This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.

4/22 Monday

Evening

Despite Mirambela's earlier affections, the next few hours spent in room 22 were surprisingly quiet. Mira dove into her catch up homework with a renewed vigour, and Aiko began flipping through the limited selection of channels their new prize could reach, neither one of them speaking much.

"There we go", she announced at last, bringing up a local news channel, careful to keep the volume low enough so that only they would be able to hear it. "And just in time too, it looks like."

The newscaster was a bright-eyed young woman with frizzled, auburn hair. Aiko wondered silently if she was a native, since there had been growing political pressure and business laws in the last few years for companies to hire predominantly native-born people, but more important was the story at hand.

"In other news tonight", she announced in a layered professional calm. "The urban vigilante known as Hex has made a surprising comeback in Tosashimizu city. Though reports of various similar sightings in Tokyo had led speculators to believe that the mysterious attacker had changed locales, police have now found evidence of several delinquents being attacked last night. Their description of the attacker matches that of the one who first appeared in Tosashimizu several years ago."

Focused on her work, Mira regarded the broadcast with fractional attention. "Hex?"

"Yeah", Aiko said. "This is the first time I've heard of them, but apparently they made a stir about this a few years back, before I moved out here. This city was where Hex was first spotted."

Obligingly, the inlet changed to show a pencil sketch of the subject's mask based on victim descriptions. It was a black, bulb-shaped affair with the most dominant feature being the massive X brand covering it, looking like a pair of thin girders intersecting in the center.

"While many have theorised Hex to be a spiritual successor to a previous outlaw group, the Phantom Thieves, Hex's methods appear to be far more crude than that of the social reform-seekers whose wild popularity swept the city of Tokyo six years prior. No trace has been found of calling cards or anything declaring Hex's intent or goals. The only evidence found was accounts from the victims describing a 'sinister' voice insulting them and threatening their lives after assaulting them."

"Well I did like the Phantom Thieves", Aiko commented. "Who didn't? They were awesome, getting all those bad guys to confess their crimes. I was really young back then, but they were all over the news for like a year, right? But this one's just going out and beating up criminals. Hardly the same thing."

"Even I know about the Thieves", Mira agreed. "You can still buy their merchandise on sale in Shibuya. They never did find out how exactly they were making criminals confess, did they?"

"Nope!", Aiko said cheerfully, eyes nearly shut. Honestly, she rather liked it that way, the mystery of the Thieves' accomplishments leaving space for all sorts of crazy theories. If the truth ever did come out that the Thieves actually had secured their miraculous confessions by kidnapping and torture as some had theorised, she would be extremely disappointed.

If this 'Hex' really was inspired by the Thieves, they weren't doing a very good job of honouring their memory. Back on the TV, they were having an interview with a cop who was just repeating the usual regulations about the need to capture illegal vigilantes, no matter what part of the country they struck in next.

"Only time will tell if Hex's goals are more than they appear, or if they will be apprehended. Next on news tonight..."

"Not exactly an inspired name choice either", Aiko said. "Black clothes, black mask with a big X on it, so they call them Hex?"

"They never dropped a name to the criminals that they attacked", Pelagio pointed out, speaking up for the first time in a while. "Never seeking credit for their deeds. Hmph. How noble of them."

Mira looked up from her pile of schoolwork. For all Pelagio had done for them and how dignified he normally sounded, occasionally he would say something that reminded them both how little of the human world he had actually experienced.

"Because if they did, the cops would arrest them. They tried for a whole year to catch the Phantom Thieves, Hex won't be any different."

The falcon sighed. "How sad, that a group dedicated to bringing order would expend so much effort in eliminating those who share their goals, merely so they may be the nation's sole defenders."

"That's not... quite accurate", Aiko protested, but the news was moving on to less interesting topics so she dropped it.

RH: heard she was back, is that true?

AT: Yep =DDDD

RH: tfg 3o thought she'd end up like Ayano. What happened to her?

MT: I ran away. Sorry to have worried everyone.

