A/N: The next chapter should be the last short one and the following updates will fast-forward until new events come up. As for now, enjoy.


~Chapter 11~

April 18th 2009

Looking at Minato and Akira, one would think that the former was a sleepy head and the latter was the exact opposite. However, today, Akira was the one who slept through classes and could only be woken up via a hard slap in the head from Minato, who was encouraged by Junpei. He even skipped the lunchbreak so when he finally returned to the land of living, Akira was extremely hungry.

"Minatoooooo, buy me some sandwiches pleaaaaaaase."

"Nah man, ask Junpei. I only had enough cash for a bento box."

"Fuuuuuuck..."

In the end, Junpei and Minato had to carry Akira to the train station and Minato brought the teen back to the dormitory. There was no one in the lounge so he sighed heavily before hauling Akira to the stairs.

Thankfully, Yukari was there waiting for him.

"Ah, good evening – What happened to him?"

"Exhaustion, probably." Minato replied, nudging Akira. The latter mumbled something about 'Sojiro, coffee please' and went to sleep again. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, Ikutsuki-san asked me to wait for you two and tell you to go the 4th floor… You did tell Akira-kun, didn't you?"

"He was asleep the whole day, what did you expect?"

Yukari groaned, deciding to take Akira with her and Minato since there was an important meeting going on required all current residents. Thankfully, he was not too heavy so they got to the 4th floor relatively easy.

"Oh dear, so this is the draining Kurusu-kun has mentioned before." Ikutsuki looked at the sleeping Akira with interest. Summoning a Persona using your willpower and lifeforce led to this. "No matter. Good evening, Arisato-kun. Have a seat."


This fatigue is not because of the summoning. Demiurge said.

He has been using the method for almost a week and today he just dropped dead like this? I suspect a foul play. Satanael agreed. Any suggestions?

Either the demons, or someone poisoned him. In any case, Prayer.

A warm, invigorating light enveloped Akira's unconscious body and removed all mental illnesses.

That should do it. Now it is the Trickster's job to determine the cause. Demiurge eyed the bespectacled man. Though I have a hunch who the culprit is.


After Minato received the message that the Fool Social Link had been established, Akira miraculously woke up. He reached his pocket and produced a blue pill, drank it and slammed his head into the wall, ignoring the incredulous looks from those in the room. He slowly turned around and gave them a bloody smile.

"Heya guys."

Mitsuru glared at the teen, both remembering that he called her 'Babe' last night and seeing his idiotic action, and told him to go wash his face. When all was done, Akira took a seat next to Minato and looked at Ikutsuki.

"I'm normally a solo but seeing that the Shadows outside your tower are too weak, eh, can I join your group?"

"So you have changed your mind. Excellent." Ikutsuki clapped his hands. "Then I welcome you two to S.E.E.S."

The chairman dismissed the others after that. As Akira was following after Minato, Mitsuru's hand grabbed a hold on his arm.

"I saw the footage last night." Mitsuru looked both angry and concerned. "I forbid you to summon your Persona that way again."

"Aw, what's the matter? Is the Kirijo Princess worried about me?"

"This is not a joke! Look at what you became today. What if you fell unconscious during combat? You would die, Akira!"

If Akira was surprised at her using his first name, he would not show it. He awkwardly patted Mitsuru's shoulder assuredly.

"Like I'd let it drag me down. You can count on me, Kirijo-senpai."

"…I look forward to it."

Community Empress: Rank 1. Low chance of inflicting Ice damage when attacking normally and using skills in addition of current Element.

Later that night, Akira pretended to not see the creepy child in striped pajama, which reminded him of his inmate clothes, that was conversing with Minato.


In a dark warehouse, a winged and horned being approached Akemi who was chained to the wall, red marks littered on her body.

"How's the progress?"

"I managed to bind…Hela…into my soul."

"Excellent. The Lord will be pleased. Once it is done, you are to engage with the Trickster and gauge his strength. If possible, kill him." The being spoke, his gaze arrogant and sneering. "Fail and you cannot even get reincarnated again. Understand?"

