. He specializes in pinpointing those Shadows' weaknesses and has a range of skills that can exploit them when the opportunity strikes. An essential ability to have to get ahead of the game, or battle, to better put it." Surely the Chairman does not want to get a scolding from Mitsuru herself.
The young man introduced gives out a nod to the student in greeting. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"And this is Chidori. She's our main navigator of our team and helps with keeping tabs on everyone. If you ever need any assistance she can happily help you along the way."
"It's very nice to meet you." The girl then bows in a greeting, her voice soft yet actually innocent for once.
Going back around to the Chairman who sits comfortably in his seat, he lets out a bigger smile along with a gushing type of attitude regarding the three previous members introduced. "Aren't they such darlings?"
"Ugh, father please…"
"Enough already…" Jin joins in on Chidori's dismay as she averts her gaze to avoid any further embarrassment, hoping to let the Chairman come back to his more professional self.
"Okay okay. I'll spare my adoring nature for another day," He adjusts his tie while keeping a proud smirk on his face. "Now then…"
A briefcase is on display for the student, as it contains a gun-like weapon and an armband if he were to choose to join. "You might be eyeing the special tool in the case, which is what we use to summon our Persona. It's called an evoker, you should have one with you everytime you go out in the Dark Hour during expeditions."
"It would be nice if you could join us. We need all the help we can get." Jin states with a sophisticated approach, hoping he would consider. "Judging by your first awakening last week, I can see you as a well rounded member of the team."
"I formally request your assistance as well." Mitsuru adds her thoughts in. "Of course, this is just optional. You can still reside at the dormitory even if you refuse, that's fine with all of us. Still, it would be great if you could lend us a hand during these trying times."
Takaya then slowly lifts himself off of the sofa, adjusting his posture to meet eye level with the student. "What do you say? Would you like to become part of our group?"
The transfer student doesn't answer right away. He gazes over each and every other member of the team, still deciding for himself as to whether to take this opportunity of a new experience in his life. It's always possible to balance this type of life with school after all, they seem to already do just that. A secret organization under the registration as a school club. It does add a nice ring to it overall though…
"Wait, hang on!" The brunette then jumps up from her seat to look at the third-years sitting before her. "You shouldn't be pressuring him like that! I mean, I want him to join too, but isn't this a bit much?"
"We're not forcing him to make a decision for us Yukari-san," Chidori calmly states to the girl with a tilt of her head. "If anything we're no more than encouraging him, hoping he would only agree with his own consent."
"Exactly! He can join us only if he wants to! Right Mako-kun?" Kotone makes a cheerful attitude in her sentence, smiling and winking towards her cousin with much enthusiasm. She knows how to light up the room for sure with her personality.
The transfer student then makes an answer, being perhaps the first time the entire group heard him audibly. "Well, I suppose I could join… on a temporary basis."
"Really? I-I mean yeah of course!" Yukari takes his response by surprise, but was more than happy to know he decided to join. "If you happen to have any questions, o-or anything, don't hesitate to ask, ok?"
Mitsuru makes a giggle out of this. "I was afraid you'd say no."
"Welcome aboard! We're fortunate to have a new member to the team!" Takaya then gets up from his couch with open arms. He then clenches his hands with a step forward, having a thorough act to display along with his questions. "Now tell me, what do you recall last week before your collapse? Did you have that… feeling of exhilaration? Was it the power? What do you call that Persona from your very own consciousness that you possess!?"
The blue-haired student blinks. "... Huh!? Oh uh… I-I don't remember…"
"Oh… is that so?" The man then shows to be disappointed, but gives a shake of his head to wash off that dread. Of course, memory loss is one of the things a user may experience after all. "Well, maybe you'll reexperience it again like it was the first time, once you regain that taste of the Shadows from the Dark Hour."
Akihiko then cracks his knuckles and neck with another shimmering grin, full of determination. "I can't wait to spring back into action. I'm already pumped up for some Shadows–!"
"I don't think so, Akihiko! You're still injured, remember?" Mitsuru has to go and remind him about his casted arm, bringing him down to Earth before he gets even more pumped up.