Aiko blinked in surprise and checked her friend's bed. She hadn't expected Mira to join in when she had work to do, but she was grateful to have someone else provide the excuse in lieu of the unbelievable truth of what had happened.

RH: =O u ran away for a week? u need to talk with some1.

MS: I am. Ishinagi-sensei.

RH: Booo.

AT: Be nice. He's not that bad.

RH: 3 days detention cause Kujou bitched -_-+

AT: Mattora would have given me 3 weeks. It was fine. I met some people.

RH: damn you're good, shrugging off shit like that.

AT: BTW, while I was there I got handed a number to some kind of Kujou protection group. Think I should reply?

"Really?" That came from Mira, who was declining to speak up too much in the land of texts, only monitoring the chat between her friends.

"Yep. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a scam before I replied. I wonder what-"

RH: Never heard of them. Good thing is, she's letting up on everything except the rumours for now. If she gets serious again, I say go for it.

AT: K. I'll keep an eye on Mira-chan too. Later.

RH: laters.

Mira laughed lightly at that. "I am right here, you know."

"Oh, I know. I just wanted to assure Hayato-senpai that you're alright." Closing the message, she muted the TV and stood up, suddenly intent on her roommate's face. "You are alright, aren't you?"

Mira dropped her pen and lay back in the bed, tapping against her lips as if considering the notion.

"Well. Let me think. I just spent a week living as a princess in a creepy dream world that came out of my own head, and I had to watch my best friend fight for her life against a living part of my own brain. Then we had to fight off a giant sea monster, and then the police questioned me for two days before ignoring absolutely everything that I told them and assuming I was crazy. So, I wouldn't say I'm 'alright', but I can definitely do schoolwork again. Takao-sensei is counting on me to come back."

Aiko faltered. Biting sarcasm didn't normally fit Mirambela. It wasn't the straight answer she wanted, but it would do. She would make sure of it. "Um... oh. Okay then. I mean, that Shadow..."

"-That Shadow was me", Mira cut her off, her cheekboned face far more taut and serious now."No excuses. She was me. That's the real truth of it, Ai-chan. I won't deny that I felt that way back then, like everyone who was mean to me should be given karma, and treated like... filth. I thought those things, even if I couldn't say them out loud. That Shadow was me, just as much as Oya is. Maybe... maybe that does make me a bad person... but I'll live on, and try to overcome it, and get better."

"Suppressed enmity", Pelagio offered Mira peaceably, a tone of condensation in his words towards her that Aiko frowned over. "From what I have seen, I would estimate that all humans have at least one other human whom they secretly despise, and would wish to see dearly punished for their misdeeds, whether those deeds are real or imagined. At the very least, there are angry, grudging thoughts which they cannot act upon. I have beheld such cognitions myself in other Lands as well."

"Yeah. Don't feel bad about it, Mira-chan. You're not a bad person. Even I have people I don't like that much. You just have to keep control of... waaait." The last of Pelagio's words finally caught up with her and she turned to him, eyes wide. "Wait, wait wait, wait... Other Lands? You mean besides Furusato-san?"

"But of course. Miss Sorano and Miss Furusato are hardly the only visitors Faraway Lands has had. Though I was never able to meet the Land's rulers as we did here, the details of such a place are always distinctive next to an unused island or a reef."

Aiko fell back onto her bed, one palm pressed to her head as Mira's face echoed her distress. "Wow. This is even bigger than I imagined... how many? How many Lands did you visit?" How many innocent people are trapped in there, unable to leave?

The falcon's round eyes flickered in innocence. "It was a long journey, so I cannot be completely certain. I would hazard a guess at a dozen Lands, possibly more. I never stayed very long, due to the local Shadows' hostility."

Mira dropped her work again, staring in alarm. "But that's impossible! There's no way a dozen people all jumped into the waters in the Yume Bay at sunset. People would notice. They would at least put up a warning sign!"

"If they knew what was causing the disappearances", Aiko remembered, feeling as faint as her friend sounded. "But they don't. They'd just chalk it up to suicide." In fact, that was what she had originally believed Mira's intent on that horrible day on the shore had been- to drown herself in the Yume bay's waters and finally be freed of her anguish.