"Un…Understood, Sariel-sama."

"Hmm."

Sariel took a look at Akemi's phone and touched its screen. The familiar eyeball app appeared in the library. The angel smirked and left in a pillar of light.

Akemi glared at her current handler with utter hatred, but she would wait. Wait for the opportunity to kill them all and reunite with him, the only person who could understand her pain, her suffering, her quest of vengeance against her father. Akira Kurusu, the Trickster.

Meanwhile, outside the building, a phantom emerging from the shadows had witnessed everything. He shook his head and sighed in defeat; what a mess he and his true self had stumbled into.

"A simple task, he said." Faust muttered, glaring at the image of Philemon in his head. "No need to worry, he said. Now both of us have a gender-bended Akechi after our ass. Fuck…" And with that, he opened his steel wings and flew away.


Next day, Akira slept through the morning and only went downstairs to grab some coffee, whose quality he scoffed at, before going to sleep again. For some reasons, he felt incredibly tired despite the treatment yesterday. Satanael and Demiurge could not come up with an explanation for it. Someone was indeed playing dirty to him. In addition, the tiredness originated from his own soul, not external influence. Akira made note to visit the Velvet Room to ask Igor about this.

Later that day, Akira felt better as Minato brought some chicken soup to him, an odd choice but still appreciable. He mentioned that Akihiko wanted all of the second-year members to be in the lounge. The Trickster groaned before washing his face and taking the soup in one gulp, much to Minato's awe.

"Let's get this over quick."

Yukari was chatting with Akihiko when Akira and Minato came downstairs. The senior member nodded and tapped the door, urging someone to hurry. A minute passed and a familiar voice spoke up.

"Oh dear." Was Akira's remark. It was Junpei Iori, their classmate and butt-monkey. Akihiko explained that he found Junpei few nights prior and saw his potential, asking him if he wanted to join SEES. Akira snorted and stated that knowing the guy, he would jump for it right away, earning an embarrassed chuckle from Junpei himself. Yukari was still dumbfounded at how he even had the Potential to unlock Persona in the first place and Minato gave her an understanding smile; He felt the same way despite not showing any emotions.

"I don't remember much, but... man, that's embarrassing!" Junpei laughed. "Senpai said that's, ya know, completely normal... in the beginning. Like, bein' confused and not remembering anything. Did ya guys know that?"

"Nuh uh." Was from Minato.

"I pulled a Shadow's mask so hard it bled to death. Was that normal?" Akira nonchalantly said, causing the others to stare at him. "Guess not."

"Anyway… I'm glad I'm not the only one. Better when it's you guys." Junpei grinned, lightly hitting Minato's arm. "The 2-F Bros are assembled! 'cept good old Kenji."

"Heh, right." Akira snorted and slapped the hat out of the goatee teen's head. "Don't get yourself too comfy, cuz tonight we are going a Shadow Turf hunt. Amirite, Senpai?"

"When did you – Nevermind."

"You mean…Tartarus?" Yukari asked, knowing the day would come.

"Tar, what? Sounds like toothpaste." Junpei was understandably confused.

"The kind of toothpaste that sends you to the depths of hell, sure." Akira grinned. "Though, I will be a bit late. Relay that to Kirijo-senpai for me please."

Akihiko was frowning but since Mitsuru and the chairman allowed him to do whatever he pleased, the boxer chose not to say anything about it and nodded. The teen in question too noticed the uneasiness in Akihiko's composure and noted to himself that he was already pushing too much. He knew little about why the Kirijo heiress gave him too much privilege but he was Joker, and planning ahead was in his blood.

"Don't think about it too much, just want to sleep a bit more so I can kick Shadows' asses without worrying that I may drop dead tomorrow." He turned to Junpei. "There was frozen curry in the fridge. You can eat it if you want."

"Really? Sweet!"

