This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.
4/29 Monday
Evening
Aiko knew she must have looked stunned. She couldn't help it. A million calculations and variables were running through her head at the same time, momentarily blanking out her sensation of anything else except the dull ache in the pit of her stomach.
"Far away lands?", she managed at last, feigning confusion at the words. "Do you mean Antarctica? Australia maybe?"
Julian shrugged innocently. "Maybe. It's just something I heard about online the other day after my game was over. Thought maybe you'd know what it was."
Mira. The word came to her lips and was trapped by survival instinct. He must have been watching our chat log after the game. It's the only way he could have found out.
What now? She found herself weighing the potential dangers of revealing all they knew about Faraway Lands to him against the perils of withholding that information and risking him finding out for himself if he decided to keep pushing. The struggle must have shown in her face as well, because he suddenly looked regretful.
"Hey, easy now. Didn't realize it was something private. I get it, we've all got secrets to keep to ourselves, right?"
That only made her feel more guilty, but it made more sense to hold back for the time being. Maybe later, once she'd spoken to Mirambela and Pelagio, she might be able to safely reveal the truth to him. She hated lying, even lying with permission, but it was rapidly becoming apparent that she was going to have to lie a lot more to avoid causing even more of a panic than there already had been.
It didn't feel right. It felt like she was leading him on. But what else could be done?
"It is... something private. But knowing about it won't do anything to help Furusato-san or Noel-kun."
He shrugged. "Fine. That's all I wanted to know. So yeah, if it ends up going to trial, just text me and I'll be there. I never really knew the guy all that well, but he's definitely no murderer. I'd bet my shirt on it."
Glad to be clear of that mess, she smiled back at his enthusiasm. "It's nice to hear a second- or rather, third- opinion on that. I'll make sure I catch your next game for sure, Julian-kun."
Intended to relax him further, the statement only looked to have soured his mood, and he was suddenly pale and breathless. "Um... hey, don't push yourself or anything. We'll still see each other in the fencing club, right?"
"Right. What's wrong? I won't cheer loudly for you if you don't want me to. I know some people hate that..."
"No, no. Cheer if you want to. I just..." Taking a moment to scan the room and ensure that no one was paying attention to them, he drew closer to her, his cheeks suddenly bright.
"Uh. Look, I just want to say... I heard all about the way that you stood up for that Sorano chick when she was having problems. I didn't even know about that until I heard about it later. You... uh, well... you seem like, uh, a really nice girl, Tsuruga-chan, and I... uh, I want to see more of you, but... not just yet, okay? I've got some other stuff going on right now that can't wait. I can't get distracted right now. Sorry."
Aiko would be first to admit that she wasn't at all familiar with the way romance was supposed to work outside of various animes, but she was fairly certain that counted as a 'mixed message'. Considering that Julian was already taking on two extracurricular clubs at once on top of his schoolwork, if he said that he had too much on his plate to start a relationship at the current time, with a girl he had specifically asked to have a date with, it must have been something severe.
Maybe he's being wiser than I am, she considered carefully. I have schoolwork, fencing, and the occasional trip to an alternate dimension filled with bloodthirsty monsters to deal with all at once. Getting tired out by the previous two is not going to make the Shadows take it easy on me or anything.
"...I understand, Julian-kun. I've been pretty busy myself lately, studying for exams and everything else. Hm... maybe you're not as reckless as I thought, holding back on something that you obviously want to try out for yourself. Hey... want to get together to study English later?"
Julian gave a knowing smirk. "Heh. I was wondering when you'd ask me something like that. Sorry to disappoint you, but I was born here, and my old man forbade me from learning English at home."
Her face fell. Not necessarily because of her hopes for a native English speaker capable of helping her ace that subject, but because of how transparent and presumptuous the request seemed in hindsight. "Oh. Sorry."
"But!", he raised a dexterous finger. "I've been studying it hardcore ever since I started high school. He's not the boss of me."
Hope restored, she clasped her hands. "Excellent. Maybe after that's over with, we can get together for something on Golden Week?"
Relief covered his round face and he leaned back into the cheap cushions. "Sure, I'm up for something on Golden Week. It'll be nice to work the stress out once we're done, you know?"
"Then I'll talk to you about that next week. Until then... remember to study, and not just English either. Get together with your roommate if you have to. Umaeda-sensei was very clear about our conditions."
Date. The word echoed in her head once she stepped out of the restaurant. It still sounded funny. Maybe not as much as it had a few minutes earlier.
She was also confident that you didn't normally end such a thing with both sides feeling and showing immense relief that it was over. A movie at the theater next time then... whatever he wants to watch.
Hopefully, that would feel less awkward than this had been.
4/30 Tuesday
Lunch
AT: hey Julian-kun, guess what I just found out?
JR: ?
AT: just talked to Samesaji-san. she signed up for fencing yesterday ^_^
JR: swt. nice 2 have som1 else there.