And perhaps it had been, until the malevolent voice of her own horrible Shadow reached out to her and drew her into the other world.

"Maybe", Mira conceded reluctantly, showing no sign of the horribly broken state of mind she'd been in back then. "But still, that many suicides in the same place?"

"If I may remind you both", Pelagio interrupted calmly, "that I cannot yet say precisely when Faraway Lands was first created. Ergo, such disappearances may have been spread out across many years in the past."

"So they could have been in there for years", Aiko realised, sitting in numb shock. Somehow, that actually seemed worse than what Mirambela had gone through. "Trapped all alone in their Lands, unable to leave..." She shivered.

"We won't be able to help them either", Mira noted glumly. "It's just like Pelagio said. All we could do is visit them, and even that would be dangerous with all the Shadows around."

"SIR Pelagio, if you please", the bird corrected her stonily. "But you are right in the rest. Their souls are trapped there forevermore. They cannot return."

"Because nobody was following them", Aiko shook her head. She would always remember that day. It had been as much of a trial for her as it had for Mira. Being sucked into the sea gate of green light. Meeting Pelagio, who had fished her from the dark water. Trying to grasp the rules of that strange dimension. Seeing Shadows. Seeing Shadows hurting her, destroying her treasured possession, leaving only a fragment of the precious ruby behind, which she now kept with her always in her pocket, as her treasure.

Coming to grips with her destined death. The voice in her head. Unlocking her Persona for the first time, feeling Anne Bonny, that restricted part of her consciousness she'd forgotten existed flow through her awareness once more, and cleaving a Shadow into pieces with her cutlass. Defeating dozens of the creatures alongside Pelagio, and culminating with the defeat of Mira's Shadow.

"Even if someone followed them in... would they be able to access a Persona in time to save themselves?"

Pelagio tightened his wings, reminding her that they were many leagues into purely hypothetical territory now, talking about people who none of them knew.

"Hm. Perhaps. It is possible. If they were able to become fully honest about themselves, and willingly relinquish the barriers upon their consciousness before the Shadows consumed them."

His round eyes hardened. "However... while I don't wish to sound judgemental, in my own personal experience there are very few humans capable of doing so. Most humans willingly deceive themselves endlessly about all manner of things. You... and miss Sorano, I suppose now, are two of the rare exceptions to the rule."

"And so are you, sir Pelagio", Mira reminded him, one finger stroking a furrow along his darker chest feathers as though he were a pet. "Ai-chan told me about it. You didn't have a Persona when you first met, but when you really needed it, Galahad came to you, right?"

"Yes", he affirmed in a deliberately stiff voice, trying and failing to hide the comfort that simple repeated motion was bringing him. "Yes. I... suppose he did at that. I merely needed to accept the truths that I was concealing from myself. That I only professed devotion to my lady because it was the only thing I remembered about my life. That I was... desperate. I was desperate to find some kind of meaningful purpose for my life, and to learn why it was that I remembered her alone."

Aiko smiled at his reluctant pleasure. "We know. We're probably the only ones who can say that we know what that feels like. The rush of it, casting away the lies... I don't mean to sound arrogant, but you're probably right, Pela-chan. Not everyone could do that in time, at least not when a Shadow's about to have them for lunch. Do you think it will be safe to bring Noel-kun along once we find Ayano-san's Land?"

Pelagio shook his small head. "Not 'safe'. None of us can be considered to be completely, perfectly 'safe' in that place, even with our Personas. Having the three of us along greatly increases his chance of coming back, certainly... but is such a risk truly worth it?" Sensing her confusion, he hopped a bit closer on his talons. "What is this Noel person truly like?"

Aiko leaned back, carefully marshalling her words. "He's... um... nice. He's the kindest boy I've seen at school so far. Pious, but not in an annoying kind of way, really. I guess it really depends on how he's taking all this. My guess is... not well."

