Into the Night

by Lady Starwing

[Canon divergent] The contracts were signed individually, but there was no fine print saying that Minato and Kotone Arisato couldn't put their heads together to figure out this supernatural mystery that had ruled their lives for a decade. Nor anything about having to do it without friends, both past and present.

4. Magus Night

Yukari stretched her arms over her head as she walked to Gekkouan alone the following morning, biting back a yawn. 'Cripes, how do the senpai do it?' she wondered to herself. 'Even knowing they've been aware of the Dark Hour for a few years by now, I can't imagine how they got used to staying up so late all the time.'

'Come to think of it, Akihiko-senpai seemed excited about something when he came back from patrol last night…' The thought made her shuffle her feet as the school's gates came into view. 'I wonder if I should ask him what that - oh!' A towering figure in front of her made Yukari's brown eyes widen for a moment, and she drifted to it a bit. "Did you drop Ken-kun off again, Shinjiro-senpai?"

Shinjiro turned to her at the question, lowering a water bottle. "Yeah - it's nice to get a bit of a walk in before sitting on my ass for almost seven hours." He replied, and Yukari groaned in agreement at the statement.

"I am not looking forward to the workload of senior year, even if it means less weird teachers." She agreed after a moment. "At least, I think the teachers on that rotation are less … out there?"

"Eh, about even, really. Only upside is no Ekoda-sensei." Shinjiro shrugged. "Besides, as someone who's related to one college professor and met many others? 'Weird' is normal for academia, especially the longer you stay in it."

"Lovely." Yukari sighed, then paused. "... Why does finding out you have a relative who's a college professor not surprise me?"

"Because, all things considered? I'm probably the most grounded out of myself, Aki and Mitsuru." Shinjiro let out a sigh that sounded far older than it should have. "For better or worse."

"Ehh …" Yukari shrugged. "I can imagine the dorm would be a lot more awkward to stay in if it was just Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai." She commented, and had to fight back a laugh at the way Shinjiro shuddered at that.

"You'd be down a kitchen entirely, in that case." He muttered, and the certainty of his words made Yukari snort. "And just. No talking, awkward silence all around… And a lot more confusion over shit like you juniors watching Featherman last night."

"... yeah, no; the more I think about it, the less I wanna go through that sort of situation." Yukari groaned, shaking her head. "Even with the whole … dilemma at night." She dropped her voice at the last bit, eyes darting around; they were still fairly early, so less students were actively in earshot.

"Speaking of that," Shinjiro nodded at her, taking another drink of water before dropping his voice as well, "I keep meaning to ask if you'd be willing to start trying to go on patrols as well at some point next week. Didn't want to push it because of the start of school, especially knowing you were still on the fence about using one of your club bows or something more compact."

Yukari flinched a bit. "B - by myself?"

"Not at first, no; I was plannin on having you tag along one of the nights I went." Shinjiro gave a nod. "I'm not flashy, but I'm really good at makin things want to hit me and me alone. Give you target practice, as it were."

"That's … well, that's a small comfort." Yukari gave a small sigh, almost disappointed. "I tried to get some sort of response the night before school started, but chickened out at the last moment …"

"All things considered? That's fair; it's … not exactly something that's easy to do unless you're in the heat of the moment." Shinjio gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he spoke, followed by a glower at someone who was watching them. Yukari cracked a smile at the way the small group of students scattered once they had been noticed.

"Don't give the sophomores nightmares, senpai."

"Then they need to stop jumpin to conclusions." He muttered, shaking his head. "... Although that reminds me; you were griping about assholes a couple days ago. Have you considered bike shorts?"

Yukari opened her mouth in surprise, briefly stopping in her steps. "... That WOULD solve some problems, wouldn't it?" She admitted, falling into step again. "I didn't even think about it just because of uniform standards."

"Aki walks around in a red sweater vest." Shinjiro countered calmly, lightly tossing his now empty water bottle in his hand. "And I know more than one person runs around in the gym jacket instead of a blazer. Bike shorts are absolutely within the limits of what the principal lets slide in terms of uniforms."

"I … can't argue that." Yukari gave a small laugh. "I'll ask Akemi-senpai and Kaname-senpai at archery club today if they have any recommendations for those; they know a bit more than me." Shinjiro nodded with a small noise of confirmation, and the brunette girl offered him a smile. "Thanks for putting the idea on the table though, Shinjiro-senpai."

"I mean, as satisfying as it would be to watch some of those idiots get chucked into garbage cans, it'd be more trouble than it's worth with the teachers." Shinjiro gave a responding smirk. "A few of 'em might need that, but that's for after school hours."

"Senpai," Yukari laughed in mock shock. "You're such a terrible, terrible influence!" Shinjiro's response was an amused snort as they entered Gekkoukan, splitting up to go to separate shoe lockers. A glance showed Yukari that Akihiko was already at the school, as he walked over to Shinjiro when the brunet senior was halfway through pulling off his street shoes.

'... I do wonder how they got into this whole mess, though,' Yukari admitted as she watched them; whatever their conversation was, it was too quiet for her to overhear. 'It couldn't have been as awkward as it was when Mitsuru-senpai figured me out, could it?'

Stomping on the errant thoughts that were trying to resurface, Yukari quickly swapped out her shoes and headed up to the classroom. A few sophomores and juniors were milling about, and Yukari caught snippets of random conversation.

"There's been more of those weird guys hanging around the station, too," a couple of girls loitering near the door to 2-D were gossiping loudly, the speaker shoveling a breakfast sandwich into her face. "The … Apathy Syndrome guys, right?"

"I know, right?" Her friend nodded rapidly. "I think the news is calling them 'the Lost' or like, something equally ominous. What do you think is making more of them pop up?"

"You don't think whatever's causing it is mutating, do you?!"

"Nah; like, if it was airborne, I imagine it'd be popping up in places outside of Iwatodai. My cousins down in Okinawa have seen like, next to nobody with Apathy Syndrome down there."

"Really!?"

Yukari walked past them into 2-F before the conversation could continue, rapidly shutting the door behind her with a click. A breath she didn't know she had been holding escaped, and fingers absently went to her heart-shaped choker for a moment before she looked around. Like she expected, there wasn't a whole lot of classmates present; not even Toriumi-sensei had made an appearance yet.

The real surprise was that Minato was already there, his face in a book.

Her eyebrows arched - in the three days she'd known him, Yukari had rarely seen Minato be that coherent before noon. "Hey!" she called out to him as she approached his desk, hoping to catch his attention. It seemed to work, because he lifted his head to look at her.

"Oh, good morning, Yukari-san," he greeted, tugging his headphones off after hitting a pause button on his iconic mp3 player. "No archery club meeting before class today?"

"Nope; just woke up earlier than normal." Yukari admitted. "Same story for you?"

"Mm …" Minato nodded, sliding a bookmark into whatever he was reading before shutting the book on his desk. "I got woken up early by dreams, and couldn't get back to sleep." a yawn punctuated his statement, and his visible grey-blue eye drifted to the classroom window. "It was a surreal dream on top of it all, very blue."

"Blue?" Yukari questioned as she sat on the desk in front of Minato. "Like, sad blue or literally blue?"