RH: so did you two enjoy yourselves last night? :P
JR: ...yes?
AT: nothing happened that you want to hear about, Hayato-senpai.
RH: don't be so sure XD
JR: okay never thought I'd be the 1 2 say this, but shouldn't you be studying?
RH: i'm good. in fact I wouldn't mind taking some time to help Tsuruga study.
AT: i'm doing it with Mira-chan tonight.
RH: hehe
RH: FYI, you don't need to use honoriffics when texting
RH: just saying
JR: meh doesn't matter
JR: wait... aren't you in the SDC? with Kujou?
AT: she's fine. i wouldn't give out my contact info to someone i didn't trust.
RH: thx. don't spread that around tho. gotta keep my cover (_)
JR: ur weird
RH: no u
(JR has gone offline)
4/30 Tuesday
Evening
"So that's the story", Aiko finished from amid a messy pile of notebooks and texts she'd been poring over at Mira's dogged insistence. "He's okay with letting it slide for now, and maybe he will be later on too, but... I don't know if I will be."
Pelagio had stopped in at the windowsill again, a welcome presence despite being absolutely no help with studying, and now he regarded her with a practiced caution and narrowed raptor eyes that, for once, didn't seem to be driven by an innate resistance to any kind of risk to Aiko.
"You have seen for yourself, of course, that Faraway Lands is an extremely dangerous place, even to us. This Julian boy you speak of does not even possess a Persona. He would be in a great deal of danger if he were to travel there."
"Way too dangerous", Mira agreed solemnly from behind a thick history textbook. "Besides, what would knowing about it get him? Do you plan on telling everyone at school about it?"
"No", Aiko sounded almost insulted by the suggestion. "They'd never believe me."
Briefly considering the idea further as an experiment, she shook her head. "Then there's the danger that some people actually would, and try it for themselves. It just sucks that I can't tell him anything at all about it. Kind of a conversation stopper, really. But I know that if I tell him, he'll want to see it with his own eyes, and then he'll blab to someone else about it, and so on, and so on..."
She'd faced down Shadows larger than humans. But that revelation was a chain of events that even she was too scared to risk setting off.
"He does not seem like the type you would wish to bond with, regardless", Pelagio argued from his perch on the window. "Such blithe arrogance often conceals darker truths within."
Annoyed, Aiko stood up and glared at him. "Oh I'm sorry, who was it that admitted to me just the other day that they don't know very much about humans? Don't insult him until you know him. Who knows? He might even get a Persona if we bring him in there. Under our protection, of course."
"Unlikely", Pelagio chirped without retreating. "As we have previously discussed, the type of human who is capable of facing their own Shadow and accepting their suppressed feelings is quite unique. Judging by what you have told us of his behavior, I would consider such a possibility to be minimal at best."
"It's too risky, Ai-chan", Mira seconded, pointing to her notes. "Besides, we agreed not to talk about this stuff any more until midterms are over, right?"
That seemed to be the final nail, and they returned to their studies until the time came to sleep.
5/1 Wednesday
After School
The man at the counter of the Starlight diner wore old-fashioned black slacks, but Aiko didn't peg him as the same one who had taken her order weeks ago until she saw a cautious curiosity creep into his flat-chinned face.
"Can I help you, miss?"
"No", she threw on her best, most confident smile, making sure to keep her eyes wide and alert-looking. "But maybe I can help you. You're hiring, right? 'Kitchen and server staff for Golden Week, flexible hours'?"
The man made a face. "Knew I shouldn't have let Otegi make the fliers... Look, girly, I respect that you're interested in earning some money between classes, but the Starlight holds to a certain level of professionalism that I doubt a kid your age could manage."
She hesitated over that for a moment, trying to plot a new course. She hadn't expected a flat denial, not with the rumors she'd heard about how crazy Golden Week got for restaurants, whether they were outdoor or indoor, chain or independent.
Remembering how she had spoken to Mr. Umaeda when they first met, she gestured at the building. The Starlight only used the first floor of the structure, yielding the rest as rooms for rent, but it was still large enough to contain a large kitchen and a meat locker, as well as a lounge area for staff not on duty. The smells coming from there were strong enough that she was surprised more people weren't hanging around outside the counter window, or perhaps the owner discouraged that.
"But you didn't post an age requirement on the sign. You don't know if I can do what you need until I try, right?"
Scraping globules of sweat from the brow beneath his bandana, he shook his head. "But I know your type. You'll quit the instant it gets rough. We're expecting nearly six hundred customers per day next week, maybe more. Think you can keep up with that many orders? If you drop food on the ground when you're bringing it to their tables, it comes out of your salary. Oh, and no phones during work hours."
He looked triumphant, arms folded, expecting that last ruling to defeat her. It wasn't just the kitchen she was smelling, she realized. Working in that enclosed space for hours at a time let the smell of the food seep into the man's clothes as well. Fortunately, it was a good smell, some mixture of tomato and salmon juice. Naturally the place placed an emphasis on seafood, but also possessed many other options.