Excellent, she congratulated herself inwardly. She'd managed to avoid calling him 'cute' despite the adjective coming to her lips four or more times during her sentence.

"We'll have to wait and see", Mira said. "Check on how he's reacting at school. If taking him there would just make it worse, then we won't. He's suffered enough."

"Yes", Pelagio agreed, satisfied by the plan. "For now, we shall wait and see."

4/23 Tuesday

After School

The room was motionless and silent. Nanseki Umaeda could have easily found another, smaller room to grade his assignments in, such as the classroom in which he taught math. This one was about the same size, but had only a single large desk and chair, the rest covered by comparatively softer mauve flooring, a pair of sliding white screens covering the large closet embedded in the opposite wall.

It had never ben clear to him whether the other teachers let him continue to use the vacant room out of respect or pity. Some, like principal Yumika, had been surprised to see him cling to a reminder of times long gone that would never come again. In truth, if anyone had told him to abandon the room he would have done so. No one ever did. The wide room formerly used by the school fencing club had been left to him, and him alone.

Until now.

He was nearly done grading tests when the door's noise intruded on his solitude. A boy and a girl stood there, the latter of whom he only took a second to remember.

"Miss Tsuruga", he said, shaking away the vocal cobwebs that built up in him when he went too long without talking. "Are you seeking to honour our earlier agreement?"

"I am." She stepped in with her friend and gave a formal bow. "Both of us are."

The brown haired half-caucasian boy with her was built like an athlete, but he made a clear effort to be as polite as she was, smiling wolf-like and extending a dexterous-looking hand. "Hey there, sensei. I'm Julian Rosea. I'd like to start fencing classes with my friend here."

Mr. Umaeda shook the hand as he looked around for any other students coming in. He smiled sadly.

"I did say that four students are required to have a club, did I not?"

"You did", Aiko admitted, studying the cushioned floor. "But I didn't want to bring anyone along who would quit after we got started."

Umaeda made an impatient grunt. "You say that as though your friend won't leave once I agree to it. I am familiar with the tricks of the trade, Miss Tsuruga. You kids discard and trade clubs as easily as clothing."

Julian Rosea, however, seemed to be just as determined as she had been in that detention class last week, shaking his head. "Like hell I'd do that. That's for people who gather up thousands of Facebook friends just so they can feel popular. More like Wastebook."

Seeing that he wasn't scoring a lot of points, he changed his tone. "Look, Umaeda-sensei... I'll be the first to admit I'm a real busy guy. Full-time classes, the soccer team, and now this... but I can take it. If you let us, I promise I'll stay on just as long as Tsuruga-chan does, maybe even longer."

Such enthusiasm. He thought such a thing had been permanently extracted from the collective minds of Japan's youth in this day and age. Aiko's words had not been forgotten either. He stroked the short white beard which had been his companion for nearly a decade.

"...Alright. If both of you are truly willing to learn, then I will teach you. However! This is still a secondary concern to your normal classes." Regarding them both with stern eyes, he walked over to the panel closet. "I mean that. I will be monitoring both of your grades myself, particularly your Midterm exams coming up soon. If I see either of you drop below the school's grade point average, then this club will be closed once more until you can bring it back up."

He wasn't surprised to see Julian's face fall a bit at that ruling, but it only took a moment for him to rebound back into smarmy confidence. "We'll do it", Aiko promised. "I've been doing good in class so far, especially history."

"Then if you can spare the time, you might wish to aid your friend in his studies", Umaeda joked, facing the nervous boy. "Having two extracurricular clubs going on at once is no easy feat, Mr. Rosea. I suppose you would want me to schedule around the soccer team then?"

"Please", Julian affirmed, sounding desperate. "Coach Kurikado won't even listen if you try it the other way around. His team is way more important to the school."

"True", Umaeda shrugged. "I shouldn't be jealous. Naturally, the soccer team would take priority over a club that was believed to be dead and buried for years. I'll view the game and practice scheduling to ensure there is no overlap."