"I know, I know. Sheesh…"
Chidori can't help but let out a smile and looks towards her oldest brother in a thought of agreement. "Hm, I guess they do bicker like an old couple. What are the odds?"
The oldest brother then chuckles on her comment. "Told you so."
"I heard that!" Both of them happen to say so at once, getting a few snorts and laughs out of the others in the room before calling it a night. It was a splendid day for them to gain an additional member to the team, this one being a very special case out of the others. What are the chances of gaining anyone new after, that part is full of mystery. While everyone else decides to go get ready for sleep, Akihiko gives yet another sign of determination. He then turns to Mitsuru before heading out.
"Look, I know you told me to be careful, and I will. Just let me go out for a walk will ya?"
"And how am I supposed to believe that? The last I want from you is getting yourself injured again. Or worse… either way, I can't trust you being on your own."
One of the older students happened to stay behind hearing all this. He gives a lighthearted smile and walks closer to offer his time to the other male student. "I'll join you, if that's alright. I can also keep a close eye on him if anything were to turn up. We should all be fine and dandy from here."
The young lady hums, but with less of a harsh expression. "Very well. I'll entrust you to look after him while you two are out. Just be careful you two."
"Of course." Takaya makes a thorough bow to the lady before making their departure out of the dorm, looking forward to their night patrol and wind down a bit before bedtime. Besides, there's no school tomorrow anyway.
The cool late evening can look as peaceful as ever. It always gives the more calming atmosphere moments before the Dark Hour when there's no danger lurking in about. With the two third-years going out and walking around town, they make small talk, looking around for any signs of enemies. Or perhaps people. It is possible to find some around here, but even if they do happen to find anyone, they couldn't do anything more. They can't prevent the Dark Hour from having the humans become victims and turn into Shadows themselves. That's the sad reality of it all. And they are aware of that.
Akihiko weakly swings his arm around to help work the muscle, as he winces in pain knowing it'll only hurt more doing so. Takaya looks over to the other man beside him, noticing his movements. "You might want to be careful with it. You'd want a speedy recovery now do you?"
The young man just chuckles. "Yeah yeah I know. But I can't just sit around waiting for it to heal up, you know? I should work out those muscles so they aren't weak and pathetic by the time it's good to go otherwise."
Takaya hums on that thought, finding this to be a bit contradicting on its own as he gives a small quote he heard not too long ago. He smiles along with it, hoping the student next to him listens to his speech. "Time does not heal you, my friend. You heal you. Therefore, to truly recover from one's injury such as this, you need to take care of oneself. Be cautious– careful of what you're doing to make it happen. If you could simply do just that, well…"
"Basically you're saying I should prevent any straining on my arm. You could just say that you know."
The two share a laugh, and in such a short time, the clear night sky begins to turn a different shade of color. The green overcomes the area where they are, giving notice of the two students walking around the block. The Dark Hour has started, and so lie the standing coffins where the normal civilians sleep throughout. It's just a reoccurring event, it gives no new surprise to the male students walking about.
The older man clicks his tongue at the visual, as the two continue looking up at the sky. "Ah, yes. Green is such a prime color of this world. One philosopher could say from which its loveliness arises, but I sure beg to differ."
"Ahhh!" A person who sounds to be a young man screams from a fair distance, making the atmosphere all the more eerie by the very unsettling noise. The two get into position as if getting into a battle, keeping their guard up.
"Tch, the hell? Is this another feast from the Shadows?" Akihiko suspects the worst. If the victim-turned Shadow comes marching close, then they must be ready for anything. The man in the ponytail thought of a different outcome, nonetheless.
"Hang on," Takaya eases his position, observing their area. "This doesn't seem to be a mere cry of agony or the sort. Rather, more out of surprise or fear."
"Well I'll be damned. You really picked up on that from the sound alone?"
"I just happen to distinguish the pitch and length of one's screech is all. You get used to it when you hear them often enough."
Rather that may be true knowing how long he's been fighting during the Dark Hour, that's just an unsettling thought to process. More or less, disturbing.