"Literally blue. I could have probably hidden in there and been camouflaged from the world." Minato clarified, shrugging. "...Although I think I might need to ask Kotone what she put in the popcorn last night; a man with a nose resembling a mosquito is a new one on me."

Yukari couldn't help the snort that left her at that. "New one to me too, Minato-san." She agreed. "But why do you think Kotone-san put something in the popcorn? I didn't have any sort of weird reaction."

Minato's grey-blue eyes shifted to her, and he shrugged. "Mm. It might not be the popcorn, but I'd rather default to weird food reactions over the supernatural."

"... your first jump from 'weird food' is 'ghosts'?" Yukari felt a shiver go through her back at that.

"Well, not necessarily ghosts." he gave a wave of the hand. "Youkai also apply, as do western eldritch creatures, technically biblical angels…" Minato sighed again, twirling his pencil between his fingers. "The world is weird."

She wasn't certain if it was the simplicity of his final statement, or the unchanging tone of his voice, but Yukari did a double take at Minato. Words didn't want to cooperate with her, and she instead chose to fiddle with her heart-shaped choker for a moment.

The blue-haired teen didn't seem to mind, because his gaze broke away to look out the window again. "Don't worry about it, Yukari-san; I did wake up earlier than normal." A small smile came across his face, but Yukari didn't find much comfort in it. An awkward silence fell, one that hung in the air for a moment.

Junpei's abrupt arrival, a massive grin on his face, broke it. "Hey Yuka-tan! Minato!" Normally, Yukari would have scowled at the nickname, but the boisterous distraction was a welcome relief. Especially since Junpei seemed even more boisterous than normal, which was a bit of a bar. "How's it hanging?"

"... Did you have an energy drink before coming to school?" Yukari asked.

"Nah, just slept really well." Junpei grinned more, then looked at Minato. Minato met his gaze for a moment with a tired sigh.

"I wish I could say the same for myself." He ran a hand through his blue hair as he spoke, his free arm resting on the book he had been reading. Yukari gave him a sympathetic look, catching an unobstructed glimpse of the tired expression on his face. "If I fall asleep in economics, I'm sorry."

"I'll try and stay awake for ya, bud." Junpei said, and it was so bizarre to hear out of his mouth that Yukari spluttered. The cap wearing teen didn't seem to notice - or if he did, was in too good a mood to protest - and instead reached out to give Minato a sympathetic pat on his shoulder. "I'll wake ya up for lunch, at least."

"I appreciate your priorities," Minato chuckled.

Yukari just sighed at both of them, in spite of her amusement. "Geeze … I hope this doesn't become a habit. Or if it does, maybe it'll help improve Junpei's grades." She gave Junpei a bemused look at that, and it got him to look back at her with a pout.

"Okay, listen, can you blame me for some of them?"

"Ekoda-sensei and Ono-sensei when the latter's in one of his moods? Yeah, I admit I get it, but still …" Yukari let out a long sigh. "Hopefully everyone's in a good mood today. I just wanna get through this first week of school without any incidents."

"And now that you've said it, the chemistry lab is gonna set off smoke alarms." Kotone's voice from behind her made Yukari leap a foot in the air and whirl around with a yelp. Junpei at least seemed equally startled, and he whirled around to point at the auburn girl by the door to the classroom.

Minato was the only one unsurprised by his sister's abrupt appearance, and simply leaned back in his chair to look at her. "I thought we agreed to let that mishap in middle school go." He commented idly.

Kotone just grinned at him. "I did - it was home ec in middle school, remember?" She replied, crimson eyes dancing.

"That's a story I'm not sure I have the courage to hear right now." Yukari just shook her head again. "But. How long have you been there?"

"Only a couple minutes- I wanted to make sure Minato got to school okay." Kotone smiled brightly, nodding at her brother. "Did you remember lunch? I had some time and made an extra one."

"... No, I didn't, actually." Minato's reply was delayed, and Yukari couldn't help but arch an eyebrow at it. He seemed to be staring at his sister for some reason, brows furrowed as if he was trying to puzzle out a homework problem. "If the weather holds, want to eat on the roof?"

Kotone seemed to notice her brother's stare, but Yukari couldn't tell if it bothered her. "Sure!" The auburn chirped happily. "Hope you don't mind inarizuchi and teriyaki salmon."

"Is there cucumber on the inarizuchi?"

"Yep!"

Minato hummed low at that, and Yukari swore she heard the blue-haired teen's stomach rumble. "I'll make mapo tofu for dinner then. It sounds good."

"Man, are you two just gonna torture us with food talk?" Junpei griped after a moment, pouting at Kotone and MInato in turn. "I haven't had mapo tofu in years …"

"If there's leftovers, I'll bring them tomorrow for you." Kotone laughed. "Hope you like it spicy."

"I'll live."

Yukari laughed at that, grateful that the awkward tension seemed to have evaporated from the room. "If you two do the spicy style, I'll have to pass. It doesn't sit well in my stomach." She shook her head. "Although having more people who can cook is nice."

Kotone just grinned. "Gotta keep myself busy on rainy days somehow~" she laughed, crimson eyes bright. Her next statement was cut off by someone calling to her from outside of the classroom, and she turned her head. "Yeah, one sec, Saori-chan!" She looked back at the trio in 2-F again with a grin. "I'll see you at lunch then, Minato! I need to help Saori-chan move stuff for Ounishi-sensei before class. Catch you and Junpei-kun later, Yukari-san!"

Yukari waved to Kotone as the auburn left, darting over to a girl with wavy, charcoal colored hair. "... She seems to have adjusted well." She commented after a moment, looking at Minato.

He shrugged. "Kotone's always been impossibly friendly, so I"m not surprised too much." A yawn undercut his words at that. "Ah, drat … I'm gonna catnap before the first class starts - one of you bonk me awake when Toriumi-sensei walks in for homeroom, please?"

Junpei grinned. "I accept payment in the form of a single piece of inarizuchi."

"Acceptable terms." Minato nodded and placed his head on his folded arms, and Yukari watched as he fell asleep in what seemed to be seconds.

She sighed in exasperation. "Jeeze, how much sleep did he even get before he got woken up by the dream?" Moving to her seat, Yukari set her school bag on top of the desk while Junpei shrugged at her. "I hope you can wake him up, at least."

"I have my ways." Junpei grinned as he dropped into his seat, sable eyes bright. "If I can't wake him up, I'll get you something from the school store, Yuka-tan."

Yukari squinted at him, as if sizing him up. "... I'll hold you to that." She said after a moment, watching other students start to trickle in. Even if Junpei was being a bit silly with all this, free food was free food.

---

Lunch came around, and Minato had no qualms in giving Junpei the promised inarizuchi the other teen had gotten from waking him up in time for the first lecture of the day. Waving to Junpei as he darted back inside, Minato looked to Kotone as she settled onto a bench on the roof.

To her credit, Kotone smiled at him as she broke her chopsticks apart. "So, something happen to make you wanna talk to me alone today?" She asked, and then quickly shuffled a piece of salmon into her mouth.