With that out of the way, he pushed down on the dusty knob protruding from the wall panel, sliding it aside with a great heaving sound like a great old oak tree being shifted.

Behind that half of the wall lay a selection of items that dazzled the two students. The thick blue floor mats were the largest and most obvious, but stationed around them were various felt-coated racks containing thick white cloth uniforms, round bulged masks of dark mesh, and most recognisably, foils of both wood and metal.

"Like brand new", Umaeda remarked in satisfaction as he withdrew the mats to place along the floor. "And yet, the school was unable to sell it off to anyone because the models were so outdated. So it all stayed here, locked away."

Aiko put on hand on a mesh mask carefully, afraid it might fall apart. "We'll take good care of it, Umaeda-sensei. You say it's school property, but it feels like it's yours."

The teacher chuckled softly. "It may as well be. No one else wants it. Go ahead, try them on."

That was far from his only moment of amusement that day. In his mind, it might have been worth re-opening the wall just to watch the two students try to figure out how to properly put the bulky fencing outfits on, though he tried not to laugh too much at their haphazard efforts. After about twenty minutes of confusion, he looked back to see them standing before him, their breeches and gloves and jackets all in the right place by the look of it, masks clutched beneath their shoulders ready for use.

"Ah, well done", Umaeda said. "Although, Mr. Rosea may wish to change out of the women's fencing uniform before we begin practise."

Julian's reaction was even better. Once he'd gotten out of the outfit and put it back, he stared across the hidden compartments, trying to find a sign that the next suit he chose would be the right one. "Shit. How do you tell?"

Refusing to be offended by how casually the young man dropped curses, Umaeda gestured to Aiko's outfit. "The women's outfits have thicker protection- a plastic plate over the chest area. Don't let it bother you too much, Mr. Rosea- often an instructor will wear that variant due to how often they're hit."

Aiko blinked from beneath her mesh mask. "Wait, isn't it the opposite? Instructors shouldn't get hit by their students much."

"Because the instructors won't be attacking the students", he smirked. "Not until they're trained up to the right level anyway." Passing her the wooden mockup of a rapier, he began to pull out his own outfit, a matte black variation of the same outfit- the male type, despite his earlier words. "I won't be attacking back until I'm certain that you know the rules, miss Tsuruga."

There were certainly a number of rules to be known. Umaeda knew from hard experience that this was the part of fencing that turned off a lot of the less patient students who came in hoping that they would learn how to rain down powerful swordstrikes just like their favourite anime hero or heroine.

But those types of students would be seriously disappointed. Fencing wasn't that kind of swordfighting. It had dozens of formal rules to prevent serious injuries, and the only strikes that truly counted were the ones against certain parts of the body, depending on which variant was being used. He decided to start them off with the foil variant, trying to impress upon them these truths early, since with foil the only hits that counted were torso strikes. Anything else earned a penalty in a competitive setting.

As promised, he did not strike back at all when the session began. He cleanly blocked each strike, spending less attention on defence and more on spotting the usual flaws in their respective stances. Just like over half the boys his age, Julian put far too much energy into his arms instead of his legs, shouting and swinging his tiny wood rapier around like it was a broadsword.

Aiko was no better. Not as recklessly aggressive as her friend, but her arm muscles were infernally convinced that she could get better range by tilting her foil at an angle when the exact opposite was true. "I can't see it when it's like that!", she complained, though her words showed no signs of giving up. "I might..."

"They're wooden rapiers", Umaeda reminded her calmly, actually drilling his left palm with his weapon to demonstrate and watching it bend. "It's impossible to pierce anything with them. Watch the hilt, miss Tsuruga. By knowing the precise length of your weapon, you automatically know where the tip is by relation. In this case, your weapons are exactly 105 centimeters long. Epees are 5 centimeters longer than that, but we only have the metal ones."

The next time he was able to look up at the clock he realized that nearly two hours had flown by. "That's enough for now then. Both of you, focus on you stances and movement for next time. On Saturday, we'll go through the classifications of attacks and how to perform them."