"...You know, you really worry me sometimes."
Another scream emerges from the darkness, having them flinch momentarily before making another sort of action.
"This way." Takaya announces it in a soft tone, having him follow his lead to where the source could be coming from. They make another block down, up to where they see a corner market. A convenience store with its lights off on the inside and a few coffins to represent the workers or customers. The two look at one another, wondering if the sounds could be coming from there. They make smaller steps closer, taking a glance inside the building only to hear the weeping and whimpers inside. The older student then nods his head in a gesture to come inside with him. Akihiko does so without question, following him into the dark interior of a small building to look for any wanderers. They happen to walk one short aisle down to find a teenager hiding beside the register counter, curling up in a ball and crying out small mutters to wanting to go home. The guy wears a blue baseball cap that covers his vision from above, obviously unaware of the two being right next to him.
Takaya glances over at his partner to ensure a nod of confirmation for action before approaching the guy with a genuine greeting. "Are you alright my good sir?"
The man jumps and plasters his body against the shelves behind him. His breathing quickens to extreme, sweat and tears falling down from his face. "Oh my god, no! Please, don't eat me! I-I don't taste very good!"
Takaya even takes a step back by his reaction, but more so realizing this man looks awfully familiar. He wears the same kind of jacket of a Gekkoukan student, so he must've seen him before, obviously. But… where…?
. . .
Oh. Wait… ! No! Is he… is he that obnoxious student that hit on his sister earlier!? For pete's sake! Out of anyone!?
"Eat you?" Akihiko questions it before giving a shake of his head in reassurance. "No, we're here to help you. I know this seems a bit crazy right now, but you're with us now. What's your name?"
"I'm uh…" The young student gulps. "I'm Junpei Iori…"
"Iori you said?" Akihiko wants to confirm if that's what he heard. He takes notice of the emblem on his jacket right away, as he gives a more reassuring smile. "Well don't worry, this is pretty normal in standards of the hidden hour you're in. If you insist, we can inform you on everything about it. In fact, we can help keep you safe. You are a Gekkoukan student, aren't you?"
The student still shivers in fear, but whatever he says sounds promising at this point that helps ease his anxiety. "Huh? Safe? I… h-how?"
Takaya isn't too thrilled about where Akihiko is going with this. If this happens to be a random stranger in need, that's one thing. Maybe he's letting some bias into his thoughts, but he can't help but think of the worst possible scenarios if they would aid him to where they would let him move into the dorms. "Sanada-kun. A word."
The third-year looks over and gets up as he steps aside for them to have a short chat regarding the situation. Takaya just sighs before saying anything else, a moment of pause to ponder how to state this simply. "...Let's just leave him."
"I'm sorry, what!?"
"I don't think he is fit to be part of our abode. I mean look at this poor young man, he's barely holding himself together over the oozes of tears and, err, the nasal mucus as we speak. Seriously, I don't believe he has that kind of potential, he's only a scaredy man wandering around aimlessly in life."
The two look over to the trembling man huddling in the corner in extreme fear of the unknown. It's a normal response to anything out of the ordinary. Can someone simply blame him? Akihiko gives a sigh of grief as he massages his temple. "I don't know about you, but we can't just leave this man behind. Our objective is to aid anyone that could very well have the potential, whether you see it or not."
The long-haired man grunts with a sharp glare of distress. Surely no man like this one deserves any of their humble service. He could give any excuses he could throw at his comrade, but he may simply care less. With that, he glances over at the other man again before sighing in defeat. "Very well…"
This is going to be hell from the looks of it. While Akihiko goes to help the guy up and tell him the plan to move into the dorms tomorrow, Takaya judges the potential new member from his fair distance. Junpei happens to be too occupied to notice the judgemental stare, but surely he'll get the same treatment once he moves into the dorms first thing after school.
—
"Yoo! Guess who's here?"
The same student from yesterday carries his bags over to the dormitory with a wide grin on his face, being also surprised to see Yukari and Makoto being residents themselves. The brunette is the one to give the most shocked response out of the three.