Minato followed suit before nodding, a hand fishing in the pocket of his pants. "Yeah - I mentioned it in passing to Yukari-san, but I had a weird dream … and this followed me out of it." He explained, holding up a silver and sapphire blue, butterfly-themed key.

Kotone's eyebrows shot up, a hand drifting up to the butterfly brooch she wore. "You .. got the key from a dream?" She repeated.

"Yes - I woke up in a place called the Velvet Room." Minato tapped the key on the edge of his bento, grey-blue eyes staring at the food. "The person in charge - at least, I think he was in charge, - Igor, mentioned that you would know who he was."

Crimson eyes narrowed, and Kotone gripped her brooch tighter; the metal warmed beneath her fingers. "... Small stature, long nose?" She clarified, and hummed when Minato nodded. "Then, yeah, I met him. That night we left Osaka."

"Our first run-in with the ankle biters." Minato hummed lowly, and his eyes cut to the door. It was still shut, and he didn't think anyone was eavesdropping, but still best to be cautious. "Did it have to do with … the puppet with the sharp stick?"

"Yeah." Kotone nodded again, and Minato saw her hand clench tightly around the brooch for a moment before she ate more of her food. "I don't remember it fully, but he seemed to be talking to someone else that was sitting with me. Apparently I was too small for whatever it was, but Igor didn't want me to get into trouble with things worse than ankle biters."

Minato shifted a bit, his bento half eaten as he ran a thumb over the edge of the key's wings. "So if he's trying to reach out to me as well now … Do you think something's going to happen?"

"This is the first place we've seen someone other than us awake in that weird timeframe." Kotone finally let go of her brooch to resume eating in full, crimson eyes distant. "And it seems we wound up in a dorm full of other people who are aware, from what I've managed to get out of Akihiko-senpai …"

Grey-blue eyes flickered, and Minato sighed before shuffling the key back into his pocket. "And we've been trying to settle in so much that we haven't gotten to ask Mitsuru-senpai about things." He continued Kotone's train of thought, and shook his head. "... Should we try talking to her on Sunday? Get this first week of school under our belts and then try to pry into the supernatural?"

"That would probably be smart, yeah." Kotone gave a nod when she finished her bite of food, her gaze lifting to look at the faint full moon in the afternoon sky. "I'm actually enjoying the school here, even if it's a lot bigger than what we're used to."

"It's interesting, for sure." Minato agreed. ".. Are you doing okay in a different classroom?"

"Yeah, it's going okay! Saori-chan sits beside me, and she's fairly new to the school as well." Kotone smiled. "And I can always poke in on you three in 2-F after class if I have to." she tapped her chopsticks on her chin for a moment. "... Maybe I'll try for one of the sports clubs when those open up."

"Burn up some of that energy." Minato nodded, chuckling. "I wonder what cultural clubs they have here."

"Been a while since there's been a school with choir for you to have fun in, huh?" Kotone mused with a chuckle, and gently poked her brother when she heard the warning bell go off. "Welp, put it in our pockets for now. Gotta get through afternoon classes before we start having supernatural superstitions."

Minato resisted the urge to point out that Kotone's final statement was redundant, and just nodded his agreement as his hand returned to the key in his pocket. It thrummed lightly under his fingers, and it was enough to keep him awake through the rest of the school day.

Kotone walked back to the dorm with him that day, the twins discussing various things as they meandered around the Iwatodai station's stip mall until dusk. Yukari joined them after a point, and conversation gained a bit more of a lively tune as the three finally made their way back to the dorm for the evening.

There was a surprise at the dorm, however; a man in a beige suit was there, talking to Akihiko about something while the senior was repairing what looked like a pair of boxing gloves. Yukari seemed surprised by the man's appearance, because she double-took as she pulled her shoes off. "Ikutsuki-san?" She greeted, making the man lift his head to look at her.

"Ah, Yukari-kun." The man greeted with a smile, deep grey eyes friendly behind square-framed glasses. Minato blinked, frozen halfway through taking off his own shoes. Something about the man's tone and expression didn't quite seem to match, and it was only years of manners being wedged into his head that kept him from darting off to the stairs.

Kotone didn't seem as outwardly bothered, because she poked her head out from behind both Minato and Yukari. "Hello! Are you the 'landlord' I heard Shinjiro-senpai talk about?" she greeted, smiling as she walked over to flounce onto the love seat.

The newcomer seemed to freeze for a moment when Kotone made eye contact, although Minato couldn't quite understand why. He was too far away to gauge an exact reaction, but he thought he saw shock in the man's eyes. It was gone a moment later, and the man shook his head in exasperation at Akihiko's snort. "Shinjiro-kun is still as blunt as ever, isn't he?"

"Has been for all of the fourteen years I've known him." Akihiko chuckled, holding up one of the gloves to his face. Satisfied with the work, he put it down on the table and grabbed the second glove to begin his work. "I mean, you've heard what he calls Mitsuru's father."

"I still can't believe he got away with that … but I digress." The man shook his head with a sigh before offering another smile. "While 'landlord' is a bit of a misnomer, I suppose it's close enough; the school board wanted me to keep an eye on the dorm here while it's making due without a dorm mother. I'm Ikutsuki Shuji."

The man's name briefly made Minato stop thinking, his grey-blue eyes glazed over. That … what? "... You would make a very drab calendar." He said without thinking, drawing the now-named Ikutsuki's attention to him.

"Oh, don't worry, I've heard far worse jokes at my expense than that." he shook his head with what felt like a friendly smile, but Minato still wanted to edge away. "I also get tongue-tied when introducing myself." A hand gestured to the seats, and Ikutsuki nodded. "But please, take a seat! I meant to get out here earlier and see how you two were settling in."

Minato warily walked over, settling into the chair by Kotone. A glance at his sister showed that Kotone also seemed to be wary; her crimson eyes were a bit sharper than normal, even as she smiled at Ikutsuki. "Well, hard to say with just the first week, but I'm enjoying it." She nodded with a happy hum.

Ikutsuki gave a nod. "That's good!" He chuckled. "Your paperwork got through late, and I'm grateful that there wasn't much of a fuss in the offices."

"I take it there's not a lot of co-ed dorms?" Minato gave Ikutsuki a curious look.

"No - as of right now, this is the only one." The man gave a nod as he adjusted his glasses. "It took a bit of time to find a building that could suffice as a dorm, which is probably why Shinjiro-kun calls me that."

"So it's … basically a test run?" Yukari spoke up as she sat down beside Akihiko, the senior scooting to give her room without looking up from his task. Ikutsuki nodded once again.

"Indeed; there's been a fair bit of growth on Port Island as of late, so some of the school board was wondering if there was a way to consolidate things." He sighed. "I don't know how well that'll go over with the rest of the board, but the grade school dormitories are already two to a room."

"And trying to do roommates just sounds disastrous with junior high and high schoolers." Kotone agreed with a nod of her head. "I'm surprised Ken-kun isn't as weirded out by all this as a lot of kids his age would be."