"...I'm good with all that." I have Jack Frost, Anne Bonny, Onkot and Lilim in my head. Two weeks ago I walked along a one-foot wide pole across a gaping chasm without falling once. You think that's going to scare me?
The man made an exasperated noise. "Look, I'm sorry but I just can't take that chance. Otegi should have mentioned that we need people who have experience in a high-pressure work environment. His fault, not yours."
Despite his words, he was looking more sympathetic now, running a dark brown eye along the main street towards the other stores. "If you're really interested in getting some work more suited to you, there's an Ema Muller's down the road from here near the town hall. They're always looking for people like you."
Aiko felt a frown creeping into her carefully-rehearsed expression. She knew about Ema Muller's. There were two of those Akihabara, and she'd even eaten there once.
Muller's was a 'maid cafe'. It exclusively hired young, attractive girls and made them wear maid outifts, as well as cultivating a number of certain mannerisms and behavior that appealed to their main clientele. Until she was around fourteen years old, she'd considered it a mere coincidence that you never saw the same servers there twice.
Then she'd met Misa, a girl who had served there, and the stories she'd told had tarnished her perception of it. Working at an Ema Muller's, she'd been told, was a race to see what would get you terminated first- a brief loss of temper at a customer trying to look up your skirt or measure your socks, or your youthful energy and attractiveness fading in the estimate of the head managers.
For Misa, it had been the latter. The only nice thing she'd had to say was that they paid above minimum wage, though that hardly compensated for everything else in her opinion.
The concept of working there in itself wasn't so offensive to her, she realized. It was clearly a successful business model judging by the number of imitators, and it was considered as 'respectable' as any other part-time job. It might even be fun, acting the role, pretending to be a clumsy, demure maid... for a while at least. Rather, it was the none too subtle suggestion that it was the only type of work that she was suited for, that she wouldn't be able to find work anywhere unless she traded on her looks.
But getting upset at the person who suggested it wouldn't get her anywhere. I'm already 'Aiko the Psycho' at school, no need to earn the same thing in the city.
The backup plan, then.
Sticking to the window even as the man went out to help serve some orders, she waited until he returned to point across the city block to a large, unattached structure that stood out from the generic tenements and small stores around it despite being only two floors high just like the Starlight. A large bronze statue of some God or Goddess grasping at the sky made it look bigger than it was. Though its lights were not on in the daytime, the crisscrossing neon bars and fancy architectural style covering the front made it easy to imagine how bright it would be at night.
"What about that place? They look like they're going to be busy as well."
The owner of the Starlight looked like she'd just suggested that she was going to go take a swan dive from Cape Ashizuri. Instead of annoyance, she now felt genuine concern radiating off of his paled skin.
"That's... not a good idea. Someone your age has no place being there, particularly as an employee."
"Oh?", she asked mock-innocently. "And Ema Muller's is better?"
He growled. "I'm telling you this for your own good, girl. I've been here for years and I can tell you now, the Karma Club is nothing but bad news. That punk Samesaji can pretty it up however he likes, but people who live here know there's more going on in that place than they'll ever admit. Stay away from there."
Karma. The title stopped her just as abruptly as it had the owner, thought for different reasons.
For protection from Kujou ####### KARMA.
Coincidence? It was a common enough term. There had been a collector's shop in Akihabara called Karma as well. Can't find out for sure just from the outside.
Unfortunately, getting inside during the day wasn't a likely proposition either. The two big black metal doors at the entrance looked like they could repel a car crash, not opening until after dark.
Then the other familiar word caught up with her, and she stared back at the owner. "Samesaji-san?" Kotone? She did say something about a brother who worked in the city...
The man snorted in disgust. "Ryuken Samesaji. Their main promoter and recruiter. He talks to girls- girls older than you- into trying out at that club. The poor saps only see his pretty face, never realizing what they're really walking into. Sometimes I feel like giving that bastard a good scar, just so he can't charm girls into abandoning their common sense any more... or at least as easily."
That would probably have the opposite effect you wanted, the words emerged but didn't leave her lips. Does Kotone know? Or is this guy just jealous of Karma getting more customers and making stuff up?
Regardless, those curiosities didn't stop her from recognizing that she'd been handed a weapon. She smiled dreamily, glancing back at the expensive-looking statue adorning the club's front like it was the answer to all her woes.
"I'll be careful around him then. But they pay way more than minimum wage, don't they? I mean, if there's really nowhere else in the city that you think I could find a part-time job..."
While the man's eyes narrowed in shrewd comprehension of what she was doing, his fear of Karma clearly outweighed that. He's definitely not lying about his suspicions at least.
"Please, don't. If that's really the choice you're making, then I suppose we can give you a chance. A chance, mind you", he emphasized sourly. "If I catch you violating the sanitation rules or insulting our customers once, you're out, and I'll send Karma a letter warning them about hiring you. Whatever I have to do to stop you from going there."