"No way! He's moving here!? Ugh, you gotta be kidding me…"
"What's going on?" Jin happens to hear the commotion and walk the rest of the way there to see the fuss by the entrance. Takaya was already standing by when Akihiko came in to give the news to the others at the lounge. Chidori also happens to be present during the reveal, making her expression all the more unpleasant.
"I simply don't believe it…" The young redhead mutters out loud, only little words can form her actual emotion that bubbles up from within. It's not really anger, when really she's just mildly upset. She already has to deal with this guy at school, but now at the dorms?
Junpei then sees the girl in his other reaction of surprise, his smile only grows larger as he makes a wave to her. "Oh hey! What a coincidence eh? This must be like destiny or something. Heh, who knew right?"
Chidori gives no sudden response to that. She was only bothered by it then, but she is appalled now. She swiftly turns towards the oldest brother next to Akihiko. "You better have an explanation for this."
"Well, you see…"
"I'll take this one," Akihiko places a hand on Takaya before answering to the miffed girl. "We happen to find him in the convenience store surrounded by coffins during the hour. He was pretty shaken up from it all, but we were able to inform him of the situation."
"Tch, yeah no kid! I was crying like a baby on the floor of that place! He said it was a normal thing or something like that. He says I have the 'potential', whatever that means, and said I can move in here with all of you guys! How awesome is that?"
Every other person in the very same room sends a harsh glare towards his way. Yukari, Jin, Chidori and Takaya all give him the cold shoulder with a single look that sends him chills down his spine. Not the type of welcome he was hoping for.
He gives an awkward chuckle at that. "Hahaha… uhh guys? You are seriously giving me the wrong message over here…"
"Ugh, forget it…" Chidori just leaves on the spot, going upstairs for the rest of the night. "I'm going straight to bed."
Yukair glances over behind to watch her go, feeling the sympathy for the girl as she is fully aware of this lousy student as well.
"Hey Yuka-tan! You're stoked to have me be here aren't ya?" Junpei is hoping for his ego to not be demoted again. At least some kind of reassurance would be lovely for a newcomer.
"Err… yeah, sure." She averts her gaze upon her answer, seeing how their transfer student is reacting to all of this. So far, all he gives is a deadpan stare, totally unfazed by it all. Is he even thinking about anything?
—
With the new member added to the team, the group decided to take them all to Tartarus, the tall tower that only appears during the Dark Hour. The entrance was huge, and light inside with a case of stairs and a portal-like machine at the far end of the room. They call the tower the Shadows' nest, and there are many mysteries that lie under all of the chaos it contains. Even the older members took a quick trip around the place when they had the chance, but there was one problem.
"When we first traveled around Tartarus for the first time, it was quite a maze," Akihiko comments on his experience regarding the tower, a genuine smile forming on his face. "We took so many twists and turns at that place it was easy to get lost."
"Fortunately we were able to unravel the confusion by the time Chidori joined the team last year. Her navigation powers outweigh mine by the time she awakened to her Persona, so she took my position as I joined in with the others to help in the fight."
"Which made it four Persona users within the team, so it was quite a decent number to cover many floors during our adventures. Those were good times…" Takaya comments with a pleasing tone, recalling those memories of the original four members fighting side by side to see how far they can make it in Tartarus.
Akihiko gives a nod of agreement, but his expression then shows dismay in that regard. "Yeah, but we only made it so far. You see, there was a closed gate by the time we reached the end of that block, so we couldn't pursue any further than that."
"Well that must've sucked," Yukari responds with a shared look of disappointment. "Has it been that way since?"
"I'm afraid so," Jin answers the girl with a nod. "Everytime we thought of taking a visit to that same floor, the gate remained the same. We don't know why it's there or how to open it, so all we've been doing was waiting for something to happen."
Chidori frowns on the thought, knowing the struggle. "Just wishing on a miracle I suppose. No matter what we tried, it never came close to opening."
"Well say no more!" Junpei hollers out with a wide grin. "We'll open it for ya! Just say the word and we'll march right over there ourselves!"