Akihiko gave a low hum, and Minato saw a flash of worry in the senior's eyes. Ikutsuki didn't seem to notice, because the man let out a sigh as his smile dropped temporarily. "Ken-kun is a very rare exception." He admitted instead. "Out of respect of privacy, I won't disclose the details as to why. That's something you'll have to ask him personally." At that, he blinked and looked around. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Probably at the shrine; he and Shinji try to get out there at least once a week." Akihiko supplied, his gaze focused on his mending even more than before. Minato frowned a bit - there was something that wasn't being said about the whole situation.

Kotone seemed to sense the tension, because she gave a laugh Minato knew was her deflection tactic. "Alright, that's fair. But I'm curious; how often will we be seeing you around here, Ikutsuki-san?"

"Oh, not that frequently," Ikutsuki chuckled, the disarming smile back on his face. "Once, maybe twice a month at most, barring emergencies. It's mostly to ensure that everything here is still in one piece, and the bathrooms are still functioning as intended; housekeeping, if you would."

Minato shifted for a moment, a thought returning to him. "... Actually, I do have one thing to ask …" He shifted a bit, sparing a glance to Kotone before a hand went to his mp3 player. "I know Ken-san is staying with us, but the first night here … there was another kid."

Everyone but Kotone focused on Minato at that, making him shift a bit. Akihiko in particular had his eyebrows arched. "You guys got in late - if one of Ken's friends was here, they'd be in a lot of trouble with their families." He hummed, pausing his glove maintenance to tap a foot instead.

"Black hair, pale blue eyes, striped pyjamas." Minato supplied, grateful that there was at least some chance of a thread. Akihiko paused for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, that's not one of them … but there's only so many families on this street." he let out a low hum, looking to Ikutsuki. The man shook his head, which Yukari mimicked. "Well … that bodes badly."

"Dorm's haunted?" Kotone piped up, mischief in her eyes.

"Yeah, dorm's haunted." Akihiko's reply made Minato double take, before noting the equally mischievous glint that was there for a split second. His deadpan tone seemed to be what caught Yukari's attention, because the brunet spluttered for a moment.

"I - it could have just been the long train ride catching up to you! Right?" Yukari protested, looking to Minato. Her face was almost pleading, and he felt a moment of sympathy. It made him give Yukari a small smile, even as he shook his head.

"If I hadn't had a full conversation with him, I would chalk it up to that." He admitted. "But well … not ten minutes later, Kotone crashed into a dining room chair." At that, Minato looked at the sign-in counter; nobody was there. "I guess it'll be a mystery to find answers for elsewhere. For now …" Minato's gaze shifted to the kitchen. "Do you know if we have the stuff for mapo tofu? I said I'd make some for dinner."

The shift in topic seemed to catch Ikutsuki off guard, because the man blinked rapidly for a moment. "I … believe so?" He said after a moment. "I don't poke around the kitchen uninvited, but Shinjiro-kun is very pedantic about keeping it well stocked."

"I think I saw what you'd need earlier, yeah." Akihiko nodded. "Dunno how much, but you can probably get enough for yourself at least."

"Ah." Minato couldn't help but sigh, but still shrugged as he stood up. "I'll double check, then; would you be upset if I made something else, Kotone?"

"Make yourself mapo tofu, I'll rummage around for something later." Kotone waved a hand casually. "I wanted to get some of my homework done for the night, unless Ikutsuki-san has anything else to ask."

Ikutsuki seemed to ponder something, his dark eyes unreadable behind his glasses. Kotone tilted her head to one side, confused, but Ikutsuki shook his head after a moment. His smile came back to his face, and he nodded.

"No no, I'm just grateful to hear that you're settling in well here." A chuckle came under his words. "And an admirable goal to focus on studying; don't let me keep you down here!" Kotone gave a polite nod at his words, hopping up from her seat with a wave to Yukari and Akihiko as she made her way over to the stairs. Minato was impressed with his sister's restraint; she walked casually, even though he could tell Ikutsuki had put her on edge with his staring.

He'd ask her about it later, when the man had left for the evening.

As it was, when Minato looked to the living room from where he was rattling around the kitchen - he hoped Shinjiro didn't mind a request for chili oil that would soon manifest on the shopping list - Ikutsuki had resumed talking to Akihiko about something Minato couldn't quite pick out, and Yukari had excused herself to wander over to the kitchen. "... do you want to get something to eat as well?" Minato asked her, holding up the block of tofu that he had found to use. Yukari shook her head.

"No, just … wanted to get away before the puns started." She admitted with a sigh as she sat down at the bar counter. "I had a late dinner with the girls from archery club, and Kaname-senpai took us into the candy store afterword. I'm full."

Minato gave an understanding nod as he cooked. "Hopefully things will be calm enough on Sunday that Kotone and I can get a more thorough tour of the places around here, just to get a good read of the land." At that, he hummed. "... Still haven't found a seafood place."

"I know a small mom and pop place just north of the mall." Yukari chimed up. "Shinjiro-senpai and Ken-kun also have a favorite hot pot restaurant they can take you too; from the amount of peppercorns I see in that pork, you'll love it."

Minato felt himself smile at that, and ducked his head down a bit. "... Those places tend to have the best food." He agreed, focusing on cutting the tofu up. Yukari gave a hum of agreement before reaching over to grab a glass of water, and the tone of questions shifted to school related things. It was mundane enough that Minato almost missed Ikutsuki heading upstairs.

"He's probably going to ask Mitsuru-senpai a few things," Yukari commented after Ikutsuki passed. "She's basically in charge of making sure things go smoothly here, mostly because we lack a dorm mother …" There seemed to be a twinge of bitterness in her voice, and Minato had to fight his face into staying neutral.

"You could have said it was Shinjiro-senpai, and I would have believed you." He said instead. "I don't think I've gotten a chance to speak with him one on one yet; he seems like he's the one doing a lot of running around."

"Yeah … he's a bit of a workhorse." Yukari sighed and shook her head. "Nice person though, just gotta make him sit down."

"A challenge for the ages." Akihiko called out as he walked past, heading upstairs. "Shinji's two settings are 'work' or 'unconscious', unless you put him in a room full of puppies." The senior heard Yukari's laughter follow him upstairs, but Minato's comment was lost on him as he reached the second floor.

A quick stop to tuck his gloves into his dorm room, and Akihiko continued up. Pausing briefly on the third floor to look down the hallway - Kotone's door was closed, as far as he could tell - and he gave a nod before walking further up, headed to the fourth floor.

Unlike the second and third floors below, the fourth floor didn't boast hallways of dorm rooms; doors to the baths and showers took one hallway, the stairs to the roof cutting past it on Akihiko's left. The right hallway didn't exist, with only a large set of double doors breaking up what was otherwise a blank wall.

Pushing past the doors easily, Akihiko was greeted to the sight of Mitsuru and Ikutsuki talking animatedly - for them, at least - while Ken fiddled with a strange white headset on the sofa within the large room. A computer console dominated one wall, the screen lazily blinking on and off in a screensaver setting.

An eyebrow arched, and Akihiko hummed. "Is Shinji already out?" He asked, making Ikutsuki and MItsuru pause their conversation to look to him. Ken didn't look up, but Akihiko saw the grade schooler nod.

"He said he had an off feeling from the moon, so he wanted to poke around a few places before it got too dark out." Ken explained, adjusting the headset before slipping it onto his head. It fit easily, and a proud smile crossed Ken's face as he began fiddling with little wheels on the side. "The shrine is still in good shape though."