She decided to be gracious in victory. She made a show of being beyond words with gratitude that the man was giving her a shot, all the while wondering what the novice recruiter 'Otegi' looked like. And what this Ryuken Samesaji looks like. The Karma Club, huh...
Its tinted, rectangle windows revealed nothing. There was certainly an upscale atmosphere to it compared to most of the places in Tosashimizu, but she didn't get the feeling that it was the kind of place that teenage boys would very carefully sneak out of the house to visit.
Hope I'm not wrong about that part.
If she investigated that place only to find out it was a parlor like the kind that dominated the nightlife in Shinjuku, she would be extremely disappointed.
Banishing all thoughts of investigation for the time being, she stretched out a hand. "Thank you. I'm Aiko Tsuruga. I promise you won't be sorry."
"Ooka Matoba", the bandana man reciprocated, shaking with a strong grip. "Call me 'Boss', or 'Mr. Matoba'. And don't worry. If I am sorry, it won't be for very long. You start Tuesday next week at 4. Otegi will show you the ropes. Don't be late."
Mission accomplished, she thought to herself. Cape Ashizuri, here we come.
5/1 Wednesday
Evening
"What's it like?"
Lacking any other context, the question produced exactly the reaction she was hoping for in Mirambela, who snapped out of her study induced daze to look at her with confusion. "Pardon?"
"In your village. Your homeland."
The older girl's lips twisted in amusement and she rolled off the bed into a seat position. "I was wondering if papa told you anything about it. You saw my Land, right?"
"Yea, but that was your Land", Aiko reminded her, showing only scorn for that gaudy place. "A twisted cognition of the home you thought you wanted. That was not your real home. I'm pretty sure that your real home doesn't have robot servants, and all the buildings aren't metal."
She laughed at that. A good sign after what she'd been through.
"Well, you're right about that. But neither are we savages. We have books and food and television, and clean water from a well. There are more modern cities there too, but we chose to live in the village. A few of my siblings went into the city to find jobs... but the pickings are slim."
Aiko frowned, remembering her earlier talks with Mr. Sorano. "Your dad seems like he wants what's best for all of you. Why do you stay there?"
Mira stuck a finger to her mouth, processing how to best give the answer. "It's complicated. I guess the best answer would be that even as my father wishes to give us the benefits of the modern world, he fears the corruption that comes with it."
Breaking out her phone, she brought up her stored photos, which to Aiko's surprise were enough to take up a good chunk of the device's available memory. It wasn't just photos of the brothers and sisters she had described either, but other people from the village looking happy as well, as well as a few nature shots.
"I won't ever claim it's a paradise, Ai-chan. You have to earn your keep there, and the diseases and predators are just awful compared to the city. But that's just it. If you work hard, you can stay. You don't have someone charging you rent for your own home, or spend your nights terrified that someone might rob or murder you in your sleep. If predators attacked- and they've never done it while I lived- they'd get chased off by us. We all work together to survive, because that is the way of our village. My father isn't even the leader, but he is respected enough that people generally listen to what he says."
"It's... not something I'd ever considered", Aiko confessed uncomfortably. "I thought they were just..."
Mira nodded understandingly. "Yes. Most people think we must be mad savages, to forego the internet and have little in the way of television programming. But there is a sense of community there I have never seen here in Japan. We're not even the only village either; there was a time when I was asked to help make a water delivery to distant Umoja village. That's a village where no men are allowed."
Her eyebrow shot up. "Whoa, seriously? That's an actual thing? I thought that only happened in comic books."
Mira shook her head, still amused by the memory of it. "I was amazed when I got there, but they seemed content with it. Most of the people there are the victims of wicked men in some form. I guess everyone has their own preferred way they want to live... though I would never give up my dear brothers and my papa for all the riches in the world."
"I hear you. I mean, sometimes guys piss me off, but just think of all the awesome ones. Takao-sensei and Umaeda-sensei. Pela-tori. Julian-kun and Noel-kun. Shu-kun, when he's not being a jerk. Bart-kun. Rurichiyo-san. Captain Byzael."
"Byzael?", Mira repeated cautiously. "That's the old fisherman you visit at the coast sometimes, right?"
"Yup. And he's not that old. He promised to give me his boat if I let him teach me how to use it."
Mira paused, eyes widening. "You're joking. Or he is."
She leaned back into her bed and smirked. "That's just what I thought too, until he showed me the documents of legal ownership of the Fiddler's Green once I turn 18. Made a copy for me to keep too, in case something happens. All that's left is for him to sign it."
"So you will own your own ship, both here and in Faraway Lands", Mira said slowly. "Incredible. It might still be a trick, though. Legal ownership in the modern world is far too complex for any but a few people to understand."