Mitsuru just sighs upon his behavior, seeing him all fired up. "I appreciate your enthusiasm Iori, but this isn't some puzzle you can solve simply overnight. Besides, you're all here to explore the first two floors to get the feel of the place before venturing any further. It may not be a breeze for all of you, we've all learned and experienced the struggles of exploring Tartarus already. So we want all of you to become aware of that."
Akihiko agrees with Mitsuru's statement on that, and goes to say his declaration. "Along with that… you guys are going to need to pick a leader and organize your movements in the field. One who can give direct orders and take action."
"At least out of the three of you, someone who can lead the team without any difficulty." Jin goes to clarify the specifics, agreeing with Akihiko's idea and even gives some thought in deciding which ones would be the best fit. They're all novice to the Dark Hour experience, but it will take some time for them to get used to the place. From their own observations, it can be tiring pretty quickly for those starting out within the first few times exploring Tartarus. So only a couple of floors should do just fine as a warmup.
"Leader? Like a squad commander…?" Junpei thinks out loud, looking around with the other two upon deciding who should take charge. It doesn't take that long for him to respond to the idea, already waving his hand out to the others to draw attention to himself. "Oh, oh, pick me, pick me! Me me me! Pick me!"
"…" The two male third-years in front of the trio stare somewhat blankly at the man and his actions, as if the both of them have no thoughts to respond to that. It is such an immature move, for sure, creating a contradictory behavior to wanting to be leader out of the three. Jin only pushes his glasses up with a bit of uncertainty of his own, speaking to Akihiko next to him. "Uhh, well…?"
The other senior seems to have the same thought, knowing they're both unanimous on the idea before saying so. "Makoto, you'll be the leader for this expedition."
"What!?" Junpei feels the ego dying straight from him, to his senses in an unfair way. "But he's totally not red ranger material!"
"Although… he has combat experience during the Dark Hour already, out of the three of us." Yukari, though not totally on board about it at first, sees some reasoning behind the decision.
Jin nods to that. "Precisely. Not only that, but being able to take an enemy down on his own within a first attempt is one thorough example of reliability in case something were to go wrong. Remember you'll all still be together as a team, meaning you will help each other out through all odds possible."
"Junpei, Yukari," Akihiko wields the evoker from his holster as his example of reasoning, aiming right to the side of his head. "You might know how to summon your Persona, but do you think you actually have what it takes to do it?"
He pulls the trigger, indicating the summoning action of his own Persona to demonstrate the question. The other two keep themselves in silence, being their only answer.
Jin then looks towards the potential team leader. "Well Yuki-kun?"
The transfer student looks up. "... Yes, I accept."
Seriously!? What's with this guy? Junpei was struck by the calm acceptance of the leader role without hesitation. He could definitely tell this guy is something else, but he couldn't tell what. What others also see in him…
Mitsuru smiles upon the agreement between the others. "In that case, you can have Kotone join you with this being her first time as well. Now, let's begin."
"Yay!" The leader's cousin cheers as she joins up with the others in a bright innocent smile. "Now let's go make some enemies! We'll teach them not to mess with us!"
And the way they go. The four newcomers of the team walk up the stairs through the gate to explore the inside of Tartarus for the first time. Everyone else stays down by the entrance in hopes of keeping track of their whereabouts.
"I can sense them roaming around the first floor already," Chidori hums on that while looking over at the older redhead for some guidance. "Shall I offer them some additional guidance while they continue their exploration? I'll try to explain as much as I can, even if I'm not so good with words."
"You'll do just fine. I know it." The older redhead smiles with her share of hope. Even if the young girl isn't as confident as Mitsuru is, she definitely has stronger navigation skills than she could ever possess. And with Jin being the one responsible for checking weak points on Shadows, together they're much more reliable.
"I can help with any wordings along the way if you need it," Jin reassures the sister as he goes to stand next to her. "Just let me know what Shadow they will encounter while you're at it, I may be able to recall their weakness if we happened to have run into them before."