"That's a relief, at least." Nodding, Akihiko moved to sit on the sofa beside Ken, storm grey eyes flicking to Mitsuru. "What conversation did I interrupt?"

Mitsuru let out a sigh and shook her head, deep red hair in her face as she frowned. "More of the same I discussed with you previously." She admitted. "I've been keeping one metaphorical eye here on the dorm, to better try and get a read on the Arisato twins … and I still get that same odd 'echo' from Kotone-san."

"It's puzzling to me too," Ikutsuki gave a sigh as a hand lifted to his chin in thought. "Even with just the three of you and Yukari-kun, this sort of thing isn't something I can explain." Sable eyes darted around. "And if nothing has approached them, it could be a case of something else being afoot."

"Potentially," Mitsuru let out a sigh. "To make it even more confusing, Minato-san's Potential is there as plain as day; it's almost worrying how strong it is."

"Maybe that's why he sleeps so much." Akihiko mused, shifting a bit in his seat. "Kotone did mention that he's usually very worn out by the time that starts."

"Perhaps." Ikutsuki nodded. "While temporary memory loss is more common for those who are awake for the Dark Hour, hypersomnia isn't unheard of."

Akihiko gave a vague nod. "...As for Kotone herself, she did admit that she's been aware for about eight years now."

He was very aware of the current that went through the room at that statement, and Mitsuru's eyes were noticeably wider when Akihiko looked to her. "That's -?!"

"Kotone's words." Akihiko frowned - Ikutsuki seemed equally shocked by this revelation. "She says it wasn't as big a problem because 'ankle-biters can't open doors', but … hm." A thought came to him, and he tapped his arm in thought. "You said she 'echoed' when you tried to poke Kotone-san, right MItsuru?"

A nod answered him. "Yes. I can pick up on her, but not much more than that before it gets bounced back."

Ikutsuki's eyes widened a bit. "Ah! I see - do you think the 'echoing' is caused by a barrier, Akihiko-kun?" He asked, fingers snapping lightly.

"Best guess I've got, yeah." Akihiko nodded.

Ken shifted beside him, hazel eyes far more serious than a grade schooler's eyes should have been. "...if she's got a barrier up, do you think that's the real reason why she's been safe for that long?" He asked, looking between the three other people in the room.

"That would readily explain it." Mitsuru let out a sigh. "... I'm tempted to push it, but … I don't know if I should wait until the time is right."

"We could just ask her…?" Akihiko offered instead. "She's already suspicious as hell of things here; I imagine actively poking her without warning might do more harm than good." He held eye contact with Mitsuru until he saw the other senior relent, and nodded her head with a small sigh.

"...One more night of observation. If things remain as they have the past week, I'll ask them about it tomorrow after classes have ended for the day." She looked to Ikutsuki. "Do you think they'd be willing to help?"

"From what little I got out of them? Certainly!" Ikutsuki chuckled, but then nodded at Akihiko. "And, if one of them is already starting to notice a thread about the building, it would absolutely be wiser to lay the cards we have on the table."

Akihiko and Mitsuru nodded, and Ken just gave a small hum. "So that'd be two more …" He mumbled, flicking a switch on the headset. "With Yukari-senpai, that's six now."

"Seven; even if you just manage the computers here when I have to step away, I'm not going to undersell your efforts, Amada." Mitsuru corrected Ken gently, a rare softness in her voice. "... Speaking of that, can you check in on Shinjiro? That headset should be hooked up to both the terminal and main computer."

Beaming a bit, there was a nod, and Ken shifted to hold the headset with both hands. "Hmmm, there - oh, Shinjiro!" he said after a moment, smiling and hopping up from his chair. "No, nothing's wrong; Mitsuru-senpai just wanted to make sure the communication headset was working-" Still talking, Ken hopped out of his seat and walked over to the window on the far wall, parallel the doors.

Akihiko watched him for a moment before shaking his head, looking to Mitsuru and Ikutsuki. Mitsuru watched Ken with a bittersweet expression, and Ikutsuki just sighed behind her. "I'm grateful that the school board hasn't pressed overmuch about Ken-kun's presence here, but once this year is up…" the man tapered off after a moment.

Akihiko shook his head at that. It was a looming worry, but one that wasn't meant to be touched on. Ikutsuki seemed to understand that, because the man sat down in a chair to pull out a simple laptop to type on. "More research?" Akihiko asked, bemused.

"Oh, it never ends." Ikutsuki sighed. "I'll probably die before I get enough satisfactory answers about this whole mess." Chuckling, Akihiko left him to it, and pulled out a book he had left on the table a few days earlier.

Stillness fell for a while, with Yukari drifting upstairs shortly before midnight hit. The junior was awkwardly tugging a red armband onto her left sleeve. "Minato-san went to bed," she said as she moved to sit on a loveseat nearby. "But Kotone-san sounded like she was still awake? I think I heard some sort of video game music coming from her door."

"Probably trying to wind down before bed?" Ken offered, having moved from the window to a spinning desk chair in front of the computer console. Yukari shrugged at the question.

"Maybe? I haven't really gotten to talk with her one on one that much yet." A sigh left her. "I want to work on that over the next few days." Her gaze shifted to Mitsuru, who lounged by the windows to read a book of her own. "Speaking of which, what's going to happen …?"

"Tonight will be my last observation night," Mitsuru answered, one carmine eye flitting over to watch as Ikutsuki powered down his laptop. "Starting now."

As if cued by her words, the world shifted and fell eerily silent. The computer and Ken's headset remained on as the rest of the room's lights dimmed; if the outside world was as dark was hard to tell, owing to the unnaturally large moon that hung low in the early April sky.

Yukari shifted nervously at the change, watching as Akihiko and Mitsuru both put down their books to shift into a more attentive state. Ken didn't shift much, almost lazily spinning in the desk chair as Mitsuru came over to fiddle with a white, radio-like device on a cabinet beside him.

"... Minato-san is still the same as he has been the past few nights," Mitsuru said after a few moments, nodding. "Stable, no signs of transmogrification; as far as I can tell, he's peacefully sleeping."

Ikutsuki gave a nod, "So there is at least one piece of good news." He smiled. "This is the third day of observation, after the twins arrived in the middle of the Dark Hour; by this point, I would say it's safe to assume he has an active potential."

Ken mimicking Akihiko's small arm pump of victory made Mitsuru smile a bit when she noticed it. Her attention shifted back to the console, however, and her focus moved to the third floor. "... Kotone-san is also unchanged." She reported, feeling the slight twinge of her power being echoed back at her. "... Ugh. This is taunting me."

It was a small push, a query almost; Mitsuru wanted to know what was going on to make this happen, and so she put a bit more force on whatever it was about Kotone that was making the echo occur.

Four pairs of eyes watched in confusion as she recoiled away from the console and computer as if smacked, a hand going to her head even as she landed on the floor. "W - that!" Confused spluttering in French ensued for a moment before Mitsuru's composure returned, and she stared in offense at the console. "... Whatever is creating that echo did not like me trying to knock on the metaphorical door."