"I know", she took a moment to read her copy of the document, wondering if the wording there had changed since her last check, or if she had missed something crucial last time. "But I do trust him, Mira-chan. He had every chance to do something bad, but he didn't. All he did so far was help me learn to run the boat and give me an old book as a present."
Seeing her point to the aforementioned book, Mira's gaze strayed to the window and the coastline beyond the hills there, wondering if the man was there today. "You really like him, don't you Ai-chan? I mean, not romantically, obviously."
She could only spread her arms helplessly. "Yeah. I do. I've met a lot of really crappy adults in my life, but he's not one of them. He makes me feel like I'm wanted. Like he's actually considering the things I say to him instead of blowing me off because I'm young. He shows me new things all the time, useful things. I know it's weird. Pela-tori actually attacked him while we were trying to rescue you, thinking he was up to something."
"That sounds like him", Mira agreed with a smile. "Pelagio, I mean. My father went through a phase like that where he wouldn't let any of us go to the city at all, he was so afraid that we'd get mugged or worse."
"Huh." Stretching out over the bed, she joined Mira at the window. It looked like the start of rain outside, but the waters before them remained sedate and safe, and she felt a warm hand unconsciously feeling its way into hers and clasping. "Mira-chan... When the school year's over, I'd like to come and visit your village. I want to meet your family, for real."
"That will be difficult", Mira sighed, her warm hand tightening. "They're a long way away. But we do have plenty of time to plan." As the rain began to plink away at the dorm roof, she turned and raised an eyebrow.
"Hey... Who's Bart-kun?"
5/2 Thursday
After School
This 'date' was different. Her partner was a far cry from normality, yet she somehow felt more relaxed than on Monday.
If anything, she should have felt more on edge about someone stopping them and asking questions, but something about Bartholomew's poise made her believe he had made plans for that already. Because his normal attendant's garb would attract unwanted attention, he had transformed it into a thin-lapel jacket and pants of the same dark blue color. The butterfly had disappeared from his eye patch, making it slightly less conspicuous. Only slightly.
So she had chosen a place where such a sight might be regarded with more curiosity than suspicion, and a place that he might like. The arcade buried in underground part of the Tenjincho mall was an even match for any in Tokyo in terms of bright flashing lights and noise, and the few kids there who bothered paying attention to them merely believed it was a costume. His single eye, previously a garish poison yellow, had transmuted to a more normal brown color that went well with his hair.
"I must admit, this is an experience I never partook of before now", Bartholomew had to raise his voice to be heard. "No wonder so many children of your generation have poor attention spans, if this is what they prefer."
"Mostly guys", Aiko pointed out mock-innocently. "Wanna try a game? C'mon, let's go find something with two-player mode!"
Approximately eight hundred and fifty dead bad guys later, they were out on a bench near the main fountain in the grand hall. Amusingly, the sign that warned people not to toss coins in had fallen over, and no efforts to pick it up seemed forthcoming.
"You're good", Aiko remarked over the plop of their coins. "Even better than me. For someone who said they've never visited an arcade before. Let me guess... you've got home consoles in the Velvet room to train on? Did Mr. Igor buy them for you?"
The attendant chuckled lightly at her suggestion. "No, no, nothing of the sort. As you have seen for yourself, electronic devices such as phones do not work properly in that world. I merely learned the patterns of the enemy movements and adjusted my plan of attack accordingly. A simple task for me."
"You sound like Shu-kun. He could probably be a pro gamer if he tried." Turning from the fountain as if expecting him to appear, she only saw the afternoon crowd, a randomized mass of anonymous humanity desperate to be somewhere else, all of them moving in different directions.
Tokyo had dozens of malls this size and above, but with the curved glass ceiling above this one still gave the impression of being vast. If she closed her eyes, it felt like she was back there, in Akihabara. "He could probably be a lot of things, if he tried."
"Not everyone is as outgoing as yourself, dream- I mean, Tsuruga-san", Bartholomew corrected himself hastily, remembering their earlier talk. "In all honesty, I was never very much of a social butterfly either. Perhaps this Shukiji Niyoga simply desires his privacy, as I do."
"Maybe", she considered. "I've never seen anyone like him, with his memory, and..." her face turned down to the linoleum floor. "And maybe that's why he prefers to be alone. Imagine if you could perfectly remember everything anyone's ever said to you, and every stupid thing you've ever done or said to them."
"I do have an excellent memory for detail", he said, trying to sound more cheerful about it. It went well with his honeyed face and sandy hair even if it felt somewhat faked, as if he was trying to force himself to remember how to be happy.
"Though hardly perfect like that boy, I was able to research and memorize the trials of all the previous wild cards and Persona-users throughout history, in order to better help you in your own journey."
That rocked her, and she turned back to the fountain so as not to freak anyone out with her face. "Other Persona-users? You mean this isn't the first time something like this has happened?!"
"You were not listening to the master's words earlier, or else you forgot", Bartholomew remarked chidingly. "But yes, dream v- Tsuruga-san. This is far from the first time. Have you ever heard of... Apathy syndrome? What about the Kirijo group scandal?"