"Akira-kun, are you alright? You can skip tonight you know." Yukari squeezed his hand and looked at him worriedly.

"I promised Kirijo-senpai to show her combat data frequently and I don't intend to go back on my word. Thanks for the concern, Yukari-san."


In contrast of what he said, Akira could not sleep. The truth was that when Minato woke him up earlier, he saw a glimpse of something flying outside the windows. It looked humanoid but there were…moving spikes on its body and it did not look normal at all. In fact, if he remembered correct, that thing looked like the Persona Pisaca. That alone confirmed to him that it was a Demon, as Yakasha somewhat resembled a colored depiction of Yaksa Yusuke once showed him.

It seems that Demons are similar to us, able to manifest and operate in the real world. Satanael stated.

Demon? Oh oh, use me tonight Trickster! For the first time outside the Velvet Room, Red Rider spoke up and he sounded excitedly. I can't wait to drive my sword into their guts and bath in their blood and screams!

As Red Rider was now stronger than Satanael, Akira nodded and moved him to his main Persona position. He had to wait until the Dark Hour began and SEES was out of the building to go hunt the Demon.

'Hope it won't take too long. Kirijo will surely kill me if that happens.'

Not waiting for long, as Minato was staying in the lounge with Junpei, he opened the windows and activated the app in order to access to his superhuman strength before leaping off. Akira hoped the Demon would leave some traces behind in the Metaverse, seeing that Yakasha was a more advanced and sentient kind of Shadow.

After two hours, Akira gave up and exited the world. He appeared in a dark alley and was immediately surrounded by a gang of thugs and unfriendly girls, who demanded to know why a 'pretty bou' like him ended up in this place. Akira had no intention of informing them or staying but he frowned as the alley was too narrow to maneuver and escape. His right hand was reaching the army knife, a real knife, that Iwai-san had given to him when a guy in red peacoat with a beanie stood up from the corner and slowly approached the group from behind.

"Get away from that kid." The man said in a low, dangerous tone. "I won't repeat myself."

"What the fuck, Aragaki? Since when did you care about strangers?"

"Don't blame me if you end up in the hospital then."

'Aragaki' proceeded to beat the shit out of the thugs while scaring the women away. The one that was threatening Akira turned to him and presented a knife before ordering him to give him some cash. Akira's response was simple: a quick jab right in that guy's face and he was out cold. The teen then grabbed a thug sneaking on Aragaki and twisted his arm so hard there was a sickening 'crack' sound. The rest of them fled away with some threats.

"Hoh, so you can fight. Should've told me first."

"And missing your show? Not a chance. By the way, Akira Kurusu." Akira offered a handshake but his nose picked up a very disgusting scene, as in the scene of something dead rotting. And it came from Aragaki. "You…have a very funny smell, my guy."

"I don't know what bullshit you are spouting but, Shinjiro Aragaki. Now get the fuck outta here before they return."

"…You're a Persona user, aren't you?" One question from Akira got Shinjiro speechless before narrowing his eyes.

"You a Kirijo's dog searching for me?"

"I know a Kirijo but I got here purely by accident. Now tell me, do you have a Persona?"

"I do, but that's none of your business." Shinjiro scowled and turned around. Akira put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Wait. You need to do something with your Persona. It's dying."

"Even better. I didn't ask for a cursed guardian angel."

"But you are dying too!" Akira felt like Shinjiro's Persona was begging its master to stop whatever he was doing and the Persona was decaying, gradually disappearing.

"It's not your damn business!" A shockwave came from Shinjiro knocked Akira away several feet until he slammed into a wall. Both were surprised at how the older teen could manifest his power in the real world, like Akira.

"Tch, don't show your face before me again you hear?" And with that, Shinjiro left the alley. Akira shook his head twice to get the dizziness out of his head, thinking about what to do without realizing the Dark Hour had begun. Red Rider's alert snapped him out of his thoughts and he used the app again to disappear. Little did he know, the Pisaca-lookalike had seen everything.