"Very well. I'll do my very best." Chidori smiles fondly and nods towards him as she then goes to focus on the group's progress. She always gives the sweetest smiles to her brothers and Mitsuru as she knows them the longest, it is a rare sight to behold with anyone else. Even Akihiko finds them new to him everytime he gets a glimpse of it, while Takaya has been aware of what each type of smile she shows since their early childhood. And this one is the most darling of all.
"Now that's a sweet smile of determination. Wanting to make us all proud with her own desire to aid us all." The oldest brother says as such, knowing Chidori is much distracted during communicating through her Persona's ability to hear him properly. "Still bewildering how quick that smile can fade when she gets rubbed off the wrong way."
"Never underestimate a woman's temperament," Mitsuru gives a small grin of her own intellectual notion. "We may be innocent appearing for some but we are real mighty all around. Funny enough, I heard that from a late night sitcom once."
"Heh, you could say that again." Akihiko is by no means in disagreement. "Never thought you'd watch television and quote lines from random series."
"To be fair, it was a Saturday and I happened to have some spare time of my own. Why, do you happen to agree with what I said?" She ends it on a light note for once, knowing she doesn't take offense often from the third-year's comments all too much.
The man smiles back, with a sheepish rub of his neck to choose his words carefully. "I think this varies in definition, since 'mighty' can mean many things if taken one way or the other. Of course, I'm not saying this as a bad thing."
"... Oh no. You mean it as a bad thing." Takaya laughs softly at that, while joking as well. Everyone else continues their conversation, with Chidori concentrating on her own before coming back to herself and turning towards the others, notifying them they reached the second floor.
Only one of the four members in Tartarus is already exhausted from their last fight. The first few were fine as they were together, but when they went separate ways to find the exit, one of them happened to run into a Shadow around the corner. With Junpei being that unfortunate one, he tries beating the Shadow himself with his Persona, before the leader locates him and helps him defeat it together. However, this doesn't please the newer member one bit.
"I had it where I wanted it, did you have to come in to save the day like that?"
"Huh?" The transfer student shows to be oblivious of his deal, seeing he really just wanted to help the member with fighting the Shadow on his own. It only made the guy even more annoyed.
"Ugh, nevermind then…"
"Good work everyone," Chidori crosses over in communication to notify the members on the floor. "I think that will be enough exploration for one day. Please locate one of the controllable terminals within this floor, that will bring you right back to the entrance."
"Got it, thanks." The leader simply states it as said before heading off to find one of the teleportation devices, with Junpei still standing where he's at in his own mental frustration.
The two girls happen to defeat one Shadow together while going around as one of them cheers in victory. The leader's cousin happens to make a small bounce with a smile. "Whoo-hoo! That was fun! Guess we have to go back now?"
"Yeah…" The brunette puts her bow back after their battle. "You seem to have a lot of fun fighting these things, do you?"
"Oh? Hehe…" The girl notices her own excitement, fixing up her ponytail to keep it kempted. "I guess I got a little into it. It feels great, you know? Letting out your inner strength and get some exercise in at the same time. It's fun, and rewarding!"
"Huh, yeah I guess you could see that." Yukari doesn't think of this as being an exercising activity. This is in fact more dangerous than she makes it out to be. But to each their own.
Eventually they make it back to the entrance and regroup with the others where they await their arrival. While their expedition has gone smoother than the rest of the students expected, it is not the time to let their hopes up just yet.
"Good work everyone. You guys have made some good progress for your first night. Shall we head back now?" Mitsuru gives a sound of being pleased by their results, still giving a mature statement before rounding the rest to head back to the dorms. The transfer student nods in agreement, seeing what she meant before how Persona summoning can drain your energy. He'll learn from this experience, and surely their team will become stronger and more adaptable overtime.
While they head their way out, Junpei stretches his arm out of mere exhaustion. He didn't realize how tiring summoning his own Persona could be, but it won't stop him from trying to make an impression with anyone. Walking by Chidori in catching up to speed, he makes a wide grin and waves towards the girl in hopes to have a conversation with her. "Yo, Chidori-chan!"
The girl stops, making a sigh before turning around to see the haughty male student calling out to her. "It's Yoshino, mind you."