Apathy... The Kirijo group...? She stared into the fountain water, and the coins scattered beneath the surface. Like with the calamity father Shigetsu had mentioned, it felt like a memory that had run away from her when she wasn't looking. "I know about the Kirijo group, but I didn't hear anything about a scandal."
"Most likely because the incident happened before you were born", the attendant provided patiently. "The Kirijo financial group's power and prestige were sharply reduced because of it, but they do still exist, trying to slowly regain it through more legitimate methods."
Aiko stared back, remembering the handful of news stories about that particular financial group. "They committed a crime? That's hardly new."
"The nature of their crime is what made it different", Bartholomew told her. "Thousands of people experienced traumatic hallucinations back then, which was blamed on chemical leaks caused by a lack of safety precautions taken by Kirijo."
Her attention fully caught now, he raised one dark-gloved hand, which Aiko noticed for the first time perfectly contrasted with the color of Igor's gloves.
"Except that was merely a cover story. The real truth of it is that thousands of people truly did experience what they saw back then. An eldritch tower springing up from Gekkoukan high school at Tatsumi Port Island on the stroke of midnight. Streets lined with coffins and awash with blood. An enormous moon descending from above to bring about the world's long wished-for end."
It was a lot to process, even for someone who had already accepted all the insanity of Faraway Lands. But Aiko knew that Bartholomew wasn't the type to spin such a bizarre story purely for his own amusement. If he said it had happened in the distant past, then it probably had, and she was in no position to challenge his authority on this.
"That massive tower", he continued mirthlessly, "was called Tartarus, the manifestation of humanity's unconscious desire to die. As I have said, its form changes with each incarnation, but some factors are common throughout... such as the presence of Shadows."
"A tower of Shadows", Aiko repeated in complete awe. "Instead of an ocean. The Kirijo group caused that?"
"Indirectly", he admitted, sniffing the air. "All the ones responsible for it are long dead. But what truly matters is what happened after. Seeking to undo their mistake, some concerned individuals within the Kirijo group gathered gifted Persona-users to challenge the moonlit tower and undo its pull over humanity's hearts. This team, thus assembled, found themselves led into conflict with several rogue Persona-users in addition to Shadows- the online assassins called Strega."
She tensed up, flashing back to an old memory. "I've heard of them. Or at least their website. Back when they were operational, you would enter the name of the person you want to die, and..."
"And they would die in the night, yes. Strega would abuse the power of the 'Dark Hour' to slay their targets while they slept. However, their ultimate goal was not wanton murder, but the summoning of the Night Queen- the God of Death, Nyx."
She shivered at her imagination's best illustration of such an ominous title and those who sought it, though the image was surely far away from the real horror of that event. Glad I wasn't around then to enter anyone's name on that site... or have someone do that to me.
Would I...? No. I can't believe that. I would never enter Kujou's name in that website.
Sensing her trepidation, the attendant continued on. "The young Persona users gathered by the Kirijo group eventually triumphed over this calamity as well, though only through the willing sacrifice of their strongest member... their wild card."
"Sacrifice", she whispered tearfully, unable to look into his eyes any longer. "I can't imagine..."
Then there was a glove nestled against her chin, forcing her gaze back up out of that dark place he'd sensed her falling into.
"Fear not. The wild cards who followed after that one were not required to give up their lives in such a way. It was only when the situation had escalated to the point that all of humanity's demise was the alternative that the Great Seal became a necessity. I do hope that such a dire circumstance does not occur this time... you have fared admirably thus far."
She forced a brave smile. It wasn't like she hadn't come to grips with the chance of dying before now, but only a fool would claim that they didn't fear the Reaper.
"Thanks, Bart-kun. I'll keep trying my best. That's why I wanted to do this here, actually. Mira-chan wants to just study for the rest of the week, but I can't get what I've seen in the last two weeks out of my head. Faraway Lands is still out there, and I believe in Mr. Igor when he says that we'll need to go back there and fight again."
"You will", he promised sympathetically. "My master always knows of what he speaks. Whatever distant power has orchestrated the sunlight gate between worlds will not rest merely because one wayward soul has escaped from its grasp. It will continue to steer humanity's group consciousness ever further towards the world's regression, preying upon its ability to feel despair for the future and its desires for change."
She became still in his arms, oddly calm for everything she'd just heard. "Then we'll just have to stop it. Even if it's the Death God again, we'll stop it."
"Somehow", the attendant remarked, looking truly relaxed for the first time since leaving the arcade. "I don't doubt that. I will be waiting in the Velvet room if you wish to hear more about your predecessors... and I can promise you that the story of the Midnight Channel is not nearly so grim."
5/2 Thursday
Lunch
Kotone was eating alone today. Aiko might have taken that as a sign that now was the time to ask if it hadn't still been more difficult to get her body to move over to the table than it had been to cajole the Starlight restaurant owner.