Akihiko gave Mitsuru an exasperated look, and was about to ask her why she had done that when he had said it wasn't a good idea. Ken's sudden yip of surprise and hands flying to his headset cut him off.

"W- woah! Slow down!" Ken spluttered into the microphone, one hand awkwardly slapping the computer. "Yes, we're all up here Shinjiro, gimme a second - speaker phone where the heck are you!?" A moment of flailing found the button Ken was looking for, and a small crackle of static followed before the sound of Shinjiro's voice came over the speakers.

"Hey, we have a fucking problem!"

"Oh I hate that series of words instantly." Akihiko stood up, storm grey eyes sharp. "How many sharp objects?"

"YES." Shinjiro continued, and Yukari noticed that it sounded like he was running. "Bastard's big, got a lot of hands, and is not fuckin paying attention to me when I try to get it to stop moving."

Mitsuru's eyes were also on alert, even as she focused on the strange radio once more. "..! I can pick up on it at the very edge of my range, Shinjiro. Where is it headed?"

"Right for the dorm! I'm chasing the damn thing as fast as I can without causing problems for myself, and - oh fuck you!" Yukari jumped a bit at the sound of something being slapped by a heavy metal object, crashing into what she hoped was pavement. "Sorry, it had a buddy with it. But yeah, I've been chasing it for a few minutes. It's not giving me the time of night and heading right for the dorm!"

A second current went through the air, and the seniors looked to one another before nodding. "Keep up the pursuit, Shinjiro," Mitsuru gave a firm nod. "Akihiko and I will meet you at the front door; we'll get the Arisato siblings to a safe spot; Potential or otherwise, this isn't what I want their first battle to be."

"Alright. I'm keeping up the hunt, but gonna stop talking for now. See you in a few minutes with the unwanted house guest!" With the last statement, Shinjiro fell silent.

Akihiko was instantly moving, having darted over to a closet beside the doors and pulling objects from it. "I don't like any of this if it's able to ignore Shinji body-checking it for attention!" He about growled, although Yukari swore she could see excitement in his eyes as he grabbed a white belt.

Catching the belt as it was tossed to her, MItsuru fastened it around her waist smoothly before nodding to Ikutsuki. "You should take cover. Amada, how far is the range on the headset?"

"I can get to the second floor before I cut out." Ken gave a nod. "I've still got Shinjiro on relay, but if I have to hide with Ikutsuki-san, I can keep coordinating if you need me."

"That's all well and good, but we need you to stay safe as well." Her gaze shifted to Yukari when Ken nodded. "Takeba, I need you to get the Arisatos and take them out the back door. If you can, make for Naganaki Shrine until one of us comes to collect the three of you."

Yukari gave a shaky nod, almost fumbling the thigh holster Akhiko handed to her. "R-right, I can do that. No problem!" Getting the holster around her leg, she gripped the handle that rested inside it. "D - should i take anything spare with me, just in case…?"

Mitsuru paused, but then nodded. "Kotone-san will likely have her hockey stick at the ready, but Minato-san …"

Akihiko cut off the pondering by handing Yukari a bow and quiver full of arrows. A strange box was on top. "Take that for now, we can hash out details when we get the big thing taken care of." He said simply, yanking a pair of metal-backed gloves onto his hands.

"R-right!" Yukari gave a nod and slung the bow and arrow over her shoulders. Her next question was cut off as a loud slam came from down below, and she yelped. Akihiko and Mitsuru steadied themselves more easily, the latter strapping a rapier to her waist.

"It seems the problem has reached us." She noted drily, and gave a nod to Akihiko and Yukari before she led the way out the doors. Akihiko was right behind her, and after a quick glance to Ikutsuki, Yukari followed, hands nervously wringing the holster for her archery set.

She didn't know how fast the senpai had gotten down the stairs, but they weren't on the third floor landing when Yukari reached it. Instead, a very alert Kotone burst out of her room, a hockey stick in hand. Yukari wasn't surprised to see the other junior was still fully dressed in her uniform; the fierce look, however, made her balk as Kotone approached. "What's going on?!"

"A - A big one!" Yukari stammered out, rattled for reasons she didn't understand. In hindsight, she chalked it up to the fact that Kotone's crimson eyes seemed far too focused for the whole situation, a focus that grew sharper at Yukari's words. "We need to get Minato-san and run for the shrine! The senpai will handle it."

A smaller, but still pronounced crashing sound followed her words, the sound of metal slamming into something with rapid force. Kotone looked down the stairs and nodded at that. "Alright - I am rather confident that Minato's awake from all this, so we can grab him and book it." Not giving Yukari a second to argue or agree, the auburn leapt to the stair landing with a heavy thunk. It didn't seem to deter Kotone, because she was already moving as Yukari tried to keep pace.

Much to her relief, Minato was indeed awake; the blue-haired teen stood in his room's doorway, grey-blue eyes wide behind sleep tousled hair. "... This isn't an earthquake like I first thought, is it?" He questioned drily, even as Kotone reached him to tug him forward. Unlike his sister, he was in a t-shirt and shorts, and Yukari felt bad as she nodded to him.

"We've gotta head to the shrine," she repeated herself. "The back door by the kitchen should still be safe, but the sen - Ah!" The brunet jerked back as something slapped onto the window by Minato's head, the glass spiderwebbing with no effort.

Minato yelled as well, almost tripping into Yukari as Kotone shoved him back. Kotone said nothing, face set in a grim line as she returned the slap to what the juniors could now see was a large, ichor-like hand. "W-wait, Kotone-san, that's -!"

Yukari's protests were cut off as the hockey stick made contact and, inexplicably, seemed to gash through the strange appendage. Something outside shrieked, and Kotone responded by slamming the hand into the remnants of the window with a second swing before backing up.

"We should run."

Her voice was calm in a way that set Yukari's hair on end, but the brunette girl didn't pause to bring attention to it. Instead, she pushed Minato in front of her to start down the stairs. Minato seemed unaffected by his sister's attitude, and rushed down the stairs with an impressive amount of speed. Yukari was right behind him, Kotone a heartbeat behind.

On the first floor, the three began to cut through the dining room as chaos unfolded outside the main doors. A glance showed that the windows were blocked by a mass of black, one none of the juniors could quite make out as the back door came into view. "Come on, come on-!" Yukari yanked open the door, trying to open it.

The door refused to budge.

"Oh for the - really?!" Yukari's voice began to grow tight with panic, even as an ineffectual shake of the door to not change her results. If anything, something seemed to tug it back shut on her.

"Takeba!"

Mitsuru's voice made all three juniors whirl around. The senior stood in the main doorway, hair and uniform in disarray and more of the black ichor on the rapier in her hand. "There's multiple threats; take them up to the roof!"

Her words were punctuated by a series of scrambling noises at the back door. Yukari yelped and jerked back, Kotone catching her briefly even as Minato darted past them to wedge a dining room chair under the doorknob. "Stay safe out there?" He called out as he began the dart upstairs again, Yukari and Kotone behind him.

"You three are in more danger than we are right now." Was Mitsuru's reply as she shut the door, a flash of azure light briefly illuminating the windows. Minato resisted the urge to frown as he began to dart upstairs, his bare feet and lungs both protesting the extreme exertion when he should have been asleep.