Oof, family name only eh? He takes a stop in his step, his smile still grinning wide despite the rough approach. He'll respect her wishes. "Then Yoshino it is… say, you can see where everyone's at, is that right?"
He then rotates his arm a bit more to work out the soreness, as if flexing in front of her. "Did ya happen to see me fighting a Shadow too? I admit they were a bit of a toughie to beat, but I was able to roast them with my pal Hermes and strike them down with my sword in the end! You gotta admit, it was a pretty cool sight to see! Did you happen to catch that part at all?"
The girl scorns with displease, not wanting any of this from a guy who tries to make an impression of his novice skills. Sure she can navigate and see one's position in location, but not actually see them in action like if she's there. She could only get the idea of what attacks they have made and vice versa. There is a clear difference there!
"...And they were like 'raawwrr!' and I just go 'ahhh!", just to give you the visualization of what happened there!" He even demonstrates with some dynamic poses to imitate his battle poses back in Tartarus, looking somewhat ridiculously for a normal battle. " I mean gosh, some of those things are even small and meek compared to the almighty–!"
"I'm going to stop you right there," She throws that out first thing before he can continue from there. She makes sure he makes eye contact with her deadpan expression before continuing. "... You're rash in your decisions, careless in your attacks and don't even think ahead of how the opponent could possibly strike back if you were to throw yourself towards them. If anything, you're severely stubborn and would rather do things your own way. If you want to make better practice in your fighting, then I'd advise you to work with everyone else as a fair team! Enough said."
She takes a couple steps forward only to remember one other thing to mention. "Oh, and by the way, we're not friends, so stop pretending that we are just for you to try to get your way with me. That is not going to work in the slightest. Please keep that in mind going forward from now on, will you?"
Now that's… that's a big burn for him. She may be hot, but she is dead cold on the inside. Damn! He freezes in place, even letting his arm hang loose with a sword in his hand. As the girl turns around to keep walking, he can't seem to find the right thing to say. Is he really that obnoxious to this girl he happened to meet last week? After only seeing each other a few times? How?
"Yep. Her words can sting like that, I can admit."
Junpei turns around to see Akihiko walking up towards him with a small smile of certainty. The two watch her leave as he continues with what he was going to say. He even looks over at the girl's direction then. "I'd say don't take her words too personally. She may sound harsh, but deep down she is actually a nice young lady. It'll take some time for her to warm up to someone that she meets, at least until she builds that sense of trust with you." His words show to be genuine like they were true. For a student to be specialized in boxing, he seems to have a few words of wisdom of his own.
The young student with the baseball cap then looks over to him with mild curiosity. "I'm guessing this is coming out of experience?"
He takes a breath on that thought. One can reveal with that being the case, but there is more to it than that alone. At least that's how he sees it as such, recalling back when he first met her upon being introduced to the others from Ikutsuki. Back before she even joined the team, in fact. Akihiko then turns to the other student with the same smile. "...Yeah, you could say that."
—―—
2006 ?/ ?⦁? — Three Years Ago
"Everyone! I'd like you to meet our new member of the team!"
When the SEES organization was first founded within the Iwatodai Dormitory, only two members joined in participation of the Dark Hour expeditions; Mitsuru and Takaya. Three people in total have ever awakened to a Persona of their own, while at that time Jin was more than hesitant to join in such a group in wonders of how to juggle that type of life with school life as is. With the others fully respecting his wishes, they knew they needed to gather up more people to help out. Chidori at this point hasn't awakened to her Persona yet. She just enrolled in Junior High, after all. But whether or not she wants to take part of the team is all up to her.
Ikutsuki has gathered everyone up to the dorms to break some news, including his other two children who don't reside in the dorms just yet. With a total of five students present at the lounge room, Mitsuru then stands up beside the new face to give the introduction.
"This is Akihiko Sanada. Some of you may recognize him at the school campus since he's a well-known participant of the boxing team. Please, give him a warm welcome."
The young man with a bandaid on his nose makes a small wave to the group. "Hey everyone… it's nice to meet all of you. I hope I won't let you guys down!"