Chin up, face forward. She's a friend. The worst thing that can happen is she gets offended. Offenses can fade. The one I gave Mira did.
"So", she said nonchalantly, trying not to tip off the real purpose of this chat. "I hear you joined the fencing club with Rurichiyo-kun. I appreciate it."
The ponytailed girl's shy smile might have been more convincing if it hadn't appeared so abruptly from a downcast expression focused on nothing. "Um... thanks, Tsuruga-chan. I heard you and Rosea-kun were into it, and so I thought..."
Leaning forward, she nodded back, studying both expression and posture. While not as close as Mirambela or as passionate about certain things as Reiha was, Kotone was perhaps the only one who had approached her of her own accord, who didn't treat her like a freak. If 'normal' could be considered a definable term, then she was the closest one to 'normal'.
"What you probably didn't know is that with just two students, we were going to get disbanded pretty soon. Umaeda-sensei cut us some slack there, but he told me what happened. So, whatever your reasons, thank you."
She stared back down into her lunch. "Rurichiyo-kun suggested it. He said you had to do a lot of pushing to get it to happen."
Suggesting that he had only joined to be near Aiko. That he was interested by her, and maybe he was... but underestimating herself all the same.
"He's right", Aiko admitted, shrugging casually. "I was hoping to get on a swim team, but we know how that turned out. Soccer's not really my thing, and I've never tried Shogi. I had to do something."
"What about the debate team? You managed to convince Umaeda-sensei to start his club up again. You even stood up to Kujou-san."
"Eh... Not really what I was hoping for." She'd already had enough hard ethical arguments with Bartholomew and Pelagio without adding more on top of that. "Besides, I think one club is enough. Can't go too far while also keeping my grades up. Unless someone opens a face-painting club, that is."
Kotone giggled, her gloom finally pierced. "I'll keep that in mind then."
A shame to bring the mood back down. Oh well, here goes. "Say... I was in the city the other day, and I heard about a recruiter for a nightclub named Ryuken Samesaji."
The fact that she was partly expecting the gloom to return with interest did nothing to soothe her heart over the sight of it, Kotone withdrawing even further inwards than before. "Oh... oh, yes. He's my brother."
Aiko didn't need to reply. The instinctive look on her face was enough to suggest what sort of other inquiries might follow, and Kotone sighed deeply.
"And I know, he works in a club with a... colorful reputation. But, he says it's fine. So it must be fine."
She nodded gently, not wanting to challenge the denial openly. "The Karma Club. Open only at night, so my first thought was that it catered to vampires."
It was a horrible joke but it did its job, lightening the mood enough that Kotone felt comfortable opening up about it.
"I-I snuck in once, when Nii-san had to go pick up some things. The people there wear these masks, and... there was something weird about them. And the owner of the club, she wears one too." Casting her head back helplessly, she palmed her head. With her other hand she brought up her phone, which Aiko saw had a picture of a young, dark-haired man who she assumed was Ryuken on it. As Boss had told her, he looked like the very definition of a mid-twenties heartthrob, especially because he was smiling in this picture, showing bright teeth. A strangely-shaped metal earring and a beauty mark on his cheek completed the effect.
"Ryuken... Nii-san says that he's working there for me. To get the money to put me through college. I wish I had the courage to tell him that I don't care about that if he has to work that kind of job, but... he won't listen to me. He says he likes working there. He says..."
She stopped, buttoning up as Aiko had expected after a certain amount of time. It was enough. Enough for her to realize something else.
"Please, Tsuruga-chan. You can't... I mean..."
She spread both shoulders as if bracing for a mortal blow. "Go ahead." Can't be any worse than the things I see put on my locker. She's too nice for that. Nicer than me.
Too nice for this place.
Composing herself, Kotone shook her head, the tail following behind. "I don't want to be rude, but... you have this, well... this thing where you feel like you need to get involved in other people's problems and try to help them."
Careful as ever, she immediately threw up her arms in defense against an imagined reprisal. "N-n-not that that's a bad thing! No, I think that's a wonderful trait to have. I wish I could be brave and strong like you, defending my friends. But..."
"But?"
Her eyes lowered back into despair and self-recrimination. "If Nii-san finds out that I told you any of this, he'll be so angry with me. He told me, but made me promise to keep it a secret."
Leaning back, she studied the picture of the elder Samesaji again. He was not only a handsome one, but also athletic-looking, much more than the younger Julian. It wasn't difficult to imagine him turning that lean muscle to effective violence if he was pushed.
And if I were a bit older, I'd probably be swooning over him right now.
"Yet you told me anyway", she replied encouragingly. "You broke that promise. Deep down, you want someone or something to stop him, so you don't have to worry any more."
"Yes", Kotone quavered, unable to look up. "I want that. But... please don't. Don't go to the police, and don't investigate him yourself. If this is what he really wants to do, then I don't want to ruin it for him."