The building continued to rumble ominously as they made the dash, the occasional sounds of metal and heavy impacts adding a tension to it all that Minato wasn't fond of. Yukari seemed less than thrilled as well, having sped up to take the lead over Minato - Kotone took up the rear without much to say, but Minato knew better than to try and talk to Kotone until they were safe.

Whatever was going on in this timeframe, Minato knew his sister would not balk in the face of it.

The sight of the roof's door was a temporary bright spot, especially when it opened with no resistance to let all three juniors spill onto the roof. Minato took the moment to instantly lean against the wall and slid to the ground, trying desperately to get air into his lungs.

Yukari wasn't much better, and slumped against the door as she locked it. "We should be safe up here." She gasped out, before handing the box over to Minato. "H - here, just in case."

Minato took it without looking, and then brought it up to his face. "... Why does the dorm have a tantou?" He asked after a moment. Yukari shrugged.

"Well … I imagine there's gonna be a lot of talking tomorrow, maybe tonight." She said instead. "We weren't planning on well, any of this."

"Things like this are rarely planned," Minato admitted, even as he took the tantou out of the box to look at it. It was in pristine condition. "... was this a collection piece?"

Yukari's answer was stopped as the dorm shook again. And again. Kotone, the only one who had stayed on her feet, was looking away from Minato and Yukari to stare at the far edge of the building, her hockey stick at the ready.

It wasn't long before a large, black hand slapped onto the edge of the building. Then another. And another; a fourth wasn't far behind, and it wasn't long before the entire edge was filled with hands as a small glint bounced off of what Minato took a moment to realize was a mask, held aloft.

The color wasn't easy to pick out through the backlight of the impossibly large, golden moon, but the mask was moved back and forth until it seemed to focus on him. The multitude of hands hoisted the mass onto the roof, and the teen was appalled to see that was all it was; hands and arms, connected to seemingly nothing in the center but one another.

Then, a host of the hands drew knives from nowhere, ichor and blood running down the smooth blades as Yukari yelled.

"W - What kind of Shadow is this?!"

The brunette's hands flew to her left thigh and Minato watched as she drew a silver gun out. He was too distracted by the sudden motion to try and read what was engraved on it. The confusion and fear only peaked as Yukari put the barrel to her head. "W -w ait, Takeba-san-?!"

"I - I can do this..!" Yukari didn't seem to hear him, nor notice that Kotone had put herself more firmly between this 'Shadow' and the two by the door. Minato reached out to try and tug the gun away, but Yukari's arms did not budge as she pulled the trigger.

Instead of blood and brain matter, a strange rush of blue smoke surrounded her, a small whirlwind at her feet. The motion made the mask shift to her, a few of the knives lifting and tracing a sigil. Yukari drew the trigger again, and a slightly larger rush of wind answered her.

It mattered little as the fireball slammed into her, knocking the girl to the floor and sending the gun clattering in the opposite direction. It hit Minato's bare foot with a bit of force, and he stared at it. In that moment, he felt something in him shift as he took in the engraved S.E.E.S on the barrel, and the hand that had previously tried to tug at Yukari's arm lowered to grip onto the handle itself.

The mask shifted back to him. Minato didn't know how he could tell, but when his head shifted from the gun to look at it, he could see the backlit porcelain facing in his direction. His heartbeat was in his ears and throat, and the grip on the gun tigheted.

He had drawn the gun to him as the knives began to draw another sigil, but the fireball was already flying at him before he could figure out what to do with it.

Kotone, however, was quicker in that moment. Her hockey stick lashed out to swat at the fireball, and while it didn't dispel, it was enough to knock it askew onto the concrete of the roof. "You know, I was hoping my suspicions wouldn't be warranted." She muttered, crimson eyes hard as a small flicker of energy began at her feet.

Yukari had picked herself up enough at that point, and gaped. "K-Kotone-san?!"

Kotone didn't respond, the energy that flickered beginning to flare into an oddly pink rush of fire, butterflies and ashes flying wild around her. Minato knew it was only for a brief instant, but a strange visor of gold and orange flashed over his sister's face as a hand went to heart. "Makaria, we have a situation!"

At her words, the pink energy shattered.

Several knives were being swung in her direction, only for the sound of metal on metal to herald that the attack was stopped. Yukari stared in shock, Minato in awe as a vaguely familiar figure materialized above Kotone.

A white marionette, feminine in design; a cream yellow dress and veil fluttered in the wind, translucent bits reminiscent of butterfly wings in various shades of sunset orange breaking up the fabric. The metallic sound proved to be a polearm that the marionette clutched in one hand, the gold and steel blade barely budging from the various knives that were caught on it.

With a shove, the marionette forced the knives back and pivoted enough for Minato and Yukari to get a better look. Pink hair fluttered beneath the veil, long and framing a face with closed eyes. The only dark spot against the bright ensemble was a simple stone urn held in the marionette's left arm, a spectral pink butterfly resting on top of it.

Fear not; I, Makaria, will not let you go into destruction

At the words, Makaria lifted her urn. The butterfly lifted off to fly to Yukari and land on her, a soft blue light wafting over her before it lifted off and returned to Makaria.

The 'Shadow' took offense, and swung the knives at Makaria again. The marionette and Kotone both dodged, and a thrust of the polearm was Makaria's response. The Shadow shrieked in response, and a pair of fireballs followed. Both of them impacted Makaria, and Kotone winced a bit beneath her, but remained firm.

Minato watched his sister quietly, even as Yukari made her way over to him. "S … she did that so easily …" Yukari stammered, hazel eyes wide. "And … Evokerless? I didn't know that was possible!"

Minato almost didn't hear her, his gaze returning to the gun in his hands. His heartbeat was still pounding, even as he watched Kotone dodge another series of fireballs; she was leading the bursts of fire away from him and Yukari, he realized.

You can help her.

A new voice echoed in Minato's ears, almost dissonantly calm.

You can help her. You do not have to sit aside - WE do not have to sit aside!

The insistence of the voice made Minato lift the gun, even as he began to stand up with his back to the wall. His eyes went back to his sister as she slapped a few hands with her hockey stick, a few knives scattering to the ground. Makaria remained above her, the butterfly fluttering in between the marionette and Kotone quickly.

Cold steel against his mussed hair and temple only grounded Minato so much as he watched. Kotone kept fighting, even as various knives left small scores of cuts through her uniform. His heartbeat was dampened by the sound of something else in the space between his ears.

The voice was there, insisting that they could help, that he didn't have to hopelessly watch this time. A song, wailing and mournful. A deep growl, low and threatening. Roars and whispers that all faded to white noise as, for a flicker of time, the pale child from the first night in Iwatodai was in his mind's eyes.

They were smiling.

"Go ahead."

Minato closed his eyes and squeezed the gun, a finger hooking over the trigger with an ease that worried him in hindsight.

"Per ... so ... na!"

He knew that he had pulled the trigger, and the rush of energy that came with the gunshot almost knocked Minato over as a blue inferno rushed around him and upward. He was aware in the moment of Yukari yelling something, and Kotone's head snapped to his direction for a moment even as she lifted her hockey stick to parry.