Takaya, with his shoulder-length hair at the time, then nodded to the student with a gleaming smile. He was more than thrilled to have a new member for the group. "Delighted to make your acquaintance, kind sir. I'm sure you'll make a great addition to the team. Welcome, welcome indeed!"
"Oh yeah, I guess I have seen you around before. You've recently won a match against another school, am I correct?" Jin perked up from doing his homework on the notebook, sitting crossed-crossed on the couch. His hair was more of a curtain haircut with the fringe parted in the middle. His glasses were also a bit rounder at the time.
"That's correct. They even offered me to represent their school by transferring over afterwards, but I turned them down. No way I'd work for a school I just beat to a pulp."
"A wise choice, I'd say," The oldest student with bright yellow eyes even admires his enthusiasm. Perhaps he is a perfect choice to kick things off for their future projects. A grand soul looking forward. "The best revenge to give is a massive success in front of their dear faces. They'll falter to the simple rivalry you two may face in the near future."
"Heh, that's one way of looking at it, for sure," Ikutsuki gave a small chuckle towards his son's peculiar quotes while getting up to pat Akihiko on the shoulder. Seems like almost everyone is warming up to the new member already. It's a good start. "Now why don't you sit down? We'll discuss everything you need to know to get you set up for any expeditions on the way. Go on, make yourself at home!"
"Thank you." Feeling more at ease, the young student then went to the next available seat on the furniture. He then stopped midway to see another redhead sitting on the couch, sketching away and minding her own business. He didn't know why, surely he has no means to be bothered by another person who hasn't introduced themselves yet. At least…
"Ah, yes, and this young lady right here is our dear sister, Chidori," Takaya decided to introduce her as Akihiko noticed her sitting nearby. "She's not part of our team by any means, but you'll see her around here on occasion to hang out with the rest of us."
"Sister…?" Akihiko barely made a stutter on that, finding this to be quite the surprise to hear. He still stood still, like if recently tripped upon the word in realization. Everyone else glanced at one another with mere confusion.
"Well, she's not exactly blood-related to us, sure, but all three of us have been adopted under Shuji from the same local orphanage. So we're all practically family here." Jin thought to clarify it in case he was confused by the lack of resemblance between the three. It can be a bit of a perplexing fact for some newcomers.
The girl looked up to see the new member standing before her, but just rolled her eyes with a 'humph' before closing her sketchbook to take her leave. She isn't pleased with being approached like this, especially by other men she barely met as is. Just standing there blankly, not saying a word to her with such a lack of impressionable manner. Very pathetic of guys to do. As she made her way elsewhere, he tried reaching out for her with one hand reaching toward her direction. However, that part came a little too late, with her being far distant from him.
Ikutsuki pushed his glasses up with an empathetic smile on his face, barely noticing his struggle. "Oh, don't take it to heart, mind you. She's not very thrilled about seeing new people around the dorms often. Now, why don't we get started? We'll start with the basics…"
The male student sat down as requested, a momentary look of despair shown in his expression before focusing on the meeting with the others. His posture remained slump however, he doesn't know why he was quickly bothered by the thoughts regarding the girl within the dorms. He tries shaking that off, with Takaya at the other end eyeing him from time to time reading his somber expressions. It's the very start of a pondering relationship indeed for the team all around, with many questions left unanswered.
A/N: Hello everyone! Long time no see eh?
It's been many years since I touched grounds with this site, and honestly I was hesitant at first whether or not to post any of my new stuff here. But, here we are!
I honestly did not remember how limited the story settings are in this site compare to AO3 (which is where I post my stories now, but thought to throw this one in here for sake of covering more ground via media). So for those who may rather check my other stories out here, my user there is Krystra_Dragonverse at that site, I even have the third chapter to this story up over there too in case you want to continue reading on that. Otherwise I'll tryyyy keeping tabs here and post a chapter at least once a month; that way it gives me plenty of time to write up my future chapters and hopefully get ahead of the game! Reviews are greatly appreciated, as long as they're not weird requests or some shizzles lol. Hope you enjoy :D take care y'all!~