Masks hiding their sweat, both of them looked extremely thankful to have a break. They were cloth, but the uniforms became heavy over time, and the metal rapiers were naturally heavier than the wooden ones. Now more than ever, he hoped that Mr. Rosea could back his claims that he could handle both fencing and the soccer team without completely exhausting himself.

Still, he couldn't deny that this was the most energetic that he had felt in many years. He didn't mind teaching math. It passed the time and got him the paycheck he needed to live independently. Fencing, however, would always be his true passion. Passing that passion on to others, even just two young ones who viewed it as a mere hobby, was what he lived for.

What was it that his old master, a man dead for nearly fifty years, had told him? 'From humble beginnings, greatness can arise'?

Their fencing outfits carefully removed and placed back in the storage compartment, his two new students then shared a formal, hand-clasped bow as well as grateful words, as though he were a respected martial arts master instead of a used-up old teacher who had made the mistake of choosing an unpopular athletics field to specialise in.

"Thank you very much for teaching us, Umaeda-sensei."

The wavering way that Julian said it suggested that it was something they had rehearsed beforehand so they could say it together, but he didn't care. He took off his own mask, so they could see his weathered smile.

"No, miss Tsuruga and Mr. Rosea. Thank you to you both, for breathing life back into this room."

And into me.

4/24 Wednesday

Lunch

RH: hey, how's Mira?

At: Fine. I introduced her to Samesaji-san and a few others yesterday.

RH: sure, now that she almost DIES they're interested. F'ing leeches. -_-

AT: She's still busy catching up on homework now. I want to do something big with her on Sunday, kind of a welcome home party.

AT: Ideas?

RH: huh.

RH: there's a water park north of Tosashimizu you can bus to.

JR: sounds kewl :P

RH: who's this?

AT: This is Rosea-kun. The one I told you about.

RH: You mean Jiachi? Jiachi Rosea?

JR: plz don't call me that :/

RH: sry, didn't figure him as the type.

AT: The type for what? He helped me restart the fencing club.

RH: srs? Nice.

JR: thx, was fun

AT: Want to join?

RH: Sry, 2 busy. Midterms coming up.

JR: nooooo DDDD:

Aiko left the chat then, her eyes diverted by another familiar face. Things had begun to progress to the point that deciding exactly who spend time with on a particular day could be a hassle in itself, but she reminded herself that this was what she had wanted. To have friends. To make Koashimizu academy into a home for her and all who were willing to help her.

This one, though, was one she'd been waiting for, never knowing if the result would be sad or reassuring. Noel was ambling through the river of students, heading out of the lunchroom towards a restroom. When he left, she was there waiting for him- for once, she didn't care about being considered 'creepy'.

"Noel-kun. I heard the news. I can't imagine-"

The boy's body said more than his words. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, ashen skin and bagged eyes barely dragging himself along through sheer will. Likewise, his speech was low and short and drained of its usual cheer.

"Appreciated, Tsuruga-san. Really."

"They never found the cause?"

His eyes nearly fell shut. "No. They didn't. Useless, the lot of them. Said it was suicide."

Pretty much what we figured, she mused. Her body ached to tell him the full truth, but in his current state it was impossible to tell how that would go over.

"I'm sure it nothing to do with you. I asked around while you were gone. You were right. Everyone knew you two were together. If anyone gives you trouble-"

But it seemed this, too, had had an unwanted effect. He spun to face the wall, hiding the way his jaw was grinding against the rest of him as he clutched his head. "No. No. I didn't. I never, I never... please... please stop, Tsuruga-san. I... I can't do this right now. Forgive me."

"...Alright. But I'm here if you-"

He wheeled back around, and this time she could see how his eyes were affected as well. She'd expected tears. Tears would have made them more inviting than this blank, numbing stare directed at everyone and no one.

'Don't. That's the problem, you see. You're here, but there's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do, now. Gott hilf mir."

She could find the strength to say nothing else until he was gone.

"It wasn't you", she whispered to no one at all. "If there's one thing I know, it wasn't you."

And maybe, just maybe, we might be able to learn who it was.

o