Above Minato, the inferno solidified into a second marionette, silver and white with a dark face. A speaker rested in its chest, and a large, pure white lyre was lashed to its back. Bright red eyes peered out from white hair that mimicked Minato's, a red scarf wrapped around his neck.

Thou art I, and I art thou.

I am Orpheus, Songmaster of Tragedy.

The voice echoed in Minato's head and aloud, and he lifted his head to stare at the new marionette as Orpheus drew the lyre from his back. A simple strum, and a burst of blue fire slammed into the 'Shadow' and sent it careening back a bit.

Kotone's expression was one of shock as Minato looked at her; blue eyes met crimson, and she nodded as a grim smile came on her face. "You go high, I stay low!" she called out, and Makarai lifted the urn once more.

Instead of the butterfly flying off, the lid of the urn lifted and a light shone forth. It turned into a rush of ash, only to solidify into a boulder that crashed into roughly the center of the Shadow.

Minato couldn't help but snort; that was fitting for her. Focusing back on the Shadow, Minato gripped the tantou in the hand that didn't hold the Evoker and made a slash in the air. Orpheus understood his intent, and a longer strum of the lyre made a new streak of too blue fire sear across the higher hands.

He noticed that the hand holding the mask retreated, as if scared.

At that moment, the distant sound of something thudding below reached Minato's ears, and he glanced at the door. Yukari seemed to have heard it as well, because she let out a panicked yell and rapidly moved away from it.

"CLEAR THE DOOR!"

Shinjiro's voice was the only warning any of them got before the previously locked door rocketed forward into the Shadow. A spectral, horse-like rush of energy was right behind the door, and behind it was the brunet senior. Minato noticed the heavy looking axe in his hands before he barreled into the door, and the momentum brought the door into the Shadow.

There was a loud shriek of pain from the shadow, several arms being mashed beneath the mass of metal as Shinjiro rolled off the door to stand upright. Minato took a brief moment to take in Shinjiro's presence - the uniform jacket was tied around his waist to reveal his turtleneck, an empty harness on his back and a thigh holster on his left leg.

He smirked as the mask whipped in his direction, the battleaxe held in his right hand. "Yeah, that's right fucker, eyes on me." He growled out, moon grey eyes locked on it. "Both of you bring it down! I'm keeping it's attention!"

Minato nodded, directing another flare of Orpheus's fire to some of the Shadow's arms as it swung at Shinjiro before something flew into it from out of his peripheral vision. The feathers of an arrow were soon poking out from one of the many arms, and a look aside showed that Yukari had drawn her bow and was firing it.

Kotone had moved again, Makaria mimicking the swings of her hockey stick with the polearm. More arms were severed, and the Shadow began to withdraw into a more coherent form; it began to resemble a singular hand, the arm holding the mask aloft protruding from the makeshift wrist as it balanced on four fingers. The 'thumb' was weirdly disjointed and had formed a blade that swung at Shinjiro.

The battleaxe batted it aside easily, and Shinjiro followed it up with a backswing that gashed into the thumb to splatter a strange green ichor onto the pavement. "None of that bullshit, you."

Minato followed up the slash with a burst of blue fire, Orpheus floating idly amongst the chaos as Makaria darted to and fro. His eyes once again drifted up to the blue mask as it swivelled to and fro, as if the Shadow was panicking.

When it made eye contact with him, though, pain laced through Minato's skull. The dull roar from before surged into his brain once more, and he could only stumble to his knees as Orpheus clutched at his lyre.

Shinjiro and Kotone both paused as a surge of energy hit them, and Minato's cry of pain drew their attention to him. "Minato!" Kotone paused her attack to move to him, only for Makaria to stop her as Orpheus began to crackle with dark blue lightning. Fissures of light began to form over the pristine silvers, and the red eyes flashed to gold.

Then, they all heard the roar.

Orpheus shattered into motes of blue embers, and in his place now hovered a black clad figure wreathed in coffins and chains. A draconic, skull-like mask covered its head, and white taloned hands lashed out as the roar echoed once more. The Shadow responded with a shriek of its own and tried to stumble away, its fight forgotten.

It wasn't fast enough, and the new figure grasped the mask within a few swipes. A new shriek, victorious, echoked for a moment before the dark figure forced the arm with the mask into the Shadow's main body and through it, dashing the porcelain on the concrete. From there, it began to tear into the body, the already wounded thumb the first thing to go.

Kotone had darted to Minato in the chaos, hoisting her brother into one arm as she lifted the hockey stick up between them and the now shifted combat. Slowly, she backed up to stand by Yukari; the brunette was watching in horror, hands over her mouth.

Shinjiro had backed up as well, but still kept himself in front with both hands on his battleaxe. "Oh. Oh I don't like this." He shook his head, looking to the juniors behind him even as one eye stayed on the now wailing Shadow. "Not one bit."

Makaria remained in the air, a bright white and cream beacon against the darkness as the marionette kept her polearm at the ready. The butterfly flew around her for a moment before darting out, a flash of pink light that soon chased out something blue from the carnage.

Through the haze of pain, Minato spotted a glowing butterfly.

OURS! OURS! IT IS OURS!

RECLAIM WHAT IS OURS!

The harsh voice wasn't Orpheus, Minato knew it instinctively, but he still felt compelled to listen to it. Panicked eyes watched the pink butterfly from Makaria try to chase the new, blue one away, but it was just fast enough to stay away from it as it made an erratic flight towards the group.

Faster than he could think, Minato grabbed for it.

It felt weird to the touch; fire and pain but also something uncannily serene, comforting. He was aware of the pink butterfly doing a distressed whirl in the air as the black form abruptly stood upright, the coffins that served as its mantle opening up in tandem with a new, triumphant roar.

Red and violet light swirled within the coffins, and Minato could only dimly watch as the scattered remains of the Shadow began to dissolve. When the last bit of it was gone, the coffins snapped shut far louder than they should have, echoing in the space between his ears.

Then, as abruptly as it appeared, it was gone.

Silence fell, tense. Kotone and Shinjiro were both on high alert, Makaria seemingly mimicking Kotone's movements even as the butterfly returned to rest upon the urn. Yukari slid down the wall again, hands over her mouth and shaking.

Minato was dimly aware of the fact that Shinjiro and Kotone were saying something, but he couldn't tell what as he succumbed to unconsciousness.

---

Tori's Corner-

WELL THIS CHAPTER RAN AWAY FROM ME [stares in terrified awe at the word count]. I probably could have split this into two chapters, but the urge to keep Magician on chapter four felt too thematically appropriate for me to split it in half.

But yes! The meat of the story has actually gotten started now. And wheee, I finally get to show off the Persona I was sitting on for Kotone. Next chapter will have more details on who 'Makaria' is in-universe, but well. Double Orpheus would have been awkward, so I improvised.

Also I love not being limited by the turn-based mechanics of the game, because it means I can write Shinjiro's fighting style like a proper tank. The Persona Q games (and a lot of side content, honestly) have given me WONDERFUL fodder to use with him in both battle and character arc.

But with this, I'll see everyone on the 12th!