That, Aiko knew, would depend on what exactly he's doing. She understood honoring family, but only to an extent.
"He's... Nii-san is the only one I have left."
"That's why you were at that temple, with father Shigetsu", Aiko gave voice to the suspicion. "Not just for Noel-kun."
"Yes", she said breathlessly, staring out the window into the main courtyard. "I pray for both of them."
5/2 Thursday
Evening
Tosashimizu city looked very different at night, at least when looked at from above. Pelagio figured he had a unique perspective on such places, compared to humans.
Various bright lights festooned the buildings, though not as exaggeratedly as with Mira's Land. That was something of a relief, since those lights had hurt his sensitive eyes when he was there. Of course, he would never have bothered his charge with such trivial complaints.
The lights were even less crowded around the large chunk of the city covered in the dull warehouses, but only a handful of humans frequented it now. Perching with wings folded on the spire of a bank gave him a position to watch both that and the more lively area around the mall and marketplace, his ears able to pick up scattered bits of human speech from miles around.
Humans. So contradictory. So diverse. So obscene. There are vile fiends here worse than Shadows, and yet others demonstrate acts of unabashed kindness. My lady was correct. There is much that I must learn of them in order to fully understand... while also attending to my duties, of course.
Tokyo seems to be a common item for general discussion, he considered. That is apparently a luxurious city a great many times larger and more populated than Tosashimizu city, located far north of here, across the water. I could fly there to behold it for myself, but such a journey would take several days. I should wait to ask my lady's permission first. Duty takes priority, after all.
More noise wafted up to him as he considered the prospect. The rumble of bus motors, the bubbling of kettles, endless chatter not unlike Koashimizu's student body-
And then there was the scream.
The scream was from deep into the warehouse district, and few humans would hear it acutely. Gliding over to the source, he happened upon a scene of violence in one of the narrow corridors created by the proximity of the tall warehouses.
Several bundles of a strange-smelling plant extract were littered about, having been dropped by the two young men in jackets currently sprawled on the concrete and writhing in pain. Such jackets seemed to be common fashion among the people who worked in the warehouses at night, but the real standout was the figure who had attacked them.
Moderately tall and clad head to toe in black, the figure was in the process of wrenching a switchblade knife out of one of the men's hands before performing a rapid hand motion that left it broken and unable to open properly. That spurred a fresh surge of anger from the weapon's owner, who shouted and rose only to be knocked back down by the figure's dark glove as it shot out. Very deliberately, the attacker's heavy black boot slammed down on the young man's stray hand, prompting a second scream.
The figure's mask was the same as he had seen in the news story on room 22's television, down to the X-branded mask. Hex put his other boot down on several of the plant extract to crush them as well before speaking in a deep voice simmering with rage even while muffled by his mask.
"This can end now, or become a night that will wake you up screaming for the next year and change. It all depends on what you're willing to tell me. Who organized this? Was it Gurimoto?!"
The young man began to suggest something anatomically improbable, but couldn't finish before the boot pressed down harder on his hand.
"Losing my patience." The masked attacker turned his head to the other jacketed man. "How much pain are you willing to allow your friend to go through? Just tell me who put you up to this."
"Y-yeah...", the other one mumbled at last, teeth clenched through past pain. "Look, we took orders from this old dude who called himself Enmikeda. That's all I know, honest!"
The words seemed to temporarily freeze Hex up before his stance betrayed further rage. "Kotone... damn. Alright, you two stay the hell away from him from now on. If he comes to you, tell him that I know where he lives."
He ran then, leaving Pelagio feeling a rare sensation- internal conflict. He had stood up for Hex earlier while the two girls he had become friends with disparaged his activities after dark. In his estimation, humanity was badly in need of such a person to punish the evil ones among them, and Aiko had been reluctant to do that outside of Faraway Lands.
But now, seeing up close the brutality of it, he was no longer sure what to think.
One thing he knew he could do was follow after the masked man, gliding across buildings that he was forced to run around. The human was a fast runner, but there was no way they would be able to elude a falcon with human-level intelligence.
Intelligence superior to humans, he quickly corrected himself.
Then his beak released a curse as the masked man ducked into an alley and opened a decrepit-looking wooden door. The building looked to be of similar shape with no sign of habitation, all the windows that he might have used to eavesdrop or enter firmly boarded up.
He repeated the same thing several hours of stakeout later, as the night wore on, his eyes became heavy and he realized that no one was going to be coming out of that building any time soon.
You win, Hex, he thought bitterly at the masked attacker. This time.
A/N: I've noticed that my chapters have been getting progressively shorter as my 'buffer' thins, so here's a longer one while I build back up to a 'safe' level.
While I do try to sprinkle in main plot references and 'social links' whenever possible, following every single step of the MC's high school life would be rather boring and repetitive. You can assume that any time that is not covered by the narration is being spent by her on building 'stats', attending class or working part-time ;)